Chapter Eight: Stalking Secrets

"Two people miscommunicating can cause the most trouble." -Anonymous

Patricia knew what Eddie's vision was about and she stomped off knowing that he wasn't going to leave her alone. She locked herself in the bathroom, knowing that this would be the only place that she would be alone. Eddie knocked on the door and said, "C'mon Patricia! You're overreacting." There was no response. "Yacker… what's wrong!" No response. He stood outside of the door. He knew that Victor was after her and he wasn't going to stop until he got what he wants. He needed to protect Patricia, not because she needed to be protected, but the information she held needed protection.

Eddie camped outside the bathroom for two hours before she came out. He was halfway asleep when the door clicked open. He jumped when the door swung out and hit him. "What was that for, Yacker?" No response. "Oh, I see… we're playing the silence card. I get it. You just don't want to admit I'm right." She turned and opened her mouth to make some remark and Eddie got a look of great satisfaction on his face, but then she shut her mouth and went back to ignoring him. "I don't get it, Patricia! What did I do?!" he shouted.

"This… you're doing this!" She took a deep breath to explain and continued, "I know that you are 'the Protector' or whatever, but I can take care of myself."

"I know that you can, Yacker. I just want to protect this vital information. We both know Victor; he will stop at nothing to get what he wants. So…"

He was interrupted by Patricia. "So?" she shouted. "It's the same thing!" She slammed the door really hard and he walked right in. She was lying face down on her bed and was as straight as a twig. She mumbled into her pillow, "I just need some space to figure this Knowledgeable One thing out."

"Fine…" Eddie said with his voice filled with hurt and anger, "If that's what you want then…"

She stood up and grabbed his hand, "Not that kind of space." She looked up at him. "I can take care of myself and you don't have to follow me all of the time. If I need help, I will get you, but other than that, I can't handle it on my own."

"Promise," he whispered.

She smiled and said in an almost inaudible voice, "Promise." She kissed him and they were happy rebels once again.

"Fabian, I'm not crazy!" Nina shouted at her boyfriend.

"I never said you were," Fabian mumbled back. He was doing some research on the computer and it didn't help his concentration to have his girlfriend shouting at him.

Nina came by and shut his computer. She asked, "Fabian, are you even listening to me?"

"Yes I am," he said. "You don't want to believe that Victor's up to anything and you think that he has run out of ideas to reach immortality. You think that Patricia and Eddie are wrong and it's someone else… See I was listening.' He paused and sighed, "I don't know how you're getting to this conclusion though."

"Fabian, you said that Victor was used by that Ms. Denby character and that would cause him to not want to use others. He had two options for immortality: the Elixir of Life and the Mask of Anubis. If you haven't paid much attention, both are gone!" She was pacing around the room for now. Her arms were crossed and when she wasn't talking, she was grinding her teeth together.

"Nina, why are you telling this to me and not your other two amigos?" Fabian asked.

Nina looked at him and saw the hurt in his eyes. "I'm sorry Fabian. I didn't even think about how this was affecting you." She sighed and held onto his hand. "I know that it's not fair, but you know that, no matter how mean she can be, you'd rather have Patricia."

He sighed, "I would, it's just… It's stupid."

"No it's not!" Nina shouted. "I promise that I won't tell anyone." She smiled at him.

Fabian rolled his eyes at his girlfriend, "I feel like every other Sibuna at least has something related to all of this: you're the Chosen One, Eddie's the Osirian, Patricia's the Knowledgeable One and a descendent, KT's Robert's great-grandaughter, and even Alfie's a descentent. Then there's just Fabian."

"I think that just Fabian's pretty great," Nina said and they kissed.

They were broken apart by the sound of Trudy yelling, "Dinner." The two laughed and went to join the others.