Chapter Twenty-Five: A Nervous Wreck

"Margo always loved mysteries. And in everything that came afterward, I could never stop thinking that maybe she loved mysteries so much that she became one." –John Green Paper Towns

They all ran back to class as fast as they could so they didn't have to think of yet another lame excuse. Luckily, they made it just in time and the bell rang the second after the last Sibuna got into the class room. "That was close," Fabian mumbled to Nina as they sat down.

Class ticked by slower than it had ever done. The minutes felt like hours and the only thing Sibuna wanted to do was figure out how to read the hieroglyphics, but they had to stay in class. Needless to say, none of them really paid that much attention that day. Between their own thoughts and the fact that they kept looking at each other with their faces filled with anxiety, they didn't have a part of their brains that could focus much on history; let alone concentrate when Mr. Carter was droning on and on about the "war in which we lost the colonies" (or as Eddie and KT refer to it the Revolutionary War).

Nina was even more on edge than usual. She kept tapping her pencil, noisily, onto her desk. Fabian finally asked her to stop, but a few seconds later, she'd be doing it again. This happened for the whole class period. Nina couldn't stop tapping, couldn't stop fidgeting, and she had successfully caused every other Sibuna to be just as nervous. By the time class was over, the six of them were in a complete frenzy, and they still had two more classes that afternoon.

The other two classes weren't better; in fact, they were much worse. Mr. Sweet actually commented on Nina's nervous behavior in their final period and asked if she needed to visit the nurse for anything. By the end of the last period, Sibuna was nothing but a pile of nerves.

"Nina," Patricia complained, "you just about caused all of us to have panic attacks in there because you were so jumpy. Just calm down."

"Patricia's right," KT said. "This isn't good for you to get so worked up."

Nina wasn't listening to any of them though, she just kept marching on. She wanted to get back to Anubis House to work on those translations. Finally they made it back; and in record time to since Nina had been speed walking back to the house.

They all settled in to Eddie and Fabian's room and sat down. Fabian and Nina began working on the translations as the other four sat there trying to make themselves useful. They actually did very well; even Alfie didn't have the guts to do any joking around. Eddie and Patricia were sitting on Eddie's bed looking in some books, trying to see if they could find anything. They were silent. KT was looking on her laptop; trying to find something on the internet. And Alfie was sitting there copying something down.

At seven o'clock, Trudy called for dinner and the Sibunas had been working for nearly four hours. They shoveled down their meals as fast as they could and by 7:30 they were back in business. It wasn't until 9:30 when Fabian finally said something.

"I don't know what to do," Fabian said while putting his head in his hands. "I've never seen any of these symbols before. We can't find anything anywhere. I don't know what we're going to do." By this time, they were all in a circle on the floor.

"We can't stop looking," KT said, her voice filled with worry.

"If we give up, then somebody dies. That can't happen," Nina said. She was close to breaking down; she hated thinking of somebody dying because she couldn't do her job as the Chosen One.

"Why don't Nina and Eddie try to call on those Nefuru and Houlith people in their dreams?" Alfie suggested. "Maybe they can help."

Nina stared at Alfie in amazement; he had suddenly been filled with logical ideas. "Alfie you're a genius!" she exclaimed.

"I try my best," he responded.

After about fifteen minutes of further conversation, Victor started his pin speech and the girls ran upstairs.

"Arise Chosen One." The voice said through the dream. "I am Alexandra, the first Knowledgeable One. I am here to help you. You will find your answers at my place."

Nina awoke from the dream, unaware that two other people in the house were having the same dream. She drifted back to sleep, but awoke in a strange place filled with books and she wasn't alone.