Nothing Good Happens at 3 A.M.
Summary: The Sibunas search for the vault, Mara uses her new status to go after something she has wanted for a while, and Denby is clearly up to something.
Evie's Notes: Happy Sunday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week . Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.
Three A.M. was a time that no one in their right mind should ever see, so of course the Sibuna Club was very familiar with it. Creeping down the stairs to the kitchen, Amber met up with her friends by the bread oven.
"Why are you late?" snapped Nina. "I left you in the room five minutes ago"
"Sorry! I couldn't find my lucky sandals" apologized Amber.
"Neens, now that everyone is here, we had better just go on down and get started" suggested Fabian, laying a calming hand on his girlfriend's shoulder.
The group of seven crawled through the familiar secret tunnel down into the cellar. Shouldering open the wooden cabinet that blocked off the passage Alfie led the group into the main room. Jerome quickly passed out the flashlights to the team members.
"The map suggests that the hidden room is over near the furnace" remembered Patricia.
"And the clue says we need to dig deep" added Amber, following the redheaded girl over to the heater.
Lili and Alfie broke out the tape measure Lili had packed and began to measure the space to compare with the blueprint.
"I figure we can use Victor's furnace shovel to reach the room" suggested Jerome, shining his flashlight beam around the furnace. "Though it might be a good idea to grab extra shovels or trowels from Vera's greenhouse".
"We can go get some," volunteered Amber and Fabian.
"No, no, no guys. Don't bother" directed Nina, in a defeated tone. "The shovels won't do us any good" crouching down Nina rapped her knuckles against the flooring. "This is solid concrete, there's no way we're getting through without a jackhammer".
"Another dead end. So far, so Sibuna" snarked Patricia.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Summoning up all her courage, Mara prepared to finally shoot her shot. Despite everything that had happened last school year, Mara was sure that her and Jerome were meant to be together. Lili was nice, and Mara certainly didn't hate the girl, but she wasn't the right person for Jerome… that was Mara!
Her latest turn into good fortune was just what she needed in order to capture Jerome's attention. Afterall just the idea of money could get the boy's head spinning, last night being the perfect example. Her new title paired with their natural chemistry led her to calculate the odds of him dumping Liliana to be with her were 89%. She would be a fool not to take it!
Double checking that her hair was pinned perfectly in place, she took a deep breath and approached Jerome at his locker. "Hi Jerome!"
"Well, hello Lady Mara. What can I do for you today?"
"Well, I was thinking… given my newest status as a Lady. Maybe we should get dinner and hang out this Friday"
"Hmm? Yeah, that could be fun" agreed Jerome. "I guess that your new title gives you some fun new funds"
"You could say that," flirted Mara. To be honest she didn't quite know what would be included in her inheritance. "So how about it? You and me? Friday at seven? I'm thinking Magiannos, I've been craving some quality Italian".
"Seven on the weekend? Isn't that a little late for a friend's outing? Like don't get me wrong, I'd love to hang out but I don't want to get things twisted again. We're finally in a good place after last year and I don't want to risk it"
"Risk what?" pressed Mara, daring him to say it. To tell her that he didn't want to be with her. Every time previously that he had turned her down it was based around Liliana and she was sick of that excuse. He was going to have to answer her once and for all whether or not he also wanted them to be together.
"Come on, Mara. Let's not do this now" sighed Jerome closing his locker door and beginning his walk back to Anubis.
"No! You have been putting me off for over a year Jerome. I want to be with you and you clearly want to be with me. Why won't you admit it?"
The pair's argument was interrupted by Miss Denby before Jerome could respond to Mara's ultimatum.
"There you two are! Come along now, this will only take a moment" called the teacher, ushering the confused students into her normal classroom where the other Anubis Residents were waiting.
"What's going on here Miss?" asked Joy, settling into the open seat between Eddie and K.T.
Miss Denby just smiled and clasped her hands. "Wonderful! Now that we are all gathered" exclaimed the woman surveying the room of Anubis House residents. "I will answer Miss Mercer's question. Mr Sweet has decreed that all students take a personality test"
Amber's hand shot into the air as she proudly proclaimed "But Miss I already
know what I am! I'm an ENTJ, aka the Commander, a choleric, and a type 4 or 2!"
"This is a different type of test, Miss Millington. This one will be looking at your intelligence" that remark had Mara and Fabian puffing up excitedly like peacocks.
"Emotional intelligence that is" continued Miss Denby, as she passed out the quiz papers. "Please take a few moments to answer these questions, it won't take long. Please try your best, but know that there are no right or wrong answers".
"My kind of test" chuckled Alfie.
"If your boyfriend or girlfriend left you without reason, how would you react?" asked Fabian incredulously. "A with sadness, B with insecurity, C with bitterness or D, with anger".
"Yes," drawled the teacher. "Say your girlfriend went away and never came back and you didn't really understand why… how would you feel?".
"What on earth does that have to do with our grades?" wondered Lili.
"It's about emotional intelligence, Liliana, not simply Academia. Research suggests that emotional intelligence can be learned, strengthened".
"Well I hardly think that this question has anything to-"
"Ok that's it for talking. You have five minutes to complete the test or you can see yourself to Mr. Sweet's office" directed the teacher, taking her seat behind the desk with a pleased smirk.
Liliana eyed the paper with suspicion as the rest of the questions seemed similarly sneaky.
What word would people close to you use to describe you? How do you deal with failure? What do you do with your free time when you have no plans? What is your greatest personal obstacle? Do you offer sympathy to your friends when they're experiencing life challenges? What would be your dream job? You win the lottery, what do you do with the money? Do you have many friends or just a few? When you're assigned a long-term project, do you start right away or wait? What type of routine do you follow daily? What type of social event is your favorite to attend? Do you believe others generally have good intentions? Are you a night owl or early bird? What is your favorite color? How would you describe your relationship with your family? Pick one of the following: Unicorn, Fox, Lizard, or whale.
Of course each question could just be innocent, but the knowledge that Denby was wrapped up in a childnapping murder cult made everything she did suspicious.
At the end of the agreed upon five minutes, Miss Denby rose from her seat declaring, "Alright that's it for tonight. You can all go for now".
Passing forward her paper, Lili locked eyes with Amber and silently communicated that they would need to meet up and talk about this worrying test. Lili could excuse plenty of Frobisher weirdness, but school mandated personality tests… that was just too strange.
Evie's Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
Next Update: Denby goes shopping for *supplies*
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺
