Aru Shah and the Chamber of Lies

The Potatoes Plan their Vacation

"Aru? Hellooo?"

Aru blinked as a hand waved in front of her face. Brynne's hand. She swatted it away and asked, "What?"

Brynne sighed. "We were talking about our vacation...?"

Oh, right. Aru sighed. The Potatoes, including Nikita and Sheela, were currently at the museum, obviously uninvited, and they were discussing vacation plans. Aru had been pretty hesitant, but her sisters and Aiden convinced her that they needed to take a much needed break. She guessed they thought it would help get her mind off about what happened with the Sleeper.

"Yep, I was totally listening. We're gonna go to Disneyworld, right?" she said, trying for a smile.

"Cancún," corrected Nikita.

"I do kinda want to go to Disneyworld, though," Rudy mused.

Mini frowned and nudged Aru's shoulder.

"Hey, have you been sleeping alright recently? You look like a racoon. Plus, if you don't get enough sleep, it could possibly lead to a higher risk of heart failure, diabetes, or a stroke! And then, you could-"

"Die?" Aru asked dryly.

"Mini's not wrong," Brynne said, jumping to Mini's defense. "You've been nodding off a lot. Don't think we don't notice."

Aiden looked at her, clearly concerned. "You said you were okay."

"If you have trouble sleeping at night, I can lend you my gemstones to help you fall asleep," Rudy offered.

Aru looked away. "I'm fine. I just get these...nightmares every now and then. It's not anything too bad."

"You're lying," Sheela spoke up, with a prophetic sheen to her ice-blue eyes.

Aru's head snapped up. "What?"

Sheela hesitated a bit before saying, "I...may have seen one of your nightmares. Sorry," she quickly apologized.

"You saw my nightmares?!" Aru said angrily, raising her voice a little. However, she immediately regretted it when she saw her younger sister's face fall.

"Don't yell at my twin," Nikita butted in. "Besides, they're just nightmares. Why are you being so defensive?"

"Nikki," murmured Sheela, elbowing her sister. "Stop."

Aiden closed his hand over her fist. "Shah? Do you want to talk about it? We're here for you, you know?"

Aru looked at the whole group, who were all looking at her with pity in their eyes. She knew they were all just worried for her, but something in their gazes made her seem so...small. So weak.

"I said I'm okay," said Aru, a little forcefully. Then, she turned to Sheela and hesitantly asked, "D-did you see my dream from last night?"

Sheela shook her head. "No, it was from two nights ago. I am really sorry about that though."

Aru gave her a weary smile. At least she didn't see the one from last night. She definitely didn't want her sisters knowing about how she may betray them. At first, she thought that would happen while they fought the Sleeper, but it didn't. And the fact that it appeared again made her afraid that she may turn against them in the future.

"It's fine. Just don't do that again. Please." Aru added.

Everyone went quiet after that, as if they didn't know what to say.

"Well," asked Aiden awkwardly. "Do you guys want something to eat?"

"Duh," answered Brynne. "Just get us the usual junk food."

"Eating too much junk can ruin your health," Mini scolded. She glanced at Aiden and told him, "Make sure you get some fruits too."

"I'll help you out," Aru offered. She quickly stood up, and immediately swayed on her feet. The world spun for a moment, and she blinked rapidly to clear her vision.

"Woah, Shah!" Aiden grabbed her arm to keep her from falling.

Aru caught her balance and leaned against Aiden. "Thanks," she mumbled.

Mini shot up to her feet too and grabbed Aru's face. "That's it- you're going to take a nap right now!"

"No, I don't want to," Aru insisted, brushing Mini's hands off her cheeks. "I just got up a little too quickly and got dizzy."

"But-"

Mini was abruptly cut off by a series of alarmed chirps.

"Oh, that's right," Nikita said suddenly. "Boo's at your house today, right?"

Aru nodded, but then frowned. "Why's he making so much noise though? He's usually pretty quiet. I even fed him a while ago."

Brynne shrugged. "Maybe he's hungry again?"

Rudy scoffed. "Nah, you're the only one here that gets hungry that quickly. Maybe there's another reason?"

"Shut up, Baby Snekky-Snake."

"It's DJ Baby Snekky-Snake!"

"He probably just got spooked by a cat outside the window or something," Aru interrupted. "I'll go check it out."

Blinking away her drowsiness, she bounded up the steps and headed towards Boo's small little bundle of sweaters in the alcove near the door that led to the stairs.

"Boo?" She called. A resounding chirp filled the air, and a fiery, red baby bird flew right into her arms.

"What is it? Are you hungry?" She cooed, petting the bird. She pulled out an Oreo from her pocket and held it against his beak, but strangely, Boo didn't open his beak as he normally did. Instead, he flew down to a piece of paper on the floor.

He chirped and prodded it with his beak. Curiously, Aru bent down and picked it up. She smoothed out the crumpled strip of paper, and saw four words written neatly on it:

This isn't the end.