The Curse of the Osirians

House of Protection

"No, no, no, fuss. All I have left is my dignity," Amber said as she tried to sit only to fall down. "It's okay. It's okay. Um, that happens all the time," she said accidentally sitting on my boyfriend's lap. I couldn't help but chuckle at the immediate panicked look he sent me clearly worried I might make a big deal about it but honestly, I knew Amber was blind at the moment and she was with Alfie anyways.

"Amber," Nina tried to tell her.

"Good morning," Jerome finally said to her, still looking freaked out especially as she raised a hand and started patting his face. I giggled.

"Oh, what? So a girl can't sit on her friend's knee anymore?" She said once she realized her mistake.

*****

"I promised Poppy a PI. A PI she must have," Jerome said as we walked to class.

"Have you found anyone yet?" I asked, glad to see he had finally agreed to help his sister.

"I've made a short list, but, uh I'm meeting one of them this afternoon," he said.

"See?" I told him with a smirk.

"What?"

"You do care about your sister. Deep down," I grinned.

"No, no, no, no, no, no. I just have a reputation to preserve. That's all. I get things done, and I never, ever compromise," he told me as I shook my head.

You're totally in denial. So which PI are you meeting?" I asked.

"The cheapest," he replied.

"I'd have never offered to carry this if I'd have known it was so heavy. Do you really need all this stuff, Amber?" I heard Fabian complain as he and Nina lead Amber into class.

"Fabian, I hate to play victim, but seeing as I heroically took one for the team, it's just too heavy," she said.

*****

"Pete Roper, private eye," I stared at the guy as he sat down next to me. Pushing Jerome to the other side. I couldn't help but compare him to Rufus, the last "private eye" I had met.

"Hi. You weren't exactly what I was expecting," Jerome said.

"No? Big hair, bad attitude. You're exactly what I was expecting, though I can't say I saw you having a pretty girlfriend," commented as he smirked over at me. I shifted in my seat as Jerome glared at him. Ew. I wasn't sure if he was just being normal person weird or like creepy pervert weird.

"So, you've lost someone. Careless," he said.

"Are you even a real private investigator?" I asked, highly doubtful.

"Rule one: Don't question me. Don't question my methods," he said.

"That's two rules," I pointed out as I crossed my arms.

"Yeah. Rule three: Don't answer back," he said.

"Are you making these rules up as you go along?" I argued.

"Rule four: Refer to rule one. Now, do you want me to find your lost property or not?" He asked.

"I guess," Jerome said.

*****

"This place is amazing. I wonder how far it goes," I said as we made our way through the tunnel that night.

"So we've got a door but no key and a pedestal with nothing on it," Fabian complained.

"And a bookcase full of books," my sister added. "Now what?"