riddle me this. ― ʜᴏᴜꜱᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴀɴᴜʙɪꜱ

forty.

"okay, i'm certain that you weren't cursed by nina and lost your voice like patricia considering you have no mark, so what was that?" amber almost immediately replaced eddie's space as she stared at her brunette best friend expectantly, waiting for answers as bella could only sigh. "well?" 

"i couldn't do it." she admitted. "i'm such a hypocrite, i should tell him but i just..." she trailed off, exhaling deeply as she shut her eyes, hoping everything would just disappear. 

"it's okay, bell," amber softened at the girl's worrying, placing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "tell him when you're ready, but just know that he will be understanding." she added, as bella looked up at her, grateful for her kind words.

༻✦༺ 

"guys, i don't want anyone to panic, but," nina entered the dining room, catching sibuna's attention as they were sat around the table. she glanced around, making sure there were no listening ears before continuing. "victor's got an amulet." 

"but how? we've got all six." amber pointed out as bella nodded her head in agreement. 

"maybe not," nina turned to bella. "bella, remember when you lost yours and took the spare one from the dollhouse?" she nodded, remembering being blinded once again thanks to that. "what if it was a fake? what if victor found it, had a copy made―"

"and swapped them, and that's the one bella took down the tunnel." amber finished for her, as realisation washed over everyone's faces ― except fabian and alfie. 

"i-i'm guessing this was a long time ago." fabian chimed in, looking around in confusion.

"exactly. which means victor must have seen everything that happened down there." nina exclaimed, the situation seeming to get worser than before. "fabian, remember when you solved that last chemistry task?"

"i did?" fabian confusedly responded.

"yeah," nina nodded. "well, now i'm thinking maybe you didn't. what if victor got to it first and then covered his tracks?" she suggested.

"that's definitely plausible." bella agreed.

"this is bad." amber remarked. 

"yeah, its bad." nina sighed. "i knew there was something wrong with the tunnel door."