What Lies Beneath ▸ House of Anubis [1]

chapter fifty-three. house of betrayal

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            "What's with Jerome and Alfie?" Patricia inquires as she comes to stand by me at the curtain separating the drama room from the hallway for the night. I look at her weirdly, and she elaborates, "There's all this weird tension between them all of a sudden."

            Hm. Glancing around the room, I find the pair nowhere near each other. Tension between Jerome and Alfie. That can't be good. "I don't know, they haven't told me. But Alfie's been acting really off the past couple days, have you noticed? Probably Jerome's fault..."

            Patricia leans against the wall. "You still like him?"

            Patricia Williamson being interested in someone's crushes is even weirder than tension between the Tweedles. With a frown, I respond, "Unfortunately. I dunno, things have been really hectic as you know. I haven't thought about it much. Mostly my mind's been on the..." I lower my voice so no one else hears. "Bringer of Death thing, you know? Fabian saying it could be me."

            "But it's not you," she points out certainly. "'Cause you said you overheard Rufus about the Bringer of Death and Chosen One being separated, it'd be bad on whoever it is. You've been pretty normal since Joy disappeared."

            Yeah. Patricia only knows half of Fabian's suggestions. That I'm the Bringer of Death. She doesn't know we think it's possible Nina is the Chosen One rather than Joy and they have the wrong girl. So she has wrong information, but hey, I'll take whatever I can at this point. "Thanks, Trixie," I tell her genuinely. "How's Joy been?"

            "Tired of being locked up, says she misses us."

            "Has she overheard anything more from her dad?"

            "Not exactly my priority, Ashley."

            I exhale deeply, shrugging. She's got a point. Just outside the curtain, heavy footsteps sound, and Patricia and I share a glance before stepping behind it, right before whoever it is can come through. Victor with Sweet and Trudy. Nina's plan worked—they called Victor to get him out of the house so they could get the pieces and cylinders.

            "Sorry," I say to them with a fake, sweet smile, "you can't go in there just yet."

            "Why not?" Victor asks.

            "The girls are getting changed for bed," I lie easily.

            "Oh, well, in that case," Sweet starts awkwardly, "we'll just—"

            But Victor interrupts, "Where are the boys?"

            "They've...gone to the bathroom," Patricia answers. "You know how boys are, always going to the bathroom in groups."