Layla's POV
"Misses Martin, very public-spirited of you two, I'm sure, to visit the sick and elderly. However, try and restrict your visits in future to weekends only," Victor said as he spotted us in the hallway the next morning.
"What - what visits? I don't know what you're talking about," I clenched my jaw to resist the urge to elbow her. Victor clearly already knew about our visits so there was no point denying it.
"Emily Grant!" Victor said.
"Oh, Emily, yeah, of course! Yeah. Weekends only. Got it," Nina mumbled before I dragged her out of the house.
*****
"It was the way he looked at us, as if he knew Emily was really Sarah," Nina whispered as we headed into class.
"How would he know that? You're being paranoid, I'm sure," Fabian told us.
"Okay, just because we're being paranoid. Does not mean he's not out to get us!" I exclaimed.
"Seriously, if he's tracked Sarah down, first she's in big trouble, and then we're in big trouble!" Nina added.
"Nina, really?" Fabian said as we sat down. Suddenly my arm grew hot and I had to close my eyes against the pain. As I did so I suddenly had a vision of some kind: it was of two little girls standing by the window in the hallway of Anubis house. They had their hands covering their eyes and were counting as a man and a woman crept up behind them. It looked like they were playing a version of what we called "red light, green light"
I opened my eyes once the scene ended and stared around the classroom. What the hell had just happened? I groaned as my arm heated up again and I was forced to close my eyes.
This time there was a little boy standing as the family sat at the dinner table. Did the father just call the boy Victor?!
I sighed in relief as the vision ended and I could focus on class again. I looked over at Nina but she looked completely normal. Huh. Had she not seen any of that?
"Thanks for all your help with this campaign, guys. I've only had to struggle all the way from the art room with this stuff," Amber told us as she entered the class.
"I thought Alfie was going to be your campaign manager," Mara asked.
"Not anymore," Amber told her as Alfie looked on clearly upset.
"Jerome, are you free to talk about our campaign?" I looked over at Jerome, still uncertain about how I felt after what he had done to Amber. I saw him glance at me before turning back to Mara.
"You know what, Mara? No need. You and Mick carry on with your smoochy yuck-fest, and I'll do everything, okay?" He burst out.
"That's very kind of you, Jerome," Mara said.
"Yeah, see, thing is, I am not kind, and I'm not a sucker either, so you do it yourself. Come on, Amber. Let's celebrate. You've won," Jerome said.
"Huh?" She asked, completely confused.
"I'm your new campaign manager. Commiserations, loser," Jerome said over his shoulder to Mara.
"Um, what was that?" I asked my sister. She shrugged at me.
I kissed as halfway through the next class my bracelet heated up yet again. I saw the younger version of Victor crying at the bottom of the staircase. And then the scene flashed to Victor and his father in the office as he told her that Sarah and Charlotte were not his friends and that his job was discover where their parents had hidden the Cup of Ankh. I gasped as I heard the way Victor's dad was talking to him. No wonder he turned out the way he did. Oh geeze, I silently thought to myself. This is scarily similar to the pensive. Is that what's going on? It definitely felt like I was watching someone else's memories...I watched as the little girls approached Victor and asked if he was okay, only for him to repeat the threat his dad had used on him. I was right. Victor was very similar to Snape. Completely misunderstood, not to say that it excused his current actions. I continued to watch as younger Sarah started to make her audio diary on the cylinders as young Charlotte sat in their room just staring miserably around the room or sometimes she would sing to herself. But always sad sounding melodies. I watched as they marked the days on the wall as we had spotted in tally marks. The scene changed again and Victor's father was demanding the girls tell him where the Cup of Ankh was. But they said that they would never tell. And then there was an image of the Frobisher-Smythes smiling from the top of the stairs.
I blinked as my vision finally cleared once more. My mind racing. I glanced over at Nina as I debated whether or not to tell her. I mean, how was I supposed to explain what I had seen, let alone how!
*****
"Get your feet off the furniture, boy! What are you two starring at? I want you all in bed by 9:00, or else there will be consequences!" Victor shouted at Jerome who was on the couch reading a book as Fabian, Nina, and I walked into the living room.
"What's bugging him?" Fabian asked as I suddenly spotted something on the couch and my face drained of color.
"It's Sarah's. She's been here!" I exclaimed. Was that why I had been having those visions all day? If so, what did they mean? Why? I had so many questions.
*****
"Sarah?" My sister mumbled as we had another Sarah dream that night. She was sitting on our bed this time.
"Good-bye, my darlings. It's your quest now.
Don't let anyone stop you, my loves. There are others also searching, others less pure of heart than you two. It's up to you now. Now it's time for me to go. Layla, find your other protectors before it's too late for you - and them..." she said before fading out.
"Sarah!" Nina and I sat up in bed and started crying we had a really bad feeling. It was like she was saying goodbye...
*****
"Wow!" I commented as Nina and I watched Amber get ready the next morning.
"It's showtime!" She said.
"So election day. The big vote-off. Now, Alfie, of course, is a definite for Amber, so is Nina, Layla and myself, and that just leaves Mick and Patricia for you then, Mara. Are you getting nervous?" Jerome commented. Since Amber seemed to have gotten over his prank I had decided to let it go.
"Oh, back off, Clarke," Mick told him.
"Nina, Layla, sweeties, could you come with me, please?" Trudy said looking a bit worried. I didn't like the look on her face. I reached out and clung to my sisters hand. I had the same feeling I got after the car crash. She squeezed back and we didn't let go as we followed Trudy into the hallway.
"There's some bad news, I'm afraid. The old people's home just called," Trudy said. Nina's grip on my hand was even tighter now.
"Sarah's dead," she whispered.
"Sarah?" Trudy asked.
"She meant Emily," I said quietly.
"So sad. Oh. Now, Mrs. Mulligan wants to see you two. There's something that Emily wanted you to have. Oh, sweethearts," Trudy said as she hugged us. I decided there was definitely no point in bringing up my visions from yesterday now. At least not at the moment.
*****
"The funeral is tomorrow. It's all been taken care of by her nephew. You two are welcome to attend," Mrs. Mulligan told Nina and I.
"Nephew? I didn't know she had any relatives," I commented.
"Oh, just the one. Don't see much of him.
Now, Emily asked me to give you two this. It was when we got back from Anubis house. She was so much calmer after the visit. Contented almost. She told me you'd know what to do with it. And that it was your turn now, whatever that means," she said as she handed Nina a box. I couldn't help but remember the last vision I had of Sarah's parents. Had those been her memories?
"Yeah. She said something similar to us," Nina said.
*****
"Here, Layla, it looks like there's a letter for you, along with a file of articles," Nina said once we had arrived back in our room and started looking through the box of things Sarah had left. I took the letter, which was heavier than I would have expected and opened it. I took out the piece of paper but noticed the envelope was still heavy and tipped it upside down and gasped slightly as two necklaces and two rings fell out.
(Obviously I kind of wanted these necklaces to represent the Cup of Ankh and the Mask of Anubis :p )
(For the first ring - picture like a feminine wedding ring with the symbol of the Flail and Crook: representing Osiris, god of resurrection).
(Second ring concept is basically going to be a ring of the pharaoh passed down supposedly from one ruler to the next)
Wow; they were all so beautiful. I quickly put them on, tucking the necklaces under my school uniform like Nina did with her locket. I then unfolded the letter and began to read, my eyes instantly opening in surprise.
To whom it may concern,
I'm leaving this letter with my sister though I hope no one ever has to read it.
If you are, then it means I am now dead and the torch has been passed on once more.
I know you must have many questions and I wish I could answer them but you must find the truth for yourself.
When you do, you must make sure to look out for your protectors, your Osirians need you just as much as you need them.
- Charlotte Frobisher-Smythe
I flipped the letter over hoping there might be more seeing as she had been extremely vague. But there was nothing else.
I put the letter back in the envelope and then moved on towards the file. It was a stack of obituaries and articles for different boys and girls over the years. They always seemed to be in pairs of three and at least one boy and girl never seemed to make it past the age of 18...well that's not ominous at all, I thought as I looked at Nina who was going through the rest of Sarah's box. Nope, there was no way I was going to tell her that I thought there might be a chance the reason why Sarah had been so anxious for her to protect me was that I might die before my 18th birthday. No way! It was complete nonsense anyways. My brain just liked to spot nonexistent patterns that's all.
"You okay?" I asked her as I leaned over and gently wiped the tears off of my sister's face.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," Nina said. I looked up to see Alfie, Patricia and Fabian walk into our room.
"Hey, just checking you're okay?" Fabian asked since neither of us had gone to school.
"Sarah died last night," Nina told them. "These are her things. She wanted us to have them."
"I'm so sorry," Fabian said as Nina leaned into him. I found myself wishing that I could do the same with Jerome but I instantly shooed the thought from my head. There were more important things to be thinking about.
"She came to us last night. Spoke to us," Nina said. "She sat on our bed."
"Like, a ghost, or an alien?" Alfie asked nervously.
"Alfie!" Patricia scolded.
"Seriously, it freaks me out," Alfie said.
"Okay, well, Alfie, if you want to be freaked out about something, be freaked out about the fact that the only person who had any answers or who could help us in any way is now gone!" Nina shouted at him. I grabbed her hand.
"Sorry," Alfie whispered as Patricia unfolded a set of papers.
"Um," she said handing them over to Fabian.
"Gustav and Isabella Zeno" - Rufus's parents," Fabian read.
"What is it?" I asked.
"This says that Rufus's parents became the legal guardians of Sarah and Charlotte two years after their parents died. Though it looks like before that, the Frobisher's had adopted Charlotte, who was found on their doorstep as a baby," Fabian said, glancing over at me as he spotted the similarities. I did my best to ignore that as I didn't want to think about potential patterns anymore.
"And there's a copy of Rufus's birth certificate right here. He's definitely the same age as Sarah and Charlotte," Fabian added.
*****
"So the votes have been counted and verified, and now Mr. Sweet will announce the new school representative," Mrs. Andrews said once Nina and I had joined the others back at the school and cast our votes. I know Amber was our friend but Nina had talked me into voting for Mara as she seemed like a better candidate based on her platform. Amber had never really come up with one.
"Well, this this is amazing. Only two votes in it, and the winner is Mara," Mr. Sweet read as we all clapped. "Congratulations, Mara. Come up on stage."
"Firstly, I want to thank everyone who supported me, to everyone who voted, and my amazing boyfriend Mick. When I said school should be both educational and fun, I genuinely believe that you can have both!" Mara said to the crowd.