Layla's POV
"They were talking about the elixir, Layla," Nina said worriedly after she and Fabian had filled me in on there run in with Victor and Mr. Sweet in the old Frobisher-Library earlier.
"Victor obviously hasn't hung up his evil boots yet," I stated, crossing my arms. Though I still couldn't get the flashbacks I had received from Sarah out of my mind. He clearly had a rotten childhood, but that didn't excuse his current behavior!
"But you heard what Sweety said. They don't have the recipe, and the cup was destroyed," Fabian said. I looked at my sister.
"Yeah, about the cup," I tried to tell Fabian.
"What is that amazing smell?" Amber asked as she walked into the room.
Alfie was having Trudy help him bake cupcakes for her.
We all looked over though when we heard a commotion. Alfie had turned on the mixer without the lid.
"Alfie! Oh, turn it off!" Trudy shouted.
"Sarah would know what to do. I wish I could make myself dream of her again," Nina commented. I thought she was out of her mind. I liked the thought of Sarah and her parents finally being free of their curse. And I still had to figure more out about Charlotte and those files she had given me about the other boys and girls who had died before they could ever make it to 18.
"I tried to make myself dream about Justin Bieber once, but it wasn't Justin Bieber, it was just a beaver. I put that down to a brain typo," Amber commented.
"Amber, what are you talking about?" Nina asked.
"Why? What are you talking about?"
"Dreams," I told her.
"Me too. I'll lend you this book I have. It's really good," she told us.
"And then next, count your breaths, and with each breath, imagine yourself walking down a staircase, one step at a time and then the beaver I mean, Bieber is waiting for you at the bottom," Amber said as she read from her book that night as my sister and I sat on our bed.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked her. She nodded at me and I groaned but shrugged. If she was doing it then there was no way I was going to let her do it alone.
"Here we go, Amber, the first gift of many," Alfie said as he entered our room and handed her a box.
"Oh, you shouldn't have. How many, exactly?" I rolled my eyes at her but glanced over at my flowers from Jerome. It was a nice gesture in my book.
"It's 10:00!" We heard Victor shout.
"Got to go," Alfie said as he left.
"Cupcakes, yummy!" Amber exclaimed as she opened the box.
*****
"Five, four, three, Two, One," my sister counted as we walked down the staircase in our dream. This didn't feel like our previous ones though. It felt darker, more sinister.
"Hello? Sarah? Are you there? Charlotte? We need your help," I called out.
"Dry your eyes, chosen one," Victor suddenly said as we turned around to see him standing before us.
I looked at Nina to see her crying tears of gold.
We gasped as we woke up and turned on the lamp.
"It won't fit in the," Amber was mumbling in her sleep. My sister let out a scream of surprise as we saw her more clearly.
"Amber, your face," I told her as she screamed as she looked in a hand mirror.
"What? Where's the intruder? Ah!" Trudy exclaimed as she burst into our room holding a pan and looked at Amber. (Sidenote: I get serious Tangled vibes from this, it came out before that movie though right?)
*****
"So, Amber, talk me through the new 'do," Joy commented at breakfast the next morning as she looked at Amber who had her hair fully covering her face.
"Alfie Lewis, look at my face," Amber exclaimed as she somehow managed to spot Alfie and Jerome entering the room.
"Beautiful as ever, um...Oh!" He shouted as Amber brushed her hair aside to show him her face.
"It's not that bad. Is it that bad?" Amber cried out turning to look at us. I shook my head along with my sister.
"Amber, you look like a balloon animal," Jerome said honestly. I smacked him on the shoulder.
"I knew it!" She cried.
"Amber, you know I love you for your inner beauty and no matter what deforming illness you may have, I'll always," Alfie started to say.
"It's you, you doofus! I'm allergic to raspberries, and you made me raspberry-flavored cupcakes," she screamed at him.
"Oh. Yes, perfect timing," Alfie exclaimed as the doorbell rang.
"Tell me the truth. Hair? Or no hair?" Amber asked us.
"Hair," Patricia told her.
"Definitely hair," Joy added.
"There we go. This will cheer you up, Amber," Alfie said as he and Jerome came back into the room.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Flowers," he replied handing a purple rapped bouquet.
"Ah! Ow, ow, ow, ow! It's a cactus. You got me a cactus," she shouted.
"Gift fail, Alfie," Nina told him.
"What happened to orchids?" Alfie said turning to Jerome. Well I guess that explains my flowers. But what about the cactus?
"Oh, cacti were two-for-one," Jerome chuckled.
"Well, where's the other one?" Amber asked as she sat down and then screamed and stood up.
"Oh, good. You found it," Jerome laughed.
"No more gifts, Alfie. When I said you shouldn't have, you really shouldn't have," she said before storming out of the room.
*****
"Of course, you must stay," I heard Trudy saying as Nina and I started walking down the stairs.
"Oh, you are so kind. Thank you, I," we heard a familiar voice say.
"Gran!" We shouted as we hurried down the rest of the stairs.
"Oh, hi, darlings! Oh, miss me already? Is everything okay?" She asked as she gave us both hugs.
"Yeah, of course. Are are you okay?" I asked.
"What's with all the luggage?" Nina chimed in.
"Just my luck to pick a hotel that floods," she replied.
"And everywhere else is full, so I thought your gran could stay in your room tonight, if that's all right," Trudy said.
"You know, I'm kind of glad your hotel flooded," I giggled.
"So am I," she told me.
"Come," Nina urged as we showed her into the kitchen.
"Here's one of me with a really big buttress," she said handing out pictures from her trip so far.
"Oh, now, don't put yourself down," Jerome commented. I could see Gran smirking at me as she glanced at the arm Jerome had around my shoulder and I blushed.
"See you guys later," Mara and Mick said at the same time.
"You do realize you're going to spend the entire film explaining the plot to him?" Asked Jerome.
"Shut up, Clarke," Mick hissed.
"Uh, are you sure you can't come?" Mara asked Nina and I.
"Look at these gargoyles, Fabian," Gran was saying.
"Nina Martin, Fabian Rutter!" Victor came in pointing at them before suddenly spotting Gran and pausing before storming back out.
"Ooh, was that him? The Victor? Why didn't you tell me he was cute? I think he is," said Gran as everyone at the table laughed.
I looked over at Nina as I held my pillow up to my ears to drown out Gran's snoring as she left to go meet up with Fabian. I had told her she should probably let him know that we hadn't actually destroy the Cup of Ankh but also to have fun on her "date".
*****
"Shame you couldn't come last night. The movie was amazing, Mara told us as we all walked through the halls.
"Well, we had a great time looking at Gran's photos. Didn't we, Fabian?" Nina said looking at him. I glanced at Jerome to see him shrug at me. Well, I guess I couldn't blame him.
"Yeah, yeah. No, who doesn't love looking at someone else's holiday?" Fabian chuckled nervously.
"Just wait till she starts reading you her poems!" I giggled looking over at Jerome again.
"Really?" Fabian asked nervously.
"Yeah," Nina confirmed.
"Is that you, Jerome?" I asked as I noticed a blown up picture of him on the wall. He was wearing a dress.
"Oh. He makes a real pretty lady," Patricia laughed.
"And I have plenty more where that came from.
Here we have my brother, Jerome, sitting on his potty, age two. Jerome crying on Santa's knee, age 11. My brother," a younger girl was saying as she passed around photos.
"Poppy!" Jerome exclaimed.
"Oh, hi, gerbil. Do you remember the time you dressed up as a girl?" The girl teased.
"They made me do it. They made me do it. It was a school play. It's a kind of Christmas tradition over here, Layla," Jerome exclaimed as he looked at me.
"Hey, no need to justify yourself to me!" I told him though frowning at the having learned he had never bothered to mention having a sister before.
"You never told us you had a kid sister," Joy stated. Seeing as she had known Jerome a lot longer than I, it made me feel a smidge better that nobody had known, but why keep her a secret.
"That's because I refuse to acknowledge she exists. Take it down now!" Jerome demanded.
"No chance. Get off!" She exclaimed as Jerome made a grab for her bag and took out her phone.
"Give it back!" She cried out.
"Do the crime, you pay the fine!" he told her.
"Jerome, why do you have to be so mean?" I hissed at him.
"And tall?" His sister added as she tried to reach her phone.
"What is going on out here? Haven't any of you got classes to go to? Ah, who is responsible for this?" Mr. Sweet asked as he stared at the poster of Jerome. I saw him glance down at his sister before gritting his teeth.
"I am," he said. Aww, maybe he did have a heart after all. It reminded me of when he and the others had spoken up in defense of my sister last year when Victor found out his attic key was missing.
"Well, Clarke, take it down immediately. We're expecting a very important visitor this afternoon!" Mr. Sweet demander.
"I'll say thanks if you give me back my phone," Jerome's sister pleaded.
"Later. Loser," he shouted at her as he walked off. I shrugged at her.
I walked into class to hear Amber asking my sister if her face looked better.
"Trudy's clearing out the attic!" Alfie said as he walked into the room.
"What?" I exclaimed worried about the Cup of Ankh.
"I just saw her junking the old Dollhouse you liked, Amber,"
"No! I was going to ask for that!" Amber exclaimed as she ran off.
"What about the cup?" I hissed at my sister.
"It should be safe, shouldn't it?" She whispered back.
"I hope so!" I said.
"We'll check on it tonight," she reassured me.
"He's got a sister?" Alfie said in surprise as we filled him in on what had just happened. Okay, so even Alfie hadn't known?
"Poppy? Yeah, she started this term," Fabian told him.
"Why is Jerome always so secretive about everything?" I complained.
"I know. I mean, who keeps a sister a secret? Weird," Patricia said.
"Not as weird as Jerome in the dress," Nina laughed.
"I can't believe it. I mean, I tell him everything, Even some stuff I definitely should've held back, like a fear of red doors and olives," Alfie grumbled.
"And here we have the drama studio. Good afternoon, everyone," Mr. Sweet said as he, Victor, and a mysterious man entered the drama studio.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Sweet," we called out.
"And has Mr. Sweet filled you in on the history of the Anubis estate, Gustav? It really is quite, quite fascinating," Victor said as we all stared as we watched him practically groveling.
"The Frobisher-Smythes once owned it, didn't they?" The man named Gustav asked.
"That's right," Victor said.
"And moving on. Thank you," Mr. Sweet said.
"What was that?" I asked.
"I don't know, but did you guys see Victor? He was practically bowing. "Quite, quite fascinating, Gustav," Nina mimicked. I laughed.
"Gustav, would you like to see my pin collection?" Fabian acted out.
"Gustav, I'd like you to meet my raven, Corbiere," Mara said stroking an imaginary bird.
"It's 10:00. I want you hear a pin drop!" Alfie mimed. We shared a round of laughter as we sat back in our chairs.
*****
"The cup. Okay. It's still here," I confirmed as I glanced over at my sister and sighed in relief.
Suddenly black smoke filled the room and a mysterious spirit lady appeared in front of us.
"How long I have waited, like Isis waited for Osiris. You have freed me, chosen one," the woman said as she stared at Nina with her palms stretched out.
"Who are you? What do you want?" I demanded to know.
"The day will come little reincarnation when everyone will know my name," she told me before looking back at Nina. "Find it, bring it, and you shall weep tears of gold," she hissed. Why did she call me that as well! Ugh! What did that mean?!
"Find what?" Nina asked.
"The mask of Anubis, child. Find it before anyone else or forfeit your life!" I gripped my sisters hand.