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"alfie, if i'm being completely honest, i'm not a huge fan of being blind and having to be led by you― ow." the girl groaned, bumping into another object that the boy quickly apologised for, for the fifth time.
"we're almost there." he assured, but he also said that the other five times. "and here we are!" he declared as bella finally opened her eyes, surprised to find jerome at a picnic bench just outside the school with a bunch of different foods on the table. bella's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion as she turned to question alfie, but the boy had disappeared before she had a chance to even see him.
"what is all this?" bella questioned as she walked up to jerome, the boy giving her a bright smile as he guided her to the bench. she was surprised to find a whole load of homemade chinese food in different tupperware, leaving the girl speechless as her eyes widened at the sight of it all. "did you do all of this?" she questioned, pointing towards it all as she looked up at jerome.
"well," jerome shrugged as if it were no big deal. "i did have a little help, but it was all me." bella grinned, rolling her eyes at the boy who took all the credit.
"ah," realisation washed over her. "is this what you and mara were up to?" she questioned, looking up at him. jerome smiled, nodding his head. bella didn't ask anymore questions as they both sat down, the girl pushing the thought of jerome and mara spending time together to the back of her head as her mouth watered just at the sight of it all.
"and," jerome pulled something out of his bag before handing it over to her. "we'll be eating traditionally." he declared, handing the girl chopsticks which took her by surprise.
"you can use these?" she questioned as she accepted the cutlery.
"oh," jerome chuckled, shaking his head. "don't be silly, this is for me." he pulled out a fork, causing the girl to roll her eyes as a giggle escaped her lips. jerome smiled, watching as the girl excitedly turned to the food, her eyes roaming around as she wondered what to eat first.
she decided to go for a dumpling, picking it up and taking a bite. jerome noticed almost immediately how the girl froze and wasn't chewing, immediately thinking the worst as he figured that it didn't taste as good as he had hoped it would. "why, what is it? does it not taste good?" he questioned.
"hm? no, it tastes," bella cringed as she chewed the dumpling. "so good." she lied, faking a smile but it was obvious that she was not enjoying the food at all.
"let me try―"
"no!" bella grabbed the dumpling he was about to reach for, shoving it into her mouth before he could stop her. "mmmm." she lied, giving him a thumbs up whilst struggling to chew her food. however, she couldn't bring herself to swallow the second dumpling, feeling like she was about to throw up if she did. jerome was quick to notice, hurrying to grab a napkin and handing it to her.
"bell, you didn't have to do that." jerome mumbled as the girl hurriedly spat out the contents of the dumpling into the napkin.
"sorry." she mumbled as he handed her a bottle of water, which she happily accepted and downed half the bottle in seconds. "i'm grateful for the thought though," she added, trying to cheer the boy up. "it really means a lot."
"it won't mean a lot when you're starving until dinner." jerome fired back, clearly disappointed in himself as he deflated in defeat. bella smiled, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder as she caught his attention.
"come on, there's a vending machine calling our name." she joked, giving his shoulder a comforting squeeze. jerome sighed, breaking out into a small smile as he nodded his head, the two standing up from the bench before walking back into the school.
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"we're not actually doing the dates anymore, amber." fabian awkwardly declared as bella walked into the kitchen. she realised her bad timing as there was a silence that followed his statement ― all the anubis students couldn't believe what they were hearing.
"they split up!" jerome announced in disbelief, although he was laughing at the situation.
"what? no way!" amber couldn't believe what she had heard. "this is all my fault, isn't it? me and double date gate." she was quick to blame herself for their break up, as jerome nodded his head, mouthing yes towards the girl in a teasing manner.
"no, no amber, it's not you, it's us." nina explained, giving a terrible excuse as bella watched the scene unfold before her, stood at the kitchen counter as she poured herself a glass of orange juice, wondering what she had just walked into. amber was taken aback, seeming speechless by the situation as her eyes landed on innocent alfie who was also visibly upset by it all too.
"it's all your fault, alfie!" amber suddenly declared, glaring at the boy before standing up and storming out of the room.
"wait! amber, we're still on right?" the boy hurriedly grabbed a piece of fruit before running after her. bella awkwardly sipped her juice, wondering if she should just skip breakfast as she watched fabian storm out too.
"finally got to know the real fabian rutter and dumped him? is that it, nina?" jerome teased, getting all up in her face.
"it was mutual, jerome." nina fired back, glaring at the boy before also leaving the room. this only made jerome chortle with laughter before turning to the rest of the table.
"so, mick, mara ― when's your break up going public?" he invaded, the two mentioned looking at him in disgust ― bella included. she wondered if this was the same boy who had prepared a whole lunch for her just yesterday, and now here he was, invading people's privacy and clearly more interested in them than anyone else.
bella rolled her eyes, clearly done with breakfast as she decided to go upstairs and check on her roommates instead.
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the day went on as normal, the anubis students were all involved with the bid in the afternoon, so bella had opted to head home early instead. she decided that she may as well see if she could get a few minutes to talk to her grandmother instead, although she spent most of her mornings talking to her, this morning didn't exactly leave her much time to speak with her as she was instead comforting a distressed amber who was still blaming herself for fabina breaking up.
she quickly got changed into something more comfy before heading downstairs into the kitchen to make a quick snack. bella searched through the cupboards, looking for anything easy to make when she felt a soft breeze blow past her. she turned around, guessing that someone had maybe entered the house, but she was met with complete silence.
"is anyone there?" she called out, but was met with no response. she shrugged it off, not expecting anyone to be home anyway since they were all at the frobisher library, and turned back to the cupboards as she reached for some bagels on the top shelf.
"use the power." bella's eyes widened, gasping in surprise as the bag of bagels fell out of her hand and landed on the floor. the girl glanced around once more, grateful that there wasn't some creepy lady stood behind her this time round. she crouched down, reaching out to pick up the bagels when her ring suddenly caught her attention.
bella watched in amazement as the once white flower on the ring suddenly started glowing a bright mix of red and orange. she brought her hand back to her to inspect the ring, but the colour suddenly disappeared, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion as she wondered if she was seeing things.
"use the power and go into the place of fire." the voice whispered once more. bella wondered if she had heard right, confused by the strange riddle that was given to her.
"use what power to go into what fire?" she questioned the voice inside her head, but there wasn't a response. the girl sighed, wondering if this was just another dead end, however, something else was glowing out of the corner of her eye. "no way." she breathed out, reaching up and pressing her hand against the oven door. however, upon doing so, it seemed that her ring reacted as it lit up again, and just like magic, the oven door swung open.
"no. way." bella repeated again, disbelief clear in her tone as she glanced down at the ring. she clenched her fist, a sudden adrenaline rush spiking as she made sure that no one was around before bravely crawling in, the door shutting behind her which took her by surprise. bella took in a deep breath, carefully making her way through and down some stairs before meeting another door which she easily pushed through.
"oh. my. god." she couldn't believe her eyes. it was like some sort of weird alchemist/science lab that felt familiar to her. "the cellar." she mumbled, remembering the weird dream she had, which only got weirder as the room was exactly how it was in her dream, despite never having seen it before.
"guide the chosen one, you are the duat, the conductor of hell." a shiver ran up bella's spine upon hearing those words. what did it mean? what's a duat? and why is it bella?
she carefully took a step forward, peering around the eerie room, although her heart was racing against her chest and fear coursed through her veins, her curiosity and adrenaline buried all those feelings, as she excitedly looked around. it was definitely the best time to be snooping around and trying to figure out what was going on since victor was distracted with the bid at the frobisher library.
bella hummed, staring at a shelf which had an array of objects, including victor's weird obsession with taxidermy animals. the girl grimaced as she was eye level with what she assumed was a beaver, wondering where victor even got them from. she reached up, about to poke the animal, when the glow of her ring caught her attention.
she scanned the shelf, figuring that this was something else that had to open up too. with the only thought coming to mind, she pressed her hand against the back of the wall, hoping that it would open just like it did with the oven door. to her disappointment, apparently the same trick didn't work twice. with not a lot of other ideas, she decided to place her hand in different positions on the wall, figuring that maybe where she placed it made a difference. starting from the bottom, she worked her way to the top, but it was no use, as the wall stood still in it's place.
bella hummed, looking up and down, trying to figure out what exactly would open the door. as she glanced up, she noticed a border along the top, with four of the small panels sticking out slightly. her eyebrows knitted together as she reached up on her tiptoes and touched the four only to realise that they moved. "numbers?" bella mumbled to herself, wondering what the combination could be.
"eighteen ninety."
"huh, that was easy." she mumbled to herself, putting in the number she had heard. she took a step back, waiting patiently for something to happen. when she was met with nothing, the girl rolled her eyes as a sigh escaped her lips. "and this is why you don't listen to the voices in your hea..." the girl trailed off as she watched the shelf slowly slide itself open, her eyes widening as she realised that there was a small room behind.
"no. way." she breathed out, stepping inside the small room. she had definitely said that a lot tonight. she stood in the middle of the room, looking around in fascination as she wondered what all of this meant. usually bella would be freaked out by something like this, but she had to admit, a secret room was pretty cool.
however, that feeling didn't last long as she turned around at the sound of something shutting ― which was in fact correct, as the shelf had shut itself and locked the girl in. her eyes widened in surprise as she hurried up to it, pushing it in hopes of it easily sliding back open agian. she looked around, hoping that there was something similar on this side, like the other, to help her open it.
"bingo." she mumbled quietly to herself, about to press what looked like a doorbell, until she suddenly heard something on the other side, causing her to freeze. at first she had thought victor had already returned, however, upon getting a clearer sound as they walked up to the shelf, she realised that it was three students she never would have expected to be down here.
"okay, eighteen ninety, here goes." bella took a step back, knowing what was going to follow once those numbers were placed. as the doors slid open, bella was met with three familiar faces who were excited about the door opening. however, as soon as there eyes landed on the girl they weren't expecting to be stood there, surprise washed over.
"bella!?"
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