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bella entered the dining room to grab a snack. her 'light reading' wasn't really going to plan and instead she had been busy doing her homework ― which was surprisingly more fun than reading robert's diaries. honestly, she knew there wasn't a lot going on back in the day, but how does one drone on and on about the weather of one day over four pages? bella just couldn't get her head round it.
her attention was caught by mick who tapped his spoon on a glass, standing up as he awkwardly looked down, trying to pull himself together for his sudden announcement. "erm, guys," he began, seeming slightly nervous as he looked around the room, catching everybody's attention. "i spoke to mr sweet, so it's official," the students gathered around, bella watching from the kitchen island as she took a sip of her apple juice. "i'm moving to australia."
the other students gasped, taken aback by the sudden news, as a few of them didn't look as surprised, clearly knowing that this was coming. bella glanced over at mara, knowing that the girl definitely wasn't taking the news very well as she stared at mick with teary eyes.
"what?" fabian was surprised that he had no idea what his roommate had been hiding.
"when do you leave?" patricia questioned.
"tomorrow."
"tomorrow!?" mara repeated in disbelief, realising that there wasn't enough time left for the both of them. "it's all decided?"
"well, i reckon some people just can't wait to see me go." bella sighed, setting her glass down as she watched mick sit back down, his eyes never leaving mara as the girl clearly wanted to express her feelings, seeing as her mouth kept opening and closing like a fish, unable to get her words out.
"but i.." the table watched the pair, wondering if mara was finally going to be honest with the boy. "i..." she shook her head, close to tears as she stood up from the table and escaped the room as soon as possible. silence enveloped the residents of anubis, as no one seemed brave enough to speak first. bella couldn't help but feel for mick, knowing exactly how it felt to leave the people that you love, wondering when it would be that you'd see them next.
dinner that night was depressing. bella could understand how the students felt as they struggled to accept that such a close friend of theirs was leaving. however, they didn't let it completely ruin the night as they laughed about memories that had been made, and excitedly talked about what the future held for mick. they all knew that he was going on to do better and greater things, and they couldn't let his sudden last night become a bad memory too.
the next morning, bella skipped breakfast again. she had picked up frobisher's book reluctantly and this time, it seemed like there was something actually worth reading. although there was nothing about amulets or secret passageways, and sadly nothing about this mask that they were being forced to find ― she did find a little passage about his friends. or rather, a family that they used to be close with, and bella couldn't help but think that the little girl who was best friends with sarah, may also be the old lady from her dreams.
"what have you got there?"
"huh? nothing!" bella panicked, shutting the book quickly as she turned to find alfie staring at her weirdly, wondering why she was being so jumpy.
"okay...?" he brushed it off, deciding to drop the topic. "where were you at breakfast this morning? actually, where are you at breakfast, like, everyday?" he questioned curiously, noticing how his new friend seemed to have a hatred for the most important meal of the day.
"homework." she lied, terribly too since both her and alfie knew that waking up early in the morning to do homework wasn't believable for any of the students of anubis house. even mara couldn't miss breakfast. "let's go to class." she changed the subject, standing up a little too enthusiastically and smiling at the boy as he gave her a weirded out look before following her out of the student lounge.
however, they didn't get far and it didn't take long for bella's fake smile to disappear as they both accidentally witnessed jerome and mara's conversation.
"is it just coincidence, that you broke up with mick at exactly the right moment to make him follow his dreams?" it was obvious to bella that mara had become his topic of interest now, and she hated to admit it, but she felt like she had been tossed to the side. she didn't know why she was feeling this way, especially when she was the one who had said she didn't have any feelings for the boy except platonic, but she didn't think that it cause distance within their friendship.
"bella," alfie placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder, as he was just as confused about jerome's feelings as hers.
"there you are!" luckily for bella, amber millington was enough of a distraction to get her mind off of her silly feelings. "i have so much to catch you up on, come on." the blonde girl looped her arm through bella's before dragging her away ― bella grateful for once that amber was dragging her away.
alfie watched the pair walk away with furrowed eyebrows, wondering what they were up to, but he was quick to brush it off as he noticed jerome walking away too in the opposite direction. "hey," he quickly ran after the boy, catching up with him as the prankster had stopped in his tracks too upon hearing alfie's voice. "what was that between you and mara?" he questioned, causing the boy to roll his eyes as he ran his hands over his face in frustration.
"nothing, alfie, it's nothing."
"don't tell me you still have feelings for her?" he treaded carefully, afraid of hitting a landmine. "what about bella?"
"alfie," jerome began taking in a deep breath. "bella's rejection was more than enough to tell me to move on, it's obvious that she wants nothing to do with dating or anything, and mara," he sighed, shaking his head. "there's nothing there too." he finished about to walk away until his best friend caught his attention.
"really? because i was just with bella, and the jealousy was unreal." alfie admitted, although he made it sound a little more extreme than it was, especially when bella didn't even comment on the two she had seen together, it was obvious that there was something there. plus, he wasn't about to give up on jella.
"what do you mean?"
"you should've seen it man," alfie continued, placing a hand on jerome's shoulder. "she would've given the green eyed monster a run for its money." this seemed to pique jerome's interest, completely forgetting about mara rejecting him as he jumped back to bella.
"interesting."
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"bella!" amber pulled the girl aside. "where have you been? you've basically missed the whole party." she pointed out as the two were joined by fabian and nina. it was the middle of mick's leaving party and everyone had changed upon returning from school, wasting no time in getting the celebrations started. however bella had been stuck up in her room after getting changed, deep into frobisher's diary and had completely lost track of time.
"sorry," the girl apologised. "i just," she paused, looking around to make sure that no one was listening before continuing. "i was reading the diaries, and it started talking about this other family." bella began explaining. "and get this, they were from china but moved over to england and became neighbours with the frobisher-smythe's."
"do you think it's to do with the woman from your dreams?" nina questioned, putting the pieces together.
"well, if it's like how you said sarah used to come into your dreams, then maybe this is the same? she used to be best friends with sarah too." bella added. nina glanced over at fabian, giving him a knowing look.
"has she appeared in your dreams since that day?" nina questioned. bella shook her head no in answer. "i wonder," she quietly mumbled to herself as she seemed deep in thought. "i mean, sarah appeared in my dreams whilst she was alive, but after she passed away..."
"are you suggesting that the old lady in bella's dreams could still be alive?" amber questioned, surprising bella with the declaration.
"maybe," nina shrugged, seeming to doubt herself. "it could be different though." she continued, trying not to get everyone's hopes up. "but if she is alive then she could be in danger."
"well, it's more reason that we need to go to down to the room and find a way into those tunnels." fabian declared, as nina and amber nodded in agreement.
"tunnels? what tunnels?" bella questioned, her eyebrows knitted together as she glanced between the three.
"me and fabian went back last night and we found a tunnel behind the bookshelf. we just need to figure out how to open it and we're in!" nina explained, excited by their discovery, however, bella was offended as she crossed her arms and gave them all a pointed look.
"and when exactly was i going to find out?" she questioned.
"bella," nina seemed to struggle to find the words as she glanced between amber and fabian. "we were going to tell you and amber at breakfast, but you weren't there and i guess we forgot to bring it up every time we saw you today..." she trailed off with her poor excuse, unable to lie to the girl. "i promise though, we'll make sure to keep you in the loop." nina quickly added, trying her best to make up for the mistake. "you're in this as deep as the rest of us." she admitted, as the others nodded in agreement.
"okay," bella sighed, nodding her head as her hands fell back to her sides.
"come on, let's take pictures!" joy called out, gathering everyone around as they all posed for pictures, nina and bella taking them for the group as they enjoyed their last moments with mick. the girls lined up and were taking pictures of the boys as they did silly faces when trudy suddenly came in and paused the music.
"sorry mick," the atmosphere was quick to change as everyone realised what was coming. "but your taxi's waiting." mick nodded, releasing a deep breath as he looked around at his housemates one last time, a small smile on his face. one by one, everyone wished the boy goodbye, putting on a brave face as they were clearly upset by the situation.
"no mara?" he questioned as it was time for him to go. patricia and joy shook their head, clearly unable to bring the girl down from her room. "i guess er," mick plastered on a fake smile, struggling to get his words out. "i guess i better be going then." he walked out with the other students following him, the sibuna members hanging back as they watched mick leave.
"you guys okay?" nina questioned as her and bella approached amber and fabian. they knew how close the pair were with mick and how hard it must be to say goodbye, especially since both nina and bella have been on the other side, having to leave their loved ones. however, they knew that mick was moving on to greater things, and just how they settled in, they didn't doubt that mick would be doing the same too.
"yeah," fabian answered, clearly struggling to hide his emotions as he nodded his head. "let's do something to take our minds off it." he suggested. "victor's made himself scarce, so."
"i never thought i'd say this, but bring on the cellar." amber agreed, nodding her head as the two girls chuckled. the four of them nodded in agreement before making their way over to the oven door and back into the cellar where the mystery awaits. this time, fabian did the honour of opening the secret room, putting in the special number before stepping back to allow the door open.
"why is it eighteen ninety?" bella suddenly questioned as they entered, the shelf shutting behind them. she hadn't really thought about it until now, but there had to be a reason that they had figured out the code was eighteen ninety.
"it was the year tutankhamen's tomb had been discovered." fabian answered absentmindedly, before realisation washed over. "how did you manage to get in? if you didn't even know that?" he questioned, piquing everyone's interest as they turned to the girl.
"the voices in my head." she answered with a shrug, as if it were no big deal.
"well can those voices find us the mask please so we're not being chased by a crazy spirit lady?" amber questioned genuinely, but the others just took it as a joke as they quietly chuckled at her request, shaking their heads.
"i wish, but they come and they go." bella sighed. "let's just figure out how to get into those tunnels." she suggested as they all nodded in agreement, splitting up as they began searching the room for clues. amber was searching the desk whilst fabian studied the amulets, and bella busied herself with the small shelves by the sofa, trying to see if there was anything she could find.
nina sighed, stepping back as she looked up at the big shelf. "there's no hidden catch." she declared after being unable to find anything to get through. "but there is a symbol of this bird on the top shelf here." she pointed at the edge of the shelf, the three others turning to see what she was pointing at.
"i've seen that somewhere." fabian mumbled, narrowing his eyes as he racked through his brain. he suddenly turned around to the desk, looking through the amulets before grabbing one. "here it is." nina hurried over to his side, peering over his shoulder. "it's the ibis, the symbol of thoth, the god of wisdom and learning." fabian explained, bella impressed that he knew all that off by heart.
"sounds awesome." amber sarcastically responded. "i've seen him before, on one of these books." amber declared, walking over to the bookshelf. curiosity getting the better of her, bella walked over, wondering what amber was looking for.
she searched the shelf before her eyes landed on what she was looking for. "yup, here he is, our crazy, fun time god of mouldy old books." she joked, pulling the book as bella rolled her eyes in amusement. however, that didn't last long as the two girls were suddenly pushed and twisted round by the book shelf and straight into the creepy tunnels they had been searching for.
"what just happened?!" bella exclaimed as the two turned around, darkness engulfing them as fear took over.
"i take it back," amber's breathing began to get heavier as she held onto bella's arm. "books are awesome!" she shouted, hoping that they would flip back around. "bella, what do we do?!" she shook the frozen girl, snapping her out of her thoughts.
she quickly turned around, searching through the shelf. "there has to be a way out." bella assured, searching through the books. however, their attention was caught by a bright beam, the two watching as it scanned the ground and climbed up until it hit their eyes and caused a loud scream to escape their lips as a burning sensation pressed into their eyelids and took away their eyesight.
"help!"
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