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Jasper was waiting for Jerome as the boy came rushing to the library. Water droplets hanging from him as a light drizzle had started to fall.
The image of Camilla emblazoned on his mind, small but smiling – as pretty as a butterfly looking to innocent to do anything but as deadly as any lioness – this was his motivation for what he was about to do. He had to do it to protect his Camilla, the question was from whom. 'The Collector' – well Jerome wanted to know who he was. He needed to know who he was, who was threatening the people he cared about most. No matter what Jasper said there would be three of them at the meeting this evening. Though if his plan went well 2 of them wouldn't even know of his presence.
"have you got it?" Jasper demanded of the boy the moment he entered the library.
"No!" Jerome responded holding his arms out as if to question where he would hide a dollhouse. He wasn't magical like Camilla, though, from the way the twins or anyone else who knew about the girl's powers always quietened when the man was around, he suspected she hadn't shared that little discovery of her's with her family. "but I have got something your Collector will be interested in." with that he opened his bag and pulled out the small china doll he'd found in Victor's office. Holding it out to Jasper for him to see. The man in question didn't seem to understand the importance of the doll causing Jerome to sigh and lift the dolls leg up to show the small but detailed stitching of the word 'Sarah' on her leg.
"Okay... "Jasper took the doll of Jerome understanding now why he had brought it. It had belonged to Sarah Frobisher-Smythe. "this might do."
"and listen to this." Jerome knew he was pushing but he needed the meeting to go ahead. So, he leaned forward and pulled on a small toggle on the doll causing the childhood voice of Sarah to fill their ears.
"The Athenaeum is the place to look. Lift the wings to find the book. Hidden in this book of old, the water of life and tears of gold."
Throughout the dolls little speech, Jerome watched as a confident smile crept onto Jasper's face. He had found something worthy of a meeting.
"Oh yes!" Jasper exclaimed excitedly. "he'll be very interested in this."
"are you meeting him here?" Jerome casually asked seeing the man was distracted by the doll.
"no, Jepwoods Heath, "Jasper absentmindedly told the boy as his eyes focused on the doll.
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Following a car was harder than Jerome had expected and by the time he arrived at Jepwoods Heath with his bike the heavens had opened and was soaking everything in sight. Jerome quickly hid behind a dump pile of scrap metal as Jasper's figure was illuminated by headlights. He had arrived just in time for the meeting. The engine of the car stopped and the lights switched off but, in the moonlight, it was still easy to see the ghostly figures well. Jerome covered his mouth as Vera was the first to step out of the approaching car, "Vera, I knew it." He muttered to himself bitterly at the woman's sight.
Along with Vera came a hooded man, and in the darkness, due to the hood, Jerome couldn't see his face at all. This must be The Collector.
"I don't see the dollhouse." The man spoke though the voice sounded off, robotic even as if he was using a voice changer and had put it to the wrong setting or something. Jerome frowned why would he have to hide himself in such a dramatic way. "are you incapable of completing one simple task?" the man bitterly spoke to the petrified Jasper.
"I need an assurance from you that Trudy is unharmed," Jasper spoke up clearly trying to sound more confident than his shaking hands were giving away he actually felt.
The hooded figure glanced to Vera before speaking, "she is safe, for now. Where is the Dollhouse?!"
"it's coming but it takes time, meanwhile I've brought this." With that Jasper opened the bag and brought out Sarah's doll.
"where did you get that?" Vera demanded of the man.
"it belonged to Sarah Frobisher-Smythe," Jasper told the pair, "and it plays a message... listen."
Jasper went to pull the cord but was stopped as The Collector grabbed it from him before throwing it to the ground, "I don't need a doll!" he yelled, before grabbing Jasper by the neck and pushing him back a few steps in anger, "I need a dollhouse!" before he could do anything violent Vera stepped in and pulled The Collector of Jasper.
Jerome went to move forward but his foot stepped on some loose pipes which caused a clattering sound. All three of the adults froze and looked towards the area Jerome was hiding.
"what was that?" Vera asked quietly, "have you brought someone with you?"
"you better not have!" The Collector threatened as Vera adjusted her jacket and marched over to the spot determined to find out the truth herself.
Jerome held his breath as he slowly ducked down further behind a large tire. Watching the light of Vera's torch as it swung past him on numerous occasions with the woman's search.
"Woman we don't have time for this!" The Collector shouted after a few minutes of Vera's searching heeding no results. Thankfully Vera seemed to listen to the man's words and she backed away causing Jerome to sigh and look to the sky to thank whatever god was looking over him that night.
"you have 24 hours," The Collector threatened Jasper, "After that Trudy will pay the price, then your beloved Niece and Nephew." There was a pause before, "24 hours!" was shouted a little further away causing Jerome to believe The Collector was headed back to his car. He looked up from his hiding place to see Vera looking slightly alarmed as she glanced at the shaken Jasper before running after the hooded figure.
Jerome had to get that dollhouse... the twins and Trudy's lives were on the line.
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Fabian came up to the girl's bedroom after breakfast so they could look at the dollhouse once again. To try to understand what it was trying to tell them.
"The figurines are still in the entrance hall I see." Fabian sighed as he looked over the replica of their boarding house as far as clues went this was the vaguest one yet.
"yep, but the riddle doll defiantly isn't..." Nina added with a frustrated groan.
"so it must mean –" Camilla started, looking to Fabian
"-that they are pointing at something else." Fabian finished for her as he looked her way. The pair having had the same brainwave.
"but what?" Amber asked the two as Fabian pulled out his phone to look at the photo of the zodiac once again.
"Osiris," Fabian exclaimed excitedly.
"gesundheit!" Amber told him.
"No!" the boy laughed slightly before pointing to the screen, "it's here on the chart. Remember that old mosaic that was in the hall?"
"it was of Osiris!" Camilla realised, "the love story of Isis and Osiris, commissioned by Robert for his wife."
"oh yeah..." Amber agreed with the pair, "it was a really awful romantic gesture."
"Look guys," Nina pointed to the symbol opposite Osiris, "Osiris is right opposite a sarcophagus."
"which means he's locked in stone." The twins spoke together.
"like a mosaic," Nina laughed with an excited smile on her face.
"Why did neither of us think about this sooner?" Fabian shook his head as he and Camilla high fived at their realisation.
"don't worry about that, let's just go get it!" Nina laughed at the pair before pushing them towards the door.
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Camilla had given up trying to help the trio search of the mosaic as it clearly wasn't in the hallway and she had settled herself on the bottom step next to Alfie who was pulling funny faces at her.
He was trying to make her laugh because she had spent the last week worried and stressed over nothing. Trying to figure out how to get the reflectors and keep Nina hopeful was getting the better of her - he knew it. Cheering up his best friend, getting to hear her laugh, and making her smile lifted his spirits. Her laughter was soft, yet almost embarrassingly loud; her eyes crinkled up too much when she was tickled enough; and a loud clapping of her hands on her knees when a joke was particularly funny always made sure to get her point across.
"I can't find it anywhere!" Nina cried as she raced back up the hall to her Protector caused the laughter that had appeared on Camilla's face to slide away like a wave on a beach. Only to be replaced once again by her worried serious look that was becoming too much of a common look for Alfie or Fabian's liking.
Thankfully before Camilla could say anything Joy came down the stairs with Patricia and Nina's distressed look turned to one of indifference around the girl. The Joy/Nina tension was still there but Camilla couldn't help it was less to do with Fabian anymore but rather something else. Though she didn't have the brain power to try to figure out what with the tasks, and the tense magic classes of silence and whatever was happening with Jerome. She was at peak worrying capacity and this Joy/Nina thing was something she would have to put to one side unless it threatened her Chosen One in any way.
"Everything okay?" Joy asked Nina in an overly cheery voice as she jumped over Alfie and Camilla who were sat on the bottom steps with ease that only Anubis residents had. "your looking a little frazzled." She added as the group in the hall all stared at her in silence from their different places.
"Yeah!" Nina spoke up quickly her voice a little higher than normal, "yeah I'm fine. I just... eh. I'm looking for my..."
"Phone."
"Hair brush."
"SHOES!"
"Will to live..."
The Sibuna's all spoke at once as they heard Nina pause and by god the results where incredible but just for that moment not good as Nina closed her eyes in exasperation for a second before opening them to see Joy looking around at them all confused.
"right..." Joy spoke up, "well I'll look out for... all those things." She told Nina with a smile, "you coming Patricia?"
"Eh... I'll be there in a moment."
Joy's smile tightened at this comment before she looked at them all, "I'll help. I hate losing things."
"we'll take it from here Joy." Patricia quickly spoke up, causing her friend to turn to look at her slightly hurt.
"Okay..." she whispered slightly before moving to the living room door.
The moment she was out of hearing Patricia jumped over the two on the stairs and looking to Nina and Fabian, "so what's up?" she asked knowing their weirdness meant it was Sibuna related.
"We think we found one of our reflectors." Nina told the girl in a quiet voice, "do you remember that ugly mosaic?"
"its honestly an epic love story..." Camilla pipped up only to receive a laugh from Fabian as Patricia nodded her head at Nina's words.
"it was still awful Cam." Patricia turned to her friend who pulled a face at her.
"Wait... what do you mean 'was'?" Fabian asked the girl as she turned back around, having noticed the use of past tense in her word choice.
"Well, Trudy got rid of it remember," Patricia told him, "she hated it."
"it's gone?" Fabian and Camilla spoke up together causing all the Sibuna's to look at them a little scared at the tone of their voices. They where commanding, with a hint of a threat.
If it wasn't for the fact, they were all too preoccupied with the missing mosaic they might not have missed the fact Joy hadn't actually closed the living room doors behind her but instead decided to listen in to their discussion.
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"Bonjour Jerk," Camilla greeted Eddie as she wandered into the study hall/the student lounge, reaching between himself and Mara to grab the large bag of crisps that were open on the table next to the girl's locker.
"Hola nerd," Eddie greeted Camilla with an amused eye roll as she wandered over to her brother holding one of his snacks.
Fabian didn't look up from his laptop as Camilla curled up in the armchair next to him, he was typing away furiously as he needed to finish his chapter of their Uncle Abe's new book soon so it could be put with the others for the editor. With all the Sibuna running around and tasks, he was running behind on the deadline.
"Hello!" Joy's overly cheerful voice caused both twins to snap to attention as she sat next to Fabian who instantly shut the laptop. Camilla could see his work because she was his twin but no one else was allowed to see any of his first drafts of anything.
"Hey!" Fabian replied to the girl in shock whereas Camilla just curled back into her chair once she realised it was just Joy. This was a situation once again where Joy was going to try to flirt with Fabian and now the boy was a free agent – technically – Camilla wasn't going to do anything to stop it. If Fabian didn't want Joy's flirtation, he needed to learn to nip it in the bud himself.
"So, a little birdy told me that you're looking for..." Joy paused dramatically, "a mosaic picture thingy of the 'epic' romance between two people that used to hang in Anubis house."
Fabian looked at Joy baffled about how she knew this and even Camilla turned her head to look at the girl. "who told you that?" Fabian asked her softly.
"a little birdy..." Joy shrugged, causing Camilla to roll her eyes.
"eavesdropper..." she mumbled but neither Fabian nor Joy heard her.
"guess what?" Joy excitedly told Fabian with a huge grin leaning into the boy's face causing Fabian to lean back, "I think I know where it is."
"really?" Fabian asked in a very high-pitched voice showing how uncomfortable he felt with the situation right now.
"come with me," Joy held out her hand to the boy, "come on!" Fabian glanced to Camilla and saw she wasn't moving any time soon so nervously took the girls hand and let her lead him from the room. Any chance at finding their reflector he was taking.
Unfortunately for Fabian as the two left the room hand in hand Nina, Patricia and Amber all decided to walk in seeing the pairs exit. Thankfully Eddie provided a lovely distraction before Nina's face could sour at the sight – the girl finally having stopped commenting about it as Amber and Camilla would just tell her to ask Fabian out. Something she refused to do.
"Yacker!" Eddie called to his girlfriend, "you have got to see this. You too Nerd," Eddie turned to Camilla who groaned but uncurled to wander over to see what Eddie and Mara had to show.
Eddie waited until the girls had gathered around before pressing play on the laptop. "turn the lights on!" came an echoey voice they all knew to be Patricia's.
"What?" Patricia scoffed at the recording, "what's that?" she asked looking to her friends for help trying not to look worried.
"The biggest story this school has ever seen!" Mara confidently replied looking to Eddie who grinned back at the girl in response.
Camilla led the girls to the seats across the room, they all knew they had to figure out how to deal with this ghost hunting issue and fast.
"honestly Mara, I'm telling you we can leave the camera in the living room but I don't think we're going to get anything," Eddie spoke up.
Amber and Camilla sharing a look as the blonde sat perched on the arm of the chair Camilla was sat in, Patricia and Nina on the seat beside them in a similar position. All four girls listening into the duo across the room arguing about their new ghost.
"But we heard her voice in there," Mara countered.
"Did we?" Eddie asked, "it came from through the floor."
"you think she's in the cellar?"
"that's where I'd live if I was dead and stuck between two worlds. You?"
"I honestly haven't given it that much thought." Mara paused as realisation dawned on her, "but we haven't got another video camera."
"we'll do it in person," Eddie told her causing Camilla to roll her eyes so dramatically her head fell back into Ambers lap causing a giggle from the girl as Nina and Patricia's eyes widened looking to one another. Just what they needed. Ghost hunters in the cellar.
"how?" Mara asked Eddie not seeing the girls across the rooms exchange.
"we'll sneak down when Victor stokes the furnace," Eddie told her as if that was the simplest thing in the world. Eddie then muttered something quietly to her that none of them could hear causing Mara to laugh and hit him playfully.
"She just whacked him playfully," Patricia angrily spoke up the jealousy in her peaking. "did you see that?"
"This whole shakesperan tragedy of ours might have been avoided had you not broadcast his secret identity to the entire school." Amber sassily told the gothic girl with a flick of her hair.
"you have spent way too much time with Cam," Patricia countered, "you used to be nice once."
Amber and Camilla laughed and high fived causing a small smile to creep onto Patricia's face.
"Eh, guys." Nina spoke up her tone serious, "I think we have bigger problems here... like the whole school knowing about the Senkhara thing."
"they have a ghost Nina, they haven't named her yet or made those links," Camilla told the American girl with a knowing look, expecting the clenched jaw she got in return. Nina really didn't like being told she was wrong or being too dramatic, the girl might be the Chosen One but Camilla was enjoying slightly her role as Protector when it came to keeping her grounded, "jumping the gun much?" the female twin couldn't help but add.
"and it's a matter of opinion whether or not that's a bigger problem than whats going on in front of us." Patricia also added before turning to look back at the pair across the room.
"Trish you've got to relax," Nina told her friend, "it's probably nothing." Just as she said that Fabian and Joy came back into the room laughing together, Fabian gathering the girl into a hug by the door. Camilla knew ammunition when she saw it – sadly so did Patricia.
As Nina let out a jealous gasp the goth girl couldn't help but say, "Relax Nina, it's probably nothing."
"Guys!" Fabian rushed over to them with an excited look on his face, as he sat himself down back on the couch next to Camilla's chair, "you will never guess what?!" he looked around them all to only receive a smile back from his sister.
"you figured out cruel ways to play with Nina's emotions?!" Amber offered the boy.
"What?" Fabian responded his excited smile fading from his face as he looked at the blond in confusion. Clearly unsure of what he had done wrong. He glanced to Camilla who mouthed 'Joy' to him, causing the boy to glance back to the girl and realisation dawning on his face. "No!" he told them with a shake of his head, "Joy has been helping me. Us... she found the mosaic." He explained to them all quickly before the situation got out of hand. "its in the library."
"so, where is it?"
"I couldn't go get it," Fabian told Patricia, "not with Joy so close." Camilla wasn't the only one to give him a pointed look at his wording, Amber giving the boy a very similar look causing Fabian to falter a little and correct himself, "and all the exhibition visitors. We have to go in after closing to get it."
"How?" Patricia demanded, "it's going to be all locked up and I doubt either of you are trusted with keys." She added looking between the twins.
"well..." Camilla's voice caused them all to look at her for once liking the mischievous look on her face, "there is always the tunnels..."
"the secret passage." Nina nodded her head liking the girls thinking.
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Camilla leant against the bookcase in the secret study as Nina finished the pep talk, she was giving, "now has everyone got their amulets?" she concluded causing them all to lift them for her to see.
"you will see we are amuloaded." Alfie laughed slightly at his own joke.
"And Amber, you remembered to lock away the dollhouse right?" Nina asked.
Camilla tilted her head as Amber froze for a second before replying quickly, "absolutely of course." She told the American girl, "it's way locked."
"Great!" With that, Nina turned to her protector, "want to do the honours?"
Camilla nodded her head and reached a hand up to pull down on the secret leaver, opening the bookcase to the tunnels. One by one the Sibuna's walked past her until it was just Amber left in the study. "Ambs? You okay?" Camilla asked her best friend.
"Honest truth we don't tell anyone?" Amber asked Camilla knowing if anyone could keep her secret it would be the female twin.
Camilla approached the girl and took her hand, "Honest truth Anubis sister swear,"
"I didn't lock the dollhouse up..." Amber whispered to her.
Camilla's eyes widened for just a second before she sent a small smile to her friend. "it has been fine all term; what harm will one night do." She told the girl reassuringly causing the smallest of smiles to creep onto Amber's face. "come on, let's catch up with everyone."
Arm in arm the two girls hurried after their friends. Both hoping Camilla's words were right.
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Happy Sibuna upload!
how are you all doing?! I loved the love in the last chapter and things are only going to get more exciting from here on out!
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Love ya
Sarah xxx