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Lakehouse Clinic looks exactly as I expected, both on the outside and the inside. I can see this place being at the center of a horror plot. Honestly, they could've done better with the decorating, so at least it wouldn't be as suspicious-looking. Like, place some flower vases as random intervals in the hall at least.
"Keep walking," Eddie tells the three of us after we get inside. "Keep smiling."
KT walks close to the wall and almost knocks off a framed photograph, but catches it before it falls. She puts it back on the wall. "I didn't touch it."
"Pretend like we're meant to be here," Eddie continues.
"That's a nice thought," I mutter sarcastically through my clearly forced smile.
Suddenly, out of nowhere appears a man wearing dark blue hospital scrubs. "Can I help you?" Fabian jumps, grabbing onto my shoulder.
KT clears her throat. "We're here to see Harriet Denby."
"And you are?"
Fabian hits Eddie, who lies, "I'm her nephew. Yep, you know, good ol' Auntie Harriet."
"I see," the orderly says. "In there. On the right." As we start to go where he pointed, he adds, "Not that you'll get much sense out of her, I'm afraid. She's very disturbed, poor thing. Keeps talking about an ancient evil."
This Harriet Denby may not be as disturbed as this guy thinks. Nonetheless, we laugh at the very thought, like it's the most ridiculous thing we've ever heard in our very short lives. Awkwardly, we walk past him into the hallway.
Fabian opens the door to her room first, almost freezing when we see the woman in the corner. She's blonde-ish and she's reading a book—Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. KT closes the door once all four of us are inside.
Harriet stands, eyes focused on KT. "I knew you'd come," she says.
"Sorry?" KT says. "I don't think we've met."
"No." Harriet sits again. I glance at Fabian a little confused. "But I know who you are. You're Robert's great-granddaughter." Suddenly, before any of us get a chance to react to that, her eyes turn to me. "And you're Lily's great-granddaughter. The last descendants of the Frobisher-Smythes and the Henrys."
One of those, I know to be true. But... KT? Being related to Robert Frobisher-Smythe? Either this woman is really off her rocker or she knows something we don't.
"I think there's been a mistake," KT says. "I'm not Robert's granddaughter or great-anything. I mean, she is Lily Henry's granddaughter," she points her thumb to me, "but... I'm not. I'd never even heard of him until I came to school in England."
"But I presumed your grandpa would have told you," Harriet says, insistent on the idea. "My father was a great friend of his. I had rather hoped he'd come in person, but he said you were up to the job. And he must have been right, because here you are. Robert's descendant, with Lily's."
"You're the real Harriet Denby," Eddie says, nodding. "It's your picture I saw on the website."
Harriet stands again. "I've lost my doll. Have you seen her? Sometimes she speaks to me."
"That's... that's nice," Eddie says awkwardly. "We have a teacher who's claiming to be you."
"Caroline," Harriet states, but she sounds just a little afraid. She knows who our Denby is just like that?
"You know her?" Fabian asks.
"All my life," she answers, "unfortunately. She's my sister."
As Harriet walks around to the other side of the room, KT whispers to us, "Guys. You don't really believe all this."
Well, I've heard crazier.
Harriet hands KT a photograph. "Me and Caroline. She always hated me." I look over to see our teacher standing next to the woman in front of us in the photo. That confirms that. Caroline Denby's our Denby's real name.
As KT hands it to Fabian, she says, "You don't look alike."
"Oh, no, Caroline's adopted."
"That's our Denby, all right," Eddie notes.
"Caroline took my identity," Harriet explains. "Then she took Robert. Then she took my freedom and locked me away here. All the staff here think I'm crazy." She gasps. "Where are my manners?" She holds out a box of tissues to us. "Please, have some cake." Okay, so, not crazy on the Frobisher/ancient evil angle, but still a little off in other things.
Fabian slowly takes a tissue from the box. "Thank you." He throws it behind him once her back is turned.
"So why would your sister steal your identity?" I ask. KT nods and does air quotes when I say the word 'sister.'
"To take my role as Keeper, of course," Harriet tells me. "She wants to perform the ceremony. She wants the glory."
"So it's real," Fabian says.
"Very real. As is the evil that Caroline will unleash when she performs the ceremony."
"Because she's not pure of heart."
"How can we stop her?" Eddie adds.
"Oh, you can't," Harriet says nervously. "It's too late."
"She's lying," KT decides. Fabian says her name harshly. "I'll be outside." Fabian follows her out, saying 'sorry' to us before closing the door back. That leaves Eddie and me alone with Harriet Denby.
"Okay," he says to her, "we might not be able to stop her, but you can if you perform the ceremony just like you were meant to."
"It's the only way we can stop it, Harriet," I add, looking at her desperately as Eddie's phone rings.
Eddie takes the phone out of his pocket. "It's Patricia," he tells me before answering it. "Yacker, where are you?" As Patricia answers on the other end, I see his face turn confused. "What? Your what?" He pulls the phone away from his ear, looking at me. "She said something about us being at the disco and her knitting. She was being... polite."
"Polite?" I repeat. "Patricia?"
"I know," he agrees as Harriet's eyes dart between us. "I think it's her way of saying that she wasn't alone. Or that I'm getting a knitted sweater for Christmas."
I nod, grabbing the doorknob. "I'm going to go find Fabian and KT and tell them. If she gets back to you, tell me."
"I will."
I find Fabian and KT in the hallway, speaking to each other. I can hear KT saying, "That makes me the children of children, the one that they need for the ritual. What if I'm the one that is supposed to unleash evil into the world, Fabian?"
"You're not," I tell her before Fabian can answer. "Trust me, you're not. Harriet mentioned me and Lily, too, so if you really are Frobisher's granddaughter, that makes us both the children of children. And trust me, KT, there's no way I'm letting Victor, Sweet, or Denby get their hands on you."
KT looks at me, nodding after a moment. "If we're both it, then who'll stop them from getting their hands on you?"
"I will," I say. Fabian opens his mouth to say something, but doesn't. "Or—or Eddie will. I don't know. Maybe Alfie'll spray water at them again."
"Or," Fabian says quickly, "neither of you are the children of children and it's someone else entirely. All right?"
I nod. "Right, uh, Eddie just got a really weird call from Patricia. He said she was being polite."
"Polite?" Fabian repeats.
"Yeah."
"Patricia?"
"Cause for concern, right?" I say. He agrees with a nod of his head. "He thinks she wasn't alone, which means—I think Denby might've gotten her."
"That's not good," KT states.
"Patricia covered for us with something about the disco but if anyone can talk her way out of a situation, it's Trixie."
Eddie comes out of Harriet's room, telling us, "I just got a text from Patricia. She thinks Denby's on to us. We'd better go."
"Fine by me," KT agrees.
As the three of us turn to leave, Eddie says, "Wait, wait, wait—you three go."
"What about you?" Fabian says quickly.
"Harriet's the answer," he says. "All right? We need her. If she performs the ceremony, there's no evil. You know what? Right now, she's the only hope we have." He starts to go back down the hallway.
I look at Fabian and KT. "He does realize there's no way I'm leaving him here alone?"
"Go," Fabian says, nodding. "Text us when you're out. Stay safe."
"Yeah, you, too." I go back into Harriet's room, saying to Eddie before he can speak, "You're an idiot if you really thought I was going to leave."
—
We've managed to convince Harriet to put her coat and shoes on, trying to sneak her out, but suddenly she's apprehensive to the idea. With Eddie holding onto her wrists, trying to convince her, she says to us, "I can't just walk out. Believe me, I've tried."
"We've got no choice, okay?" Eddie tells her as I grab the book Harriet was reading. I figure she might want it. Although I don't know what we're gonna do with her if we get her out of here. "It'll be all right."
"No."
"Harriet," I say gently, "we promise we'll take care of you. We'll keep you safe. You're hearing this from Lily Henry's granddaughter."
Eddie looks at me. "Wait here with her while I make sure the coast is clear." I nod, and he opens the door. Seconds later, he closes it back. "It's Denby!" he whisper-shouts to me. "Our Denby!"
Oh, this is really bad! I look around the room in search of a place for the two of us to hide. There's—there's nowhere! Wait... "Under the bed!"
"What?"
"It's the only place!"