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"So," Patricia begins her tour of the cellar to the newbies, "to the right is where Victor stuffs all the pets he's killed."
"I don't think Victor would like us snooping down here," Erin points out.
"Aww, you scared?"
"N-no. Of course not."
I laugh lightly, shaking my head. "Anubis rule number one, newbies: Victor doesn't like us doing anything. Anubis rule number two: buy a couple of spare toothbrushes. You'll need 'em."
Cassie and Erin glance at each other, both confused. It makes me laugh again. And apparently the rest of Anubis has caught on to Patricia's act, freaking out the newbies, because Joy adds, "You know he spends most nights down here brewing potions, gassing butterflies."
KT adds, "Dressing dead weasels in tuxedos."
And finally, Patricia states, "Hanging from the ceiling like a bat."
"You think she's joking," I comment, shining my light on their faces, "but the man's a hundred years old. He's Count Dracula." But before I could share a smirk with anyone in Sibuna, all who know that I wasn't lying (about his age, anyway; I'm quite convinced Victor's not actually a vampire), there's a distant screaming that echoes throughout the cellar. I mean, even that's a little weird for this house.
"What was that?" Mara asks. I look around the cellar, eyebrows furrowing. Where are Alfie and Jerome? "It came from over there." Mara, Cassie, Erin, and Dexter, all with their torches pointed towards the area the scream seemed to originate from, step toward it. I count heads again, just to make sure I didn't overlook them—four newbies, six Anubis girls, two Anubis boys. Two missing.
And just as I'm about to point out to the others near me that Alfie and Jerome are missing, the pair jump out of a armoire against the wall and scare the newbies and Mara half to death. I let out a breathless laugh, shaking my head again. Idiots.
"Jerome!" Mara shouts.
"What?" Jerome retorts, doubling over in laughter. "What? It's good training! They don't call this place Creepy Towers for nothing, Erin. You can let go of Cassie now."
"Alfie, that wasn't funny," Mara berates.
Willow's the only person besides Mara to be upset by the prank. She doesn't say a word as she walks out, leaving us in the cellar. Sophia goes after her. I walk over to the two boys, clapping my hand on their shoulders. "Well," I say slowly, "you've upset Willow. Not a good thing. Oh, and Mara—she looked just about ready to kill you guys."
"It's Mara," Jerome says, in an obvious tone. "She can't even hurt a fly."
I look at them, blinking as I smile politely. "Are you sure? Because she publicly embarrassed her ex-boyfriend for cheating on her, but I don't know if you remember, seeing as how you two were too busy publicly embarrassing each other at the time. Moral of the story is—the girl will tear you two down if you scare her again. Enjoy the rest of the party."
I pat their shoulders again before joining the other Sibunas (except for Patricia). Eddie tells me immediately, "We just filled KT in on the touchstone. Anyway, like I was saying, Dexter and Sophia heard the legend, but Dexter was pretty into it."
"But why would he set you up?" Fabian questions.
"I don't know."
Dexter himself pays us no mind as he walks up the stairs to the house. "Well, there's our suspect," I remark. "Going upstairs. Where we assume the touchstone is in Victor's safe."
"I'll stay here," Fabian volunteers, his eyes on something behind us. "You three go."
I look at him, my arms folded. "You sure you don't want one of us to stay with you? I will."
"No, I'm sending you upstairs," he responds, "before you kill Cassie for flirting with Jerome."
The three of us who were sent upstairs turn around to see what he had—Cassie (and Erin) talking to Jerome, blatantly flirting. She's literally batting her eyelashes at him. At least Erin looks awkward and uncomfortable. I purse my lips, eyes narrowed. "I won't kill Cassie," I say, and deliberately raising my voice so she hears, "but I will warn her that he's got a girlfriend so she might want to keep her hands to herself."
Cassie's face turns red as she removes her hand from Jerome's shoulder. He tilts his head at me, a light smile on his face, and shakes his head. I turn back to the others, adding, "Besides, I think the original-newbie murder we have to worry about is Patricia and Sophia. I'm fairly certain Trixie's been plotting her murder all day."
Eddie scoffs. "You know what, we gotta go before we lose Dexter. Come on."
As we exit the cellar, I motion to Cassie that I'm watching her, if only to freak her out a little more. I know Jerome's not gonna do anything—he might enjoy the attention a little, but let's be honest, he's too in love with me to even look at another girl. But, I mean, I enjoy freaking out the newbies, and she dropped a great way to do it in my lap, so I'm gonna take it.
But we're barely up the stairs, the door closed behind us, when the earth starts shaking. It knocks me into KT and KT into Eddie and all three of us wind up hitting the banister. KT lets out a groan as we fall to the ground. I grab the top of the banister, pulling myself up as I notice a warm light coming from Victor's office. The quake continues. "There's someone in Victor's office," I exclaim to them, just as someone comes running out from the doors to the girls' bedrooms. Dexter. Then who's in the office?
"Earthquake," KT tells us, holding onto the railing. "Let's get up there, quick!"
So with the earth still moving beneath us, the three of us have to hold onto the railing so we don't tumble down the stairs and hurt ourselves. Dexter goes into Victor's office just as the quake stops, and when we make it there and shine our lights on the person who's there, I'm surprised by who it is.
"Sophia," I state, my tone confused. There's still a light on her face, casting her shadow on the wall behind her. I thought she had gone to comfort Willow. What's she doing in here?
Sophia looks at us, but completely disregards everyone but—"Oh, Eddie, thank goodness!" she exclaims. "What is that thing?"
She points at Victor's safe, which is wide open. And inside, the touchstone, glowing a warm amber color and almost looking like it's giving off sparks. Like a firework or just a fire. Eddie and I share a glance before going over to it as KT goes to comfort a freaked-out Sophia.
"And why does Victor want it?" KT adds.
"Eddie?" Sophia asks.
I bend in front of the safe, tilting my head at it. Lily's diary was right. What she dreamed is right. We're being given one last mystery and it's got to do with the Pyramid of Ra. Of course it does.
Behind us, Dexter theorizes, "He wants—he wants the gold—the gold of Ra, like the museum dude said."
I shake my head, but I don't respond as Eddie removes the touchstone from the safe, and it stops glowing. Victor's never been in this for the money. He wants the elixir. He wants tears of gold, not real gold. There's something else going on with him. With this Touchstone of Ra.
"We need to hide this," Eddie states. I close the safe back. "You guys better stay in your rooms."
I follow Eddie out of the office, KT behind me. But Dexter, stupid, stupid, Dexter, continues theorizing, "Victor's going to build the Pyramid of Ra!"
Here's my official ranking of the newbies: 1) Sophia, because I feel like by graduation she'll be the first to know about the mysteries of this house and, well, someone's gotta teach her the ropes. 2) Erin, because she's so quiet I feel like she's the only normal newbie. 3) Cassie, just because it's so easy to freak her out re: Jerome and myself. 4) Dexter, because he knows absolutely nothing except how to make snacks only Alfie would eat. And Eddie, probably.
Eddie throws open the door to his room, kneeling beside his bed. "We need to call a Sibuna meeting."
I hadn't realized Sophia followed us all the way down here until she asks, "A what?" KT and I exchange a wide-eyed glance before we throw it to Eddie instead. I knew this was probably coming, I just really did not expect for it to be right now. "Sorry. None of my business. I just..." Eddie locks the touchstone in a metal box. "..didn't want to be alone and thought I could help... maybe..."
Eddie slides the box underneath his bed. "Victor's gonna be back soon. Let's go to the cellar through the secret passage. Ash, you got the locket?"
"Don't I always?" I retort, taking off the chains around my neck. Nina's locket on one, my Ankh charm and Lily's engagement ring on the other. I leave the room first, hearing his footsteps behind me. "Why are we going through the oven and not the door?"
"'Cause I've been through my share of earthquakes," Eddie responds as we enter the kitchen, "and odds are it's jammed."
"Eddie, we don't usually have earthquakes here. And if Victor and Sweet had felt it, they'd be back inside to check on us. Or Sweet would, at least. I think the touchstone caused the earthquake."
"I agree. But it's safe now, all right, so let's just get down to the cellar before they do come in."
I kneel and use both my hands to place the charm and the locket in the indents just as KT and Sophia come in. The secret passageway opens up and Sophia gasps. KT chuckles, whispering, "This place is full of surprises."
"Well, come on," I tell them, already halfway in the passageway. "Come on through the oven."
As I'm the first one in, I'm also the first one out and into the cellar. I switch on my light, frowning when I realize how quiet it is. "Secret passages?" Sophia whispers excitedly. I hold up my hand, trying to shush them as I look around the corner. "This place is amazing."
"Sophia, do me a favor and shut up," I murmur to her, just as Alfie and Fabian come around this corner frantically. "Guys, what—"
"Victor's coming," Alfie answers simply as Patricia comes round, which is enough for all of us to shut up and press ourselves against the wall, hoping that he won't find us. I hear the door to the cellar open and switch off my torch, pressing my lips together.
"Oh, look, Mr. Sweet," says Victor's voice, "someone's had a party and not invited us. Quite a feast." All of a sudden, the lights switch back on, and we're no longer lost in darkness. Which means it'll be harder for us to hide. "Ah! The lights are back on. Perfect timing." Sibuna plus one presses ourselves against the corner, trying to shrink.
From what I can tell, Victor's located some of our cohorts. "Look what we have here, Mr. Sweet. Hmm? Come on. Upstairs. As you are well aware, the cellar is strictly out-of-bounds. Come on."
And then they seem to have given up on finding anyone else, because no one comes our way. And they certainly wouldn't have started a conversation like the one they do if they thought someone was still down here.
"That stone," says Victor, "is part of the Pyramid of Ra."
"Oh, yes," responds Sweetie, "the one that's supposed to rain down gold."
"Yes. A century ago, an alchemist found four of the pyramid's stones. But the final one, the touchstone, belonged to the master of this house." Robert Frobisher-Smythe. Of course it did. It always comes back to him, doesn't it? "The alchemist wanted to join forces and share the gold, but Frobisher refused."
"Why?"
"When the pyramid is built, a human sacrifice is required in exchange for Ra's gold. Frobisher wouldn't hear of it. So he sent the touchstone away and buried the others somewhere within the grounds of this estate. I have searched for them many times over the years, but without success. I knew this day would come." Sophia stumbles slightly, causing a creaking sound. "Who's there?"
But their attention is drawn away from us, because I hear Dexter's voice coming from what I think is the stairs, "Ooh. Uh, hi, Mr. Sweet."
"Don't you, 'Hi, Mr. Sweet' me," says Sweet sharply. "Get up there, you stupid boy! Hup, hup, hup!"
I hear a cabinet close, and then footsteps going away from us and upstairs. I breathe relieved, letting my shoulders drop as I double-check that Victor's gone. "He's gone. We're safe."
Gathering around a table to talk over what we just overheard, Eddie starts, "Victor wants to build the Pyramid to get all the gold?"
"But that doesn't make any sense," I point out. "Think about it. Victor's endgame has always been the elixir. This pyramid won't give him that. There's something else going on here."
"Maybe. But he has to sacrifice someone first," KT recalls. "Would Victor really do that?"
Sophia states, "For all the gold of Ra, he might."
Patricia snarks, "This is a private conversation, Agent Pigtails."
"I want to help you guys. Please? And I can totally keep a secret."
Eddie looks at us. I shrug, so does Fabian. Alfie links his pinky finger with Sophia's, remarking, "I say let her stay."
I guess that settles it, four to one (the one being Patricia). Eddie says, "Okay, uh... welcome to Sibuna."
But Patricia still says threateningly, "On a trial basis."
"Okay, well, back to the scarily terrifying topic at hand," I state, "Victor said that the stones are buried in the grounds. Probably hidden really well, given what we know about Frobisher and what we've dealt with before. If Victor has the touchstone, he might go looking for the other pieces as well."
"We have to find them before he does," Eddie adds.
But behind us, scaring me half to death, a familiar voice shouts, "Okay!" It's Mara, who causes us all to yelp from her sudden appearance. Oh, my God. Mara heard all of that. Oh, crap. "What is going on here?! Victor is talking about human sacrifice, and you're welcoming Sophia into some secret society. What's Sibuna?"
We stammer over unintelligible excuses. Alfie says nervously, "Boy, are we recruiting today. Did somebody place an ad?"
"Wait a second," Mara says suddenly, pointing at me. "You said it stood for Saving Inanimate Boring Unicorns one Narwhal At a time."
The only thing I can think to say is, "I can't believe you fell for that."
"I thought it was some roommates-only club between you, Nina, and Amber and it's actually a secret society?"
"W—well," I stutter, ignoring the sharp look Eddie's throwing me—like his excuses are any better! He wasn't even a part of Sibuna, let alone co-leader, when I had to come up with that on the spot excuse when Mara saw my urgent Sibuna text! I don't even think he was here! "You see, uh, uh, narwhals are the unicorns of the—the—the sea—"
Mara interrupts, evidently done with my stupid Sibuna excuse, "Why is Victor talking about human sacrifice and magic stones? He's lost it!"
"It all sounded pretty weird to me, too," Sophia agrees.
"And you've only been here five minutes. Does everybody know about your secret club except me and Joy?" Mara demands. I press my lips together, unable to meet her eyes. Although, I do like that she already assumes Jerome knows about it.
"Actually, uh..." Fabian pauses. "Joy—Joy knows."
Mara looks at us, shaking her head. "Fine. Have your secrets. I'm going to the police about the stolen artifact."
As Mara turns to leave, we're quick to reach forward and stop her, all protesting. I grab Mara's shoulders, but we all freeze in place when we hear the lock. Fabian and Eddie pull us back, pushing us toward the secret passageway as Mara (fortunately quietly) protests. I open it with the locket and charm, pushing Mara through and everyone else.
Almost three years of us doing this and Mara manages not to find out until just two days before graduation? For the love of Sibuna...!
( mara finding out about sibuna was honestly the best part of the touchstone of ra )