House of Anubis

House of Eyes p3

An hour has passed since Victor's nightly spiel. Once we were sure he and everyone in the house was asleep, Nina and I got out of bed after hearing a quiet knock on the door.

"Hey," Nina smiled, seeing Fabian.

"Hey are you ready?" He whispered, looking at the two of us.

"Yeah." Nina nodded. I heard another door creak, and I instantly hid back into the bedroom, keeping it open ajar to listen.

"Oh, are you two on a date as well?" Oh, it was just Amber. Oh right, her date with Mick. We should have waited a bit longer before planning to sneak around. How could we have forgotten? No, seriously, how? We spent lord knows how long looking at dresses.

Her question lead to a bunch of back and forth nervous responses between the two. "No." "Not really, no not at all." "Never." And so on.

"Whatever." Amber whispers, not buying it at all, also looping them as a couple or they're totally in denial; which they so are. "Catch you later." She whispers before tiptoeing off to go and meet with Mick.

Once she was gone, I came back out with my torch and clipboard. 'Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know this was a date. Should I just go?' I held up the clipboard with a teasing smile and they both turned red in the face. Nina giving me a shove before we all headed for the attic door.

I take a breath to mentally prepare myself as Nina unlocks the door. This was still all so nerve wrecking. Especially on the off chance that we get caught. Anything could happen.

I slowly close the door behind me, and we make our way up the stairs. "You ready?" Nina asks nervously, glancing between Fabian and the panel.

"As ready as I'll ever be." He answered, and we continued walking in the dark. I wasn't gonna complain too much about the small amount of light we had, coming from the stained glass windows, seeing as we were just walking from one wall to the next. "Do you need the torch?"

"I don't think setting fire to the place will help us right now." I lick my lips, suppressing my smile as Fabian and I simultaneously turn on our lights.

"Oh."

'What do you call them in America?' I write down on my paper, shining my torch on it as I hold it out towards her.

"Oh, we call them flashlights."

Fabian and I look at each other, both mouthing 'flashlights?' confused. Americans are weird.

Fabian watched as Nina held her locket to the key of the panel, gasping as her necklace glows. Nina let out a small yelp as she nearly fell inside again. She's really got to stop leaning on it. Fabian let out a scream, and I couldn't figure out why.

"It's a portrait." Nina sighed. "It's just a portrait." She repeats, removing it from the panel wall, carrying it out. "Look."

"That was seriously scary!" Fabian exclaimed, his heart still clearly pounding. "The eyes were glowing and looking at me and. Urgh!" He shuddered as she showed us the painting.

"It's okay, I won't tell anyone that a painting of a little girl made you so scared you screamed." Nina teased.

"I didn't scream!"

I tap on his shoulder, causing Fabian to look away from Nina, and I re-enact how he jumped back, the fear on his face.

"Oh quiet, you." He scoffed, meaning no offence.

I cheekily respond on paper, 'I couldn't be more quiet if I tried.'

"You know what I mean, Ms Peanut Gallery." I roll my eyes, giving him a shove.