House of Anubis: Reunion

Posession

Jerome, Willow, and Joy were sitting anxiously at the bottom steps of the stairs, waiting for Sibuna to come back up. Jerome was using the invisible pen light on the words written on the map.

"Hey, Willow," Jerome began, "isn't this your handwriting?"

Willow hesitated as she was caught off guard. She looked at the map and back at Jerome and Joy.

"Oh look, the gods have similar handwriting to mine," Willow spoke shakily.

"No, you wrote this. You tricked us into believing-" Jerome read the words, "-'the secret lies at the end of the longest tunnel'."

"Ok, I'm really sorry, but I just wanted to give you guys hope, you know?"

"No, I don't know. I don't need hope from the likes of you." Jerome threw down the map and pen as he stood up.

"Jerome, she was just trying to help-" Joy mumbled, obviously tired.

"Help in getting us killed? Because we don't know what's at the end of those tunnels, and they could be deadly!"

"Jerome!" Joy stood up, using all the energy she could. "You're just cranky because you're tired. They obviously aren't coming up anytime soon, so let's just get some sleep."

Willow and Joy headed upstairs with the map and pen. Jerome sighed and headed towards his room. Little did he know, something was following him.

As Jerome closed his door and then turned back around to face his bed, he saw a shadowy figure sitting on his bed, its eyes beady red, and it's smile truly cunning. And it lunged itself, not only at Jerome, but into Jerome.

~~~~~
"Maybe we should go back now and get some sleep," Mara suggested.

Nina nodded in agreement. They made their way back to where they came from, to find the black sand they were in had been replaced by a dusty floor, still with no Eddie. They made their way out of there and decided to wait by the intersection where they'd all meet up when they returned to make sure they were all accounted for. Nina and Mara knew Eddie wouldn't be.

~~~~~
"Um, time to go back," Fabian said.

"What? We walked down this freakishly long corridor just for us to go back?!" Alfie gasped.

"Come on."

When they made it back to the intersection, they noticed Nina and Mara waiting, but with no Eddie.

~~~~~
KT soon found a round room, filled with old paintings and easels and equipment that an artist would most likely use. She shined her flashlight on some portrait hanging on the wall. It looked like a demented old lady posing like Mona Lisa.

"Huh, creepy," KT thought aloud.

She crept towards something in the shadows until her flashlight could light it up clearly. There was a skeleton covered I webbing, sitting in a rocking chair. KT jumped back.

"Disgusting. Of course the one summer house we come to has to be filled with dead bodies and creepy paintings." KT shivered as she headed back.

She was the last to return to the intersection. She accounted all the others except Eddie and obviously Patricia.

"Where's Patricia?" Nina asked.

Her expression told all.

"Yeah, Eddie too."

"They'll be ok, right?" Alfie made sure.

Fabian nodded. "They should be."

"Right," KT agreed. "Gods can't be crazy enough to kill them of course."

Everyone still looked scared and nervous.

"We'll come back tomorrow, and someone can keep watch," Mara suggested. "Just in case they return."

Everyone agreed, and they left the creepy underground. They split up to go to their individual rooms when they were back up from the basement.

Up on the top floor, when KT went right into her room, Mara stopped Nina for a second.

"Hey, Nina," she rubbed Nina's arm to stop her, "I think it's best if neither of us date Fabian...for now."

Nina didn't respond to that. She couldn't. There was only hesitation.

"I hope you understand?"

Nina couldn't respond for a second, until she finally spoke, "Yeah, yeah. Ok."

Nina smiled as she went into her room and closed the door behind her. She moaned as she collapsed on her bed.

~~~~~
Nina woke up early, taking her shower, and then heading down to get some orange juice. She stopped a bit when she hears Fabian up, making music with his guitar. She smiled and then went into the kitchen. She noticed Jerome sitting there at the island as though he were thinking.

"Hey Jerome, you're up early," Nina took notice of.

"Oh yes," Jerome perked up, as if Nina snapped him out of something. "Early mornings can be wondrous, can't they?" Jerome smiled, patiently waiting for a reply.

"I guess..." Nina responded as she went to the fridge to grab some orange juice and then get a glass.

"It gives you time to think, you know?" Jerome rose from the stool.

Nina laughed as she poured the orange juice and put it back. "When do you ever think? Is this another prank you're plotting?"

Jerome laughed as well. "There are many sides of me that you don't know." He crept around to Nina's side of the island.

Nina sipped some of her juice. "Are you alright, Jerome? You seem a bit...different."

Jerome went right up to Nina. He used two fingers to stroke the the side of Nina's face, and then he brought them to her chin to face her head towards him. And they were so close, they now shared the same breaths.

"Oh Nina, I'm the same Jerome I'll ever be," Jerome said, just above a whisper. He smiled as he left the kitchen silently.

Nina took a breath as she comprehended what just happened. What was up with Jerome?