House of Anubis: House of Mistakes

Part IX

Denby was infuriating. She had the audacity to show up at Anubis House before the sun was even fully over the horizon, and spammed his phone with messages to the point that Fabian— Fabian the early riser; Fabian the always unruffled— chucked a pillow as hard as he could at Eddie's side of the room and told him to "Turn your bloody phone off."

Eddie had had no choice but to wake up at 5:00 am— yes, that's right 5:00 am— put on his school uniform, and drag himself into the laundry room. Denby was waiting there impatiently, tapping her foot and glancing every so often down at her watch.

"You do realize there's a good seven hours until midday, right?" Eddie snarked by way of greeting, looking around quickly before stepping further into the laundry room. "It's a little dangerous for you to be here, isn't it? I know it's the ass-crack of dawn, but Fabian's already awake because you quadruple texted me."

Denby scowled at him. "It's nothing compared to the danger we all face unless we get that next Sinner," she replied cooly, ignoring Eddie's muttered "Fucking boomer".

Eddie rolled his eyes. "Look, I already told you that I was working on KT. The others will believe anything I say, and if I know KT, she'll get real prickly once her so called 'friends' start giving her the cold shoulder."

She shook her head, giving him an appraising look. "I still think you should be working on Patricia. She was our next target after you anyway."

"Trust me," Eddie bit out, "I'd like nothing more than for her to work with us, but I think she's suspicious." At Denby's worried face, he raised a hand. "Will you relax? I've got it under control. She thinks she's such an independent thinker, but I'll have her back to eating out of the palm of my hand soon enough."

Denby sighed, running a hand through her greying blonde hair. "If you knew what happened to your Osirian powers—"

"I said I had it under control!" he snapped, eyes flashing red as he towered over her; Denby shrunk back involuntarily. "Now if you don't mind—"

"Hush!" It was her turn to cut him off as whimsical humming filled the room. Willow. Eddie made an attempt to surge forward, but Denby blocked him with her arm. "Leave this one to me."

"Won't she be confused as to why you're in the house at five o'clock in the morning?" Eddie asked under his breath, cocking an eyebrow at his teacher.

"I think you give the girl too much credit," she retorted, stepping out from her hiding place and into the kitchen.

Fair enough, Eddie mused while Willow chirped out a cheery greeting. Denby wasted no time in inviting Willow back to the Gatehouse for some extra rehearsal, and Eddie didn't bother to stifle a smirk as she was led out of Anubis House. Hopefully to her doom, he thought to himself, satisfied.

—

Breakfast was positively delightful. At least it was for Eddie; everyone else seemed very tense.

KT sat down at the head of the table between Patricia and Fabian with a hesitant smile. Fabian couldn't seem to decide if he wanted to smile back or not, instead opting to keep his gaze directed toward Alfie. The two of them had a hushed and stilted conversation about class. Patricia on the other hand was dead on her feet, staring into the middle distance and stirring her cereal absently.

Trying a different tactic, it seemed, KT turned to Patricia and asked with a forced congeniality, "How was your night?"

Eddie cringed when his girlfriend properly looked at her, clearly ready to consider a reply. Damn it! They weren't supposed to be talking to each other.