House of Anubis: One Last Stand

House of Arrival/House of Sacrifice

Once the six of them arrived back at Anubis house, Eddie revealed that he hacked into the security camera files, and Nina told them about the texts between Vera and Mr. Perry.

"'Method Beyond Resist'?" Fabian repeated. "Does that take control of a person, or something?"

"Let's just not find out the hard way," Nina suggested.

~~~~~
Jerome and Joy sat together in the lounge area in Anubis house, later on that evening. Joy sort of had to force Jerome to join her, but all the same, she still managed to.

"Why're you still sad? I've been working all day to make you happy," Joy said.

"I'm not sad-"

"-like Patricia said to Mr. Perry: you're only lying to yourself." Joy thought a bit. "I know you'd rather be left alone than have annoying old me with you, so how about we make a deal. I tell a joke, and if you laugh, I can spend as much time as I want with you to lighten your spirit."

"As much time as you want?" Jerome repeated, becoming interested.

"Yep," Joy nodded. "And if you don't laugh, I promise I'll leave you alone to your despair. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Ok," Joy grinned. "So, a new prisoner just arrived to jail, totally new and unaware of most rules. So, he goes to the cafeteria and sits beside this other prisoner. He notices there's dead silence. No one's speaking at all, unlike he expected. Then suddenly, a guy from another table stands up and shouts, '24!'. And the entire cafeteria erupts into laughter. But eventually, the laughter dies down again, and the dead silence comes back. But then another guy stands up and shouts, '87!', making the cafeteria erupt into laughter again. Some people are almost falling out of their seats. The new prisoner asks his neighbor what's going on, and his neighbor responds, 'The prisoners have devised a system where certain jokes are associated with certain numbers'. And the new prisoner asks if he can give it a try. He then stands up and shouts, '36!'. But all he gets as a response are blank stares, angry glares, and shaking heads. He even hears someone mutter, 'Some people can tell a joke and others can't'."

Joy waited for a response from as she wrapped up the joke. Eventually, Jerome couldn't hold it in, and he did laugh, and Joy laughed along with him.

"That was terrible," Jerome chuckled.

"But you still laughed," Joy pointed out.

"I guess I did."

Joy's phone began to ring on the table. She excused herself and went to the foyer to answer the call.

"Hello?" she answered. "Who's this?"

"It might've helped if you looked at the Caller ID," she heard Erik's voice say.

"Erik! Hey, what's up?"

"Truthfully, I was considering surprising you with a visit down to Anubis house. And then I remembered you don't like surprises all-too-well, so now I'm asking you if I can."

Joy thought about the whole mystery and the Secret Society and even Sibuna, which she hadn't even told Erik about yet. "It's probably not a good time-"

"-even if I'm waiting on the porch?"

Joy lowered her phone and hung up as she went to the front door and opened it, seeing Erik with a small packed bag. He gave her a hug, and she hugged back, although remembering how she realized she wasn't as so much in love with Erik as he was with her. But if he'd come all this way-which was really like an hour-could she really break up with him?

"Come in," Joy plastered on a smile, inviting him inside. She closed the door behind him.

Jerome came out of the lounge area, spotting Erik. "Hello, Erik."

"Jerome," Erik smiled back. "Pleasure to see you again.

"Jerome, can Erik room with you," Joy requested, "since Alfie is, um...visiting his parents?"

"Right this way," Jerome guided Erik to his room.

~~~~~
"He broke your heart?" Alfie responded to Carol's whole story about her and Daniel. "That's terrible."

"And now I'm working with him," Carol frowned.

"Well listen sister, no man is worth your tears. You are strong and independent and you can kill people. What more could a lady need?"

"You know how to cheer someone up, huh?" Carol smiled.

"I have quite the talent for it. But, now for other matters." Alfie had suddenly thought of something he really wanted to know, and since he felt like he gained Carol's trust, he felt like he could ask her. "Why did Trudy join the Secret Society?"

Carol had an expression on her face like she was disappointed he'd asked.

"I'm going to die as a sacrifice anyway; I can't really tell anyone," Alfie pointed out.

Carol agreed and decided to explain. "Trudy's a nice lady. Honestly, she's not cut out for this...life. And anyone could tell from a mile away. But when faced with a better opportunity for the future, she couldn't resist."

"Go on..."

"I'm sure you know we're after the Dream Book from Neith, and when we get it-or at least when Daniel gets it-he'll be able to control the future. But Daniel wants a chaotic future. And for anyone who isn't on his side, they're pretty much guaranteed to a future of hell."

So, Trudy was being selfish?"

"Quite the contrary. When Daniel threatened you and your friends' lives in the future, all she wanted was to keep you safe. Even if it meant sacrificing her innocence."

"Some of our lives are kind of being endangered now, with our sacrifices and all. Daniel doesn't seem like the type to make any deals about keeping us alive."

"As you know, we need the Chosen One, Osirion, and a mortal sacrifice-you." Carol hesitated a bit before continuing. "What you don't know is that being the sacrifice doesn't kill you."

"I feel like you're going to tell me something really intense right now. If only I had popcorn."

"Being the sacrifice means giving up your soul to Neith."

Alfie's eyes widened. "I don't know what that means, but I was right when I said it'd be intense."

Carol elaborated. "It means you'll live without a life, or at least, that's how I feel about it. You won't be able to feel passion or joy anymore. You can't love. You can't hate. Logic will tell you to remember how you used to feel when you could love and share happiness with someone, but those feelings just won't exist anymore. It'll make life pretty meaningless."

"That's like really dark," Alfie gulped. "I don't want to be the sacrifice."

~~~~~
Another day, another chapter! Hope you enjoyed this very much!

Do you think Joy should break up with Erik?

Would you rather sacrifice your life or your soul?(if forced to choose)

Till next time!