House of Anubis: One Last Stand

House of Covers/House of Leads

Before the people inside the warehouse looked over towards the barricaded window, Joy flipped herself out of sight to the side as she faced the person who said her name.

Trudy. She hadn't seen her since Alfie's disappearance.

Joy heard the others coming out of the warehouse to see what was happening. She snuck around to hide in the back where Trudy still had clear sight of her. Joy mouthed to Trudy not to blow her cover.

Mr. Perry came outside and asked Trudy, "Is someone else here? Did you say Joy?"

"Oh, no one's here," Trudy lied on behalf of Joy. "I just said joy because...I'm so excited you're here already."

Mr. Perry eyed her suspiciously, but just said, "Come on inside."

Trudy followed him back into the warehouse. Joy heaved a sigh of relief that Trudy actually had a good side and used it to defend her.

Joy decided it was time she got out of there and headed back the direction she came, towards Anubis house. Once she arrived, everyone was pretty much in their rooms, and the house was silent since it was late at night. She didn't see Erik's car outside suggesting he left right after he walked away from her.

She headed upstairs to her own room, afraid to wake anyone up and willing to tell them Alfie's location the next day. In her room, Patricia was in her bed and on her phone while Jerome was sitting on Joy's bed. He stood up when seeing her.

"You're back," he smiled, saying that at the same time Patricia did. They awkwardly glanced at eachother before Jerome continued, "You're caring for me because of Amber, so I might as well care for you."

"I'm great now, so thanks," Joy replied. "And I found out where Alfie is."

"Really?" Both Patricia and Jerome asked at the same time again, provoking yet another exchange of awkward glances.

Joy nodded. "I'll tell all of you tomorrow."

Jerome was about to leave, but as Joy moved her sack off her bed to clear it off, some of her things came tumbling out onto the ground. Jerome knelt down to help her pick it up, and a particular piece of paper caught his attention.

He unfolded it and read part of it aloud, "'Dear Joy, it is really difficult to find the right words to tell you, but being with you made me happy in ways that I don't even have names for.'" Jerome recognized it as the letter he wrote for Joy in school, as did Patricia who raised her eyebrows. Jerome folded the letter back and handed it back to Joy. "I'm not going to ask you why you still have the letter. But that's sweet. Goodnight, Joy."

He left the room, and Joy gave a look like she knew she completely messed up.

"Why do you still have the letter?" Patricia asked as Joy put it away and climbed into bed.

"No reason," Joy mumbled in a barely audible tone.

~~~~~
"Any luck in your dream last night?" Fabian asked Nina as she headed down the stairs.

Nina shook her head. "Not last night."

Eventually, everyone met downstairs. Nina, Fabian, Eddie, Patricia, Jerome, and Joy all sat on the couches, whether it be the traditional way, or by sitting on the arm of the chair.

"Any updates on anything?" Eddie asked.

"I know where Alfie is," Joy admitted. "They're keeping him tied up in an abandoned storage warehouse in a clearing in the woods."

"That's great, Joy," Nina complimented. "Now we can go rescue him."

"We probably have to plan the rescue," Fabian pointed out. "We don't know who's guarding him in there, or how regularly the society visits or how to get in."

"Well, the door has locks, but there is a hole in the wall, but it's boarded up with wood. If we have a hammer, we could bust through it, and I could crawl through," Joy replied.

"You're sure you can crawl through?" Patricia questioned.

"I'm pretty sure I'm small enough," Joy assured. "And I'm smaller than any of the rest of you here. I don't suppose any of you will be volunteering any time soon?"

"So, Joy's crawling through then," Eddie declared. "And like Fabian said, we'll have to plan some more, but we have a lead."

Most of them left the lounge area. Nina, Eddie, and Fabian were the first to leave, and Patricia was about to say something to Joy and Jerome, but she didn't and just ended up leaving as well.

"Hi," Jerome smiled at Joy once they were the only ones left.

"Hello," Joy responded. "Hey Jerome, I just kept that letter as a memory. Nothing is meant by it, really, it's not like I could still have those feelings for you after all these years."

"I believe you," Jerome nodded. "So, what are we doing today?"

"What?" Joy had no idea what he was now talking about.

"That bet, remember?" Jerome reminded. "If you made me laugh at your joke, you could spend more time cheering me up. Does Joy Mercer not have anything planned?"

Joy stood to her feet. "Of course, I have something planned. And when did you become so eager to engage in my attempts to cheer you up?"

"Well, you'd keep trying anyway. You get a bit annoying when people don't agree with you," Jerome joked.

"Haha," Joy said sarcastically as she pulled Jerome along with her.

~~~~~
Here's a chapter for you Aristocrats! Sorry for not uploading one yesterday, but I just got busy. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one and the next one will be coming soon!

Thank goodness for Trudy, am I right?(at least she's not all bad)

Do you think what Joy told Jerome was the real reason she still had the letter?

Until next time!