House of Anubis: House of Mistakes

Part XIV

Fabian and Patricia trudged onto the stage where Mara, Joy, Jerome, Willow, and Alfie were waiting for them. Alfie gave Willow a quick peck on the corner of her mouth and hopped up to join them.

"Have either of you seen Eddie anywhere?" Alfie asked, just as Mara threw back her head and shouted "Where is our leading man?"

Fabian gave Mara a helpless shrug, while Patricia gnawed her lip. "I'm sure he's fine," she said unconvincingly, squashing the last fragments of her nightmare down deep into her subconscious. "He's a big boy; he can take care of himself."

"I don't care if he's dead or alive," Mara piped up, and Joy involuntarily raised up her notebook to defend her face in case Mara started swinging. "I just want him in this room in the next sixty seconds or I will go out there and drag—"

As if summoned by her threats, Eddie came skidding around the corner. He was out of breath, but very much alive. At first, Patricia was relieved by the sight of him but, almost immediately after, took in his troubled, frightened expression. She felt Alfie and Fabian tense up beside her and knew they'd noticed too.

"You won't believe what she's done now," Eddie said gravely, and without needing to be told twice the three of them jumped off the stage and rushed past their exasperated housemates.

Once they were in the hall, Eddie took Patricia's hand in his own and squeezed tightly. She'd never admit it to anyone, but the gesture was comforting, and she really had been worried after that dream. "What happened?" she asked, rubbing a thumb over the back of his hand.

"It was KT," he said, and yes they'd gathered as much, thank you. "She...I thought she might still be our friend, you know? She tricked me into following her to the Gatehouse." He shook his head, voice clogged with emotion. "I'm such a chump. I should have known better."

"You were trying to see the goodness in her," Fabian said reassuringly, sharing a grim look with Alfie. "No one can fault you for that. What happened next?"

Eddie laughed humorlessly, knowing that his performance was thus far flawless. "She told me her great-grandpops was waiting for me. I didn't know what to do, so I just ran."

"This was just now?" Alfie asked, eyes darting around nervously. Was she lurking in the shadows, waiting to drag him off too?

Eddie nodded, then grimaced when his girlfriend's grip turned painful. "Ow, um, yes. I guess blood really is thicker than water." He shook his head somberly. "She's pure evil."

At the other end of the hall, the double doors banged open with purpose, and KT strode in with a righteous fury. "I'm pure evil?" she repeated indignantly, wagging her pointed finger in the air at him. "It's not me, it's him. He's the Sinner!"

The group fell quiet in shock, and Eddie drew Patricia in a little closer as if to protect her; KT's stomach turned over at the sight. The whole thing positively boiled her blood. She wasn't mad at her friends, she wasn't even mad at Eddie, or Victor, or her great-grandfather—she was mad that she couldn't make them understand. She couldn't help them. Not alone and not without proof.

Still, the wicked shell of her best friend putting his hands on the strongest girl she'd ever met directly in front of her eyes blinded her to all sense of tact. She started ranting. "Can't you see that's not the real Eddie?" KT raved, and it was only if someone looked closely that they could see the amusement in Eddie's eyes. She advanced, wanting to reach out and pull Patricia away from him, but Fabian and Alfie held her back. "It's some evil fake that Frobisher made!"

She winced when the words reached her ears, realizing how stupid that came off as. "That sounded so much better in my head," she muttered.

"KT, are you really accusing me of being a Sinner? That doesn't even make any sense," Eddie said, which only served to piss KT off more because he was right. It didn't make sense, and that was why it was impossible to prove it. When she floundered for a solid response, Eddie pinched his face into a disappointed little grimace. "She's just grasping at straws now, guys," he said, gesturing for the rest of them to get behind him. "Be careful. We might need to lock her up somewhere; she's dangerous."