Two is Company (House of Anubis)

Chapter 80: Spies Aren't Forever

"So he really just went off on you?" KT clarified after Eddie relayed the gist of what had happened to the five other members of the club. "For no reason?"

"No reason... I think. It wasn't even about school stuff! It was just... personal stuff." Eddie didn't feel the need to tell them exactly what was said, despite the curious stares he was currently receiving. "But the weirdest part is that none of it felt super personal, more like he was trying to... I dunno, push my buttons, or something? For the sole purpose of pushing my buttons." He shook his head, trying to get the memory of Victor's leering snarl out of his mind. Kira, who'd taken up post directly beside him ever since he'd managed to escape the office, wrapped an arm around him. "I don't know, it too weird! Even for Victor."

"You think this has something to do with whatever's going on at the Gatehouse?" suggested Fabian.

Alfie cocked his head. "Maybe he's been zombified by Frombie," he hummed wisely.

Patricia rolled her eyes so hard that for a moment you could only see the whites of her eyes. "Alfie, for the love of everything," she drawled, probably for KT's sake, "how many times are we going to go over this? Frobisher is not a zombie, nor is Victor. Zombies don't exist."

He eyed her suspiciously. "Something a zombie would say," he replied; Patricia rolled her eyes again, more fondly this time.

"Unbelievable."

"Either way, we need to refocus on those drawings. If they're really a message from your ancestors, then they might have the answers we need," said Kira in an attempt to redirect the conversation.

Eddie was just glad they could call the meeting to a close. He needed some time alone to process the shock of the afternoon's violent encounter, and to try to shake the cold feeling that kept creeping up his spine— like there was something wrong in the house. The constant buzzing of the house, which he now knew to be the Osirian spirit permeating the very air around him, had gone awfully quiet, as though it too had been stunned. Eddie hoped he'd find clarity in the morning.

"Sibuna," he said, covering his eye.

Thankfully, most of them got the message that that meant "get out," and repeated it back to him with grave half-smiles.

Patricia got up first, casting a cautious yet sympathetic look his way, before she hoisted Alfie to his feet. "C'mon, Zombie Boy, let's let Eddie and Fabes turn in, yeah?" she said.

"I'm not the zombie, though!" he protested.

"Still, you're somehow brainless enough," she teased. "KT, you coming?"

"Yeah," said KT distracted, eyeing her girlfriend who was still practically clinging to Eddie's arm like a leech. "Babe?"

Eddie gently extracted himself from his twin's hold. "I'm fine," he assured her.

She didn't look convinced, but nodded anyway. "Okay, but... but if you have any nightmares, or if you get scared, text me so I can—"

"Okay, Mom," Eddie gritted out when the others started snickering. "I will."

Kira hesitated for a second before standing up and allowing herself to be lead out of the room, leaving Eddie and Fabian alone together in their room once again.

"Are you okay, though?" Fabian asked after a few beats of silence. "Really, I mean? That was..."

"Intense? Yeah, but I'm fine, honest. I've been in worse scrapes than that, believe me." Eddie shrugged it off, tugging his day shirt off over his head and making a grab at his pajama top. "I'm just exhausted."