Two is Company (House of Anubis)

Chapter 83: The Nightmare Begins

Kira threw a quick wave at Trudy as took the stairs up to the second floor. Victor wasn't in his office, so she thankfully didn't have to worry about getting pulled in for an impromptu verbal smackdown like her brother had. When she got onto the girls' floor, she found Fabian pacing outside the bathroom door, gnawing on his thumbnail.

When he caught sight of Kira, he smiled at her, clearly a bit jittery. "Hey, good you're here. Listen, I've had a breakthrough. Frobisher was a synesthete, which meant that, on occasion, his sense got mixed up. Like, he saw words as colors and could sometimes taste sounds! I think it may be the key to figuring out the cylinder combination! It's hereditary, so we're trying to see if KT also has a mild form."

"Hello to you, too, Fabian," Kira greeted wryly.

He laughed through his nose. "Sorry," he apologized. "I swear, I'm trying very hard to be patient."

"And doing a crummy job, might I add!" KT called from inside the bathroom, sounding a little congested. "Kira, please tell him to relax so I can hone in on my senses or whatever?"

Kira nodded, even though she couldn't see her. "Fabian, KT says you—"

"Yeah, yeah, wise guy," he grumbled.

"Hey, wait though. If she even does have synesthesia, isn't there a chance she sees different color patterns than Frobisher did?" Kira pointed out. "They're different people, and might have totally different conditions."

Fabian sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I've considered the possibility, yes, but it's the only lead we've got."

There were sudden footsteps on the stairs, and Fabian and Kira tensed, unsure if they should be hiding or not since it was still the middle of the day. They relaxed, though, when the hallway door burst open and Patricia and Eddie came barreling through with absolutely lovesick expressions on their faces. And, bless the gods, they were bantering. It seemed they'd finally talked it out.

"Eddie!" Kira exclaimed at the exact same time as Fabian, relief flooding every muscle in her body.

"Where have you been?" asked Fabian, the relief in his voice morphing seamlessly to irritation

Eddie half-smiled at her, then glanced at Fabian; his expression became defensive. "Hey, I know that look," he said, pointing at his roommate warningly.

"Um, hello, we need to work as a team," he stressed. "You can't just go off roaming around on your own!"

Kira bobbed her head up and down in agreement. "What if something had happened? We'd have no way to know if you—"

"Something did happen!" he explained. "I wasn't 'roaming around,' I was kidnapped!"

Kira's stomach dropped, and it was only then she really took in the state of her younger brother. He was covered in dirt and tiny scratches rimmed with thin rings of dried blood, along with dark circles under bloodshot eyes. Eddie looked horrendous.

"What?!"

Eddie nodded gravely, and he absently grabbed Patricia's hand. "Look, I had a vision outside the house... a really bad one. It was stronger than others I've had, guys."

"Of what?" asked Fabian.

Kira watched her brother's expression shift into something more carefully guarded, but she caught the twitch that betrayed his fear. Whatever it had been, he didn't want to share just how badly it had shaken him. Or perhaps didn't want to scare the rest of them.

He glanced at Patricia, his gaze telling in the pregnant silence that followed Fabian's question; Patricia shifted uneasily.

"You keep looking at me like that," she said anxiously, squeezing their clasped hands. "Clearly it's got something to do with me, so just tell me."