House of Anubis: House of Mistakes

Part XXVII

"What?" KT asked as Patricia stopped dead in her tracks at the bottom of the stairs. "What's wron—umph!"

Patricia, with just about the last of her strength, had half-turned and slapped a hand over KT's mouth. She gestured with her head into the living room, and KT's blood ran cold.

He hadn't seen them yet, too wrapped up in his smarmy chat with their housemother, but it was definitely him: her great-grandfather sitting there in an armchair like he was merely catching up with an old friend.

She shook off Patricia's hand and the two of them inched their way out of sight and huddled together by the cellar door. "Why is he here?"

"Probably trying to collect more Sinners," Patricia whispered. "Now I know why this stupid Osirian spirit was making me feel like I had the flu. That old man is sitting in the fucking living room!" KT's expression was scolding, and she belatedly realized she'd just verbally attacked her great-grandfather. "Erm, no offense."

Now that the warning had been heeded, the pain subsided enough that Patricia didn't feel debilitated anymore, but it still lurked in the shadows and left her feeling weak.

"It's fine," KT said. "But what are going to do? We can't leave Trudy alone with him."

Patricia chewed the inside of her cheek looking around desperately for something she could pull out of her bag of tricks. And all of a sudden, she had an idea. "If Trudy has something more important to do, she'll send him on his way," Patricia pointed out, "and unless he's willing to get downright nasty, he won't drop the bit."

"Okay... so how are we going to get Trudy occupied?" KT asked, glancing nervously over her shoulder toward the open door.

"Follow my lead," Patricia replied, before slamming her fist as hard as she could against the cellar door and shoving a startled KT onto the floor. "Oh my god, KT!" she said loudly, making sure her voice carried into the living room. "Are you alright?"

KT stared up at Patricia in shock and betrayal, but before she could open her mouth to ask 'What the hell is wrong with you?', Trudy practically descended on her from behind.

"My goodness!" Trudy said, crouching down beside her. "What happened?"

"She just fell over!" Patricia explained, and KT saw her eyes were focused not on Trudy, but on something— or, rather, someone— behind them. KT didn't dare turn around yet. "Never seen anything like it."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Smith," Trudy said. "I'll have to visit another day; these children are accident prone, but they're my accident-prone children, you see? Now, dearie where does it hurt?"

KT thought fast, heart racing at the thought that she was lying prone in the same room as her evil great-grandfather. "My wrist," she said at the exact same time that Patricia said, "Her ankle."

Trudy blinked at them, then chuckled awkwardly. "Well, that must have been quite a fall. Let me go grab the first aid kit. I'll only be a second."

KT and Patricia shared a startled glance but before they could protest, Trudy breezed out of the foyer and into the kitchen, leaving "Mr. Smith" and the two teens alone. Immediately, Patricia stepped forward, putting herself in front of KT as she scrambled to her feet.

Robert just stood there, leaning casually in the doorframe of the living room. "Hello, great grand-daughter. I do hope your ankle isn't too badly hurt. Or was it your wrist?" he sneered, then his eyes flicked to Patricia. "And you. I've heard much about you. You look just like your great-grandmother."

"Don't waste your breath on him," Patricia said to KT. "He's just trying to get under our skin."

"Ah, so protective!" Robert said, his smile mean. "I wonder if that's how you are naturally or a product of that parasite inside of you."