House of Anubis: One Last Stand

House of Resolution/House of Apparition

Jerome left the kitchen into the foyer at the same time Joy was heading down the stairs. They both stopped in their tracks and stared at eachother, but Joy interrupted the moment by continuing on out the house.

Jerome followed behind her quickly, hoping to talk to her.

"Joy!" he called her name, but she didn't stop walking away. "Joy, please talk to me."

"Okay, obviously I don't want to," Joy stressed, turning to face him. It was obvious she wanted to get away from Jerome, but she knew he wouldn't stop following her if she just kept walking.

"You can't just not talk to me after what happened..."

"Oh, you mean after Amber's fiancé kissed his ex-girlfriend?"

"You kissed back-"

"-yes, because I screw things up!" Joy took a deep breath. "I'm Joy; I have a knack for screwing things up. But Jerome, you-you cannot screw this up. Because right now, you have an unconscious fiancée, and she needs to wake up to the man who will be the reason for her wedding day. She needs to wake up to the one guy who is capable of making her the luckiest woman in the world. And you know Jerome-I thought I still loved you, but I don't. And if, in any way, I do, I'll get over it. But I know you love her more than anything in the world, and that is something I'm not going to take away from either of you."

Jerome hesitated for a moment in his response. "How do you know?"

"The way you look at her," Joy admitted softly.

"And how is that?"

"Like she's the best thing in the world...Not every girl is as fortunate as Amber to get that look from Jerome Clarke, and you know what? She deserves it. She deserves every ounce of it."

Jerome was lost for any more words to say and felt they were unnecessary anyway. He embraced Joy and whispered a thank you to her as she hugged back.

~~~~~
Eddie paced back in forth at the bottom of the stairs, contemplating whether or not he wanted to go ahead and fix things with Patricia. He had no idea what he'd say or how things would go, but he had an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. Fabian and Alfie went over to talk to him,

"Dude, she's your wife," Alfie told him. "You've got this."

"But what would I say?" Eddie asked.

"Tell her the truth," Fabian responded. "You owe her that."

Eddie heaved a sigh and nodded. He ascended the steps until he reached the second floor where he went through the rooms to find Patricia. She was in the room where Willow and kids' bodies rested, sitting with Their daughter, Lucille's head resting on her lap.

"Hey," Eddie began.

~~~~~
Nina, Amber, and Willow were continuously facing the extremities of the dream state as they searched frantically for William, Sarah, and Lucille.

"It'll be impossible to find them," Willow pouted.

"Hey, we found eachother," Nina reminded. "So, we can find them."

"Nina, what if they encountered the gems?" Amber asked. "They wouldn't know what to do."

"Could we please stop thinking like this?" Nina requested.

"But, bad things happen-" Amber began.

"-I don't want to hear it. So, if either of you have any negative thoughts about what might have happened to them, stop thinking that, because we won't find them with that mentality."

Amber and Willow glanced at eachother and nodded.

Up ahead was a familiar structure the three of them could recognize instantly. It held a daunting loom just as it always would with vines growing up the sides of the mahogany brick.

Anubis house.

Without a word, they all knew their next destination was that place. They headed straight for it, compelled by its familiarity and the connection they had with it in the real world.

Once they reached it, Nina opened the door for them all, and they stepped inside to the same structure they'd always known. Nina headed upstairs, a gut-feeling leading her to do so. She went straight to the room where Willow and the children's bodies would be resting at the moment back in the real world.

She swung open the door, and inside she saw an apparition of Eddie, who turned and looked straight at her. She had a sense this was actually Eddie. Where he was in real time, but he just appeared ghostly given that they were within two different realms.

But how would she be able to see and know it's him? And how would he know she was there?

~~~~~
After Eddie said 'hey' to Patricia, he felt a shiver down his spine, and he looked right at the doorway as though someone had just arrived. No one was there. At least, no one he could see. But he felt like someone was there.

"Hello?" Patricia snapped her fingers. "If you're really more interested in a door than me, then we might as well talk later."

"No," Eddie rejected. "No," he repeated, turning back to Patricia, ignoring the chill he felt in the room. "I really need to talk to you."

~~~~~
Nina saw the apparition of Eddie turn back and face forward towards the bed.

"Nina, what's wrong?" Amber asked, her and Willow coming up the stairs. They stood behind her to see through the doorway, but couldn't see the apparition she saw.

"Eddie..."

~~~~~
Eddie tried to go into his explanation and apology, but he heard a soft voice whisper his name, and if he hadn't known better, he would've thought it to be Nina's. He looked around, caught off guard by the voice he had just heard in his mind.

"Could you get on with what you were saying please?" Patricia sighed.

Eddie blinked a bit and recollected himself. "Y-yeah."

~~~~~
"What about Eddie?"  Willow asked Nina.

"He's there. Right there," Nina gestured. She looked back, noticing the confused looks on their faces. "I guess you guys can't see him. But I think it's really him. Right now, in the real world."

"Does he see you?" Amber questioned.

"I think he knows I'm here...Or, at least, something's here." Nina then said a bit louder, "Eddie?"

~~~~~
Eddie heard his name more distinctly and turned straight back to the doorway again.

"Okay, if I'm not worth your attention, then find me when I am, yeah?" Patricia moaned, leaving the room.

"Patricia-" Eddie tried to go after her as she left the room, but he stopped in his tracks, sensing something nearby.

He stopped right in front of where Nina was standing in the dream state, and although he couldn't see her, he was staring straight into her eyes. He almost felt like he should say her name, just to know what would happen, but he took back that idea and walked straight through her, out the room.

~~~~~
Nina turned to watch as Eddie descended the stairs. Perhaps she'd have to find another way to let him know, without a doubt, that it was her there.

~~~~~
Another chapter for you lovely readers! It's been brought to my attention, by @SpunkyMalone111 that December 21st is Rufus Zeno's 100th birthday and it's been requested that there be a special chapter for that day. So, I will do my best to make sure that happens! I know Rufus isn't in this story and he's not particularly one of the good guys to celebrate, but he made for a good villain and he has gone down in HOA history, so let's do a special for his birthday.

And besides that, discussion questions...

Do you think Nina, Amber, and Willow will find the children?

How do you think Nina will be able to contact Eddie?(or at least get his attention)

And yeah, that's all for now. Until next time, Aristocrats!