House of Anubis: Triad of Memphis

House of Arrivals/House of New Beginnings

Sarah stood gazing through her spectacles at the ever-present Anubis house, looming high above with vines draped all over. She recalled some of the stories her mother and father shared with her about their adventures in this very house, and she almost felt as though she had already come to know it herself.

"Sarah!" Lucille and William were approaching side-by-side, suitcases rolling behind them.

"I can't believe we're in high school already," Sarah sighed fondly.

"We need to get inside and choose our room," Lucille declared.

She and Sarah hurried inside, and William followed closely behind. Or, at least he did until his suitcase wheel got stuck on the stair. He yanked at it repeatedly until he heard a nearby giggle.

"Do you need some help?"

He glanced up at the voice to find it was a girl around his age with curly red hair, longing brown eyes, and a smile of vitality, suggesting she was full of life.

"I've got it," William shook his head out of a moment of surveying her.

"No, here." She went over to him and pushed the suitcase over from the bottom. She stood back straight and held out her hand for William to shake it. "I'm Rachel."

"William." He took her hand.

They both headed inside, and Rachel went off upstairs knowing that was where the girls would reside. William lingered around in the foyer waiting until another guy showed up so he could decide on a room with a desirable roommate. The front door swung open, but it was the other girl who'd be staying in the house. William noticed her hair was grown out down to her waist and dyed a very radiant red. Her eyes were a greyish-blue, and her skin was a very pale shade.

"Hi," William greeted disappointingly.

"Thanks for the warm welcome," the girl shrugged her eyebrows. Her accent suggested she wasn't from England.

"Sorry...Are you Irish?"

"Oh, is that your idea of a welcome?"

"Um, excuse me," William chuckled it off. "I'm William; nice to meet you."

"Niamh is the name. Don't try to spell it; just know that's what it is." Niamh swallowed before continuing. "Girls upstairs, right?"

William nodded silently.

He watched as Niamh left his sight, and he eventually decided to go decide on a room himself without a roommate to have come yet.

As he left the foyer, the caretaker of Anubis house stepped out of his office and stood at the railing, gripping his hands around the polished wood.

"This year will be the year," he muttered to himself in a low, husky tone, a smirk of deceit curling on the edge of his lip.

~~~~~
Eventually everyone had arrived, the last three being Jonah and Jared, who were identical twins, and Tyler, who came all the way from New York. Tyler ended up being the one to room with William, and after everyone had their things settled in, the caretaker called them into the sitting room for a brief meeting.

"I'm Mr. Carroway, and I will be your caretaker, likely for the next four years." He paced around as he spoke and fiddled around with a ring on his index finger. "Your housemother will be arriving in a few days. Until then, I will be preparing breakfast and dinner for you all, and you will be responsible for your own laundry. Curfew is at ten; if you're not in your rooms with lights out by then, there will be consequences."

"I wonder what those consequences would be," Tyler muttered over to William.

"You're all required to wear the respective uniform to school. If you receive detention, you will have to report to the school building on Saturdays, in uniform. I would not like to see detention happen to any of you. Represent Anubis house proudly...Dismissed." With that, Mr. Carroway left the room.

"Well, I don't like him at all." Jared scrunched his nose disapprovingly.

"You know, we should introduce ourselves. Familiarize ourselves with our housemates," Sarah suggested. "I guess I'll start. I'm Sarah Rutter. My parents were at this school in this very house years ago which is pretty cool."

"So you have street cred, is what you're saying?" Niamh asked.

"Um..." Sarah shook her head.

Niamh shrugged. "Well anyway, I'm Niamh. From Northern Ireland if you couldn't realize. The most interesting thing you'll ever find out about me is probably my hair. So..."

Jared chucked.

"Is that so funny?"

"It is, yeah," Jared smirked. "And while we're on the subject of me, I'm Jared, and I really...really like getting to know people." He stared straight at Niamh when he said this, and she turned her head away in disgust.

"Well I'm his brother, Jonah," Jonah introduced himself. "If you ever want to tell Jared and I apart, I'm the one not hitting on girls all the time."

Jared tilted his head in agreement.

"I'm Lucille," Lucille cut in a bit too untimingly. "You can call me Lucy if you'd like. My parents also went here, and I'm besties with Sarah, so you'll see us together a lot."

"And, I'm Rachel," Rachel introduced herself warmly. "I'm pretty nice, and I'm happy to be here and meet you all."

Tyler glanced over at William and decided he'd do the honors of introducing himself next. "I'm Tyler. Obviously the only American in the room. What do I even say about myself? I've always been a straight-A student, so if you need help with your homework, I'm your guy. I guess that's all for now."

"And I'm William," William introduced himself last, his voice cracking with anxiety. "I'm not, like, anything special. I know Lucy and Sarah real well. My parents were here too, so..."

Everyone rose to their feet before she could add anything else and at that point, he decided it was best that he didn't. He simply followed the others out the room.

~~~~~
Sarah and Lucille were in their room unpacking when Sarah reached into her backpack and pulled out a silver chain with the Eye of Horus dangling from the bottom. She observed it, twirling it in her hands and under her breath she muttered one distinct word...Sibuna."

"What was that?" Lucille asked, glancing up.

"Nothing," Sarah shook her head, glancing back at her best friend. Sarah felt regretful about withholding anything from her closest friend, but this was something her mother had entrusted her with. Something that was to remain highly secretive until she figured out who the necklace belonged to.

"You know, I think it'll be pretty cool here," Lucille smiled, changing the subject.

"Yeah."

~~~~~
That is the end of the first chapter! Just a beginning to introduce the newbies, and it seems Sarah has been put up to the task to find the Chosen One! They must be really close...

And now for discussion questions:

How was this for a first chapter?

Do you think you'll like the new children in Anubis house?

Who do you think the Chosen One and Osirion could be?

Of course you wouldn't have much an idea of the Chosen One and Osirion at this point but just in case you have any opinion on that. Anyway...until next time, Aristocrats!