House of Anubis: Triad of Memphis

House of Research/House of Journals

Jared was up early in the morning, leaning against the wall and waiting outside Niamh and Rachel's door for Rachel to come out so he could consult with her more about the picture. Niamh swung the door open and revealed herself in her pajamas as Jared perked up, expecting Rachel.

"Oh," he sighed in disappointment.

"Don't worry; I'm not too pleased to see your face either," Niamh scoffed.

Jared rolled his eyes and ignored that comment. "Is Rachel in there?"

"No, I think she went to school early...Why? Are you hitting on her now, too?" Niamh frowned in disapproval.

"I'm hurt that you see me as that kind of guy." Jared placed his hand over his heart. "Well, did she tell you why she went off so early?"

"Avoiding you probably."

Niamh pushed past him and headed to the bathroom, but she stopped in her tracks when Jared continued speaking.

"You know, you should really tell me why you hate me so much."

"There isn't enough time in the day," Niamh told him and went into the bathroom.

Jared shook his head and let out a chuckle. He glanced around the hall as an idea had sprung into his head, and he slipped into Niamh and Rachel's room.

"Time to find that letter again," he muttered to himself.

Since he hadn't read the letter before, and he remembered when Niamh had been so secretive as to why she couldn't have been expelled, he decided to recover the letter this time to gather the information. He searched around her side of the room hastily-through drawers, bags, and the wardrobe. He started to believe he wouldn't find the letter, but he did spot something else that sparked his interest.

In black and red binding were note pages filled with writing which could've been none other than Niamh's journal. He glorified his finding of it and slipped it into his jacket as he slipped out of the room. Just then, Lucille was coming out of her and Sarah's room.

"What were you doing in Niamh and Rachel's room?" Lucille asked suspiciously.

Jared hesitated and then gave the partial truth, "I was looking for Rachel. I asked her about that puzzle we have to solve."

Lucille still looked at him suspiciously.

"Well, see you at school," Jared declared quickly. "Toodaloo." He hurried away.

~~~~~
Tyler found Rachel in the school's media classroom where she was researching away on one of the computers. He went over by her and laid his stuff down just by hers.

"What's up?"

"Jared asked me to research something for him," Rachel admitted. "Some...puzzle." She gestured toward her phone which the picture was displayed on. Tyler studied it intently.

"Find anything?" Tyler inquired, leaning near the computer screen.

"A lot, actually," Rachel began. "Get this: those symbols are called a Mark of Anubis. A sign of a curse, or death, or anything of that sort. Apparently the puzzle was nearly lost in translation, but I eventually found that it was a game invented by King Rameses, an ancient pharaoh of Egypt. The game requires two players, one who is the persecutor and one who is the persecuted...The persecutor stands on the bare squares and can only travel on those, while the other is on the marked squares. Apparently, the bare squares spring traps among the marked squares, and it's by random chance that the other person might...die."

"Isn't that a bit...inhumane?" Tyler commented after she had finished.

"It was his way of deciding whether or whether not someone deserved to live..."

"Even better...But, why does Jared want this?"

"He didn't say," Rachel shrugged. "But I ought to go find him and tell him what I found."

~~~~~
During the day, Jared had met back up with Lucille and they were lounging around on the couch. Niamh sat across from them and rested her legs on the table with her earplugs in and the volume turned high, ignoring the others.

Jared took out his chemistry book and then took out Niamh's journal, placing it between the pages of the chemistry book. He handed it to Lucille and asked her to read it for him.

"What is this?" Lucille asked as she flipped to the cover. "Niamh's diary?" She glanced over at Niamh who wasn't paying attention to them at all. "Jared, you have to return this."

"I need answers," he pleaded.

"Then don't come to me for them," Lucille warned, shoving the books back to Jared. Just then, Jonah was coming into the room but stopped just at the doorway. Niamh also lowered her music volume to hear what they were discussing but without the others realizing.

Lucille continued, "If you're really going to steal things, don't bring them to me, and don't ask me to read them."

Jared succumbed to Lucille's sudden stern nature. "I-I'm sorry...I'll return it."

"Good," Lucille approved. "And if you want answers, you go to her-" she nodded toward Niamh, "-alright?...Alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah."

"Why would you need me to read it anyway?" Lucille asked him as she gather her things and prepared to go. She stood to her feet and faced him. "Can't read it yourself?"

"Actually...no," Jared admitted. "I mean, I can, it's just kind of...not easy."

"What? You mean like you're-"

"-dyslexic." Jared finished.

Niamh gasped, but she quickly feigned being absorbed in her music and her phone before they realized she was listening in.

Lucille tried to say something, but she couldn't manage anything. She just picked up her things and left the room, passing by Jonah. Jared stood to his feet with the intention of following but decided not to. Niamh stared up at him without him noticing, and Jonah stared at him with his arms crossed from the doorway. Jared shrugged at him, and Jonah let out a sigh.

~~~~~
Here another chapter for you all! I hope you enjoyed this, and there shall be another coming soon. Until then, here are the discussion questions.

Do you think Sibuna will go through with the task once they figure out someone could die?

Do you think Jared will return the journal?

Did you expect that from Jared?

Until next time, Aristocrats!