What Lies Beneath ▸ House of Anubis [1]

chapter twenty-two. house of cameras

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            Trudy's leaving Anubis House.

            And because of us.

            Because Victor somehow figured out what we were doing and removed all evidence of his wrongdoings.

            When she comes out, bags in tow, the room becomes even more solemn somehow. I hate this. I hate Victor. All of Anubis House is waiting for her. We may disagree on literally everything else, but one thing we all agree on is that Trudy is happiness personified.

            "Trudy," Fabian starts as he goes toward her, "we're really sorry."

            "We didn't mean to get you in trouble," Nina adds. "Honestly, we didn't."

            "I know," Trudy assures, but it doesn't make me or them I expect feel any better. "It's my own fault for believing your silly stories."

            "We're really going to miss you," Mara says sincerely.

            "I'm going to miss you, too." Trudy's voice cracks as she looks around at us. "All of you."

            Victor comes back inside. "Your taxi's here."

            I cut my eyes at him as Amber steps forward to embrace Trudy. "How can you do this?" she asks. "Trudy hasn't done anything wrong."

            "Goodbye Trudy," Victor says dismissively. He sends her off with a wave of the hand, and after she's left Anubis House, he slams the door shut.

            Anubis House without Trudy is not something I want to experience.

—

            Breakfast looks horrible. I frown, poking at it with my fork. I don't think Victor cooked this the whole way through. Mostly because I'm pretty sure it's still frozen, and it's literally stuck to the plate. There's no way I'm eating this. Guess I'm skipping breakfast this morning.

            I'm not the only one who feels this way. Mick pipes up, "I'm not eating this."

            "Trudy always gave us toast," Mara adds, "with our choice of jam—"

            Victor interrupts, "Forget Trudy. And if you don't like my cooking, you can always do it yourself."

            Honestly, I might.

            "How about we go and get breakfast from the vending machines at school, guys?" Amber suggests. We all mutter in agreement, getting up and leaving our horribly-cooked breakfast behind. God, man, get a cookbook! But as we go out into the hallway, we're met with the sight of men on ladders installing security cameras. "No, way, they're installing security cameras."