Touch of Fear ▸ House of Anubis [2]

chapter seventy-five. house of reflectors

☾ ☽

            That timepiece Senkhara was going on about? It's Nina's gran. Senkhara cursed her as well. Fabian went to check on Nina and figured it out, and Nina found the Mark of Anubis on her gran's arm. And she's getting worse. It's like Senkhara's made it so that the longer we take finding the Mask, the more likely it is Nina's gran will...

            "I can't believe it," Amber remarks.

            "You mean, the timepiece is Granny Martin?" Patricia questions.

            "She's been hexed," Nina confirms with a sniff, "just like us. How did Senkhara even get to her? I don't even know how long she's been cursed for. She started getting sick when she was staying here!"

            Amber puts her arm around Nina. "Senkhara's one mean spirit lady."

            "We failed the constellation task. It's game over for all of us, because of me."

            I lean over to give Nina a tight hug. We need to figure out how to get past the constellation task so we can help her and her gran. There's a knock on the door, and without anyone saying 'come in,' the door opens anyways. It's Joy, who is probably the last person Nina needs to see right now, and she greets gently, "Hey."

            "Joy, this is really not a good time," I advise, giving her a sharp look to get her to go away.

            "Yeah...well," she continues slowly, eyes on Nina, "I just wanted to say sorry...for the Jackal Anonymous thing. I mean, I guess it was a slow news day."

            "It's fine, Joy," Nina responds. "You were right. Maybe I wasn't taking enough care of my gran."

            "Nina, admit to nothing," Amber tells her. She stands, facing Joy head-on. "Joy, if you have something to say to any of us, you should have the courage to say it to our faces, not write it on a website pretending to be someone else. If anyone in here should be embarrassed, it's you." As proud as I am of Amber, I grab her arm, pulling her back as Joy leaves, closing the door behind her. "Just my opinion."

—

            "Any news?" Fabian questions as Nina enters for breakfast after calling to check on her gran.

            "Gran's still the same," Nina answers. "The hospital said they'd call if there are any changes."

            "Look, if your gran is the timepiece, it's more important now than ever that we find a solution to this task."

            "But how?" Amber asks. "The stars have gone, and we've got nowhere to put the reflectors on."

            Alfie says, "Why don't we just hold the reflectors up ourselves?"