Force of Nature ▸ House of Anubis [3]

chapter forty-nine. house of deceptions

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            As it turned out, Mara's going to let Jerome borrow one of her extremely-spicy, burn-your-mouth recipes. She'd tried it on Atticus and it was extremely satisfying, he said she told him, but it didn't come from her. Mara doesn't want Alfie to know she gave Jerome the recipe that's gonna set his mouth on fire because she was afraid of retaliation. Smart of her. Which is exactly why I'm staying out of their prank war.

            With those two, these things can last for weeks. Hopefully they give up in a couple days, though. Alfie can't be distracted with this Frobisher thing going on. Although, I will admit, watching the pranks go down instead of being the one on the receiving end is a lot of fun. They do end up escalating things most of the time, so I'll give them two more pranks each before I step in and make them stop.

            Right now, Sibuna's still trying to figure out how those drawings go together, though. It's a hopeless task, as none of us can figure out how to do it. Alfie and Patricia are the only ones not here with the rest of Sibuna in the living room. Alfie's probably prepping himself for Jerome's retaliation prank (I really doubt he can adequately prepare himself for a burning mouth) and Patricia's who-knows-where. Speaking of Trixie, I heard a little rumor going around the school that she asked Atticus Monroe on a date. KT was with me when we heard it and was quick to inform me that she's just using him to make Eddie jealous. Besides, Atticus has always been the most hated boy in school, despite his good looks. His cheating on Mara and Willow only adds to that.

            "Art is my thing," I state, resting my elbows on my knees as I set my head in my hands. "It's my thing and this makes no sense. I can't see how they fit together."

            "Maybe flip it," KT suggests to Fabian.

            The door to the house closes; it's Victor, and something's weird about him. The air suddenly changes as he walks into the room and I can't tell exactly what happened, but it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Fabian closes his laptop. Victor's not looking at us. His eyes are, like, narrowed or something, but not in the way they normally are when he looks at Sibuna. Something's happened and I don't know what, but I don't like it.

            "You okay, Victor?" Eddie asks hesitantly.

            Victor points two fingers at us, like he's telling us he's watching us (not unusual), but what's weird is that he looks at all four of us, walking slowly. He starts with KT, who shrinks. Then me, who he tilts his head at, but he moves onto Fabian (who averts his eyes), and finally, he looks at Eddie. "You."

            "What?"

            Victor suddenly grabs Eddie's shirt and pulls him up from the chair. "You're coming with me, boy," he states angrily. I protest as I jump up from my seat; Fabian and KT do the same. We haven't broken any school rules since we got unexpelled! Victor has no right to take Eddie. "Shut up!" Victor demands of us. "Stay there. Come with me."