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THE NEXT MORNING, Leah and Amber sat at the table with Jerome and Alfie as Patricia stormed into the room, grabbing both jugs of water and tipping them over Leah and Amber's head. Amber let out a shriek as Nina and Fabian ran over to the table

"I asked you both to keep a secret!" Patricia screamed, "They've both known me since we were 11! And now they are siding with someone who's only been here two minutes!" Patricia screamed as Leah dried the water from her hair and her uniform

"Patricia, what's going on?" Mara asked, being the only person to speak up

"Betrayal, that's what!" Patricia shouted

"You expected me to keep yet another secret of yours?!" Leah screamed back at Patricia

"How about I tell everyone your secret?! Since you told Nina mine?" Patricia retorted

"Do it.. I dare you!" Leah snarled at Patricia. Patricia and Joy knew most of Leah's secrets but the one she was going to expose was the biggest one she ever told them.. and considering the person she told them about was in that room, would make everything different for her.

"You don't go through other people's private things!" Amber spoke, "Its like an unwritten rule!"

"I think it's a written rule" Nina spoke. Patricia flicked the rest of the water at Amber and Leah, much to their annoyance, "Some friends you are!" She shouted before leaving the room.

"You're a little bitch Patricia!" Leah screamed as Patricia left the room. Leah rushed upstairs and dried her hair off and changed into a dry set of uniform when Jerome and Alfie knocked on her door,

"Lee? Its Jerome and Alfie!" Alfie's voice spoke from behind the door. Leah walked over and opened it, "Go ahead, laugh. I got humiliated"

"Oh Lee, we aren't going to laugh.. we actually came to see if you're okay" Jerome spoke

"I'm brilliant.. not like everyday I ask to have a jug of water tipped on top of me" Jerome and Alfie sat with Leah before heading over to the school with her. They sat in Andrews class with them sitting at the back of the room

"I'm sure you're all hungry for the latest practice paper" Mrs Andrews spoke, handing out papers as Patricia rushed into the room

"Ah! The late Miss Williamson. How nice of you to grace us with your presence"

"Sorry, I'm late Mrs Andrews" Patrica spoke, sitting down in her seat next to Mara as her phone rang. Mrs Andrews moved to stand in front of her, "Ah!" Mrs Andrews spoke, lifting the piece of paper over which Patricia used to hide her phone, "Yes I am getting mightily fed up with this. Yesterday it was Mr Rutter and his music player today, Miss Williamson. You know the school rules, no mobile phones! No MP3s. Miss Williamson, hand it over"

"Ah it's okay. I'll switch it off and put it in my bag"

"No, that's what you should've done now you can give it to me" Mrs Andrews spoke, holding out her hand. Patricia hands her phone over, "Okay everyone, you know what to do" Mrs Andrews moved to the front of the classroom as everyone got on with studying. She switched the phone on to see a message on Patricia's phone: 𝙼𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎. 𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 -𝚁

THEY ARRIVED BACK HOME from school and went to the living room to investigate the fireplace. Amber opened the door and peered inside, "Nobody"

"Okay, let's go" Fabian spoke. They all walked over to the fireplace as Nina and Fabian knelt down to have a look inside to see if there was anything. They moved out together and hit their heads together

"I'm sorry!" Fabian spoke

"Its okay. Probably just a mild concussion" Nina spoke. Leah and Amber exchanged looks as they watched Nina and Fabian share a sweet romantic look at each other, "Hey Romeo and Juliet" Amber spoke up, snapping the two out of their look

"Yeah uh.. moving on"

"There's nothing here but I was so sure"

"Maybe we've misread the riddle"

"Maybe or.. maybe it's just not this fireplace"

"Well... of course! The house has central heating now. I bet a load of these old fireplaces were bricked up when it was fitted"

"How are going to find out where they were?" Amber asked.

"Maybe it's time we visited Sarah" Nina suggested. They all looked at each other before rushing to grab coats and bags and they headed off to the old people's home, "I hope we catch Sarah in one of her more illusive moments. She can get very confused.. I mean she could send us to a fireplace back in 1972" Nina spoke as they approached Sarah's door. Nina pulled it open to show that Sarah already had a visitor with her, a man who wore a leather jacket

"Sarah, do you remember me?" The man spoke

"I've never seen her with a visitor before" Nina whispered. They listened in to their conversation

"Sarah, try to concentrate. We are talking about the old days" The man spoke. Sarah gave him a look as though she started to recognise him

"I remember your face..."

"That's good"

"But I get so... muddled" Sarah spoke, as she teared up

"Sarah, just relax. Everything's alright. I'll get you some tea" The man spoke, standing up which was a clear indication for the 4 of them to hide away from his vision.

They headed back to the house without even visiting Sarah. They sat around the table for supper without uttering a word, with the only sound being forks scraping on plates

"Pass the juice please, Mara" Patricia spoke. Mara gave her a look and didn't do as she asked. Patricia stood and walked around the table to grab the juice jug

"Well, aren't we quiet tonight?" Trudy spoke as she came into the dining room to put some extra food down

"No kidding" Patricia spoke, "So, what's with the silent treatment?" Patricia asked

"What you did to Amber and Leah was terrible" Nina spoke, being the only person out of everyone to talk to Patricia

"And what do you think, Mara?"

"You went too far! Plus, I was on clean up duty!" Mara exclaimed

"Yeah! Okay, you're probably right" Patricia spoke

"Whoa," Alfie spoke, looking at Patricia

"I'm sorry Amber and Leah"

"Falls off his chair in amazement!" Alfie spoke, actually falling sideways off his chair to the floor

"Did Patricia 'I'm never wrong' Williamson just apologise?" Jerome questioned

"Shut up, slimeball. Oh and nice cologne. Aau de cat pee?" Patricia spoke to Jerome as he rolled his eyes at the girl

"And Nina, I'm sorry about going through your stuff. The thing is I did have a reason and if you're interested, I'll tell you about it, not now obviously but in private sometime?" Patricia spoke

"Yeah! Sure.. you, me, no witnesses, should be fine" Nina spoke. After supper, it was Leah, Nina, Amber and Fabian clearing away.

"So, are you taking Patricia up on her offer then, Nina?" Fabian spoke. Nina had zoned out, looking at something, "Nina?"

"Could that be a fireplace?" Nina spoke, looking at the old oven door behind Leah, "Remember on parents day, when Trudy said about this oven door not being able to open?"

"What are you getting at?" Fabian questioned

"Okay, this is a real long shot" Nina spoke. Leah knelt down next to Nina as Nina's locket shone red and the oven door swung open, "Not that long, I guess" Leah exclaimed. The 4 peered inside to what looked like a tunnel with steps going down

"Of course! Khet... inferno, place of fire" Fabian excitedly exclaimed

"English please, Fabian" Nina spoke

"Inferno, hell.. The clue means down in... hell?" Fabian spoke

"Its really dark down there" Amber spoke. Trudy voice could be heard near the kitchen door. Nina quickly closed the oven door, "Tonight, after lights out.. Sibuna?"

"Sibuna" They all spoke.

It was lights out and Nina, Fabian, Amber and Leah went through the passageway which ultimately lead into the cellar which Victor spent most of his time in, besides his office. They shone their torches as they made their way into the cellar

"Ah! Ghost!" Amber shouted, causing the other 3 to jump

"More like a sheet" Leah spoke, reassuring her blonde friend, tapping her on her shoulder

"Can we find a light switch? Please, bad things don't happen when the lights are on" Amber spoke. Leah rolled her eyes

"Okay guys, let's check this out" Fabian spoke. He managed to find a light switch and the whole cellar lit up

"This place is weirding me out, can we go?" Amber spoke

"Not yet"

"We need to find the next clue.. be careful what you touch here guys.. Looks like there might be some other little surprises down here"

"This stuff smells old and gross" Amber spoke. Leah shone her torch around and found something

"Guys! Look, on the wall!" Leah spoke, the other 3 rushed over and saw a loop with a flame painting on the wall, "Flames" Fabian spoke, admiring the painting

"There in the flames, you must look behind!" Nina spoke

"That's easy. It's got like a ring hole thing on it. May as well say 'pull me' on it" Amber spoke

"That's not a ring hole... it's a tethering ring... That you tie animals too" Fabian began to pull at the ring to try and get it off the wall. It wouldn't budge at first but it eventually came off, taking the hook off with it.

"It seemed like such a good plan" Nina spoke, holding the ring hoop in the torch light as a bunch of numbers appeared

"Look! Numbers!" Nina gasped, "A code?"

"Sibuna!" Amber spoke, excitedly

"Sibuna" the other 3 copied. A loud bang came from upstairs, "What was that?" Amber spoke loudly, Fabian hushed her as a shadow appeared at the top of the stairs

"Hide!" Nina spoke. They all rushed to hide away from the shadow who was walking down the steps to the cellar. The shadow turned out to be Victor. Fabian held the cupboard door opened that they were hiding in as Victor walked around one of the tables and picked up a bottle which contained an odd coloured liquid

"Ah, so little left..." He muttered to himself. He pulled the cork out of the bottle and poured some of the liquid into a tube

"To life" He lifted the tube up into the air then proceeded to drink the liquid, much to Sibuna's disgust and horror. He didn't seem to be disgusted by it, meaning he's done it plenty of times before.

The 4 all watched from the cupboard as Victor finished the awful coloured liquid and closed the lights off, heading back up to his office. Once they heard the door click shut, they clambered out of the cupboard

"Let's go" Amber whispered. Amber and Leah began to walk over to the passage when they realised the two lovebirds weren't behind them. Instead, they were more interested in Victor's chemistry set up.

"Guys, Victor will know that someone's tempered with his stuff if we don't leave.. And I mean, right this minute!" Leah spoke but Nina and Fabian didn't listen. He reached forward and picked up the bottle Victor had, attempting to take a drink out of it however he was quickly stopped by Nina, "Don't! We don't know what's in it!" Nina exclaimed

"Please, can we go?!" Amber whined. The response to Amber's plead was a wail which caused them to jump and hold onto each other.

"Let's get out of here now!" Fabian spoke, looking at his 3 scared friends

"Oh now you listen?!" Leah whispered violently at Fabian. They all headed back through the secret passageway and out of the old oven door.

Leah had gotten used to the lack of sleep she was getting since becoming a Sibuna and constantly sneaking out for most of the night. Leah stood doing her makeup as Nina shook Amber to wake her up

"Amber! You need to wake up! You're going to be late" Nina shouted, as Amber stirred from her sleep

"I didn't sleep a wink all night" Amber complained as she sat up and yawned, "Do you guys believe in werewolves?" Amber questioned the 2 girls. Leah looked in her mirror at her blonde roommate

"No, why?" Nina laughed as Leah shook her head in response to Amber's question

"I reckon that's what was making that wailing noise last night" Amber stated which Leah couldn't keep a straight face at

"Ams, there is no such thing as werewolves. They are myths" Leah spoke, putting away her makeup brush and picking out her eyeliner pencil

"But what else could've made that noise?!" Amber questioned. A black cat, shockingly on cue, wandered into the bedroom

"That did not just happen?!" Leah turned as the cat meowed

Leah, Nina and Amber raced downstairs and met up with Fabian and told him about what could've made that wailing sound

"A cat?" Fabian questioned, looking between the 3 girls as they nodded

"Yeah, a black cat.. Nothing could ever be more creepy in this place" Nina spoke

"And we're hiding it in our room, cap-napping.. Get it?" Amber spoke. She was now fully awake since that cat wondered into their room.

"And that's what you think was making the wailing noise last night?" Fabian asked

"Amber thought it was a werewolf" Leah spoke. Amber began to randomly imitate the wailing noise as a cat meow

"Stop making that dreadful noise!" Victor's voice boomed as he appeared in the doorway, "Why were you making that noise exactly?"

"Uh.." Leah began to speak but nothing popped into her head quick enough

"Drama exercises!" Nina spoke up, causing Victor to raise his eyebrow

"Mr Winkler says I have to breath from my diaphragm" Amber explained. It wasnt much of a lie as Jason did mention something along those lines in drama class the other week. Victor searched around the living room, rather suspiciously which caught Sibuna's attention

"Have you lost something, Victor?" Leah asked, raising her eyebrow. Victor looked up and saw the girl doing her questioned look, which made him look for a while, wondering where he'd seen that look from, before Nina spoke up, bringing him out of the stare he was giving

"Maybe we can help you find whatever it is you're looking for" Nina suggested

"Of course I haven't lost anything!" Victor spoke before leaving the room once again. The Sibuna gang turned to each other once Victor had left

"Did you see Victor's reaction? Maybe it's his cat" Nina suggested

"Hold on, wouldn't we have noticed if Victor had a cat? He's mainly a stuffed bird type of man, not a cat person" Leah added

"Victor doesn't own a cat" Amber agreed with Leah's statement

"Tell that to his cat," Nina spoke, "He must have been hiding it in the cellar and maybe that's why we heard the wailing very loudly"

"And now its escaped and hes looking for it" Fabian added

"Well," Amber stood up from her seat, grabbing a bowl and filling it with milk from the jug, "I'm going to take kitty some milk.. I bet she's hungry" Amber walked off with the bowl as Leah, Fabian and Nina exchanged a look before Patricia entered the room, taking Amber's place at the table, next to Nina

"Thought anymore about what I said last night?" Patricia questioned Nina

"Yes, I'm interested in hearing what you have to say" Nina responded

"In private?" Patricia spoke to Leah and Fabian who were still sat at the table

"Oh yeah! Sorry"

"I'm off to find Jerome and Alfie" Leah spoke, grabbing her blazer and bag before heading across the hallway to Jerome and Alfie's room. She knocked on the door and it swung open, revealing Alfie, "Hey Princess Leah!"

"You're in a good mood" Leah spoke

"The best!" Alfie exclaimed, happily

"Any reason?" Leah questioned. Alfie turned to look at his blonde roommate who shook his head before turning back to his brunette/pink best friend, "No reason! Today feels like a good day!"

"Well I hate to burst that bubble I'm loving but it's time for school" Alfie grabbed his bag, almost falling over as Jerome stood up and swung his bag over his shoulders. Alfie held out his arm for Leah and she looped hers with his, Jerome doing the same.

Leah had met up with Nina and Fabian who explained that Amber was faking a day off sick to take care of the cat and the conversation she had with Patricia

"Is this a terrible idea?" Nina questioned, "I'm intrigued"

"I don't know," Fabian added, "It could be dangerous"

"We can stick together. We are stronger together instead of being separate" Leah spoke

"Besides, it's someone who Patricia knows.. I don't think she wants me hurt but then again..." Nina spoke

"This person is obviously after your locket" Fabian spoke

"We don't mention that to the person who wants Nina's locket" Leah spoke.

Alfie ran up to the 3, "I heard Amber's really ill?! What's wrong with her?"

"Its just one of those 24 hour flu things.. she'll be fine by supper" Leah reassured her best friend who slowly nodded

"Mara!" Mr Sweet spoke as he walked around, handing back the biology assignments, "Excellent as always. About 50 pages longer than it needed to he but excellent at the same time"

Mr Sweet stood in front of Leah, as he shuffled through his pile of papers for hers, "Leah, not bad" Mr Sweet gave Leah a smile as she looked at her mark, "A B?" Leah spoke, Mr Sweet turned and gave her a nod as Alfie gave her a high five

"Mick! Well, what can I say? Right back at square one with a resounding thump.. D plus and I was being generous. What on earth happened?" Mr Sweet questioned. Mick stayed quiet, glancing at Mara when the bell sounded, "Alright everyone, put your books away" Leah grabbed her bag as Patricia pushed past and walked next to Nina

"Made your mind up yet?" Patricia questioned

"I'll come with you" Nina spoke. Patricia gave her a small smile, "Good move". Leah walked out of the classroom as Nina looked behind her, Leah shook her head as if she knew that Nina's silent question was 'Come with?' Leah joined Jerome at his locker when Ethan walked past with Melissa under his arm. Jerome caught her scowling at the 2 as they got down the corridor

"Lee?" Jerome clicked his fingers in front of her, snapping her out of her hatred thoughts for Ethan and Melissa, "He's not worth it"

"Yeah I know.. Why was Alfie in a good mood this morning?"

"Don't know.." Jerome shrugged. Leah knew they were hiding something and she was going to find out, one way or another.

"You coming?" Jerome asked, holding his arm out

"Yeah" Leah responded, looping her arm with Jerome's as they headed off to their last 2 lessons of the day before it was time to go back to the house

Leah had gotten back to the house and noticed that Nina and Patricia had already left to meet this 'friend' of Patricia's who wanted Nina's locket.

She watched from the kitchen as she had offered to help Trudy with supper as Jerome and Alfie whispered constantly and were being overall, very secretive. Amber walked into the room, now dressed in her normal outfit

"Where's Nina?" Amber asked Leah through the kitchen hatch. Leah looked around for Trudy who just so happened to go and got some stuff from the pantry

"She went off with Patricia.."

"Oh! Right" Nina and Patricia missed supper which puzzled the housemates but luckily Leanna, Amber and Fabian came up with an excuse. Supper was over and Leah cleared away when Patricia and Nina bundled through the door. Sibuna and Patricia sat around the now cleared and deserted table

"Hold up, the man we saw at the care home, Victor was putting his unconscious body into his van?" Leah spoke, trying to clarify things

"Yes, his name is Rene and... he's the one who's supposedly after my locket"

"If he knew of it, but right now, he doesn't" Fabian spoke

"Patricia also reckons that this Rene can help her find Joy" Nina spoke, as she looked at the 3 sitting either side of her at the table