Violet's POV

Eddie, Nina, and I approached the house. Once we had reached the front door, I stopped and turned around to face the other two.

"Are you finally going to tell us who it is we're visiting?" Eddie interrogated.

"And are you going to tell us why we couldn't bring any of the Pevensie's?" Nina added.

I sighed. "I can answer both questions in one answer: Susan Pevensie."

"What?" Nina and Eddie asked in unison. I then proceeded to tell them everything C. S. Lewis had accounted in The Last Battle, the final installment in The Chronicles of Narnia, making sure to emphasize the facts that everyone but Susan had perished in a railway crash, as well as Susan's subsequent disbelief in Narnia.

"I was just lucky she had a Facebook page, even in her eighties," I explained, "Otherwise, I never would have found her."

Eddie stared at me questioningly. "So, even though she supposedly doesn't believe in Narnia anymore, you still think she might know something about the rings?"

"Right now, the present day Susan Pevensie is the best chance we have at finding out anything else," I replied.

"She's right," Nina agreed.

"Good," I started, "Now that we're all on the same page, I guess we should continue."

Nina and Eddie nodded, so I turned around and knocked on the door. The door was answered by a young woman with dark brown hair and blue eyes like Susan, but wasn't Susan.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"We're looking for Susan Pevensie," I answer, "Are we at the right address?"

The girl nods. "Yes. I'm her granddaughter, Payton Carter. My grammy went back to her maiden name after she and my grandfather got divorced, but I'm guessing you already assumed that." The three of us nodded our heads, even though we actually didn't know that. "Anyway," Payton continued, "I'm glad she has some visitors, although I don't know how much good it will do. I think she has some weird version of Alzheimer's, a mind that causes her to have different memories, rather than completely losing them. However, the doctors tell me she doesn't have any diseases, and my only other option is that she's gone mad, but I don't have the heart to put her in an asylum."

"What kind of memories does she have?" Nina queried.

"She keeps talking about a place called Narnia, with mythical creatures, and that she's the queen. It's crazy talk!"

Eddie heaves a sigh as the three of us feign disbelief. "Yeah. Wow."

"Do you mind if we come in and see her?" I question.

"Of course not," Payton smiled, "Come right in. Grammy is in the living room. Just walk right through the main doors of the kitchen."

We entered the house in a kitchen, and did just as Payton instructed. There, sitting on the couch, was an elderly woman petting a purring cat and staring off into space.

"Have you ever wondered what a faun wears in the winter to keep himself warm?" she asked monotonously, "He wears a scarf. A red scarf, and it manages to keep him safe from the cold."

"Tumnus," I said gently. Susan whipped her head around to look at us, and a look of familiarity showed on her face.

"It's me, isn't it?" Susan's body was frail, and her hair was completely white, but it was the same length, and her eyes had retained the same sky blue they had when she was young. Nina, Eddie, and I gave her confused expressions. "I'm the one who might know more about the rings; the one who might have more information. If I'm still alive."

"I thought you stopped believing in Narnia," Eddie stated.

Susan shook her head. "Only for a little while. Then, I realized it was impossible to continue denying myself the truth. But I'm sorry to say that I don't know any more about the rings than the version of me you saw less than an hour ago. I can only tell you that, as far as I can remember, there's nothing else to know about them."

"So we already know all we'll need to know," I paraphrased, "Thank you, Susan."

"You're welcome. On your way out, would you mind telling my granddaughter that Narnia is real?" she joked.

"Bye, Susan," Nina laughed. I winked as the three of us waved goodbye.

Eddie's POV

The three of us arrived back at Anubis House in no time. When Nina opened the door, I was the first to enter, and walked straight into another person.

Victor cleared his throat as I backed away from him. "Where have you three been?" he demanded.

Nina and I glanced at each other before Violet spoke up. "We were visiting my great aunt."

"Which one?"

"One from my father's side. We're very close."

"Then where are your siblings?"

"We just dropped them off at their own house."

"You have all the answers, don't you?"

"Just as someone who is telling the truth, yes."

Victor scoffed and stalked up the stairs. Violet whipped out her phone and began typing furiously on her touch-screen.

"What are you doing?" I queried.

"Texting Mason," she replied, "He and Ava need to be ready."

"Good idea," Nina agreed.

Violet returned her phone to the back pocket of her jeans just as quickly as she had pulled it out. Not a second later, Victor descended the stairs.

"I just spoke with the caretaker of the house in which your siblings reside," he said to Violet, "She is presently checking up on your story."

"You don't believe me," Violet stated bluntly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Does he have reason to?" Jerome asked abrasively as he left the living room.

"Of course," Violet shot back, "I'm his niece!"

"That may be true," Jerome started, "But every student in this house has lied to him at least once for the past few years. He really doesn't have reason to trust anyone."

Victor turned to Jerome, a look of shock plastered on his face. "Thank you, Jerome."

Jerome laughed. "Oh, I wasn't defending you," he scoffed, "I was merely stating the truth!"

Victor's face hardened, and he turned on his heel and trudged up the stairs to his office. Violet, Nina, and I followed Jerome as he re-entered the living room, where everyone else was waiting.

"So, how did it go?" Mara pressed.

"No progress," Nina sighed.

"What do you mean?" Alfie asked.

"She means that there's nothing more to learn about the rings than what C. S. Lewis wrote. Unless, of course, there was some way to bring Digory's Uncle Andrew back from the dead, but we all know that's not happening," Violet clarified. Everyone else nodded.

"Now what?" Susan asked no one in particular.

"Now, we wait," Fabian answered.

I decided to update both House of Narnians and The Beginning of the End today. However, I must announce that by popular vote, House of Narnians is the story that I am putting on hold. Don't worry, though, because the hold should only last for a few months. Until then, I will be working diligently to get ahead on chapters for this story.

Unfortunately, no one was able to guess that Susan was the person they were going to meet, so no one will get two chapters dedicated to them. Although, because she was the only one to even take a guess, this chapter is dedicated to lovetoread808. From this point on, House of Narnians is on hold until further notice. I will do my best to bring it back as soon as possible!

I do have one question, though, before I sign off: would you guys like to see any romantic elements, or even just a hint at them, or would you rather I focus on the mystery at hand?

Happy Halloween! 👻🍬🎃

~Tiffani

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