The Curse of the Osirians

House of Vertigo

Layla's POV

"Go! Go! Go! Go!" I shouted as we all crawled under the door.

"Help! I need help!" Amber shouted. Fabian pulled her through but she lost her shoe. "My shoe!"

"Amber! Amber! Get back!" Nina shouted as we watched her reach down and grab her shoe from under the door.

"Sorry. Sorry. No shoe gets left behind," Amber exclaimed.

"Look. There's some sort of pattern," Nina said as we looked at the floor as a voice filled the room.

"Traverse the grid with step or hop. Follow the sequence; do not stop. All must complete the hopscotch test. Before the ceiling stays at rest," Robert's voice said.

"I can't hopscotch to save my life," Fabian muttered.

"Well, Fabian, you might have to," Nina told him.

"I was school hopscotch champion two years running. I wonder if I still got it," Amber said as she picked up a rock and tossed it before jumping on the squares.

"Back! Back! Stop!" I cried out as the door started falling again.

"But I did it right. You saw me!" Amber stated.

"It was pretty much textbook," I agreed.

"It's obvious that ancient Egyptians did  not know a thing about hopscotch," Amber said.

"These aren't numbers anyway. Look, they're, like, animal symbols. Is that a duck? Take a picture," Nina said as Fabian pulled out his phone. "Okay. Let's just call it a day. We need to clear our heads."

"Yeah, but even if we do learn the sequence to this, what about that chasm? How do we get over that?" Fabian asked.

"You know what pink power ranger would do.
She'd long jump it. Or pole-vault it or javelin,"

"Amber, your just listing sports," Fabian said.

"How many more traps are there going to be between us and the mask? Ten? A hundred?" Nina cried.

"A thousand? A hundred thousand? A million?" Amber shouted.

"Amber now you're just listing big numbers," Fabian said.

"Yeah. Sorry. I list things when I get anxious," she replied as we headed back down the tunnels.

*****

"You know, as much as I relish helping poor little donkeys, I still have my debt to pay.
Roper's after me big time, and it's all Mara's fault!" Jerome complained as we walked down the hall.

"Why is it her fault? She didn't tell you to hire a  PI.

"Well then it's your fault," he said.

"My fault! Why is it my fault!" I stated. "I didn't do anything."

"No, but you were the one who made me feel guilty about Poppy and dad in the first place.
What good did it do?" He exclaimed.

"You found out where your dad was," I told him.

"Yeah. In prison. Perfect. He can rot, for all I care," he said angrily. I frowned.

"Hey, Jerome, there's a man looking for you.
Name is soper. No, roper," Alfie said as he came up to us.

"I need to hide!" He said before dashing off.

*****

"But I really don't understand why Frobisher-Smythe would have to make," Amber said loudly as we headed down the stairs.