Unsteady; House of Anubis *B2*

[70] House of Nine Lives

*unedited*

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Amber was silent as she watched Alfie and Camilla. They were all waiting for Jerome to come back from where ever he was. The news the boy had somehow gotten himself involved in the dangerous mystery wasn't new but the two hadn't known the extent to which he was involved. If he was stealing the dollhouse for whoever needed it, things couldn't be good.

Alfie had taken Amber's hand for comfort in his worry, at some point he had started to play with her rings and bracelets, normally Amber would have told him off for doing so but as they waited to confront Jerome the boy falling usually quiet and the blonde didn't have the heart to tell him to stop when she knew how worried he was about not only Jerome but the small girl who was sat on Jerome's bed, knees to her chin as she stared at the door.

Camilla had wandered over to Jerome's bed at some point during their wait and had sat herself down on it, pulling the boy's pillow to her and hugging it her eyes trained on the door as if the act would will the boy to appear sooner rather than later. Amber could only guess what was running through the girl's mind and she really hoped Jerome was on their side because she wasn't sure if Camilla could cope with mending her heart again so soon and she didn't have the right shoes on for killing Jerome for hurting Camilla that way – if it came out he was on team bad guy but she doubted it. She had to doubt it. Jerome wasn't bad, he lived in the grey a little too often but he wasn't bad.

She wasn't sure how long it had been but eventually, the door opened and a shaken looking Jerome wandered in. the boy clearly wasn't paying attention, as he closed the door and leaned his head against it letting a soft sigh out with his eyes close. This gave Alfie and Amber both time to cross their arms as their faces hardened – they needed to know the truth.

As he opened them again, he noticed Camilla sat on his bed instantly, he always noticed her, and for the smallest of seconds, a bubble of warmth flooded through him. despite everything he now knew, she was still safe. Rufus hadn't got her. "Milly – what?" he asked quietly as he took in how she was sat. Curled up into a small ball, hugging his pillow to her as if it was her lifeline, eyes full of worry as she made eye contact with him.

Camilla's eyes flickered from Jerome to Alfie's side of the room. Jerome followed the movement to finally see Amber and Alfie who where sat on the end of Alfie's bedpost with stern expressions that were rarely seen on either of them.

"Is this some sort of rade?" Jerome asked the pair.

Alfie looked up at Amber who nodded her head at him.

"I'd take a seat, Buddy," Alfie told the boy as he turned to pick up his laptop, "we've got something to talk to you about."

Perplexed, Jerome sat himself down next to Camilla on his bed, who reached out and took his hand instantly. Jerome needing the reassurance the girl was safe was more than happy to lace his fingers with hers and give the hand a squeeze. With that, Alfie opened his laptop and showed him the picture of Jerome and the dollhouse.

"tell us, this isn't as bad as it looks..." Alfie pleaded his best friend.

Jerome glanced to Camilla as he whitened at the picture showing he had been caught, as Jerome looked at the pair next to the laptop, he couldn't help himself as he whispered, "it's actually much worse..."

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Alfie and Amber led the race to the living room to tell the Sibuna's the news Jerome had just told them. Jerome following along with Camilla who hadn't said a word still since the boy entered the room, but from the grip on their entwined hands and the quiver of her bottom lip, the boy could tell she was petrified. She was Rufus's sole target and this time the man knew of her powers and could be prepared.