Unsteady; House of Anubis *B2*

[88] House of Captives

*Unedited* 

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Rufus Zeno was on the prowl. And boy, the man looked like a ravaged animal as he did, at least in Camilla's personal opinion. She hadn't seen the man up close since their prom the year before and time had not treated the man well. His skin was a sickly yellow colour causing the many scars from his little encounter with the wasps the year before to stand out., shining in the dim light. The dark circles under his eyes were ones even Tim Burton would be proud of his characters having but even despite all this there was chaotic energy that Camilla could feel off him. in all her lessons with Victor about Ma'at and Chaos being in balance in the world when it came to magic, she could tell the man was tipping those scales dramatically into the Chaos camp and it was up to her and her friends to restore it back to natural again... a task that seemed almost impossible to do at that moment as she watched the man hold his palm out and start to circle a finger just above it. A small smoking arrow forming on the man's palm spinning wildly. He was searching for someone but Camilla got the impression the arrow wasn't going to point to Jerome but to her.

"We need to do something!" Patricia hissed to Fabian whose eyes widened as he too saw the magical smoke forming in Rufus's palm.

Fabian was broken out of his hypnotising state as he heard Patricia's words looking around for something. Anything.

On the floor, he saw a rock and in a feat of athletic skill he had never shown before he threw it across the open courtyard to hit a shut barn door.

Patricia, Fabian and Alfie all ducked for cover as Rufus's head turned at the sound. Camilla, however, stayed rooted to the spot she was in as she watched the arrow slow to a stop pointing in her direction.

"Camilla!" Fabian hissed grabbing his sister and pulling her out of sight.

Rufus let out a grin as he closed his fist without even bothering to look down at the smoky arrow, causing the spell to break and the smoke to evaporate around his fist. Why had he had even bothered trying to find the boy via a spell when he was a child and he knew he'd slip up was beyond him. Perhaps he was giving Jerome far too much credit than the boy deserved.

The man slowly approached the door until another clattering sound was heard behind him, by the haybales causing a smirk to form on his face. that sneaky little bugger.

"Jerome..." He tauntingly called out, rather enjoying the little game of cat and mouse the two were playing. "come out! Come out! Wherever you are!" he called sneaking towards the haybales, sneaking behind them just in time to see Jerome pop his head up looking around the empty courtyard. The boy seemed to think he was in the clear and slowly crept out of his hiding space just in time for Rufus to grab his arm.

"You don't think you could outsmart me?!" Rufus cackled as Jerome tried to fight his iron-like grip. "you're a valuable pawn in my little game with The Protector!" he shouted as he dragged Jerome back to the office area. "You are the Marsat Alhami! A little leverage like you goes a long way!"

"a pawn in his game with me?!" Camilla whispered in anger as she watched the scene play out with the fellow Sibuna's. "Jerome is far more than that asshole,"

Fabian looked to his sister before glancing to their friends, "follow me," he told them, "let's see if we can get a better vantage point." He put a gentle hand on Camilla's arm but Camilla didn't fight him as she followed behind him. as much as she wanted to kick Rufus's ass right now, she knew for the sake of Jerome's safety they needed to approach this situation in a stealthy way.

Fabian led them into the barn next to the office room, all of them missing Eddie as he popped his head around the corner of the building having witnessed the whole interaction in horror.