The Connection (House Of Anubis)

[Chapter Thirteen]

Amelia walked straight into Jerome and Alfie's room, not bothering to knock. Before either boy could get a word out, Amelia walked over to Jerome, "We need to talk." He didn't stir, so she grabbed his wrist and lightly tugged. "Should I leave," Alfie asked. She shook her head, "No I don't want to talk here." Jerome shared a look with Alfie, who was mouthing to him to get off his butt and follow her. Sighing, he stood up ready to follow her. "Come on Jerome, we're going on an adventure." Jerome trudged behind her, knowing exactly where they were going.

They left the house, heading for the woods. After walking for a few minutes, they reached their destination, a small tree-house set up in a clearing. This used to be their hangout spot when they wanted to get away from the madness of the house. None of the others knew about it, so it made for the perfect hideout.

They walked in and Amelia looked around. She noticed that the sheets and blankets they had set up in there years ago were still laid out. "Looks like things haven't changed since the last time I was here." "Yeah I didn't come out here once you left," Jerome spoke up for the first time since they had walked out together. "Grew out of it," she asked. "No, I just didn't feel like being here by myself." Amelia looked down; that comment had hurt but she knew Jerome was just spiteful.

Amelia sat down on one side of the tree-house, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders, while Jerome sat down in front of her. "So, you bring me out here to kill me," Jerome asked her. She shook her head, "No; I brought you out here to tell you everything. I didn't want the others knowing; the less people that know the better." "Yeah you say that every time someone tries to talk to you about why you left." "Yeah and it's true, but I'm tired of us not talking and I feel like the only way to fix that is by explaining everything as best I can."

Jerome got comfy on the floor as Amelia tried to figure out how she wanted to start this. She opted for the 'just rip the band-aid off,' method. "I left because of my father." After just that one line, Jerome's whole demeanor changed. "Your fathers back?" "He was and that's why I had to leave. Mom had heard that he had been seen in town and we couldn't risk it. The last time he was around us he had threatened to take me. He told my mom that if he ever got his hands on me, she would never see me again. She came to Amun and told me. So, we went back to Anubis and I packed up all my stuff. I figured leaving would be easier without having to see your guys' faces. Plus, I didn't want to have to lie to you all."

Amelia took a deep breath before deciding to continue on. "We decided to go to America, because it was far away and big. We figured he would never be able to figure out what state we had relocated to. Especially since when we would talk about leaving England, we always talked about moving to Australia, so he would never expect us to move to a small state in America. About a month ago we learned that he had passed away. We don't know what happened and frankly I don't care. He may have had the title father, but he hasn't been a father to me in years."

"Mom said I could come back to Anubis house and Amun if I really wanted to. Of course I wanted to. I may have loved my time in America, but I missed this place like crazy. I needed to see you guys again. I needed to be with you guys again. I wanted it all back and so I decided to come back, even though my mom decided to stay in America. She's created a pretty great life out there, and she just couldn't bring herself to come back here. She promises to visit thought; she's eager to see you again." Jerome finally decided to speak up, "Yeah, I'd love to see her again." Amelia smiled over at him and then looked down at her hands, slowly growing anxious as the silence between them increased.

"So, you didn't keep in contact because?" "I was scared my dad would somehow trace the calls or texts back to me. He knew who my friends were, and we were pretty sure he was watching you guys just as much as he was watching me and my mom," she explained. "You really didn't want to leave," Jerome asked looking down at her. "Of course not. Why would I ever want to leave you?" She paused for a second before continuing, "Or the others. You guys are more of a family than he ever was to me." "What would have happened if you didn't find out he was dead? Would you have stayed away forever?" Amelia shrugged her shoulders, "I honestly don't know Jerome, possibly. I'm sure if I would have had to be gone for much longer, I would have reached out to you guys. It was hard enough going two years with little to no contact. But to go the rest of my life? It would have driven me insane."