They could hear the low voices of Victor, Eric, and Denby just outside the entrance to the antechamber, and Eddie's heart sunk into his stomach, cursing under his breath. "There's no other way out!"

"Can we all fit behind this arm chair?" Kira asked helplessly, then shook her head. "Stupid question, forget I said anything."

"There is another way out," Joy said, jerking a thumb at the main bookshelf in the room. "Through the secret tunnels."

Eddie perked right up at the mention of the tunnels. He'd been itching to get down there. "Secret tunnel?" he chirped, while Kira's and KT's jaws dropped at the revelation of yet another hidden passageway. "Perfect, let's go!"

"Not so fast," Patricia warned him, putting a hand firmly on his shoulder as he tried to breeze past her to the bookshelf. She ripped it away just as quickly, but in the dim light, he was certain she blushed. "You need a protective amulet to get through; it's boobytrapped! Big beam of light"— she made an aggressive hand gesture— "then everything goes dark. You don't want to deal with that. Trust me, I speak from experience."

It occurred to him then that the time she'd been blind was perhaps not an eye infection at all, and if he'd had the time, he'd tease her about it. Unfortunately, they had a distinct lack of that precious resource.

"He's putting in the code!" KT panicked in a whisper, looking away from the peephole with owlish eyes.

Fabian ran a hand down his face, but he was stumped too. "We might have to face the music here," he said severely.

It was at that moment, Eddie's eyes landed on the grate at floor level— a grate that looked a lot like the one in Alfie's room that had spooked him out of his mind. With no other options, he had to give it a go. "Worth a shot," he muttered, crouching down so he could whisper into the vent. "Alfie! Alfie!" Not five seconds later, a bellow so loud that it nearly shook the house came from upstairs, audible enough to hear it without being near the vent. For a tense moment, Eddie thought the adults wouldn't investigate, but soon KT let out a small whoop.

"They're going!" she cheered.

"In that case, we should too," Joy said, while Kira nodded enthusiastically.

"Let's go before they come back!" she agreed, darting out with Fabian and Joy in tow as soon as the door was open.

Patricia shouldered past him and KT, and Eddie snapped into action, rushing after them, when he accidentally tripped over a metal bucket just outside the door. He cursed, starting off again, but paused when he saw Denby's bag just lying there. He remembered the letter from that morning, and he abandoned his retreat in favor of rummaging through the contents.

"Eddie!" KT hissed, shifting her weight nervously from foot to foot. "What are you doing?"

"The letter!" he exclaimed, rooting through the big black purse. There was still a bit of a ruckus going on upstairs, so he knew he had at least a minute.

"Letter? What letter?" When he didn't respond, she grunted. "We're kind of in an escaping situation right now, Eddie!"

"Ugh! The letter! It might be proof that Denby's an imposter!" he explained impatiently, fist pumping when he found the envelope. He tore it open, and there was that name again: Caroline Denby, just as he'd seen on the outside. Only now, there was more information: the letter was about patient fees for the one and only Harriet Denby.

I've got you now, he thought triumphantly.

"Eddie, come on!" KT cried, finally giving up on waiting for him as she dashed back up through the bread oven tunnel.

He made to follow, but by now the trio of faculty was coming down the stairs, and he had no choice but to retreat back into the antechamber to buy himself a few precious seconds. He was still holding Denby's bag, and he cursed when he heard her begin to panic outside the secret room's entrance. He swore for the third time, and set to work on trying to access the tunnels. He'd seen enough episodes of Scooby Doo to know that one of the books had to be a tripwire to access the passageway, and he began desperately tilting books toward himself. He could hear one of the adults plugging in the code to the room, which in turn forced Eddie to search faster. He tipped one last book toward him and finally, the shelf began to spin. Suddenly he was in total darkness.

That darkness only lasted a second, though. "Big beam of light, then everything goes dark," Patricia had warned, and she wasn't exaggerating about how damn big the beam was. Eddie's old problem had been replaced with an entirely new one: he had no amulet and no protection of any kind, beyond Denby's handbag. Desperate, he rooted around for anything he could use as a shield as the light slowly crept up his body, keeping a slow but steady pace toward his eyes. By some miracle, amid the lipsticks and trail mix, he found a small, round mirror.

"Oh, shit, okay," he breathed, holding it up to his face with shaky hands. As the light reached the mirror, he screwed his eyes shut. There was nothing for a moment, then the sudden sound of sparking, and suddenly, he was in darkness again. For a moment, Eddie thought he'd gone blind, but soon enough, his eyes began to adjust to the dim light of the sconces on the walls. He'd done it! He'd actually done it! "Beat that, Frobisher!" he exclaimed quietly, feeling quite proud of himself. Before he forgot, he made sure to turn the bookshelf back around so that Victor or his dad wouldn't get suspicious— not a moment too soon, either, as they entered the antechamber not twenty seconds after— then started off down the tunnels.

There's gotta be a way out, he mused. Positive thinking... but just in case, maybe Hansel and Gretel is a good starting place.

He took the bag of trail mix from Denby's bag and continued down the long stone corridors, leaving a trail of cashews and raisins as he descended deeper into the labyrinth of tunnels. He followed a smaller off-shoot from the main path that seemed to slant upward as opposed to downward, and Eddie took that as a good sign he was headed in the right direction. Eventually, though, he hit a wall with only a small opening in it. Having gone that far already, he steeled himself and crouched down, wriggling into the even smaller tunnel.

After about five minutes of crawling, he was starting to get frustrated. The tunnel had stopped going upward, now leveling off, but it felt like the roof of the tunnel was getting lower. Whenever he'd talked with Nina or Patricia about their adventures beneath Anubis House, they'd always mentioned how high the ceilings were. It seemed to Eddie that he'd perhaps gone the wrong direction.

"There's gotta be a door around here somewhere!" he complained out loud, starting to get claustrophobic. As if the house had heard his pleas, up ahead, he stumbled upon a door in the wall, and he grinned in relief. "Touchdown Miller! And the crowd goes wild!" he whooped. Eddie tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge, and after a minute of fruitless yanking, he sat back on his knees, breathing heavily. It was then he noticed the keyhole with a familiar moon symbol etched above it. "I can use KT's key!" he gasped, patting his pockets stupidly before realizing the flaw in his plan. "Which is, of course, with KT..."

With nowhere left to go, he was forced to retreat all the way back the way he'd come, grateful that he'd thought to leave a trail. It took him ages to reach the exit of the tunnels, and when he did, he could still hear the adults talking. This went on for several more minutes until Eddie finally heard the tell-tale grinding of the stone door; he waited thirty seconds to make sure the coast was clear before emerging into the now-empty antechamber, then waited a minute more before entering into the cellar and darting back up the bread oven passage.

—

It had been nearing an hour with no sign of her brother, and Kira had to admit she was worried. Her and Eddie's relationship was tense at the moment, certainly, but if he'd been caught by Victor and Denby or, worse, stuck in the boobytrapped tunnels completely blind like Fabian had grimly suggested, she'd be a wreck. Certainly, she wasn't exactly calm right then, having nearly crashed into Fabian about three times as the two of them paced around the boys' room. Patricia was perched at the end of Fabian's bed, gnawing her painted thumbnail down to the quick, trying very hard to look like she wasn't panicking. Joy and KT were restlessly playing cards at one of the desks, trying to stay focused on anything else.

Alfie had already taken the fall for his little stunt with the water gun, and he'd likely be on chore duty for at least a week. However, there was still no sign of Eddie, which meant he was probably wandering around in the dark down there. Lost.

"We should go down and look for him," Kira demanded for what felt like the millionth time.

"We can't," Fabian reminded her sharply, impatient after being asked so many times. "We don't have an amulet."

"Joy said there was the library entrance, right?" she pressed agitatedly.

Joy looked up from her cards and winced, shuffling them nervously. "Well, yes... but with Victor already incensed, he's probably watching the door like a hawk."

"She's right, Kira," said KT, but she didn't sound convinced. "Victor already knows we're up to something, and if he catches all of us sneaking out—"

"Then we won't all sneak out!" she snapped, crossing her arms. She softened when she clocked KT's flinch. "Look, I'm sorry, but I'm not just gonna sit here while that dickhead stumbles around like an idiot and gets himself killed."

"I'll go with you," Patricia suddenly piped up, standing and dusting herself off. "If he really was stupid enough to hide in those tunnels, then he's blind as a bat. As someone who's been down there alone with no vision, I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

"Glad to know you're in my corner, Yacker," said a voice from the doorway, making everyone jump. They whirled around to find Eddie standing there with a woman's handbag under his arm looking pretty damn smug.

Patricia rolled her eyes, but Kira could see the relief in her posture. KT got up and launched herself at him, followed closely by Joy. "We thought you'd been Victored!" she cried in relief. Kira hadn't even realized she'd sat down until she was on the bed, legs a little wobbly.

"No," he chuckled, hugging both the girls back before gently extricating himself from their grip. "But hold onto your hats because..." He pulled a crumpled up letter from the purse. "I found this. According to this letter, Ms. Harriet Denby is a longterm resident of the Lakehouse Clinic, and a quick search tells us that it's..." He next produced his cellphone, turning the screen around so they all could read it.

"A hospital for the mentally ill?" KT gasped.

Patricia blinked at the screen in outrage. "And they let her out to teach?"

"She must have escaped," Fabian deduced.

"So starts every horror movie ever," quipped Patricia.

"Now, hold on, not all mentally ill people are dangerous," Joy chastised, bending one of the playing cards over in her hands.

"This one is!" her best friend retorted.

KT pursed her lips. "Then she can definitely not do the ceremony... What are we gonna do?"

"We could tell the clinic to come collect their patient," Kira suggested, finally finding her balance and joining the rest of the group.

"Works for me!" Patricia piped up. "No unleashed evil and no more history lessons."

The door suddenly opened, and Kira's blood pressure spiked an insane amount until she realized it was just Alfie. "Okay, I just have one question," he said, a manic gleam in his eye. "Are Victor, Denby, and Sweetie zombies?"

"No," they replied in unison.

Alfie blinked. "Oh. Then, I may have made a small error in judgement."

—

Kira finally linked back up with Mara the next day at school. If she'd been upset that she'd ditched her the day before, she didn't seem to show it, nattering on about the same old topics they always talked about. It was easy and familiar, and it soothed Kira's fraying nerves.

"I'm certain I failed my history presentation," Mara fretted as they rounded the corner.

"I'm certain you did not. You always worry and then end up getting the highest marks in the class! You're on track to be valedictorian for sure," she chuckled, nudging her best friend with her elbow, which accidentally knocked a few papers out of Mara's hand.

"Oh, fiddlesticks," she sighed, stooping down to pick them up, when a certain tall someone beat her to it. "Oh," she said softly, "Jerome."

Kira half-smiled and stepped back a few paces to give them a little space, while Jerome stood up and handed Mara back her things. "Did you want to go—"

From practically out of nowhere, Joy appeared, popping up between them and lifting her palm to show off the Sisterhood symbol. "Remember the Sisterhood, Mara!" she reminded her sharply.

Jerome looked absolutely fed up, and Kira had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. "Yes, Mara," he snarked, putting his hands on Joy's shoulders to force her down off her tip-toes, "listen to Amber. Oh, sorry! Did I say Amber? I meant Joy." She wriggled out from his grip with a scowl, and Mara looked none too pleased either. Kira wasn't laughing anymore. "Still leeching off someone else's style till you find your own?"

To make matters more chaotic, Willow skipped down the hallway, lighting up when she caught sight of them. "Hi, Jerome!" she exclaimed, bouncing up and down behind him. "See you at detention!"

Detention? Jerome she could see in detention— had seen in detention— but Willow? What could the two of them have done together to get punished?

"Okay, bye!" Jerome called, fed up with the women he was being forced to contend with.

Willow beamed after him. "Excite!" she squealed.

Once he was out of sight, Kira stepped up beside Mara to reassure Joy. "He knows nothing about fashion," she assured him.

"And he's Jerome," added Kira with a laugh, hoping that would cheer her up. Thankfully, it did, earning her a small smile.

"Well, I for one am very happy to see how you're keeping Amber's spirit alive through the medium of fashion," said Willow without a hint of sarcasm. "Oh! Joy, if you sign my petition to join Anubis House, you can help style me to look like Amber too!"

"Bye, Willow," Joy said curtly, brushing past her and disappearing down the hall.

The roommates exchanged embarrassed looks and bid Willow a quick farewell, making a hasty exit. "I love her, I really do, but sometimes I wonder if she knows how much she puts her foot in her mouth," Kira mused.

"Gosh, I know," Mara sighed. "Poor Joy."

"Poor Joy," she agreed, turning down another corridor. Up ahead, she noticed Fabian's head poking out of an empty classroom, and he beckoned her inside. "Uh, shit. Sorry, Mara, I forgot I was going to help Fabian with his French homework. Can we take a raincheck on the canteen?"

Mara followed her gaze down the hall and frowned. "I mean, I guess. Didn't know Fabian was having trouble in French."

"He's not really! He just wants a second opinion," she lied quickly, feeling like an asshole the whole time she was doing it. Did they really have to have another Sibuna meeting right then? She'd only really been in the club a few days, but it already seemed to be taking over her life. "I'll see you at lunch, yeah?"

"Okay," she sighed in agreement. "See you then."

They parted ways, and Kira slipped into the classroom under Fabian's arm. Patricia, KT, and Alfie were already inside, the latter peering suspiciously out the window.

"Sorry to drag you away from your plans, but Eddie's on the phone with Lakehouse right now," Fabian explained. "Might turn up something important."

"I texted Joy, but she hasn't replied yet," Patricia reported, looking up from her phone.

"I just saw her now," said Kira as she took a seat beside KT on a tabletop. "She might be a second." After Willow's tactless remark, she probably needed a little time to decompress.

"Is she okay?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, I think so."

Alfie took this as his cue to peel himself away from the window, stalking cautiously to an empty chair; Fabian gave him a raised eyebrow. "Glad to see you got over the whole zombie attack thing then, Alfie."

He squinted at him with an air of suspicion, as though Fabian might be a zombie in disguise. "What? No way," he said. "I'd be playing right into the zombie's hands! No, I've just gone mobile— a moving target." He shrugged. "Also Victor said that if I don't get out of his sight then he'd make me wish I'd never been born."

"A verbal warning?" Patricia asked incredulously. "That's it?"

"I know!" he exclaimed. "It's weird, right? After spraying him, Sweetie, and Denby right in the face, I thought for sure I was facing suspension."

"No, no, that's impossible," Eddie said as he walked in, holding a finger up at his friends. "Alright? Just check again. No, could you just— uh, hello?" He glared down at his phone. "She hung up on me," he grumbled.

"I don't blame her," Kira replied. "No please or thank you! Mom taught us better."

"Anyway," said Eddie pointedly, "the clinic hung up on me because—"

"They're in such a hurry to come collect their sick patient?" Patricia prompted hopefully.

"No, I wish" he sighed, plopping down beside his ex-girlfriend. "The nurse said Harriet Denby is there. So if they've got Harriet, then—"

"Don't run!" Speak of the devil and she shall appear, apparently. The club looked out into the hall, and there she was, in all her glory: Ms. Denby, the blonde imposter.

"Then who's that," Kira finished for her twin.