Chapter Text
Boarding school had always seemed appealing. Unbreakable friendships, secret adventures, and midnight feasts—what more could a girl want? Especially a girl who had grown up captivated by books like Harry Potter and Malory Towers. Lila had begged her parents to send her to boarding school when she was younger, but they simply shook their heads, saying that she was too young, and besides, boarding school wouldn’t be like it is in the books. There are no great adventures, just studying and missing home.
But things changed. Lila grew older, and her family relocated across the world from Australia back to England to be closer to family. With a scholarship for her new school and her parents needed in London for work on a regular basis, it ended up being convenient for Lila to board at the school. She was determined to be committed to her studies, and sure she would have a few severe bouts of initial homesickness, but Lila still hoped that maybe boarding school could give her a little taste of adventure.
The taxi rounded a corner, and between the lush, green trees appeared a grand, red-brick building. With an unexpected number of chimneys and too many windows to count, Lila couldn’t help but gain the impression of a small castle upon looking at her new school.
“Woah…” she breathed, to which the taxi driver chuckled.
“Bit different to Australian schools, is it?” he asked, in his thick northern accent.
“Just a little.” Lila felt a grin spread across her face. Just a little more magical.
“Now, which part of this campus am I to drop you off at?”
“Um, my boarding house is…” Lila flicked through the documents on her lap to find the one titled ‘Information for Boarders’ and scanned the page before her eyes landed on her new home “…the House of Anubis!”
“Right, well I’ll park just here then and take your case over for you.”
Lila thanked the driver as he stopped the taxi, paying him before climbing out to be met by the chilly British weather. Lila wrapped her coat tighter around herself as she followed the driver to the right of the main building.
“Hey! New girl!” a voice called from behind her.
Lila spun around and locked eyes with a tall, blond boy, his brown leather satchel crossed to rest on his right hip, his arms crossed, and a smirk tugging at the left of his mouth. She just stared at him stupidly.
“You are the other new girl, yes? Arriving precisely two weeks late?” His accent was posh, almost in an old-fashioned way.
“Other new girl?” Well, at least she wouldn’t be the only one.
“Apparently she arrived about half an hour ago. You’re not American too, are you?”
“Australian.” Lila checked behind her but found the taxi driver had disappeared from view. “Sorry, I should probably chase after my case.” She went to walk away before realising she had absolutely no idea where to go. “Um, would you happen to know which building is the House of Anubis?”
The boy’s smirk increased. “Well, I’d likely be in a lot of trouble if I didn’t. Follow me.”
He led her to the right, where her driver had disappeared, and took a left at the end of the building, where a new building came into view. It was smaller, but still held the appearance of an impressive manor, with the same red bricks, and beautiful vines creeping up the walls.
The driver stood in front of the door with Lila’s case and walked towards her when he spotted her. “Here you are. Right, well, your case is at the door. Take care now.”
“Thank you, goodbye.” Lila smiled
“Well,” Lila turned around to face the blond boy, “I should go too then,” he said. “We don’t all get to skip today’s classes. I’m Jerome, by the way.”
“Thanks, Jerome. I’m Lila.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Lila.” With that, Jerome swung his red blazer over his shoulder, turned on his heel and left.
Lila held her hand up to the bronze knocker, but before she had a chance to lay a finger on it, the door slowly opened. She expected whoever opened the door to step out and greet her, but nobody came. She stepped inside the entry hall and looked around but saw nobody. A shiver travelled up her spine. Maybe the house is on a lean, or there’s just something wrong with the door, she thought.
The entry hall was beautiful. On her right was a wooden staircase, with magnificent stained-glass windows positioned above. The entry hall extended into a corridor, with antique artefacts on either side, including a magnificent grandfather clock, paintings, and even an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus. She brought her hand up to her chest, rubbing her fingers over the pendant that hung from her neck. Her great-grandmother had given it to her when she found out she would be staying at the House of Anubis. Her great-grandmother—Granny—had lived in this house as a girl, before it was turned into a boarding house. She had pressed the locket into Lila’s hand, whispering something about treasure and secrets. It could be difficult to extract information from Granny about her past; she was becoming increasingly confused with each passing year. Despite her confusion, she was consistently insistent on Lila applying to stay at the House of Anubis and was overjoyed when Lila informed her that she had been offered the scholarship.
Lila knew not to take much of what Granny said too seriously. ‘Treasure’ could mean anything. It was sort of exciting, though. If there was a treasure in the house, where might it be? Was Granny talking about the sarcophagus? Or maybe there were more artefacts stashed away somewhere—
“And who exactly might we have here?” the bellowing voice dragged Lila from her thoughts.
She angled her head upwards, to where a man stood at the top of the staircase, peering down at her. The man was dressed sensibly in a tie, jumper, and tan coat. His dark hair was slicked back, and his sideburns travelled all the way down his jawline, accompanied by a moustache and goatee. He gave the impression of a villain.
“I- I’m Lila Dighton.” She had to be careful not to let her voice waver too much from nerves.
“Hm. Do you also make a habit of entering without knocking?”
“Oh. No, of course not, I just thought—”
The man held up a hand to silence her. “No matter. I’ll fetch your house mother. Wait there.”
“Thank you,” she squeaked.
The man returned with a smiling woman, who introduced herself as ‘Trudy’ before prompted wrapping Lila in a comforting hug, which relaxed Lila immensely. “Don’t let Victor scare you too much,” she whispered. “He’s stern, but harmless.”
Victor and Trudy led Lila on a tour of the house. Each room was just as old-fashioned and charming as the last. Had much changed since Granny had lived here? It was a strange thought to be living in the very house she had grown up in. I should try to ask Granny which room was hers, Lila thought.
Victor returned to his office, stating that he had important business to take care of, and Trudy took Lila to her bedroom on the first floor.
“Here we are, sweetie. This one’s yours. You’ll be sharing with Patricia,” she said as she opened the door. “Ah, I forgot to clear out the rest of Joy’s things. Got distracted when Victor fetched me. I’ll take these out and then you can get yourself settled.”
Lila nodded. “Who’s Joy?”
“Joy’s Patricia’s friend,” Trudy answered as she began placing clothes in the boxes she had left on the floor. “Goodness, she’ll be devastated. Joy was removed from the school at very short notice. Quite strange, really. You were going to have to share with both of them, and three can make these rooms feel quite cramped. You’re lucky, Nina’s sharing with Amber and Mara as a three. Oh, I suppose you haven’t met Nina yet?”
Lila shook her head.
“I’ll introduce you soon. I expect she’s in her room unpacking. She’s the other new girl, arrived not long before yourself.” Trudy stacked and lifted the boxes, making her way towards the door. “There you are sweetie, all ready for you to move in.”
Lila smiled. “Thank you, Trudy.”
“Come now, I’ll introduce you to Nina, and then I’ll leave you to your unpacking.”
Trudy led Lila down to the end of the hallway and knocked on the door. “Nina sweetie, I’m just here to introduce you to Lila.”
The door opened, revealing a girl with long, brown, wavy hair and a large smile. “Oh, you’re here!” Her accent was distinctly American. “I’m so glad, it’s such a relief to not be the only new person!”
Trudy laid a hand on Lila’s shoulder. “I’ll leave you girls to get acquainted then.”
“My name’s Nina. I’m from America.”
Lila giggled. “I could tell. Well, you won’t be the only foreigner then. I’m Australian.”
“Really? This just keeps getting better. You must have spent forever on the plane. Oh!” Nina moved to the side of the doorway. “Come in, please!”
Nina led Lila to sit on the bed and asked Lila all about her flight, life in Australia, and her thoughts about attending boarding school.
“Did you also get to meet Victor?” Nina asked, and Lila nodded with a grimace. “He’s terrifying, isn’t he? At least we have Trudy. I don’t know how I would’ve survived if we had a female Victor for house mother too!”
Lila shook her head. “I had the exact same thought. Have you met any of the other boarders?”
“Not yet, they’ve all been at school. It’s just past three, and school finishes at half past, right? So they should be back soon.”
“I should probably start on the unpacking then. Wouldn’t want Patricia to come back to find her room’s a mess.”
“Got to make a good first impression! I’ll see you later then. And I’m so glad I’ve made at least one friend!”
Lila smiled. “Me too.”
* * *
The last of the clothes had been placed in the wardrobe when Lila heard a series of voices downstairs. Not really wanting to have to meet all the other boarders at once, she decided to wait in her room to meet Patricia first—assuming she’d come up to get changed or put her schoolbag away—and then she could meet the others at dinner.
The door was thrown open, and in marched a girl whom Lila supposed to be Patricia. She had two colourful streaks through her copper hair—one red, the other blue—and a scowl on her face. Oh no.
“What are you doing here?” she snarled.
“Oh, I… um, Trudy said your friend Joy had moved out, so this is now my—”
“This is Joy’s room! You can’t just come in here and throw out all her things!”
“No, Trudy packed—”
“I don’t wanna hear it. Put your things back in your suitcase and move.”
Lila stood there dumbfounded. This wasn’t exactly what she had expected of her first encounter with her new roommate. Her eyes were threatening to fill with tears.
Patricia crouched down, reaching under Lila’s bed. “This is Joy’s phone!” She stood back up. “And this,” she held up a teddy, “is Joy’s too! She wouldn’t have just left without these! Where is she? Where’s Joy?”
“Why do I hear yelling?” Victor’s booming voice sounded from the hallway before he entered the room.
“I am not sharing with her,” Patricia whined. “This is Joy’s room! Where’s Joy?” She turned to Lila. “You have something to do with this, don’t you?”
“With what?”
“With Joy’s disappearance! I know this is somehow your fault!”
“Miss Williamson.” Victor stepped forward to stand over Patricia imposingly. “Joy was removed by her parents this afternoon. She has left.”
“But… but she wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye! Or without her phone, or Bunsy-bun!” Patricia held up Joy’s belongings to show Victor.
“Give them to me, I’ll forward them on to her,” Victor demanded, and Patricia grudgingly placed them into his hands.
“I’m sure she’ll call to explain everything when she gets her phone back,” Lila offered.
Patricia simply huffed and threw Lila a death stare before storming back out of the room again, carelessly tossing her backpack into their room on her way.
So much for a good first impression.
* * *
Dinner somehow managed to be worse.
Lila took a seat, but of course it ended up being someone else’s seat—the blonde girl, Amber’s. Patricia commented something about taking over other people’s spaces. Luckily Lila had Nina, who sat with her. Lila had hoped to be able to say she had made two friends, as Jerome, who had shown Lila the way to the house, turned out to be another boarder at this house. However, Lila quickly decided she didn’t really want Jerome as a friend anyway.
She had thought Jerome seemed reasonably mature, but all hopes of that were utterly destroyed when he flicked a forkful of spaghetti bolognaise onto his friend Alfie, initiating a food fight, which Lila got caught in the middle of. On top of that, Patricia decided to add a final touch by dumping a pitcher of water in Lila’s lap and demanding she tells her what she knew of Joy’s disappearance. Lila promised that she didn’t know anything, while Nina, and another boarder, Fabian, kindly helped Lila to get some of the food off her clothes and out of her hair. Just before Lila left the room to change, Victor called for her, saying that someone was on the phone.
She immediately started weeping the second she heard her mum’s voice.
“How is everything? Have you made friends?”
It was difficult not to choke on her words as she said, “Yeah, I’ve made friends with the other new girl.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful. And how are your other housemates?”
“They’re okay.” Lila couldn’t prevent her voice from breaking that time.
“Oh, darling, are you feeling a bit homesick?”
Lila just started crying harder.
“It’ll all be fine eventually. The first week might be hard, but you’ll get settled soon enough. Just think of it all as an adventure.”
“Mm-hm. Okay, I should probably go, we’re having dinner.”
“Alright then, I’ll talk to you soon. I love you.”
“I love you too.” Lila sat the phone down, placed her head in her hands and sobbed.
* * *
A shower was definitely in order after such a stressful first day, Lila had decided. After climbing into her pyjamas, she decided to quickly check there weren’t any obvious tear stains or redness around her eyes and nose before having to face Patricia again before bed. As she wiped the steam off the mirror, she heard voices coming towards the bathroom.
“I need you to see what was written on it, otherwise you’re all going to accuse me of going crazy, I know it.”
“Well, what was it?”
“You’ll see.”
The door swung open, with all four other girls—Patricia, Nina, Amber, and Mara—walking in.
Patricia stopped in her tracks as she saw Lila. “What are you doing!” she cried.
“I… What do you mean?”
“You’ve wiped it off!”
“The steam?” Is there anything Patricia won’t get mad at me over? Lila thought.
“Didn’t you see what was written on there?” Patricia turned to the others. “It said ‘help me, Joy’, and now you won’t believe me! Can’t you see? Lila’s involved in this!”
“Why are you girls not in your beds?” Victor marched towards their bathroom, a taxidermied crow on his arm, strongly adding to his villainous appearance.
“I will not share with her,” Patricia demanded.
“It’s fine, I’m happy to move,” Lila offered. Well, more than happy, really.
“No one is moving anywhere. Beds, now.”
Was there really something written on the mirror? The fact that Joy had left her phone behind was certainly strange, but this too… maybe something really was going on, and Patricia’s paranoia was warranted. Lila would have been happy to help Patricia get to the bottom of it if she wasn’t trying everything possible to get rid of her.
Maybe sharing with Patricia could end up being a good thing. Maybe Patricia would warm up to her after finally realising Lila had nothing to do with Joy’s disappearance. Lila hoped so. Because otherwise, it was going to be a tough year.
* * *
She dreamt of strange and sinister things that night. Granny stood before her, with her eyes full of fear. Lila turned around and found Victor marching towards her. He turned into a black crow and flew at her face. The chain of her locket started to shrink, until it was choking her. She asked the crow to help her, but it pecked at her face before flying off.
* * *
“Right, everybody, I’ll need those biology assignments now!” Mr Sweet called as the bell rang for the end of class. “Oh, Nina and Lila, if you need more time, given you’ve started the term late, I am more than happy to grant an extension of up to a week.”
“Thank you, Mr Sweet, but I’ve finished mine.” Nina handed hers over.
“Oh, well that’s very impressive Nina. Lila? Will you be needing the extension?”
Lila had little hope she’d do exceptionally well, no matter how much time she spent on it. She was more of a history and English student than a science and maths one. “No, thank you, Mr Sweet. I’ll hand it to you today.”
“Very well. Thank you both, and good day.”
“Oh, Lila!” Lila turned to see Patricia, with Jerome and Alfie in tow, making her way towards the table Lila was sharing with Nina and Fabian. “I’ve been meaning to say sorry about the way I’ve been acting towards you.”
“Oh,” Lila said, shocked. “Um, well, thank you.”
“Also, Jerome and Alfie were reminding me, you’re well overdue for your initiation ceremony.”
“Her what?” Fabian interjected.
“You know, Fabian, our tradition we have? For every new boarder at the House of Anubis?”
“Patricia…”
“It sounds fun.” Lila was glad to have an opportunity to have Patricia warm up to her, despite the unknown of this ‘initiation ceremony’.
“Wonderful.” Patricia smiled, making Lila feel rather unsettled. “We’ll go over the details at dinner tonight.”
* * *
“So I have to sneak into the attic?” Lila confirmed.
“Precisely.” Patricia looked far too pleased for comfort.
“The one that’s out of bounds?”
“The very one.” Great.
Lila’s discomfort must have shown on her face, because Jerome taunted, “Are out-of-bounds areas not your style? Huh, I didn’t take you for a goody-two-shoes.”
“Well, you took me wrong,” Lila muttered, stabbing a potato with her fork a little too aggressively.
“So,” Nina added, “will I also be participating in the initiation?”
“You will,” Patricia responded, taking a fraction of the weight off Lila’s shoulders. “But not with Lila. This is a solitary trial. You’ll have your turn after Lila.”
Never mind. Lila huffed. “Okay, so do I have to do this tonight then?”
“Oh, no, there’s something else you have to do tonight.”
* * *
Lila stood with Patricia, Jerome, and Alfie outside Victor’s office. Her hands were shaking and her heart pounding, but she couldn’t back down now. This was an opportunity to prove herself, most importantly to Patricia. Jerome’s comment about Lila being a ‘goody-two-shoes’ still stung a bit as well, and Lila had a slight desire to prove him wrong, despite her moral compass pointing more towards rule-abider than rule-breaker.
“See that key on the left?” Patricia pointed to a case of keys in Victor’s office. “That’s the spare key for the attic. Your task is simply to steal that without Victor catching you. Think you can handle it?”
“Mm-hm. So how am I meant to grab it with Victor sitting at his desk?”
Almost as though he could sense that they were talking about him, Victor’s head snapped up, spotting them loitering outside his office, and strode over to them. “What are you lot doing?” His voice was menacing.
“We were just… looking at the… floor!” Alfie lied. “It really, uh, needs a polish!”
“Well then,” Victor grabbed Alfie by his arm, “we’d better polish it then!” And with that, Victor left, with Alfie in tow, and his office unoccupied.
Lila tentatively opened the door and tried not to imagine Victor spying on her through the taxidermied crow perched on his desk. She grabbed the master keys from next to the crow, and unlocked the case, extracting the key on the far left, labelled ‘attic’.
So far so good.
She placed the attic key in her pocket and placed the master keys back on the desk, precisely where she had picked them up from. But as she brought her hand back up, it brushed against the side of the crow, bringing it toppling to the ground. Lila gasped, reached down for it, and had just carefully placed the crow back onto the desk, when she heard a voice. The last one she wanted to hear.
“And why might you all still be dallying around outside my office?”
“Well, we…” Patricia tried.
“They were just…” Alfie attempted also.
The door to the office was flung open, and Victor strode menacingly into the room. “Miss Dighton, remove yourself from my office immediately!”
Lila scurried out, Victor following behind her. She took her place beside the other three.
“You had better have an excellent explanation for this, Miss Dighton.”
Lila opened her mouth to speak, but her mind was completely blank. What possible excuse could there be for sneaking into his office? Lila could feel Victor’s anger growing with every second that she failed to justify her actions.
Jerome stepped forward. “I was hoping to know more about the art of taxidermy. It’s simply fascinating, isn’t it? Anyway, I’m deathly allergic to birds, so I employed Lila for the task of analysing your Corbierre.”
Lila almost felt like thanking him. If it weren’t for the fact that it was partly Jerome’s fault that she was in his office in the first place, anyway.
Victor narrowed his eyes. It was better than yelling, Lila supposed. “Don’t let me find any of you in there again.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Of course.”
“Duly noted.”
“Yes, Victor.”
Victor must have been feeling merciful, because no punishments were dealt, instead simply demanding, “Right, bed, now!”
On the way to their room, Patricia grabbed Lila’s arm and whispered, “Tell me you still have the key.”
Lila grabbed it from her pocket, holding it up like a trophy.
“Good. You’ll go into the attic tomorrow night.”
And hopefully won’t have to face Victor’s wrath once more.
* * *
As the clock chimed midnight the following night, Lila made her way to the door to the attic, meeting the others there. This time, Patricia, Jerome, and Alfie had gathered an audience of Nina, Fabian, Amber, and Mara. The only boarder who wasn’t present was Amber’s boyfriend, Mick. Patricia stood before Lila, with Jerome and Alfie either side of her, all holding torches up to their faces.
“Spirits of Anubis House,” Patricia murmured. “Guide the new girl on her initiation quest. Protect her from all the evils that are out to get her.”
If that’s the case, they should probably be protecting me from you, too.
“Now, unlock the door, go up there and bring something back,” Patricia ordered.
Lila walked up to the door, placed the key into the keyhole and turned, before stepping inside. There was a staircase before her, which turned off to the left, and Lila shivered at the thought of what might be hiding up there.
You’re being silly, she thought. There won’t be anything but dust and cardboard boxes.
The door shut behind her, causing Lila to jump. She heard the key turning in the lock.
They’d locked her in.
“Wait, no! Let me out!”
“Not until you tell me what you know about Joy’s disappearance.”
Lila began to cry. “I promise you, I really don’t know anything! Please, just let me out, I’m telling the truth!”
“You can’t lock her in there, Patricia!” Nina’s voice.
“I really don’t think she knows anything. Just let her out.” Fabian’s.
“What is going on here?” …Victor’s. Oh no. “Bed, all of you, now!”
Lila heard a key being shoved into the keyhole, but with everybody else having been ordered to go to bed, it could only be Victor about to enter the attic. After the previous night, Lila didn’t expect Victor to be feeling particularly kindly towards her, so she quickly rushed up the stairs, skipping every second step while trying to tread as quietly as possible, just managing to turn the corner before she heard the creaking of the door.
The attic room wasn’t too frightening, though it held more than just dust and cardboard boxes. There were lots of old photographs, old furniture, and other miscellaneous items. In other circumstances, Lila would have loved to stay and look through everything, but with Victor hot on her tail, she was obviously not going to risk it. She needed a place to hide, desperately.
Almost as though it was trying to grab Lila’s attention, something began to glitter in her peripherals. She turned to find a red glow emitting from a cavity in the wall. Lila wasn’t sure she believed in magic or signs, but she was running out of time, and she didn’t like her chances of fitting inside any of the cardboard boxes. She rushed towards the glow, and the closer she got, the hotter her locket burned against her skin. It was a longshot, but Lila felt the instinct to raise her locket to the glowing cavity. As she brought it closer, she felt a magnetising pull, and her locket clicked into place in the wall. The panel next to her opened, revealing another room. Did Granny know what this locket was capable of? Did she give it to Lila for this reason?
Lila slipped into the other room, the panel shutting behind her. She could worry about how to get out later. For now, she was safe from Victor and his wrath.
Exhaling a shaky breath, Lila stepped away from the panel and felt her foot bump against something. She spun around, and her stomach dropped.
She had come face to face with a pair of eyes.