What Lies Beneath ▸ House of Anubis [1]

chapter twenty-seven. house of emergency

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            It's the middle of the night when I'm unceremoniously woken up.

            "Ashley," Nina whispers, pushing me. "Ashley, wake up." I hum, rolling away from her and putting the pillow over my head. "Ash, get up. Jerome and Fabian are outside the door. Jerome says Alfie's trapped in the cellar."

            I roll back over, sitting up. "In the cellar? Why?"

            "Never mind that, we need to go get him. Come on."

—

            I shine my torch around the cellar, calling out, "Alfie? Alfie, are you down here?" With no response, I sigh and turn back to my companions. "Are you sure he's here?"

            Clarke nods. "Yes, I told you. He came down to find his zombie mask but Victor caught me before I could get him out."

            "If you're messing around, Jerome," Fabian starts, "I swear—"

            His words are cut off by a thud and a gasp. "What was that?" Nina asks. We share a glance as we step around the corner, finding that it must have come from the cupboard by the stairs. There's something in there. I think I can hear heavy breathing coming from inside.

            "In the cupboard," Clarke says, sounding a little scared. I'd mess with him about it if we were anywhere but the cellar. "Open the cupboard."

            "No, you open the cupboard," Fabian retorts.

            "I'll open the cupboard. Wimps," I murmur with a short roll of my eyes. For all the confidence Clarke claims to have, he doesn't even have the guts to open up a cupboard. I step toward the cupboard, kneeling in front of it. Carefully, I open the doors, and am met with a curled-up Alfie. "Alfie! Alfie, are you okay?"

            He looks horrible—he's sweaty and terrified. What happened down here? "Help me," he whispers.

            Clarke kneels beside me, putting his hands on Alfie's face. "Take it easy, Alfie, it's me, Jerome."

            "We need to get him out of here," Fabian says. I move out of the way so he and Clarke can get Alfie out of the cupboard, his arm around each of them. Nina closes the cupboard back, glancing at Alfie concerned.

—

            "And how is he now?" Patricia questions quietly as we walk into breakfast, after we told her and Amber what happened with Alfie.

            "I don't know," Fabian answers. "I haven't seen Alfie or Jerome all morning."

            Trudy says to Mara as we sit down, who's still dressed like Patricia's fraternal twin, "Feet off the table please, Mara." She doesn't move. Probably didn't hear her through the insanely loud music blasting in her ears. Trudy takes the headphones out. "Feet off the table, please, Mara."