What Lies Beneath ▸ House of Anubis [1]

chapter thirty-six. house of rendezvous

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            Angrily and desperately, I smack my hand against the door, yelling at Rufus to let us out. But he's probably already left, that stupid kidnapper! At least we know now we can't trust him, but Patricia's the only one who actually trusted him in the first place. The rest of us were suspicious—rightfully, it seems, considering he's kidnapped her and locked us in a warehouse!

            "Can we smash a window?" Amber asks.

            I shake my head, gesturing to the iron bars on them. "All barred—this is just great!"

            "Okay, Ashley, stop hitting things," Nina advises me calmly. I take a breath, turning to her. "Did either of you bring your phone?"

            About to answer with a yes, I rifle through the pockets of my jacket and jeans, only to find them entirely empty. I close my eyes, recalling that I tossed it onto the bed with Mara's costume. "I left it on my bed," I answer stiffly, about two seconds away from hitting things again. But you know who's trapped in here, too? Amber Millington, who never goes anywhere without hers. "Amber, tell me you have your phone."

            Amber tilts her head at me with an obvious look on her face. "This is me we're talking about," she replies, taking her phone out of her pocket. Now we can call Fabian to come get us out of here. "Oh, no," she says suddenly as she flips it open. "I forgot. I used up all my minutes voting on Celebrity Pop Idol last month."

            I let out a frustrated, muffled shout as Nina states her name in an exhausted, scolding tone. She adds, "I hope your contestant won."

            "No! Can you believe it? After all I did for her."

            I turn to the American. "We'll have to use your phone, then, assuming it's not dead from trying to get a hold of Patricia." But now she just looks reluctant and apologetic, hands over her pockets. "You left it at home, didn't you? Great. Great!"

            "Fabian will come looking for us," Nina assures us. "He'll notice we're missing and come looking. Or Rufus will come back and we'll rush the door, I don't know."

            Amber glances between us and says slowly, "Rush the door?"

            I nod. "I can rush the door. Sounds good to me."

—

            The hours that pass—at least, I think it's been hours, 'cause as far as I can tell, it's entirely dark out now when it was still light out when we found the warehouse—are spent in boredom and waiting. We've talked some, mostly to discuss what to do if Rufus does return. I mean...three teenage girls against one forty-year-old man, how hard can it be for us to win?

            But now we've just fallen into silence, waiting for something I can't even be sure is going to come. I'm tempted to just fall asleep there in the warehouse, listening to the wind outside. But as I'm considering the pros and cons, a latch clicks. Like there's someone out there.