Force of Nature ▸ House of Anubis [3]

chapter forty-one. house of awakening

☾ ☽

            The stakes in our lives feel considerably less now that we stopped Denby, Sweet, and Victor from reawakening Frobisher. I mean, I expect for there to be some serious repercussion from the adults to us for stopping the ceremony, but as long as an evil Frobisher-Smythe isn't walking around the world, I'll take it. Besides, it'll probably be just a week or two's worth of detention. KT's upset that he's been re-sentenced to an eternal sleep, but she's relieved the adults didn't wake him.

            I explained what I could to Jerome—how he's a descendant of one of the men who was on Frobisher's expedition (at which point he said it was funny how we were connected before either of us was even born), how the fact that his great-grandfather, along with the grandparents of Patricia, Joy, and Alfie, robbed a tomb and brought a curse upon Frobisher, who took the rap for them, and that's why they were needed to wake him up. I also explained to him that because the only members of the expedition Frobisher didn't take the fall for were my great-grandparents, we think some kind of curse was placed upon my family, and that's why I've been surrounded by death my whole life. My parents, Lily, even Sarah probably counts. I don't think he 100% believed me.

            Anyway, long story short, the explanation ended with a reunion-fueled make-out session. (Is it technically a reunion if it was less than twenty-four hours? I mean, he was sorta in danger from the Evil Ones, so... it counts, I've decided.)

            Most of the night that follows is spent with me tossing and turning in my bed, unable to sleep. Images flash in my mind—a staff, a man from the back, and a pair of red eyes staring at me in the darkness. When the man turns around and I can see his face, it's a living Frobisher-Smythe, and that's when I shoot right up in my bed, out of breath.

            Just a dream. Right?

—

            The next morning at breakfast, it's calmer than usual. Most of me feels calmer than I have been the past couple of days. "Morning, boys," I greet Alfie and Jerome. "How was your night? I had weird dreams."

            "Oh, so did I," Alfie remarks. "A hot-dog started talking to me and then it turned into a human-sized hot-dog with a moving face made out of ketchup and mustard." Jerome and I share a weird look. "Not the dream you had, is it?"

            "Honestly, I wish," I state, taking the orange juice from in front of Jerome. I kiss his cheek before going back to my end of the table as Patricia runs in, followed shortly by KT.

            "Can you believe it?" Patricia questions. Jerome gets up and goes in the kitchen. "We saved the world again."

            "Yeah, Sibuna shoots, Sibuna scores," Alfie comments. Jerome messes with my hair, muttering in my ear that he'd see me at school before leaving. "Tank guy sleeps for another hundred years. We win!"