How it Ends ▸ House of Anubis [4]

chapter nine. house of stone

            "We know," Fabian informs. "The alchemist is her dad."

            Eddie and Dexter stare at us confused. Mara hands Dexter the article that essentially confirms what Sophia's true identity is. As he looks over it, Eddie says, "We need to get that touchstone back before she decides to sacrifice one of us."

            "Or you turn into a statue," Alfie pipes up. I close my eyes. I was hoping we could drop that particular piece of information a bit more tactful. "Yeah, you heard right."      

            "Come on, guys," KT says. "I'll look through her things in our bedroom."

            "Eddie and I are coming with," I volunteer, hearing no objections from Eddie. "The rest of you, take the school. If you find her, keep eyes on her and call us. Sibuna."

—

            Eddie throws open the door to the mess of a girls' bedroom, thanks to the new girls. Fortunately my room's saved from their messy ways, but, you know, not exactly a priority. We need to find that touchstone and hopefully the diary along with it, or at the very least some kind of clue.

            Sophia's staying on KT's side of the room, in a sleeping bag on the floor. KT takes the wardrobe, Eddie the dresser, and me, well, if I was Sophia (and one might say I'm her in another life), I might hide it underneath the bed. She doesn't have the touchstone with her. We saw her come in with Cassie and Erin and none of them had a purse. So it has to be here.

            "Got something!" I exclaim, dragging out a bag from underneath the bed. I open it up as KT and Eddie crowd around me, lightly laughing. Lily's diary is right on top, and right underneath it? The Touchstone of Ra. I pull it out, but it burns my hand and I drop it on the bed. That's probably not a good sign.

            A meek, fake voice inquires from the door, "Hey, Ashley, what are you doing?"

            It's Sophia, and KT and I share an alarmed look. Sophia's eyes lay upon the touchstone, and she and Eddie lunge for it at the same time. KT pulls me up from the ground, wrapping her arms around Sophia's torso to pull her away from the touchstone. I grab Sophia's hand, uncurling her fingers from the pyramid, giving Eddie enough of a chance to successfully wrestle it away from her grip.    

            KT and I keep a hold of Sophia so she doesn't go for it again, but Eddie's looking at something at the door. Victor just watched us fight over the touchstone. "Edison," he says lowly as the pyramid glows amber in Eddie's hand, "that stone is my destiny, not yours. Give it to me."

            Eddie smirks. "Not falling for it this time."

            He pushes Victor down as he runs past. Victor shouts his name and the distraction is enough for Sophia to escape from my and KT's grasp. We chase after them, barely making it as far as the stairs before electricity crackles from the chandelier. No, no, I think it might crash! Victor's down in the entrance hall with Eddie, and he shouts, "Watch out!" He pushes Eddie out of the way just before the chandelier crashes—right onto Victor.

            "Victor!"

            "Get the stone away from here!"

            I run down the stairs, grabbing Eddie's jacket and pulling him toward the door. Some kind of force field, glowing the same color as the touchstone, physically blocks us from even reaching for the doorknob.

            "The stone," Eddie realizes. "It affects the house. We have to get it away from here."

            Every entrance and exit we try locks on its own, shutting us out of every way out of here, and we're at a dead end in the hall with the boys' bedrooms.