How it Ends ▸ House of Anubis [4]

chapter nine. house of stone

            "Give it to me!" Sophia shouts.

            "No way!" Eddie retorts.

            Sophia merely tilts her head, and the wall with the sarcophagus moves, locking out the outside world and trapping us in this hall. I rush forward, hitting it. "Sophia! You little—" I finish my sentence with a brief shout, running my hands along the sarcophagus. "Of all the things this house can do...!"

            "KT, try that door!" Eddie instructs, pointing toward the kitchen door. I find the lock on the sarcophagus, opening it up and finding nothing but the back of the sarcophagus. Something crackles from behind us, and we turn around. The walls are closing in on us, and moving fast. "No, no, no!"

            "Eddie!" I exclaim as KT grabs my arm. This is not how I want to die—I do not want to be crushed to death! I hide my face as the window shatters, barely able to hear anything other than my quick-and-loud beating heart.

            "Quick, through the window!" Eddie shouts. "Go!"

            Eddie goes through first, KT second, and me third. I land on the grass outside with a thud, and I barely get a chance to recover from it before they're pulling me up, both yelling about how we've got to take the touchstone away—to the school.

—

            Five minutes inside the school and we haven't found any of our Sibunas. We also haven't seen Sophia, which is good news. She hasn't found us yet, and every second we have the Touchstone and keep it away from her is another second the world is safe.

            I stop in the middle of the hallway, hearing Dexter's voice from a classroom nearby. I point toward it, throwing open the door. Dexter, Cassie, and Erin. "Where are Patricia and the others?" Eddie asks them immediately.

            Dexter looks at us incredulously. "They went looking for you!"

            "They what?!" I repeat, turning toward Eddie and KT. "We can't wait for them here. We need to go!"

            "Wait, where are you going?"

            KT points toward the touchstone in Eddie's hand. "We have to get this as far away from Sophia and the house as possible!" I pull her out of the classroom, already feeling the effects of running everywhere. "Where are we going?"

            Eddie barely glances back at us as he responds, "The woods! Remember where Harriet brought us in the ambulance? That's pretty far away from here!"

—

            As we near the section of woods where Harriet Denby drove us in her stolen ambulance a few months ago, I think it's relatively safe for us to start to slow down. My legs are killing me and I honestly think they might give out if we don't stop and rest for a minute, at least.

            "Victor saved my life," Eddie says, the first he's said about the fact that Victor pushed him out of the way of a falling chandelier and took the brunt of the hit.

            "We were wrong!" KT replies. "He's one of the good guys."

            "Yeah, for once in his centenarian life," I state, putting my hands on my knees as I lean over. "We're on the same side as Victor. That's weird. But it means Sophia's doing this on her own. You guys good?" KT throws me a thumbs-up as Eddie nods. Footsteps crunch on the leaves behind us and we whirl around, but it's not Sophia. Dexter, Cassie, and Erin. Again. "Did you follow us? What are you doing here?"

            "Getting a slice of the action," Dexter responds excitedly.

            "So what's the plan?" Erin asks. "Is there a plan?"

            Cassie, finally catching up, says, "If you told me running was involved, I would have made footwear choices."

            "And can someone explain what this has to do with Sophia?"

            "She's kind of older than she looks," Dexter answers Erin.

            "Like a mature student?"

            "A really, really mature student."

            "Wow," Cassie marvels. "What cream does she use?"

            I roll my eyes. "Okay, Amber Junior, the three of you need to leave. Now." I turn back to Eddie, crossing my arms. "Tell me you have a plan."

            Eddie's not the one who answers. It's Dexter, who responds to my statement toward them, "No way! We're coming with you."

            Eddie sighs. "I mean, they are going to be staying at Anubis next year. Someone needs to prep them."

            I look over them, the next generation of Sibuna. A boy with an affinity for weird food snacks, a blonde with a love for fashion, and a brunette with adrenaline and curiosity in her veins. I'd ask if these were really the three we're leaving Sibuna to, but... considering this is pretty much how Sibuna started give or take a few... Alfie's right. They're us.

            Except me being Sophia. That was wrong.

            "Eddie, Ashley," KT murmurs, "I don't think that's the best idea—"

            "Okay, trust me, all right?" Eddie replies. He glances toward me. "You trust me?"

            "Hundred percent," I answer immediately. "Let's do this." Eddie hands the touchstone to KT as he and I step in front of the newbies. "First thing you three need to know—this is gonna get messy. You got that?"

            All three nod. Eddie adds, "Okay, Ash and I are going to make you honorary members of Sibuna."

            Dexter pipes up, "What's Sibuna?"

            Without stopping, Erin answers, "It's Anubis backwards." I can't hide the impressed look on my face—that was quick.

            Cassie's response is different. "Tell me there's a salute and cute uniforms."

            KT groans. "Guys, we're wasting time."

            "Two seconds," I promise her. "Just keep a look out and scream if you hear or see anything."

            Eddie looks at the three almost-Sibunas. "Do you swear to protect the secrets of Anubis House and to always stand by your fellow Sibuna members?"

            "We swear!" they respond enthusiastically.

            I put my hand over my eye. "Sibuna." They follow my movements. I nod, sharing a glance with Eddie as I turn around to tell KT we're gonna keep going—but she's not there. "KT? Where's KT?"

            "Where's the stone?!" Eddie questions. "KT! KT!"