Force of Nature ▸ House of Anubis [3]

chapter three. house of presents

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"What have you got in these boxes, rocks?" I question KT as I set down a heavy box, one of many she's brought with her, on the couch at the house. Fortunately for the both of us, considering we're not supposed to be back at Anubis before school lets out, there's been no sign of Victor nor Trudy.

KT looks over from the box she's rummaging through. "Those are snow globes. I'm sort of a collector. Be careful with them, they're special."

"No prob," I tell her, sighing heavily. "Snow globe collector, huh? Never really got into them. I did order one once, and ended up being scammed by some cheap website. It literally looked like something out of horror flick."

"Yikes. Did you send it back?"

"No, Alfie wanted it so I gave it to him. And then he and Jerome broke it a week later."

"What happened?"

"Long story. It involves a gardening tool, Victor's stuffed raven Corbierre, and a football. English, not American."

"I—" KT cuts herself off with a confused frown. "I can't even imagine an animated way those things go together. Anyway, so how exactly is your family tree so complicated it rivals the one on Once Upon a Time? Aside from that Eddie guy being your cousin."

I laugh humorlessly. "That's only the tip of the iceberg, my American friend. Honestly, I'm still trying to make sense of the rest of it 'cause I've only found out it fairly recently, but I can say there hasn't been a plot twist yet that's as twisty as Peter Pan being Rumpelstiltskin's dad."

"I know, right? Talk about a plot twist. Still can't believe they made Peter Pan evil."

"Oh, you should check out the online conspiracies about Peter Pan, kid's been evil for a long time," I inform her with a dramatic shudder. KT giggles and turns back to her box. "Hey, you want lemonade? I think there's still some left over from this morning and you haven't lived until you've tasted something Trudy's made."

KT nods. "Sounds great. Thanks, Ashley."

Leaving her alone with the boxes, I walk into the kitchen and grab two glasses from the cupboard, glancing back to the living room. She's turning her head away from me and reaching into one of the boxes, and out of it she takes what looks like a small photograph—and a peculiar-looking key that has my eyes widening as she speaks quietly to the photograph to herself.

That must be the key Eddie saw in his vision of her! The one her grandfather gave to her. Huh, so Eddie isn't crazy. Not that I thought he was, but the fact that it's actually there in her hands—

"There really was a key," Eddie's voice says as he appears out of nowhere, eyes on the key.

And so it begins, I guess. I leave the glasses on the counter, returning to the living room to see if I can get a better look at the key, as well as making sure Eddie doesn't freak KT out again. That'd be, like, the fourth time in less than twenty-four hours. "Hey, KT," I say casually, giving him a pointed look, "nice key. Bit weird, though..."