Force of Nature ▸ House of Anubis [3]

chapter fifty-five. house of surprise

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( note: near the end of this chapter, abuse is mentioned. the circumstances will be brought up a few more times, but i thought i'd tell you guys beforehand. )

            "No way."

            That's all he says. I glance at the others, all of us unable to see what Eddie is. "Are you... gonna, like, tell us if there's anything back there or leave us hanging?"

            Eddie looks back. "There's a definitely a room."

            "Another room," Patricia remarks dryly. "Great."

            Fabian switches on the light on his phone, moving Eddie over so he can see inside. "I can't make out anything distinct, but... there's something in the back."

            Eddie grins and pats Fabian's back. "Let's get in there."

            "We need to take this slowly, all right?" Fabian tells us. I nod, crossing my arms. "Quiet, methodical work and one brick at a time." Eddie lifts a large blue capsule, like an oxygen tank or something, from the corner and comes back through. Oh, God, he's gonna— "Eddie, no!"

            "Eddie, stop!" I exclaim as a loud clang fills the room. There's no way no one else heard that. "Eddie—"

            "There's a pipe on the other side!" Fabian says, as Eddie hits the brick with the tank again. Oh, no, no, no, no, no... Faban grabs Eddie's shoulders. "What did I say about taking it slow?"

            "And being quiet," KT adds pointedly.

            "Okay, so there's a pipe there," Eddie responds, still holding the tank. "I didn't know that. We'll avoid." And before we can stop him, he does it again. Another pipe. "There's a pipe there, too."

            "No kidding," Patricia retorts.

            "What are the chances of a third pipe?"

            "Let's not test that," I say quickly, grabbing the back of his shirt.

            But I'm not what stops him. It's the sound of the padlock on the cellar door unlocking and Victor's voice inquiring, "What is this noise?" We rush to make everything the way it was when we got here, from putting the brick back to putting the tank back. "If anyone is there, show yourself."

            I hope Victor doesn't find what we did. We had to leave in a hurry through the oven entrance and I really, really hope we didn't leave anything behind.

—

            It's been a while since I've gotten a good night's rest. I'm not saying that because tonight I actually get a full night's sleep. I'm saying that because I don't and because I'm annoyed, because the clock reads three in the morning when there's a knock on the door and it opens, letting the hallway light in.