Force of Nature ▸ House of Anubis [3]

chapter seventy-six. house of the staff

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             I slam the door to KT's bedroom behind us as we rush in. KT throws open the door to the wardrobe and grabs one of the other artifacts, but she immediately drops it on the ground as she lets out a sharp exclamation of pain. "It burned me!"

            "It burned you?" I ask, just as Eddie tosses the artifact to me like a game of hot potato. "Eddie, what—"

            "The second we came in here, it burned my hand," Eddie tells me. "But... not you."

            I look at the artifact again. My hand feels normal. I'm not being burned. "I need the other artifacts. Where are they?" KT grabs a box from underneath her bed but doesn't open it, and I take the other artifact from the floor and set it on her bed as she grabs the final one from her dresser and all but throws it at me. None of them are burning me, but they burned them. If I'm the only one that can hold them— "I think I have to do it."

            "Then do it!" Eddie shouts.

            "Eddie, I'm getting a really weird feeling from this—"

            "This is the only way we can stop it. Ashley, put it together!"

            So I grab each artifact one by one, hyper aware of their watching eyes, and I put them together. I start with the one we just retrieved, my hands working on their own. It's the top of a staff, something tells me, so I screw it on to one of the rods. I grab another, and then the final one, holding the staff in my hands. It looks so familiar, as if from a dream. I hold it out so they can see.

            "We don't even know what to do with it," KT remarks.

            "Can't we just figure that one out on the way?" Eddie asks, trying to grab it. But I can hear the metal sear his hand, but he doesn't pull his hand back. He looks like he's in a trance now.

            "Eddie, we have too much riding on this," KT reminds him. "Eddie?"

            Eddie snaps his eyes open, looking at her. "I know exactly what to do with it. Or actually..." He looks over at me. "I know what you need to do with it. We need to get to the gatehouse. God, that still burns," he mumbles, removing his hand. "Come on!"

            Again, the three of us run out and down the stairs, but someone's coming in. Eddie grabs my arm and pulls me into the closet as we watch through the frosted window. It's Denby, I can tell, and KT's face-to-face with her. "KT," we can hear Denby say, "shouldn't you be at school?"

            "I—I'm," KT stutters. "I'm running a bit late, Miss."

            "Very late and very empty-handed."

            "You're right. I've been so scatterbrained. I'll go get my books."

            "And what about Eddie and Ashley? Where might they be?"