Force of Nature ▸ House of Anubis [3]

chapter eighty. house of fireworks

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            We stayed at the gatehouse for a little bit after everything so KT got a chance to talk to her great-grandfather. Eddie and I stood by silently, watching her tell him about her gramps. Despite my own many questions about my family, I didn't interrupt them to ask. My questions can wait. But eventually, we had to leave so that we could find everyone else and relax knowing they're no longer sinners.

            "So what was that thing with your charm?" Eddie asks, gesturing to it around my neck. We're walking back to the house now and I'm looking at the texts I missed when I turned my phone off—including one from Jerome that if I hadn't already suspected Frobisher would've turned everyone in Anubis House into sinners for Ammit, I probably (definitely) would've been hurt. "You should've seen it—your hands were glowing red. It was actually kind of awesome."

            I laugh, shrugging as I push my cell into my pocket. "New power, I guess. I just had this thought that I should do it, so... I did. I don't know what I was expecting, but you're right. It was awesome." They laugh with me, and it's a welcome sound considering everything we've been through the past couple of days. "So... if Harriet didn't remember anything from the two minutes she was a sinner, will anyone else?"

            KT sighs. "We might have to explain to Patricia, Alfie, and Fabian what happened."

            "Oh," I say bluntly. "Great. I'm gonna have to tell Alfie he tried to break me and Jerome up and tell Fabian he gave me a concussion in the crypt." My phone starts ringing in my pocket, and the contact photo on my screen makes me smile. I tell Eddie and KT to go forward without me and answer happily, "Nina!"

            "I've been calling you all night!" Nina says, her voice frantic, but I'm so happy to hear her voice that I just can't stop smiling. I haven't spoken to her on the phone since before school started back. It's just been text messages between us and Amber, considering the time difference. "You can't just leave a message like that and not answer your phone, Ash."

            "I know," I tell her, still smiling. "But I'm so glad you called, I've so much to tell you..."

—

            When we got back to the house, we were met with one heck of a mess. Like one of Alfie and Jerome's food fights but multiply the disaster left by a hundred. At first, we voiced our confusion before remembering that we suspected that Frobisher would've turned everyone else who lives here if he was looking to add to his army of sinners. So that pretty much confirmed that theory, but there was still no one here but us.

            The way we know everyone else has come home, even with the door closed, is because we hear everyone asking each other what had happened at the school and here, since it was such a mess. And that confirmed our amnesia theory, which basically means KT, Eddie, and I are the only ones who know everything that happened as it happened.