Two is Company (House of Anubis)

Chapter 64: Another Key Heist

As abruptly as it began, the wailing of the fire alarm suddenly ceased, but Victor wasn't one to let a welcome silence sit too long.

"There is no fire!" he bellowed furiously from the top of the stairs. "Someone set off that alarm deliberately, and they shall pay dearly for their effrontery!"

Denby curled her lip at the trio, but her voice was serene when she said, "Well, the fire alarm has stopped, so you can safely return to the entrance hall. Or risk a longterm detention."

"Harsh," Alfie muttered, and Patricia elbowed him roughly in the ribs.

"Well, you certainly heard that," Denby remarked dryly, and Kira had to hand it to her: she might be an evil, conniving witch, but boy was she witty.

"Understood, Miss," Kira grit out, trying for a polite tone but falling flat. "We'll just, uh, head back inside."

"Good," she said sharply, her cold eyes raking the three of them up and down. The unspoken message of 'I know what you did' was almost palpable.

They trudged back into the entrance hall where everyone minus those stuck in the crypt were still gathered. Trudy looked exhausted now that the adrenaline from the fire alarm had worn off, while Victor appeared to be vibrating with rage much like an angry, elderly chihuahua. It would have been kind of funny, if their rescue attempt hadn't been thwarted yet again.

"Well, you'll be relieved to know that it was a false alarm," Trudy explained, still dressed in her neon green fire warden vest, "but we still need to follow procedure. So everyone stay still until I do an official head count."

Mara was literally asleep standing up against the stairwell, while Willow yawned beside her. Joy sat by the phone with her head resolutely turned toward the wall, and Jerome paced up and down the boys' corridor like an agitated zoo animal. It definitely wasn't dramatic to say things were not going to plan.

Kira put her hand in her pajamas pocket and turned KT's key over in her hand, running her thumb along the moon carving. Good gods, she was worried about them. What if the ceremony had failed and they were currently suffering drastic consequences? What if it had worked, but Robert really sick or something? What if—

"So to recap," Alfie whispered, sticking his head between Kira and Patricia, "we're in trouble for setting off the alarm, and we can't get back to the crypt. Trixie, do you have Plan B?"

"That was Plan B," she reported dully.

"Well, you'd better have a Plan C," Alfie snapped. It certainly didn't help the situation that everyone was getting tired and cranky.

Jerome finally rejoined the main group, and Willow for some reason thought it would be an excellent idea to scream his name as loud as she could. This startled Jerome, who crashed into Patricia, who slammed into Kira, who then, to her horror, dropped the Moon Key out of her pocket, sending it skittering across the floor right at Victor's feet.

While Patricia berated Jerome, Kira dove for the key, snatching it up as quickly as she could before things got worse. She unfortunately wasn't fast enough, because when she straightened up, Victor was glaring at her.

"What is that?" he asked lowly, advancing on her while she hastily backed up.

"It's nothing. Just something I found a while back," Kira answered, trying to keep her voice even.

Patricia seemed to clock the fact that she'd jostled Kira into dropping the key and her face went ashen. "Come on, Victor," she added desperately, while Alfie audibly groaned. "You know what they say about finders keepers!"

"What? What is it?" Denby piped up from the back.

"Nothing to worry about Ms. Denby," Victor dismissed and put his hand on the key, locking himself and Kira into an intense game of tug-o-war. He leaned down into her personal space and hissed, "Hand it over, Miller."