Two is Company (House of Anubis)

Chapter 104: Slaughterhouse

"How could we have been so stupid?" KT exploded, using her shoulder to shove open one of the doors in the school's corridors.

"We couldn't have known!" Eddie replied, running a hand through his already disheveled hair.

"They worked very hard to make sure we fell for their tricks," Fabian sighed, stopping to catch his breath against the lockers.

They hadn't stopped running since the tank room, and all of them were more than a little out of breath— especially Kira, who was starting to see spots again. She knew damn well she needed to lie down, but she wasn't about to admit that to the others, not with so much more on the line. With Victor still in hot pursuit, they had no choice but to keep moving. He was old, though, and couldn't quite keep up with a bunch of young people. Chances were, they had a little time before he'd find them again.

Kira wasn't even sure how to feel at that moment, except for sick and dizzy. So many terrible things kept happening in quick succession, it was getting surprisingly easy to compartmentalize. Not so easy, however, that Kira was okay— far from it actually.

"I was sent here to stop Ammut, and what do I do? Lay down the welcome mat!" KT exclaimed.

"Never mind that now!" Eddie snapped. "We need to find a way to stop her before she's powerful enough to leave the Gatehouse."

"We need to warn the others," said Kira, swallowing back the bile rising in her throat. "Someone with a phone text Joy to lay low. If... If they have that book, chances are, they're planning on capturing people in a populated area."

"Like the school..." KT breathed, horrified. "W-We have to warn everyone! Tell them all to get out of here!"

"Who's gonna believe us?" Fabian countered sharply. "They'll think we're insane!"

"We could pull the fire alarm!"

"Oh, because that worked so well the last time," snarked Eddie.

"And it doesn't change the fact that everyone is gathered in one place," Fabian added.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" KT asked.

No one had anything to say to that for a minute; Eddie paced a lap around the hallway, then snapped his fingers. "Look, why did Frobisher want the key so bad, huh? Don't you guys think that's weird? He's standing there all victorious, and he's worried about some key that opens up the crypt?"

"Whoa, you think the key's important?" asked Kira.

"I-I-It could be," stuttered Fabian, his brain moving faster than his mouth. "It could be more than a key, yeah? Maybe it's— it's—"

"Like a weapon?" suggested KT.

"Sure," said Eddie. "A weapon we could use against Ammut before she's strong enough to leave the room!"

"That's great and all, but we don't have it," Kira pointed out. "And it could be anywhere, because you've been carrying it around in that ugly-ass jacket of yours for two days! You beat up Frobisher in that jacket; it could literally be lying on the Gatehouse floor!"

"Or maybe I just dropped it," snapped Eddie. "Why do you always have to be so cynical?"

Fabian rolled his eyes. "Look, Sibuna always finds a way, yeah?" he attempted, trying to keep them all on track.

"Yeah, but we're basically not Sibuna anymore, are we?" muttered KT.

"Then, let's be the weird kids clique!" exclaimed Fabian, making Kira snort incredulously. "Right? Okay, yes this is really bad, but we have to try something. And there's not much we can do right now, except go around to the classes and ask. Maybe someone picked the key up."