Touch of Fear ▸ House of Anubis [2]

chapter thirty. house of phobias

☾ ☽

"Help me!" Alfie screams as the tunnel caves in, blocking him from our sight. My heart starts pounding as the cloud of dirt creates a fog we can't see through.

"I can't see him!" Nina exclaims.

"Is he gone?" Fabian adds.

"Guys, I think the tunnel caved in. He's trapped!"

Oh, do you think?! This was his fear, this is what happens when you don't face them!

Amber's voice cracks as she says, "Poor Alfie. This is all my fault." She starts to crawl inside the tunnel, which makes my eyes widen more than they already are and my heart beat faster. No, she can't get trapped, too! "Alfie, I'm coming to get you."

"Amber!" Nina yells. "Amber, wait!"

"Wait, come back!" adds Trixie, but Amber crawls further into the tunnel.

All we can do is listen carefully to make sure she's okay and see if she finds him. She's saying something, actually sobbing something, about bugs and then she screams, causing me to shout her name and glance to the others. Fabian offers, "I'll go," before crawling forward. "Amber. Amber. Calm down, calm down, calm down."

"Be careful, Fabian!" Nina says.

"Amber, I'm gonna get you out, okay? Come backwards," he says to her. We can see them now; she's shaking her head, clearly terrified. "Come on, I need you to move. You can do it, come on."

The pair successfully crawls backward through the tunnel and joins the rest of us on the other side. I move forward the second they're both out, telling them quickly, "I'm getting Alfie." I crawl into the tunnel without another word, cringing at the bugs and the dirt. "Hey, Alfie? Can you hear me?"

"Help!" Alfie shouts.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm coming to get you!" I assure him, crawling forward. Okay, lot of bugs in here. I'm not Amber, I'm not afraid of bugs. I can deal with this. They're a little weird but nothing to worry about. Then I stop momentarily, spotting something grey and made of stone in the dirt. Simply out of curiosity, I brush the dirt away, only to jump back a little and exclaim when I see it's a stone hand.

"Ashley!" Nina yells.

"I'm fine!" I call back. Just...a little terrified I'm about to be sent back in time eighty years...I swallow, keeping unblinking eyes on the stone hand as I move a little closer to the sound of Alfie's screams. "Alfie, Alfie, you need to relax. I'm gonna get you out. Stop screaming."

"Okay, I'm not screaming," Alfie says much calmer, but still very panicky, "but I won't relax."

"You will if you want to get out!" I retort, deciding to risk tearing my eyes away from the stone hand to move the dirt in between us. Meanwhile, more dirt falls from the ceiling, getting in my hair as I continue forward. "Alfie!" I exclaim, and he looks at me with terrified eyes. "Alfie, come on. Move back, we can do it. We'll be out in ten seconds, I swear."