Michael Belmont and the Tomb of Anubis (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) by Ethan Russell Erway

was noticing many things for the first time as the other two pointed them out.
    Most of the doors they came across in the corridor looked like those in the rest of the castle, and most were locked.   Every unlocked door they came to led to an empty room.   A few of the locked doors however, like the one with the moon carving on it, were unique.   There was one door that was perfectly smooth and black, almost as if it had been carved from one giant piece of obsidian.   There was no handle or keyhole on it, and they couldn't get it open.
    As they kept moving, Liam found another unlocked door.   He turned the handle and pushed, and it creaked on its hinges and swung open.  
    Shining their lights inside, the room looked empty, and they were about to close the door when Abigail noticed a painting hanging on an inside wall.   "What's that?" she said.
    They entered the room and walked over toward the painting.   The air suddenly became cold, and the closer they got to the painting the colder it seemed to get.   They stood in front of it and all stared up, shining their lights on it.   It was a portrait of an old, hideous woman.   Her scraggly white hair shot from her head in all directions.   She had yellow, cragged teeth and dark circles under her eyes, which glared back at them with hatred and malice.
    "Banshee," muttered Liam in an audible whisper.
    The painting was mesmerizing and revolting, the kind of thing that draws your eyes to it even though you keep telling them to look away.   Michael was stunned at how real it seemed.   It was almost as if the woman was staring right back at him, trying to see inside his soul.
    Abigail stared into the old woman's eyes.
    "Free me," it seemed to whisper to her.   Its voice was tired and raspy.
    "Did you hear that?" she asked the boys without turning her gaze away.
    "Hear what?" responded Liam.   He wasn't moving his eyes from the painting either.
    Michael had turned his face from the painting and was now watching Liam and his sister.   They were both shivering.   In fact, Liam's teeth began to chatter from the cold.
    The voice came to Abigail again.   "Let me out of here."
    "Which one of you keeps talking?" she grumbled, aggravated that one of the boys was teasing her.
    Michael didn't like the way they were acting.   He grabbed them both by the arm.   "I think its time to move on.   Come with me."
    They left the room and he slammed the door behind them.
    "I think that door ought to be locked too," said Liam, and Michael nodded.
    When they got to the portrait of the wolfish man, both Abigail and Liam agreed that he was not at all a nice looking man.
    "Hey," said Liam with a tone of surprise.   "That's the Staff of Anubis he's holding."
    Michael smiled.   "I thought it looked like Anubis."
    "The Staff of what?" asked Abigail.
    "Not what, who?   The Staff of Anubis.   Last year Da and I visited the British Museum.   There was an Egyptian display there, and I saw pictures of that artifact in a presentation one of the Egyptologists made on Anubis."
    Michael raised his eyebrow.
    "That's him on the head of the staff."   Liam pointed it out.   "He's the Egyptian god of the dead, responsible for protecting departed souls as they made their transition to the afterlife.   Didn't you hear your mum talking about the Tomb of Anubis the other morning?"
    "Guess I wasn't listening.   You seem to know a lot about it though," Abigail told him.
    "I just thought it was really interesting," he said.   "That staff is the stuff of legends.   Everyone thought it was a myth, but it was recovered by the Catholic Church during a thirteenth century crusade, and supposedly remained in the possession of Rome until it was stolen in the early sixteenth century.   It hasn't been seen since."
    "Well, what's so special about the thing?" asked Michael.
    "According to the legends, it has some sort of magical powers.   Gives its owner unusual strength and the ability to change form.   It's