Read Online Into the Shadows by Jason D. Morrow - Free Book Online

had a chance to talk to each other without someone listening to us, or without the forced conversation typed out on a card at breakfast. But I have seen into her eyes, and she has seen into mine. There is a pain there that both of us can feel. There is an understanding.
    The door to my room finally opens and Peter comes in as he usually does, but this time he doesn’t take a seat or pull out a notepad and pencil. This time he stays at the door, a guard behind him. His stalling makes me nervous, and my mind instantly goes to the metal piece that keeps the latch from closing completely. Did he or one of the guards notice it? Did he see Amber pass it to me?
    “We will not be having the normal evaluation today,” Peter says.  
    “Why not?”
    “Someone wants to meet with you.”
    “Who?” I ask, standing.  
    Peter pauses for a moment and smiles. “Frankly, I’m quite jealous. Shadowface wants to meet you. I haven’t even had the opportunity to speak with Shadowface in person.”
    Though Peter looks at it as a happy moment that I should be proud of, I can feel my stomach sink. It’s dread mixed with fear. I don’t want to meet with her. What does she want with me anyway?
    I decide to keep the questions to myself as I follow behind Peter and the guard falls in after me. We go through more winding hallways, but we eventually come to a door that I’ve never seen before. Peter pulls out a set of keys from his pocket and opens it. The next set of hallways are very unlike the ship-like, dark, metal corridors that I have grown accustomed to for the past month. These feel more like a hospital, but with the smell of a hotel. The floors are made of polished granite tiles, and the walls are decorated with paintings set above potted plants that have been situated every ten feet or so. I try to count the number of turns we make, but by about seven or eight, I start to question myself. I then think that finding my way back here would not be a priority. Tonight, I’m escaping and I’m never coming back so it doesn’t matter.  
    The three of us reach an elevator. Once inside, I’m surprised to see Peter punch a lower level button. I had figured we would be going up toward the surface, but instead we go three more floors underground. I was unconscious when I was brought here, so I don’t remember any of the lavish hallways or even an elevator. Seeing all of it and having walked so far, it feels like this building has to be huge. I can’t help but wonder where we are. Perhaps it is a converted hospital. That would certainly explain the size.
    When the elevator opens again, we are greeted by a hall that is dark and bare. It’s nothing like the hallways that lead to the area where Amber and I are forced to have breakfast every morning. We step out onto carpet, the color impossible to determine because of the lack of light. Every ten or fifteen feet there is a soft, dim light hanging from the ceiling. It’s just enough to know where we need to go, but not really enough to feel comfortable with the surroundings. I get the sense that someone or something could pop out at us at any second. It brings up old feelings of being in places where a greyskin could come at me and I wouldn’t have time to react. It’s a place I would normally avoid.  
    Scattered throughout the hallway are a few doors, offices or rooms for what, I cannot imagine. We make a few more turns until we come to the end of one of the hallways. There is a set of double doors with a guard standing in front. He carries an automatic rifle and stares us down as we approach. When I look at Peter’s face, I can tell that even he seems a bit nervous.  
    The three of us stop a few feet away from the guard and Peter becomes my spokesperson.  
    “Hello Taylor,” Peter says. “Shadowface has requested the presence of Waverly. Here she is.”
    The guard looks me up and down and then nods at Peter. “I’ll take her from here,” the guard on the left says.
    My escorts