Read Online The Search for Artemis (The Chronicles of Landon Wicker) by P. D. Griffith - Free Book Online

name,” Dr. Longfellow said as he cleaned his cracked glasses on his lab coat. Without responding, the suited man strolled out of the observation room.
    “I should get in there. He’ll be waking soon, and he shouldn’t have to be alone after that,” Sofia said. She seemed disturbed by the terrible display of power.
    • • • • •
    Sofia stood by Landon’s side for about ten minutes before he began to stir. Once he opened his eyes, he lay there emotionless, staring blankly into Sofia’s face, almost as if he was looking past her. Tears welled up in his eyes and fell down the side of his face, but Landon didn’t pay any attention to it. He was numb.
    Sofia placed her hand on his shoulder, attempting to comfort him with her soft touch, but Landon didn’t respond. He merely continued to stare at her. Water streamed over his temples and disappeared in his hair.
    “Landon, it’s okay.” Sofia spoke reassuringly. She didn’t need him to tell her what he saw. “It was an accident. You had no control.” As she spoke, she delicately removed the restraints that still held Landon on the gurney.
    Landon sat up, turned his face away from Sofia and cleared the tears from his face.
    “Landon, please, look at me. Please,” Sofia said. Her voice sounded gentle and pleading. Landon took a quick breath in through his nose and then turned his body around to face Sofia, who looked at him with large, compassionate eyes.
    “Landon, we can help you. That is why I brought you here. Yes, what happened is a great tragedy, but you’re special. Even if you don’t believe it now, you have a gift, and we can teach you how to use it—control it. There are hundreds of other kids around your age who have come to us with the same abilities, and we teach them to master their skills, so that things like what happened to you don’t ever happen again. We can protect you. If you choose to stay, we can make everything right. The police will stop looking for you, and you’ll be free to live a happy life after you’ve learned what you need to know. Now, will you stay? You said you wanted to know what was happening to you, and we can show you. What do you say?”
    Sofia’s words were the only comfort Landon had against the torturous memory he just endured. Her voice was soft, and he didn’t comprehend everything she said. His mind reeled from the experience, and he still felt a bit groggy from the anesthetic. Landon just nodded. He never spoke a word; all his did was lightly nod, Yes .
    “Excellent, Landon,” Sofia replied. “Trust me, you’ll find yourself here.”
    With the help of Sofia, Landon lifted himself up and stepped onto the debris-covered floor of the examination room. He then proceeded out into the medical wing hallway. Sofia walked beside him, welcoming him to the Gymnasium.

CHAPTER FOUR
    ORIENTATION
    Sofia escorted Landon into a small room. It was simple and sterile with a bed covered in white linens and a small white table with a single chair pushed under it.
    “Landon, you’ll be staying here tonight. Tomorrow morning, after you’ve rested, there will be another session where you’ll get a few more questions answered. Think of it as an orientation. . . . Also, Dr. Márquez was telling me that you have a severely bruised shoulder, so we are going to have someone treat that for you tonight before you go to bed to help with the pain. . . . And I will get you some dinner too.”
    Sofia explained all of this with generous pauses, allowing Landon an opportunity for questions or comments, but he didn’t make a sound. He looked like a zombie. His arms limply lay at his sides, and he blankly stared at the ground.
    She led him over to the bed, where he curled up in a familiar and comforting fetal position atop the sheets, turned away from the door and his guide. She stood beside him for a while, looking down on the broken boy she had collected.
    This was the worst case she’d experienced since her time at the company.