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

She was the Collector. It was her job to acquire the subjects after their apocratusis and bring them to the Gymnasium. It was also her job to make them comfortable and convince them to stay. Each time she received a dossier on her target detailing their background. She knew their name, age, appearance, family history, school grades, and even their favorite food. But there were always gaps in the file. She didn’t know the exact events that triggered Landon’s apocratusis, but she’d seen pictures and a detailed report documenting the scene afterward. It was terrible to see. He was the sixty-fourth subject she’d collected and the sixty-fourth she’d convinced to attend the Gymnasium, but something was different about him. He was the first she feared would only find his gifts weren’t gifts at all.
    Before turning to leave the room, she gently placed her hand on Landon’s arm, but he just lay there.
    “Oh, and I’ll get you some new clothes too. . . . Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you,” Sofia said as she shut the door.
    Landon was alone in the room.
    • • • • •
    At nine in the morning, Sofia knocked on the door to the small medical quarters where Landon stayed. When he didn’t respond, she hesitantly opened the door to find him lying in the same position from when she left him the night before. He hadn’t even pulled the covers of the bed over himself to stay warm. Next to a tray of untouched dinner she brought him the previous evening and a stack of new clothes, she set a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast and a glass of orange juice. She circled around to the other side of the bed, expecting to wake Landon, only to find him with his eyes wide open, staring off into the blank white wall. Had he slept at all?
    “Good morning, Landon. I need you to get up and get ready for today. I’ll be back in forty-five minutes to take you to the orientation room,” Sofia said. Landon didn’t reply, but he did look at her, and that was all she needed to know that he’d heard and understood.
    After she left the room, it took Landon another ten minutes before he moved an inch. He had little desire to go anywhere or do anything. He’d much rather just stay in that room until he died and could be free from the terrible memory, but he knew anything was better than sulking in the medical wing all day. And maybe the planned activities would get his mind off things. As he rose to his feet, his face winced. His shoulder felt sore and stiff even though Dr. Longfellow treated it the night before. Over the next half hour, Landon cleaned up and put on the clothes they provided: a new pair of dark denim jeans, a solid red t-shirt, and a brand new pair of white sneakers. As he sat at the table, waiting for Sofia to return, he stared at the plate of food.
    The night before, he never even paid attention to the orderly as she brought him his dinner. At the time, he hadn’t eaten in over twenty-four hours and his stomach rumbled loudly when he smelled the hot food sitting on the table, but he had no appetite. The mere idea of eating had nauseated him. Now, true to form, his stomach began to resound with boisterous guttural gurgles and grumbles, and Landon couldn’t resist his abdomen’s command.
    As Landon brought a piece of crisp bacon toward his mouth, the smell transported him back to his first day of school when he was five years old. After his mom got him ready, she sat Landon down at the kitchen table and laughed as Landon excitedly talked about all the things he was anticipating. All the while, the smell of bacon frying on the stove consumed the air. As he thought about it, he realized it was one of the few memories he had of her where she seemed truly happy.
    With the first bite, Landon thought he was in heaven. As he chewed, he couldn’t help but let out a soft groan of pleasure. Afterward, his stomach paid no mind to his current emotional state. Instead, it drove him toward the plate, causing him to ravenously