The Search for Artemis - By P. D. Griffith Page 0,136
was an empty street lined with small boutiques and shops. Snow had coated the thatched roofs of the small buildings and was piled up along the cleared streets. Christmas decorations were displayed in the shop windows, portraying festive scenes for the upcoming holiday. It was the middle of the night; the street lamps that lined the sidewalk cast an orange glow on the wintery scene.
Passing a window, Landon saw his reflection in the glass. He was a little girl wearing a purple, down winter coat. He had long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and olive skin. He was Celia. Looking to his left, he saw a man in a grey trench coat towering above him. In his hands he was carrying a few shopping bags. Next to him was a woman with blonde hair. She was shorter than the man and pear-shaped. She was wearing a black pea coat and was also carrying a few bags at her sides.
Without control of his body, Landon stopped at the window of a toy store. His eyes were fixed on a doll that stood on display. She had brown hair that fell around her face in tiny curls. Her eyes were bright blue, and she had long eyelashes and rosy cheeks. In a festive red and green plaid dress, she was the heart’s desire of every little girl in the town.
As he stood there staring at her, his fingers pressed against the window, the sound of three loud bangs rang through the empty street. Scared by the sudden loud noise, Landon let out a high-pitched scream and turned to see what had caused it.
What he saw was the man and woman lying on the sidewalk about ten yards from where he stood. A crimson pool spread out from under their motionless bodies, staining the white, powdery snow.
Standing over them both was a man in a dark hooded sweatshirt and jeans. He slid something large into his pocket before stepping over the man’s body and walking down the sidewalk toward him. His hood was up, concealing his face, but just as he passed Landon, the man turned and looked down at him. For a split second, Landon saw the man’s face clearly as the lights in the toyshop illuminated it.
The scene then faded to black and Landon found himself standing in the arbor of Dr. Brighton’s Secret Garden once more, looking at Celia as she withdrew her hand from his face.
“They killed my parents, Landon,” she said as tears fell from her eyes and streaked down her cheeks. “In cold blood. And I intend to make them pay for what they’ve done, especially the one who killed them.”
The look in her eyes was pitiful yet frightening at the same time. Landon, on the other hand, was frozen in a state of shock from what he had just discovered.
It couldn’t be. It was impossible. He could never do that. The hooded shooter had the same brown, wavy hair, the same strong jaw and the same green eyes. It was unmistakable. Dr. Brighton murdered Celia’s parents.
In seeing that memory, Landon’s world crashed in around him. Even with Celia’s memories and explanations about what caused her to become Artemis, it wasn’t enough to completely convince him that he wasn’t on the right side. Her evidence was circumstantial at best—no hard proof. He hadn’t been convinced that he was the one who had been lied to, but for some reason, in seeing Dr. Brighton on that street after killing Celia’s helpless parents, a light went off in his head.
By showing him that memory, Celia had expressed the dire nature of her situation. It’s hard to lie when the truth is the only way to keep you alive. He believed her. If Dr. Brighton was capable of murder, then everything else she showed him had to be true. The Pallas Corporation was evil, the Pantheon was a lie and the Gymnasium was nothing more than a clever ruse. They had to be stopped. There was only one thing to do.
“I’m in,” Landon said. “What do you need me to do?”
• • • • •
On the penthouse floor of an eighty-six-story high-rise in the middle of Boston’s city center, Dr. Wells stood outside the doors of an office, waiting to be granted an audience with the man inside.
In his hand he carried a pale blue file folder with an owl holding a branch embossed into the cover and “Project Herakles - Top Secret” was printed on it. He