The Search for Artemis - By P. D. Griffith Page 0,15
road, which nearly shot Landon out of his seat, that Sofia began to speak again.
“Now Landon, we’re almost there. When we arrive, you’re going to be subjected to a series of examinations. Please don’t panic—they’re routine. You’ve been living on the street for weeks, and we have to make sure you’re healthy before we can answer your questions. It’s protocol. There’s nothing I can do about it. Do you understand?” she said in a kind, sweet tone.
“Yeah, I got it,” Landon replied. “The tests, none of them are strange, are they?”
“No,” Sofia said. A smile stretched across her face. It was the first time he saw her smile, and it was definitely better than the stone cold expression she wore during the rest of the trip.
Minutes after she spoke, the car came onto a gravel road and stopped. Landon heard a thud as the driver’s door closed and listened intently to the sound of his steps as he walked over the small pebbles. After the footsteps ceased, the passenger door opened. The light that streamed into the car was blinding. It took a while for Landon to adjust. Then, with the wave of her hand, Sofia motioned for Landon to exit the car. As he stepped out, Sofia said behind him, “Welcome to the Gymnasium.”
The large gravel rocks of the road crunched loudly under the weight of Landon’s feet, but he didn’t notice. He didn’t pay any attention to the driver or the three men standing in front of the car. He didn’t notice anything but the unbelievable surroundings. As he tried to take it all in, his jaw dropped and his eyes shifted crazily in every direction.
He stood in a large valley. Surrounding him was a wall of majestic grey mountains; the warm evening sun rested inches above the summit of the western range. To the east was a deep crystalline lake. Lining its banks was a thin ribbon of pure white sand and beyond that sycamores, firs, ash trees, pines, spruces and evergreens blanketed the terrain, stretching up the north face of the mountains. A large portion of the valley was covered in lush, soft grass and meticulously landscaped with small shrubs and Italian cypress trees. The road beside Landon emerged from between two large mountains and led up to a massive building.
The structure was faced in marble. From what Landon saw, there appeared to be four large square towers, one at each corner of the building, and a large portico in the front. This portico looked as if it came straight out of Greece. Six columns tapered up to a large triangular façade. Directly above the columns, Landon made out the word “Gymnasium” etched into the stone frieze, and above that, the face of the triangular roof had an intricate carving that he couldn’t discern entirely from where he stood. The gravel road led to a series of long steps that went up to the doorway. What mesmerized Landon most about the building was not its size, but instead a huge glass dome that emerged from the building’s center, reaching high above the four peripheral towers. In total, the building reached at least six stories and covered several football fields.
Landon now stood twenty yards away from the SUV. As he took in his surroundings, he had unknowingly wandered into the middle of a grassy field. Once he turned back toward the car, he was confronted with five people standing beside it. Sofia stood on the end, and she was beaming. A beautiful smile stretched across her delicate face, and the light gleamed off her hair, making her glow in the evening sun. Beside her, there was a relatively husky man in a navy suit that Landon figured to be the driver. Beside him a set of three men stood shoulder to shoulder, each of them tall and lanky with disheveled hair. One of them looked noticeably older with grey hair and wrinkles, two had pairs of thin-framed glasses, and each wore long white coats with an identification card clipped to the breast pocket.
“Landon, can you please come back over here?” Sofia asked. Landon obeyed and walked over to the car. Once he got close enough, Sofia continued, “I would like you to meet the man who drove us all this way, Mr. Andrews, and these gentlemen in the white coats are Dr. Dodgson, Dr. Márquez and Dr. Longfellow. They will escort us into the facility and administer your tests.”
“Hello Landon Wicker, I’m Dr. Thaddeus Longfellow.” The older