The Search for Artemis - By P. D. Griffith Page 0,35

look him directly in the eyes. His sudden severity caught Landon off-guard. He felt an off-putting wave of heat surge through is body.

“Landon, I know what you went through before Sofia brought you here. . . . And I can imagine that you are probably a bit overwhelmed and still somewhat confused,” Dr. Brighton said. Landon’s mouth suddenly became very dry. “This place can really help you if you let it. There’s nothing for you to be afraid of. Just do your best and the rest will come with time. You have to remember, you aren’t alone here.”

As Dr. Brighton uttered his sincere words, the door beside them creaked open. Landon’s eyes shifted at the sound. Dr. Brighton was also a psychokinetic. Based on the students he met so far, Landon expected only people around his age to have this Prometheus gene that gave them their abilities. The notion of someone older like Dr. Brighton having the same abilities was bewildering. Dr. Brighton stood up and nudged Landon toward the open door.

Landon walked hesitantly into the room. It was long, but narrow, and filled with rows of medium-sized wooden tables with a metal desk at its head.

He walked down the center aisle. It felt oddly normal to Landon. As he passed each row, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d been transported back to high school chemistry, waiting for lab to start, but in place of posters of periodic tables, cabinets of beakers, and three-dimensional models of chemicals, there were diagrams of different hand motions lining the walls, glass cases of human and animal skulls on the shelves, jars stuffed with random items, and a cabinet filled with oddities in the back.

“Sit wherever you like,” Dr. Brighton said from behind his desk. He was shuffling around in his drawers, and he slowly began pulling things out, arranging them on the desk, and adjusting some stacks of papers.

Landon decided on a table toward the back and sat down on a wooden stool, waiting silently for others to join him.

As the nine o’clock start time drew nearer, other students began to file in, each one whispering under their breath when they saw Landon already settled in the room. None of them seemed to want to sit anywhere near him. Perhaps they were afraid of what he might do. As more and more students came in, his stool became more and more uncomfortable. He shifted around on it, trying to find some relief, but none really came.

Riley and Katie Leigh walked in about five minutes before the start time and smiled when they saw Landon sitting by himself. They immediately walked over and sat around him. Riley took the second seat at Landon’s table and Katie Leigh sat at the table in front of him, but turned around as soon as she got settled.

“Dude, how could you have kept this a secret?” Riley asked. His eyes were so big they seemed on the verge of popping right out of his skull. “Your debut was lifting a city bus off the ground!”

“I don’t even think Brock could do that,” Katie Leigh interjected soft enough so only the three of them could hear.

“Turn around, Katie, and mind your own business,” Riley commanded as he tried to shoo her away with his hand. Katie Leigh ignored him. Riley turned his attention back to Landon. “I cannot believe I get to be in the same Telekinetics training where you’ll show everyone what it means to be psy-kin. It’s going to be epic!”

Riley looked at Landon like Midas to gold. He was beside himself with excitement knowing he had befriended the new guy at the Gymnasium who might be able to vie for the top position among the students.

“So what exactly happened?” Riley asked.

“It was nothing really,” Landon began softly as he tried to hide his face behind his hand. There was no avoiding the conversation. “I was messing around with some guys on the sidewalk and accidentally slipped off the curb into the street. When I looked up a bus was headed straight for me. I thought I was done for, but then right before it hit me, the bus just lifted off the ground and floated there. When I realized what had happened, I ran off. Then that woman, Sofia, found me and brought me here. That’s it.”

Landon didn’t like lying, but he knew the truth would only make him more of a target for gossip. This way he could avoid talking about the chase through