Page 6 (1/2)
Cautiously, Matt felt along the path with his foot until he found grass, then inched his way onto it, holding his hands out in front of hih bark of a tree There probably weren’t too ate, but he’d just as soon have no one see his-and-funerals suit and tie, and looking, he was sure, like an idiot
On the other hand, he did hoever was coet him to be able to spot him It would be better to look like an idiot out in the open now and become part of the Vitale Society than to hide and spend the rest of the night blindfolded in the bushes Matt inched his way back tohere he thought the gate ed to catch his balance again
He suddenly wished he had told so What if somebody other than the Vitale Society had left hiet hier beneath his sweaty too-tight col ar After al the weird things that had happened to hi paranoid
If he vanished now, his friends would never knohat had happened to hi blue eyes, her clear, searching gaze She would miss him if he disappeared, he knew, even if she had never loved hih would lose its carefree note if Matt were gone, and Meredith would become more tense and fierce, push herself harder He mattered to them
The Vitale Society’s invitation was clear, though: tel no one If he wanted to get in the game, he had to play by their rules Matt understood rules
Without warning, sorabbed his arled, and he heard a grunt of exasperation froht
"Fortis aeturnus," hissed the person on his left like a password, his breath war That was the slogan on the letter from the Vitale Society, wasn’t it? It was Latin, he was pretty sure He wished he’d taken the ti his arrass and onto the road
"Step up," the one on his left whispered, and Mattinto what seemed to be the back of a van Fir it on the van’s roof, and Matt was reminded of that terrible time this past su Caroline The cops had pushed his head down just like that when they put him handcuffed into the back of the squad car His stomach sank with remembered dread, but he shook it off The Guardians had erased everyone’s memories of Caroline’s false accusations, just as they’d changed everything else
The hands guided him to a seat and strapped a seat belt around hi on each side of him, and Matt opened his mouth to speak - to say what, he didn’t know
"Be stil ," the mysterious voice whispered, and Matt closed hispast the blindfold, even a hint of light and shadow, but everything was dark Footsteps clattered across the floor of the van; then the doors slaine started up
Matt sat back He tried to keep track of the turns the van took but lost count of the rights and lefts after a fewto see ould happen next
After about fifteen minutes, the van cahter, and he tensed, too He heard the front doors open and close and then footsteps come around the van before the back doors opened
"Remain silent," the voice that spoke to hie of your journey"
The person next to Matt brushed against him as he rose, and Matt heard hiravel underfoot as he was led away He listened alertly, but, once that person had left, Matt heard only the nervous shifting of the other people seated in the van He jumped when hands took his arain; he hadn’t heard a thing
The hands helped hiuided him across what felt like a sidewalk or courtyard, where his shoes thudded against first gravel, then paveuides continued to lead hih soain Matt counted three flights down before he was stopped again
"Wait here," the voice said, and then his guides stepped away
Matt tried to figure out where he was He could hear people, probably his co quietly, but no one spoke Judging by the echoes their little ym? a basement? Probably a basement, after al those stairs down
Fro
"You may now remove your blindfolds," a new voice, deep and confident, said
Matt untied his blindfold and looked around, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the light It was a faint, indirect light, which supported his basement theory, but if this was a basement, it was the fanciest one he’d ever seen