Chapter 8: Suspicions

"We're going to have each of you line up in ten rows containing 10 people! We're going to ask you to submit your tokens, those without please step onto the last row!" The receptionist announced in her small mic at her desk that resonated through the speakers around the whole foyer.

Artemis watched Shy's face fall at the sound of that as her head drooped and she began walking towards the last row. Artemis looked hurriedly at all the girls starting to line up as she grabbed Shy's hand and shoved her token into it. The girl was momentarily surprised before she opened her palm to check what Artemis had placed there.

Her eyes widened and she turned her head back to face her but Artemis was already walking towards a line while taking out her first token from the waistband of her pants. She stood in line and waited for her turn to the front. The girls in front of her were chatting excitedly but unfortunately, Artemis had a shark directly in front and directly behind her. They tapped their feet on the red plush carpet impatiently waiting to get to the front.

Tick-tock

Artemis has a lock

By the river, you might get thirsty,

Look for something shiny...

She remembered a clue she'd found 'something shiny' by the river but what was her lock? Was she supposed to get the second token because he knew that Shy wouldn't be able to figure out her own clue? She didn't know how he knew that but all she knew was that she needed to talk to him again. She needed to talk to Alpha.

The line had paced to the front and the receptionist placed her palm out for the token and Artemis placed it on her.

"Name?"

"Artemis,"

"Full name,"

"Artemis Apollo,"

The receptionist looked up from her board at her and gave a small smile. Artemis always got smiles about the irony of her name from Greek mythology fans. The twins Artemis and Apollo, one was the god of the sun, healing and the other was the goddess of the moon, hunting and virginity and some other things like animals and wilderness and stuff. Her parents thought it would be interesting to give their daughter the name that would forever amuse her teachers and force her into the subject of Greek mythology.

"Congratulations Artemis, please head back to your room,"

"Alright, thank you," she muttered before turning and heading towards the elevators, which had also formed a line but was moving at a much slower rate than the first line. Artemis groaned, she really just wanted to get up and take a shower to dry off. Her eyes drifted to the staircase beside it and she groaned before she began climbing it. Some of the girls eyed her in surprise as if they'd almost forgotten that there were stairs, they broke off the line and began following her.

She ignored the girls behind her and walked up the stairs in her wet attire. She needed to change quickly and go try and find the place with the trees again so she could have a chance at trying to find the alpha again. The last two flights of stairs were the hardest and her legs were burning from pain but she made it up and almost collapsed on their sofa after entering their hotel room. Everyone was already inside and briefly looked up from their place in front of the TV as she entered. Only Shy eyed her weirdly, as she should have because of Artemis' recent actions. The spare token must've definitely set the girl's mind on edge. To avoid her, Artemis decided the shower would be better to do right now.

"I'm going to go take a bath," she told the room with no indifference from the girls. Shy turned back to the TV with the quizzical look still in her eyes.

Artemis entered their room and collected her towel and toiletries before going to the bathroom. Her sportswear took much longer to peel off than it usually did because of the amount of water weighing it down. She stepped into the bath and lowered herself in, her bones almost relaxed at the touch of warm water on her skin. She let a small sigh escape her lips and leaned her head back on the bath using a small towel as a makeshift pillow.

She was out of the bathroom all too soon, fully dressed in a large black hoodie paired with some black leggings. She was going to be as incognito as she possibly could. She knew she had to face the girls before she went and decided instead of stressing out in her room it'd just be better to face them head-on.

"Where are you going?" Iris asked as soon as came out of their room. She internally winced at how fast the girls had seen her.

"Out. I need to take care of some things,"

Iris eyed her before turning back to the TV and her Pringles. The other two had successfully fallen asleep on the couch and were sprawled around their individual sofas. Artemis knew her luck was impeccable because Shy wouldn't get a chance to interrogate her now.

She left the room with her keys tucked into her pocket as she walked to the elevators. There was no line at the bottom floor as far as she could tell. The trip below caused her stomach to twist in knots. What if the receptionist stopped her? She fiddled with the strings of her hoodie until the doors opened on the ground floor.

It was empty.

As Artemis descended the elevator she looked around the completely barren landscape. Where was everyone?

She exited the building and tried her best to see in the darkness, her heightened sight helped her make out the five different paths, she wondered which one she had taken last time she made it into the trees. All she knew was that she had just gone straight but the path that led straight was in between two of the paths and it didn't have the bricked red pavement like it did last time. She decided to follow her instincts and waded into the darkness in between the two paths.

The darkness consumed her almost instantly and felt thick. She took deep breaths and tried not to think about how she couldn't make it back if he wasn't here after all. She almost tripped when her foot hit something solid and after she steadied herself, she bent down to touch the floor and it felt awfully like smooth bricks. She smiled to herself in the darkness. She'd found it, all she had to do was go straight and she'd find the straight rows of trees again.

"It took you an awfully long time to get here,"