Flawed (Flawed, #1)(81)
The road gets increasingly narrow as we delve deeper. The branches of the trees are now brushing up against our windows. Just when I think we’ll be crushed by branches and overgrowth, a gate appears after the next bend in the road. The gate is enormous and towers over us with multiple security cameras covering all angles. A twenty-foot wall hides whatever is behind it. The plaque on the wall announces it is Gateway Lodge.
We’ve arrived.
FIFTY-SEVEN
WE LEAN FORWARD and strain our necks to look up at the height of the walls.
Before Granddad even has a chance to reach out the window of the truck to press the buzzer, as if hearing our conversation, the gates suddenly open. Granddad moves the truck forward, and after following a mile of driveway, surrounded by perfectly manicured lawns and sloping hills, which block what’s coming up next, as though driving through a golf course, finally, we are faced with an enormous mansion. “Lodge” did not accurately describe it. There are dozens of cars parked in front of the house and a series of minibuses that must have had a hard time squeezing their way down the country roads. As we park, the front door of the mansion opens.
“That’s not her,” I say, walking toward our greeter.
Granddad immediately speeds up and almost blocks me, reaching the woman first.
“You made it,” a timid, but polite, woman says excitedly. It’s pulsating from her, her smile so enormous it is contagious. “I’m Lulu,” she says, her voice high-pitched, but soft, like a cartoon character. “Alpha’s assistant. I’ve held you a seat. Two, just in case.” She smiles and gives Granddad the quick once-over.
Granddad always receives these looks from people. For someone with a soft heart, he does a good job of scaring everyone off with his deeply lined, scrunched-up, grumpy face.
“This is my granddad.”
“Oh my,” Lulu says, her voice going up an octave as she gets excited. “It’s an honor to meet your family.” Lulu pumps his hand up and down enthusiastically. Then she turns to me. It hasn’t been long, but I instinctively know not to offer my branded right hand to her to shake. She reaches for it instead herself and holds on for dear life, looking at me expectantly. I’m not sure what she’s waiting for. I look to Granddad uncomfortably.
“Okay, okay,” Granddad barks, and she jumps a little.
I finally free my hand from hers, which seems to break her from whatever spell she’s under.
“I’m sorry.” She blushes. “It’s just so nice to see you in the flesh. I’m a big, big fan of yours.”
“We all are,” Granddad says proudly.
“Follow me,” Lulu says, and we make our way through endless halls and corridors. “All of us are thrilled you’re coming today. It will mean so much to everyone. A boost. These are such hard times, and you mean so much to them.” She stops walking and clasps her hands together at her chest and gazes at me.
“She’s not that special,” Granddad snaps, which makes me giggle. “Now, let’s keeping moving. We’re late.”
“Indeed,” she says, continuing. “Though all our first-timers are always late. It’s not the most obvious of places. Most people turn back at the main road. Exactly as Alpha intended.”
Granddad looks around. “Does her husband live here, too?”
I’m about to interrupt, with embarrassment that this isn’t her home, when Lulu replies.
She looks at him uncertainly and gives him a brusque, “Yes.”
We follow her to an elevator and go to the basement. We step out of the elevator into a large lobby. There are double doors ahead of us, plush carpets with elaborate designs. It feels like the Four Seasons, not somebody’s home.
She stops before the double doors and turns to me, eyes wide and filling with tears. “I can’t tell you how excited everybody is about hearing you speak. You speak what they think, if you understand. You represent a voice that has been silenced for decades, and all of a sudden you’re here. The person we’ve been waiting for.”
“Lulu, I’m not speaking today.” I don’t have Juniper’s paralyzing fear of public speaking, but I’m not ready to say anything to anyone. I don’t have anything prepared, nor do I really know what I’m getting myself involved in. I just wanted to be a spectator, see what it’s about, ask Granddad his opinion on whether we can trust Alpha or not, as that’s something I’m uncertain of.
“Oh.” Her face falls, and then she’s confused. “But everybody is here to hear you.”
I fume at the mistake that’s been made; it’s strike one against Alpha. Before I get a chance to object or run away, Granddad pushes open the double doors.
Faces turn to stare as we walk in. The room is enormous, like a ballroom, with a chandelier dripping from the center of the ceiling. A woman is speaking at a lectern onstage, so most eyes are on her. Only a few people at the back of the hall turn to look at us when we enter. Each time one sees me, the person in the next seat gets an elbow or a nudge, and the other turns around. Lulu walks right up the center aisle to the front row, expecting Granddad and me to follow her, but Granddad grabs my hand and pulls me into the back row. We slip into two seats and watch as Lulu turns around first with pride, then confusion as no one is behind her. Her face turns puce, and she hurries from the front row and back through the double doors in search of us.