Read The House of Grey- Volume 4 Online
Authors: Collin Earl
The House of Grey- Volume 4
The House of Grey- Volume #4
By Collin Earl
Copyright 2012, SilverStone Books
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold
or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to
Amazon
.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Table of Contents
Chapter 3
8 - Invitation
Monson, Artorius, and Casey sat around Monson’s coffee table staring at the completely ordinary envelope.
Anyone
who saw the three
might find their
behavior
very curious, but only because they did not understand the gravity of the situation.
On the surface, this envelope was like any other, but in actuality, the small white object was so much more. A certain level of awe surrounded the boys as they sat completely
intoxicated by the possibilities Baroty’s letter held.
Unable to stand the quiet, Casey cleared his throat as he started to speak.
“So he came specifically to talk to you?”
Monson affirmed, “Yeah. And naturally, I have no idea why.”
Casey threw his hands behind his head. “And you didn’t think to ask?”
“Didn’t give me much of an opportunity, did he?”
“Hmm. Dude, now
that
is heavy.”
Artorius picked up the envelope, eying it apprehensively. “Open it, Grey. Enough messing around.”
Monson smiled weakly, putting out his hand. “OK, Arthur, hand it here.”
Artorius placed the envelope in Monson’s outstretched hand. Monson’s hand started
to
tingle as he slid his finger under the sealed lip of the envelope. He ripped the paper, careful not to harm the contents and peered inside, only to see a white folded piece of paper as plain and ordinary as the envelope itself. He took out the paper and slowly unfolded it. Then he read aloud:
The
GM
,
Inner Gardens
,
Main Gazebo. 10:00 tonight. Come alone.
“That’s some cloak
-
and
-
dagger stuff right there
,
”
s
aid Casey. “Why do you think he wants to see you alone?”
Monson shrugged
.
“
W
ho knows? Maybe he wants to
reminisce
about
my
grandfather.”
Artorius
rubbed at his stubble with his massive hand
.
“
Doubtful. I don’t think you should go, Grey. It seems fishy to me
.”
Monson chewed
on
his lip
,
thinking
.
“I don’t know if we should read that much into it. You saw how Baroty was acting during the assembly and at dinner. He’s a weird one. This is probably just
him
being theatrical.”
“I think I’m with Arthur on this one
,
Grey
.
” Casey gestured towards Monson
,
indicating he wanted to see the note.
“This is little too
I-am-going-to-invite-you-over-then-frame-you-for-killing-the-president
for me.
”
Monson shot Casey a questioning glance
.
“
Now that’s just silly–the president is not even here.”
“Grey, try and be serious for once,” Casey said.
“
I really don’t think you should go tonight. For all we know he could be a crazed ninja assassin come to kill you
,
drink your blood
,
and dance on your corpse. There are too many things to consider.”
Monson sat up
,
stretching his back as he did
.
“Like what?
Well, besides drunken ninja assassins.
”
“I didn’t say anything about him being drunk.”
“Like it matters.”
Casey nodded.
“How about y
our safety
,
for one
? Does that matter?
”
Artorius
nodded his agreement
.
“
Or d
id you forget? A little over a week ago, someone attacked
t
he Diamond for absolutely no perceivable reason. Everyone loves Peterson, except for maybe Derek, but not even Derek would go so far as to actually try something physical. Oh
—
and let
’
s not forget Peterson has a
second-degree
black belt in kempo
.
F
reakin
’
kempo
,
Grey! You saw the picture
.
Damion looked half
-
dead.”
“I already look half
-
dead
,
so
I guess I don’t have anything to worry about
.”
Artorius
almost started yelling
.
“I’m
being
serious
here,
Grey
!
Something weird is going on. We can’t let you see this dude. Not like this. ”
“Arthur, you don’t understand. This might be my chance, my one and only chance
,
for
some answers about my past. I
have
to go. If I don’t
,
I’m going to regret it. I know I will.”
“I understand your dilemma
,
Grey,” said
Artorius,
sounding
sympathetic.
“But finding out
about
your past is not more important
than
keeping you in one piece.”
Monson gritted his teeth in
borderline anger.
“
Artorius,
what on earth are you on about? I’m a high school student and not even one of consequence
.
I appreciate the love, but your concern is totally
out of proportion
to the situation.”
“
Says the guy who
’
s almost died like seventy times in the last six months.” Artorius continued, “
I’ve just got a bad feeling about all
of
this. This whole Baroty thing is w
eird. I think you need—
”
“No
,
Arthur!” blurted out Monson. “There is no way that I’m
not
going—”
Artorius
’ eyebrows furrowed as he threw up a hand
.
“Dude, chill. I wasn’t saying that you shouldn’t go.”
“But you—”
Artorius
threw up
his other
hand
.
“
W
hat I meant is you shouldn’t go without us. You need someone to watch your back. Who better th
a
n us?”
Monson
’
s gratitude
burst through
his
composed, somewhat steely façade and warmed him from the inside out
.
Artorius
and Casey really were the best friends anyone could ask for. However, he knew that their worry was misplaced
,
seeing as he was pretty sure
he
was the
one who
had
attacked Damion
;
but how was he going to get them to stay behind?
If he was being truthful, he already knew that short of lying to them,
he could not convince them to
stay
behind
.
And he could not stand the thought of lying to them more than he already had
; there were already too many secrets floating around. His only hope was to figure out a way to keep them out
of
sight while he met with Baroty.
He
studied the faces of his two friends.
"
Do you guys
even
know where the Inner Gardens are?”
They both
nodded
their heads.
“Fine
,
you can come
,
but you have to stay out of si
ght
.”
Artorius
and Casey whooped
,
smacking
their hands together in this hand
-
slapping, knuckle-pounding sort of greeting
that
was super
-
confusing. Monson was absolutely amazed that
this was the first
he had see
n of
it. He was attempting to work out its various parts when Casey
spoke up.
“You won’t even know we’re there
.
W
e’ll be lik
e straight-up ninjas
.”
Monson
cocked the eyebrow. “Huh
?”
Artorius yawned. “Ignore him, Grey—he’s been on a ninja kick ever since he bought that new gaming console.”
“Which reminds me….” Casey rummaged around inside his bag. He pulled out a video game that Monson didn’t recognize.
Artorius
gestured towards the game
.
“I
hate
to come back to this
,
Casey, but I’ve had time to think about it and I disagree with you
.”
He pointed to the cover of the game, which showed a righteous digital picture of a wicked looking ninja in glossy black leather.
“Your boy there is
definitely not a real ninja.”
Artorius looked at Monson. “He doesn’t get a name because he’s not a real ninja.”
Casey
’s eyes
popped dramatically
.
“Not a
real
ninja? How can you even say that? Of course he’s a
real
ninja
.
And
not just
a
ninja, he’s
the
ninja
, Arthur
.
The
Dragon
Ninja. It says so on the box.
”
“Casey, there is no way that he
’
s
a ninja. Ninja were assassins trained in the arts of spying and stealth. You
’
ve played the game
.
I’ve seen herds of elephants that were more inconspicuous.
”
“Arthur,
Arthur, Arthur…when you’re the god of destruction dressed in a black pleather
suit, you don’t need to be stealthy.
“
Y
ou aren’t seriously going to argue—”
Monson grabbed for his remote and
his gaming console
controller
,
feeling
jaded but at the same time
content. The opening credits of Casey’s latest obsession
flared to life as Monson prepared to fight and ascertain, at least until te
n o’clock, whether the nameless shinobi
really was a ninja or not. Maybe he could pick up some moves along the way.
***
Sneaking out of The Barracks after curfew, while stressful, was disquietingly easy. At the designated hour, Monson,
Artorius
and Casey took
the
private elevator to the ground floor and into
t
he Atrium
,
doing their best to proceed as inconspicuously as they could. While none of them would readily admit it, there was
a
perceptible
giddy
feeling of adventur
e
and recklessness t
r
ickling through their little group
.
S
o much so
,
they over
-
exaggerated
the need for stealth in their
every mo
ve
ment,
peering around corners and
hiding behind too
-
small vegetation and statues. It was because of this foolish behavior that it took them almost ten minutes to reach the front doors of
the
Atrium
.