Seven Wonders Book 1: The Colossus Rises Read Online Free

gray. I wondered what exactly they’d done to the back of my head.
    Taking the mirror into the bathroom, I turned on the light.
    I barely recognized the kid in the big mirror over the sink. My face was ghostly pale, my head completely shaved. I noticed for the first time a monogram on the polo shirt—KI.
    I turned and held the small mirror so I could see the back of my head in the larger one. The white hair had been shaved off with the rest. But someone had drawn a shape in black marker, from the top to the bottom of my head, outlining exactly where the upside-down V had been. Bandages had been placed at the bottom of each line, just above the neck.I touched one and began to pull, but the pain was too sharp. There must have been stitches underneath. Incisions.
    “What the—?” The mirror slipped from my hand and crashed to the counter. The mirror cracked instantly, as did the frame, one horizontal line down the center, separating the image of four-year-old me from still-alive Mom.
    As I reached to pick it up, I heard a click behind me. I spun around to see a figure standing in the door. It was a guy about six feet tall. He slipped inside and shut the door behind him. “Hey,” he said. “You okay?”
    I stepped toward the bed, barely feeling the pain now. “Fine, I guess,” I rasped. “Who are you?”
    “Marco Ramsay.” He was wearing the same clothes as I was, but three or four sizes larger. His shoulders were wide, his feet enormous. He had high, chiseled cheekbones dotted with small patches of acne. Dark brown hair hung down to his brow, making his eyes seem to peer out of a cave. They darted toward the door as if he’d done something wrong. “Because I heard a noise from in here…” he said.
    “I dropped a mirror, that’s all,” I said. “Um, I’m Jack.”
    He nodded. “Yeah, I know. Anyway, that dude outside—you know, Conan? Special Ops, Sleep Division? He should have been in here to check on you, but it’s hard to wake him up. And if you do, he gets nasty. So I figured I’d check in myself. But it looks like you’re okay, so I guessI’ll go…” He began to turn back to the door.
    “Wait!” I said. “This guy, Conan? Since when do they allow guns in a hospital?”
    Marco gave an uncomfortable shrug. “Maybe one of the patients is a terrorist?”
    The door swung open again and two others scurried in, a skinny guy and a girl with dyed-pink hair and a mole on her left cheek. She was about my age and looked like someone you didn’t cross. The guy seemed maybe a little younger and was a curly-haired version of George, the little guy from my school who’d been bullied by Barry Reese. “This is what we’re doing? We’re going to be in deep doo-doo, Marco,” the little guy said.
    “Fun’s over,” the girl added, her voice a tense whisper. “C’mon, back to the kennel, Big Foot.”
    Marco laughed. “Oh, look who’s Little Miss Obedient!” he said, also in a strange, whispery voice.
    “Why are you guys whispering?” I said. “And what are you talking about? Kennel? ”
    “That’s supposed to be a joke,” Marco said. “Aly is a one-person Comedy Central.”
    “Time to go!” said the shorter guy, his voice about three times as loud as the others. As he pulled the door wide open, he gave a dramatic wave. “See you at breakfast!”
    “Dude, you’ll wake Conan!” Marco snapped. “Last time we did that, he punctured my basketball.”
    “ Will you guys at least tell me who you are and what we’re all doing here? ” I shouted.
    From out in the hallway, Conan let out a snort and a mumble. Marco froze.
    The little guy was halfway out the door. “I’m Cass Williams, and this is Aly Black. Look, don’t get the wrong impression. We love this place, really. You will, too. It’s awesome. They’ll tell you everything soon. But we’re not supposed to be here right now. That’s all.”
    Aly nodded and scurried out the door. Marco backed out, too, shooting me a thumbs-up.