by Ryan, Matt
The Reds left the room first and I walked behind Mark. I didn’t really think about the ceremony much now that I’d heard it was going to be a Blue. I didn’t really know any Blues, besides the few horrible encounters I had had with them. I knew it would be wishful thinking to have Bridget be the one retired.
The hub filled up with students, divided by color. I rubbed the red scarf wrapped over my wrist. Some of the girls tied it in their hair or wore it as a kerchief, but the guys mostly wore it on their wrists.
Mark and Carly stood next to me. I wasn’t sure where Jackie had gone, but I could hear her starting chants, taunting the Blues.
“It isn’t normal to have two retirements so close together,” Carly said. “They have to be doing this for the dad stuffed in the back room.”
She had stated the obvious, and I definitely didn’t want everyone around us hearing what we knew. If they needed to take a life, would the retirement be the life? If that was true, the person would be killed inside the globe, and not transported back home. If that was the case, everything in this place would be a sham. I took a deep breath and tried to convince myself otherwise.
I held my hand over my chest.
The crowd silenced and a few people mentioned Verity’s name.
The crowd parted and gave her a clear path to the globe. She looked weary, but her quick steps didn’t show it. Jumping up onto the edge of the stone wall surrounding the fountain, she waved.
“We have another joyous day as another student retires and goes back home.”
The Reds clapped and I heard one screaming out, “It’d better be Leo.”
I rubbed my hands together. I didn’t want this happening to anyone, but the cheers drowned out my rational thoughts and I fought the urge to yell as well. I jammed my eyes shut and forced myself to think about what was right. This person, whoever it was, might be killed inside the globe.
Leo was standing near the front with his arms crossed. He seemed taller than all the others around him. Then I saw her. A few feet behind Leo stood Bridget. She hadn’t noticed me, and it gave me a second to study her. She was wearing her blue in her hair, off to one side. Dammit, I hated that it looked cute. Would they pick Bridget after one day? Would they choose me after one day? The thought terrified me. Even if you truly went home through the globe, I didn’t want to, not yet.
“Now, let’s put our hands together for the lucky person.” Verity leaned forward with her bright face.
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. How many of these ceremonies had Jackie seen? How many friends had she seen going into the globe?
“Ira Murray,” Verity said with a big smile.
“Bullshit! It should have been a Blue!” Jackie yelled.
The Blues cheered as Leo stood with his arms in the air, turning to face them in triumph.
“Ira Murray, please come up here while I get the globe ready.” Verity turned and threw a stone into the water. The water erupted around the globe and she threw another stone, freezing the water up onto the body of the woman holding the globe on her shoulder.
The globe opened up in slices again. Verity turned back around as Ira reached the fountain.
“Step right up, dear.”
Ira took tiny steps, shuffling her feet. She kept looking back, blinking her eyes. I was standing in the back, but I thought they held tears. Please, let me be wrong. Please, let Ira be going home.
“Ira Murray has been an exemplary student and we all should strive to be more like her. Ira, we thank you for the time you spent here and we hope when you go back to the world, you can make it just a bit better than it was without you. Are you ready to go home?”
Ira looked back again. I took a few steps and she focused on me. I kept walking toward her and she kept watching.
“I … I don’t want to go in there.” She turned and ran toward me.
I met her halfway and she looked up at me. Her sheet-white face greeted me and her hands were shaking. She glanced back at an advancing Verity. I didn’t know what to do, so I hugged her tight.
Ira whispered in my ear, “Please, take care of Sir Joffrey.” Tears filled her eyes.
“I will.”
My heart leapt into my throat and I held her hand. Her eyes went from panic to a blank calmness. I looked behind her to Verity’s hand on the back of her neck. Ira’s limp hand slipped from mine.
“Ira?”
She didn’t answer. Verity eyed me for a moment before turning Ira around and walking her to the fountain. She walked close to Ira and whispered in her ear as they reached the globe.
“She’s ready,” Verity called out.
Ira took the black bag and walked into the globe.
It closed around her and I gasped. I should have done something for Ira. I hadn’t even gotten to say goodbye. I thought of her little pet hidden away in her room, her best friend, probably.
The globe vibrated, and streaks of light flew out from the small cracks. I rushed forward, close to Verity as she leaned near the silver boot of the woman holding the world. She reached to the boot and the stone fell into her bag.
Was that the final element they needed for the life stone? Thinking it could be Ira in that stone sent pains to my stomach. I looked around for a wastebasket as nausea washed over me. I pushed against my stomach and held it down.
“Thank you all for celebrating Ira’s retirement. There will be no more classes today.” Verity eyed me and hopped down from the wall. Her gaze didn’t leave mine and I stepped back, hoping she wanted the person behind me.
“Allie, can I speak to you in my office?”
“I—”
“Now.” Her big bright smile might have warmed most people, but to me it looked like a lion inviting a gazelle over for dinner.
I sat in the single chair facing her desk. The room felt smaller the second time around, and the mystique of the strange-looking bearded men on the walls had worn off. I took a deep breath and waited for Verity to speak.
“Yesterday, you made a very powerful stone.”
I leaned forward and jumped on the statement. “I didn’t know what I was doing. I just dumped all the ingredients in.” Why was I being so defensive? I leaned back in my chair and tried to find a comfortable spot.
Verity took a small black bag and set it on the desk. The contents of the bag were most likely the remains of Ira. Or they could just be the common defensive stones all the professors carried around. Well, actually it seemed like everyone carried stones around. The way she looked at me, I thought I needed one on hand, just in case.
“I’m not disciplining you, I’m rewarding you.” She brightened up enough to make her piercing eyes sting less. “If you could make that booster stone, I wonder what your limits are. I wonder if you could indeed make the stone I requested yesterday, but chose not to.”
“I just get tired, is all. Making the stones is very draining.”
“Perhaps.” Verity smiled again. She seemed amused. “Is there something in the drinking water at Summerford?”
“I…. What do you mean?”
Someone knocked at her door.
“Can you get that?” Verity asked.
I walked to the door and opened it. Next to Priscilla stood Bridget. When she spotted me a wicked smile spread over her face.
“Look at this, two specials from one town, and at the same time.” Verity stood behind me and I felt sandwiched between the two.
“Some are more special than others,” Bridget said.
She was a special like me?
“That’s all, Priscilla.”
Verity motioned for Bridget to come in, but she was already strutting into the room. Pulling back her shoulders, she passed me. I wanted to shake her right then and there, and tell her all of this was so much bigger than our petty feud.
“I heard you broke the single-day record of stones made in room twenty-eight?” Verity asked.
“Yeah, it wasn’t hard once I figured it all out.” Bridget sat on the chair.
&nb
sp; I searched for another place to sit. Guess I’ll be standing. Whatever. Let Bridget hang herself.
“Do you need me for anything else?” I asked.
“Yes. Please, be patient.” Verity opened her cabinet.
Bridget got up from her seat and tried to see into the cabinet. She sat down once Verity had turned around with some materials. Turning in her seat, she looked up at me and winked. Could there be an evil wink? It looked like one. I frowned, not understanding.
“Now, Bridget, your friend here—”
“We’re not friends,” Bridget stated.
“Don’t ever interrupt me again.” Verity smacked the top of her desk.
Bridget slumped in the chair and crossed her arms.
“Allie couldn’t make this stone. I was hoping you would give it a try.”
“What does it do?” Bridget asked.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s a test to see if you can make it or not.”
“I don’t know. I can give it a try.”
Verity winced. “It’s not something you can simply try to do.”
“I’ve only been here for a day, but one thing I know is, I can make these stones like no one else.” Bridget looked over at me.
“Good. Then show me,” Verity said.
Bridget pulled her chair closer to the desk.
“Just stand.”
I hid my gaping mouth with a fake yawn, but I wanted to scream to Bridget not to make that stone. I didn’t know what Verity planned on doing with a time stone, but I doubted it was to study it. I considered striking the bowl off the table. No, I had to wait for my moment. I had to get the life stone first; after that, all bets were off.
Bridget stood up from her chair and leaned over the desk, observing each item in turn. My heart began beating fast and I breathed hard through my nose. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to make it. I hoped she wouldn’t, but Verity had set out the challenge and I was sure Bridget would use her entire soul to make a stone I couldn’t. She poured the liquid into a bowl and mixed the solids, the same as I had. There was no mist or clunk of a stone rolling around the bowl. Just a mixture of nothing.
“Did I pass?” Bridget asked, swirling the spoon around.
“No, you failed.” Verity turned to me. “Allie, you’re moving up to room five, and yes, before you throw a little hissy fit, you can bring your pet Malki along. As far as you go, Bridget, you’ll be moving to room ten.”
I shook my head. “Room five? I thought….”
“You thought no one made it past room ten? Well, when you can make a booster stone the way you did, we’d be wasting your talents teaching you anything less. I will see to your lessons personally.”
My eye twitched and I wanted to scream at Verity about the things I knew she was doing and the people she kept in the storage room, but I only nodded. Telling her now would most definitely jeopardize Mark and keep me from getting that life stone. I leaned to my right, trying to get a better look at the cabinet holding all her goodies. The lock looked like a simple cabinet lock.
“You two can go now.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I led the way to the teachers’ hall with Bridget on my heels. She slammed the door behind me and even with my long strides, I heard her heels clicking along at a faster pace.
She brushed up against me and eyed me from the side. I glanced, not expecting to see her pleading look. It stopped me in my tracks, ten feet from the hub door.
“What?” I asked.
Bridget took a deep breath and glanced around the hall. “Listen, Allie, I know I gave you shit at Summerford.” She closed her eyes for a second before scanning the hall and leaning closer. “This place is scaring the crap out of me. They want me to hate you, but I don’t. They’ve asked me to do everything I can to make you hate me. They have … things they’re holding over me, so I’ll continue to pretend I hate you, okay?”
Each word shocked me more than the last. They were holding something on Bridget, and she didn’t hate me?
“Yeah, sure.” Then I wondered if she was playing me, luring me in for some big prank. I tilted my head and tried to figure out her sincerity. “Are you crying?”
She wiped her face. “They keep making me relive my trigger, or whatever they call it.” Her crimson face shook as she spit out the words.
I knew what she was probably reliving. Mark had coaxed it out of her and had used a time stone to take it back. Bridget didn’t remember it, but it still haunted me.
Bridget looked back at Verity’s door. “I could have made that stone, but something told me not to help that woman.”
I stared at the door. I had the same feeling, yet even with a crying Bridget in front of me, I didn’t feel safe telling her that. “Look—”
She hugged me.
I tensed, expecting an attack, until her quivering jaw rested on my shoulder and her ragged breath landed on my neck. I hugged her back with my fingertips touching her back and my eyes open.
She backed away and wiped her face again, taking in a deep breath and sucking in her snot. “I’m sorry, but summoning the kind of hate I have for several hours today nearly broke me. How do you do it?”
“I don’t know. I just feel it for a brief time and then let it go.”
Bridget shook her head. “I can’t let this go.”
I opened my mouth to let her know that I knew what she was going through, but she wouldn’t believe I had traveled back in time with Mark to right the wrong we’d done to her. I closed my mouth.
She laughed and wiped her face. “I guess I can consider myself lucky. Most of these saps can’t seem to make anything.”
Not comfortable with this new girl in front of me, I went back to the fundamentals. “Bridget, how is it you’re an alchemist?”
“My mom is one. Oh, I’m so sorry, I forget about your mom.”
At one point she and I had been friends. She knew a lot about me and used most of it to make fun of me, but she never mentioned my mom. It was a line she didn’t cross, and I guessed that was one nice thing I could say about her.
“No biggie. Did your mom tell you about this place?”
Bridget looked at the high ceiling. “Not until a few days ago. Some guy named Darius was at our house a couple days after my mom showed me how to make a few stones. I thought she was going to have a heart attack, until he told her he was from the Academy and was taking me there.” She laughed. “She seemed so happy to send me here. Why would she be happy to send me to a place like this?”
“Seems to be a theme.”
She smirked and raised an eyebrow above her puffy eyes. “You and Mark have a thing still, right?”
I had an old knee-jerk reaction to avoid her eyes, but I continued to look at her as I answered. “Yes.”
“Good for you. I about died when he took his shirt off today.” She laughed and some of the friendly person I’d grown to like in my childhood reappeared.
“Yeah, well, they all treat him like a dog here because he can barely make stones.”
“Your pet. I heard Verity.”
I wanted to tell Bridget that Mark was ill, that he was dying and needed a life stone to save him. I could use a Blue on my side. I needed all the help I could get, but as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t trust her.
After the urge left, I said, “We’d better get back to our houses.”
“Blue house,” she sang in her gangster voice, throwing a hand sign that looked like the letter “B.” “Let me leave now, and you follow in a minute. I don’t want them thinking I’m colluding with the enemy.”
“Okay,” I said.
Bridget walked the last ten feet and opened the door to the hub. I waited the allotted minute and went through the door. I picked up my pace as I thought about Verity going back to the back room with the life stone. That would be my best chance of stealing it from her. Maybe a few of those freeze stones would stop everyone while I did it. I would only need a second, and then I could use the life stone on Mark. I didn’t care about th
e consequences afterwards.
I strode past the first Red house, searching the faces for Carly and Mark. I wanted to avoid them. I needed to get to the Reds’ lab and make a few stones before we snuck to the back room holding that boy and his dad.
“What’s with the stones?” Mark pointed at my black sack.
I shrugged. “Protection.” I glanced down at the bag and made sure it was closed tight. There was no reason to explain why I needed so many freeze stones. They’d find out soon enough.
We made our way down the endless hall and found the passageway into the storage room. Hiding behind a stack of boxes, we moved a few to give us a view of the dad. He was still sitting in the chair, with his son sitting in front of him. The dad hadn’t moved an inch, still frozen in time. His son was sitting in a near-motionless state as well, slouched in his own chair, sleeping.
An hour passed and I knelt down next to the boxes, trying to find a comfortable spot. My body was cramping, and I wanted to stand and stretch. Lifting my arms, I hit one of the cardboard boxes. Just my luck, it fell and hit the floor, and stones fell out of the box and bounced around.
The son stirred from his sleep and looked our way. “Is someone there?”
We ducked down and didn’t move. His chair scratched across the floor and I held my breath as we huddled next to the stack of boxes. I closed my eyes and listened to the room. A few footsteps sounded, and were they getting louder?
A click and a thump echoed around the room, too many feet for a single person. I opened my eyes and dared a glance over the box.
“Is everything okay?” Verity asked, walking into the room. Deegan moved in behind her and stayed near the back wall. Verity ran a finger over the shoulder of the dad and moved closer to the boy.
The boy frowned and glanced at our boxes. “Yeah, I think I’m hallucinating. I haven’t slept much.”
“You’re a fine son, Daniel. Are you ready to help your dad?”
“Did you get the stone to help my dad?”
“Almost. We just need one more thing, but it’s going to be difficult for you.”