Alchemist Academy: Book 1

by Ryan, Matt

  In the darkness, I couldn’t see what he threw. Once the guy fell to the ground and screamed, frantically grabbing for the air around him, I knew it was the falling stone Jackie showed me how to make.

  “What’s happening?” his friend asked. “What’d you do to him?”

  Mark picked up the gun and pointed it at the guy.

  “Don’t shoot him, Mark,” I said over the screams of the hooded man.

  “Get out of here,” Mark warned the two friends.

  Without hesitation, they took off down the side walk, looking back every few seconds. One of the guy’s pants fell to his knees, sending him face planting onto the concrete. He jumped back up and kept running, holding his pants up with one hand.

  “LA?” Jackie looked at the few parked cars in the parking lot. “What a dump.”

  “There’s plenty of nice parts.” Mark stepped over the man flailing and grabbed the phone off the ground, dialing. He leaned on the building and stared at me with the phone against his ear, glancing down at the shrieking mess of a man as if he were watching an ant crawl to its hole.

  “Mom, it’s Mark . . . I know . . . Listen—mom—listen, I can tell you all about what happened, but we are in LA—”

  I heard her scream through the speaker.

  Mark gripped the phone tighter. “Right now, and I don’t think it will take long for them to seek us out.” He sighed and held the phone out, mouthing unheard words to the sky. “I used a stone . . . The guy pulled a gun on us.”

  He glanced at me and turned sideways. “I know, mom. I’ll keep her safe.” He rolled his eyes at whatever she said next. “Yes, I can get there unless we run into trouble . . . Okay, I will. Love you too. It’s a falling stone . . . The guy who pulled a gun on us . . . uh-huh . . . okay.”

  Mark hung up and tossed it onto the man’s chest. The guy had stopped thrashing and was trying to catch his breath. I moved around him and touched Mark’s back.

  He turned to me and glanced at Jackie. “We need to get out of the city. My mom and I have a meeting place just outside the city limits.”

  “Great, let’s hitch a ride or get a cab,” Jackie said and looked down the dark street.

  I followed her gaze and strained to see any movement, thinking maybe the guy’s friends might come back for us with more friends—friends with guns. Leaving the city began to sound like a great idea, but then what he said struck me.

  “What’s wrong with LA?” I asked. “Is there something I’m missing?”

  “Dark alchemists rule this city. It won’t be long until they fish us out.”

  “We better make some freaking stones then,” Jackie said, taking a step toward the Waffle Palace.

  “I agree, but not here. We need to find a place to stay tonight and then we’ll leave at first light.” Mark glanced down the road.

  This is the Mark I knew. I wasn’t sure if it was finally being cured from his ailments, or if it was getting out of that hell hole, but he was focused and determined once again. He could finally take charge and I could go back to following. Being the popular kid at the academy had felt like a drug at first, but after a while they all looked to me for answers and help. In the end, we left Carly and Bridget behind. They were still stuck in that academy and it was my fault. This was better . . . when I took charge, people got hurt.

  I sucked in a deep breath.

  The thought of what Bridget did flashed before me and I promised myself to get them out soon. They were the whole reason we even got out.

  Making our way down the dark street, we walked by a line of closed businesses. Half had boarded windows and all were covered in graffiti. I imagined at one time it might’ve been a desirable street, filled with the dreams of mom and pop shops. Now, a homeless man huddled against an old entryway, using his duffle bag as a pillow.

  “This place is a bit sketchy,” I said. “Maybe we can go a few streets over.”

  “I shouldn’t have used that stone,” Mark whispered. “This area is dark alchemist central, and if they had their detector stones . . .”

  “You think they know we’re here?” Jackie asked.

  “With any luck, they don’t. Just remember, they can be anywhere. They don’t look any different than anyone else.”

  With no idea of where we were going, I followed Mark a few more blocks. We jogged across the street to a well-lit gas station. One car was parked at pump eight with a man leaning against his old El Camino. He watched us cross the lot, while I kept my attention on his hands, expecting a stone to appear.

  “We could take his car,” Jackie suggested.

  “No, we aren’t criminals,” Mark replied.

  She huffed. “We need to make a few stones. We’re freaking unarmed out here.” She looked around as we left the gas station and advanced down the sidewalk.

  The buildings grew in height as we continued. A few windows glowed, but most of them were in the dark. I wondered what time it was, must have been well into the morning hours.

  “There.” Mark pointed across the street to a construction site with a chain-link fence wrapping around it.

  The name Tetoo was spray painted on some fabric attached to the fence, with two large eyeballs for the O’s. Mark pulled the bottom of the fence up and motioned for us to go under.

  I didn’t like the eyeballs looking at me. Dropping to the concrete sidewalk, we got on our stomachs and slid under the fence. Once on the other side, we held the fence up for Mark.

  I looked up at the multi-story building, trying to see if any of the lights were on, but the scaffolding covered most of the façade.

  “Come on,” Mark said.

  “Tell me, Mark, is trespassing breaking a law?” Jackie asked. “Because, I thought we weren’t criminals.”

  He ignored her smart mouth and walked into the dark building.

  A gust of wind swept by, kicking up some concrete dust and dirt. I wrinkled my nose and wished we’d gotten something to drink at the gas station, but with what money? I entered the building.

  Mark waited on the inside of the front door, at a lobby of sorts. A stack of mailboxes lined one wall and on the other side, a set of stairs leading up. A pallet of concrete bags sat near the bottom of the stairs, along with a wheelbarrow and a few five gallon buckets stacked in it.

  “We need to make some stones,” he said. “You see anything we can use, Jackie?”

  Her eyes narrowed as she turned in a circle, looking at everything in the room. I gave it a try as well. I might not know as much as they did, but I could make stones like nobody’s business. Well, maybe except for Bridget.

  “I don’t know, we never really made the ingredients in the academy.” Jackie shrugged. “They just brought them to us. I don’t even know how to make the universal solvent.” She looked to me.

  “I don’t know any patterns. You guys are the specialists.”

  “We’ll just freestyle some stuff.” Mark pulled a bucket from the wheelbarrow. “There’s some lime over here, and water. . . .”

  “Gypsum!” Jackie burst out.

  Mark pointed at her and then tore open the bag of lime. “Drywall is made of gypsum. I saw a stack of it in the room over.”

  “I know.” Jackie darted to the room and dragged a big square of drywall back. “Allie, break this stuff down into a powder. I saw something outside we can use.”

  I pulled a chunk of the drywall off and stomped my foot on it, smashing it into smaller pieces. I kept crushing the drywall until I had a nice pile of white powder.

  Jackie ran back in the room holding a metal container.

  “Plumbing glue.” She raised the can. “I bet this turns into something wicked good.”

  Mark laughed. “Hell yeah. With mix-master-Allie over there, we should be able to just about make anything.” He carried over the five gallon bucket and set it next to my pile of drywall dust.

  “Let’s start with just lime and water. What do you think it’ll make. Maybe a sticky paste stone?” Jackie squatted by the material
and set down the can of glue.

  “I think it should be very similar to a sticky stone.” He handed me a wooden stake and nudged the bucket closer to me.

  “Just mix these together in that?” I pointed at the bucket.

  “Yeah. You don’t need fancy materials for alchemy, particularly with a special like you. I bet you can do all kinds of weird stuff,” Jackie said.

  I was excited to be creating something from nothing. At the academy, it felt like I was a factory worker; I was fed materials and out plopped what they wanted me to make. But this time, we were experimenting and not entirely sure of the outcome. The whole idea sent chills down my arms and I had trouble clamping down my happiness enough to think about my triggers. I needed some anger to make the stone.

  “You got this Allie,” Mark said.

  I mixed in small amounts of lime and water and thought about hoodie man pointing a gun in Mark’s face. In no time, a stone plunked at the bottom of the bucket. I used my gloved hand and plucked it up. It was a cloudy, white stone. It felt lighter than most I had made.

  I held the stone above me. “What does it do?”

  “It should slow someone down. I bet this isn’t an absorb stone either,” Mark said, and Jackie nodded.

  “Absorb stone?”

  “Not all stones have to touch skin to work,” Mark said. “Throw it against the wall over there.”

  I chucked it at a nearby wall. Hitting the surface, it cracked into small pieces and melted, creating a white sticky substance that stuck to the wall and also covered the shovel leaning against it.

  “Oh, that’s nasty,” Jackie said and laughed.

  I took a step closer and inspected the shovel. “Let’s make more stuff.” My mind raced just as it had when I’d made that first stone with Mark in the tree fort. I glanced around the room, trying to find anything to mix. If lime and water made that goop, what if I added saw dust? What if I added the plumber’s glue Jackie found, or broke a light bulb and crushed it into a powder?

  “Look at you,” Jackie said.

  “What?”

  “You look downright giddy.”

  “Aren’t you two amazed by this? I mean we just can mix stuff and create stones.”

  “I’ve made ten thousand stones. The wonder has been pounded out of me,” Jackie said.

  “I get you,” Mark said. “But after watching what stones had done to my mom, I distanced myself as far as I could from it all.” His gaze met mine. “They can become an obsession for people who can’t find restraint, and they ultimately go insane. It can be like a drug, finding the perfect stone.”

  “The philosopher’s stone,” Jackie said.

  “Yup, that one caused wars and destroyed much of alchemy, and there is no proof it was ever even made,” Mark said.

  I took a deep breath and smelled the chalky, dry smell of the lime in the air. It calmed my excitement down, I still wanted to grab every material around me and see what I could make with them, but I ditched the grin. I didn’t want Mark to feel his speech landed on deaf ears.

  “Yoo-hoo,” a voice from outside called.

  A wave of fear quenched my excitement. Someone was outside and knew we were in here. I jerked toward the door when I heard the clatter of someone climbing the fence, maybe several people.

  “Grab the bucket,” Mark ordered, picking up the bag of lime.

  I snatched it, while Jackie grabbed one with water.

  “I know you’re in there. Why don’t you come out and we can talk.” The man’s voice was filled with coy humor.

  “Come on,” Mark said and ran up the stairs.

  “Who is that?” I asked as Jackie and I followed. I glanced down at the dark front door before turning the corner and running up the next set of stairs.

  “Dark alchemists,” Mark answered. He stopped at the second floor and ran down a hall to the back of the building. He opened the last door and darted into the apartment, holding it open until we passed through.

  “Great,” Jackie said. “Can’t catch a freaking break in this town.”

  The main room wasn’t much bigger than my bedroom and it had a tiny kitchen attached to it. Mark dropped the bag of lime and I waved the dust cloud it created away from my face. He bounded to the back window.

  “I think we can jump. There’s a haul-away dumpster back here.” He left the window and moved to me. “I’m sorry for this, Allie. I didn’t think they’d find us this quick. I was stupid for having you make that stone.”

  “Stop the pity party and let’s make some stones real quick,” Jackie said.

  “You two make a couple stones. I’ll wait by the hall.” He ran to the door and peeked his head out.

  I grabbed the ingredients needed for the sticky stone and swirled. The stone clunked around soon after.

  “How many of you are there?” A man’s voice called down the hall still holding all his amusement with his tone. “I see three sets of prints in this powder trail you left for me to follow.”

  His voice stopped my heart, a mixture of whimsical and crazy that didn’t seem fitting under the circumstances. Something told me we wouldn’t live through an encounter with this guy.

  Mark winced and stared at the trail of powder leading into our room. “Why don’t you come down here? We have a few presents for you.”

  Jackie dumped some of the plumbing glue into her mix and stirred with a fury until I heard a stone clunk around the bucket. I let out a long breath and she pulled the stone out. It was white and cloudy, similar to mine, but it had blue streaks around it.

  “What do you think it does?” I whispered.

  Jackie shook her head. “I really have no idea. Mark?” Jackie tossed him the stone and he caught it.

  Pointing behind us, he mouthed the words, “Open the back window.”

  The man down the hall laughed. “Why don’t you all come out here and show yourself? I only want to know who you are and why you are in my town.”

  “We came here for The Waffle Palace.”

  “Oh yes, I saw your dirty work there. Please, come out of there. I really don’t want to get nasty with you all.”

  “Just a minute. I got to put on my clothes.”

  The man laughed.

  I shivered at the sound of it. I slid the window open and a gust of wind blew into the room. In the distance, way beyond the city, a faint glow on the horizon, the sunrise. I looked below to the long, cargo-bin dumpster filled with cardboard.

  “You first,” Jackie said.

  I swallowed and looked at the spot I might hit. If I missed by a little, I’d hit my head on the edge. This was starting to look like a terrible idea. I stepped back from the window. “There’s just one guy. Maybe we can take him.”

  “No,” Mark whispered. “This is a trained alchemist fighter. They hunt people like us. Just go out the window while I keep him back." He turned the stone in his hand and then gripped it tight.

  “I’ll give you five seconds to come out,” the man in the hall said. “Five. . . .”

  “Get ready,” Mark said.

  “Four. . . .”

  He twisted and hurled the ball down the hall. Slamming the door to the apartment, he ran toward me, pushing me to the window. “Jump!”

  The man in the hall screamed. “What in the hell? Really?” The whimsy had left his voice and now he seemed annoyed.

  I spotted my location and took a deep breath. Then, I jumped.

  The wind blew on my face as the dumpster rushed to me. I landed on my side and sank into the stack of boxes. I scrambled over the heaps of discarded packaging and crawled to the back side of the dumpster as Jackie jumped, nearly hitting me.

  “Move,” she said while looking back at the window.

  I scurried over the edge and found a ladder at the end of the dumpster. As I climbed down, Mark jumped from the window. He landed on his feet and ran toward me.

  “Give me that lime stone,” he said.

  I tossed it to him and he turned and threw it up to the window.
It struck the top of the window and it oozed down, covering the hole we had just jumped through.

  “Go,” Mark yelled.

  I rushed down the ladder with Jackie nearly stepping on my hands. Off of the dumpster and on the ground, I stumbled back, making room for Jackie and Mark as I looked up at the window. Shadows moved behind the glued portion.

  “Come on.” Mark didn’t look back and ran to the fence and pulled it up.

  The glass portion of the window that was not covered broke. A stake stuck through the glass and the man behind it pushed out more of the glass, sending pieces falling to the ground. Jagged edges still stuck all around it. He stuck his head through, being careful with the remaining shards.

  “I see you,” the man yelled from above with a wide smile. His narrow face and bright blond hair made me shudder, like a male version of Verity. His shiny white teeth gleamed in the twilight.

  “And I see you,” I whispered back.

  “You won’t get far,” he called and then laughed, as if playing tag in a school yard.

  Jackie yanked me backward and I scurried under the fence first. Jackie and Mark followed right behind.

  On my tiptoes, I spotted the window, but the man was gone. “We need to get out of here,” I said.

  “No shit,” Jackie agreed.

  I looked left and right down the streets, looking for an indication of where to go.

  “Anywhere is better than here right now.” Mark took lead and we ran down the street.

  I couldn’t talk if I wanted to. In fact, I feared if we kept this pace, I’d end up vomiting. We’d been running for at least a mile when Mark turned another corner and started gaining ground in front of us. He wasn’t going faster, but we were definitely going slower. My legs burned and my hurried breaths started to sound as if I might be in real need of a doctor.

  He looked back and stopped. We finished the distance to him. I bent over and tried to find my air. Jackie matched me and looked up at Mark.

  He patted our backs. “It’s okay, we’re here.”

  “Where’s here?” Looking up, I saw a young man behind the glass of a bakery. He flipped its closed sign to open and unlocked the door.