The Seeking Serum

by Frank L. Cole

  “Maybe they’ll just keep walking.” Max’s tone was hopeful. “Maybe they’re not even coming here.”

  “Yeah, right,” Gordy said.

  Moaning in annoyance, Max’s eyes flitted over to the television as his avatar, Stinkerman0909, who had been standing idle in the middle of the field, was suddenly mowed down by a spray of bullets. The character blipped from the screen and returned to the starting menu. “I don’t have enough video game controllers for everyone,” he said. “So much for the perfect sleepover.”

  “We might want to meet them at the door,” Gordy suggested as the girls’ voices moved from the front lawn onto the porch.

  “Why would we do that?” Max asked.

  And then the doorbell rang, and Corn Chip practically imploded.

  Do you have any idea what time it is?” Max demanded, swinging open the front door and glaring down at the girls standing on the porch. He flipped on the outside light, and Adilene yelped. Sasha started in surprise but then regarded Max with a pathetic gaze.

  Gordy stood back, shielded by Max’s body. So far, neither one of the girls had noticed him standing in the darkness. They were too distracted by the Yorkshire terrier yapping and figure-eighting between their legs.

  “Sensible people have bedtimes, you know?” Max had brought a bag of potato chips from his bedroom and crammed a handful into his mouth, chomping obnoxiously. “And my dad is looking for his shotgun as we speak. We don’t grant late-night prowlers any mercy.”

  Security lights snapped on in a few of the neighbors’ yards as other dogs began to respond to Corn Chip’s ceaseless barking. It was almost two o’clock in the morning.

  Adilene stooped down to try to calm Corn Chip. “I told Sasha not to ring the doorbell, but she doesn’t listen to anybody. Easy, girl, easy,” she cooed, tending to the pooch. “How did Max ever get such an adorable puppy?” Corn Chip’s tail started wagging as she leaped up and buried her wet nose into Adilene’s knees.

  “A shotgun?” Sasha folded her arms, refusing to yield to Max’s threats.

  “We’re sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Pinkerman!” Adilene called out, cupping her hand around her mouth. “This was all just a mistake.”

  “They’re not home,” Gordy said, shouldering past Max and onto the porch. “It’s only the two of us.”

  “Gordy!” Adilene exclaimed. She threw her arms around him, bear-hugging him so tightly he thought he might lose consciousness.

  “It’s good to see you too,” Gordy wheezed. In that moment, having his two best friends with him made everything seem normal again. Even if Sasha had invaded their trio of friendship, Gordy didn’t mind.

  “Whoa, Rivera, give the man his space.” Max eyeballed Adilene in disgust. “You’re cutting off the circulation to his brain. He’s turning blue.”

  “Shut up, Maxwell,” Adilene said, sniffling.

  “Are you crying?” Max asked.

  Adilene shoved him in the arm. “I’m just happy and surprised.”

  “Yeah, this is awkward,” Sasha added. “Hello, Gordy.” Then she too gave Gordy a hug.

  Gordy couldn’t remember a time when two girls had hugged him simultaneously. Though Sasha’s hug felt more like a formality than Adilene’s, it was impressive nevertheless.

  “So I guess I’m chopped liver,” Max grumbled. “It’s not like Gordy’s been deployed overseas. He’s only been gone a month.”

  “This is so crazy that you’re here,” Adilene beamed, ignoring Max. “I was actually coming over to try to contact you.”

  “We both were,” Sasha corrected.

  “Maybe we should talk in private,” Gordy suggested as several of the neighborhood dogs took to howling.

  “This is where you live?” Sasha asked Max once the four of them were inside. She gazed at the walls and the furniture, her eyes lingering upon the Pinkermans’ grand piano.

  “No, this where we keep the bodies hidden,” Max answered. “Does it not meet your standards?”

  “Actually, it’s the opposite,” Sasha said, her lip curling. “I was half expecting a pigsty.”

  “Yeah, that’s actually in Max’s bedroom,” Gordy said.

  “Which none of you are allowed to see, so don’t even ask,” Max added.

  They moved to the living room, where Gordy sat in one of the wingback chairs. Adilene and Sasha took spots on the couch, while Max turned on the ceiling fan and plopped onto the carpet, wrestling with an unopened bag of pretzels. Corn Chip leaped onto the couch, snuggling down in Adilene’s lap. That dog had yet to let Gordy within a few feet of her without growling, but there she was cuddling with Adilene, who stroked her ears affectionately.

  “I’m pretty sure I’ve found him,” Sasha said, folding her arms.

  “Found who?” Gordy asked.

  “Your grandfather,” she said. “I think I know where he is.”

  “You didn’t tell me that!” Adilene’s long black hair whipped around as she gaped at Sasha.

  Sasha shrugged. “You were too busy trying to buy ingredients for another failed potion-making attempt.”

  “What are you yapping about?” Max snapped his fingers, trying to convince Corn Chip to join him on the floor, but the dog ignored him.

  “I found a tracking potion online, and I won’t go into details”—Sasha cast a sidelong look at Adilene before returning her focus to Gordy—“but I was able to pinpoint his general location.”

  “Where is he?” Gordy’s heart thudded with excitement. This was huge information! Of course, he wasn’t exactly sure how to stop his psychopath grandfather, but pinpointing Mezzarix’s hideout was a definite step in the right direction.

  “He’s within three hundred miles off the coast of Florida,” Sasha answered, her voice carrying a slight tremor, like she was just barely holding her emotions together. “At least that’s where the signal went cold. The tracking potion uses GPS and triangulation and a bunch of other stuff, but that was the reading.” She dropped her eyes and fidgeted with the straps of her satchel.

  Frowning, Gordy glanced at Max, who was wearing the same expression. “You know that doesn’t really tell us anything, right? Three hundred miles could be anywhere. And if the signal went cold—”

  “Don’t you think I know that?” Sasha’s eyes snapped up, puffy and red. “The tracking potion didn’t work the way it was supposed to. I think it has something to do with the magical properties of the Silt or maybe the island itself. It’s like it doesn’t want to be found. I don’t know why, but I can’t find it. Without the keystone, the place might as well be invisible!”

  “What are you laughing about?” Adilene demanded as Max snickered under his breath.

  “Just how she wasted all that time brewing with your blood,” Max said.

  “It’s not funny!” Sasha shouted, leaping up from the couch. “My mom’s a shell of the person she once was because of his grandfather.” She jabbed an accusatory finger in Gordy’s direction. “And none of you are doing anything about it!”

  “That’s not true,” Gordy said.

  “You were supposed to come back to help me. And now my mom just wanders around the house, muttering to herself. My dad lost his job.” Adilene gasped, but Sasha clenched her hands at her sides. “I’m running out of ideas! Maybe I should ask the Scourges for help. Maybe they could find a cure for my mother. I certainly can’t trust my friends.”

  “Sasha,” Adilene whispered. “We’re going to help you. We’re doing all that we can, and Gordy’s here now.” She frowned, confused. “How is it that you’re here, Gordy? Is your family okay?”

  Gordy swallowed, suddenly dizzy. “Max, can I please use your phone?” he asked, his voice cracking.

  Max seemed like he was about to protest, but one look at Gordy’s worried expression and he hurried out of the room. He returned a few moments later and tossed his phone int
o Gordy’s outstretched hands.

  No one spoke as Gordy typed in the number and waited. After three rings, his mom’s answering service kicked on. He didn’t want to leave a recording, but he owed it to her to let her know he was safe. Partway through his message though, Gordy choked up and barely finished without crying.

  “Something bad happened, didn’t it?” Adilene asked once he’d set the phone aside.

  Gordy nodded.

  “And your mom?” She leaned forward on the couch. “What happened to her?”

  “I think she’s okay. I mean, I hope she is.” Gordy told Adilene and Sasha everything he had shared with Max, but when he got to the part about the fire at Tobias’s property, he had to look away. Until that moment, Gordy hadn’t given much thought to what had happened. There had been too much adrenaline coursing through his veins. There, sitting in Max’s living room with everyone listening, it all finally sunk in.

  “Your mom’s fine.” Adilene nodded. “I know it.”

  “Yeah, and she’s got your crazy Aunt Priss on her side,” Max agreed.

  Gordy wiped his nose with the back of his hand, then jumped when Max’s phone rang. His mom’s number appeared on the screen, and he exhaled in relief.

  “Mom?” he asked into the receiver.

  “Oh, thank goodness!” she replied. “Don’t say anything about your location. I know where you are, and we’ll be on our way soon.”

  “You’re okay?”

  She sighed. “Yes, we’re fine. I didn’t mean to alarm you, but it was time for you to leave the Swigs.”

  “What’s happening?” Gordy asked.

  “It’s hard to explain, but you need to know there are Scourges on the loose, and I have reason to believe they may be in the vicinity.”

  Gordy groaned. “But I am at . . .” He caught himself in time. “I mean, the place where I’m at is not necessarily . . . guarded.”

  “That’s okay,” she insisted. “Your location should work as a hiding place until we arrive. Just stay inside and keep away from the windows.”

  “When will you get here?” Gordy asked.

  “We’re planning a strategy now, and we’re waiting for more of Paulina’s squad to arrive. When I leave, I’m coming directly to you, so it’s imperative you stay put. We can’t waste time wandering all over town trying to find you. Do you understand?”

  “I understand,” Gordy said. “But, Mom, Tobias was captured. And his house—”

  “We know,” his mom answered. “Don’t worry about Tobias. We got him back.”

  Gordy closed his eyes and leaned his head back into the chair cushion.

  His mom sighed. “Tobias is naturally upset, but we’ll help him replace what was—” The end of her sentence cut out as the line went dead.

  Gordy pulled the phone back from his ear and stared at the screen.

  “Did you lose the signal?” Adilene asked. All three friends had moved to the edge of their seats, watching Gordy as he shared his conversation with his mother.

  Gordy pressed the power button, but the phone didn’t respond. “I think the battery is dead.”

  Overhead, the whirling blades of the ceiling fan slowed and then stopped. The outside porch light had suddenly gone dark as well.

  “Power must have gone out,” Max said, staring out the window. “Everyone’s lights are off.”

  Gordy gazed through the glass, searching for storm clouds, but the sky was mostly clear. There was no thunder or lightning. No reason for the power in the neighborhood to suddenly shut off. Thankfully, the moon was peeking out from behind the few clouds in the sky, otherwise it would have been impossible to see anything on the street. Gordy could hear dogs howling and barking again. Corn Chip scampered toward the front door, growling deep in her throat.

  “Check your phone,” Sasha whispered to Adilene. “Mine stopped working as well.”

  Adilene dug in her pocket and pressed the button a few times. “Dead,” she muttered. “What kind of power outage could do that to all of our phones at the same time?”

  A car rolled past Max’s driveway, the headlights dark, the engine silent. It traveled a few feet beyond the Pinkermans’ mailbox before coming to a complete stop. The driver stepped out and stared at his vehicle, confused. He popped the hood and leaned over the engine.

  Some of Max’s neighbors emerged from their houses, a few carrying candles that emitted a soft, eerie glow from their doorsteps. The driver called out, looking over his shoulder at someone farther up the street. Gordy assumed he was speaking to one of the neighbors, but as the man straightened, Gordy heard the distinct crack of glass breaking on the asphalt. His eyes pulled wide as he saw the spray of liquid splash up.

  “Get down!” Gordy commanded to the others.

  Snatching Adilene by her sleeve, he pulled her to the floor just as the man outside collapsed beneath a thick, sticky covering of spiderwebs.

  Streaks of light illuminated the living room as mini explosions ignited outside the window. Gordy heard shouts of anguish and screams of alarm and confusion all coming from Max’s neighbors.

  “What’s going on?” Max lay on the floor, cradling a yapping Corn Chip in his arms. He tried pinching the dog’s mouth shut with his fingers, but the terrier wriggled free, nipping and snarling.

  Sasha had taken cover beneath one of the chairs, her hands clamped over her ears, eyes darting about the room with every jolt of magical light. It was like having a private fireworks show, but the rockets weren’t being blasted a thousand feet into the air. They were leveling fence posts and demolishing cars out on the street. And then everything fell silent as an unsettling calm spread over the outside world.

  Max waited a minute before poking his head up and casting an anxious glance out the window. Almost immediately he ducked for cover. “There’s a whole bunch of freaks out there!”

  Keeping his chin level with the windowsill, Gordy knelt and peered outside. The smell of noxious chemicals filled the smokey haze. He could Decipher barberry seeds and axle grease, both commonly found in Polish Fire Rockets and Latvian Dunka Draughts.

  A dozen strangers stood beyond the edge of Max’s yard, glowing objects in their hands. One of them stood over the poor motorist now lying in the street like a limp, rolled-up rug. All of Max’s neighbors had vanished from their porches. At least that’s what Gordy assumed, until he noticed several heaps of vines and spiderwebs squirming on the concrete and struggling beneath hedges.

  “Scourges!” Sasha crawled from underneath the chair, keeping below the window as she crowded next to the others.

  “Really?” Adilene whimpered. “Couldn’t they be from B.R.E.W.?”

  Gordy wasn’t sure that was a better alternative. Anyone hunting for his family was a threat. And although Scourges tended to attack first and ask questions later, the B.R.E.W. Investigators now shared the same dangerous tendencies.

  “Definitely not from B.R.E.W.” Sasha went into a crouch and slid her satchel beneath her. “That man with the ratted hair and the eye patch is Steffan Musk, also known as Steffan the Seventh.”

  “Steffan the Seventh?” Max asked. He had discarded his potato chips on the floor where Corn Chip immediately scarfed them down. “What does that mean? Is he like royalty?”

  “Kind of,” Sasha said. “Steffan was once considered the Dr. Frankenstein of the potion community. My mom helped Banish him back when she was Lead Investigator. She used to tell me bedtime stories about how he kept body parts in jars all around his house.”

  “Yeesh,” Max muttered. “You didn’t sleep much, did you?”

  Sasha glared at him. “Point is, I’ve seen pictures of Steffan in my mom’s photo albums. His eye patch covers an empty socket, and back in the day, he carried his most deadly potions concealed behind the patch.”

  “In his head?” Max blurted.

  “Oh, you�
��ve got to be kidding me!” Sasha gripped the windowsill and nudged Gordy with her elbow. “Recognize that woman?” She pointed to the Scourge standing in the middle of the group.

  Gordy narrowed his eyes, trying to make out the individual from the motley lineup. It was too dark to see, until she raised some sort of glowing staff and her face came into focus.

  “Zelda!” Gordy gasped, recognizing the squat, green-haired traitor.

  “The crazy Oompa Loompa?” Max cradled Corn Chip in the crook of his elbow. “Forget it. This whole neighborhood is about to go up in flames!”

  “What are they all doing here?” Adilene demanded. “And what are they holding? Are those bottles?”

  Gordy stared at the items many of the Scourges were holding. Long rods that radiated with a soft, incandescent glow, the objects didn’t look like any container Gordy had used with brewing before.

  Zelda waddled over to the broken-down car and climbed up on the hood. She held something up to her mouth. “Attention, good citizens of Maddux Avenue!” Her shrill, magnified voice echoed through the neighborhood. “We will be searching your premises. Each home must be inspected, as we believe one of you may be harboring a fugitive. Attempt to obstruct our search, and you shall be engaged aggressively. Help us find her, and you shall be rewarded. Please remain calm. We should be on our way and out of your lives in just a few moments. Thank you for your immediate cooperation.”

  Zelda lowered the device from her mouth and then vanished.

  Gordy gasped. “Silt!” he hissed, gaping at Adilene.

  Adilene bit her lip as one by one, several more Scourges disappeared, winking out of existence.

  “What are we supposed to do now?” Adilene demanded.

  The remaining Scourges moved forward, stepping onto lawns and over bushes, hunched like a band of prowlers. Gordy cringed as several moved stealthily toward the home next to the Pinkermans’. He wasn’t sure where Zelda had gone, or the others for that matter, but if they had Silt in their systems, they could easily slip right inside Max’s house and no one would know until it was too late. Wordlessly, Gordy backed away from the window, and the others followed.