The Fake Voice (Time Alchemist)

by Allice Revelle

  The bullet wasn’t the only thing I had frozen in place. Hints of gold thread were wrapped around White’s form, freezing his giddy, sickening grin. A piece of his mask had broken off; it was floating only inches away from his shoulder, where I had froze his body. I didn’t even

  think of my next move, I just attacked.

  I felt a rush of adrenaline skitter through my veins, popping through my body like firecrackers. Maybe for just that one second I felt invincible, strong.

  Immortal.

  I pushed White with all my might. His frozen body almost seemed weightless, and I kept shoving, harder and harder like a bull loose in a china shop. I didn’t even realize just how s trong my push was

  —maybe a mixture of the adrenaline, or pure determination or fear—but the force had pushed White’s body right through the locked door, smashing it off his hinges.

  I took a surprised gulp of air as my hand shot out to grasp onto the edges of the broken door, just mere seconds before I would have fallen down a set of stairs—right where White’s body fell.

  And like a statue, he fell into the darkness until I heard this horrible, nauseous crack, like a thick tree branch being snapped in half, and then all the adrenaline I had faded into nothing. The nauseating echo of the crack seemed to thrum in my ears, and I fell to my knees, gagging on the floor, unable to pick myself up, to check on White.

  To see if he was even alive.

  The weight of what I had done sunk into my like a stone in water.

  But it was a sensation I knew all too well—one I wished I never had to

  experience again.

  I had only killed one other person in my entire life. I had stabbed a possessed Jackson Alexander through the stomach with a sword, assumingly killing Ivan Novak, and his body had turned to dust. There was no trace or hint of Jackson Alexander that existed in the world anymore—which was why everyone believed that he had ran away from home.

  But I had pushed someone down the stairs. Did he hit his head?

  Had I broken his neck? Even though he was going to kill me I had killed him. Did he even deserve that? Shouldn’t I have—

  A hot blast of air knocked me backwards, cutting off my thoughts.

  The table leg was wrenched from my grasp and I fell to the floor with a gasp. I tried to get up but I was pinned down by an invisible force, one I knew too well.

  Alyssa stood at the door, the same door I had come from, fury coating her like a layer of thick dust. And I knew she wasn’t here to play any games.

  She was here to kill.

  CHAPTER 21

  “You stupid, stupid bitch!” Alyssa’s voice melted with the winds that had erupted, and I found myself trapped in the eye of a wind tornado flowing with such force the entire house seemed to creak and tremble, as if any moment it would uproot from the ground and sail off into the sky like the house from “The Wizard of Oz”.

  I could barely hold myself down. Any movement I took would sweep me up in the wind. I crashed against the walls so many times I probably left permanent human-shaped dents. Then a hand caught my shoulder, whirled me around, and I was sent flying again to the ground.

  Except this time, not by a magical wind, but by somebody’s fist.

  My head cracked to the side and a burst of white stars bloomed in my vision. I gagged when my mouth filled up with foul tasting copper and I spat up on the floor, coughing up blood and…a tooth.

  She punched out a tooth! I was too dumbstruck to be terrified, though my tongue, coated in blood, glided over the empty hole in my mouth.

  “Not so powerful now, are you?” Alyssa hissed in my ear and I screeched when a boot snapped against my stomach, over and over. I

  doubled over in pain, shielding my face as Alyssa just laughed, kicking my stomach so hard I felt something crack. Pain exploded throughout my body and I felt numb all over. I was cold and alone.

  Powerless.

  “You really think you’re something special?” Alyssa’s heel met my shoulder. “You think you’re so fucking great? Think again! I’ve spent my entire life perfecting myself for his expectations, becoming the best alchemist there ever was. And then you had to come along and ruin everything with your stupid, useless, weak alchemy! You should have died! I hate you for taking him away from me! I hate you! ”

  Where had I heard this before? Oddly enough, Alyssa’s little spat had triggered something inside of me: boiling hot anger. Once again, I was the target of the Queen Bee who couldn’t have her way; the victim who’s story nobody believed or refused to listen to.

  But I am not a victim.

  Nobody—not Mallory Wells or Alyssa Denton—was going to make me think otherwise.

  I pushed up with all my might, giving out an enraged shriek that could have broken the window and shoved Alyssa back as best as I could, the crab walked backwards, sliding on pieces of broken glass. When I looked up, I was startled to see one thing hovering in the air like a lost, frozen balloon.

  And realized I wasn’t as powerless as Alyssa thought.

  Suddenly I was knocked back to the wall, but I fought. I kicked and screamed, clawed at the wall, and my foot came in contact with Alyssa’s jaw. She let out a strangled, animal-like growl, and her Wind alchemy halted temporarily.

  Struggling to my feet, I walked around her, trying to push her in my previous spot when I was lifted into the air by invisible strings—and something was cutting into my throat. My feet dangled helplessly, and it was almost like a sensation of falling. All air was cut off from my lungs and my body went cold, like I was being covered in kisses of frost.

  Alyssa stood, shaking like a wet dog. She had a bloody lip and a piece of her pretty dress was ripped, revealing a slender pale leg. Her hair had come loose from the bun and was sprawled out wildly, whipping in the air like Medusa’s poisonous snakes. Even her burning eyes could have turned me to stone. The black choker around her neck burned like a bright star, and the wind grew so strong I could barely hear her over the rush.

  “I’ll kill you!”

  With one last squeeze, I prayed that my hunch would work. A second before everything faded—before the squeezing pressure in my throat threatened to pop—I released my alchemy hold on the bullet glued in the air.

  My vision blurred and I found myself on the floor, slamming into the wood with a sickening thud that rocked my vision and knocked the breath out of me .Alyssa’s screams died with the winds she controlled and she fell over in a bloody lump. I forced myself to my elbows, gagging on the hardwood floor, and saw Alyssa’s limp, unconscious body just feet away. A pool of red, like a newly blossomed rose, was splayed on her chest.

  I had no time to feel disgusted with myself; no time to even think if she was still alive at all. It wasn’t until I felt someone’s strong arms wrap around my shoulders, shaking me awake that I snapped out of this blood covered fog.

  “Emery!” Rick croaked out. His voice sounded muffled, like my ears were stuffed with cotton. “Emery! Snap out of it!”

  I blinked, shaking my head. My entire body trembled. I felt like I had gotten hit with a freakin’ truck. I could only imagine how I’d feel in the morning.

  I lifted my head, and even that small motion made my entire body spasm with pain. Gritting my teeth, I looked up and saw Rick. His face was covered in soot, his hair stuck up in all sorts of places like he had just rolled around in the dirt. His signature leather jacket was gone—it was only then that I realized he had put it around me. The silver pressed coin he wore around his necklace swayed like pendulum in a haunting,

  mesmerizing manner.

  “Rick!” I cried out, and even my throat burned with the effort.

  “Your arm!”

  He gave me a sheepish grin, but I could still see the layer of pain beneath his snarky mask when he winced. His right arm was broken in two places, hanging limply by his side like a marionette’s string being cut off. How he even managed to shrug his jacket off was beyond me, but my heart burst at the sight of Rick in such hor
rid conditions.

  Because of me.

  “Hey, now, it’s okay.” Rick murmured, and I felt his left hand fall on my head. His forehead met my own and a small wave of pure warmth washed over me, dissolving the pain away like rain. “Everything’s okay.

  A broken arm never stopped me before.”

  I managed a choke of a laugh and sniffed up the snot that had chosen this particular time to clog my sinuses. Hmm. Covered in dirt, blood, bruises and snot? How charming was I? Rick’s expressions hardened when the smell of smoke grew thicker. “C’mon. We need to get out now. Ash set the whole damn place on fire.”

  As Rick struggled with one hand to help me to my feet, I said,

  “Where’s Oliver?”

  “I had to kick his ass to get him outside,” Rick replied. “He’s safe.

  He’s waiting for us in the woods, though he isn’t all too happy about it.

  If we stay too long he’s going to do something stupid and come after us.”

  “You…really think he would do that?” I asked.

  Rick paused, and his eyes met mine. “I would, if I knew you were inside.”

  My heart skipped a beat and I felt heat pool in my cheeks. Then I paused when I heard a small, whimpering voice behind me.

  With a gasp, I whirled around and almost dislocated Rick’s good arm. Alyssa was struggling to get up, but had collapsed, coughing up blood that trickled down her chin and stained her white dress. Rick refused to let go of my arm so I practically dragged him to her. I almost cried in relief when I saw that the bullet didn’t go straight through her chest, but instead hit the side, closer to the right shoulder. Alyssa was still breathing. She was still alive!

  “What are you doing?”

  I struggled to get my arm under Alyssa, but for a Wind alchemist, she was pretty damn heavy! Either that or my body was just too strained from the fighting. But I answered anyway, even though sweat ran down my cheeks like rivers, coating my eyes and stinging the cuts I had on my skin. “We’ve got to get her out of here and get her help. I’m not going to leave her to die!”

  Without a word, Rick leaned down and looped his good hand under Alyssa’s body and scooped her up as easily as if she were a feather

  stuffed pillow. “I got her. Can you run after me?”

  I nodded. Suddenly the entire house shook when a boom erupted somewhere down below. I screeched when I fell on my bum, and Rick let out a string of curses that would have done a sailor proud. “Let’s go!”

  I winced when I felt something sting my hand and looked down to see a large chip of glass had cut through the skin, dripping fresh blood on the ground.

  How could I have forgotten?

  “Go!” I shouted to Rick as another explosion rocked the house.

  “I’ll be right after you! Go! ”

  Rick hesitated only a moment. When Alyssa let out a hiss of pain that seemed to snap him out of his trance. He leveled me with a heated glare. “You’d better be five steps behind me, Miller, or so help me…”

  “I will. Now go!”

  I saw his form disappear down the hidden passage. Rick stepped over broken bits of doorframe, with Alyssa hung around his shoulder like a discarded doll. Though I suddenly wanted to call after him—was White still down there? Was he…dead?—I didn’t have time to wonder just yet. I crawled through the glass and shifted as quickly as I could, looking for any sign of a familiar fragment of shard. I didn’t care how big or how small—I just needed one!

  Finally I just scooped up a handful of glass shards, knowing there

  had to be some Elixir pieces inside, and forced myself up on shaky knees, limping towards the hidden door—

  When it burst into flames.

  The shock knocked me to the ground and I crawled away as the flames spread wider into the room, licking along the empty walls. I heard the distinct laughter of Ash fading somewhere behind the wall of fire—sounding so eerily similar to Rick’s voice that it made my heart shrivel up like a raisin in the sun—until I hit the wall, trembling.

  I was trapped.

  The flames seemed to have a mind of its own. It spread faster than it should have, which only proved how efficient, and deadly, a Fire alchemist could really be. When the back of my head hit the window, I realized I wasn’t trapped her at all.

  I had a—literally—window of opportunity.

  But its four stories up.

  Emery, no! I had no time to doubt myself. It was either jump from the building or burn to a crisp! Cradling the shards in one hand, I tugged at the windowsill, but it didn’t budge an inch. I slammed my shoulder against the glass pane. Though it trembled, it didn’t do much.

  Finally I found the discarded and broken table, and snatched it up just as the fire had caressed it, and threw it with all my might against the window.

  It burst open, and sweet cool air kissed my face as I raced towards my ticket out and just jumped.

  I pulled at the invisible golden strings around my body, wrapping myself up like a caterpillar, and then the entire world seemed to blur around me. I was hovering in midair, falling slowly, like a gentle stray snowflake. My heart thrummed with excitement, the exuberance of using alchemy and of… flying. It was the first in a long while that I had used my alchemy on myself, but I knew I could do it.

  And I did.

  Once my feet touched a dried up bush that bordered the house, my alchemy snapped off like a light switch and I fell butt first into the thorny shrub. It may have been due to exhaustion that my alchemy just cut off, but I was too grateful to be alive to worry about the little things.

  I shimmied my way out, yanking my clothes from annoying thorns, and ran as fast as my tired feet could carry me to the edge of the woods, holding the precious pieces of the Elixir against my chest.

  Behind me I heard the giant boom of the mansion as it blew up in the morning sky, destroying any other pieces of Elixir I had forgone, all the research that the great White Alchemist had studied…and White himself was gone, flickering away like a moth to a light.

  CHAPTER 22

  I found Rick, carrying a still unconscious Alyssa—though her bone white skin was flush now, a sure sign she was okay—and Oliver soon after.

  Oliver burst through the trees and hugged me tight as if we were long lost friends who never exchanged a proper goodbye. I was too tired and happy to be upset at the sudden bout of strange comfort, and wrapped one free hand around him and squeezed tightly. After all, even though we hardly knew each other, we both went through more than anybody should have. I’d be an idiot if I didn’t think Oliver cared.

  Oliver just gave me a smile, almost like a brotherly, “Why do you make me worry like this, idiot?!” smile, and I returned the favor.

  Wordlessly, he put an arm under my shoulders and helped me along as Rick led us down the path, away from the burning building that had kept us prisoner, even for just a short time. No words needed to be said, even though there was an air of heaviness that clouded over us.

  I was so happy to just be out of there. I glanced at Oliver, taking his appearance in. He was covered head to toe in ash and dirt, but he seemed relatively unharmed compared to Rick and I.

  I was even more surprised at what was wrapped around his

  shoulder.

  “My bag!”

  Oliver grinned then tossed my bag to me. I hugged it to my chest with relief. “Rick found it and gave it to me when I ran out. Figured you might want it back.”

  I nodded eagerly, clutching it even tighter.

  After asking him about what happened, Oliver spoke with his usual soft, southern drawl.

  He told me that after I went up the hidden passage, they were sort of ambushed by Ash. Rick went after Ash, leaving Oliver alone to stand guard until he was knocked out by an unseen force. Whether it was White or Alyssa who did the damage, he couldn’t say, though he bowed his head in a shameful manner, apologizing to me for letting his guard down and being knocked out so easily.

  I squeezed his hand,
telling him it was fine. Oliver says that when he woke up, the next thing he knew was Rick dragging him towards the servant’s stairs and telling him to get out. “If I didn’t do as he said, I swear I thought he was going to light my feet on fire!” Oliver had assumed that I was okay, and that Rick had gone back to get me.

  “I didn’t even know White was there with you, Emery. I didn’t even see Rick’s arm until he came out again with that witch girl over his shoulders. I should have paid more attention—”

  “It’s not your fault, Oliver!” I hushed him. “Rick knew what he was doing, and I’m glad he managed to get you out. Don’t blame yourself for any of this, okay?”

  “But I—”

  We heard the screeching of cars up ahead; we were almost out of the forest. How had that happened? We all tensed up, and Rick motioned for us to hide into the shadows. I almost did until I heard a familiar voice barking out orders.

  “They really did come!” I breathed. Rick and Oliver shot me questionable looks but I ignored them, waving my hands for them to follow. “This is them. This has to be them. The Black Crown!”

  All the color in Rick’s face drained until he was as white as Alyssa’s Lolita dress. “How in the hell did they get here?”

  I explained as best as I could. “I sort of…called them here. You remember, Chrys?” I turned to Oliver. “She’s the other alchemist I was talking about before. She’s just like us, except she can sort of travel through dreams and stuff. Do you remember when I asked you to put me to sleep?”

  Realization dawned on Oliver, lighting up his face like the sun peering from behind the clouds. “Is that what your plan was? I completely forgot about it!”

  “Yes! Well, I managed to contact Chrys—amazing, giving how far

  away we are—and I told her everything: where we were and what we were doing. I didn’t know it would take them this long but they’re here.”

  I tried to pull Rick forward, but it was like his feet had been nailed to the ground. His grip on Alyssa tightened and he looked like a scared rabbit ready to flee. “You called them here? Do you even realize what they’re going to do to me and Alyssa?”