by Matt Ryan
“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, Allie,” Mark said. “But after watching what stones did 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’s 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 all of it, but I ditched the grin. I didn’t want Mark to feel his speech had 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 had 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 the door open until Jackie and I 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, having you make that stone.”
“Stop the pity party and let’s make some stones real quick,” Jackie said.
“You two make a couple of stones. I’ll wait by the hall.” He ran to the door and peeked 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 full of amusement. “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 the apartment. “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 yourselves? I only want to know who you are and why you’re 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’ve 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, I saw 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 stone down the hall, then slammed the door to the apartment and ran toward me, pushing me to the window. “Jump!”
The man in the hall yelled. “What in the hell? Really?” The whimsy had left his voice and now he seemed annoyed.
I spotted my landing point and took a deep breath. Then, I jumped.
The wind blew on my face as the dumpster rushed toward 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 when she landed.
“Move,” she said, looking back up at the window.
I scurried over the edge and found a ladder at the end of the dumpster. As I climbed out, Mark jumped from the window. He landed on his feet and moved 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 oozed down, covering the opening we had just jumped through.
“Go!” Mark yelled.
I rushed down the ladder with Jackie nearly stepping on my hands. Out 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. He ran to the fence and pulled it up.
The glass portion of the window that wasn’t covered broke. A stake stuck out 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 of the remaining shards.
“I see you!” the man yelled from above, wearing a wide smile. His narrow face and bright blond hair made me shudder. He was 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 we were playing tag in a schoolyard.
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 the lead and we ran down the street.
I couldn’t talk if I wanted to. In fact, I feared if we kept up 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. Jac
kie 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 boy behind the glass door of a bakery. He flipped its Closed sign to Open and unlocked the door.
“You kids okay?” the guy asked, holding the door open.
“Is Jerry here?” Mark asked.
The guy laughed. “He’s the baker. Sometimes I think he lives here. Come on in.”
Mark turned to us. “He’s a friend of my mom’s. She told me to come here. Let’s go.”
The smell of bread and sugar filled the inside of the store. Summerford had a cake shop, but this place displayed loaves of bread, muffins, multi-colored donuts, and an assortment of croissants.
My stomach rumbled, but I kept my attention around the store. The guy who’d let us in appeared to be the only person in the shop.
“Jerry,” he yelled. “You got a customer up here asking for you.”
The back door swung open and a heavyset man wearing a white apron stepped through. He wiped the flour from his hands and took us in. He wasn’t wearing any stones that I could see, but that didn’t ease my discomfort at being in such a small area. If they were dark alchemists, we would be defenseless.
Jerry set the towel on the glass counter and walked around it. “Who are you? You look familiar.” He looked at Mark.
“You know my mom, Sarah Duval.”
His eyes went wide and he glanced at the guy who’d let us in before returning to us. “Come back here, quickly. Oscar, turn the sign over and lock the door.”
“But our rush hour is coming up. We need the sales—”
“I don’t give a damn. Close it up.”
Oscar had more to say, but he took a deep breath and mumbled the rest as he walked to the front door. Jerry motioned for us to come to the back of the store with him.
I passed a section of cupcakes perfectly lit in the glass display. Some had swirls of frosting and were decorated with edible sugar flowers or glitter. Maybe just one. . . . The running and hiding were starting to catch up to her and just a moment of relaxing made her feel the exhaustion. Or maybe the adrenaline was all gone.
“Come on, Allie,” Jackie said.
I bounced at her command and glided away from the cupcakes.
Huge mixers and long stainless steel tables filled much of the back room, while the rest of the space was ovens, as tall as the ceiling. The smell in the store was faint compared to the powerful smell of sugar and bread in the back. My nostrils filled with the fantastic odors and I enjoyed it while it lasted. Soon my nose would be overloaded and I’d lose the smell.
“What are you doing here? What happened?” Jerry asked.
“We were forced to stay at some academy,” Mark said. “But I don’t think it was anything like the place you and my mom attended. They pitted us against one another, and only cared about having us create stones for them. We barely got out with our lives.”
Jerry rubbed his hand over his mouth and looked past Mark. “I’ve heard rumors that they started an academy like that, but never thought it was real.” He gave a humorless laugh and his large double chin shook. “I’ve even heard the Intrepid were trying to break into it.”
“The Intrepid?” I asked and walked closer to him.
“Just a rumor, miss.”
Mark stepped forward. “Sorry, Jerry. I’ve been rude. I’m Mark, this is Allie, and back there eating your apple-cinnamon muffin is Jackie.”
“Sorry,” Jackie said around a mouthful. “This is so good.”
“No problem. Feel free to help yourself.”
Could’ve said that back at the cupcake utopia, I thought.
“Jerry,” Mark said. “My mom set up some protocols with you, correct? We need a way out of the city and to the rendezvous place.”
“Of course,” Jerry grumbled. “Oscar.”
Oscar pushed the door open in an instant. “Yes.”
“I’m going on a delivery with these kids. Man the shop while I’m gone. And don’t burn the croissants.” Jerry pulled his apron off and hung it on the wall. “I have a box truck in the back. I’ll get you to where you need to go.”
The thought of leaving the shop was bittersweet. I wished I was as bold as Jackie, grabbing what I wanted without asking. Even after he’d given us his blessing, it felt wrong to take from him.
“Can we grab a few things for the road? We haven’t eaten in a while,” Jackie asked.
“My bakery is yours. But be quick and meet me in the back.”
Two invitations were enough to calm my anxieties of imposing on him. “Thank you,” I told him.
Once I had what I wanted, a blueberry muffin and a loaf of sourdough bread, we left his shop through the back door. The morning sun had risen enough to light up the streets.
Jerry slid open the back of the box truck and motioned for us to get in.
“Can we trust this guy?” Jackie whispered to us.
“Yeah, my mom vouched for him.”
“It’s only a couple of hours’ drive from here. I’ll have you out of the city in a jiff,” Jerry said.
I used the step ladder and climbed into the back of the truck. A few pallets of flour, sugar, and other unmarked bags filled much of the space. Mark and Jackie climbed in behind me.
Jerry grasped a strap. “Stay near the front of the truck and sit down. You try walking and you’ll be bouncing around back here like a jumping bean.”
“You know where to go?” Mark asked.
“I do,” Jerry said. “I’ll get you guys there, but if for some reason we’re stopped, stay low and hide. I don’t need to get a ticket on account of you all.”
“We’ll keep hidden,” I said.
“Okay.” Jerry pointed to the end of the box truck. “You can grab some flour bags for a seat or whatever. It might save your buns. It’s going to be a long drive and this thing ain’t got the shocks it used to.”
Mark knelt down and extended his hand to Jerry. “Thank you. I know you didn’t have to do this, and we appreciate the help.”
Jerry shook his hand and laughed. “The hell I didn’t. Can you imagine what your mother would have done if I said no? It’d be worse than if Axiom himself was after me.”
Mark gave me a quick glance with wide eyes.
Jerry caught the look and raised an eyebrow. “Is there someone after you all?”
Mark took a deep breath. “A man with bright blond hair and a pointy face almost got to us a few miles back.”
Jerry’s lips pursed and he closed his eyes. “Axiom. You kids are in way deeper than I wanted to jump.” He looked at the top of the gate on his truck and I saw the wheels turning in his head. I doubted that he would have let us into his truck if he’d known who was after us. At least now we had a name to put to the face.
“Is he dangerous?” I asked.
Jerry let out a long breath. “Better you don’t ever find out. I’ll feel better when we get a few miles behind us.” He pulled the gate closed and latched the lock.
A couple of lights lit the interior of the box truck. With the door closed, the flour smelled dry and the dust settled into my eyes. I wiped them and looked to Mark. He stared at the door.
“I think we can trust him,” I said.
Mark shook his head. “I don’t think we have a choice at this point.”
The truck jolted forward and I fell to the floor. Mark tumbled and fell between me and the pallets. The pallets jostled a tad but were held in place by large straps.
Mark lay on the floor next to me with his feet in the air. He looked at me with a big smile and laughed. His laugh was infectious and I caught it in a second.
“He told us to sit down,” Jackie said from the front of the truck, “not go all romantic comedy up in here.”
Mark gave me a wink. “Come on, cupcake, let me help you up.”
We made our way through the truck, wobbling, and sat next to Jackie. We were still laughing as we fell down. The truck made a s
harp turn and the pallets slid a few inches.
“You think we can make some stones with this stuff?” I pointed to the bags of flour and sugar around us. There were even a few buckets to mix stuff in.
“We need a solvent,” Jackie said. When she looked at my confused face, she added, “Like water.”
“Oh,” I said, taking inventory again and only seeing dry ingredients.
“I’ve heard of alchemists using their own pee for a solvent. You know, in a pinch,” Jackie said.
“Gross. We are not making pee stones,” I said. The thought of mixing up a bucket of pee gave me the willies.
Mark’s smile faded as we crawled next to Jackie. He pulled a couple of bags from the pallet near us and set them on the floor for a makeshift seat. The truck bounced and turned, but I kept a wide stance and didn’t fall this time. Mark plopped down on the flour and let out a long sigh.
“We’re going to be okay,” I told him.
“I shouldn’t have used that stone. There are treaties and stuff here. If that guy, Axiom—or whatever his name is—gets to us, we could be in a whole heap of trouble.”
“Jerry will get us there,” I said, even though I didn’t know where he was taking us.
“You guys don’t get it. We’re in dark central right now, and we don’t have a single stone to use for defense.” He pulled his knees closer to his chest and shook his head.
“What are you not telling us?” I watched him closely and waited for the bad news building over his face.
“I know the name Axiom,” he finally said. “I didn’t think it could possibly be him. What would be the chances of it being him?”
“I don’t know, one in a million?” Jackie said in sarcastic tone. “Just tell us what we’re up against here.”
Mark glanced at Jackie and then to me. “I’m quite confident he let us go. I’m not sure why, though.” He turned to face me. “A man like him carries stones to take down entire buildings. At any moment he could have killed us, but he refrained.”
I remembered the man yelling in a mixture of amusement and insanity, I see you. Now that he’d seen us, did that mean he was a hound dog on the trail? “You think he can find us?”