The Fake Eye (Time Alchemist) Read online

  “So—uh, you think I should…give her a kiss or something?” Leon stuttered, his palms starting to sweat.

  I couldn’t help but let out a giggle. “No, that was just my way of showing you how much I love you, too.”

  ○○○

  We spent the rest of the day having fun. No Worries Allowed Fun. No Dwelling on the Past Fun. Focus on the Now Fun. I could tell easily that once Leon had shed his story, it was as if he stood a little taller, walked a little faster, and talked with a little more confidence…

  I felt as if I had cut his guilt in half and had tossed it into the Savannah River. But now that he had leapt over his troubles, all I could think about now was his presence, his touch, his smell…and I think he thought the same,

  because every opportunity we could take, we were holding hands…just small gestures and things like occasionally running a hand up and down my arm, or placing it on the small of my back during a stop. The way his eyes seemed to light up when he laughed; the dimples that appeared when he was smiling at some sort of inside joke while I practically drooled at every historical landmark we came across.

  My bold kiss had sparked something new between us, something we weren’t afraid of showing anymore. I wanted him to hold me. It didn’t feel wrong at all, it felt natural and warm. I felt as if all the confidence I had was oozing into him. We were determined to spend this day living to the fullest.

  Though it started on the wrong foot, I think this was one of the best days I’ve ever had. Ever.

  ○○○

  “So you really wanna be a historical presser…reservationist?” Leon said after swallowing a mouthful of greasy pizza.

  “Preservationist,” I corrected, taking a huge bite out of my own pepperoni slice “I want to go to old cities like Savannah and find places that need fixing up, restoring, kind of. That’s the basic gist of being a preservationist—I’m ‘preserving’ history.” The tiny pizza shop was warm and cozy, a clear popular hotspot with how crowded it was, but our seats right next to the windows gave us a neat view of the street and even Paula Dean’s restaurant. The smell of tomato sauce and mozzarella sent my mouth watering again and I reached for the basket of cheesy bread, just as Leon did.

  “I had my hand on it first,” I said.

  “Yeah but you ate nearly half the basket,” Leon retorted, “Let me have a piece.”

  “Are you calling me fat?”

  “I’ll call you something sweeter if you let me have the last cheesy bread.”

  I rolled my eyes, but withdrew my hand, eyeing him with jealousy as he stuffed the last delicious bite into his mouth. He looked like a chipmunk with his puffed out cheeks and I couldn’t help but spit out a little coke at the sight.

  Leon, after a battle with the cheesy bread, took a large swig of his own drink, his eyes twinkling in humor. “Okay, so Miss Preservationist. The big question is: why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why go that route? I mean, you’re super smart. You’re always studying or panicking over a test. Every morning you’ve got flashcards ready for the walk back, so why not aim for something higher?”

  I threw my grease stained napkin at him. “I’m not that panicky about tests. And I don’t always carry flashcards wherever I go—”

  “Yes you do.”

  “Okay, but that’s beside the point. The thing is…being a historical preservationist is something I’ve always wanted to do. I had this really awesome history teacher in middle school who did volunteer work for re-enactments and things like that. But back home, when I saw the shambles of some of the town’s most beautiful buildings—buildings that have housed presidents and Civil War soldiers—I just get angry about it. I mean, if we don’t do something now all that history is going to get lost. I’d love to travel the country and go city by city in search of lost and abandoned homes or buildings, and make them brand new but still with that touch of old history.”

  I paused here, stretching my hands towards the windows as a horse drawn carriage galloped before our view. “Don’t you just think it’s amazing that we’re literally surrounded by all this history? We’ve walked through the

  Telfair Museum, we’ve seen statues all over—this place is just amazing, and I want it to stay like this for a long, long, time…”

  I hadn’t realized I was halfway out of my seat, arms spread wide like an eagle’s wing. My face went as red as the tomato sauce when the people sitting next to us gawked and let out laughter. Even Leon’s shoulders were shaking, his lips pinched as he tried to hold in his own laughter.

  I wilted in my seat, feeling my face heat up like an oven. “Sorry, I don’t usually get like this!” Oh great, I just made a total fool of myself in front of Leon. Well, it wasn’t so bad, really, but still.

  “I’m the one who should be saying sorry,” Leon grinned, “It’s just…

  I’ve never seen you look so passionate about something before. I had no idea this was so important to you. It’s really cool.”

  “I—thanks,” I blushed again, taking a sip of my drink. “So uh, what do you want to do? I mean, you’re pretty good at fighting and stuff, but have you checked out any sports?”

  His brows crossed. “I’ve never given my future any thought. And that probably won’t change until—” he clamped his mouth shut, but I knew what he was going to say. Dove and Leon were only at St. Mary’s because of me, but it still struck me odd that the two of them had traveled this long, with barely any school (I wondered if Guinevere home schooled them? Probably.), and no plans at all for college or beyond. If I never met them, would I still feel the same about my future? I never rendered the fact that, because I was an alchemist that I wouldn’t be able to go to college.

  “My Dad’s the reason why I’m here.” I said out loud once Leon and I had finished our lunch and paid. I brushed against his shoulder a little but kept walking. Leon kept quiet, so I knew he was just waiting for me to continue.

  “My mom left us when I was five. She just left us behind, with nothing but a scribbled note on an old grocery store receipt as a goodbye. But Dad really

  pulled through. He became both a mom and a dad for me—helping me pick out my clothes for the day, making sure I ate three meals a day, encouraging me to get into St. Mary’s when I didn’t think I could. He’s my rock, the same as Guinevere is to you and Dove.

  “I came to St. Mary’s because I had a dream and a plan for the future—

  my future. But everything doesn’t go like it’s supposed to. Meeting you and Dove—no matter what sort of way—was fate, and I believe that. And just like I said before, I have a new goal in mind, a new responsibility that I haven’t exactly kept up with.”

  “To find the Elixir…” Leon began.

  “And destroy it.” I finished. “I owe the Elixir my life for saving yours…” I placed a hand over his chest, feeling the thrumming of his heart. In my mind I could see it all again: Leon lying still and cold and bloody on the cemetery floor, the very last flickers of breath leaving his blue lips and how the warm colors of his eyes faded out like a snuffed candle. I used the Elixir to save Leon from death, but… “But the fact is, it’s caused too much destruction, too much chaos. How far are people willing to go to get it? Pretty damn far.

  I’m not going to let innocent people become victims of cruel alchemists like him.” I didn’t even want to say his name; it tasted like poison on the tip of my tongue.

  Leon enveloped my hand over his, lifting it up to place a light, tender kiss on my knuckles that sent my heart jolting. “And you know I— we—are going to support you no matter what.”

  I felt tears threaten to spill, but I held firm. “I know.”

  Leon and I gathered at the Civic Center with a couple of staggering students already worn out from a day of walking and sightseeing. He held tight

  to my hand, as if every squeeze sent a small burst of confidence through me. I ignored some of the stares and whispers as we climbed onto the bus and settled down. Man, I was so
tired. After hearing Leon open his heart up to me about his past…all the fun we’ve had, and the threat of finding the Elixir hanging over us like a cloud. I felt emotionally and physically drained.

  I twirled a yellow and green paper flower in my hand that Leon had presented to me after our lunch. It was such a sweet gesture that I almost kissed him on the spot. But besides that small peck on the cheek, I had honestly felt too embarrassed to try and go farther. My head felt like it weighed a ton and it flopped ungracefully on Leon’s shoulder.

  As the bus rolled off, taking us back to the gates of St. Mary’s for another week of mindless school before summer vacation, Leon spoke.

  “There might be a way to find out where the rest of the pieces are.”

  I lifted my head, stunned. He spoke in a low voice so that other kids wouldn’t hear, so I pressed farther into the seat as I could, my ears ringing.

  “What?”

  “Guinevere always had a book with her, you know, those pages that we had last fall?” I nodded, remembering our first “official” meeting in the basements of the library archives, how Leon left the rolled up notes of Guinevere to me as a piece offering. Guinevere, apparently, had her own alchemic book that served as her diary, but it was written in a pretty ancient language that only Dove could read (though it took some time to translate).

  “Well, the book disappeared when…that happened,” Leon murmured. “I

  —it’s just hard to explain to Dove, but the reason why I had those pages?

  Guinevere gave them to me just before the attack. Even now it just baffles me, but Dove won’t listen to reason…” his eyes began to cloud over and I pinched his hand.

  “Don’t worry about that now, okay? I’ll help you talk to Dove about it.”

  He nodded, looking grim. “I think Guinevere may have known something was going to happen, and she gave me those papers as a…signal, or a sign of what we were supposed to do next.”

  “That might be it…” I agreed. Because if she had an entire book, what were the odds that Leon happened to have the sections specifically for when Guinevere was in Savannah? She must have known something was up. But how? “When was the last time you saw her book?”

  “It was the night before the attack,” Leon replied, “we were staying at a library. In a pretty small town just three or four hours away from here.”

  “If you couldn’t find it, doesn’t that mean she has it?”

  “I don’t know. I just found it weird that she would rip out pages of her own book and give them to me. And that makes me think she might not have it

  —she may have hidden it to keep it away from someone bad.”

  “Then it’s possible that…her book could still be at that library!” I whispered, feeling hope expand in my belly. If Leon was right, we were one step closer to our goal. What a day! Our hushed conversation faded away as we enjoyed the ride back to school. But now my mind was wide awake—I finally had a lead.

  I finally knew what to do next!

  CHAPTER 18

  I have to admit that even though being a janitor-slash-custodian-slash-groundskeeper at a prestigious school full of young brats in the making had its ups and downs. One of the cool things about my dad being just that is that he had the job of staying long after the term had ended to spruce up the already perfect campus.

  And I, being his daughter, also got the perks of having practically the entire campus to myself. Plus a couple of tag-a-longs. Not only does Dad get paid extra, but with practically every student and teacher gone home for the summer it was as if I could pretend the school was my home, and I was whisked away in the far past, wearing long dresses and pinched shoes and settling myself under the shade of a tree in pure, utter peace.

  Dove and Leon both stayed, with permission from the temporary Headmaster (and my Dad volunteering to keep an eye out for them), until they could figure out the next step in our plan. The cover story (to anyone that bothered to care) was that since they were “foreign exchange students” granted

  “special permission by the school”, they could stay on grounds with us until the end of the month to “get adjusted to Southern life at their own, comfortable pace.”

  But it was so hard to believe that only a couple of days ago Leon had told me his (and Dove’s) past, a past I had never dreamt of knowing. I had always believed that they were in their own little world and I was just stuck in the middle. I was on the outside looking in, but hearing his story made me felt I was just a little bit closer to the two of them. And that made me just blissful.

  And sad. Because I knew very well they couldn’t stick with me forever. Surely, they wanted to go out and look for their missing Guinevere, right?

  I mean, I knew for certain that they weren’t sticking around, going through the pretend of schooling and classes and sports just to protect me, or that they were here out of guilt. They supported my goal, my decision, but after that was done…what next?

  “Are you gonna get that?” Leon’s brisk voice startled me out of my thoughts. I glanced back and forth between the siblings, wondering what I missed when Dove chuckled, pointing a slender finger to my hip.

  It was my phone bleeping like crazy. I grinned sheepishly before digging the slim black device out of my pocket, flipping it open to see I had gotten a text from Chrys. It was a simple, short message that told me she and Ru were safely back wherever their Black Crown headquarters were, and that I should text her at least if there were anymore threats. True, there hasn’t been a single attack since I (or rather they) rescued Samantha from the underground tunnels, only furthering Leon and Dove’s doubts about the two. Not that I blamed them; I could see the relief on their faces when Chrys said she and Ru were heading back home, back to the Black Crown, since there wasn’t anything else they could do.

  Truth was, even though we only knew each other for a month or so, I was going to miss her. It was odd—and melancholic—to know that there was someone just like you nearby. It made me feel less lonely…and that someone could kind of understand what I was going through. We have met a couple of nights in her dream sequences and just talked a little, and slowly I got to know the little girl behind the eye patch.

  “Secret admirer?” Dove smiled, her lips thin and curved like she was holding a secret. Instinctively I felt my entire body flush, realizing how close Leon was sitting next to me under one of the oak trees by the lake. He jerked for a brief second before forcing his eyes in the opposite direction, as if the view of the back of a school building was far more interesting than the two of

  us.

  To celebrate our freedom from school and our next step to getting Guinevere’s journal, we made a little picnic out by the lake. I tried catching up on my newest novel while Dove and Leon chatted quietly next to me, but my mind kept wandering off…

  Especially to that Savannah outing with Leon. Every time I met his eyes, one of us would look away lightening fast as if even staring at each other for more than a second burned. Even our morning trainings were different. It wasn’t something I could describe but…I just knew. Leon was being lighter, I was being too slow, wanting to savor the moment. And then when I realized what I was doing I would make some stupid mistake and land flat on my bruised butt.

  I haven’t even told Dove about these feelings. Would she understand?

  Of course she would. She was my best friend…and almost like a sister to me.

  Regardless if she was older, she treated me with the same respect she would anyone else. She talked to me on the same leveled field, and here I was, sitting only feet away for her crushing heavily on her brother—and I was too cowardly to admit it!

  “No way,” I forced a laugh, shoving the phone deep into my pocket like it was the source of all problems. And if it was out of sight, it was out of mind, etc, etc. The lie slipped out of my mouth before I could blink, “Just a text from Samantha. She’s doing better, but she might not come back to school next year.”

  Okay, it wasn’t technically a lie sin
ce we have been conversing back and forth via text, too, but what the alchemic siblings didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. Besides, why ruin the perfect afternoon?

  “What a shame,” Dove murmured, turning her gaze to the still surface of the lake. I knew she was concerned in her own way, but she didn’t know

  Samantha like I did. Leon, however, bit his lip and began tearing strips of grass into microscopic shreds. Oops. That may not have been the best topic to pick.

  In Leon’s mind, mentions of Samantha meant the attack, which lead to him thinking of Chrys and Ru, and then back to me, then to the Black Crown, then to Guinevere. We were all caught in an endless cycle of restless thoughts and self depression.

  I bumped knees with him, flushing at the warmth. He turned, and I gave him a warm, but firm, smile, which he returned. Just looking at his dimples made my insides feel like I’d swallow a whole jar of Uncle Ben’s famous homemade hot salsa; but it was a good kind of hot that spread from my hair roots to the tips of my toes.

  Geez, I wanted so much to hold his hand again. Or even lean against him…man, when I was in love, it’s like all I could think about was stupid, stupid things instead of what mattered more!

  The rustling of fabric broke the silence and I saw Dove get up, brushing grass off her floral patterned dress that I had bought for her (on sale!) at one of the local boutiques downtown. It was a pale blue, almost identical to her eyes, with thin straps that tied together with ribbon. The end bellowed out like a cloud. It had felt so soft when I bought it, and I knew it would just be perfect for Dove’s frame—she was tall and slender, and the dress looked like it fit perfectly; as if it were made for her.

  Honestly, it was the first I’ve ever seen her in a dress! School skirts do not count, but all she wore were jeans or denim shorts. When I had given it to her that day, it was also the first time I had ever seen her face turn so bright red! At first, I was worried that she didn’t like it, but I found out later from Leon that Dove never got the chance to wear such “nice clothes” because of them moving around all the time (and fighting…but let’s not mention that now!). Dove was just worried about looking pretty.