The Fake Eye (Time Alchemist) Read online

  “And…?”

  “I met him halfway. He was clutching you so gently, Emery…I’ve…I’ve never seen Leon look like he’d just…his face looked so broken, but his eyes looked so angry, full of hatred. He barely said a word before he ran into the woods.”

  “The attacker—” I coughed again. “It was an alchemist. They’re the ones who’ve been behind the Old Chapel burning down and the tunnels.”

  “I know.”

  I sat up a little straighter, shaking my head to knock off the dizzy spell that threaten to consume me. “And where’s Leon?”

  “I…he’s still not back.”

  My blood ran cold. “How long has he been gone?”

  “Just…a couple of hours. Maybe three, or…”

  I shot out of bed, my feet slipping on the sheets. I was suddenly so angry. Angry at that damn alchemist for trying to hurt me, to hurt my friends and this school! Angry at being so damn weak that it only took one stupid shot

  to knock me out.

  “Why didn’t you go after him?” I rasped, half-limping over to my side of the bed where my jeans were. I was dressed in my pajamas, but they stuck to my skin like glue as I peeled them off. “What if he’s hurt? What if that alchemist cornered him? Why didn’t you do anything, Dove?!”

  A gasp left her throat, and it was only then that the realization of what I’d said sunk in like a slap to the face.

  She kept her face still, but I saw in her eyes how horribly my words had stung. But she didn’t say a word, just noiselessly remade the bed I had laid in just moments ago. Her hands were trembling.

  It was only then that I noticed she was still wearing the pale blue dress.

  And the hem was a darker hue; grass and dirt bits…and blood dotted the dress.

  “Dove, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t—”

  “Don’t, Emery.” Her words felt like a splash of cold water over my heated face. “Just…don’t. I don’t need to be reminded that I’m weak. I deal with that knowledge every single day that comes and goes. I don’t need you to tell me.”

  “Dove, I—” I stopped, biting my tongue. I had screwed up royally. Dove refused to look my way as she patted the bed. Then slowly, as the small clock we hung up together over the door ticked by, she turned. There were no tears in her eyes. All I saw was grim determination and…longing.

  And then her face seemed to twist, to change, from being rock hard to soft. It wasn’t until she touched my cheek, brushing her slender fingers over my skin, that I realized my face was wet. I was crying.

  “I’m such an idiot,” I bawled, “I’m such a stupid, goddamn, weak idiot who’s pushing her friends away.”

  Wordlessly, she wrapped her arms around me, holding my trembling form. “We’re all a bunch of idiots, aren’t we? We really are.”

  “I’m just so damn tired of all this fighting, I’m tired of being a damsel in distress,” I hiccupped, “I’m tired of pushing people away and I’m tired of always being attacked. I’m so worried about him, and I took it out on you—”

  “I know.”

  I sniffed. “No you don’t. You don’t know at all. You’re always the brave one, the protector. I always come to you crying like some stupid child, but I never even think once about how you of all people feel. I’m just a stupid, dumbass selfish little girl who doesn’t know what she’s doing!”

  “You are,” she agreed. “But we’re all still children, even if we don’t realize it.”

  We stood there, listening to the sounds of each other ’s hearts beating. “I don’t deserve a friend like you, Dove.”

  “Well, we are stuck with each other whether we like it or not.” I could literally feel her smile when she said that, and it made me feel better.

  Finally, I stepped away, rubbing my eyes on the sleeve of my shirt. “I’m sorry for saying all those stupid things. I…I just am. I’m so sorry.”

  Dove smile, a small, gentle smile before grabbing a jacket and pushing it into my arms. “Let’s get going. I’ve got a little brother to find…and we’ll all rest up and talk a nice, long talk first thing in the morning, alright?”

  I gave her a watery smile as I tugged the sweater on slowly. “Yeah.

  Definitely.”

  The lake was bare and empty. Even the moon looked lonely in the sky.

  We found my discarded bag and Leon’s things by the same tree and gathered

  them up. It was easy to spot the ring of fire—the arrows, with the exception of a few that were broken or ripped from the ground, were still lined up in a circle. I shivered, clutching my injured arm just remembering the flash of pain, and the chill of the water filling my lungs.

  “Leon headed this way, so let’s try going straight.” Dove pointed to a path to our left, where broken branches and rubble seemed to lead into the dark of the woods. We made our way along slowly, guided only by the light of the moon and the flashlight I fished out of my backpack. I nearly tripped over a root twice, but we kept our pace up. “Leon’s been gone a long time, he may have scouted the entire campus to look for the alchemist…”

  “Either that, or maybe there was a way for the alchemist to come and go as he pleased? Or…” I paused to duck under a branch, “What if the alchemist is actually someone at the school? Like the Headmistress…”

  “It’s possible, but the only person here—not including us—is your father. Unless there’s something you want to tell me?”

  I shook my head vigorously. If there was one thing I was certain, it was that my dad was not an alchemist!

  Well, remember when I said that anyone can be an alchemist? Well not everyone can actually be one. You have to have natural ability (like Dove) or work and train in an environment to harness it (like Leon)…or just luck up on it (like me).

  We kept our search on, heading straight until we reached the end—a black iron gate covered in vines, clearly forgotten by the groundskeepers and the rest of the school. It looked like it hasn’t been bothered in decades with how thick the bramble was.

  “Okay so clearly we’re on the wrong track,” I sighed, looking around for another path. “I say we each take a side—I’ll go left—until we find some

  sort of entrance or escape route. Or we can head back and try to see if Leon’s looking for us at the dorm—Dove? What’s wrong?”

  Dove was near the iron gates, almost hidden behind a large oak tree; its Spanish moss swaying down like a gray curtain, almost hiding her from my sight. She was kneeling on the ground, cradling something in her hands.

  “What’s wrong? Did you find something…” my voice trailed off into a whisper at what I saw in Dove’s shaking palms.

  A metal band with rough etchings on the cover, cracked in two jagged pieces. There was a dark stain on one of the pieces.

  Blood.

  A broken metal bracelet and no Leon.

  I felt bile start to rise up in my throat. My own cruel worlds bouncing inside my head, jabbing into my brain like an ice pick tearing my skull apart.

  “What if he’s hurt? What if that alchemist cornered him? Why didn’t you do anything, Dove?!”

  Dove was frozen stiff, her lips moving in soundless words. I couldn’t even take a step towards her, to wrap my arms around her because I just couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t—

  BZZZT!

  I was so startled from the piercing ring of my phone that I collapsed on the ground, as if that noise finally snapped all of my frozen senses back into place. My knees just gave out on me and I fisted the cold wet grass in my palms, trying to get some sort of feeling back into my clammy skin.

  The phone shrilled on until I snatched it up without even bothering to check caller ID. “Leon?!”

  There was nothing but silence on the other line except…a faint

  breathing. I pressed the phone even closer to my ear. “Leon?”

  “You’re…Emery, right?” a male’s voice that sounded husky was what came out of the other line. I didn’t recognize it at all.


  “Who is this?” I said, a wave of cold fear slicing through my body.

  “Ru…”

  “Wait…Ru?” I blinked. “What the—why are you calling me this late?”

  I heard some sort of painful coughing on the other end. “What is it?

  What’s wrong, Emery?” Dove’s voice was so close I actually let out a squeak of surprise. I didn’t even hear her move this close to me.

  “It’s…It’s Ru. You know, the guy that was with Chrys—”

  “There’s some—ng wrong, Em—ry. He—”

  “Oh my God, oh my God.” I pressed a hand to my mouth to keep the vomit down. Everything seemd to spiral out of control—the fires, the arrows…that dream!

  “Chrys is in trouble, Dove. She and Leon are both in serious trouble.

  We have to do something!”

  CHAPTER 21

  “What happened, Ru?” I marched through the woods like an Amazon ready to take her enemy’s head off, with Dove trailing close behind me. I didn’t even care about branches or roots or creepy crawlies in the dead of night. I needed to move and I needed to move now.

  “They came here…pro’ly an hour ‘go,” Ru’s voice was heavy on the other side, as is every word took an effort to enunciate. “Attacked outta nowhere. Took her.”

  “Why? Why would they go that far to break into Black Crown headquarters and take Chrys?”

  There was a pause as Ru gathered his breath. “It’s the same…as those after you.”

  The White Alchemist.

  A knot of fear slammed into my stomach as we came to the lake, seeing those arrows again in their demonic circle. They were here for me just a couple hours ago. And since they couldn’t get to me they took Chrys instead.

  “You two are…th’ same.”

  “I know,” I said softly. “I know. But I’m going to get her back. And Leon. They must have taken him, too.”

  I heard Ru sigh in pain, and told him that he needed to rest up and call back in an hour. He agreed, but only after I promised to call him the second we thought of something, no matter what.

  Before we hung up, Ru said this, “Sh’s close to you. Chrys.”

  “Yeah, I…know. I’ll call you when we figure out something.” I shut the

  phone up just as we reached the outside of the dorm. I leaned against the wall, my knees feeling so weak and rubbery.

  Leon and Chrys were both missing—and in Leon’s case, injured—what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t just sit in my dorm and wait for morning to come. Where were they?

  “Emery?” Dove asked, placing a warm hand on my shoulder. “What do we do?”

  “I…I don’t know, Dove. I don’t know,” I sobbed. “I don’t know where to start searching, and why this is happening. I know Leon, no matter what, he can take care of himself, but Chrys—she’s so small, Dove! What’s the use of having this power if people are going to do whatever it takes to use it badly?

  Why?”

  Dove remained quiet. I blinked back tears, staring up at the moon, praying for it to give me answers.

  There was a strange insignia over a pair of double doors…a sun and a moon, with two wolves chasing around them…

  That engraving from the dream. The dream Chrys showed me of.

  I gasped. “A library. Dove—she’s at a library.”

  Dove looked confused until I started again. “I didn’t get a good look,

  ‘cause most of it was fuzzy, but Chrys has that power, to…to show me certain places she dreams of. What if she sent me that dream because that’s where she is? A library—one with a second floor..and it’s kind of old looking. And there was this engraving on the wall, of a moon and a sun and two wolves chasing each other…”

  “Guinevere’s library…The Sun and Moon Library Museum,” Dove whispered. “The tale of Hati and Skoll, the two wolf gods of Norse Mythology that chase the sun and the moon around the earth. That’s where we all stayed

  before…the attack. We called it Guinevere’s library because it was the longest place we’ve ever stayed at.”

  “Where’s that library now, Dove?”

  “It’s in…Andersonville, only a couple hours away from here. A…yes, it was a locally owedn library. Small, but Guinevere bought it from the previous owner. We stayed there for about three years until…”

  “That must be where Chrys is. And Leon.” I reached out to squeeze her hand; the very same one that clung to Leon’s broken wrist bands. “We’ve finally got a lead.”

  ○○○

  It was a tough decision, but we decided to get a couple of hours rest to save our strength before heading off in the early morning. I texted Ru with the details, and his response was a simple and short “k” before I fell into deep slumber, hoping that Chrys would visit my dreams again.

  But no such luck. I had a black, deepless sleep. And when I woke up too early the next morning, I realized there was another problem I had to deal with: My dad.

  I couldn’t just leave with Dove to go to Andersonville, no matter what reason. Dad would have blown a fuse. So while I gathered supplies from around the dorm (some snacks, bandages, etc.) while Dove still slept for the last hour, I concocted a plan to get Dove and I out of St. Mary’s.

  But as it turns out, I didn’t need a lie ready at all. Dad called me at seven on the spot, bright and early. Luckily I was in the kitchens so it didn’t wake Dove.

  “Emery, sorry, is this too early?” I heard his cheerful voice on the other side of the line and it brought a fresh wave of tears in my eyes. He laughed, and

  continued. “It’s funny how we’re only half a mile apart but we’re talking to each other through the phone! Listen, sweetie, I know this is very, very last minute notice, but I think we’re going to have to head back home today.”

  “What? Why?” If I went home, I couldn’t rescue Chrys and Leon, dammit!

  “Actually, it’s a funny story! Someone from the school board called ten minutes ago. They heard about me from the new Headmaster here, and they want me to fly up back to New York and do some maintenance on a new school their building. And get this—it’s only a half hour drive from home! They want me to start immediately—tomorrow. That means we need to fly back up home at least by the afternoon. We could really use the extra money—maybe by the end of the summer I’ll be able to afford a car for us! Isn’t this great?”

  I was stunned, and it took a full minute for my brain to remember how to function. “I—that is great news, Dad. It really is.”

  “You bet it is! So I really am sorry this is so terribly last minute, but what say we pack up our things and get out of here by lunch? I still have a couple of other things to take care of around here.”

  “I—” quick Emery, quick! Lie like you’ve never lied before!

  “Actually…uh, if I had know a little earlier I would totally go for it Dad! But…

  but Dove and I are actually working on a summer extra credit project. I mean, I can’t just bail on her and all…and she and Leon—”

  “Oh…well, don’t your friends have a relative that they’re living with? I know that they all wanted to stay a little longer to get their legs on the ground from—where were they from again?”

  “Switzerland,” I lied.

  “Yes. They wanted some more time to get used to the city before the ventured off, right? Well, you tell Dove that I do apologize, but this is a huge

  opportunity and I can’t afford to waste it. And once we leave we aren’t coming back until the new term starts!”

  “What if I stayed with Dove?” I blurted out. “At their…aunt and uncle’s house? Just for a week or two so we can finish the extra credit and then I’ll fly back up home in no time! You can go ahead and get a head start on your new job and I’ll get this assignment done!”

  Dad sucked in a breath, and I could envision his wheels turning inside his head. “Well…if that’s what you want to do. But is Dove okay with this?”

  “I’ll ask her and get right back to you. R
eally. I’ve met their aunt before and she’s super nice (lie). Please, Dad? I don’t know if Dove and Leon will be back in school by next year…”

  “Well, alright…” he sighed, “I trust you, Emery. I know you can take care of yourself, but of course I’m still going to worry about you. But you have to promise to call me now, alright? Doesn’t matter the long distance or not. You can even stay the rest of the summer down here if you promise to stay out of trouble.”

  Chance! “I promise, promise, promise! Thank you, Dad! This is perfect because Dove’s aunt is actually coming to pick her up in just an hour! I’ll slide by your apartment and tell you goodbye, alright?” Another lie. Man, was I good under pressure!

  “Alright—”

  “See you in a little bit, Dad!”

  I flipped the phone shut before I started crying out of joy and frustration and sadness. It honestly pained me that my Dad trusted me so easily, but it brought me such pride and responsibility at the same time that he does trust me enough to live with a couple of strangers for a month or so.

  I promise once I rescue Chrys and Leon that this kind of thing will never

  happen again. Never.

  I would never get in that kind of situation where I was in the hospital because of this alchemy. I would never see him cry like that again.

  Just as I hung up the phone, Dove stumbled down the stairs, dressed in a tank top and sweater with her usual denim shorts and sturdy boots. A backpack was slung over her shoulder and I grinned, grabbing my own. As we headed out the door, I quickly told her the cover story, and then I went to bid my dad a farewell and a promise to see each other by the end of summer.

  “That’s rather convenient,” she said. We kept our voices low, though there wasn’t a soul around. Out of habit, we kept to the shadows, heading towards Dad’s place.

  “Isn’t it?” I whispered back. “But it’s lucky for us—oh, and you’ve got the full story right?”

  “Yes, we’re working on a project for history. And I’ve already called my ‘aunt’ and she is ‘very delighted to have Emery come stay with us for the summer.’”