“Don’t forget about me,” Max said, patting his chest. “I was there too!”
Gordy’s mom stepped out of the elevator onto the lowest level of B.R.E.W. Headquarters. “Stay,” she said, pointing a finger at the floor.
Gordy followed after her but obediently stopped to wait by the elevator doors. Max and Adilene filed out next, and Gordy had to grab Max’s collar to keep him from continuing down the hallway. Red lights flashed overhead, but the shrill alarm had finally been shut off.
Gordy noticed something different immediately. Gone was the familiar glow of the Vessel that usually filled the hallway from beyond the plexiglass windows. A security guard stood at the other end of the corridor, leaning against the wall and massaging his temple with his fingers as Mrs. Stitser approached.
“What happened?” Gordy’s mom asked, folding her arms.
“Doesn’t make any sense,” Gordy heard the guard grumble. “One second I was eating my lunch, the next, lights started flashing and the alarm’s blaring.”
Gordy dropped to the ground, unzipped his bag, and pulled out a couple of vials.
“What are you doing?” Adilene asked.
“I’m just being cautious.” It didn’t look like anything was wrong, but Gordy thought it was better to be safe than sorry.
“Pass me Trapper Keeper,” Max whispered, holding out his hand demandingly.
Gordy eyed the purple potion in his bag, but he hesitated. Max and vials of dangerous potions didn’t always mix. He had a tendency to not listen to instructions, and that could be disastrous. Trapper Keeper hadn’t been tested yet on humans, just a stuffed-animal elephant.
“Come on, dude! Don’t hold out on me,” Max insisted.
Instead of Trapper Keeper, Gordy placed a thin test tube bubbling with yellowish ooze in Max’s palm.
“What’s this?” Max eyed the potion curiously.
“Don’t worry about it.” Gordy grabbed himself a Torpor Tonic and passed Adilene one as well. “You probably won’t need it, but if you do, you’ll be ready.”
“Wait a minute!” Max exploded with anger. “Is this Toe-Itch Sauce? It is! I don’t want this. This won’t stop criminals in their tracks.”
Adilene shushed him, her brow knitting with concern. “The guard just said that the door to the room was opened.”
“He did?” Gordy looked up from his bag. He watched as his mom and the guard entered the Vessel room. The door closed behind them, silencing their muffled conversation. Gordy felt the urge to sneak closer so he could hear what they were saying.
“You’re going to break that, Max!” Adilene hissed.
Gordy looked over to see Max casually tossing the Toe-Itch Sauce in the air while simultaneously waving his foot between the elevator doors, causing them to open and close jerkily.
Max scoffed, but then fumbled the vial in his fingers, only catching it before it fell.
“You know what? Let me have that back.” Gordy had given the potion to Max as a joke, but now he regretted it. If Max broke the bottle, there was enough liquid to cause the trio plenty of discomfort.
“I’ll only trade it,” Max said. “For Trapper Keeper.” He dangled the vial enticingly, but pulled it away when Gordy snatched for it. The elevator door rumbled, but Max stuck out his rear end, preventing it from closing.
“Why are you doing that?” Adilene asked. “What if someone needs to come down here?”
“I’m pretty sure everyone else evacuated the building,” Max said. “Besides, what if we need a quick getaway? You’ll thank me for not having to wait for the elevator.”
And then suddenly Max was on the floor, sprawled out on his back, with a painful “oof.” He lost his hold of the Toe-Itch Sauce, and the vial shattered beneath him.
It happened so fast, Gordy and Adilene only had time to look at each other and laugh in shock. Then Max started screaming.
“Why did you shove me, Rivera!” Max bellowed, tearing at his shoes and ripping out the laces. Both of his feet had turned bright pink as red dots began appearing on his toes.
“I didn’t shove you,” Adilene insisted, covering her mouth to hide her smile.
The elevator door closed, sending the dimly lit hallway into almost complete darkness. Gordy felt his own toes starting to itch, but it was probably just sympathy pains. He didn’t think any of the potion had made contact with his skin. The entirety of the vial’s liquid had landed on Max.
Max wailed and scratched and thrashed about on the floor. The door to the Vessel room opened, and Gordy’s mom charged out, grasping a bottle of something frothy and scarlet.
“What happened?” she demanded, her eyes narrowing with anger.
“Nothing,” Gordy said. “Max fell down.”
“Shoved!” Max sulked. “Rivera wanted me to suffer.”
“I did not,” she said with an annoyed sigh.
“So, what’s going on?” Gordy nodded toward the guard exiting the Vessel room.
“Everything’s fine, just as I suspected,” his mom answered. “All right, you three, it’s time to go home.” She pressed the call button for the elevator, but the door took almost a minute to open. So much for Max’s quick getaway plan.
Max gathered up his socks and shoes from the floor and then paused to attack his toes once more with his fingernails. “It feels like there are ants building a colony under my toenails,” he whined.
“Well, maybe next time you’ll stop fooling around,” Gordy said.
Max glared at Gordy and lowered his voice. “I’m not kidding. Someone pushed me.”
“I was standing right beside Adilene the whole time. It wasn’t her,” Gordy said. “And you know I wouldn’t push you.”
Max just huffed and hugged his shoes close to his chest as he boarded the elevator, barefoot and miserable.
Adilene Rivera stood in her kitchen, sifting flour into a mixing bowl. She sliced cubes of butter and leveled sugar and salt into various measuring containers. She had already whipped up a tantalizing batch of cream-cheese frosting to go on her favorite cupcakes. As an only child, Adilene had most of the house to herself on Saturdays, which was great if she had things to do, like baking or homework or—well, that was it. Mostly she found herself bored by the lack of activities to keep her occupied.
Now, if she were a Dram like Gordy, Adilene knew exactly where she would be for the rest of the weekend—brewing in the family lab. But she didn’t have a lab, and she wasn’t a Dram. At least she hadn’t shown any signs of becoming one. According to Gordy’s mom, the ability to concoct rarely manifested itself in someone already in their teens, and Adilene had turned thirteen two months ago. Most kids showed signs of the potion-making ability when they were still quite young. Adilene wanted badly to mix and create, and a big part of her was jealous of Gordy’s exciting life.
The preheated signal chimed, and Adilene slid her cupcake pans into the warm oven and closed the door. In eighteen minutes, she would be enjoying a tasty treat.
“Now what?” she grumbled to herself. She didn’t have any homework, and her mom and dad would be at the farmers market until the afternoon. They sold El Salvadorian delicacies, such as pupusas and pastelitos, and this was one of their last opportunities before the market closed for the fall.
Through the window above the kitchen sink, Adilene noticed a blue pickup truck pull into the driveway across the street. The Stitsers had lived in that house for years until a madwoman burned it down. Now, it was just a shell of blackened walls and moldering wood. There was even a large hole in the roof where smoke still poofed out on occasion. Over the past seven years, Adilene had spent quite a lot of time in Gordy’s living room. They’d watched movies together and played games. It wasn’t until last year that she’d finally seen the other room in the house, the most important one, when Mrs. Stitser allowed Gordy to show her the family lab, and Adilene’s
life had changed forever.
An older, gray-haired gentleman stepped down from the truck and walked into the yard.
Adilene pushed her palms onto the counter to hoist her body up so she could see better through the window. “What’s he doing?”
The man didn’t move much. He just stood on the lawn, staring up at the charred remains of the house. Adilene supposed he could have been a construction foreman. Maybe he was checking a few things before scheduling the house for demolition, which was way past due. Then, to Adilene’s utter astonishment, the man walked over and pulled on the wooden slat that boarded up the window into the Stitsers’ old living room.
“Hey!” Adilene smacked the window, but the stranger couldn’t hear her. Too curious to wait around wondering, Adilene wiped her hands on a towel and then hurried out the front door.
She trotted across her yard and into the street. Even though the Stitsers had moved, it seemed impolite to rummage through their previous property without an invitation. Did this man have an invitation? Adilene didn’t think so.
“Hey. Did you know the people that used to live there?” Adilene asked.
The man turned abruptly and looked at her, but he didn’t say anything.
Adilene shivered, but not because of the cold; it was late August, and the breeze felt warm and pleasant. But she didn’t like the way he stood there, wearing a distant expression, as though looking past her at some unseen object in the road.
“They were my friends,” Adilene explained. “There was a gas explosion, but everyone’s fine. That’s why they had to move. Are you with a construction crew?”
The man opened his mouth and gasped, his eyes bulging, his cheeks puffing out like a goldfish.
“Are you choking?” Adilene took a couple of steps toward him, fearing that she might have to perform the Heimlich maneuver. He was so tall! How would she ever be able to help him?
“My uncle doesn’t say much.”
Adilene looked to her right and saw a young girl standing at the edge of the driveway. She must have been hiding, because Adilene hadn’t noticed anyone else inside the truck earlier. The girl wore a yellow-striped dress, and her light-blonde hair swished and swayed in the breeze.
“He doesn’t say anything, actually,” the girl added. “He has a condition where he can’t make words.”
Embarrassed, the man looked away, back toward the house.
“He’s your uncle?” Adilene felt weird standing in the center of the road, but she wasn’t ready to commit to crossing over completely.
The girl nodded. “His name’s Uncle Carlisle. My name’s Cadence. What’s your name?”
“Adilene,” she answered. “What was he doing by the window?”
Where she had been politely skirting the question with odd Uncle Carlisle, Adilene felt no reservations about getting right to the point with this girl. Cadence was definitely the same age as Adilene, maybe even a year younger.
Cadence’s smile faltered slightly. “Nothing, he was . . . he was just looking around.”
“Well, he shouldn’t.” Adilene folded her arms and watched Cadence’s uncle suspiciously. “That house burned. It’s unsafe to go inside.”
“Where are you from?” Cadence asked.
Adilene raised an eyebrow and pointed to her house behind her. She knew what this girl was doing. Don’t try to change the subject.
“No, I didn’t mean that. You have a really nice accent.”
“Oh.” Adilene studied Cadence for a moment and then decided it was probably safe enough to move all the way across the street. “I was born in El Salvador, but my family moved here when I was six. I still have a bit of an accent, but I speak English.”
“Yeah, I can tell,” Cadence replied. Along with her yellow-striped dress, Cadence also wore scuffed running shoes with Velcro straps. “I heard you say that you knew the family that lived here before the fire?”
“I still do,” Adilene said. “Gordy’s my best friend.”
“Where did they move to?” Cadence asked.
“They moved . . . well,” Adilene hesitated. Cadence watched her, patiently waiting for an answer. “Across town.” She noticed something about Cadence that she hadn’t before. Dangling from straps at her waist was a small leather bag. It might have been a purse, but Adilene could see what looked like the wax-filled tip of a tiny glass vial poking out of one of the pockets. She gasped and covered her mouth.
Cadence noticed her reaction and followed her gaze down to her leather bag. “Ah, that’s just . . .” She tucked the vial deeper into its pocket with her thumb.
“You’re an Elixirist!” Adilene whispered. “Aren’t you?”
Cadence looked down one side of the street and then up the other. “No, I’m not,” she whispered back, but her grin stretched wide.
“Yes, you are! That’s a potion, isn’t it?”
Cadence pressed her finger to her lips and shushed Adilene. “You really shouldn’t talk about this out in the open, you know.”
Adilene frowned. “You’re right! We’re not supposed to draw any unnecessary attention to the Community.” She could remember the parchment posted in Gordy’s lab listing the Five Rules of Potion Making. If she wasn’t careful, Adilene might break rule number one. But the other girl didn’t seem offended.
Adilene smiled. Another Elixirist. Just like Gordy, with potions and a satchel and a knowledge of all things mysterious.
“Do you go to school at Kipland?” Adilene didn’t recognize her from the hallways, but Kipland was a big school with loads of kids. Maybe Gordy knew who she was. He knew all the other Drams.
“No, I go to school somewhere else,” Cadence answered. “I’m just visiting my uncle for a little while.”
Adilene suddenly heard a faint piercing sound. Looking around, trying to locate the source of the noise, Adilene’s eyes suddenly widened. “My cupcakes!” she said. “I have to go.”
“It was nice meeting you,” Cadence said.
“Yeah, you too.” Adilene turned to hurry away, but paused in the street. “Hey, do you want to come over and have a cupcake? They’re strawberry with cream-cheese frosting.”
After a brief pause, Cadence nodded. “Yes, that would be wonderful.” She joined Adilene in the road, walking toward the house.
“Shouldn’t you see if it’s okay with your uncle?” Adilene asked.
Cadence looked back as Uncle Carlisle glanced in their direction, his mouth tight-lipped, his expression unreadable. “He doesn’t care if I go.”
Adilene had many more questions to ask, but the oven wouldn’t shut itself off on its own, so she picked up her pace.
A centerpiece of piled cupcakes separated the two girls at the kitchen table. The slathered-on cream-cheese frosting made the cupcakes—browner than Adilene would have liked—all the more appetizing. Soon, both girls sat peeling the wrappers and giggling as they ate.
“Where do you keep your lab?” Cadence asked between gulps of her glass of milk.
“My lab?” Adilene looked down at the table, embarrassed. She hadn’t told Cadence that she wasn’t a Dram. “I don’t have a lab.”
Cadence appeared confused. “But . . .”
“I’m not an Elixirist,” Adilene interjected. “I should have told you outside. I just know a lot about the Community, and I’m friends with Gordy, so, you know, if you want to leave, you can. I won’t feel bad.”
“Why would I leave?” Cadence selected another cupcake from the pile and prized off the wrapper with her finger.
“Well, I kind of lied to you. I made you think I was a potion master, when I’m really not.”
“That doesn’t bother me,” Cadence said.
Adilene breathed a sigh of relief. “I really wish I could make potions like you guys. I just don’t have the gift. And I guess I never will. Do you want to watch a movie or somet
hing?” Adilene asked. “We could go to my room, and I can show you my books and things.”
Cadence started to nod when a low rumble rose up from beneath the table. Adilene peered beneath the tablecloth.
“What’s the matter, Hercules?” she asked. Normally docile, the Riveras’ beagle rarely made more than an occasional peep. In response to Adilene’s question, though, Hercules barked loudly, and both girls jumped. The dog scrambled out from beneath the table and stood at the front door, snarling. Adilene flinched. What had gotten into Hercules? She walked up next to him and peered out through the narrow side window.
Uncle Carlisle stood on the porch facing the road, his back to the door.
Adilene gasped and leaped back in surprise. “Your, um . . . It’s your uncle,” she said.
“I need to go,” Cadence answered. “It’s been really great to meet you, and these were delicious cupcakes. Maybe I could stop by some other time?”
“Yeah, sure,” Adilene said.
Cadence returned to the truck with her uncle and drove away. Slightly confused, Adilene watched them leave the neighborhood. Then her eyes drifted back toward Gordy’s old house—to where the front door had been left open just a crack.
The following Wednesday, Gordy fiddled with the combination of his locker. A wave of students bustled past, hardly paying him any attention, but Gordy didn’t want them to notice what he was doing, because that might make them suspicious.
Pressing his thumb to the center of the combo lock, Gordy nonchalantly looked over his shoulder as his Fingerprint Recognition Rub, a concoction he had brewed up himself, went to work. The dial spun on its own, engaging the correct combination before opening the locker with a soft click. Most of the potions he made were one-time jobbers. They had to be tossed or poured or consumed, and the results were instant. Gordy had never made a lingering potion that operated on something with moving parts like his combo lock. Maybe he had a future in Machinery working alongside Bolter.
The Transparency Tonic Page 4
