I crashed uncomfortably onto a pile of boxes, the hard edges poking into my back as my own weight crumpled them. The boy’s grip loosened on my ankle and before I could think I kicked in his direction. Hard.
There was terrible crunch and a wail of pain, but he finally let go. I sure wasn’t sticking around anymore! I lunged away, slipping and sliding on stray papers and reaching out to grab my bag. But it was so hard to concentrate with my vision blurred and my chest hurting with each breath.
“Wait!”
I froze, one foot on the first step. My palms started to sweat again, but I felt cold. Not because the room was so cold, but it was a cold inside me, like I had just swallowed a bucket of ice cubes and they were settling painfully in my stomach.
“Please….wait…”
Despite that horrible dread sinking in my gut, I turned around to meet…my somewhat murderer.
Dove’s brother—Leon.
CHAPTER 15
Leon slowly got to his feet, clutching the hem of his black hoodie against his bloodied nose. Good, I thought bitterly, He deserves it. His head lifted unhurriedly, those oddly beautiful sea green eyes locked onto mine. I felt goose bumps prickle all over my body, even though I was wearing a thick green sweater and my only good pair of jeans.
He took a step forward and I flinched, backing up. “Not another step closer,” I threatening, feeling my voice quaver, “Or I’ll scream!”
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Leon said through his shirt. It sounded like “I’m nah goen to hur you” and it took me a few seconds to realize. But to his benefit, he didn’t move another step. “Please, just listen to me.”
“Why should I?” No way in hell was I going to listen to him. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out.
And if Dove didn’t trust him, neither did I.
Leon’s eyes never bore away from mine, but he did reach into his back pocket. I almost screamed, thinking he was about to bring out a weapon when he tossed something my way. A flash of silver and red flew in the air before it clanged at my feet. I stared at the object in disbelief.
It was my bracelet!
“You don’t have to trust me,” he breathed, his voice sounding faint, “This is my white flag. I won’t hurt you. I won’t lay a hand on you ever again.”
Needless to say I was pretty shocked. I still remember how vivid his look was when he had stabbed me. His eyes were full of so much shock and pain; I thought it was just because he had killed the wrong target. But now here he was, bent at an awkward shape, blood dripping from his nose, looking…guilty.
I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure if I could trust myself to speak, but Leon continued either way, “I know you’re looking for the Elixir. I have some clues that could help.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to force myself to keep quiet, tightening my grip on my bag. Just because he looked guilt ridden didn’t mean I should believe him. Not just yet.
There were muffled shouts and screaming coming from outside the library. Heavy footsteps passed overhead. But nothing else was heard except our breathing and pulsing heartbeats.
Leon turned his head away, his ruffled brown hair hiding his eyes. But even from here, I could see how much pain was plastered on his face. I saw his hands, clenched in fist, trembling so hard; his knuckles were so white I saw a trickle of blood seep through his clenched palm.
He was serious.
“I know you can’t trust me,” he finally said, looking at me again, “But if you want to know where the Elixir might be, I can tell you. Meet me at the clock tower tomorrow. It doesn’t matter what time. Any time is fine. Just….”
“Why should I?” I blurted, instantly regretting it seeing the hurt in his eyes. But…so what?! He had killed me, because he was trying to kill his sister! Why should I feel sorry for him? “Why should I meet you? Why should I trust you?”
And yet…
“You shouldn’t.” he said matter-of-factly. Gee, what was it with siblings who had the same kind of annoying “you aren’t ready to hear it yet” kind of tone? He reached into his jacket and pulled out a rolled up parchment, tied together with some sort of twine, placing it on the nearest stack.
“This is compensation. For her.”
“Wait! What do you mean—”
Light instantly flooded the room, the door behind me cracked open as Mrs. Callaway peaked her head in, “Emery, dear? Are you alright?”
I mumbled some weird excuse, asking why she was here when my time wasn’t even up, praying she didn’t see Leon inside. How could I explain that I was alone in a room with a boy like this? Oh, I’m sure Mrs. Callaway would have understood but she’d still have to go to the dreadful Headmistresses about it. I had enough marks against her.
“Oh, dear, I know it’s a little early, but I just remembered the heaters are broken on the bottom levels. I was sure you would have frozen to death!” she chuckled, “It’s my fault for forgetting, so why don’t we just call it a day and get you something warm to drink? It’ll be our little secret. Just this once?”
I nodded, realizing I wasn’t cold at all—I felt hot and sweaty and nervous, like I was just caught doing something I wasn’t supposed to do.
“Uh, just give me a minute to get my things and I’ll be up!”
“Of course, dear,” and with a final nod she closed the door just enough to where there was a thin slit of light. After I heard her footsteps fade, I whirled around, eager to finish with Leon.
But he was gone. A blast of cold wind came from the left side of the room and I twirled around, just in time to see the farthest window slam shut; a shadow melting into the light.
He had disappeared like air, leaving me standing alone and confused in a library’s basement.
What on earth had just happened?
◊◊◊◊◊
“What were you thinking, being alone with him?!”
I winced from Dove’s outburst, telling her to tone it down before one of the neighbors heard her ranting. Although I didn’t think I’d need to worry too much. It was a Saturday night. Most people were was chilling in the lobbies watching movie marathons, or sneaking out to infamous parties at the boy’s dorms.
Either way, everyone was stuck inside as huge fat drops of rain splashed against the windowpane, falling so hard it sounded like bullets pelting against the rooftop.
After meeting Leon in the basement I couldn’t stop shaking. Even when buying two hot chocolates with hazelnut and a half dozen box of chocolate glazed donuts in the coffee shop, I couldn’t stop my hands from shaking. And certainly not from the cold, but a weird feeling like I was being watched, even when I dashed back to my dorm room and locked myself in there until Dove came to get me for training.
But instead of following after her I waved for her to come in.
And here we were, sitting on the floor and munching on the sweets (and she did like sweets; I’d have to make a note about that) as I told her over and over what had happened in the library’s basement archives.
“It’s not like I had a choice,” I muttered between bites of sugary donuts, “For one thing, the doors were locked. For another, he didn’t seem like he wanted to hurt me.”
“That’s complete nonsense!”
“But it’s true.” And even if I didn’t want to admit it, it was the truth. “We were alone for…about two minutes or so, maybe even less, but he didn’t try to hurt me at all.” Except when he grabbed my ankle and I fell, but I think that was more of an accident than on purpose.
Besides, he had a bloody nose and I had a sore back. We were kind of even. Dove seemed pretty impressed when I told her I almost broke his nose. What can I say? I had pretty good reflexes (only when they didn’t seem to count. Where were they when Mallory practically bombarded me in the girl’s bathroom, or when I oh so heroically jumped in front of Dove to save that far off September day?).
“I just don’t trust him,” she said, her lips pressed in a thin line, “What does he think he’s trying to do? Buy
your trust?”
I rubbed the edge of the shiny red stone on my bracelet, feeling the metal slide against my skin. It was true. Did Leon think he could bribe my trust by returning my lost bracelet? But I couldn’t really forget the hurt in his eyes.
I never said I would forgive him, but I sort of felt sorry for him, too.
I wiped a few crumbs off my face and took a sip of my now cold hot chocolate, “What about the pages he left?” I eyed it uncertainly in its placed between me and Dove. The pages looked so worn and old, as if it would have crumbled with the simplest touch. But to my surprise when I showed it to Dove, she didn’t try to hide it. She wanted me to see it.
“They look like…papers from Guinevere’s journal,” she said, picking it with care. “I thought it was lost—or maybe she had hidden it somewhere—I don’t know how Leon got his hands on it, or why he’s giving it to you.” she gritted her teeth, and I had to nudge her with my foot so she wouldn’t rip the papers with her iron grip.
“Maybe it’s a peace offering?” I tried. “And what about that old alchemic book that you lent to me?” I pointed at it, the heavy tome sitting on my desk next to my abandoned homework.
“That was just a simple text. Every alchemist has one.” She shook her head, “And I don’t believe this is a peace offering. Not for one minute,” the acid in her voice was thick. I had to keep from flinching at her scary tone, “It’s most likely he’s just trying to buy your trust and use us at the same time.”
I tilted my head, “What do you mean by ‘use’ us?”
She handed the pages to me—there were about two dozen or so, maybe a lot more—and I took it with great care. They felt crinkly and warm against my palms.
I didn’t know what to expect, but not this.
The pages were filled with strange, foreign text and symbols, mixed with detailed drawings of maps and odd objects. With every yellow page I sorted through in the small stack, nothing made sense. It wasn’t until I was nearly half way that I came across a small piece of thick paper folded up between the pages. It fell out with a light flutter, and I grabbed it before it hit the floor.
It crinkled as I unfolded the edges. When I laid it down on the floor my eyes widened—it was an old, old picture so aged it was a stained, pale coffee color. The edges were torn and brown, and the picture itself was so faded I almost couldn’t make out who it was; there were two women, and a little girl clutching a small baby doll, sitting as still as stone next to each other. Their clothes were old fashioned, possibly something from the Civil War era or earlier.
“What is all this?” I breathed, completely enthralled with this piece of history laid out in front of me.
“This is our clue to where the Elixir is,” Dove said, her voice barely above a whisper. I could hardly hear her over the heavy pelting of the rain. “These must be the pages that will lead us to the location of the fragment of Elixir here in Savannah.”
“But…it’s in a completely different language!”
She smirked, leaning over to grasp the book back, “Guinevere wrote in her own secret language so nobody else could discover her secrets—except me.”
My jaw dropped, “You know how to read this?”
“Well…kind of,” she admitted sheepishly, “It’s been such a long time since she taught me, but with some time I could figure out a way to translate it.”
“Then that means we’ll be closer to the Elixir!” I jumped, feeling giddy like I was on a sugar rush (and I probably was!). But my good mood quickly deflated when I remembered something “Does this mean Leon is just using us to get to the Elixir? He can’t read any of this?”
She shook her head, “Only I can.” She folded the pages and placed the stack on the bed before getting up, stretching her arms above her head. I got up too, fearing she might suddenly leap out the window and head back to her church. But that was silly, considering the rain was falling so hard that you couldn’t even see the trees. She continued, “That’s what infuriates me. He’s just trying to use you into getting what he wants. What nerve! Especially after he killed you!”
“Almost killed me. You saved my life, remember?” I reminded her, but felt a tiny pang of guilt. I hadn’t told her about his proposal to meet him tomorrow. And why was it that I felt sorry for him? I shouldn’t be! “Let’s just focus on trying to figure out this book, and forget about Leon.”
I’ll make this right, I thought. I’ll see him tomorrow and figure out what he really wants, and then I will wipe my hands of him completely.
But even though I was confident in the plan, I didn’t really feel too confident. What if he did try to hurt me again? But…he didn’t at the library. Was it because it was in a public place? Or was it just because he wanted me to give his sister the journal? But then he wouldn’t have given me back my bracelet. Or was that just some act to gain my trust?
Aw, hell! I was just gonna have to take that chance! At least Dove had the pages—even if I end up dying from this stupid ass decision at least she had a one up against him!
Dove’s ice blue eyes flickered with concern. “Emery—”
“Are you leaving already?” I interrupted, “It’s raining outside.”
“Yes,” Dove said, “The sooner I get on this, the closer we’ll get to locating the shard of Elixir. Don’t worry about training tonight. The weather’s too bad out.”
“Exactly! It’s raining so hard. Do you even have an umbrella? And what about staying at the church? You’ll probably catch your death there.” Last I checked, there were a few gaping holes on the slanted wooden roof, easy places for water to leak. “Besides, what if the pages get wet and we lose everything?” I added lamely, but I saw Dove ponder the thought. After a long pause, she finally agreed to stay until the rain passed.
We spent the time talking and playing board games, and I introduced her to some of my favorite novels. Anything to get her mind just a little off of Guinevere and Leon and the Elixir. It was times like this that I almost forget how…wise and strong and powerful she is—and even so, she still felt as if she were weak and useless. Even if she didn’t have any alchemy, she looked like the type who didn’t even need it to survive.
The rain continued to fall, faster and harder as the hours ticked by. It wasn’t until the House Mother, Mrs. Watterson, came by to tell me the storm would continue all through the night and that I should have a flashlight close by (for emergency, I guess), that it seemed like Dove wasn’t going anywhere.
She didn’t seem too bothered by it as I snuck out to the laundry room to grab extra blankets and a pillow as we made a makeshift bed on the ground.
But instead of being happy about finally getting to know Dove, I still had so many questions I couldn’t bring myself to say. It didn’t seem right—it felt like I was just a third party caught in the middle of a sibling feud, and I had to suffer the consequences for it.
As the time crawled to a slow pace, and my eyes burning from staring at the blinking lights of my clock finally change to 1:14 am, the questions kept piling up, like some huge weight pressing on my skull.
I needed answers. I’ve always need answers, but there was some small part of me that kept holding back. What if I asked the wrong things and Dove just left me? She wouldn’t do that, I’m sure of it, but….it wasn’t impossible.
I had to get stories from both sides about this fight and the answers to the Elixir. It had to be sometime soon, because who knew how long my fake heart was going to keep ticking?
CHAPTER 16
The storm continued all through the night and into the next peaceful Sunday morning. Dove wanted to go back to her “base”, but I insisted she stay here while I did some studying.
She was reluctant, at first, but I sort of bribed her with a hot breakfast and a change of clothes. When I had gone to fetch breakfast in the dorm’s small kitchen, I noticed a lot of people were stuck inside. I waved to a few kids lounging in front of the TV in the living room and took our breakfast back to the dorm room.
I nearly collided with Samantha, spilling a few Froot Loops on the carpet; the multi colored pieces abruptly crushed by the heels of her slick, black boots. We just stood there, staring. I expected her to yell at me for getting her shoes covered in cereal crumbs, or to make some sort of snide remark about how much that food would go to my hips (which was starting to get heavy. I didn’t know what Dove liked so I pretty much grabbed one of everything and toasted it. The blue bowl of cereal was my morning meal.)
Instead, she ran her fingers through her luxurious strawberry blonde hair, “Good morning.” Her southern accent was thick, but it sounded strained, as if she hadn’t slept well in the past week or so.
“Morning,” I replied back. I shifted my arms, trying to adjust the bagels and toast balancing on a paper plate.
“We’re heading to the Auditorium for Sunday prayer. And then after that everyone’s meeting up at the gym for some…club activities. Want to join us?” Samantha said, flicking her eyes over me. I was a little touched, albeit cautious. She was trying to be nice after what had happened, but I couldn’t really take the chance. I mean, she wasn’t the one who gave me the cold glare these past months, and compared to all of Mallory’s other sheep, Samantha seemed a lot nicer than that. But still…she did just stand there and let Mallory push me in the bathrooms. But…I can’t really blame her for something like that. Can I? Is she guilty just be association?
Well, there was no way I was going to be a part of any sort of “club” that had Mallory as leader. I’d rather wear a suit of meat and take my chances with rabid dogs in a junk heap.
“Thanks for the offer, but I have a lot of studying to catch up on.” I said, stepping aside, “Be careful in the rain.”
The Fake Heart (Time Alchemist Series) Page 11
