by Matt Ryan
Mark filled a cart with books and shoved it through the doorway. Many of the students were out in the hub, a few carrying boxes. I remembered the box from room twenty-eight, the one where we’d won the challenge by putting a hundred stones in it.
I glanced back at Jackie and Leo. “You guys coming?”
“In a minute,” Jackie said, and went back to her close-quarters conversation with Leo.
I rolled my eyes and left.
“So, when are we getting out of here?” Bridget asked.
I startled, not having seen her approach. “We’re going to use a portal stone to take us back to Summerford.”
“As in, our hometown?”
“Yep, we’re going back home. Can you find Jackie and get her to make an announcement? Tell everyone we need to start making booster stones. We’re getting out of here.”
“Who’s holding the master portal stone? Your mom?” Bridget asked.
“No, I am.”
Standing on the edge of the fountain, my hands shook as I tried to send sparks to my anger, but my fear kept blowing them out. I wasn’t sure if I could hold a stone like Verity had. It seemed inhuman to hold on to it that long. The detector stone Darius had had me use was a similar type of stone, and I had held it for no more than twenty seconds. I might have to hold this stone for a couple of minutes.
Mom stepped up onto the wall next to me. “I did a bit of reading. Basically, this stone is trying to burn you from the inside out. We’ll send one booster stone to you at a time so it doesn’t overwhelm you. After you’ve used one, you have to fall into water to counteract the effect.”
“Great. Burn and drown. Simple, really.” My whole body shook, and I tried to steady my hands. Where was my anger? I took a deep breath, searching for the ignition.
“Allie, I know you’re scared, and that’s okay, but we need you to find a sustainable anger. Something to hold on to while these students boost your stone.”
“I don’t know if I can, Mom,” I whispered, and in the moment, I lost sight of all of the people staring up at us and only saw her.
She offered a small smile, then looked away. When she turned back, I took a step back. Her brow had turned down and her lips had thinned. She glared at me as if I had just killed her cat. My eyes went wide and I looked behind me, thinking maybe there was another person who was the source of her rage, but it was all for me.
“There are a few things you should know, Allie. When I came here the first time, I had no idea you were in this Academy. After the stone you made killed….” She touched her necklace. “After they died, we dropped in for a last chance to get at the library. I was as shocked to see you as you were me.”
“You’re lying.”
Her face didn’t change and her words spilled out like venom. “I’m not, Allie. I wouldn’t even have recognized you if not for the few pictures your dad put up online.”
“You’re just trying to get me mad. It won’t work.” That was a lie; I felt the fire light in my gut. As much as I didn’t want to believe her words, the truth rang loud and shook me to my core.
“Did you know I created the scenario where your dad would meet Janet? I knew she would be just the right amount of evil to keep you moderately safe and yet give you the fuel to be one hell of a stone maker. It’s a shame I lost all track of time and didn’t get you to my academy first.”
“Your academy?”
“Oh, I didn’t mention it? The Intrepid run an academy.”
My heart hurt and my face burned with anger. Each word was a gunshot wound. I wanted her to stop. Tears built in my eyes. She had been orchestrating my life for that long? “Dad wouldn’t have allowed this. What did you do to him?”
She laughed, and I no longer recognized the woman in front of me. She got close and whispered in my ear. “Your dad has been dead for some time now, Allie. It’s time you stop blocking it out.”
“No! That’s a lie!” I screamed, and she stumbled back. I wanted to push her off the wall and shove her face under the water, but she broke the dam of memories I never wanted to have.
“I understand you were with him at the end?”
My throat seized and my whole body felt paralyzed as I drifted back to that moment.
My dad had called me on video chat from overseas. He was wearing his uniform and looked as good as ever. We had been chatting for a few minutes when a man opened the door behind him. I didn’t think much of it until the man raised a gun to my dad’s head. I wanted to scream a warning, I wanted to tell my dad to look behind him, but in my immediate rage, my gift had broken my laptop. The screen had shattered and turned black. Then, I went into total hysteria.
It would take two days before the soldiers dressed in formal uniforms came to the door of our house.
I couldn’t leave my room for two months after that, and when I emerged, I’d created a reality where my dad was still alive. He was just overseas and would be home soon. Janet and Spencer must have played along with my delusions. If only I had warned him, I could have saved him. If it weren’t for this gift, my emotions wouldn’t have broken the laptop.
My fire raged with a mixture of hate and despair as I thought of all the bad things in my life, all the lies my mom had perpetuated. I barely noticed the stone in my hand, or the first student placing their stone against mine.
It sent a rush through my body and made me want to collapse. Good—let them bring the pain. I deserved it and more. The students formed an orderly line, but my vision was blurred, and I saw shapes and heard noises but none of it was distinct. I kept a place locked in my mind, my special place in Summerford.
Ten stones later, I groaned at the burning inside of me. The stone felt as heavy as a bowling ball and I struggled to keep my arm up.
The blur of my mom’s face created another wave of pain and anger. My dad’s death felt so fresh. I wanted to give in, but then they would win. I wanted to kill them all; I wanted to bury their families and make the whole world feel my pain.
I yelled out as another stone was placed on mine. The anger burning deep inside me was exchanged for a searing pain, as if I had swallowed lava and it was eating its way out. Then I saw the blur of Bridget’s face. Tears filled my eyes and poured down my cheeks. Good—her stone would be the end, one way or another.
She lifted it onto my stone, which already felt like a sack of concrete. Her stone dug into my hand and the muscles in my shoulder felt close to tearing apart. I felt as if I was floating, but I knew I was falling. I thought of the first place I had taken Mark and fell backward, releasing everything I was holding in. The portal stone soaked into my hand and I screamed. I stared at the ceiling and saw the building shimmer as my body fell apart.
The water touched my back like a slap. I welcomed the relief as the rest of my body plunged under, the water covering my face. When the bottom of the fountain hit my back, I closed my eyes and accepted death.
Hands touched me.
I floated, and water splashed out around me. The hands set me down on the floor. I coughed up water and rolled to my side. I heard cheers and felt a few hands patting my body. I spit water out and tried to get up, only to fall to my hands and knees again.
“Whoa, take it easy,” I heard Mark say. His hands grabbed my shoulders, leaning me back to rest my head on his chest.
“You did it!” Jackie cheered as she knelt down next to my face. She looked blurry, but I saw her bright teeth.
I smiled and coughed, some more water dribbling down my chin. My body felt useless. My muscles wouldn’t respond to my commands, and the floor came in and out of focus. “Where’s my mom?” I asked, but it sounded garbled and I coughed again.
“What?” Mark asked.
“My mom!” I screamed out. I heard the rumble of the crowd simmer to a murmur.
I tried to stand and, with Mark’s help, I succeeded. My vision was still blurry, but I found my mom’s face in the crowd.
She moved closer to me. “Allie, I’m sorry—”
I
slapped her across the face. I only wished I had more strength in me to hit her harder. My attempt was feeble at best. I spotted Jackie behind my mom. She stared at me and I knew she knew how I felt. My mom had let me down; she wasn’t the person I wanted her to be. She was a different person altogether from what I remembered.
“Oh, Allie.” My mom wrapped me in a hug. My weak punches did little to fend her off. I felt her warmth against me and my wet clothes soaked into hers. “I’m so sorry.”
My hands fell to my sides and I lost the will to keep hitting her. I heard her sobs and I felt tears falling down my face. My chin quivered on her shoulder and I gave in. I hugged her and felt her arms hold me tighter as I did. As much as I wanted to hate her, the hate had left my body. Maybe it was the stone, but I never wanted to hate again. I wanted to find love. I wanted my mom to love me and I wanted to love her.
The feeling of losing my dad felt as fresh as it had the day it happened. I had suppressed it for so long, and pushed it so far down, I’d fooled myself. Now, with my mom in my grasp, even with the horrible things she’d just told me, it was still better than not having my mom at all.
“Things are going to be different now, Allie,” Mom said. “We can work together. We don’t ever have to be apart again. I’m so sorry for leaving you. I got distracted from what mattered, and didn’t know what I’d lost until I saw you.” She leaned back and looked into my face. “I saw you, right here.”
“I know, Mom.” Some of the resentment crept back in and I pushed it down. She wasn’t perfect, but she was mine. “Do you really have an academy?”
She laughed. “Nothing like this, but yes, we’re training a few kids like you. I didn’t realize how old you had gotten.” She brushed my wet hair off my face.
Push it down, lock it away. I took a deep breath. “I want to move past that, Mom.”
She beamed and hugged me again. “You have no idea how much I wanted to hear that. We can move on, together. I know if we work as a team, we can find this philosopher’s stone and end this war before it starts.”
“Yeah, about that,” Bridget said. “Can we get out of here?”
Mom looked at her and stepped away from me.
I slumped without her supporting hug and tried to stabilize myself by extending my hands out.
“Yes,” Mom said. “Well, I have a few things to say before we do that.” She climbed back onto the fountain wall. “We’ve escaped, but we aren’t free yet. The second we step out of these walls and into the regular world, we’ll be a threat to Verity and the people she works for.”
She spoke loud and clear. Her strong voice spread over the entire hub and the students rumbled in conversation as she paused. “You have a choice, one you weren’t given before. There’s another academy, a peaceful one, one where you’ll be safe to study alchemy. The same academy where your parents first believed you’d be going. Allie, Jackie, and Mark were all there and can vouch for what I’m talking about.”
I nodded, and so did Mark and Jackie. The students’ voices flooded the hub with questions, mixed with hesitant jubilation.
“What’s the other option?” Carly asked.
“There are two, actually. You can go home or wherever. I don’t really care; I’m not your keeper. You’ll be free to make it on your own, but know they’ll be looking for you. Or, if you’re brave, strong with making stones, and want to make a real difference in the battle against the people who locked you in here, you can come with me.”
My mouth hung open. My mom was recruiting these kids?
All the students erupted with opinions; many yelled that they just wanted to go home. I looked at their weary faces and felt terrible for the punishments they must have received since I’d left. Their spirit seemed broken overall, except for a few. There were angry faces in the crowd, expressions I knew well, ones of revenge. They would be the ones joining my mom in an attempt to get back at those who’d wronged them. I couldn’t blame either side and felt for both equally.
“For those who want to leave, there is an elevator”—Mom pointed behind her—“that will take you to the surface. You can leave and go on with your lives—but, please, if you choose this option, do not make another stone. They will find you if you do.”
“The elevator is broken!” someone called out.
My mom hopped off the wall and walked to the elevator door, most of the students following along. She took out Deegan’s key ring and in one try, put the right key in the lock and unlocked the door. The elevator doors opened and she stepped in and turned the elevator on. She came back out and smiled. “I tested it out earlier.”
“This whole time, some dark alchemist could have come down here. They could have attacked us?” someone asked.
“Maybe, but they didn’t. Sometimes it’s better to not know the danger you’re in.” Mom smiled and addressed the crowd. “Okay, I made a call before the jump. There’s a bus on Main Street waiting to take you to the proper academy. Just mention my name: Cathy Norton. Your parents will be notified, and they’ll be very pleased to learn where you actually are. I would recommend this to you over going out on your own. I feel things are going to get ugly outside those walls.”
Many didn’t answer, and I suspected they were feeling a lot of skepticism about another academy.
The first group of students said their goodbyes before filling the elevator. We watched and said goodbye to another five groups as they left. I felt I would never see those faces again. But knowing they were free to go home and be with their families, or at least get to choose their own path, was something I would never forget. I knew it was the best thing I’d ever do in my life.
I swayed, and Mark put an arm around my waist.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.”
It didn’t take long for most of the students to start assembling near the elevator. I couldn’t blame them. Out there, they had a chance to live.
Mark kept his arm around me as he said his goodbyes. I didn’t speak much, didn’t feel like it. I felt weary from the stone and wanted to lie down somewhere. I knew my old bed wasn’t far and the thought of using my pillow was amazing.
The elevator closed, taking another group up.
Mark leaned over and whispered in my ear, “You know, we could take the next one. We could have our own adventure.”
I looked at the floor. My pants were still soaked and my hair clung to my face. “I can’t leave her.”
He lowered his head and smiled, stealing my breath. I knew if he pushed hard, I’d do exactly what he wanted to do. I think he knew it too. “It’s okay. It was worth a try,” he said.
Only a handful of people were left in the Academy, and the elevator doors opened to an empty elevator.
Carly stepped forward and then turned back to me. “I think I’d better check out the buses.” She glanced at Jackie and Leo and then back to me. She fidgeted with her hands and I was about to ask her what the problem was when she asked, “Is the other academy as nice as she says?”
“Nicer.” It stung, thinking of her leaving after all we’d been through. But I couldn’t steer her away from the other academy. She would love it there as much as Mark had.
“Thank you,” Carly said. “Thank you for coming back for me. I don’t think I could have made it another day in this place.”
“There’s a friend there. Say hello to her for me, and tell her I’m sorry,” I said. “Her name’s Kylie, you can’t miss her. She’s the one with a scowl and a long braid.”
Carly smiled. “I will.” She hugged me.
“Wait. Was there a new student brought here? A small girl, kind of like Ira, but her name’s Iggy?”
“No, we haven’t had a new student since you all left.”
I grimaced and blew through my nose.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, we just need to find a friend we made at the other academy. Tell Kylie we’ll be looking for Iggy.”
“Okay.” She gave me another quick hug and moved
to Mark and Jackie. At the end, she spent the most time with Bridget. They both cried and talked in close quarters. I could only imagine what they had gone through together. They hugged for a while, until one of the kids holding the elevator door asked if she was coming or not.
Carly got into the elevator and I watched the doors close in front of her. I hoped it wouldn’t be the last time I saw her.
Bridget openly cried into her hands and Jackie of all people put an arm around her and pulled her in tight.
“I take it you’re the last and the brave?” my mom called to the few people left in the hub.
I studied the few faces and knew most of them. Jackie, Mark, Bridget, Leo, and three others I had seen, but didn’t know their names. One was from the Reds, and the other two stayed close to Leo. I thought one was his right-hand guy. I chuckled. Out of a hundred people, seven had stayed to fight—six if you took Mark out of the picture.
“I want to kill the people who were behind this,” Leo said.
“All in due time,” Mom told him. “What’s your name?”
“Leo Banks, and this is Brett Evers.”
“Evers….” My mom squinted and stared at Brett. “Are you related to the Everses?”
“I don’t know who that is.”
My mom’s face cleared and she smiled. “Of course. And you, my little portal maker. I hoped you’d stick around. Tell us your name.”
“Angela Corning.”
“Another strong name in alchemy. I’ll be very curious to see how you all progress. Now, we have some work to do in this place before we can leave. So, as your first duty, Leo, Brett, and Angela, I need you to go to the warehouse and carry out as many crates of those stones as you can handle. Place them near the statue.”
They nodded and were on their way.
“Bridget, right?” my mom asked.
“Yes,” she said, and rubbed her red eyes.
“I hear you’re a special?”
“I’ve been known to make a stone or two.”
“Go to room five and make me these.” Mom handed Bridget a piece of paper. “I’ve already set aside the materials for their construction.”
