Alchemy of Secrets

by Stephanie Garber

It started with a whisper you heard while in line at a coffee shop, a story you probably should have ignored.

“You’re here because of a story,” she says. “Now I’m going to tell you another one.”

It almost felt like magic. Not big, miraculous magic but the simple magic of timeless things. Of two-dollar bills and handwritten letters, typewriters and rotary phones.

“How many of you have heard the Hollywood Rule of Three—that if one celebrity dies, two are certain to follow? I’m not sure when it began, but I can tell you it’s a lie. All three of these deaths are part of a cover-up, a bit of misdirection, to hide the real reason Isla and Ben were killed.”

“I feel like you’re going after the wrong type of guy. I don’t think you actually want someone safe and nice. I think you want someone who scares you a little, like the Professor’s myths. And I think you need someone who won’t make you feel as if you have to hide those dark and twisty parts of you.”

reminding them that there is still light in the world. The dark night might get its time every day, but the sun will always rise and put it out.”