Alchemy of Secrets

by Stephanie Garber

Benjamin J. Tierney and Isla Saint were once the Hollywood royals. Their fame and their love story began in 1996, when twenty-five-year-old Tierney’s time-bending masterpiece, Mirrorland, which starred Saint, became the top-grossing film of the year. It outsold the second-highest-grossing film of that year, Independence Day, by over $250 million.

During the filming of the Mirrorland sequel, Puppet Kingdom, Tierney and Saint cemented their fame by leaving their significant others (Victoria Monroe and Sebastian Friday) and eloping halfway through production. It was all anyone talked about, until Puppet Kingdom was released in late 1997 and became an even greater success than its predecessor. In 1999, the third film in the trilogy, Lostland, broke every box office record and spawned a universe of spinoffs. Although, in your opinion, none of the spinoffs are as good. Benjamin J. Tierney was a genius. There has never been another like him. After the original Mirrorland films, he signed on to write and direct another trilogy for Jericho Monroe Entertainment. The first two films, Price of Magic and Symphony of Death, were financially on par with the Mirrorland films. However, the productions were so fraught with misfortune, many believed the franchise was cursed. There were fires on set, multiple car accidents involving cast and crew members, several reports of amnesia, and one day, during outdoor filming, an entire flock of doves died midflight and fell from the sky. The third film, which was supposed to be released in early 2007, was initially delayed for a year. Tierney said he needed more time to research the script and finish writing, but no one has ever seen a single page. It has long been suspected that Tierney’s true reason for the delay was that he believed the Price of Magic trilogy was cursed, and he was afraid...

You tried to find the speech online, but there are no recordings of it. When you looked for it, you found videos of everyone else who won an Oscar. But all that came up for Isla Saint were articles about how, that same night—February 27, 2011—she murdered her husband.

“The official crime report says that Isla shot Benjamin with a gun just like this,” says the Professor as she stands, opens the lid of the piano, and pulls out a dull black revolver. “Don’t worry, this weapon is merely a prop.” She smiles her Mona Lisa smile, and you’re not sure you believe her. “Isla shot her husband twice—once in the heart and once in the head—before turning the gun on herself.” The Professor points the gun at her head, making you flinch. “The tabloids said it was all because of another woman. A young unknown actress named Jessica Travers, who Benjamin was having an affair with. Of course, Jessica never confirmed these rumors because she died by suicide the same night.”

I have no wish to die, and I don’t think that Isla Saint did, either.” The Professor sets her gun on the bench. “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.”

“By now, I’m sure many of you have tried to find the devil at a hotel bar, and I probably should have said this before: Be very careful. Hollywood was not built on dreams, it was built on favors from the devil, and the devil does not handle it well when those favors aren’t paid back.”

The book that had been stolen reappeared at the Chained Library. Only now the volume was without chains, and it was completely hollowed out. The magical object inside was gone. All that remained was a slip of parchment with a series of numbers on it.

The Professor begins to rattle off a list of numbers. It’s a long list. Finally you think she’s near the end, because she pauses and then she finishes with “One zero two zero two five.” You’re working on doing some math in your head when the person beside you says, “The numbers are dates. Months and years.” Someone else says, “The last one is this month.” The Professor’s expression is difficult to read with her giant sunglasses, but you think she sounds pleased as she says, “You’re both correct. The list is indeed a series of dates, and each of those dates has coincided with the reappearance of the object that was hidden inside the book.”

“What was hidden?” asks the same student who first figured out the numbers were dates. The Professor scowls. “I just told you. The most powerful object in the world.” “Are we supposed to find it?” you ask boldly. “My advice would actually be to stay away from this particular item, but if you hear any rumors about it, please let me know.”

The heart?

“This secret society is far older than either of those. It was formed at the start of the Middle Ages by a group who believed in a parallel world that contained magic. The story goes that after one of the members died and then came back to life in a ritual, they claimed to have visited this parallel world and brought back proof in the form of an object that later would become known as the Alchemical Heart.”

“No one knows what the Alchemical Heart looks like, but it’s said to be so powerful that any person it comes near gains an ability, and any object it touches fills with magic. The Sacred Order realized too late that once any form of magic was created, it could not be destroyed. The magic or ability would simply be passed on to another person or object. This is when the Sacred Order of the Parallel Dawn began to fracture. One faction wanted to destroy the Alchemical Heart.”

“I thought you said magic can’t be destroyed.” “It can’t be,” Gabe said. “But the Alchemical Heart is said to be the source of all magic, and some people believe that if the Alchemical Heart is destroyed, all the magic it has created will be destroyed as well.”

“I hate to tell you this, but the chances of that aren’t very good. Like I said, the Alchemical Heart is a myth. There’s a rumor about a list of dates—months and years—that say when it’s going to pop up, but as far as I know, all that list does is get people who search for the Alchemical Heart killed.”

Before Jake, Holland had never shared the Professor’s myths and legends with anyone, except for January. After starting her thesis, Holland had shared a draft of it with her sister. Then she’d told her the Professor’s myth about the devil and the sidecar. Holland had tried to forget what her sister had said because her words hurt too much. You need to grow up, Holland. They’re gone. They aren’t coming back, and making up stories about them won’t change that. The fight about the thesis had turned into a fight about their parents. Holland had been mad at January for never talking about them, and January had been angry at Holland for refusing to let them go. Then somehow it had turned into January telling Holland she needed to scrap the thesis and end her relationship with the Professor, whom January had then called a crackpot.

Adam is the fiance? And he is doing this? Donatella and Legend ?

After putting a few books back up on the Professor’s shelf, she picked up a Price of Magic film poster that usually hung on the Professor’s wall. Holland had often wondered how the Professor had gotten her hands on it. Holland’s father had been very particular about replicas never being made of his original posters because he liked to hide Easter eggs in them. At the top of this poster, the title blazed in fiery letters above a windswept picture of the film’s main couple, Red and Sophia Westcott. They were holding hands, but if you looked closely, you would see it was really Sophia holding on to Red. Behind him, it looked as if the sun had finished setting, but again, upon closer inspection, Red was actually standing in front of a pair of shadowy black gates. Behind Sophia was a group of children. A more prominent child with perfect blond ringlets was holding on to a dog with a sprig of holly and a pair of bells attached to its collar along with a heart-shaped red name tag with the letters JJ. The bells and the holly were for Holland, because of her nickname Hollybells, and the JJ was for January. Their dad had put little gifts for his daughters in both Price of Magic films, which had then led them on two of their favorite treasure hunts.

“We have to get out of here,” Gabe growled. Then he was picking Holland up. “Put me down.” She kicked her legs. “You didn’t need to kill him!” “Don’t worry, that bastard is a lot harder to kill than you think. And—” Gabe took a shuddering breath as he pulled her closer, cradling her to him. “He shot first.”

“What time did he give you?” she blurted. “All that matters is, it’s not tonight.”