The Alchemy of Forever

old. I won’t be able to stay with the circus much longer—then what will I do?”
    Cyrus smiled. “That’s why we’re here, Amelia. We don’t want you to grow old, either.” He unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt and pulled out the vial that he always wore on its silver cord. “You can come live with us, Amelia. And if you choose, you can be young forever.”
    The look on her face said she wanted to believe it was possible. “How? Magic?”
    “No,” said Cyrus, opening the vial and taking a whiff. “Alchemy.”
    I rouse myself from my memories. Enough time has passed. Noah has probably made it home by now. I shake my head to clear it from the ghosts of the past. I take out Kailey’s iPhone and call a cab to take me to the bus stop, where I’ll set off for Texas, then maybe try to cross the border into Mexico. “I’m waiting in the parking lot of the Golden Gate Bridge,” I tell the operator. She replies that a car will be there in five minutes.
    I hurry to the middle of the bridge. There are cameras, but I know the fog will obscure any recording. I take off my jacket, shivering, and put Kailey’s ID in the pocket before draping it on the railing. Then I pull out the phone again to compose a text message to Kailey’s family.
    Mom, Dad, Bryan—I’ve been living a lie. I’m so sorry, but I can’t keep pretending. Believe me when I say I’m in a better place and I love you all.—K
     
    I’m about to hit send, but I hesitate. Does it say enough?
    I want it to be better. I want it to convey the love I truly do have for them. The sorrow that I share. I glance at the time. Only two minutes before my cab arrives, and I still need to get down to the parking lot. I sigh. It will have to do.
    But before I can press send, a message appears from Leyla.
    A chill runs up my spine to the roots of my hair.
    The message reads:
    Mr. Shaw is dead!
     

thirty-five
     
    My knees grow weak and stars swim in my vision as I sink to the wet ground. I feel like I’ve been punched in the solar plexus and can barely breathe. Cyrus, dead? Could it be true? Or has he simply jumped into a new body, to disguise himself as he tracks me down? I don’t know what to believe.
    I leave Kailey’s jacket on the railing and run toward the parking lot, sneakers pounding on the walkway. My good-bye message to Kailey’s family is still unfinished, but I can always send it on the way to the bus station. A couple minutes won’t make a difference. I spot the cab, bright yellow dodging in and out of view through the mist. It’s about to leave. “Wait!” I yell, ribs aching, breath frantic. It does.
    “Well, well, well,” the cabbie says as I slide into the backseat. “Here you are!” He’s an older man wearing a dark green suit and his dashboard is covered with fake flowers.
    “Here I am,” I agree breathlessly. “Can you take me to the bus depot?”
    He frowns, no doubt taking in that I don’t have a bag or even a coat.
    “I travel light,” I say sharply, pulling out my phone and calling up the San Francisco Chronicle website on its Internet browser.
    He nods and turns up the heater. I flash a grateful smile. The glow from the phone’s screen lights up my face. It takes an eternity to load. “Come on!” I whisper urgently, shaking the phone. Finally the site loads. And there, at the very top, is an article about Cyrus.
    OAKLAND — A Berkeley High substitute science teacher was shot to death this evening in an apparent robbery on the shore of Lake Merritt. After suffering multiple gunshot wounds, the victim fell into the water. His body has not been recovered. Multiple eyewitnesses claimed to have witnessed the killing. A San Francisco man, 19, who spoke to the Chronicle under the condition of anonymity, said that three or four young men had accosted the victim, demanding his wallet. According to the witness, when the victim gave it to the muggers, one of them pulled out a gun and shot him. “It was terrible—I saw him die in front of me.” Another witness, a 22-year-old woman from San Francisco, corroborated the story. “He didn’t even have a chance,” she said. No arrests have been made.
     
    I set down the phone and lean back. Is it possible? If he really did die, they wouldn’t find his body. It would have disintegrated into dust the second he hit the water, like Nathaniel’s did when Cyrus killed him. But I can’t believe that Cyrus has actually fallen victim to such a mundane act of violence.