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Alchemy By mrraizer I sat back in my plush leather chair, staring out the window at the warm mid-April dusk. No jobs lately of any kind. I was bored out of my mind. Almost to the point of taking up my medical practice again. There I sat, staring at the orange-red sunset. I always liked to watch sunsets, just because they announced to me, "The day is over." I'm a romantic, a real romantic. I'm also a private detective. Sometimes the two don't mix. My office was situated amid the mountainous skyscrapers of Manhattan. I love New York. Christ, I sound like some kind of travel ad. I loved it for its intensity; it's undying life. If New York were a person, it would never die. Maybe I even thought it would keep me forever young too. In some ways I found the city more pastoral than the country. The bums were my shepherds. The graying sidewalks were my verdant pastures, and the skyscrapers and office buildings were my rolling hills and mountains. I got paid to do nothing. I was a private detective that took strange jobs. You could say I was a paranormal detective. I took jobs from rich eccentrics to find out if strange noises in their houses were their dead husbands trying to contact them from the other side. I got paid well to tell them it was or wasn't. Usually, it wasn't. When it was, it was mostly due to the fact that I couldn't find enough evidence either way to tell them it wasn't. So there I was, Paul Molineux about to have his life changed by the events to come. I didn't know it. Nobody would expect to find there were things stranger than chasing ghosts and fringe cults in the world. I looked at myself in the mirror of the huge window before me. Your basic thirty-something black man with curly black hair in a neat conservative cut. I had your basic light-brown complexion with dark eyes betraying my Creole heritage. Looking into my own eyes, I could see myself dreaming of my glory days at LSU, playing football as a star defensive back. Beneath me the milling crowds were walking the streets of Central park West. Everything was below me, businessmen in sharp Armani suits, women jogging or rollerblading their way to the park, Musicians playing guitars and accordions. Strange things were probably going on too, right under my nose. I sat smugly over them, the smug romantic. My partner walked into my office without a knock. "Daydreaming again, Paul?" she asked with a smile. I found her deep alto voice disturbingly sexy. There wasn't anything between us, although there had been temptation on several occasions. She was British, but she didn't talk like I thought a British person would. I always thought British talked like the way we saw on TV. Not so. She always said TV always portrayed Brits as snooty, poshies. She was from Leeds, and she had a decidedly unposh accent. She put a strange stress on some words that almost made her sound like she was singing when she spoke. When she said she was going to the store she said, "I'm going market." No I'm going to the market, just "I'm going market." I swiveled in my chair to face her in the doorway. I just smiled, "No Kaitlyn.just thinking." She was an Amazon. She stood 6'1 without heels, with deep, dark blue eyes, and her hair upswept in a conservative style. She had an air of authority, like a strict high school teacher you always wanted to make love to, secretly. Then again, she was one of King William's Royal Marines, so she naturally gave off that air. Kaitlyn Moore, the Watson to my Holmes, the yang to my yin. She smiled back, "While you were daydreaming, you had a phone call.and an offer." I jumped up out of my chair, "Why didn't you tell me?" She let out a condescending laugh and held out a sheet of paper with a name and number scrawled on it. I took the paper and looked at it. The name on it said "Tom Collins" below it was scrawled a number. I almost choked on nothing. Any self-respecting southerner knew Tom Collins was the name of a drink. I looked up at Kaitlyn. "I know, it's an assumed name, isn't it?" she cut me off before I could say it. She was learning. "It probably is, Kate." I smiled calling the number. The phone rang a few times, a male voice answered. "Hello?" a deep male voice spoke. I immediately dropped my voice an octave to answer, "Is this 'Tom Collins?'" "Ahhh.yes Mr. Molineux, this is 'Tom Collins.'" I looked up at Kate and rolled my eyes. She smiled and left. "Mr. Molineux, I have a case for you, a missing persons case" the deep voice said. "Alright, care to share the details?" I asked reservedly. "Yes, two of our scientists were working on a special project of ours, they both mysteriously disappeared." the voice said. We'd like you to come to New Haven to discuss the case further. That is if you choose to accept. "New Haven, Connecticut?" I asked. "The one and only. I take it you accept?" the voice said. "Ok, you got an address for me?" He rattled off an address and a time for the meeting. "Thank you Mr. Molineux. You will be well compensated for your troubles. Goodbye." The phone hung up. I had a case, a new adventure, and a new mystery. I got up and went into Kate's office. "We got a case." "That bloke was a strange one, wasn't he?" "Yeah, we'll leave for Connecticut tomorrow." "Great, I've always wanted to see the mystical state of Connecticut." Kate quipped. We closed up the office soon after. I went home to my apartment in SoHo; Kate went up to her brownstone in Park Slope. She said it reminded her of Chelsea. I went to sleep thinking how intensely I would pursue this case. I would be passionate about my art. I trailed off to sleep, not even comprehending the things I would see in my not too distant future. The next day, I picked up Kate in my BMW and we headed out to Connecticut. We gradually left the urban sprawl of New York and moved into the rural sprawl of Connecticut. "It reminds me of the midlands." Kate said as we drove. "It ain't Louisiana, baby." I said clipping along about twenty miles over the speed limit. We made good time to New Haven. We found the house using the GPS I had installed in my car. It was a Georgian styled mansion, painted in a gay white with yellow trim. I knocked on the door. A well-muscled man in a tight suit answered the door. "Are you Mr. Molineux?" he asked. I nodded, "And this is Ka-" he opened the door and walked away. Kate and I looked at each other and walked in. The house was decorated in Victorian style, but all the furnishings appeared to be authentic. We stepped into the parlor, where an elderly gentleman was sitting on a couch. "Won't you sit down, Mr. Molineux and Ms. Moore?" He offered us a seat on a couch across from him. The gorilla was standing up behind the man with his arms folded. "Mr. Molineux, we've been keeping our eye on you for quite some time. You and Ms. Moore have an--interesting record." He said in the same deep voice I heard over the phone. "Thank you, I think." "Yes, would you like to hear the details of the case?" "Sure, I'd like to know what I'm getting into." "First I should tell you my name isn't really Tom Collins." "Really?" I asked giving Kate a brief smile. Germaine looked at Kate with a strange curiosity. "Yes, my real name is Thomas St. Germaine, I want us to work honestly together, so I'll start by giving you my real name." He began to explain the case. It wasn't an ordinary missing persons case. Two scientists, John Barron and Anthony Olney went missing suddenly. Barron was a leading mathematics professor at Yale, and Olney was a prominent linguist professor. He explained that the two were working on a book called "The Voynich Manuscript." The manuscript was a book no body could make heads or tales of for hundreds of years. The two had been working on decoding it for twenty years. Finally, when the two began making headway on it Olney disappeared, then Barron a week later. "We suspect foul play Mr. Molineux." "From what you've described, I can't rule it out." The elderly man nodded, his icy blue eyes staring at me intently. "Yes, we thought they cracked the code, apparently whoever has done this did too, but the disks with all the information are missing along with the scientists." "So you want me to find them and the disks..did the disks have the decoded version of the manuscript?" I asked. This job would be intriguing. I glanced over at Kate who was listening closely. "Yes, if those disks fall into the wrong hands, the results would be catastrophic." "What is this Voynich Manuscript?" "Maybe, instead of telling you, I should show you." "Why not? My interest is piqued." We went to Yale University's rare book library. Volumes, and volumes of books were stored there. We walked from the house to the University, which was near. When we got to the modern styled building we stepped in. A slightly overweight woman greeted us with a warm smile. "Hello, Dr. St. Germaine, what can I do for you today?" she chirped. "Hello, Ms. Key, we're here to see catalogue MS 408." The woman's face dropped. "Oh dear, are these two people with the police department?" "No Ms. Key, they are private detectives." Germaine said looking impatient, "I hate to say the police haven't been successful in their search so far." The plainly dressed woman looked sad, "It's a shame. Two nice men disappearing like that." She motioned us to follow her, "If you'd follow me, please." We strolled down the halls of the building that smelled of old leather. Ms. Key seemed happy to have visitors. It seemed we were the only people in the building. Ms. Key must have been starved for human contact. It was if no one read anymore. Finally, we approached a vault with a huge metal door. Ms. Key worked the combination lock and unlocked the door with a key. She conducted into the room. The air was drier in here and smelled sterile. She moved to a stack and traced the labels under the books with her finger. "Here we are MS 408." She pulled the book from the stack and placed it before us in a table. The book was small, about 4"x10" but thick about two hundred pages. Germaine carefully opened the book to a page. The pages were beautiful. Each page was handwritten in a beautiful, ornate style of calligraphy. In the margins of the pages were odd drawings. On the particular page, were what looked like nude women playing in bathtubs. Attached to the bathtubs was what looked like plumbing, but the strange thing is the plumbing also looked like anatomical parts. "This is what most of the Voynich manuscript looks like." Germaine said closing the book and handing it back to Ms. Key. Ms. Key carefully replaced the book in the stack, and smiled at us. "They say it's a book on Alchemy." Ms. Key said looking excited. Germaine shot her a glance, then looked back to us, "Yes, we like to think of it as an early biochemistry manuscript." This point really intrigued me. "The reason we believe it's in some strange code is because it was written around the 15th century, and scientists that made new discoveries in those days were burned at the stake." "So this book has things in it that could be useful today in science?" Kate asked. "Yes, Ms. Moore, it can and has already." At this point, I my heart was pounding. Not only was this a real mystery, it was an enigma. "How has it been used so far?" I asked. "You know the cure for lung cancer that's currently under review by the FDA?" He asked pointing to the book. I nodded in a way only a doctor could. There was awe in my eyes and my heart. "And the cure for Parkinson's disease and Multiple Sclerosis that recently hit the market?" Germaine asked pointing to the book. "Those pills are pretty expensive, but yeah, I know all about them." I said still lost in the possibilities. "You got all these from that little book?" Kate asked. "Yes, and without the disks or the actual discoverers, who knows what else we've lost?" Germaine said looking dejected. He started out of the vault. We followed. I was in a dream, and Kate still was trying to fathom what she just saw and heard. "I want to say I'd do this for free, but a brotha's gotta eat." I said once we hit the fresh spring air. Kate gave me that, "Now you're talking" look. Germaine turned to us with a faint smile. It was almost mirth lurking under his smile, "You will be well compensated, access to our facilities here at Yale, and I think you will find the pay agreeable." "How much?" my muscle asked. "You pull no punches, Ms. Moore." Germaine smiled, "A million each." Well now, I know Kate's no fool, and I can say the same for myself, but Kate read my mind, "We'll do it!" she screamed. "Very good, I was hoping you would." Germaine spoke, "I've already made reservations for you at a nice B&B here in town. You will draw expenses incurred from your pay." "Here's the address, he said handing me a card. Just tell the receptionist you are the Molineuxs, and she will show you to your room. You'll find a suitcase in the closet with half of your fee in it, the combination is 1912; the year the manuscript was acquired by Wilfred Voynich." It seemed like some kind of spy thriller. We were getting paid a million dollars upfront for what seemed like a cake job. You'd have to be crazy not to take a job like this. "That's fair enough, we'll pick up the money, and go back to New York to pick up a few things." I said trying not to sound too excited. "Are there any leads we can check up on when we get back?" "Yes, try Barron's daughter, Elise," he smiled "Lovely young woman; maybe you can find something the police missed." He gave me a slip of paper with Elise Barron's dorm address. We parted. Kate and I sped to the B&B. We met a young woman at the front desk. She looked like she was college age, wavy red hair, and emerald green eyes with just a little spray of freckles across her nose. Her nametag said "Bonnie" she was dressed in an outfit that was from the colonial period. She smiled at us, "Welcome to the New Haven B&B, would you like a room or do you have reservations?" I smiled, "Hi Bonnie, we're the Molineuxs, I believe we have reservations?" I smiled pulling Kate close to me. I felt awkward holding Kate next to me like that, but if we were going to be the Molineuxs, we were going to be the Molineuxs. For two million dollars, dammit, we were going to BE the Molineuxs. At least we would to the average every day passers-by. "Yes, I have you down for the 'cozy' suite," she smiled looking at us like a girl that was in love with the fact that for that moment we looked in love. It really was the prospect of a whole lot of money that she saw, but we played it well. "Here are your keys." Bonnie said handing us an old iron key. "Thanks Bonnie," Kate smiled then looking at me warmly, "We're going to stop in, then do some sight seeing, and drop out bags off later." She wrapped her arm around me and pulled me to the door of our room. We almost ran to the room. Bonnie probably thought we ran in for a quickie or something. Sex was the last thing on our minds. When we got to the room, I opened the door quickly after fumbling with the lock. The first thing I noticed was that there was a huge queen sized bed in the room, a big four posted bed. It was made for lovers. I quickly thought of how would I manage to sleep with such an attractive woman without anything happening. Especially, knowing what I knew about Kate. My mind flitted back to the money, which Kate already had. She was cracking open the suitcase. The suitcase contained a million dollars worth of hundreds. Kate grabbed me quickly, hugging me. She lifted me up, to my surprise, "Oh, Paul we're rich!" she cried. Like I said, Kate was my muscle, and she was no ordinary woman. "Yes we are Kate; lets head back to the city so we can pick up our equipment, and put this in the bank." We drove back to New York even faster than we drove to New Haven. Kate drove, and she drove like a true European. We divided our money and put them in our banks. At the office we picked up our "equipment" which consisted of: a Glock 23 (mine), a Smith & Wesson 45 automatic with an extended clip (hers), a high speed camera, a motion sensor, a mini-recorder, fake FBI IDs, thermographic goggles, and a sound gun. With everything loaded into the trunk of my BMW 725, we sped back to New Haven. By the time we got back to the B&B it was 9pm. We were both exhausted from the constant running of the day. Also, suddenly having a half a million dollars in your bank account makes you a little lazy. Even back in 2022, a half a mil went a long way. Once we got to the room, my eyes went back to the bed Kate and I would be sharing. Kate didn't seem to mind or notice the fact that we'd be sharing the bed. "Paul, I'm going to take a hot bath." She said. "Ok.I'll hit it after you." She padded off to the bathroom, drawing a hot bath. The bathroom didn't have a shower, only an old style bathtub that you poured hot water into. Of course this one had plumbing. While Kate took her bath, I checked some of the equipment, and put my clothes in the closet. It didn't take long for me to check the equipment. All I had to do was load some 900-speed film into the camera, pop a disc into the mini-recorder, and clean my gun. After I checked the equipment, I sat on the bed to read some Keats. Just at that moment Kate emerged from the bathroom looking like a Greek goddess. My mouth dropped; I know it did. Kate smiled when she saw my face. "Bathroom's all yours, Paul." "Uh, yeah." I said going off into the bathroom, "You took long enough." Our eyes met for a moment longer than they should have. Usually, Kate dressed professionally. Most of the time, she wore a dark or gray colored jacket, and slacks, and occasionally a knee length skirt and hose. Like I said, think teacher, one you wanted to make love to--secretly. I went into the bathroom, greeted by the sweet woman smell of Kate. Whatever bath oil she used, lingered in the bathroom as if she was still there. It was the smell of exotic fruits and spring rain. It reminded me of New Orleans. I drew my own bath and sat in it. A cold shower would have been better. Kate had on a peach lace teddy, with a matching silk bathrobe over it. All of her curves showed through the bathrobe. She wasn't the voluptuous sex goddess type with huge boobs. She was very athletic, svelte. When we first met, I wanted to call her "Kat" but she said it implied a pussy. Like I said she was 6'1 without heels, only a couple of inches shorter than me. She worked out a lot, and took pride in her body. I guess it carried over from the Marines. I was falling in love with her and I was afraid. Not because we worked together, if we got married we'd be a much more cohesive team, I was sure of that. It wasn't because she wasn't beautiful, because she was. It wasn't because she was strong as me, if not stronger. It was because she was a recombinant. Let me explain what a recombinant is before I go on with the story. Since the Human Genome Project mapped out the human genetic code in the turn of this century, the possibilities for humanity were greatly expanded in the medical realm. Soon after, many aspects of have been greatly altered. The playing God aspect of genetic recombination have been greatly debated and many has been outlawed, making a huge biochemistry black market. Kate was a sexual recombinant to be exact. The science community had known about transgendered people for years. The process of making a man a woman and vice versa had been extremely primitive and slow. Most of the time the results weren't very convincing even after years of waiting and hormone therapy. When the sexual code was discovered to be alterable, many people jumped at the clinical testing. Families wanted a baby boy instead of a girl and vice versa, also jumped at the clinical testing. Naturally, that was up for debate too. There are two types of sexual recombinants: Step One and Step Two. Step Ones were fetuses that had their sex changed in the womb at the request of parents. Step Twos were postnatal subjects who always felt they were born the wrong sex. Kate was a Step Two. Both had equally interesting problems. The problem with Step Ones was, while the parents got what they wanted in a child. The children might not want to be born another sex. This basically has the potential to create a whole new group of transgendered people. Since the first Step One was born twelve years ago, there have been cases of some of them being transgendered. There have been cases of children suing their parents. But this form is still legal. Step Twos use the same basic formula. The subject is injected with biological nanites that literally change a person's sex from the inside out. Within twenty-eight days the subject is completely and unnoticeably changed. That is if they don't die in the process. The success rate of Step Twos is 55%, not acceptable in the medical field. Step Twos are highly illegal, and an injection can only be obtained on the black market for an extremely high cost. The process is irreversible because of the stress it puts on the body. The subject would not survive another dose. Not only that but the stress actually cut the subject's life expectancy down-how much, we don't know yet. I had met Kate near the end of her transformation, when I was still a doctor. She thought she was going die because of the injection. She came to me, and I thought she was having female problems. I didn't know she was actually in so much pain from her body literally reforming itself on the inside. I didn't know that until she told me, and then I was in too deep. Kate had bought the injection from a doctor that was also a member of cult. The cult was intent on resurrecting their goddess, who was said to be living in the body of a man. Who better than Kate, a woman living in the body of a man to try the injection on? Apparently, the cult had tried the injection several times and Kate was the first success. Once she came to me, she got me involved. My first brush with detective work and, my last patient as a doctor at the same time. Back to the story. So Kate was a recombinant. I felt if I slept with her, I'd be sleeping with a man. All our experiences together definitely made us close. I knew I loved her. I was pretty sure she loved me. Judging from what she was wearing that night I was sure she felt something. I climbed out of the tub and dried myself off. I slipped on a pair of boxers and a t-shirt. When I stepped out of the bathroom, I saw Kate bent over about five feet away from me. I almost yelled out, but I realized she was doing yoga. So, I just slipped into bed, hopefully, I would be asleep before she joined me. I was wrong soon after I had begun to doze there was a loud noise. I woke and heard Kate cry out. She had stubbed her toe on the dresser. "Come up on the bed, let me look at it." I said sleepily. "I can't believe I stubbed me bleedin' toe." She limped over the bed, "Fuckin' hell!" I looked at her left foot. Her big toe had already started to swell. It was broken. I didn't bring an X-ray machine with me but I was guessing a hairline fracture. "It's broken." I said. "Brilliant." She replied. "You want to go to the hospital?" "No, I think I'll manage.." Her eyes moved down to her foot. I had been massaging it with being aware of what I was doing. When I realized what I was doing I stopped. "What'd you stop for, you wanker?" I began to lay back, "I wanted to make your foot feel better, not seduce you." I said dryly. She climbed on top of me. I became aroused when I was rubbing her foot. I was sure she could feel it. She was over me, face to face. She leaned in and kissed me. Our tongues mingled. I thought I was in heaven. It was one of the sweetest, most tender kisses I had ever had. Just when I realized we were kissing, and thought to pull away, she did. "That's seduction," she said climbing off of me, "something you know little about." "How would you know?" I tried to retort. It was a bad one, I know. I angrily rolled over. She put her hand on my shoulder, "We both want this.." I cut her off, "We can't." "Why not, Paul?" "Because you're not re.." "Really a woman?" she cut me off. I rolled over to face her. I knew I made a mistake. "I wasn't going to say that." I said. "What were you going to say then?" "You're not really thinking of how sex can change our working relationship." "Good night, Paul." She rolled over and shut her lamp off. I didn't sleep that night. I though about how close we had come to sleeping together, and how I may have ruined the possibility of it happening again. To have the same thought churning through my mind over and over, all night long is not a good feeling. The next morning I pretended I was asleep when Kate woke up. She shook me "awake" and went off into the bathroom. I got dressed while she was in the bathroom. I went in while she was brushing her teeth. "Look, Kate I'm sorry about last night." I said softly, "I was wrong." "Frrgggisht-Mgghhh frrrrggginya." She said with a mouth full of spit. "What?" "I said forget it I forgive you, didn't I?" she said brushing her teeth once again. I began to brush my teeth too. We went down to breakfast, and had a nice country style breakfast. Kate still seemed upset, but she was gradually forgiving me. "So what do you think we should do first?" I asked. "About what?" she asked in return, probably a little defensively. "The case," I smirked, "Should we do some research, question the girl, or?" "I think we should question that Saint Germaine, bloke." She said biting on her toast, "There's definitely something he wasn't telling us." I agreed, "We can't make him aware that we know that, we'll probe when we have more." "The girl then," she shrugged. "Yeah, but its kind of early," I laughed, "What college student do you know that wakes up at 8 am?" "They do in England." She said dryly. "We'll do some research until noon, then check on the girl." I looked at my watch, "Most universities have no classes after twelve on one specific day," I looked up at Kate, "Today's that day at Yale." "Right then, lets get on it." Kate said finishing her home fries. "Ok.I'll do some research at the library, you question Ms. Key." I said taking a last swallow of my coffee. I went to the library to learn more about this Voynich Manuscript and alchemy. It seemed that every major culture in the world used alchemy at some point in time. The alchemy we think of today stems from Egyptian alchemy. Some priest named Hermes Trismegistus (his Latin name) wrote something called the Emerald Tablet. It told ancient people how to mix metals. This was circa 1900 B.C. Here's where it gets interesting. Around the 3rd century A.D. Arabia, a scientist named Geber wrote on the same subject, from him we get red oxide of mercury and nitrate of silver. He wrote his findings in code. The code was so hard to decipher, that scholars of the day thought it was another language. Once they discovered how to read it they began to say anything that was hard to decipher was "Gibberish." He also said he knew Hermes Trismegistus. Alchemy was considered a valid science until the 14th century. A lot of fakes began to run around claiming they were alchemists, until it was outlawed in Europe. Some even argue that Alchemy is the mother of chemistry. How does this tie into the manuscript? The manuscript is written in code, some type of gibberish. It was written a century before the craft fell into disrepute. The pieces that were uncovered dealt with biochemistry, and medicines that works on today's diseases. So is this an existing manuscript proof that alchemy does work? I checked my watch; it was twelve. I looked up and Kate was standing over me. She was punctual as usual. "Any luck with Mrs. Key?" I asked. "That has to be the most boring woman on Earth." She rolled her eyes, "She's a gossipmonger, she is!" "She did seem-lonely." "Anyway, it seems Olney and she had wonderful conversations," she smiled, "They were close to decoding the entire book." "Anything on Olney or Barron?" "Well, Olney wasn't married, and Barron's wife left them twenty-two years ago with their baby daughter." "Elise?" Kate nodded, "Yeah, five years later, the daughter mysteriously reappeared." "Interesting, lets go visit Barron's daughter." We took a stroll to the address Germaine gave us. I couldn't help but notice Kate had a kind of masculine walk. She hid it well, but it stood out. She was kind of partial to pantsuits, instead of dresses. That was understandable because, you couldn't exactly run around in a skirt. She really surprised me with the teddy the night before. Finally, we can to the dorm. A work-study student was sitting at the front desk reading Shelly. He looked up at us, "Hello, any thing I can help you with?" he asked. "Yes, is Elise Barron in?" Kate asked. "I'll call up for you." He dialed upstairs, "Hello, 'Lise? You have two visitors. Yeah.they look like FBI agents or something. Ok, bye." The kid calling us FBI agents took me back, but I decided to play it. "We're here to discuss the disappearance of her father." I said taking out her notebook. "And what is your name?" Kate asked on cue. "Jeff Goldstein." "Were you familiar with Elise's relationship with her father?" Kate asked. "Sure, they had a pretty good relationship; you know, like best friends." "I see, was Elise in during the time frame of the disappearance?" I asked. "Ummm, let me check the sign in book." He said flipping back a week earlier. "Yeah, she was here.probably meditating or something like that, she's a weird one." At that moment a young lady in her early twenties came down the stairs. "Hi, I'm Elise Barron." She said shaking my hand, then Kate's. "Hello Ms. Barron, I'm agent Molineux and this is agent Moore." We produced two official looking FBI badges. Elise Barron was an interesting looking girl. She had a mocha complexion, with Asian looking eyes, which were hazel-green. Her cheekbones were high, but not quite high as an Asian's. There was a spray of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Her hair was a reddish-brown mop of thick curls. Her lips were full, with some kind of glossy lacquer on them. She definitely wasn't the picture of a typical American beauty, but still beautiful nonetheless. She seemed to have every aspect of every race's beauty rolled into one package, and it fit. "Great, you guys want to come up?" she smiled. She definitely had a bubbly personality. She led the way up the stairs to her room. Once we entered the room we were greeted by the strong smell of incense. The room was decorated in Southeast Asian dcor, a small golden Buddha on a pedestal, one chair at the desk, a few pillows strewn on the floor. I noticed a picture of a dark skinned Asian woman holding a small child in her arms. Elise smiled, "My mom holding.me." She said softly, "She left soon after I was born." There was a faint smile on her face, "And that's me and my Dad." She pointed to another picture on the wall. The picture was of her and Dr. Barron; she was dressed up like she was ready for the prom. "Prom picture." She said. "Ms. Barron, was you father in any danger that you know about?" Kate asked. "Hell's yeah! All those bible whackos saying that they were doing the devil's work." Elise smiled bitterly, "Death threats all the time." "I'm a little familiar with your father and Dr. Olney's work; why do you think that would offend bible-purists?" I asked. "Because the book they were studying was supposed to deal with Alchemy." "What does that have to do with the Bible?" Kate asked. "Alchemy was outlawed a few hundred years back," she gave another bitter smile, "They don't realize, its believed many of the past Popes were thought to be alchemists." "They weren't working on some kind of potion for eternal youth, they were working on cleaner methods to fight disease." Elise's eyes began to tear. "Do you think foul play could've been involved?" Kate ventured. "I think this world is full of people that get what they want and throw people away once they do." Elise stated. "What do you mean?" I asked. "See, my father and Uncle Tony worked for a man with questionable motives." "And who was that?" Kate asked. "Thomas St. Germaine." Elise said, turning toward her window. "You think he had something to do with this?" I asked putting my hand on her shoulder. "Why should I tell you this? You probably work for him." Tears began to flow from Elise's eyes. "We may work for him, but that doesn't mean we're his henchmen." Kate said matter of factly. "Well, since you do, let me tell you a little about who you're working for." She said turning back to me with anger in her eyes, "Have you ever heard of the Junto?" she asked. "They're a bit like the Freemasons or the Illuminati, aren't they?" Kate asked.
"Something like that, yeah; they hold high offices everywhere, my father and Uncle Tony began to think Germaine was one of them." "Whoa, let me get this straight, you expect us to believe that there really are secret organizations bent on world domination and that Alchemy really does exist?" I asked. My suspicions were piqued. "He chose well," she said, "He picked a non-believer to work for him." She looked around the room making a broad hand gesture, "Don't you know there are things in this world that are real, yet unbelievable?" I glanced at Kate, thinking back to our first meeting, "I wouldn't go that far." "Well, then keep an opened mind, and keep an eye on me, because I may be victim number three." "Let's not jump to conclusions, love." Kate said trying to calm Elise, "We still have to find you're father." "What makes you think someone would try to kill you?" I asked. "Because, I know what my father and my uncle knew." Frustration was building on her face. I nodded, "Alright, I'll have Kate keep an eye on you from a distance." I told Elise looking at Kate. "Meanwhile, do you have any idea where your father could be if he's alive?" Elise hesitated, "Well, he may be hiding out at our cabin in Beacon Falls." She bit her lip pensively. "Elise, did you tell the police that?" Kate said. "No, the police work for Germaine." Elise said shaking her head, "If he is alive, and they find him they might kill him." I nodded, "Ok, Kate will stay here, and I'll head up there." Elise wrote down directions to the cabin. "Be careful, make sure you aren't followed." She said wiping a tear away. I nodded to Kate and Elise and left. I went up to the cabin in Beacon Falls as quickly as I could. It was about fifteen miles away, with the directions Elise gave me, along with my GPS; I found the cabin in no time. I got to the cabin at around 3 pm. It was still plenty of light, but it looked like a storm was brewing. I knocked on the door. A stunning redhead opened the door. She was about 5'11, model good looks: green eyes, auburn hair, and slender physique. She was dressed in a black gown that was almost sheer. "Hello, can I help you with something?" she asked. "Um, yes, Agent Molineux, FBI." I stated, "I'm looking for John Barron, there's a bit of Hoopla down in New Haven, they think he's missing." The woman smiled, there was something entrancing about her, "Ummm, yes he's here" she said her voice sounded like a cross between music and sexual moaning, "He just stepped out for a moment, come in." I followed her in. Everything felt like a dream from that moment on. I sat down on the couch. Well, staggered onto the couch really. "My name is Felicia, Mr. Molineux." She smiled sitting down across from me. She brought me something to drink, but I had the strength to take one sip. "Hello, Felicia." I said. My voice sounded far away. It was like I had a bad cold. "People back in New Haven think he's missing, I'm glad he's ok." "Yes, you'll be meeting him soon." She smiled looking at her watch. "That's great-I-I'd like to get this case over with." It was like my eyes were heavy. It seemed like she was crawling over to me. I felt my pants unzip, and slowly they were being tugged down. I looked down and saw Felicia kneeling in front of me. I passed out. When I awoke, a muscular man dressed like Felicia was standing over me, with a gun-MY gun pointed at my head. I couldn't move. It was as if I was paralyzed. I recognized the man after a moment. It was the gorilla from Germaine's place. "Don't try to move, Mr. Molineux." "What did you do to me?" I asked groggily. "I drained your testosterone, so I could take this male form." The gorilla smiled. "You killed Barron." "Very good! Now I'm going to kill you." he squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened. He squeezed again. Nothing. "Its not loaded, I never carry a loaded gun." I said. He shrugged, "I guess I'll have to kill you another way then." He moved over to the other couch and grabbed a pillow. He placed the pillow over my face without a struggle. I knew I was caught with my pants down, literally. Blackness hit. "Paul!" a female voice said, "Paul!" It was Kate. She was standing over me. Elise was there too. Tears were in Elise's eyes. "Barron's dead, that woman must've killed him and you were next." I still couldn't move, "Call the police." I said. "Already have, they're on the way." Elise said. I passed out again. When I woke up again, the police were there. I gave the police my statement. I left out the part about the woman shape shifting. She apparently wanted me out of the way since I caught her in the house, trying to dispose of Barron's body. She apparently drugged me. Just as she was about to kill me, Kate and Elise broke in. They had decided to follow me. A struggle broke out, Kate and Felicia fought. Felicia grabbed a poker from the fireplace. Kate got in a punch that sent Felicia flying. Felicia hit her head on the edge of the table. End of Felicia. Of course while they were fighting, Felicia was actually the gorilla. She and Elise decided to leave that out of their statements. We left the scene. Kate drove my car and I rode with Elise. "Now you believe?" she asked. I glanced at her, "What's to believe?" I asked. "You think being doped up would make you see things?" "I don't under." "You were ensorcelled!" "What?" "Ensorcelled! You know; bewitched?" "Magic?" "Hell yeah, magic! It had to be Junto." She said matter of factly. "I guess that's how they got your father and uncle too, probably." I said blandly. Elise began to cry, "Yeah, I thought he was stronger than that, but she must've been a powerful witch to get him." "What do you want me to tell Germaine?" I asked. "The truth." she said in between sobs. We made it back to New Haven around 9 pm. I had a splitting headache. We dropped Elise off at her dorm. Soon after, we went to pay Germaine a visit. I knocked on the huge door. Kate had her gun ready. I even bothered to load mine this time. The gorilla answered the door. Well, someone that looked like the gorilla. He ushered us in. We went into the same parlor. This time I noticed vessel on a tripod over a single flame. I knew these were the mark of an alchemist. "Any word on Barron?" Germaine asked. "Dead, some woman murdered him." Kate said. "And Olney?" "We're assuming the same happened to him." I said. Germaine frowned. He didn't look happy, "How was he killed?" "Cut the bollocks, Germaine, we know you know it was magic!" Kate yelled. Germaine gave Kate a serious glance. He looked at me, "You really should calm your friend down." He gave an easy smile, "But then again, recombinants are known for their short tempers." Kate froze. So did I. If he knew Kate was a recombinant, he had to do some serious digging on us. I knew it was time to settle, right here and now. "You're an alchemist." I countered. Germaine let out a dry laugh, "I dabble, yes." He smiled, "Sorcery is more of my forte." "Your also a member of the Junto." Kate said following my lead. "You know absolutely, nothing about the Junto." "So why did you kill Barron and Olney off?" I asked. "They were getting to close, plus they've out lived their usefulness." He leaned back in his chair. "But you don't have the disks." I smiled smugly, "And I know you don't think we're going to look for them?" "Not at all; you see the disk contained a few more decoded passages from the manuscript that would probably cure AIDS, Hanta virus, and a few other nasties." Germaine returned a smug smile, "We'll be making money off of the few things they have given us for a good fifty years." "So this was about money?" Kate asked. "Yes, Mr. Moore, we need money to gain more influence in the world." He smiled at Kate. Kate visibly got angry. I could have sworn I heard her growl. "The killing stops." I said firmly . "Oh, you mean, Ms. Barron?" he shrugged, "Who is going to believe a ditzy pre-med student and a couple of 'paranormal' investigators?" "We WILL take you down." Kate said her lips twisted into a sneer. She looked like she was about to attack him. He waved his hand, and she simply froze. He turned to me, "I could destroy you both, just like that, but there must be a balance." He said snapping his fingers. At this point I got tired of his smugness and I was about to pounce on him. He waved his hand again. I froze. "You still don't believe, Mr. Molineux." He smiled, "That is your downfall, you don't believe Mr. Moore is a woman now, you don't believe in magic, and you barely believe in alchemy, you are entirely too scientifical." He stood up, and began to walk around me. He was gloating, "I have lived for some four hundred odd years." He smiled, "I have served great kings in Europe, and I still live." He smiled, "But enough of the history lesson, I'm going to make you a believer." Germaine began to chant. My insides began to boil, I felt like my body was on fire. It felt like my body was rearranging itself from the inside out. A white-hot beam shot from Germaine's fingers and it struck me. I was blind for a moment, and then I slumped to the floor. When I woke up, Kate was still frozen. I looked up at her and her eyes were full of terror. I stood up and felt tingly all over. I looked down at myself, and saw women's clothing on me. My head snapped up, and a mass of curls tumbled down into my face. I clutched my chest for a second, and my hands recoiled in shock. Germaine walked up behind me, "Now do you believe?" he asked. I shook my head in disbelief. I took a step back, and fell. I had high heels on, and I didn't know how to walk in them. He stood over me, helping me up, "See for yourself." He said motioning to a mirror in the hallway. It was me. But it wasn't me. It was my sister, if I'd had one. Chocolate colored skin, hazel eyes; full lips with a wine colored lipstick were now the sum of the person I saw in the mirror. She was several inches shorter than I used to be, and had an athletic physique. It was as if this person mirrored my life. There was even a scar on her cheek from where a cat scratched me when I was a child. "Why?" I managed to speak. I heard the soft voice come out of my mouth. He laughed, "I don't know," he smiled sitting down, "I guess I have always had a flare for the dramatic." He gestured to the couch across from him. "I could've made it worse, you know." "Worse?" I jumped. "Yes, I could've made you some kind of sex starved harlot, but you have to have a weak will for that, which you don't." he smiled. I breathed a sigh of relief. "How long will I be like this?" I asked. I felt uncomfortable, like my body was sitting wrong in all the wrong places. "I'll let you figure that out, it will be your first rule of magic." He smiled, "Now, I've put the rest of your monies in your respective bank accounts." "Why?" I asked. "Because, you've helped the Junto a great deal." He ticked off his fingers, "You've found a murderer, you've found the bodies of one of two missing prominent Yale scientists," he smiled, "We don't need you now; you may go." He waved his hand and Kate fell to the ground. The gorilla showed us out. We drove home nearly in silence. It looked like I would have to find myself a new identity. I did it for Kate after she changed; why couldn't I do it for myself? I was rich-a rich woman. "Paul, I'm sorry." Kate said looking out of the window as we drove along. "It's ok Kate, I'll learn to deal." I said dryly, some how doubting I ever would. "Maybe." "Well, you learned to deal with it, so can I." I said in the same dry tone. "No, Paul, its different." She turned to me, "I wanted to be this way, and you didn't." "Like I said, I'll deal," I tried to offer a smile, "I mean women aren't as competitive as men and all that good stuff, right?" Kate began to laugh, "I see you're going to have a lot to learn aren't you?" I shrugged. The rest of the trip was a silent one. We unloaded the equipment in silence. "You want me to stay with you for the night?" Kate asked, once we were inside the office. "No, I'll be alright." I said trying not to look at Kate. She smiled faintly, "Alright, call me if you need anything, OK?" I waved Kate off and she left. I broke down and cried once she left. I've never cried so hard in my life. I would have to start my life over. I didn't know what I would do. The feelings were all too intense. There was a part of me deep down that enjoyed them. I said I was a romantic remember? Pulled out a bottle of Southern Comfort and drank myself to sleep. I fell asleep in my comfortable chair overlooking the city. I had strange dreams of fighting off men, and having children. None of these dreams (coupled with the Southern Comfort) made me wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed. Kate shook me, and I woke up. "You've fallen asleep here, haven't you?" she asked. "Huh? Yeah, I did." Kate sighed. "Well, let's get you up, and changed." She sniffed, "Gaw! You smell!" "I had a few last night." I smiled pointing to the empty bottle on the desk. "Right, well go take a shower." I went off to the bathroom and took a shower. The water was nice and warm and few places on my body responded to the water that I wasn't used to. To make a long story short: I took a pretty quick shower. My hair was a tangled mess when I got out. Luckily for me the tangled mass of hair look was in. Kate did her best to comb it and we went out to buy a few things. What's to tell about shopping? I bought a few pair of panties, jeans, shirts, and shoes, not to mention a couple of dressy pantsuits. If Kate didn't wear them, I wouldn't either. I noticed a few women were giving us unfriendly looks. "Why are those women staring?" I asked innocently. "Two beautiful women on a shopping spree on Fifth Avenue, tends to make some women jealous." "Well, I have more respect for you for putting up with it." I smiled. "That's because if we got into it I'd kick their asses, wouldn't I?" "Oh, yeah." I spent thirty days as a woman. That's another story entirely. Just like my meeting Kate is. So anyway, thirty days after my transformation I fainted. When I awoke, in my apartment, I was Paul Molineux again. I had learned the first rule of magic: magic is finite; each spell has a time limit. Conceivably, the spell could've been cast on me that lasted 999 years. It was indeed limited. I called up Kate, "Good news!" I almost shouted. "Who is this?" "Its Paul! Come to the office, we have plans to make." I hung up and flew to the office. I explained what I knew about the first rule of magic. "So to make a long story short, magic has a time limit?" Kate asked. I nodded, "Yeah, something like that, the effects seem to have a duration, what better way to make believers out of us than to cast a thirty day spell on me?" Kate shrugged, "So, now what?" "Now we talk to Elise Barron and figure out a way to take down the Junto." At that moment the phone rang. Kate picked it up. "Hello? We were just talking about you. You're in New York? You'd like to meet us?" she glanced at me. I nodded. "Alright, Meet us at Strawberry Fields in Central Park at three. Right, Ta." Kate said, and hung up the phone. "Elise Barron?" I asked. "Elise Barron, you've heard; we're going to meet her." We strolled out of the office and over to Strawberry Fields. Elise waved to us. She was wearing a spaghetti strap tank top and a pair of short shorts. "Hi! I was thinking, since I was in town," she smiled, "I have something to show you." "Show us what?" Kate asked suspiciously. "I can't show you here." She looked around at all of the people, "Is there someplace private we could go?" "Sure, My office isn't too far from here." We went back to my office. Elise opened her bag and threw two disks on my desk. "I had them all the time!" she smiled. "Didn't they." "No, who would think to look in a college student's room for disks?" she laughed triumphantly. "Aren't you in danger?" Kate asked. "No, and that's why we can hit them where it hurts!" Elise smiled. "But that doesn't explain what happened to Dr. Olney." I said. "He's here!" Elise smiled. "In New York?" Kate asked "Yeah, but I mean HERE!" Kate and I looked at each other with a puzzled expression. "Well, I have something else to show you." Elise said meekly. "You're a sorceress?" I asked. "You can speak with the dead?" Kate asked. "No! I'm Tony Olney!" Kate and I sat back. We believed. We just had to see it. "I hate doing this, but here goes." Elise said. Her eyes rolled back. Her hair stood on end. Her body began to ripple. Slowly but surely, Anthony Olney began to replace Elise Barron. I have to admit he looked strange wearing a spaghetti strap tank top. But sure enough, there he stood. "Now do you believe?" Olney asked. "Sure." Kate and I said at the same time. "But why?" I asked. "I had cancer when John and I started the project." He smiled faintly, "One of the first things we discovered was that in order to make alchemy work a woman must work with a man and vice versa." "But Barron had a wife." Kate said. Olney nodded, "Yes, but she left him not long after she gave birth to their baby daughter." He smiled faintly, "So we had a little problem." I nodded, "So that's where Elise Barron came in?" "Yes, I was dying, and we thought the best thing to do was save me and give John a lab partner." He held up two fingers, "Two birds with one stone." "Right, but as Elise you were an infant, initially." Kate said. "That was a problem," Olney smiled, "Its kind of strange being in the body of an infant, able to talk before I was strong enough to walk." "So that's why the discoveries from the manuscript only came out recently?" Olney nodded, "Elise knows she is me, but she is also a totally different person." He paced around, "She had to learn everything I knew from scratch." "And this happened all under Germaine's nose?" Kate asked. "It was too perfect," Olney nodded, "So since I'm presumed dead, I'll just keep on being Elise." Olney's eyes rolled back. The ripples began course though his body. Breasts grew out of his/her chest. The absurd bulge that protruded in the shorts retracted. Elise stood before us once again. "Now we have everything we need to fight Junto!" she said excitedly. "What do you mean?" I asked. "Science," she pointed at me, "Alchemy," she pointed to herself, "And Magic." She pointed to Kate, "The holy trinity!" she squealed. "W-w-wha?" Kate stammered. Elise smiled evilly, "You are the goddess Hecate incarnate." We knew this story. Kate was supposed to be the goddess Hecate reborn. The cult story, remember? "Germaine didn't seem to know that." I said. "Germaine has distain for science and recombinants in particular," Elise smiled smugly, "He knows, he just underestimated her potential." Kate stammered again, "H-how do you know all this?" Elise pointed to the disks, "Its all been prophesized baby!" she nodded, "A lot of the book dealt with the upcoming battle." "Upcoming battle?" I asked. "Yeah! To end the corruption in the world and to return the Earth back to its balance of Magic, Alchemy, and Science!" Elise shouted. "So where do we start?" Kate wondered to no one in particular. "We already have," Elise smiled, "The unbeliever will believe," She pointed to me, "The one who runs from her fate will accept it," she pointed to Kate, "And the Alchemist will reveal himself to be both man and woman." She pointed to herself. I put a disk in my PC. "Lets find the next prophesy then." I said sitting down. Kate and Elise stood behind me staring at the screen intently. The decoded manuscript appeared on the screen and we began to read. That was how we began our battle against the Junto. It was also the story of our beginning together.