Somehow or another, Miya managed to assist Jon back to his apartment. From there, she placed his gun on the nearby kitchen table and helped him into his bedroom before removing his jacket and sitting him down on the bed.

“Okay, so now what do we do?” she asked nervously.

Jon pointed to his closet. “There’s a trunk behind the dirty laundry basket. Pull it out for me.”

Miya nodded before going to the closet and moving the hamper out of the way. She then pulled a large black trunk out and brought it to him.

“Open it,” he instructed.

She did as asked and opened the trunk. What lay inside made her gasp in surprise. It was full of weapons- knives, guns, ammunition, the works. More than that though, the trunk contained all sorts of bizarre trinkets and pendants, including no less than seven different rosaries, each made of sterling silver. Along with these strange trinkets, there were several copies of the Holy Bible as well as journals filled with God only knows what.

“Where did you get all this stuff?” she asked in amazement.

“The guns were bought off the street,” he explained. “Same with the ammo. I can’t risk leaving a paper trail.”

“And all this other stuff?”

“Collected over the years,” he answered. “Now dig in there and bring me the black leatherbound journal with a red stripe on the side.”

She did as instructed and found the appropriate book before bringing it to him. Jon flipped it open and began flipping through pages, finally stopping on one with strange archaic symbols he’d apparently drawn himself, as well as some sort of makeshift recipe he’d scribbled down. Miya leaned over and peered at the strange concoction written down.

“White Hare Elixir?” she asked in confusion.

He nodded. “For this to work, I’ll need the small metal box in that trunk. Grab it and place it on my desk, then help me to the chair.”

After grabbing the small metal box out of his trunk, Miya assisted Jon to his desk, whereupon he opened one of the drawers and pulled out what looked like a chemist stand and a small cast iron bowl. He then opened the metal box and pulled out a couple of glass vials, each with different colored powders in them.

“So what is it you’re doing, exactly?” she asked while watching him work.

“This wound is too deep to heal naturally without risking infection or permanent nerve damage,” he explained. “But the elixir I’m creating should solve that problem.”

“I’ve never heard of medicine that can do something like that,” she admitted, a hint of amazement in her voice.

“This ain’t medicine. It’s alchemy,” he corrected before removing the black mat on top of his desk to reveal a strange, ancient circle carved straight into the wood. “The elixir I’m creating can’t be acquired through natural means.”

“Isn’t alchemy like...turning lead into gold, or something like that?”

He chuckled. “Something like that. In chemistry, you’re basically combining elements to create a desired effect right?”

“Right...”

“Well, alchemy is the same. Only instead of simply combining those elements to make different compounds, you’re restructuring them on an atomic level, essentially changing them into something else completely. It’s a process called transmutation.”

“And you can do that?”

He nodded. “Theoretically, anyone can. Alchemy isn’t magic. Not...exactly anyway. If you’ve got the know-how, just about anyone can do it. Of course, acquiring that know-how is a lot easier said than done. Most of the information on this stuff is long gone. The rest is all snake oil and hogwash.”

“So how did you find this one?”

“The Church has records of some of the lost alchemical formulae,” he explained. “This one is one of the oldest. It was originally conceived in ancient China as an elixir of immortality. Though it never quite got that far, it can be used to heal grievous injuries and illness if done correctly.” As he explained, he got to work placing the iron bowl on the stand before placing the stand on the circle carved into the desk. “First we start with a mercury base,” Jon spoke aloud, reading from the journal while adding a vial containing a silvery fluid to the bowl. “Then powdered jade, cinnabar, and hematite.”

“Hold on, did you say mercury?”

Jon nodded while continuing to add the various components. “I know it sounds absolutely ridiculous, but this really will work. Trust me.”

“If you say so.” She sounded skeptical. “Anything I can do to help?”

“In a second. Right now, I need to concentrate.”

She stood by and watched as he poured the lethal concoction together and mixed it well with a small wooden stick. Once he had done that, Jon took his lighter and placed the flame directly under the iron bowl while his free hand rested on the ancient circle. He shut his eyes and focused while Miya continued to watch on in confused bafflement.

After a moment, her eyes went wide as the circle began to glow with neon blue light, illuminating the dark room. The mixture melted and blended together to produce a multicolor fluid of greens, yellows, blues, and purples, before mixing together into a uniformly red hue. The thick milky film left behind on its surface broke away and evaporated, leaving a clear red elixir behind that was bubbling from the heat wafting off of it.

Once he was done, Jon opened his eyes and the circle stopped glowing. The mixture continued to bubble and steam, heat rising off of it. Yet, it looked nothing like what its individual components would suggest.

“Help me out of my pants.” Jon requested.

Miya stopped staring in slack-jawed silence long enough to reply. “O...okay.”

She removed the tourniquet and bandage before helping Jon slide out of his bloody pants. Upon seeing just how bad the wound truly was, she placed a hand over her mouth, her eyes growing big.

“Oh my God...it’s already starting to swell up. That’s gonna get infected for sure.”

“All the more reason to get this over with.” Jon insisted before grabbing a set of tongs and giving them to her. “Take these.”

“Okay...but why?”

“While I…” He took a breath to steel himself for what was about to happen. “...while I hold the wound open...you have to pour it in.”

“You want me to pour that stuff into the wound?!” She looked horrified. “Jon, it’s boiling hot!”

“I didn’t say it wouldn’t suck,” he joked, though admittedly he was just trying to get his mind off it. “Now hurry up. We’ve got about twenty more seconds before that stuff cools down and turns into useless slag.”

“Oh my God. You are just determined to make me have a full-blown mental breakdown tonight, aren’t you,” she insisted frantically while gingerly picking up the liquid with the tongs.

Jon grabbed a pencil off his desk and placed it between his teeth before placing both hands near the wound and pulling it open. He shut his eyes tight and nodded to her. After a few moments of hesitation, she gingerly poured a tiny bit onto the wound. The moment it made contact with his skin, it sizzled and steamed like cold water hitting a red hot frying pan. Jon yelled through the pencil he was biting into, causing Miya to yelp in surprise. Jon shot her a frantic look to keep going whereupon she shut her eyes and proceeded to pour the rest directly onto his skin. The liquid seemed to evaporate the moment it made contact, scalding and cauterizing the wound before vanishing entirely. It was as she poured the last bit onto his leg that the pain finally became unbearable and Jon lurched backwards out of his seat, falling onto his back and causing Miya to drop the now empty bowl in surprise.

He repeatedly slammed his fist into the desk before spitting the pencil out of his mouth and screaming. “Fuck, that sucks!!”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Miya apologized frantically. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

After taking a couple of deep breaths and regaining his composure, Jon inspected the wound. Though it still didn’t look or feel great, it had been sealed shut and the swelling was down. He then breathed a sigh of relief, just glad that it was finally over.

“Don’t worry. It did what it needed to do. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?” she asked nervously. “It still looks pretty bad.”

“Trust me, it’ll be okay," he insisted before slowly rising back to his feet. “It’ll still take some time to heal, but I can already bear weight on it again. It worked.”

Finally, she seemed to relax. “So...everything’s okay now?”

Jon nodded, his smile finally returning. “Everything’s fine. I just need to rebandage this and change into some new pants.” He then pointed outside of his room. “While I do that, could you…”

“Jon, I really don’t think I can take anymore tonight,” she insisted, clearly both mentally and physically exhausted.

He chuckled at her in understanding. “Don’t worry. The hard parts over. I was just gonna ask if you could head into the kitchen and grab the bottle of whiskey on the top shelf for me.”

She looked back into the kitchen area and then back at him before sighing wearily.

“Fine. But after the night I’ve had, you’re sharing.”