Fire - San Juan Shadows, Book 1, Chapter 1

Chapter 1

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The flame of the Bunsen burner flickered blue and white beneath the bubbling beaker of orange viscous liquid.

A sniff indicated that the mixture seemed just right this time. A little stronger than the last batch.

Satisfaction spread. This was going to bring to life the dreams of a nice house, a fancy car, and maybe even an offshore account.

Kids were going to eat this stuff up like pigs in slop.

An almost imperceptible smirk tugged at lips that had essentially forgotten how to smile in the last few years.

Pigs in slop was an apt description for high schoolers these days. If kids had more self-control they wouldn’t be susceptible to temptations such as this. In fact, maybe exposure to this would do them a favor. One trip on the hallucinogenic ride of this drug might scare some of them straight. But hopefully not too many.

The smirk faded a bit.

Too bad some kids had died after taking that last batch. Hopefully, the smaller doses that would be recommended with this batch would prevent more deaths. After all, killing off all the clientele wasn’t such a great business model.

On the other hand… It was a little bit like helping out nature. Survival of the fittest and all. Those who were meant to live, would. And those who weren’t, well, wouldn’t.

“Just doing my part.” The murmur was too loud in the echoing stillness of the empty chemistry classroom and caused a jolt of anxiety. This time of night, no one else was likely in the school. Still, it was time to get out of here. Wouldn’t want one of the teachers showing up and asking questions.

A check of the thermometer showed that the liquid had reached the right temperature. Perfect timing.

A nitrile heat-resistant glove protected the hand that lifted the beaker and poured the contents onto the cooling tray. Immediately, the substance began to crackle, forming perfect little crystalline fragments that glowed like red hot coals in the hand-sheltered beam of the cell phone flashlight. The creation was perfect. Now it just needed a name. So far sales had been pushed with “try a new drug in beta and tell me what you think.” But with this new phase it was time to up the marketing.

“Fire.” The word tumbled out with barely the process of thought. Yes. It was fitting. With a little thought, ad copy wouldn’t even be hard to come up with, given a name like that. “Feel the Flame!” could be a subtitle of sorts. I crack myself up. Crack! Ha!

It didn’t take long to portion the crystals into separate little baggies and stuff them in a pocket. Then the cleanup began. Washing everything and putting it back just as it had been before. Of course, no one would probably notice a few little anomalies—that had been proven in the past few weeks of tweaking the recipe. Last Tuesday the stirring rod had been left on the counter. Panic had almost set in the next day when the realization dawned, but no one else seemed to have noticed. Still, it was better to try to put everything back exactly as found to avoid raising suspicions. Stepping back, an assessment showed the room was once more set to rights.

With a lift of the beer can, and a salute to the empty chemistry room of North Sound Island’s Cedar Harbor High School, the earlier smirk turned into a laugh. “Here’s to making my fortune off of all you little pukes!”

The doorknob was cool beneath a slightly sweaty palm. The door eased open with the barest of squeaks, but still the sound sent heartrate skyrocketing.

Calming breath. The hot ball of anxiety cooled.

As it should, the hallway remained empty.

The walk down the corridor, across the parking lot, and to the car parked in the shadows of the low madrona trees along the road leading up to the school seemed to take much longer than it should. But, as per usual, nothing. Everything lay silent and still right up to the moment of slipping back into the house and closing the door.

Head tilted to the wood, a sigh of relief slipped free.

One more batch had been made without detection. Figuring out a way to cook bigger batches would be necessary at some point. But for now…

Let the money start rolling in!

 

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