William stood before the door in the basement of his new house. To be honest, he’d never even been to the basement before. He knew it was there, but never felt the desire to check it out.

No longer able to hold back his inquisitive nature, William placed the key in the lock and turned it. Twisting the handle, he opened the door.

Unable to see anything, William fumbled around the corner for a light switch. A moment of searching later and suddenly the room was revealed.

William didn’t know what he expected, but this wasn’t it. The room appeared to be a simple study. Multiple bookshelves lined the walls, full of books. Only one shelf wasn’t completely full, and it had a glass case surrounding it with a lock at its center.

Straight into the door sat a desk blanketed in loose papers, uneven scribbles covering their surfaces.

“Why would Grandpa Gene have a key for a study?” William wondered aloud.

Picking up a loose paper William tried to decipher the messy writing. From what he could understand, the paper read the following.

‘Rock larvae of two weeks of age- Failure. Adjustment necessary. Rock larvae of three weeks of age- Close, but still a failure. Rock larvae of four weeks of age- Failure. Reverting age. Rock larvae of three and a half weeks of age- Mild success. Further tuning necessary.’

“What the hell?” William couldn’t help but ask aloud.

William was extremely confused. What was a rock larvae? What did it have to do with age?

Reading further down the page, the contents repeated themselves for quite a while until the last entry.

‘Rock larvae of 3 weeks, 2 days, and 10 hours appears to be the most optimal age for extracting external petrification properties. Live testing will begin.’

William had no idea what any of this meant. To him it sounded like the ramblings of a mad man, but he knew otherwise. William’s grandfather was anything but a madman.

Flipping the page over, the writing continued.

‘Failed. First subject didn’t survive petrification. Effect of mixture too powerful. It appears the subject’s internal organs petrified as well, resulting in the subject losing the ability to breathe and pump blood through the body. Further dilution of Rock larvae essence necessary. Damn, I really liked that rat.’

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Again, William had few words for what he’d just read. “What the hell?”

Did his grandfather run an off-the-book’s science lab?

Returning the paper back to the desk, William inspected the room with a closer eye.

Stopping at a bookshelf, a book stood out to William. “The art of body enhancement?” Pulling the book from the shelf, William flipped to a page near the beginning of the book. A diagram of what appeared to be cells covered one page and a paragraph explaining the image was on the next.

‘This unique form of chamelic single cell organism possesses one of the most unique properties of any non-magical alchemical ingredient. When in the presence of another organism, it can near perfectly replicate that organism’s cells and properties while not actually becoming the cells themselves. It is the basis of a majority of beginner to mid-tier body enhancement potions and elixirs. It’s short lifespan and slow reproductive cycle-‘

Stopping there, William had no idea what he’d just read. Did he read that right? Potions? Elixirs? MAGIC?! His mind was spinning at this point.

Placing the book back on the shelf, William had to sit down. Slumping down in the chair behind the desk, he covered his face with his hands. This was insane. Was it a prank? It didn’t seem like something his grandfather would do though.

“Am I going crazy?” William wondered.

Sitting up, he took a few deep breaths to calm himself. If this was a prank, it was pretty elaborate.

Taking a moment to gather his bearings, William stood and continued inspecting the room.

Every book on the shelves contained an unreal title. “Theory of elemental resistance, Encyclopedia of umbral flora, Process of alchemical exploration…” The list went on.

Abruptly William stopped.

Something caught his attention while browsing. Something had completely escaped his attention earlier. Next to a bookshelf on the right side of the room stood another door.

William prayed that this room wouldn’t make him question his own sanity. Opening the door, lights automatically came on. This was different.

Looking around the room, William saw something that actually made sense. It was a lab. Multiple stone topped tables stood in a U shape in the center of the room. Shelves of tools and containers lined the outside of the room.

This room wasn’t that far from normal expectations, but what he didn’t expect was ANOTHER door on the far end of the lab.

Crossing the lab and opening the door, William stood open mouthed at what he saw. It was a HUGE greenhouse. It even appeared that there was an actual sun above the transparent ceiling.

“This just keeps getting weirder.”

Various plants that he’d never seen blanketed the entire room. In fact, he believed that they were things NOBODY had seen. Plants of unnatural vibrant color hung from and coiled around the supports rising to the ceiling.

At this point it was official. William had played videogames before and he knew what was going on by now, but he didn’t want to admit it for fear of falling into a grief induced delusion.

Looking at all the clues, all the proof, it was conclusive. William’s grandfather was an alchemist.

William stood there for a good while before closing the door and retracing his steps back to the study. He didn’t believe there weren’t more rooms to explore, but he thought it would be wise to learn more before going any further. What if he ran into something poisonous down here?

Standing in the study, William turned in a circle, taking in all the books on the shelves. He had no idea where to begin.

With a slight gleam in his eyes for the first time in a week, the newly aspiring alchemist rubbed his hands together.

“Let’s get started.”