"Secrets of the Old Pharmacy" by Vladimir Torin, summary Automatic translate

Vladimir Torin’s novella was written in 2025. It reveals the dark atmosphere of the fictional city of Gaben. The text is saturated with elements of urban fantasy, detective intrigue, and steampunk aesthetics. The plot revolves around the family secrets of a dynasty of pharmacists whose chemical experiments violate the laws of nature. The author blends mysticism with crime drama.

The book is part of the "Mysterious Stories from Gaben" series, along with "Mr. Eternal Eve" and "Birds." It occupies the second place in the series’ chronology. Readers once again encounter familiar locations and the distinctive atmosphere of the Sakvoyazhny District. The main events take place within the walls of an old building, permeated with the smell of medicine and past crimes.

Secrets of the Sakvoyazhny District

The plot begins with the arrival of a young man at Lemony’s Bitter Pill apothecary. The young man declares that he has inherited his uncle Ludwig’s business in the town of Rubberot. He asks his cousin Lemuel to teach him the trade. Lemuel reluctantly agrees and warns, "You’ll have a lot of work ahead of you, cousin." The proprietor tells the visitor about his wife Helen’s illness. She suffers from a contagious disease and is locked up on the third floor. The house is under the strict control of Madame Klopp, Lemuel’s domineering mother-in-law. The old woman hates the newcomer from the very beginning and forces him to do the most difficult work.

James quickly realizes that the apothecary’s nightlife is far removed from the legitimate trade in potions. Lemuel supplies contraband to local gangsters, most notably the Candlemakers and Blue Scarves. He buys questionable ingredients from poachers and collaborates with shady characters. While cleaning out the sewer drain beneath the building, James discovers a strange winding key. This discovery raises many questions.

The young man keeps his own secrets. His real name is James Pridley. He arrived in Gaben on a mission from Lemuel’s rival. His goal is to steal the "Secret Formulas." The client believes the legendary book contains recipes for miraculous serums. James hopes to pay off his parents’ bank debts by completing this mission. In his free time, the young man converses with his only companion — a dead dog, Buttons, who has been stuffed.

The Legacy of Crazy Ancestors

Attempts to find the tome lead James to the locked room of Lemony’s great-grandfather, the founder of the dynasty. The supposed cousin discovers a secret compartment hidden in the bed. Inside lie old diaries. The entries reveal the ancestor’s true identity. The great-grandfather turned out to be a ruthless researcher. He deliberately poisoned his heirs to maintain control of the apothecary. The old man was searching for the secret of immortality, conducting dangerous experiments on the townspeople.

From the diaries, James learns of soul extraction technology. His great-grandfather collaborated with the mad scientists of the Golden Age. He wanted to transfer his consciousness into someone else’s body. To this end, the apothecary created the Most Bitter Pill. Whoever took it lost their personality, giving way to the mind of old Lemony. Lemuel resisted this process for many years. This internal conflict gave birth to the Dark Passenger — an aggressive subpersonality composed of guilt. Lemuel sarcastically calls this entity the Good Son.

Madame Klopp hides her horrific story. Many years ago, the old woman murdered her own husband, Willard, who had brutally beaten Helen. She laced his wig with poison and then, with the help of Constable Teddy Tromper, dumped his body in the canal. Now the past haunts her nightmares. The pharmacist’s mother-in-law treats her nerves with leeches and radio plays about the murders.

James finds the mechanical body of Lazarus Lemony, Lemuel’s father, in the attic. Driven by curiosity, the young man uses a key he found in the drain. The automaton comes to life. Lazarus accuses his son of betrayal. Many years ago, Lemuel interrupted the process of transferring his father’s mind into a steel frame. The pharmacist was alarmed by the radical ideas of roboticizing people. The animated mechanism attacks James. Lemuel saves the young man, setting carnivorous gremlins on the automaton. The small monsters tear the steel body to pieces.

Tensions within the household are heating up. Helen confesses to James that her husband is holding her captive. She claims Lemuel deliberately infected her, claiming he’s testing his love serum on her. The situation is further complicated by the Good Son’s actions. The dark entity goes on the offensive and attempts to hang Lemuel right in his room. To save himself, the apothecary inhales an extract made from the pollen of a rare firefly. The remedy works. Lemuel’s mind is cleansed of the Good Son’s parasitic presence. Now the apothecary is ready to heal Helen.

James makes a dangerous foray into the streets. A fog squall covers the city — a thick, anomalous haze in which people are trapped and suffocated. The young man uses a tank of clean air and cuts his way through the thick fog with a knife to unlock the pharmacy’s front door from the outside. This risky maneuver allows James to return to the building undetected and prepare for the final stage of Lemuel’s plan.

Lethal serum

Events reach a climax in Great-Grandfather’s underground laboratory. Lemuel discovers that the recipe pages have been purged of text. The old man deliberately concealed the secret ingredient. Lemuel makes a desperate decision. He swallows the Most Bitter Pill, allowing Great-Grandfather to completely take over his body. The reborn ancestor dictates the recipe. Madame Klopp forces the old man to prepare the serum. She threatens to kill him with the poison Lemuel drank beforehand. Great-Grandfather completes the work. The secret ingredient turns out to be yellow dye from his own wig.

James snatches a syringe with the prepared medicine and runs to the third floor. Madame Klopp gives his great-grandfather the antidote. It turns out Lemuel had mixed the antidote with a concentrate of his own soul. After injecting the medicine, Old Man Lemony vanishes. Lemuel regains control of his body. At that moment, James bursts into Helen’s room with Constable Tromper. The young man sees a terrifying scene.

Helen has transformed into a grotesque — a monstrous creature with long limbs and a toothy maw. It was the grotesque that plagued the town many years ago. Her great-grandfather stopped the pandemic but preserved the strain. Her good son infected Helen out of revenge. The creature attacks James. The young man manages to inject her with the serum. The cure is too slow. The grotesque kills Constable Tromper, who locked the door from the inside to save James. Lemuel reports that the cure has worked. The woman has regained her human form, but the process is irreversible. Within minutes, the disease takes hold, and she begins to mutate again.

The apothecary helps James fake his death. The fake cousin must disappear to escape the wrath of Meadows and the bank’s creditors. Lemuel forges documents. James Pridley is officially declared dead in a still explosion. The young man receives a new name — Lymon Lemony. He boards a train leaving Gabin before a fog squall. The real Lymon disappeared many years ago. Now James goes to Rubberot to take his place and become a real apothecary.