Arkadia (Halfway House Series Book 1)

by Dzintra Sullivan

  Arkadia interrupted getting pissy right back at her. “Hey now … YOU said I was important, YOU said I was powerful, YOU said it.” Eloise took a deep calming breath. Anger had no place in this room, it was poison, a mold that once released, its spores could settle into every aspect of one’s life, and grow, festering until you were nothing but an empty dark shell.

  “Arkadia, you ARE all of those things, but when you put your own importance above anyone else’s, you betray the goddess, for every living thing has equal and balanced importance, and unless you are equal and balanced with yourself and your surroundings, your magic is destined to fail.” Arkadia threw her hands in the air a show of frustration.

  “So balance me, Eloise, and let’s get out of here,” Arkadia said.

  “If only it was as easy as an arm flail ... let’s begin with casting a spell.” Eloise put two glasses in front of them, one empty and one full of water. “Move the water from one vessel to the other; it’s going to require what type of spell, Arkadia?” Arkadia looked at the glasses; vessels my ass, she chuckled to herself, a glass is a glass, but to get out of this class early, she would call them moon pops if she had to.

  “I’ll need a traveling water spell,” Arkadia said with pride, knowing she was right.

  “Excellent, Arkadia, then go ahead, move the water from one MOONPOP to the other.” Eloise reminded Arkadia with a smile that she could hear every thought she had, even though she ignored most.

  “Ahh … yesss … sorry … uumm …” Arkadia stumbled over her words, “let’s get this moving.” Arkadia closed her eyes, taking a slow deep breath and felt herself center in the room, and she began to cast her words.

  “Water, Water, Water,

  By the power of three,

  Lift, move, traveling fluid,

  Follow my voice from A to B.”

  As Arkadia watched the water, her eyes flicked to Eloise, watching to see a glimmer of pride, or hope, or any emotion from her. As she glanced back to the water, it began to ripple and displace on the surface. Pride began to well in her stomach, Arkadia’s eyes growing wider as the water began to rise and funnel past the lip of the glass. Willing it to continue, she saw the liquid spinning within its own tunnel, like a mini tornado coming out of the vessel. Arkadia was about to will the watery tube to relocate into the other glass, and she glanced quickly to Eloise. Their eyes met, an alarm registering in Eloise’s eyes, and Arkadia knew she had made a fundamental mistake, a millisecond of broken concentration. She registered the spell was now wild and untamed. Looking back to the tube, it swirled in a passionate dance through the air, taking the target that had grabbed Arkadia’s attention. She gasped in horror as the funnel of water pounded into the shocked face of her teacher and den mother, Eloise.

  Arkadia didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Eloise sat there drenched. Apparently unknown to Arkadia, although it was only a single glass of water, when in the midst of a transporting spell, water can double, sometimes even triple, its volume before regaining original formation in the new location.

  “I am going to the Island of Shadows, I just know it!” Arkadia began to stand up.

  “SIT DOWN,” Eloise said with a deep animalistic rumble. Giving herself a small shake and taking a deep breath, Eloise looked at Arkadia. “Don’t ever, EVER, break contact with your target. As you get better and more confident, this won’t be an issue, but for the moment, you MUST always watch the element that you’re working with, understand?” Her voice had returned to a softer more supportive tone. Arkadia sheepishly smiled.

  “I am sorry, I didn’t–” Eloise halted her with a simple hand movement. “No sorrys, we are both learning each other. Its only water and I don’t shrink. How about you get some air flowing and dry me off?” Eloise asked.

  Taking the challenge, Arkadia took a long deep breath, exhaled slowly, and again felt the warmth from the candles licking her skin, surrounding her from every angle as they seemingly cheered her on with a happy dance, flickering left and right. Arkadia raised her hands outward, palms raised to the roof, and she began to chant.

  “Wind, Wind, softly blow,

  I call up into the Sky,

  Come to me a gentle flow,

  I’ve got something that needs to dry.”

  A soft whisper of breath grazed her cheek, gently placing a kiss upon her skin. She decided it was better to feel the wind than to try and see it, and kept her eyes closed. Arkadia could feel the energy in the air building and a breeze beginning to play around the room. She reached out with her mind to where she knew Eloise was sitting and tried to channel the direction of the air flow. It seemed to be working well, and Arkadia smiled as she felt the soft breeze following her direction.

  In the distance, a familiar rumble of an engine was coming closer. Her body knew who that rumble belonged to well before Arkadia’s brain did, and as it came closer, Arkadia could feel her heart race with a gallop verging on a heart attack. Her blood felt like it was boiling with the heat of attraction, and she knew it was him – she knew it was Bohdan. He must live out past her house and was on his way home from training. Arkadia’s mind was running mad with the thoughts of Bohdan's training session, his rock-hard body skating around on the ice, getting all hot and sweaty, biceps rippling with every puck that he stopped. With a sudden freezing of her blood, Arkadia remembered where she was and what she was supposed to be doing. Opening her eyes, she gasped. A virtual tornado had been unleashed in her living room, a torrent of wind swarming round and round the walls, picking up every piece of paper, flower, and candle; anything that was light was now flying like an armed projectile around the room. Arkadia jumped to her feet and screamed,

  “STOP, STOP, STOP,

  BY THE ORDER OF LIGHT,

  STOP THIS WILD WIND

  MAKE THINGS RIGHT.”

  Everything seemed to instantly stop, papers and candles dropping from the sky from wherever they were, the living room was now a complete shambles. Looking around, Arkadia’s eyes fell upon Eloise, her red hair now could only be described as a wild woman’s mane, blown dry to within an inch of its life. Before Eloise could say a word, Arkadia said, “I’m so sorry,” and ran from the room, taking the steps two at a time and leapt from the door to her room onto her queen-sized bed. She buried her face into the pillow just into time to muffle the tears that flowed hard and fast. She knew she was a loser, she knew she was useless, and she knew she was destined for the Island. Sobbing herself into a deep sleep, there were no dreams for her tonight.

  Chapter Ten

  Arkadia wasn’t interested in discussing last night’s fiasco with Eloise, and managed to slip out of the house before anyone else, this morning being Saturday. She’s not stupid and knows she will be forced to discuss it, but she wasn’t ready right now. She really didn’t have anywhere to go; just somewhere she didn’t want to be, and wandered down to the local Timmy’s for her favorite skinny cap. Arkadia waited in line for her order to be fulfilled, looked around the room and froze. In the corner, there was half of the hockey team: Pete, Rick, Cat’s brother Daniel, and the god himself, Bohdan. Hearing the door bell ring, she glanced back to see Cat and Vi wandering in. Well, if that just doesn’t crush my cookies. YEAH, Cat’s here to introduce me, or is it CRAP, Vi’s here to steal him away? Not on my watch Biatch; attack is always the best defense right? Arkadia grabbed her coffee, popped her shoulders back, boobs out, and strutted over to them.

  “Hi, girls, whatcha doing?” Arkadia spoke softly but with a confidence in her voice that betrayed the bundle of nerves she was for being this close to … him!

  “Looking gorgeous today, Arkadia. Going somewhere special?” Vi asked. Arkadia looked down at herself; having thrown on the first things she saw, as speed was an issue this morning, she guessed she looked better in her dark blue jeans and tight light blue sweater than she thought. It was simple, but covered the essentials. Arkadia didn’t mind being a boy’s fantasy, but she wasn’t going to be their peep show. No flashing of unnecessary flesh;
it was one of the few rules she remembered from her Mother. It had been many years since she saw her. Arkadia shook her head as she re-entered the present day conversation.

  “These old things? Honestly, I just grabbed and went this morning. I pale in comparison to Vi.” Paying Vi the false compliment was what Vi expected, and as much as Arkadia loved Vi, she also hated her.

  Vi smiled and twirled, her gorgeous maxi dress flaring beautifully. Vi may have been short, but with heels and a killer cleavage, no one noticed. “You’re so kind,” Vi replied in a super sweet tone. “Oh look, there’s the boys, let’s go over. Cat, you can introduce us to the new guy, right Arkadia?” Linking her arm through Arkadia’s and pulling her close, she smiled brightly and bounced excitedly with an eager tug on Arkadia’s arm. Cat looked at Arkadia, sharing a subtle “what the hell?” look, then looked back at Vi.

  “Ohhh-kay … sure … let’s go and meet the boys.” Cat didn’t bother to hide her false excitement. She got annoyed at being used by Vi sometimes.

  “GREAT!!” exclaimed Vi loudly and looped her other hand through Cat’s and strutted over to the boys like a panther on the prowl for fresh meat.

  “Daniel, did Mom mention she was going to be working late tonight, that dinner was up to us?” Taking a seat next to her brother, Cat stole a doughnut from the open box on the table and shoved it in her mouth.

  “Yeah, she did, Cat.” Daniel moved over to make space for them all in the corner booth. “And I’ll be happy to eat whatever you decide to make me?” He laughed, and the boys laughed and smashed knuckles in some kind of weird male bonding technique that Arkadia never could, nor did she really wish to, understand.

  “Then liver and brussels sprouts it is,” Cat teased and poked her tongue out.

  “Care to put that tongue to better use?” Pete growled under his breath. Quick enough to make Arkadia jump, Daniel’s hand came out and smacked Pete upside the head.

  “HEY!! That's my sister, dickhead, Respect her ALWAYS … and her friends.” Mumbling an apology, Pete slunk back into the chair sipping his coffee.

  “Speaking of friends,” Cat said seeing an opportunity and running with it, “Bohdan, this is Vi.” Bohdan’s eyes snapped up at his name being mentioned, and he nodded slightly to Vi. “And this is Arkadia, she lives on your uncle’s street; the white house at the start with the pale blue shutters.” Arkadia kicked her under the table. “Oomph,” Cat said rubbing her shin. “What?? It’s true … you do.”

  “I know, Cat, but you don’t need to bore Bohdan with silly location details.” Cat just winked, knowing full well what she was doing, and Vi was glaring the mother-of-all death stares at her for it.

  “I know where you live.” Those five little words set Arkadia’s blood to boiling instantly. Five tiny, little, insignificant words, his voice like a dark rich smooth honey that coated Arkadia like an accelerant just waiting for a spark to start a wildfire.

  Arkadia looked over to him, and Bohdan was waiting for her eyes. She could feel the rotation of the world slowing, the sounds of the coffee shop and traffic blurring into the background, as she gazed into his dark chocolate eyes. Arkadia felt like Augustus Gloop, and desperately wanted to fall into that deep chocolate river and get lost forever. “I’ve seen you walking to school with your sisters and brother?” Arkadia didn’t think she had ever heard a man’s voice so deep and demanding. He was speaking and all she could hear was her body screaming, “MINE! MINE!! MINE!!!”

  “Yeah, I mean, no, they aren’t, well they kind of are, sort of, we act like it.” Arkadia knew as she heard it roll out of her mouth how dumb she sounded, but for some reason, her brain seemed to have disconnected from her mouth. His perfect dark eyebrows rose slightly, and combining that with a slight tilt of his head, she knew he thought she sounded dumb too.

  “Sounds ... complicated,” he replied. The corner of his mouth rose ever so slightly, in either intrigue or amusement, Arkadia wasn’t sure, and she didn’t care as long as he spoke to her.

  “We got to go guys. Training is about to start, and you know what coach will do if we are late.” With a chorus of grunts and agreements that a punishment from coach was not a desirable option, they all stood up and grabbed their bags and sticks. Arkadia watched as Bohdan got up. He placed his hand flat on the table to push himself out from the booth, and she gasped. He was marked, he was gifted like her, and had obviously passed his PSEs, because on the webbing between his pointer finger and his thumb he had the tattoo mark – a mark she herself wanted with all she was; without this mark, come her eighteenth birthday, it was goodbye Arkadia and hello Island.

  Bohdan looked straight into Arkadia’s eyes, knowing she saw, and he asked, “You coming to the game tonight?” Arkadia had never been to a hockey game before, it was not something she liked; however, all of a sudden she liked the game VERY much.

  “Maybe,” Arkadia said with a soft smile and a shrug of her shoulders. Bohdan nodded, his eyes sparkling as he turned and walked after the guys who had already left ahead of him.

  “BITCH!!!” Vi sneered at Arkadia. “Way to hog the new guy, Arkadia.” Slumping back into the chair, Vi sipped and sulked.

  “I don’t think she was hogging him, Vi,” Cat chirped in with a massive grin on her face. “He looked like he was doing most of the hogging himself.” Arkadia just grinned. What else could she do? “So, pick you up at six? For the game?” Cat laughed as she asked Arkadia.

  “I guess so, what do I wear?”

  “Something warm,” Cat said, “It is an ice rink after all, not the place to start bringing out the bikinis.”

  Arkadia left a now brooding Vi with Cat at Timmy’s and walked home, having completely forgotten about what happened last night. Now, her focus was on a very sexy hockey goalie who knew where she lived. Letting out a little squeal of excitement, she certainly had a skip to her step.

  Chapter Eleven

  Managing to avoid Eloise for the rest of the day was a pure mirage and Arkadia knew it. She was a mind-reading empath, and Arkadia might be able to fool herself into believing she was outsmarting her, but deep down, she could feel Eloise in her head, waiting patiently. But for how long? Even as Arkadia climbed the tree outside her bedroom and snuck in the window, she smiled. If she ignored the obvious, her fantasy could continue a little longer. Her fantasy was about six-foot-four and should be stamped with one hundred percent beefy muscle on his tight ass. Arkadia knew she had to be quick before either Eloise or Emerson sniffed her out, best nose in the west that boy.

  Grabbing her sweater, she was about to climb back out the same way she came in, when her reality bubble took a damaging blow. “Arkadia.” Eloise’s voice was strong in her mind, and Arkadia thought if she didn’t answer, she might just leave a message. “You are not an answering machine, and I am not leaving a message, young lady. Get your butt back in that damn window and walk down the stairs like the woman you are supposed to be turning into, not like a thief sneaking out the window in the night.” Arkadia winced at the firmness in Eloise’s tone, pausing halfway out the window, her foot on the branch, the other on the floor of the room. “Do not forget who you are dealing with, Arkadia, I would prefer you to make the right choice yourself; however, I am more than happy to force the issue if need be.” Eloise’s tone was getting harsher by the second. Arkadia took a deep breath, huffed dramatically, and climbed back in the window, speaking to herself, but knowing she was loud enough to be heard.

  “No need to be a ‘Wand Happy Wilma.’ Sheeesh, I’ll use the stairs, happy?” Arkadia stomped down the stairs, only to run face-first into Eloise herself.

  “Happy is not a word I would use to describe myself, young lady.” Arkadia’s eyes were rolling before Eloise stopped talking; she had adults talk down to her, her entire life, and she was sick of it. “If you don’t want to be talked down to,” said Eloise who had heard her thoughts and raised her voice another level. She was still not yelling. When Eloise got mad, her voice never got loud, it was the power that see
med to vibrate around every syllable she spoke, and the energy was ramping up at a steady rate this afternoon. “I suggest you stop making stupid choices and focus on what’s important,” Eloise finished.

  “Stupid choices? How? I just want to have some fun. Other kids are allowed to have fun.” Arkadia resisted the urge to pout, knowing this was not the time to push Eloise, and for fear of spending the night as a cockroach in a jar.

  Eloise breathed deeply, and the energy in the room dropping a level. “Oh honey, I understand, I do, but facts are, you are not like other kids. They will not get banished in five months if they don’t pass their PSEs, YOU WILL!!” Eloise pleaded with Arkadia to understand the gravity of the situation she was in.

  “I get it, I DO understand, I just want to … I don’t know … be normal.” Arkadia slumped on the bottom step, feeling defeated. Eloise sat next to her, wrapping her arm around her shoulder. This was the first time Eloise had been able to actually hold her, and they both sat for a few heart beats, just sitting.

  “Your spells worked, Arkadia, do you understand, they worked. It’s your concentration that sucks.” Eloise chuckled softly. “Took me ages to get the knots out of my hair, was quite a storm you conjured up.” Arkadia smiled and sniffed.

  “It’s just so hard. Eloise, why is it so hard for me?”