Arkadia (Halfway House Series Book 1) (17 page)

Arkadia sat in class the next day, her mind drifting as she gazed out the window. The weather man had called for possible snow, and she watched the clouds roll in. It certainly felt cold enough for snow. Arkadia kept going over the meeting yesterday afternoon with Ms. Winslow. She hadn’t left until after the evening meal.
Still can’t believe Eloise offered for her to stay.
Arkadia rolled her eyes dramatically.

Arkadia didn’t know if Ms. Winslow believed her or not; reading her body language was like staring at a cold steel wall, you get nothing. On a positive note, she felt listened to. She felt like she was given ample time to explain herself, and to share what really happened, not what was being recorded. Her only hope was that as Ms. Winslow now took her time to investigate further, that she would come to the same conclusion, finding her innocent of all charges.

Arkadia jumped in her seat as her phone vibrated against her leg, happy to have remembered to put it on silent. Arkadia checked where the teacher was, and when it was clear, she slid the phone out and slyly looked down to read the message.

Bohdan:
gt u prezi, c u @ bg angel in Graveyd. Aft sch?

Arkadia frowned at the text from Bohdan,
That’s strange, didn’t know he went to the graveyard.
Arkadia shrugged as she texted back.

Arkadia:
ok, c u then

If Arkadia was honest, she would have gone to hell and met the devil himself if Bohdan asked her to, and besides, he said he had a gift. Arkadia loved gifts, especially if they were from Bohdan.

The bell couldn’t ring fast enough for Arkadia. She grabbed her bag, gave her friends a very quick wave, and literally ran down the corridor and out the front door. Panting a little, she walked into the graveyard.

Arkadia wasn’t used to being here in the daylight. The gate was open and not crawling through the hole in the fence was a novelty. At least this time, she wasn’t going to ruin a perfectly good pair of leggings getting them caught on the wire. Some might say it wouldn’t happen if she wasn’t climbing through fence holes in the middle of the night, but Arkadia would say, “Fix your damn fences people.”

Dropping her bag on the grass, she took a seat at the base of the large angel, noticing with some comfort that Mr. Frewdles’ angel had been repaired. She was not about to knock its head off again. Arkadia waited, and waited, and waited. After an hour of waiting, she was furious.
How dare he!!! I don’t care how cute he is, I am not a puppy dog to be told to sit and stay!
Arkadia decided to text Bohdan, and as she typed she was daring spell check to tell her she wanted to ‘get ducked’.

Arkadia:
not happy at having to wait for u, you asked me to meet u, then no u, WTF?

A text immediately came back.

Bohdan:
meeting? I didn’t ask u, where the fuck are u? Something’s wrong, TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE!!

Suddenly, an ice kingdom began to grow in the pit of Arkadia’s stomach, and every hair on her body stood on end with the realization of how she could not have seen it.
This is not Bohdan's style. He’s the one who bombards my room with flowers, or watches me sleep in order to surprise me, not asks me to wait in a graveyard.

A small rock fell from above her head and bounced off of her shoulder. Arkadia looked up and her eyes locked on a woman. Her breath hitched as she realized it was Violet. Arkadia frowned as she looked up just in time to see Violet’s arm extend high up above. A white hot spear of fear and pain shot through Arkadia’s body as she collapsed to the ground, unconscious. A trickle of blood slowly ran down her forehead from where a rock had hit her.

Eloise dropped the cup from her hand, and it shattered on the tile floor, shards of porcelain flying forcefully into the air. At the same time, Bohdan came crashing through the front door, his chest expanding frantically as he gulped large amounts of air.

Eloise’s eyes locked onto Bohdan’s, both of them having felt an earth-shattering spike of fear from Arkadia’s energy. As if they were twins, in unison, they said, “Arkadia’s in trouble, we have got to find her NOW!”

“Did you feel that?” Eloise asked Bohdan.

“I have never felt fear like it, and then it went blank; it was like I had her on radar, and suddenly, the electricity got cut. I have been trying to tune back into her, to feel where she is, but all I get is dead air space. She is in trouble, Eloise, BIG trouble.”

As Eloise watched Bohdan struggle to keep his dragon in check, he told her about the strange text from Arkadia, then the drop into the abyss of nothingness. Eloise’s own panic level was going off the charts.

Footsteps came bounding down the stairs at having heard the ruckus. “Hey, Bohdan, my man, wassup?” Emerson came round the corner; he froze on the spot at the look of panic mixed with anger crossing Bohdan's face. “Wooaahhh …” Emerson raised his hands in surrender. “What’s happened? By the look on your face it’s serious.” Zahmali and Raven wandered into the room next, both of them glancing at Bohdan, then at Eloise. Both of them assumed Emerson had done something wrong and they stepped back unison, exchanging a look of, ‘If he’s on a sinking ship, I am not boarding it with him’.

Eloise spoke softly, but they could all hear the strain in her voice, like a violin string that is tightened to within an inch of snapping. “Arkadia is missing.”

Raven stepped forward. “Say what now? She was at school. I saw her. Are you sure she’s missing?” Raven asked, a sound of disbelief in her voice.

“SHES GONE, MISSING, KIDNAPPED … GOD ONLY KNOWS WHAT’S HAP …” Bohdan was shouting in a panic when Eloise lightly touched his arm, and he stopped mid-sentence. Nodding at Eloise, he walked outside; fresh air might help his brain calm down, and he needed his brain to calm something fierce because dragon was within a bee’s doodle of escaping.

“We are sure, Raven. She texted Bohdan asking where he was because apparently, she received a text from him, but it wasn’t him. Both Bohdan and I felt a spike in her fear, the likes of which I personally have never felt before, then … nothing.” Eloise was explaining to the rest of the house what she knew of the situation.

“Nothing?” Zahmali asked.

“Can’t be nothing, surely there is something,” Emerson added.

Eloise took a deep breath. Calm and focused was what she knew she had to be right now; letting the mind-clouding emotion of panic into her thoughts was detrimental to Arkadia, and every second could count. “Yes, my dearest children, I mean
nothing
. It is like having turned out the lights. One minute she was metaphorically screaming, then the next she had vanished, swallowed up by a large endless black hole. Have any of you heard anything?” With shakes of the head from everyone, Eloise went outside to Bohdan.

“What can we do to help?” asked Raven.

Eloise spun around as she held onto the door, trying desperately to fake the strength to hold herself up, and she said, “Get on the phone. Call anyone and everyone you can, and see if anyone has seen her, can see her, or know where she might be.” Eloise went outside and shut the door behind her.

Bohdan was pacing. A tenuous hold was all he had on his dragon; that scaled beast wanted out, it wanted to find Arkadia, and rip apart whoever it was that had taken her. The front door opened, and his eyes snapped up to see Eloise walking out. “I still can’t pick her up; it’s like she no longer exists …” He staggered, and reached out to hold the railing on the house, his breathing erratic. “You don’t think … God, don’t let it be.”

Again, Eloise put her hand on his shoulder. He felt a calming essence flow through his body, a warmth full of peace, and he closed his eyes, greedily absorbing the feeling. “No, I don’t think so … however, I may have something you might find interesting,” Eloise said as she removed her hand and sat on the step, motioning for him to do the same.

Watching Bohdan take a seat next to her as she requested, Eloise spoke softly. She didn’t want the kids inside to hear her. “Do you remember when Violet attacked her at the house?” Bohdan nodded as Eloise continued. “Well, I did some investigations into Violet’s family history; it seems there is some bad blood from many, many moons ago. Apparently a great-great-great grandmother of hers was terminated by the council.” Bohdan was about to ask a question when Eloise just held up her hand, requesting him to stay silent until she had finished. “It was recorded that Arkadia’s great-great-great-great uncle was the one who tipped off the council to the breach. Over the last one hundred plus years, there have been two other attacks on members of Arkadia’s families’ lives.”

“You think this is some old family vendetta of revenge?” Bohdan asked, his head tilted as he thought about the possibility.

“I am saying it is an option. If she hadn’t been attacked at the house, I perhaps would have jumped toward Violet, but seeing Arkadia’s panic after being held in Violet’s magic spell and the fear in her eyes, I say there is a fairly good chance it’s Violet that has her.”

Bohdan jumped up off the stairs, a spark of hope in his eyes. “That’s great. Let’s just find Violet, and we will find Arkadia.”

Eloise put her hands up again to silence Bohdan. “That may prove more difficult than you think. Violet’s family has appeared human for many years because of a deal made with a witch back in the eighteenth century. The book recorded Violet’s ancestor saved a witch from sudden death and was granted a wish of sorts, to which they requested invisibility or a ‘cloaking’ spell to become part of their abilities.”

A frown appeared on Bohdan's face as Eloise said, “IF Violet has her, then it maybe near impossible to find her.”

It was then Eloise saw Bohdan snap, his body contorting and re-shaping itself. Wings started to protrude from his shoulder blades, and his skin turned from a lovely deep tan to pure jet black scales, so shiny they looked wet. The final transition was the face, his nose elongating to form his fire breathing muzzle, which happened to hold a scary full set of very sharp teeth.

Eloise stood and took a step back onto the porch as she witnessed this magnificent transformation from man to dragon, in what seemed like seconds. The dragon looked straight at Eloise; she nodded and said, “Go find her, dragon. Stay safe and check back in, okay?” The dragon’s head nodded up and down in understanding, as he spread his magnificent wings. Eloise marveled as they must have been over thirty feet across. She shielded her eyes as the beast flapped its wings to lift his massive body off the ground.

She hoped he might find her, but feared it wouldn’t be enough.

Arkadia didn't know whether it was day or night, and there was barely enough light for her to be able to recognize if her eyes were open. The stench was making her stomach recoil.
Omgaaawwwddd. I hope that isn't me.
Her tummy threatened to empty itself at such a vile smell. Arkadia tried to breathe through her mouth as the fear of the unknown was taking hold of her brain. Adrenaline spiked through her body, lighting her up like a raging out of control forest fire; her fight-or-flight reaction was alive and kicking. She took stock of her body.
Legs move … phew … Yes, arms move too … yes.
As she began to stretch, Arkadia quickly realized the size of the cage she was in was no bigger than a glorified dog holder. "What the f..." she said, and froze as a door creaked open at the top of a staircase. For the first time, she was able to see her surroundings, and a small gasp escaped her lips as she fully realized that there was something worse than a death sentence by the council.

As more light emptied into the room, Arkadia could see the windows were small and high on the wall, so she guessed she was held in a basement. In one corner there was a sink, and from where she was, it looked black with grime and filth. Piles of rubbish and papers were scattered over the floor. Beside the sink, she could see a door, and thought it was most likely a bathroom door, but seeing the state of this room, she would hazard a guess the toilet was far worse.

The more the door at the top of the stairs opened, the more light flooded in, and she was now able to see that there was another cage, similar to hers, on the other side of the room... Inside was a slumped figure. Arkadia gulped loudly as she wondered who it was and if they were already dead.

Fear spiked through her body as a person appeared at the top of the stairs, slowly descending step by painful step. Arkadia was in shock and disbelief that this was happening to her.
This happens in the movies, to girls in matching bra and panties sets, not to average kids in small towns.
The light behind her captor was casting a shadow across their face, making it difficult to see them clearly until they got a little closer.

Arkadia gasped audibly as she saw Violet’s face. “Violet? Thank God it’s you … help me get out of here, quick,” Arkadia said feeling hopeful. Sadly, that hopeful feeling evaporated when she looked at the pure evil smile that crossed Violet’s face. Her voice was calm, soft, and full of venom when she asked, “Why would I let you go? When I went to so much trouble to put you in?” Violet dropped a bucket of water in front of the cage. “In case you’re thirsty,” she said, turned around, and disappeared back up the stairs.

If Arkadia’s mind was a race car, it was winning the Formula 1 right now.
Violet kidnapped me? Violet kidnapped me?
Arkadia tried to get her mind around the idea that one of her best friends in the entire world had her trapped in a small, dirty cage, surrounded by decomposing god-knows-what, but by the smell it certainly wasn’t recently dead. Suddenly her demeanor changed. “VIOLET FUCKING KIDNAPPED ME! FUCKING BITCH … LET ME OUT!” Arkadia screamed with all the breath and anger she could muster, grabbing the cage and rattling it for the life of her, which it may indeed come down to costing her exactly that. Shaking the cage again, she knew Violet would come. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she sure as sugar knew it wasn’t good. Sitting back in the corner, she stretched her legs out in front, which with the length of the cage, was only about half way. She leaned back against the cage that she barely fit in. Her jeans were filthy and ripped, and big drag marks of dirt trailed up the back of her jeans and shirt. Tears started to flow, and she didn’t know what to do. She had tried to contact Eloise brain to brain, but nothing, all she got back was dead air space.

She stopped as she heard a moan. The lump in the other cage was in fact a person and seemingly alive. “Hey, are you alright?” Arkadia asked in a loud whisper; she didn’t want to alert Violet to this poor soul being awake, and wanted to give them time to adjust first.

Watching the body roll over, Arkadia could see it was a female that looked about the same age as her. More moaning came from around the poor girl. She was obviously in pain and shock. “My name is Arkadia. Are you okay?” Arkadia tried asking again. As the girl’s head turned over and she opened her eyes to look at Arkadia, Arkadia fell back into her cage, her hand going across her mouth stifling a scream as Violet looked back at her from INSIDE the cage.
How hard did I get hit on the head?