Arkadia (Halfway House Series Book 1) (3 page)

Arkadia finished the last touches of her makeup and listened to her girls chat on Skype. She had spent the last forty-five minutes checking and rechecking with Vi that what she chose to wear wasn’t giving the wrong message. “You look hot, Ark, but you always look hot,” Cheyanne said, “But are you going with the white heels or black ballet flats?” Arkadia stood for the umpteenth time in front of the mirror running her hands down the sky-blue shift dress. She loved the feel of the chiffon as it floated across her curves, plus Arkadia knew this was a color that made her emerald green eyes really pop.

“Neither,” Arkadia replied, as she went to the closet and got a new shoe box out. “I have been saving these for the right occasion, and this might be it.”

“Oooohhh new shoes!” squealed Vi. She leaned in so close to the monitor, Arkadia could almost see her nasal hairs. “Show me. When did you buy them? How much were they? And why wasn’t I there?”

Arkadia chuckled softly as she sat on the end of her queen-size bed. “I got them a few weeks ago from that little shop in the mall, Rubies Shoes. They were a ghastly amount, but I hadn’t spent my allowance on anything else, so why not blow it on shoes, right?” She opened the lid of the red shoebox, lowering her head to sniff the aroma of new shoes.

“Stop sniffing them, you weirdo, and show me the damn shoes!!” Vi was practically climbing the screen. She has always had a shoe addiction. I would hate to think how many pairs she has, but let’s just say she wouldn’t have a fear of wearing the same pair twice for the rest of the school year.

Arkadia pulled out the most beautiful, pale blue, strappy sandals with a small crystal gem where the leather crossed at the top of the shoe, and a beautiful silver buckle on the side. “Omg I want those shoes!!” Vi squealed and Arkadia knew that by the end of the week Vi would have the exact same pair. That was just how she was; it used to annoy the shit out of Arkadia, but over the years, you just accepted certain things, and Vi’s competitive side was one of those things.

Arkadia buckled the shoes and stood in front of the laptop for the girls to see. She ran her fingers through her long soft curls and twirled. “Well?”

“Perfect.” “Beautiful.” And, “Like a goddess,” echoed from the computer. She knew the last comment had come from Cheyanne, only another witch tended to refer to the goddess as a gauge of beauty. Hearing a car pull up, she stopped twirling.

“Got to go girls, the beast has arrived and this beauty has a fairytale to create.” Arkadia closed the laptop to the sounds of, “Good luck.” And, “Stay safe.” From the girls as she grabbed her clutch and headed for the door.

Arkadia opened the door as Sebastian was about to knock, surprising him. He took a step backward and Arkadia quickly closed the door behind her, trying to avoid any interaction between him and Eloise. Eloise’s words entered her mind, and she was once again reminded nothing was private anymore. “I hope you have a lovely night, Arkadia. Be home before 10 p.m., and remember the rules.” Arkadia grabbed Sebastian’s hand and made a fast escape, mumbling to herself about the intrusion caused by freaking mind readers.

Sebastian opened the car door. “Chivalry isn’t dead after all,” Arkadia said and smiled as she lowered herself into his sleek red sports car. It was obviously one of his daddy’s toys, but still, who was she not to enjoy a ride in a car Vi would probably call ‘sex on wheels’. Sebastian rushed around the back, slid into the driver’s seat, placed his hand on the gear stick and grinned at her. “Do you like driving stick?” A little vomit entered Arkadia’s mouth at his sexual suggestion.

“Nothing like setting the tone of the evening, Sebastian, just drive before I change my mind.” She did up her seatbelt, sat back in the seat, and questioned her own judgment in agreeing to this in the first place.

It was obvious that Sebastian’s daddy hadn’t given him the credit card when dinner and a movie turned into a hotdog at the drive-in theater. Still better than being at home, Arkadia thought as she relaxed her chair back and munched on the hotdog when out of the corner of her eye she spied Sebastian doing the yawn and stretch move. “OMG Sebastian! You just did not yawn and stretch so you could put your arm around me, did you?” She looked over at Sebastian with accusation full in her eyes. Sebastian quickly shuffled his arms back down to grab his soda and start drinking. He motioned that he couldn’t answer because his mouth was full. “Yeah, good idea, Seb, keep your mouth full; try that kind of stuff with me again, and I’ll fill your mouth permanently,” Arkadia humphed. Sebastian’s eyes went wide with dirty thoughts of all the things he wanted in his mouth. Arkadia didn’t need to be a mind reader for this, he was very easy to read, and after all, he was a seventeen-year-old boy only thinking with one of his two heads. “Sebastian, let’s get something really clear. I am not interested in being your next conquest, nor am I some paid entertainment for you. Believe me when I say I am far more than you could ever dream of being able to handle.”

Apparently, this statement must have been translated into some weird ass interpretation of, ‘Oh yes, Seb, I want you bad’ because the next thing Arkadia knew, Sebastian launched himself over the middle of the car. One of his hands found her breast, his lips suctioned onto her neck, and his other hand traveled from her knee to the north quickly. “SEBASTIAN, GET OFF ME! YOU FREAK!!!” Arkadia screamed at him, her hands trying to prevent his hands going any further into uninvited territory.

“Hhhmmmm, baby, you’re so sexy,” Sebastian slurped into her ear as he continued groping Arkadia. The energy in the car amped up fast as Arkadia became angrier. If Seb had paid more attention, he would have seen her eyes glowing with rage, but he continued on his path and brought his leg over to straddle Arkadia on the seat. Perfect, Arkadia thought, as she took a deep breath and launched her knee as hard as she could upward. By the sudden exhale of oxygen accompanied by the pained grunt, she knew she had hit him really hard where he was thinking. She gave him a shove off of her, and he fell back into his chair unable to take anything more than a little sip of air at a time.

“I am sorry, Sebastian, but you were uninvited, and I am far from being defenseless. I am not the snatch and grab kind of girl, and you damn well know that.” Arkadia was angry, really angry. All Sebastian could do was grunt softly in reply, “As soon as you’re able to breathe again, you will take me home. Grunt if you understand.”

“Humph,” Seb grunted back, taking lots of little sips of air.

Arkadia got out of the car and sat on the hood, not wanting to be in the car with Sebastian any longer then she had to. All she really wanted was for someone to “see” her. Arkadia wanted someone whose eyes lit up when they saw her, someone who loved her, cared for her, protected her, and would never ever EVER let her go. She wanted her Prince Charming. Arkadia thought maybe she could hurry this along a little bit. Glancing back at Seb, she saw he was slowly beginning to breathe a little deeper, and not listening to her inner warning bells, Arkadia began to cast a spell.

“Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty,

Bring to me the full of heart,

Find the love of my Prince Charming,

So, that we shall never part.”

Feeling a sudden gust of air, Arkadia wrapped her arms around herself, feeling very uncomfortable in her own skin. She got up, wandered back to the car, and slid down into her seat, glancing over at Sebastian to see how much longer it was going to be before they left. Her eyes widened as she looked around, Sebastian wasn’t there. “Now where did he go? If he is strong enough to walk, he can drive and I’m outta here.” She looked through the windshield to see where he had gone.

“CROOOOOAAKK.” Arkadia cast her eyes down to the frog sitting on the driver’s chair, her blood running instantly ice cold.

“Ooohhhhhhh, fooook me!”

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!” Arkadia was in full panic mode. She glanced over again at this slimy green frog sitting on the driver’s seat, her blood icy cold running through her veins, and whispered, “Seb … bas … tian?”

“Crooooak,” was his only reply.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!” Arkadia went back to chanting to herself.

“What have I done? Oh shit, oh bugger, ooohhhhhhhh what have I done? The Mayor’s son! He was a slimy beast, granted, but a frog? People are going to notice.” Arkadia was talking to herself, very quickly, as the panic button was repeatedly being slammed in her brain. She briefly contemplated relocating the frog, eeerrrr Sebastian, into a local swamp and leaving town on the next train to nowhere, but as he was the Mayor’s son, she came to the conclusion that it wasn’t a viable option, and she wasn’t fond of prison orange as her daily color choice.

“Crooooak.” Arkadia looked again at Sebastian.

“I am soooo sorry, Seb, I really didn’t mean to turn you into a frog.” She took a deep breath. “Okay. What’s done is done, now how to fix it, or perhaps a case of who?”

Arkadia knew there was only one person she could turn to, one person who knew about her abilities and would be able to help her. It was the last person on earth she wanted to ask for help from, well, maybe not the LAST, the last maybe would have been Sebastian’s father, can you imagine it? “Good evening, Mr. Coulter, I am sorry but it appears I have turned your son into a frog. Can you help me turn him back?” A soft chuckle escaped Arkadia’s lips as she imagined Mr. Coulter’s head turning red and exploding right in front of her. Shaking her head, she stopped day dreaming and regained her focus on the problem at hand. There was only one person, one solitary person who could help …ELOISE.

The drive home was rough to say the least, as Arkadia didn’t have her license yet. She basically knew how to drive, but knowing and doing are two different things. So four stalls, eight bunny hops, and a couple of screeched tires later, she ended up, by the grace of goddess, at her driveway. Glancing over at the green frog happily sitting on the dashboard, she whispered with her mind, “Eloise, I need your help.”

The immediate reply was, “Bring him inside, Arkadia, we can sort this out. Remember Rule Five; there is no problem too big that I won’t help you with. If you need me, I will ALWAYS be there. No exceptions.”

Scooping the croaking slime ball into her bag, she left the car and made her way quickly into the house. Eloise was at the bottom of the stairs. Arkadia expected to see her full of rage at being woken late at night by the very person who had been treating her so badly, but instead, Eloise was calm. A soft, warm light seemed to be radiating from her very soul, her eyes showing a kindness that Arkadia had never seen before. “Tell me what happened,” Eloise said softly as she scooped Sebastian out of Arkadia’s bag.

Arkadia told her the whole story from not really wanting to go in the first place to Mr. Unwanted Octopus Hands, and her knee that answered none of his horny teenage dreams. Arkadia wasn’t sure why she opened up, but with the feeling of security Eloise was giving, it was hard to resist. She finished with the spell she cast. “And you can see what happened. I didn’t mean it in relevance to Sebastian. I was just speaking to the universe,” she whispered.

“But when one deals with matters of the heart, Arkadia,” Eloise put her hand on Arkadia’s shoulder. “It will never work, even for an experienced witch. The heart has a magic of its own and can never be swayed, even with the help of our goddess.”

“So it wasn’t my screwed up magic that did this?” Arkadia asked, hoping she was right.

“No, this was you, well, partly anyway.” Arkadia slumped into her chair as tears began to well up in her eyes at Eloise confirming she was yet again a screw-up. “No, no, no, honey,” Eloise said as she read Arkadia’s mind “Don’t ever think that I think you’re a screw-up; you need guidance, and that’s why I am here. I can help you, Arkadia, if you want me to.” Eloise smiled softly as she took a seat at the table and looked at Sebastian the green frog as he let out another, “crooooak.”

“This spell wouldn’t have worked for any witch,” Eloise continued to explain, “but for an experienced witch, it simply wouldn’t have worked. The fact it bounced back and turned poor Sebastian into a frog, that my darling was all you.” She softly chuckled. Arkadia smiled feeling some of her ice chip away toward Eloise. Perhaps she wasn’t as bad as she thought. Eloise just smiled as Arkadia’s thoughts travelled to her.

“Okay. To fix this problem, you will need a reversing spell. Do you know of any?” Eloise asked, and a simple shake of Arkadia’s head confirmed to Eloise she did not. “Let’s class this as lesson number one, shall we?” Eloise raised an eyebrow and looked at Arkadia, waiting for confirmation that she was ready to learn, ready to grow as a witch, and ready to let Eloise in. Arkadia paused for a second then nodded yes. Her choices were limited as she was the one with a frog date to fix, but despite that fact, she was beginning to think Eloise might just be what, or in this case, whom she needed.

Eloise smiled brightly as she said, “Repeat the spell after me.”

“Take the clock, Turn it back,

Wrap my mistake in white light,

I’ve made an error, it should not be,

Please, Goddess make it right.”

As Arkadia repeated the spell, a soft white glow began to radiate from the chest of the frog. Getting up from the table, Arkadia stood back against the wall in awe of the power she felt in the room. She looked over to Eloise who was… Omg … Eloise was glowing, her arms extended as the power bounced around the room. Arkadia shielded her eyes as a bright flash climaxed in the room, and suddenly, Sebastian was sitting naked on the table.

Arkadia breathed a deep sigh of relief that it worked until she realized he was naked, and by the look of shock on his face, it was just crossing his mind too. Eloise, once again, came to the rescue. She bundled Sebastian into the other room and helped him get dressed. Arkadia could hear calming words being said to Sebastian, but they were too soft for her to hear. The front door closed and she heard Sebastian’s car start and drive slowly off. Eloise came back into the kitchen.

“Won’t he tell his dad?” Arkadia felt a stab of panic return.

“I placed some hazing over the night’s activities. As far as Sebastian is concerned, you started to feel a little unwell, he cut the evening short, brought you home, and then went home himself, feeling content he was a perfect gentleman the entire time and nothing was in the slightest bit strange,” Eloise replied as she sat heavily in the chair, “but alas, that sort of hazing really zaps my energy, so I will take myself off to bed, and we can discuss this more in the morning.” Eloise smiled gently at Arkadia. “I am always here. Arkadia, ALWAYS; no matter what, no matter when.” She winked and vanished up the stairs.

Wow, Arkadia thought, maybe there was hope for her after all, and maybe her hope was named Eloise.