Arcane Dropout 2

by Edmund Hughes

  A young man in a wheelchair entered the room, wheeling himself forward with natural movements. His hair was blond, and even though his features were a tad chubbier than Harper’s, the resemblance was clear.

  “It’s good to see you, Michael,” said Harper.

  “Sis,” said Michael. “How long has it been since you last came to visit? Over a year now, right?”

  “I’ve… been busy.”

  Harper looked uneasy. She didn’t meet her brother’s gaze, but turned to look at Lee instead.

  “Eldon, this is my brother Michael,” she said. “Michael, Eldon Brock.”

  “Nice to meet you,” said Lee.

  He shook Michael’s hand and tried to ignore the awkward tension as nobody said anything for the next few seconds.

  “Michael, did I take the ground beef out to thaw already?” called Felicia.

  “It’s on the counter somewhere,” said Michael. “Just open your eyes.”

  “Where did I put it? I swear it was just… Oh, there it is!”

  “Just like I told you,” said Michael. “How many times a day do we go through this same shit?”

  Harper stayed silent as her brother continued fuming, muttering curses under his breath. Felicia came back out into the dining room after a minute, having now donned an apron.

  “Can I get either of you anything?” asked Felicia. “It won’t be long until dinner is ready, I promise.”

  “Wine would be nice, if you have any,” said Harper. “Mother, we also need to talk about what you told me over the phone yesterday.”

  “About your friend Zoe?” asked Felicia.

  Michael let out a loud scoff. “Yes, Harper’s friend, Zoe. It’s been a while since you’ve seen your friend, hasn’t it? How’s she doing?”

  “I wouldn’t know,” said Harper. “She’s been missing for the past several years, as I’ve told you before.”

  Felicia returned with the wine and poured them each a glass. The conversation between her and Harper was meandering and scattered, with Felicia being distracted by the meal she was preparing and by her own train of thought. Still, Lee hung on every word.

  “She only dropped by for a few minutes,” said Felicia. “She just knocked on the door, and… Oh, where in God’s name is the parmesan cheese?”

  “What did she say?” asked Harper. “Did she mention anything related to whether she was staying nearby?”

  “What?” Felicia frowned at Harper. “No, she… hmm, she recognized me. She was very polite, you know, but she always was. Such a sweet girl.”

  “You’ve brought Zoe to visit your family before?” asked Lee.

  Harper shot him a look and brought her finger to her mouth. “Mother, this is important. Can you tell me exactly what she said?”

  “She said hello,” said Felicia, who’d found the baking sheet and begun greasing it. “She recognized me, said she hoped I was doing well. Such a sweet girl, really and truly. She told me to tell you that she misses you, and she’s sorry, and… was that it? I thought there might have been something else.”

  Harper ran a hand down her face, as though the gesture could wipe away her obvious frustration.

  “That’s a fucking tickler, ain’t it?” said Michael with a laugh. “The close friend that you miss so dearly, and she comes looking for you here, in your least favorite place.”

  “Michael-Benjamin, that is uncalled for,” said Felicia. “Your sister has just been busy with her work at the climatology college. Must be more to do now than ever, with all the crazy weather from the CO2. Speaking of which, is that where the two of you met?”

  Felicia directed the question at Lee, and he tapped his fingers on the table as he tried to think of an appropriate response.

  “Yeah, we met at the college,” said Lee.

  “I’m so glad that Harper has finally found a proper boyfriend,” said Felicia. “I always told her she should look for a younger man, someone she can fuss after. Just like me and her father, bless his soul.”

  “Mother!” snapped Harper. “Eldon is not my—”

  “There’s no need to be bashful about it,” said Felicia. “He’s a handsome young man. Why, when I was your age, Harper-Mari, the only thing I even noticed when it came to boys was their biceps. They make having fun and playing around into more of a scandal these days than I think it should be.”

  A cooking timer went off in the kitchen, and Felicia abruptly spun and hurried off to check. Harper let out a groan and leaned back in her chair.

  “Too bad you got your hopes up, sis,” said Michael. “I don’t think she saw what she says she saw.”

  “She’s not a liar, Michael,” said Harper.

  “That’s not what I said. She gets confused these days. You’d know that if you were around here more. Supposedly, Zoe showed up and knocked on the door in the middle of the night, said a few words to her, and then ran off without coming inside. Doesn’t that sound like, you know, maybe a dream that she’s gotten mixed up?”

  “Why would she say that she’s sorry?” asked Lee. “If it was just a dream, that seems like an oddly specific detail. Does that mean anything to you, Harper?”

  She slowly shook her head. “Not yet. I’m not sure. Michael… might have a point.”

  Lee ran a hand through his hair, unsure of which outcome he preferred. He knew it was petty, but he felt slighted by the idea that his sister would return to visit Harper without ever reaching out to him. Though more than anything, he just wanted to have confirmation that she was still alive and okay, even if he hadn’t been her first priority.

  “Dinner’s ready!” Felicia reentered the room carrying a serving of spaghetti and meatballs in sauce. “Since you’re home, Harper-Mari, I thought it might be fun if we all played Monopoly while we ate, like we always used to when the two of you were young.”

  Michael groaned, and Harper gave a slight shake of her head.

  “I’m not asking the two of you,” said Felicia quickly. “I’m asking our guest!”

  She turned and grinned at Lee. He couldn’t resist.

  “I actually love Monopoly,” he said. “Let’s play a game.”

  CHAPTER 9

  The food was good, and the board game was filled with banter and negotiation. Lee did his best to buy up a few sets of cheap properties, and it ended up working out, putting him far ahead of the others early in the game.

  “Park Place,” said Michael, as he landed on one of the more elusive properties. “I should probably check and see if it’s handicap-accessible before I buy it, right, sis?”

  He flashed an oddly flat smile at Harper. Her reaction surprised Lee, lacking in the calm, collected confidence that Harper usually managed with ease. She glanced down at the table, shoulders slumped, expression pained, as though someone had just slammed a knife into her gut.

  “Michael…” said Felicia, softly.

  “Just a fucking joke,” said Michael. “Sorry. I’ll walk, er, wheel, myself off-stage.”

  “Michael!” snapped Felicia.

  “Oh, come on, Ma,” he said. “This is my life. I don’t fucking care if it makes her uncomfortable. My legs are for show, and I’m basically stuck here because of it. I’ll say whatever I fucking want.”

  “Michael-Benjamin Black!” shouted Felicia. “Apologize to your sister right this moment!”

  “Mom, it’s okay,” said Harper. “Excuse me, I have to use the restroom.”

  Harper stood up, smiling in a way that didn’t reach her eyes, and headed for the stairs. Felicia glared at her son and then hurried after her. Michael let out an exaggerated sigh and quirked an eyebrow at Lee.

  “I think the game is over,” said Michael. “You want a beer?”

  “Sure,” said Lee.

  Michael wheeled himself to the kitchen and came back with two bottles, one of which he passed to Lee after opening. The two of them wordlessly started putting the Monopoly pieces away. Michael took a long sip of his beer as they finished.

  “Does my sis
ter date men now?” he asked.

  “Uh, what?”

  “I’m just wondering,” said Michael. “I used to call her lesbo, clit chick, tailspin, that kind of thing. But if she goes both ways now, I’ll have to mix it up.”

  Lee didn’t laugh, even though a part of him didn’t know how else to respond. He tapped his finger on the side of the beer and took a closer look at Michael. There was more to him than he’d seen initially, anger and resentment bubbling just under the surface.

  “What happened between the two of you?” he asked.

  “You’re looking at it,” said Michael. He nodded down to his legs. “I was just a kid, 12 years old. Harper and I used to play rough. I pulled her hair one time and she pushed me down the fucking stairs.

  “Oh, don’t give me that look. I got over the pity shit a long time ago. It was as much my fault for instigating it as it was hers. But I’m the one stuck with it. That ‘live and let live’ shit only works if you’re normal. If your body is fucked up, broken, useless, that’s just a fact, and no amount of forgiveness or positive thinking is going to make it better.”

  “I’m sorry,” said Lee. “Look, the two of you were just kids. Maybe—”

  Lee’s phone vibrated before he could finish his thought. He pulled it out and frowned, noticing a text from a number he didn’t recognize, along with an image attachment that opened automatically as he entered his messenger app.

  You left before your checkup was over. Naughty, naughty.

  The accompanying selfie was of Nurse Susie sitting on a hospital bed with her legs open, her white robe pulled down in front low enough to reveal her cleavage and a hint of one of her nipples. Lee stared at it for several seconds in numb surprise. Michael let out a loud, appreciative whistle.

  “I knew you weren’t really my sister’s boyfriend,” he said. He turned his beer up and downed it in several loud swallows, and then set it down on the table hard just as Harper and Felicia came back into the room.

  “I didn’t realize how late it had gotten,” said Felicia. “I have to wake up early for the farmer’s market tomorrow. Lee, it was so nice meeting you. I hope to see more of you in the future.”

  “Yeah, same here,” he said.

  Felicia smiled and then surprised him by taking the chair next to his and sliding it in close.

  “Just so you know,” she said. “I am a very deep sleeper, and Michael’s room is on the first floor. You don’t have to worry about restraining yourself on our account. I know how young love can be.”

  “Mother, please,” said Harper. “I already explained this to you.”

  “Of course you did, Harper-Mari,” she said. “Of course you did.”

  Harper led Lee out of the dining room and up to the second floor. Her room was the first on the left, and she didn’t say anything as she led him inside. There was a diverse collection of different styles of art on the walls: a wood burning, a bead mandala, a few prints of famous paintings. Her bed was on the small side, and she began moving a large collection of oversized stuffed animals off to the floor.

  “They can sleep on the floor tonight,” said Harper.

  “You don’t mind sharing a bed?” asked Lee.

  “We’ve shared a sleeping bag before,” said Harper. “This won’t be the first time, and given that you’re my apprentice now, I suspect it won’t be the last, either.”

  He couldn’t argue with that logic, but also couldn’t deny the rumble of anticipation that fluttered through him as Harper slipped into her walk-in closet and closed the door to change into more comfortable clothing. She came out wearing an oversized t-shirt and her underwear, acting as though she didn’t notice the way Lee’s jaw dropped at the sight of her.

  “Your mom seems nice,” said Lee.

  “She is nice,” said Harper. “My brother, on the other hand…”

  Her sentence ended with a long silence. Lee’s curiosity got the better of him, and he decided there would never be a better time for him to broach the topic.

  “He told me about how he lost the use of his legs,” said Lee.

  “Did he, now?” said Harper. She started to pull the sheets back and climb into bed.

  “I’m not sure I believe his version of events,” said Lee. “I don’t mean to pry or anything.”

  “That’s exactly what you mean to do.” Harper sighed and looked at him, one of her hands pulling loose the hairband at the end of her braid and working her golden locks loose. “I suppose the truth, in this case, might be valuable for you to know. It is because of me that Michael is a paraplegic.”

  She continued undoing her braid, running her fingers through her blonde locks until they hung in close to their default state. It was the first time Lee had seen her like that, and he was surprised at what a difference it made. It was a reminder of the fact that Harper was still a young woman, beautiful and feminine despite her hard, authoritative exterior.

  “Michael and I used to get into fights,” said Harper. “He’s my younger brother by three years. He was big for his age, bigger than me at 12 than I was at 15, and he took advantage of that fact.”

  “Did he ever, uh, do more than just fight with you?”

  “You’re very comfortable with asking personal questions, aren’t you?” Harper flashed a small smile. “No, he didn’t. Michael had a strange fascination with causing pain. He would wrestle me to the ground, sit on me, and then slowly test just what it would take to make me cry.

  “This was back when I was first coming into my magic, back before I truly understood the Potential. It was during the summer. Michael was sitting on me at the top of the stairs, twisting my fingers. He broke one of them.”

  “Jesus…” muttered Lee.

  “He threatened to break another if I told our parents. I remember feeling so angry and so… impotent. More than the pain, I felt a sense of being in his power, and I didn’t like it. In that moment, I decided that I would use whatever I had, whatever it took, to find a way to break free.”

  “Did you already know about your magic?”

  “I did,” said Harper. “I had no idea how strong it was, however. I cast a force spell, like the one I taught you, to knock him off me. The stairs were behind him, and he landed at an unfortunate angle.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “So am I,” said Harper. “If I could take that moment back, I would. I called 911, and later that day, I explained exactly what happened to my parents, including how I used my magic. They didn’t believe me, didn’t believe Michael either, even after he told them the same thing. The Order of Chaldea was there within a week.”

  “Is this when they first took you to Primhaven?”

  “Yes. But not before making sure that my family remembered a less compromising version of events. Michael, my mother and father, all three of them underwent dream weaving. They don’t remember the part about Michael breaking my finger or him holding me down. As far as they know, it was just a brief bout of rough-housing followed by an unfortunate push.”

  “That seems like overkill,” said Lee. “You were the victim.”

  “I was the one with the power,” said Harper. “You should have seen how Michael looked at me in the few days when he remembered what actually had happened. He was terrified of me. He might resent me now, but I strongly prefer him now to how he was then. I would have lost my family if not for the Order, and probably myself, too. The kind of power that we have as mages, Eldon, is far more dangerous than we admit.”

  She left it at that, climbing into bed and pulling the covers over herself.

  Lee couldn’t help but draw parallels between her own story and the way he’d come into his own abilities as a mystic. He’d had to learn how to use his abilities responsibly on his own, and even now he sometimes felt unsure about the wisdom of his choices. What would a theoretical governing body of mystics think about the way he’d formed a pact with Tess, and the method in which they’d concocted to absorb essence for the sake of casting spells?

 
“Turn off the light,” said Harper. “Also, are you planning on sleeping in your jeans?”

  “No.”

  “Then take them off and get into bed.”

  CHAPTER 10

  Lee ran his hands along the length of Tess’s body, sighing with burgeoning anticipation. She was so soft and so warm, and it wasn’t the first time he’d pulled her into his mystic stream during the night. He gently caressed her thigh, grinding into her from behind and letting his erection mash against the heavenly softness of her butt.

  He slid his hand upward along her body, groping each of her breasts in turn. They felt larger than he remembered. He gave one a squeeze, trying to think through the late night, dreamlike fog affecting his thoughts. His other hand was already inside the waistband of her panties, another detail which he suddenly realized didn’t fit. Tess never wore panties, or bloomers, as she incorrectly insisted on calling them.

  “What are you doing?” asked Harper in a soft voice.

  Reality came crashing down on Lee in a hailstorm of contextual details. He somewhat reluctantly stopped caressing her breasts and halted the advance of his hand down toward her crotch. His entire body tingled with a newfound, illicit desire to feel her for a few seconds longer, to do more than just that, if he could.

  “I… thought you were someone else,” he said.

  “Then perhaps you should let go of me.”

  She said it in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, without a hint of anger or reproach. Lee pulled his hands away and rolled onto his back. He tried, ineffectually, to smooth out the obvious tent of his erection in the sheets and go back to sleep.

  It was impossible. The bed felt far smaller than it had when he’d first climbed into it. He could feel Harper’s warmth radiating against him under the blankets. He could hear her breathing, and he knew that she wasn’t asleep either. A man and a woman, in their underwear, sharing a bed, awake during the night.

  “Harper,” said Lee.

  She rolled over, rising up partially on her elbow to face him. Moonlight illuminated her features, showing him the curve of her breasts against her thin t-shirt and the messy allure of the scattered golden locks of her unbound hair.