Page 2 of Ghosted in Arkadia
The metal of the knife gives a satisfying click as it unlocks the box, and then it’s tucked back into the drawer. I crawl on the bed, sitting cross-legged in the middle before looking at the kit. A metallic cuff bracelet sits inside. A smooth oval space sits in the middle where the metal is thickest. That part goes on the underside of my wrist while the arms of the band wrap around to hold it secure.
A click sounds from the device, making me jump, but my movement doesn’t stop the needle from plunging into my vein. It feels like a bee sting. Tears well in my eyes, and I wipe them away with the back of my other hand.
It’s what the device is designed to do.
I grab the thin but long length of tubing from the box and connect the end to the bracelet as the instructions show. The other end plugs into a pen-like device. A few seconds later, red starts to crawl through the tether.
Writing with blood on my skin would send a message to my soulmate if they had reached puberty. A duplicate of the message would appear on their skin.
Most start with a friendly hello.
The pen’s tip feels the same as a marker, but the only shade this one comes in is blood red. I decide to use the back of my left hand as my canvas.
Hi
The bloody letters sink into my skin and disappear. They will appear black as ink on the same part of my soulmate’s body. The only thing left to do now is wait for a response.
The Mateless
20 years later
“How about I pick you up at eight?” Alexander’s voice booms through my phone’s speaker from on top of my desk.
And it wasAlexander. Not Alex or Xander.Alexander.
Cathy and I laughed that it was the reason he didn’t have a soulmate. There wasn’t anything wrong with his preference. It was the way he said it. He stressed the point with a haughty impression, like it elevated him above the rest of us.
People who give us rude looks when we laugh seem to forget the obvious part: soulmates don’t work that way.
I could only joke about a mateless with another mateless. The rest of society frowned upon trivializing the worst fate that could befall someone. They shut the fuck up once they realized I was one of the fucked over ones.
Being a card-carrying member of that club gave my mouth the right to say whatever I damn well pleased.
Now Cathy laughs atmesince Alexander and I have been dating for almost a year. Kids are a soulmate-only offering,something already excluded from my life whether I’m with Alexander or any other mateless. I might as well find someone to keep my bed warm at night and maybe cook breakfast in the morning.
Alexander knows my room service order.
Good enough.
“Sounds good.” I end the call and look around the station. The four other officers not on patrol are glued to their desks, blatantly eavesdropping on my call.
I had put the call on speaker for them. Let them live vicariously. Maybe even shine some hope into their lives. Or give them something to laugh at behind my back. They are all mateless, too. Something common amongst the dangerous occupations. Sometimes, a mated pair would enter the force together, determined to show the world they cared about something other than their soulmate.
They didn’t.
It was the plus and minus of finding the other half of your soul. They are your everything. Everything else comes second. Always. Every. Time.
It took me a while to stop hating every mated person out there. Now that I have settled into my proper place in the world, I just avoid them. It helps to keep me from throwing punches.
Cathy catches my gaze and smirks before getting up and heading straight for me. Her blonde hair is pulled back into a high ponytail, secured by a simple rubber band, as she typically does. Blue eyes stare at me from above as her palms land hard on my desk.
“Still shoveling mediocrity down your throat and pretending it isn’t shit, Kira?”
“It’s better than holding out for a ghost,” I challenge back with a pointed stare.
Cathy winces, and her K9, Rex, whimpers by her side.
I win this round with an intentionally low punch.
