Wayward: St. Croix Falls Book 1

by Melody Personette

  Anger bubbled up inside her and Mia set the cups down a little too hard on the ground, the punch sloshing over the sides. She pulled her phone out of her purse and dialed Angelica. When she didn’t pick up, she dialed again. Still no answer. What the heck? Mia punched in a frustrated text. Where did u go? How am I supposed to get home now? She hit send before she thought better of it and shoved her phone back into her purse. Mia couldn’t believe Angelica had ditched her like that. A part of her wanted to make excuses for her. Maybe there’d been an emergency, or something had come up with her family. But if that were the case Angelica would have told Mia or at least called her, right?

  “Something wrong?” An all too familiar male voice said behind her.

  Mia tipped her head back, holding back a groan. This night couldn’t get any worse. She turned around to find Rhett standing there, hands in pockets and his stupid sunglasses pushed up onto his forehead. What kind of person wore sunglasses – even on their head – at night? He raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to speak.

  “Nothing,” Mia said, but her voice came out a little too high pitched. “Everything’s fine.”

  “Yeah? Then why do you look like you want to punch something?”

  Mia let out a huff and threw her arms out. “Maybe because it’s so typical of me to befriend someone who would run out and ditch me at a party? Maybe because I don’t even want to be here, and I just want to go home.”

  She waited for him to make fun of her but despite his lips kicking up at the sides he didn’t tease her. “I have a feeling you don’t mean here at the party and by home you don’t mean your new house.”

  “No,” Mia said. “I don’t want to be in this town, and I don’t want to live in that dumb picture-perfect house. It is so cookie cutter! It looks exactly like everyone else’s houses on the street.”

  This time Rhett’s smile grew, and Mia rolled her eyes. She knew when she was being mocked. “Don’t start. I’m not in the mood.”

  He held up his hands. “I didn’t say anything. But I think it’s only fair to our little town that you know more about it before dissing it.”

  “Yeah? What makes your town so great?” Mia said bitterly.

  He held his hand out to her, quirking an eyebrow in a dare for her to take it. “If you want to find out you’ll have to come with me.”

  Mia stared down at his hand. She knew somehow deep inside herself that she could trust him, that he would never hurt her but… did Mia really want to spend time with him? Mia glanced over her shoulder at the parking lot. It wasn’t like she had anywhere else to go. And as much as she didn’t like the idea of asking him for help… she did need a ride.

  “Fine,” she said with a sigh, taking his hand. “Where are we going?”

  He grinned. “To the Falls.”

  Chapter Ten

  “So why are they called the St. Croix Falls? What does that even mean?” Mia asked grudgingly to fill the gaping silence between them.

  Rhett shoved his hands into his pockets, gazing at the rushing water tumbling over the rocks like they held all the answers to his life. He’d taken her past the party and onto a narrow path to the falls. Out here it was rather beautiful, away from all the loudness of the party.

  A bit of wistfulness touched his features too, which confused Mia. What had the falls ever done for him to earn such a look of yearning? He blew a strand of hair out of his face and still focused on the water he said, “Croix means cross in French.”

  “Why St. Cross?” Mia asked, unable to stop her curiosity from getting the better of her.

  Rhett glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. “I’m not sure honestly. However, there is a pretty unique story that goes along with these falls. It’s a bit spooky, though. Think you can handle it?”

  Mia scowled, offended that he thought she was a scarety cat. “Yes. Of course I can.”

  He smirked. “You sure?”

  “Yes! I’ve watched plenty of scary movies.”

  “Yeah, like what?”

  “Like… I don’t know. Just scary movies. Tell me the story,” she said, batting at his shoulder.

  Rhett snickered and rubbed his shoulder as if her little hit hurt. Mia knew for a fact that she was not strong enough to actually hurt someone with a punch or a slap. Especially not someone as toned as Rhett.

  “Alright but don’t come crying to me when you can’t sleep tonight because of nightmares. Or you could. I wouldn’t actually mind,” he said with a wink.

  Mia rolled her eyes. She folded her arms even as her face heated and she was sure turned as red as a tomato. “Get on with the story or I’m leaving.”

  “Fine, fine. Years and years ago, this little town was even smaller than it is now. I know, hard to believe right?” He grinned at Mia’s wide eyes. Yeah, just a little hard to believe. “Now, way back when, the townsfolk believed monsters skulked around their town. Haunted the houses and hid in the woods. They believed these very falls were cursed.”

  “Why?” Mia breathed, entranced by his story.

  Rhett shoved his hands into his pockets, turning back to the falls. “Because when one looks into the tumbling water, really looks, one can see into another world. It was believed they were a portal between this world and the next.”

  “The afterlife?”

  He chuckled and shook his head. “No. Faerie.”

  “Faerie?” Mia blinked in surprise. Not what she had expected. “You mean as in A Midsummer Night’s Dream type of Faerie?”

  Rhett smirked. “A little darker and more complex, but yes, like that. Anyways, it was also said the creatures from Faerie could pass from their world to this one through these waters and in that time they did. Pookas and mischief makers, brownies, and boggarts and faeries, malicious and benevolent alike, passed through to this world and caused mayhem in this small town. They tormented the people. Pookas led unsuspecting travelers astray. Kelpies and nixies drowned many people in this lake. Brownies and boggarts invaded homes. The Faeries… well, they made deals and disasters out of the people of this town. This went on for generations. It was no wonder the town never grew into anything big. Any newcomers who arrived quickly moved away. Years and years later, the people became desperate and needed to close the rift somehow for their own survival. So, they devised a plan.” His smirk dwindled and died as he continued the story. “What they didn’t know, however, was that on the flipside in Faerie there was a civil war going on between the Seelies and Unseelies.”

  Excitement shot through Mia. She’d read a book about them a few months back. “Ooh I know them! Seelies are the good ones and Unseelies are the bad ones.”

  The corner of his lips twitched, and his green eyes glittered in the night as he glanced at her. Something about his gaze, intense and ominous made a chill run through her. Mia shivered and folded her arms around herself. “That’s a matter of perspective,” he murmured.

  Mia frowned. What was that supposed to mean?

  “Anyways, the Seelies had a plan of their own. They benefited from the business they had with the townspeople. Trading enchanted objects for human wares. They didn’t want the barrier closed for good, no matter how much their brethren were causing problems for the humans. The Unseelies, however, had never wanted much to do with the humans to begin with. They were more than happy to close the barrier. As you can imagine, both sides butted heads over what to do and a civil war broke out. The Unseelies fought to bring back any Fae who had gotten through and shut the barrier while the Seelies fought to keep it open.

  “There was a massive battle right there,” Rhett said pointing at the Falls, “and the Seelies pushed the Unseelies back, into this world. One of the Seelies fighting on the side of the Unseelies realized they were going to lose. They had to do something before the Seelies, and their forces completely overtook them. So… they closed the barrier. Sealing them off from their world forever. The Seelie created a barrier around the whole town, so they were trapped there forever.”

  Rhett leaned
down, so his chin nearly rested on her shoulder and pointed off past the Falls. “These falls,” he murmured in her ear, “are on the very edge of town and are the start of the barrier.”

  Mia turned her head slightly, so they were eye to eye and realized how close they were. Rhett stared back at her, unabashed and unconcerned by their close proximity. If one of them were to trip or lean forward, their lips would touch. Mia kind of wanted to trip.

  “Or,” he whispered with a shrug. “So the story goes anyways.”

  “Wow… that’s a neat story,” Mia said.

  She stared out at the falls and how the moonlight danced across the water crashing down into the lake below. The view was so enchanting she could almost imagine the story Rhett had told her being true. Faeries and pookas and creatures from fairytales. A portal to another world.

  Mia cocked her head and frowned, seeing a flicker of something in the water falling from the rocks. A reflection took form which shouldn’t be possible since it was ever moving water. She saw trees and tall grass and little twinkling lights floating above the ground and dancing through the trees. A full moon hung in the sky that wasn’t their moon. They had a half moon tonight.

  The reflection looked enchanting and ethereal. Mia had the sudden need to walk forward and touch the water. To reach through it to that world. An itch like… like she had found where she belonged. Which wasn’t true. Mia knew where she belonged. In the city. Not here. Not in some reflection of a waterfall that she was probably hallucinating. Her hand reached out just as another, stronger hand touched the top of hers.

  “Mia,” Rhett said, his voice soft and quiet. The gentlest she had ever heard it.

  Mia blinked, his voice snapping her from her trance. She glanced at him and frowned at what she saw. His eyebrows were drawn together in concern. He had this odd look on his face, one Mia couldn’t decipher… like he couldn’t quite understand her.

  “Sorry,” she said, her other hand coming up to her forehead. “I don’t know what got into me… That was weird.” She glanced back at the tumbling water. No reflection. No other world. It must be the stress from moving and unpacking and starting school today. There was no other way to explain it.

  Rhett cocked his head and he opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but then thought better of it. “Did you see something?”

  Mia glanced at the water one more time and then back at him. She shook her head. The last thing she needed was for him to make fun of her for believing she saw another world in the falls. “No. I’m just tired. I think I should get home… It’s been a long day.”

  He nodded, and Mia realized their hands were still latched together between them. Rhett held her hand with such a gentle touch, his skin warm and humming against hers. It felt… nice. She wouldn’t mind holding his hand all day.

  Mia was about to pull her hand free when her gaze collided with his smoldering eyes. He stared at her, watching her like he couldn’t get enough of her. So opposite than how he had looked at her since she’d gotten there. It stole her breath away and temporarily made her forget what a jerk he had been. That she wanted to go home, and he was her only way back.

  That thought pulled her from the moment and shook her from her trance. She drew her hand from his, and she thought she saw something like disappointment flicker in his gaze. “Sorry,” she murmured, unsure why she was apologizing. “I’m really tired and Angie sort of abandoned me… Do you think I could get a ride with you?”

  Rhett recovered quickly. Seemed that was just what he had wanted to hear because his lips split into a wide grin. Not the amused, mocking smirk he usually gave her but a real, happy smile. “Of course. I was going to head back anyways.”

  “Alright… thanks.”

  He nodded, and they headed back toward the party in silence, Mia unable to stop thinking about the Falls and the story and… Rhett. And how his hand had felt in hers. Lack of sleep and the first day of school. That was what it was. It had to be. That or Mia was going crazy.

  She ran a hand through her hair as she followed Rhett away from the party and toward the parking lot. Mia stopped in front of the passenger door of his shiny black car, remembering just a few days ago when she’d almost ran into him and he’d called her a bad driver. Her anger simmered just thinking about it and yet… that Rhett didn’t compare with the Rhett she’d just talked to or the one willing to drive her back home. He could easily leave her here to either find another way home or walk home and yet here he was, playing the white knight. Who would have thought?

  Chapter Eleven

  Mia slid into the passenger seat. She inhaled a deep breath, hiding a smile when she realized the car smelled like him. Woodsy with a tinge of pine. He took his sunglasses from where they perched on his head and hung them on the rearview mirror before starting the car and backing out.

  “So,” he said, breaking the silence at last. “How did you like your first day of school?” His voice almost sounded tentative.

  Mia shrugged and folded her arms, leaning her head back against the seat. “It was good. The teachers were really nice… no one really went out of their way to talk to me, which I’m kind of OK with.”

  Rhett’s eyes cut to her and he smirked. “You’re a loner then?”

  “I’m not a loner,” Mia snapped, shooting him a glare. “I just don’t like being the center of attention, and I don’t like tons of people coming to talk to me. All I need are a few friends, and I’m all good.”

  Rhett nodded, his attention back on the road. “I get that.”

  Mia glanced at him in surprise. “Really?”

  “Yeah. I’d rather have some close friends than a crowd of strangers.”

  “Yeah… me too…” Mia trailed off, taken aback. She had pegged him as the kind of guy who wanted to be super popular. The fact that he didn’t seem to care that no one in town liked him and that he didn’t have any friends, made her look at him in a new way.

  “What’s your favorite subject? What do you enjoy about school?”

  Mia grinned. “Does nothing count?”

  He grinned back. “’Fraid not. My favorite subject is social studies. I like history.”

  Wow… that was coincidental. Maybe they were more alike than she’d first thought. “That’s my favorite too. I love learning all about history, especially American history.”

  “Hmm,” he mused. “I prefer the interesting stuff. European history with their myths and legends. It’s fascinating.”

  Mia shrugged. The only European history she really knew about was a few Arthurian legends from school readings. She also picked up a few things about the Fae and Faerie from TV shows and movies that may or may not be reliable. Overall though, all that had never really interested her. “I’m not really into that sort of thing.”

  His lips twisted into an ironic grin as if he found that funny for some reason. Mia frowned. “What’s that look for?”

  “What look?” he asked, cutting a glance at her.

  Mia’s lips grudgingly tugged up. “You know what.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. You pegged me for the kind of girl who likes that sort of thing…”

  “Well I’m not.”

  “Duly noted.”

  They lapsed into silence. Mia ended up staring out the window. She watched the dense woods fly by. A few times she thought she saw a shadow shifting between the trees but before she could get a clear glimpse of whatever it was, the car had already sped past.

  “See something out there?” Rhett’s voice interrupted her intense staring contest with the trees.

  Mia blinked and glanced back at him. “What?”

  “You’re staring out the window like you expect something to jump out of the woods and grab you.”

  “Oh… I don’t know,” Mia shrugged, straightening in her seat and facing forward. “I thought I saw something, but I’m sure it’s nothing. Lately I’ve been feeling a little paranoid…” Mia shut her mouth, unsure why she had admitted that to him. He would so
make fun of her for it.

  But to her surprise, his eyes narrowed as he glanced at her and then back at the road. “Why?”

  “I don’t know…” Mia mumbled. She cringed, realizing she said those three words a lot. Mia ran her hands through her hair and shifted the strands to one shoulder as she stared straight ahead. If she was going to admit this to him, she couldn’t bring herself to see his no doubt amused reaction. “I thought someone was following me the other day while I was on a run but when I got back to my house he was gone. But, um, in the city I think one of the reasons we left is because we were being stalked.”

  She snuck a glance at him. His eyes darkened, not a hint of laughter or amusement in them. “Stalked?” he asked, his voice quieter than usual. More serious than she had ever heard it.

  Mia nodded, her confidence boosting by the fact that he was taking her seriously. No one back home had taken them seriously at all. When her mom reported the stalker to the police nothing had been done about it. When Mia had told her friends about it, they had just laughed and told her she was being paranoid. Rhett (besides Angie) was the first one who looked like he understood the real danger and fear she had felt. “Yeah… At first it was just my mom. Like she said she would see him around the hospital and on the way home and at her favorite coffee shop. She called the police when she saw him loitering outside our apartment complex. Then… he started following me. He showed up near my school. One time I could have sworn he followed me all the way home. It freaked me out… but it scared my mom half to death. I don’t know why, but I know that that’s one of the reasons we ended up moving here.”

  When Mia glanced at Rhett, she found his jaw had clenched. His lips formed a thin line. “What did the police do?” he asked.

  “Nothing. They didn’t think we were telling the truth.”

  Rhett’s green eyes flashed with anger as he glanced at her. “That’s their job and they didn’t even investigate?”