Waysider (The Voyants Book 1)

Chapter 2

April 27th, 1984

Albany, NY

“Mom is going to murder you.”

The ominous words rolled right off Cass. Without looking at her brother, who stared at her from the driver’s seat, she took the bag off her shoulder and threw it into the back. Her silver rings flashed as she slammed the door and dropped into the passenger side, pulling that door shut, too. Her leather coat creaked with every movement.

“Are you referring to what happened at school, or the nose piercing?” Cass asked finally, examining herself in the mirror. Her bleached, shoulder-length hair was greasy from a long day of traveling. Remnants of black eyeliner stained the skin beneath her eyes.

“Both,” Cal said, checking the side mirror before he drove away from the curb. Within moments, the lights of the bus station began to fade behind them.

Cass didn’t answer. She focused on her reflection and tried to swipe the eyeliner smudges away. But she could feel her twin looking at her. Cass still refused to look back as she muttered, “What?”

“Nice nails,” he said.

“Nice sleeves,” she mocked, darting a scathing glance at the letterman jacket Cal wore. “It’s like we’re back in high school again.”

Before he could volley back, Cass leaned forward and twisted the volume knob on the radio. Joan Jett’s voice blared through the small space. Cal reached for the knob and turned it right back down. Cass sighed and turned her face toward the window, her gaze flicking to the waxing moon high above. “Such a killjoy.”

Cal made a derisive sound. “This is nothing compared to what’s waiting for you at home.”

Buildings and signs rushed past, the latter flashing neon green at the sweep of their headlights. Each one so familiar, because Cass had seen these signs a thousand times, on this road, in this old station wagon. She pictured their parents, the people they were hurtling toward. Waiting for her. She could already predict the looks on their faces, because that was another thing she’d seen a thousand times—her dad’s thick eyebrows furrowed with concern, her mom’s lips tight with disappointment.

Cass’s shoulders hunched at the image. She stared down at the nails Cal had criticized, splaying her fingers against her knees. “It’s just academic probation. It’s not like I got expelled,” she mumbled.

“Jesus, Cass. Is that what you’re planning to say to them? Dad is literally working double shifts to pay for your tuition.” A muscle bunched in Cal’s jaw as he turned on the blinker. Its tinny sound cracked the stillness between them. Click-click. Click-click. Click-click.

Yeah, well, we can’t all be perfect like you, Cass wanted to say. She swallowed the sharp words, and they hurt going down. Her brother had landed a football scholarship, of course, so the bags under their father’s eyes were purely on Cass. Her fault.

She hadn’t been able to hold down a job in high school—it was a miracle she’d even gotten into Wayne State, which was her safety school—so when it came time to pay that first tuition bill, or any of the subsequent ones, Cass didn’t have savings. After her parents told her they would take care of it, she’d made a promise to herself. Things would be different. She would be better. No more impulsive, reckless decisions or wild nights she barely remembered the next morning.

And for the past two years, she’d held true to that promise. Sort of. In all honesty, it was another small miracle she’d gotten this far. Deflating at the thought, Cass let out a breath.

“I know, okay? I know.” She looked out the window again, picking at what was left of her nail polish. Her reflection stared back from the glass with eyes that were dark and troubled. “Honestly, I don’t know what I’m going to say. I had a nine-hour bus ride to think about it, and I still couldn’t come up with a reason.”

The vulnerability in her voice made Cal soften. He stared out the windshield, yellow streetlights moving over his face as he said, “I don’t get it, Cassie. It’s not like you don’t have what it takes. I’ve seen your test scores.”

“Those scores were mostly because of Teresa,” Cass pointed out.

A different sort of softness slipped over Cal’s face at the mention of her best friend. “How is T?” he asked. “Is she still on the premed track?”

His grip on the steering wheel was loose, his tone casual, but Cass didn’t buy it for a second. She shot him a look. “Still on the premed track, and still completely off limits. I’m sure you have your pick of mouth breathers at that fancy school you go to, so keep your focus on them, asshole.”

Her brother grinned. Cass rolled her eyes, which only made his grin widen.

Girls had always flocked around Cal Ryan. It wasn’t just because of his square jaw and tall, broad frame, or the fact that he was one of the youngest starting quarterbacks at NYU—he was also the best person Cass knew. He genuinely cared about others. He was polite to strangers, and he never made their parents worry. He followed every rule, scored in every game, passed every class and test. Growing up, Cass had always heard their classmates talk about how different the Ryan twins were. If she was chaos and night, Cal was calm and sunlight.

To be fair, Cass did get her own share of attention. But she didn’t have her brother’s charm or patience. She found most people tiresome. Teresa Alvarez was the reason she’d had any friends at all in high school.

Teresa, who blushed every time she heard Cal’s name. Teresa, who had attended every single one of his games in high school and doodled Mrs. Teresa Ryan in all her notebooks when she thought Cass wasn’t looking. Teresa, who still asked about Cal, just like he asked about her, even though she was going to school on the west coast and there was an entire country between them now.

But Cal had a reputation for breaking hearts. It was his one fatal flaw. The one part of him that Cass could use as a weapon during their arguments. Their real arguments—the ones that had, in the past, resulted in hard-edged shouting and dented walls and slamming doors. Cass was the only person in the world who could get to the unflappable Cal Ryan.

Before she could say something to make his face twitch again, a jolt went through the car—the wheels were rolling onto the bridge. Trees stretched on either side, dotted with lights and movement. The Hudson River was dark and still. But Cass’s eyes weren’t on the river. She frowned, leaning forward in her seat. “There’s someone up there, Cal. Do you see him?”

Her brother was frowning, too. “Yeah.”

There were other cars around, their headlights beaming through the night, but none of them seemed to notice the figure standing on the edge and peering down at the black water far, far below. Or maybe they just didn’t care.

“Should we stop? Make sure he’s okay, or something?” Cass asked.

Cal didn’t answer, but he pressed on the brakes, searching for a safe place to pull over. “Stay here.”

She snorted. “Bite me.”

Without giving Cal a chance to respond—or fully stop the car—Cass pulled the door handle and got out. She slammed it shut on the sound of her brother’s low oath.

While he hastily parked, Cass climbed over the guardrail without hesitation. She went up to the stranger standing on the bridge. It was a boy, she discovered once she drew close enough. He looked like he was in his early twenties, at most. Same as her and Cal. He was pale and husky, and sweat gleamed at his temple, in spite of the fact he was only wearing a T-shirt and jeans. The thin cotton flapped lightly against his round belly.

“Hey, man,” Cass called, trying to hide her caution. She looked at him with an air of nonchalance, hands shoved in her pockets. “Want to come down from there? You’re making me and my brother nervous.”

The boy didn’t say anything. It didn’t seem like he’d heard her. His focus stayed on the river and nothing in his posture changed.

Damn it, Cass thought.She knew she needed to get closer. Something about the boy’s silence was making her instincts go off like fire alarms, but she was used to ignoring that inner, piercing shriek. It wouldn’t even be the first time this month she’d stood on a dangerous ledge—that little stunt was what had landed her on academic probation back in Detroit.

Focus, Cass. Her jacket creaked as she hauled herself up. The wall was narrower than she expected, and for a blood-rushing, world-tilting moment, it felt like Cass had leaned too far and was on the verge of losing her balance. But she regained her footing, and she gripped the steel truss with sweaty hands.

She was straightening just as Cal reached them. “Cass, get the fuck down from there,” she heard her brother say.

“Look, whatever brought you here, we can figure it out,” Cass said to the stranger, keeping her focus on him. At this proximity, she could make out more details now. She could see the faint gleam on his cheeks, evidence that tears had recently run down them.

The boy finally spoke.

But his voice was hushed, almost a whimper, and Cass couldn’t catch the words. Her eyebrows knitted together. She edged even closer, darting a glance down at her feet and the icy river far below. A small thrill went through her, tinged with fear. Cass exhaled and lifted her head, fixing her attention back on the boy. “Hey, man, what did you say?”

He looked at her, then. The pain in his eyes was as bright as the moon above them, and a breeze made his brown hair lift, revealing a forehead that gleamed with perspiration. The boy’s mouth moved again, and this time, Cass heard him perfectly.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

The guilt in his face made Cass’s heart quicken, and she started to take a cautious step back. “What are you—”

It all happened in two seconds.

Cass heard Cal shout her name. Sensed a blur of movement in the corner of her eye. But all she could see was the boy. His damp fingers grabbing at her, wrenching her toward that perilous edge. It felt like they tilted in slow motion. There was barely any time to scream, much less fight him, and suddenly Cass was falling.

As air streamed past, whipping her hair around her face, Cass discovered the boy was still tangled up with her. His grip and his weight were like iron, making them hurtle even faster toward the river. Cass tried to yank free, dimly aware that she was still screaming. She had to break away, had to make sure she didn’t hit the surface at an angle that would break her—

Too late.

One moment, they were plummeting, and the next, they were surrounded by wet darkness. The water wasn’t frozen, but it was unimaginably cold. The sort of cold that felt like a thousand needles and the hottest of flames. It closed around Cass’s head and, for an instant, her mind went blank with shock. It restarted a second later, and she swam instinctively for the surface. She could see chunks of ice floating by like serene clouds. God it was cold, it was so cold, she had to get out, had to get warm.

Hands pulled her back down.

Bubbles streamed all around Cass as she screamed. She kicked at the boy. Once again, he moved quicker than she anticipated, or maybe she was still slow with shock. He clamped Cass’s arms down. She kept struggling, but his grip was too strong. Why was he doing this? Why was this happening to her? Fury and anguish tore through Cass. She caught a glimpse of the boy’s face in the depths, and for the first time in her life, she felt pure, black hatred.

He still hadn’t let go, and they were so far from the surface now that not even the moon could reach them. Cass’s thoughts came more faintly now. She told herself that she only had to hold on long enough for Cal to find her. She knew he was coming, because Cal always came. She just needed to hold on a little longer… a little longer…

Colorful spots filled her vision. In some distant part of herself, Cass realized she was out of time. She had to inhale, her body insisted. There was no other option.

A moment later, it felt like her insides lit on fire. The river rushed gleefully into her mouth, her throat, her chest. The water was in her lungs now, and Cass had never known pain like this. She began to convulse. Oh, God, it hurt, it hurt. Cass wanted to cry and scream, but there was only the pain. Help me. Somebody help me. Cal, where are you? Cal…

Her frantic movements became sluggish. A moment later, they stopped completely. Darkness began to crowd in, and the agony slowly faded. All the noise in her head went quiet, and the boy wasn’t even holding onto her anymore.

That was the moment Cassandra Ryan realized the truth—she was going to die.

And then she did.