Guardian of the Hills

The Lucky Charm

Since returning three days before from the fae world, I had been through so much. After Derek left me at the edge of the woods, I made my way back to my house. I walked the entire way on foot. When I got home finally, my dad was so happy to see me, he cried. He insisted on taking me to the hospital for a check-up. He had to call the police and inform them I was home as there had been search parties looking for me during the daylight hours. I had to fabricate a story of where I had been, and I told them I fell down and hit my head. I mean, it could have happened. I told him I had found a bag in the woods that had clothes in it, so I stripped out of my dress and changed. He never questioned me.

Dade had tried calling me several times to talk and tell me how sorry he was and that he still loved me. I wanted no part of it. The wound was still new. I avoided him and Jessie at school. I ate lunch in the library to keep my distance from them. After school , I met dad on the docks, and we had spent the entire afternoon cleaning his boat. I kept myself as busy as I could to keep my mind off of the hurt that was still fresh in my heart. It was two different kinds of hurt. One for the pain and betrayal that Dade had caused me and one for the longing I felt inside me of knowing there was an entire other dimension out there that I would never see again. Not to mention Derek. Every time I thought of the way he had left me at the edge of the woods, tears would almost spring to my eyes. I had found myself looking at faces everywhere, wondering if there were fae hidden in front of me. After dinner at the cafe, I had the strangest feeling that someone was watching me, and for a brief second, I had imagined I saw Derek standing under a tree outside. I almost felt like I was losing my mind at times. I decided when we got home from dinner to crack down on my studying. I had a huge exam coming up in botany, and I wanted to make sure I aced it. I opened my window to allow the scent of the ocean breeze to clear my head. It always seemed to help me concentrate better. I was up until midnight. I finally got too tired to stay awake any longer and closed my books, took off my jeans, and turned off my light. I must have fallen asleep immediately.

When my alarm went off, I hazily reached over to turn it off. I flicked on my light and sat up, rubbing my eyes. I must have been dreaming of Derek. I could almost smell him. It was his woodsy scent mixed with leather. I looked over and noticed my window was closed. I guess my Dad had come in and closed it at some point during the night.

I got in the shower to clear my head. I could not wait to get away from this town and off to college. I had still not told my dad about my acceptance into the university. After all of that I had put him through in the last week, I decided to wait.

It wasn't raining, so I drove my scooter to school. It always helped me to think with the wind blowing past me. It wasn't as exhilarating as the horse I had recently been on, but it still cleared my head.

The schoolday was completely uneventful. I spoke to a few people but continued my avoidance of Dade and Jessie. I was just not ready for that. I had friends but not close friends like most girls. I was never a part of a certain click or had a best friend. Dade had been my friend when we were kids. He spent more time at my house than any other kids did when we were little. The thought of him put a sour taste in my mouth. I could not wait to get to the docks and help Dad with today's catch. He should've been pulling into the dock anytime.

When I arrived at the dock, I saw there there was quite a commotion. There were several people standing around. Someone must have had a good haul. As I reached the dock, I realized it was my Dad's boat. It was taking all of the deck hands from the other boats to unload the catch. It was the largest catch I had ever seen. My Dad saw me and motioned me to him.

"Dad, what is all of this? Did you leave any fish for anyone else?" I asked with a laugh.

"It was the damndest thing. I hired a new hand this morning. He said he didn't have a lot of experience with boats, but he was here for a few weeks and needed some extra cash. I put him on anyway, and he ended up being the best lucky charm I ever had. We were both jumping up and down and hollaring as we were pulling in the haul."

"That's amazing, Dad," I said, looking around. "Where's your new hand?"

"I sent him to the dockmaster to get the scale set up for the poundage. He should be back any minute." I had never seen my dad so happy. We were never actually what I considered poor, but this haul would bring in a good-sized bonus.

"May I take your picture with the catch?" asked some woman with a camera.

"Sure, sure," said my dad. "Here comes my new deckhand now." I turned to look, and there was Derek walking down the dock with the most exuberant smile I had ever seen. I suddenly felt hot and realized the ground wash rushing up towards me. I didn't even have enough time to react before everything went black.

I woke up to the sound of my dad's voice mumbling something about, "Everyone back up. She needs space." I felt myself being lifted into someone's arms and carried. Someone who smelled very strongly of woods and leather. I couldn't get my eyes to focus. I was laid down on what I assumed was a sofa. After a few more moments of trying to wake up, I felt a cool wet cloth placed on my forehead. I opened my eyes, and my dad was sitting next to me rubbing my face with the cloth. We were in the dock masters office.

"There she is. Are you ok, Kiddo?" he asked me.

"I'm fine, Dad," I said as I sat up. " I think I just had too much excitement over the catch." I was looking around, but there was no sign of Derek.

Had I imagined it was him?

"Maybe I need to take you back to see the Doc.You might have more than a concussion."

"Really, I'm fine." I tried to stand, but he put his hand on my shoulder and told me to rest.

"I will be back in a minute. The lady with the camera is from the newspaper. She wants to take some photos." I nodded and lay back on the sofa. A few minutes went by, and the door opened again. I looked up, expecting my dad. Instead, there was no doubt for sure who it was. Derek looked at me with a half smirk on his face. His hair was down. He had normal looking clothes and a black leather jacket. I thought that the fae version of Derek was beautiful. This human looking version was downright criminal.

"I told your Dad, I would check in on you. My name is Derek. It's a pleasure to meet you," he said as he held out his hand for me to shake. All the hurt and anguish I had felt the last few days came flooding over me at once, and without warning, tears sprang to my eyes. Before I could control it, I was sobbing. Derek came over and sat down on the sofa next to me. He put his arm around me and pulled me close to him.

"Are you ok?" he whispered to me. Breathing him in was calming me slightly. I stood up and went over to the desk and grabbed a tissue. I blew my nose and wiped my eyes. Finally, I pulled myself together and walked over to where he still sat on the sofa.

"I know who you are, Derek. Whatever your spell was, it didn't work." He looked very puzzled.

"That's impossible," he said. "There is only one thing that would cause that magic to fail, and that's if I didn't know your name."

At that, I laughed. I started laughing and couldn't stop.

"What is so damn funny?" he asked finally. I gathered myself and held out my hand to him.

"My name is Regan Vivian Oakly. It's very nice to meet you, Derek of Fae World."

At that, he started laughing, too. He took my hand and shook it.

"Prince Derek Glengarra of the Royal Court of Seelie Fae. It's a pleasure to meet you, my lady," he said as he actually bowed to me. We both fell into a fit of laughter then. I had never been so happy to see anyone in my life.