Chapter One
The rain that drizzled across my bedroom window looked almost like a desktop default picture. The clouds dark and unforgiving, but also pretty in a threatening kind of sense. This was a default picture I was used to seeing when looking out into the small town of La Push. Our house was right on the outskirts of First beach, and sitting at the right angle on my bed I could see the waves hitting the shore aggressively as the storm brewed on.
"Lilah!" I flinched as I heard my father calling from down stairs. He'd been in a relatively good mood lately, but his voice wasn't giving off that impression.
Skipping down the steps from my room my bare feet padded lightly against the tile of the kitchen floor.
"Yeah dad?" I asked, scanning the counters to be sure they were free of beer bottles. They were usually the tale tell sign that our conversation would be going south, fast.
"I'm thinking pizza?" he grinned.
A small sigh of relief escaped me before I smiled back and fetched the house phone.
My dad isn't a bad man. He works hard to provide for me and he always makes sure I have everything I want. We get along great, being that we are the only two in the house ever since my mom passed. Its only when he's drinking that I try my best to avoid him. That's when he scares me.
"Do you mind if I go to Kelsey's house tonight?" I ask after ordering our food.
"Will you be staying the night?" he asks, though I can tell he's trying not to be controlling. I am nineteen after all, but I allow him his moments.
"No I'll be back before it gets too late I promise." I smile, ruffling his hair.
After dinner I change into a pair of leggings and a loose white top, before slipping on my favorite red rain jacket and my sneakers. Kelsey lives in forks, closer to forks high school where we both graduated from. I had transferred freshman year due to the fact my mom was a teacher there. After she passed dad suggested switching to the high school in our reservation but I couldn't stand loosing my friends too.
"Bye dad, I'll be back later!" I yelled out before slipping out the front door and jogging to my car. It was a small black Nissan Altima from 2005, and it may forever smell like Chinese take-out but it got me from A to B and for that I was grateful.
The rain was still coming down pretty heavily but it isn't something I'm not used to driving in. It's not too long of a drive and I soon find myself pulling into her driveway. She knows I'm coming so as usual she's left the front door unlocked, so I hop out of the car and dash for the door, trying to avoid getting completely soaked.
"Hey Mrs. Johnson." I smile at her mom as I slip my shoes off by the front door.
"Hey cupcake how are you doin today?" her mom smiles from her spot on the sofa. I'm here often so formalities aren't needed.
"I'm doing great! Yourself?"
After some small talk I head back to Kelsey's room. There house isn't huge but its much bigger than mine, most houses on the reservation are smaller than the ones in forks.
"Finally, what took you so long? I was beginning to worry the storm swept you away." She smirked at me from her position-sitting crisscross on her bed.
Kelsey and me are complete opposites. All the way from my dark brown hair compared to her striking blonde, to her spunky personality compared to my calm disposition.
"So spill." I hoped onto her bed and looked at her expectantly.
"Okay okay." She said excitedly clasping her hands together. "So basically Mason asked me to move in. He started talking about how good we are for each other and then-"
"No. You can't be serious? You guys have been dating two months!"
"I mean technically it's a little over two months. Plus time is nothing babe." She was bursting with excitement.
"What will your parents say? What about college?" I feel a pang of jealousy. My father could barely afford to help me buy a car last year, and college was just out of the question. We couldn't afford it. And here Kelsey was about to throw all her opportunities away for some boy.
"We'll stay close by." She rolled her eyes. "And I'm just taking a semester off is all. Ill go back, I promise mom." She winked.
The night continued on with my disapproving and her just disregarding my concerns. I wasn't all too worried though, typically Kelsey got bored and dropped guys, and soon his sappiness would get on her nerves. I know this girl like the back of my hand. She wouldn't go through with it, she just liked to pretend.
Nighttime fell quickly and it wasn't long before the time slipped past us, it was already too late and I knew I'd get an earful from dad. My sleepy eyes drooped and we said our goodbyes and I made my way home.
I was about a mile from my house when my lethargic eyes caught something, something huge, running on the road. I almost didn't slam on the breaks fast enough. A huge animal, too big to be a dog and too slim to be a bear, looked back at my car before its dark grey form disappeared into the woods. It all happened so fast I wasn't sure what I had even seen, but no matter how tired I was I know I saw something.
With my erratically beating heart I carefully drove the rest of the way home. Making sure the coast was clear once I parked I made a quick dash to the door; afraid whatever I saw was coming to eat me. I couldn't unlock the door any faster, and once I did I locked it back up just as quick.
"Lilah what the hell makes you think its okay for you to just come home whenever you feel like it? Its fucking midnight."
"Sorry dad. We, I lost track of the time. Dad there was this-"
"Do I look like some joke to you? You think you can just prance around and do whatever the hell you please?" he asked, getting up and stepping closer, towering over my 5'4 frame. The smell of beer made my stomach churn uncomfortably.
"I'm sorry." I looked down, not meeting his gaze.
"Go to bed." He finally answered, turning away from me and sitting back down with his beer can in hand.
Shaken by both our conversation and the animal, I headed to my room, falling into my bed with a sense of thankfulness. I survived both encounters, with the beast and then my father, unscathed, how I had no idea. But I was grateful.
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Hey guys! It's been quite some time since I have published anything, this is just an idea I couldn't get out of my head so let me know if you guys would like me to continue. If I get enough responses I'll be sure to upload as soon as possible :) if you guys have any questions drop them in the reviews and I'll get back to you right away.
