"Almost there sweetie, hang in there."

Mom. She needed to stop saying that. If she wanted my fierce case of carsickness to go away she'd better pull over and let me barf.

I looked out the window, half hoping that the endless sea of green trees would calm my churning stomach. No luck. I saw the sign that indicated we had entered Forks. I only had to wait about fifteen minutes until La Push. Awesome.

A rush of nostalgia made me cover my mouth like was going to throw up.

About seven years ago my mom and I were making this exact same trip. Only it was our first time, and we had my dad. I was ten years old. We were moving across the country because my mother thought it would be a good experience for the family. The first day of school I got picked on and stared at just because I was new. But then Embry Call stepped in and stood up for me. From that day on he was my best friend. He was closer to Jacob and Quil than he was to me but I didn't care. Sure, I had girls for friends too, but Embry was always my best friend. Then one day my dad got promoted and we had to move…again. Don't get me wrong, I was happy for my dad, I just didn't want to have to pack and leave my friends and home.

So I believe it's been three years since I've experienced rain like this.

For the first year after our move Embry and I kept contact. Then a few months into the second year the calls and letters stopped. I tried persistently, or desperately, to get a hold of Embry. I could not loose contact. I knew that if I lost contact I would never have a chance to keep our long distance friendship. When I finally figured out that my attempts were no good I shut down and became the quiet girl at school. Maybe a friend or two. But I never went to parties or school gatherings.

Finally I realized that my life of suffering sucked. So I decided that I would pick myself off the ground and do something about it. That's when I met Melody. We became best friends instantly. She was the crazy brunette; I was the brunette-that-goes-along-with-her-crazy-stuff. We told each other everything, just like we'd been best friends since kinder years. I told her about how hard it was leaving home, and Embry. She was good about helping me make more friends, stuff like that. And since she was so crazy spontaneous, people mostly avoided her, they thought she was a crack head or something, but I stood by her.

When I first got the news that we were moving back my feelings were mixed. On one side I was ecstatic to be moving back. My home. My friends. Embry. On another side I was put down. What if he doesn't want me? Has he changed? How? Maybe that was the cause of this carsickness that was going on in my tummy.

When we finally got to the house I jumped out of the car and laid in the cool grass. It helped a lot. I took deep breaths, happy to be back home.

"Honey, I'm sure you don't want to be laying in the grass when Sue Clearwater's son and his friends come to help us move in," she winked when she said friends so I knew this wouldn't be good, " maybe they're good looking!" I rolled my eyes. Clearwater…that name sounds familiar.

Before Sue's son and friends got here I decided to take in my more personal items inside. Clothes, books, the basics. Stuff that I would get embarrassed over if it fell out of the box.

When I came out of the house I saw my mom talking to what I made out to be the help we were getting. And dang, they were tall, muscular, tan, and handsome! Not to mention, huge! They were at least two feet taller than my mom! Only a foot and a half taller than myself, proud to say. All four of them were wearing cutoff jeans and white T-shirts. I decided to introduce myself.

"Hey, I'm Katelyn." The one who looked to be the oldest held out his hand.

"Sam Uley. This is—" One of them cut Sam off.

"Thatch. Paul Thatch." He sent me a flirty grin and I blushed.

"Seth Clearwater." Sue's kid. He looked young, fifteen maybe. Seth Clearwater…Maybe I knew him when I had lived here before. Oh well.

"I'm Jared, nice to meet you, Katelyn." I smiled at him; he was the most gentleman like.

"Well, now that we all know each other, why don't we get to moving in then?" Sam said. He motioned for the boys to get going.

I knew they were muscular, but dang, when they lifted our couch out of the U-Haul trailer…They made it look like they weren't even lifting a finger. What are they feeding the La Push men these days? Surely some sort of steroid…maybe competition in the football team has picked up? Nah, I don't even remember a football team.

About thirty minutes later we were done with what would've taken my mom and me alone about two hours.

"Thanks boys for coming and giving us a hand. You really didn't need to," my mom said with a sweet smile.

"We didn't mind, Ms. Johnson. None of us were busy, anyway." Sam Uley seemed to answer for most of them. Weird.

"It was nice meeting you, Katelyn!" Paul said. He'd been hitting on me the whole time. I didn't encourage him. It was funny at times, the things he would say. Then they left. Finally some peace and quiet. Don't get me wrong, it was nice having some muscular hotties around, but I'm exhausted.

I pulled my purple comforter over my body and drifted to sleep. Guess who I dreamt about?

It was seven in the morning when I heard my phone go off. I couldn't just ignore it, I was too curious. The caller I.D. read: Melody. Melody is my best friend that I made

Hey! Wake up sunshine! Who wakes up at seven in the morning on a…I checked my phone…Sunday? Oh crap. I start school at La Push High School tomorrow.

Hey Mels! I'm fine…just sorta freaking out! I replied. I got up and got in the shower. By the time I got out she had replied.

Ooh! Kates! Does this freaking have anything to do with a Mr. Embry Call??? Ugh. First she wakes me up, now she reminds me that Embry also goes to school.

Now it does! I was freaking about school tomorrow! What should I do? And what should I wear? Ugh, I wish you were here Melly!!

Sorry, hun! It's so boring back here! And wear that blue tee with the dark pants. You'll do fine . You never told me…have you seen him yet?

Nah. But you would've died if you saw who came over yesterday to help us move furniture!!! Melody has a thing for hot guys. We spent at least an hour talking about what we would rate them.

I straightened my hair and got dressed. Today was sort of a unpack and get ready for school day. I was enthused.

First my mom and I unpacked all the kitchen appliances and utensils. Then the living room. Then both of our rooms. It was three when we got done, so my mom decided that "school shopping wasn't enough", and I'd "been good about moving" again, so I got a full out shopping spree! Fine with me.

When we were leaving La Push we passed a group of shirtless boys. I recognized Paul, Sam, and Jared out of the bunch, but there was a fourth. I swear I knew him from somewhere! He looked so familiar. He wasn't looking at our car but I could see his eyes, and they pulled at my heartstrings.

I tried not to think about it but the thought of me knowing him wouldn't leave me alone. I was distracted the whole time we were shopping.

"Honey, you've been quiet all day long, what's wrong?" My mom shot a concerned look my way. I shook my head no.

"Nervous for school? You'll do fine. Maybe you'll see some of your old friends again!" Well duh, unless everyone spontaneously moved after I did. I sighed. She took that as an agreement.

By the time we got back it was seven. I wish I could go to bed. I'd never fall asleep though. So I took a hot steamy shower, then blow-dried my hair, then I put all my new school stuff away, clothes in closet, supplies in backpack.

It was ten. Time for bed.

Dark green…I'm in the forest? Nighttime? I get off the ground and dust myself off. I look at my hands; I'm so pale. And I just now realize that I'm freezing cold. Its foggy in the forest, I can only see a couple of trees ahead of me. Suddenly, a twig snaps behind me. I turn quickly but nothing is there. Leaves rustle in a bush to my left. I turn. Nothing.

"What are you doing out so late, my sweet?" I gasp; the man's voice is behind me. I'm too afraid to turn. Afraid, or paralyzed by fear, I think both. My muscles are wound tight; my leg twitches forward like I'm trying to run, I can't move though. Something is holding me back.

"If you try to run, I'll catch you. Hiding won't do you any good either. I have an excellent sense of smell." I can hear the smile in his voice and I want to scream when I feel his face touch my hair. He breathes in deep,

"Mmm…smells just like lilacs." That's odd. My shampoo is coconut scented. I feel like some outside force is telling me that my life is at stake here and this man isn't some creepy stalker or rapist, but much worse.

The paralyzing felling that I felt before suddenly disappears and I scream as loud as I can, I remind myself of a fire alarm. Then my legs catch up with my brain and I'm sprinting in random directions, in and out of gaps through trees, trying to shake him. I look behind me and nothing is there. I stop and listen for signs that he's still following me.

"Thought you'd get rid of me that easy, did you?" I shriek and run in another direction.

"I warned you not to run. I was going to try to make this painless for you, but now I think I'll give you what you deserve." What would be painless? I felt like I was missing out on some huge piece of the puzzle. I run for what seems like hours, but was probably only seconds. My breathing is not normal, I'm panting and gasping for air, and I need to stop.

I break through the trees and collapse to the ground. I'm in a meadow of sorts. Great. I have no idea as to where the hell I am, and I'm stuck here with this total serial killer freakazoid.

"Now, where to start? Maybe I'll break your legs. Then your arms. Then your neck. Then I'll suck you dry." I turn around. He is skinny, but you can definitely tell that muscles take up most of his body composition. His face…well I couldn't see his face. His face was blurry, almost smeared in a way.

"What do you want with me?" My shaky voice was so small it's a wonder he heard it.

"Child, I can't believe you didn't guess." He chuckled, "I want your blood."

He made a growling noise and leaped at me, but out of nowhere a blur of dark brown fur intercepted him before he touched me. I looked over to where they landed and saw the blurred man pinned under a bear! No, it wasn't a bear, it stood on four of its legs, like a…dog? It was a wolf that was the size of a bear! What the hell?

I woke up right after the wolf jerked its head forward and bit off the man's head. I was screaming.

"Katelyn? Katelyn! What's wrong?" my mother came rushing in only her robe.

"N-nothing. Just a nightmare. I'm fine." I took a deep breath as my mom patted my back.

"Are you sure? Do you want a glass of water?"

"No, no. I'm fine, mom. Go back to bed." She closed my door behind her.

I laid back and bed and thought about what the hell that was. Why couldn't I see the man's face? Maybe I didn't know him yet so my brain couldn't put a face to him.

The mutant wolf? I had no explanation to that. So I rolled onto my side to try to get some sleep so I didn't look like a zombie on my first day of school.