-1Cassie lay in her warm bed, shivering. She heard the soft patter of the rain on the roof above her head. It was nights like these that made her glad to have her electric blanket. Another shudder rocked through her body. She curled up into a ball. Cassie hated Washington. She hated Tacoma! It rained more in this town than any other place on the whole entire planet! If her dad hadn't died of cancer she wouldn't be here in the first place. She felt tears coming and commanded herself to take a deep breath. 'There's no need to think about that now' she thought to herself. 'This isn't his fault' She tried to concentrate on the sound of the rain. She sighed. When she grew up she wanted to move someplace where it was warmer and where it rained less. Cassie smiled at the thought. She would probably go back to her home town of Los Angeles, California.
Cassie stared bleakly out her bedroom window and watched the cold rain fall to the ground below. She was tired and extremely comfortable, but she was afraid to go to sleep. She didn't know what she would "see" tonight. Cassie was a seer, but only saw, mostly, her own future. Her visions came as dreams, and they could happen day or night. Once she got in trouble for sleeping in class. She remembered that moment now with a sheepish smile. As it kept getting later into the night, Cassie had to keep pulling herself out of unconsciousness. Finally, at midnight, she failed. As she slipped into sleep, a vision occurred.
She saw a boy. He was extremely well muscled for his age, well for anyone if she was being honest. He looked 16 maybe 17. She could tell because his features reminded her of how some of her classmates looked. He had russet colored skin, long jet black hair that went down to his chin, and dark brown black eyes which were glistening with suppressed fury and jealousy. His name, she sensed, was Jacob Black. Cassie wondered why he was significant enough to show up in a vision. She saw him angrily push open the screen door to an old red wood house, weathered with age. He was quivering, shaking. She wondered if he was having an episode. Tied to his left leg by a black cord no thicker than a piece of yarn was a pair of plain black sweatpants. Suddenly he practically exploded into a russet colored wolf. Clothes scraps fell behind him. He started to run, and he was fast! He used his powerful legs to push him farther away from the house towards the forest. There were people talking to him in his head. They were saying they were sorry about something. 'Go away' I heard him growl. Then the wolf disappeared into the forest, and her vision ended.
Cassie sat up in bed, covered in sweat and tried to absorb what she had just seen. The boy, Jacob Black, was in her future. Her near future most likely. She sighed and glanced at her alarm clock. It was five a.m. It was a Sunday, and Cassie had hoped to sleep in but she knew she wouldn't be able to get anywhere near sleep. She stretched, her joints cracking as they flexed. 'This is going to be a long day' she thought as she stood up and walked over to her closet. She thought for a moment, then pulled on her favorite pair of jeans and a gray t shirt, the outfit she wore every Sunday. Cassie pulled on socks and decided to wear her favorite pair on converse. They were half brown half pink with brown flowers on the pink side. When she finished tying her shoes she sat up and glanced around her messy room.
On one side there was a dresser, with things laying askew on top of (and all around) it. Above the dresser there was a poster of the actor, Steven Strait. On the far wall was her bed, the only neat place in her messy, messy room. It was perfectly made. The window was on the wall beyond her bed. Opposite to her dresser was her desk which contained a laptop, pictures, and other miscellaneous items. On the left of her desk was a closet which held most of her shirts and pants. Then there was the floor which was covered by a variety of objects. There was everything from clothes to books to blankets to her favorite stuffed animal, Wooly, the stuffed sheep. Finished with her assessment, Cassie sighed and stood up. She glanced in her mirror, and frowned. Her hair, which was usually straight, now stuck out at all angles. It really, really needed to be brushed. She was slight, but she thought she was tall for a tenth grader. She was about five foot ten. She grabbed her brush from off the dresser and brushed out her long light brown hair. She reached down and pick up her note book. She pulled out a piece of paper and told her mom she was going to get the paper and walk down to the post office to mail a letter to her grandma.
She left the note on the small kitchen table in their microscopic kitchen. Sometimes she wondered how she was ever able to cook in it.
She grabbed her plain black sweatshirt, which was hanging by the door and grabbed the letter out of her pocket. Before she went to get the paper, she glanced out the window. She sighed with relief, it had stopped raining.
She went out to the driveway to grab the paper before she left to mail her letter. She turned the corner, and almost had a heart attack!
Standing there, in the center of the driveway, was the russet colored wolf from her dream. Tied to his left hind leg were the black sweatpants. He was turning his head side to side, glancing all around. He looked lost. Cassie gasped, and then barely stifled a scream. The wolf, hearing her gasp, turned his head toward her. His brown black eyes bored into her skull. He was obviously confused.
"Jacob?" she asked the wolf, forgetting that animals can't talk. "Jacob Black?" The wolf continued to stare at her, clearly more confused and startled than he had been a moment before. He stared at her a minute then help up one paw, as if to say 'one minute', and then disappeared behind her house. Cassie stood frozen, unable to move. Jacob was back a minute later, bare-chested, barefooted, wearing the black sweatpants. Cassie was surprised by the way he looked. He was much more muscular in person. He had a handsome face and his hair was like hers had been that morning, all over the place. She stared at him in a state of awe.
Jacob on the other hand, had different feelings. He was very confused. How did this girl know him? But then he felt a much stronger emotion. As he looked at her pleasant heart shaped face, into her sapphire blue eyes, he knew he'd imprinted. She mattered most now, most ever. Jacob, stunned into silence by his emotions, finally found his voice. "Who are you?" He asked. "How do you know me?"
"I-I'm Cassie" Cassie stuttered. "I'm a seer but I can only, well mostly, see my own future. I saw you in it"
'Is she a vampire' Jacob thought, almost snarling at the thought. He remembered Alice. He almost growled, but then remembered that Cassie didn't know about vampires and werewolves. He took a deep breath through his nose. She definitely wasn't a vampire, although she had the sweetest scent he had ever smelled, almost like vanilla. He decided right then that she had to know. He decided to tell her everything.
"Cassie" Jacob said. "I would like to tell you my story" This was the first time Cassie had heard him speak. He had an amazing voice filled with majesty. "I think you might need to know it" Cassie saw sadness flash briefly across his face. She nodded, and led him inside.