A/N: So I like to write long chapters (2,000 words+), and I know some people like to read long chapters and I know some people don't. So if you could drop a word by writing a review, voting on my poll or PMing me, you'd be very helpful.

Erika's thoughts are in both italics and bold.


Chapter 1: Transport

Heavy rain was pounding down on the windshield of my car. I looked up at the sky and yelled at the heavens.

"20 percent chance of rain my ass!"

I turned the windshield wipers onto a faster speed and they still couldn't keep up with the heavy rain. I glanced at the console to check my fuel gauge once more, and it was still pointing directly to Empty. I had been using the gas as little as I could so I would be able to make it to Lilly's house and use her car to go get gas for my car.

After coasting down a hill, I applied my foot to the gas pedal lightly. The car didn't speed up at all. I pressed the gas harder. Looking down at the fuel gauge I saw that I was out of gas.

"No. No, no, no no," I mumbled.

My green Ford Jeep continued to roll slowly as I guided it to the side of the road when it finally rolled to a stop.

"No!" I shouted, pounding the steering wheel with my hands.

A peel of thunder sounded and I groaned. I glanced through the windshield into the blurred sky. Pulling my cellphone out of my purse, I checked to see if I had any service.

There wasn't any way out here.

I had a few decisions to make. I could just wait in the car and hope somebody drives by. Or I could start walking in the thunderstorm.

Nope, I thought to myself. I didn't like any of the decisions I was coming up with.

I sat back in my seat pondering any other option I had.

I could gouge out my eyes with my car keys… Nah. Probably wouldn't leave me in a good situation if I found help.

I reached into the back seat, grabbing a sweatshirt to put on. I unbuckled my seatbelt and pulled on the sweatshirt with the words "New Moon" on the left sleeve. I pulled the keys out of the car and threw them in my purse.

I sighed and opened the door into the pouring rain, with my purse in hand. I know it's stupid to be walking in a thunderstorm, but I wasn't going to sit in my car forever. I might as well make as much distance to Lilly's and hope someone drives by. Plus, I was also banking on the fact that if there was any lightning to strike near me, that it would hit the tall trees and not me.

I knew if Lilly was with me she'd probably be telling me two things.

One is that I was stupid.

The second is that the rain reminded her of Twilight, and wouldn't it be oh so cool if we were saved by Edward.

Rolling my eyes, I started walking up the hill my car had coasted down, remembering a house not too far away. My guess was that there was a fifteen minute walk or so to the next house. If they weren't home I'd have another fifteen minute walk to the next house. So the maximum amount of time I'd be vulnerable to lightning strike was a little over fifteen minutes.

Spurred on by the thought of being in the storm for so long, I picked up my pace up the hill. Halfway up the hill the area around me brightened from a lightning strike and a thunderclap shortly followed. I reflexively ducked at how loud it sounded; it felt like it was right behind me.

I started to walk faster up the hill and tried to find something to think about to distract me. Twilight. It was the first thing to come to mind. If I was going to be saved by a person in the Twilight Saga, I would want to be saved by a member of the wolf pack. Not that I needed to be saved or anything. Books do that way too much anyway, the protagonist is a girl that needs to be saved and she is rescued by some guy. The girl falls in love with the guy and they live happily ever after, blah blah blah, the end.

"Bleah," I said. I ran up the rest of the hill and stopped at the top. The air felt strange around me. I tilted my head back and looked at the cloud filled sky. Rain fell heavily on my face as I looked at the dark, nearly black sky. I held my sweatshirt around me tighter. Looking back down the road I tried to spot the house I had seen.

There, at the end of my sights I could see the beginnings of the trimmed lawn of the large house I had passed. Smiling, I started to take a step down the hill, but something stopped me. I could hear the air sizzle and I started to glace up once again. But I was stopped by a sharp, searing pain I felt at the crown of my head. The painful feeling quickly traveled to my entire body, all the way to the tips of my toes. I screamed and dropped to the ground.

Holy shit! I was just struck by lightning!

That was my last thought before I passed out.


I was freezing cold. My sweatshirt was now soaked, and rain was still falling in the sky, but lesser than the torrents earlier. I groaned and turned to my back. The sky wasn't the dark grey it was before; I guess the thunderstorm had passed.

Remembering what had happened, I quickly sat up. My vision blurred and I put my head in my hands. I was feeling really dizzy.

Well at least that was the worst of things. I was quite thankful I wasn't dead. My body felt kinda funny, it was almost like my entire body had fallen asleep, but the pinprick feeling you got of the blood returning to your sleeping leg or arm wasn't the same. It was more of a fizzle.

After a moment passed with the dizziness not passing, I pulled my legs up off the muddy ground and ducked my head between my knees.

"Oh, I hope I don't pass out again," I grumbled. "I need to get out of this rain."

My teeth were chattering and I kept shivering. I knew I needed to get out of the rain now or I would definitely catch a cold or get hypothermia or something. But I knew I couldn't attempt to get up and start walking until the dizziness passed.

The distant sound of a car reached my ears. I slowly raised my head. Looking in the direction the sound was coming from I noticed something strange, the road took a sharp bend to the right; not straight like it should have been –like it is on the road my car had failed on.

My car!

I Iooked to my right prepared to look downhill to see my Jeep, but instead the road was flat with no sign of my car.

Was I thrown a mile away when I was struck? Where the hell is my car?

The sounds of an engine increased as a car came around the turn in the road. Bright headlights shined in my face and I turned my head away.

The car pulled over and stopped in front of me. The engine continued to run as I heard a door open and slam shut. A tall tan man walked around the front of the car.

"Hey, are you okay?" The man had a deep voice to match his intimidating appearance.

"Umm, not really," I answered, sitting straight to look up the great distance to meet eyes with the man.

The man crouched down to be more on my level. I sucked in a breath when I recognized his features. His tan skin, black hair, and the set of his eyes, just looked like the ones of a Native American. The strangest thing was that I was reminded of Chaske Spencer, the actor who plays Sam in the films.

Strange.

Another strange thing, there were no Natives in our town. You were either white, black, Asian, or from the "Islands". I'm not being racist, but that's all there were.

"Do you need a ride?" The man asked.

I looked around, thinking my car should be here. It's not like it was swept away in the storm.

"A storm just passed through, right? Was there any flash floods… or something…?" I asked, confused.

The man shook his head. "No flash floods, but there was a really bad thunderstorm that just passed through. You weren't just in that were you?"

I nodded and tried to stand up. The man held one of my arms and helped me to my feet.

"Thanks," I murmured.

He let go of my arm and walked behind me, picking my purse off the ground from behind me.

"My purse!" I shouted. The man looked surprised as I grabbed my purse from his hands and hugged it to my chest, happy to have one familiar thing with me. Because it felt like I wasn't home anymore, I was on a completely different street I had been on and I had never seen this man before in my small town.

"I'm sorry, that was kind of rude. It's just, um, I don't entirely remember everything. I don't know how I got here, or where I am exactly, but I do remember going to my friend's house in a thunderstorm and my car running out of gas, but it isn't there," I said, gesturing down the road.

"Well, why don't I give you a ride home to get you warmed up? You can figure things out there," said the man, looking down the road.

I bit down on my bottom lip, contemplating just walking rather than getting in a car with a stranger, but instead I nodded. "Sure. That would be great," I agreed.

The man looked down at me. "No problem."

I walked over to his black truck and got into the passenger seat. The man put the car into drive and drove back onto the road. He turned on the heat and cranked it up high. I sighed happily and raised my hands to the heaters.

"So what's your name?" The man asked.

"Erika Ryder, you?" I said.

"Sam Uley," he answered.

I jerked, and turned quickly to face the man. He glanced at me sidelong before returning his attention to the road.

Did this man really just say his name was Sam? I thought, trying to figure out what was happening. Doesn't he realize he has the name of a Twilight character? Well I guess he gets that all the time. That's why he reacted so coolly to me looking at him weird.

I nodded slowly and turned back forward, holding my hands out to the vents.

A few minutes passed before houses started to line the road. I stared out the window, trying not to feel confused, and trying to come up with a viable explanation as to why I couldn't recognize any of the houses.

He took a turn onto a street lined with shops. I didn't recognize a single store.

"Sam, where are we?" I asked, wanting to put a name to this place.

"La Push," He answered.

I bit my top lip, holding in the yell I wanted to release. Maybe I'm still out of it. Maybe this is all a dream, because there is no possible way for me to travel from Massachusetts to La Push in what, a second! I took deep breath's trying to calm down.

But things feel too real. I'm fucking freezing cold and there is too much detail for this to be a dream.

What if I'm dead?

If I was dead I wouldn't have these warring thoughts.

Sam turned down a road that was lined with small houses.

So what is happening then?

Whether this is a dream or real… I'm in La Push, riding in a car belonging to Sam Uley.

I looked over at Sam, and noticed all the little details just within him. I could clearly notice all the stitching of his shirt, a frayed hole in his jeans and a silver ring that hung on a thick string tied around his neck.

Definitely real.

Sam turned down a drive on the right. He stopped at the end and turned off the car. We both got out and I followed behind him as he walked into the house. I nearly froze when I stepped into the house. There turning around to face Sam was a woman with three scars marring the right side of her face. Sitting ahead of me was another man who looked a lot like Sam.

No, no, no, this can't be possible.

Sam and the woman chattered for a moment while I tried not to stare at anyone in the room. The woman hit Sam's arm and walked forward to stand in front of me. "Hello, my name is Emily. Why don't you come with me and get a change of clothes?"

"Sure…"I said, and I put my purse down on the dining room table and followed… Emily, down a short hall to the bathroom.

"I'll get you a change of clothes. What size are you?" Emily asked.

"Six?" I answered, for some reason a little unsure. Too much was messing with my head.

"My clothes will be a little big on you."

"Emily, you don't have to do anything. If you just dry my sweatshirt-"

"Change," Emily ordered, closing the bathroom door shut.

I pulled my soaked sweatshirt off of myself, then started to unlace my Converses. I sat down on the edge of the bathtub to pull my shoes off my feet. I pulled off my socks and dropped them to the floor. Just as I was starting to unbutton my jeans a knock sounded on the door. I pulled it open to see Emily standing with a pile of clothes in her hands.

"Em-" I started, but Emily quickly interrupted me.

"Just change, Erika. You need to get out of these wet clothes." Emily held out the clothes and I took them from her.

"I'm just wondering why you're being so nice. You don't even know me," I said to Emily.

"Why wouldn't I be? You're in trouble and are probably going to get a cold," She eyed my blue and chattering lips and I couldn't help but smile. Emily really was a nurturing person. "Besides, its good practice for when I have kids of my own."

A glanced down the hall to where Sam and that guy were. "Are you and Sam…?"

"We're engaged," said Emily, smiling. "Now, give me your wet clothes."

"Alright." I put Emily's clothes on the countertop. I picked up my sweatshirt and socks off the floor and gave them to Emily.

I closed the door and finished undressing. I pulled on the black long-sleeved shirt over my wet bra. I pushed the too long sleeves up to my elbows. The sweatpants were big as well so I rolled the waistband a few times. I quickly pulled on the socks and gathered all my wet clothes.

Emily was standing at the end of the hall, waiting for me.

"I'll take those clothes, you can put your shoes by the door," instructed Emily.

"Okay," I said. I put the shoes down where she said and went over to my purse for my cellphone. I had two bars and still had a full battery. I pressed 1 and send, speed-dialing Lilly.

"We're sorry your call cannot be completed as dialed, please check the number and dial again or call your operator to help you."

"What?" I said, pulling my phone away from my ear to stare at it like it had just gave birth to a baby.

I dialed my home number, punching in the correct numbers slowly and purposefully.

"We're sorry your call cannot be completed as dialed, please ch-"

I ended the call, not wanting to hear the message again. What the hell was going on?

"What, your nice new phone not working?" said, the man sounding very sarcastic.

"Shut the hell up, Paul," I growled as I dialed my Mom's cellphone number.

It rang once before it was answered.

"Mom! Thank God!"

"Uhh, excuse me?" A young girl asked me.

"Sorry, wrong number I guess," I apologized.

"You're right about that."

I quickly hung up my cellphone, feeling like crying. I looked over at the guy I had impulsively called Paul and then remembered that we hadn't actually met before. How could I help myself? I had Sam and Emily standing right next to me, and this boy totally fit the Paul character. He was staring at me strangely.

"How did you know my name?" Paul asked.

I sat down in the seat across from him and shrugged. "You just seem like a Paul to me."

Sam walked over to the two of us sitting at the table. "So were you able to reach anyone?"

"No," I said, trying to stop the tears from coming. I was really confused and scared right now. Since I've decided that I'm not dreaming, there has to be a good explanation to this – there just has to be.

I couldn't possibly be in Twilight. Twilight is a made up world, it isn't real, yet… I had Paul looking at me like I was a freak, Sam looking down at me worriedly and Emily washing my clothes. All I needed was Jared to walk through the door and I could not deny the fact that I was in the world of Twilight.

The front door opened and a boy walked in with only a pair of cutoff jeans.

I looked sadly up at the boy who had stopped to look down at me.

"You're not Jared, are you?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm Jared Thail, why?" said Jared, pulling out a chair.

I slammed my head onto the table.

"Whoa, what's up with her?" Jared asked.

"Like I would know. Sam picked her up off the side of the road, sopping wet," Paul answered.

"Thanks Paul," I murmured. "Love you too."

"So Erika," said Sam. I lifted my head from the table to look at Sam who came to stand between Jared and Paul. "Can you remember now how you ended up on the side of the road?"

"Well I had forgotten to fill up my car before I went to my friend's house. So I ended up stranded on the side of the road in a thunderstorm. I knew the small likelihood of a car coming by to help me and my cellphone doesn't have any services out in the boonies," I sniffled, I had always made fun of Lilly calling the area she lived the boonies and I was really wishing Lilly was here with me right now. "So I got out of the car-"

"You got out of the car in a thunderstorm?" Paul interrupted.

I ignored Paul and continued, "I got out of the car and started walking to the house I had last seen - which was at most a fifteen minute walk. I had just gotten to the top of the hill when I got struck by lightning. I had woken up on the side of the road when you came." I said, nodding to Sam.

Paul and Jared were looking up at Sam, who was looking straight at me. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," I said.

"Shouldn't you be dead?" Paul asked.

I glared at Paul and I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I angrily wiped the tear away and stared at the table.

Emily, who had entered while I was telling my story, came over to my side. "Erika, what's wrong?"

"I just wanna go back home," I whined like a little kid, very unlike the eighteen-year-old I was.

"I can give you a ride, Erika. Just tell me where," Emily said soothingly.

"It doesn't exist," I said, as another tear fell down my face. I knew without looking up that they were all giving me weird looks. "If you guys are real, that means – I don't know. But I do know that I don't have a family to go to – my house may exist, but my family wouldn't be there." I sniffled and put my head in my hands. Shit, I'm crying in front of complete strangers.

Well, they're not complete strangers. I growled in frustration and refrained from pounding my hands on the table. "I will be completely fine with leaving you guys. You don't need me screwing up your lives. I'll leave." I started to get up from the chair but Emily put her hands on my shoulders to push me back down.

"Sam," Emily said in an authoritive tone.

Sam sighed and Emily quickly walked around the table to grab his wrist and drag him to another room.

I just sat there, not looking at anything but my hands. I know Sam and Emily are talking about me, they're probably discussing if they should let me go or not. I wrung my hands worriedly. I heard the chair on my left squeak and I glanced up at Jared.

"What do you mean by us existing?" Jared whispered.

"I'll tell you later," I said, wiping my eyes with the heel of my hand.

Jared got up and came back with a box of tissues. I giggled and smiled up at Jared.

"Jeeze Jare, Kim's already got you all mushy," Paul said to Jared.

I rolled my eyes. "Well you're going to end up whipped too, Paul."

They both looked sharply at me. "What do you mean?" Paul asked.

"I mean, you're gonna end up just like Jared here."

"No I'm not," Paul protested.

"Whatever," I mumbled.

Sam and Emily came back then and all us teens looked up to Sam for his decision.

"How old are you Erika?" Sam asked.

"Eighteen," I said.

Emily looked up at Sam with a small smile on her face.

"You can stay in the guest bedroom until you get everything figured out," Sam said.

Emily walked forward and took hold of my left wrist. "Come on Erika," said Emily, pulling me out of my seat. I grabbed my purse and followed her. She pulled me through the only door on the right side of the hallway.

"So Erika, this is where you will sleep," said Emily, gesturing to the room.

Instead of observing the room I turned to Emily. "Emily, you really shouldn't be doing all this for me. I understand the washing and loaning clothes thing, but you're giving me a room to stay in? It's too much."

Sam POV

"Well at least she knows she shouldn't be here," Paul commented.

"Okay guys, Erika will be staying here for a few days, so that means you will have to watch what you say and do around here," I said. I looked over at Jared, "She can't find out about us, so if you feel the slightest bit angry or anything leave immediately."

Paul rolled his eyes. "It's not like she's watching her mouth."

"Paul, I'm only going to say this once –watch what you say and do around this girl."

Erika POV

"Well from what you've told us, you need a place to stay, at least for the night," said Emily.

"Alright," I said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. I rubbed my nose that still felt stuffy from my crying.

"Good. Dinner will be in two hours."


I didn't have any dinner. I just stayed in the room, sitting on the bed, trying not to think about anything. I felt that I was intruding way too much.

When it was significantly dark out, I got ready for bed; which consisted of me taking off my socks and shirt.

I lay on my side and stared at the beige walls hoping that when I woke up I'd return to the real world.