Note: Yeah I know. I'm a terrible author for taking forever. But that's what writer's block does to you. Well here it is! A fresh chapter that I surprisingly cooked up for yall! Hope yall like it. P.S. I love reviews.
Special Thanks: Thanks SO much to Koley Moley AKA Hippie Boy (guy in my class) for giving me an impulse urge to sit down and finally write this chapter. And thanks to Julissa (Danny Phantom Fan1) for encouraging me!
(Sam POV) (At Lake Tahoe) May 19, 2010
"Say cheese, Sammy!" I smiled as Quinn snapped a picture of me smiling at the digital camera while sitting on a boulder beside the lake. As you could already guess, my dad had let me come relax for a bit before my graduation on Saturday night. And I am very glad he did because in my seventeen (almost eighteen) years of my life, I have never been to Lake Tahoe. Not once. And my gosh, it was unbelieveable. The clear turquoise water was so clean and pure that you could see the white sand at the bottom. You could smell the scent of the pine trees in the soft breeze and Jake's grandparent's cabin looked like something I would want to live in.
As soon as a few snaps went off, I climbed off the boulder and looked at the picture Quinn had took of me. It had actually turned out okay. I stopped looking at myself and turned my attention on the sound of two boys wrestling. It was Adam and Nate being idiots. But soon their stupidity caught up with them. Nate was eventually pushed into the lake. He wasn't mad, but he did get his revenge by getting out and shoving Adam in too. Soon all of the Ely brothers were jumping in and Quinn just had to make me mad by throwing me over his shoulder and jumping in with me. As soon as I was in the water, I felt warmth in the lake. I sank to the bottom quickly and saw everything through the clear water. I saw Quinn trying to do backflips underneath the water and Bryan waving at me. When I finally drifted back to the top, I couldn't help but laugh at them and myself.
(9:00 PM)
After a full day of swimming and goofing off, we all finally settled down near the newly lit bonfire. The flames were dancing in front of my eyes as I ate the smores that Jake's grandma had made us. And gosh were they delicious. I could almost cry at the savory taste the smores brought to my mouth. And of course with me being raised in a good manners crazed family, I had to express my pleasure.
"These smores are really good Dena."
The salt and pepper haired, yet still quite youthful looking Native woman looked at me with amusment in her eyes when she saw that the smores had made my comment come out muffled. She shook her head at me and said, "Thank you, dear. And by the way, you can call me Grandma. You're close enough to family."
I nodded and gave her a thankful smile. While eating my third smore, I noticed a wood sign hanging by a nail on the back door that I hadn't noticed before. It read, "Suuntsaa'". I squinted at the sign to make sure I read it right before I asked Mac about it.
"Mac, what does that sign on the door mean?"
He turned his head to see the sign I was talking about and answered me. "It means Love in Shoshone. I made that sign when I was only fifteen years old and gave it to Dena here. And three years after that, we finally got the chance to hang it on our new home."
Of course hearing that, I had to be a typical girl. "Aww! That's so sweet."
That story made me wish I had someone like that. Someone who would look at me like how Mac was looking at Dena. Like he was seeing her for the first time. I could see that after all these years, they still haven't grown tired of each other. The love made me smile.
(Quinn POV) (1:09 AM)
I was walking. Trees were around me. Dirt was beneath me. And a spooky noise more suitable for Halloween was in my ear. Hiss. I looked around my dark surroundings and saw nothing making the noise. I started walking again. Then out of no where, smoke filled my nostrils. I looked ahead of me and saw fire. But it was unusual. The fire was a controlled one, but weird. The flames danced in a perfect circle, while the middle was empty. I stepped forward until I was a good two or three inches away from it. Hiss. There was the noise again. It was coming from the fire. Hiss.
I took another step and all of a sudden, I was pulled in by a pale arm. The pale arm threw me on the dirt ground right in the middle of the fire and I was pinned. I squinted through the bright orange flames and I looked up into the obsidian colored eyes of a woman. I could tell she wasn't good in anyway. She opened her mouth and closed her eyes. For a moment I thought she was going to kiss me. But I was wrong. Her full lips pecked my shoulder and I shuddered at how cold she was. She felt my shiver. Her eyes opened to reveal bright bloody red eyes and I gasped at her. She smiled a wicked grin and then I just felt...burning.
(5:31 AM)
I woke up in a start. Sweat and dirt covered me from head to toe. Good, it was only a dream. I rubbed the eye boogers and crusties out of my eyes to see that I wasn't in the den of Grandfather's cabin sleeping on the couch, but instead on the dirt floor in the middle of the woods.
Oh yeah, mom always said that I unknowingly slept walk alot at night sometimes. But I had never ended up outside before. I slowly stood up, pulled up my plaid sleeper pants before they completely slipped off of me, and headed for inside the cabin. It was still a little dark outside so it was difficult to find my way back. I drowsily walked and walked. But then I saw something peculiar. There was a pale white stem on a tall tree. I rubbed more crustiness out of my eye and when I looked back up at the tree, the white stem was gone.
It was probably just a mirage.
(Quinn POV) (9:13 AM)
While all of my brothers and Sam were out swimming in the lake, I made an excuse that I didn't feel well just so I could talk to Grandpa about the strange dream that I had last night. Grandma had gone to the Farmer's Market down the road so she would be gone for at least half an hour. So it gave me time to talk.
I made myself and Grandpa two ham sandwiches and walked out onto the porch where he was sitting down in an old rocker chair while watching my brothers and Sam swim. I sat down in a matching rocker and gave him half of the sandwich. We sat in comfortable silence until I asked Grandpa about my dream. I filled him in on every detail as he waited patiently for me to finish.
He considered the dream for a few minutes until he turned back toward me and said in the most shocked tone, "They're back."
"Huh? Who's back, Grandpa?" I asked. He shook his head and faced the lake again. He had a look on his face. For the first time, he actually looked...scared. I kept staring at him, hoping the intensity of my eyes on his face would wear him down and make him tell me. But he just sat there.
All of a sudden, slamming of a truck door snapped me out of my glare and Grandpa out of his thoughts. Grandma was walking up the dirt trail that lead to the cabin while carrying two bags full of vegetables and fruits. Grandpa suddenly got out of the rocker chair and fast walked down the trail to meet her halfway.
I saw Grandpa urgently saying something to her, but I couldn't make out what he was saying. Grandma's eyes bulged at what he was saying and she froze. She finally walked away from Grandpa and slowly made her way into the cabin while Grandpa walked back over to me.
"What's going on?"
Grandpa sighed and he explained, "Look...I know this might sound strange and I don't want you to argue. But you, your brothers, and Samantha need to leave now. That dream was a sign of great danger."
I just stood where I was. He wanted us to leave? But we just got here.
"Do we really have to leave?"
"Yes. I told you not to argue with me. Just leave and i'll explain later." he said with great annoyance.
I shook my head and agreed to it. Grandpa made his way over to the edge of the lake and motioned Nate over. He explained to Nate and Nate explained to everyone else. We didn't believe in signs and bad luck, but we had never seen Grandpa or Grandma like this, so we decided to take their warnings seriously this time.
It took us two hours to pack up everything and to double check our list before we finally settled ourselves into our shared Jeep Cherokee. We slowly drove away from the log cabin. The last thing they saw was Grandpa and Grandma talking on the porch.
(Dena POV)
As I watched my grandson's jeep drive away, I made my way into the kitchen to dial a number on the old phone that we only used for emergencies. I counted three rings before I heard a woman's voice.
"Hello?" asked the sweet natured Topanga. She was another elder that lived on the east side of the lake with her husband, Chaim.
"It's me Dena. I'm just calling because my grandson had a dream last night and Mac sees danger. All I can say is...they're here."
I heard Topanga's startled gasp and could practically see her clutching her hand over her heart.
We both knew what was happening and what was coming next. And it wasn't going to be good. Not for anyone.
Name Meanings:
Topanga: Where the mountain meets the sea
Chaim: Life