New Rise

Cliff Diving

I pack a bag with a towel, bathing suit and some food. I throw the bag into my trunk and get into the passengers seat.

"Where are we going to swim?" I ask, my voice full of curiosity.

"Somewhere all of us local kids on the res. like to go." He flashes me a quick smile.

He pulls onto the same road as yesterday but continues further down and I realize he's driving towards some cliffs. "I thought we're going swimming?" I ask, confused.

"We are, but I wanna show you how we do it." His eyes sparkle with excitement. He parks my car and we get out. Griff takes off his shirt and shoes. I grab my bag and head into some bushes to change.

I come out of the bushes in my one piece black bathing suit. Griff looks my up and down and whistles. I blush and tell him to shut up. "So how do you swim?" I ask him.

"We jump off of cliffs," he finally tells me. My eyes spark with excitement because I might get to see him. We walk to the edge of the cliff and Griff remembers that he brought me a life jacket. I insist I don't need one. He leaves to grab it.

As soon as he leaves, I see him standing where Griff was. "Don't do this Kaitlyn, I want you to stay safe." My chest fills with pain.

"It's the only way I can see or even hear you," I say to the mirage. I back up to get a good running start. I run as fast as I can toward the edge and as I get closer, his voice is telling me to stop. I reach the edge and I jump down into the icy water.

I surface and I hear his voice telling me I'm insane but all I care about is that it's his voice. Then a wave drags me under the water. As I try to resurface, wave after wave continues to smash me back down, further and further. Then I see brown moving towards me. As it gets closer, I realize it's Talia and I swim backwards, keeping my eyes on her.

I keep swimming but I hit my head against a rock and all my breath is knocked out of me. I try but I have no reason to. I just let my body slip into unconsciousness and I drift further down into the water. The last thing I see is his face, the horror, I reach for him but it's useless.

I take a huge gasp of air and there's a pair of hands on my chest. I sit up and I'm immediately swept up into a huge hug by Griff. "I thought you were dead!" he exclaims.

"I'm fine," I say. When he finally lets go, I stand up.

"Where do you think you're going Kaitlyn?"

"To jump again," I say confused.

"Like hell you are, I'm taking you home now." He grabs my wrist and drags me back to my car and places me into the passenger seat. I put my clothes over my bathing suit as he heads back to my house. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, and that I forced you into your own car," he apologizes.

"No it's alright," I sigh. He pulls into my driveway and I climb out, grabbing my bag as I do so. As I go to open the front door, I notice that Griff is sweating but it was only around 60 degrees out. "Are you okay Griff?" I ask, sincere concern in my voice.

"It's nothing, I'll be fine. See ya later Kaitlyn," he says waving as he climbs into his truck. I wave as he drives away.

I open the front door and I notice someone sitting at the kitchen table. I walk towards the stranger and when they turn, I see it's just Georgie. "Georgie! It's great to see you again," I exclaim as I wrap my arms around her in a hug.

"It's great to see you too but you smell like a wet dog," she says, confusing me. I just ignore the last part of what she said.

"What are you doing here? Is he with you?" I ask her hopefully.

"No he's not here. Kaitlyn are you okay?"

"Yeah why?" I furrow my brows as her question confuses me.

"I saw you jump off a cliff and then nothing," she says, her voice trembling.

"That was recreational, it's called cliff diving, and wait a second, how did you see me?" I ask because I know for a fact she wasn't in Forks.

"I uh-umm, I can see the future, but only what someone decides to do, if they decide something else, so does their future. So, are you going to tell me how you are alive?"

"Griff saved me," I tell her, "didn't you see him save me?"

"No, all I saw was you go under and not come up," she says hysterically. Then my front door bursts open and Griff trudges in.

"Griff, what are you doing here?" I ask, confused.

"I don't know, something just told me you were in danger."

"Well I'm not so you can leave." When Georgie sees Griff, she looks as if she wants to tear him apart.

"No wonder I couldn't see, this mutt was in the way!" she yells at him.

"Mutt?! I'm no mutt you filthy blood sucker!"

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" I yell at them.

"I didn't know you became friends with a werewolf," Georgie says.

"I'm not, what are you talking about?"

"Your 'little' friend over there, Griff is it, is a werewolf. I couldn't see your future because of him," she explains, glaring at Griff.

"You're a werewolf?!"

"Yeah, but I couldn't tell you, it's against the rules."

"So you transform when it's a full moon?" I ask.

"No, I can shift into a wolf form whenever I want to." Just as I go to ask another question, the phone rings. Griff picks up. "Hello, Little residence."

He pauses as the person speaks. "He's not here, he is at a funeral home." realize that today was his best friend Derek's funeral. He died a week ago of natural causes, I completely forgot. "Hello? He must've hung up."

"Kaitlyn, that was Shawn. He thinks you're dead."

"How?"

"He read my mind and he sent me here to make sure it wasn't true," she explains.

"What the hell?!"

"He's going to provoke the Fjords, he's going to ask them to kill him. If you're not alive, he has nothing left to live for. He has to see you, let's go now, we have got to go to Paris," she tells me.

"Who are the Fjords? And there is no way I'm letting him die!"

"The Fjords are the closest thing we have to royalty but they won't kill him, they want him for his gift." As I go to follow her out the door, Griff grabs my wrist.

"Let go now Griff, I have to stop him."

"Stay. Please, just stay with me," he pleads. I almost consider staying but I have to follow my heart.

"No, now let go," I say, pulling my hand free and running towards Georgie's car. I climb in and she speeds towards the airport.