The Story Of Jasmine Craft, Alexis Doberstein [reading strategies book txt] 📗

I wasn’t exactly what you call your normal high school student. I was different. I wasn’t the preppy kind or the nerdy kind; I just liked to keep to myself and not get in anyone’s way. I went to a normal high school like everyone else and got made fun of for being a loner, but that’s not important. Anyways I came home one day from school and mom was in the kitchen talking to dad, which is not normal because dad was usually never home this early. I figured it was just the bills that need to be paid again, so I just went to my room, grabbed my IPod, cranked the volume and started on my homework.

I was almost finished when my father started pounding on my bedroom door. I tried to ignore it, but he was so persistent. So I finally let him in. As soon as I looked up at him I knew I was in trouble. He started advancing into my room, so I started to back up. He shut the door behind him and kept advancing on me. I put my hands up and said “Dad whatever it is you’re about to yell at me about, I’m sure I can explain.”
He shook his head and said, “You mean that you have an explanation for taking the head cheerleader and giving her a swirly?! She now has a sprained neck because of what you did! Her parents are calling the school and wanting information on you because they want to sue!”

“You’re very lucky that your uncle is the principal otherwise you would already be in jail for what you did.” (Did I mention that I was also a trouble maker who always get’s in trouble some way some how?)
I looked at my dad and said, “Oh that. Well she was picking on another kid in school and she started talking to her boyfriend and saying that he should give the kid a swirly. I figured if she knows what they are she should experience it before trying it on anyone else. You could say she was just experiencing her own words. And I highly doubt she will suggest doing that to anyone else now. So in a way the school and you my own parents should be thanking me for teaching her a lesson, and save a lot of kids from a very disgusting, embarrassing, and painful experience that they would’ve had to carry with them the rest of their lives.”
My dad looked at me and said, “You have a point, but we keep telling you over and over again. If you have a point to prove, don’t prove it through violence because violence doesn’t solve anything.” I rolled my eyes and started to laugh. My dad stood there waiting till I was finished. When I was done he looked at me and said “Jasmine. You know what we’ve been telling you since you were little. Try not to use violence unless you really have to. And try to fit in the best you can. We’ve been telling you this for years. You should know better. You were raised that way for a reason. And hopefully that reason will….”

I looked at him and said “What??”
My dad shook his head and said “Nothing. We’re just hoping that we’re raising you the right way that way when you go out on your own you’ll be able to take care of yourself.” I smiled at my dad and gave him a hug while saying “You guys are raising me just fine. I’m an average student with good grades, and I’m independent which is what you taught me to be, so I think you’re raising me just fine.”
My dad smiled and said “Okay kiddo. Finish getting your homework done. Your mom says that dinner will be done in about a half an hour.”
I shook my head and said “Ok.”

From reading all that I’ve told you so far it seems like I have a normal high school student’s life right? Wrong, because after that night everything changed.

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock…again. This meant that I had to get out of bed, and get ready for school. Again. I started to get out of bed but then tripped and fell face first on my bedroom floor. I got up and looked back to see what I tripped over, but nothing was there. So I just assumed that I was really tired and just tripped over my own feet. I made my way to the bathroom and started the shower. I looked into the mirror and saw someone standing behind me. I turned around, but no one was there. I shook my head and bent down to splash cold water on my face, because I thought that maybe I was still half asleep.

I got done with my shower, got dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast. I walked through the kitchen door and saw mom frying pancakes and bacon. It smelt so good; it was calling to my growling stomach. I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I looked over by the fridge and saw the same image that I saw behind me in the bathroom. It started to walk over by mom.
“Mom behind you!” I shouted. She whirled around just in time to catch a glimpse of what was behind her before it disappeared again.
She turned off the stove and walked over to me and asked “Did you see that too?” I shook my head. And then she said “That’s what I was afraid of.” She walked with me into the living room and called for my father to come down.
He came down the stairs while asking “Do you feel it too Monica? The feeling that something is going to happen? It’s making the hair on the back of my neck stand up, so I know it’s not going to be good.” He reached the last step and looked up. He didn’t realize that as he was talking to mom that I was standing right there.
He looked at mom and she said “She saw the ghost.”
Dad looked at her and said “She did?! Crap! Monica you know what this means!” She shook her head.
I looked up at them and said “What is going on here?”
Mom sat me down on the couch and said “Jasmine since the day you were born you know that we’ve always said that you were special. Do you remember?” I nodded my head, and she continued “Well since the day you were born we knew how special you were going to be, but we’ve kept that from you since you were little. We kept it from you to protect you from what might be coming, and that hopefully we would be able to avoid it, but now it seems that we can’t. So your father and I may as well tell you what we’ve been keeping from you.”
I looked up at them confused and said “Does this have anything to do with that thing I saw in the bathroom mirror or the one in the kitchen?” The looked at me and said “You saw it in the mirror?” I nodded my head. Mom and dad looked like they couldn’t breathe.

I finally spoke up and said “What exactly was that thing I saw?”
Dad looked up and said, “It was a man but he came for a reason, and I was hoping that this would never happen. They come from a palace in a different dimension. Those men only show themselves before something bad is supposed to happen or to do their master’s bidding.”
I look up and say, “What do you mean by their master, and why his bidding?”

Mom looked up and said, “Their master is what the people here on earth call werewolves. But we call him Jason Craft. He is the reason why evil exists on earth. He is the reason why misery and suffering has been brought to this planet. But little does he know that the world has infinite dimensions.”
Dad looked up and me and said “Did we also mention that Jason Craft is your biological father?”

I couldn’t believe that this was happening to me. That the world I live in is not what I thought it was at all. Or that the world is nothing like what we’ve learned in school?
That everything I’ve come to know about the planet is wrong? That my parents that I’ve grown up around aren’t really my parents at all? All those thoughts we’re running through my head. I felt like running away, screaming, kicking something. I didn’t know which way to turn or how to take all this information in. So I finally just broke down and cried. My mom came by me and tried to comfort me but I pushed her away and ran upstairs to my room.

I ran to my bed and fell into the pillows. The woman who calls herself my mother knocked on my bedroom door and said “Jazz its ok. I know how you feel. And I know you’re confused, but there’s something that you misunderstood. Your real father is Jason Carter, but I am your real mother. It’s a long story about my past and how you came along but if it will clear things up and help you to understand better I will share it with you.” I looked at the door for a moment and then got up and unlocked it. My mom came in and sat with me on the end of my bed.
She took my hands in hers and said “Jazz I know that all of this is shocking and confusing and unbelievable, but it’s nothing compared to how I found out what I was.” I looked at her confused and she said “I know that everything you read about in fairytales is supposed to be all fiction and happy endings. Well all that I’m about to tell you is true. And quite frankly it’s going to be scary. I still get nightmares from my past. The memoires that I still have are always going to be with me until the day I die.”
Mom looked like she was about to cry so, I hugged her and said “Mom if it’s that painful for you to talk about it then don’t. I understand.”
Mom shook me off her and said “No Jazz. I have to tell you because I don’t want it to happen to you. I don’t want you to make the same mistake I did. And if they do get their hands on you, they will do the same thing. And I would rather die then have that happen to