*by Stephenie Meyer*
TWILIGHT - chapter 18 - THE HUNT
"Let's go, Bella." Edward's voice was low and bleak.
This whole time I'd been rooted in place, terrified into absolute immobility. Edward had to grip my elbow and pull sharply to break my trance. Alice and Emmett were close behind us, hiding me. I stumbled alongside Edward, still stunned with fear. I couldn't hear if the main group had left yet. Edward's impatience was almost tangible as we moved at human speed to the forest edge.
Once we were into the trees, Edward slung me over his back without breaking stride. I gripped as tightly as possible as he took off, the others close on his heels. I kept my head down, but my eyes, wide with fright, wouldn't close. They plunged through the now-black forest like wraiths. The sense of exhilaration that usually seemed to possess Edward as he ran was completely absent, replaced bởi a fury that consumed him and drove him still faster. Even with me on his back, the others trailed behind.
We reached the Jeep in an impossibly short time, and Edward barely slowed as he flung me in the backseat.
"Strap her in," he ordered Emmett, who slid in beside me.
Alice was already in the frnot seat, and Edward was starting the engine. It roared to life and we swerved backward, spinning around ro face the winding road.
Edward was growling something too fast for me to understand, but it sounded a lot like a strning of profanities.
The jolting trip was much worse this time, and the darkness only made it thêm frightening. Emmett and Alice both glared out the side windows.
We hit the main road, and though our speed increased, I could see much better where we were going. And we were headed south, away from Forks.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
No one answered. No one even looked at me.
"Dammit, Edward! Where are bạn taking me?"
"We have to get bạn away from here - far away - now." He didn't look back, his eyes on the road. The speedometer read a hundred and five miles an hour.
"Turn around! bạn have to take me home!" I shouted. I struggled with the stupid harness, tearing at the straps.
"Emmett," Edward đã đưa ý kiến grimly.
And Emmett secured my hands in his steely grasp.
"No! Edward! No, bạn can't do this."
"I have to, Bella, now please be quiet."
"I won't! bạn have to take me back - Charlie will call the FBI! They'll be all over your family - Carlisle and Esme! They'll have to leave, to hide forever!"
"Calm down, Bella." His voice was cold. "We've been there before."
"Not over me, bạn don't! You're not ruining everything over me!" I struggled violently, with total futility.
Alice spoke for the first time. "Edward, pull over."
He flashed her a hard look, and then sped up.
"Edward, let's just talk this through."
"You don't understand," he roared in frustration. I'd never heard his voice so loud; it was deafening in the confines of the Jeep. The speedometer neared a hundred and fifteen. "He's a tracker, Alice, did bạn see that? He's a tracker!"
I felt Emmett stiffen tiếp theo to me, and I wondered at his reaction to the word. It meant something thêm to the three of them than it did to me; I wanted to understand, but there was no opening for me to ask.
"Pull over, Edward." Alice's tone was reasonable, but there was a ring of authority in it I'd never heard before.
I speedometer inched passed one-twenty.
"Do it, Edward."
"Listen to me, Alice. I saw his mind. Tracking is his passion, his obsession - and he wants her, Alice - her, specifically. He bgins the hunt tonight."
"He doesn't know where - "
He interrupted her. "How long do bạn think it will take him to vượt qua, cross her scent in town? His plan was already sat before the words were out of Laurent's mouth."
I gasped, knowing where my scent would lead. "Charlie! bạn can't leave him there! bạn can't leave him!" I thrashed against the harness.
"She's right," Alice said.
The car slowed slightly.
"Let's just look at our options for a minute," Alice coaxed.
The car slowed again, thêm noticeable, and then suddenly we screeched to a stop on the shoulder of the highway. I flew against the harness, and then slammed back into the seat.
"There are no options," Edward hissed.
"I"m not leaving Charlie!" I yelled.
He ignored me completely.
"We have to take her back," Emmett finally spoke.
"No." Edward was absolute.
"He's no match for us, Edward. He won't be able to touch her."
"He'll wait."
Emmett smiled. "I can wait, too."
"You didn't see - bạn don't understand. Once he commits to a hunt, he's unshakable. We'd have to kill him."
Emmett didn't seem upset bởi the idea. "That's an option."
"And the female. She's with him. If it turns into a fight, the leader will go with them, too."
"There are enough of us."
"There's another option," Alice đã đưa ý kiến quietly.
Edward turned on her in fury, his voice a blistering snarl. "There - is - no - other - option!"
Emmett and I both stared at him in shock, but Alice seemed unsurprised. The silence lasted for a long một phút as Edward and Alice stared each other down.
I broke it. "Does anyone want to hear my plan?"
"No," Edward growled. Alice glared at him, finally provoked.
"Listen," I pleaded. "You take me back."
"No," he interrupted.
I glared at him and continued. "You take me back. I tell my dad I want to go trang chủ to Phoenix. I pack my bags. We wait till this tracker is watching, and then we run. He'll follow us and leave Charlie alone. Charlie won't call the FBI on your family. Then bạn can take me any damned place bạn want."
They stared at me, stunned.
"It's not a bad idea, really." Emmett's surprise was definitely an insult.
"It might work - and we simply can't leave her father unprotected. bạn know that," Alice said.
Everyone looked at Edward.
"It's too dangerous - I don't want him within a hundred miles of her."
Emmett was supremely confident. "Edward, he's not getting through us."
Alice thought for a minute. "I don't see him attacking. He'll try to wait for us to leave her alone."
"It won't take long for him to realize that's not going to happen."
"I demand that bạn take me home." I tried to sound firm.
Edward pressed his fingers to his temples and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Please," I đã đưa ý kiến in a much smaller voice.
He didn't look up. When he spoke, his voice sounded worn.
"You're leaving tonight, whether the tracker sees hoặc not. bạn tell Charlie that bạn can't stand another một phút in Forks. Tell him whatever story works. Pack the first things your hands touch, and then get in your truck. I don't care what he says to you. bạn have fifteen minutes. Do bạn hear me? Fifteen phút from the time bạn vượt qua, cross the doorstep."
The Jeep rumbled to life, and he spun us around, the tires squealing. The needle on the speedometer started to race up the dial.
"Emmett?" I asked, looking pointedly at my hands.
"Oh, sorry." He let me loose.
TWILIGHT - chapter 18 - THE HUNT
"Let's go, Bella." Edward's voice was low and bleak.
This whole time I'd been rooted in place, terrified into absolute immobility. Edward had to grip my elbow and pull sharply to break my trance. Alice and Emmett were close behind us, hiding me. I stumbled alongside Edward, still stunned with fear. I couldn't hear if the main group had left yet. Edward's impatience was almost tangible as we moved at human speed to the forest edge.
Once we were into the trees, Edward slung me over his back without breaking stride. I gripped as tightly as possible as he took off, the others close on his heels. I kept my head down, but my eyes, wide with fright, wouldn't close. They plunged through the now-black forest like wraiths. The sense of exhilaration that usually seemed to possess Edward as he ran was completely absent, replaced bởi a fury that consumed him and drove him still faster. Even with me on his back, the others trailed behind.
We reached the Jeep in an impossibly short time, and Edward barely slowed as he flung me in the backseat.
"Strap her in," he ordered Emmett, who slid in beside me.
Alice was already in the frnot seat, and Edward was starting the engine. It roared to life and we swerved backward, spinning around ro face the winding road.
Edward was growling something too fast for me to understand, but it sounded a lot like a strning of profanities.
The jolting trip was much worse this time, and the darkness only made it thêm frightening. Emmett and Alice both glared out the side windows.
We hit the main road, and though our speed increased, I could see much better where we were going. And we were headed south, away from Forks.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
No one answered. No one even looked at me.
"Dammit, Edward! Where are bạn taking me?"
"We have to get bạn away from here - far away - now." He didn't look back, his eyes on the road. The speedometer read a hundred and five miles an hour.
"Turn around! bạn have to take me home!" I shouted. I struggled with the stupid harness, tearing at the straps.
"Emmett," Edward đã đưa ý kiến grimly.
And Emmett secured my hands in his steely grasp.
"No! Edward! No, bạn can't do this."
"I have to, Bella, now please be quiet."
"I won't! bạn have to take me back - Charlie will call the FBI! They'll be all over your family - Carlisle and Esme! They'll have to leave, to hide forever!"
"Calm down, Bella." His voice was cold. "We've been there before."
"Not over me, bạn don't! You're not ruining everything over me!" I struggled violently, with total futility.
Alice spoke for the first time. "Edward, pull over."
He flashed her a hard look, and then sped up.
"Edward, let's just talk this through."
"You don't understand," he roared in frustration. I'd never heard his voice so loud; it was deafening in the confines of the Jeep. The speedometer neared a hundred and fifteen. "He's a tracker, Alice, did bạn see that? He's a tracker!"
I felt Emmett stiffen tiếp theo to me, and I wondered at his reaction to the word. It meant something thêm to the three of them than it did to me; I wanted to understand, but there was no opening for me to ask.
"Pull over, Edward." Alice's tone was reasonable, but there was a ring of authority in it I'd never heard before.
I speedometer inched passed one-twenty.
"Do it, Edward."
"Listen to me, Alice. I saw his mind. Tracking is his passion, his obsession - and he wants her, Alice - her, specifically. He bgins the hunt tonight."
"He doesn't know where - "
He interrupted her. "How long do bạn think it will take him to vượt qua, cross her scent in town? His plan was already sat before the words were out of Laurent's mouth."
I gasped, knowing where my scent would lead. "Charlie! bạn can't leave him there! bạn can't leave him!" I thrashed against the harness.
"She's right," Alice said.
The car slowed slightly.
"Let's just look at our options for a minute," Alice coaxed.
The car slowed again, thêm noticeable, and then suddenly we screeched to a stop on the shoulder of the highway. I flew against the harness, and then slammed back into the seat.
"There are no options," Edward hissed.
"I"m not leaving Charlie!" I yelled.
He ignored me completely.
"We have to take her back," Emmett finally spoke.
"No." Edward was absolute.
"He's no match for us, Edward. He won't be able to touch her."
"He'll wait."
Emmett smiled. "I can wait, too."
"You didn't see - bạn don't understand. Once he commits to a hunt, he's unshakable. We'd have to kill him."
Emmett didn't seem upset bởi the idea. "That's an option."
"And the female. She's with him. If it turns into a fight, the leader will go with them, too."
"There are enough of us."
"There's another option," Alice đã đưa ý kiến quietly.
Edward turned on her in fury, his voice a blistering snarl. "There - is - no - other - option!"
Emmett and I both stared at him in shock, but Alice seemed unsurprised. The silence lasted for a long một phút as Edward and Alice stared each other down.
I broke it. "Does anyone want to hear my plan?"
"No," Edward growled. Alice glared at him, finally provoked.
"Listen," I pleaded. "You take me back."
"No," he interrupted.
I glared at him and continued. "You take me back. I tell my dad I want to go trang chủ to Phoenix. I pack my bags. We wait till this tracker is watching, and then we run. He'll follow us and leave Charlie alone. Charlie won't call the FBI on your family. Then bạn can take me any damned place bạn want."
They stared at me, stunned.
"It's not a bad idea, really." Emmett's surprise was definitely an insult.
"It might work - and we simply can't leave her father unprotected. bạn know that," Alice said.
Everyone looked at Edward.
"It's too dangerous - I don't want him within a hundred miles of her."
Emmett was supremely confident. "Edward, he's not getting through us."
Alice thought for a minute. "I don't see him attacking. He'll try to wait for us to leave her alone."
"It won't take long for him to realize that's not going to happen."
"I demand that bạn take me home." I tried to sound firm.
Edward pressed his fingers to his temples and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Please," I đã đưa ý kiến in a much smaller voice.
He didn't look up. When he spoke, his voice sounded worn.
"You're leaving tonight, whether the tracker sees hoặc not. bạn tell Charlie that bạn can't stand another một phút in Forks. Tell him whatever story works. Pack the first things your hands touch, and then get in your truck. I don't care what he says to you. bạn have fifteen minutes. Do bạn hear me? Fifteen phút from the time bạn vượt qua, cross the doorstep."
The Jeep rumbled to life, and he spun us around, the tires squealing. The needle on the speedometer started to race up the dial.
"Emmett?" I asked, looking pointedly at my hands.
"Oh, sorry." He let me loose.
The 21-year-old British actor revealed that he hasn’t even read the whole book series yet! He shared, “I haven’t [read the whole series]. I’ve read all of the sách except for Breaking Dawn. I didn’t want to know how it ended. I wanted to have the uncertainty of not knowing where it’s going to go, so I just read the first three. I want to read the last one, but I’m determined to wait.”
If bạn want to meet Robert in the flesh TONIGHT, he’ll be at the the Hot Topic store at Square One Mall in Saugus, Mass. There will be a Q&A and an autograph session at 6PM, but remember to purchase your $30 Twilight Tour T-shirt so bạn can get in!
There are people that vượt qua, cross our lives
in tiny fractions of time,
in the briefest of encounters,
and yet they leave and incredible mark
in our hearts and in our minds forever.
"Each time a person stands up for an ideal, hoặc acts to improve the lot of others, hoặc strikes out against injustice, that person sends out a tiny ripple of ove and hope, and crossing each other fro a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppresion and resistance."
Now these poems were written bởi some one else, but deseved to be shared and they kind of have something in commen with the series.
in tiny fractions of time,
in the briefest of encounters,
and yet they leave and incredible mark
in our hearts and in our minds forever.
"Each time a person stands up for an ideal, hoặc acts to improve the lot of others, hoặc strikes out against injustice, that person sends out a tiny ripple of ove and hope, and crossing each other fro a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppresion and resistance."
Now these poems were written bởi some one else, but deseved to be shared and they kind of have something in commen with the series.
