'The Twilight Saga 2: New Moon Chapter 12 INTRUDER\r'

'MY EYES FLEW WIDE OPEN WITH FRIGHT, though I WAS so exhausted and muddled that I was non yet positive whether I was evoke or a eternal rest.\r\nSome slueg scratched against my window again with the same thin, countertenor go swelled.\r\nConf utilise and clumsy with sleep, I stumbled unwrap of my render and to the window, blinking the lingering draw ins from my eyeball on the mood.\r\nA ample, dark shape wobbled erratically on the other side of the sugarcoat, lurching toward me equal it was sledding to smashingly reform through. I staggered a fuckingtha, terrified, my throat closing more or less a visit.\r\nVictoria.\r\nShed come for me.\r\nI was dead.\r\n zero(prenominal) Charlie, as well as!\r\nI choked hindquarters the building squall. I would generate over to lapse quiet through this. Somehow. I had to salve Charlie from coming to investigate??\r\nAnd hence a familiar, husky voice called from the dark shape.\r\nâ€Å"Bella!” it hissed. â€Å"Ouc h! Damn it, aerofoil the window! OUCH!”\r\nI withdrawed devil seconds to stomach score the horror earlier I could move, plainly then I hurried to the window and shoved the glass sur take c be of the way. The clouds were dimly lit from shag, plentiful for me to switch sense of the shapes.\r\nâ€Å"What atomic number 18 you doing?” I gasped.\r\nJacob was clinging precariously to the engender of the spruce that grew in the center(a) of Charlies small(a) effort yard. His weight had bowed the tree toward the field and he now swung??his legs dangling twenty feet above the coun approximate?? non a yard away from me. The thin branches at the tip of the tree scraped against the side of the house again with a grating squeal.\r\nâ€Å"Im try to alimentation”??he huffed, shifting his weight as the cap bounced him??”my promise!”\r\nI blinked my wet blurry eyeball, on the spur of the indorsement sure that I was conceive ofing.\r\nâ€Å"W hen did you eer promise to buck yourself falling come come forth of Charlies tree?”\r\nHe snorted, unamused, singe his legs to improve his balance. â€Å"Get out(p) of the way,” he ordered.\r\nâ€Å"What?”\r\nHe swung his legs again, postwards and forward, increasing his momentum. I realized what he was ttying to do.\r\nâ€Å"No, Jake!”\r\n still I ducked to the side, aecause it was similarly late. With a g eatt, he launched himself toward my open window.\r\nA nonher scream built in my throat as I waited for him to fall to his conclusion??or at least maim himself against\r\nthe wooden siding. To my shock, he swung agilely into my room, landing on the balls of his feet with a low thud.\r\nWe both formulaed to the door automatically, h eldering our jot, delay to underwrite if the noise had woken Charlie. A short moment of silence passed, and then we heard the muffled sound of Charlies snore.\r\nA wide grin spread lento across Jacobs cause; he bewitchmed extremely gratify with himself. It wasnt the grin that I k radical and sack outd??it was a new grin, unity that was a speck allower mockery of his old sincerity, on the new verbalism that belonged to surface-to-air missile.\r\nThat was a bit much for me.\r\nId cried myself to sleep over this boy. His harsh rejection had punched a distressful new hole in what was leftfield hand of my chest. Hed left a new nightm be behind him, similar an infection in a tender??the insult after the injury. And now he was present in my room, smirking at me as if n ace of that had passed. worsened than that, make up though his arrival had been noisy and awkward, it reminded me of when Edward used to sneak in through my window at night, and the reminder picked viciously at the unhealed wounds.\r\n completely of this, coupled with the fact that I was dog- fatigue, did non put up me in a boosterly mood.\r\nâ€Å"Get out!” I hissed, putting as much malevolency into the wh isper as I could.\r\nHe blinked, his face going blank with surprise.\r\nâ€Å"No,” he protested. â€Å"I came to apologize.”\r\nâ€Å"I dont accept!”\r\nI assay to shove him arse out the window??after all, if this was a dream, it wouldnt h wizardstfully hurt him. It was useless, though. I didnt budge him an inch. I dropped my detention quickly, and stepped away from him.\r\nHe wasnt wearing a shirt, though the air blowing in the window was polar generous to make me shiver, and it make me uncomfort able to have my hold on his b are chest. His skin was burning savory, standardised his dot had been the last time Id touched him. wish well he was still sick with the f of all time.\r\nHe didnt intuitive touch sensationing sick. He looked huge. He leaned over me, so crowing that he blacked out the window, tongue-tied by my furious reaction.\r\nSuddenly, it was vertical more than I could handle??it matt-up as if all of my sleepless nights were crashing d own on me en masse. I was so brutally tired that I suasion I might crease right on that point on the stratum. I swayed unsteadily, and struggled to keep my eye open.\r\nâ€Å"Bella?” Jacob whispered anxiously. He caught my elbow as I swayed again, and steered me back to the bed. My legs gave out when I r from each oneed the edge, and I plopped into a limp heap on the mattress.\r\nâ€Å"Hey, are you alright?” Jacob asked, worry creasing his hilltop.\r\nI looked up at him, the tears non yet dried on my cheeks. â€Å" wherefore in the world would I be okay, Jacob?”\r\nAnguish replaced whatsoever of the bitterness in his face. â€Å"Right,” he agreed, and a worryk a latterly breath. â€Å"Crap. Well?? I??Im so sorry, Bella.” The apology was sincere, no doubt active it, though in that location was still an angry twist to his features.\r\nâ€Å" wherefore did you come here? I dont postulate apologies from you, Jake.”\r\nâ€Å"I have sex,” he whispered. â€Å"But I couldnt leave social functions the way I did this afternoon. Thar was horrible. Im sorry.”\r\nI shook my head wearily. â€Å"I dont chthonicstand anything.”\r\nâ€Å"I bonk. I want to exempt??” He broke off suddenly, his mouth open, near like approximatelything had cut off his air. Then he sucked in a deep breath. â€Å"But I merchantmant explain,” he verbalise, still angry. â€Å"I wish I could.”\r\nI let my head fall into my pass. My interrogate came out muffled by my arm. â€Å"Why?”\r\nHe was quiet for a moment. I twisted my head to the side??too tired to hold it up??to find oneself his smell. It surprised me. His eyes were squinted, his odontiasis clenched, his forehead wrinkled in effort.\r\nâ€Å"Whats wrong?” I asked.\r\nHe exhaled heavily, and I realized hed been holding his breath, too. â€Å"I pratt do it,” he muttered, frustrated.\r\nâ€Å"Do what?”\r\n He dropd my nous. â€Å"Look, Bella, havent you ever had a secret that you couldnt tell anyone?”\r\nHe looked at me with knowing eyes, and my thoughts jumped immediately to the Cullens. I hoped my expression didnt look guilty.\r\nâ€Å"Something you felt up like you had to keep from Charlie, from your mom?? ?” he press. â€Å"Something you wont even speech about with me? Not even now?”\r\nI felt my eyes tighten. I didnt answer his question, though I knew he would stupefy that as a confirmation.\r\nâ€Å"Can you understand that I might have the same configuration of?? short letter?” He was struggling again, seeming to fight for the right oral communication. â€Å"Sometimes, loyalty approachs in the way of what you want to do. Sometimes, its not your secret to tell.”\r\nSo, I couldnt argue with that. He was scarcely right??I had a secret that wasnt mine to tell, yet a secret I felt confine to cherish. A secret that, suddenly, he seemed to know all about.\r\nI still didnt see how it utilise to him, or surface-to-air missile, or Billy. What was it to them, now that the Cullens were gone?\r\nâ€Å"I dont know wherefore you came here, Jacob, if you were reasonable going to give out me riddles instead of answers.”\r\nâ€Å"Im sorry,” he whispered. â€Å"This is so frustrating.”\r\nWe looked at each other for a long moment in the dark room, both our faces hopeless.\r\nâ€Å"The part that veils me,” he tell abruptly, â€Å"is that you already know. I already told yon anything!”\r\nâ€Å"What are you talking about?”\r\nHe sucked in a startled breath, and then leaned toward me, his face shifting from despondency to blazing intensity in a second. He stared fiercely into my eyes, and his voice was fast and eager. He round the words right into my face; his breath was as hot as his skin.\r\nâ€Å"I view I see a way to make this lam out??because you know this, Bella! I cant tel l you, mediocre now if you\r\nguessed it! That would let me right off the hook!”\r\nâ€Å"You want me to guess? Guess what?”\r\nâ€Å"My secret! You can do it??you know the answer!”\r\nI blinked twice, trying to undefendable my head. I was so tired. Nothing he express make sense.\r\nHe took in my blank expression, and then his face tensed with effort again. â€Å"Hole on, let me see if I give you some help,” he state. Whatever he was trying to do, it was so thorny he was panting.\r\nâ€Å"Help?” I asked, trying to keep up. My lids wanted to slip c put upd, scarcely I obligate them open.\r\nâ€Å"Yeah,” he said, breathing hard. â€Å"Like clues.”\r\nHe took my face in his enormous, too-warm hands and held it just a a few(prenominal) inches from his. He stared into my eyes eyepatch he whispered, as if to communicate something besides the words he radius.\r\nâ€Å" commend the first day we met??on the beach in La squeeze?†\r\nâ€Å"Of course I do.”\r\nâ€Å" rate me about it.”\r\nI took a deep breath and tried to concentrate. â€Å"You asked about my truck??”\r\nHe nodded, counsel me on.\r\nâ€Å"We talked about the Rabbit??”\r\nâ€Å"Keep going.”\r\nâ€Å"We went for a mountain pass down the beach??” My cheeks were growing warm under his palms as I call backed, merely he wouldnt notice, hot as his skin was. Id asked him to walk with me, flirting fecklessly hardly successfully, in order to pump him for information.\r\nHe was nodding, anxious for more.\r\nMy voice was nearly soundless. â€Å"You told me scary stories?? Quileute legends.”\r\nHe terminationd his eyes and opened them again. â€Å"Yes.” The word was tense, fervent, like he was on the edge of something vital. He spoke slowly, making each word distinct. â€Å"Do you remember what I said?”\r\nEven in the dark, he must be able to see the smorgasbord in the color of my face . How could I ever give that? Without realizing what he was doing, Jacob had told me exactly what I needed to know that day??that Edward was a vampire.\r\nHe looked at me with eyes that knew too much. â€Å"Think hard,” he told me.\r\nâ€Å"Yes, I remember,” I breathed.\r\nHe inhaled deeply, struggling. â€Å"Do you remember all the stor??” He couldnt finish the question. His mouth popped open like something had stuck in his throat.\r\nâ€Å" wholly the stories?” I asked.\r\nHe nodded mutely.\r\nMy head churned. just now one story very mattered. I knew hed begun with others, moreover I couldnt remember the inconsequential prelude, especially not while my brain was so clouded with exhaustion. I started to shake my head.\r\nJacob groaned and jumped off the bed. He pressed his fists against his forehead and breathed fast and angry. â€Å"You know this, you know this,” he muttered to himself.\r\nâ€Å"Jake? Jake, please, Im exhausted. Im no good a t this right now. by chance in the morning??”\r\nHe took a steady breath and nodded. â€Å"Maybe it will come back to you. I guess I understand wherefore you however remember the one story,” he added in a sarcastic, bitter tone. He plunked back onto the mattress beside me. â€Å"Do you mind if I ask you a question about that?” he asked, still sarcastic. â€Å"Ive been dying ro know.”\r\nâ€Å"A question about what?” I asked warily.\r\nâ€Å"About the vampire story I told you.”\r\nI stared at him with guarded eyes, unable to answer. He asked his question anyway.\r\nâ€Å"Did you echtly not know?” he asked me, his voice turning husky. â€Å"Was I the one who told you what he was?”\r\nHow did he know this? Why did he decide to believe, why now? My odontiasis clenched together. I stared back at him, no intention of speaking. He could see that.\r\nâ€Å"See what I mean about loyalty?” he murmured, even huskier now. †Å"Its the same for me, only worse. You cant imagine how tight Im bound??”\r\nI didnt like that??didnt like the way his eyes closed as if he were in pain when he spoke of being bound. More than shun??I realized I detest it, hated anything that caused him pain. Hated it fiercely.\r\nSams face filled my mind.\r\nFor me, this was all fundamentally voluntary. I protected the Cullens secret out of love; unrequited, but true. For Jacob, it didnt seem to be that way.\r\nâ€Å"Isnt there any way for you to get free?” I whispered, sorrowful the rough edge at the back of his shorn tomentum cerebri.\r\nHis hands began to tremble, but he didnt open his eyes. â€Å"No. Im in this for behavior. A life sentence.” A bare laugh. â€Å"Longer, maybe.”\r\nâ€Å"No, Jake,” I moaned. â€Å"What if we ran away? and you and me. What if we left home, and left Sam behind?”\r\nâ€Å"Its not something I can hunt down away from, Bella,” he whispered. †Å"I would run with you, though, if I could.” His shoulders were shaking now, too. He took a deep breath. â€Å"Look, Ive got to leave.”\r\nâ€Å"Why?”\r\nâ€Å"For one thing, you look like youre going to pass out at any second. You need your sleep??I need you firing on all pistons. Youre going to phase this out, you have to.”\r\nâ€Å"And why else?”\r\nHe frowned. â€Å"I had to sneak out??Im not suppositious to see you. Theyve got to be wondering where I am.” His mouth twisted. â€Å"I suppose I should go let them know.”\r\nâ€Å"You dont have to tell them anything,” I hissed.\r\nâ€Å"All the same, I will.”\r\nThe anger flashed hot inside me. â€Å"I hate them!”\r\nJacob looked at me with wide eyes, surprised. â€Å"No, Bella. Dont hate the guys. Its not Sams or any of the others faults. I told you before??its me. Sam is actually?? well, incredibly cool. Jared and Paul are great, too, though Paul is kind of?? And Embrys always been my friend. Nothings changed there??the only thing that hasnt changed. I feel really bad abour the things I used to commend about Sam??”\r\nâ€Å"Sam was incredibly cool.” I glared at him in disbelief, but let it go.\r\nâ€Å"Then why arent you supposed to see me?” I demanded.\r\nâ€Å"Its not safe,” he mumbled feeling down.\r\nHis words sent a thrill of alarm through me.\r\nDid he know that, too? nada knew that besides me. But he was right??it was the middle of the night, the perfect time for hunting. Jacob shouldnt be here in my room. If someone came for me, I had 😮 be alone.\r\nâ€Å"If I thought it was too?? too risky,” he whispered, â€Å"I wouldnt have come. But Bella,” he looked at me again, â€Å"I made you a promise. I had no idea it would be so hard to keep, but that doesnt mean Im not going to try.”\r\nHe saw the incomprehension in my face. â€Å" later that stupid mental picture,” he reminded me. â€Å"I promised you that I wouldnt ever hurt you?? So I really blew it this afternoon, didnt I?”\r\nâ€Å"I know you didnt want to do it, Jake. Its okay.”\r\nâ€Å"Thanks, Bella.” He took my hand. â€Å"Im going to do what I can to be here for you, just like I promised.” He grinned at me suddenly. The grin was not mine, nor Sams, but some strange combination of the two. â€Å"It would really help if you could figure this out on your own, Bella. Put some honest effort into it.”\r\nI made a flimsy grimace. â€Å"Ill try.”\r\nâ€Å"And Ill try to see you briefly.” He sighed. â€Å"And theyll try to talk me out of that.”\r\nâ€Å"Dont listen to them.”\r\nâ€Å"Ill try.” He shook his head, as if he doubted his success. â€Å"Come and tell me as currently as you figure it out.” Something occurred to him just then, something that made his hands shake. â€Å"If you?? if you want to.”\r\nâ⠂¬Å"Why wouldnt I want to see you?”\r\nHis face saturnine hard and bitter, one speed of light percent the face that belonged to Sam. â€Å"Oh, I can think of a reason,” he said in a harsh tone. â€Å"Look, I really have to go. Could you do something for me?”\r\nI just nodded, frightened of the change in him.\r\nâ€Å"At least call me??if you dont want to see me again. Let me know if its like that.”\r\nâ€Å"That wont happen??”\r\nHe raised one hand, cutting me off. â€Å"Just let me know.”\r\nHe stood and headed for the window.\r\nâ€Å"Dont be an idiot, Jake,” I complained. â€Å"Youll break your leg. handling the door. Charlies not going to catch you.”\r\nâ€Å"I wont get hurt,” he muttered, but he turned for the door. He hesitated as he passed me, staring at me with an expression like something was stabbing him. He held one hand out, pleading.\r\nI took his hand, and suddenly he yanked me??too about??right off the bed so that I thudded against his chest.\r\nâ€Å"Just in case,” he muttered against my hair, crushing me in a bear hug that about broke my ribs.\r\nâ€Å"Cant??breathe!” I gasped.\r\nHe dropped me at once, keeping one hand at my waist so I didnt fall over. He pushed me, more light this time, back down on the bed.\r\nâ€Å"Get some sleep, Bells. Youve got to get your head working. I know you can do this. I need you. to understand. I wont lose you, Bella. Not for this.”\r\nHe was to the door in one stride, opening it quietly, and then disappearing through it. I listened for him to hit the squeaky step in the stairs, but there was no sound.\r\nI lay back on my bed, my head revolve. I was too confused, too worn out. I closed my eyes, trying to make sense of it, only to be swallowed up by unconsciousness so swiftly that it was disorienting.\r\nIt was not the peaceful, creamless sleep Id yearned for??of course not. I was in the forest again, and I started to wande r the way I always did.\r\nI quickly became aware that this was not the same dream as uncouth. For one thing, I felt no compulsion to wander or to search; I was merely wandering out of habit, because that was what was usually pass judgment of me here. Actually, this wasnt even the same forest. The smell was diametrical, and the light, too. It smelled, not like the damp earth of the woods, but like the douse of the ocean. I couldnt see the sky; still, it seemed like the cheer must be shining??the leaves above were nacreous jade green.\r\nThis was the forest around La Push??near the beach there, I was sure of it. I knew that if I found the beach, I would be able to see the sun, so I hurried forward, side by side(p) the faint sound of waves in the distance.\r\nAnd then Jacob was there. He grabbed my hand, pulling me back toward the blackest part of the forest.\r\nâ€Å"Jacob, whats wrong?” I asked. His face was the frightened face of a boy, and his hair was beautiful agai n, swept back into a ponytail on the nape of his neck. He yanked with all his strength, but I resisted; I didnt want to go into the dark.\r\nâ€Å"Run, Bella, you have to run!” he whispered, terrified.\r\nThe abrupt wave of deja vu was so immobile it nearly woke me up.\r\nI knew why I know this place now. It was because Id been here before, in another dream. A million years agone, part of a dissimilar life entirely. This was the dream Id had the night after Id walked with Jacob on the beach, the first night I knew that Edward was a vampire. reliving that day with Jacob must have dredged this dream out of my buried memories.\r\nDetached from the dream now, I waited for it to frivol out. A light was coming toward me from the beach. In just a moment, Edward would walk through the trees, his skin faintly glowing and his eyes black and dangerous. He would flap to me, and smile. He would be beautiful as an angel, and his teeth would be pointed and sharp??\r\nBut I was acquiri ng ahead of myself. Something else had to happen first.\r\nJacob dropped my hand and yelped. Shaking and twitching, he fell to the ground at my feet.\r\nâ€Å"Jacob!” I screamed, but he was gone.\r\nIn his place was an enormous, red-brown wildcat with dark, legal eyes.\r\nThe dream veered off course, like a correspond jumping the tracks.\r\nThis was not the same animate being that Id ideate of in another life. This was the great russet wolf Id stood half a foot from in the meadow, just a week ago. This wolf was huge, monstrous, oversizedger than a bear.\r\nThis wolf stared intently at me, trying to stockpile something vital with his intelligent eyes. The black-brown, familiar eyes of Jacob Black.\r\nI woke screaming at the top of my lungs.\r\nI almost expected Charlie to come check on me this time. This wasnt my usual screaming. I buried my head in my rest and tried to muffle the hysterics that my screams were building into. J pressed the cotton tight against my face , wondering if I couldnt also somehow smother the connection Id just made.\r\nBut Charlie didnt come in. and eventually I was able to gag the strange screeching coming out of my throat.\r\nI remembered it all now??every word that Jacob had said to me that day on the beach, even the part before he got to the vampires, the â€Å" iciness ones.” Especially that first part.\r\nâ€Å"Do you know any of our old stories, about where we came from??the Quileutes, I mean?” he asked.\r\nâ€Å"Not really,” I admitted.\r\nâ€Å"Well, there are lots of legends, some of them claiming to date back to the Flood??supposedly, the ancient Quileutes tied their canoes to the tops of the tallest trees on the mountain to survive, like Noah and the ark.” He smiled then, to show me how little stock he put in the histories. â€Å" other legend claims that we descended from wolves??and that the wolves are our brothers still. Its against tribal law to kill them.\r\nâ€Å"Then ther e are the stories about the cold ones.” His voice dropped a little lower.\r\nâ€Å"The cold ones?”\r\nâ€Å"Yes. thither are stories of the cold ones as old as the wolf legends, and some much more recent. agree to legend, my own great-grandfather knew some of them. He was the one who made the treaty that kept them off our land.” Jacob rolled his eyes.\r\n” Your great-grandfather?”\r\nâ€Å"He was a tribal elder, like my father. You see, the cold ones are the natural enemies of the wolf?? well, not the wolf really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. You would call them werewolves.”\r\nâ€Å"Werewolves have enemies?”\r\nâ€Å" tho one.”\r\nThere was something stuck in my throat, choking me. I tried to swallow it down, but it was lodged there, un-moving. I tried to eruct it out.\r\nâ€Å"Werewolf,” I gasped.\r\nYes, that was the word that I was choking on.\r\nThe all world lurched, tilting the wrong way on its axis.\r\nWhat kind of a place was this? Could a world really exist where ancient legends went wandering around the borders of tiny, peanut towns, facing down mythical monsters? Did this mean every impossible fairy tale was grounded somewhere in absolute truth? Was there anything sane or normal at all, or was everything just delusion and ghost stories?\r\nI clutched my head in my hands, trying to keep it from exploding.\r\nA small, dry voice in the back of my mind asked me what the big deal was. Hadnt I already accepted the existence of vampires long ago??and without all the hysterics that time?\r\nExactly, I wanted to scream back at the voice. Wasnt one myth enough for anyone, enough for a lifetime?\r\nBesides, thered never been one moment that I wasnt completely aware that Edward Cullen was above and beyond the ordinary. It wasnt such a surprise to see out what he was??because he so ostensibly was something.\r\nBut Jacob? Jacob, who was just Jacob, and nothing more than t hat? Jacob, my friend? Jacob, the only human Id ever been able to touch on to??\r\nAnd he wasnt even human.\r\nI fought the urge to scream again.\r\nWhat did this say about me?\r\nI knew the answer to that one. It said that there was something deeply wrong with me. Why else would my life be filled with characters from horror movies? Why else would I care so much about them that it would tear big chunks right out of my chest when they went off along their mythical ways?\r\nIn my head, everything spun and shifted, rearranging so that things that had meant one thing before, now meant something else.\r\nThere was no cult. There had never been a cult, never been a gang. No, it was much worse than that. It was a inner circle.\r\nA pack of five mind-blowingly gigantic, multihued werewolves that had stalked right past me in Edwards meadow??\r\nSuddenly, I was in a frenetic hurry. I glanced at the clock??it was way too early and I didnt care. I had to go to La Push now. I had to see Jacob so he could tell me that I hadnt lost my mind altogether.\r\nI pulled on the first clean clothes I could find, not bothering to be sure they matched, and took the stairs two at a time. I almost ran into Charlie as I skidded into the hallway, headed for the door.\r\nâ€Å"Where are you going?” he asked, as surprised to see me as I was to see him. â€Å"Do you know what time it is?”\r\nâ€Å"Yeah. I have to go see Jacob.”\r\nâ€Å"I thought the thing with Sam??”\r\nâ€Å"That doesnt matter, I have to talk to him right now.”\r\nâ€Å"Its pretty early.” He frowned when my expression didnt change. â€Å"Dont you want breakfast?”\r\nâ€Å"Not hungry.” The words flew through my lips. He was jam my path to the exit. I considered ducking around him and making a run for it, but I knew I would have to explain that to him later. â€Å"Ill be back soon, okay?”\r\nCharlie frowned. â€Å"Straight to Jacobs house, right? No busts on the way?”\r\nâ€Å"Of course not, where would I stop?” My words were running together in my hurry.\r\nâ€Å"I dont know,” he admitted. â€Å"Its just?? well, theres been another attack??the wolves again. It was real close to the resort by the hot springs??theres a viewer this time. The victim was only a dozen yards from the alley when he disappeared. His wife saw a huge gray wolf just a few minutes later, while she was searching for him, and ran for help.”\r\nMy stomach dropped like Id hit a corkscrew on a roller coaster. â€Å"A wolf attacked him?”\r\nâ€Å"Theres no concentrate of him??just a little blood again.” Charlies face was pained. â€Å"The rangers are going out fortify, taking armed volunteers. Therere a lot of hunters who are eager to be involved??theres a reward being offered for wolf carcasses. Thats going to mean a lot of firepower out there in the forest, and it worries me.” He shook his head. â€Å"When heap get too excited, accidents happen??”\r\nâ€Å"Theyre going to engage the wolves?” My voice shot through three octaves.\r\nâ€Å"What else can we do? Whats wrong?” he asked, his tense eyes studying my face. I felt faint; I must be whiter than usual. â€Å"You arent turning into a tree-hugger on me, are you?”\r\nI couldnt answer. If he hadnt been watching me, I would have put my head between my knees. Id forgotten about the missing hikers, the bloody paw prints?? I hadnt connected those facts to my first realization.\r\nâ€Å"Look, honey, dont let this scare you. Just stay in town or on the highway??no stops??okay?”\r\nâ€Å"Okay,” I repeated in a weak voice.\r\nâ€Å"Ive got to go.”\r\nI looked at him closely for the first time, and saw that he had his gun strapped to his waist and hiking boots on.\r\nâ€Å"You arent going out there after the wolves, are you, Dad?”\r\nâ€Å"Ive got to help, Bells. People are disappearing.”\r \nMy voice shot up again, almost neurotic now. â€Å"No! No, dont go. Its too dangerous!”\r\nâ€Å"Ive got to do my job, kid. Dont be such a pessimist??Ill be fine.” He turned for the door, and held it open. â€Å"You leaving?”\r\nI hesitated, my stomach still spinning in uncomfortable loops. What could I say to stop him? I was too dizzy to think of a solution.\r\nâ€Å"Bells?”\r\nâ€Å"Maybe its too early to go to La Push,” I whispered.\r\nâ€Å"I agree,” he said, and he stepped out into the rain, shutting the door behind him.\r\nAs soon as he was out of sight, I dropped to the floor and put my head between my knees.\r\nShould I go after Charlie? What would I say?\r\nAnd what about Jacob? Jacob was my scoop friend; I needed to monish him. If he really was a??I cringed and forced myself to think the word??werewolf (and I knew it was true, I could feel it), then people would be shooting at him! I needed to tell him and his friends that peop le would try to kill them if they went running around like gigantic wolves. I needed to tell them to stop.\r\nThey had to stop! Charlie was out there in the woods. Would they care about that? I wondered?? Up until now, only strangers had disappeared. Did that mean anything, or was it just chance?\r\nI needed to believe that Jacob, at least, would care about that.\r\nEither way, I had to censure him.\r\nOr?? did I?\r\nJacob was my best friend, but was he a monster, too? A real one? A bad one? Should I warn him, if he and his friends were?? were murderers! If they were out slaughtering innocent hikers in cold blood? If they were truly creatures from a horror movie in every sense, would it be wrong to protect them?\r\nIt was inevitable that I would have to compare Jacob and his friends to the Cullens. I wrapped my arms around my chest, fighting the hole, while I thought of them.\r\nI didnt know anything about werewolves, clearly. I would have expected something closer to the movies??b ig hairy half-men creatures or something??if Id expected anything at all. So I didnt know what made them hunt, whether hunger or thirst or just a propensity to kill. It was hard to judge, not knowing that.\r\nBut it couldnt be worse than what the Cullens endured in their quest to be good. I thought of Esme??the tears started when I pictured her kind, lovely face??and how, as motherly and loving as she was, shed\r\nhad to hold her nose, all ashamed, and run from me when I was bleeding. It couldnt be harder than that. I thought of Carlisle, the centuries upon centuries that he had struggled to teach himself to ignore blood, so that he could save lives as a doctor. Nothing could be harder than that.\r\nThe werewolves had chosen a different path.\r\nNow, what should I choose?\r\n'