you, Mom. Bye." I closed my eyes and prayed with all my might that no unforeseen change of plans
would bring her home before she got my message.
I settled into the sofa, nibbling on a plate of leftover fruit, anticipating a long evening. I thought about
calling Charlie, but I wasn't sure if I should be home by now or not. I concentrated on the news, watching
out for stories about Florida, or about spring training strikes or hurricanes or terrorist attacks
anything that might send them home early.
Immortality must grant endless patience. Neither Jasper nor Alice seemed to feel the need to do anything
at all. For a while, Alice sketched the vague outline of the dark room from her vision, as much as she
could see in the light from the TV. But when she was done, she simply sat, looking at the blank walls with
her timeless eyes. Jasper, too, seemed to have no urge to pace, or peek through the curtains, or run
screaming out the door, the way I did.
I must have fallen asleep on the couch, waiting for the phone to ring again. The touch of Alice's cold
hands woke me briefly as she carried me to the bed, but I was unconscious again before my head hit the
pillow.
21. PHONE CALL
I could feel it was too early again when I woke, and I knew I was getting the schedule of my days and
nights slowly reversed. I lay in my bed and listened to the quiet voices of Alice and Jasper in the other
room. That they were loud enough for me to hear at all was strange. I rolled till my feet touched the floor
and then staggered to the living room.
The clock on the TV said it was just after two in the morning. Alice and Jasper were sitting together on
the sofa, Alice sketching again while Jasper looked over her shoulder. They didn't look up when I
entered, too engrossed in Alice's work.
I crept to Jasper's side to peek.
"Did she see something more?" I asked him quietly.
"Yes. Something's brought him back to the room with the VCR, but it's light now."
I watched as Alice drew a square room with dark beams across its low ceiling. The walls were paneled
in wood, a little too dark, out of date. The floor had a dark carpet with a pattern in it. There was a large
window against the south wall, and an opening through the west wall led to the living room. One side of
that entrance was stone a large tan stone fireplace that was open to both rooms. The focus of the
room from this perspective, the TV and VCR, balanced on a too-small wooden stand, were in the
southwest corner of the room. An aged sectional sofa curved around in front of the TV, a round coffee
table in front of it.
"The phone goes there," I whispered, pointing.
Two pairs of eternal eyes stared at me.
"That's my mother's house."
Alice was already off the couch, phone in hand, dialing. I stared at the precise rendering of my mother's
family room. Uncharacteristically, Jasper slid closer to me. He lightly touched his hand to my shoulder,
and the physical contact seemed to make his calming influence stronger. The panic stayed dull,
unfocused.
Alice's lips were trembling with the speed of her words, the low buzzing impossible to decipher. I
couldn't concentrate.
"Bella," Alice said. I looked at her numbly.
"Bella, Edward is coming to get you. He and Emmett and Carlisle are going to take you somewhere, to
hide you for a while."
"Edward is coming?" The words were like a life vest, holding my head above the flood.
"Yes, he's catching the first flight out of Seattle. We'll meet him at the airport, and you'll leave with him."
"But, my mother& he came here for my mother, Alice!" Despite Jasper, the hysteria bubbled up in my
voice.
"Jasper and I will stay till she's safe."
"I can't win, Alice. You can't guard everyone I know forever. Don't you see what he's doing? He's not
tracking me at all. He'll find someone, he'll hurt someone I love& Alice, I can't "
"We'll catch him, Bella," she assured me.
"And what if you get hurt, Alice? Do you think that's okay with me? Do you think it's only my human
family he can hurt me with?"
Alice looked meaningfully at Jasper. A deep, heavy fog of lethargy washed over me, and my eyes closed
without my permission. My mind struggled against the fog, realizing what was happening. I forced my
eyes open and stood up, stepping away from Jasper's hand.
"I don't want to go back to sleep," I snapped.
I walked to my room and shut the door, slammed it really, so I could be free to go to pieces privately.
This time Alice didn't follow me. For three and a half hours I stared at the wall, curled in a ball, rocking.
My mind went around in circles, trying to come up with some way out of this nightmare. There was no
escape, no reprieve. I could see only one possible end looming darkly in my future. The only question
was how many other people would be hurt before I reached it.
The only solace, the only hope I had left, was knowing that I would see Edward soon. Maybe, if I could
just see his face again, I would also be able to see the solution that eluded me now.
When the phone rang, I returned to the front room, a little ashamed of my behavior. I hoped I hadn't
offended either of them, that they would know how grateful I was for the sacrifices they were making on
my account.
Alice was talking as rapidly as ever, but what caught my attention was that, for the first time, Jasper was
not in the room. I looked at the clock it was five-thirty in the morning.
"They're just boarding their plane," Alice told me. "They'll land at nine-forty-five." Just a few more hours
to keep breathing till he was here.
"Where's Jasper?"
"He went to check out."
"You aren't staying here?"
"No, we're relocating closer to your mother's house."
My stomach twisted uneasily at her words.
But the phone rang again, distracting me. She looked surprised, but I was already walking forward,
reaching hopefully for the phone.
"Hello?" Alice asked. "No, she's right here." She held the phone out to me. Your mother, she mouthed.
"Hello?"
"Bella? Bella?" It was my mother's voice, in a familiar tone I had heard a thousand times in my childhood,
anytime I'd gotten too close to the edge of the sidewalk or strayed out of her sight in a crowded place. It
was the sound of panic.
I sighed. I'd been expecting this, though I'd tried to make my message as unalarming as possible without
lessening the urgency of it.
"Calm down, Mom," I said in my most soothing voice, walking slowly away from Alice. I wasn't sure if I
could lie as convincingly with her eyes on me. "Everything is fine, okay? Just give me a minute and I'll
explain everything, I promise."
I paused, surprised that she hadn't interrupted me yet.
"Mom?"
"Be very careful not to say anything until I tell you to." The voice I heard now was as unfamiliar as it was
unexpected. It was a man's tenor voice, a very pleasant, generic voice the kind of voice that you [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]