"Jacob!" I screamed. But he was gone. In his place was a large red-brown wolf with black eyes. The wolf faced away from me, pointing toward the shore, the hair on the back of his shoulders bristling, low growls issuing from between his exposed fangs.
"Bella, run!" Mike cried out again from behind me. But I didn't turn. I was watching a light coming toward me from the beach.
And then Edward stepped out from the trees, his skin faintly glowing, his eyes black and dangerous. He held up one hand and beckoned me to come to him. The wolf growled at my feet.
I took a step forward, toward Edward. He smiled then, and his teeth were sharp, pointed.
"Trust me," he purred.
I took another step.
The wolf launched himself across the space between me and the vampire, fangs aiming for the jugular.
"No!" I screamed, wrenching upright out of my bed.
My sudden movement caused the headphones to pull the CD player off the bedside table, and it clattered to the wooden floor.
My light was still on, and I was sitting fully dressed on the bed, with my shoes on. I glanced, disoriented, at the clock on my dresser. It was five-thirty in the morning.
I groaned, fell back, and rolled over onto my face, kicking off my boots.
I was too uncomfortable to get anywhere near sleep, though. I rolled back over and unbuttoned my jeans, yanking them off awkwardly as I tried to stay horizontal. I could feel the braid in my hair, an uncomfortable ridge along the back of my skull. I turned onto my side and ripped the rubber band out, quickly combing through the plaits with my fingers. I pulled the pillow back over my eyes.
It was all no use, of course. My subconscious had dredged up exactly the images I'd been trying so desperately to avoid. I was going to have to face them now.
I sat up, and my head spun for a minute as the blood flowed downward.
First things first, I thought to myself, happy to put it off as long as possible. I grabbed my bathroom bag.
Growl 低吠
Purr 發出喉音
Jugular 頸靜脈
Braid 髮辮
Plait 辮子
“雅克布！”我尖叫起來。但他不見了。在他的位置上出現了一隻巨大的紅棕色的狼，眼睛是黑色的。那隻狼轉過身去背對著我，衝著海岸的方向。他背上的毛髮全都豎了起來，低低的嚎叫聲從他露出的尖牙間傳出來。
“貝拉，跑！”邁克又一次在我身後大聲喊著。但我沒有跑。我看見一道光從海灘那邊向著我過來了。
然後，愛德華從樹林中走出來。他的肌膚微微發著光，他的雙眸漆黑而危險。他舉起一隻手，示意我到他那裡去。狼在我的腳邊咆哮著。
我向著愛德華的方向，向前邁了一步。於是他微笑起來，露出尖銳鋒利的牙齒。
“相信我。”他愉快地低聲說道。
我又踏了一步。
那匹狼讓自己橫亙在了我和吸血鬼之間的空地上，尖牙瞄準了他的頸動脈。
“不！”我尖叫著，猛地從床上彈起來。 我的忽然移動讓耳機把隨身聽扯下了桌子，咔噠一聲落到了地板上。
燈還開著，我和衣坐在床上，連鞋都沒脫。我迷惑地張望著，看見了梳妝檯上的時鐘。現在是早上五點半。
我呻吟著，倒回床上，翻個身變成趴著的姿勢，把靴子給踢掉了。但是，我太難受了，連睡覺的邊緣都夠不著（根本睡不著）。我又翻過身來，拉開牛仔褲的拉連，平躺著很不雅觀地把褲子脫掉。我能感覺到我的髮辮在腦袋後面拱成了一個很不舒服的小包。我轉過頭，把橡膠圈扯下來，用手指很快地梳了幾下頭髮。我把枕頭拉回來，壓到我的眼睛上。
當然，一切都毫無作用。我的潛意識把我拼命想要忘掉的畫面發掘出來。現在，我不得不面對它們了。
我坐起來，頭暈目眩了一會兒，血液才開始向下湧動。重要的事先做，我自忖著，很高興能把這件事儘可能地往後推。我抓起了我的洗漱包。
