1 twilight暮色-第21部分
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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 ing 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 e 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
fivethirty in the morning。
I groaned; fell back; and rolled over onto my face; kicking off my boots。
I was too unfortable 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 unfortable
ridge along the back of my skull。 I turned onto my side and ripped the
rubber band out; quickly bing 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。
The shower didn't last nearly as long as I hoped it would; though。 Even
taking the time to blowdry my hair; I was soon out of things to do in
the bathroom。 Wrapped in a towel; I crossed back to my room。 I couldn't
tell if Charlie was still asleep; or if he had already left。 I went to
look out my window; and the cruiser was gone。 Fishing again。
I dressed slowly in my most fy sweats and then made my bed — something
I never did。 I couldn't put it off any longer。 I went to my desk and
switched on my old puter。
I hated using the Inter here。 My modem was sadly outdated; my free
service substandard; just dialing up took so long that I decided to go
get myself a bowl of cereal while I waited。
I ate slowly; chewing each bite with care。 When I was done; I washed the
bowl and spoon; dried them; and put them away。 My feet dragged as I
climbed the stairs。 I went to my CD player first; picking it up off the
floor and placing it precisely in the center of the table。 I pulled out
the headphones; and put them away in the desk drawer。 Then I turned the
same CD on; turning it down to the point where it was background noise。
With another sigh; I turned to my puter。 Naturally; the screen was
covered in popup ads。 I sat in my hard folding chair and began closing
all the little windows。 Eventually I made it to my favorite search
engine。 I shot down a few more popups and then typed in one word。
Vampire。
It took an infuriatingly long time; of course。 When the results came up;
there was a lot to sift through — everything from movies and TV shows to
roleplaying games; underground metal; and gothic cosmetic panies。
Then I found a promising site — Vampires A—Z。 I waited impatiently for it
to load; quickly clicking closed each ad that flashed across the screen。
Finally the screen was finished — simple white background with black
text; academiclooking。 Two quotes greeted me on the home page:
Throughout the vast shadowy world of ghosts and demons there is no figure
so terrible; no figure so dreaded and abhorred; yet dight with such
fearful fascination; as the vampire; who is himself neither ghost nor
demon; but yet who partakes the dark natures and possesses the mysterious
and terrible qualities of both。 — Rev。 Montague Summers
If there is in this world a wellattested account; it is that of the
vampires。 Nothing is lacking: official reports; affidavits of wellknown
people; of surgeons; of priests; of magistrates; the judicial proof is
most plete。 And with all that; who is there who believes in vampires?
— Rousseau
The rest of the site was an alphabetized listing of all the different
myths of vampires held throughout the world。 The first I clicked on; the
Danag; was a Filipino vampire supposedly responsible for planting taro on
the islands long ago。 The myth continued that the Danag worked with
humans for many years; but the partnership ended one day when a woman cut
her finger and a Danag sucked her wound; enjoying the taste so much that
it drained her body pletely of blood。
I read carefully through the descriptions; looking for anything that
sounded familiar; let alone plausible。 It seemed that most vampire myths
centered around beautiful women as demons and children as victims; they
also seemed like constructs created to explain away the high mortality
rates for young children; and to give men an excuse for infidelity。 Many
of the stories involved bodiless spirits and warnings against improper
burials。 There wasn't much that sounded like the movies I'd seen; and
only a very few; like the Hebrew Estrie and the Polish Upier; who were
even preoccupied with drinking blood。
Only three entries really caught my attention: the Romanian Varacolaci; a
powerful undead being who could appear as a beautiful; paleskinned
human; the Slovak Nelapsi; a creature so strong and fast it could
massacre an entire village in the single hour after midnight; and one
other; the Stregoni benefici。
About this last there was only one brief sentence。
Stregoni benefici: An Italian vampire; said to be on the side of
goodness; and a mortal enemy of all evil vampires。
It was a relief; that one small entry; the one myth among hundreds that
claimed the existence of good vampires。
Overall; though; there was little that coincided with Jacob's stories or
my own observations。 I'd made a little catalogue in my mind as I'd read
and carefully pared it with each myth。 Speed; strength; beauty; pale
skin; eyes that shift color; and then Jacob's criteria: blood drinkers;
enemies of the werewolf; coldskinned; and immortal。 There were very few
myths that matched even one factor。
And then another problem; one that I'd remembered from the small number
of scary movies that I'd seen and was backed up by today's reading —
vampires couldn't e out in the daytime; the sun would burn them to a
cinder。 They slept in coffins all day and came out only at night。
Aggravated; I snapped off the puter's main power switch; not waiting
to shut things down properly。 Through my irritation; I felt overwhelming
embarrassment。 It was all so stupid。 I was sitting in my room;
researching vampires。 What was wrong with me? I decided that most of the
blame belonged on the doorstep of the town of Forks — and the entire
sodden Olympic Peninsula; for that matter。
I had to get out of the house; but there was nowhere I wanted to go that
didn't involve a threeday drive。 I pulled on my boots anyway; unclear
where I was headed; and went downstairs。 I shrugged into my raincoat
without checking the weather and stomped out the door。
It was overcast; but not raining yet。 I ignored my truck and started east
on foot; angling across Charlie's yard toward the everencroaching
forest。 It didn't take long till I was deep enough for the house and the
road to be invisible; for the only sound to be the squish of the damp
earth under my feet and the sudden cries of the jays。
There was a thin ribbon of a trail that led through the forest here; or I
wouldn't risk wandering on my own like this。 My sense of direction was
hopeless; I could get lost in much less helpful surroundings。 The trail
wound deeper and deeper into the forest; mostly east as far as I could
tell。 It snaked around the Sitka spruces and the hemlocks; the yews and
the maples。 I only vaguely knew the names of the trees around me; and all
I knew was due to Charlie pointing them out to me from the cruiser window
in earlier days。 There were many I didn't know; and others I couldn't be
sure about because they were so covered in green parasites。
I followed the trail as long as my anger at myself pushed me forward。 As
that started to ebb; I slowed。 A few drops of moisture trickled down from
the canopy above me; but I couldn't be certain if it was beginning to
rain or if it was simply pools left over from yesterday; held high in the
leaves above me; slowly dripping their way back to the earth。 A recently
fallen tree — I knew it was recent because it wasn't entirely carpeted in
moss — rested against the trunk of one of her sisters; creating a
sheltered little bench just a few safe feet off the trail。 I stepped over
the ferns and sat carefully; making sure my jacket was between the damp
seat and m