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so he wasn't aware of anything unusual in my face or tone.
Once in my room, I locked the door. I dug through my desk until I found my old headphones, and I
plugged them into my little CD player. I picked up a CD that Phil had given to me for Christmas. It was
one of his favorite bands, but they used a little too much bass and shrieking for my tastes. I popped it into
place and lay down on my bed. I put on the headphones, hit Play, and turned up the volume until it hurt
my ears. I closed my eyes, but the light still intruded, so I added a pillow over the top half of my face.
I concentrated very carefully on the music, trying to understand the lyrics, to unravel the complicated
drum patterns. By the third time I'd listened through the CD, I knew all the words to the choruses, at
least. I was surprised to find that I really did like the band after all, once I got past the blaring noise. I'd
have to thank Phil again.
And it worked. The shattering beats made it impossible for me to think which was the whole purpose
of the exercise. I listened to the CD again and again, until I was singing along with all the songs, until,
finally, I fell asleep.
I opened my eyes to a familiar place. Aware in some corner of my consciousness that I was dreaming, I
recognized the green light of the forest. I could hear the waves crashing against the rocks somewhere
nearby. And I knew that if I found the ocean, I'd be able to see the sun. I was trying to follow the sound,
but then Jacob Black was there, tugging on my hand, pulling me back toward the blackest part of the
forest.
"Jacob? What's wrong?" I asked. His face was frightened as he yanked with all his strength against my
resistance; I didn't want to go into the dark.
"Run, Bella, you have to run!" he whispered, terrified.
"This way, Bella!" I recognized Mike's voice calling out of the gloomy heart of the trees, but I couldn't
see him.
"Why?" I asked, still pulling against Jacob's grasp, desperate now to find the sun.
But Jacob let go of my hand and yelped, suddenly shaking, falling to the dim forest floor. He twitched on
the ground as I watched in horror.
"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.
The shower didn't last nearly as long as I hoped it would, though. Even taking the time to blow-dry 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 comfy 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 computer.
I hated using the Internet 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 computer. Naturally, the screen was covered in pop-up 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 pop-ups 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 role-playing games, underground metal, and gothic cosmetic
companies.
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, academic-looking. 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 well-attested account, it is that of the vampires. Nothing is lacking:
official reports, affidavits of well-known people, of surgeons, of priests, of magistrates; the
judicial proof is most complete. 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
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