We made our flight with seconds to spare, and then the true torture began. The plane sat idle on the tarmac while the flight attendants strolled — so casually — up and down the aisle, patting the bags in the overhead compartments to make sure everything fit. The pilots leaned out of the cockpit, chatting with them as they passed. Alice’s hand was hard on my shoulder, holding me in my seat while I bounced anxiously up and down.
我们在飞机还有几秒就起飞时赶到了，然后真正的折磨才刚开始。飞机悠闲地停在停机坪上，乘务员从容地在机舱走廊内来回走动，拍打着顶上的行李舱，确认包裹已堆放妥当。飞行员头探出驾驶舱，和正好经过的乘务员聊上几句。爱丽丝的手搭在我的肩上，当我上下颠簸的时候，把我按在椅子上。
At last the plane rolled lazily from the gate, building speed with a gradual steadiness that tortured me further. I expected some kind of relief when we achieved liftoff, but my frenzied impatience didn’t lessen.
最后，飞机缓缓地滑过大门，速度逐渐增快，我所受的折磨也越来越大。我还以为起飞后会好受点，但是我极度烦躁和不耐烦的心情丝毫不减。
Alice lifted the phone on the back of the seat in front of her before we’d stopped climbing, turning her back on the stewardess who eyed her with disapproval. Something about my expression stopped the stewardess from coming over to protest.
飞机还没完全起飞，爱丽丝拿起前座后背里面的手机，转身背对着微微不满的乘务员。我脸上的表情使得乘务员没有走过来阻止。
I just nodded in time with my bouncing.
我点头的时候正好被弹了起来。
“It’s faster than running,” she reminded me in a low voice.
“总比跑步要快。”她低声提醒我。
I tried to tune out what Alice was murmuring to Jasper; I didn’t want to hear the words again, but some slipped through.
爱丽丝和贾斯帕打电话的时候，我试图不去听。我不想听到他们的对话，但是一些话还是不时地钻进我的耳朵。
She hung up, and leaned back in her seat with her eyes closed. “I hate lying to him.”
她挂断电话，闭上眼睛，倚靠在座位上：“我讨厌对他说谎。”
“No, you can’t.” Alice’s voice dropped till it was nearly inaudible, though I was sitting inches from her. Contrarily, I listened harder. “Tell Emmett no… Well, go after Emmett and Rosalie and bring them back… Think about it, Jasper. If he sees any of us, what do you think he will do?”
“不行，你不能这样做。”爱丽丝把声音压得很低，使我离她非常近几乎听不到，于是，我更加用心听，“告诉埃美特……好吧，跟着埃美特和罗莎莉，把他们带回来好好考虑一下，贾斯帕。如果他看见我们当中的任何一个，你想他会怎么做？”
She nodded. “Exactly. I think Bella is the only chance — if there is a chance… I’ll do everything that can be done, but prepare Carlisle; the odds aren’t good.”
她点点头说：“正是如此。我认为贝拉是我们唯一的希望——如果还有机会的话……我会尽一切努力的。让卡莱尔作好准备，情况不是很乐观。”
She laughed then, and there was a catch in her voice. “I’ve thought of that… Yes, I promise.” Her voice became pleading. “Don’t follow me. I promise, Jasper. One way or another, I’ll get out… And I love you.”
她随后笑了，从她的声音听来，好像有点儿眉目。“我想过这一点好的，我保证。”她声音带着请求的语气，“不用跟着我，我保证，贾斯帕。不管怎么样，我会逃出来的……我爱你。”
“I can’t be sure, I keep seeing him do different things, he keeps changing his mind… A killing spree through the city, attacking the guard, lifting a car over his head in the main square… mostly things that would expose them — he knows that’s the fastest way to force a reaction…”
“我不确信，我看见他不停做着不同的事情，不断改变主意在城市中毫无节制地瞎闹，袭击保安，在广场上把一辆车举过头顶做一些使他们不得不出来制止的事情——他知道这是最好的逼迫他们的方法……”
“Tell me everything, Alice,” I begged. “I don’t understand. Why did you tell Jasper to stop Emmett, why can’t they come help us?”
“告诉我一切，爱丽丝，”我祈求到。“我不明白，你为什么让贾斯帕阻止埃美特，为什么他们不能帮助我们？”
“The first I told him. We could try to stop Edward ourselves — if Emmett could get his hands on him, we might be able to stop him long enough to convince him you’re alive. But we can’t sneak up on Edward. And if he sees us coming for him, he’ll just act that much faster. He’ll throw a Buiclc through a wall or something, and the Volturi will take him down.
第一个我跟他说了。我们能亲自阻止爱德华——如果埃美特拖住他的话。我们会有足够的时间说服他你还活着，但是我们不能跟踪爱德华。如果他知道我们来找他，他会加快行动的。他会把一辆别克朝墙上砸去，那么沃尔图里就会抓住他。
“That’s the second reason of course, the reason I couldn’t say to Jasper. Because if they’re there and the Volturi kill Edward, they’ll fight them. Bella.” She opened her eyes and stared at me, beseeching. “If there were any chance we could win… if there were a way that the four of us could save my brother by fighting for him, maybe it would be different. But we can’t, and, Bella, I can’t lose Jasper like that.”
“第二个原因，我不能告诉贾斯帕，因为他们在场，如果沃尔图里杀死爱德华的话，他们会打起来的，贝拉。”她睁开眼睛看着我，恳求道，“如果我们侥幸能赢……如果我们四个人能救回我哥哥，事情就完全不同了。但是，我们不能，贝拉，我不能让贾斯帕这么白白牺牲。”
“Two reasons,” she whispered, her eyes still closed.
“两个原因”她仍闭着眼睛，低声说。
I realized why her eyes begged for my understanding. She was protecting Jasper, at our expense, and maybe at Edward’s, too. I understood, and I did not think badly of her. I nodded.
我意识到为什么她用乞求的眼神看着我了。她为了保护贾斯帕，宁可牺牲我们自己，也许牺牲了爱德华。我理解，一点都不怪她。于是我点了点头。
Not that there was any justification, either way. I still couldn’t believe that he was capable of reacting like this. It made no sense! I remembered with painful clarity his words that day on the sofa, while we watched Romeo and Juliet kill themselves, one after the other. I wasn’t going to live without you, he’d said, as if it should be such an obvious conclusion. But the words he had spoken in the forest as he’d left me had canceled all that out — forcefully.
谁也没有任何解释。我还是不能相信他会这么做。完全没有道理！我很清楚地记着那天我们坐在沙发上一起看罗密欧与朱丽叶一前一后的自杀。他说，你死了我也不要独自活着！好像这就是最后的结果，但是她在森林里离开我时说的话硬是把所有的一切给否定掉了。
“If he were listening,” she explained. “But believe it or not, it’s possible to lie with your thoughts. If you had died, I would still try to stop him. And I would be thinking ‘she’s alive, she’s alive’ as hard as I could. He knows that.”
“如果他在听的话，”她接着解释，“不管你信不信，我们可以用思想说谎的。如果你真的死了，我还是会努力阻止他的。我会很努力地一直想着‘她还活着，她还活着’，他知道这一点。”
“If there were any way to do this without you, Bella, I wouldn’t be endangering you like this. It’s very wrong of me.”
“如果有其他方法可以选择，贝拉，我不会把你卷入危险之中的，都是我不好。”
“Couldn’t Edward hear you, though.” I asked. “Wouldn’t he know, as soon as he heard your thoughts, that I was alive, that there was no point to this?”
“难道爱德华不能感受到你的心声吗？”我问她，“他不可以通过你的思想了解到我还活着，然后意识到没有必要那么做吗？”
“Don’t be stupid. I’m the last thing you should be worrying about.” I shook my head impatiently. “Tell me what you meant, about hating to lie to Jasper.”
“别傻了。你根本不用担心我。”我不耐烦地摇摇头，“告诉我你刚才说讨厌对贾斯帕说谎是什么意思？”
I ground my teeth in mute frustration.
我无奈地咬咬牙。
“Who are these Volturi?” I demanded in a whisper. “What makes them so much more dangerous than Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie, and you?” It was hard to imagine something scarier than that.
“谁是沃尔图里？”我小声问，“他们为什么比埃美特、贾斯帕、罗莎莉还有你可怕？”很难想象比这更可怕地事物了。
She smiled a grim smile. “I promised him I would get out before they killed me, too. It’s not something I can guarantee — not by a long shot.” She raised her eyebrows, as if willing me to take the danger more seriously.
她苦笑一下：“我答应他我会在他们杀我之前逃出来，这不是我所能控制的——完全不是。”她扬了扬眉毛，好像提醒我危险性的客观存在。
She took a deep breath, and then abruptly leveled a dark glance over my shoulder. I turned in time to see the man in the aisle seat looking away as if he wasn’t listening to us. He appeared to be a businessman, in a dark suit with a power tie and a laptop on his knees. While I stared at him with irritation, he opened the computer and very conspicuously put headphones on.
她深吸一口气，然后突然向我身后看了看。我转过头看见一个男人站在走廊上装做没看见我们似的朝别处看，他看起来像个生意人，黑色的西装，膝盖上放着一部笔记本电脑。当我恼怒地看着他的时候，他打开电脑，装模作样地带上耳机。
I leaned closer to Alice. Her lips were at my ears as she breathed the story.
我靠近爱丽丝，她轻声对我耳语，告诉了我全部的事情。
“I was surprised that you recognized the name,” she said. “That you understood so immediately what it meant — when I said he was going to Italy. I thought I would have to explain. How much did Edward tell you?”
“我很奇怪你知道这个名字，”她说，“当我说他要去意大利的时候，你一听就明白了，我还以为我得解释一番呢。爱德华到底告诉你多少事情？”
“You have to understand,” she said, her voice slower, more measured now. “We Cullens are unique in more ways than you know. It’s… abnormal for so many of us to live together in peace. It’s the same for Tanya’s family in the north, and Carlisle speculates that abstaining makes it easier for us to be civilized, to form bonds based on love rather than survival or convenience. Even James’s little coven of three was unusually large — and you saw how easily Laurent left them. Our kind travel alone, or in pairs, as a general rule. Carlisle’s family is the biggest in existence, as far as I know, with the one exception. The Volturi.
“你必须明白，”她说着，把声音降得更低，更小心翼翼，“我们卡伦家族比你想象的更加神秘。我们这么多人和平共处是不太寻常的。北方的坦尼娅家族一样。卡莱尔认为是自我克制让我们变的文明，使我们能把关系建立在相爱而不是为了生存和寻求便利的基础上。即便是詹姆斯的三女巫聚在一起都嫌人多——你可以明白为什么劳伦这么轻易地就离开了她们。我们一般单独行动，或者俩人结伴。据我所知，卡莱尔家族是目前最大的，当然是出了另外一个，这另一个就是沃尔图里家族。”
“I’ve seen them,” I mumbled. “In the picture in Carlisle’s study.”
“我见过他们，”我低声说，“在卡莱尔书房里的画上。”
“He just said they were an old, powerful family — like royalty. That you didn’t antagonize them unless you wanted to… die,” I whispered. The last word was hard to choke out.
“他只是说过他们是一个古老的家族——像皇族一样。如果不想死的话，就不用和他们为敌。”我小声说，“死”这个字很难说出口。
“There were three of them originally, Aro, Caius, and Marcus.”
“他们一开始就三个人，阿罗、凯厄思和马库斯。”
Alice nodded. “Two females joined them over time, and the five of them make up the family. I’m not sure, but I suspect that their age is what gives them the ability to live peacefully together. They are well over three thousand years old. Or maybe it’s their gifts that give them extra tolerance. Like Edward and I, Aro and Marcus are… talented.”
爱丽丝点点头：“后来有两个女人加入他们，他们五个人后来组成了家庭。我不是很清楚，但是我想他们能够和谐相处是因为年龄相仿吧。他们都有三千多岁了。或者是他们的才能使他们彼此相互忍耐，就像爱德华和我一样，阿罗和马库斯也是……法力不凡的。”
“Five that make up the family,” she corrected. “That doesn’t include their guard.”
“那个家庭一共五个人，”她纠正道，“不包括守卫。”
She continued before I could ask. “Or maybe it’s just their love of power that binds them together. Royalty is an apt description.”
她不等我回答就继续说道，“也许是他们对权利共同的热爱把他们连在一起，皇族也许是个恰当的描述。”
I took a deep breath. “That sounds… serious.”
我深吸一口气：“听起来……很严重。”
“But if there are only five –“
“如果只有五个人——”
I opened my mouth, and then closed it. I didn’t think I wanted to know how bad the odds were.
我张开嘴，又闭上了，我不太想知道困难有多大。
She nodded again, as if she understood exactly what I was thinking. “They don’t get into too many confrontations. No one is stupid enough to mess with them. They stay in their city, leaving only as duty calls.”
她又点了点头，好像明白我在想什么：“他们和别人没有太多的冲突，没有人会蠢到去惹他们。他们待在自己的城市里，有差遣才出去一下。”
“Oh, it is,” she assured me. “There were nine members of the guard that were permanent, the last time we heard. Others are more… transitory. It changes. And many of them are gifted as well — with formidable gifts, gifts that make what I can do look like a parlor trick. The Volturi chose them for their abilities, physical or otherwise.”
“是的，”她对我说，“上次我们听说现在那个家族有九个固定守卫，其他的都是……暂时的，一切都在变。这些守卫中很多人法力也很强，他们的才能让我觉得自己的能力像是雕虫小技。沃尔图里家族根据个人的能力、体能，或者其他方面的特长来选拔守卫。”
“Didn’t Edward tell you what they do?”
“爱德华没有告诉你他们都干些什么吗？”
“Duty?” I wondered.
“差遣？”我不明白。
“No,” I said, feeling the blank expression on my face.
“没有。”我一脸的迷茫。
Alice looked over my head again, toward the businessman, and put her wintry lips back to my ear.
爱丽丝朝我后面的生意人看了一眼，把冰冷的嘴凑到我的耳边。
“There’s a reason he called them royalty… the ruling class. Over the millennia, they have assumed the position of enforcing our rules — which actually translates to punishing transgressors. They fulfill that duty decisively.”
“他叫他们为皇族是因为他们是统治者。一千多年了，他们夺到了执行法律的权利——事实上是惩戒违规者的权利，他们执法很果断。”
I thought about it. “Nope, I have no idea.”
我想了想。“不知道。”
My eyes popped wide with shock. “There are rules?” I asked in a voice that was too loud.
我的眼睛一下子瞪得很大：“还有规则？”我的声音有点儿大了。
Alice chuckled once at my reaction. “It’s not that complicated, Bella. There’s only one core restriction — and if you think about it, you can probably figure it out for yourself.”
爱丽丝被我的反应逗笑了。“没那么复杂，贝拉，只有一条核心准则——如果你好好想想，也许就会猜到的。”
“Shouldn’t somebody have mentioned this to me earlier?” I whispered angrily. “I mean, I wanted to be a… to be one of you! Shouldn’t somebody have explained the rules to me?”
“怎么没有人早点告诉我？”我小声地抱怨着，“我是说，我想成为加入你们！怎么没人跟我提过规矩？”
“Shh!”
“嘘！”
“Oh,” I mumbled. It was obvious.
“哦。”我嘀咕着，过去是很明显。
“It makes sense, and most of us don’t need policing,” she continued. “But, after a few centuries, sometimes one of us gets bored. Or crazy. I dor’t know. And then the Volturi step in before it can compromise them, or the rest of us.”
“很好理解，我们大都不需要管制，”她接着说，“但是几个世纪过去了，有些人觉得无聊了，或者说疯了，我不清楚。沃尔图里家族就插手了，防止把大家都牵扯进去。”
She shook her head, disappointed. “Maybe it’s too obvious. We just have to keep our existence a secret.”
她失望地摇摇头：“可能是太明显了，我们必须对自己的身份保密。”
“So Edward…”
“所以，爱德华他……”
“But you said they didn’t leave. How do they eat?”
“但是你说他们不离开那儿，他们吃什么呢？”
“Is planning to flout that in their own city — the city they’ve secretly held for three thousand years, since the time of the Etruscans. They are so protective of their city that they don’t allow hunting within its walls. Volterra is probably the safest city in the world — from vampire attack at the very least.”
“计划在他们的老巢捣乱——那座他们隐居了三百年的古城，从伊特鲁利亚时期开始就隐居在那儿。他们对城市保护有加，不允许在城内捕杀。沃特拉城也许是世界上最安全的城市了——至少不会有吸血鬼的袭击。”
“They don’t leave. They bring in their food from the outside, from quite far away sometimes. It gives their guard something to do when they’re not out annihilating mavericks. Or protecting Volterra from exposure…”
“他们不离开城，但是从外面把猎物带进来，有时候从很远的地方。这使得守卫在不镇压独立行动，或者不需要保护沃特拉的时候有事可做……”
“I doubt they’ve ever had a situation quite like this,” she muttered, disgusted. “You don’t get a lot of suicidal vampires.”
“我怀疑他们没有见过这样的事情，”她喃喃地说，“毕竟一心寻死的吸血鬼不多见。”
“From situations like this one, like Edward,” I finished her sentence. It was amazingly easy to say his name now. I wasn’t sure what the difference was. Maybe because I wasn’t really planning on living much longer without seeing him. Or at all, if we were too late. It was comforting to know that I would have an easy out.
“像这次爱德华的行为就需要他们。”我接着她的话讲。现在说出他的名字简单多了，我不知道为什么，也许是见不到他我也没打算多活，如果我们太迟了的话，我根本不想活了，知道自己会死得比较容易反而轻松了许多。
“Scout’s honor,” I muttered.
“我保证。”我答应道。
She rolled her eyes. “Let me concentrate, now. I’m trying to see what he’s planning.”
她眼珠转了转。“让我们仔细想想，看他到底有什么计划。”
“What?”
“什么？”
I shrugged.
我耸耸肩。
“Knock it off, Bella, or we’re turning around in New York and going back to Forks.”
“别想了，贝拉，否则我们只好绕纽约一圈，又回到福克斯了。”
“Sure, Alice.”
“明白，爱丽丝。”
The sound that escaped out of my mouth was very quiet, but Alice seemed to understand that it was a cry of pain. She wrapped her thin, strong arm around my shoulders.
我发出很轻的声音，但是爱丽丝好像听出我的痛苦，用瘦长而有力的手臂挽着我。
“You know what. If we’re too late for Edward, I’m going to do my damnedest to get you back to Charlie, and I don’t want any trouble from you. Do you understand that?”
“你知道吗？如果我们迟了，我会尽最大的努力把你送回到查理的身边，我不想你发生任何事情，你明白吗？”
“We’ll do what we can, Bella. It’s not over yet.”
“我们会尽最大的努力，贝拉，事情还没结束呢。”
She pulled back slightly so that she could glare at me. “No trouble.”
她稍稍向后，以便能看着我：“不要惹麻烦！”
Alice stiffened. “You say that like it’s a good thing.”
爱丽丝面部表情僵硬：“听你口气好像这是件好事似的。”
“Not yet.” I let her comfort me, though I knew she thought our chances were poor. “And the Volturi will get us if we mess up.”
“还没有。”我听着她的安慰，虽然我知道她认为我们胜算很小，“如果我们乱了方寸，沃尔图里就会抓住我们。”
She left her arm around me, but let her head fall back against the seat and closed her eyes. She pressed her free hand to the side of her face, rubbing her fingertips against her temple.
她手还是搭在我的肩上，但是闭上眼睛靠在椅子上，另一只手放在脸上，用手指搓着太阳穴。
I couldn’t anticipate anything, either. Maybe, if I were very, very, very lucky, I would somehow be able to save Edward. But I wasn’t so stupid as to think that saving him would mean that I could stay with him. I was no different, no more special than I’d been before. There would be no new reason for him to want me now. Seeing him and losing him again…
我不能预料任何事情。也许，很幸运的话，我可以救回爱德华，但是我没有天真到以为救了他我们就可以永远在一起了。我和以前一样，他没有理由再喜欢我了。再见到他然后又失去他……
The minutes passed, and if I didn’t know better, I would have thought she’d fallen asleep. I didn’t dare interrupt her to ask what was going on.
时间一分分地过去，要不是我事先知道她在想事情，还会以为她睡着了，我不敢打断她的思路。
I watched her in fascination for a long time. Eventually, she became utterly motionless, hei face like a stone sculpture.
我惊奇地盯着她看了好久，最后，她一动不动，脸像雕塑一般。
I wished there was something safe for me to think about. I couldn’t allow myself to consider the horrors we were headed toward, or, more horrific yet, the chance that we might fail — not if I wanted to keep from screaming aloud.
我希望有什么安全点的事情好想想，不敢去想等待着我们的恐惧，更不敢想万一我们失败了怎么办。我怕自己叫出来。
I fought back against the pain. This was the price I had to pay to save his life. I would pay it.
我忍受住痛苦，如果它是救回爱德华的代价，我愿意这么做。
They showed a movie, and my neighbor got headphones. Sometimes I watched the figures moving across the little screen, but I couldn’t even tell if the movie was supposed to be a romance or a horror film.
他们在看电影，我旁边的人戴上耳机。有时候我看着小屏幕上的人影在晃动，但是我根本搞不清楚那电影是恐怖片还是爱情片。
“Anything new?” I asked in a low voice, conscious of the man listening on the other side of me.
“有什么新发现吗？”我小声问，对另外一边的那个男人保持警惕。
After an eternity, the plane began to descend toward New York City. Alice remained in her trance. I dithered, reaching out to touch her, only to pull my hand back again. This happened a dozen times before the plane touched town with a jarring impact.
好久以后，飞机才开始降落纽约，爱丽丝坐着没动。我开始发抖，伸手想碰她，但又收回来。这样来来回回好多次，知道飞机砰地着地。
We had to run for our connection, but that was good — better than having to wait. As soon as the plane was in the air, Alice closed her eyes and slid back into the same stupor as before. I waited as patiently as I could. When it was dark again, I opened the window to stare out into the flat black that was no better than the window shade.
我们必须赶去换机，这样很好——比干等着好。飞机一起飞，爱丽丝就和之前一样，以同样的姿势闭上眼睛，我耐心地等待着。天黑了，我打开窗户看着外面和遮光板一样黑的天空。
“Alice,” I finally said. “Alice, we have to go.” I touched her arm.
“爱丽丝，”我终于叫出来了，“爱丽丝，我们得下了。”我碰了碰她的胳膊。
“Not exactly,” she breathed in a voice I could barely catch. “He’s getting closer. He’s deciding how he’s going to ask.”
“没有什么，”她声音小得我几乎听不见，“他走近了，正在想怎么开口发问。”
Her eyes came open very slowly. She shook her head from side to side for a moment.
她慢慢睁开眼，晃着脑袋四处看看。
I was grateful that I’d had so many months’ practice with controlling my thoughts. Instead of dwelling on the terrifying possibilities that, no matter what Alice said, I did not intend to survive, I concentrated on lesser problems. Like, what I was going to say to Charlie if I got back:’ That was a thorny enough problem to occupy several hours. And Jacob? He’d promised to wait for me, but did that promise still apply? Would I end up home alone in Forks, with no one at all? Maybe I didn’t want to survive, no matter what happened.
真庆幸我训练了还几个月如何控制我的思想，虽然不管爱丽丝怎么安慰，我并不打算活着离开，但我控制住自己不去想这些恐怖的可能性，相反我开始想一些小的问题。比如，回到家后，我要怎么对查理说？这个问题够我想上几个小时了。还有雅各布怎么办？他答应过等我，但是这个承诺还有效吗？我会一个人住在福克斯，孤独终老吗？也许我根本不想活下去了，不管发生什么。
“No, thank you.” Alice beamed at up at him, her smile shockingly lovely. The attendant’s expression was dazed as he turned and stumbled his way back.
“不用，谢谢。”爱丽丝给他一个微笑，她的微笑非常迷人。那位乘务员愣住了，转身的时候晕头转向的，差点绊倒。
“Of course, Bella, keep up. I can see what they’re going to say.”
“当然，贝拉，别睡。我看看他们说些什么。”
Alice’s eyes gleamed in the dim light of a reading lamp in the row behind us. “It’s not wrong.” She smiled fiercely.
爱丽丝的眼睛在后面的灯光下微微发亮。“没有什么，”她笑得很厉害。
“The Volturi?” I muttered, groggy.
“沃尔图里？”我嘀咕着，摇摇晃晃的。
She whispered into my ear. “They’re interested in him — they think his talent could be uselul. They’re going to offer him a place with them.”
她对着我的耳朵说：“他们对他有兴趣——认为他的才能非常有用，他们想给他职位。”
“It’s right. They’re deliberating, but they’ve decided to tell him no.”
“是的。他们正在商议，但他们已决定不告诉他了。
“Tell me.”
“告诉我。”
“Bella,” she hissed, her voice a little too loud in the darkened cabin full of sleeping humans.
“贝拉。”她轻声叫我，但是其他人都在沉睡中，她的声音显得有点大了。
An attendant tiptoed down the aisle to us. “Can I get you ladies a pillow?” His hushed whisper was a rebuke to our comparatively loud conversation.
一位乘务员轻轻走过来：“两位女士需要枕头吗？”他轻声细语，仿佛是对我们大声交谈的指责。
“Tell me,” I breathed almost silently.
“告诉我。”我几乎无声地说。
I wasn’t disoriented — I hadn’t been out long enough for that. “What’s wrong?”
我没有迷失方向——我已经很久没出去了。“怎么了？”
It felt like seconds later when Alice shook my shoulder — I hadn’t realized I’d fallen asleep.
感觉像是在几秒种后，爱丽丝摇摇我的肩——我这才意识到自己刚才不知不觉睡着了。
“What will he say?”
“他会怎么做呢？”
“I can’t see that yet, but I’ll bet it’s colorful.” She grinned again. “This is the first good news — the first break. They’re intrigued; they truly don’t want to destroy him –‘wasteful,’ that’s the word Aro will use — and that may be enough to force him to get creative. The longer he spends on his plans, the better for us.”
我不知道，但肯定很有趣。”她又笑了笑，“这是第一个好消息，他们开始行动了；他们不想毁了他，‘太浪费’——阿罗会这么认为，这就会使他想尽办法。他计划拖得越久，对我们越有利。”
“Alice?”
“爱丽丝？”
It wasn’t enough to make me hopeful, to make me feel the relief she obviously felt. There were still so many ways that we could be too late. And if I didn’t get through the walls into the Volturi city, I wouldn’t be able to stop Alice from dragging me back home.
但这还不能使我充满希望，我并未能像她一样能松口气。我们迟到的可能性还是很大。如果我没有进入沃特拉城，爱丽丝就会把我拖回家。
“It’s clear because it’s immediate and close, and I’m really concentrating. The faraway things that come on their own — those are just glimpses, faint maybes. Plus, I see my kind more easily than yours. Edward is even easier because I’m so attuned to him.”
“因为很近，就快要发生，所以很清楚，我只是集中注意力罢了。该发生的事情中就会发生的——这些只不过是些苗头，而且我比你更明白我的同类。爱德华和我关系更紧密，也就更容易了。”
“What?”
“什么事？”
“I’m confused. How are you seeing this so clearly? And then other times, you see things far away — things that don’t happen?”
“我不明白，你怎么能看得这么清楚？有几次，你预料到很远的事情——还没发生的事情？”
Her eyes tightened. I wondered if she guessed what I was thinking of.
她眉头紧锁起来，我猜想她是不是知道我在想什么了。
“I do!” I gasped. “Oh, Alice, do it now! I could help you so much — and I wouldn’t slow you down. Bite me!”
“是的！”我喘着气，“爱丽丝，现在就做吧！这样我就可以帮助你——不会拖你后腿，咬我吧！”
“Shh,” she cautioned. The attendant was looking in our direction again. “Try to be reasonable,” she whispered. “We don’t have enough time. We have to get into Volterra tomorrow. You’d be writhing in pain for days.” She made a face. “And I don’t think the other passengers would react well.”
“嘘，”她提醒我，“理智点，”她小声说“我们没有时间了。我们明天必须赶到沃特拉。你需要在痛苦中熬几天。”她做了个鬼脸。“我认为其他乘客会惊慌失措的。”
“What do you mean?”
“你什么意思？”
I stared at her, frozen with shock. Instantly, my mind resisted her words. I couldn’t afford that kind of hope if she changed her mind.
我盯着她，惊呆了。立刻，我顶住了她这话的诱惑，万一她改变了主意我会很失望的。
She shook her head. “Not as clearly.”
她摇摇头：“没那么清楚。”
“You see me sometimes,” I reminded her.
“你有时候也明白我。”我提醒她。
“Actually, Bella…” She hesitated, and then seemed to make a choice. “Honestly, I think it’s all gotten beyond ridiculous. I’m debating whether to just change you myself.”
“事实上，贝拉……”她犹豫了一下，做出了选择，“说实话，这听上去有点荒唐，我正考虑是不是干脆把你的命运改变。”
She sighed. “It was a possibility at the time.”
她叹了口气：“当时确实有这个可能。”
“Did I scare you?” she wondered. “I thought that’s what you wanted.”
“吓着你了吧？”她问，“我想这就是你想要的。”
“You saw me become one of you.” I barely mouthed the words.
“你预见到我会成为你们中的一员。”我挤出这句话。
“At the time,” I repeated.
“当时。”我重复她的话。
I sighed. “I really wish you could have been right about me. In the beginning, when you first saw things about me, before we even met…”
我叹了口气：“我真希望你能预料我的未来，最开始的时候，你还没遇见我就预料到……”
“Good point.” But at least I had something to hope for if we did. If Alice made good on her promise — and if she didn’t kill me — then Edward could run after his distractions all he wanted, and I could follow. I wouldn’t let him be distracted. Maybe, when I was beautiful and strong, he wouldn’t want distractions.
“好的。”至少我觉得要是活过明天，我就有希望。如果爱丽丝信守诺言，如果她没杀了我，那爱德华就可以随心所欲地到处走，我就可以一直跟着他。我不会让他花心的，或许，要是我变得美丽、强大了，他就不会花心了。
“You are so bizarre, even for a human.”
“你太怪了，哪怕在人类当中你也是很怪的。”
“I’ll take my chances.”
“我愿意冒这个险。”
“Oh well, this is purely hypothetical at this point, anyway. First we have to live through tomorrow.”
“这只是假设，不管怎样，先过了明天再说。”
“No.” She frowned, her expression unhappy. “I don’t think I will. He’ll be furious, but what will he be able to do about it?”
“不会的，”她皱了皱眉，有点儿不高兴，“我不会改变主意，但是他会生气的，不过他又能有什么办法？”
“Thanks.”
“谢谢夸奖。”
“Right,” I grumbled, certain that sleep was a lost cause now. Alice pulled her legs up on the seat, wrapping her arms around them and leaning her forehead against her knees. She rocked back and forth as she concentrated.
“好的。”我应了声，知道自己再也睡不着了。爱丽丝收回椅子上的腿，双手抱膝，额头趴在膝盖上，开始专心地听了。
She laughed quietly, and then sighed. “You have too much faith in me, Bella. I’m not sure that I can. I’ll probably just end up killing you.”
她静静地笑着，又叹了一口气：“你太相信我了。贝拉，我不确定自己能够做到，可能最后只会杀了你。”
My heart beat faster. “Nothing at all.”
我心跳加速：“他完全没有办法。”
“Go back to sleep,” she encouraged me. “I’ll wake you up when there’s something new.”
“睡吧，”她对我说，“有新的消息我会叫醒你的。”
I bit my lip. “If you don’t do it now, you’ll change your mind.”
我咬了咬嘴唇：“如果你现在不做，以后会改变主意的。”
“There was a bad hour,” she whispered. “He’d decided to go hunting.” She looked at me, seeing the comprehension in my face.
“最糟糕的时候，”她说，“他决定去捕猎了。”她看着我，知道我没完全理解。
I rested my head against the seat, watching her, and the next thing I knew, she was snapping the shade closed against the faint brightening in the eastern sky.
我靠在椅子上休息，看着她，接下来就记得她看着东方微白的天空，关上窗户。
“I’m hoping so — if he sticks to his latest decision, maybe.”
“我想是的——只要他不改变目前的计划。”
“What kinds of plans?” I pressed.
“什么样的计划？”我追问。
“It was chaotic at first. I was only getting flickers, he was changing plans so quickly.”
“开始很乱。我只能听到一部分，他计划变动很快。”
“He’s going to keep it simple. He’s just going to walk out into the sun.” Just walk out into the sun. That was all.
“很简单，他想走到阳光底下去。”只是走到阳光底下，就这样。
My voice choked in my throat with panic. “What’s he going to do?”
我的声音因为恐惧而哽咽：“那他打算怎么做？”
“What’s happening?” I mumbled.
“发生什么事了？”我问。
“They’ve told him no,” she said quietly. I noticed at once that her enthusiasm was gone.
“他们跟他说不行了。”她平静地说，我注意到她的热情全无。
“He wouldn’t want to disappoint Carlisle,” I mumbled. Not at the end.
“他不想让卡莱尔失望。”我嘀咕着，即便到最后关头。
“Probably,” she agreed.
“也许吧。”她表示赞同。
“What is that?”
“什么计划？”
“Will there be enough time?” As I spoke, there was a shift in the cabin pressure. I could feel the plane angling downward.
“还有时间吗？”我说着，舱内气压有所变化，飞机准备降落。
“In the city,” she explained. “It got very close. He changed his mind at the last minute.”
“在城里，”她解释道。它离得很近。他在最后一刻改变了主意。
“If we’re lucky. If he sticks with this decision.”
“是的，如果我们够幸运，而且他没有改变计划的话。”
I looked at the slight gray glow that shone through the opened windows. “We’ll be too late,” I whispered, my throat closing in panic.
我看着窗外的微弱的晨光，“我们赶不到了。”我小声说着，喉咙哽咽。
She shook her head. “Right now, he’s leaning toward the melodramatic. He wants the biggest audience possible, so he’ll choose the main plaza, under the clock tower. The walls are high there. He’ll wait till the sun is exactly overhead.”
她摇摇头：“现在他正看着热闹的人群，他想等到人最多的时候。他选择了钟楼下的中心广场，那边的墙很高，他会等到太阳当头照的时候。”
“So we have till noon?”
“所以我们还有时间？”
It would be enough. The image of Edward in the meadow — glowing, shimmering like his skin was made of a million diamond facets — was burned into my memory. No human who saw that would ever forget. The Volturi couldn’t possibly allow it. Not if they wanted to keep their city inconspicuous.
这就足够了。爱德华站在草地中间——闪闪发光，好像他的皮肤是由上千颗宝石组成的——对此我记忆尤为深刻，任何人看过这样的情形都不会忘怀的。沃尔图里如果不想引人注目，就绝不会允许这事发生。
The pilot came on over the intercom, announcing, first in French and then in English, our imminent landing. The seat belt lights dinged and flashed.
飞行员走到机舱连接处，先用法语，然后用英语，宣布我们即将降落。指示灯闪烁提醒系好安全带。
“How far is it from Florence to Volterra?”
“从佛罗伦萨到福克斯要多久？”
“That depends on how fast you drive… Bella?”
“根据你行驶的速度而定……贝拉？”
“Yes?”
“什么？”
She eyed me speculatively. “How strongly are you opposed to grand theft auto?”
她打量了我一番问：“你是否强烈反对我偷车子？”
“Hurry, Bella!” Alice shouted impatiently through the open passenger window.
“快点，贝拉！”爱丽丝急切地从车窗里喊我。
I ran to the door and threw myself in, feeling as though I might as well be wearing a black stocking over my head.
我跑到车门，钻了进去，恨不得套双黑袜子在头上。
A bright yellow Porsche screamed to a stop a few feet in front of where I paced, the word TURBO scrawled in silver cursive across its back. Everyone beside me on the crowded airport sidewalk stared.
一辆崭新的黄色保时捷在我身边急停下来，车声后面镶嵌着银色的“最强涡轮TURBO”字样。拥堵的机场中，在我身边的行人都盯着我们。
“Sheesh, Alice,” I complained. “Could you pick a more conspicuous car to steal?”
“他妈的，爱丽丝，”我抱怨道，“你怎么不挑选个更显眼的车子啊？”
Alice was already weaving, too fast, through the thick airport traffic — sliding through tiny spaces between the cars as I cringed and fumbled for my seat belt.
爱丽丝已经穿梭在车辆当中——穿过车辆之间的空隙，我赶紧摸寻到安全带系上。
“I’m sure that will be very comforting at the roadblock.”
“恩，相信碰到路障的时候会很舒服的。”
“The important question,” she corrected, “is whether I could have stolen a faster car, and I don’t think so. I got lucky.”
“重要的是，”她纠正我说，“能不能偷到一辆更快的，已经不可能了，所以我运气很好了。”
The interior was black leather, and the windows were tinted dark. It felt safer inside, like nighttime.
车内是黑色的皮革，车窗也是黑的，在车子里面黑糊糊的，挺安全。
She trilled a laugh. “Trust me, Bella. If anyone sets up a roadblock, it will be behind us.” She hit the gas then, as if to prove her point.
她笑了笑：“放心，谁要是设路障的话，我保证超过它。”她踩足油门，好像为了证实她的话。
I wasn’t entirely sure. “The nineteenth, maybe?”
我不是很确信：“十九号，也许？”
“Well, that’s ironic. It’s Saint Marcus Day.”
“真讽刺，今天是圣马库斯节。”
“Do you see anything more?”
“你看见其他东西了吗？”
“Which means?”
“什么意思？”
I probably should have watched out the window as first the city of Florence and then the Tuscan landscape flashed past with blurring speed. This was my first trip anywhere, and maybe my last, too. But Alice’s driving frightened me, despite the fact that I knew I could trust her behind the wheel. And I was too tortured with anxiety to really see the hills or the walled towns that looked like castles in the distance.
我本来似乎应该欣赏窗外的佛罗伦萨和托斯卡纳的风景。毕竟，这是我第一次远行，也可能是最后一次。但是爱丽丝开得太快，尽管我相信她的车技，但还是有些害怕。我太焦急了，而没有心思好好欣赏窗外山脉和古城堡的墙。
She chuckled darkly. “The city holds a celebration every year. As the legend goes, a Christian missionary, a Father Marcus — Marcus of the Voltun, in fact — drove all the vampires from Volterra fifteen hundred years ago. The story claims he was martyred in Romania, still trying to drive away the vampire scourge. Of course that’s nonsense — he’s never left the city. But that’s where some of the superstitions about things like crosses and garlic come from. Father Marcus used them so successfully. And vampires don’t trouble Volterra, so they must work.” Her smile was sardonic. “It’s become more of a celebration of the city, and recognition for the police force — after all, Volterra is an amazingly safe city. The police get the credit.”
她冷笑道：“这个城市每年都要庆祝这一节日。传说一个基督徒传教士、沃尔图里的马库斯神父一千五百年前把所有的吸血鬼逐出沃特拉城，传说他在罗马尼亚驱逐吸血鬼过程中牺牲了。当然是一派胡言，他从未离开过这座城市，但是一些迷信就是这么来的，像关于十字架和大蒜的迷信。马库斯神父很会利用这些。吸血鬼没有再骚扰沃特拉城，所以它们见效了。”她的笑声变成嘲讽，“节日逐渐变成了城市的庆典，表达对警察的敬仰——不管怎么说，沃特拉是座很安全的城市，警察功不可没。”
“There’s something going on,” Alice muttered. “Some kind of festival. The streets are full of people and red flags. What’s the date today?”
“好像有什么活动，”爱丽丝说，“一个节目，街上都是人和红色的旗子。今天是几号？”
A small red car seemed to be racing backward as Alice zoomed around it.
一辆红色的小车子似乎跟在我们的车子后头。
I looked away, fighting against my teeth as they tried to break through the skin of my lower lip. Bleeding was not the best idea right now.
我向别处看去，努力不让牙齿咬到下嘴唇，流血在这个时侯可不是好事。
She kept her eyes on the winding road — the needle on the speedometer was touching the far right on the dial.
她盯着前方弯曲的道路——时速表上的指针已经偏到最右边了。
“Tell me what I have to do.”
“告诉我应该做些什么。”
“Try not to trip,” she added. “We don’t have time for a concussion today.”
“不要摔倒，”她补充道，“我们今天没有时间瞎激动。”
“You don’t have to do anything. He just has to see you before he moves into the light. And he has to see you before he sees me.”
“你为什么都不用做，他只要在走出来之前看到你就可以了，他看到我之前必须先看到你。”
“He’s still planning on noon?” I checked.
“他还是计划中午行动吗？”我确认道。
“Yes. He’s decided to wait. And they’re waiting for him.”
“是的，他决定等到那个时候，他们也等着他行动。”
The sun was terrifyingly high in the pale blue sky.
太阳在浅蓝色的天空上已经升得很高了。
“I’m going to get you as close as possible, and then you’re going to run in the direction I point you.”
“我会尽量把你送到最近的地方，然后你沿着我指的方向跑去。”
She shook her head, her expression grim. “No. They’ll act very quickly.”
她摇摇头，表情很严肃。“他们很快会行动的。”
I nodded.
我点了点头。
“How are we going to work that?”
“我们有什么办法实现这一计划呢？”
I was realizing what she meant when she’d said ironic. “They’re not going to be very happy if Edward messes things up for them on St. Marcus Day, are they?”
我明白她为什么说很讽刺了。“爱德华在这天闹事，他们肯定不会开心的，不是吗？”
The sun continued to climb in the sky while Alice raced against it. It was too brigh:, and that had me panicking. Maybe he wouldn’t feel the need to wait for noon after all.
太阳继续在天空中爬升，而爱丽丝与它赛跑。它太慢了，这让我感到恐慌。也许他根本就没必要等到中午。
I groaned. That would be just like me — ruin everything, destroy the world, in a moment of klutziness.
我抱怨着。那会像我一样 —— 一切都毁了，毁灭世界，傻瓜一样的情节。
“There,” Alice said abruptly, pointing to the castle city atop the closest hill.
“在那儿，”爱丽丝突然指着山顶上的城堡城说。
I supposed the city was very beautiful. It absolutely terrified me.
我承认这坐城堡很漂亮。但它真是吓坏了。
I stared at it, feeling the very first hint of a new kind of fear. Every minute since yesterday morning — it seemed like a week ago — when Alice had spoken his name at the foot of the stairs, there had been only one fear. And yet, now, as I stared at the ancient sienna walls and towers crowning the peak of the steep hill, I felt another, more selfish kind of dread thrill through me.
我凝视着它，第一感觉就是一种新的恐惧。从昨天早上开始的每一分钟——好像一个星期前——当爱丽丝在楼梯脚下说出他的名字时，只有一种恐惧。然而，现在，当我凝视着古老的黄土墙和塔上陡峭的山顶，我感觉到另一种恐惧穿透我。
“Volterra,” Alice announced in a flat, icy voice.
“沃尔泰拉，”爱丽丝用冷冰冰的声音宣布。
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