EDWARD- Carnivores Unite
I finally came to a stop on a hill overlooking a small farming town somewhere in northern Mexico. I was only a few hours from Phoenix.
There was some sort of party in the town; all the lights were off but for one house. I could hear many voices, laughing and talking, and the distant strains of music. I would be able to slip through the town unnoticed. I had begun to climb down the slope, easily jumping from rock ledges and outcrops, when I heard a growl behind me. The rock ledge I stood on led back into a cave in the hill. A pair of yellow eyes flickered in the shadows and an enormous jaguar emerged into the moonlight. His tail flicked quickly from side to side.
I stood my ground. It was rare to see a jaguar so far north. The natives here still held them in high esteem. The cat sniffed the air and watched me, as though he couldn't quite figure out what I was. He let out a low huff and leapt gracefully to a nearby outcropping. Then he gave me a last, fleeting look before disappearing onto another ledge. In a matter of minutes I had scaled the hill and skirted around the edge of the town. All that lay ahead of me now where foothills into the sand dunes of the desert that stretched to the border.
As I ran, I watched the sun rise over the Mexican wasteland. I knew eventually I would have to find a place to hide and wait until sunset to cross the border, but I enjoyed watching the pale streaks of light in the sky gradually brighten and send waves of heat shimmering up off the dunes. At the edge of Naco, a small border town, I found an abandoned barn to wait in until the sun went down. After that, I would be in Arizona. It would be a long walk from there to Denali but, after all, I had all the time in the world.
I had to know Alice's secret. I didn't realize how much it would bother me until I was back in Brazil and alone with my thoughts, which quickly raged out of control and the possibilities grew more and more outlandish. After months of restraint, my self-control was weakening. To test myself, I would run back to Denali, although it would be much faster to drive. I would travel through the deserts of Arizona and Nevada, then up into Oregon and Washington. I would loop out and around Spokane to ensure that I stayed far away from Forks. From there, I would go along the coast of British Columbia and into Alaska. And I wouldn't let Alice know I was coming. I would keep my thoughts focused on Brazil, remembering how I hunted in the thick rainforest far away from civilization. When I showed up, she would have no choice but to let me in.
At dusk, I jumped from my hiding spot in the hayloft of the barn and made my way to the border crossing. I merely flashed my forged passport and was allowed to cross onto American soil. In a few miles, I would reach a highway that would travel west for a ways before curving north to Phoenix. In the darkness, I could follow the road and be there in an hour. Now that I was back in America, I felt reinvigorated. When I began to run, it was with a feeling that was not quite joy, but nevertheless something I had not felt in a long time. I would be in Alaska soon.