The Movement of the Earth

Prologue: The Meadow

"One consequence of all this is that everything attracts everything else with gravitational forces. The earth attracts the apple, and the apple attracts the earth with the same force. The apple is the one that moves noticebly because its so much lighter (and easier to move) than the earth."
-Jim Loy, "The Law of Gravity"

"I didn't like that- the way his eyes were closed like he were in pain when he spoke of being bound. More than disliked- I realized I hated it, hated anything that caused him pain. Hated it. Fiercely."
- New Moon, Chapter 12 "Intruder"

Prologue: The Meadow (Redux)
A year ago, I'd never given much thought to how I would die.

Funny how things change.

"Mouthwatering," Laurent repeated, inhaling deeply as he leaned toward my throat. Even though I knew what he was about to do to me, his voice was soothing, he smelled hypnotonic. A portion of my mind- the alive part- urged me to flee, to at least try to save myself. But my senses rebelled, and told what was about to happen next wouldn't be so bad. After all, no one that was so much like Edward could be bad.

Edward, Edward, Edward. His name burst through the wall I'd so carefully built to contain it- what difference would it make if I thought of him now? Edward I love you. I would love him until I died. Which was only a few moments away, so I guess that didn't mean much...

I was so busy listening to my own head, it took me a minute to realize I wasn't dead. Laurent's head whipped to the side, and he was starring into the trees, and was backing away from me slowly. "I don't believe it," he breathed.

Daring to look away from my would-be-murderer for a moment, I glanced to my right, scanning the line of trees that edged the meadow. Nothing- nothing that my useless eyes could see anyways...

... then there it was, coming out of the forest. An unimaginable huge black shape, bigger than a horse. It moved with bizarre lightness and grace for something so gigantic. I knew exactly what it was, what it had to be- the animal that had been causing so much trouble. The bear.

Charlie's gonna need a lot more shotguns, I thought blankly as it came forward, stalking towrds Laurent, a predator facing a predator. Funny that I would think that right now, but my mind seemed to be shutting down, taking all my emotions with it. Blue screen of death in Bella's brain. This was all too much.

The creature growled, exposing impossibly sharp teeth. Bears didn't growl like that. It couldn't be a bear. I followed the form of the animal, taking in the long jaw, and swishing tail...the canine shape... a dog?

No not a dog.

A wolf.

An impossibly huge wolf.

Laurent continued to retreat. Why would he do that? Big as this wolf was, I knew what vampires were capable of, and surely Laurent could tear it apart limb form limb with his marble hands if he desired to do so. But Laurent's perfect face was frozen with horror. He was afraid. It didn't make sense at all.

I choked back a hysterical giggle. Death by vampire or death by wolf. Sometimes I really missed Phoenix.

Two more wolves, a gray wolf and a reddish- brown wolf, flanked behind. They now formed an enormous, monsterous, V shaped formation, aimed at Laurent. The reddish-brown wolf was so close I felt as though I could reach out and touch it. And when the fur accidentally brushed my arm, I involuntarily gasped. The wolf turned his head, just enough to glance at me. Its intelligent eyes were dark, almost black. They took me in.