TWILIGHT SAGA BOOK CLUB: CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO, HIDE-AND-SEEK

TA staff member Emily is back with chapter 22 of Twilight Previously, in Chapter Twenty-One, “Phone Call”, Bella receives a phone call from James and is frightened to learn that her mother has been kidnapped by the evil vampire and would kill her if she didn’t agree to his demands. Chapter Twenty-Two, “Hide-and-Seek ”, finds Bella facing death as she races to save the people she loves. Will she succeed?

After finishing her goodbye letter to Edward, Bella formulates a plan to escape from Jasper and Alice’s watch. She is nervous that Alice is on to her plan but luck is on her side as Alice’s attributes the changes in her visions as deviations made by James.

At the airport, just minutes before Edward is due to land, Bella makes a run for it while misleading Jasper into thinking she is taking a human moment. With her knowledge of the airport, Bella manages to flee in a hotel shuttle before Jasper and Alice could catch up with her. Arriving at Renee’s house, Bella calls James at the phone number he left on her fridge and asks for her next instructions. She is to meet him at her old ballet studio.

Running as fast as she can, Bella arrives at the ballet studio only to find that James had tricked her with an old home movie and that Renee has been safe in Florida all along. With relief in her heart that her mother, father, and Edward would be safe now, Bella is ready to meet her fate. However, James has other plans in mind.

Disappointed with a lack of a challenge, James informs Bella of his strategy to torture her on tape in order to provoke Edward into a fight which Bella had asked him not to do. While explaining his plan, James also reveals the origins of Alice and how she had been his only target that escaped him. Frozen with fear, Bella is no match for the vicious vampire as James begins his attack.

Characters Involved:
Bella Swan, Alice Cullen, Jasper Hale, James

Characters Mentioned:
Edward Cullen, Renee Dwyer, Charlie Swan, Victoria

Places Visited:
hotel, Phoenix Airport, Renee’s house, the ballet studio

Significant events
Bella runs away

James tricks Bella

Alice’s past revealed

Memorable Quotes

Bella: “It had taken much less time than I’d thought — all the terror, the despair, the shattering of my heart. The minutes were ticking by more slowly than usual.” Chapter 22, p.433

Alice: “Some things are more certain than others… like the weather. People are harder. I only see the course they’re on while they’re on it. Once they change their minds — make a new decision, no matter how small — the whole future shifts.” Chapter 22, p.435

Bella: “The minutes passed and Edward’s arrival grew closer. It was amazing how every cell in my body seemed to know he was coming, to long for his coming.” Chapter 22, p.437

Bella: “I couldn’t cry yet, I told myself. I still had a long way to go.”
Chapter 22, p.439

Bella: “I imagined that I had stayed at the airport to meet Edward. I visualized how I would stand on my toes, the sooner to see his face. How quickly, how gracefully he would move through the crowds of people separating us. And then I would run to close those last few feet between us — reckless as always — and I would be in his marble arms, finally safe.”
Chapter 22, p.440

Bella: “So many questions I still had for him. I could talk to him forever, never sleeping, never leaving his side. I could see his face so clearly now… almost hear his voice. And, despite all the horror and hopelessness, I was fleetingly happy. So involved was I in my escapist daydreams, I lost all track of the seconds racing by.” Chapter 22, p.440

James: “That was very quick. I’m impressed.” Chapter 22, p.441

Bella: “There was no time to look back at my house, and I didn’t want to see it as it was now — empty, a symbol of fear instead of sanctuary. The last person to walk through those familiar rooms was my enemy.” Chapter 22, p.442

Bella: “Terror seized me so strongly that I was literally trapped by it. I couldn’t make my feet move forward.” Chapter 22, p.443

James: “Sorry about that, Bella, but isn’t it better that your mother didn’t really have to be involved in all this?” Chapter 22, p.444

James: “I suppose you’re going to tell me that your boyfriend will avenge you?”
Chapter 22, p.445

James: “To be quite honest, I’m disappointed. I expected a much greater challenge. And, after all, I only needed a little luck.” Chapter 22, p.445

James: “It was all for him, of course. You’re simply a human, who unfortunately was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and indisputably running with the wrong crowd, I might add.”
Chapter 22, p.447

Bella: “I heard, as if from underwater, the final growl of the hunter. I could see, through the long tunnels my eyes had become, his dark shape coming toward me. With my last effort, my hand instinctively raised to protect my face. My eyes closed, and I drifted.” Chapter 22, p.451

Questions for consideration:

Is there something you noticed in this chapter that you’d like to discuss with the book club?

Were you surprised that James had tricked Bella?

What did you think of Alice’s connection to James?

Would you have gone ahead on your own like Bella?

Did something or someone in this chapter catch you by surprise?

What is your favorite quote from this chapter?

Did you see any particular symbolism or little detail you have never
noticed before while re-reading this Chapter?

Reply here or discuss it with us on the forum here.

Each Friday we will post a new chapter. Please read along with us and jump into the discussion. Add your thoughts, questions, insights, etc….We look forward to hearing from you.