The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide (83 page)

Q.
WAS EDWARD SECRETLY WATCHING BELLA IN
TWILIGHT
WHILE SHE WAS READING JANE AUSTEN?

A.
Yes. In secret, Edward used to pay very close attention to everything Bella did before they began their relationship.

Q.
WHY WAS BELLA’S WINDOW SO EASY TO OPEN IN
TWILIGHT
?

A.
The window was stuck and made a groaning sound the first time Edward opened it. While Bella didn’t wake up, Edward promised himself he’d bring some oil for the window the next time, which he did.

Q.
WHAT CAUSES EDWARD TO WARN BELLA ABOUT BEING ALONE IN THE WOODS IN
TWILIGHT
?

A.
There was no specific threat on Edward’s mind when he warned Bella to stay out of the woods. (Peter and Charlotte had been visiting Jasper, but they didn’t hunt in Forks, and they were already gone when Edward
cautioned Bella.) It was more of a general sense of Bella’s vulnerability that motivated the warning. He had tracked her scent in the woods after he came back from his hunting trip in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, and found himself unnerved by the image of her alone and unprotected. After all, Bella regularly attracted catastrophes.

Q.
HOW WAS EDWARD ABLE TO DRINK BELLA’S BLOOD AT THE END OF
TWILIGHT
AND NOT INFECT HER WITH MORE VENOM?

A.
Edward drank with his lips puckered, as if using a straw, and never touched her with his “saliva.”

Q.
IF VAMPIRES ARE SOLID LIKE GRANITE, DOESN’T THAT MEAN THEY MUST WEIGH A LOT?

A.
It is possible for things to be really durable, but not weigh a tremendous amount. Polymers are a good example of this. Vampires do, however, weigh more than humans of the same size.

Q.
CAN ANIMALS BE TURNED INTO VAMPIRES?

A.
No, only humans can be turned into vampires. Venom is deadly to animals.

Q.
HOW IS EDWARD ABLE TO BE AROUND BELLA WHEN SHE HAS HER MONTHLY CYCLE?

A.
Edward is aware of what’s going on physiologically with Bella, but he is too much of a gentleman to ever say anything about it, and Bella would be too embarrassed to ask if he noticed or was bothered by it. The blood from a woman’s period isn’t the same as a cut; it’s not freshly oxygenated, not flowing from the heart.

Q.
WHY DO ALICE’S AND JASPER’S SUPERNATURAL POWERS WORK ON BELLA, BUT EDWARD’S, ARO’S, JANE’S, ALEC’S, CHELSEA’S, AND HEIDI’S POWERS DON’T AFFECT HER?

A.
Bella has a shield that protects only her mind. Edward and Aro both have the ability to read minds, but their gifts are blocked by this shield. Jane, Alec, Chelsea, and Heidi also work inside the head. For example, Jane doesn’t actually inflict pain on someone’s body; she just puts the illusion of pain inside her victim’s head. It’s a very effective form of torture. Conversely, what Jasper does is no illusion. He affects the physical body, slowing the pulse and upping the endorphin levels to calm someone, for example, or raising the pulse and pumping out the adrenaline to excite people. Alice also works outside the mind, in the realm of possible realities. She doesn’t see the thought process behind the decisions—just the outcomes.

Q.
DID BELLA REALLY HEAR EDWARD’S VOICE IN
NEW MOON
? WAS HE HIDING IN THE BUSHES, OR WAS HE SOMEHOW COMMUNICATING WITH BELLA TELEPATHICALLY?

A.
Edward was in England, Texas, and Brazil for most of
New Moon
. What Bella heard in her head was all imagined. Her subconscious was powerfully trying to correct the erroneous belief that her conscious mind was so absolutely sure of—that Edward didn’t care about her. The proof that Edward couldn’t know what was happening to Bella comes when she is almost killed by Laurent. Had Edward even had an inkling that Victoria or Laurent was back in Forks, he would have returned immediately to protect Bella.

Q.
HOW COULD BELLA FALL IN LOVE WITH JACOB ALL OF A SUDDEN IN
ECLIPSE
?

A.
Bella actually falls in love with Jacob in
New Moon
. It’s understandable why this fact doesn’t occur to her: Bella has fallen in love only one other time, and it was a very sudden, dramatic, sweep-you-off-your-feet, change-your-world, magical, passionate, all-consuming thing (see
Twilight
). She didn’t recognize the much more subtle falling-in-love she experienced with Jacob. She was aware only that she preferred being with him over everyone else, that he was constantly on her mind, and that his happiness was essential to her own. She also enjoyed being physically close to him in a way that she didn’t with her other friends. But it took her a while to add up all the pieces.

Q.
IS THE CRYSTAL HEART THAT EDWARD GIVES BELLA REALLY A CRYSTAL?

A.
No, it’s an actual diamond that once belonged to Edward’s mother.

Q.
WHAT IS
FOREVER DAWN
?

A.
Forever Dawn
is the original title of the book that eventually became
Breaking Dawn
. Initially it was planned as an immediate sequel to
Twilight
, but it was decided that the book skipped too much that was interesting in Bella’s last year of high school, and didn’t have enough space for all the development the characters were crying out for. Still, the basic plotline of
Forever Dawn
, including Renesmee and Jacob and the Volturi, was always the end toward which the series was written.