We are on Chapter 17 of our countdown that means 8, YES 8 more days until the release of New Moon, we are in the single digits folks!  Join us by reading a chapter a day together.  So in order to help pass the time while we wait for New Moon to be released, I will continue to post a thread everyday for each chapter in the book, counting down the days until the official release of the film on November 20th.

Chapter 17: Visitor

“Unnaturally still and white, with her large black eyes intent on my face, my visitor waited perfectly motionless in the center of the hall, beautiful beyond all imagining.  My knees trembled for a second, and I nearly fell.  Then…I hurled myself at her.

Sheeeeeeeeee’s baaaaaaaaaaack!!! Stand up, round of applause, dance on a table, whatever you want  to do because Alice is back Jack! Whew I have to calm down and get it together.  Let’s get right to it.

• It’s as if no time has passed, Alice and Bella’s relationship(that we’ve learned from the final 2 books) is a relationship that runs extremely deep, deeper than a sisterly bond, there are really no words to explain it as depicted here.
• Pg. 382  “I locked my arms around her, gasping to inhale as much as the scent of her skin as possible.  It wasn’t like anything else-not floral or spice, citrus or musk.  No perfume in the world could compare.  My memory hadn’t done it justice.  I didn’t notice when the gasping turned into something else-I only realized I was sobbing when Alice dragged me to the living room couch and pulled me onto her lap.  It was like curling up to a cool stone, but a stone that was contoured comfortingly to the shape of my body.  She rubbed my back in a gentle rhythm, waiting for me to get control of myself.” 
• Pg. 383  Alice sighed.  “I’d forgotten how exuberant you are,” she said her tone was disapproving.  I looked up at her through my streaming eyes.  Alice’s neck was tight, straining away from me, her lips pressed together firmly.  Her eyes were black as pitch.  “Oh,”  I puffed , as I realized the problem.  She was thirsty.  And I smelled appetizing.  It had been a while since I had to think about that sort of thing.  “Sorry.”  “It’s my own fault.  It’s been too long since I hunted.  I shouldn’t let myself get so thirsty.”     Oookay folks, now I simply adore Alice, but I think we all are guilty of forgetting these people are vampires(isn’t that what Jacob has been trying to tell us?) and while I know Alice would never hurt Bella, there will always be that shadow of doubt in the back of my mind, and Bella’s too as we will see shortly.
• At this point Alice explains exactly why she returned to Forks & to the Swan residence.  After seeing the vision of  Bella jump from the cliff, Alice hopped on the first plane she could(thirsty and all) & headed straight to Forks.  I simply love the fact that Alice’s first instinct was to comfort Charlie, even after all this time.  The love she has for Bella still lives on. 
• Pg. 385 “I watched curiously as an enigmatic range of emotions flitted across her face.  Something was bothering her-her imperfect vision?  But I wasn’t sure.  Then she deliberately leaned in and sniffed my shoulder.  I froze.”   See what the hale I mean folks? Let’s just keep repeating this to ourselves: Alice loves us, she would never hurt us…Alice loves us…She would never hurt us.  Lol.
• Pg. 386  Don’t you just love the rapport between these two?  Their comfy conversations are just so easy breezy, back and forth, very matter-of-factly, like Bella isn’t sitting there talking to an extremely thirsty vampire
• Pg 387  Apparently Bella smells.  I mention it, because its our first real look into the whole vampire smell sweet…too sweet until it burns your nose, and the wolves smell awful like wet dog issue.  The whole thing is too funny to me, especially the way Jacob gets all wound up when he smells the vamps.  This is also where Bella goes in to deep detail about her friendship with the wolves, since the Cullen’s have been away.  “Leave it to you Bella.  Anyone else would be better off when the vampires left town.  But you have to start hanging out with the first monsters you can find.”  Gotta love Alice!
• Pg. 389  Tugs at my heart strings.  We all knew Bella lost herself when the Cullen’s left, but here Bella displays just how deeply lost she felt.  “Our leaving didn’t do you any good at all, did it?”  “That was never the point, though, was it? It’s not like you left for my benefit.”  “Well…I guess I acted impulsively today.  I probably shouldn’t have intruded.”  I could feel the blood draining from my face.  My stomach dropped.  “Don’t go, Alice,”  I whispered.  My fingers locked around the collar of her white shirt and I began to hyperventilate.  “Please don’t leave me.”   I’m sure there isn’t a dry eye in the house, I was a mess reading this part
• Pg. 390  Jacob calls(oh boy)  “Charlie?” “No, its me.”  “Jake!”  “Just making sure you were still alive.”  “I’m fine.  I told you that it wasn’t-”  “Yeah. I got it.  Bye.”  All right all my wolf lovers, what cha got to say about that?  I’m going to leave it alone, the boy is hurting enough
• Yay! Alice is spending the night.  Alice finally goes to hunt(thank goodness, I was getting a bit nervous)  How cute is it when Alice kisses Bella on the cheek, then bounces to get some wildlife.
• It’s time for Harry Clearwater’s funeral, I still can’t believe he died
• Pg. 400  We finally get some insight to Alice’s background.  “My name was Mary Alice Brandon.  I had a little sister named Cynthia.  Her daughter- my niece- is still alive in Biloxi.”  “Did you find out why they put you in…that place?”  What would drive parents to that extreme?  Even if their daughter saw visions of the future.  “I couldn’t find much about them.  I went through all the old newspapers on microfiche.  My family wasn’t mentioned often; they weren’t part of the social circle that made the papers.  My birth was announced…and my death.  I found my grave.  I also filched my admissions sheet from the old asylum archives.  The date on the admission and the date on my tombstone are the same.”   Smh, some parents
• Pg. 403  Jacob Black arrives the next day, and we learn that Alice’s visions go “blind” when the werewolves come around.

This has been a long day and a very long post.  I have tried to add as much as I could.  Now it’s all on you…I can’t wait until I read your comments