Breaking Dawn Read Along: Week 5

And on we go:

Chapter 31:

• Eleazar discovers that Bella's private mind might actually be developed into a larger shield that could protect other people beyond herself. He mentions that Aro's bodyguard acts as a shield for him too.

• Yet, her gift, much like the vast majority of special vampire gifts, operates inside the mind. Bella realizes that if she really could include other people into her "strange, quirky silent head," she could protect Renesmee and Edward from harm.

• Kate, who has the offensive skill of projecting an electric current on her skin, tells Bella that at first she only felt it in her palms, but that after a lot of practice she can now radiate the current all over her body.

• Edward and Eleazar continue to discuss the Volturi's motivations. Eleazar realizes that the Volturi have often waged wars in the name of justice only to collect vampires with special skills into their fold. In short, Eleazar suggests that the Volturi decided to mobilize their entire army because their goal is not punishment but acquisition.

• Bella's mind flashes to an image of Edward and Alice in black cloaks with blood red eyes. She now wonders if Alice left to keep her skills out of Aro's power.

Chapter 32:

• The Cullen house starts to crowd with arriving friends. The traditional vampires promise not to hunt in Forks and in La Push, but go to hunt out-of-state, yet it still makes Bella uncomfortable. Jacob is very upset, too, because he sees his mission as a werewolf is protecting humans.

• After meeting Renesmee, the Cullen friends agree to witness that she's not an immortal child, with just a few exceptions.

• Amun, the leader of the Egyptian coven, remains skeptical. He seems very protective of Benjamin, a young vampire in his coven, who can influence the elements – earth, wind, water, and fire.

• Garret, one of the Cullens' nomad friends, sees facing the Volturi as a welcome dare. He immediately takes to the Denali sisters and wants to try vegetarianism.

• Another couple, Mary and Randall, also agrees to witness.

• Lastly, there are the Amazon contacts, Zafrina and Senna. They take to Renesmee immediately. Zafrina can make people see whatever she wants them to see. She conjures up pretty pictures for Renesmee and they befriend each other.

• Since Edward refuses to teach Bella how to fight, because he can't handle looking at her as a target, she practices with Emmett and other friends. She spends the rest of the time with Kate, trying to push her internal shield outside of her own brain to protect someone else. Bella only has sporadic success. "It was just so hard. There was nothing to get a hold of, nothing solid to work with" (32.68).

• Edward agrees to play guinea pig (getting shocked by Kate and Bella has to try to block that), but Kate decides to give Bella an even better incentive: Renesmee. The rage at imagining her daughter getting hurt causes Bella's shield to expand to cover Renesmee:

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• The rage brought every aspect of my being into sharper focus. I could even feel the elasticity of my shield… I had a better sense of it, a tighter hold on it. (32.98)

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• Bella finally manages to draw the shield around Edward and a couple more friends before it recoils like a rubber band.

• Two more unexpected visitors arrive – the Romanians. Traditional, ancient vampires like the Volturi, the Romanians hate the other clan for overthrowing their empire. They've come for a chance at revenge. Carlisle assures them that there's not going to be a fight with the Volturi.

• In the end, the Cullens count seventeen witnesses – probably the largest friendly gathering of mature vampires in mortal history.

• Again, Bella feels hopeful that if Renesmee has won over so many in such a brief time, maybe the Volturi will listen.

Chapter 33:

• It's been a week since Charlie saw Renesmee, so Bella decides to bring her over to see him. Her ulterior motive is to drive to Seattle to search for the address Alice has given her. Jacob, who's accompanying Renesmee to see Charlie, senses that Bella's keeping a secret. She asks him control his thoughts around Edward.

• In a sketchy part of town, Bella finds an abandoned building at the address given. She asks a stranger about J. Jenks, and she learns that the stranger's working for him. He calls Jenks and describes Bella's appearance and her relationship with Alice. The voice on the other end tells the man to send Bella to his other office.

• Before Bella takes off, the stranger tells Bella that J. Jenks's papers are expensive.

• The new address turns out to be the law office of a Jason Jenks. He welcomes Bella immediately into his office. Bella learns that he has dealt with Jasper before and has a very healthy respect for him.

• When Jenks asks Bella what kind of papers she needs, she realizes that Alice must have sent her to get forged documents for Renesmee, so that she could run in case they lose the fight against the Volturi. She also realizes that Alice wanted her to keep this a secret from Edward, because Aro would be able to read his mind and find Renesmee.

• Bella decides to order two birth certificates, two passports, and one driver's license, under the name of Jacob Wolf and Vanessa Wolf. She knows that Jacob will be able to take care of Renesmee. She makes another appointment with Jenks to pick up the documents.

Yay for some more Charlie! 

We're getting overloaded on new vampires here!!  I'm excited to see them all in context, but all the vampire stuff could easily get a little overwhelming.  How do you think they're going to handle the addition of a whole bunch of new cast into a "tight" space (ie: the Cullen's house and grounds)?  Who are you most looking forward to really seeing?

So...I was looking at IMDb and there is no Jenks listed in the cast for part 2.  Are we not getting J?  How do you think they're going to do that whole part if he's not in the movie? 

For next week:  Breaking Dawn: Book 3 - Chapters 34 and 35.  

As always, summaries can be found here.