He stepped toward me...

"He stepped toward me, smiling. 'Before we begin...'

I felt a curl of nausea in the pit of my stomach as he spoke. This was something I had not anticipated.

'I would just like to rub it in, just a little bit. The answer was there all along, and I was so afraid Edward would see that and ruin my fun. It happened once, oh, ages ago. The one and only time my prey escaped me.

'You see, the vampire who was so stupidly fond of this little victim made the choice that your Edward was too weak to make. When the old one knew I was after his little friend, he stole her from the asylum where he worked- I never will understand the obsession some vampires seem to form with you humans- and as soon as he freed her he made her safe. She didn't even seem to notice the pain, poor little creature. She'd been stuck in that black hole of a cell for so long. A hundred years earlier and she would have been burned at the stake for her visions. In the nineteen-twenties it was the asylum and the shock treatments. When she opened her eyes, strong with her fresh youth, it was like she'd never seen the sun before. The old vampire made her a strong new vampire, and there was no reason for me to touch her then.' He sighed. 'I destroyed the old one in vengeance.'

'Alice,' I breathed, astonished.

'Yes, your little friend. I was surprised to see her in the clearing. So I guess her coven ought to be able to derive some comfort from this experience. I get you, but they get her. The one victim who escaped me, quite an honor, actually.

'And she did smell so delicious. I still regret that I never got to taste... She smelled even better than you do. Sorry- I don't mean to be offensive. You have a very nice smell. Floral, somehow...'"

~Stephenie Meyer, Twilight