Chapter 1

I ’D BEEN WAITING for the vampire for years when he walked into the bar.

Ever since vampires came out of the coffin (as they laughingly put it) four years ago, I’d hoped one would come to Bon Temps. We had all the other minorities in our little town—why not the newest, the legally recognized undead? But rural northern Louisiana wasn’t too tempting to vampires, apparently; on the other hand, New Orleans was a real center for them—the whole Anne Rice thing, right?

It’s not that long a drive from Bon Temps to New Orleans, and everyone who came into the bar said that if you threw a rock on a street corner you’d hit one. Though you better not.

But I was waiting for my own vampire.

You can tell I don’t get out much. And it’s not because I’m not pretty. I am. I’m blond and blue-eyed and twenty-five, and my legs are strong and my bosom is substantial, and I have a waspy waistline. I look good in the warm-weather waitress outfit Sam picked for us: black shorts, white T, white socks, black Nikes.

But I have a disability. That’s how I try to think of it.

The bar patrons just say I’m crazy.

Either way, the result is that I almost never have a date. So little treats count a lot with me.

And he sat at one of my tables—the vampire.

I knew immediately what he was. It amazed me when no one else turned around to stare. They couldn’t tell! But to me, his skin had a little glow, and I just knew.

I could have danced with joy, and in fact I did do a little step right there by the bar. Sam Merlotte, my boss, looked up from the drink he was mixing and gave me a tiny smile. I grabbed my tray and pad and went over to the vampire’s table. I hoped that my lipstick was still even and my ponytail was still neat. I’m kind of tense, and I could feel my smile yanking the corners of my mouth up.

He seemed lost in thought, and I had a chance to give him a good once-over before he looked up. He was a little under six feet, I estimated. He had thick brown hair, combed straight back and brushing his collar, and his long sideburns seemed curiously old-fashioned. He was pale, of course; hey, he was dead, if you believed the old tales. The politically correct theory, the one the vamps themselves publicly backed, had it that this guy was the victim of a virus that left him apparently dead for a couple of days and thereafter allergic to sunlight, silver, and garlic. The details depended on which newspaper you read. They were all full of vampire stuff these days.

Anyway, his lips were lovely, sharply sculpted, and he had arched dark brows. His nose swooped down right out of that arch, like a prince’s in a Byzantine mosaic. When he finally looked up, I saw his eyes were even darker than his hair, and the whites were incredibly white.

“What can I get you?” I asked, happy almost beyond words.

He raised his eyebrows. “Do you have the bottled synthetic blood?” he asked.

“No, I’m so sorry! Sam’s got some on order. Should be in next week.”

“Then red wine, please,” he said, and his voice was cool and clear, like a stream over smooth stones. I laughed out loud. It was too perfect.

“Don’t mind, Sookie, mister, she’s crazy,” came a familiar voice from the booth against the wall. All my happiness deflated, though I could feel the smile still straining my lips. The vampire was staring at me, watching the life go out of my face.

“I’ll get your wine right away,” I said, and strode off, not even looking at Mack Rattray’s smug face. He was there almost every night, he and his wife Denise. I called them the Rat Couple. They’d done their best to make me miserable since they’d moved into the rent trailer at Four Tracks Corner. I had hoped that they’d blow out of Bon Temps as suddenly as they’d blown in.

When they’d first come into Merlotte’s, I’d very rudely listened in to their thoughts—I know, pretty low-class of me. But I get bored like everyone else, and though I spend most of my time blocking out the thoughts of other people that try to pass through my brain, sometimes I just give in. So I knew some things about the Rattrays that maybe no one else did. For one thing, I knew they’d been in jail, though I didn’t know why. For another, I’d read the nasty thoughts Mack Rattray had entertained about yours truly. And then I’d heard in Denise’s thoughts that she’d abandoned a baby she’d had two years before, a baby that wasn’t Mack’s.

And they didn’t tip, either.

Sam poured a glass of the house red wine, looking over at the vampire’s table as he put it on my tray.

When Sam looked back at me, I could tell he too knew our new customer was undead. Sam’s eyes are Paul Newman blue, as opposed to my own hazy blue gray. Sam is blond, too, but his hair is wiry and his blond is almost a sort of hot red gold. He is always a little sunburned, and though he looks slight in his clothes, I have seen him unload trucks with his shirt off, and he has plenty of upper body strength. I never listen to Sam’s thoughts. He’s my boss. I’ve had to quit jobs before because I found out things I didn’t want to know about my boss.

But Sam didn’t comment, he just gave me the wine. I checked the glass to make sure it was sparkly clean and made my way back to the vampire’s table.

“Your wine, sir,” I said ceremoniously and placed it carefully on the table exactly in front of him. He looked at me again, and I stared into his lovely eyes while I had the chance. “Enjoy,” I said proudly. Behind me, Mack Rattray yelled, “Hey, Sookie! We need another pitcher of beer here!” I sighed and turned to take the empty pitcher from the Rats’ table. Denise was in fine form tonight, I noticed, wearing a halter top and short shorts, her mess of brown hair floofing around her head in fashionable tangles. Denise wasn’t truly pretty, but she was so flashy and confident that it took awhile to figure that out.

A little while later, to my dismay, I saw the Rattrays had moved over to the vampire’s table. They were talking at him. I couldn’t see that he was responding a lot, but he wasn’t leaving either.

“Look at that!” I said disgustedly to Arlene, my fellow waitress. Arlene is redheaded and freckled and ten years older than me, and she’s been married four times. She has two kids, and from time to time, I think she considers me her third.

“New guy, huh?” she said with small interest. Arlene is currently dating Rene Lenier, and though I can’t see the attraction, she seems pretty satisfied. I think Rene was her second husband.

“Oh, he’s a vampire,” I said, just having to share my delight with someone.

“Really? Here? Well, just think,” she said, smiling a little to show she appreciated my pleasure. “He can’t be too bright, though, honey, if he’s with the Rats. On the other hand, Denise is giving him quite a show.”

I figured it out after Arlene made it plain to me; she’s much better at sizing up sexual situations than I am due to her experience and my lack.

The vampire was hungry. I’d always heard that the synthetic blood the Japanese had developed kept vampires up to par as far as nutrition, but didn’t really satisfy their hunger, which was why there were “Unfortunate Incidents” from time to time. (That was the vampire euphemism for the bloody slaying of a human.) And here was Denise Rattray, stroking her throat, turning her neck from side to side . . . what a bitch.

My brother, Jason, came into the bar, then, and sauntered over to give me a hug. He knows that women like a man who’s good to his family and also kind to the disabled, so hugging me is a double whammy of recommendation. Not that Jason needs many more points than he has just by being himself. He’s handsome. He can sure be mean, too, but most women seem quite willing to overlook that.

“Hey, sis, how’s Gran?”

“She’s okay, about the same. Come by to see.”

“I will. Who’s loose tonight?”

“Look for yourself.” I noticed that when Jason began to glance around there was a flutter of female hands to hair, blouses, lips.

“Hey. I see DeeAnne. She free?”

“She’s here with a trucker from Hammond. He’s in the bathroom. Watch it.”

Jason grinned at me, and I marvelled that other women could not see the selfishness of that smile. Even Arlene tucked in her T-shirt when Jason came in, and after four husbands she should have known a little about evaluating men. The other waitress I worked with, Dawn, tossed her hair and straightened her back to make her boobs stand out. Jason gave her an amiable wave. She pretended to sneer. She’s on the outs with Jason, but she still wants him to notice her.

I got really busy—everyone came to Merlotte’s on Saturday night for some portion of the evening—so I lost track of my vampire for a while. When I next had a moment to check on him, he was talking to Denise. Mack was looking at him with an expression so avid that I became worried.

I went closer to the table, staring at Mack. Finally, I let down my guard and listened.

Mack and Denise had been in jail for vampire draining.

Jack enters the wreckage and does his best to avoid disturbing the bodies as he makes a desperate search for anything that will help the Marshal. Hearing something rustling behind him, he finds Sawyer combing the fuselage for a different reason - turns out he's doing a little personal shopping. Jack berates him for disrespecting the dead, but Sawyer tells Jack to get with the program. Jack still thinks they are back in civilization while Sawyer realizes they are "in the wild."
disturb [dis'tə:b]v. 打扰，扰乱，使不安

rustle ['rʌs(ə)l]n. 沙沙声,瑟瑟声,飒飒声v. 发出沙沙声,飒飒作响

comb [kəum]n. 头梳v. 梳头发,梳毛

berate [bi'reit]v. 眼里责备，痛斥

disrespect ['disris'pekt] n. 失礼,无礼vt. 不尊敬,不尊重

get with开始做，着手做，对…注意

civilization [,sivilai'zeiʃɚn;-li'z-]n. 文明,文化

in the wild在自然环境下，在野外

At one end of the beach, Charlie is helping Claire collect luggage using a wheelchair from the plane and they begin to form a bond. Meanwhile, Sun presents a suitcase to Jin, but after closer inspection Jin determines it is the wrong one and tells Sun to keep looking. But before she does, he tells her to go and clean up her face, she is embarrassing him. As she turns leave, he tells her he loves her. And the strange thing is that he appears to mean it.
wheelchair ['wi:ltʃeə(r)]n. 轮椅

inspection [in'spekʃən]n. 检查,视察

determine [di'tə:min] v. 1决定,决心要2. 确定

Hurley bumps into Kate at the infirmary tent and tries to play it cool about knowing her secret and in the process notices the gun in her waistband. He is not a smooth liar. And off the gun we FLASHBACK to:
bump into 撞上，偶然碰见

bump[bʌmp]vt. & vi. 撞倒; 冲撞vi. 颠簸着前进n.碰撞，猛撞，肿块

play it cool v. 抑制住感情,冷漠

waistband ['weistbænd] n. 腰带,束腰带

liar [‘laiə]n. 说谎者

smooth [smu:ð] adj. 光滑的，平稳的，流畅的，过分殷勤的v. 使...光滑,变平滑

FLASHBACK[’flæʃbæk]n. (文学和电影中)闪回; 倒叙

Kate, who decides it's time to move on from the Australian farm. But when she accepts a ride from Ray to the train station, she learns that he is planning on turning her in to the authorities. He saw her picture at the post office and he really needs that reward money. Kate looks in the side mirror to see the Marshal, hot on her heels. In a desperate attempt to get away, Kate jerks the wheel and crashes the truck off the road. Saving the farmer from the truck costs her a chance to escape and she is captured by the Marshal.

move on 1继续前进 2对…采取行动

ride[raid]vt.& vi. 乘,骑,驾 n. 乘骑（坐）,搭乘

learn[lə:n]vt.& vi. 1学习,学会 2得知,获悉

authority [ɔ:'θɔriti] n. 1 权力, 职权 2 官方, 当局 3 权威, 专家

reward [ri’wɔ:d]n. 1 报酬2 赏金 vt.奖赏,酬谢

The police were on our heels. 警察紧追着我们。

attempt[ə’tempt]vt./n 试图; 尝试

jerk[dʒə:k]vt. n. (口语)笨蛋,性情古怪的人,急拉,肌肉抽搐v.猛拉, 痉挛,

wheel [wi:l, hw-] n. 轮子,周期v. 旋转,装以车轮,转动

capture ['kæptʃə]n. 抓取,捕获之物v. 抓取,获得,迷住

In a makeshift infirmary tent, Jack is tending to the Marshal who mutters the same thing over and over through his pain: "Don't trust her...She's dangerous." When Jack asks him who "She" is, the Marshal tells him to look in his Jacket pocket. What he finds there will change things on the island forever. It's a mug shot...of Kate!
makeshift ['meikʃift]n. 临时措施adj. 临时的

infirmary [in'fə:məri]n.治疗室

tent [tent]n. 帐篷v. (住)帐篷,宿营

tend [tend]v. 1有某种的倾向,易于2照料，看护

mutter ['mʌtə]n. 喃喃低语v. 喃喃自语,作低沉声,出怨言

over and over adj. 反复的，再三的

mug shot n. 面部照片, 嫌疑犯照片

The Signal Party is working their way back down the mountain. It's getting dark and some of them want to make camp for the night. Sawyer wants to press on through the jungle at night, but anyone who has seen the last two episodes knows that isn't a very good idea and he is convinced to stay. Sitting around the fire, they discuss what they should tell the others about the French transmission. That information hasn't exactly done a lot for their peace of mind, so in the end they decide not to tell the others anything in order to preserve hope. At least for now...

press on vt. 奋力前进，向前推进；用力压

transmission [trænz'miʃən]n. 传输,传送,变速器

peace of mind内心的宁静

And speaking of hope, back in the tent Jack is using a great deal of it trying to save the Marshall. Hurley enters, stumbles across Kate's mug shot and asks the question we all want answered: "What do you think she did?" - off which we FLASHBACK to:

Kate, being prodded by a shotgun held by a farmer (Ray) who wants to know what she is doing sleeping in his barn. After a frank exchange, the two find that they can be of service to each other. He needs some help on the farm, she needs a job and a place to stay. She says her name is "Annie."
prod [prɔd]n. 刺针,签子v. 戳,刺,刺激

shotgun ['ʃɔtgʌn]n. 猎枪

barn [bɑ:n]n. 谷仓,牲口棚

frank [fræŋk]adj. 坦白的, 直率的

exchange [iks'tʃeindʒ] n. 1 交换，汇率 vt. 1 交换，交流

Back at the Signal Party, Boone lifts the gun from Sawyer and the clip from Sayid as they sleep. They wake up and an argument ensues over who should have the gun, but they can't agree on a trustworthy candidate - until they arrive at Kate. She reluctantly agrees to keep it.
ensue [in'sju:]v. 跟着发生, 因而产生

trustworthy ['trʌst,wə:ði]adj. 可信赖的，值得信任的

candidate ['kændideit]n. 候选人,求职者

reluctantly [ri'lʌktəntli]adv. 不情愿地, 勉强地

The next morning, Hurley arrives at the infirmary tent to tell Jack the Signal Party has returned. Kate pulls Jack aside and says she has something she wants to tell him...in private. Jack is relieved, assuming that she is going to confide in him. But when they get down to it, Kate tells Jack about the French transmission. He asks if there is anything else she'd like to tell him. She asks if the Marshal has regained consciousness. When Jack tells her he did briefly during the surgery, Kate asks if he said anything to Jack. Jack considers the question for a moment before answering, "No."
aside [ə'said]n. 旁白adv. 到(或向)一边

in private adj. 秘密地(私下地)

relieved [ri'li:vd]放心的

assuming that conj. 假如

assume [ə'sju:m]vt. 假定,设想,承担（责任）

briefly ['bri:fli]adv. 简短地，暂时地

for a moment片刻,一会儿

The Marshal has taken a turn for the worse. If they don't find some stronger antibiotics, he's not going to make it. Hurley tells him he's looked everywhere...except the fuselage - but that's full of bodies "and they're all...dead."
take a turn for the worse:变坏, 恶化

make it v. <口>达到预定目标, (病痛等)好转

As the Signal Party climbs the steep slopes of the mountain, Jack asks Hurley to search the luggage for antibiotics while he looks for a blade he can use to operate. Along the way Jack runs into Michael and tells him he saw Vincent in the jungle earlier.

steep slope急坡

slope [sləup] n. 倾斜,斜坡v. 倾斜

antibiotics [,æntibai'ɔtiks]n. 抗生素,抗生学

blade [bleid]n. 刀锋,刀口

along the Way 沿途

run into vt. 偶然碰见；遭遇(困难等)；

Walt, wandering alone, without his dog, comes upon Locke placing the pieces on his backgammon board. Walt's curiosity gets the best of him. After teaching Walt the history of backgammon, Locke asks Walt a very creepy question: "Do you want to know a secret?"

wander ['wɔndə]v. 游荡

wonder ['wʌndə]n. 奇迹,惊奇,惊谔v. 惊奇,想知道,怀疑adj.奇妙的,非凡的

place [pleis] n. 地方,处境,职务v. 放置,任命,安排

backgammon n. 西洋双陆棋戏

creepy ['kri:pi]adj. (使人)毛骨悚然的

Jin, who has been handing out the sea urchin he caught, finds Claire sitting alone writing in her. Soon after swallowing the food she feels her baby kick for the first time since the crash. In the joyful realization, Claire admits that she thinks of the baby as a "He."

hand out分发,散发

swallow ['swɔləū]n. 燕子vt. 吞下,咽下,忍受vi. 咽口水

realization [,riəlāi'zeiʃən]n. 实现,领悟

admit [əd'mit]v. 允许进入,承认

Meanwhile the Signal Party is walking through a new stretch of jungle. Just as Sayid and Sawyer are about to go at each other again, they discover that they have bigger problems. Something big is out there and it's coming their way. They all turn to run; all except Sawyer that is who pulls a gun out of his belt and fires at the charging animal until it falls dead at his feet. We get our first good look at what came at them. But there must be some mistake. We're on a tropical island...and that's a polar bear!

a stretch of一片，一段

stretch [stretʃ]n. 伸展,张开adj. 可伸缩的v. 伸展,张开,延伸

go at vt. 扑向，攻击,从事

tropical island热带岛屿

tropical ['trɔpikl]adj. 热带的

typical ['tipikəl]adj. 典型的,有代表性的

polar ['pəulə]adj. 两极的,南辕北辙的,极地的

Jack begins his operation to remove the piece of metal from the belly of the survivor. Hurley tries to help but faints at the first sight of blood.

belly ['beli]n. 腹部

abdomen ['æbdəmən; æb'dəūmən]n. 腹部

at the first sight一见就;马上;乍看之下

Back in the jungle, Sawyer explains that he got the gun off on one of the bodies. And guess what, he took the guy's badge too. There was a US Marshall on the plane and that would suggest a prisoner was being transported. But who was it? As Kate takes the gun apart and divides the pieces among the group we get to see her memory of the crash. And in the process we learn that Kate is keeping quite a secret herself.

And guess what? 你们猜怎麽著？猜怎么了？

badge [bædʒ]n. 徽章

transport [træns'pɔ:t]n.运输、运输工具 v.运输；流放

In the middle of his primitive surgery, Jack's patient regains consciousness. He is consumed by one question: "Where is she?"

primitive ['primitiv]adj. 原始的n. 原始人

regain [ri'gein]v. 恢复,重回,复得

gain [gein]n. 增益,获得,利润v. 得到,增进,获利

consciousness ['kɔnʃəsnis]n. 意识,知觉,自觉

consumed [kən'sju:md]v. 耗尽,消费,用光vbl. 耗尽,消费,用光

At high ground, the group is finally able to get a signal, but they can't transmit because something else is already transmitting. It's difficult to hear, but it sounds French. It's a distress signal that has been playing over and over for a very long time. Shannon spent a year "studying" in France and is called upon to translate. But what they learn is more terrifying than anything they could have imagined...

transmit [trænz'mit]v. 传输, 发射，

distress signal n. 遇险信号，呼救信号

distress [dis'tres]n. 苦恼,贫困v. 使...苦恼