Official Description:
A group of trackers. One target’s scent. A continent. This is the Challenge, and Edward Masen is about find out that in world ruled by vampires, there’s no such thing as secrets. AU
I love to read fics that are a little different – something with a twist I haven’t seen before in fan fic. A Race Against Time by tanglingshadows is definitely different. The “Challenge” is basically a game of sport for the Volturi, but this time they’ve made the challenge personal – and changed all the rules just to toy with Edward and make him “fall in line”. So we have 20 vampires hunting for a human target in North America, and the target just happens to be his human mate, Bella.
Both Edward and Bella are strong in this fic. Edward is a little possessive at times, but Bella doesn’t hesitate to stand up for herself, as we see in a flashback from earlier in their relationship:
“You were wrong tonight.” she said harshly.
“I was.”
She unzipped her dress and let it pool on the floor, leaving her a midnight blue lingerie set. “Do you like it?” She turned in a circle, letting me get the amazing view of the cheekie panties.
“A lot.” I nodded for emphasis.
Bella moved in front of me and grabbed my belt.
“You don’t touch me to prove a point to another man; you don’t touch me so another man will hear me scream your name.” She unbuckled my belt then undid the buttons on my jeans. “You touch me because you want to feel me come for you, understand?” I nodded and she pulled my pants down around my ankles. I watched as she licked her lips then kneeled in front of me.
“Is this okay?” she breathed against my dick before swirling her tongue around me.
“Yes.” I choked out and she started to bob along my length. I didn’t know why she was doing it, but I was really happy about it. I was lost in the feelings and moaning as she brought her hand to my balls.
“So close,” I panted. “Almost there, sweet girl.”
Then her mouth was gone and cold air hit my dick. I did not even have time to open my eyes before I was shoved backward. Hard. I didn’t expect it and tried to balance myself out but my jeans were still around my ankles. Right before I fell, I opened my eyes and Bella was giving me a sexy smirk. I tumbled all the way down our staircase, busting the railing at the bottom.
“You don’t use sex to prove a point.” She cocked an eyebrow at me. “Are we clear?”
I was sprawled out, half-naked at the bottom of the stairs, my cock still hard. “Crystal,” I answered and smiled up at her.
She turned for the bedroom. “Don’t come up here tonight, Edward.” The bedroom door shut, and I let my head fall back against the floor.
She was mine, and I was never more turned on in my life.
But back to the “Challenge”… Luckily Edward makes true friends along the way that become powerful allies and I love that the author has utilized members of the other covens and given them wonderful personalities. It’s refreshing to see Edward being razzed by true “friends”.
She let out a deep sigh. “All right.” Bella paused. “I really miss you. It sounds ridiculous, but I can’t sleep at all when you’re gone.”
I smiled her favorite crooked grin. “Neither can I, sweet girl.”
“That was so cheesy,” she said through a giggle. I could picture her face scrunched up and shaking her head, just like she did at all my lame jokes.
“I know.” My allies were looking at me like I was a zoo exhibit. “I’ve got to go, Bella. I’ll try and call again when we’re on our way to you.”
“I love you.”
“I love you. I’ll see you soon.”
After I put the phone back into my pocket, William stood up. “That was bordering on sad. Does she keep your balls in her purse, as well?”
I looked in the direction of Forks then turned to face the direction she was. I thought about our lives and relationship. I smiled as I recalled her eyes as I started to fall down the stairs; they were determined and slightly nervous like she was afraid of what I would do or if I would get hurt. Despite all my bad jokes or asshole tendencies she let me love her. The least I could do was admit that she owned all of me.
I shrugged. “It’s a nice purse.”
Tanglingshadows changes up a lot of the key canon traits, which is also refreshing. Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rose are all human, and don’t like Edward that much since they’re protective of their friend, Bella. Edward can’t read minds. James is a lousy tracker. Oh, and vampire eyes retain their human color in this fic, so we have a green eyed vampire Edward. Oh my…
I don’t want to give too much away, but something big is coming in the next few chapters. It’s 18 chapters in and she updates at least once a week (and she’s also great about replying to reviews, which I love). A Race Against Time is a wonderfully unique journey that I have thoroughly enjoyed, and I can’t wait to see where the remaining chapters take us!
As a reader, I always look forward to discovering fics that are truly original, and “A Race Against Time” truly was a change from the norm. The story opens up introducing the reader to an entirely different world than we are used to: a quasi-utopian society where the world is run by the Volturi. Humans are aware of their existence, but try to steer clear of it:
As the centuries went by, the Volturi’s methods were perfected to the point that humans went about their everyday lives normally. They worked, they had friends, they went out to parties and movies, but they knew, without question, that they could “disappear” in an instant. It wasn’t the best way to live, but it could have been worse. There were some members of the government that wanted to enslave the humans and treat them like chattel.
Edward and Bella are also very different in this story; they are older, in their twenties, and have already been mates for several years. They aren’t married yet, because of Volturi rules outlawing human and vampire marriage, but Edward’s repeated mantra of “one more year” shows how desperate he is to marry and turn her by her twenty-fourth birthday, making them the same anatomical age.
Though the basics of the storyline are different, the intense connection between the characters is still the same.
I whimpered, my hands tightened and the carpet tore more. We were going to make love; she was my love, my existence. The overwhelming feeling when I was near her became too much and made me wish I could stay in bed or next to her every minute of every day. Her words weren’t meant to inflame me, they were supposed to ground me, but they did both.
Bella is still a singer, but the scent of her blood calls to all vampires, not just Edward’s. He also cannot read minds; in this story, Edward is a tracker, and has been requested to participate in a version of the Olympics run by the Volturi called “the Challenge.”
“A group of trackers, vampires that can find anyone or anything if we are given the scent, are gathered in a room that’s filled with our target’s fragrance, and then we’re given a continent. That’s all the information we have and we are to find that scent. The first one that gets there wins. You don’t even have to let the target know you’ve found them because they don’t know they’ve been chosen. This is something that humans know nothing about and something I shouldn’t tell you, but you’re my girl and I tell you everything.”
“You don’t kill them then?”
“Never. The target is specifically there for us to find. We don’t kill them, and we are not allowed to harm each other in the quest for the target.” I explained.
Edward returns to Volterra with the intent of winning the Challenge and coming home to Bella as soon as possible. However, when Edward discovers that the human chosen is his wife-to-be, and that the winner is allowed to drain her when she is found, turns the entire story on its edge.
It’s a very interesting story and I’m excited to read more of it! You should too!
I was nervous about reading A Race Against Time by tanglingshadows, as I usually read all human stories. But this really captivated me! I have only read the first two chapters and I am anxious to read more. It starts out with Edward returning home from a visit to Volterra. He is a vampire who still lives by the vegetarian rules from the books, but there is so much that is different! In this story he has been a vampire for 80 years. Bella, who is 24 in this story, knows he is a vampire from the start of the relationship, as it is alluded to, and Edward has to try and get her to agree to date him. There isn’t a lot of cat and mouse of trying to figure out what Edward is. At the beginning setting, Edward and Bella have been dating for awhile in this story, yet they are not allowed to get married. Bella has to be a vampire before they can get married, which is one of the cool differences in this story! Edward is the only vampire around him; he has no sibling vampires, yet Emmett, Rose, Alice and Jasper are all in this story. Here is the catch: they’re human! And they are all friends, well except Edward and Emmett. Emmett is sort of like the “Jacob” and the wolves in this story, without the love that Jacob has for Bella. He seems greatly disgusted with Edward’s lifestyle, even though Edward is a “vegetarian”. There is reason for Emmett’s hatred in vampires, and as you read further in the story you learn that story.
“Are you afraid a human will come along and show her that she needs someone with a beating heart?” Emmett sneered.
This story stays close to the original rules from Twilight, but the author also makes up her own rules which I think is fantastic! I feel there is going to be a lot of twists in this story as we learn exactly the reasoning for Edward to be in Volterra and taking part in what is called “The Challenge”. If you are looking for hot Vampire sex, who isn’t, this story is DEFINITELY for you!
“The floorboards cracked under my strength and I cursed inwardly because I would have to fix them later. Those thoughts were gone as soon as they came because Bella moaned around me and had I been human, I’m sure it would have killed me.”
Enjoy reading this story by tanglingshadows; I know I will!
This is my new favorite story. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever read. Like our wonderful reviewers said, the storyline of this fic centers on a challenge: a race to get to a target first.
Without recapping too much of what everyone else said, Bella is human, Edward is vampire, and they’ve been together in a forbidden relationship for five years. The vampires in tanglingshadows fic are different: they can’t hold down jobs in regular society (so they aren’t rich), they don’t sparkle in the sun, and their eyes aren’t red. Edward is invited to compete in the Challenge again–after having won two years ago, and he decides to participate in order to secure his future with Bella.
The challenge usually consists of ten vampires who are given the scent of a human and a continent. The target is not harmed, and the first vampire to find the target, wins. The rules are changed up for this challenge and it’s a Race Against Time to win.
I love the other characters and how detailed this story is. Definitely check this story out, you won’t be sorry.
[dcs_p]
[/dcs_p]
Recent Comments