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Finally I was caught square in the headlights of a passing car,
最后，我被一辆驶过的汽车的前灯照到，
and it slowed for a minute, and the smell of it reminded me of Mom’s car whenever she and Ethan came looking for me when I’d been out too long on an adventure,
车速稍微变慢了一些，它的气味让我想起了妈妈的车，每当妈妈和伊森因为我出去冒险太久而来找我的时候，都会有这样的气味，
and I felt a quick stab of guilt.
我突然感到一阵内疚。
I lowered my head and trotted back home.
我低下头，小跑着回家。
Turning up the shoveled sidewalk, I was struck by several things at once, all of them wrong.
当我走上被铲子铲过的人行道时，我突然意识到有几件事不对劲儿。
The front door was open, and the aroma of home was wafting out in great gusts, propelled into the frosty night air by the force of the furnace.
前门是开着的，家中的香气一阵阵地飘了出来，借着火炉的力量飘进了寒夜的空气中。
Riding on the currents of that air was a chemical smell both sharp and familiar—
这股气流掺杂着一种强烈而熟悉的化学气味
I smelled it whenever we went for a car ride and stopped at the place where Ethan liked to stand by the back of the car with a thick black hose.
我们开车出去时，有时候车会停在一个地方，伊森喜欢站在车尾的地方，拿着一根又粗又黑的软管。每当这时候，我都会闻到这样的味道。
And backing out of the house was someone I initially thought was the boy.
从房子里退出来的那个人，我一开始以为是伊森那个男孩。
Not until he turned to shake some more chemical-laden liquid into the front bushes did I pick up his scent.
直到他转身往前面的灌木丛里倒了一些含化学物质的液体时，我才闻出他的气味。
It was Todd.
是托德。
He took three steps back and pulled out some paper from his pocket and lit it, the fire flickering against his stony blank face.
他往后退了三步，从口袋里掏出几张纸，点上了火，火光映衬着他那毫无表情的脸。
When he tossed the burning papers into the bushes, a blue flame popped up, making an audible noise.
当他把燃烧的纸扔进灌木丛时，一团蓝色的火焰冒了出来，发出了声音。
Todd didn’t see me; he was watching the fire.
托德没有看到我;他在看火。
And I never barked, I never growled, I just ran up that sidewalk in silent fury.
我没有叫，我只是安静愤怒地跑上人行道。
I leaped for him as if I had been taking down men my whole life, and surging through me was a sense of power, as if I were leading a pack.
我用我平时所学到的方式向他扑去，一种力量的感觉在我身上涌动，仿佛我带领着千军万马。
Any reluctance I might have felt to attack a human being was overridden by the sense that whatever Todd was doing,
我本不愿攻击人类，但因为意识到托德在做坏事，我的不情愿被掩盖了，
it was causing harm to the boy and to the family I was there to protect.
托托德在对伊森和我们一家人做坏事，我要保护他们。
There was no stronger purpose than that.
这是无比强烈的理由。
Todd yelled and fell and kicked at my face.
托德大叫一声摔倒在地一跤，还踢我的脸。
I took the foot that the kicking offered, biting into it and holding on while Todd screamed.
我抓住了他踢我的脚，咬住他的脚紧紧抓住不放，托德尖叫着。
His pants ripped, his shoe came off, and I tasted blood.
他的裤子破了，鞋子掉了，我尝到了血的味道。
He struck at me with his fists, but I kept my grip on his ankle, shaking my head, feeling the flesh tear some more.
他用拳头打我，但我仍紧咬住他的脚踝，甩动着我的头，我感觉到他的肌肉又撕裂了几分。
