The Accident
The Mercedes spun on the wet pavement, and vampire powers or not, there was nothing Mick could do to control the car as it careened toward the utility pole. In the passenger seat, Beth held onto the dashboard, terrified.
The car's momentum carried it into the pole passenger side first. Glass shattered and metal screetched. The car wrapped itself around the pole - wood and metal competing with flesh and bone for space in the compacting interior of the Benz. Mick was knocked temporarily unconscious by the force of the impact.
When he came to, he was looking at Beth. She was covered in blood. Her beautiful face had been shattered, its once wonderful symmetry distorted by the broken bones beneath the skin. Her hair was a matted mess of blood and broken glass. She had a huge gash in her neck, and was losing blood at an alarming rate.
Mick tried to reach out to Beth, but his arm wouldn't move. He looked down, and couldn't believe what he saw. The odds had to be more than a million to one against it happening, but somehow a piece of the wooden utility pole had punctured his chest in the accident. He was paralyzed.
Beth's eyes fluttered and then opened. Tears streaked through the blood on her broken cheeks as she stared helplessly at Mick. She mouthed his name, but was only able to produce a wet, gurgling sound.
Mick could hear Beth's heartbeat slowing. His vision was blurred by his own tears as Beth's eyes closed and her head slowly fell forward. The pulsing sound of the blood coursing through her veins grew fainter as her heartbeat faded. Finally there was nothing. Beth was gone.
Mick sobbed and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he was looking at Beth, asleep in bed next to him. He got up on one elbow and wiped the tears from his face. He examined every inch of Beth's beautiful face - her beautiful, flawless face. Had he been dreaming, or had this been one of those glimpses into the future that his vampire nature sometimes afforded him? He hoped with all of his being it had been a dream.