Obsession One-Shot Contest
Title: More
Your pen name: Moneybeet
Characters: Bella, Edward
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. All lyrics and original Twilight characters belong to their respective owners.
Lyrics that inspired you: The Kills – "I Hate the Way You Love"
[I, I can't get full
Please could you take my shakes
And would you hold them still
My words fell onto the road
I saw it starting to happen
And I could not collect them]
Author's Notes: This is a very unpleasant, graphic little oneshot. If you are offended by character death, then this is NOT the story for you. Please turn away if you are upset by descriptions of death.
He had been deep in the forest, hands wrapped tightly around the neck of a deer, when he heard it. A terrible crash, so loud it caused birds to scatter from the trees in a loud flutter of wings. The road was only a mile or two away – a distance easily covered in a matter of moments for him.
He was alone, which made his decision to investigate much easier. With a sound that terrible, it could only be due to a car accident. He closed his eyes, listening.
It was silent.
Had the driver died?
He was curious now, his intrigue at the quiet finally pulling him into a run. The world turned into a blur as he tore through the undergrowth and past ancient trees toward the scene of the accident.
When he arrived, his keen eyes searched through the wreckage for the driver.
The car had been a small sports car at one point, green from the looks of it, but was now decimated beyond any further identification. Its front end was wrapped around an old spruce. Blood was splattered across the front windshield and he could make out the white of the airbag filling the driver's seat as well as the passenger's side.
Strangely enough, the passenger side door was open. At a slower pace, he walked toward the damaged vehicle. About ten feet away, a sweet smell grabbed his attention. Confused and horrified at the flare of desire that erupted as a result, he took a step backwards. He covered his mouth and nose with one hand as the smell only became stronger as the wind decided to kick in.
A moan cut through his disgust. Someone was still alive?
There was a soft thump as a body fell onto the grass. He heard a sniff, then a wail of pain.
He turned his head away from the direction the scent was blowing, trying to get control over his more animalistic urges. His free hand squeezed into a fist while the one over his nose and mouth only tightened.
For the first time since being a newborn, he felt the desire – no, necessity – to end a human life. It's of no consequence; he thought to himself, the driver is already hurt badly, perhaps even dying as I stand here.
With this new resolve he pressed forward, steeling himself against the sweet odor by convincing himself he simply needed to check to make sure the human was dead before sneaking a bite.
Every step increased the painful burning down deep in his throat. Every inch caused his mouth to water, his instincts to burn with the need to taste, to devour.
What awaited him when he neared the open door surprised him. The human with the succulent smell was a young woman, perhaps no older than late teens or even early twenties.
His eyes widened as he took in the odd angle her body was lying in – she looked like a broken doll, arms and legs tangled and pointed in angles that were unnatural. She was face down on the grass and gravel; hair knotted and sprawled over her face. It appeared to be mostly a rich brown color but was currently more red than anything else.
He inched closer, eyes zeroing in on the red stains on her hair. The smell was more pungent now, as expected when he neared the source. She was shaking, he noticed. Her eyes and mouth were tightly closed. She had bitten through her lip – probably right before crashing into the tree – and it bled freely down her chin.
He licked his lips at the sight.
A whimper filled the quiet between them. One of her pale hands twitched and her fingers jerked at the motion. There was a muffled sob, which only lasted a couple of seconds, and then she was silent once again.
Getting closer, he finally reached the crumpled girl and kneeled. The scent was so powerful that he almost lost his carefully cultivated control. His orange eyes took in the injuries to her body. She had multiple broken bones, a broken nose, and probably a head injury. He could see where her head had taken the impact of the steering wheel, a large blotchy bruise blossoming across her forehead.
It was probable that she would not survive the night. She was alone – a fact he confirmed by looking into the remains of her vehicle and seeing no other bodies. He supposed he should call an ambulance, but he was disappointed at the thought of losing his opportunity to taste her.
It would be so easy to simply take away this girl's pain. He needed only a few moments to bury his teeth in the soft butter of her flesh and take her lifeblood. He could pass it off as a newborn kill – the result of his newly honed body simply taking what it needed to survive.
As he kneeled by the brown haired girl, he took deep breaths to savor her smell. Delicious. One prick and she would never know the difference. She could simply float away from her pain, from the accident, from all responsibility.
She was crying again. Those bloodied lips opened now to barely form words: "Help me."
He tamped down the monster for the time being and tried to put on a friendly smile.
"What's your name?" he asked, a hand moving to push some of her unruly hair from her face. In the process, his hand was coated with red, and he nonchalantly brought it to his mouth for a few quick licks.
She tasted incredible, hundreds of times better than what her scent had promised. He needed more.
If anything, she would die by his hand tonight.
"B-Bella."
Little crimson flecks tainted his smile now as he looked down on her. "Bella, what a beautiful name. My name is Edward."
"E-Edward." The sound of his name on her lips only caused the monster to roar to life. "Help me."
"I will help you," he said, resisting the urge to lick his sullied hand completely clean.
Her pale hand reached out in search of something. Perhaps she was looking for comfort from him? He tried not to moan in satisfaction as her warm palm touched his cold one.
Without asking, Edward used his unoccupied hand to gently roll the girl, Bella, on to her back. She gave a cry of pain as her broken bones were jostled. Her breaths came in jerky gasps at the explosion of pain in her entire body.
She was shaking, lying there prone half on the grass and half in the discarded asphalt and gravel of the road. Her button up blouse was ripped and bloodied, her skirt destroyed by stains and tears – presumably from Bella's little roll out of the car.
"Were you ejected from the car?" he asked, genuinely curious.
"No," she said, her hand squeezing his. "Will you call for help? I barely managed to get out."
"I'm afraid we are quite far from a telephone," he said with a shake of his head. "Would you like me to go for he-"
"No!" she interrupted. "I should have a mobile phone in my car, look there?"
He nodded, his hand gently releasing hers. Quickly he walked to the destroyed car and leaned into the front seat. Among the shattered glass and the inflated airbags, a small square phone lay facedown. Pocketing it, Edward returned to the fallen girl.
"I think it was crushed during your accident," he lied smoothly.
Her face fell. "Am I going to die here, surrounded by smoke and broken glass?"
"I hope my family will come searching for me soon," he said, "as I have been gone for far longer than I intended and they each carry a phone with them at all times."
She tried to hide her panic at the thought of how long it could take them to discover their missing family member. Her face betrayed her thoughts to him – she was considering her family's reaction to the accident.
"Do you have a family?" he asked finally.
"It's only my father and me," she said as she reached for him once more. The movement caused a fresh surge of her smell to invade his senses.
He observed the small tremors starting to overcome her body. Shock. He removed his coat, placing it over the girl.
It had no effect, as she the shaking started to overcome her entire body. She hissed in pain as her broken bones were again moved. "Please help me, Edward," she pleaded.
He drew closer to her, placing one cool hand on her forehead. She was burning up as well thanks to the trauma her body had undergone. Who knows how long she had been sitting in that car before she pulled herself free?
Her body moved of its own accord, each twitch and shudder causing her entire body to move. Edward put a hand over her eyes, then asked, "Can you open your eyes for me, Bella?"
She did not reply, the remnants of her teeth coming down to bite on the already abused lip. Instead she blinked once, then twice before opening her eyes fully. At the light, she slammed them shut immediately. "It hurts."
"You probably have a concussion," he told her, unknowing if this were true or not. "Try to keep still."
"I-I can't," she moaned helplessly. "I can't help the shaking."
She tried again to open her eyes but it was still too painful.
Helpless to do anything but watch, Edward simply pulled Bella into his lap and held her close, the call of her blood at a painful crescendo. He held his breath and observed as the girl continued to shudder out of control. At one point it was so bad that she nearly flopped out of his arms.
She gasped for air between crying in pain.
He had never seen anything more appealing.
This went on for quite some time, the darkness fully descending upon the two by the time she spoke again. "Please hold me still." Her eyes were brown, he realized as she stared up at him. The dark must have been less bothersome than dusk to her sensitive eyes.
Over the hours he had been holding her, Edward had developed affection for this brave girl. She was dying, yet had not pleaded for rescue or even lamented that her short life was coming to an end.
He knew she was dying before his eyes. He again thought of the phone he had pocketed in his selfish desire to taste more of her blood, and again dismissed it from his thoughts. His sire would understand: she was near death and he would free her from the pain and bonds of her mortality.
"Always," he said as he drew her more fully into his grasp.
She seemed reassured by his simple response, her brown eyes sliding closed.
He sensed it before she did through the slowing of her heart and the calm of her breathing. There was a grip in his shirt as her muscles started to seize. He obeyed her wishes, even as a full seizure overcame her small form.
He had never seen a natural death before. It seemed far away, as though he was simply watching a movie or a documentary on someone else's life. He had reached the finale, when the character had lived a long and happy life and was now ready to depart to the afterlife – much like he should have.
She gave a heavy sigh as her heart slowed further. In the silence, he could make out her shallow breaths and grunts as her lungs gave out. "E-"
Edward leaned in close to the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply. So close to death, yet she smelled still so wonderful. Blood was running down a deep gash in her forehead as well as from her lip – which had split back open when she started seizing.
It was too much. He had resisted for so many hours, waiting for this moment.
Another deep breath in through his nose as he filed away the scent in his memory. His nose skimmed the underside of her jaw, the pulse still faint, and he let his tongue reach out to collect the blood there.
He ran his tongue along the path, gathering the rich liquid from her chin and swiping it from her lips. Edward gave a delighted groan at the satisfaction of tasting her again.
My meal has been worth the wait, he thought in glee.
He retracted his tongue into his mouth and settled for gliding his lips down the column of her throat and to her pulse point.
Lick. Lick. And he bit down hard.
She tasted even better here. Her weak heart was still pumping, filling his greedy mouth with ease.
He drank.
She gave a faint moan, which enticed him to simply bite down harder and take more.
He consumed until her veins and arteries ran empty, his whole body humming with awareness after such a meal.
One of his hands came up to wipe the excess blood from his mouth, staining it.
Edward looked down at the woman in his arms. Her heart had long since stopped, especially since he had become so ravenous toward the end.
She looked to be at peace, despite her gory appearance.
"Oh Bella," he said in a reverent voice, "I want more."
Note: With the timeline, Edward is a newborn - just much later than in the book. Thanks for reading! Please pardon all grammar mistakes, as this is unbetaed. I decided to write something different at the last minute, which made it impossible for me to get it to anyone for even a pre-read.
Please let me know what you think!
-moneybeet