Doll
I have never told anyone this in all my years. Alice doesn't know, but there is a piece of my history missing from my stories. Edward has no clue that I can relate to his and Bella's relationship more than he could ever know. I had my own Bella for three sweet years, held her warm body against mine, and watched her slowly sicken right before my eyes. Corrine. I can still smell her delicious scent, the mouthwatering smell that sent flames down my throat. I only kissed her once, but I can recall it as clearly as if it had happened moments ago…
Ch.1 Bittersweet Human Taste
Walking down the dirty cobblestone road, feeling the emotions of the humans around me, I had found nothing to my liking for two days. I was about to retire, cutting through a park on my way to my house when I smelled her. If I were human, I would have related the scent to the most delicate and fragrant of fresh roses, the rich creamy taste of expensive chocolate, and the smell of a crisp autumn afternoon. It took me only moments to identify the cause for such a wonderful smell in the air. Salivating, I stared at a short young redhead walking slowly across the park.
I couldn't think, I couldn't feel myself, only her mood, emanating a sense of calm serenity. I was beside her in an instant, realizing that she was sleep-walking. Her skin was a smooth cream, her lips as red as her hair. I reached out to her, grazing my fingers across her cheek. She woke and winced at the cold of it.
Her mood changed then, from fear and confusion as she looked around at her surroundings, to contentment and awe as she stared up at me. I was puzzled, wondering if she was still asleep or not, until she parted her full red lips and spoke in a relieved voice, " I know your face."
---
Her pulse quickened, and I could hear its thrum as it coursed through her veins, radiating heat
from her neck.
"Tell me your name" I crooned, wrapping my arms around her, as if to defend her from the cold. She shivered as my bare stone arm touched the flesh of her uncovered shoulders and back.
"Corinne," She looked up at me through thick lashes, her lips parted slightly. I could hear her teeth starting to chatter.
"Well, Corinne, my love, my doll, be still. Just like the moon steals the light from the sun, I will steal you, my precious life. Be still." I pulled her against my body and leaned forward. She tilted her head, strands of silky red hair falling gently across her neck. I breathed her in as I bent lower, and brushed my lips against the satin of her neck.
---
Just as I was pulling back my lips, baring my teeth, ready to sink them deep into the flesh between her neck and shoulder, she spoke again.
"I have told you my name. Is it not fair that I learn yours in return. I dream of you every night. I wake up in different places around this foul city, looking for you. Sometimes I even find myself in the countryside. Now I have finally found you, you intend to put out my candlelight as quick as an afternoon breeze, without even as much as telling me your name. What do they call you? Can I not know?"
I pulled unwillingly away, far enough to look her in the eyes, but still close enough that our middles were touching. My arms were still tight around her.
"You know I was to kill you, and you worry not for your life, but that you won't know my name. Why is that?"
"Because, sweet night dream, life is not worth living without you, and even in death, if I at least but knew your name, I would have something to hold on to in the unknown. Please, the ignorance haunts me."
"Corrine, if you only knew what haunts me."
"Tell me."
"You. You and your bittersweet human taste. My name is Jasper."
---
We spoke well into the night, me sitting on the cold hard ground, my back against a tree, Corrine sitting in my lap, her head resting against my still shoulder. Sometimes we wouldn't speak for as long as half the time of an hour. I would sit as still as I possibly could, breathing her in drunkenly as she cuddled against my body and drifted in and out of consciousness, sometimes murmuring my name as she curled her fingers in my blonde curls.
How I had ever managed to control myself, keep from biting her and drinking from her until her heart beat its last pulse and I was so full I could hardly walk straight, I could not know. Something held me back from hurting her, from leaving her there and escaping the city while I still had control before I could hurt her. But I was so engrossed in her whole being that it was enough for me to ignore the burn in my throat, the venom in my mouth, the twitch of my powerful muscles, threatening to just break her in pieces.
She was, by far, the most beautiful human girl I had ever seen. She had such a porcelain face, that which belonged on the face of a doll makers craft, only the most expensive of tastes. And I knew, sitting there alone in the park, with only the moon and the stars, smelling the sweet scent of her, that she was mine. I didn't care what happened now. I was going to take her home, run away with her. I could run her deep into the countryside, I could build us a home, catch her food, keep her safe. I would steal her and run away from all reality. But how, oh how could I accomplish that, when I was immortal and she was but a human girl. It was in my nature to kill her, and my bizarre want for her, alive, was puzzling to me.
---
If vampires could cry tears, I would have wept that first hour she was sleeping. I had never felt so complete in all my life, holding her in my arms, watching her sleep with no fear, made me feel like I didn't have to be a monster, a creature that all humans shied away from.
About an hour before sunrise, I had finally made up my mind. I slowly got up, pulling Corinne's sleeping body with me. She stirred, moaning softly and trying to roll on her side. When she figured out she couldn't, her eyes fluttered open to stare at me with large knowing eyes.
"You've decided." It wasn't a question.
"Yes, Corinne. I'm stealing you."
I swung her body around so she was on my back and turned to face the distant wild.
"Hang on, and whatever you do, don't scream."
As she tightened her arms around my neck, a move that would've cut off the air supply to a human, I burst forward, running full out down the dark corridors of the putrid city.
