A/N: This is my first ever fanfic! Please let me know what you think! While based on Twilight's version of vampires, I have created my own characters and scenarios, so none of the names or events should be familiar.
Disclaimer:I am not Stephenie Meyer. I do not own Twilight.
Pain took on a whole new meaning for me.
I was on fire, smoldering, an inferno. It was never ending. I burned hotter and hotter. I thought, my last coherent thought, It has to end soon! It never did.
The pain burned through my mind. I no longer remembered or cared how this came to be. All there was, all I was, was pain. Burning pain. I screamed, though it did no good. I begged for death, for whoever was torturing me this way to just end it. I kept expecting my heart to give out, something. It just beat stronger, faster, harder. Pumping liquid fire through my veins. With no end in sight.
Or was there? Possibly. Was it possible? My fingers and toes were no longer on fire. The flames in my chest were stronger though, so the lessening was barely noticeable. I only registered the change because my brain suddenly seemed capable of noticing more. Of holding more. I could think about the unbearable pain of the burning and at the same time realize the absence of pain elsewhere. Which only made my torment worse. I screamed with every breath, although by now I knew it did me no good. My heart was pounding even faster, burning hotter.
My arms and legs were suddenly freed from the pain and torment. But the inferno in my torso intensified. Was it possible? How could it get any hotter?
How long this went on, I couldn't say. All eternity? It felt like it. But the pain was condensing, moving away from my outer extremities, coalescing down to a smaller point, centered around my raging heart. My heart kicked into a whole new rhythm. This is it, I thought. Now I will die. My heart stuttered once, gave a last great thump, and then stopped. Finally, I was dead.
Or so I thought. My mind was still working. Sounds were coming to my ears that I couldn't understand. Birds were singing. I heard the foot steps of some animal, the crunching of its teeth as it grazed. I could pin point exactly how far from me it was. I gasped in a breath. It felt wrong somehow, like I didn't really need it, but at the same time I inhaled fragrances and flavors from all around me. I could smell the scent of the deer in a nearby meadow, the scent of the earth where I lay, the ground torn and broken with my struggles. I became aware of a new burn, in the back of my throat. As if I had been left in a desert with nothing to drink for days. Suddenly all I could think of was quenching this thirst. Instincts I didn't know existed took over. My body twisted, springing upward from the ground. Instantly I was on my feet, crouched down in a hunter's stance, sniffing the air for what I needed. I was barely aware of how much sharper my vision was. That wasn't important, except how it could help me achieve my goal. Quenching my thirst.
I froze, using my heightened senses to scan the area. I could smell the deer, hear it grazing, hear the soft thumping of its heart, the blood coursing through its veins. That would do. That would calm the thirst, somewhat. Then I smelled another scent. Sweet as honey, alluring as the best perfume. I didn't even think about it. I was gone.
Running through the trees. Fast. They should have been a blur, I was moving so fast, but my new eyes saw everything. I could see my prey even, through the trees. I came to a halt on a trail and turned, facing my intended victim.
"Wow, hey where did you come from, beautiful?" It was the last thing he ever said. I sprang at him, crushing him to the ground. I heard bones crunch underneath me. He gave one strangled cry and was silent. My teeth instinctively sought out the point on his neck where the skin was thinnest, the blood flowed the closest to the surface. I latched on, my teeth sinking easily through the skin and muscles of his neck. I sucked deeply, reveling in the exquisite flavor of his blood. I sucked until not a drop more would come out. Then I let my victim fall to the ground.
The thirst was….not gone, but somewhat quenched. The pain of it had receded enough that I was sane again. And able to realize the horror of what I had just done.