I Don't Want Your Brains, I Just Want Your Heart
Bella has always been a bit unusual. With an intense interest in only wearing black, watching horror films, and being weirdly morbid for her young age, she doesn't have many friends. Not that she minds. Then, one day she uncovers one of Forks' biggest secrets. A beautiful girl that just can't seem to stay dead.
A/N: The idea for this fic comes from the song The Zombie Song by Stephanie Mabey. Enjoy this quick tale for Halloween. Also, content warning for some mentions of gore throughout the fic.
I was always obsessed with morbid things. It had started when I was young and it had only gotten more serious as time progressed. I'd skim the newspaper obituaries for fun instead of looking at the Sunday cartoons. I'd frequent graveyards like girls frequented beaches. I'd go to jails and hanging sites like they were stores, and I was obsessed with serial killers and the way they operated. I treated death like some hot commodity, knowing just how many ways a person could die.
Naturally, the more gruesome methods caught my eye first.
There was a perfectly good reason behind my fascination and no, it wasn't an act that I put up to fit in with the goth kids at my school. I wore black because I liked it. I listened to death metal because it spoke to me. And I hated people who weren't like me as a preemptive measure I had learned, because sooner or later, people wouldn't like me, so I wouldn't like them first in order to get rid of the hope of ever making a friend in those few moments when we might be civil before they found my interests weird and left.
Everything I was, wasn't an act. It was because of my near death experience that I was like this. When I was younger, I had a bad heart. Doctors said I wouldn't make it past the age of ten. They were wrong. I made it to twelve before my weak heart gave out and I needed a transplant. I stayed in the hospital on life support for months because there was no suitable donor. My family and I were losing hope. And then a heart arrived for me.
It was a miracle and after surgery and extensive rest, I was ready to take life by storm. At this point I had missed significant chunks of school. It was hard to make friends so my mom sent me to live with my father in Forks as a sort of new and fresh start.
There no one would know my past and I could make friends as I pleased. The only issue with that plan was that since it was such a small town, everyone already knew everyone and no one cared to include the new girl into their social circle.
Which was fine by me. I quickly found a nice spot to sit by myself and enjoy my lunch. And I did like the town. It was gloomy and dreary and surrounded by pine forests. I would spend hours after-school wandering the woods, or meditating in nature. While there were not as many places to explore, I made due with it.
Charlie left me to my own devices mainly and when I wasn't outside, exploring, I was indoors reading books and blasting music. I was only going to be here for a year anyways before moving out to college. I didn't have high expectations there either but at least it was something to look forward to. I could start my own occult club there and meet like minded individuals.
It was on one of my patented walks- this time heading over to the graveyard to check out the new burial site- in the middle of the night that I discovered something most intriguing. I had thought Forks had no secrets and was just a boring plain town.
My father was asleep in bed, knocked out from a grueling shift at work. I don't know how it was grueling considering there was next to no crime here. Regardless, I took this chance to slip out, armed with only a flashlight, and a bookbag with water, snacks, and a blanket and some bandaids. I was planning on chilling at the graveyard for a bit and enjoying the sounds of nature at night.
Such a place put my soul at ease. I don't know why. It just did.
I stayed off the main roads in case anyone saw me, not that there would be many cars at this hour. The walk wasn't far- about forty minutes by foot. I pushed open the graveyard gate and it swung open with a creak. No one bothered to lock it. Figures. No one ever did anything in this town.
I made my way through the overgrown grass and old tombstones, searching for a good spot to sit by. There was a small pond with a dead tree overlooking it that I wanted to sit by and enjoy my midnight snack at. I picked my way carefully past, shining my light on the tombs to take in their words. Some were so faded it was impossible to tell what was on them anymore.
One of them was notable.
I stopped at the crypt- the only one here because no one could afford the cost of buying one. It was well maintained, the grass next to it trimmed and the plaque shined. The name on it reflected in the light. I was young when I went to the funeral. The whole town had.
This was back before I moved to live with my mom as she could afford my health care.
The town's doctor's daughter had died. It had been due to mysterious causes that no one could ever understand, not even her father who knew so much about medicine. He had been devastated- the whole family had been. They were sort of like celebrities in Forks, well known and respected by everyone. They always threw charity balls and their son was a star football player, while their daughter had been exceptionally academically gifted.
When she had died the whole town had been in mourning for weeks. And then the family had moved out.
I was perhaps six when it happened, but I still remembered the overwhelming nature of it. Of how many people there had been, of all the hushed voices and the stifled tears. Of the way I had seen her body laid out in the coffin, dressed in all white.
She had looked like a princess, with her curled blonde hair, serene look on her face, and the way the dress hung off of her. It had seemed like all she needed was a prince to come and kiss her to awaken her but none had. And so had ended her tale, tragically lost at too early of an age.
I walked away from her crypt, finding the pond a few paces down. I set up my blanket and laid down on it, switching my light off so I could enjoy the view of the stars above through the bare branches of the tree.
I stayed there for a while, taking in the sounds of the crickets, the frogs, and shivered lightly in the cold atmosphere. I had a thick hoodie on, but it was still a bit cold. I rifled through my bag to take out a thermos of hot tea and sipped on it.
That was when I heard it. The slid of heavy stone against stone. I whipped my head around to see where it was coming from. The sound continued and then stopped.
Strange.
Was someone else here? I got up, leaving my stuff behind and only grabbing my flashlight. I clicked it on, going to where I had heard the sound coming from. I froze when I saw the crypt was now open.
The stone door, which was no doubt super heavy, had been opened up. My heart began to race. Who had opened it? I stepped inside, peering in curiously. It smelled old and musty, and as my flashlight swept over the inside I noticed there was stuff inside. What looked like folded piles of clothing, stacks of books, and a carpet and bedding up on the wall where the coffin should be.
Was someone staying here? Was it a homeless person?
Should I leave?
Shuddering, with excitement and a bit of fear, I decided I would get my stuff and leave. I didn't mind supernatural elements but if it was a person, I didn't know what they were capable of. It would be best to leave now before they saw me. I went back to the pond and gathered up my stuff.
I had just slipped my back pack on when I heard it. The sound of someone breathing, the whisper of their shoes on grass. In the quiet of the graveyard it was magnified.
Shakily, I turned around and shone my light on them.
My eyes went wide.
Before me stood a blonde woman. Her hair was loose around her shoulders and she was wearing a simple hoodie and jeans combo. The fact that she was wandering the graveyard alone this late should be of concern. But what was even more alarming was the blood and gristle that caked her mouth and ran down her neck to stain her shirt.
She narrowed her eyes against the glare of my flashlight.
Oh fuck.
My heart raced nervously in my chest. What the fuck did I do now?
I let out a yelp and began to book it. The blonde let out an annoyed sound and gave chase.
Shit.
There was some criminal out here in the middle of the night. Some cannibal? Some drug junkie on a bad bend? I had to make it out of here and get to the town. She couldn't hurt me if others were around. But I didn't get far. In my haste I tripped over one of the broken tombstones and fell hard, hitting my head on the way down. The light rolled from my hands as my vision went blurry and then dark.
I woke up with a groan, my head throbbing in pain. I was aware I was on something warm though the air around me was cold. I sat up and almost hit my head on the shelf above me. Shelf? I wondered. Why was there a shelf above me?
My eyes grew adjusted to the dark and that was when I noticed I was in the crypt. Candles were lit, giving me some weak light so my eyes could make out that I wasn't alone.
"You're awake," said the voice and my heart began to race all over again. "I was worried you were severely hurt." She got up from where she was leaning on the wall. "Don't do that," she commented on, pausing halfway, sounding upset.
"Do what? Why am I in a crypt?"
"You needed to rest somewhere. And stop being scared. I'm not going to hurt you."
How could she tell I was scared? I hadn't said anything or acted scared. Maybe she just knew given the oddity of the situation. "I don't know if you'll hurt me or not. You were covered in blood." So she was the one who had opened the crypt and was living here. How did she have the strength to move that heavy door?
"Here," she tossed something to me and my fingers fumbled to catch it. When I realized it was my flashlight I turned it on and shone it on here. She winced at the brightness.
"Could you stop doing that?"
She was no longer covered in blood, and her clothes were different. She had changed for me. But why had she been covered in blood in the first place? She lowered her arm from her face when the light I had moved a bit to the side.
Despite the situation, something in my brain collided together.
Able to see her face clearly now, I gulped.
Blonde hair in natural curls, a stunning beauty with bright blue eyes and rosy red lips. A face that had been plastered all over the news at one point.
I gasped. "You're Rosalie fucking Hale?"
She looked disappointed.
"I went to your funeral years ago. You're not dead?"
"Great," she grumbled. "Even you, a total stranger, know me."
"Why aren't you dead?" I asked, hopping up to go in front of her. She flinched back from me but did not step back as I got in front of you her face. "Was it all faked? Why are you living in a crypt?"
This close I could see the light veins under her skin. Her skin was pale.
"It's complicated," she said before shaking her head. "I should have left you on the side of the road."
"What is going on? And why did you have blood all over you?"
"Look," she said, pinching the top of her nose. "I would appreciate if you didn't tell anyone about this. I'm happy being here by myself."
How had someone like Rosalie fallen so far?
"You can't live here like this." I didn't understand this situation, but I knew I couldn't leave her like this. "Come back with me."
"What?" she did a double take, like I was insane.
"My father is rarely home, and when he is, he's not interested at all in anything I'm doing. We have space in the basement, if you're trying to hide from someone."
"Why would you offer me this?!" she shouted and I flinched back from the volume of her voice. "You have no idea-" she cut herself off and backed down. "Just leave. And keep this a secret between us."
Something fishy was going on.
Nothing made sense.
But now that I knew who she was, and that she wasn't a threat to me, my curiosity was piqued. "I promise I won't tell him if you come live with us."
"That's some ass backwards logic," she said.
I took a step closer. She had been covered in blood before for a reason. Now, I was a huge proponent of the supernatural. Could she be one of them? Having risen from the dead? I grew excited. "Are you a vampire?" I asked her.
She looked genuinely taken aback by my words. "What?"
"You haven't aged a day," I told her. She looked just as she had all those years ago. Stuck at 18. "And I saw you covered in blood. You live in a crypt and bright light hurts your eyes. You also have to be stupid strong to open the door to this place every night."
Her jaw dropped open. "You're being serious."
"I am."
Silence for a beat, then- "huh, you're not scared anymore."
"Nope." I shook my head. "I love supernatural shit. Because you're different. Societal outcasts. It's cool."
"It's not cool!" she snarled out, her eyes flashing black. "You have no idea the suffering- the guilt I feel everyday-" she cut herself again. "Fuck!" she cursed. "I keep saying too much."
"So, I was right," I said smugly. This was so cool!
"No, you're not," she reported bitterly. "I suggest you forget about me, and move along."
"Are you worried about your blood lust? You don't have to worry about it. I'm sure we can find substitutes for you, like donations at a blood bank."
She rubbed the bridge of her nose again before sighing heavily.
"Come with me," she said, irritation thick in her voice. I watched as she opened the crypt, muscles straining under the tight muscle tee she wore. It slid open with a grating sound. Then she lead me up to a hill that began to come into the woods. We were heading towards the site of the fresh burial that had happened last night. I could see the dirt had been up-heaved and the coffin's lid ripped off the hinges. That wasn't the only thing there. She stood aside so I could see what was there.
We stopped at the body. It was mutilated. Ripped apart as if by some ferocious animal. Blood and gristle had stained the area around it. The cranium was busted open and the brain was missing.
"This, is what I do to people," she said, disgust lacing her words. "I can't go live with you, because this is what I'll do. The only reason I haven't attacked you yet is because I've recently fed. When I get hungry I can't control it. I'll eat the people in the town, but I have no where else to go like this..." her voice broke and her face contorted in pain.
"Zombie..." I whispered out. "You're...a form of zombie?" The missing brain was a dead give away.
"Yes," she said bitterly. "You see? I'm dangerous. Forget about me. And just let me live whatever I have left of this life."
When I didn't react in horror like she expected me to, she asked, "Why...aren't you disgusted by this?" she indicated to the body.
I shrugged. "Nah, it doesn't bother me. I've seen worse."
"You're...kinda fucked up," she commented and I laughed.
"I suppose so. But I like me like this." I shook my head, having so many questions of my own to answer. "I don't understand," I said, turning away from the corpse. It wasn't the first one I'd seen so my stomach stayed even. "How did you become a zombie?"
She gave a laugh. It was harsh. "I pissed off a witch."
My eyebrows went up. There was a witch in this town?
"I was an asshole to her son when I was dating him. Broke his heart supposedly. So she showed up to my house and cursed me one night. That if I couldn't love- if I didn't have a heart- I would become the heartless creature on the outside that I was on the inside. I don't know if she wanted me to be a zombie, but either way she cursed me. I got sick, couldn't eat human food, couldn't sleep. Always hungry but nothing satisfied me. My father fought so hard to find what was wrong with me but couldn't. And then I died. I woke up in this crypt later and came across the caretaker, eating him on the spot. That was when I realized something was wrong with me. I opted to stay here to protect the town. I've been reading up on my condition, but I'm somewhat limited when it's hard to go into town. Finding the witch too has been impossible." She shook her head. "Why am I telling you this? I shouldn't be telling you any of this."
I grabbed her by the sleeve of her shirt. She stopped moving, eyes unnaturally zoned in on my hand. I dropped it.
"You need a friend," I told her, feeling so much sympathy for her. "You've been alone for so long."
This comment seemed to break her. "12 long years like this," she said, voice shaking and wavering, fate tears escaping her eyes. "I'm so sick and tired of being like this. I just want to go back to normal. And if I can't...I want to end it all." She turned to me, grabbing me by my shoulders. "Will you do that for me? Will you end me?"
That was a heavy request but..."We won't have to resort to that."
"Are you insane?" she shook me. "I've eaten bodies! Dead bodies, and some live people when they stray too close to here. I don't want to be this anymore. The weight of my guilt is horrendous. So if I can't be cured, if that witch can't be found then I want this...over. Do you understand?" she shook me again for good measure.
"What says I'll be able to do that?"
"You have to."
I thinned my lips. Reading about such an act was one thing, but doing it in actuality was another. "I'll think about it. But let's find that cure for you first."
She let go of me and I winced at her grip. I would bruise there tomorrow.
"You can't tell anyone I'm here."
"Okay..." I said.
That night, was the night I discovered Forks greatest secret: an undead woman cursed by a witch into being a zombie for being heartless. It was the happiest I had ever been.
Forks was finally going to be interesting.
