The wick of the candle burned with a small light, it swaying gently in the soft breeze through the window moving the shadows that played on my desk from left to right. Time seemed frozen. I was frozen. I heard the girls outside the window, water splashing as they laughed together, though I sat in my chair, my fingers running across the tip of the flame.

I felt nothing.

I sat back, glaring over to the clock. Five till midnight.

Another day starting.

There was no new horizon, no silver lining. It would be the same as yesterday. And the day before that, and even the day before that. It would be the same exactly a week ago, or even the year before.

I was stuck. I was immobilized.

I was never going to move forward.

"Edward." Irina purred. I looked up, her body naked and glorified by the soft light of the candle. Her pale skin was dripping with wet droplets from the ocean, her long blonde hair damp and pulled to the side. "You are wallowing again."

"There is nothing to do in this life but to wallow, Irina. Have you not figured that out yet?" I asked her.

"Such a child," She grinned, sitting across my lap, begging me to touch her. I refused, looking away. "Stop denying what you want."

"I am not denying anything." I argued, looking back to her. "I just do not want you."

"Your lips say one, but your body says another." She smirked, grabbing my hand and bringing it to her breast. "You always look at the wrong side of this life, Edward. I like you better when you overcome with your lust by me."

"That wore out some time ago." I told her.

"It did not seem like it last night." She smiled, pressing her finger to my lips. "Come out and take a swim with us. I promise you will not regret it."

"I am sure I wouldn't. But I am not in the mood tonight. Perhaps tomorrow." I waved her off, giving her the small hope that she would have her way with me. She smiled and kissed my lips, gone within an instant.

Irina was a lovely bed warmer, but she sickened me to my very core.

She enjoyed this life. She thought that there was nothing more but this. Being immortal, to her, was the biggest achievement you could reach. She did not think into the future. Though, she had only been alive for merely over seventy years. She was young compared to most, compared to me. I was nearing my two hundredth birthday.

There was nothing in this life.

It was empty and shallow.

You watch humans die.

You watch the Earth die.

Everything moves on.

Except for you.

Irina didn't understand why I thought these kinds of things. She would tell me that there has to be one thing that makes me smile. One thing that gives me hope. I would tell her there was no such thought, no such thing that could bring me to feel even the slightest bit of hope.

But that was a lie.

There was a light of hope.

Maybe not for me, but I felt it in the depths of where my soul had once rested. The light was disguised as a young girl with dark brown sugar curls and deep hazel eyes. She was beautiful. She was my hope.

I'd do anything for her.

I stood from my chair, watching out the window at the young females who swam together. I only knew of Irina, the other four were a mystery to me. One of them by the name of Heidi swears she has been intimate with me before. I didn't deny the possibility, I had slept with over countless of women. Their faces blurred together.

Only one stood out to me now.

I sighed, looking away from the women and out the distance.

The air began the change, the wind picking up in a different direction.

My head tilted up towards the sky, the girls in the ocean going silent.

Something was unusual.

Something was off.

Something wasn't right.

The hair on my arms stood up as the girls began to hiss, my eyes dilating as I felt threatened. I jumped through the open window, hitting the ground as the girls came up from out of the water, the four of them hiding behind Irina.

"Get inside." I sneered.

"You cannot take it by yourself." Irina told me as she directed the younger females in the house.

"It is just one. A juvenile. I can smell the new blood." I told her, hissing between my teeth. Irina did not argue, following the women inside of the house. I rounded the corner, checking the perimeters. I could still smell it. It was close, but it was not moving.

It was staying in one place.

As if it was stalking something.

I looked down to my left, the street dark and empty. That is where the smell was coming from. That is where it was. And just down this road, was the small cottage – the same one where the only good thing in this wretched world was resting peacefully.

I felt my mouth salivate with venom, rage filling my veins where blood used to travel as my growls vibrated through my chest. It was too close to her, too close for my liking.

I didn't give it a second thought and ran.

Something shattered and a scream filled the air once I had reached to cottage. My eyes resting on a teenaged boy with bright yellow eyes just outside her window. He smelled me, swinging around and snarling in anger as he transformed, his clothes shredding like strips of paper as a black coat of fur covered his body, his arms turning into front legs, and his giant paws setting onto the grass as his sharp teeth glinted in the half crescent moonlight.

I growled my dominance and he returned it.

Quickly he came at me, our bodies clashing like rocks as I tried to grab around him. He snapped his jaws, twisting and rolling in an attempt to throw me off. I pushed him into the ground, his body coming right back up as he grabbed my arm, sinking his teeth in, throwing me into a car. His claws came up, scratching down the side of the door before I was able to grab his back leg, snapping it in half. He cried out, backing away. I tried to sit up but my arm was nearly completely severed where he had bit me.

I heard the front door open, the wolf already limping off and into the woods.

I had no power to go after him, too weak as it was. I stood from the scrap of metal, disappearing out of sight.

-TSIPWR-

She must hate me.

The way her eyebrows knitted together while she slept, forming a V between her eyes gave me the indication that she was not resting peacefully. I knew she was haunted. I knew she hated it here. And why wouldn't she?

She looked uncomfortable on the couch, but she was afraid to go back into her room. She felt violated. Someone was watching her. Someone was trying to kill her. The wolf was still unidentified, but I knew I had to be more alert. I couldn't leave all the time. I needed to stay here and protect her.

She would wonder why. She is so used to me being gone.

I was used to being gone.

She must hate me.

Just a few days ago I was a gentleman. I was affectionate. I liked it. I liked making her happy.

Then I brought home those women and kicked her out.

She has to hate me.

I was a wreck.

I am a wreck.

I didn't know what I wanted to do.

My fingers stroked across her cheek and her face relaxed. I smiled and touched the corner of her lips, taking in her scent. It was intoxicating. It made me feel high. I was drunk off of the smell of her and I loved every moment of it.

My mouth was watering. I could hear her heart beating. Her poor innocent heart.

She didn't deserve any of this.

If I was able to give her the world and place it on her feet, I would.

I would give her anything.

I touched the pinwheel resting against her neck. I felt her breathing against my fingers, her chest rising and falling. My fingers slipped from the pinwheel and down to her chest, the thin white cotton shirt showing the peach of her skin. My fingers traveled along the mounds of her breasts and I felt myself having to pull away.

She was too much for me.

I wanted her more than I ever wanted anything.

The sun was rising, but I was too attached to her to leave now.

I was confusing her. I didn't know what was right or wrong. I wanted to tell her everything but I do not want to corrupt her. I do not want to take away any of the pureness that rested with her beautiful soul. I was a selfish man, but then I was careful. She had no idea of her importance to me.

She stirred in her sleep and I stood quickly, backing away and into the shadows of the corner of the room. Her eyes fluttered open and she immediately looked at me. I was hidden in the darkness, but my eyes burned into hers. She blinked a few times before closing her eyes once again, stumbling back into sleep.

I knelled back next to her, cupping her cheek. I swallowed hard, knowing I was crossing boundaries.

Boundaries that were left for me so I could not cross them.

But I was always one to bend the rules.