Disclaimer: I own nothing Twilight related nor am I an expert in Biblical interpretation. I am taking a lot of things out of context and adding many parts to this story that have absolutely no reference in the Bible whatsoever. I hope everyone will take this story as it was meant to be taken. I mean no disrespect to the original works that I am building off of and I certainly would never want to lead people to believe that any part of this is based on historic interpretations of the Bible.

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The Curse

The serpent came day after day. Sometimes we talked for a long while, other times he only gave a cursory greeting before going on his way. He told me stories.

"Do you know what happened to the humans?"

"No. They must have done something terrible though. What other reason would they be thrown out of the garden for?"

"Terrible?!? Ha! Don't make me laugh. You are so caught up on God being such a good and great being. Let me tell you something. He's not."

My eyes widened as I gasped. What he said was blasphemy. "Stop! Do not say such things!"

"Once you hear the story, you will see what I mean."

Despite the warnings I felt, I was curious as to the reason the humans had been banished from the garden. I had wondered what they had done that was so horrible. I debated for a brief second and curiosity won out over better judgment. "What happened?"

"Well, it started with the woman. She was talking to me one day inside the garden and we got on the subject of the forbidden tree. She said that God commanded that she and the man were not even allowed to touch the fruit on the tree or they would die. I told her that she would surely not die, for God only commanded them not to eat of that tree because if they did, they would become like Him. God did not want them to have that much knowledge and power, for he did not want to contend with man. He made man in His image, but that was as far as He went. He refused to allow man to reach his full potential by not giving him His own wisdom. The woman realized what I was saying made sense so she decided to eat the fruit. She seemed a little hesitant to touch it at first, but when she didn't get struck dead when she picked it, she proceeded to eat it. She then gave it to the man and he ate it as well."

"What happened then?"

"That was it. God came down, found them in the garden after they made clothing for themselves because they were naked. The man blamed it on the woman; she blamed it on me. As if I had forced her to do anything. But naturally the brunt of the blame was put at my feet. Ha," he said bitterly, "that was back when I still had feet. That was the first part of my curse. Anyway, so the only reason they got kicked out was because they had eaten a bite of fruit and tried to cover themselves with some leaves because they realized they were naked. What kind of great God would curse those He made in His own image for such a minor offense?"

"Well," I said hesitantly, "He did tell them not to eat from the tree."

"But to curse them the way He did? And to curse me, an innocent bystander? Where is the justice in that? He took away my legs and cursed me above all the other animals on earth. There is no reason for me to be punished for telling them the truth about the tree. I never forced them to do anything."

Again, I was hesitant to agree with his logic, but his arguments were beginning to sound really good. If only I had known that the time how much the real truth of the story had been stretched. I was too trusting however, and had no inclination to doubt his words. Why did this serpent seem bent on destroying all my certainty? He caused me to question everything I been so sure about before.

How could God, who claimed to be pure Love, do such a thing His most favored creation? He had said man was created a little lower than my kind, the angels. I could not understand how a seemingly minor transgression could have such disastrous consequences for the offender. I realized that through my ponderings, the serpent had been talking.

"I see I have caused you a lot of thought, so I will leave you to that for now."

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"I'm sure you can at least walk around in the garden though, right?"

It had been a long time since I heard the serpent's story about the human's banishment and the serpent never brought the subject up again. Despite this, I could not stop thinking about it.

"Walk around in the garden?" I asked, bemused. Nothing the creature said made sense anymore.

"Yes. Did God say you cannot walk in the garden?"

"No. But He told me to guard the entrance, which I assume means I should stay here."

"Well I'm sure it wouldn't hurt. Nobody is around so I am sure you can take a few minutes to at least see what you are guarding."

I looked inside the entrance and saw the bright colors and the small creatures scurrying around. It did look nice. Maybe I could go look without causing any trouble. The serpent did have a point, there was nobody to be seen or heard for miles. I listened again just to be sure. There was an argument between a father and son about gathering wood for the fire but they were at least five miles away and very faint. I heard no other sounds but the rustlings and goings on of animals above and below ground getting ready for the sun's disappearance. After one last glance, I turned around and went through the entrance, my sword in hand.

For this planet, it really was extremely beautiful, the lush plants with their delicate flowers and fruits. Everything was just so green. I knew I should hurry and only take a quick look around before I went back. This was not part of my duty. I needed to go back. The serpent stayed by my side though and assured me everything was fine. If someone tried to come in, I would hear them before they got very far. I was comforted by this thought and decided to slow down. In the center of the garden there were two magnificent trees. They were unlike anything I had seen before. Nothing else in the garden even compared to the beauty I saw before me there.

"You know, you probably would not be banished from the garden if you ate the fruit."

"Why would I want to eat the fruit?"

"Because then you would be wiser and more knowledgeable than even the humans. You would know the answers to the questions that you seek." How did he know I had questions? I wondered if he was right though, that the fruit really would answer the questions I had been asking myself since the story.

"I don't know that I should…" It felt all wrong. Why did this creature insist on asking me unsettling questions and forcing me into uncomfortable situations?

"I'm sure God did not mean to deprive you of pleasure while you are here. What would it matter if you were to find the answers to you questions?"

I walked over and slowly, oh so slowly, reached out to take a piece of fruit with my free hand. Everything felt wrong but I didn't know why. I plucked the piece off, noting in some back corner of my mind its smooth texture and firm skin, and took a bite before I had time to think too much about it.

As soon as I sank my teeth in everything didn't just feel wrong anymore. Everything was wrong. Knowledge flooded into my head. I had answers, but not to the questions I had been asking. I knew what I was doing was wrong. I should never have left my place on the east side of the garden. Now it was too late. Right after I swallowed the bite my hand was on fire. The flaming sword was burning through my rock-like flesh and sending up a horrible black smoke. I screamed, dropped the sword, and stared at my hand. The beautiful smooth white skin was replaced with blackened ash. With the new thoughts in my head, I wanted my perfect body back. I knew it was wrong and that I should be worried about other things, such as what He would do to me once He found out what I had done, but I could not help it.

I realized then that the serpent was hissing at me. "Eat from the other tree and you will be whole again. It is the tree of life and your body and mind will be perfect again if you but take one bite from its fruit. You've already gone the same path as the human creatures, why not be better than them? You can live forever and strip them of their privileged place if you but follow me."

I realized then who the serpent was. The Other. Lucifer, as I had known him. I had been deceived. Or had I only wanted an excuse to be deceived? I couldn't remember now. All I knew was that I wanted to live and to be whole. I did not want to follow the deviant Other. He was true evil, I could see that it now that I had eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There was absolutely nothing good in this creature. But I did so want to have my hand back. I reached up and grabbed the fruit, noticing its most enticing scent at the same time, some combination of the exotic flowers surrounding me and something else, something almost otherworldly in its loveliness, and took the second bite.

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I remember the curse He placed on me. I knew I deserved it. How could I not? I had gone against His will and now I needed to be punished. Why did He let me live? At the time I was grateful, but now I have realized that the erasing of my existence would have been more merciful, had He chosen to do so.

Cursed are you, even above man! You will crave blood all the days of your existence, no longer a guardian but a hunter, and fire will bring your ruin. Your kind will increase on earth only through pain; your desire will be for companionship but through this you will hurt the ones you love. There will be enmity between you and man forever; each kind will hunt the other until the end of days. Because you have eaten from the tree of life, your days will be endless, stretching on before you forever; no relief in sight. You will forever be tormented by hunger but…you can choose.

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I am sorry the chapters are so short. I don't know if I will write longer ones eventually, but for the moment, this is the best break up of chapters that I can come up with.

Please review and tell me what you think!