Edward had had enough of everything. Being stuck as a seventeen-year-old boy was one thing, but being stuck as a seventeen-year-old boy with a thirst for human blood was another thing.

He despised his killing sprees. Carlisle had told him all about vampires who relished in their new abilities, they who killed for leisure and enjoyment. Edward hated them. He hated that he was a monster, hated it when he got out of control. However, this loss of control had finally gone too far.

In his arms, he held her dying body, the body of his human lover. Her white-blonde hair, now stained with blood, caressed his face as he fought to take his teeth out of the pretty girl’s ivory neck. She was screeching something terrible, and as Edward tried to pry himself away, he felt hot tears coursing down his cheeks. He had not known vampires could cry, but now he was proven all too wrong.

Edward could feel her heart stopping as he drained her body of blood, and knew that her end was near. She didn’t have enough energy to scream anymore. With a gigantic effort, he withdrew from her neck, looking horrified at the evilly glinting wound just above her shoulder. Her bright green eyes were looking uncharacteristically dim.

She looked up into his eyes, the eyes that were now black pits. “Edward…” drifted from her lips as she inhaled…exhaled…then her petite chest stopped rising and falling, and Edward knew she was gone.

“Charlene…” Edward’s stomach churned with the dread of the kill and an undeniable, festering grief, but there was also a perverse sensation of having just had a delightful meal. His eyes traced the outline of her lips. He leaned down to kiss her one last time, trying to ignore the fact that she was now as cold as he was.