One Bite Is All It Takes

Chapter One: Death Never Felt So Good

I want to die.

“Felicia! Felicia!”

Please, let me die.

“Felicia, answer me damnit!”

Don’t be selfish, this isn’t for you.

“Bloody hell, open your eyes!”

I can’t. I can’t control anything anymore.

I could feel the blood, wet and slick, drip down my forehead over my eyes like a blindfold. It seems like this could’ve happened to me hundreds of times before, but I knew it hadn’t. Its the first and last time. A wave of numbness, of nonexistence hit me again like a battering ram. I open my mouth to scream, but can only force out a weak gurgle. How did my life come to this?

“Arden, you’re scaring her.” My eyes swivel around, trying to match the voice to a face. Its as if the whole color spectrum is before me, swirling around like baby birds learning how to fly. I close my eyes again, feeling a burning sensation within my sockets. The image of a face, almost as transparent as glass fazes into my thoughts. Its so beautiful its completely impossible to differentiate if it were a guy or girl. The face smiles at me, pearly teeth glinting against the red. I wanted to reach for this face, to feel for the first time what it feels like to hold perfection in my hands, but as my fingers feebly brush the chin, the face darts away.

“She’s going to die. Doesn’t that even remotely bother you?” I try to see through the red liquid pooling into my eyes. Everythings tinted red now, so thick and vast its bottomless. How could I come so far only to fall back down?

I try to rewind, to recapitulate the last six months of my life. Six months. Was it really that short? Only six months for me to meet the one person who changed my life irreparably and then have him- it -completely torn away from me.

I guess life really isn’t fair or just.

My hands writhe pathetically at my side, clawing to find anything to indicate where I'm at. Something cold and smooth—a stone perhaps?—is pressed against my back, its sharp angles jutting into my spine. I moved to roll, to stop the flow of blood into my face when another wave of Death, eager and sweet, drops its weight onto my chest. Agony rips through me as I scream; I scream so loud I thnik I'm going to burst.

“Hold her down! She’s going to snap her spine if she keeps moving.” And they're right. Pain I didn't think was possible shimmied its way up from my hips to the base of my skull. My teeth began to clatter violently, my whole torso rising up, my hands beginning to curl—

“She’s going into shock. Make your choice now, Arden. You either make it quick or prolong the inevitable fate of a human.”

The scent of candy and cigarettes rolls over my mouth. My lips begin to immediately ache, despite the constant flow of blood into my mouth. God, I'm so tired. Why couldn’t they just kill me, already?

My whole body froze when I felt familiar lips brush over my jugular. Oh god, please don’t. Massive hands seize mine and press them together in one, the other angling my head. The perfect shot.

“Please…” I feel shock, warmth burst through me at the sound of my own voice. It was hoarse, barely above the brush of a leaf, but its mine. Its all I have left.

“I have to.” Arden’s words halt in his throat, revealing the emotion he always tried so hard to hide. My legs, dangling in the air now, swing lifelessly as he lifts me from my deathbed. The sky that had been a decrepit gray sparkles, blinding me with its light. Is death suppose to be this bright? I feel hands pull and tug on my body, draining what little strength I have left.

“Just say yes. All I need from you now is a yes,” he croaked. My skin, numb for the most part, didn’t miss the sharp pricking of his teeth.

“No.” I imagine myself smiling over the nostalgia of the conversation, but I can no longer feel my lips. I am ice, I am the Antarctic, I am the chill you get when you feel someone watching you. I willed my arms, my hands, to push against him so he would stop, but nothing happened.

“Don’t do this to me,” I groaned. The pain of speaking made my body shake.

My eyes swivel randomly, trying to consume all of him at once.. Long fingers clamping down on my shoulders, trying to keep me here. Full red lips, dripping with my blood. His lips, God, his lips were moving but nothing came out. Soft music brushes my ears.

“Please, don’t leave me.” How can I say no to him?

“Please, if you love me, you won’t leave me.” Arden's begging now, his teeth not sinking in but grazing my collarbone as he buries his nose in my matted hair. I want to wrap my arms around him, but I can hardly feel them. So instead, I settle for the words he didn’t realize he needed.

“I’m sorry.” And I knew that those words meant so much to him. Sorry for switching your life around. Sorry for making you work so hard for me everyday. Sorry for not being normal.

 In that moment, every fiber of my being, every thread that had woven to create me came undone. I could feel it. I came apart, like a string you couldn’t help but pull. Even through the haze, I could see the tentacles of inky black creeping over my eyes, spitting and thrashing as my savior begs me to stay. I'm done. I felt my hands go numb.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I never got to tell you that,” My arms, “I… I could never… You mean every…” My upper torso went next. His voice fades in and out, as if someone is fiddling with the volume of a stereo. But its okay, because I knew what he wanted to say. I knew all along. I try to force myself to speak, to find that sudden burst of fire from not too long ago, but its gone, along with me. My hands have slipped from the edge. The numbness is taking over.

“I love you.”

On a Saturday of a Full Moon in December, I, Felicia Truce, died in the arms of my murderer and my best friend.