Hi, guys, and happy almost Halloween! This is a story that has been bugging me for a few months now, and I finally managed to finish it in time to post. The inspiration is, not surprisingly, from music. If you've never heard Meg Meyers, she does an excellent psychotic ex-girlfriend in Desire and Monster. The other main artist that gave me the bunnies is In This Moment. Maria Brink can scream with the best of them, and her songs Big Bad Wolf and Burn sealed the deal for where I wanted to take this. I have a YouTube playlist compiled that I listened to while writing. If you're interested, you can search for Lara Norman and give the songs a listen.

This is not horror, as I am a scaredy-cat that can't handle watching or reading horror, much less writing it. This is a vampire Bella hell-bent on changing human Edward to bind him to her for all eternity. Since he's not on board with that plan, she stalks him and drinks from him as often as she can. It's hopefully creepy and thriller in genre, but not too bad for those like me that don't like true horror. This is set in the general time period of the sixteen hundreds, but you'll have to grant me suspension of belief for most of this. It shouldn't be hard, since we're talking immortal creatures and all. ;)

The chapters are relatively short (in fact, this A/N may be longer than the prologue), and there are 11 in total. Posting is once a day until Halloween, so I understand if you want to wait until it's complete.

All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of S. Meyer. The original plot is the only thing that belongs to me. No copyright infringement is intended.

Credit goes to my ladies: kimmie45, starsmina, and NKubie. Coppertopj has been sick and wasn't able to help. :(

The link to my facebook group is on my profile, and my blog is MeteorOnAMoonlessNight. blogspot. com, if you like pictures to go with your stories.

The wall of flames was rising higher, so high that he couldn't see over the tops of them any longer. Their intense heat was scorching his face; his eyeballs felt like they were melting into his sockets. The searing agony was beginning to make it clear that escape was not in his future; what little future he had left. He wanted to give up, to go back to the cold, damp cell he came from. It would be better than the heat. Anything would be better than the flames licking at his shoes and singeing his fingertips, even the death he'd fought against, shied away from, hidden from. He would welcome a quick death now, if only it was offered to him.

It wasn't supposed to end this way. He'd made every effort to ensure it wouldn't go so horribly wrong, but he'd waited too long to make the right decisions for the both of them. Because of his cowardice, he hadn't been able to save Isabella, and now he was going to perish as well. Futilely, he wished he could turn back time and take her up on her first offer. It might have had painful consequences, but he didn't believe it could have been any worse than the situation he was currently finding himself in. He couldn't know that at the time, of course, but she had tried so hard to warn him, and he hadn't listened.

As the burning consumed him, he mentally cried out for her. She would hear him; she'd heard everything and tried to explain. He regretted his ignorance. He regretted a lot of things just then, but most especially his willful ignorance. Fear and confusion had caused him to deny the pleas of the gorgeous woman. She'd been mysterious and too beautiful to be human. She'd told him tales of her life that made no sense. She'd frightened him, he could admit it. She was terrifying in her bloodthirstiness, in her need for him above all other things. Nothing affected her quite the way he did, she'd said. She'd tried to be gentle, according to her, but it wasn't in her nature. Death and destruction were all she knew. Those attributes had been the downfall of them all, and even a monster could admit that.

He hadn't had the strength to go against the others, and now he was paying the ultimate price. There was nothing else to do for it but give up. If he closed his eyes, he could see Isabella one last time; her sable hair swirling over her shoulders, seeming to move even while she was still. Her skin was porcelain, a luminescent ivory that lacked the offset of blue veins. In his vision, her eyes were focused on him, steady and strong.

And burning in the flames.