Key: (BOLD + Italic are the character's Inner thoughts)

Edward POV

Flashback

"I can't do this anymore Alex! I don't even know who you are anymore," I yell at him as my eyes sting.

"I am trying to do this for you, for us! Don't you want me to be a human again, don't you want me to be happy? You have a body Edward, while I'm a fucking ghost that can occasionally be able to be corporeal!" Alex yelled back as his form shone white to highlight his anger.

"I don't care! I love you as you are and I'll continue to love you Alex, why can't you understand that, is my love not enough?" I ask defeated

"Oh you're trying to what, guilt trip me now?" He snorts with a cruel look on his usually happy features.

"NO! I'm just trying to-" he cuts me off, "to what? Be selfish, because I think you're actually jealous. That I get to be human again and you're stuck as a blood sucking monster."

My heart drops at his words, Alex had always reassured me he didn't see me as a monster, but was that a lie? Was everything he said to me a lie?

"You think I'm a monster?" I ask, my voice quieter now

"Oh come on Edward, you can't be that stupid. Don't you hear the people's thoughts? See their faces when you walk past them? EVERYONE thinks you're a monster that needs to be put down." He says laughing cruelly with eyes so dark that I felt as if I was looking into an abyss.

I look at him crushed before turning around and vampire speeding out of my bedroom. I run as fast as I can into the woods, not caring about anything, but getting as far away as possible.

As I tore through the forest, the wind whipped against my face, mingling with the venomous sting of Alex's words.

Monster.

The word echoed in my mind, louder than the snapping branches and rustling leaves around me. For decades, I'd heard it in passing thoughts, seen it in fleeting glances, but coming from Alex-the one person who was supposed to see me, not just the creature I'd become-it was devastating.

I stopped by a river, the moonlight reflecting off the water like shards of broken glass. My chest heaved even though I didn't need to breathe. I stared down at my hands, the pale, inhuman perfection of them, and clenched them into fists.


Was he right? Had I been fooling myself all this time? Pretending that love could make me something more than what I was?

I dropped to my knees at the river's edge, gripping the cold, damp earth. If I could cry, I knew I'd be sobbing.

He'd called me selfish. Maybe I was. Maybe holding onto him, loving him despite everything, was selfish. Maybe I was just a monster and nothing could change that.

The forest was silent except for the sound of the river, a steady reminder of time passing, indifferent to my pain. I stayed there, motionless, until the first light of dawn began to creep over the horizon. It didn't matter to me. I welcomed the sun, as if its burn could cleanse the stain of Alex's words.

But the sun didn't touch me. The thick canopy of trees shielded me, leaving me in the shadow where I belonged.

After what felt like hours, I stood, brushing the dirt from my jeans. I couldn't sit here forever, no matter how much I wanted to. If Alex didn't want me as I was, then... maybe I needed to let him go. As much as it hurt, as much as it tore at whatever was left of my soul, I couldn't force him to stay. I couldn't make him love me the way I loved him.

I turned away from the river, my resolve hardening. The pain wasn't gone-it wouldn't be gone for a long time-but I could live with it. I had to. For myself, if nothing else. For whatever remained of the human boy that was Edward Anthony Mason who wasn't just a monster.

As I made my way back through the woods, I didn't look back. I knew where I had to go now, to Italy, to the Volturi.

To be put down like the monster I am.

I was always known to be fast-faster than any human, faster than most vampires-but no matter how quickly I ran, I couldn't outrun Alex's words.

"Everyone thinks you're a monster that needs to be put down."

If Alex saw me as a monster... if the world saw me as a monster... maybe they were right. And maybe there was only one place left for something like me.

The Volturi.

They were the closest thing vampires had to a governing body, a cruel and meticulous council that ensured their kind remained hidden from humans. And they had one unbreakable law: Reveal yourself, and die.

A bitter smile twisted on my lips. If I wanted an end to my misery, I knew exactly how to get one.

I returned to the house one last time, not because I wanted to, but because I had to.

My fingers hovered over my phone, debating whether to text Alex. What would I even say?

"Hey, just dropping a quick message before I go get myself executed. Hope you get that human body you wanted. Take care, XOXO gossip girl?!"

Yeah, no.

Instead, I grabbed an old notebook from my desk and started writing. It wasn't poetic. It wasn't even particularly kind, but it was enough.

My Dear Alex,

I wanted to tell you that I understand now. You don't need to love a monster, and I won't force you to. I'm leaving. Don't try to find me.

Yours,

Edward.

I read it over, frowned, then scribbled over "I understand now." I didn't understand anything.

With a sigh and one final look around I left the note on Alex's pillow and walked out the door without looking back.

I had money for a cab, but what was the point in using it when I could get to Italy faster the old-fashioned way? That's how I ended up in the passenger seat of a beat-up truck, listening to a man named Greg rant about alien conspiracies as he drove me to the nearest airport

Which I guess wasn't my best idea so far, but I'm going to be dead in 24 hours so who cares.

"...and that's why the government doesn't want you to know about lizard people, man. They're running everything."

I stared out the window, barely paying attention. "Yeah, sounds rough."

Greg nodded enthusiastically. "You get it! You got that 'I know too much' look in your eyes."
Oh, if only Greg knew.

Time skip

By the time I reached Italy, the weight of my decision settled over me like an iron shroud. I stood in the heart of Volterra, staring up at the grand stone towers that loomed over the city. I had always liked art and all its forms including architecture, and now I'd die in one of the oldest cities in the vampire world.

This was it.

I took a deep breath-a habit I had picked up from Carlisle, I didn't need it, but it one that grounded me.

Then, with a slow exhale, I stepped into the open courtyard and into the sun's rays.

Tourists milled about, snapping pictures, blissfully unaware of what lurked beneath their feet. I locked eyes with a young woman taking a selfie, giving her a deadly look as I shone like crystals and flashed her my fangs.

She screamed.

Good.

Maybe I could finally rest now in death, life had never been kind to me in that regard.

Author's Note:

Hi guys happy new year!! First update of 2025 and I have plans people, I already have the plot outlined and I'm pretty happy with it so get your tissues and hate comments ready because we are all going to SUFFER reading this :)

Good luck to everyone in 2025 and I hope you guys have a good/night and I will see you guys in the next chapter (hopefully).