Twilight: blood & brimstone

The Fall

Edward's world shattered.

One moment, he was in Bella's grasp, her whispered words still burning in his mind. The next—

Nothing.

A force unlike anything he had ever known tore through him, and then he was falling.

Not like before.

This time, there was no gravity, no direction, no sense of self.

He wasn't just falling through space.

He was falling through existence.

Memories unraveled. His past flickered in broken, jagged fragments around him.

His mother's face.

Carlisle's outstretched hand.

Bella—her human warmth, her heartbeat beneath his fingertips.

Then—

Darkness.

Edward slammed into something solid.

His body crumpled on impact, pain lancing through his limbs. He gasped, pulling in ragged breaths as the world around him settled.

He was no longer in the realm of shifting shadows.

Instead, he lay on damp, jagged stone, the air thick with the scent of rot.

A deep crimson sky stretched above him, choked with swirling black clouds. Massive, crumbling towers loomed in the distance, broken remnants of a world long abandoned.

The Void.

A place no vampire—no creature—was ever meant to tread.

Edward pushed himself up, his muscles aching, his senses still reeling.

Bella had done this.

She had cast him out.

And now…

He was alone.

The Hunter Awakens

Edward didn't know how long he lay there.

Minutes? Hours?

Time was meaningless here.

But eventually, something changed.

A sound.

A slow, deliberate footstep.

Edward's body tensed. He turned his head sharply, his golden eyes narrowing.

A figure stood at the edge of the crumbling cliffside, cloaked in shifting shadows.

Not Bella.

Not the demon.

Something worse.

A predator.

It moved with unnatural grace, its form flickering between humanoid and something else. The air around it warped, reality bending beneath its weight.

Edward slowly rose to his feet. His instincts screamed at him—run.

But there was nowhere to go.

The figure tilted its head, considering him. Then—

A voice, low and guttural.

"You do not belong here."

Edward swallowed hard. "I didn't exactly choose to be here."

The creature took a step closer. Its presence pressed against Edward's mind, primal, invasive.

"You were cast out," it murmured. "Discarded."

Edward's jaw tightened. "I don't care what you are," he said evenly. "I just need to get out."

A slow, eerie chuckle. "There is no escape."

Edward didn't flinch. "Then I'll find one."

The creature regarded him for a moment longer.

Then—

It moved.

Edward barely had time to react before it was on him, claws slashing through the air. He dodged at the last second, twisting away, but the force of the attack sent him staggering.

He spun, just in time to see the creature lunge again.

This time, he didn't dodge.

He countered.

Edward's hand shot out, gripping the creature's wrist in an iron grasp. His golden eyes burned with defiance.

"I've had enough," he snarled.

With a burst of inhuman strength, he twisted—snapping the creature's arm backward.

It let out a sharp, inhuman shriek, its form distorting in pain.

But Edward wasn't done.

He moved, slamming his fist into its chest, sending it flying across the ruined landscape.

The creature skidded to a stop, twitching, before slowly rising to its feet.

And then—

It laughed.

Edward's fists clenched.

He had fought newborns. He had faced the Volturi.

But this—

This was something else.

Something ancient.

Something hungry.

The Demon's Whisper

A voice slithered into Edward's mind.

You cannot fight them all.

Edward's body tensed. He knew that voice.

The demon.

Edward's lips curled into a snarl. "Get out of my head."

A soft chuckle. I am not in your head, Edward.

The world around him trembled.

And then—

The demon stepped from the shadows.

He was different now.

Less human.

More… real.

Golden eyes gleamed like molten metal, his form shifting with the very fabric of the Void.

Edward held his ground. "What do you want?"

The demon smiled. "To offer you a choice."

Edward exhaled sharply. "I'm not playing your games."

The demon tilted his head. "And yet, you are losing."

Edward's fists tightened.

The creature behind him was still watching, waiting.

The demon took another step closer.

"Bella has chosen her path." His voice was smooth, coaxing. "Now it is your turn."

Edward glared. "I will never be like you."

The demon chuckled. "Oh, Edward." He leaned in slightly. "You already are."

Edward's breath hitched.

The demon gestured around them. "Look at where you stand. Look at what you are fighting." His golden eyes burned into Edward's. "You are no longer just a vampire. No longer just a boy chasing a dream."

He smirked.

"You are something more."

Edward's mind raced.

No.

He wasn't like them.

He wasn't like Bella.

The demon stepped even closer, his voice a whisper against the void.

"But you could be."

Edward's chest tightened.

He didn't want this.

He just wanted—

"Bella," he murmured.

The demon's smirk widened. "Then take her back."

Edward's breath stilled.

The demon extended a hand.

"Power, Edward." His voice was silk and fire. "Take it. Wield it. Make her yours again."

Edward stared at the outstretched hand.

He could feel it—the pull.

Dark. Ancient.

Tempting.

The whispers around him grew louder.

The creature behind him stirred.

The Void watched.

Edward closed his eyes.

And made his choice.