I look at Edward, and in an instant, the world vanishes into a black abyss. The horror in my eyes reflects from his own. I can sadly say that he has come to the same realization; the same truth that is in my eyes is the terror that is playing over in his mind. The question begs, how long shall it take from now. There is no way in telling how rapid the poison shall rush through his veins and infect every corner of his body then. How long shall it take until it slowly starts to eat him from inside until the is nothing but a bunch of bone remaining in a pile of rotten flesh? This truly sounds like the most unbearable death that one could face.

So, it is with a heavy heart that I am sending him to rest; at least I am hoping that the less he moves, the slower the poison shall take effect.

"Edward, my friend, I need for you to remain in your bed."

But he immediately protests, "Sebastian, I am in no way disobeying your orders, but I shall not sit by and let this thing take the best of me."

Now, of course, the Edward that I know shall not sit and slowly rot away. I am not saying that he will, but from what I have seen, it does seem like the only outcome. That is unless we can name the poison and produce a cure. So, he remains in the common room with Lilith, should he feel that the burning inside become beyond what can be handled, only then shall he move away from the youngling Stefan. I can only imagine what such a sight shall do to a young man that has just witnessed the most terrifying death of his dear father.

So, it is with absolute haste that we try and locate the most experienced doctors that we can find; the time that it shall take time to get here is already far too long. We send word to them, and as expected, it shall take but a few hours, which we do not have. With that in mind, we take the girl's body to an empty room upstairs; I am afraid to say that the young girl has also been taken over by the burning inside as her body is slightly starting to fade away. Which brings to mind, does the amount of poison determine how soon the effects begin to take place?

And as a few hours seem to pass, I look over to Edward, and he only nods, which I can safely say means that he still feels fine. So, we continue to wait. Then finally, the first of the doctors start to arrive, now; to say I have never been so relieved would be a lie.

"My dear Johan, thank you for making the trip so fast."

"Anything for you, my Master, now take me to the girl at once. If what you say is true, then we can't waste any second."

"I must warn you that it is not a pleasant sight, and I am afraid that it has the most unbearable smell that anybody can carry."

I then immediately take him to the room where the girl's body lays. She seems to have remained as she has previously done before. And just as expected, I see the disgust that fills Johan's eyes; I can only assume he thinks the same as all in the room. Then moments later, the second of the doctors that I requested arrives, she has, in fact, and I am most sorry to say, been an ex-lover. So, it is with caution that I approach Anastasia.

"My beloved, please promise me that you shall not become mad, but there is something I neglected to mention before."

"Oh Sebastian, what have you done now? Please do not tell me that this woman is an ex-lover?"

"I am sad to say that I have gone against your request, but please, I beg that you shall understand that she is the best resource that we have, and you know the importance in saving Edward's life holds."

"I shall overlook this, but please do not do anything to test my patience. I shall, therefore, remain present while this examination takes place."

"I would not have it any other way, my beloved."

So, I reluctantly introduce Anastasia; I can safely say that our encounter many years ago was in both beneficial ways. There shall be little desire that she shall try to rekindle an old flame.

"My Gwyneth, thank you for making the long drive."

"Anything Master, now let us begin; we do not have any more time to waste."

And with that, they set out the impossible task that a human doctor has not yet been able to solve. But much to our advantage, we have hundreds of years of perfection.

Then it is with somewhat amazement that we watch on as they produce sets of test tubes and what seems to be chemicals. It is the scene that one shall see in science school; at least we are not dissecting frogs. Now that is a sight that I will not be able to stomach, but what is happening to this poor girl's body is just as grotesque to look at.

But what puts the fear of seven Sunday's into my mind is watching as Edward decides to make his way in the room. I know that there shall be no way that I will be able to stop him from coming to witness this. Though that is not what terrifies me the most, what I see does make me realize that we shall need to work faster than we are at our current place.

Edward has become somewhat paler than before; I would say that he is whiter than all fifty shades of white. And there are signs that the skin on his face is slowly starting to peel away. There is a tremble in his hands, and his knuckles are showing the redness of flesh.

"Edward, if you insist on watching, at least take a chair and seat yourself. And I beg of you please fight it, find that strength that I know that you possess and attack this thing."

"My dear Sebastian, there is no other way I shall have it. Now hurry up, for I feel the burning is starting to burn at a hotter flame."

…Edward…

Now, if I were not wise, I would have told myself that I should have listened to my common sense. But one does not expect that you shall get poisoned when you are only trying to survive. I might not feed the normal way, but that does not mean that I should be treated in any other way. Guess this must be my punishment for choosing this life, and in doing so, I have killed far more humans than I can remember.

So, it is with a deep sadness that cuts like a dagger through my heart that I sit here and watch as the best doctors are fighting to save my life. What I have failed to say is that this is eating me up faster than I have admitted to Sebastian. I know that he does worry far more when it comes to Lilith and me; he does have that heart of gold towards those he considers as his family. The fact, whether it is said or not, is that I am dying inside. Not that I am alive, but the dead part of me is being torn to pieces. Now imagine such a thing, as a Vampire, you do not experience any pain, though someone has put an evil together that is making you feel as if you are dying all over again but only tenfold this time.

I can see the flesh is starting to peel like a layer of an onion; there is an incredible desire to peel it from my body. The worst thing is that it feels like my eyes are starting to stick to my lashes, making it even hard to wink. Even moving my tongue has become the hardest of tasks; all the things that come naturally are becoming the most struggling thing to manage. The truth is that I am dying; the sad thing is that I will not tell Sebastian; it shall break him into pieces. And I do not think the glue that is Anastasia shall get him back to his normal self again.

Sebastian has been like a father, a brother, a friend, and a Master to me for much over two hundred fifty years. To say that I have not grown completely dependent in some ways on him would be a lie. He has carried me through so many of the troubles in my life. And even sometimes, when I have done the most unthinkable, he looked the other way and continued to care the way he did for me. He ultimately gave me life, and I know that he is feeling helpless that he is not able to save me.

…Sebastian…

I am watching Edward, and I can see that he is putting up a brave face, but I know he is not telling me how bad it really is. What he does not know is that I can read his thoughts, and I know that he is dying. I rip my heart to pieces know that right now, there is nothing I can do to save him. If Edward has to leave my life, it shall be like losing a limb. He is like a son, a brother and a friend, from that moment I turned him. I knew that we should stay together until the end. Well, I am afraid to say that it is not the end yet, but the time is definitely starting to run thin.

I see how he is studying Johan and Gwyneth, hoping that each time they mixed a drop of blood and some chemical, he hopes to see the relief on their faces. But the time has not come; it has just been one failed attempt after the other. The frustration is growing. We all witness how the girl's body is fading away, and the worst thing is that she is not even alive.

So, I turn to face Edward again, but this time I plead with my eyes, I need him, to be honest with me. I do know that this is not the time to pull Master on him as it is already hard enough for him.

"Edward, please, I beg of you, my friend, please tell me how you are really feeling?"

"Sebastian, I am dying faster than I think what we would not have hoped for."

"Tell me how you are feeling?"

"I think that within the next hour that my organs, not that I need them, but they shall be detached from where they are being held in place."

"My god! And the pain?"

"I feel like I am being burned by the fires of hell. I did not think it was possible to feel pain in all my Vampire years again."

"Edward, please, I beg you, lay down; we will get to the solution of this."

But it falls onto death ears, but what he says next rips me to my core.

"My dear friend, I think it is time that I shall make peace with my fate. I need to settle my affairs and say my goodbyes."

I hear my own voice echoes throughout the room and the corridors. "No! That shall not happen!"

Then I turn to Johan and Gwyneth, "Work faster! You are wasting valuable time! If you do not find this cure, then I shall rip you apart."

But then Edward stops me, "They are working as fast as they can. I appreciate their attempt to find this cure, but it is futile, Sebastian. You need to let me go; I need to know that when I leave, that you are not mad at me. I do not want you to live with regret."

"Regret is not finding a cure. I am ordering you to lay on that bed and fight!"

Then I watch as Edward gets up, but in an instant, he drops to the floor…