A/N: Lyrics from "The Bird and the Worm" by The Used are peppered throughout the story and, unfortunately, I don't own a single word of them. I was a little hesitant about writing this, so any feedback would be welcomed. Love it, hate it, let me know!

From Alice's perspective, as seen through a single vision.

The Bird and the Worm /

Oh, god, no.

I ran.

He was in her bed, alone and unmoving. His mouth was stretched back in a painful taut. Exhausted from the endless days of misplaced efforts to save her, he began to succumb. He opened his eyes and I helplessly watched them flicker from gold to crimson as he lay there. All alone, fighting the parallel demons of thirst and love in an altruistic quest to protect her, he had turned to stone. For months he had been her savior, relentlessly protective and overwhelmingly sincere. But he was tired and as I watched him stare peacefully at the ceiling, he would become her demise.

She came into her bedroom and stopped in the threshold. She couldn't understand all that his expression implied, but still she took a hesitant step backwards. Her instincts demanded she run; every muscle in her body was coiled with tension. She shifted her weight, from foot to foot, until he took a deep breath, painfully and shamelessly deep, and locked eyes with her. He smiled and she came to him.

He pulled the edge of the covers back. But she stood still, unmoving and watched as he silently beckoned her to the bed.

He sighed deeply as she lay down next to him. He wrapped his arms around her. Her face was a frantic mess of worry, anger, confusion, terror . . . and love. She closed her eyes.

He took an impossibly deep breath and I watched as she froze in his arms. I could see the hurried beats of her pulse through her neck; he could see them, too. He hummed softly until she relaxed, slowly, and pressed her face to his chest. I watched as his body stilled until he was no more than an eloquently carved statue with a taut frown and a relentless need.

I ran faster.

As he looked down at her, his tight frown softened. He began rocking her slowly and I heard his humming become less peaceful and more urgent. He took another deep breath.

All alone, wrapped in his altruistic and misplaced sense of gentleness, he succumbed to his instincts. He moved his lips to her neck and held his breath as she paled beneath him.

All he knew was if he couldn't relieve it, it grew. And so it goes.

I walked slowly into her room. His body was turned towards me but his eyes still remained on the bed. A very human shudder rolled through his shoulders and in an instant I saw Adonis solidify in front of me.

His stoic face flickered briefly as he watched the story of his demise turn to ashes in my mind. An impossible tear formed at the corner of his eye. I looked away as the frozen opacity blurred its crimson edges.

"She was sleeping," he said and I watched the floor as he retreated.