He was running, the rhythmic thudding of his paws hitting the earth blanking out the sense of pain and loss he felt. Both packs; gone. He was the very last of his kind. He shuddered as he remembered how he felt each member of his pack die, and eventually Sam's pack, once he had been ripped to pieces by the Volturi. Only when he had crossed several state boundaries did he slow down to let his imprinted off, thanking whatever had let him keep her with him. When he was sure that the love of his life was safely off, Jacob sat down and howled, letting out all of his pain, sadness and loss out, voicing his requiem for his slaughtered pack mates. All of those children, the youngest only ten, dead. Slain by those twisted evil bloodsuckers.
The few surviving vampires on the Cullens' side were in shock. The nomads left had already drifted off in distress. No coven was left intact. Benjamin and Tia mourned the loss of Amun and his mate and the Irish coven grieved over the once bright and bouncy Maggie. Esme was sitting next to the burnt-out remains of her soul mate, her creator, her guide, her family's centre. Gazing into the flames consuming the shattered remnants of the Volturi forces, she did the only thing she could. Joining hands with Alice who had lost her Jasper, she embraced the fire, welcoming the heat licking over her body that reminded her so much of her transformation. She smiled; even then, Carlisle had been watching over her. She and Alice closed their eyes as their consciousnesses left their bodies.
Bella closed her eyes in an attempt to purge her mind of what she had just seen. Her first battle as an immortal was nightmarish. She just thanked her lucky stars that she had sent Renesmee and Jake off together; she knew that he would protect his Imprinted. And the awful wet dog smell coupled with the unmistakeable half-mortal scent meant that they were not too hard to track. She glanced over at her husband Edward, who had slowed down so that she could keep pace with him easily; youngest she may be, but he had been and always would be the fastest.
Jacob's russet ears twitched as he heard the unique sound of a vampire approaching. Friend or foe? He signalled for Nessie to get onto his back again and took off for higher ground. Keeping out of sight, he breathed a sigh of pure relief as he identified Bella and Edward running into the clearing he had only just vacated. He could feel the lifting emotions coming from just above him as Renesmee saw her Mum and Dad run at the fastest possible speed for Bella. It was clear just why Edward was holding back; after all, who could blame him for wanting to stay as close as possible to his wife having been through that. Jacob jumped into their path, eliciting some hisses before they registered who it was. Of course, Bella was apologising far more than was really necessary and Edward lifted Renesmee off of the giant wolf's back before turning to him, looking him in the eye and saying a very fervent thank-you.
Rosalie and Emmett were running. The trees whipped through her hair, completely messing her blonde curls up, but for once she wasn't complaining. They had just left the sheer devastation of the battlefield, having caught the scent of the only two remaining members of their family. Rosalie shot a quick glance in Emmett's direction; she needed to reassure herself that he was still there, unharmed. Pushing on the pace, they caught up with the two vampires, the dog and her niece. She clutched them to her in turns, except for the werewolf – she would never be able to get that stench out of her clothes.
In the weeks that followed, the vampire world was thrown into chaos by the destruction of the entire Volturi force. The first thing that happened was in the south. The wars over territory escalated until there was barely a single human left alive, almost all of them having been turned into newborns to fight or eaten by the newborns. Without the threat of the Volturi intervening, there was no way to keep the vampiric warlords under control. Stefan and Vladimir returned to their castle, and reclaimed the title stolen from them all that time ago.
The vampires fed as they liked, where they liked and when they liked. They never bothered to hide the bodies or dispose of them in a way that would not arouse the suspicions of the local policing forces.
All of these things added up over time until the vampire world was at last revealed, in all of its glory. The world now knew the truth and eventually developed some close range weapons that could take down even an hour-old vampire with ease. The red-eyed vampires were hunted into extinction and the gold-eyed ones viewed with the utmost distrust, fear and hate. The few vampires left were forced into hiding. They went into the most deserted places on Earth: the deserts, rainforests and Polar regions. The handful of human-hunting vampires turned into 'vegetarians' in order to survive.
Only the half-mortal children could go into public. Only Renesmee had the freedom to move. The human world was thrown into disarray, all of the vampires' bank accounts had been frozen, their homes raided and the items within auctioned off. Paranoia abounded. An unknown face in a crowd was the source of suspicion and distrust. Militias were formed and would go out on even the slightest hint that a vampire had been sighted. Hospitals' blood supplies were jealously guarded; only one doctor in each hospital was authorised to access them.
The world had adapted to a new threat, and seen it off.
