Nightfall: A Continuing Story in the Twilight Saga

Disclaimer: These characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I am just borrowing them.

A/N: This story begins one month place after the confrontation in Forks, Washington at the end of Breaking Dawn. My goal is for the story to be canon compliant. But as I am venturing into new territory, I will take a few licenses. Nothing too wild, though. I also plan to make this novel length, at least 30 chapters, so I hope that you will all join me for the ride.

Also, for visualization purposes, I will be describing the characters as they appear in the films, as opposed to Stephanie Meyer's written descriptions. Usually, the two are in sync, but in a few characters, the descriptions differ greatly.

Update: 12/07/12 I had to update this chapter and make it Chapter One, instead of the Prologue. Nothing has changed, otherwise.

Chapter One: Broken Bonds

Jane's deep velvet-red eyes overlooked the Italian city of Volterra, home of the Volturi. The sun had just begun to sink below the horizon and a light drizzle had soaked the heavy dark cloak she wore. She had been standing on the balcony to her room for 18 hours, but she felt no fatigue, nor the cold wind that gusted heavily, making the edges of her cloak dance around her. A slight burn in her throat reminded her that she had not fed on human blood in more than two days, but the burn was only a minor annoyance. Her perfect face, heart-shaped and pale as milk—an innocent face of girl of perhaps 13 years—showed supreme unconcern, her features smooth and undisturbed. But her brother knew that she was seething underneath.

Alec watched Jane silently, not wanting to break her reverie. He knew her mind worked furiously, and he was loath to interrupt. But enough was enough. Although the twins had a form of communication that was nearly telepathic, Alec could not read his sister's mind. He had grown impatient waiting for her to confide in him. Alec was in awe of Jane, and though he would never admit it, slightly afraid of her.

"Sister, what do you want to do? The Cullens— "

"Dear brother," Jane interrupted smoothly, "my thoughts must be my own for the time being. I would never danger you unnecessarily. But the time will come when your loyalty must be to me and me alone.

She turned to face him, piercing him with a crimson glare.

"Can I trust you, brother?"

"It offends me, Sister, that you ask," Alec replied, hurt coloring the normally soothing tone of his voice. "My loyalty has always been, and will ever be, to you and you alone."

"Forgive me, my twin. The things I do, I do for us."

Alec smiled and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. He knew Jane as well as he knew himself. He could guess what her plans were, if not exactly when and how she would bring them about.

Jane placed a chaste kiss on his lips, and Alec was filled with an overwhelming love for his sister. He had loved her since their birth; she was the older, but he was the calmer one, the protector. He wasn't given to the rages and tantrums that she would throw, even as a human child. When the villagers came for them, calling them witches for the inexplicable and strange things that happened to those who crossed the twins or their family, Alec had tried to save her from the burning stake that had nearly ended their human lives more than 1000 years before. He had tried to get her to escape, sacrificing himself for her, but his beloved sister was caught, and thrown headfirst into the giant pyre. He could hear her screams of pain and furious rage.

His sister had been as furious when Aro allowed the Cullen coven escape with their lives a month ago. She hadn't understood why he had given up so easily. Whatever the little one, Alice, had shown Aro about the future had made him surrender their plans to destroy all the Cullens, with the exception of Alice herself, and Edward if he could be spared. Alec, personally, thought that Edward would fight to the death to save his mate and child, and his gift would be lost to Aro.

Jane was enraged at what she considered cowardice on Aro's part, though she hid her thoughts and emotions well. She had returned to Volterra in a blind fury, and spent two days ceaselessly searching the city for any young girl with a resemblance to the newborn Bella Cullen. One the second day of her search, Jane found an unlucky girl with a passing resemblance to Bella—and tortured her unmercilessly for days before ripping her throat out.

Her hate of the Cullen's was as boundless as the sea, and her hate of the newest Cullen, had driven Jane to a vicious recklessness that Alec had never seen before. She could be severely punished for hunting within the city. It was strictly forbidden by the Volturi. But Jane would not heed her brother's pleas. She needed to strike at the Cullen's in some way; torturing a surrogate for Bella cooled her fury minutely, but she still longed to kill the entire family. But she couldn't act against the Cullen's without Aro's permission. First, Aro would have to be—

Alec purposely blanked his thoughts. Jane taught him long ago how to hide his thoughts, but he wasn't as strong as she was. If Aro touched him…He focused on his gratitude to Aro. If not for Aro, their human lives would have ended on that burning stake more than 1000 years before. He arrived in time to save their lives, but not in time to save them from nearly burning to death. Still, once the burning pain had faded, from the stake, and from his vampire transformation, Alec was grateful for his glorious rebirth.

"Jane."

A tall figure loomed out of the shadows. Even with his vampire hearing, Alec was surprised at the absolute silence of the ancient vampire who stood before him.

"Marcus," Alec spoke deferentially, greeting his superior. It was odd to see him in this part of the castle, in Jane's private rooms.

Instead of replying to Alec's greeting, Marcus sighed deeply. It was an unneeded gesture—Marcus's vampire lungs did not need air—but Marcus always sighed. His complexion was ashen, almost grey, and his long dark hair laid lank against his head, as if too tired to move in the fierce wind that whipped through the balcony.

"Aro would like to see you, Jane. And you, also, Alec."

Fear wrapped tendrils around Alec's unbeating heart. He glanced fearfully at Jane. She looked unconcerned, as usual.

"Aro sent you to find us?" Alec strove to speak in an unaffected manner.

With another sigh, Marcus replied, "I volunteered." He paused for a long time. Just as Jane and Alec turned to leave, he spoke again. "I grow restless of late. Thoughts of Didyme haunt me."

Alec and Jane exchanged a glance. Didyme, Marcus's wife,—and Aro's sister—had been dead for three thousand years, and Marcus still pined. Since the Volturi had returned from the aborted war with Cullens, he had seemed more distant, more apathetic than before. Almost sad.

"I promised Aro that I would find his sister's killer. I promised Didyme that I would avenge her. But I never found the thief who stole her and her happiness away from me." Marcus stared into the night sky, eyes unfocused, at the shimmering blanket of stars above his head.

Jane lips upturned slightly. Watching his sister closely, Alec felt a sense of panic rising in his stomach. Catching his sister's eye, he shook his head ever so slightly, sending a silent, frantic message.

No, Sister! Do not!

Jane's look said, Worry not, my dearest brother. I know what I am doing.

Marcus continued to stare blankly into the heavens, oblivious to the twin's silent debate.

"Something is not right," Marcus continued, almost to himself. "I sense something, but Chelsea's powers keep me prisoner within myself. I know not what is amiss."

Chelsea, a member of Aro's guard, had the gift to make the Volturi be loyal to each other, and to Aro. The lower ranking Volturi were unaware of her gift, were unaware that the loyalty they felt was forced upon them. But Marcus, whose gift was to sense relationships, could tell the difference between true bonds of love and loyalty, and falsely created ones.

However, recognizing that he was being manipulated, and being able to stop the manipulation were two entirely different things. Marcus could not break away from his emotional captor—Aro—nor did he have the energy to want to. Since his wife had been killed, Marcus was completely apathetic to most of what happened around him, easily giving in to Aro's desires.

Marcus continued to speak, his low voice droning sadly. "My beautiful bride…Such love we shared, such happiness. We planned to leave the Volturi, to spend centuries reveling in each other."

A slight smile played around his mouth. "Young Bella and Edward Cullen share the deepest love I've witnessed since my own Didyme. It has only grown stronger since they were last in Volterra. Some bonds grow stronger and stronger with time."

Shifting his eyes from the night sky, he focused for the first time on Jane.

"Some bonds weaken. Some bonds break."

Fear leaped into Alec's eyes. He knows, sister. He knows we plot.

"This is a natural occurrence; bonds of loyalty often weaken over time," Marcus continued. "Except…with our dear Chelsea's gift, the Volturi bonds should not weaken. Unless—"

Jane spoke for the first time.

"—Unless strong emotion counters those bonds." Alec noted that Jane had made her usually expressionless face appear saddened.

"My loyalty to A…to the Volturi has been unwavering for more than twelve centuries. And…" Jane paused for effect… "I thought my loyalty would be rewarded with loyalty in return. But, I fear I am meant to be destroyed.

Marcus eyes narrowed slightly. "You and your brother are the Volturi's strongest soldiers. Why would you think this?"

Alec noted that both Jane and Marcus purposely refrained from saying Aro's name. But Aro was the Volturi. Marcus and Cauis shared leadership with Aro, but Aro was the true seat of power.

"At first, I could not believe it. I refused. But the Cullen's mindreader told me that Ar...that I was feared by the Volturi leadership, that I wouldn't be allowed to live, that others were being cultivated to take my place—those with gifts in Carlisle's group, as well as the young gifted Egyptian vampire, Benjamin."

"That would never happen. If we lost you, we would also lose Alec."

"Not if my…ending…were attributed to an enemy. He," Jane said, referring to Aro by pronoun, "has done this before. He has rid himself of one precious to him to keep another more crucial to his plans."

Marcus's eyebrow rose in curiosity—the first curiousness he'd felt in centuries.

Jane whispered three words in reply to Marcus' unspoken question.

"His own sister."

Alec closed his eyes and waited for Marcus to tear his sister's head from her shoulders for daring to accuse Aro of such a heinous crime. Marcus was more than 2000 years older than the twins. Even in his current apathetic state, he could still kill the powerful twins with hardly any effort. There was nothing Alec could do to save her. His mind flashed to his last human memory, the writhing screaming charred body of his sister burning, while he burned himself, doing everything he could to ignore the pain of his cooking flesh. He couldn't save her then, and he couldn't save her now…

Alec realized that no screams, no sound of screeching, grinding metal—the sound of a vampire being torn apart—came to his ears.

He opened his eyes to see Jane and Marcus staring at one another. Jane appeared calm, but he could tell she was afraid. Marcus appeared thoughtful. The silence stretched out for long minutes.

Finally Marcus spoke. "Why do you say these things?"

"I only want to live."

"You lie," Marcus said. Alec flinched and Jane closed her eyes. Alec could feel his sister re-evaluating.

Marcus had a secondary gift. In sensing relationships and loyalty, he could sense when people lied. But assessing the bonds between himself and another, he could sense when their words were not complete truth.

"I do not…" Jane began, but when Marcus lifted an eyebrow in warning, she amended, "perhaps tell the whole truth."

Alec watched her hesitate, feeling her way to the most truthful statements she could make. "I want to live without fearing replacement by Alice and Bella Cullen. I am…jealous that my centuries of loyalty could be overlooked by Aro's shiny new toys. And," she spat, "I find it disgusting that a brother would sacrifice his own sister for his own ambition." Here she directed her glance to Alec.

"My brother would protect me with his own life, as would I, him. No one could come between us, not even the most selfish of our own desires."

Jane fell silent, her eyes pulled back to Marcus' face.

Marcus watched her, unspeaking, for another long moment. Finally he asked, "How do you know these things?"

Alec had wondered this himself. Obviously she'd kept this explosive secret to herself for some time. How had she discovered it?

Jane smiled, confidence shining through her eyes. "Aro told me himself."

Thousands of miles away, across an ocean, a group of vampires—and a few werewolves—gathered in a house made of glass. They laughed and touched, kissed, joked, teased, and mostly watched a beautiful child play. The child's mother and father held hands and kissed, while a large Native American boy threw the beautiful child high into the air, laughing when the girl giggled and shrieked and called, "Higher! Higher!"

A beautiful blond man, who had an air of serenity around him, held a beautiful woman, who fondly gazed at all of her precious children—the young parents, a beautiful blonde girl sitting on the lap of an enormous curly headed boy, a dark-headed pixie of a girl riding piggyback on a young man with long locks of wavy dark blonde hair—even a dimpled face young werewolf and his sister, a beautiful, but sullen-faced she-wolf, who couldn't help but smile at the laughing child when she thought no one was looking.

They were a family—bonded by love.

They would find out, all too soon, that some bonds do weaken. And some bonds break.

Thank you so much for Reading! Please review! Reviews are love! Reviews say "Keep writing."