Title: Penumbra
Rating: T
Genre: Drama/Horror, AU, Darkfic
Pairings: Jacob/Bella/Edward love triangle, all canon pairings
Summary: AU. The Cullen Coven delays their return to the Olympic Peninsula by more than a decade. Their arrival unearths an ancient secret that was only thought to be tribal legend, and what was meant to be a quiet return becomes the spark in a chain of supernatural events - with the incredibly ordinary Bella S. Black as the epicenter of it all. Darkfic.

PROLOGUE: The Outcome of Choice

"Foreknowledge of the future makes it possible to manipulate both enemies and supporters." – Raymond Aron

February 2017
The Woodlands, Texas

"I've made the decision that I want to move on. Tell me what outcome you see from this decision, my gypsy."

The words are spoken so softly, they are almost inaudible – but nothing is truly able to escape the hypersensitivity of their hearing. Alice Cullen shudders as the chill of her husband's breath ghosts over the shell of her ear, pleasure and desire almost making her dizzy with its intensity. She supposes it is a good thing they are already on the floor, tangled within each other's arms after their intense, quiet lovemaking. Otherwise, there would be precious seconds wasted tumbling to the floor or seeking out the bed – seconds that could be spent losing herself in the feel of him inside of her, loving on her and worshiping her.

Alice finds it challenging to focus on drawing up her Gift, so as to look into the complex fabrics of time and space and find the answers her Beloved seeks. Jasper has apparently decided that he is ready again after their united, explosive climax only moments before and his mouth is moving in an unspeakable rhythm across her impenetrable skin, and it is a pleasantly distracting sensation. But, somehow, despite the frostbitten kisses of pure love that are slowly being lavished on along the curve of her neck, the arch of her collarbone, and then to the swell of her breasts – Alice is able to reach forward into the intangible feel of Soon.

Soon and Now and Then are the only pockets of possibility that her Gift allows her access. There are other spaces on the weaving of time that Alice can see and knows exists – spaces of time such as What If and Maybe If, or the unclear fissures such as Could Have Been and the opaque blockages of What Happens. But, she does not have the power or the ability access those – if she is able to touch them, ever, at all – and so, the narrow triad of Then and Now and Soon are all she has to work with. Then is an unmoving, untouchable record of what has been, what has already been decided and lived out, a reality that cannot be changed or altered because it has already happened. Alice has no use for Then, except maybe to bitterly look back over the carved in stone record of time and see with hindsight what steps had taken towards Now and how it ultimately led to Soon.

But, Now and Soon – Alice loves Now and Soon, because of all the room for potential to be fulfilled and all the choice it offers. Soon differs from Now because Soon is so fluid, everchanging and always transforming based upon the unpredictable moment of Now. As much as she enjoys the limitless possibility of Soon, there will always be a permanent anxiety bound to Soon for Alice, because Soon is never guaranteed. Soon requires you to take a leap of faith, to have trust that Now is giving you the clarity that is needed to reach the culmination of Soon. And, for a mind like hers – a fractured tangle of gossamer that is as fragile as it is powerful – leaps of faith are almost always a portend of coming disaster. When she was new to this life and discovering what her Gift meant, Alice was naïve enough to trust in the visions of Soon to the point of believing it to be infallible and so many terrible and unforgivable things had happened because of this naïve understanding. So much danger and sacrifice and insanity had come from thinking that Soon was the promised outcome, instead of an array of choices that one could have their pick from, if they are discerning and willing to be open to the capriciousness of Now.

Alice had lived in her immortal life for almost thirty years with the despair of being too trusting in Soon and not discerning enough of Now, before Jasper had come along and taught her how to wrangle a Gift she thought ruled her – instead of her being the ruler of the Gift. And, for his careful and patient guidance, his fearless approach to something that she had spent so many decades feeling she was enslaved to instead of being freed by, Alice will always seek out Soon for her Beloved and offer him whatever knowledge she can gain, as intimately as she knows it, to do whatever he will with it.

There is nothing that Jasper cannot conquer or rule when he sets his mind to do so, including the esoteric Gifts that many of their kind possess. Alice knows that she doesn't have to be cautious or careful as she is with the rest of their coven, she knows she can share with him all the outcomes his decision that Soon offers and he won't abuse it. He won't do something unthinkable nor will he create anything like the chaos and destruction that she has, with the promise of Soon.

"What does Soon give me to choose from, my gypsy?" Jasper murmurs against her navel, his wintry tongue flicking from between his lips briefly to explore the dip. "You don't have to tell me everything all at once, but I'd like if you'd give me at least one outcome to start working with."

Alice smiles at his gentle urging, his careful insistence. Her Beloved treats her so delicately, so lovingly, as if she is a treasure he couldn't imagine having the honor of being entrusted with, and the joy she feels when she realizes this tender adoration is reserved for her and her alone will never fade, no matter how many centuries she spends as his Adored, his wife, his mate. He knows the price she must pay for the use of her Gift, the attack of catalepsy that comes after looking for Soon – despite their indestructible bodies being invulnerable to such things. He honors and respects the price she pays and only uses her Gift for good reason. And, it is this knowledge that her Beloved would never hurt her, would never abuse her or take advantage of her for his own personal gain that allows Alice to relax her mind and become open to her Gift –

The ability to divine possible futures and use the visions of the future to manipulate the present.

Her honey-gold eyes are wide and unseeing as they flicker around wildly, seeing and studying a flood of futures that come from Jasper deciding to move on from their current settlement in Houston. She is surprised it has taken him this long to make the actual decision, considering how unhappy he has been since they returned to Houston almost a decade ago. Periodically throughout their years in Houston, Carlisle and Esme had taken Jasper aside and discussed with him how he was feeling and how he was coping with being in the place he'd originally lived, in his beforelife as a human. But, Jasper had never spoken his true feelings, never expressed how Alice knew he felt from the quiet talks nearly every night – and thus, they stayed. She briefly wonders what has triggered his abrupt decision.

But, motivation is not necessary to be able to see the visions that are bursting to life within her mind and growing and multiply and splitting off from each other, until she is seemingly drowning in the potential of the possible.

Jasper decides to move on – and a hurricane is what takes him away.

Jasper decides to move on – and the Volturi grant his request to be compassionately released from his immortal life.

Jasper decides to move on – and his new mate is his equal instead of his responsibility.

Jasper decides to move on – and he abandons animal-abstinence in favor of a return to human-consuming.

Jasper decides to move on – and Maria makes life feel like it was once at the beginning.

Jasper decides to move on – and Denali becomes his peace, his refuge from the human masquerade.

Jasper decides to move on – and he enjoys being under Aro's leadership and the power of being a Volturi.

Jasper decides to move on – and his army moves across the continent, crushing and conquering like Alexander the Great.

Jasper decides to move on – and he can see why Emmett and Rosalie enjoy living apart from a coven, as mates.

Jasper decides to move on – and he mourns having to kill the Cullens, though they should have known he'd never let Alice go.

Jasper decides to move on – and the humans he Creates are fascinatingly obedient to him as their Creator.

Jasper decides to move on – and Washington is as beautiful and peaceful as Edward claimed it would be.

Jasper decides to move on – and Carlisle and Esme exile him from the coven, both a punishment and a liberation.

Jasper decides to move on – and the Volturi executes their whole coven for their transgression.

Jasper decides to move on – and he is a nomad again, disappearing from society and becoming an immortal wanderer.

Jasper decides to move on – and he is undefeated, because Alice is his Oracle and he sees everything.

Jasper decides to move on – and Edward is not the companion he expected would leave the Cullen Coven with him.

Jasper decides to move on – and his heart will be eternally broken with Alice no longer by his side.

Jasper decides to move on – and he likes the quiet days with Peter and Charlotte, his new coven who consume as he does and do not judge.

Jasper decides to move on – and he – and the – and a – and they –

Alice shudders violently as the depth of each outcome begins to become more detailed, more real, each at the same time. All of this will happen but none of it will come to pass. All of this will happen but none of is going to be reality. All of this will happen but none of is what is to come. The absolute contradiction of knowing that each of these visions is certain but choosing a specific outcome will change or eliminate or narrow down all the others – it is enough to make her begin trembling, being shaking under the weight of her Gift and the curse of knowledge it offers her.

"Easy there, my gypsy, easy there," Jasper whispers against the cradle of her hips. He looks upwards at her, his eyes glowing like burnished brass as their gazes connect, and suddenly, every cell in her body relaxes and all the fear and anxiety and tension disappears instantly. She feels calm and at peace and there is nothing in the world to be concerned with – not as long as she keeps looking into the eyes of her soulmate and he keeps offering her his Gift. "Don't look for everything – I'm not asking everything from you. Do what you can and what you want, and I'll be grateful for whatever you give me."

Alice smiles dazedly. Here he is, expressing gratitude for whatever glimpse into her power she is willing to offer him, however small or insignificant, and she is the one who should be grateful. She has never known a mercy and a grace like that which she gets from Jasper, and she wonders how much of this feeling of pure and unbreakable peace is Jasper's Gift or the intensity of her own love for him.

"You're going to move on, that much is for sure," Alice murmurs, distantly. Now that Jasper has her under the hold of his Gift, now that he has immersed himself in her emotional body and has taken the reins from her, in a sense, so that she can concentrate on her visions and not be overwhelmed by her feelings about them – she can see in detail and the outcomes are fascinating. She can clearly see Jasper in each of the outcomes of his decision and it never fails to awe her how specific to a person her Gift can get. "But, there are a lot of good outcomes and a lot of bad outcomes and a lot of outcomes that could go either way."

Jasper smirks, a little, spreading little kisses across her hips, unhurried in his ministrations. "Hmm. Tell me about the ones that scare you the least."

"Washington State," Alice says instantly. The coven has lived in Washington State before, though it was well before Jasper and Alice had joined. They have heard enough tales of the property in Hoquiam, with a stunning view of North Bay, as well as the beautiful home further north, on the Sol Duc River – both of which Emmett had constructed in dedicated detail from scratch and both of which the coven looked towards when they desire a quieter, more rural pace within their human masquerade. "You decide to move on and the outcome is that we are living in Washington State and you're finally happy again. You're at peace, and you are appreciative of Edward being the one to lead us there."

Jasper snorts, a rush of chilled breath ghosting over her equally frigid skin. "I didn't realize I cared that much about what Edward thought."

"I don't think you do, either," Alice giggles, somewhat vacantly. "But, the vision was specific. Edward is a defining factor the outcome that brings us to Washington – he's important to manifesting this outcome into reality, he plays a major role."

Jasper is quiet for a moment as his kisses move lower and lower, but never reaching that sweet, special spot that she desires his mouth to be focused on. "What is another outcome that scares you the least?"

"You decide to move on – and you can understand why Emmett and Rosalie like going off on their own as mates and being without a coven for a while."

"Hmm. We've done that before, I can't say that I was the biggest fan of it. There is so much more work to do when we're on our own and so much less room for error." Jasper smiles with an edge of distinct nastiness, and if it wasn't for his firm hold on her through his Gift, Alice might have been worried. "Besides, if we leave the coven to be as mates for a while, we will come back full of humans – and I don't think Carlisle would welcome us back."

Alice shudders unwilling, as his words make her focus in another outcome: Carlisle and Esme ejecting them from the coven and putting them in exile from all that being of the Cullen Coven brought them. They have been with the Cullens since the Christmas Eve of 1950 – and it has been the longest she has been with someone besides Jasper, the longest she has had a home and a family and the love and protection of belonging. The thought of being separated from her coven, from her family, it makes her begin trembling again. Outside of the anchor to reality that was her Beloved, her coven was what kept her from slipping into the frightening limbo of living both in the present and in the future, and she didn't know if she would survive being forcibly separated from that.

"No, no – it's okay, my gypsy, it's okay," Jasper murmurs and another pulse of calm rushes through her as their eyes connect again. He is hovering at the apex of her thighs, his mouth only inches from the dizzying concentration of her slick arousal, and his frigid breath across the inexplicable warmth between her thighs is a nice distraction from the darkness of possibility that threatens to take her under. "Tell me one more and we'll stop there. We'll leave the rest for later and take our time with sorting through them."

"Only one more?" Alice asks and tries to focus on her Beloved and not the shadows creeping at the edges of her vision.

"Yes, only one more," Jasper promises, lovingly.

Alice inhales deeply, the action more symbolic of being brave than it is necessary for her undead body, and then offers: "You decide to move on, and a hurricane comes to take you away."

Jasper stops completely and raises his head, his brows drawn together in a frown. "A hurricane? As in a storm, a weather condition? You can't predict weather anymore than you can predict the future. Why is a hurricane the outcome of my decision to move on?"

Too much too much too much. He is asking her to do something he just said she could not – make a prediction about what will lead up to the hurricane she sees as an outcome, to try and fill in the blanks between Now and the path that leads to the Soon that shows the flooding and drowning of a city that makes it a necessity to leave and move on from the masquerade that would soon be expiring here in Houston. The pressure of trying to access What Happens – which is distinctly different from What If – is too much and she feels as though she has been yanked underneath the waves of an ocean as she tries to see something she just doesn't know how to look at.

"I don't know why, Jas – I don't know why I can see weather!"

"Okay, alright – shhh, shhhh, shhhhhh. That's enough, my gypsy. That is good enough for now." Jasper begins offering frosty kisses and nips and licks all along the cradle of her hips and the smoothness of her thighs and within moments, under his intense, devoted touches, Alice is able to let go of the loop her Gift locks her into when she goes looking for Soon, and all she is aware of is feeling. "I won't push anymore, we can save all of it for later, my love, my beautiful oracle…"

He once more makes his way back to her center, the place that has been aching for him and keening for him. Jasper is the picture of contradiction, the serious, pensive expression on his battle-hewn face at complete odds with how he spreads her legs open lustily and almost hungrily buries his face in her wetness, his mouth eagerly pleasing her with the exact blend of touch and pressure that he knows will have her coming undone spectacularly.

It is unclear how much time passes, as they lose themselves deeper and deeper within the other and seem to be pulled into a pocket of existence that is all their own. There is nothing but the two of them, intertwined and immersed within their love, and though the coming darkness continues to creep upon her, hardly being held at bay despite the force of Jasper's Gift, Alice hardly notices. The spiral of suffocating darkness is painful, it is frightening, but it is worth it. It is always worth it for Jasper, her Beloved. All they know is electrifying, dazzling love and desire for each other, pure and unrestrained as they soar towards a blinding climax – and as Alice comes apart and surrenders to the love and devotion Jasper is offering her, she is not as frightened of the coming darkness that is the price for knowing.

It comes quickly, swiftly, and slams into her like a riptide. There will be the loss of sensation, the loss of movement, and then the loss of light as she in entombed within her own mind and made to wait until balance has restored itself. As Jasper kisses her petal-softly and gathers her into his solid, protective arms, Alice tries to keep her head above and tries to remain present against the shadows that are layering heavily upon her and pulling her under.

"Don't fight it, my gypsy – just let it come. I'll stay with you the entire time, you know this." Jasper promises reverently. Another pulse of his Gift eases through her, much gentler because it is no comparison to the force of her darkness. "I'll keep you safe and I'll always find you if you don't know how to come back to me."

They fall into the bed and Jasper burrows them underneath the layers of blankets and comforters and bedsheets, pulling the quality blend of fabrics over their heads to create a tent around them. There is something that will be eternally soothing and comforting about this cocoon he submerges them under, a comfort that comes from a time when she wished to hide and would do anything to create the illusion of having defense against the outside world. Against the orderlies in white, the trays of medications, the cold bite of brackish water hosing her repeatedly until she stopped speaking of visions of the future and being able to see the unknown. She knows that Jasper knows and remembers every detail of her life – the beforelife of fragile humanity and the afterlife of unending immortality – and he had done this to help her, to help ground her and provide an anchor out of her mind whenever the darkness decided to lift. The devotion he has for tending to and caring for her eternally unhealed wounds is enough to overwhelm her with a gratitude she can't put into words.

Jasper kisses the tip of her nose in quiet adoration, his face barely visible through the shadows that had almost completely pulled her under. She hardly knows what her mouth is, at this point, but somehow manages to form words and she hopes that her Beloved understand what she is trying to say, what she needs to hear, before surrendering to the darkness completely.

"It was okay that – I did well – was it okay that I looked? It was alright that I looked?"

Jasper gives her a brilliant, glowing smile and it transforms his whole face into a beacon of love and devotion. His scarred, somewhat mangled fingers began to spread feather-soft caresses against her body and the action is so soothing, so absolutely loving and tender, Alice sighs with pure happiness. "Yes, love. You did nothing wrong by looking. I love that you can look into the future and give me the honor of knowing – I'm thankful that you're powerful enough to do that for me."

Alice nods drowsily, something within her soothed by his fierce words. He continues to talk, his voice low and clear, the vibration of his words within his broad chest enough to allow her to let go. Jasper is thinking aloud, his words not making much sense to her but providing a solid anchor to hold onto as she spirals, spirals, spirals.

"You did so very well for me, my gypsy. I'm so happy with you and so proud of how far you've come with your Gift. I promise, I'll make the best decision for us with what you've given me. We'll take the rest of the month to work through all the outcomes, so that it doesn't hurt you. If a hurricane figures into this somehow, then we'll go ahead and assume that's giving us a timeframe of now until June before the opportunity to manifest my chosen outcome presents itself. Hurricane season begins at the start of June and goes through November, so that's also a timeline we should take into consideration. I'm not too willing to make a solid plan around a hurricane – because I'm not at ease with deciding based on an outcome that doesn't entirely make sense to us. But, it's something to consider, it gives me something to work with. Hmm. I'd say – a month to choose an outcome, another month to lay out a strategy, and another month to prepare for its execution. If I use this time wisely, I'll be prepared to take the first opportunity, and then – "

"And then, we move on."

It is Jasper's worshipful smile that she holds onto as she is abruptly, sharply buried in a darkness that cannot be overcome and her body becomes a tomb that will keep her prisoner until the Gift feels balance had be restored. Jasper is her anchor, the single point of existence that keeps her from being lost to the fragile, fractured instability of her own mind. He is her protector, her guardian, and her healer and if nothing else, she knows that he will hold true to her promise – he will always walk with her through this eternal life and he will always bring her back from whatever attempts to consume her.

The spiraling darkness that her Gift requires as the price for her being able to so freely use it is never as frightening of a journey as it could be – not when she has her Beloved eternally waiting for her when she returns home.

Author's Note: The Twilight Saga had so much potential as an epic, modern vampire tale - but, so much of it was wasted with navel-gazing fluff that served no real point and bloated the tale so badly that the genuinely interesting and epic stuff got push right out of the stories. Thus, this whole fic is a loving writing exercise that is going to be attempting to world-build the skeleton of a saga we got and really take the time to dig deep into the profound themes that Meyer presented - but never really explored or properly resolved. Let see how much fun can be had on this winding tale of what it means to be a human who runs with vampires and wolves!