A/N; Here's how it goes: I thought of the story line, and the super-mega-foxy-awesome kstewsbitch Wrote out the ideas. In the end, we have created a dark, daring, across-the-line story. If you like things going wrong in someone life, then enjoy! She's an amazing writer, and you can rage all you want about how it didn't work out to the books. That's the whole point ;)

There is some dialogue from New Moon, but it was only used when needed :D

Disclaimer: We don't own anything Twilight related. How awesome would it be if we did?

TOO LATE IN TIME

Chapter 1: Too Late In Time

Edward's POV:

"Edward?"

"I don't understand what you're saying, Rosalie," I stated dully, preparing myself for what was going to come. By the tone of her voice, I could tell that it wasn't something that would please me at all. And, with that known, I knew that it had to be about Bella. What could've possibly happened to my angel while I was gone? Could she have been harmed – well, she wasn't very balanced, so that wasn't a very accurate presumption. The only thing that kept me from hanging up the call was the fact that Rosalie might've known something about my Bella that I didn't.

"She's dead, Edward," Rosalie answered timidly, her voice small and seemingly weaker.

I couldn't stand to listen to more than that. As soon as each word left her mouth, separate as they escaped their hold, I hung up. My breathing was more labored than before. More than anything I just wanted to pass out and go into another world that was not quite realistic. I wanted to escape from the pain that was now engulfing me. As the dry sobs let on, I ached even more than I thought possible. It felt like the tears were inevitable, but here I was, no moisture slipping down my skin.

My head hit the floor, everything darkening in my view. There was nothing worth living for anymore. What could I try to live for if Bella was gone? She had been my life, and I'd admitted that. How could she do this to me? How could she just kill herself, if that's what she did? Didn't she care about the fact that I would miss her terribly, consider dramatics?

If she was dead, then there was no point to this life. Breathing would be pointless without her somewhere on this Earth. Bella was far away from me now. Too far away for my liking.

I stood inches from the light, my shirt whipping one way, and then the other, due to it being parted open. To say I wasn't the littlest bit afraid would be a lie, because I was. The Volturi would definitely kill me as soon as they realized what I was doing. I would be dead, gone, without even a goodbye to my family. What would Carlisle think, Emmett, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie? How would Esme take the news, if anyone ever figured this out?

Of course they would figure it out. Alice was talented, like I also was, and would be able to see this happening. The next question would be, would they believe it, or would they call it one of those times when Alice's vision would change sooner or later? That would always be a possibility. They could never be sure of the truth or a lie with her visions, although they were usually correct in one way or another.

As the clock tolled once more, I put one foot in front of the other and moved myself in a mechanical-like movement. With a deep breath, which could've possibly had been my last one, I stepped into the sun, my eyes squeezed shut.

Warmth touched my chest, and there were soft shoves against me that I barely felt. Curious, I made myself look down, knowing that this was no vampire that was trying to push me away from the sunlight. Chocolate brown eyes met my own coal black ones, and as my own eyes traveled down further, I recognized the face they belonged to. But this wasn't my real Bella. She was dead, and nothing would ever bring her back to me. So I simply turned my face away, blaming the image on my imagination. It was just granting me the thing I wanted most right now, but my imagination did not realize that I wanted the real person, not just an image. I made myself feel the hot fingers touch my skin, and I was still doing it, for I felt the fake-Bella push against me uselessly.

I felt like hissing a profanity at her, but not even this Bella of my imagination deserved that treatment.

"Edward," the figment-of-my-imagination said, sounding strangled, "you've got to get back into the shadows! You have to move!" I sighed; this Bella was hell-bent on getting her way. If I was being honest, though, the true Bella was just as stubborn. I set my jaw, pushing the image of Bella out of my mind, trying to get rid of the ghostly figure that was in front of me, who was trying to stop me from doing what was destined to happen since Bella had passed away. She huffed; the fake-Bella was unhappy that I was going to get rid of her, that I was winning this battle.

"I'm not dead," she cried, finally moving her hands, waving them in swift movements around her. "And neither are you! Please, Edward, we have to move! They can't be far away!" I brushed past her, now just acting as if Bella wasn't even there, which had been what I had been trying to accomplish from the beginning. "Damn it, Edward, look at me." I didn't turn around to see her. I knew that if I did, I'd see a perfect recollection of the girl I loved. It would only hurt me more, considering that, as I continued farther into the harsh light, I would soon be killed by others of my own kind.

I let my eyes stay open this time. I wanted to know who killed me. I knew that it didn't really matter, but it mattered somewhat to me. Maybe it would change how I felt about this whole thing. Probably not, though. There was no specific reason as to my interest in who would be the cause of my death. It just seemed like one of those things that I wanted, or needed, to know.

They came almost immediately. I hadn't been doubting their speed to rid of my life. I saw Felix's eyes flicker once to something behind me, and I had a feeling that it had been my fake-Bella, which arose protective feelings in my chest, but that was impossible, considering that she was a part of my imagination. A part of my mind's workings. Demetri stepped towards me, and I smiled, blissfully in a way, knowing that soon the darkness should overcome me.

"Aro would like to see you," he whispered instead, one corner of his lips tugging upwards. I figured I knew why Aro wanted to see me. He want to finish me off himself. I rolled my eyes at the idea of not just being able to finish it right here, right now, but accepted the invitation to go down to see Aro once more. There were humans about – it was Saint Marcus Day – and maybe, if I went down there, then their eyes would be spared, and possibly their lives.

Aro was standing, a slight smile on his face, waving me forward. He just had to make all of this more difficult than it needed to be. Couldn't they just have finished me off, already? I was, oddly, impatient for death. I wanted it, and I wanted it now. And if my wish wasn't soon granted, then I wouldn't exactly be as pleasant as before.

"Can't you just kill me already?" I asked curtly.

Felix coughed, and a small, tinkling laugh left another figure. My eyes quickly darted over to the person who had shared such laughter; Jane, of course it would be Jane. Marcus stared at me, his eyes dead, no emotion behind them. His thoughts were empty, circling around nothing but knowing what he needed to do to live. Caius had his hatred centered exactly on me, and I had a feeling I knew why. I fell in love with a human, she learned the largest secret of them all, and she grew to know more and more about vampires and my family. It was no wonder that, the one who was stricter than the others, would be angry with me.

Aro sighed, walking to me now. "There is another option," he claimed, almost in a proud-manner, as if there couldn't have been a better choice for me all along.

"And what," I started, "exactly," I said the word distinctly, "would that be?"

He looked away from my face, and I had a feeling that whatever he was about to offer me would be one of my last choices. Or, perhaps I should say it would've been one of my last choices. I wasn't exactly sure of what I was meant to do anymore. Bella was gone, in a place where I could never be. A place that the humans called Heaven, that I and Carlisle, and the other Cullens did, too. There was a possibility that I would accept anything that he wanted to give me. There was nothing and no one that I had to do anything for.

"It's quite simply, actually," Aro said quickly, probably trying to get rid of any worries that I might have had. I bit my lip, a habit that I had picked up from Bella, as he opened his mouth to continue the sentence. He looked over at the two he considered his brothers, Caius and Marcus, and they seemed to have a silent conversation, even though that would be easier if he touched them. I snickered, trying to cover up a laugh at the thought. What was wrong with me right now?

Aro's head snapped over to me, most likely curious as to what I had been thinking. His eyes went down to my hand, and then went back up to my face. He was asking me permission without words to see what I had been thinking. I refused him, shaking my head back and forth sideways. He pursed his lips before finally continuing.

"You could join us."

I hadn't been expecting it. Or maybe I had, in a subconscious mind. I looked at the others in the room; everyone here had a dark black cape on, some of them lighter, more of a grey color, except for the three leaders. All of their crimson eyes were focused on me, pressuring me into saying yes. I took one involuntary step back while looking at them. Becoming one of the Volturi did not just mean that I took a cape and tried to keep our identity from being unknown. No, it inquired that I drank blood. Not the blood of animals, either. The blood of humans.

Could I do that?

Could I possibly, after all of these years, become the monster that I had been once before? Could I disappoint Carlisle by just letting go of all of the practice that I'd had by going back to drinking human blood? Would it matter to me once I started drinking it again? Almost immediately I remembered one time when I was hunting, and a man had been there. I had attacked him, so willingly, so freely. The blood had been delicious, warm, right from the perfect spot in his neck…

The venom filled my mouth as I thought about it, and I winced a bit at the memory, for it made my throat burn with a sudden thirst.

I appeared so different from them in many ways. Most of them were more muscular, or less muscular, than myself. Others had more powerful talents. After all, all I could do was read the minds of my enemies, alliances, almost anyone. Anyone except…Bella. My darling, my sweet, my dead Bella.

There was no need to say no. I mean, really. There was no way that Bella would know of how I disgraced myself, no way that she would ever figure it out. And, if my life was gone, why couldn't I at least try to start anew? It could help me get over this whole, ridiculous problem that shouldn't have affected me. I inhaled deeply, realizing that I was being awfully introverted right at this moment, which was probably driving Aro mad. Did I really care about that, though?

I couldn't help but think that, in a way, I did.

My answer wasn't as strong as I felt, "Yes. Yes, I want to do that."

Aro's hands clapped together, a true smile overcoming his facial features. "Alright, then!" he exclaimed cheerfully, probably happier than anyone else in this room, or of what I could see. "Get a cloak," he ordered Alec, who had been standing the corner of the room, next to Jane, quiet and reserved. His teeth were noticeably bright as he smiled in that dark part of the room.

"Yes, Aro," he murmured, stealing an escape out of the room.

It made me feel about how this was my escape. My escape from the pain that Bella's death made me feel. The pain that was all that I would know for a while. This was supposed to help me get away from those feelings.

And so when Alec returned with one of the darkest cloaks, I didn't regret my answer. I clothed myself in the cloak, smiling a bit to myself. I gave a brief nod to the other vampires in the room, before making my leave into other places. There was no exact destination for me at this moment. Already I felt bloodthirsty; already I knew that I was a darker shade of myself.

Bella's POV:

I just couldn't make sense of what happened in Volterra with Edward as I sat on the plane, going back to Forks with Alice. We – I mean, I – had failed. But I couldn't help but blame it on him just a little bit. Why had he ignored me? Edward had looked straight down at me, felt my hands against his chest. He just acted like I wasn't even there after that brief time where we looked into each other's eyes. I had been positive that he'd realize I was not dead, not at all, but instead he treated me like I was just a part of his thoughts. A spirit, something like that.

I saw two vampires come and go, and when they left they did not leave alone. Edward accompanied them, and that's when I had started crying. I knew what was going to happen. They were going to kill him. They were going to murder him.

When Edward was walking, he just went by Alice, who was coming to help me save him, leaving her and myself dumbstruck. I'd tried running after him, but Alice's grip on me was too strong. By the way I was pulling, I could tell that bruises were going to form on my arms, my chest, everywhere that my body hit her rock hard one when trying to escape to save the person I still loved. Watching him walk off, nonchalantly in a way, smug in another, hurt me all over again. It was like he was abandoning me in the forest once more.

I felt more tears rolling down my face at the memory that happened not so long ago. Alice sounded like she was trying to suppress her dry sobbing, but she pulled me over to her anyway, giving me a hug, trying to calm me down. By now I was in hysterics. I wanted Edward to be the one holding me right now, comforting me, telling me everything would be okay. I wanted it to be his voice that was whispering in my ear, his skin that I was touching right now. But, more than anything, I just wanted to know that he was still alive.

But I knew that there was no possible way that he was still living.

That fact just made me hurt even more.

"Bella," Alice mumbled, "pull yourself together, please. I know, I know, you miss him…I do, too. I should've went with you – to hell with the consequences. But we can't take back what happened. I had a feeling that he's fine…Everything will be alright, honey, just calm down…Shh…" It was annoying me a bit that she was trying to make me sober up. I deserved to be crying my heart out right now. My whole life was gone. Yeah, sure, she had a feeling that he was alive, but her visions were subjective. I also had a feeling. And my feeling was that Edward was not alive, not in any way or form.

I settled myself back down in my seat, letting my head fall down into my hands as I tried to collect myself. I sniffled before starting to hiccup repeatedly, unstoppably. Alice patted my back gently, probably trying to help me. I didn't tell her that it made me hurt even more each time her cold fingers touched the fabric of my shirt. I wanted those to be Edward's fingers, rubbing a calming circle on my back. I knew that, in reality, this dream of mine would never happen again. "It's not your fault, Alice," I coughed, knowing that this was the truth. I should've tried harder. I should've hit him; I should've fought her more; I should've followed Edward to where he had gone without being stopped. "It's mine. Edward is dead, gone. It's all my fault. I don't…Alice, how could he just act like I wasn't there? How could he just pretend that I was something in the wind, like dust? Why couldn't he see me like he should've? He should've told me that everything was alright! He should've come back with me!" My voice was heading towards a scream. I clamped my mouth shut, starting to cry relentlessly again.

Alice had nothing to say.

I kept my mouth shut. I would go back home and try to be normal for Charlie. I would try to gain forgiveness from Jacob and be his friend again. Life would go on.

Life would go on. Without Edward. Without love.

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