YAY!! Finally the first chapter! sorry it took so long ... I've been lazy and on vacation – where I wasn't allowed to bring my computer.

Thanks to my beta, R.L.N. Tonks!

Chap. 1

BPOV

Padded walls and relief-bringing pills were all that I had known for the past fifty years. Even in death I was secluded, separated from all in this purgatory that would never end. Not that there resided sins that required to be burned away within me – no, my sins, I was told, were few and far between. Nor was there any mistake within the heavens in putting me here, for this was fully thought through by both me and others far greater than I.

No, this was a choice. Death, I admit, was a relief. To slip away from the troublesome body that was my home for so many years. But Heaven itself held no Eden for me, my soul itself being wrapped around another being that still resided on earth. And so I settled in Purgatory, Hell refusing me and Heaven having no purchase for me. I wait, in this endless darkness that surrounds me, leaning against padded walls, for both my lover and my executioner – Edward.

EPOV

I didn't lift my head to see who entered the room. The thoughts that echoed in his head were more familiar than ever, sharing with me his pity and remorse, as if I needed anymore. I heard him sigh, and saw through his eyes myself, hanging from a wall by shackles of unknown metal. I tore my mind away from his and withdrew into my own head, blocking any thoughts that came my way. His pity angered me, for it was he who kept me here, he who refused to let me join once again with my love in death.

Carlisle knelt to open the bag that he brought with him, glancing over at my crumpled form but never once meeting my eyes. I used the little strength that I had to snarl at him as he gazed briefly over my matted hair and my ripped clothes. He stood from his crouch with a plastic bag in hand, walking cautiously over to me and holding it up to my mouth. My teeth punctured the bag with ease, slitting holes in the flimsy plastic. I drank deeply from the packaged blood, the cold, unsatisfying blood, my thirst barely sated by it. One hand on my arm, he watched me as I drank, his eyes solemn and pitying.

I glared at him through my own wild eyes, relinquishing my grasp on the bag as I launched myself away from the wall with my newfound strength in a futile attempt at escape. The chains, foraged in some unknown kiln, were strong enough to yank me back by my arms and hold me in place. My arms were raw and red from my failing attempts, the marble skin marred by the chains which withheld unfathomable strength. I glared onward, past my jailer, toward the open door that let in the only light I saw. Carlisle reached forward, hesitant, like a smart child petting an unknown dog. I let loose a low growl through my clenched teeth as he laid the tips of his fingers on the cold metal around my wrists. His gaze once again caught mine as he stared, pityingly once more, at me.

"I do not want to do this Edward. I wish there was another way. But there isn't."

I snarled out my next few words. "You could set me free. Spring me from this prison and let me go."

Carlisle sighed, running his fingers through his blond hair as he looked toward the ground. "I can't do that. I will not – can not, let you destroy yourself."

I ignored him once more and turned away, waiting for him to make his next move.

He surprised me. He took hold of my chains and loosened them, slightly. Enough so that they held, but they did not grasp as tightly. I looked up in sheer surprise, as he moved the chains link by link. And then he left – just left the room, picking up his empty bag with him, and shutting and locking the door as he left.

He had loosened the chains. Loosened. For the first time, I felt the slightest sincere hope that I could escape. I pulled at my shackles, the things that had held me imprisoned for these long years. The vain hope that I grasped onto was shattered, splintering into minute fragments as the chains slid, but did not fall. I hung my head once more and thought of my warden, the gentle man that stood stubbornly in my way, blocking the path toward joining the everlasting bliss of death, whether Heaven or Hell. Or rather, non-existence, the nothingness of death without a soul. I cursed him, him, for giving me hope and snatching it away, dashing away the one thought of salvation after having me relish it for the few moments that I had.

Anger filled me again, and I tore at the chains, roaring in my despair. To my great surprise, the chain moved once more, sliding minutely across my marred skin. I pulled harder, wrenching at the binding metal. It slid again, and I saw that he had given me the chance at escape, whether meaning to or not. Once they had passed the tightest point they fell easily, enjoying the first moments of freedom, of the air on my wrists where they had been bound. The wounded marble flesh healed easily in the open air, and I watched as the skin bound itself back together. The sound of my own footsteps sounded foreign to me, as I was barefoot and the ground met my feet with a slapping sound. The door opened silently and I stepped out into the cold night, running toward anywhere. Running toward nowhere.

The dark trees welcomed me in between their twining branches, their roots seeming to melt away into the dirt as I passed. Animals that hid in the branches of the nearby pines stilled at my passing, silencing their chatters and calls. Their beady black eyes watched me as I ran, following my footsteps that rustled the leaves on the ground. I had to get as far away from Carlisle with the time that I had – he would know that I was gone the moment the sun rose – the time that he visited me every morning. I had left the door open, the first sign that he would see that I was gone. The wind whipped my hair back from my face as I ran harder and faster, relishing in the freedom that was mine once more. I knew where I was going. I had known where I would go for the past fifty years – waiting, planning for this day. Waiting so that I could finally have the chance to destroy the monster that had killed her – the monster that was me. I smiled grimly into the darkness, and ran even faster. Death awaited. I shouldn't keep it waiting.

Alice

The familiar blank-white feeling of a vision washed over me – only this time, an unfamiliar something tinged the edges of this feeling. Suddenly, screams erupted in my head, each with the piercing pitch of a wounded animal, shooting straight into me. Glimpses of light flickered across my vision, each showing an image in black and white, showing each for only an instant. Broken images burst in front of my eyes like shattering glass, white and blinding. I felt my physical me sway and arms catching me, but I could not move. The flashes went blank and red eyes stared out from the darkness, and slowly, one by one, faded into the black. Suddenly the dark veil was lifted and I looked up to the topaz light of my lover's eyes, and I whispered one thing that made Jasper's eyes widen.

"Edward."

Carlisle

Waking to the break of dawn wasn't an option for me, but nevertheless I was walking through the woods as the first rays of sunlight hit the ground. The leaves rustled underfoot as I ran through the trees, the light reaching out further and further through the trees. I glimpsed the concrete cell through the trees, its gray walls unnoticeable to human eyes. I slowed to a walk as I neared the compound, thinking of the horrific deed that I had done to my own. I kept him chained – chained and padlocked – inside of a cell in the middle of the forest.

I hung my head. Compassion – the one thing that my children had said to be my greatest trait – was one thing that could not save my son. I could not let him go, not after we had lost Bella, not after all we had gone through. Our family was already torn apart – each pair had gone their separate ways, as we all were reminded by each other of the pain that our family suffers. Jasper had left for the last time, unable to stand the sorrow that enveloped our family. After that Alice saw only darkness in Edward's future, the darkness of the cell walls, and she left to escape the dark images that sprang into her mind time after time. Emmett, his little sister gone, left the house because of the memories that haunted them. Rosalie left with him, faithful to him, yet still regretting her actions toward her human sister. Esme stayed with me, loosing her children, staying only because of me. And now Edward stood, in the very cell that stood before me, chained to a wall.

The back of the concrete cell faced me, its windowless state reminding me of a solid concrete block, dark and suffocating. As I rounded the corner, a glimpse of moving black caught my eye. The open door to the cell swung silently on its well-oiled hinges, a door into the blackness that hung within. I stepped closer and saw, hanging in the shroud of darkness, the chains that swung empty against the wall, their links relaxed after their years of strained use. I swung around from the darkness and ran. He was going where he went before – only with nothing to stop him.

My son was going to the Volturi.