Title: The Darkside of Twilight

Rating: M (which means there are complex plot devices, lemons, decapitations and lots and lots of blood)

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight. She is Bella's creator. I am Bella's Executioner. (and this is the story that I kill her in)

\/Darkside\/

Question:

When we stumble out of the darkness and into the burst of afternoon sun, our eyes are blinded all the more. Just because our world is illuminated does not mean we see anything. Open your eyes.

Answer:

Chapter 24: Well damn or War and Pieces

\/Darkside\/

Jacob POV

The stench was crippling. We ditched the cars at the end of the paved road and pushed on with our new bodies.

I could feel Bella's worries- but more importantly I could sense something waiting for... me. It was weird. I didn't have the opportunity to fight this voodoo that linked this vampire lady and me. I never questioned the fact that I was meant lead this pack or that I was now half wolf when my temper called for it. But this… this was something that felt strange.

It was an impossible place to be—inside Bella's mind. I was lucky. I could see through all the bullshit that she was shoving at the vamps. Even the crap she was trying to force down on herself. But that just meant I had some awesome responsibility on my shoulders now.

I was the sorry bastard here that knew what the hell was really going on. And I was only a sixteen year old kid. Hell! Bella was only a seventeen year old kid. What the hell kind of business did we have fighting some epic war with really, really bad scary monsters?

War is not pretty and heroic Jacob. My grandfather had always warned. It is ugly and painful… and endless. The sorrow in his eyes when he would talk about the thousands of years that he fought the cold ones was never missed by me. The others were lost in the worship of the charge—I was trapped by the promise of the duty.

I was bound to Bella—not forced but I refused to allow this power to turn against her. The others could walk away, but I would be her Alpha for the rest of eternity.

Bella. I warned. I sense something… I bit down on the other sensation—the one that told me some destiny was waiting for only me here. That scared the shit out of me. But I could feel something else. The wolves—my grandfather. They're already here…

Okay. Thank you Jacob—I will find Edward. You pull the pack around and wait…

She stopped. We all stopped.

The air was deathly still when we reached the clearing behind the cabin. Not quiet—but still. There were giant wolves and vicious vamps already going at it. And the Cullens were nowhere to be found.

We stood there—the nine of us. Frozen for a moment in the cold hard reality of what we were heading into. This wasn't some set up where two hundred vamps were going to lie down and wait for us to quietly burn them. This was an already sadistic slaughter that went back long before any of us were born… What the hell were we walking into?

"Edward…" Bella's voice was emotionless… and yet it was painful to hear. Shit. She was the tough one.

Focus Bells. I thought. What should we do? We heard a scream in the distance. Our heads turned as one to see the nice one—the doctor, Carlisle, pulling one of the big baddies away from the crowd.

"Demetri." Alice said as she walked up beside us.

It was… not something easy to watch. I could feel the terror from Bella. The confusion. The… loss of innocence as she watched her beloved, gentle father rip that huge vampire to shreds with his bear hands. There was an emptiness in the doctor's eyes when he did it. And a rage on his face that made Seth whimper.

Man up guys… and Leah. This is what we trained for. We can do this. We're strong. We can do this.

I closed off the bond to suck in a sharp quiet breath. Shit. Could we do this?

Bella looked over at me and swallowed hard. Leader and Alpha. Not just two kids anymore. She nodded once and that was that.

She ghosted down the hill to the battle scene. I turned to my pack.

It's on.

\/Darkside\/

EPOV

I had thought I would need to protect the girl with the shield—turns out she was a damn good little fighter. Even against vampires twice her size.

It was still odd to watch her. Her style of fighting… it mirrored my own. And there was a way she smiled when she took one of them down. I had seen that smile on my face. That signature crooked smile.

I cringed as she went after Alec. I was seeking out Cauis—I wouldn't be able to help her.

She made short work of the boy. Ripping his head from his body in one swift move, but Jane was not far behind.

I was torn.

I saw Cauis retreating by Aro's broken, unmoving form… When I looked back the girl was finishing Alec off and tossing a match on his chest. Good. I didn't have time to waste to see what happened to Jane.

I flew over earth and melted vampire flesh. The occasional wolf body lay twitching in a slow death and I paid no attention. If the Three were not stopped today—we may not ever get another chance to defeat them.

I was a bullet of determination as I made my way toward Cauis and Chelsea. A rocket that could not be stopped… so when Felix slammed into me, we made a ditch four feet deep when our combined inertia hit the ground.

I was a snarling beast with him on top of me. I tried to force my hands to his flesh but they were pinned at my sides. He bit my neck—on the left side, over the scar from when my mother bit me the day I died.

"Hello Edward." Felix hissed. I snapped my teeth at him—trying to move his impossible weight from my chest.

"This will be my pleasure." His big hand moved to the top of my head and his fingers dug deep in my bronze locks. I howled in rage as I felt my skin begin to tear from where he bit me.

"Get away from my son."

Felix chocked a breath of shock as Esme's hand plunged through his chest from behind his body. This stalled him long enough for my hand to be freed.

I pictured him ripping off his own limbs and jumping into the fire that burned from Alec's small form.

He immediately complied. Esme flopped forward on to me once she wiggled her arm from his chest.

She was breathing hard and her thoughts were regretful and shamed. I rolled my eyes. Only Esme would feel bad about killing the man who ripped her apart for entertainment.

"Are you okay Edward? Oh…" Her gentle hands smoothed the flesh on my neck and I could already feel the venom healing it back together. The bite would not heal—it held his venom in it. But if that was the only scar I walked away with today I would consider myself lucky.

"I'm fine. You find Carlisle and stay out of the way of danger. Please. Mom." She nodded—put her hand against my cheek before jumping out of the tiny grave that I found myself in.

When I popped my head out—Cauis was not there.

Damn it to hell.

"EDWARD!" I turned to see… Bella. She was running across the field towards me—dodging blows from some of the unnamed guards who were being ravaged by the wolves.

It was easy to understand why we might win this battle today—the guard members were not the same as the warriors. They had no experience fighting wolves.

I was pulled from my musing as Bella fell to on her back from Marcus' sudden attack behind her.

"BELLA!"

If I had a beating heart it would have stopped. My mind froze around one thought- KILL.

I would do more than just rip him apart if he hurt one hair on her head. I closed the distance faster than I had with Cauis. But the four wolves got to him first. Once my rage melted into jealously and then flowed in to thankfulness, I realized that these wolves were different from the rest. These must be Bella's pack.

Each wolf took a limb and pulled—Marcus was no inexperienced guard member—he was one of the oldest vampires in existence. He pulled his appendages back together and the wolves lost their footing at the force of the pull.

Damn. I made to help but I should have known better than to second guess Bella—she knocked his legs out from under him and the wolves held him down.

"Open his mouth Jacob." The russet colored one put one of his giant paws on Marcus' chin. While Bella pulled out a match.

"Suck on this." She said and shoved the lit match in his mouth. Clever girl. The pride I felt for her in that moment almost made me giddy.

"Throw him into the crowd!" Bella yelled. Already Marcus' eyes were ablaze with a blue flame and his limbs were thrashing about. I watched, amazed, as Bella and her newly changed pack pushed the walking bomb into a nest of three guard members. In a second his body burst and the blue flames doused the scene—along with chunks of his former body. And though the vampires were not harmed—the bits of Marcus that had staid solid long enough to explode had knocked them down. Her wolves made short work of now incapacitated vampires.

Bella drew in large gusts of air—out of habit in the replacement of adrenaline. She turned to me and I saw that Newborn Bella had enjoyed the fight but that Human Bella was glad to see me—almost forcing tears in her eyes. And Vampire Bella ran into my arms.

Her scent hit me first. But only a breath of a second before her body slammed into mine and I felt our electric bond surge stronger than ever.

"Edward." She whispered as I crushed her to me.

There was a bloody, holy-hell of a conflict erupting around us—but we didn't notice anything but each other. She leaned back in my arms so that she could look in my eyes.

I smiled. "Hi." I said as if she had just come home from shopping and I had nothing more important to do but greet her.

She smiled. "Hi back." We shared a gentle kiss—almost painfully soft. A whisper of our flesh meeting. It was all we would be able to have at the moment.

I felt a hard kick in my side. Bella and I landed on our backs—Chelsea and Cauis above us.

"Do it." Cauis commanded. He was picturing her breaking our bond. It was the one pleasure left to Cauis now. Since the loss of his wife, see happiness and love like ours separated made him happy.

Chelsea glared down at us. Bella clutched her hand tightly in mine. I returned the pressure. Not only did our electric bond still pulse in the air around us, but the mental bridge that we had broken while apart was forging anew. Chelsea was not having any effect on us.

Strange. It had not worked when I was alone because part of my mind would forever be in Bella. It had only slightly worked because I silenced that bond to gain her trust. But now… it was as if she no longer had a power to wield over us at all.

"Renesmee." Cauis hissed.

The child. Where was she?

"You called?" Her high voice asked from above my head. I looked up to see my smile on her face and a twinkle in eyes… eyes that looked just like Bella's had in her human face.

Renesmee leapt on to Chelsea to take her down. Bella and I followed the now retreating Cauis.

We have to stop him. I thought. He is the last.

Bella agreed. But neither of us had an active enough gift to take him down.

When in doubt always bet on Alice… I heard her telling Emmett to get ready. She had gleaned Cauis' retreat and our biggest sibling was poised ready to take him down.

He never stood a chance. Emmett fell with the grace of a grizzly from the tall tree at the start of the woods. Cauis gasped as my brother growled—a low deep menacing rumble in his chest. Emmett's eyes were dark and wicked as he slowly inched the ancient back toward us.

Bella and I blocked his escape from behind and Alice closed in on his right. Emmett was wide enough to cover the front and the left.

Each of us took a chunk of him and pulled. His screams were short lived before his head no longer had a body to return to.

And as he went up in smoke… I felt an amazing relief settle on my shoulders.

"Don't celebrate yet." Renesmee mumbled coming up behind me.

Bella called the wolves off as the remaining handful of guard members retreated into the now growing darkness of the woods.

I looked up to the sky. Twilight. The safest part of the day for our kind to travel in the open. My smile turned to a grimace. At least it was only a handful of minions. We cut the head from the snake today.

Bella! You're gonna wanna see this. Jacob yelled across my mind and Bella's.

He stood by Aro's forgotten form. I could hear his thoughts. My entire form sunk at the possibility that he might be seeing something real.

"What?" Bella said turning to me before she walked over to him.

"Damn," I whispered and led her to the darkest secret weapon in Aro's guard.

Carlisle flanked Bella and Alice and Emmett and I were on her other side. Together we stood over the suddenly reforming body.

"What the hell!" Emmett shouted.

"Mutants." Alice whispered.

"Fudge." Bella said.

"No fuck." I corrected.

"I concur." Carlisle agreed.

The body that I had believed to be Aro morphed in a smaller body—a female body. We all watched in combined horror as Aro's wizened face melting down to a youthful girl's.

You? Jacob asked looking up at Bella. His wolf lips whimpered the question. I heard it clear as a bell in my mind.

Bella shook her head. This was not the work of her illusion. Everything on this field today was real—solid cold hard truth. But this thing… what was it?

"Her name is Meta. She is… one of Aro's experiments." Renesmee stood behind us explaining. "She is a shape-shifter. She could take on the appearance of anyone she wanted to. Aro kept her close whenever he was around anyone. I wouldn't be surprised if Aro never came here in the first place. It is kind of his M.O."

Bella turned at the sound of the girl's voice. I watched her as she inspected the child for the first time. There was a pull she felt toward the child. But she too was blank as to any connection to her.

"Who are you?" Bella asked her politely.

Renesmee hung her head and sniffed a quiet tear. "No one."

We surveyed the rest of the damage. There were a fair number of wolves lost… none from Bella's pack. But the young one—Seth was nursing a broken paw for the moment.

I tried to grant my family privacy for the self evaluation that comes from facing the kind of acts we committed today. But it was impossible to not hear them at all.

Carlisle kept looking at his hands. Hands he had devoted to healing and preserving lives for the last hundred years. All he could see was unwashed blood.

Alice was kicking herself for something she didn't even know she had done. I shook my head and left Alice's mind behind for the moment. I wasn't in the mood for the headache.

Jasper… was holding down Jane. I turned to Alice. She nodded and went to find him.

Emmett—was squaring off with Esme.

"Damn it." I whispered. The family followed me to find him growling at Esme as she… sat on top of Rose.

"Esme… please." Emmett warned. I could see the battle raging in his mind. The safety of his mate—even though he knew her a traitor—versus the impossible task of hurting Esme.

"No Emmett." Our mother said with a patient calm voice. "She can't just walk away from this."

\/Darkside\/

It was decided. Family vote. The wolves held her down while we—voted on how to kill Rosalie.

Jasper held a snarling Jane by the arm as he followed Alice to the circle. Bella and I exchanged a quick glance. I leaned over and touched her forehead.

Sleep. And she did.

"You're right." Bella said watching Jane fall to the ground. "It is a creepy thing to see."

We huddled around and made one of the hardest decisions in our lives.

\/Darkside\/

Renesmee POV

As soon as the Volturi cleared and the other wolves bled back into the woods, night fell. And with the darkness of night—came a thunderstorm from hell.

And we weren't even in Forks.

"Aunt Rose?" I walked up behind Jacob.

He didn't know who I was.

Dad didn't know who I was.

Mom… mom even asked me who I was.

But surely Rosalie… the vampire who had threatened to kill every last Cullen who tried to hurt me…she would know.

The dark eyes that peered up at me told me two things. One—this was yet another case of 'you don't exist kid'. And two—this was not MY aunt Rosalie.

Jacob turned his head toward me. His black eyes searched mine. He felt it. I could feel it too. This went beyond even the parent bond. But… he still couldn't remember.

Frustrating would have meant there would be an answer to this madness eventually. I was a kid who was born in an alternate world. One that saw her family die and now is seeing them not remember her at all.

Frustrating was not finding two of the same kind of socks. This was something beyond words. This was standing in the middle of an open field with you mouth hanging open and no words coming out while you pulled out every last strand of hair on your scalp.

But this was my life. Unexplainable.

I sat on the ground next to Jane's sleeping body. Why seeing a vampire sleeping no longer amazed me was not hard to understand. I had been sitting in this field for the last two months with all of these vampires sleeping. It was more odd to see these people I thought I knew so well… changed. Different.

Surreal.

They were planning Rose's demise. I really had no clue what for. Other than the last day, I was told to shield but kept in the tower. I never heard or saw anything that they discussed. They were all trapped in some illusion. I was just locked away in some dream tower—in the dream which I had to fight like hell to get into in the first place.

This damn shield. How did mom stand it before? My gift was so much more… controllable. This was something that was wrapped around my mind and it was like fighting to pull stretch Armstrong apart to drop it even a little.

At least I did have something going for me. I didn't have to question what was real. No matter how hard they tried—no one could influence my mind and perceptions.

"Okay. It's decided." Dad said.

I shuddered internally. I had always known my family was powerful—capable of this kind of stuff because of their strength and their abilities. But… I don't know. Seeing them in war… that changes something eternally about how I can see them from now on.

Especially Carlisle. He was scary to watch lose that much control.

I wanted to close my eyes as I watched them face my aunt. Rose had been like a second mother to me—while in my mother's womb no less. She hugged me and kissed me. She loved me.

She brushed my hair. And she held me when I slept.

How could she warrant a death at her own family's hands?

What kind of horror movie am I living in now?

My eyes would not close but instead held open wide—helpless to watch my aunt die.

\/Darkside\/

RPOV

Lightening flashed around the scene as the family lined up in front of me.

They all stood around me. I watched the seven pairs of eyes narrow in synchronization as they watched me. I could almost feel the pain they imagined that they would inflict upon me.

Bring it on! Pain I could take. Pain I could dish out. Just promise me that in the end I would die. That was all I wanted. I was never a creature who should have lived. Death was all I had left.

I guess I should have been shocked- I could see an intense hatred in all of their eyes. Even Esme. Especially Esme.

But then, I lived a human life with a heartless mother. It wasn't anything new for me to see my mother look at me with disdain.

I leveled the one in the middle with my sharp challenging eyes. "Who's first?" Emmett snarled as he stared back at me. His big hands were claws- Hands that had caressed and teased my body into levels of pleasure that I had never dreamed of. But sex had never been anything for me- Just some desperation that this body felt. In my mind I was either the gutter whore of my mother or the rapist of my father. I was never a lover. Emmett deserved someone who could love him back. But it would never be me.

Carlisle stepped forward- killed by my father, how overdone. I rolled my eyes. But then I looked into his and... even I had to admit I was afraid. I remembered what he did to Demetri. I shuddered slightly as I picture him doing that to me.

He crouched down before me with a steely look that could freeze even my already frozen body. His black eyes were slits of rage.

He reached forward and took my hand. He had taken my hand a thousand times since I was changed. It was his way of comforting us. He would reach out his hand and let us know that he would always be there for us. Now my fingers trembled in his.

He took my thumb between his fingers- almost pinching it. I trembled all over now. His face was stone and his eyes were a black hole of a universe of darkness. "I made you my daughter." He said with a hauntingly hollow voice.

He applied the slightest pressure and my thumb pulled off into his grasp. I bit down on the pain. I would not give any of them the satisfaction of seeing me tortured.

"I gave you my love." He pulled my index finger off. He tossed the appendages on the ground next to me. How horrifically disgusting were we- my fingers moved on their own next to me. Clawing at the earth to find a way back to my body. Demons.

"I gave you my trust." Another finger. More pain. No response from me. I just glared back at him. There was no torment dark enough to faze me now. When he finished with the fingers his fingers wrapped lightly around my wrist.

He glared at me- his darkness touching mine deep inside of my soul. "This… is for Esme." He pulled my wrist off in one slow deliberate movement. I would admit- that one hurt. His hands trailed up to my elbow. Again the look and a sharp breath. "This is for Emmett." My forearm was now writhing on the ground beside me. His hands were on my shoulder and the snarls of pain were getting harder to keep quiet. "And this..." his eyes shown as if tears would have crested the lids were he human. "Is for me."

I shrieked in pain as my entire right arm was now in pieces torn from my body. Carlisle wouldn't do this to my whole body would he? I watched his cold hard face- yes he probably would.

"Carlisle." Esme stood behind him- her gentle hand on his shoulder. His beast was reigned in by her touch. He looked up at her with questioning eyes. She nodded and he stood.

Esme didn't touch me- she just… disapproved. Her eyes were razors across my skin. I had broken her heart. The only heart that had truly been promised to me unconditionally. I stared her down and felt a greater pain than Carlisle's torture. She was ripping apart my soul- reminding me that I was evil. Banning me from the heaven of this family's love and acceptance.

I shuddered again. They fell back into the line. I searched the dark faces of the people who I called brothers and sisters. Alice stepped forward next. She didn't stop- she just walked deliberately to me and bent down when she reached me. She slapped me once. Quick. Hard. And to the point. "Bitch." She spat and turned back to Jasper.

I almost laughed at that. I would miss Alice.

Jasper's face scrutinized me as I thought about her. His eyes narrowed and I felt a surge of anger wash over me. Jasper and his emotions- it was always easy to tell how he felt. He made you feel it too.

"Don't look at her!" He hissed. I smirked and looked at Alice once more. He snarled. "HOW!" He roared. I actually cowered back. The general was terrifying when he was on the warpath. "How can you sit there and smile! There is no curse dark enough for you! There is no suffering strong enough for you! You are evil Rosalie! Truly. Evil." He breathed the last and turned to face Alice with his back shielding both of them from me. That was a bit of a let down- I expected Jazz and Em to be the big fighters.

A growl from my left reminded me of the guy I had forgotten. I turned my head slowly to meet Edward's eyes. He had been away from the family for so long that... I had forgotten about his gift. Edward knew everything I was thinking.

And Edward was more ruthless and vicious in his fighting style than either of the other boys. He knew what you were going to do before you did. "You risked my mate. My family. And my unborn child. I will chain you to a stone wall and force you to live as a vampire for all eternity Rosalie." I hissed at him. Edward would do it. He would beat off everyone who wanted me dead and spend the next five thousand years making sure I never died. Bastard!

"Just kill me Edward. It makes it better for everyone—"

"NO!" He hissed. "If all you wanted was death we could have killed you long ago. You made every person here suffer for your vain need to die a human." He crouched down like Carlisle- only this time I was not stupid enough to try to hide my fear of the pain. I saw Felix throw himself on those flames.

My breath was coming in sharp pants and I prepared for the pain. "No." He said simply. His eyes narrowed and a sadistic smile that made me feel dirty spread across his face. "Pain is too nice for you. At least… from me."

He turned his eyes to Bella. She just nodded. She never looked at me. Never spoke to me. Another let down. I had kind of hoped to get some good swings in to her before I died. Edward's face was in mine in a second from that thought. His teeth were bared with dripping venom. He snarled a warning with angry dark eyes. It was like looking in to the face of the devil.

You don't touch her! He said across my mind. As if he controlled the weather as well as my thoughts—a clap of lightening mixed with a boom of thunder and his monstrous face was highlighted in a deeper shadows.

Suddenly my body was shaking and I didn't know why. I couldn't think. I couldn't... couldn't... my hand was clawing at my body- tearing in to the flesh and ripping it away from my bone. My fingers reached up to my face and tore down my cheek- my beauty was no more. It pulled chunks of my blond hair from my scalp. I couldn't control it. My mind was no longer my own.

"Edward." A deep voice said from in front of me. I just stared at nothing. Seeing nothing. Hearing nothing. I had one purpose- destroy myself.

"Stop Edward." It was Emmett. He was quietly telling Edward to stop. Instantly my body fell limp and free.

I cowered back from Edward. He was a terrifying monster now. His sneer told me that didn't bother him in the slightest. He'd rather be a monster than me.

I looked at Emmett. Suddenly everyone else was gone. It was just him and me. No words. No explanations. Just an ending.

He took off his shirt. I could still appreciate that body. He was a lethal weapon of strength. I stood and removed my cloak.

It was a pity that for one last time we couldn't just do it- I did like something about joining my body with his. There was a fullness and a completeness to me when it happened. Some promise I always let slip through my hands like the bleeding out of the pleasure from the climax. A single moment of chance that dissolved before my mind could

The family was standing just past the trees—out of the downpour.

"What would you…" I started to say turning to face him. I was silenced by his huge fist hitting my jaw and practically dislocating it from my face.

"AH!" I screamed. Emmett really was powerful.

"Why Rose!" He shouted. The rain dripped from his nose and chin and made my hair hang down my back.

I laughed. Sadistic. Emotionless. Hopeless.

"Why not Emmett!" I continued to laugh as the lightening flashed around us—almost making it appear to be midday for a second before plunging us back into darkness.

"You are better than this baby." He dropped his guard for a second—inviting me to take a swing.

Why? I just wanted to die. Fighting Emmett made no sense.

"Hit me Rose… hit me or else you live forever." The way he said it—it cut deeper than all of the other tortures.

It would kill Emmett to see me die. What was this emotion I felt now? Not guilt. I never wanted this life. It was Carlisle's fault that I was here.

Emmett punched me again—this time in my stomach. I collapsed from the force.

I could see the night I found him—my Emmett. I snapped the bear's neck before he could feed. And there he was… helpless and dying… and bleeding. I had fought the bear because his blood smelled so good. I was ready to cheat—drink just one human's life.

But I couldn't do it. Not when I looked into his eyes…

I looked up to see Emmett's black eyes illuminated by the lightening. They were changed. Not soft. Not helpless. And it was all because of me.

"Fight me Rose!" He snarled… I was wrong. He was helpless. He couldn't survive this anymore than I could.

"Tell me why! Why! I would have given you anything. I would have done anything for you Rose! Why! Why them!" He pointed toward the family… my family. The one I never realized I needed until I could no longer ask for their forgiveness.

"WHY!"

He slammed me into the ground beneath him. His hands were around my throat. His teeth were beard. And instead of the fierce warrior he became in battle, he was strained in defeat and pain.

"I love you." I whispered.

His ragged breaths slowed at my words—the tension slowly drained from his face. I didn't know why I said it. I never really understood the word. But if there was ever a creature I should have had the ability to love—it would have been Emmett.

He lowered his lips to mine and pulled back just before they connected with my flesh.

"Rot in hell." He snarled.

"Edward." Emmett shoved off of me and backed away.

"NO!" I growled. I thrashed and kicked and screamed as Jasper and Edward chained me to the tree.

"Stop moving." Edward said placing his hand to my head. Instantly I lost control of any movement of my body.

"Enjoy your death Rosalie." Edward whispered.

And with that… they were gone.

I stared up at the rain.

Forever.

Trapped like this forever.

\/Darkside\/

BPOV

I sat against the car with shaking hands. What was happening to me? I wanted to cry- but I no longer produced tears.

"Bella?" God would his voice ever stop making me feel this way? "What's wrong my love?"

"I failed." My voice was just a solemn dirge for the loss of my hopes.

Edward sat beside me. He didn't touch me but the electricity that pulsed between us consumed me entire.

"How so?" His voice remained encouraging and almost light. It was sort of unnerving. I was the one with the awesome gift wasn't I? How was it that he always seemed to know so much more than me?

"What was the use of sending you here Edward? I am so incompetent that I put you all in danger. I should have known. Pulling away your memories... it was stupid and dangerous and... and I'm not sure I'm cut out for this."

Edward sat through my tirade without comment. When I was done and huffing from the anger of my failure he put him arm around my shoulders.

With a deep breath he gave me a piece of his mind. "With great power comes a great vulnerability my love. You are cut out for this- it is your destiny. But no one is perfect." I snorted. He was. And he damn well knew it.

Edward placed one long finger under my chin and turned my head to face him. His eyes were not troubled, as I would have imagined from what he had survived the last two months. He seemed... content.

"I love you." He breathed.

Our lips met and I understood.

There was so much we had to work through now. An even greater war to fight and we were at a disadvantage because we were even more in the dark than we were before.

But this. This burning pleasure that was throbbing from his lips to mine… this was real. And this was right. And that made everything okay.

\/Darkside\/

RPOV (minutes after the Cullens leave—she is alone.)

Alone.

I have nothing to even think about.

There are memories. None good. There is my mother spread open and naked—allowing her self to be ravaged.

There is my father's sickening smile as he defiles me without an apology.

There is even Emmett's face—contorted in the moment of release, now tainted by the fact that I was no better than my parents when it came to such an act.

No emotion.

No hope of salvation.

Maybe Emmett would return in seventy years and take pity on me. Unchain me and try to help me rehabilitate myself. I watched the shadows around me. The rain was slowing gently.

How hard would it have been to kill me? That's all I wanted. But none of them had the guts to do it.

"Oh my dear…" a voice darker than the black around me whispered. His voice was like rough velvet—ancient and full of secrets.

Erebos.

"They were never meant to kill you. They decided… I should be the one to do it. Since I granted my son, Carlisle, the ability to change you…. It is only right that I be given the ability to take that back. It is me and my ability to change your past that made you betray them was it not?"

I glared at the nothing from where he spoke. He wasn't really even here… I couldn't see him.

"Just because you can't see something…" the darkness moved next to me and a white face appeared with eyes so black they seemed translucent. "Doesn't mean it's not real."

I felt a fire course through me and for a second I knew what is like to be Alice—I saw it—me dying. My body disintegrated in to a million pieces—dust saturated into the collecting rain and washed away from this earth like the filthy mess that I was.