Chapter 15: Twilight

It's twilight.

The sun had just set on Volterra. The city had plunged into momentary darkness, and then one by one the regular nighttime city lights had flickered to life. The people of the city had hurried home a little faster this night. There were all kinds of stories flittering through the streets.

A couple who had been picnicking in the open fields outside the city had heard wolves howling all day. Wolves were not unusual to this part of the country, but they had never before been so active during broad daylight.

A group of children swore to their playmates and families that they had seen several people and large bears scale the huge city wall in the late afternoon. The parents' all put their children's story down to overactive imaginations.

Yet they had heard the weird, rolling thunder that had boomed out over the city around dinnertime. It had echoed and bounced around the narrow city streets. Some people were sure that the thunder was not coming from the heavens itself but from the tallest buildings in the city itself.

And no one could miss the weird colored smoke that rose from the top of the castle.

It's the safest time of day for us.

The fight was over for the small group of people huddled on the tallest tower of the castle. They had just finished piling all the extra pieces onto the fire. Several were peering anxiously down the side of the tower.

The easiest time. But also the saddest, in a way…the end of another day, the return of the night.

Couples clung to one another on the tallest tower. Then, two by two, they seemed to swallow some unimaginable fear and they slowly left the heights, climbing down to see what they would fine at the bottom.

Darkness is so predictable, don't you think?

Jasper's Point of View

The cost had been too great. I held Alice's hand tightly as we hurried down the tower stairs.

Eleazar and Carmen…Irina…I swallowed hard. Emmett and Rosalie…and now maybe Edward and Bella.

I dropped Alice's hand and slipped my arm around her waist. I let my head droop so I could inhale the scent of her hair deeply. A shudder tore through me. Here I was, exalting in the fact that Alice was alive and with me. And all of our brothers and sisters were most likely dead.

Alice glanced up and met my eyes. She whispered, 'I can't see anything. The wolves are still with us. But I know how you feel.'

The wolves were right behind Carlisle and Esme behind us on the stairs. They were just as concerned about Edward and Bella as we were.

The steps we had to descend to get to the bottom of the tower were like one of those nightmares. The ones where the stairs just seem to go on forever and ever. And you don't really want to get to the bottom because you're afraid of what you'll find, but you know that you can't stop.

None of us knew what to think about the plunge from the tower. Usually that height would not be difficult for a vampire to manage. But Demetri was holding onto Bella with the intent to smash her to pieces when they hit the ground.

It was impossible to guess at what had happened.

Finally the nightmare of the stairs was behind us and we all fled at top speed to the crash point.

I couldn't have tried to smooth the tumultuous moods around me even if I had been able to try. I couldn't even keep my own emotions in check.

And then there it was. Right in front of us was a huge gaping chasm in the ground. My courage failed me at that point and I stopped and looked away.

Alice pulled out of my grasp and ran ahead. I let her go. My whole body was trembling. I was so ashamed of myself, but I couldn't force my feet to move one more step.

I had grown so close to Edward while we were imprisoned. I had gone from hating him to admiring him. If he was gone now…I couldn't even think of it.

Time had come to a standstill for me when I heard the best sound in the world. Alice squealed in delight. She was climbing out of the hole clinging to Bella with one arm and Edward to the other.

I closed my eyes for one brief moment and hissed. Then I was running forward with everyone else to jump on Bella and Edward.

I grinned at my brother and ruffled his hair. He tried to frown at me but his grin broke through anyway. 'How did you get out of this one?'

He motioned to the chasm. 'Finally found something Demetri is good for. Breaking people's falls.'

Siobhan and Maggie jumped down to take care of Demetri's remains while the rest of us went on hugging and talking excitedly.

One of the biggest shocks of the night came when Jacob approached Edward and embraced him. Then Bella flung herself at the usually reserved Leah who surprised me by actually smiling and returning Bella's hug.

Edward suddenly pushed Jacob away and stared intently toward the castle. Jacob's face started to crumple until he followed Edward's gaze.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was Rosalie, carrying Emmett.

We all stood stock still, not daring to move, as Rosalie came slowly toward us.

Rosalie's face was almost black from dirt and Emmett's face turned to look at all of us. A slow grin formed on his lips.

'She saved me, musta fought off four Volturi on her own.'

Everyone was rushing to Rosalie and Emmett.

I could hardly believe it. We were safe from the Volturi. They could never touch any of us again. We had suffered horrible losses. But it was over.

Coming up: my story is just about done. Thanks to all who have encouraged me and stuck through to the end. I will be writing an epilogue where I will try to make up for all the doom and gloom of most of the story. Let me know what you think!