Before I forget...Disclaimer: I totally don't own Twilight and/or any of the related characters. I did used to own a pink Betta fish named Darryl. But, he died last week. It was sad.

Previously on Under a Killing Moon:

At this point, you should probably should go back and re-read it. But, I know I probably wouldn't if it were me. Edward and Bella escape an epic battle against the Volturi triumvate by Bella's mom sacraficing herself as a human bomb. Bella passes out for awhile due to the intense exhaustion using her shield via her emotions causes her. She wakes up. Charlie tells her her and her mother were both Keepers. In case you DID re-read it...the story he tells Edward implies that because they knew she was born to fulfill her prohpecy, Charlie and Renee did a spell-like ceremony casting his Keeper abilities on to her...leaving him to be completely human. This may, or may not, explain Bella's advanced abilities.

Bella wakes up ready for battle. Their stunt in Forks killed the leaders of the Volturi, leaving the vampire world without leaders...and the supernatural world more ready for war than ever. There's some stuff going on with her though, we'll get to that in this chapter. But...uh...he finds her trying to focus her sheild and training for the inevitable battle. They have sex. It was my first lemon, so I suggest you go back and read it. Hahaha. Just kidding. I suggest you just get on with this chapter. ;)

By the way, since it took me FOREVER to write this chapter...there's a special surprise included. But, in any case...that suprise is brought you by Puscifer's song "Rev 22:20". www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=ye0H91hxUMw

Chapter 18

BPOV

I always knew I was different. Not weird Goth girl listening to Morrissey in the back of class different. Or even "one of these things is not like the other" different. I didn't even fit in with the other Keepers.

Not that I really cared.

How can you relate to people when you spend your time tracking vampires and kicking werewolves in the face?

Not that I was some island either. Or some pathetic sap feeling sorry for myself because I didn't have any friends or a boyfriend or the perfect dress to wear to prom. Insert lame teenage lament here.

I wasn't allowed to go a normal school until I was fourteen. I was expelled quickly for punching a girl that picked on me. I was relieved, anyway. I begged Renee for years to let me go to school. Maybe I could make some friends, get some roots.

But when I got there, I was anxious all the time. My eyes constantly searched the school yard for vampires. Loud noises made me jump and I was half expecting vampire hunters to abduct me from homeroom. So, it was just as well that little blonde bitch shoved me into my locker and called me some stupid insult I can't even remember.

I don't even think I was horrified when I felt her nose crack under my fist.

And there was that whole thing at that really expensive private school in Phoenix. Werewolves may, or may not, have been harmed on school property. Which, how was I supposed to know that the school was a god damn breeding ground…literally. Not that I was packing silver bullets with the intent to suss out moon puppies and take them out. But, it is in my nature to keep secrets for and to protect vampires.

The only thing a bunch of phased werewolves do is bring the vamps out. And I know werewolves run in packs and everything, but a god damn school of them? It was ridiculous and I'm probably lucky I escaped with my life.

Barely. As I was definitely put on the '10 Most Wanted' list of whatever werewolf rights group goes around exacting vengeance. Renee was totally pissed. I was too, but it was only because I lost my virginity to a guy in my English class. He was a jerk and a werewolf. Wound? Meet salt.

Because actual werewolves were not enough, I had also been dealing with the increasing number of allegiances forming throughout the shape shifter tribes. It was also pretty obvious when I had an altercation with Jacob in the quad of that werewolf boarding school that they had begun to seek allies outside the scope of shifters.

But, even before all that, I knew something was up. I studied harder, trained longer and was stronger than all the other kids in the camps. The other Keepers whispered bullshit about me behind my back like I didn't fucking know I was some kind of hyper-weirdo.

The girl with the shield. Aro's pet. The one in the prophecy. The last of the original bloodline.

Blah fucking blah.

So yeah, the things that had been transpiring in front of my face, behind my back and all around me just didn't really surprise me.

You're in love with a vampire? Big deal.

You're possibly the only person who has a chance at saving humanity? Whatever.

The very two things you have based your entire life on, Keepers and vampires, were probably going to kill you? Boring.

Actually, I was hoping I could classify that last bit as ironic. Carlisle came and checked on me every few days; drawing blood, checking my pulse, shining lights in my eyes—doing doctor stuff. Every time, the worry lines in his forehead grew deeper.

I mentioned that I wasn't eating much, or sleeping for that matter.

He assured me it was all part of my supernatural puberty. Dad agreed with the doc. New Keepers took weeks, sometimes months, for their bodies to adjust to the mutation.

I was waiving the white bullshit flag myself.

The vampire venom was attacking my body, seemingly irritated with its new biological roommate.

When I looked in the mirror, I didn't even recognize myself. My features smoothed out, my skin took on an unnatural sheen and my hair fell in thicker, longer waves. I was turning into a fucking vampire.

But not exactly.

In the middle of the night I threw up. Like, my body was revolting against me on a regular schedule. Carlisle never commented on this. Each time he drew my blood, he frowned at the vial. We both knew I was dying. The venom, pushed into over drive by the mutant Keeper genes, was determined to take me, but there just wasn't enough of it. My immune system, enhanced by my recent coming of age, kept fighting it off.

The venom was winning, one organ at a time. But, what happened when my lungs vamped out? Or my heart? And the rest of me was still human?

I sat in the corner of my room at the farmhouse and contemplated this every night when I didn't sleep. Edward steered clear of me for the most part, showering me tender gestures when I left my room to work out or eat. I made it a point to avoid him without acting like I was avoiding him. He made my mind all foggy and my knees weak. He was a distraction, like Renee had said.

Not that I didn't love him.

But, as the reality of my terminal situation dawned on me, I realized I had some options. That my story didn't have to end the way everyone had been telling me it did. I didn't have to be humanity's last hope. I wouldn't have to become the queen of the vampire underground. The Cullen clan didn't need to fight any more of my battles. I could just die.

Which I guess would be incredibly selfish seeing as I had all kinds of world saving lined up for my future.

I could just ask Edward to bite me. That could go either way, I figured. Since parts of me were already venomized, there was no telling how it would affect me. Alice told me that much one afternoon when her and Rose came by to help me run drills.

"I think it's the best shot we have," she stated. "But, it comes with a lot of risk. There's no telling how a different vampire's venom is going to react with the bio-cocktail you've already got going on inside you." Her tone was gentle and reassuring.

I huffed as I launched another kick at Rose. She rebuffed me and I tried to launch my shield as quickly as possible. It was too weak or she was too fast. I was laid out on the garage floor before her in a matter of seconds.

"You need to focus," Rose nagged while she pulled me up.

"I have a lot on my plate," I muttered. She snorted and we continued our tete a tete. She managed to get me before I could throw my shield up a few more times.

"Maybe we should call it a day," Alice offered. Rose crossed her arms and cocked her eyebrow in challenge.

"You need to focus," Rose sighed. "It's not going to work until you can focus on it. If you keeping using it by channeling all your anger it'll just exhaust you."

"It might kill you." Alice's eyes glazed over as she checked into it.

"Can you see me yet?" Both girls narrowed their eyes at my sarcastic tone.

"You know, I can just stay and beat that attitude right out of you," Rose threatened.

"I'm sorry," I sighed, throwing a punch at the bag.

"No worries, just take care of yourself. Think about asking Edward to change you, I think the future would be a little clearer if more decisions were made. Especially that one." She frowned, probably weighing in on the lethal potential of that choice.

Rosalie yanked my ponytail on her way out. Alice announced she needed to talk to Edward about Volturi stuff she certainly wasn't sharing with me. Both girls encouraged me to take my aggression out on the hanging leather bag.

I landed a combo kick for Alice's pitying look. I turned my iPod on and slipped the buds into my ears. That bag was struck to the beat of the music, for every defining moment of my life. Rose insisted that I stop relying on anger when using the shield. I tried my best, but by the time I started thinking about how everyone around me had been lying to me forever, I was losing it. My energy drained as I watched the bag slap against the invisible force field and swing back.

It would have been nice to know Dad knew everything. Jab. Block. Jab. Being told about the whole, selling me to the Volturi, would have pretty fucking stellar. Uppercut. Jab. Block. It would be nice if my mother didn't make her biggest selfless act my most traumatizing. Kick. Kick. Jab. Not to mention it would be a real relief to know whether or not this whole thing with Edward was real and not some kind of stupid 'so it was written, so it shall be done' Keeper bullshit. Uppercut. Left hook. Right hook. Jab.

I felt Edward's presence. The hairs on back my neck stood. I landed a few extra kicks in response. Edward. Not that I wasn't making it my business to avoid him at all costs, but it's not like he'd made much of an effort to be in the same room with me since I woke up. Jab. Jab. Jab. The hair on my arms pulled into goose bumps. I could feel the intensity of his stare. I repositioned my body and leaned back, with a dramatic arch, and landed a few difficult kicks.

There was a surge of hormones. A return to primal instinct. Clothes were flying everywhere.

And Edward was inside me. It was like a hallelujah chorus. We moaned each other's names and grinded against the other in tandem. It was so beautiful, I would have cried if I wasn't so close to the edge. We came together, in every meaning of the phrase.

Time stopped. Only, it was literal this time.

The second hand on the clock paused.

Our naked bodies floated in space without time. There was nothing occupying that moment but Edward and I and the insatiable thirst for each other. His cold fingers stroked the hair down my back and lingered near my waist. My head rested on his chest and I felt completely at ease.

The second hand moved.

I jolted up, Edward followed me in concern.

"Bella?"

"I'm fine," I lied. He raised an eyebrow in response. "I just need to take a shower."

I walked down the hallway to the bathroom. Cold air surrounded my naked body causing goose-bumps to erupt all over my skin. With the door shut behind me, I scrubbed my face with my hands and turned to look into the mirror. A bunch of cliché feelings of angst washed over me and I bit down my lip to stop from sobbing. I turned the shower on high and let the steam engulf the room.

I sat on the edge of the tub and thought about what was happening. Not just between Edward and I, although there was something very cosmic about that. But, the prophecy. It had been weeks since Volterra lost its leaders. War was coming and we still didn't know who was starting it. The tribe was probably looking for me. As far as I knew, Jacob Black still hadn't turned up. There would be a debt to pay for that.

I laughed aloud. Maybe I would be dead before they found me. It would serve us all right.

I stepped into the shower and let the scalding hot water wash over me. Droplets of water formed and slid off the smoothest parts of my body. Under the showerhead, I combed my hair back with my fingers. Tilting my head all the way back, my face was hit the cascade. I shut my eyes tight and covered myself with a scented soap.

When I opened them, Edward was standing in front of me.

Before I could say anything, his arms trapped me on either side. His lips covered mine, the hot water beating down on us. His tongue slipped carefully into my mouth and I returned the favor eagerly. One hand moved from the shower wall and cupped my face. The other hand moved down my side.

Stroking my breast, my waist, my ass, my thigh and then hooked behind my knee and hitched my leg up to his hip. I gasped into his mouth and he took his kisses elsewhere on my body, resting on my collar bone. I was breathing heavily, watching the water fall off his chiseled body.

He pulled me close to him, hitching my other leg up around his waist. My teeth bit into the flesh on his neck and I heard him groan into my ear. His dick quivered dangerously close to my pussy and I grinded against him. In one motion, he lifted me and placed himself inside me.

I almost screamed but he covered my mouth with his, again. The feeling of him pumping in and out of me was so intense, my vision began to tunnel. I wrapped my arms around his neck and started to thrust with him. He breathed my name into my mouth and then into my ear. My cries echoed against the walls of the shower.

A heat started to build in my stomach and I knew I was about to erupt. He dipped me slightly before bringing me tight against him. The friction between us caused my entire body to burn with pleasure and I knew I was losing control.

"Let go," he whispered. Or maybe he yelled it over my own screaming. Either way, I listened.

I unraveled so quickly I thought I was going to pass out. Every muscle in my body clenched and tingled. The water began to cool, but it felt good against my flushed skin. Edward kissed my throat as I leaned my head back. I straightened up and kissed him, tightening my hold around him.

He turned the shower off and wrapped a towel around us. Reluctantly, I let him set me down.

"I know that you're dying," he stated simply, toweling himself off.

"Did Carlisle tell you?" I was slightly irritated since he hadn't even been able to tell me yet.

"No, but I can always read his mind. Unlike yours." He looked at me sadly. "Why haven't you asked me to change you?"

I wrapped the towel tightly around me and looked up at Edward. I shrugged.

"I wanted to choose my own path, I suppose."

"Carlisle thinks it will only be a week, maybe less, before the venom attacks a vital organ."

He followed me out the door and into my bedroom. I dropped the towel and began digging through the drawers for a pair of underwear. He leaned against the door frame and watched me, waiting for a response. Sliding on a pair of boy shorts and pulling on a tank top, I toed through the pile of jeans on the floor and snagged a black pair of boot-cuts.

"I guess you could say I was tempting the fates," I replied. I pulled my jeans over my hips and buttoned them. "Maybe if I just died, life would go on." I slid a pink bra on under my white tank top and hooked it on the back. "Maybe, humanity wouldn't be at risk. The Cullen coven could go on with their business. And the war between vampires and the rest of the paranormal world would finish without me." I zipped a pink hooded sweatshirt up and walked back out into the hall.

Naked Edward followed.

"Do you think you could put some clothes on? You're really distracting."

He disappeared into his own room and came out seconds later in a pair of low slung light wash jeans and an unbuttoned black shirt.

"It just doesn't seem like you to give up easily." He buttoned up his shirt but never took his eyes off of me.

"You've only known me for a few months, Edward. And you spent some of that time trying not to kill me." I crossed my arms in front of my chest and stuck my hip out.

"Isabella Swan, I think I know you pretty well." His voice was thick with innuendo. He flung himself into the arm chair in the living room and he eyed my warily.

"Haven't you ever wished you could go back and change your life? Make different decisions? Maybe you'd be a ruthless Volturi instead of a Cullen." I sighed, perching myself on the arm of the couch.

"The only choice I'd ever wanted to be able to make was to remain human. Die a human death."

"Then you can understand my hesitation."

"Since you've come into my life, really come into it, there's been no hesitation." His black eyes burned into me.

Before I could reply, he whipped his head around and a loud crash came from the kitchen.

"We have a problem!" Alice's shrill voice carried across the house and she fluttered into the room like a butterfly on speed.

"Bella, how does the prophecy go again?" She stared at me, and if vampires could be out of breath she looked as though she would be.

"Which part?" Because the prophecies, mine in particular, filled entire books.

"About how the war starts," she was close to yelling.

"That my oldest ally will become my greatest enemy." I shrugged. "Isn't that why you're watching Jane?"

"There's going to be movement, soon. I can't see it all, but I don't think Jane is the one calling the shots." Alice was pacing around back and forth between Edward and I.

"You can't see who it is?" Edward stood up and took a paranoid look around the room.

"Wait!" I jumped up and both vampires shot me a look. "I can't believe I didn't think of it before! It makes way more sense than Jane."

"Who is it?" Edward pressed, clearly unable to read my thoughts.

"Jacob fucking Black, that's who. Of course, I don't remember when we were actually friends. But, he has definitely become and increasing threat to me and the vampire world over the last few years."

"It was probably in the memories you lost when you were bitten, the one of Jacob," Alice whispered, mostly to herself. "This is not good. I can't see them."

"I would say this is the exact opposite of ideal, considering Jacob has a massive following of psychopathic shape-shifters, all of which are probably out of your line of site." I ran back to my room, searching for a pair of socks and some shoes.

"We're going in blind now," Alice exclaimed. "The visions are getting worse. The turmoil in the supernatural world is increasing."

"This could be a world ender," I began, pulling my boots on. "I just have a really bad feeling about this. More than usual, actually. Maybe you should change me," I said to Edward.

"I think it might be too late. You'd be more vulnerable to an attack if you were making the change. And now we'll never know when one is coming."

"I think it's coming pretty soon," I yelled as I walked outside.

A yellow hue stretched across the Wisconsin sky, illuminating the fields. It was the calm before the storm. The clouds passed overhead, but there were no birds. No cows in the fields. There was darkness on the horizon.

Everyone locking themselves up in their basements probably thought a tornado was coming. The reality was much, much worse.

"I think he was bitten during the fight with James," I called over my shoulder.

"Wouldn't that kill him?" Alice asked.

"Probably not. He's not a real werewolf, you know? He's kind of like me, mostly human until the DNA explosion happens. They're supposed to be protected from the venom, their high body temperatures can burn it off before it attacks. But, if they're already weakened…" I trailed off.

"It would work the same way the trace venom is working on you now," Edward finished. "It would attack parts of the body while being fought off in others."

"Exactly. So I guess it would be like Russian roulette. If it attacks things he doesn't need, then he'll probably be just fine. Stronger, but he might not be able to shift or phase."

"But why would he ally himself with the Volturi if he's been trying to start a war with them?" Edward asked as Alice kept searching futures.

"He wants to be the most powerful thing in the supernatural world. Aligning himself with the Volturi and then taking them down would probably do it." I shrugged and twisted my wet hair up and secured it with a rubber band that was in my sweatshirt pocket.

A stillness fell over us. The quiet engulfed me and made my ears ring, making it hard for me to think clearly. I did know that there was no game plan for this fight. If Jacob had been bitten and turned into some weird hybrid creature, there was likely no real way to beat him. Or kill him. A sudden chill whipped through the front yard and I knew he was coming.

"The others are on their way," Alice finally replied.

"This could go seriously bad," I whispered to Edward.

I felt his fingers twine around mine and grip my hand slightly.

"Can you see how many are coming with him," Edward called back to Alice.

"No. I can barely see the present at this point." Her pale skin looked sallow under the yellowing sky.

"Oh. He'll be alone. That much I can promise you. Whether or not we'll be able to kill him is a whole other story." I laughed because it was almost laughable. Surviving the explosion back in Forks and escaping life as an indentured servant to the Volturi only to be theatrically maimed by Jacob Black?

Oh the fucking irony.

But, I was already dying. And I just had sex with Edward Cullen twice. There was no way I was going to let Jacob Black get in the way of round three. Or take over the world and exterminate all the vampires.

You know, priorities.

"He's almost here," Edward spoke softly beside me.

"Kill the beast."

A/N: I know I've said this multiple times, but this baby is finally almost done. One epic battle scene and the dramatic conclusion left. Or whatever. Thanks for sticking around. I appreciate it.

If you're looking for good fic to read, I was just go over to goldenmeadow and pick something. Dead Conderates and Love Advocated are my suggestions, but you seriously can not go wrong with any of it. Becoming Bella Swan by BellaFlan should also be read.

Also, during most of my hiatus...I was watching A LOT of Supernatural. So, sometimes I do stupid ridiculous things with the Winchester boys in the UKM universe. So, if you like Supernatural...Beneath the Falling Night will probably be a bunch of o/s not important to the UKM story but entertaining to me. ;)

And again, thanks for waiting around for me. :)