Just a reminder, for those of you who don't remember...I don't own any of these characters.

Previously on Under a Killing Moon: Bella moves to Forks with her father to complete some ominious mission her mother sends her on. On her first day of school she meets a group of teenagers she knows to be vampires, because Bella has been dealing with vampires all her life. Edward, who has been hearing about Bella's arrival for weeks via clairvoyant Alice, is more broody than usual. When he and Bella are physics lab patterns, it takes all the self restraint he has not to kill her. They spend some time trying to figure the other out and Edward is drawn in by Bella's strangeness and brashness, and he saves her from a careening vehicle. Meanwhile, Bella has been going through some emotional turmoil. Her coming birthday is a milestone, not just because she turns 18, but Bella has a mutated gene that will fully develop on her birthday. She starts to buckle under the pressure, and when Edward comes to her door step to yell at her for not thanking him for saving her life, he finds it unusually easy to hold her and comfort her. Despite his earlier feelings of muderous rage he'd felt when he caught scent of her blood in the classroom.

As Bella's birthday looms closer, she and Edward decide to go out on a date and Bella's secrets start to unravel. Edward is skeptical of Bella's alligience to vampires. She'd come from a long line of Secret Keepers, human hybrids that have spent centuries protecting vampires and keeping their secrets. Bella is a very special Keeper, as her birth is seemingly fulfilling a prophecy fortold by the first Keeper, an ancestor of Bella herself. Edward and Bella's mom bump heads as Renee reveals that the Bella was bitten by a vampire when she was younger, by a vampire that Renee was dating. She also reveals that Carlisle was the one that saved her 10 years ago. Bella feels like her world is spiraling out of control, but the clock strikes midnight and she becomes violently ill with the DNA change she's going through.

Bella wakes up, Vampire-Lite, with vampire-like strength and speed and slowed aging. Traits that have evolved with the gene in order to protect vampires. She briefly and angrily confronts her mother. James, the vampire that had bitten her, has been searching for Bella for the last 10 years. That's what Renee sent her to Forks for. To find James and to kill him. Once James is dead, Bella will go into service for the Volturi. Because, in order to spare Bella's life when she was first bitten (even though Carlisle had sucked most of the venom out, the Aro was still uneasy about the idea of a child running around with any vampire venom in their bodies) Renee made a deal with Aro. He let's Bella stay with her mother to train until she comes of age and then Bella will join the elite Volturi guard. Bella's sheild, something she was born with that has until this point only protected her mind, becomes active when she gets angry with Renee. It zaps all the strength from Bella, but it sends Renee flying across the kitchen.

As Edward and Bella discover their intense feelings for eachother, they realize they have to find a way to beat James and get her out of the deal with the Volturi. Renee disapproves of the relationship with Edward, but says little in way of support for their plans. Bella digs through her clothes and notices that her sheild is moving items away before she touches them. She also knows they need the extra help, Bella enlists some members of the Quilete shapeshifter tribe. Jacob, an old friend turned enemy of Bella's, argues with her. She gets him to help by promising he'll be able to kill some vampires. Edward, Bella, Alice and Jasper attend the homecoming dance, assuming her scent has lured the vampires looking for her there. They manage to get them to leave the school and save her unknowingly classmates, and draw them out into a wooded area for the final show down.

Bella and Edward argue about Bella's strength and ability to fight. Bella becomes angry, since she'd been kicking ass for most of her life. They separate when they get to the clearing, hoping to find James. Bella is met by shapeshifting carnage, and she feels guilty, but James finds her before she can think too much of it. They engage in an altercation and Edward, sensing Bella's distress, comes to her rescue. Since Bella moved to Forks, she'd been having nightmares depicting the battle. She'd been stunned by the imagery and as Jake joins Edward to fight James, her mother drags Bella away to start a fire to burn the vampire bodies. The battle rages on and the Volturi are set to arrive soon to take Bella away. As Edward beats James and they begin to burn him, the Volturi come into view and Renee reveals that she's strapped full of C-4 and she has a plan to save Bella. Bella becomes some emotionally distraught and angry over the Volturi and her mother's self-sacrifice, that her sheild engages and most of the forest is leveled, including all three of the Volturi and Bella's mother.

In order to keep their enemies off their trail for long enough to come up with a plan to handle the vampire hierachy without its leaders, Bella and Edward fake their own deaths. Forks believes they were the ones that died in the 'forest fire' not her mother and some unknown vampire. Jake has been missing since the battle and Bella knows there will be a debt to pay for that. Charlie reveals that he was also a Keeper and that when Bella was born, to prepare her for the role she held in their culture, he bound his powers to her to make her stronger. But the venom that is in her body is multiplying with the DNA that seeks to change her and she realizes that her body is dying. The venom is vamping out vital organs one at a time, and eventually it will attack her heart or lungs, killing her.

Her impending death is on her mind while she trains with Alice and Rosalie to use her sheild in a fight. Edward and Alice spend time trying to help her figure out what the Keeper prophecy means, what Bella's destiny is and who is going to come after them for murdering Aro. Edward and Bella seal the deal twice and he asks her why she hasn't bothered to ask him to change her. They'd been hiding out for little over a month, and via Carlisle's thoughts, Edward knows that Bella is dying. She explains that it's finally something she has control of. And maybe, she argues, if she lets herself die the whole prophecy goes null. There'd be no epic supernatural battle. Humanity would stay in it's current ignorant state. And she's get to rebel one last time by refusing to follow the roll that's been outlined for her since birth. Bella and Alice have been waiting for Jane to make her move, but in a twist of fate, it turns out that Jacob is the one that has come after Bella. Alice's inability to see the future of the wolves have skewed her visions. It's too late to make a plan because Jacob has already found them and he's coming for Bella.

Are you still with me? I'll let you get on with the reading. I just wanted to note that I had always intended for this story to end in this way.

Chapter 19.

EPOV

Instinctively, I took a step in front of Bella to shield her from the nightmare that was tearing down the road. Alice rooted firmly behind the two of us, her thoughts echoing around my own head. The three of us won't be enough. Bella's grip on my hand tightened. Her shield reached out to me as Alice's thoughts fell silent, and then engulfed Alice. Her thoughts once again invaded my own.

The air around us, that had been still and stale, began to move. Bella's damp hair lifted in the breeze, her hand gripping mine more tightly. Her eyes clenched in concentration. The motor of Jacob's motorcycle grew louder, closer. Alice moved a few steps closer as the sickly yellow hue of the sky around us began to darken.

"Do you think he's doing this?" I yelled over the loud thrum of approaching engine.

Bella opened her eyes and looked up at the blackness that was beginning to spread across the horizon.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite blood-thirsty tick and his little whore." Jacob laughed as he cut the engine. Bella pulled me as I made to move after him.

"What's the matter, Cullen? You letting your woman call all your shots? Last time I listened to her, I ended up like this."

He pulled down a hood to reveal himself. His red eyes gleamed at me while he smiled with a wolf's mouth. He continued to remove his jacket, revealing pale skin and demonic claws. As he shuffled closer, I noticed he had animal feet as well. He was caught between two transitions. Neither vampire, nor wolf, but his body wanting to be both.

"Like what you see," he called to Bella. She stiffened next to me as he took a deep breath.

"Well, this won't be much fun," he started, dipping his head towards Bella. Slowly, Jacob sauntered towards her. "You smell like death and desperation, Bella." He laughed.

"It's your fate, too," She replied, dropping my hand and crossing her arms in front of her stomach.

"You are weak. I am not." He thumbed toward himself then moved his gaze to me. "You letting her speak for you now, too? Either the pussy is really good, or you're just really stupid."

"You better shut your mouth," I growled. Moving forward, trying to stand completely in front of Bella. "I will rip you apart if you speak to her again." My teeth clenched and the bones in my jaw felt like they might snap. Bella placed her hand between my shoulder blades and stepped next to me.

"Let him dig his own grave," she replied.

"I'll make sure to dig you one, too. Whatchya got left? Two days? I almost feel bad attacking you in such a weakened state." He would have raised an eyebrow if he had any hair.

I felt a fire lick through me. An overwhelming need to push Bella back behind me and punch Jacob right in the nose permeated through me. Then, her shield dropped around us. My head snapped to her as she removed the hand from my back and took several steps closer to Jacob. She turned back to me with narrowed eyes and a knowing smile.

I had to stay back. My hand pushed through my hair and my teeth gnashed together roughly.

"So, let me get this straight. In order to rid the world of vampires, you have actually had to ally yourself with the most well known vampire family in the history of the supernatural? You're pathetic. Do you think any of those werewolves you were campaigning for are going to stick around? Look at yourself. You're done, Jacob Black." She halted her steps only inches away from him. His eyes narrowed and darkened. A thunderclap boomed in the distance and the blackening sky's clouds began to swirl slightly.

I was on high alert. Bella was setting us up for an incredibly dangerous situation. As much as I wanted to take matters into my own hands, we were partners. Biblically, even. There was no way I would ever get her to understand the magnitude of our relationship if I couldn't stand back and let her do whatever it was she thought she was doing. Alice crept up next to me as we watched Jacob and Bella exchange insults back and forth.

"I wish I knew what she was doing," Alice whispered.

"She's baiting him," I replied. That much was obvious. Why she was doing it was a completely different story.

"You've been a god damn thorn in my side long enough!"

Before there was a chance to react, Jacob's arm reached across his body and the back of his hand flew out and met Bella's cheek. She slid over a few feet and stumbled back, spitting blood onto the ground close to him.

My hand was around his throat before I even realized what I was doing. His chest vibrated with laughter as my grip tightened. I felt a sharp pull on the back of my head and suddenly I was careening backward into the ground. Dark purple finger –shaped bruises formed around his neck, but I only had a moment to observe them before his fist connected with my eye. His speed was not as great as mine, but I was certainly not prepared for it.

Taking another blow to the head before I could move, I could feel the venom begin to pool under my eye. I lashed out toward the low rumble coming from Jacob, managing to land a blow against the side of his head. Dodging two more right hooks, slipped behind him wrapped my arms around his neck, trying to drag him to the ground. He was too strong, flipping me over and throwing me down. Venom began pooling under my skin.

"Enough." Bella stood between us, blood smeared across her cheek and hair wildly falling across her face. She jumped over me and crouched in front of Jacob, waiting for his next move.

Alice's thoughts flitted through my head as she joined me behind Bella. Alice had a notion she knew what was coming next and she encouraged me to begin flanking Bella on the opposite side. Bella sensed our movement and turned her head minutely, still crouched in front of Jacob. He eyed the scene before him curiously, letting out a loud guffaw. Then, his eyes narrowed at Bella and another clap of thunder sounded from the accumulating cloud cover above us.

Bella reached behind her, underneath her sweater, pulling out something that glinted in the yellowing light. It seemed to be a silver stake which indicated that Alice's guess had been right. Jacob, eyeing the stake, flashed her a toothy grin. All of his sharp, pointed teeth gleamed with venom.

"You know that's not going to kill me." He sneered.

"Yeah, but it's still gonna hurt like a bitch."

She shot up from her low position and stabbed through his chest with several loud cracks and a wet crunch. He grabbed her leg as she bounded back and stopped her, reaching for her throat. In one swift, solid motion, he flung her across the yard. Resisting the urge to follow her with my eyes and assess the damage, I kept my eyes trained on Jacob. A low growl rumbled in my chest.

Alice, in an attempt to distract him further, twisted and twirled around him. She avoided his grasp several times, allowing me the time I needed to attack. I flew toward him grabbed the stake, pushing it further as I hooked my arm around his neck. He let out a strangled cry and I felt Alice land on his back, offering me more leverage to twist his neck. Violently, he shrugged Alice off his back and rolled backward.

During the current altercation, Emmett and Rosalie and shown up. Jacob attempted to shrug me off as he saw Emmett fast approaching. I spun myself around, using his neck, and yanked him back. Emmett pushed the stake further, causing Jacob to sputter. Before Emmett could draw back to attack again, Jacob had flipped me back over him and I barely adjusted my trajectory to miss Emmett. The two locked fists and shoved each other back, causing ruts to form in the ground under their feet. Emmett landed a blow to the side of Jacob's face before he was thrown in my direction.

Jacob paused as Rosalie and Bella came back into view. I let out an unnecessary breath of relief as I noted her dirty, but mostly unscathed form. She was carrying something large, upright in her right hand. If I hadn't known what she was holding, I would have been thoroughly confused as Alice shot past me toward Jacob. I vaguely registered my yelling for Emmett to move right before Alice dumped something all over the monster and bolted off in a different direction.

Bella strode past me, extending her shield as she went. Her thoughts were indistinguishable.

"Fuck. You." Her voice was even as she dropped the weapon down and a raised it up to aim it at Jacob.

A flame licked out as pulled the trigger, igniting whatever Alice had dumped all over him and catching a hold of the motorcycle that was still parked behind him. Jacob staggered forward, once he was engulfed in flames. Emmett and I took several careful steps back. The flames brightened and grew as I realized Rosalie had taken the other flame thrower and aimed it from the opposite end.

Howls of pain ripped through the air around us as he dropped to his knees. We inched further back, Bella stepping with us. Her aim was steadily focusing on the fiery form in front of us, but her eyes were searching above us. Several more claps of thunder sounded and a streak of lightning lit up the sky a few miles down the road.

The smell of burning flesh overwhelmed me and I was relieved when Jacob stopped screaming and he finally melted away. Bella pulled the flamethrower back as the sky opened up above us. The flamethrower dropped to the ground and her knees followed. The cool rain pelted down, slowing putting out the fire.

Bella's shield disappeared and I rushed to her side.

"She's not breathing," I yelled, but my voice sounded foreign in my own ears.

Her hair was matted to her forehead with sweat and her parted lips were already beginning to turn blue. The pale skin of her eyelids looked more translucent than was normal, her blue veins impossibly vivid. Even to my own eyes. I tucked a wet hair behind her ear and had to make a decision. She would either hate me for it, or be grateful. As the slow pumping of her heart began to stall, the selfish urge to keep her with me always took over.

Part of me was dead before her, and I didn't even know. I bent forward to begin biting her, but I felt Alice's hand on my shoulder.

"She didn't want it."

"She didn't know what she wanted," I growled.

But Alice was right. If I changed Bella, she'd have to keep fulfilling a destiny she didn't want a part of. Changing her meant I'd be the one taking away the last thing she had control over. At that moment, I'd wished more than anything I was able to cry. The last pump of Bella's heart echoed through my head. How had it been so easy to have everything I'd ever wanted and lose it all more quickly than I'd acquired it? I held Bella's limp body in close to my own, stroking her hair back. Alice and Rosalie both came to talk to me, but I sent them away with a snarl. I wanted to be alone.

"Edward?" Carlisle's voice came from behind me. "It's time to let her go."

"This isn't how it's supposed to end," my reply was quiet.

"Wasn't it?" Carlisle kneeled next to me.

If this was the way it was meant to be, we'd gone through a lot of unnecessary trouble to get there. We'd saved her from James and the Volturi, only to lose the fight in the end. I felt hollow. More than that, I felt empty. I loved her and now she was gone. I was feeling bitter, too.

After a few more minutes, I allowed Carlisle to take her away. I don't remember how long I stayed out there in the exact same spot, but it was long enough to watch the sun set and rise again.

!~!~!

I sat at my window and watched the Carnival celebrations. It was already the second day and today's parade was bigger than yesterday's. I hated Rio, especially in February. It was warm and beautiful. Both of these things annoyed me. Daily, I wondered if Bella would have liked it here. I supposed she would, since she enjoyed this kind of weather. She probably would have loved to down at the parade. I could hear her telling me that no one would care if I was sparkling, since everything was full of glitter.

Her death was a scab I continued to peel. Most days, I was angry at myself. For not choosing to save her. For falling in love with her. For not killing her that first day in the classroom and sparing myself all the grief I was drowning in. Other days, the bad ones, I was angry at her. For being a selfish martyr. For being a coward. For pushing me out of myself and into her life.

I forced myself to watch the people on the streets to remind me of what she died for. What we fought for. It had never been about us or even her. It had always been about saving humanity. And even in death, she'd fulfilled her end of the bargain. That left me with the bitterest taste in my mouth. The perfect irony, she'd allowed herself to die to escape the fate that had been given to her. And yet, in doing so, she'd managed to play the role she'd been cast at birth.

Having my fill of humanity for the day, I turned away from the window and stared out into the room. Getting to my feet, I moved to the record player in the on the corner and put the needle in its place. I laid down on the floor, my hands behind my head and waited for the music to play.

This is the end, beautiful friend
This is the end, my only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes…again

A/N: I hope you don't feel like that was a cop out ending. I do have an alternate, more happy ending, for those of you who felt betrayed by this. I am going to mark this as complete so that people who have been waiting to read it until it was will do so, but I will probably still go back and edit the beginning chapters that have been in need of cleaning up. (I say probably since I am such a procrastinator it makes me sick sometimes.) A big thanks to everyone that has been reading and reviewing and making me want to write again. I learned a lot by doing this...mostly of things not do, lol. I have started working on something else while I've been trying to unblock my brain to finish this. If you've read the "Beneath the Falling Night" one-shots, you can probably guess what it is. If you know anyone who dabbles in the Supernatural fandom that might like to beta or be a sounding board for stupid ideas, let me know.

Again, thanks so much for reading. I am sorry it took so long to complete!