Chapter Twenty One
...Into Night
Grace Cullen-Swan

****Disclaimer; this chapter involves some dialogue directly from Stephanie Meyers "Breaking Dawn" in an effort to preserve the integrity of the story to its fan base. All characters, situations, dialogue, and themes resembling Stephanie Meyers work is fully credited to her. Thank you, and happy reading!****

"I must make the deciding vote, it seems." Aro's voice barely registered in my ears as Alice, Jasper, Kachiri, Huilen, Nahuel, and myself arrived at a hilltop far above the field of the confrontation.

"We made it in time." Alice sighed quietly in relief before pressing her finger to her lips to signal us to be quite. "Edward." Alice spoke his name softly before shouting an explanation at him mentally. Of course, I assumed this, from the look on her face and the wild excitement she showed on her face as she looked at all of us, seemingly showing him we were all present and ready.

"Yes!" Edward hissed in excitement and Alice sent me a hopeful nod, I knew I had been right. "Aro?" He called out, nearly shouting across the field, a tone of victory in his voice.

"Yes, Edward? You have something further...?" Aro droned on after hesitating for a moment, a doubtful tone to his usual chirpy nature.

"Perhaps." Edward replied, controlling his excitement. "First, if I could clarify one point?"

"Certainly." Aro said with a polite amount of interest in his tone of voice.

"The danger you foresee from my daughter, this stems entirely from our inability to guess how she will develop? That is the crux of the matter?" Edward asked smugly.

"Yes, friend Edward." Aro agreed quickly. "If we could but be positive... be sure that, as she grows, she will be able to stay concealed from the human world and not endanger the safety of our obscurity . . ." He trailed off, as if certain he would need no further accusations against us.

"So, if we could only know for sure..." Edward suggested, "exactly what she will become. Then there would be no need for a council at all?"

"If there was some way to be absolutely sure." Aro agreed, his feathery voice slightly more shrill as he tried to guess Edwards thoughts. "Then, yes, there would be no question to debate."

"And we would part in peace, good friends once again?" Edward asked with a hint of irony.

"Of course, my young friend. Nothing would please me more!" Aro cried out, his voice even more shrill.

"Then I do have something more to offer." Edward chuckled joyfully.

"She is absolutely unique. Her future can only be guessed at." Aro rebuked him quickly.

"Not absolutely unique." Edward disagreed, and Alice sent me a wide elated smile as she grasped Jaspers hand. "Rare, certainly, but not one of a kind." He added, and I reached over to put a supporting hand on Nahuel's shoulder.

"Why don't you join us, Alice?" Edward called out loudly as I didn't have to strain to hear him.

"Alice!" Esme gasped in shock as we all quickly followed Alice through the trees while various other voices excitedly spoke of Alice's appearance.

"Alice." Aro breathed as we neared the field, almost in a joyous defeated tone, as he's been hoping to acquire her since learning of her gift.

"Stay." Alice mouthed the word to me before motioning the others to go into the field with her.

"Alice has been searching for her own witnesses this last month." Edward spoke proudly as Alice and the others joined him. I stood back several yards through the trees, entirely concealed, and shocked that we had been gone so long. "And she does not come back empty-handed. Alice, why don't you introduce the witnesses you've brought?" He asked her proudly.

"The time for witnesses is past! Cast your vote, Aro!" Caius interjected angrily.

"This is Huilen and her nephew, Nahuel." Alice introduced them after, I assumed, Aro had motioned for her to continue.

"Speak, Huilen," Aro commanded. "Give us the witness you were brought to bear."

"I am Huilen." She announced in her clear but accented English. As she continued, it was apparent she had taken her oath to help alongside Nahuel to heart as it seemed she had practiced her speech well. "A century and a half ago, I lived with my people, the Mapuche. My sister was Pire. Our parents named her after the snow on the mountains because of her fair skin. And she was very beautiful, too beautiful. She came to me one day in secret and told me of the angel that found her in the woods, that visited her by night. I warned her." Huilen spoke mournfully.

"As if the bruises on her skin were not warning enough. I knew it was the Libishomen of our legends, but she would not listen. She was bewitched. She told me when she was sure her dark angel's child was growing inside her. I didn't try to discourage her from her plan to run away as I knew even our father and mother would agree that the child must be destroyed, Pire with it. I went with her into the deepest parts of the forest. She searched for her demon angel but found nothing. I cared for her, hunted for her when her strength failed. She ate the animals raw, drinking their blood. I needed no more confirmation of what she carried in her womb. I hoped to save her life before I killed the monster. But she loved the child inside her. She called him Nahuel, after the jungle cat, when he grew strong and broke her bones and she loved him still. I could not save her. The child ripped his way free of her, and she died quickly, begging all the while that I would care for her Nahuel. Her dying wish and so I agreed. He bit me, though, when I tried to lift him from her body. I crawled away into the jungle to die. I didn't get far as the pain was too much. But he found me and the newborn child struggled through the underbrush to my side and waited for me. When the pain ended, he was curled against my side, sleeping. I cared for him until he was able to hunt for himself. We hunted the villages around our forest, staying to ourselves. We have never come so far from our home, but Nahuel wished to see the child here." Huilen concluded, her voice sounding heavy with emotions but resigned.

"Nahuel, you are one hundred and fifty years old?" Aro questioned him.

"Give or take a decade." He answered in his clear, beautifully warm voice. "We don't really keep track."

"And you reached maturity at what age?" Aro asked.

"About eighteen years after my birth, more or less, I was full grown." He replied quickly.

"You have not changed since then?" Aro added.

"Not that I've noticed." Nahuel spoke wryly.

"And your diet?" Aro pressed, his tone now seeming interested in spite of the situation.

"Mostly blood, but some human food, too. I can survive on either."

"You were able to create an immortal?" Aro continued on just as vehemently.

"Yes, but none of the rest can." Nahuel discouraged him.

"The rest?" Aro questioned as murmurs ran through both crowds.

"My sisters." Nahuel answered again.

"Perhaps you would tell us the rest of your story, for there seems to be more." Aro spoke, entirely baffled.

"My father came looking for me a few years after my mother's death. He was pleased to find me." Nahuel's tone suggested the feeling was not mutual. "He had two daughters, but no sons. He expected me to join him, as my sisters had. He was surprised I was not alone. My sisters are not venomous, but whether that's due to gender or a random chance... who knows? I already had my family with Huilen, and I was not interested in making a change. I see him from time to time. I have a new sister, still a child of only eight years."

At that moment, the snapping of branches startled me and caused me to sink into a defensive position as I turned around.

Surprisingly, there stood Jeniffer, with an obvious black eye and signs of healing bruises on the exposed skin of her face and neck. Anger surged through me at the thought of Johams psychotic hands on this angelic child.

"I want to help." She whispered to me very quietly, too quietly for the vampires out in the field to hear.

"Go to your brother." I whispered back to her. "Tell the man he's talking to about what your father has done to you." I told her, carefully touching the worst of her bruising to check for broken bones. "Be brave." I urged her, hugging her softly and pressing a kiss to her forehead before sending her out of the tree enclosure.

"Jennifer?" Nahuel questioned her incredulously. "What are you doing here?" He asked her.

"Jennifer?" Aro asked. "Is this your youngest sister?"

"Yes." Nahuel responded. "What is this?" He asked madly, and I assumed he had discovered her markings.

"I've left Joham." Jennifer disclosed. "The Cullens came in search of help and so I sent them to Nahuel. They said I should come here if I could ever escape Joham. He got very upset with me." She told the Volturi, they most likely observing her eye and bruising as she spoke.

"Your father's name?" Caius asked through gritted teeth.

"Joham." Nahuel answered. "He considers himself a scientist. He thinks he's creating a new super-race." He replied, making no attempt to disguise the disgust in his tone.

"Your daughter, is she venomous?" he demanded harshly, at either Bella or Edward I assumed.

"No." A new voice to me responded shortly, and I wondered if they had changed Bella in fear of the confrontation. I hoped they had.

"We take care of the aberration here, and then follow it south." Caius growled as he urged Aro.

"Brother." He said softly. "There appears to be no danger. This is an unusual development, but I see no threat. These half-vampire children are much like us, it appears." Aro mused thoughtfully.

"Is that your vote?" Caius demanded.

"It is." Aro declared and my heart leapt inside of my chest.

"And this Joham? This immortal so fond of experimentation?" Caius scoffed.

"Perhaps we should speak with him." Aro agreed.

"Stop Joham if you will." Nahuel said flatly. "But leave our sisters be. They are innocent."

"Dear ones!" Aro called. "We do not fight today on this issue." He concluded and happy mumbling resounded through the covens in support of my family. "However, there appears to be a claim of misconduct from one of my dearest friends." Aro noted and I almost growled at the frustration of being so close to freedom. "Carlisle? What is your grievance, dear one?"

"My sister." Carlisle's strong comforting voice sounded nothing but haunting and hollow. "You granted her wish for death without consulting her coven. You acted without consent or just cause." He accused and I froze up completely.

"Carlisle, no!" Alice cried out, and my nerves stood on end as I knew her vision had changed. "No! He would not like to make that claim, Aro!" Alice interjected. "It was all my doing! I lied to him. I take full responsibility for my actions. No claim needs to be made."

"The hurtful claim has already been made!" Aro countered. "I have done no such thing! I have not had the pleasure of seeing sweet Grace since her visit to us to stop Edwards misguided actions. I would not hurt my friends in such a demonic fashion." He declared soundly. "Alice, step forward and receive your punishment for this act of slander."

"No!" I screamed in terror, running through the trees and out into the field to stand in front of Alice.

I recognized my family and friends speaking my name in wonderment, some crying in relief, but I couldn't focus on that as I prepared myself for the coming order.

"No, do not punish Alice." I begged him. "I'm the one that left a suicide letter to Carlisle. I'm the one that asked Alice to fake a vision and tell Carlisle of these false actions."

"Aunt Grace-"

"Alice, it's okay." I turned to her, taking her hand and squeezing it tight.

"And what is your reasoning for such slanderous actions against me, dear friend?" Aro sneered.

"It was the only logical way I could think of for Carlisle to let me leave." I replied. "I needed to go and help Alice and Jasper find Nahuel, but Carlisle wasn't going to let me leave out of fear of me being injured away from him. I had to say whatever I could to get him to let me go. The only way my dear twin brother would do that is if he thought he had lost me to death." I explained completely.

"I am so saddened to do this." Aro sighed deeply. "But I'm left no choice but to put you on trial for your treasonous actions."

"Aro, no, please, it was all my idea. I told her of my visions! It was my plan! I'm the one that told her to lie to Carlisle!" Alice stepped forward pleadingly, still griping my hand tight, and I wrenched her backwards in my panic for her well-being.

"I acted on my own accord." I shook my head quickly, pulling her back behind me and towards Jasper in an attempt to protect her. "She did no such thing. She's just trying to cover for my actions." I swore to him.

"Aunt Grace, please!" Alice cried out tearfully as she tried to pull away from Jasper.

"Stop, Alice." I told her, offering her the sweetest look I could manage. "Let me take the blame for my actions. You did nothing wrong." I assured her, trying to let her pick up on my reasoning.

There's no sense in us both getting punished when she has a mate depending on her. My family will have to understand my sacrifice.

"Would you like to say anything in defense before we decide, Grace?" Aro questioned me. "Perhaps an apology?"

"I did what I had to do to ensure my family and friends survival." I stated firmly. "I will never apologize for that."

"I see." Aro sighed. "Slandering carries quite a heavy punishment. Are you aware of that?"

"Yes." I nodded. "Go ahead, say it." I urged him, just wanting the nightmare to be over with already.

"For slandering the name of the Volturi in its proceedings and actions, Grace Cullen, you are hereby denounced and marked for execution." Cauis announced happily and I steeled my expression carefully.

I would not show these monsters an ounce of fear.

"I'm sorry. I truly am." Aro remarked.

Meanwhile, Carlisle was having to be restrained behind me as he screamed and pleaded for me to be spared. He was saying absolutely anything he could think of in an attempt to protect me. I wanted to give him one last love-filled look as an apology, but I couldn't dare turn around and show my family my fear now.

"Executioner?" Aro directed a tall robbed figure to step forward, ignoring my brothers cries and desperation.

The figure was shrouded and covered entirely by the thick black and red robes of the Volturi, his gait shifting eerily as he approached me, and he stood face to face with me for a just brief moment in a sort of mysterious apology.

Suddenly, I was grabbed by my neck and held up into the air off of my feet, the figures fingers digging deeply into the skin of my throat as he gripped my neck tightly.

"Grace!" Carlisle yelled, sobbing my name, and sounding absolutely enraged.

My fight instincts kicked in then, and my hands shot out to find purchase on anything they could of the looming figure. Only being able to grab it's hood, I clutched it and leaned forward as I tried to push it backwards.

Not being strong enough to push the figure back, it's hood simply fell back off of its head, and I gasped in shock as the vampires eyes met mine.

"Charlie?!" I cried in both relief and fear as his once brown, now terrifyingly black, eyes looked up at me with nothing but resentment and anger.