Official Description: In a world of night, of darkness, shadows known as the Volturi reign supreme. Their word is law, unquestioned and unchallenged. A word has been spoken. She has been condemned to die. AU/M for themes/violence/language/sexual situations.

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When I saw one of my favorite authors, Katinki, had put up a new story, I gave it a try despite my general avoidance of overtly dark themed stories. Oh, am I glad I did! Her vividly sensuous imagery, the flowing cadence of her writing, and the entrancing eloquence with which this dark and tortured Edward speaks to us through her words, has me completely hooked!

The scent of it coated his nostrils and flooded his long-petrified lungs. It smelled otherworldly, rich and spicy. It was luscious and purely primal in nature. It smelled delicious, and his mouth instinctively watered, dripping in long, clear strands of venom at the thought of sinking his teeth into soft, buttery human flesh.

If you are at all like me the idea of Aro having control over Edward’s gift is an intriguing one. It makes me wonder if an Edward who has not had the benefit of Carlisle’s teachings would be able to resist the siren call of Bella’s blood at their first meeting. I am excited to say Katinki has presented us with a story that explores these very ideas in her latest story Night Must Fall.

Here we get an Edward with a whole new reason to be dark and brooding…he is one of the Volturi and so must feed on the innocent, and be the unquestioning extension of his Master’s arm…even when it means investigating one Isabella Swan.

Dark, mahogany hair with equally dark eyes, her image was clear and vivid in his mind. Her eyes, an unexpected amber-flecked russet brown, were liquid and alive, and they held a depth that gave away wisdom beyond her few years.

Bella, who is intriguing in the extreme in this incarnation, is a graduate student living in New York who after having been suddenly abandoned by her dearest friends, the Cullens, four years prior. To cope with the loss she is using the guise of her thesis research to look for empirical proof of that vampires really do exist. Just as she finds critical information she’s been looking for, she gets a mystifying and long awaited call from Alice. And it’s not good.

“Bella, please!” Alice begged, her voice climbing in volume. “Just leave! Go anywhere! You have to listen to me. Get out!”

Through Edward’s eyes and insight we get a deeper look into the inner workings of the Volturi (including delightfully fresh insights into Demetri and Jane’s gifts), along with how their casual brutality is chilling with just the right dash of humor to make it even more captivating.

At the end of the first five chapters we’re left wondering how Carlisle’s connection with the Volturi is different in this universe, just how Edward came to be a member of the Volturi Elite Guard, what Alice saw that has her desperate to keep Edward from finding Bella, and what’s going to happen when he does. I’ve got my seat belt securely fastened and I’m ready for one heck of a ride!

Wow. I am almost at a loss for words. Almost.

Reading this fic was a huge stretch for me, and something that I probably wouldn’t have done if it weren’t for The Fictionators. Now here I am curious, and anxious for more.

Night Must Fall is dark, twisted, and definitely not for the weak of heart, but in between all of that is something else.

katinki use of descriptions is breathtaking…

Amongst the olive skin and dark hair of the masses, with his pale-white complexion and riotous bronze hair, Edward was hard not to miss. But he’d learned long ago that hiding drew even more attention, attention of the unwanted variety. So, to avoid it, he feigned humanity; he pretended to be one of them. And as such, he was but a fleeting memory in their minds, the handsome and smooth stranger, the man they wanted to see.

He laughed at the right moments and he tipped generously, all the while fluently speaking his thanks in their native tongue, but with the deliberate accent of an educated foreigner. When wandering eyes met his, if but for a brief moment, he flashed a gleaming, megawatt smile, distracting them from the blood-red color of his irises. Unwittingly, given enough time under his inspection, the human defense mechanism, some secret, deeply buried instinct, would kick in. Those traveling eyes would fall away, and their owner would quickly depart the danger he only subconsciously recognized.

Sometimes, meandering amongst them made him feel almost as though he were one of them, a confusing sensation of almost belonging. He could almost forget his ties and bindings. He could almost be the person he projected. Yet other times, coursing through the overheated space and hearing the thwacking of their gurgling veins made him feel colder than he already was; it made him feel all the more foreign, all the more alien and alone.

Even after only four chapters she’s made her characters lovable.

Bella clutched the book she’d picked up to her chest and grinned, seeing Angela’s quick turn and appraisal over the top of her thin-framed lenses. “Don’t start, Angela. Just don’t go there. I know I’m just as bad. And so are you. So let’s just laugh at your boyfriend.”

With a quick shake of her head, Angela answered, her voice on the verge of laughter, “Okay fine. I won’t say a word. Nope, not one word. But seriously, Bella, if I were in your shoes, I don’t know how I could sleep at night, what with all the time you spend reading those horror stories.”

Teasingly, Bella scoffed and answered formally, “Not horror stories, Ang. Let me remind you, I am an anthropologist. Or at least I will be if I can ever finish this damned dissertation. I study people, not literature. I read the stories to understand the people.”

If you think you can handle it, this story is without a doubt worth checking out.

I need someone to make me a blinkie that says “SD <3s AU" because for as many good AH stories as there are out there, I fall ass over elbows for a great AU every time. katinki doesn’t disappoint in Night Must Fall, creating a story that can be appreciated by lovers of E/B, AU, Darkward, Volturi, and angst alike.

The premise is simple, but the plot is unpredictable. Edward is a member of the Guard, red eyes and all, and he is sent to check up on the Cullen coven, as well as a certain human girl who knows too much. We don’t know the full story behind Edward or his change, but we understand that he is coveted amongst the Italian family, wearing the darkest robes alongside Jane and Alec. He doesn’t necessarily relish his life, but we also don’t see him make any attempts to change it.

Upon visiting the States, things get a little more complicated. He meets the Cullens and uses his powers to discover why two of their family members – Jasper and Alice – are missing during his meeting. But as we all know, there’s little that can be hidden from our favorite mind reader, and a few details are revealed to him.

Meanwhile, Alice contacts the human girl she and her family abandoned to protect her, trying to keep Bella safe from the Guard member who is coming after her. But Bella doesn’t listen, of course, and we soon find Edward in pursuit of not only the girl he’s meant to retrieve, but the blood he’s enraptured by.

In the latest update, things take a sharp turn…perhaps for the better, where Bella’s life is concerned, or perhaps for the worst, if Edward truly tortures her as he imagines.

Half-crazed, each step forward carried with it a hundred ways in which he could take her. By the time he reached her door, her scent was nearly intolerable, filling his lungs and nostrils to the point where all he could smell was her blood’s elixir.

Her blood was too pure and too fine to waste in a hurry. Already decided, he would spirit her away and hide her so that he could savor every drop, so that he could make this perfection last as long as possible. Just the thought of tasting this girl shook his body; hard, rolling shudders coursed up and down his spine as he imagined taking her. Over and over, his teeth would pierce her flesh and find her pumping veins. He could already feel her supple curves giving beneath his trembling hands. His body suddenly felt warm, hot even, alive. Pushing every other sound away, a thumping beat pounded in his head, his mind’s imagining of her thundering heart. He would hold her for days – weeks even – teasing himself by keeping her alive.

“Mine,” he hissed as he splintered through the heavy oaken door.

Well HFS, do you have any guesses about what’s going to happen? I sure don’t, but I’m anxious to find out! Come read with me, and after you do, let’s chat about this story!