I never ended up sticking around for the argument's climax. Emmett shuttled me downstairs into the basement. Well, basement was what normal people had. The Cullen's had a study. The walls were paneled in mahogany wood and there were a few bookshelves, and some leather furniture strewn about.

"What is this place?" I asked. I could tell it was some sort of den but it was rather sparse for such a large room. The two bookshelves, one couch and two armchairs hardly filled the space. Although it was nice it appeared like it was assembled hodge podge – like this was extra furniture that didn't fit elsewhere in the house – and that's what threw me .

"This," Emmett spoke, "is – for all intents and purposes – solitary."

I had made my way to one of the bookshelves before turning back to face Emmett mid step. "Excuse me?"

"Don't take it the wrong way, Bree. As you can tell, it's been here long before we knew you were going to join the family. This is where we come if we're having a hard time coping with the thirst. The walls are reinforced steel all around. That's why we have the paneling and why you can't hear the family bickering upstairs. The furniture is junk and if anyone breaks it," he shrugged, "no big deal."

I pointed my finger to the large backed and tacked leather sofa on the far wall. "That," I said, "is junk?" Emmett nodded. Where were these people from? I'd only seen sofas like those in the most well-to-do psych offices in Seattle. And the Cullens were game to let me crack it in half if my jonesing got too bad?

Then my brain returned to the room as a whole. And it's purpose: they were locking me up. Granted, this was better than any state penitentiary but still. I was being walled up in a steel cage like some kind of animal. Emmett must've read my expression as a bad sign.

"Look. Bree?" he asked eliciting my attention. "We all fall off the bandwagon every now and then and this is a safe place we can go to. Because we're all in close proximity to humans on a regular basis it becomes necessary every now and then. Coming down here, you can't smell anything, can't hear anything. It just helps you get a better grip."

"My grip is fine. Thank you," I told him through clenched teeth. I felt like I was being treated like some rabid beast. Like I couldn't be trusted in polite company without hurting them. "I'm not a complete savage."

Emmett rubbed his hands over his face before placing them on my shoulders. "The fact is you're a newborn. You've been feeding rapaciously on human blood for who knows how long. History shows that's a perfect equation for instability. Not mental instability. I'm not arguing against the presence of your faculties. It's just a precautionary measure; you might be fine in a week to come up to the rest of the house. But you need to get acquainted with the humans, the new lifestyle and we need to make sure you're not going to do anything you'll regret."

I crossed my arms and averted my eyes to the floor. "Fine," I grumbled. What was I going to do? Don't get me wrong, the concept of taking human life in order to survive disgusted me but it was my only option. I did have some sense of self-preservation and even though the idea made me sick I came to a point in my newborn life in Victoria's coven where I knew I needed to eat.

And I had made quite plain my lust for human girl Bella's blood. But I didn't want to kill her; I just wanted her blood. It was hard stuff to reconcile. And now I knew she was mated to one of the coven's males. I knew my conscience would eat me alive about five minutes after I had finished. I found it at least slightly comforting that having the girl and her scent away from me helped. I could think of her, imagine her face in my mind and not be all consumed by the savage monster within. That gave me some hope.

The Cullens agreed to take me and who was I to argue? Door number two was sudden death by that abrasive Volturi female. Edward had risked his family's safety to give me a second chance. Which, given the circumstances, was probably more than I deserved.

Not only had they saved my life but – according to Emmett – I was family now. I'd only known Victoria's coven and they were simply a loose band of newborns and renegades grown fat on Victoria's empty promises for our victory. What Emmett and the rest of the Cullens had here was a family. More family then I'd even had as a human.

I was brought out of my introversion by a clicking of the door at the top of the stairs. "Emmett, can you come upstairs for a few?" It sounded like that female Emmett called his mother… our mother… my mother… Esme. From her tone she seemed to be the calmest of all her family. Just like regular mothers she must've kept the rest in line.

Emmett turned around, "Yep, just give me sec? Thanks." He turned back to me, "Through the door behind you is a bathroom with some spare clothes. Get yourself cleaned up," he looked me over once from my filthy bare feet to my snarled hair, "and some of us will be down in while."

I must of looked a little wary because he assured me before he climbed up the stairs, "It's just to meet the family. Talk… no big deal." He held his arms in surrender. "You're doing great, kid. Don't worry."

Emmett thudded up the stairs and I heard the door click behind him before I was met with silence. I growled to myself feeling the rage come out through my inevitably flaring nostrils. "God dammit," I snarled as I smashed my fist into the wall on my way into the bathroom. I heard the paneling splinter and the tell-tale crumbling of concrete beneath that. I went into the bathroom and sat on the countertop, trying to get a hold of myself.

Over the past several weeks I had to learn new ways of dealing with myself. My vices and character flaws had only been magnified by my transformation. I was now a raging ball of emotional instability. My old methods of coping no longer did it for me. The deflection and self medicating didn't work anymore. I was in a new world order and my archaic remedies were obsolete. I was learning over again.

I was mad for being locked up like some kind of wild animal. Like I was some ravenous heathen savage who had no values, soul or moral compass to keep her from ravaging the first thing with a circulatory system that came her way. Hadn't I left Bella alone in that meadow? Sure, it was not without some mind wrenching physical torment or the threat of pain of death by multiple parties. But I'd held it together. And after all that I'd seen with Victoria's coven the infighting, the brutality I was fairly certain that death would not be such a bad option. Dying is easy.

Conversely I was also mad at myself. The Cullen's had willing taken in a mental defective and were willing to help me – to rehabilitate me – and all I could do was damage the infrastructure and stomp around like a child? The raging battle going on inside my head was reaching a peak. I had no rest from it. No sleep, no high – nothing – it was with my all the time. It was a constant and the more I listened the more I came to realize it was my humanity battling my demons and I didn't like it. I didn't like knowing that such an evil could live inside me. That it could possess me. It just gave more heat to the argument that I was a doomed creature with nothing but a dark soulless future.

I turned on the shower – not really giving a flying hoot as to its temperature. With my new physical makeup – I doubt my skin would care. I disrobed and climbed in. I looked down and saw the water pouring off my skin was black. Fantastic, I thought. In the weeks that I'd been changed I had not once showered. I know that sounds disgusting – and it is – but it was really medically necessary. I didn't sweat or bleed. I had no dead skin. But I wasn't impervious to dirt and filth. My top priority with Victoria was to do enough that I didn't attract negative attention but not so much as to have me noticed by others. I was just trying to survive.

After an hour of scrubbing and a half a bottle of conditioner later I stepped out of the shower in a marginally better mood. The sight of something so mundane and normal just made me feel better. Familiar surroundings do wonder to the psyche. Watching all the dirt and grime wash away was also therapeutic.

I wrapped a towel around my head and body and padded over to the only other door in the bathroom. On the top shelf there were some stacks of clothes. It was too high up so I had to grab the vanity stool before I could even reach the shelf with an extended hand. I found a variety of boy's clothes before I finally dug and found some ambiguous sweat pants and one of those white ribbed tank tops.

I resumed my seat back on the counter top when I heard a knock. "Come in," I called. The door cracked ant the small pixie Emmett had described peeked around the corner. This was… Jasper's mate? She came in dropping a duffle bag at the door and hopped up on the counter next to me.

"Hi, I'm Alice," she chirped. "I just wanted to say and introduce myself. I'm going to be gone for a few days and I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye." She looked down and watched her feet swinging below her. Alice seemed like the enthusiastic type. It also seemed like she was reining it in for my sake; although I couldn't really be sure why.

"It's nice to meet you Alice. I'm Bryanne. But you can just call me Bree. That way I sound like a girl." I extended my hand and Alice shook it while laughing.

"It's okay," she giggled. "I'm technically Mary Alice. Plus, I've heard worse," she pointed at me.

"Where are you going anyway, Alice?" I asked her. Part of me was curious and part of me was unearthing my good old people skills so maybe the Cullens would stop approaching me like I was a rabid dog.

"I'm going to spend the week with Bella. As you can imagine, she's a little shook up and her dad hardly approves of Edward being with her twenty four seven. I just didn't want you start adjusting to us all and me come back with the scent of human and throw a monkey wrench into the plan.

"Thanks," I nodded because I really did appreciate the forewarning.

"Before I go," Alice spoke getting back on her feet, "let me give you the grand tour because you'll probably be down here for a bit. In the closet there are clothes, towels, and extra shower supplies." She leaned in briefly to whisper to me, "There's extra Paul Mitchell behind the Borax. I keep it for emergencies but feel free."

I couldn't help but laugh good-naturedly as she pointed to the countertop we'd just vacated. "The bottom drawer," she continued, "has all a stash of tootbrushes, tooth paste and anything you'd need for your basic oral hygiene regimen. Up top we have a variety of hair accessories including a curler and blow dryer and on the left we have nail polish and remover. That cabinet on the right has all your basic makeup needs: foundation, bronzer, gloss, blush, shadow, mascara."

She turned back towards me on her inhale. She'd spoken all in on breath. I picked my jaw up off the floor and peeled my eyebrow off the ceiling. Because clearly, the girl in the sweats – that may or may not have belonged to one of her brothers – was going to have a lot of need for bronzer in the next couple of days.

I simply nodded and smiled. Because I liked Alice; after I introduced myself she treated me normally – which was a big bonus. "Thanks Alice. I really appreciate this."

She grinned and nodded, "Okay. I'll see you in a week. If they start going crazy – I'm on speed dial," she pointed to the landline just outside the bathroom door. Then she reached out and gave me a hug, "Ta!"

I watched her bounce out of the room after grabbing her bag and heard the door at the top of the stairs click once again.

I sat down on the floor and opened the bottom drawer. Ah, the land of the beautiful freaking toothbrushes, I thought to myself. There was a pile of electric ones; ones with batteries and brushes that I had no hope of figuring out so I opted for the more familiar manual. I grabbed a tube of toothpaste, some Listerine and a small green brush. I was steadfastly determined to use this entire tube of toothpaste to keep in this theme of cleansing – both physically and psychologically. I kept my hair in the towel and got lost in the pleasure of brushing my teeth once again.