Out in the forest, I was calm. I was full. And I was content.
Diego stood in front of me, his curly hair being swept sideways by the gentle breeze. He smiled and laughed, looking at me. He sat down next to me and held my hand. I closed my eyes, lingering in the touch of his hands.
My eyes jerked open. I really needed to try to not think about... Diego. It was just making things worse, and more painful. Sighing, I headed back to the house.

I sniffed the air. Good. No human. I could actually go inside now, and not be kicked out.

I unlaced my boots carefully, and paused in the entry hall. What should I do? Go talk to Carlisle and Esme or somebody? Or be a loner and hide? Bravely, I walked out of the mud room, and glanced around. Everyone was sitting in the living room, conversing quietly. The talking ended as soon as I walked in. I stood there awkwardly for a millisecond before smiling. Or, at least, attempting to smile.

"Bree!" Esme said with a smile. I instantly felt much calmer.

"Hello Esme. Hi, guys." I responded nervously.

"We'd like to talk to you for a moment, ok, Bree?" Carlisle said, looking at me with a small smile.

"Sure," I said, trying to be easy going. I sat down next to Esme on the couch.
Carlisle spoke. "So, Bree, we want to hear about your life before you were a newborn." I froze. This was not something I wanted to talk about. I glanced over at Edward. His brow was furrowed, and he looked over at me sympathetically.

"Carlisle, maybe we shouldn't talk about it just yet-" Edward began to say. I stopped him.

"No, Edward, it's fine." My voice quivered. "When I was little, my mom left my dad and I. Then, it started." I bit my lip.

Esme rubbed my shoulders comfortingly.

"He started hitting me. No one ever knew. It went on and on.. Sometimes he hit me with broken bottles. Sometimes he used his baseball bat. Sometimes... Sometimes he locked me in the backyard, with the dog." I swallowed. Now that I had started, I found it easier to go on. "When I was ten, he got even more addicted to alcohol. He would send me out to go get some with what little money we had. I had to walk four, sometimes five miles at night to go get it." I shuddered. "I came so close to being... Raped... So many times, you have no idea. By the time I was fourteen, he had gotten into drugs. When I was fifteen- almost sixteen - I ran. I lived on the streets for a month. And then I met Riley. He offered to buy me a burger. He was much older than I was... But... I was so hungry. I ate the burger... It tasted so good... And we walked for a while. We just talked. We made our way to a dark alley. He started walking towards me- at first I thought he was trying to seduce me, but then..." I finished my life story, and I looked up. Carlisle was looking at me with pity, and Esme looked horrified. The rest of the Cullens looked stunned. I realized that this was the most I had ever said in front of them.

"I'm sorry that happened to you." My gaze flickered over to Edward. He was looking at me from the love seat.

I didn't say anything.

Rosalie spoke up. "I understand how you feel. I got raped." I nodded.

"Bree, dear, why didn't you tell us that you were abused before? We could have helped track him down." Esme asked, hugging me.

"I don't really like talking about it. Besides... I've already tracked him down." I said, my mouth dry. Carlisle cleared his throat.

"Will you tell us about your time with Riley? It couldn't be as bad as your human life, right?" Emmett said.

My body stiffened. I no longer saw the room, I saw Diego, being ripped to shreds in front of my eyes by Riley. He was dumped into a fire pit, and was burned. I felt myself start to tremble. I heard distant voices.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Bree, can you hear me? Bree!"

"Carlisle, what's wrong with her?"

"I think she's going into shock, Rosalie."

I felt myself being drawn back to the living room. I tried to cling to Diego, but I couldn't. Eventually, he was gone.

I blinked, and I was suddenly looking into the eyes of Carlisle.

"Bree? Are you alright?" Esme. I felt myself being pulled into a hug, and I started sobbing. Not really sobbing, of course, since vampires couldn't produce tears. Esme stroked my hair soothingly, and is felt someone sit next to me.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, Bree." I felt Emmett's comforting hands cup my hand, and I looked up.

"No, it's fine, Emmett." I choked out. I actually wasn't fine. I sneaked a glance over at Edward and Jasper. They were looking at me disbelievingly.

"Bree, I'm not entirely sure that everything is fine." Edward murmured. I cursed silently.

I shifted in my seat. "His name was Diego." I said in a small voice.

"What happened, Bree?" Edward asked. By now everyone was watching me. I closed my eyes briefly. A series of images flashed through my head- Diego and I in the water, him in the sunlight- walking at night, the beautiful kiss. And then the screams of him being ripped apart by Riley without me knowing, realizing with horror that Diego was dead at the battlefield. I opened them again, and started to talk.

"I lived with all the other newborns in Riley's house. There were more than you saw at the battlefield, but.. We kept killing each other off. There was a constant smell of smoke there. I went out to feed every three days. I went with more... Bloodthirsty ones than me, but one day I was sent with a vampire named Diego. We became close.

"Riley had lied to us. He told us that we couldn't go out in the sun, and that we would turn into ashes if we tried. Diego and I discovered that he was lying to us. Diego went to confront him. He never came back. Riley killed him, but I didn't know. " I was finding it hard to keep going on at that point. "I came to the battle looking for him. He wasn't there. And then... I met you guys." I finished softly.

Everyone was quiet.

"Bree, we're happy you're here. We wouldn't want you anywhere else," Alice said, reaching forward to pat my hand reassuringly.

"Thank you, Alice." I whispered.

Carlisle spoke. "I think I understand it all now, Bree. Would you like to come with Edward, Jasper and I upstairs for a minute?" He stood up. I sat there paralyzed in fear. They were going to kill me! The conversation I had overheard floated back into my thoughts.

"We have to get rid of her. She's a monster, you saw the way she looked at Bella. She wanted to kill her, to drink her blood. We have to destroy her now. We can just sneak upstairs, the four of us, and take her out now, she won't stand a chance-"

Edward growled. He had heard what I had thought.

"You heard that conversation?"

"Hard not to." I retorted, my voice quivering.

"Heard what conversation?" Carlisle asked, confused.

"The one we had that night." Edward hissed.

Jasper stood up. "You HEARD that, Bree?"

I ignored him and glanced over at Esme. She was rigid and staring ahead, biting her lip. Rosalie and Emmett looked really confused, and Alice was looking at the floor.

Suddenly, Jasper was right in front of me.

"Did you hear that conversation, Bree?" I still ignored him, too nervous to look up.

Something hard hit my head, and I was knocked off the couch.

"Jazz!" Alice protested.

I stood up. Anger and fear was bubbling inside me.

"Yes, Jasper, I heard everything. How you, and Edward, and Carlisle planned on killing me! How you didn't trust me!" I exploded, my words tumbling out of my mouth. Rosalie looked mortified.

No one said anything. My worst fears had been confirmed. They really didn't care about me! My vision spinning, I ran up to my room and slammed the door as hard as I could. Childish behavior, I know, but what else was I supposed to do when I found out that they had planned on killing me?

Choking back dry sobs, I threw clothes, my journal, and a book in my backpack. I heard footsteps outside my door. Throwing down the note I just wrote, I jumped out the window and into freedom.

so, I had to do that scene to let them know Bree's story and for them to finally realize that Bree had heard their conversation. Please review! It makes my world! ;)