My true education as a vampire began after two months in this new existence. I had killed thirty people by then to slake my thirst. Renata, my only guest aside from the humans who became my food, swept in much earlier than usual one day. Two other vampires followed her, each carrying several pieces of furniture. It looked like I was now allowed to have a chair to sit in, not that I felt the need. There was also a small wooden table and a waist-high bookshelf with a small stack of books making their lonely home on the top shelf. I watched the two unknown vampires settle the furniture without a word spoken between them and then leave with a nod for Renata.

When the door was closed once more she turned to me and offered one of her slight smiles. I'd never seen anything warmer from her, and she almost never spoke to me unless it was to scold me on my messy feeding habits. I no longer dripped blood on myself at mealtimes and hadn't needed new clothing in a week, though, so even that much conversation had gone by the wayside.

"Today I am going to explain some things about the vampire world, Isabella. Then we are going to practice a bit," she informed me, her red eyes carefully observing my still form.

When I did not reply, she sighed and folded her hands in front of her. "First, you are in Volterra, the home of the Volturi. We are a group who ensures that the laws of our world are upheld to ensure the safety of vampires everywhere. There is only one law: keep the secret. Any other rules I might convey to you will be a product of this most important law. Humans must not know of us. In order to ensure that the law is kept, it is important for new vampires to learn how to interact with the world in a way that humans would so that we can maintain the masquerade when necessary."

Renata paused and held my eyes as if she was trying to drill this message into my head. I understood. There was no going back to my old life. I would never see my parents again. If I wanted to survive I had to let them go on with their lives thinking that I was dead. And I had to stay alive—in this semblance of a life, anyway—if I wanted them to keep their lives. A wave of despair threatened to overwhelm me, and from the way Renata's eyes lit I knew that she was aware of my conclusions.

"I'm sure you have noticed how quickly we can move. You must learn to temper that. We have enhanced hearing. You must learn not to react to sounds which are beyond the normal human range unless you interacting with another vampire. Strength is one of a vampire's greatest assets, but you must learn not to crush furniture when you sit on it, not to grip a pen too tightly so that the ink explodes all over you or rip the page of a book as you read it."

At the word book my interest sharpened. I remembered that I enjoyed reading, and it would be nice to have something to occupy the long periods of isolation I had to endure. I could tell Renata had noticed my sudden attentiveness. Her smile grew just a little bit.

"I see that appeals to you. Good. Hobbies are important for us. Boredom is a vampire's enemy. When we become too bored, we can become tempted to do things which would reveal us to the humans." As I let that sink in she resumed her lecture, "There may come a time when you are forced to consume human food in order to maintain the illusion of humanity. Human food is revolting, and we must disgorge it as soon as we are out of sight of the humans because our systems cannot digest it. For your sake, hope that there never comes a time when this is necessary." Her smile widened by another millimeter, and I understood that she was trying to be amusing. I tried to smile in return.

Renata paused at that point, and I assumed that was my opportunity to ask questions. "So vampires try to fit into the human world?" I couldn't see how that was possible. The burn that filled my throat and wet my mouth with what I now knew was venom whenever a human was nearby overwhelmed my intentions not to feed on them every time. Although some small part of me still recoiled in horror, I was growing used to the sensations. I even looked forward to the short time when I was able find relief from the pain my thirst caused.

"Fit in? Oh, no, not at all. We just need to be inconspicuous when forced to move in the human world for short periods of time. You will find that most of us prefer to move and act as nature intended when we do not have the prying eyes of humans on us."

"Nature?" I snorted. "Nothing about this seems natural!"

I immediately regretted my outburst when Renata flashed to my side and stared menacingly into my eyes. "No matter what you may think, this is natural, Isabella. Why would it not be? Just because we are deadly? We are not the only creatures in this world able to kill with little effort."

"But we used to be human!" The anguish I still felt at the loss of my human life overcame my good sense, and the last words came out in a frustrated scream.

Renata pulled back and laughed. She was laughing at me! I growled in anger and crouched as if to attack her, but she held up her hand as her laughter quieted. "I keep forgetting how young you are, my dear. As I mentioned before, you are less…volatile than we are used to seeing in newborn vampires, although this is not completely unheard of. Most come to the point of questioning our existence so much later that I did not expect it. Forgive me."

Renata and I stared at each other without speaking for long minutes before she continued in a gentle tone, "It is true that we were human once. However, even though we left our human frailties behind, we still retain some needs from our previous lives. We have a very strong survival instinct, and we despise boredom and loneliness. For those two reasons I have never known of a vampire who could kill him or herself, and I have never known of any who could refrain from being around humanity and feeding. We are drawn to them, even if the memories of our humanity give us compassion for them. You will come to understand this. To vampires humans are like the domesticated cattle they keep, little though they know it. It is best to view them that way, for your own sanity."

I recognized what she was trying to tell me, but I couldn't bring myself to comprehend the terrible truth of it. All of this was so wrong. By what right did we have to exist on the lives of others? Did comparing humans to cattle make the others feel better? Would it someday help me to accept my new reality? Somehow I doubted it.

After Renata's explanations we settled into my lessons. They were not at all as easy as I was expecting. My first task was to sit in the chair. Since I had been standing or crouching on the ground as an occasional change for the past month, this should have been a relief. I didn't feel the need to sit, but it would be nice to know that I could still do something as simple as sit down.

Instead of landing my behind in the chair as I expected when I lowered myself, I heard the splintering wood and looked up in astonishment at Renata from a much lower position than I had anticipated. To my amazement she was laughing again, this time quiet, girlish giggles that seemed out of character.

"It is not as easy as you expected, is it? Don't worry, you will figure out the correct amount of pressure for each action, Isabella. And once you know, you will be unable to forget. We do not forget anything," she tried to reassure me.

"Bella," I grumbled as I stood. She raised her eyebrows at me and I clarified, "If you're going to be my taskmaster for the impossible, please call me Bella. It's what I prefer."

Renata nodded. "Very well. Let's get you another chair, and then you will try again, Bella."

Twelve destroyed chairs later, the first of which Renata brought herself along with a male vampire who watched us with amused red eyes and fetched the remaining replacement chairs, I finally managed to sit down. Renata was right. I knew I would always remember how to sit in a chair without breaking it. The other vampire, whose name I didn't even know, left at that point, murmuring about needing to attend "Master Caius," whoever that was

The next task I had to master was "acting human." She explained that we were not inclined to make random movements the way that humans did. I hadn't even noticed, although I knew that we had no need to blink, breathe, fidget, swallow, or a hundred or so other small movements which my body had accomplished on its own before my transformation. I had to practice all of these until they looked natural. By the time Renata left to bring my next meal, I had only managed to master blinking and moving my chest as if I was breathing. It wasn't a good idea for us to breathe around humans unless we needed to speak. Renata told me that it was easier to resist the temptation to attack if you couldn't smell them. Anticipating the enticing scent about to fill my room, I could only agree that learning to hold my breath was the best thing I could do just in case I ever found myself in a crowd of humans. I didn't want to break the law and put Renee and Charlie in even more danger than they already were.

Renata returned with my meal, which I dispatched as quickly and efficiently as possible. I was getting good at that. When she left I would curl up in a ball for a while and mourn the human whose life I had just taken. In the meantime, some previously untapped well of strength made it possible for me to simply feed and then turn to her dispassionately as the corpse dropped to our feet. Her red lips curled up in a pleased smile, or as close to one as my erstwhile mentor ever got.

As I stared into her ruby red eyes, I wondered once more why she was doing this. Why had Alec and Jane spared my life, if you could call it that? Why had the Volturi let me live? From what Renata had told me earlier and the little I had gleaned from our periodic conversations over the past months, as a whole the Volturi were not merciful, compassionate, or any of the other emotions I would normally associate with people who save a life. That could mean only one thing. They wanted me for something. But what?

I realized that if they were taking the time to train me so carefully to survive in the human world then maybe I had gained enough importance to have that question answered. As the thought came to me, my lips parted almost against my will. "Why am I here?"

"Here?" She managed to infuse the one word with curiosity, boredom and scorn all at once, an amazing feat when all was said and done.

I nodded slowly, never taking my eyes off of hers. "Yes, here. Why am I with the Volturi? Why didn't those vampires who killed James just finish the job on me? You told me that I was allowed to become a vampire out of curiosity. What does that even mean?" Perhaps now I would finally get some answers.

Pencil-thin eyebrows arched towards her perfectly rounded hairline and full lips tightly compressed, Renata eyed me for several long moments. Finally she conceded to grant me a tiny morsel of information. "You were able to block three of our most talented guards while still a human. Master Aro believed that showed great promise for your abilities after te change, so he allowed your transformation to continue. Once you have gained some modicum of control, you will begin testing and training to become a member of the Volturi Guard."

I remained quiet, unsure if I should voice the next question. Hell, why not? What was the worst they could do, kill me? If my still heart was any indication, I was already dead. And if I died, they could no longer use my parents' lives as a threat against my good behavior.

"What if I don't want to join the Guard?"

Renata looked surprised at my question before her brow lowered. "The Volturi Guard is respected throughout the world. It is an honor to be asked to join," she informed me severely. She wasted no more words or time on me after that, bending to retrieve the body between us with a jerk and swishing out the door once more.

I collapsed onto the floor once more, ignoring the chair which would barely have been more comfortable. Curling up on it would not have been smart as I released the grief I felt over my latest murder as well as the thought that they intended to keep me here with them for an eternity. As it was, the stone floor soon bore new score marks from my nails as I continuously flexed my fingers next to my head. I wished that I could crush my own skull in and just end this, but I doubted it would so much as dent.

It took me another two days to learn to sit in the chair "properly" as a human would, with small movements to keep away suspicion due to vampiric stillness. Once I mastered that skill, Renata had her still-unnamed assistant bring in a box filled with wooden platters and cups so that I could practice picking them up. I went through three boxes in five days before I finally figured out just the right amount of pressure to use when lifting a plate and a cup. It was ridiculous how flimsy solid wood now was. One or two of the plates may also have shattered against the wall after the edges crumbled between my fingers.

By the time I was able to pick up a book, open it, and turn the pages without ripping them, another two months and thirty meals had passed. Handling books was the most difficult task yet, but I was ecstatic when I was finally able to read again. To my surprise, writing was even worse. The pens were so flimsy and the ink would splatter absolutely everywhere when they snapped.

I was almost six months old in my new life when Renata announced that I was ready to move to a room closer to the rest of the Volturi. While my nose wrinkled at the way she phrased it, I would definitely be relieved to leave the boredom of my four walls for a new set of four walls. Maybe I would even be able to shower instead of wiping myself off with the cloths and water provided by my mentor.