The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide (39 page)

Riley did well in his last days with the newborns. He was able to manipulate them into exactly the mindset Victoria wanted. He did not entirely understand why the focus should be on the human girl—Victoria said the Cullens would be less effective if they were trying to protect the human—but he primed them perfectly. His only failure was in losing Fred; of course, in the end, he couldn’t remember that he’d lost him. After sending the newborns on their way, he met up with Victoria at the rendezvous point she’d chosen. She told him that a key member of the coven had hidden to avoid the fight, and together they were going to make sure he didn’t survive.

D
IEGO

Diego grew up in a lower-class, single-parent home in Los Angeles. He lived with his mother and younger brother. When he was sixteen, his mother relocated to Portland for a job that then fell through. Diego worked part-time jobs to help out while he went to school. He was determined to go to college, and to help his younger brother get an education as well. Diego had some trouble with a gang at his high school, but he did his best to avoid them. He was furious when he found out that the same gang was pursuing his younger brother. He tried to convince his brother to stay away from them, and he talked with his mother about switching his brother to a different school. Before they could come up with a plan to remove his brother from the situation, his brother was killed in an initiation ritual.

Diego went crazy with grief. He stole a gun from the house of one of the gang members. He’d learned who was actually responsible for his brother’s death, and he tracked him down and fatally shot him. The other members of the gang came after Diego. They had him cornered when Riley interceded.

F
RED

He embraced being a science nerd and related to others academically but not socially.

Fred grew up with his father; his parents divorced when Fred was ten. His mother remarried and had three children, half-siblings whom Fred rarely saw. Fred’s father was not very expressive, and Fred found that the only way to communicate with his father was through logic rather than emotion. Fred had a natural inclination toward the sciences, which his father encouraged. In elementary school he was bullied occasionally because he was thin and wore thick glasses. In high school Fred grew very tall, but he was awkward and gangly. He embraced being
a science nerd and related to others academically but not socially. He tried to avoid attention, and hated to be singled out except in the classroom. Eventually, Fred received a scholarship to Stanford University. Physically, he had gotten past his awkward stage and was quite attractive, but he was oblivious to this. After his sophomore year, he volunteered for a special research project offered by his favorite marine biology professor. Fred spent the majority of the summer on remote beaches along the Oregon and Washington coast, camping for the most part. It was a solitary trip, and he went several days at a time without seeing another person. Riley found him on one of those beaches and imagined that Fred’s disappearance would seem quite explicable. He asked Fred if he was interested in some excitement. Fred said no, but Riley didn’t take no for an answer.

Fred is one of three newborns who survived the rest of the coven’s demise; he went on to become a solitary nomad.

R
AOUL

Raoul grew up in southern Texas. He lived with his mother and five siblings. He became very involved in an expanding drug-running gang. Despite his youth, he rose quickly through the gang’s ranks. When he was fifteen, he shot three members of a competing gang. To keep him from falling into the hands of the law, his gang sent him to Seattle to manage a new branch of the organization. There he excelled, particularly at recruiting new members. Riley found him beating a client who was behind on payments. Riley asked Raoul if he was interested in some real power. Wary but intrigued, Raoul answered yes.

B
REE
T
ANNER

Bree believed that her mother left her abusive father when Bree was four; in fact, Bree’s father murdered her mother.

Bree was born in Nevada, but lived in Idaho for most of her life. Bree believed that her mother left her abusive father when Bree was four; in fact, Bree’s father murdered her mother. He buried the body in the desert, then packed up and moved to Idaho with his young daughter. Because of the abuse, Bree felt isolated from her peers. She was a quiet, withdrawn girl. No one ever noticed the signs of her abusive home life, despite some physical evidence. Finally, Bree ran away from home a few weeks before her sixteenth birthday. She had enough money for the bus ride to Seattle, but nothing more. She tried unsuccessfully to get a job, and began stealing in order to eat. She slept in parks and alleys—wherever she could find a place that felt a little bit safe. Her biggest fear was that the police would catch her and send her home to her father. She’d been on the run for less than three weeks when Riley found her digging through a trash bin behind a restaurant.