Protagonist Isabella "Bella" Marie Swan is thrown an eighteenth birthday party by Alice and Edward Cullen, the vampire she loves, and his family. While unwrapping a gift, she gets a paper cut. Edward's brother, Jasper, is overwhelmed by her blood's scent and tries to attack Bella. To keep her safe from vampires, Edward breaks up with Bella and he and his family leave Forks, Washington. Bella becomes severely depressed and seeks comfort with Jacob Black, a cheerful friend who eases her pain over losing Edward. Bella and Jacob develop a close friendship, and Bella soon realizes that thrill-seeking activities, such as riding a motorcycle, help her to remember Edward more clearly. Meanwhile, Bella learns that Jacob is a werewolf. He and his fellow werewolves begin to protect Bella from the vampire Victoria, who seeks revenge for her mate, James, whom the Cullens killed in Twilight. Meanwhile, a series of miscommunications leads Edward to believe that Bella has died. Distraught over her supposed death, Edward flees to Italy to provoke the Volturi, peace-keeping vampires who would be able to kill him. Bella and Edward's sister, Alice, rush to Italy to save Edward, and arrive just in time to stop him. Before they leave Italy, the Volturi tell them that Bella, a human who knows of the existence of vampires, must either be killed or changed into a vampire. After they return to Forks, Edward explains to Bella that he only left to protect her, and she forgives him. The book ends with the Cullens voting in favor of Bella being transformed into a vampire after her graduation, much to Edward's dismay.