Soon enough, Esme had returned home from dropping Maddie off back home. "Today was so much fun!!" Renesmee exclaimed with happiness as she bounced down the stairs after taking a shower and changing into her pyjamas; her family all smiled as they each agreed "Maddie is such a sweet girl" Carlisle stated fondly "I hope she decided to come again". They all did. After an hour of watching TV, Edward and Bella took her daughter to bed whilst Emmitt and Jasper immediately turned the Xbox on as they had recently bought a new car game and were determined to beat the other. Alice and Rosalie began their nightly task of getting everyone an appropriate and stylish outfit for the next day. And Esme and Carlisle chose to sit together and discuss about the day. "You were right about Maddie's scent; I've never had to restrain myself so much as I did today" the woman sighed out "and who would beat her up? She knows no in this town!!" she wondered; her husband shook his head as he shrugged "I don't know love....I really don't know" but oh how he wished he did. They all did. The night flew by like any other and before any of them knew it, it was time to get ready for work and school; the 'kids' get dressed into their arranged clothes and Renesmee ate her prepared breakfast; the vampires gulped down a bottle of blood each before they grabbed their bags and headed out - they decided to take two cars today. Emmitt, Rosalie, Jasper, and Alice took the black Jeep whilst Edward, Bella and Renesmee took the black Volvo. Carlisle, with his case, embraced and kissed his wife before leaving for work; he reminded her that he would be home later than usual due to changing his shift the day before. As soon as the family were gone, Esme locked up and changed into her hunting clothes; she needed blood, and the prepared bottles weren't doing it for her. She needed to hunt.

The 'kids', however, were halfway towards their school when, suddenly, Jasper sat up straight with his head looking out of the window; it had certainly startled his girlfriend who was sat next to him. "What is it?" Alice asked with both a kind smile and concerned look; Jasper continued to stare out the window, scanning their surrounding as they passed by "I don't know" he mumbled "it's like....something is gonna happen....something big". Confused by his words, the pixie haired girl decided to let it go but kept his words stored in her mind. Finally, Emmitt and Edward parked the cars in the car park in front of the school before they hopped out of the vehicles and entered the school; Renesmee, however, made a B-life for the gate where she excitedly waited for her friend to arrive - just like every day. Except with every minute that passed after ten minutes of waiting, her excitement began to disappear and was replaced with worry. 'Where are you, Maddie?' she wondered as she called her friend for the third time 'pick up already!!'. To her annoyance, Renesmee heard the school bell ring out; the girl sighed as she turned away and hurried into the building to get to class before she would be late.

By the time lunch came around, Maddie still hadn't turned up for school. "Maybe she's just ill and is taking the day off?" Rosalie suggested, but her niece didn't seem to believe that theory "she would have text me not to wait for her". They had all noticed the missing teenager and each of them had felt a small sense of worry from her missing presence. Whilst they waited in the canteen for the lunch hour to pass by, the head teacher at the school approached them before asking "could you all come with me to my office please?" it wasn't exactly a request. Nodding, the teenagers collected their belongings and followed the head teacher through the school before they entered the man's office. Inside the room, however, was a woman dressed in a suit with...Bella's father dressed in his sheriff's uniform? As soon as they were all sat down, the smartly dressed woman began to speak "my name is Carla Jones, I'm Maddie Hunter's social worker" she introduced "you are all friend's with Maddie, is that correct?" she asked earning a multiple of nods; Renesmee - just like the rest of her family - felt her worry increase "is Maddie okay? Is this related to why she's not in school today?". Carla sent the young girl a polite smile as she continued "it is" was all she said to answer the question "her guardian, John Smith, says that she was at a friend's house last night after school, was that your house?" she asked, yet again earning many nods as Edward spoke up "she came over for dinner, stayed till about eight before my mother, Esme Cullen, took Maddie home". Both the woman and Bella's father wrote what they were being told down "how did she seem to you? Nervous? Anxious?" the woman asked "maybe....scared or like something was wrong?" the 'kids' all thought about the missing teenager; they didn't really know Maddie enough to know or notice these things. But Jasper, thanks to his own special power, could "she seemed rather on edge" he explained "like....she was always on guard...she didn't want to talk about how she get the beaten face" he sighed "it like....she was hiding something that she didn't want anyone finding out".

As they wrote this information down, Bella spoke up "we asked her about it but Mac just kept changing the subject or just said that she was fine" she added; Emmitt agreed as a small grin formed on his face "she's a stubborn kid with a mean kick to her, that's for sure". Looking up from her notepad, Carla thought of yet another question "do any of you know what Maddie and John's relationship is like at all?" she asked; they all shook their heads as Renesmee immediately began to speak "I heard Maddie on the phone to him yesterday when she was asking if she could come over" she explained "he didn't sound very....nice or happy...he told her that he didn't care where she went, as long as she was quiet when she returned home". That earned a concerned look that the sheriff and social worker shared "and Maddie told me that he regularly leaves her home alone for days on end, sometimes not leaving her money for food" all of this was written down; Carla thanked the family for their time and help. Before anyone could move, however, Alice spoke up "why are you asking us these things?" she asked "where's Maddie? Is she okay?" they all wanted to know; Carla shared one last look with Bella's father before sighing as she closed her notepad "Maddie...is safe". Why wasn't that reassuring?! "This morning....she was found in her home badly beaten and unconscious" she finally revealed; all eyes widened in complete and utter horror "she's now in the hospital and is stable" Charlie hurried to reassure "we're just here to ask the right questions to work out what really happened to get her in the state that she was in". Realisation hit Edward "....you think her guardian did this?" he questioned, yet received no answer as Carla once again thanked them for their time; Rosalie spoke as she had a question of her own "what will happen to Maddie? After she's released from the hospital?" she asked. Sighing, Carla knew there was no getting past this family "if, and only if, John had something to do with it...then Maddie will be placed back into the orphanage that John had fostered her from" she explained, earning many wide eyed reactions "but if he didn't, then she'll just go back home".

Seeing their alarmed faces, Charlie spoke up "don't think about that right now, all that matters is that Maddie is in the safest place she could possibly be getting the help she needs" he reassured "maybe later after school, some of you can go visit her?" he suggested "I'm sure Maddie would love to see some friendly faces". Agreeing with the sheriff, they all nodded before leaving the office after Carla and Charlie said goodbye to them. Thankfully, the Cullen and Hale's were allowed a moment alone together as the head teacher escorted the sheriff and social worker out of the building; Renesmee was the first to speak after a long moment of complete and utter silence. "Couldn't Maddie come and stay with us? If her guardian did have something to do with it?" she asked, catching her family's attention as they were all taken back by the girl's question; Bella was careful with her next words as she turned towards her daughter. "Sweetheart...I know you care about Maddie and that you're worried about her - we all are" her mother began before her husband took over "but Maddie...she can't live with us, you know that". The young teenager shook her head "but she could!!" she pressed on "maybe we can tell Maddie our secret?" she suggested; all of them had some part of them that wished the same thing, but the risks were far too high. "What if something went wrong?" Edward asked, shaking his head at such a familiar thought "what is Maddie somehow cut herself and one of us can't control ourselves?" it was a possibility "what if Maddie can't actually be trusted and tells everyone?". Upon hearing this, Emmitt chipped in "I'm pretty sure no one would believe her and would think she lost it" it earned a nod of agreement, as well as a hard glare. Either way, Renesmee rolled her eyes at her father "but dad!! They're all what if's!" she complained "you taught me to never think about the what if's and to always do the right thing" she had him there; the room fell silent before Alice chipped in "we'll talk to Esme and Carlisle about this when we get home" she reassured "I say only a couple of us go to visit Maddie, she doesn't need to be crowded" they all agreed with her. Suddenly, the bell rung out; time for class. For the rest of the day, the time passed by annoyingly slow for the family.

Finally, after a restless afternoon of classes, the school day was over!! "Jasper, Renesmee, Emmitt and I will go to the hospital" Alice stated earning a multiple of nods before the group parted ways; Emmitt drove the Jeep to the hospital and parked up before entering the large building. They stopped in the reception and spoke to the woman sat at the front desk "we're looking for Maddie Hunter?" Emmitt said, though in a way that was asking where they could find the girl; the woman looked at her computer screen and clicked on the mouse a few times "ahh yes" she nodded "Miss Hunter is in room twelve on ward Mars which is on the third floor" she informed. After thanking the woman, the group made their way towards the lift; they eventually reached the correct ward where they also found Carlisle. After handing a nurse some paperwork, the man approached his family and greeted them "I'll take it you're here to see Maddie?" he asked with a small sad smile; they all nodded "how is she?" Jasper asked as the doctor led them through the ward "she's not too bad, slept most of the day" he explained "...she was beaten up pretty bad". As they reached a door which they assumed would lead them their friend, Carlisle stopped them "before you go in, I just...." he appeared to struggle with his words "just don't stare, okay? Or act any different" the instructions concerned the four even more than they already were. But nevertheless, they agreed to his conditions before Carlisle finally opened the door. They were each hesitant to walk through.