Taken In By The Cullens

Chapter Eleven

Waking up to the sound of two people arguing, Maddie found herself extremely confused by the fact that there was someone else within the apartment to argue with her guardian, as well as that John was up and not hung over. Also....why was she so comfortable? She felt as if she was lying on a cloud. That's when the memory of the events from the day before - she had moved in with the Cullen's and Hale's. John was in custody. Carlisle and Esme were her new legal foster parents. Standing from her new bed which she didn't want to ever leave, Maddie noticed a large blue hoodie lay on the chair by her desk; it wasn't hers and she didn't recognise it....but the teenager found herself cold, so she carefully pulled it over her head. Now the statement 'noticed a large blue hoodie' was the mother of all understatements - it fell to her knees and the sleeves had to be rolled up. She was completely drowning in the dark blue fabric. Now that she was dressed in a vest top, the hoodie and her pyjama shorts - she had changed into them at the hospital as she didn't want anything on her legs due to her injuries - Maddie grabbed her smashed up phone and left the room; she ventured down the stairs carefully and entered the kitchen. All the Cullen's and Hale's were in the room as Edward and Emmitt were arguing over God knows what; Renesmee, rolling her eyes at her uncle and father, noticed her friend - her face lit up. "Morning Maddie!!" she greeted happily, stopping everyone within their tracks as they turned towards the teenager as she sat at the countertop beside her friends - Esme lay a plate of three pancakes in front of the teenager who thanked the woman "aren't any of you going to eat as well?" Maddie asked with a raised brow; the family - minus the half vampire - shared a look of slight panic before Emmitt informed their friend that they rarely ate breakfast. Shrugging, Maddie began to eat - though she couldn't help but feel as if that weren't the entire truth; she never ate breakfast, so this was a first for her.

"So, Maddie" Esme asked with a smile "what do you want to do today?" she asked; Bella added that they had nothing to do all day. Thinking, the healing girl once again shrugged "nothing too extreme, that's for sure" was all she said. The room fell silent before Carlisle decided to speak about the elephant in the room "Maddie, look....your social worker gave us your care system folder" he informed; they all noticed how the fifteen year old completely froze before placing her fork back onto the plate before her "oh....have you read it?". Bella explained how they wanted her to be ready for when they read it "maybe...instead of us reading the folder...you could tell us yourself?" she suggested; Maddie folded her arms across her chest "I...I don't know" she stuttered out "my past....it's pretty bad". Well, that was worrying. Alice, out loud, wondered just how bad it could be which earned a sigh from their new house mate "...alright" she gave in "if you really want to know...I'll tell you" they all smiled at how open she was being "but can we go sit in the living room?" she asked, earning a multiple of nods. Once they had all moved to the living room and had found a seat, Jasper reassured the girl by telling her to only reveal what she felt comfortable enough to tell "alright" she sighed before asking "what exactly do you guys want to know?" she looked around the room before Alice chose to voice her wondering question "how about as to why you're in the care system?". Nodding, Maddie took a deep breath before beginning "when I was five years old, something was wrong with the cooker in my old home and it somehow exploded, causing the house to go up in flames" this already didn't sound like a good beginning "a firefighter managed to get me out but my parents weren't as lucky...I was put into the local orphanage and stayed there until I was ten". Such a tragic and shocking start in life "I'm so sorry about your parents Maddie" Renesme said as she gently embraced her friend; it was returned as Maddie shrugged "shit happens, it wasn't your fault".

Speaking up, Emmitt asked about after the teenager had turned the age of ten years old "that's when I met John and Rosie Smith" she continued "they fostered me but within a year, Rosie left her, and we never saw her again". Hesitant with his question, Jasper spoke "what exactly did....John do to you?" he asked carefully, knowing it was what they were all wondering; Maddie sighed as she sat back in the arm chair "at first he wasn't bad" she admitted "made sure I was fed, clean and okay....but after Rosie left, he changed" she rubbed a hand down her face "he began to forget to give me food and yelled a lot, he started drinking more and more until there was no doubt that he was an alcoholic - still is....it only got worse from there". The family remained silent as they waited for the fifteen-year-old to finish "the hits before more until I was getting beaten everyday" she revealed "it was a rare thing if I got through an entire day without at least getting hit a few times". It was horrible, yet Maddie somehow made it sound as if it wasn't a big deal!! But it was!! "That's...terrible!!" Rosalie exclaimed "why didn't you tell someone?" she asked; Maddie shrugged "didn't real have the change" she explained "I was always home unless I was doing a small food shop or running errands for John, I didn't attend school either so I never had anyone to tell". That....that was truly horrendous!!!