Author's Note: Hi, guys. Sorry it took so long. My beta's been busy. She's at a wedding. But she found a wifi spot and helped me fix this up. It would be complete and utter shiiiit without her.

Dominick, did I do okay? I changed a lot of the dialogue around.

"Pastor John Webber has been missing for two weeks. Forks Police Chief, Charlie Swan has closed the case. Sarah Webber, the victim's wife, expresses her grief. She has declined the invitation of her, her twin boys, and eldest daughter appearing today, but would like to thank everyone for their condolences. There have been two breaks in at—"

"Good riddance," Edward commented and rolled his eyes as he shut the TV off.

Esme's frown deepened. "Why do you say that, Edward? I feel terrible. Sarah Webber's a good person and so was her husband."

Edward admired his mother's kind nature. Her heart reached out to any living creature, even when she herself, was not one.

Rosalie cocked an eyebrow at her brother. "Finally agreeing with me, Edward? Filthy wastes of space, that's what they are."

Esme narrowed her eyes at her daughter. "Rosalie!" she reprimanded. Rosalie shrugged, not apologizing.

Jasper cleared his throat lightly. "Esme, John Webber was a pastor who believed his children to be sinning when they dropped a hat. He punished them, often. His wife, too. Angela, his daughter, is extremely withdrawn. She doesn't participate in conversations and isn't comfortable around people. I can feel her pain. She's always so afraid..."

Esme furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, as if the thought of such evil in the world had not occurred to her. "But he's a pastor."

Edward's voice took on a dark tone. "I've heard his thoughts. He thought Angela was having sex with every human male she laid eyes on. He thought his wife was being unfaithful and his twins didn't take God into consideration enough. He beat them with his belt," he finished bluntly.

"Do you know what happened to him? Have you been following the report?"

Emmett spoke up. "I overheard the humans talking about it at school. They were saying how they heard around town that he was with some hot brunette in a hotel. No one knows who, though." He grinned at a sudden thought. "What do you bet he keeled over after she took her top off?"

"Do you think she killed him?" Esme questioned, ignoring Emmett's last comment. Of course Esme, being slightly older than the average elderly person, had learned lessons that not everything was rainbows and unicorns. Her own husband had been abusive as well, but she learned to let go of her grudge through love. Rosalie was abused sexually—before she changed—although she had not been so quick to forgive. She knew things happened like this, but to know it happened in such a small, quaint town. And a pastor, a man of religion, doing it no less. It was just over whelming.

"Three cheers for her if she did," Rosalie remarked.

They assured her, whatever this girl did—if she did anything at all—it was a good thing. Sarah, Angela, and the twin boys could live without fear.

"I should make Sarah something. I'm sure she won't want to be cooking with her...loss," Esme murmured to herself.

Rosalie wrinkled her nose and joked, "The woman just got a second chance at life and you want to poison her?"

Rosalie wasn't completely heartless. She knew her mother was having a hard time comprehending that something like this could happen. Esme smiled appreciatively. Being wed to a religious man such as Carlisle, she had talked over the afterlife with him. He restored her faith in God after living with such an abusive husband, and losing all hope. But now, hearing that this pastor beat his children, for no good reason at all. Of course, she knew Carlisle would never do anything of the like, but had he been beaten?

"I think I'll go buy some pre-made pies and a casserole and warm then up and deliver them to her. Would any of you like to come with me?"

Emmett offered to take her and help pick out the food, claiming that he was "kick ass at that type of shit". Esme smiled at his upbeat attitude and the two left for the grocery store.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Rosalie asked her brothers and sister. She had no special talent, unlike her siblings who could read minds, predict the future, and sense and manipulate emotions.

"She's feeling worried," Jasper murmured.

"About whether Carlisle was beaten by his father," Edward filled in.

When Esme came home, she nearly burnt the casserole and melted the pie to a puddle. She didn't realize that the pie was supposed to be kept cool, not baked. Throwing that away, she found a box of peanut butter cookie mix which she picked up on her weekly outings at the grocery store. They had to keep up the pretenses. They bought nonperishable, mostly, and donated them to the local soup kitchen or food drive.

"I don't think they're supposed to look like that," Emmett commented, cocking his head and poking the rock-hard cookies.

Esme shot him a look. "How would you know?"

Emmett shrugged. "I don't. Cafeteria food looks and tastes like shit. I don't have a lot to go on." Esme scolded him for swearing, but he just grinned.

Edward peered through the two's shoulders. "I'm sure you cooked them fine. They look exactly like the picture on box."

Alice pranced into the kitchen and shook her head. She prided herself on executing things perfectly. She thought she acted the most human out of all of her family, aside from her father. "Do we have another box?"

Esme slumped disappointedly against the counter. "In the cupboard."

"It's probably a good thing you ruined them," Edward consoled as Esme dumped them in the garbage. "Angela's allergic to peanuts."

Esme glared at her eldest son. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Edward shrugged. "It's not like her brothers couldn't eat any."

Alice finished the dough quickly and began scooping it onto a cookie sheet, then popped it into the still burning-hot oven. She set the time and frolicked out, calling behind her to let them cool for twenty minutes before putting them on a plate.

Alice and Emmett went with Esme to bring the food to the Webbers. They were the most empathetic with humans; they were the ones who interacted most with their class mates. Alice knocked on the door, as Esme's hands were full.

"Can I answer it this time, Mommy?" a boy's voice questioned.

"No, Isaac-" a woman's voice answered.

"Mom," a quiet voice cut in.

"It's not him...he wouldn't knock." A pause and then a sigh. "I know, I know, but still."

"What if nobody's there again, this time?" Isaac, they presumed, asked.

"Just answer the door first."

The door opened tentatively and a blonde woman peered through the crack nervously. Esme smiled in a soothing manner and Sarah invited them in.

"Thank you for the food," Sarah said as she walked out of the kitchen empty handed.

Alice swiped her hand at the air as if to brush the comment off. "It was the least we could do. Pastor Webber was a good man," Alice lied, trying to comfort the dejected woman in front of her. "We're very sorry for your loss," she finished softly.

"No we're not," Emmett whispered, too low for the others to hear. Esme shot him a look and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, we're not."

"They haven't found a body, but it's still very sad. We're all very worried," Sarah said, her face creased with concern. "Thank you for the food."

"Not that we feel like eating," muttered Angela as her eyes nervously darted back and forth around the room. She felt like this was a joke. Like her father was playing with them. She kind of wished he was, that we would walk into the room and yell, "just kidding," but at the same time, she hoped he never came back. It was also rare that the Cullens ever interacted with them. Sure, Esme was always kind to them, chatting politely, but her kids always kept to themselves. She was the only one feeling like that, though. Because Isaac and his twin brother Joshua ate the chocolate chip cookies enthusiastically.

Alice, having remembered the conversation they overhead when they knocked, spoke. "May I ask who dropped the food off before us?"

Sarah looked confused, but nodded. "Somebody knocked on the door but there was only lasagna on the steps. It was kind of unnerving."

"Did they leave any note?" Alice asked in a curious voice, her eyes wide and innocent.

Sarah shook her head. "No, there wasn't. I assume it was a woman, though. I could smell her perfume. It was very strong. Like freesias and strawberries and something that smelled a little like...rust? I'm probably wrong about that though." She gave a nervous laugh. "It smelled a bit like blood."

All three vampires stared at her and she shook her head, embarrassed.

"I could be wrong."

Joshua let out a loud squeal of laughter before Esme could respond. While munching on their cookies, Emmett had taken up the task of entertaining the children, practically being a child himself. Joshua hung off Emmett's back and Isaac begged to be next.

"We should go. I hope you like the casserole." Esme gave a look to Emmett, who immediately let Joshua down on the couch.

Sarah saw them out, and Joshua and Isaac waved timidly to Emmett as they all left.

"Blood?" Alice brought up the subject once they were in the car. "Why would it smell like blood?"

Emmett cocked an eyebrow. "The murderer felt a little sympathetic?"

"We don't know if he was murdered," Esme reminded.

"You don't think it could be a vampire, do you?" Alice asked. "You'd think I would have seen it."

"It doesn't affect you personally, Alice, so it's not unlikely that you didn't see it," Esme soothed. Alice nodded slowly, her nerves calming. It wasn't often Alice didn't see something. It was a scary thought.

Emmett shook his head as he pulled his jeep up the driveway. "Besides, if it was a vampire, I think the dogs would know ab—" He cut off short, his nose wrinkling in disgust.

Edward opened the car door. "Sam Uley and his pack have come over to the house. They think they've spotted a vampire and are accusing us of making it."