Made of Glass Chapter 32

Eddie ran in long graceful strides. He held me effortlessly in his arms and I buried my head in his chest. He might have been going slow for a vampire but he was still slaughtering my four minute mile time. We arrived at Emmett’s jeep in a few minutes.

Eddie placed me gently in the back seat and took out an extended version first aid kit. The kind that only doctors would have and vampires have no need for. He started dabbing away at all of my cuts and bruises and sowed up the gash in my arm.

He was certainly the best doctor I’d ever had. “How many medical degrees do you have?” I wondered pleased that my voice had lost some of the hysterical edge.

He just chuckled and didn’t answer. “I’ve never been able to practice. I found all the blood too distracting.”

“We can wait for Carlisle. I’m not so bad,” I suggested first so that he wouldn’t lose control and accidentally eat me and second because all of the rubbing alcohol on my wounds really stung.

“I can handle it.”

“How did you find me?”

“You were right. This whole thing was a trap for us. I went straight to your apartment when we came back because you hadn’t answered your phone. I could smell the other vampires all over your place,” he leaned in close and touched his forehead to mine “I’d never been so scared in all my life. Thank goodness Alice had come over with me because I just started panicking. But she kept my head on and noticed the note they left directing us here.”

“Where is here exactly?’

“We’re four hours away from campus in some forsaken forest. There’s a small town a half an hour back. We’ll get you some food and stay the night there as soon as the guys come back.”

I nodded but he must still have noticed the fear on my face.

“It’s okay Dolly. They’ll be fine. I’m a little hurt that you think so little of our skill that we can't handle three vampires.”

“It’s not just three vampires, Eddie. This guy is really good. You probably won’t get lucky like I did when I was fighting him.”

Eddie cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean when you were fighting him?”

Before I could answer Eddie’s pocket went off.

“See? I told you it wouldn’t be a problem for them.”

He whipped out his phone and greeted Carlisle on the other end.

I think vampires practice talking on phones in this way just so that I can’t understand what they’re saying. They’re words come up so fast and low it’s like they’re just mumbling.

Eddie shut the phone and gave me a big smile.

“The explosion got them all.”

“What do you mean got them? Like dead? Gone forever, dead?”

“Yes, Carlisle said they found all three bodies. Two of them had been burned to a crisp. The other one had lesser burns but his head had been . . . removed,” Eddie chose his words carefully trying to spare me the mental images. But I could imagine it all too well. He eyed me carefully to see the reaction to his words. I didn’t give anything away.

“Whatever happened, they didn’t see it coming.”

“And a decapitated head is enough. I mean if you lose your head you’re not coming back right?”

“They will never harm you ever again, Dolly. Everyone else is on their way back now. We’ll get you out of here in just a few minutes.” I thought I noted a little longing in Eddie’s voice. Like he was upset that they had died so easily.

I showed him my angry face.

“What?” He asked

“You were just wishing you got a crack at them.”

“No.”

“Yes you were! You aren’t satisfied with just tearing one of them to shreds you wanted to take on all four of them!”

“I have a right to be angry with them.”

“Psh. No I have a right to be angry with them. You were scared for what four hours. I was locked in that cabin with them for four days!! I’m the one who gets the revenge so you just stop your pouting!”

“Dolly,” Eddie said in a completely serious tone “What happened in there?”

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Alice joined us. “I see you’re forming complete sentences now so maybe you can tell us how three vampires managed to blow themselves up?”

“They didn’t really, I did. Well let’s see,” I tried to rewind to where the beginning of everything started. I wasn’t really sure how to tell these guys that I could steal their powers but maybe that wasn’t really an important part of the story just right now.

“Okay first I turned on the stove. Wait wait no! no that’s not what happened let me start over. First, I turned on the gas on the stove but not the stove really. Then I wanted some macaroni and cheese so I asked to go to the bathroom and I was in the bathtub. Ummm and then after hell erupted I knocked out the window with a plunger. But James was all like garrrrrgh because he was falling to pieces so there was this shovel and shwack and then ran for my life. Mm-hmm. That’s how it happened.”

“I may have spoken too soon about being able to form sentences,” Alice said with a concerned look on her face.

“It’s okay, Dolly. You don’t have to tell us yet,” Rather than looking at me while Eddie was addressing me he gave a pointed look at Alice.

The rest of the Cullens returned all in one piece with all members intact. I finally felt like I could breathe regularly again.

Eddie appeared to be the only one who was going to be patient for the story the rest of them nagged me the entire drive back to town. I tried to be more coherent but it took a lot out of me. Slowly, painfully I managed to retell the entire tale from the kidnapping in my apartment to my running into Eddie. Leaving out only some of the minor details and those parts I had no idea how to explain.

They seemed to be going along with it all until I got to the fight with James. They had trouble swallowing that one but they had seen the proof. I guess they were all seeing what I was truly like now. I looked cautiously at Eddie but he only looked thankful I was alright.

“Wow, D, I didn’t know you were such a badass,” Emmett was thoroughly impressed by the whole thing.

“Seriously, honey. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of any human ever taking down a vampire let alone three at the same time. That is really something else,” Alice said.

Eddie was the only one who wasn’t completely shocked that I would try something like that. He knew how I would defend myself. That doesn’t mean he liked that I was forced to take such a risk.

I knew what he was thinking and I needed to put a stop to it. If he felt that our relationship was putting me at too much of a risk again he needed to be shown the truth of the situation that the bigger risk would be me trying to continue on without him.

“You’re like Buffy!” Emmett joked. “You go slay those vampires! Maybe we could set you up with a battle axe and you could take on the rest of the underworld!”

“Not funny, Emmett,” Eddie said.

I didn’t find it funny because the seriousness of what I had just done was starting to finally hit me. I had killed three vampires. Three thinking, feeling creatures that feared and loved and wanted. I took life today. I felt dirty.

“What’s up, Dolly?” Eddie said noticing my changed demeanor.

“I murdered those three guys,” I said shocked.

“Oh wow, D,” Jasper said “You’re the only person in all the world who would feel bad after killing three vampires that were holding you hostage to murder your family.”

“Murder doesn’t apply to monsters,” Emmett said still lighthearted.

“Oh really? So if I decided to off Rosalie that wouldn’t be a big deal either, right?”

He didn’t have anything to say to that one.

“Quit being such a girl,” Rosalie surprised me by jumping into the conversation. “You did what you had to do. The time had come for those guys. They’ve already gone way past their fated time and now they’re just cheating. Murder only matters when the world will miss the poor souls. But trust me. Nobodies gonna be missing anything about those three.”

“She does have a point,” Eddie said surprised. "It was either you or them, and you made the right decision.”

“Yeah! And you can't kill Rose cause somebody’d probably miss her,” Emmett said.

Rosalie smacked him hard in the shoulder. He rubbed it gingerly.

Alice and Eddie were going to be the only ones to stay with me at the hotel. The rest of the Cullens continued back home to “take care of some things” I didn’t want to think about how messed up my life would be when I got back. I was gone for four days. Someone might have reported me missing by now and I had a biological systems test on Friday that I completely missed.

I felt that I had enough worrying for the past couple of days though and I didn’t need to be thinking about those kinds of things.

All I needed to be thinking about was the shower that was coming my way.

Once we were safely inside the typical pastel colored hotel room Eddie said “Alice is going out to get you a pizza. I’ll be just out here if you need anything,” He was anxious about the amount of space a closed door would put between us while I was in the bathroom. I tried to give him a comforting smile before shutting the door.

I turn the shower on high before gingerly removing the bloody layers of clothing. It was ridiculously painful peeling off the layers where the blood had dried to the wounds. A lot of the bleeding started all over again. Eventually I was free of all the layers.

I moved even slower into the shower. Every tiny drop of water that touched a cut stung like lemon juice. I forced my way all the way in though. The water ran red and dirty for a few seconds as the first layer of grim slipped off.

Soon enough the water started to do its job. The heat unwound my tightened muscles. I stood unmoving in the shower for a solid ten minutes trying to relax before I moved on to trying to get the dirt and blood out of my hair which was another exhausting task.

I had to get out sooner or later and Eddie was probably getting pretty anxious. I reluctantly turned off the water and stepped out.

I wonder why hotels only give you white towels. It seems like you could hide a lot more dirt on dark ones. I felt bad about the stray drops of blood that stained the immaculate towels I used.

Then I ran into another problem. I stared at my clothes on a pile on the ground. They were full of holes, dirt, and blood. I picked up my t-shirt and held it out in front of me. It smelled. There was no way I was putting that grimy rag back on.

I wrapped my towel around me tight and cracked the door of the bathroom a little.

“Eddie,” I called out to him.

He teleported right into my line of sight causing me to jump a foot in the air.

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. He wasn’t sorry. He was going to do it again next time. He just wouldn’t learn.

“What is it?” he asked concerned.

“Could you call Alice and ask her to pick me up some new clothes too?”

“Of course, I’m sure she’ll like that,” he began unbuttoning his own shirt as he responded and then shrugged it off his shoulders.

Oh how I wished undershirts had never been invented.

He held the shirt out to me. “You can wear this until she comes back.”

I blushed a little, but took it and shut myself back in the bathroom.

I had a little trouble getting the buttons back together as my hands were still shaking pretty terribly but eventually I succeeded. I took a long look at myself in the mirror. It was funny. In all of this chaos of vampires and explosions and death here I was standing in my boyfriend’s shirt. It seemed like such a normal thing. Something every couple did. Only I was willing to bet that we were the only couple in the world who had done the rest of the events of this day.

When I emerged from the bathroom. Eddie examined me with a small grin on his face. The way his eyes raked my body up and down made me think of my first day of work at the bar when every stranger was sizing me up. Only when Eddie did it like this it didn’t make my skin crawl. It made me feel . . . pretty.

I walked over and sunk onto the bed. “I feel better now.”

Eddie took his seat next to me and I rested my head on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured.

Wow. He really dove right into this one. The first words he says to me are the very ones I wanted him most never to say. What an idiot of a man!  How could he miss this so completely that he had absolutely no idea how I was really feeling.

“Shut up,” my words were seethed in venom.

It was natural that he would be completely confused by my reaction to his apology, but still I expected him to know me a little better to understand why I would be angry about this.

I sat up and looked him directly between the eyes.

“This was not your fault, Edward Cullen. The blame lies entirely upon four evil vampires who think they can stand up to the invincible Dolly and walk away unscathed!”

“But if you had never met me, this would never have happened. That means I get some of the blame.”

"Bullshit. I don’t even want to go anywhere near the realm of what would never happen if I had never met you. It is way too ugly and dark and miserable over in that Eddieless place.”

“But-“

“No but! Just think about this for a second. How long have we known each other?”

“Nine months.”

“Right that’s roughly 270 days. Only four of those did I spend in that cabin. That’s like . . .” I crunched some numbers in my head “1.5% of the time. This was nothing. Nothing happened. Dwell on the other 266 days. Not on these four. This is just that .1% of a germ that doesn’t get killed when you use those antibacterial soaps. You think anyone really cares about that guy? I certainly don’t.”

He nodded his head like he understood the logic but wasn’t completely feeling guilt free yet.

“Listen very carefully to me, Eddie. I’m going to say this once and I want you to remember it for the rest of our very long relationship alright? I’d rather live a short euphoric life with you than go on for all of eternity in monotony Eddielessness. I don’t want longevity or safety or normal. I want you.”

Eddie slipped one hand up in my wet hair and gently pulled my face closer to his but stopped just before our lips touched.

“I think I misspoke. What I mean to say was thank you.”

I grinned as our lips finally touched.

I feel like we could have gotten a little carried away if Eddie hadn’t pulled away just as Alice emerged in the door.

“Alright, I got everything your little brave heart could ever desire! First, pineapple, green pepper and olive pizza, for desert we have our assortment of hostess cakes. And a bag of sour gummy worms just because I like you. And a little apple juice for the beverage. I brought this totally cute dress! And no complaining about it because it’s a gift and I’m going to be angry if you do! And check out these cute little sandals! Oooo! I’m so jealous they didn’t have them in my size. Plus these adorable little pajama pants. I’m burning those sweatpants you wear when we get back by the way. I got you all of your hygiene gear too. Plus a couple of extra toothbrushes because I’m fairly positive you’re not switching yours out at the recommended intervals. Let’s see . . . oh! Enough Nyquil to keep you sleeping like a little baby until Friday! Just in case you feel like you need that of course, honey. And finally I saw the new c.d. just came out and I know how you like these guys so I got that for you too! Anything else you think you need?”

“Thanks Alice. I think that’ll probably cover everything.”

“I should have known better than to send her out on her own,” Eddie looked apologetically at me.

I sat up and reached for the hostess boxes. “I think I’ll start with a Twinkie!”

Alice plopped down on the bed with us and marveled as I put away ¾ of the pizza and half of the little cakes she brought me.

“Look, D, you still have two pieces left here. You don’t want them going to waist.” Alice said sarcastically.

“Oh I know but I wanted to leave something for breakfast tomorrow.”

“You defy the laws of conservation of energy, you know that.”

“Yep, that’s me. Little Miss Defiance.”

“It’s very impressive but it’s really a wonder how you could do such a number to yourself.” She took my chin and turned my head all around to get a good look at the damage. “Did you land on your face or something?”

I didn’t want to think about what I really looked like. I’m sure James’s slaps left quite the mark on my face and that’s what she meant. I shrugged trying to judge whether I could get another ho-ho down.

“Any other serious injuries?” Alice asked Eddie.

“She sprained her wrists but no broken bones.”

“Are you sure? Her jaw doesn’t look like it’s lining up right.”

“How many medical degrees do you have, Alice?” I asked grinning. It hurt.

“Not as many as Eddie, but I could never practice. Carlisle’s like a saint for putting up with all that blood. Stop trying to change the subject.”

I moved my jaw around a bit and tested my bite.

“That b*****d really did break my jaw,” I said shocked by how much it hurt now that I noticed.

“What?” Dark Eddie returned. I may not have mentioned that I didn’t get the best treatment from my captives before. I was thinking the back hands probably weren’t a good thing for Eddie to know about.

Time to change the subject “We’re not going to wire my jaw shut are we?”

“Don’t change the subject,” dark Alice decided to join the party.

“Why are we all so angry all of a sudden? We were having a great time,” I tried to ease the tension.

“They hit you?” Eddie talked with his jaw clenched.

“I can't see how that would matter. They’re dead now. Don’t we hate them enough for kidnapping me? Is the violence of the whole thing that important? I did way more damage to myself trying to flee after all.”

“No that is not why it’s important, Dolly. It matters because you didn’t tell us. Until just now when you causally threw it in there,” Alice said.

“So? It wasn’t important to the story. It’s like I had bananas in my rice krispies that morning too. I didn’t mention that. But it was delicious!”

Eddie stood up and marched away from the bed with hands clenched. Clearly my making light of the situation wasn’t helping anything. I was very confused.

I got up and followed him across the room.

“I don’t understand.”

Eddie turned to face me. I was shocked when I realized that dark Eddie’s anger wasn’t directed toward my captors this time. It was directed toward me. And it was really freakin scary. I took a step back.

“It’s not okay, Dolly. It is not okay. For someone to do this to you. You just don’t understand that it is not okay. 'It's not important to the story'? 'You can't see how it matters'? Really?”

“You’re right I don’t understand. Why are you so angry at me? I didn’t hit myself in the face.”

“I’m not angry at you. I’m not,” he said.

“Ha!” I didn’t believe that.

“I’m just . . . frustrated . . . that you’re such a . . . an amazing person. You’re so . . . I can't even tell you how special you are and yet the life you’ve led . . . It’s not fair. It’s not fair that you have this mentality that if he didn’t hurt you that bad it’s not a big deal. Were you even scared while you were being held against your will? Or were you just making jokes about it from the very beginning?”

Since I still didn’t see what he was saying I decided not to speak so I wouldn’t make things worse. Luckily Alice came to my rescue.

“Listen, honey. Let me throw a little scenario out for you okay? Let’s say one day Eddie accidentally isn’t paying close enough attention while he’s goofing around with you. I’m not saying that you’re little wrestling matches aren’t adorable or that they’re bad or anything let’s just say hypothetically he hurts you a little while you were doing that. If it’s just a bruise you wouldn’t say anything. I know you wouldn’t because you’re you. Now let’s say it’s more than that. What if he broke a bone?”

“Eddie’s not ever going to-“

She cut me off, “We’re being hypothetical. Eddie isn’t going to hurt you. We all know that. But if he did you would never say anything right?”

“If it’s not serious injury why would I?”

Eddie groaned.

“Because he could do it again. Because it’s a big deal when someone hurts you. You don’t shove those feelings out of the way like it’s not important. You never react to pain in the slightest. You don’t flinch when you stub your toe, you don’t cry when you scrap up your knee. It’s like you don’t even notice the pain is there. It’s not healthy! It matters when Rosalie throws you across the room and it certainly matters when people slap you across the face.” Alice still tried to explain.

“But it all worked out. James is dead.”

“This isn’t about James. It’s about the way you think,” Eddie said softly.

I didn’t like this. I didn’t like it one tiny bit. Suddenly Eddie was trying to change the way I thought. He was trying to change who I was. The greatest thing in all of this with Eddie is that I never ever had to be anything besides myself and yet suddenly there was something wrong with me that he wanted to change. Suddenly Eddie and Alice weren’t the only ones angry.

I glared at them while they glared at me for a few minutes.

“This feels like an intervention. Like poor little Dolly was abused by her jackass stepfather so now she’s all broken and we have to fix her. Well I’m not a glass doll that somebody dropped. You can't glue the pieces back together. You can't fix this.”

“Fine,” Eddie said quietly “you’re right. You’re not broken, but if you won't do it I’ll stop it for you. You have a different life now and all that pain isn’t going to be a part of it.”

“I don’t need your help,” I said stubbornly. “I can kill vampires all on my own!”

“It doesn’t matter whether you need it or not. I’m here to give it.”

“Yeah, me too,” Alice said sounding a little uncomfortable.

I wasn’t really sure that I was happy with the ending of the little argument but neither was Eddie. It was just a stalemate we both could live with and I was too exhausted to continue.

“You need to sleep,” Eddie said.

“That’s a good plan,” I said with a big yawn but still with a harsh tone to my voice.

The bed was cleared off within seconds and I was tucked safely between the blankets. Alice made up some excuse of some stuff she had to do to leave Eddie and me alone. He lied on top of the sheets but wrapped his arm around my waist. He played with my hair and hummed to me trying to ease me off to sleep.

Just before I was about to lose the battle for consciousness I whispered to him, “I missed you” He kissed me and I floated off to never never land.

Reviews

[Summer]

Aw! There are so cute.

[LiquidFire]

please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please UPDATE ASAP!!!!!!! L-O-V-E this story and NEED for you to update!!!! NEED another chapter!!!!