Made of Glass Chapter 33

A Chapter by Charlie

The conclusion, finally, just didn't want to leave everything hanging at the end. I kind of suck at endings though makes me so said for it to all be over. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it.

My sleep cycle was all manner of confused. Since I went to sleep at four in the afternoon when I woke up at three in the morning after the best night sleep in my life. I felt a momentary panic at the unfamiliar surroundings. I could see James’s face and imagine clearly how he would greet me when I woke up. I bolted upright, feeling like I needed to run for my life and breathing erratically.

Eddie was there in the next second with a soothing arm around me.

“Relax, Dolly. You’re safe.” I got my breathing under control and slumped into his shoulder.

“How are you feeling?” He asked quietly.

“My body hurts,” I answered truthfully. My legs and arms were sore, my face hurt, my cuts stung, my left wrist throbbed. I was in too much pain to put up a brave face.

“Alice,” Eddie called to her.

She appeared in the next second with a glass of water and a couple of pills. I took them gratefully.

“You can sleep for a while longer if you need to,” Eddie offered.

“No, I’m ready to head back.” I groaned thinking of the mess waiting for me. “I’ve been away long enough.”

Eddie motherly helped me out of bed and guided me toward the bathroom. I shooed them away.

“Am I ever going to have ten minutes to myself ever again?”

“Maybe you need some help in the bathroom?” Alice offered.

I groaned again. Today was going to be a long day.

Carlisle and Esme had showed up when I emerged from the bathroom.

“How bad is it?” I asked, opening the mini fridge and digging out the left over pizza.

“It’s pretty bad. Mrs. Westen reported you missing to the police yesterday,” Carlisle reported.

“And what are the chances that all just disappears once I turn up alive and healthy and in one piece?” I asked hopefully.

“Except you aren’t all in one piece,” Eddie mumbled sounding upset.

I refrained the urge to roll my eyes at him.

“Very slim, I’m afraid. There’s definitely going to be some sort of formal investigation. We’ll have to claim you came away with us and just . . .”

“Forgot to tell a single soul I was leaving? And then I fell down the mountain or something. That sounds like it’ll go over well.”

“Don’t we know anyone on the police force that could help us with this?” Eddie suggested.

“Too many people are already involved. It’s going to have to go through formal channels and be dismissed.”

“Don’t worry, Dolly. We’ll think of something.”

“I’m sure we get someone to say that you told them you were leaving and then forgot to anyone else . . . I mean you do have friends don’t you?” Alice suggested.

“Well . . .” I said unsure I had the sort of friends they were referring to.

It was on the long car ride back that the solution to our problem presented itself to me. I was running through the list of the girls at the bar. Lauren would probably understand romantically running off with your boyfriend for the weekend if I could spin the tale like an exciting romantic comedy, but I’m not sure that would inspire her to lie for me. Elaina could be flighty enough that people would believe she just forgot that I told her I was leaving, but then there might be some trouble describing her behavior now. I could see her overreacting and sending out the hounds for me. She was a loyal friend and probably very worried. Bucky would be a better choice. He probably handled the past few days more reasonably. The main problem really is if I did get somebody to say that I reported my little vacation before I left they’d be in a mountain of trouble for not telling the police. I didn’t really want to put anyone in that position especially not my good friends. But there was one other option.

“Ashley,” I blurted out to the silent car. “She’ll cover for me.”

“Ashley?” Eddie asked skeptically. “Are you sure?”

“Who’s Ashley?” Carlisle questioned.

“She’s a waitress at the bar,” Eddie explained. “I wouldn’t describe her as your best friend.”

“No but she owes me,” I said.

“You’re going to blackmail her into it?” Eddie said slightly more intrigued.

“No. You always go to the black place. She’s going to do it because she chooses to.”

“And if she doesn’t, you’ll blackmail her?”

“Wait, you know something about her that would get her to lie for you?” Alice said enjoying the idea of blackmail a little too much. “What is it?”

“It would hardly work to blackmail someone if you just go around telling everyone,” I said.

“The first thing you did was blab to me,” Eddie said amused.

“You can read minds! That hardly counts.”

“I suppose we don’t have too many options. If you really think she’s the best choice and you think you can get her to do it.”

“Sure. No problem. It’ll be easy,” I gave a nervous. Stupid vampires, ruin everything.

When we made it back to campus, the Cullens insisted I go to the hospital first thing. What a shocker there. I tried to talk them out of it but they must have really good health care or something because they just loved to drag me through it.

First, they cleaned up all my cuts and scrapes all over again and then went through ten thousand x-rays and scans searching for internal damage. All things considered I think I ended up pretty well. It could have been so much worse being beaten up by a vampire. Eventually they set me free and Eddie took me back to the bar.

He got out of the car to join me but I told him I needed to do this by myself. He refused to leave me alone of course much to my irritation but I could convince him to wait in the car while I talked to Ashley.

Luckily it was before the bar was open so I could be sure Ashley would be alone. I went in the back door and rehearsed my speech again. This would take some master manipulating.

She was in the back cashing out the register deeply in grossed in her work so she didn’t hear me approach. When she did notice me she jumped a foot in the air.

“Jesus Christ, Dollie! Where the hell have you been?! We thought you were dead! And what happened to your face?”

That was blunt. I had a feeling this would be the way everyone greeted me for days. I felt exhausted already.

“This was just a minor misunderstanding,” I began.

“Did you call the police? Do you know they’re looking for you?”

“Yes, I heard which is why I came to see you. I need a favor.”

Ashley put down the notepad in her hand and crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes. “What sort of favor?” she said suspiciously.

“I need you to tell the police that I told you that I was taking a couple of days off and you were the one who neglected to tell anyone.”

She didn’t respond the way I expected her too. She began to chuckle. Then she really started laughing until tears were running down her cheeks.

“And why would I do that?”

“Because of Bucky.” She stopped laughing.

“You’re saying if I don’t tell the police that this whole mess is my fault you’ll tell everyone about Bucky and me.”

“Yes.” So it was blackmail pure and simple. I felt rotten.

“They’ll fire me at the very least and who knows what the police will do. What if they arrest me for kidnapping.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Yes, you’ll probably be fired. But you can just tell the police that you just wanted to get me in trouble here at the bar and as soon as you heard I was missing you realized the practical joke had gotten out of hand and you wanted to come clean.”

“You’ve got to be joking. And where the hell where you? And is it my fault it looks like you went twenty rounds with Mike Tyson too?”

“No, I just went on a little camping trip with the Eddie and his family. It just so happens that I’m a super crappy camper. His whole family will tell you the same.”

“Why did you blackmail them too? And why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“I forgot?” I couldn’t even make myself sound like I believed that. There’s no way anyone else would.

“Bullshit. What happened?”

“It’s none of your business. The only thing you have to worry about is if you care more about your job or your reputation.”

“Go ahead tell whoever you want. I’m leaving in a couple of weeks anyway. It doesn’t matter to me.”

“Maybe not. But I bet Bucky will lose his job for it. Does that matter to you?”

“Mrs. Westen would not . . .” she trailed off because that is exactly the sort of thing Mrs. Westen would do. The mean old hag.

“It’s like you said, you’re out the door anyway. What difference does it make if you lose your job now?”

“If it was anybody but you. I just hate doing anything nice for you.” She said grumpily but I think she saw my reasoning now. She was giving in.

“If you ever disappear mysteriously I’ll happily lie for you,” I offered sweetly.

“Nobody ever disappears mysteriously around here. That’s why you caused such a freak show. Really where did you go?”

“I told you-“

“You want me to stick my neck way out for you and you won’t even tell me the truth.”

I didn’t respond.

“Everyone around here thinks you’re so sweet and nice but really you’re more dark and twisted then the rest of us. You’re probably messed up in some illegal kinky messed up s**t.”

“Probably. So, do we have a deal.”

“Can I think about it?”

“Sure take as long as you need but the longer I stay missing the more trouble you’ll be in. And remember if I go to the police first and tell them my story, that I did tell you I was leaving, who do you think they’ll believe. The sweet, nice one or the one that has it out for me the entire year.”

“I hate you.”

“Was that a yes?”

“I don’t really have a choice do I? I’ll go to the police now. And you do owe. You owe me big, and don’t think I’m not going to collect.” She stormed out and I could do nothing but hope she would uphold her side of things. I slumped onto a bar stole. This blackmail thing was exhausting and it made me feel like crap. All the high from taking down four vampires zapped away from guilt of hurting one horrid person. How did my life get so complicated? Oh yeah, I fell in love with a vampire.

“I think that went well,” Eddie said from behind me, making me jump a foot in the air.

“We really need to be more delicate with the sneaking now,” I said feeling my heart beat out of my chest.

“I’ll learn eventually,” Eddie said apologetically.

“And that went terrible. I probably ruined her life.”

“You hardly ruined anything. Nothing’s going to happen to her.”

“Yeah, but you people are freakin’ obsessed with blackmail. It probably doesn’t even phase you and your stone heart.”

“Ouch,” he said playfully.

I moved in to wrap my arms around him.

“I’m sorry. I’m have a bad day, make that week.”

“You’re forgiven. It’s over now. We can go back to normal. Just you and me-”

“And your normal vampire family,” I teased.

“I’m sorry, I wish I’d never have become this.”