This chapter is short, but... it was pointless in the actual book. Really. Could have been combined with the one before or the one after. Totally unnecessary. Next chapter will be loads better because Eddy comes back onto the scene!
7. Nightmare
I stayed awake. First thing I did was look for my blanket, figuring it must have fallen under the bed or something, but it wasn't anywhere. I went into my closet and yanked out my robe, then sat down at my desk. It was weird and a little spooky, but there had to be a reasonable explanation. My room was on the second floor, and my window was still shut. I didn't hear anything, and nothing else was stolen, so it probably wasn't a break-in. Unless… Still, I figured I should tell Dad about it when he woke up in a couple hours. I wasn't sleeping anymore tonight.
I booted up my computer and opened the net. I ran a search for vampires in Google and clicked on a few links. Except for a couple things, every myth I touched on had at least one thing that matched up with what I knew about Edward. Cold, pale-skinned, fast, strong, and feeds on human blood, the last of which worked for Edward's being unable to be physically close to me most of the time. I sat there, staring at the computer, as pieces started filling-in in my mind. I started breathing a little heavy.
"Okay. Okay. Edward. Right," I rambled a bit to myself, "Edward is a vampire. He's probably the one that stole my blanket. Okay… maybe, maybe it has to do with desensitizing himself to my smell?"
I closed my eyes and banged my desk. "If that's the case, why not wake me up and ask me?"
I sighed and stared at my computer monitor. A quote stood out to me on an old webpage for a book by the newly deceased author Jeremy Reynolds:
Vampires like Eros can become stronger than their bloodlust if they fall for a human. Well, control it with that person. Other people are still fair game.
I'd be lying if I said that that didn't give me a little confidence that Edward and I could potentially make this work. If, of course, I could get him to understand that he couldn't just break into my house and steal my stuff; that was a deal breaker, as was murdering other people. I slumped in the chair.
"Damn it! What the hell, Ed?" I glared at my window, anger rising. I stalked over and flung open the window, sticking my head out. "Edward Cullen is a dumbass!"
There was no answer.
I spent Sunday cleaning up the house and doing homework to get my mind off of what I would have to do about Edward. On one hand, I liked him a lot. He listened to me, treated me better than most of the… all of the guys I dated in Phoenix, and he actually cared about me. We had fun together. But - and it was a very big but – if he broke into my house and stole my stuff… and what if this wasn't the first time he'd broke in? That was scary. And, what if he really was a vampire? Could I deal with a relationship where one half was immortal and always seventeen? Would I have to be turned into one, too? Was that the reason that the other Cullens were wary of me being with Edward? My head hurt.
I wished I could talk to Dad about it, but I'd dozed off in my computer chair before he'd gotten up and in the light of day it seemed stupid. Plus, as the Chief of Police, Dad might be honor-bound to deal with man-eating, supernatural creatures, and that could end badly for everyone involved. Besides, Dr. Cullen works around blood all the time, so maybe they were some other something.
Monday came and went agonizingly slow. Edward wasn't there nor would he text me back. It was sunny, so there was another tally in the "Edward is a vampire" column. I tried sitting outside and reading after school while waiting for Edward to return my texts, but that ended when I fell asleep on the grass. I woke up alone in my room. Dad wasn't home yet, so there was no way he moved me. I tried to convince myself it was just sleepwalking.
"I totally walked up here by myself. Yeah, I just don't remember because I was half-asleep. I'm not… I'm not being… I'm just paranoid is all." I repeated to myself, trying to calm myself as I fixed Mac-n-Cheese. "Yeah. I have no proof it was Edward, anyway. He's out of town with his family."
It didn't sound convincing.
Tuesday started off just as badly. Edward wasn't there, so I couldn't ask him where he'd been on Saturday night. Or Monday afternoon. Jessica noticed I didn't look well and asked me at lunch if I wanted to skip out on Port Angeles.
"No, no, no. I really need to get out of my house. You have no idea how much I need a night out." I told her. Angela patted my shoulder. "I just haven't been able to sleep lately. No worries."
"Are you sure?" Angela's eyes were full of concern. I smiled at her.
"Yeah, I'm sure."
As soon as I got home, I changed into a dark red tee and some black pants. I pulled on a black zip-up hoodie before examining myself in the bathroom mirror. I could see why the girls had been worried. My eyes were bloodshot from stress and there were deep bruise-colored bags underneath, making the blue irises darker than normal. I shook my head at my corpse-like appearance and went downstairs. An hour later, the girls arrived in Jessica's white Mercury, and I climbed into the back next to Lauren.
"Hey, ladies." I said cheerily, beyond glad to get going. Lauren leaned against my shoulder, her long, blonde hair tickling my neck.
"Cal, we were just saying how much you must be missing Edward since he's been out." Lauren gave me a sympathetic smile. My stomach twisted in knots.
"Well, I wouldn't be, but he refuses to text me back and I don't know why." I looked out the window.
"Maybe there's bad reception where he's camping?" Angela suggested as she fiddled with the radio.
"Maybe…" I replied. I wrapped an arm around Lauren's shoulders as Angela settled on a pop station. We drove off, ready to get shopping.
