Part 5

LA MAISON D'EDWARD

Edward led Kim down from the mountaintop, back along Griffith Park's main road, and into the bustling streets of Los Angeles. After walking for about twenty minutes, the two found themselves in a quieter, residential neighborhood.

Edward hardly said anything during the walk home, partially from shock that his mission to be with Kim had succeeded, against tremendous odds, and partially because of the impact of a full day's work. He plodded along wearily. By contrast, Kim was spunky and skipped home like she was walking on the moon. Her oxytocin had skyrocketed due to Edward's soul-binding kiss.

Turning a corner, they headed down a street of small, quaint houses. Edward managed to perk himself up. Pointing towards an off-white dwelling, he told Kim: "this one". They approached the front door, which Edward opened with his index scissor, and went inside.

The house was dark, though the glow of the L.A. light pollution was visible through the window. Edward walked through the living room, and pulled a long metal chain with the tip of his finger, turning on a lamp which filled the room with a thick yellow. Hence, Kim got the first impressions of how he lived.

Edward had taken an ordinary dwelling and transformed it into something unique and special. No mere simulacrum of his father's mansion, he now had the resources to furnish it with what he valued. In the living room were chairs and tables that looked to be purely original creations. There were candelabras, with candles of many colors: mauve, seafoam green, saffron, charcoal. A case filled with ancient and arcane books, some of which Edward had inherited from his father. A globe, a telescope, bonsai trees, music boxes. A large clock with an emblem of the sun and the stars.

Then, there was the collage. Edward had built a collage in the mansion's attic, where he'd slept, but this one took up an entire wall. Among its hundreds of pictures were: animals like owls, bears and cats, book passages and newspaper clippings, individual words like "exceptional" and "mystery", and photographs of an oak tree in all four seasons. There was a small picture of Joseph Merrick, the famously deformed "Elephant Man". Near the center was a large print of a Renaissance painting titled The Stoning Of Saint Stephen.

There was much to be dazzled by. Yet, it didn't take long for Kim to notice that none of the home's doors had any knobs, aside from the front door. Knobs had always troubled Edward. Or that there were numerous small pockmarks and scrapes in the drywall near where he'd hung things up. Also, the lamp with the chain seemed to be the only electric light source in the place. He could rub his hands together like flint to create flame for a candle, but lightbulbs and scissorhands were incompatible. Mentally, she was making a list of things she wanted to improve about his house, until she caught herself and realized how conceited and overbearing it would be to do that to his territory.

While Kim gave herself the tour, Edward was in the kitchen, submerging his hands in a pan of oil, to cleanse them from a day's worth of food shavings. After wiping each blade with a rag, he walked back to the living room, kicked his boots off and enjoyed a well-earned rest on a walnut brown leather sofa.

Kim soon approached him with a phone in her hand
"Wanna talk to mom and dad?", she said with a broad smile.
Edward nodded excitedly. He reminded her of a dog ready to play fetch.

Kim made the call, and Peg picked up.

"Hi! I made it here, safe and sound!"
"Thank heavens! Is Edward with you?"
"He's right next to me."
"Let me talk to him!", Peg shouted.

Kim held the phone up to Edward's ear.

"Hello, Peg."
"Edward…Oh Edward…there's no one who's voice I'd rather hear right now! Sweetie, I thought you were gone forever! I can't think of a better Christmas gift than knowing you're well! ...excuse me, I'm a little overwhelmed." She was almost hyperventilating as she talked.
"It's alright. Thank you Peg. I missed your family a lot and I hope I can see you soon."
"Yes, as soon as we can! Bill and Kevin are here too and they need to talk to you. Love you always!"
"Love you too.", Edward said fondly, as Peg passed the phone to Bill.

Bill's temperament was much more phlegmatic than his wife's, yet he too sounded moved as he spoke with Edward.

"Edward…I…just wanted to let you know, I'm really proud of you. I worried about you quite a bit when you were living with us. But now, it's like you've come back from the dead! And working in a restaurant? That's fantastic. The sky's the limit!"
"Thank you Bill, working there is very rewarding."
"Edward, my Christmas wish is that you live long, and prosper all the days of your life. You're…wonderful in many ways."
"You're wonderful, you gave me a home."
"It'll always be your home too. God bless and good night. Kevin's got something very important to say."

The phone changed hands again.
"Hello Kevin, are you there?"
"Edward! You saved my life! I didn't think I was gonna get to thank you!"

Even Kevin, brash and irreverent as any junior high-aged boy, had an uncommon poignancy in his voice, Edward noticed.

"The van…"
"I thought it was going to run onto the sidewalk, so I went…into the street…."
He was bothered as he talked, recalling how close he'd come to possibly fatal injuries.
"I'm sorry that I cut your face."
"No big deal, dude. My face looks fine now. It's good to be alive. I'm in debt to you. If you need anything, and I mean ANYTHING, lemme know."
"Okay, I'll let you know if that happens."
"Great!"

Thus, Edward re-entered the lives of the Boggs family.

"Would you like a glass of water?" Edward asked Kim.
"I'd love one, I'm pretty thirsty."

So he went into the kitchen, as Kim sat down in a living room chair. He returned shortly with two glasses, one with a straw, and sat back on the couch. As they drank up, a kind of hush came over the room as Edward looked at his dearly beloved.

"I still can't believe you're mine, Kim."
"I know…it feels like the start of something really big."
"…when Peg took me home, she showed me the pictures of everyone on the shelf. I liked your picture."
"Awwww!" Kim became bashful. "Yeah, at first I was intimidated by you. I mean, those hands are really powerful and unusual, but over time, I realized how sweet you are, how devoted you are to your passion and your goals…plus, now your hands make me feel safe."

She rose, walked over to the couch to sit next to him, and lay her head on his shoulder.

"You kept me safe from Jim", she spoke in a soothing tone. "I can't thank you enough."

Jim. The sound of his name made Edward's blood boil, and the crown of his head flare up. Jim, the deceiver. Jim the tormentor. He gritted his teeth and blurted:

"Jim was a nightmare. Why did you like him?"

Kim proceeded to tell of Jim's troubled background: "The way you saw him…wasn't how he always was. I met him two years ago. It was in August. He was a football player and I was a cheerleader, so we were in the same place a lot. He seemed very charismatic to me. So I went over and talked to him after a game one night, and it went really well. And we were dating soon after that."

"How did he turn bad?"
"He had issues with his parents. They didn't get to spend much time with him. They were always at work. and he resented them for that. In alot of ways, he was neglected. Football was his escape. It was such a positive environment. That's where he was at his best. But in our senior year, he got injured early on and had to miss the rest of the season. It crushed him. After that, it was like the negativity and bitterness he'd been covering up…it all came out. And when you showed up, he REALLY lost it."
"That's why he wanted to rob his parents."
"Yeah. They moved away as soon as you left, and no one in the neighborhood has heard from them since."

She sighed. Her voice had a haunted quality as she resumed speaking: "I was with him for over a year, and I have nothing to show for it. Except now, I guess I understand how tortured souls are made."
"Just like the serial killer book."
"Yeah. Some things in that book remind me a little of him. Although it feels kind of wrong to say that…I live my life like I never met him. I don't have anything he gave me anymore. I don't have any pictures of us. I try not to think about him…anyways, enough about that. I choose to be with you now. So, here's to the future."
They toasted their drinking glasses.

There are no guarantees
But if it means there's even a possibility
Then I'll give up whatever it takes
I know I've made mistakes before
It may be just another closed door
But we could be together for a while
-Debbie Gibson

"I work from 10 to 6 tomorrow." Edward announced. "And we don't work on Christmas. Tomorrow night, would you like to go exploring?
"Absolutely! Christmas here must look like a fairy tale!"
"Okay, we'll go exploring. You can come to the restaurant while I'm at work too. But they'll want you to buy something."
"No problem! After the stuff I've been eating the last few days, I'll finally have a decent lunch."
I'm going on a date, Edward reflected. What would this be like? He hoped, like Kim had said, it would be the start of something big, an entirely new kind of life.

He would eventually enter his room to change into a pair of sky blue pajamas and retire to bed. Later, Kim went into a dim bathroom, lit like almost everything else in the house by candles, to put on a long white nightgown. When she entered his bedroom, he was lying in bed, breathing slowly, covered with a down comforter, his back turned to the door.

She tiptoed over to the queen-sized mattress and got in. Tender, affectionate feelings grew within her heart as she watched him.

"Edward?", Kim asked quietly.
He was still awake. "Yes?"
"When you sleep, do you toss and turn?"
"No."

Edward was still for a few seconds, his eyes closed. Then, he felt Kim's dainty arms encircle him from behind. She massaged his shoulders and neck with her hands.
"That's good to hear", she whispered in his ear.
Edward fell asleep. Somehow, in the exciting bliss of newfound romance, so did Kim.