Darkness Will Come to Light [1]

XXXIII. Broken Gem

When Carlisle came home from a double-shift at the hospital, he and Edward left to go hunting and talk.

Esme--sweet and motherly Esme--made a heavenly batch of brownies for Mel when she came home from school. A cup of milk sat next to the plate. "You're the best, Esme. These are so good!" Mel hummed in content.

Esme asked about her day, and between bites of her snack, Mel filled in her foster mom on how all of her classes were going. After Mel finished with a story about another misdirected volleyball, Esme detailed her day. She painted mostly, and when she ran downstairs to grab one of her newest paintings, Mel stood and put her dishes in the dishwasher.

Hearing Esme make a noise to alert Mel of her returned presence, Mel spun around and gaped at the painting in the caramel beauty's hands.

Esme had created a masterpiece of a lake at moonrise. The full moon glowed off the rippling waves that crashed onto the pebble-like sand. Seagrass and driftwood appeared in the foreground.

"It looks like a photograph." Sometimes, stupidly, Melaina forgot that the vampires she lived with had endless time to acquire endless talents. "Where is it?"

"It's Lake Erie from when we lived in Pennsylvania for a few years."

Mel peered closer at the detailed lines and elegant brush strokes. She brushed her hand lightly on the surface, almost expecting to feel the gritty sand between her fingers.

"It's beautiful."

"You can have it. I made plenty to donate to the Forks Art Center raffle."

Mel turned her eyes from the scenic painting to the loving vampire in front of her. "You're such a kind person, Esme. I wish my mom could have met you, but I know that if she could have, she would have approved of you standing in her place after she passed."

Vampire's couldn't cry, so venom burned at Esme's eyes with Mel's sweet words. She took her foster daughter into her arms. "I would have loved to meet the woman who gave this world a hidden gem for us to find. She would be so proud of you, Melaina."

A broken gem, Mel thought but didn't say aloud. "Thank you," she mumbled into Esme's shoulder.

~*~

Full of fresh brownies and cool milk, Melaina fell asleep on the couch to the sound of rain pattering against the ceiling-to-floor windows. She dreamed of her mother.

"Mel?" A cool hand shook her arm. "Mel, dinner is ready."

She cracked her eyes open and blinked slowly at Esme.

"Dinner is ready," her foster mom repeated when Mel looked at her with confused, sleep-filled eyes.

Mel yawned as she sat up to follow Esme upstairs.

Alice knew that Edward wanted to leave again once he debated that decision. The seer and telepathic vampires were sitting on the wooden stairs talking when Mel headed to the kitchen. They scooted over to let her pass and continued to talk about him running off again.

Mel started up the stairs, but paused before going up the second half from the platform.

"Maybe you could ask Mr. Molina to switch lab partners? Angela could work with Bella and I could be with you instead," Mel suggested Edward.

Edward shook his head and sighed. "It wouldn't help; her scent is too powerful, but thank you for trying."

Mel nodded with a frown. She didn't like her family being at such odds with each other.

"I'll figure it out, Mel. Trust me, please. I don't like this any more than you do."

"You don't have to leave alone to make things better," Alice insisted. "You belong with the family."

"If I had lost control, I would have risked all of your lives. I could have hurt Mel." He turned his topaz eyes on Alice and pleaded, "What do I do?"

Mel left then to let the two siblings figure things out, hopefully. She didn't want to think about Edward almost killing her in his whirl of bloodlust.

Melaina ate her pasta dinner and spent the rest of the night studying her color-coded flashcards with Rosalie.