Darkness Will Come to Light [1]

XLVIII. Protective

As punishment for the incident in Arizona, Mel was grounded from technology and Savannah. She could hang out with her best friend in school, but after, she was to go straight home. It sucked.

Three weeks into her two-month grounding, Mel sat at the dining room table doing homework. She had pushed it off long enough and now it was due the next day.

With the human equivalence of a growl leaving her lips, Mel nearly tore the page in half in her frustration. Oh, how she hated mathematics with a burning passion.

"Are you alright?"

Mel didn't answer her brother as she glared fire at the paper before her. How was she supposed to pass the SATs next week if she couldn't even understand basic pre-calculus?

"Would you like some assistance with your homework?" Jasper prompted with his Southern twang as he took a seat beside his newest sister.

"I'm fine," she snapped. Mel was not fine; she was frustrated at her stupidity when it came to math. It was just a few pre-calculus problems, yet it could have been rocket science since it all was gibberish to her.

"You don't have to be ashamed to ask your family for help," Jasper told her gently. "That's what we're here for." He wasn't offended by her wrongly-aimed aggression.

"You're all so intelligent; I feel stupid enough." Mel blinked back tears. Maybe Jeremy was right when he said she was stupid. That had been one of the nicer words of the ones he called her. She wanted to be better, but she didn't know how.

Mel knew that Jasper could explain it fifty different ways, but it wouldn't make sense. She didn't understand the point, which only led her to confuse the entire process from the start.

"We've had more time to practice."

I have other skills. Mel shook her head to clear her thoughts. She had been doing so well keeping her addiction at bay.

Mel focused instead on her fingers as they twisted around each other... but her mind wouldn't alter from the direction it was headed. Melaina needed to release the frustration building inside of her.

She stood quickly. Jasper rose as well. "Mel?"

"I need--I need..." Mel's voice shook. "I'll do it later." She turned away and rushed up the steps to her room.

Her human body collided with a brick wall that was placed inconveniently in front of her bedroom door. She thought it was Jasper at first.

Edward's hands shot out to steady her, so she didn't fall on her butt.

Mel's eyes flashed up to his worriedly. Edward was worse than Jasper when it came to her addiction. Jasper could feel her emotions, but Edward could hear her thought process that went with those emotions.

She knew he knew she needed to cut.

"Edward, please." Her voice cracked. She didn't know what she was begging for. He would never step aside to let her hurt herself.

None of them would.

Jasper was now upstairs too. He placed a gentle hand on Mel's back and a warm feeling of calmness rushed through her body. "You're okay," he soothed.

Mel was sandwiched between a mind-reader and an empath--also known as her two overprotective brothers. She stepped to the side to break the connection from Jasper's hand. "Can I go in my room now?" Her voice was devoid of emotion.

She was tired. She couldn't fight two vampires, even if her life depended on it. It was hard enough to fight the war within herself.

"Carlisle," Edward said evenly. His voice was quiet, but Carlisle appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Melaina has something to tell you," the mind-reader tattled. Traitor.

"No, I don't," Mel said weakly. She wasn't in the mood to fight this battle again.

"Are you having urges again, Melaina?" Is the sky blue, Melaina? Is the grass green, Melaina? She groaned in frustration.

"I just want to lie down. Please."

"Pushing us away won't help you," Edward reminded her.

"I don't need help! I've been doing fine," Mel snapped. "I'm a survivor, it's what I do." She shook her head in frustration. "Can I please go nap now?"

Jasper and Edward exchanged a look that clued Mel in to them communicating telepathically. Edward still had a firm hold on Mel's arm. Jasper disappeared for a moment. Her bedroom door was now open.

"There's nothing in there!" she shouted after Jasper, then to Edward, "You would know if I had something. Can you just trust me now and then?"

"We trust you, Mel. Your addiction, on the other hand, is what cannot be trusted."

The feeling of being trapped always made her want to cut in the first place. Exactly what her family was making her feel by hovering and worrying. Dammit, brain, shut up!

"Have you been taking your medicine?" Carlisle asked. The concern in his topaz eyes made her feel worse about the thoughts swirling in her head. Thoughts that Edward could see right into.

"Yes, I'm not twelve," Mel said grumpily.

"No need to be defensive," her foster father said calmly. "We care about your well-being."

"My being wants to sleep."

"Do you think you should up her meds?" Edward said to Carlisle over her head.

"Don't talk to me like I'm not here!" Mel pulled away from Edward, and he allowed her to stomp into her bedroom right as Jasper was walking out.

He was empty-handed.

"Told you." Mel slammed her door shut. She knew that they'd give her grief for that later, but she didn't care in that moment.

After pulling off her skinny jeans, Mel collapsed onto her bed to cry herself into a fitful sleep.