Girl of Glass, #1

by Megan O'Russell

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The slow, steady beeping marked the minutes they forced Nola to lay in bed. After the Outer Guard raced her back to the domes, the doctors had made Lenora and Jeremy leave. They ran tests and scans, drawing her blood and searching her entire body for signs of harm.

  “I’m fine,” Nola said, so many times the words seemed to lose all meaning.

  They put a mask over her face and made her breathe in medicine that smelled like soured fruit, then stuck needles into her arm to pump in antibiotics. Each of her bruises had to be recorded. Kieran’s finger marks showed purple on her arms. The doctors all spoke in low voices about the horrible abuse she had suffered.

  Nola bit her lips until they bled, fighting the need to scream that Kieran had been saving her life when he bruised her—he would never ever hurt her. But then they would know where Kieran was, and they would never believe her anyway.

  Finally, when the sun had fully risen, the doctors left.

  Before Nola could take a breath, more people invaded the bright white cell. Jeremy’s father walked stoically into the room followed by a man with a bald head and thick black eyebrows, wearing a Dome Guard uniform. The embroidered rectangle on his chest read Captain Stokes. Lenora and Jeremy followed close behind, Lenora leaning on Jeremy’s arm for support.

  “How are you, Magnolia?” Captain Ridgeway asked in the softest tone Nola had ever heard him use.

  “I’m fine,” Nola said for the hundredth time that hour.

  Captain Ridgeway nodded to Lenora and Jeremy, and they parted ways, taking up posts on either side of the head of Nola’s bed as though guarding her.

  Jeremy reached out to take Nola’s hand, but it was heavily bandaged in thick foam. They had to heal the imperfections the rain had left on her skin.

  Nola wanted to tear off the bandages and throw them to the floor.

  Why does it matter if I’m not dome perfect?

  “Magnolia,” Lenora said, “did you hear him?”

  Nola looked to Captain Ridgeway. He stared down at her with mixed concern and anger on his face. Nola hoped the anger wasn’t for her.

  “No,” Nola said. “Sorry.”

  “I need to ask you what happened when they took you,” Captain Ridgeway said. “The more we know, the sooner we can act.”

  “Act?” Nola tried to sit up in bed, but Jeremy’s hand on her shoulder held her down.

  “We need to know how they got in and what happened to you,” Captain Ridgeway said, his eyes boring into Nola’s as though he hoped to watch the events unfold within them. “The more we know, the better we can protect the domes and make sure the Vampers don’t get in here again.”

  “All right,” Nola said.

  “They’ve said we can stay, if it’ll make it easier for you. If you’ll feel more comfortable,” Lenora said, brushing a hair from Nola’s face. She hadn’t done that since Nola was very little.

  “But if you would rather speak to us alone,” Captain Stokes said, his glare darting from Lenora to Jeremy, “then I am sure they can wait outside and see you when we’ve finished.”

  Will it be easier to lie with them in here, or to say it all again later?

  Jeremy’s hand warmed Nola’s shoulder. He was there, protecting her from his father and Captain Stokes.

  “They can stay,” Nola said.

  “Fine.” Captain Ridgeway nodded. “Now, start from the beginning.”

  “The beginning...” Nola’s mind raced back to kissing Jeremy under the bushes. “I had a fight with my mother.”

  Lenora gave a sharp exhale. Nola looked up and found tears welling in her mother’s eyes.

  “I was upset, so I went to see Jeremy,” Nola said. “I know it was late, and I shouldn’t have been there—”

  “I should have walked you home,” Jeremy said, his voice a low growl.

  “No.” Nola laid a mittened hand on Jeremy’s. She should have made them leave. She had only thought of making it easier on herself, not protecting them. “They wanted me. If you had been there, they would have hurt you.”

  “What happened when you left Jeremy?” Captain Stokes stepped forward.

  “I was leaving, and then two people came out of the dark,” Nola said, remembering the words Julian had taught her. “A man and a woman. The woman had a knife. She told me to send the guard at the stairs to Jeremy’s house. She said she would kill me if I didn’t. Her eyes were black. I knew she was a vampire and I wouldn’t be able to run away, so I did it.”

  “What happened next?” Captain Stokes asked.

  For the first time Nola noticed the recorder sitting in his palm.

  “They made me put on the guard’s hat and coat. We went back to Bright Dome, and in the back there was a loose section of glass. We crawled through it and into the rain.”

  “Did you move the glass or did they?” Captain Stokes asked.

  Fingerprints. Julian had warned her once she told the guards how she had gotten out, they would check for fingerprints.

  “I did,” Nola said, “mostly. The woman told me to, and I tried, but it was heavy. The man ended up moving it in the end."

  “What then?”

  “We went outside. Down the hill toward the bridge. The rain was so thick, I could barely see. I got scared. I didn’t know where they were taking me. So I ran. I barely made it ten feet. Something sliced into my back, and I fell. I think that’s how I hurt my hands.” Nola glanced down at the thick bandages that hid the red scars. “My head hurt, and when I woke up I was locked in a room. There was a doctor who took care of me. Then he came to ask me questions.”

  “Who’s he?” Captain Ridgeway asked, a fire brewing in his eyes.

  “Emanuel.” Nola whispered the word. Julian had told her to say it, said to give the name, that the Outer Guard already knew who commanded Nightland, but the hatred in Captain Ridgeway’s eyes frightened Nola.

  Jeremy’s hand tightened on Nola’s shoulder. Had he heard of Emanuel, too?

  “What did Emanuel want to know?” Stokes asked.

  “About Green Leaf,” Nola said, her stomach throbbing as her mother gave a tiny sob. “They wanted to know what seed groups you had brought back and if we were expanding the domes to accommodate planting the new crops. I was scared, and it didn’t seem important, so I told him.”

  “Good girl,” Lenora said. "Why on earth would they think you knew anything worth all of this?”

  “I don’t think they really cared,” Nola said, keeping her words steady. “I answered Emanuel’s questions, and he left. I didn’t see anyone again until they came to tell me they had given you a ransom demand and you had agreed to the swap. A few times, they gave me food. But the next time Emanuel came to see me was for the trade. They put a bag over my head and took me to the bridge. I didn’t see anything until the bridge was in sight.” Nola looked to Stokes. “I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful.”

  “You’ve done very well, Magnolia,” Captain Ridgeway said.

  “Dr. Kent, Jeremy, why don’t you give us a few minutes?” Captain Stokes said, his tone brusque and hard.

  “Why?” Jeremy tightened his grip on Nola’s shoulder. “You’ve asked your questions. She needs to rest.”

  “I’m afraid there are a few things left unanswered,” Captain Stokes said, “and I think perhaps it’s better to leave Magnolia on her own to answer them.”

  “I’m not leaving my daughter,” Lenora said. “Ask your questions.”

  “As you wish.” Stokes nodded. “The doctors found traces of drugs in your system. A version of Vamp.”

  Lenora gasped and seized Nola’s face in her hands, staring into her eyes.

  “I’m fine, Mom.” Nola sat up, trying to push her mother away with her mittened hand. “The doctor gave it to me. Just a tiny bit. He was saving my life.”

  “By trying to make you a Vamper?” Jeremy sat on the bed next to Nola, examining her eyes as though searching for a monster behind the blue.

  “Vamp helps you hea
l faster,” Nola said, touching Jeremy’s cheek with her bandaged hand. “They don’t have a hospital like we do in here. I was stabbed in the shoulder. I would have died. And I’m fine. I can eat food and everything.”

  “And your leg?” Stokes asked.

  “I don’t know how that happened,” Nola said. “But the doctor said he did the same thing as with my shoulder. Is that all?”

  Nola stared at Stokes who glanced at Captain Ridgeway before responding. “No. There are bruises on your arms.”

  “And they matter more than me being stabbed?” Nola said.

  “They’re hand prints,” Captain Ridgeway said. “Marks like that, someone pinned you down.”

  Lenora grabbed Nola’s arm with shaking hands and pushed back her sleeve. “Oh God.”

  Jeremy wrapped his arm around Nola, pulling her close to him. His angry breaths rattled against her cheek.

  “What’s your question?” Nola didn't let herself flinch as she met Captain Ridgeway’s gaze. She had been pinned down. Kieran was trying to protect her from the Outer Guard’s attack, but that had been after Julian had taught her the lie.

  “How did you get those marks, Magnolia?” Captain Ridgeway asked. “We need to know who pinned you down. Did someone hurt you?”

  “Did one of the Vampers attack you?” Stokes asked, stepping in front of Captain Ridgeway. “Did Emanuel force himself on you?”

  “What?” Nola screeched. “No, why would you think that? I told you they kept me in a room.”

  “Where Emanuel visited you,” Captain Ridgeway said. “It’s not your fault, Magnolia. No one would blame you.”

  “Emanuel never hurt me,” Nola spat. “He would never lay a hand on me.”

  “You were stabbed.” Jeremy’s face was ice white, pain wrinkled the corners of his eyes where laughter should have lived. “They did hurt you.”

  “Yes,” Nola said. “No. Yes, I was stabbed. No, Emanuel never raised a hand to me. He never would. You talk about him like he’s some kind of monster—”

  “He’s a Vamper.”

  “He’s a leader!” Nola shouted, shoving her mother and Jeremy away. “He is a leader of a lot of very desperate people. Emanuel doesn’t want to hurt anybody. He’s just trying to help his people survive!”

  “Then where did you get the bruises?” Captain Ridgeway asked, the angry lines between his brows the only sign he had noticed Nola’s outburst.

  “When your guards tried to destroy Nightland,” Nola said. “When you decided to blow your way into the tunnels when you had already agreed to a deal. Emanuel had come to get me. There was an explosion nearby, and part of the ceiling in my room fell. Emanuel saved me. He knocked me down and pinned me to the ground, out of the way of the falling rocks. He didn’t want me to get hurt.”

  No one spoke as all four stared at Nola.

  “Magnolia,” Lenora said when the silence had begun to pound in Nola’s ears, “you should rest. I’m sure any other questions they have can wait until later.”

  “Yes, Dr. Kent,” Captain Stokes said, “I’m sure we can speak more after Magnolia has regained her composure.”

  Nola laughed. “I’m sure we can.”

  “Come on.” Jeremy took her elbow, guiding Nola to lie back on the bed.

  “Dr. Kent, if I could have a word,” Captain Stokes said, still not pocketing his recorder. “In my office.”

  Lenora looked down at Nola.

  “Go, Mom. Get it over with so they can leave us alone.”

  “I’ll be back soon,” Lenora said, tucking the sheets in around Nola before following Captain Stokes from the room.

  “You’ll be safe here,” Jeremy said. “I won’t let anyone hurt you. Not ever again.” He leaned down and kissed the top of Nola’s head.

  “There are guards in the hall,” Captain Ridgeway said, his face softening. “You can sleep. The domes are secure.”

  “Thanks,” Nola said.

  Captain Ridgeway turned to leave, but Jeremy sat down next to Nola.

  “Can I stay with you?” he whispered.

  His father had stopped outside the door, standing guard, feet planted apart, one hand on his weapon.

  “To see if I drool?” Nola asked. Her eyelids weighed as heavy as lead as she laid her head down on the pillow.

  “To see that you’re safe,” Jeremy said, taking Nola’s bandaged hand in his. “I almost lost you, Nola. I could have lost you forever.” He kissed the inside of Nola’s wrist. “I can’t risk that again.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” Pain tore at the edges of Nola’s heart as she said the words.

  I have nowhere to go.

  She couldn’t leave the domes. Her future lay inside the glass prison. But as she drifted off to sleep, her mind flew to Kieran, lying in a hospital bed deep underground. And she knew he would be thinking of her, too.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Hurried whispers lured Nola back out of sleep. It took her a moment to realize the voices came from the shadows beyond her door.

  “This is my fault, Dad.” Jeremy dragged a hand over his short hair. “I should have protected her. I should have made sure she got home safe.”

  “You should have.” Captain Ridgeway took his son by the shoulders. “You should have walked her home. You should have made sure she wasn’t alone in the dark. Every day for the rest of your life you’ll wish you had walked that girl back to her mother.”

  Jeremy clutched his chest as though someone had punched a hole straight through him.

  “But it’s still not your fault. There was no reason you should have thought Vampers would have found a way into the domes, let alone targeted Lenora Kent’s daughter. Just because you should have walked her home,” Captain Ridgeway said, still gripping Jeremy’s shoulders, “that doesn’t make what those monsters did your fault. That’s on them, not you.”

  “It is on me,” Jeremy said. “I could have stopped it. All of those scars are my fault. If one of those monsters raped her—”

  “She says they didn’t.”

  “She says they would never hurt her.” Jeremy turned away from his father, and light fell across his face. His eyes were wide with madness and pain. “She thinks they’re good people, Dad. What if they brainwashed her?”

  “They didn’t,” Captain Ridgeway said. He turned to look in at Nola, and she clamped her eyes shut. “She’s confused, but she’s still her. It happens sometimes. Kidnap victims start to sympathize with their kidnappers.”

  “So, what do I do?” Jeremy said.

  “Let her heal,” Captain Ridgeway said. “Give her time to sort out everything those monsters put her through.”

  There was a long pause.

  “And keep a close eye on her, in case she sorts things out the wrong way.”

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  “I always thought you’d be a good Outer Guard, Son,” Captain Ridgeway said. There were two soft thumps of Jeremy being patted on the shoulder. “Between your mother’s blood and mine, I knew you’d have what it takes. But now, I’ll be damned if you don’t turn out to be the best guard we’ve ever seen.”

  “Why?” Jeremy asked. His voice sounded closer, and his shadow fell across Nola’s eyelids as he stood next to her bed.

  “Because you’ve got that girl to fight for.”

  The doctors swarmed Nola as soon as she woke up. More blood to be drawn, more drugs to be administered. Lenora sat by her daughter’s bed the whole time, asking questions about everything they were doing until Nola asked her to stop. She didn’t want to know what the needles were for. She just wanted them to finish their work and leave her alone.

  She hadn’t seen Jeremy since she woke up. Every time she thought of him, the guilt rushed back. He blamed himself for her being kidnapped, but that wasn’t what had happened at all.

  “Where’s Jeremy?” Nola finally asked her mother when they took the horrible breathing mask off after a half-hour treatment.

  “I sent him away.” Lenora pinched the bridge
of her nose. “He didn’t sleep last night. He stayed awake, watching you. He’s terrified you’ll disappear again. I am, too.”

  “Mom—”

  “I’m sorry we fought.” Tears shone in the corners of Lenora’s eyes. “You are a good and kind girl. You have a bigger heart than I am capable of, and if I had lost you—”

  “You didn’t.”

  “I know. And I am so very grateful for that.” Lenora patted Nola’s hand. The thick mittens had been replaced by green silicone gloves filled with goo that didn’t seem to warm up no matter how long it touched her skin.

  “And Jeremy,” Lenora said. “He’s a good boy. It’s difficult for me to admit, but I was wrong about him. And his father. I don’t think either of them slept while you were gone. If it hadn’t been for Captain Ridgeway and the Outer Guard, I don’t know if we would have gotten you back alive.”

  “Right. You’re right.”

  Julian had taught her the lie.

  He didn’t teach me how to live with it.

  “How’s Sleeping Beauty?” Jeremy appeared at the door.

  “I’m fine,” Nola said.

  I’m never going to get to stop answering that question.

  “I thought you were sleeping,” Nola said.

  “I did.” Jeremy smiled. “I’m bright as a daisy.”

  “If you’re going to sit with her for a while…” Lenora said, standing.

  “Go to your lab, Mom.” Nola shooed her mother away.

  “I’ll check in later.” Lenora gave a quick wave and slipped out the door.

  “Wow,” Nola said. “For her, that was downright clingy.”

  “She was worried about you.” Jeremy sat down on Nola’s bed, holding out a cup of foamy green sludge. “Terrified actually. We all were.”

  “So, now you want to poison me for scaring you so badly?” Nola sniffed the cup. It smelled like a mix between fungus, chlorophyll, and fertilizer.

  “It’s a detox shake.” Jeremy grinned. “It’s what the guards who go outside the domes regularly drink to help purify their systems.”

  Nola took a sip, and gagged on the thick froth.