The Vampire Diaries: The Fury Chapter Four

Something yanked Elena come on of the tree and, yowling a protest, she fell and landed on her feet equivalent a cat. Her knees hit the ground a second later and got bruised.She reared hind end, fingers hooked into claws to gust whoever had d single it. Damon slapped her hand away.why did you grab me? she de humanityded.Why didnt you stay w here(predicate) I put you? he snapped.They glared at each separatewise, equ in onlyy furious. consequently Elena was distracted. The call was still going on upstairs, augmented at present by spiffy and banging at the window. Damon nudged her against the househ senescent, where they couldnt be suckn from above.Lets get away from this noise, he tell fastidiou knavish, looking up. With appear waiting for a response, he caught her develop. Elena resisted.I earn to go in thereYou cant. He gave her a wolfish smile. I spurious that literally. You cant go in that house. You savent been invited.Momentarily nonplussed, Elena allow him tow her a fewer steps. Then she dug her heels in again. further I need my diaryWhat?Its in the closet, under the floorboards. And I need it. I cant go to relief with bulge my diary. Elena didnt pick by why she was making such a fuss, nevertheless it keep an eye onmed important.Damon looked aggravate then, his fountain cleared. Here, he said calmly, eyes glinting. He withdrew something from his jacket. Take it.Elena eyed his fal checkring doubtfully.Its your diary, isnt it?Yes, but its my old sensation. I want my new one.This one will have to do, because this one is all youre getting. Come on earlier they wake up the whole neighborhood. His voice had turned cold and dominating again.Elena considered the book he held. It was small, with a blue velvet cover and a brass lock. Not the newest edition perhaps, but it was familiar to her. She decided it was accept fit.She permit Damon lead her out into the night.She didnt ask where they were going. She didnt more than than cont end. nevertheless she accept the house on Magnolia Avenue it was where Alaric Saltzman was staying.Elena licked her lips.No, Damon said shortly. This ones non for biting. Theres something fishy round him, but you should be safe enough in the house. Ive slept here before. Up here. He lead her up a flight of stairs to an edible bean with one small window. It was crowded with stored objects sleds, skis, a hammock. At the far end, an old mattress lay on the floor.He wont even off polish off out youre here in the morning. Lie d feature. Elena obeyed, assuming a position that conceivemed natural to her. She lay on her impale, hands folded over the diary that she held to her breast.Damon dropped a piece of oilc bandingh over her, application her bare feet.Go to sleep, Elena, he said.He bent over her, and for a jiffy she thought he was going to do something.Her thoughts were alike muddled. provided his night obtuse eyes filled her vision. Then he pulled back, and she could remain again. The gloom of the attic settled in on her. Her eyes drifted closed in(p) and she slept.She woke slowly, assembling information just to the highest degree where she was, piece by piece. Somebodys attic from the looks of it. What was she doing here?Rats or mice were scuffling somewhere among the piles of oilcloth-draped objects, but the sound didnt bother her. The faintest stick to of pale light showed slightly the edges of the shutter window. Elena pushed her makeshift blanket off and got up to investigate.It was definitely someones attic, and non that of anyone she knew. She felt as if she had been sick for a long eon and had just woken up from her illness. What day is it? she wondered.She could hear voices down the stairs her. Downstairs. Something told her to be careful and quiet. She felt afraid of making any benevolent of disturbance. She eased the attic adit open without a sound and guardedly descended to the landing. Looking down, she could see a living room. She recognized it shed sat on that ottoman when Alaric Saltzman had given a party. She was in the Ramsey house.And Alaric Saltzman was down there she could see the top of his sandy vanguard. His voice puzzled her. After a moment she realized it was because he didnt sound fatuous or inane or any of the ways Alaric usually sounded in class. He wasnt spouting psycho-babble, either. He was speaking coolly and decisively to two other men.She index be anywhere, even right under our noses. More give carely outside town, though. peradventure in the woods. esteem, the starting linely two victims were found near the woods, said the other man. Is that Dr. Feinberg? Elena thought. Whats he doing here? What am I doing here?No, its more than that, Alaric was saying. The other men were listening to him with respect, even with deference. The woods are tied up in this. They may have a hiding belongings out there, a lair where they can go to earth if theyre discovered. If there is one, Ill become it.Are you sure? said Dr. Feinberg.Im sure, Alaric said briefly.And thats where you think Elena is, said the principal. But will she stay there? Or will she come back into town?I dont know. Alaric paced a few steps and picked up a book from the hot chocolate table, running his thumbs over it absently. One way to disclose out is to watch her friends. Bonnie McCullough and that rancid-haired girl, Meredith. Chances are theyll be the first ones to see her. Thats how it usually happens.And at one time we do track her down? Dr. Feinberg asked. give up that to me, Alaric said quietly and grimly. He shut the book and dropped it on the coffee table with a disturbingly conclusive sound.The principal glanced at his watch. Id best get moving the service starts at ten oclock. I take up youll both be there? He pa utilize on his way to the door and looked back, his manner irresolute. Alaric, I hope you can take care of this. When I called you in, things hadnt gone this far. Now Im beginning to wonder-I can take care of it, Brian. I told you appropriate it to me. Would you rather have Robert E. Lee in all the papers, not just as the scene of a tragedy but also as The Haunted High School of Boone County? A pull in concert place for ghouls? The school where the undead walk? Is that the kind of publicity you want?Mr. Newcastle hesitated, manducate his lip, then nodded, still looking unhappy. All right, Alaric. But make it affectionate and clean. Ill see you at the perform. He remaining and Dr. Fein-berg followed him.Alaric stood there for some time, simply staring into space. At at long last he nodded once and went out the face up door himself.Elena slowly trailed back up the stairs.Now what had all that been around? She felt confused, as if she were floating loose in time and space. She required to know what day it was, why she was here, and why she felt so palled. Why she felt so intensely that no one must see her or hear her or notice her at all. Looking around the attic, she proverb nothing that would give her any sustain. Where she had been lying there were unaccompanied the mattress and the oilcloth-and a little blue book.When she finished, she was weak with fear and horror. Bright floater danced and shimmered before her eyes. There was so overmuch pain in these pages. So many schemes, so many secrets, so much need. It was the story of a girl whod felt lost in her own hometown, in her own family. Whod been looking for something, something she could never quite reach. But that wasnt what caused this throbbing alarm in her chest that drained all the energy from her body. That wasnt why she felt as if she were falling even when she sat as still as she could get. What caused the panic was that she remembered.She remembered all(prenominal)thing now.The bridge, the rushing water. The terror as the air left her lungs and there was nothing but liquid to breathe. The way it had hurt. And the final instant when it had stop ped hurting, when allthing had stopped. When everything stopped.Oh, Stefan, I was so frightened, she thought. And the same fear was inside her now. In the woods, how could she have behaved give care well that to Stefan? How could she have forgotten him, everything he meant to her? What had made her act that way?But she knew. At the center of her consciousness, she knew. Nobody got up and walked away from a drowning like that. Nobody got up and walked away alive.Slowly, she rose and went to look at the shuttered window. The darkened pane of glass acted as a mirror, throwing her reflection back at her.It was not the reflection shed seen in her dream, where she had run down a hall of mirrors that seemed to have a life of their own. There was nothing sly or cruel about this face. Just the same, it was subtly different from what she was used to seeing. There was a pale glow to her skin and a carnal knowledge hollowness about the eyes. Elena touched fingertips to her neck, on either s ide. This was where Stefan and Damon had each interpreted her blood. Had it really been enough times, and had she really taken enough of theirs in die?It must have been. And now, for the rest of her life, for the rest of her existence, she would have to feed as Stefan did. She would have toShe sank to her knees, pressing her forehead against the bare wood of a wall. I cant, she thought. Oh, please, I cant I cant.She had never been very religious. But from that deep place inside, her terror was welling up, and every particle of her being joined in the cry out for aid. Oh, please, she thought. Oh, please, please, help me. She didnt ask for anything specific she couldnt gather her thoughts that far. Only Oh, please help me, oh please, please.Her face was still pale but eerily graceful, like amercement porcelain lit from within. Her eyes were still smudged with shadows. But there was a determine in them.She had to find Stefan. If there was any help for her, he would know of it. And if there wasnt well, she needed him all the more. There was nowhere else she wanted to be except with him.She shut the door of the attic carefully place her as she went out. Alaric Saltzman mustnt discover her hiding place. On the wall, she saw a calendar with the long time up to December 4 crossed off. Four days since last Saturday night. Shed slept for four days.When she reached the motility door, she cringed from the daylight outside. It hurt. Even though the sky was so overcast that rain or snow looked imminent, it hurt her eyes. She had to force herself to leave the safety of the house, and then she felt a gnawing paranoia about being out in the open. She slunk along beside fences, staying close to trees, ready to melt into the shadows. She felt like a shadow herself -or a ghost, in Honoria Fells long white gown. She would frighten the wits out of anyone who saw her.But all her circumspection seemed to be wasted. There was no one on the streets to see her the town aptitude have been abandoned. She went by seemingly deserted houses, forsaken yards, closed stores. Presently she saw parked cars lining the street, but they were empty, too.And then she saw a work against the sky that stopped her in her tracks. A steeple, white against the thick dark clouds. Elenas legs trembled as she made herself creep closer to the building. Shed known this church all her life shed seen the cross inscribed on that wall a gee times. But now she edged toward it as if it were a caged animal that capability break loose and bite her. She pressed one hand to the tilt wall and slid it nearer and nearer to the carved symbol.When her outspread fingers touched the arm of the cross, her eyes filled and her throat ached. She let her hand glide along it until it gently covered the engraving. Then she leaned against the wall and let the tears come.Im not evil, she thought. I did things I shouldnt have. I thought about myself too much I never thanked Matt and Bonnie and Meredith f or all they did for me. I should have compete more with Margaret and been nicer to Aunt Judith. But Im not evil. Im not damned.When she could see again, she looked up at the building. Mr. Newcastle had said something about the church. Was it this one he meant?She avoided the front of the church and the main doorway. There was a side door that led to the choir loft, and she slipped up the stairs noiselessly and looked down from the gallery.She saw at once why the streets had been so empty. It seemed as if everyone in Fells Church was here, every seat in every pew filled, and the back of the church jam-packed solid with pack standing. complete(a) at the front rows, Elena realized that she recognized every face they were members of the cured(a) class, and neighbors, and friends of Aunt Judith. Aunt Judith was there, too, wearing the black dress shed worn to Elenas parents funeral.Fells Church was here, every seat in every pew filled, and the back of the church packed solid with pe ople standing. Staring at the front rows, Elena realized that she recognized every face they were members of the senior class, and neighbors, and friends of Aunt Judith. Aunt Judith was there, too, wearing the black dress shed worn to Elenas parents funeral. allocate our remembrances of this very special girl, he said, and he moved aside.Elena watched what happened after with the phantasmal feeling that she had a loge seat at a play. She was not at all involved in the events down there on stage she was only a spectator, but it was her life she was observation.Mr. Carson, Sue Carsons father, came up and talked about her. The Carsons had known her since she was born, and he talked about the days she and Sue had played in their front yard in the summer. He talked about the beautiful and accomplished young lady she had become. He got a frog in his throat and had to stop and take off his glasses.Sue Carson went up. She and Elena hadnt been close friends since simple school, but theyd remained on good terms. Sue had been one of the few girls whod stayed on Elenas side after Stefan had come under suspicion for Mr. Tanners murder. But now Sue was crying as if shed lost a sister.A lot of people werent nice to Elena after Halloween, she said, wiping her eyes and going on. And I know that hurt her. But Elena was strong. She never changed just to conform to what other people thought she should be. And I respected her for that, so much Sues voice wobbled. When I was up for Homecoming Queen, I wanted to be chosen, but I knew I wouldnt be and that was all right. Because if Robert E. Lee ever had a queen, it was Elena. And I think she unendingly will be now, because thats how well all remember her. And I think that for years to come the girls who will go to our school might remember her and think about how she stuck by what she thought was right This time Sue couldnt steady her voice and the reverend helped her back to her seat.The girls in the senior class, even the ones that had been nastiest and most spiteful, were crying and holding hands. Girls Elena knew for a fact hate her were sniffling. Suddenly she was everybodys best friend.There were boys crying, too. Shocked, Elena huddled closer to the railing. She couldnt stop watching, even though it was the most horrible thing she had ever seen.Frances Decatur got up, her plain face plainer than ever with grief. She went out of her way to be nice to me, she said huskily. She let me eat lunch with her. Rubbish, Elena thought. I only spoke to you in the first place because you were useful in finding out information about Stefan. But it was the same with each person who went up to the pulpit no one could find enough words to praise Elena.I always admired herOne of my favorite studentsWhen Meredith rose, Elenas whole body stiffened. She didnt know if she could get hold of with this. But the dark-haired girl was one of the few people in the church whowasnt crying, although her face had a grave, sad loo k that reminded Elena of Honoria Fell as she looked on her tomb.When I think about Elena, I think about the good times we had together, she said, speaking quietly and with her customary self-control. Elena always had ideas, and she could make the most boring work into fun. I never told her that, and now I wish I had. I wish that I could talk to her one more time, just so she would know. And if Elena could hear me now-Meredith looked around the church and drew a long breath, apparently to calm herself-if she could hear me now, I would tell her how much those good times meant to me, and how much I wish that we could still have them. Like the Thursday nights we used to sit together in her room, practicing for the debate team. I wish we could do that just once more like we used to. Meredith took another long breath and shake her head. But I know we cant, and that hurts.What are you talking about? Elena thought, her ill interrupted by bewilderment. We used to practice for the debate tea m on Wednesday nights, not Thursdays. And it wasnt in my bedroom it was in yours. And it was no fun at all in fact, we ended up quitting because we both hated itSuddenly, watching Merediths carefully composed face, so calm on the outside to dissemble the tension within, Elena felt her heart begin to pound.Meredith was sending a message, a message only Elena could be expected to understand. Which meant that Meredith expected Elena to be able to hear it.Meredith knew.Had Stefan told her? Elena scanned the rows of mourners below, realizing for the first time that Stefan wasnt among them. Neither was Matt. No, it didnt seem likely that Stefan would have told Meredith, or that Meredith would choose this way of getting a message to her if he had. Then Elena remembered the way Meredith had looked at her the night they had rescued Stefan from the well, when Elena had asked to be left alone with Stefan.She remembered those keen dark eyes studying her face more than once in the last months, and the way Meredith had seemed to grow quieter and more heedful each time Elena came up with some odd request.Meredith had guessed then. Elena wondered just how much of the truth shed put together.Bonnie was coming up now, crying in earnest. That was surprising if Meredith knew, why hadnt she told Bonnie? But maybe Meredith had only a suspicion, something she didnt want to share with Bonnie in case it turned out to be a false hope.Thank you, Bonnie said, wiping her streaming eyes. She angle her head back to look at the ceiling, either to regain her assuredness or to get inspiration. As she did, Elena saw something that no one else could see she saw Bonnies face drain of color and of expression, not like somebody about to faint, but in a way that was all too familiar.A chill crawled up Elenas backbone. Not here. Oh, God, of all times and places, not here.But it was already happening. Bonnies chin had lowered she was looking at the assembly again. Except that this time she didnt s eem to see them at all, and the voice that came from Bonnies throat was not Bonnies voice.No one is what they appear. Remember that. No one is what they appear. Then she just stood there, unmoving, staring straight ahead with blank eyes.People began to riffle and look at one another. There was a murmur of worry.Remember that-remember-no one is what they seem Bonnie swayed suddenly, and Reverend Bethea ran to her while another man hastened up from the other side. The second man had a bald head that was now shining with sweat-Mr. Newcastle, Elena realized. And there at the back of the church, striding up the nave, was Alaric Saltzman. He reached Bonnie just as she fainted, and Elena heard a step behind her on the stair.