The Vampire Diaries: The Salvation: Unmasked

by L. J. Smith

  On Tyler’s other side, Dick Carter broke into rough laughter. His girlfriend, Vickie Bennett, clung to his arm and tittered uneasily.

  Ignoring them, Elena reached out for Matt. “I wasn’t seeing Damon yet when we talked,” she said. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”

  “It’s fine,” Matt said shortly, turning away from her and heading for the school doors.

  “Matt—” Elena began. She tried to follow him, but Tyler blocked her path, taking a firm hold on her arm.

  “Tell you what, gorgeous,” he said, baring his large white teeth in a smile. “Forget them both and come to Homecoming with me. We’ll show you a good time, won’t we, Dick? Vickie?”

  Dick laughed, a big dumb har-de-har, and Elena squirmed away, pulling her arm out of Tyler’s hot grip. “Forget it,” she said briefly, but by the time she pushed past them, Matt was gone.

  Tyler had always been a jerk, Elena thought dismissively. And then she felt her own eyes widen as what he had said hit her. Homecoming night.

  Elena had been so angry that night. Angry at everyone: Stefan for snubbing her; Caroline for bringing Stefan to Homecoming; Bonnie and Meredith for thinking that perhaps she should give up on Stefan. And so she had drunk bourbon with Tyler and Dick and their friends, and gone with them to the cemetery.

  Tyler had tried to rape Elena. Stefan had rescued her—that was the one moment that had torn down the barriers between them. It doesn’t matter, Elena thought, repressing a shudder. That wasn’t going to happen this time.

  But Tyler and the others would probably still go to the cemetery. And Dick and Vickie had fooled around on Honoria Fell’s tomb. The tomb that hid the entrance to the catacombs in which Katherine was concealed. Offended, Katherine had tormented Vickie for months, nearly driving her over the edge of insanity.

  Elena glanced back at Vickie, who was now crossing the parking lot toward the school, still arm in arm with Dick. Vickie’s pale brown hair flowed down her back as she tossed back her head to giggle up at Dick, her nose wrinkling as she laughed.

  Elena had to try to protect her.

  “Elena?” Bonnie’s voice jolted Elena out of her contemplation. She was staring across at Tyler, she realized, frozen. She shook her head quickly, as if to scatter the memories, and turned to her friend.

  Meredith was beside Bonnie, looking at Tyler with an expression of disdain. “Don’t let him get to you, Elena,” she said. “He’s a creep.”

  “But who was that guy, Elena?” Bonnie demanded, her eyes shining with curiosity. “He was so—and you—Is he what you’ve been acting so weird about?”

  “I’ll tell you later,” Elena said absently, watching as Vickie twisted a lock of her pale brown hair around one finger.

  “Oh, come on!” Bonnie groaned, tugging at Elena’s arm. “A beautiful guy like that? Tell me now!”

  “I can’t,” Elena said, pulling away. “I promise I’ll tell you everything I can soon. But right now we have to go to class.” She would have to figure out something to tell them. Maybe she could pretend Damon was what he had told Aunt Judith, just a college student who Elena had happened to meet.

  Bonnie huffed and rolled her eyes, but Meredith nodded. “Come on, then,” she said. “We’re going to be late.”

  Elena followed her friends toward the school doors, but her steps slowed as she saw Stefan waiting just outside, his face as gray as a storm cloud.

  “I have to talk to you,” he said, grabbing hold of her arm. Elena stared at him, and he let go, snatching his hand back. “Alone. Please.”

  Elena hesitated, and Meredith eyed her carefully. “Do you want us to go ahead without you?” she asked, ignoring Stefan.

  “It’s fine,” Elena said with a grateful glance. Meredith nodded and tugged Bonnie after her into the school.

  “Wait,” Bonnie was saying, outraged. “I didn’t think she even knew Stefan.”

  Elena watched her friends walk away before she looked up at Stefan, who had pulled off his sunglasses. His lips were drawn into a tight line.

  “Elena,” he said abruptly. “What do you know about that guy who drove you here?”

  She should have realized this would happen. Unthinkingly, Elena raised a hand to touch Stefan, but he flinched back from her. “It’s okay,” she said steadily. “I know what I’m doing.”

  “I know you’ve got no reason to trust me,” he told her. His eyes were dark, insisting. “But he’s dangerous.” He stepped closer, taking hold of her arm again, and his touch sent a hot spark through her.

  “He’s not dangerous to me,” Elena said slowly, holding Stefan’s eyes with her own.

  “Do you remember me telling you that you reminded me of someone?” Stefan asked her. He was gripping Elena’s arm so hard that it ached, and she held her breath. “Well, that girl died. And it was Damon’s fault. Damon’s and mine. He destroys everything he touches, and he doesn’t care. You have to stay away from him.” Stefan was breathing hard.

  If only Elena could take Stefan in her arms and hold onto him, shut out the world so she could do nothing but bring Stefan comfort.

  “I’m sorry, Stefan,” she whispered, pulling her arm from his grip and brushing past him into the school. She could feel his eyes watching her. Elena didn’t look back.

  “But where did you even meet him?” Bonnie asked, rifling through a rack of dresses. “Ooh, pink. I think I might do pink for Homecoming this year.” She pulled a fluffy concoction of satin and chiffon off the rack and held it up to herself to admire in the mirror. “Adorable, right?”

  “It’s cute,” Elena agreed. “You should try it on.” The three girls had headed right after school to one of their favorite boutiques to look for dresses for Homecoming.

  Even as she flipped through the dresses, a little sore place deep in her chest kept reminding Elena that this might be the end. If she wasn’t successful—if she died, back in that future—she would never be with her best friends again. And so she wanted, just for one afternoon, to be frivolous and try on dresses and talk about hairstyles.

  “Focus, Bonnie,” Meredith said, amused. “I’d like to know where Elena met him, too.”

  “At the cemetery, actually,” Elena admitted, and Bonnie gasped, almost dropping the pink dress.

  “You went back to the cemetery? Elena, they still haven’t found who attacked that old man. It’s not safe.”

  “I haven’t been there since we promised Mary we’d stay away,” Elena said patiently. “I met Damon before that.”

  Meredith’s eyes narrowed. “The day we found you there?” At Elena’s nod, she frowned. “So he was hanging out at the cemetery alone the day the old man was attacked?”

  “So was I,” Elena said dryly. “Damon has family buried there.” She wasn’t exactly lying, she told herself. Katherine, who had turned Damon into a vampire, was a kind of “family.” And her lurking underground in the crypt could count as being “buried.”

  Bonnie rolled her eyes. “I really don’t think Elena’s gorgeous rich new boyfriend is attacking homeless people in his spare time, Meredith.”

  “Even gorgeous rich guys can be psychos,” Meredith pointed out, her voice light.

  “That may be true, but Damon’s not one of them,” she said, shortly. She began flipping through the rack of dresses in front of her and hesitated on a long sweep of silver silk. “This would look great on you, Meredith.”

  Meredith looked at it critically. “You don’t think it’s too plain? Or too long?”

  “You can pull it off.” Elena was sure the color would bring out her cool gray eyes and olive skin, while her natural elegance could carry off the style.

  “So, are you bringing this Damon to the dance?” Bonnie asked.

  “I don’t think high school dances are really Damon’s thing,” Elena said. She had trouble imagining Damon slow dancing to pop songs and bringing her little cups of punch. And Stefan would be taking Caroline to the dance, she assumed. It was better for the Salvatore brothers not to be in the
same room, especially not surrounded by humans.

  “Who are you going to go with, then?” Bonnie asked, taking both the short pink dress and a blue green gown in a mermaid style off the rack to try on. “I’m sure Matt would still take you.”

  Elena shrugged. “No one, I guess.”

  Silently, Meredith and Bonnie turned to stare at Elena.

  “What?” she asked, but she knew. The Elena who belonged here wouldn’t be caught dead without a date for a school dance. She hadn’t cared about any of those dates, either, not until Stefan.

  “Are you actually going crazy?” Bonnie asked tartly, and then gasped as Meredith elbowed her in the side. “I mean, fine, great. Who needs a date anyway?”

  “It’s not a bad idea,” Meredith said casually. “I was supposed to go with Ed Goff, but it might be more fun for us three to just go together. Not even bother with boys.” There was something tentative to her gaze, and Elena realized what it was. Meredith was worried about her.

  “Are you both crazy?” Bonnie asked. “I want to go with a boy. I want to dance all night. I want romance.”

  “With Raymond?” Meredith asked, arching an eyebrow. “There’s nothing wrong with Raymond, but you can’t pretend you’re all that interested in him.”

  “I can pretend anything I want,” Bonnie said, crossing her arms, the dresses she held crumpling against her.

  “Come on, Bonnie,” Elena said coaxingly. “If you go with us, you can dance with all the boys. And we’ll have more fun together, you know we will.”

  “It’s our last Homecoming together,” Meredith said, laying her hand on Bonnie’s arm. “It should be the three of us.”

  “Oh … oh … fine,” Bonnie said. “But there had better be lots of cute boys who want to dance with me.”

  “Of course there will be,” Meredith said reassuringly, “because you’re going to look so great in one of these dresses.”

  “Obviously,” said Bonnie with a suddenly teasing, crooked grin. She stuck her nose into the air and sailed off to the dressing room.

  Meredith searched through the racks of dresses efficiently, pulling out a short jewel blue dress to add to the growing pile in her arms. Flicking past a green velvet minidress, Elena wished she could be so enthusiastic. Nothing seemed quite right.

  “Here,” Meredith said, stopping. “This is perfect for you.”

  The dress was gorgeous. Silk the color of crystallized violets, which would bring out the gold of her hair and the deep blue of her eyes. Elena would look magical in it, lit from within. Had looked magical.

  It was what she had worn to the dance, the first time. Tyler had torn this dress. Stefan had fallen in love with her, finally taken her in his arms, while she was wearing it.

  Elena stuffed her hands in her pockets, unwilling to touch it.

  And then, she saw something on the other side of the room, just waiting for her. Yes. Elena brushed past Meredith and headed straight for it.

  The iced-violet concoction was a beautiful dress. But this? This dress was a revelation.

  It was red, the deep vibrant crimson of blood, and it would cling to Elena like a glove. Even hanging on the rack, it spoke of passion and intensity. It was a dress to fall in love in, or to stir up hate. If Damon were a dress, this was the one he would be.

  “This is it,” Elena breathed.

  Meredith’s eyebrows shot up. “Wow. It’s a statement, all right.”

  They headed into the dressing room, Meredith with an armload of selections, Elena with only the crimson gown. Pulling it over her head, she called over the wall of the dressing room, “Want to get dressed for the dance at my place?”

  “We always do,” Bonnie called back.

  It had been a ritual of theirs from their earliest dances in junior high to get dressed together, gossiping and doing one another’s hair. Caroline had always been with them, but Elena didn’t think she was going to join this time.

  Elena smoothed the dress down over her hips and admired herself in the mirror. It fit perfectly, and the weight of the material—some kind of satin—made her feel powerful and protected.

  “This is it,” she said, stepping out of the fitting room. Meredith and Bonnie came out in dresses of their own.

  “Wow,” Bonnie said, looking Elena over. “I wouldn’t have thought red was your color, but you look great. Older.” She was in the mermaid green dress. “I don’t love this one. I’m going to try on the gold.”

  Meredith looked sleek and composed in a black-and-gold dress with a long slit up the side, but she frowned. “This itches. Next!”

  Elena changed back into her own clothes, draping the red dress carefully over her arm. Caroline would have liked this dress, she thought.

  “Who’s Caroline going with?” she asked. She couldn’t help it; she had to know if she was going with Stefan again.

  “I don’t know,” Meredith said. “She’s been avoiding all of us.”

  “She never tells me anything anymore,” Bonnie said. “If it weren’t for math and history, I wouldn’t see her at all.” She sounded forlorn, and Elena had a pang of regret for the lost friendship. Maybe, now that they weren’t competing over Stefan anymore, Caroline and Elena could be friends again, someday.

  The fitting room doors opened again, and Elena stepped out to see the next set of dresses. An idea was kindling at the back of her mind. Why not replace Caroline in their little pre-dance group? It would be one way to keep the horrors of her first homecoming night from repeating. She thought of Vickie’s innocent face, the way she had giggled at everything Dick said. How the walls of her room had been coated with blood in the future Elena had lived through. Things had to be different.

  “Why don’t we invite Vickie Bennett?” she said brightly. If Vickie was with them, she wouldn’t leave the dance with Dick and Tyler. She wouldn’t desecrate the tomb, wouldn’t incite Katherine’s anger.

  Meredith, dressed in the long silver gown, and Bonnie, in black velvet, stared at her. “You want to invite Vickie Bennett?” Bonnie said slowly.

  “Why not?” Elena asked. “What do you have against Vickie?”

  Bonnie exchanged a glance with Meredith. Meredith cleared her throat. “Neither of us has a problem with Vickie, but you’ve never liked her.”

  Nodding, Bonnie added. “You’ve always said she was a useless little drip.”

  “Oh.” A little twist of self-disgust curdled inside her. “Well, I was wrong. Let’s bring her along.”

  After careful comparisons, Meredith chose the long silver gown, which looked like moonlight on her. Bonnie modeled fourteen different dresses and finally settled on the pink chiffon. Elena, of course, bought the red dress.

  Leaving the store, she held her head high, feeling like a warrior. Like a hero. Elena wasn’t just going to save Damon and herself. She would save everyone.

  The weather Friday evening couldn’t have been more perfect for the Homecoming game. Gold and pink from the setting sun striped the sky. On the field, the marching band stepped in precise formation for their pregame show, horns blaring and drums thumping. Cheerleaders cartwheeled in their red and black skirts, warming up the crowd for the game.

  “The Homecoming game is a real American tradition,” Elena told Damon, leading him up the bleachers. “You owe it to yourself to experience it at least once. I can’t believe you’ve never been.”

  “You’d be amazed at the number of real American traditions I’ve been able to avoid,” Damon said dryly.

  “Well,” Elena said, sitting down and wrapping her jacket more closely around her, “I’m glad I get a chance to introduce you to something.”

  Damon reached out and tucked a lock of Elena’s hair behind her ear. “You’re going to show me life in the light, right, Princess?” he asked, his voice low and teasing. “Football games and sock hops?”

  “I don’t think sock hops are a thing anymore, Damon,” Elena told him, letting her voice take on a flirtatious edge. The brush of his fingers made her skin t
ingle. Sensing her reaction, Damon smiled and ran his hand down her arm, wrapping his fingers around hers.

  This wasn’t her Damon, not yet, but he felt so familiar that she kept forgetting. The weight of his arm across her shoulders, the scent of his leather jacket, the cool skin of his wrist resting casually against her neck, the affection that shone through his mocking smile: It all belonged to her Damon, too.

  Elena could feel eyes watching them from all around as they sat waiting for the game to begin. Elena Gilbert with a mysterious, shockingly handsome, older man. Gossip would center on this for days.

  No one approached them, though. Elena saw Meredith and Bonnie climbing the bleachers, Bonnie’s face brightening as she saw them, and sent a silent plea to Meredith with her eyes. Meredith cocked one elegant eyebrow—message received—and shepherded Bonnie toward a group of laughing girls in another row of seats.

  As the team ran out onto the field to claps and cheers, Damon tensed beside her, letting go of Elena’s hand. His jaw was tight, and his eyes followed one red-and-black jersey across the field. Stefan.

  She was surprised to see Stefan on the team. Perhaps she should have realized that, even without her intercession, Matt would have invited Stefan to try out for the team.

  “My appreciation for football is fading,” Damon said dryly, his eyes still fixed on Stefan. “Let’s go somewhere else, Princess. I can show you all kinds of things better than high school sports.” He turned toward her, his lips twitching up in a wicked smile, and took her hand again, starting to rise.

  “No, wait, Damon,” Elena said quickly, tugging him back down. “I need a favor.”

  Damon’s eyes narrowed. Slowly, he sat back in his seat and fixed her with a steady dark gaze. “So you didn’t just want to expand my horizons when you brought me here?” He leaned closer. “You’re quite devious, aren’t you, Elena?”

  Pulling her eyes away from his, Elena looked back at the field. Their team had won the coin flip, and Matt, as quarterback and captain, chose to receive the kickoff. The teams were lining up, and Elena gripped Damon’s hand harder as she leaned forward to scan the backs of their jerseys. “See those two guys?” she said, pointing. “Carter and Smallwood.”