It was a miracle. Beyond all hope, they had been rescued. They’d been saved.
And then her eyes picked out another dark head among the crowd.
Damon was leaning… no, lounging… against the north wall. His lips were curved into a half smile, and his eyes met Elena’s boldly.
Mayor Dawley was beside her, urging her forward, quieting the crowd, trying to restore order. It was no use. Elena read her selection in a dreamy voice to a babbling group of people who weren’t paying attention in the slightest. She wasn’t paying attention, either; she had no idea what words she was saying. Every so often she looked at Damon.
There was applause, scattered and distracted, when she finished, and the mayor announced the rest of the events for that afternoon. And then it was all over, and Elena was free to go.
She floated offstage without any conscious idea of where she was going, but her legs carried her to the north wall. Damon’s dark head moved out the side door and she followed it.
The air in the courtyard seemed deliciously cool after the crowded room, and the clouds above were silvery and swirling. Damon was waiting for her.
Her steps slowed but did not stop. She moved until she was only a foot or so away from him, her eyes searching his face.
There was a long moment of silence and then she spoke. “Why?”
“I thought you’d be more interested in how.” He patted his jacket significantly. “I got invited in for coffee this morning after scraping up an acquaintance last week.”
“But why?”
He shrugged, and for just an instant something like consternation flickered across his finely drawn features. It seemed to Elena that he himself didn’t know why—or didn’t want to admit it.
“For my own purposes,” he said.
“I don’t think so.” Something was building between them, something that frightened Elena with its power. “I don’t think that’s the reason at all.”
There was a dangerous glimmer in those dark eyes. “Don’t push me, Elena.”
She moved closer, so that she was almost touching him, and looked at him. “I think,” she said, “that maybe you need to be pushed.”
His face was only inches away from hers, and Elena never knew what might have happened if at that moment a voice hadn’t broken in on them.
“You did manage to make it after all! I’m so glad!”
It was Aunt Judith. Elena felt as if she were being whisked from one world to another. She blinked dizzily, stepping back, letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.
“And so you got to hear Elena read,” Aunt Judith continued happily. “You did a beautiful job, Elena, but I don’t know what was going on with Caroline. The girls in this town are all acting bewitched lately.”
“Nerves,” suggested Damon, his face carefully solemn. Elena felt an urge to giggle and then a wave of irritation. It was all very well to be grateful to Damon for saving them, but if not for Damon there wouldn’t have been a problem in the first place. Damon had committed the crimes Caroline wanted to pin on Stefan.
“And where is Stefan?” she said, voicing her next thought aloud. She could see Bonnie and Meredith in the courtyard alone.
Aunt Judith’s face showed her disapproval. “I haven’t seen him,” she said briefly. Then she smiled fondly. “But I have an idea; why don’t you come to dinner with us, Damon? Then afterwards perhaps you and Elena could—”
“Stop it!” said Elena to Damon. He looked politely inquiring.
“What?” said Aunt Judith.
“Stop it!” Elena said to Damon again. “You know what. Just stop it right now!”
Fifteen
“Elena, you’re being rude!” Aunt Judith seldom got angry but she was angry now. “You’re too old for this kind of behavior.”
“It’s not rudeness! You don’t understand—”
“I understand perfectly. You’re acting just the way you did when Damon came to dinner. Don’t you think a guest deserves a little more consideration?”
Frustration flooded over Elena. “You don’t even know what you’re talking about,” she said. This was too much. To hear Damon’s words coming from Aunt Judith’s lips… it was unbearable.
“Elena!” A mottled flush was creeping up Aunt Judith’s cheeks. “I’m shocked at you! And I have to say that this childish behavior only started since you’ve been going out with that boy.”
“Oh, ’that boy’.” Elena glared at Damon.
“Yes, that boy!” Aunt Judith answered. “Ever since you lost your head over him you’ve been a different person. Irresponsible, secretive—and defiant! He’s been a bad influence from the start, and I won’t tolerate it any more.”
“Oh, really?” Elena felt as if she were talking to Damon and Aunt Judith at once, and she looked back and forth between the two of them. All the emotions she’d been suppressing for the last days—for the last weeks, for the months since Stefan had come into her life—were surging forward. It was like a great tidal wave inside her, over which she had no control.
She realized she was shaking. “Well, that’s too bad because you’re going to have to tolerate it. I am never going to give Stefan up, not for anyone. Certainly not for you!” This last was meant for Damon, but Aunt Judith gasped.
“That’s enough!” Robert snapped. He’d appeared with Margaret, and his face was dark. “Young lady, if this is how that boy encourages you to speak to your aunt—”
“He’s not ’that boy’!” Elena took another step back, so she could face all of them. She was making a spectacle of herself, everyone in the courtyard was looking. But she didn’t care. She had been keeping a lid on her feelings for so long, shoving down all the anxiety and the fear and the anger where it wouldn’t be seen. All the worry about Stefan, all the terror over Damon, all the shame and humiliation she’d suffered at school, she’d buried it deep. But now it was coming back. All of it, all at once, in a maelstrom of impossible violence. Her heart was pounding crazily; her ears rang. She felt that nothing mattered except to hurt the people who stood in front of her, to show them all.
“He’s not ’that boy’,” she said again, her voice deadly cold. “He’s Stefan and he’s all I care about. And I happen to be engaged to him.”
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous!” Robert thundered. It was the last straw.
“Is this ridiculous?” She held up her hand, the ring toward them. “We’re going to get married!”
“You are not going to get married,” Robert began. Everyone was furious. Damon grabbed her hand and stared at the ring, then turned abruptly and strode away, every step full of barely leashed savagery. Robert was spluttering on in exasperation. Aunt Judith was fuming.
“Elena, I absolutely forbid you—”
“You’re not my mother!” Elena cried. Tears were trying to force themselves out of her eyes. She needed to get away, to be alone, to be with someone who loved her. “If Stefan asks, tell him I’ll be at the boarding house!” she added, and broke away through the crowd.
She half expected Bonnie or Meredith to follow her, but she was glad they didn’t. The parking lot was full of cars but almost empty of people. Most of the families were staying for the afternoon activities. But a battered Ford sedan was parked nearby, and a familiar figure was unlocking the door.
“Matt! Are you leaving?” She made her decision instantly. It was too cold to walk all the way to the boarding house.
“Huh? No, I’ve got to help Coach Lyman take the tables down. I was just putting this away.” He tossed the Outstanding Athlete placard into the front seat. “Hey, are you okay?” His eyes widened at the sight of her face.
“Yes—no. I will be if I can get out of here. Look, can I take your car? Just for a little while?”
“Well… sure, but… I know, why don’t you let me drive you? I’ll go tell Coach Lyman.”
“No! I just want to be alone… Oh, please don’t ask any questions.” She almost snatched the keys out of his hand. “I’ll
bring it back soon, I promise. Or Stefan will. If you see Stefan, tell him I’m at the boarding house. And thanks.” She slammed the door on his protests and revved the engine, pulling out with a clash of gears because she wasn’t used to a stick shift. She left him standing there staring after her.
She drove without really seeing or hearing anything outside, crying, locked in her own spinning tornado of emotions. She and Stefan would run away… They would elope… They would show everyone. She would never set foot in Fell’s Church again.
And then Aunt Judith would be sorry. Then Robert would see how wrong he’d been. But Elena would never forgive them. Never.
As for Elena herself, she didn’t need anybody. She certainly didn’t need stupid old Robert E. Lee, where you could go from being mega-popular to being a social pariah in one day just for loving the wrong person. She didn’t need any family, or any friends, either…
Slowing down to cruise up the winding driveway of the boarding house, Elena felt her thoughts slow down, too.
Well… she wasn’t mad at all her friends. Bonnie and Meredith hadn’t done anything. Or Matt. Matt was all right. In fact, she might not need him but his car had come in pretty handy.
In spite of herself Elena felt a strangled giggle well up in her throat. Poor Matt. People always borrowing his clunking dinosaur of a car. He must think she and Stefan were nuts.
The giggle let loose a few more tears and she sat and wiped them off, shaking her head. Oh, God, how did things turn out this way? What a day. She should be having a victory celebration because they’d beaten Caroline, and instead she was crying alone in Matt’s car.
Caroline had looked pretty damn funny, though. Elena’s body shook gently with slightly hysterical chuckles. Oh, the look on her face. Somebody better have a video of that.
At last the sobs and giggles both abated and Elena felt a wash of tiredness. She leaned against the steering wheel trying not to think of anything for a while, and then she got out of the car.
She’d go and wait for Stefan, and then they’d both go back and deal with the mess she’d made. It would take a lot of cleaning up, she thought wearily. Poor Aunt Judith. Elena had yelled at her in front of half the town.
Why had she let herself get so upset? But her emotions were still close to the surface, as she found when the boarding house door was locked and no one answered the bell.
Oh, wonderful she thought, her eyes stinging again. Mrs. Flowers had gone off to the Founders’ Day celebration, too. And now Elena had the choice of sitting in the car or standing out here in this windstorm…
It was the first time she’d noticed the weather, but when she did she looked around in alarm. The day had started out cloudy and chilly, but now there was a mist flowing along the ground, as if breathed out from the surrounding fields. The clouds were not just swirling, they were seething. And the wind was getting stronger.
It moaned through the branches of the oak trees, tearing off the remaining leaves and sending them down in showers. The sound was rising steadily now, not just a moan but a howl.
And there was something else. Something that came not just from the wind, but from the air itself, or the space around the air. A feeling of pressure, of menace, of some unimaginable force. It was gathering power, drawing nearer, closing in.
Elena spun to face the oak trees.
There was a stand of them behind the house, and more beyond, blending into the forest. And beyond that were the river and the graveyard.
Something… was out there. Something… very bad…
“No,” whispered Elena. She couldn’t see it, but she could feel it, like some great shape rearing up to stand over her, blotting out the sky. She felt the evil, the hatred, the animal fury.
Bloodlust. Stefan had used the word, but she hadn’t understood it. Now she felt this bloodlust… focused on her.
“No!”
Higher and higher, it was towering over her. She could still see nothing, but it was as if great wings unfolded, stretching to touch the horizon on either side. Something with a Power beyond comprehension… and it wanted to kill…
“No!” She ran for the car just as it stooped and dived for her. Her hands scrabbled at the door handle, and she fumbled frantically with the keys. The wind was screaming, shrieking, tearing at her hair. Gritty ice sprayed into her eyes, blinding her, but then the key turned and she jerked the door open.
Safe! She slammed the door shut again and brought her fist down on the lock. Then she flung herself across the seat to check the locks on the other side.
The wind roared with a thousand voices outside. The car began rocking.
“Stop it! Damon, stop it!” Her thin cry was lost in the cacophony. She put her hands out on the dashboard as if to balance the car and it rocked harder, ice pelting against it.
Then she saw something. The rear window was clouding up, but she could discern the shape through it. It looked like some great bird made of mist or snow, but the outlines were hazy. All she was sure of was that it had huge sweeping wings… and that it was coming for her.
Get the key in the ignition. Get it in! Now go! Her mind was rapping orders at her. The ancient Ford wheezed and the tires screamed louder than the wind as she took off. And the shape behind her followed, getting larger and larger in the rearview mirror.
Get to town, get to Stefan! Go! Go! But as she squealed onto Old Creek Road, turning left, the wheels locking, a bolt of lightning split the sky.
If she hadn’t been skidding and braking already, the tree would have crashed down on her. As it was, the violent impact shook the car like an earthquake missing the front right fender by inches. The tree was a mass of heaving, pitching branches, its trunk blocking the way back to town completely.
She was trapped. Her only route home cut off. She was alone, there was no escape from this terrible Power…
Power. That was it; that was the key. “The stronger your Powers are, the more the rules of the dark bind you.”
Running water!
Throwing the car into reverse, she brought it around and then slammed into forward. The white shape banked and swooped, missing her as narrowly as the tree had, and then she was speeding down Old Creek Road into the worst of the storm.
It was still after her. Only one thought pounded in Elena’s brain now. She had to cross running water, to leave this thing behind.
There were more cracks of lightning, and she glimpsed other trees falling, but she swerved around them. It couldn’t be far now. She could see the river flickering past on her left side through the driving ice storm. Then she saw the bridge.
It was there; she’d made it! A gust threw sleet across the windshield, but with the wipers’ next stroke she saw it fleetingly again. This was it, the turn should be about here.
The car lurched and skidded onto the wooden structure. Elena felt the wheels grip at slick planks and then felt them lock. Desperately, she tried to turn with the skid, but she couldn’t see and there was no room…
And then she was crashing through the guardrail, the rotted wood of the footbridge giving way under weight it could no longer support. There was a sickening feeling of spinning, dropping, and the car hit the water.
Elena heard screams, but they didn’t seem to be connected with her. The river welled up around her and everything was noise and confusion and pain. A window shattered as it was struck by debris, and then another. Dark water gushed across her, along with glass like ice. She was engulfed. She couldn’t see; she couldn’t get out.
And she couldn’t breathe. She was lost in this hellish tumult, and there was no air. She had to breathe. She had to get out of here…
“Stefan, help me!” she screamed.
But her scream made no sound. Instead, the icy water rushed into her lungs, invading her. She thrashed against it, but it was too strong for her. Her struggles became wilder, more uncoordinated, and then they stopped.
Then everything was still.
Bonnie and Meredith were hunting around
the perimeter of the school impatiently. They’d seen Stefan go this way, more or less coerced by Tyler and his new friends. They’d started to follow him, but then that business with Elena had started. And then Matt had informed them that she’d taken off. So they’d set out after Stefan again, but nobody was out here. There weren’t even any buildings except one lonely Quonset hut.
“And now there’s a storm coming!” Meredith said. “Listen to that wind! I think it’s going to rain.”
“Or snow!” Bonnie shuddered. “Where did they go?”
“I don’t care; I just want to get under a roof. Here it comes!” Meredith gasped as the first sheet of icy rain hit her, and she and Bonnie ran for the nearest shelter—the Quonset hut.
And it was there that they found Stefan. The door was ajar, and when Bonnie looked in she recoiled.
“Tyler’s goon squad!” she hissed. “Look out!”
Stefan had a semicircle of guys between him and the door. Caroline was in the corner.
“He must have it! He took it somehow; I know he did!” she was saying.
“Took what?” said Meredith, loudly. Everyone turned their way.
Caroline’s face contorted as she saw them in the doorway and Tyler snarled. “Get out.” he said. “You don’t want to be involved in this.”
Meredith ignored him. “Stefan, can I talk to you?”
“In a minute. Are you going to answer her question? Took what?” Stefan was concentrating on Tyler, totally focused.
“Sure, I’ll answer her question. Right after I answer yours.” Tyler’s beefy hand thumped into his fist and he stepped forward. “You’re going to be dog meat, Salvatore.”
Several of the tough guys snickered.
Bonnie opened her mouth to say, “Let’s get out of here.” But what she actually said was, “The bridge.”
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