by L. J. Smith
“I know,” Elena said grimly. “Go on.”
“Everybody at school is upset. I wanted to talk to Stefan, especially when I began to suspect you weren’t really dead, but he hasn’t been at school. Matt has been, but there’s something wrong with him. He looks like a zombie, and he won’t talk to anyone. I wanted to explain to him that there was a chance you might not be gone forever; I thought that would cheer him up. But he wouldn’t listen. He was acting totally out of character, and at one point I thought he was going to hit me. He wouldn’t listen to a word.”
“Oh, God—Matt.” Something terrible was stirring at the bottom of Elena’s mind, some memory too disturbing to be let loose. She couldn’t cope with anything more just now, she couldn’t, she thought, and slam dunked the memory back down.
Meredith was going on. “It’s clear, though, that some other people are suspicious about your ‘death.’ That’s why I said what I did in the memorial service; I was afraid if I said the real day and place that Alaric Saltzman would end up ambushing you outside the house. He’s been asking all sorts of questions, and it’s a good thing Bonnie didn’t know anything she could blab.”
“That isn’t fair,” Bonnie protested. “Alaric’s just interested, that’s all, and he wants to help us through the trauma, like before. He’s an Aquarius—”
“He’s a spy,” said Elena, “and maybe more than that. But we’ll talk about that later. What about Tyler Smallwood? I didn’t see him at the service.”
Meredith looked nonplussed. “You mean you don’t know?”
“I don’t know anything; I’ve been asleep for four days in an attic.”
“Well …” Meredith paused uneasily. “Tyler just got back from the hospital. Same with Dick Carter and those four tough guys they had along with them on Founders’ Day. They were attacked in the Quonset hut that evening and they lost a lot of blood.”
“Oh.” The mystery of why Stefan’s Powers had been so much stronger that night was explained. And why they’d been getting weaker ever since. He probably hadn’t eaten since then. “Meredith, is Stefan a suspect?”
“Well, Tyler’s father tried to make him one, but the police couldn’t make the times work out. They know approximately when Tyler was attacked because he was supposed to meet Mr. Smallwood, and he didn’t show up. And Bonnie and I can alibi Stefan for that time because we’d just left him by the river with your body. So he couldn’t have gotten back to the Quonset hut to attack Tyler—at least no normal human could. And so far the police aren’t thinking about anything supernatural.”
“I see.” Elena felt relieved on that score at least.
“Tyler and those guys can’t identify the attacker because they can’t remember a thing about that afternoon,” Meredith added.
“Neither can Caroline.”
“Caroline was in there?”
“Yes, but she wasn’t bitten. Just in shock. In spite of everything she’s done, I almost feel sorry for her.” Meredith shrugged and added, “She looks pretty pathetic these days.”
“And I don’t think anyone will ever suspect Stefan after what happened with those dogs at church today,” Bonnie put in. “My dad says that a big dog could have broken the window in the Quonset hut, and the wounds in Tyler’s throat looked sort of like animal wounds. I think a lot of people believe it was a dog or a pack of dogs that did it.”
“It’s a convenient explanation,” Meredith said dryly. “It means they don’t have to think any more about it.”
“But that’s ridiculous,” said Elena. “Normal dogs don’t behave that way. Aren’t people wondering about why their dogs would suddenly go mad and turn on them?”
“Lots of people are just getting rid of them. Oh, and I heard someone talk about mandatory rabies testing,” Meredith said. “But it’s not just rabies, is it, Elena?”
“No, I don’t think so. And neither do Stefan or Damon. And that’s what I came over to talk to you about.” Elena explained, as clearly as she could, what she had been thinking about the Other Power in Fell’s Church. She told about the force that had chased her off the bridge and about the feeling she’d had with the dogs and about everything she and Stefan and Damon had discussed. She finished with, “And Bonnie said it herself in church today: “Something evil.’ I think that’s what’s here in Fell’s Church, something nobody knows about, something completely evil. I don’t suppose you know what you meant by that, Bonnie.”
But Bonnie’s mind was running on another track. “So Damon didn’t necessarily do all those awful things you said he did,” she said shrewdly. “Like killing Yangtze and hurting Vickie and murdering Mr. Tanner, and all. I told you nobody that gorgeous could be a psycho killer.”
“I think,” said Meredith with a glance at Elena, “that you had better forget about Damon as a love interest.”
“Yes,” said Elena emphatically. “He did kill Mr. Tanner, Bonnie. And it stands to reason he did the other attacks, too; I’ll ask him about that. And I’m having enough trouble dealing with him myself. You don’t want to mess with him, Bonnie, believe me.”
“I’m supposed to leave Damon alone; I’m supposed to leave Alaric alone. … Are there any guys I’m not supposed to leave alone? And meanwhile Elena gets them all. It’s not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair,” Meredith told her callously. “But listen, Elena, even if this Other Power exists, what sort of power do you think it is? What does it look like?”
“I don’t know. Something tremendously strong—but it could be shielding itself so that we can’t sense it. It could look like an ordinary person. And that’s why I came for your help, because it could be anybody in Fell’s Church. It’s like what Bonnie said during the service today: ‘Nobody is what they seem.”
Bonnie looked forlorn. “I don’t remember saying that.”
“You said it, all right. ‘Nobody is what they seem,’” Elena quoted again weightily. “Nobody.” She glanced at Meredith, but the dark eyes under the elegantly arched eyebrows were calm and distant.
“Well, that would seem to make everybody a suspect,” Meredith said in her most unruffled voice. “Right?”
“Right,” said Elena. “But we’d better get a note pad and pencil and make a list of the most important ones. Damon and Stefan have already agreed to help investigate, and if you’ll help, too, we’ll stand an even better chance of finding it.” She was hitting her stride with this; she’d always been good at organizing things, from schemes to get boys to fund-raising events. This was just a more serious version of the old plan A and plan B.
Meredith gave the pencil and paper to Bonnie, who looked at it, and then at Meredith, and then at Elena. “Fine,” she said, “but who goes on the list?”
“Well, anyone we have reason to suspect of being the Other Power. Anyone who might have done the things we know it did: seal Stefan in the well, chase me, set those dogs on people. Anyone we’ve noticed behaving oddly.”
“Matt,” said Bonnie, writing busily. “And Vickie. “And Robert.”
“Bonnie!” exclaimed Elena and Meredith simultaneously.
Bonnie looked up. “Well, Matt has been acting oddly, and so has Vickie, for months now. And Robert was hanging around outside the church before the service, but he never came in—”
“Oh, Bonnie, honestly,” Meredith said. “Vickie’s a victim, not a suspect. And if Matt’s an evil Power, I’m the hunchback of Notre Dame. And as for Robert—”
“Fine, I’ve crossed it all out,” said Bonnie coldly. “Now let’s hear your ideas.”
“No, wait,” Elena said. “Bonnie, wait a moment.” She was thinking about something, something that had been nagging at her for quite a while, ever since—“Ever since the church,” she said aloud, remembering it. “Do you know, I saw Robert outside the church, too, when I was hidden in the choir loft. It was just before the dogs attacked, and he was sort of backing away like he knew what was going to happen.”
“Oh, but Elena—”
“No, lis
ten, Meredith. And I saw him before, on Saturday night, with Aunt Judith. When she told him she wouldn’t marry him there was something in his face. … I don’t know. But I think you’d better put him back on the list, Bonnie.”
Soberly, after a moment’s hesitation, Bonnie did. “Who else?” she said.
“Well, Alaric, I’m afraid,” Elena said. “I’m sorry, Bonnie, but he’s practically number one.” She told what she had overheard that morning between Alaric and the principal. “He isn’t a normal history teacher; they called him here for some reason. He knows I’m a vampire, and he’s looking for me. And today, while the dogs were attacking, he was standing there on the sidelines making some kind of weird gestures. He’s definitely not what he seems, and the only question is: what is he? Are you listening, Meredith?”
“Yes. You know, I think you should put Mrs. Flowers on that list. Remember the way she stood at the window of the boardinghouse when we were bringing Stefan back from the well? But she wouldn’t come downstairs to open the door for us? That’s odd behavior.”
Elena nodded. “Yes, and how she kept hanging up on me when I called him. And she certainly keeps to herself in that old house. She may just be a dotty old lady, but put her down anyway, Bonnie.” She ran a hand through her hair, lifting it off the back of her neck. She was hot. Or—not hot exactly, but uncomfortable in some way that was similar to being overheated. She felt parched.
“All right, we’ll go by the boardinghouse tomorrow before school,” Meredith said. “Meanwhile, what else can we be doing? Let’s have a look at that list, Bonnie.”
Bonnie held the list out so they could see it, and Elena and Meredith leaned forward and read:
Matt Honeycutt
Vickie Bennett
Robert Maxwell—What was he doing at the church when the dogs attacked? And what was going on that night with Elena’s aunt?
Alaric Saltzman—Why does he ask so many questions? What was he called to Fell’s Church to do?
Mrs. Flowers—Why does she act so strange?
Why didn’t she let us in the night Stefan was wounded?
“Good,” Elena said. “I guess we could also find out whose dogs were at the church today. And you can watch Alaric at school tomorrow.”
“I’ll watch Alaric,” Bonnie said firmly. “And I’ll get him cleared of suspicion; you see if I don’t.”
“Fine, you do that. You can be assigned to him. And Meredith can investigate Mrs. Flowers, and I can take Robert. And as for Stefan and Damon—well, they can be assigned to everyone, because they can use their Powers to probe people’s minds. Besides, that list is by no means complete. I’m going to ask them to scout around town searching for any signs of Power, or anything else weird going on. They’re more likely than I am to recognize it.”
Sitting back, Elena wet her lips absently.
She was parched. She noticed something she’d never noticed before: the fine tracery of veins on Bonnie’s inner wrist. Bonnie was still holding the note pad out, and the skin of her wrist was so translucent that the teal blue veins showed clearly through. Elena wished she’d listened when they’d studied human anatomy at school; now what was the name for this vein, the big one that branched like a fork in a tree …?
“Elena. Elena!”
Startled, Elena looked up to see Meredith’s wary dark eyes and Bonnie’s alarmed expression. It was only then that she realized she was crouched close to Bonnie’s wrist, rubbing the biggest vein with her finger.
“Sorry,” she murmured, sitting back. But she could feel the extra length and sharpness of her canine teeth. It was something like wearing braces; she could clearly feel the difference in weight. She realized her reassuring smile at Bonnie was not having the desired effect. Bonnie was looking scared, which was silly. Bonnie ought to know that Elena would never hurt her. And Elena wasn’t very hungry tonight; Elena had always been a light eater.
She could get all she needed from this tiny vein here in the wrist….
Elena jumped to her feet and spun toward the window, leaning against the casing, feeling the cool night air blowing on her skin. She felt dizzy, and she couldn’t seem to get her breath.
What had she been doing? She turned around to see Bonnie huddled close to Meredith, both of them looking sick with fear. She hated having them look at her that way.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to, Bonnie. Look, I’m not coming any closer. I should have eaten before I came here. Damon said I’d get hungry later.”
Bonnie swallowed, looking even sicker. “Eaten?”
“Yes, of course,” Elena said tartly. Her veins were burning; that was what this feeling was. Stefan had described it before, but she’d never really understood; she’d never realized what he was going through when the need for blood was on him. It was terrible, irresistible. “What do you think I eat these days, air?” she added defiantly. “I’m a hunter now, and I’d better go out hunting.”
Bonnie and Meredith were trying to cope; she could tell they were, but she could also see the revulsion in their eyes. She concentrated on using her new senses, in opening herself to the night and searching for Stefan’s or Damon’s presence. It was difficult, because neither of them was projecting with his mind as he had been the night they’d been fighting in the woods, but she thought she could sense a glimmer of Power out there in the town.
But she had no way to communicate with it, and frustration made the scorching in her veins even worse. She’d just decided that she might have to go without them when the curtains whipped back into her face, flapping in a burst of wind. Bonnie lurched up with a gasp, knocking the reading lamp off the nightstand and plunging the room into darkness. Cursing, Meredith worked to get it righted again. The curtains fluttered madly in the flickering light that emerged, and Bonnie seemed to be trying to scream.
When the bulb was finally screwed back in, it revealed Damon sitting casually but precariously on the sill of the open window, one knee up. He was smiling one of his wildest smiles.
“Do you mind?” he said. “This is uncomfortable.”
Elena glanced back at Bonnie and Meredith, who were braced against the closet, looking horrified and hypnotized at once. She herself shook her head, exasperated.
“And I thought I liked to make a dramatic entrance,” she said. “Very funny, Damon. Now let’s go.”
“With two such beautiful friends of yours right here?” Damon smiled again at Bonnie and Meredith. “Besides, I only just got here. Won’t somebody be polite and ask me in?”
Bonnie’s brown eyes, fixed helplessly on his face, softened a bit. Her lips, which had been parted in horror, parted further. Elena recognized the signs of imminent meltdown.
“No, they won’t,” she said. She put herself directly between Damon and the other girls. “Nobody here is for you, Damon—not now, not ever.” Seeing the flare of challenge in his eyes, she added archly, “And anyway, I’m leaving. I don’t know about you, but I’m going hunting.” She was reassured to sense Stefan’s presence nearby, on the roof probably, and to hear his instant amendment: We’re going hunting, Damon. You can sit there all night if you want.
Damon gave in with good grace, shooting one last amused glance toward Bonnie before disappearing from the window. Bonnie and Meredith both started forward in alarm as he did, obviously concerned that he had just fallen to his death.
“He’s fine,” said Elena, shaking her head again. “And don’t worry, I won’t let him come back. I’ll meet you at the same time tomorrow. Good-bye.”
“But—Elena—” Meredith stopped. “I mean, I was going to ask you if you wanted to change your clothes.”
Elena regarded herself. The nineteenth-century heirloom dress was tattered and bedraggled, the thin white muslin shredded in some places. But there was no time to change it; she had to feed now.
“It’ll have to wait,” she said. “See you tomorrow.” And she boosted herself out of the window the way Damon had. The last she saw of them, Meredith and B
onnie were staring after her dazedly.
She was getting better at landings; this time she didn’t bruise her knees. Stefan was there, and he wrapped something dark and warm around her.
“Your cloak,” she said, pleased. For a moment they smiled at each other, remembering the first time he had given her the cloak, after he’d saved her from Tyler in the graveyard and taken her back to his room to clean up. He’d been afraid to touch her then. But, Elena thought, smiling up into his eyes, she had taken care of that fear rather quickly.
“I thought we were hunting,” Damon said.
Elena turned the smile on him, without unlinking her hand from Stefan’s. “We are,” she said. “Where should we go?”
“Any house on this street,” Damon suggested.
“The woods,” Stefan said.
“The woods,” Elena decided. “We don’t touch humans, and we don’t kill. Isn’t that how it goes, Stefan?”
He returned the pressure of her fingers. “That’s how it goes,” he said quietly.
Damon’s lip curled fastidiously. “And just what are we looking for in the woods, or don’t I want to know? Muskrat? Skunk? Termites?” His eyes moved to Elena and his voice dropped. “Come with me, and I’ll show you some real hunting.”
“We can go through the graveyard,” Elena said, ignoring him.
“White-tailed deer feed all night in the open areas,” Stefan told her, “but we’ll have to be careful stalking them; they can hear almost as well as we can.”
Another time, then, Damon’s voice said in Elena’s mind.
8
“Who—? Oh, it’s you!” Bonnie said, starting at the touch on her elbow. “You scared me. I didn’t hear you come up.”
He’d have to be more careful, Stefan realized. In the few days he’d been away from school, he’d gotten out of the habit of walking and moving like a human and fallen back into the noiseless, perfectly controlled stride of the hunter. “Sorry,” he said, as they walked side by side down the corridor.