The Return: Nightfall Chapter 6

I express, see start , Meredith repeated to Carolean, still quietly. Youve said issues that neer should wear been said in any civilized place. This happens to be Stefans place and, yes, its hisplace to order you out, too. Im doing it for him, though, because he never would ask a girl and a former girlfriend, I susceptibility add to get the hell out of his direction. matte cle ard his throat. Hed stepped gage into a corner and e real one and only(a) had forgotten round him. Now he said, Carolean, Ive cognize you way too long to be formal, and Merediths right. You want to say the word form of boil downgs youve been maxim to the graduate(prenominal)est degree Elena, you do it someplace faraway from Elena. scarcely, look, theres one thing I hit the sack. No matter what Elena did when she was was downhere onwards his vowel system dropped a micro in wonder, and decorous knew that he meant, when Elena was here on Earth to begin with shes as close to an angel i nstantlyadays as you squeeze out get. Right now shesshes alone He hesitated, stumbling for the right rowing.Pure, Meredith said easily, filling in the blank for him.Yeah, monotone agreed. Yeah, pure. Everything she does is pure. And its not standardized any of your nasty words could stain her, anyway, tho the rest of us just dont give care hearing you discipline. on that point was a low Thank you from Stefan.I was already going, Caroline said, now through with(predicate) her teeth. And dont youdare preach atme about purity Here, with tout ensemble this going on You plausibly just want to watch it going on yourself, 2 girls kissing. You likely Enough. Stefan said it almost expressionlessly, that Caroline was swept score her feet, up and out of the door, and deposited there by invisible hands. Her purse trailed aft(prenominal) her. wherefore the door quietly shut.Fine hairs rose on the back of becomings neck. This was supply, in such amounts that her psychic senses w ere stunned and temporarily paralyzed. Moving Caroline and she wasnt a sm all(prenominal) girl now that took Power .Maybe Stefan had changed just as much as Elena had. Bonnie glanced at Elena, whose pool of serenity was riffle because of Caroline.Might as well take her mind off it, and possibly make herself worthy of athank you from Stefan, Bonnie thought.She tapped Elenas knee, and when Elena turned, Bonnie kissed her.Elena broke the kiss very quickly, as if afraid to set off some holocaust again. just Bonnie saw at once what Meredith had said about it not being sexual. It wasmore like being examined by someone who utilize all her senses to the fullest. When Elena moved away from Bonnie she beamed at her just as she had at Meredith, all the distress washed away by yes, thepurity of the kiss. And Bonnie felt as if some of Elenas tranquility had soaked into her.should have cognize better than to bring Caroline, Matt was saying to Stefan. Sorry about justting in. But Iknow Ca roline, and she could have gone on ranting for an otherwise half hour, never actually leaving.Stefan took care of that, Meredith said, or was that Elena, too?It was me, Stefan said. Matt had it right she could pass on talking forever without actually leaving. And Id just as fain nobody run Elena down like that in my hearing.Why are they talking about those things? Bonnie wondered. Of all state, Meredith and Stefan were least inclined to chatter, barely here they were, saying things that didnt really need to be said. Then she realize it was for Matt, who was moving slowly however with determination toward Elena.Bonnie got up as quickly and as lithely as if she could fly, and managed to pass Matt without looking at him. And thusly she was joining Meredith and Stefan in small talk well, medium-small talk about what had just happened. Caroline made a bad enemy, everyone agreed, and nothing seemed to train her that her dodges against Elena always backfired. Bonnie would bet tha t she was hatching a new scheme right now against all of them.She feels lonely all the time, Stefan said, as if nerve-racking to make excuses for her. She wants to be accepted, by anyone, on any terms but she feels apart. As if nobody who really got to know her would trust her.Shes defensive, Meredith agreed. But youd de darte shed showsome gratitude. After all, we did rescue her and save her life just over a week ago.There was more to it than that, Bonnie thought. Her intuition was trying to signalise her something something about what might have happened in the first place they had been able to rescue Caroline but she was so angry on Elenas behalf that she ignored it.Why should anybody trust her? she said to Stefan. She sneaked a peek behind her. Elena was definitely going to know Matt anywhere, and Matt looked as if he were fainting. Carolines beautiful, sure, but thats it. She never has a earnest word to say about anybody. She plays games all the time and and Iknow we used to do some of that, toobut hers are always meant to make other people look bad. Sure, she can take mostguys in a emergent anxiety swept over her, and she spoke more loudly to try to push it away but if youre a girl shes just a pair of long legs and big Bonnie stopped because Meredith and Stefan had frozen, with identicalOh-God-not-again expressions on their faces.And she similarly has very decent hearing, said a shaking, threatening voice from somewhere behind Bonnie. Bonnies snapper leaped into her throat.That was what you got for ignoring premonitions.Caroline Meredith and Stefan were both trying for damage control, but it was too late. Caroline stalked in on her long legs as if she didnt want her feet to touch Stefans floorboards. Oddly, though, she was carrying her high heels.I came back in to get my sunglasses, she said, still in that trembling voice. And I heard enough to know now what my so-called friends think of me.No, you didnt, Meredith said, as rapidly eloqu ent as Bonnie was stunned mute. You heard some very angry people letting off steam after youd just insulted them.Besides, Bonnie said, suddenly able to speak again, admit it, Caroline youhoped youd hear something. Thats why you took off your shoes. You were right behind the door, listening, werent you?Stefan shut his eye. This is my fault. I should have No, you shouldnt, Meredith said to him, and to Caroline she added, And if you can tell me one word we said that isnt true, or was hyperbolise except maybe for what Bonnie said, and Bonnie isjust being Bonnie. Anyway, if you can point to one word of what the rest of us said that isnt true,Ill require your pardon.Caroline wasnt listening. Caroline was twitching. She had a facial tic, and her lovely face was convulsed, lightless red, with fury.Oh, youregoing to beg my pardon all right, she said, wheeling to point her long-nailed forefinger at each of them. Youreall going to be sorry. And if you try that that witchcraft- lamia ty pe thing on me again, she said to Stefan, I have friends real friends whod like to know about it.Caroline, just this afternoon you signed a contract Oh, who gives a goddam?Stefan stood up. It was phantasma now inside the small room with its dusty window, and Stefans nighttime was thrown before him by the bedside lamp. Bonnie looked at it and then poked Meredith, as the hairs tingled on her arms and neck. The fag end was surprisingly dark and surprisingly tall. Carolines shadow was weak, transparent, and short an imitation shadow beside Stefans very real one.The thunderstorm note was back. Bonnie was shaking now trying not to, but inefficient to stop the shivering that had come on as if she had been thrown into glacial water. It was a cold that had gotten directly into her bones and was ripping layer after layer of heat off them like some greedy giant, and now she was beginning to shakehard.Something was happening to Caroline in the darkness something was coming from her or comingfor her or maybe both. In any case, it was all around her now, and all around Bonnie, too, and the tension was so thick that Bonnie felt choked, her heart pounding. Beside her, Meredith practical, level- dubiousnessed Meredith stirred uneasily.What ? Meredith began in a whisper.Suddenly, as if it had all been exquisitely choreographed by the things in the dark the door to Stefans room slammed shutthe lamp, an ordinary galvanic one, went offthe ancient rolled-up shutter over the window came rattling down, displace the room into sudden and complete darkness.And Caroline bellowed. It was an awful sound raw, as if it had been stripped like meat from Carolines backbone and yanked out of her throat.Bonnie screamed, too. She couldnt servicing it, although her scream sounded too faint and too breathless, like an echo, not the coloratura job that Caroline had done. Thank God that at least Caroline wasnt screaming any longer. Bonnie was able to stop the new scream buildin g in her own throat, nevertheless though her shaking was worsened than ever. Meredith had an arm around her tightly, but then, as the darkness and the silence went on and Bonnies shaking only continued, Meredith got up and heartlessly passed her to Matt, who seemed astonished and embarrassed, but seek awkwardly to hold her.Its not as dark once your eyes get used to it, he said. His voice was creaky, as if he mandatory a befuddle of water. But it was the best thing that he could have said, because of all things in the world to fear, Bonnie was most afraid of the dark. There werethings in it, things that only she saw. She managed, despite the terrible shaking, to stand with his support and then she gasped, and heard Matt gasp, too.Elena was glowing. non only that, but the glow elongated out behind her and far to either side of her in a pair of what were beautifully defined, and undeniablythere locomote.She h-has wings, Bonnie whispered, the stutter caused by her shaking sort of than by awe or fear. Matt was clinging toher now, like a pip-squeak he obviously couldnt answer.The wings moved with Elenas breathing. She was sitting on thin air, steady now, one hand held out with her fingers all spread in a gesture of denial.Elena spoke. It wasnt any language that Bonnie had heard before she doubted it was any language people on Earth used. The words were sharp, thin-edged, like the splintering of myriad shards of crystal that had fallen from somewhere very high and very far away.The shape of the wordsalmost made sense in Bonnies head as her own psychic abilities were sparked by Elenas awesome Power. It was a Power that stood tall against the darkness and now was sweeping it asidemaking the things in the dark scamper away before it, their claws scritching in all directions. Ice-sharp words followed them all the way, dismissive now.And ElenaElena was as heartbreakingly beautiful as when shed been a vampire, and seemed almost as pale as one.But Caroline was shou ting, too. She was apply powerful words of barren Magic, and to Bonnie it was as if the shadows of all sorts of dark and horrible things were coming from her mouth lounge lizards and snakes and many-legged spiders.It was a duel, a face-off of magic. whole how had Caroline learned so much dark magic? She wasnt even a witch by lineage, like Bonnie.Outside Stefans room, surrounding it, was a strange sound, almost like a helicopter. Whipwhipwhipwhipwhip It terrified Bonnie.But she had to do something. She was Celtic by heritage and psychic because she couldnt avoid it, and she had to help Elena. Slowly, as if making her way against gale-force winds, Bonnie stumbled to put her hand on Elenas hand, to continue Elena her power.When Elena clasped hands with her, Bonnie realized that Meredith was on her other side. The light grew. The scrabbling lizard things ran from it, screaming and tearing at each other to get away.The side by side(p) thing Bonnie knew, Elena had slumped over. The wi ngs were gone. The dark scrabbling things were gone, too. Elena had sent them away, using tremendous amounts of energy to overwhelm them with White Power.Shell fall, Bonnie whispered, looking at Stefan. Shes been using magic so strong Just then, as Stefan started to turn to Elena, several(prenominal) things happened very ready, as if the room was caught in the flashes of a strobe light.Flash. The window shade rolled back up, rattling furiously.Flash. The lamp went back on, revealing it was in Stefans hands. He must have been trying to fix it.Flash. The door to Stefans room opened slowly, creaking, as if to make up for slamming shut before.Flash. Caroline was now on the floor, on all fours, groveling, breathing hard. Elena had won.Elena fell.Only inhumanly fast reflexes could have caught her, especially from across the room. But Stefan had tossed the lamp to Meredith and was across the distance meteoric than Bonnies eyes could follow. Then he was retentivity Elena, encircling he r protectively.Oh,hell , said Caroline. Black trails of mascara ran down her face, making her look like something not quite human. She looked at Stefan with unconcealed hatred. He looked back soberly no,sternly .Dont call on Hell, he said in a very low voice. Not here. Not now. Because Hell might hear and call back.As if it already hadnt, Caroline said, and in that moment, she was pitiful unconnected and pathetic. As if she had started something she didnt know how to stop.Caroline, what are you saying? Stefan knelt. Are you saying that youve already made some bargain ?Ouch, Bonnie said, suddenly and involuntarily, shattering the ominous mood in Stefans room. One of Carolines broken nails had left a trail of blood on the floor. Caroline had knelt in it, too, making things pretty messy. Bonnie felt a sympathetic vibrate of pain in her own fingers until Caroline waved her bloody hand at Stefan. Then Bonnies sympathy turned to nausea.Want a lick? she said. Her voice and face had c hanged entirely, and she wasnt even trying to hide it. Oh, come on, Stefan, she went on mockingly, youdo drink human blood these days, dont you? Human or whatever she is, whatever shes become. You two fly like bats together now, do you?Caroline, Bonnie whispered, didnt yousee them? Her wings Just like a bat or another vampire already. Stefans made her I saw them too, Matt said flatly, behind Bonnie. They werent bat wings.Doesnt anybody have eyes? Meredith said from where she stood by the lamp. Look here. She bent. When she stood again she was holding a long neat feather. It shone in the light.Maybe shes a white crow, then, Caroline said. That would be appropriate. And I cant believe how youre all all cower on her as if she were some sort of princess. Always everybodys little darling, arent you, Elena? head it, Stefan said.Everybodys, thats the key word, Caroline spat.Stop it.The way you were kissing people one after another. She gave a theatrical shudder. Everyone seems to h ave forgotten, but that was more like Stop, Caroline.Thereal Elena. Carolines voice had become pretend-prissy, but she couldnt keep the venom out, Bonnie thought. Because anyone who knows you knows what youreally were before Stefanblessed us with hisirresistible presence. You were Caroline, stop right there A slut Thats all Just a cheap, anybodysslut