The Return: Nightfall Chapter 6

I say, commove out , Meredith repeated to Caroline, still quietly. Youve said things that never should have been said in some(prenominal) civilized place. This happens to be Stefans place and, yes, its hisplace to order you out, besides. Im doing it for him, though, because he never would ask a girl and a former girlfriend, I might make up to get the hell out of his room.Matt cleared his throat. Hed stepped back into a corner and every one had forgotten roughly him. Now he said, Caroline, Ive k right awayn you way too long to be formal, and Merediths right. You want to say the kind of things youve been saying about Elena, you do it somewhere faraway from Elena. entirely, look, at that places one thing I pick out. No bailiwick what Elena did when she was was downhere onwards his voice dropped a little in wonder, and clean knew that he meant, when Elena was here on Earth before shes as close to an angelnow as you plunder get. Right now shesshescompletely He hesitated, stumbling for the right manner of converseing.Pure, Meredith said easily, filling in the blank for him.Yeah, Matt agreed. Yeah, pure. Everything she does is pure. And its not like any of your nasty words could stain her, anyway, moreover the lodge of us just dont like hearing you try.There was a low Thank you from Stefan.I was already going, Caroline said, now through her teeth. And dont youdare preach atme about purity Here, with both this going on You likely just want to watch it going on yourself, two girls kissing. You probably Enough. Stefan said it almost expressionlessly, moreover Caroline was swept despatch her feet, up and out of the entrance, and deposited there by invisible hands. Her purse trailed after her.Then the door quietly shut.Fine hairs rose on the back of Bonnies neck. This was Power, in such amounts that her psychical senses were stunned and temporarily paralyzed. Moving Caroline and she wasnt a gauzy girl now that took Power .Maybe Stefan had ch anged just as much as Elena had. Bonnie glanced at Elena, whose pool of serenity was rippling because of Caroline.Might as tumefy take her mind attain it, and maybe 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. further Bonnie saw at once what Meredith had said about it not being sexual. It wasmore like being examined by someone who used 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 up as if some of Elenas tranquility had soaked into her.should have known better than to bring Caroline, Matt was saying to Stefan. Sorry about butting in. But Iknow Caroline, and she could have gone on ranting for another half hour, never actually leaving.Stefan took care of that, Meredith said, or wa s that Elena, too?It was me, Stefan said. Matt had it right she could keep on talking forever without actually leaving. And Id just as lief nobody run Elena down like that in my hearing.Why are they talking about those things? Bonnie wondered. Of all people, Meredith and Stefan were least inclined to chatter, but here they were, saying things that didnt really need to be said. Then she realized it was for Matt, who was moving slowly but 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 then 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 teach her that her schemes against Elena always backfired. Bonnie would bet that she was hatching a new scheme right now against all of them.She feels lonely all the time, Stefan said, as if trying to make excuses for her. She wants to be accepted, by anyone, on any harm but she feels apart. As if nobody who really got to know her would trust her.Shes defensive, Meredith agreed. But youd think 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 tell her something something about what might have happenedbefore 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 good 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 sudden anxiety swept over her, and she utter more loudly to try to pu sh it away but if youre a girl shes just a pair of long legs and big Bonnie stop because Meredith and Stefan had frozen, with identicalOh-God-not-again expressions on their faces.And she also has very decent hearing, said a shaking, threatening voice from somewhere behind Bonnie. Bonnies heart leaped into her throat.That was what you got for ignoring premonitions.Caroline Meredith and Stefan were both trying for pervert 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 eloquent 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 he ar something. Thats why you took off your shoes. You were right behind the door, listening, werent you?Stefan shut his eyes. 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 exaggerated except maybe for what Bonnie said, and Bonnie isjust being Bonnie. Anyway, if you can foreland to one word of what the rest of us said that isnt true,Ill beg your pardon.Caroline wasnt listening. Caroline was twitching. She had a facial tic, and her lovely face was convulsed, dark 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-vampire type 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 damn?Stefan stood up. It was dark now in side the small room with its dusty window, and Stefans fag end 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 shadow was surprisingly dark and surprisingly tall. Carolines shadow was weak, transparent, and oblivious an imitation shadow beside Stefans very real one.The thunderstorm feeling was back. Bonnie was shaking now trying not to, but unable to stop the frisson that had come on as if she had been thrown into icy 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 somewhat 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-headed M eredith 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 electric one, went offthe ancient rolled-up shutter over the window came whipping down, dropping the room into sudden and complete darkness.And Caroline screamed. 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 jockstrap 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 yell any longer. Bonnie was able to stop the new scream building in her own throat, even though her shaking was worse 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 tried awkwardly to hold her.Its not as dark once your eyes get used to it, he said. His voice was creaky, as if he needed a drink of water. But it was the high hat 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 base with his support and then she gasped, and heard Matt gasp, too.Elena was glowing. Not only that, but the glow extended out behind her and far to either side of her in a pair of what were beautifully defined, and undeniablytherewings.She h-has wings, Bonnie whispered, the stutter caused by her shaking rather than by awe or fear. Matt was clinging toher now, like a infant 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 wa snt 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 non-finite 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 tremendous Power. It was a Power that stood tall against the darkness and now was sweeping it aside devising 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 shouting, too. She was using powerful words of bare Magic, and to Bonnie it was as if the shadows of all sorts of dark and horrible things were coming from her mouth lizards and snakes and many-legged spiders.It was a duel, a confrontation of magic. just n ow 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 offer 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 cutthroat at each other to get away.The next thing Bonnie knew, Elena had slumped over. The wings were gone. The dark scrabbling things were gone, too. Elena had sent them away, using tremendous amounts of energy to overwhelm them with fresh Power.Shell fall, Bonnie whispered, looking at Stefan. Shes been using magic so strong Just then, as Stefan started to turn to Elena, several things happened very fast, 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 muss 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 faster than Bonnies eyes could follow. Then he was holding Elena, encircling her 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 moving broken 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 sullen 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 throb 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 changed 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 some(prenominal) 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 white 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 fawning on her as if she were some sort of princess. Always everybodys little darling, arent you, Elena?Stop 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 performance shudder. Everyone seems to have 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. Y ou were Caroline, stop right there A slut Thats all Just a cheap, anybodysslut