The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 11

Arizona was as hot and barren a claim as Elena had imagined. She and Damon drove directly to the Juniper Re change, and Elena was depressed, if not surprised, to affect that insipid was not checked in.It give the sackt maintain bundlen him longer than us to nettle hither, she express, as soon as theyd been turn appearn up to their directions. Unless oh, God, Damon Unless Shinichi caught him someway.Damon sat d own on a bed and regarded Elena grimly. I guess I hoped I wouldnt give to regularise you this that the jerk would at least take in the courtesy to tell you himself. unhurt Ive been tracking his aura ever since he left us. Its been acquire steadily farther away in the direction of Fells Church.Some dates, re bothy naughtily news takes a while to sink in.You mean, Elena verbalise, that hes not discharge to presentation up here at any?I mean that, as the crow fevasivenesss, it wasnt all that far from where we got the cars to Fells Church. He went in t hat direction. And he didnt pass guts. al superstar why? Elena demanded, as if logic could somehow conquer fact. why would he go finish off and leave me? Especially, why would he go to Fells Church, where theyre verbalisming for him?As for why hed leave I imply he got the wrong stem about you and me or peradventure the right view a detailed early Damon raised his midpointbrows at Elena and she threw a stay at him and decided to allow us ingest some privacy. As for why Fells Church Damon shrugged. Look, youve cognizen the guy longer than I s content. hardly even I wad tell hes the Galahad type. The parfait gentil knight, sans peur et sans reproche. If I had to verify Id say he went to meet Carolines charges.Oh, no, Elena said, spill to the inlet as a knock sounded. Not after I told him and told him Oh, yes, Damon said, assuming a delicate crouching position. eventide with your sage advice ringing in his ears The doorway opened. It was fair. beautiful, wit h her petite frame, her curly strawberry hair, her wide, soulful brown eyeball. Elena, in a state to dis confide the induction of her own eyes, and still not through with the argument with Damon, shut the door on her. ii-dimensionalitys going to bug out lynched, Elena sightly about screamed, vaguely annoyed that some knocking was going on somewhere.Damon uncrouched. He passed Elena on the way to the door, said, I think youd better sit down, and consequently sat her down by postureting her in a chair and holding her there until she stop trying to birth up again. whence he opened the door.This prison term it was Meredith knocking. Tall and willowy, with her hair falling in dark clouds around her shoulders, Meredith radiated the aspiration to go on knocking until the door stayed open. Something happened inside Elena, and she found that she could progress to her mind around much than one(a) subject at once.It was Meredith. And honest. In Sedona, ArizonaElena leaped up fr om the chair where Damon had put her and flung her arms around Meredith, utter incoherently, You came You came You knew I couldnt call you, so you came bonny edged around the emb runment and said to Damon in an undertone, Is she stomach to kissing e very(prenominal)one she meets?Unfortunately, Damon said, no. But be prep atomic number 18d to be squeezed to death.Elena turned on him. I perceive that Oh, Bonnie I in effect(p) cant believe you deuce atomic number 18 genuinely here. I pauperismed to talk to you so muchMeanwhile, she was hug Bonnie, and Bonnie was hugging her, and Meredith was hugging both of them. Subtle velociraptor sistership signals were being passed from one to an opposite(prenominal) at the same time an arched eyebrow here, a slight nod there, a frown and shrug ending with a sigh. Damon didnt k at a time it, notwithstanding he had unspoiled been accused, tried, acquitted, and restored to duty with the conclusion that extra superintendence was necessar y in the future.Elena snapped out of it first of all. You must have met with monotonic he had to tell you about this place.He did, and then he sold the Prius and we sort of packed on the run and got plane tickets here and weve been waiting we didnt want to miss you Bonnie said breathlessly.I dont suppose that would have been just about two days ago that you bought your tickets here, Damon asked the ceiling wearily as he lounged with an elbow on Elenas chair.Let me unwrap Bonnie began, but Meredith said flatly, Yes it was. What? It made something happen to you?We were trying to keep things slightly ambiguous for the enemy, Damon said. But as it turns out, it probably didnt matter.No, Elena thought, because Shinichi can touch inside your sense whe neer he wants and try to take away your memories and all you can do is try to fight him off.But it does mean that Elena and I should start off right away. Damon continued. I have to do an errand first. Elena should pack. Take as p iddling as you can, just the absolute essentials but include food for two or three days.You saidstarting now? Bonnie breathed, and then she sat down abruptly on the floor.It makes sense, if weve already lost the division of surprise, Damon replied.I cant believe you two came to say good-bye to me while Matt watches over the town, Elena said. That is so sweet She smiled radiantly in the beginning adding, in her own mind, And so dumbWell Well, I still have an errand, Damon said, beckon without turning around. Lets say well leave here in half an hour.Stingy, Bonnie complained, when the door was safely shut behind him. That major power have except given us a few minutes to talk sooner we start.I can pack in less than five minutes, Elena said sadly, and then got tangled up in Bonnies previous sentence. Before we start?I cant pack just essentials at all, Meredith was fretting quietly. I couldnt store everything on my mobile, and I have no idea when Ill be able to recharge the batte ries. Ive got a suitcase of stuff on paperElena was looking patronize and forth at them nervously. Um, Im exquisite sure Im the one whos supposed to be packing, she said. Because Im the scarce one goingright? An new(prenominal) look back and forth.As if we would let you label off into some other universe without us Bonnie said. You need usNot another universe only another dimension, Meredith said. But the same principle applies.But I cant let you come with meOf course you cant. Im older than you, Meredith said. You dont let me do whateverthing. But the truth is that we have a mission. We want to find Shinichis or Misaos star ball if we can. If we could do that we think we could stop most of the stuff going on in Fells Church immediately.Star ball? Elena said blankly, while somewhere in the depths of her mind, an uneasy image stirred.Ill explain later.Elena was shiver her head. But you left Matt to deal with whatever supernatural stuff is going on? When hes a fugitive and ha s to hide from the police?Elena, even the police are terrified of Fells Church now and frankly, if they put him in custody in Ridgemont it might be the safest place for him. But theyre not going to do that. Hes on the job(p) with Mrs. Flowers and theyre good to stir upher theyre a solid team. Meredith stopped to take a breath, and dealmed to be considering how to say something.Bonnie said it for her in a very small voice. And I was no good, Elena. Id started well, I started to get hysterical and see and hear things that werent there or at least to imagine them and maybe even make them come true. I was scaring myself out of my mind, and I think I actually was putting people in danger. Matts too serviceable to do that. She dabbed at her eyes. I contend the Dark Dimension is pretty annoyanceful, but at least I wont be able to put houses full of innocent people in danger.Meredith nodded. It was allgoing bad with Bonnie there. Even if we hadnt wanted to come with you I would ha ve had to get her out. I dont want to be overly spectacular, but I believe that the demons there were after her. And that since Stefans at peace(p), Damon may be the only one who can keep them away. Or maybe you can help her, Elena?Meredithoverly dramatic? But Elena could see the fine tremors running under Merediths skin, and the light sparkle of perspiration on Bonnies forehead that was dampening her curls.Meredith touched Elenas wrist. We havent just gone AWOL or anything. Fells Church is a war zone now its true, but we didnt leave Matt without allies. Like Dr. Alpert shes logical shes the best state of matter doctor there is and she might even convince somebody that Shinichi and the malach are real. But besides all that, the parents have taken over. Parents and psychiatrists and newshounds. And they make it almost impossible to throw openly anyway. Matts not at any disadvantage.But in just a week Take a look at this weeks Sunday paper.Elena took the Ridgemont Times from Meredith. It was the biggest paper in the area of Fells Church. A banner headline readPOSSESSION IN THE 21ST degree Celsius?Under the headline were many lines of gray print, but what very caught the eye was a photo of a three-way fight between girls, all of whom seemed to be undergoing seizures or contortions impossible to the human body. The expressions of two of the girls were obviously those of pain and terror, but it was the third girl who froze the blood in Elenas veins. Her body was change posture so that her depend was upside down, and she was looking directly at the camera with her lips skinned back from her teeth. Her eyes there was just no other way to put it were demonic. They werent rolled back in her head or malformed or anything. They werent glo kick upstairsg eerily red. It was all in the expression. Elena had never seen eyes that made her sick to her stomach before.Bonnie said quietly, Do you ever sort of slip and get that feeling like, Oh, whoops, there goes the whole universe?Constantly, since meeting Stefan, Meredith said. No offense meant, Elena. But the point is that all this has happened in just a couple of days from the minute the adults who knew that there was something really going on got unneurotic.Meredith sighed and ran fingers with perfectly manicured nails through her hair before continuing. Those girls are what Bonnie calls have in the modern sense. Or maybe theyre possessed by Misao female kitsune are supposed to do that. But if we could just find these things called star balls or even one we could force them to sportsmanlike all this up.Elena put the newspaper down so she wouldnt have to see those upside-down eyes staring into hers. And while all this is happening, what is your boyfriend doing during the crisis?For the first time, Meredith looked genuinely relieved. He may be on his way as we speak. Ive written to him about everything thats happening, and he was actually the one who said to get Bonnie out. She fla shed a glance of apology at Bonnie, who simply bring up her hands and face to the heavens. And as soon as hes finished with his work on some island called Shinmei no Uma, hes coming to Fells Church. This kind of thing is Alarics specialty, and he doesnt get spooked easily. So even if were gone for weeks, Matt will have a backup. Elena threw her own hands up in a apparent movement similar to Bonnies. Theres just one thing youd better know before we start. I cant help Bonnie. If youre counting on me to do any of the things I did when we fought Shinichi and Misao last time well, I cant. Ive tried over and over, as unsaid as I could, to do all my wings attacks. But energy has ever come of it.Meredith said slowly, Well, then, maybe Damon knows something Maybe he does, but, Meredith, dont conjure him right now. Not right this minute. What he knows for certain is that Shinichi can r to each one in and take his memories and who knows, maybe even possess him again That hypocrisy ki tsune Bonnie spat out, sounding almost proprietory. As if, Elena thought, Damon was her boyfriend. Shinichi swore he wouldnt And he swore hed leave Fells Church alone, too. The only reason I have any faith at all in the clues that Misao gave me about the fox key, is that she was bemock me. She never thought wed do a deal, and so she wasnt trying to lie or be too clever I think.Well, thats why were here with you, to get Stefan out, Bonnie said. And if were lucky, to find the star balls that will let us control Shinichi. Right?Right Elena said fervently.Right, Meredith said solemnly.Bonnie nodded. Velociraptor sisterhood foreverThey laid their right hands over one anothers quickly, forming a three-spoked wheel. It reminded Elena of the days when there were four spokes.And what about Caroline? she asked.Bonnie and Meredith consulted each other with their eyes. wherefore Meredith shook her head. You dont want to know. Really, she said.I can take it. Really, Elena said in almost a wh isper. Meredith, Ive been dead, remember? Twice.Meredith was still shaking her head. If you cant look at that picture, you shouldnt hear about Caroline. We went to see her twice You went to see her twice, Bonnie interrupted. The second time I fainted and you left me by the door.And I realized I could have lost you for good, and Ive apologized Meredith broke off when Bonnie put a hand on her arm and gave her a lilliputian push.Anyway, it wasnt exactly a visit, Meredith said. I went running into Carolines room ahead of her florists chrysanthemum and found her inside her nest never mind what that is eating something. When she see me, she just giggled and went on eating.And? Elena said, when the tension got to be too much for her. What was it?I think, Meredith said bleakly, that it was worms and slugs. She would stretch them up and up and theyd squirm before she cunt them. But that wasnt the worst. Look, you had to have been here to appreciate it, but she just smirked at me, an d said in this thick voice, Have a bite? and unawares my mouth was filled with this wriggling mass and it was going down my throat. So I was sick, right there on her carpet. Caroline just started laughing, and I ran down again and picked Bonnie up and ran out and we never went back. Buthalfway down the path to the house, I realized Bonnie was suffocating. She had the the worms and things in her mouth and her nose. I know CPR I managed to get most of them out before she woke up vomiting. But It was an experience I would really rather not have again. The very lack of expression in Bonnies voice said more than any tone of horror could.Meredith said, Ive heard that Carolines parents have moved out of that house, and I cant say I excite them. Carolines over eighteen. All I can add is that everybodys sort of praying that somehow the werewolf blood will win out in her, because that seems at least to be less horrible than the malach or the the demonic. But if it doesnt win outElena r ested her chin on her knees. And Mrs. Flowers can deal with this? go bad than Bonnie can. Mrs. Flowers is glad to have Matt around like I said, theyre a solid team. And now that she has finally spoken to the human race of the twenty-first century, I think she likes it. And shes been practicing the craft constantly.The craft? Oh Yeah, thats what she calls witchcraft. I have no idea whether shes any good at it or not, because I dont have anything to compare her to or with Her poultices work like magic Bonnie said firmly just as Elena said, Her bath salts certainly work.Meredith smiled faintly. to a fault bad she isnt here instead of us.Elena shook her head. Now that she had reconnected with Bonnie and Meredith she knew she could never go into the Darkness without them. They were more than her hands they were so much more to herand here they were, each prepared to risk their life for Stefan and for Fells Church.At that moment, the door to the room opened. Damon walked in, carrying a couple of brown paper bags in one hand.So everybodys said bye-bye nicely? he asked. He seemed to have trouble looking at either of the two visitors, so he stared particularly hard at Elena.Well not really. Not as such, Elena said. She wondered if Damon was capable of throwing Meredith out a fifth-story window. Best to break it easily to him, by degrees.Because were going with you, Meredith said, and Bonnie said, We forgot to pack, though.Elena slid quickly so that she was between Damon and the others. But Damon just stared at the floor.Its a bad idea, he said very softly. A very, very, very bad idea.Damon, dont Influence them Please Elena waved both hands at him in a gesture of urgency, and Damon raised one of his hands in a gesture of negation and somehow their hands brushed each others and tangled. electric car shock. But a nice one, Elena thought although she didnt really have time to think it. She and Damon were both trying desperately to get their hands back to themselves , but didnt seem to be able to. Little shockwaves were running from Elenas ornament all through her body.Finally, the disentanglement worked and then they both turned, in hangdog unison, to look at Bonnie and Meredith, who were staring at them with enormous eyes. odd eyes. Eyes that belonged in faces give tongue to Aha What have we here?There was a long moment when no one moved or spoke.Then Damon said seriously, This isnt some kind of pleasure trip. Were going because theres no other choice.Not alone, youre not, Meredith said in a neutral tone. If Elena goes, we all go.We know its a bad place, Bonnie said, but we are definitely going with you.Besides, we have our own agenda, Meredith added. A way to cleanse Fells Church of the defile Shinichi has done and is still doing.Damon shook his head. You dont understand. You wont like it, he said tightly. He nodded at her mobile. No electric power in there. Even owning one of those is a crime. And the punishment for just about any cri me is twist and death. He took a step toward her.Meredith refused to back away, her dark gaze restore on his.Look, you dont even realize what you have to do just to get in, Damon said bleakly. First, you need a vampire and youre lucky to have one. Then youll have to do all sorts of things you wont like If Elena can do it, we can do it, Meredith interrupted quietly.I dont want either of you to get hurt. Im going in because its for Stefan, Elena said hastily, speaking partly to her friends and partly to the innermost core of her being, which the shockwaves and pulses of electricity had reached at last. Such a strange, melting, throbbing sweetness for something that had started out as a shock. Such a fierce shock for simply touching another persons hand.Elena manged to tear her eyes away from Damons face and tune back into the argument that was going on.Youre going in for Stefan, yes, Meredith was express to her, and were going in with you.Im telling you, you wont like it. Youll l ive to regret it if you live, that is, Damon was saying flatly, his expression dark.Bonnie simply gazed up at Damon with her brown eyes wide and pleading in her small heart-shaped face. Her hands were clasped together at the base of her throat. She looked like a picture on a Hallmark card, Elena thought. And those eyes were worth a thousand logical arguments.Finally, Damon looked back at Elena. Youre probably taking them to their deaths, you know. You, I could probably protect. But you and Stefan, and your two little teenage girlfriends I cant.Hearing it put that way was a shock. Elena hadnt quite thought of it like that. But she could see the determined roundabout of Merediths jaw and the way Bonnie had gone up a little on her toes to try to look bigger.I think its already been decided, she said quietly, aware that her voice shook.There was a long moment as she stared into Damons dark eyes, and then suddenly he flashed his 250-kilowatt smile at all of them, shut it off almost bef ore it had begun, and said, I see. Well, in that case, I have another errand. I may not be back for quite a while, so feel free to use the room Elena should come to our room, Meredith said. I have a lot of material to show her. And if we cant take much with us, well have to go over it all this night Then lets say we meet back here at dawn, Damon said. Well set off for the Demon accession from here. And remember dont bring money it isnt any good there. And this is not a vacation but youll get that idea soon enough.With a graceful, ironic gesture, he handed Elena her bag.The Demon Gate? Bonnie said as they went to the elevator. Her voice shook.Hush, said Meredith. Its only a name.Elena wished she didnt know so well when Meredith was lying.