The Return: Nightfall Chapter 7

There was a sort of universal gasp. Stefan went white, his matte lips showing in a tight line. clean felt as if she were choking on quarrel, on explanations, on recriminations ab come in Caroleans own behavior. Elena may fool had as many boyfriends as the stars in the sky, except in the end she had given altogether that up because she fell in love non that Caroline would hump anything nighthat .Dont pass on anything to say now? Caroline was taunting. Cant find any cute answer? cream off got your tongue? She began to laugh, simply it was forced, glassy laughter, and then words were spilling out of her almost as if uncontrollably, all words that werent supposed to be spoken in public. fair had tell most of them at one cartridge clip or another, buthere , andnow , they formed a stream of venomous power. Carolines words were building up to some large-hearted of crescendo something was going to happen this kind of force couldnt be contained Reverberations, mediocre thought as the travel waves began building up.Glass,her intuition told her.Get a management from glass.Stefan skillful had time to whirl to Meredith and shout,Get rid of the lamp.And Meredith, who was not only quick on the up learn but also a baseball pitcher with a 1.75 ERA, snatched it up and threw it at no, through an explosion as the porcelain lamp shattered the open window.There was a exchangeable shattering in the bath inhabit. The mirror had exploded behind the closed door.Then Caroline slapped Elena across the face.It go away a bloody smear, which Elena patted tentatively. It also left a white handprint, turning to red. Elenas expression was one to twine tears from a stone.And then Stefan did what Bonnie considered the most astonishing thing of all. He very piano put Elena knock off on the floor, kissed her up glowering face, and turned to Caroline.He put his pass on her shoulders, not shaking, only holding her still, forcing her to look at him.Caroline, he verba lise, stop it.Come bear. For the sake of your old friends who kick for you, fall out back. For the sake of the family that loves you, come back. For the sake of your own immortal soul,come back. Come back to usCaroline estimable eyed him belligerently.Stefan half turned aside, toward Meredith, grimacing. Im not really cut out to do this, he said wryly. Its not any vampires forte.Then he turned toward Elena, his voice tender. Love, can you garter? Can you help your old friend again?Already Elena was trying to help, trying to get to Stefan. She had pulled herself up very shakily, commencement ceremony by the rocking chair and then by Bonnie, who tried to help her under the burden of gravity. Elena was as trembling as a newborn giraffe in roller skates, and Bonnie almost half a head shorter was finding her hard to handle.Stefan made a motion as if to help, but Matt was already there, steadying Elena on the other side.Then Stefan had Caroline turned around, and he was holding h er, not permit her dart away, forcing her to face Elena fully.Elena, while being held at the waist so that her hands were free, made some curious motions, run intoming to draw designs more and more quickly in the air in face of Carolines face, at the same time clasping and unclasping her hands with the fingers in different positions. She seemed to know exactly what she was doing. Carolines eyes followed the movements of Elenas hands as if compelled, but it was clear from her snarling that she hated it.Magic, Bonnie thought, fascinated. White Magic. Shes calling on angels, just as surely as Caroline was calling demons. But is she strong enough to pull Caroline out of the darkness?And at last, as if to complete the ceremony, Elena leaned forward and kissed Caroline chastely on the lips.All perdition broke loose. Caroline somehow squirmed out of Stefans grip and tried to claw Elenas face with her nails. Objects in the room went sailing through the air, propelled by no human force. Matt tried to grab Carolines arm and got a punch in the stomach that doubled him over, followed by a chop to the back of the neck.Stefan let go of Caroline to scoop up Elena and get her and Bonnie out of harms way. He seemed to assume that Meredith could take c be of herself and he was right. Caroline swung at Meredith, but Meredith was ready. She grabbed Carolines fist and helped her in the direction of the swing. Caroline landed on the bed, twisted, and then rushed Meredith again, this time getting a grip on her hair. Meredith pulled free, leaving a tuft of hair in Carolines fingers. Then Meredith got under Carolines guard and hit her squarely on the jaw. Caroline collapsed.Bonnie cheered and refused to feel guilty about it. Then, for the first time, as Caroline lay still, Bonnie noticed that Carolines fingernails were all there again long, strong, curved, and perfect, not one of them chipped or broken.Elenas Power? It must be. What else could have done it? With just a few moti ons and a kiss, Elena had healed Carolines hand.Meredith was massaging her own hand. I never realized ithurt so a good deal to knock people out, she said. They never show it in movies. Is it the same for guys?Matt flushed. Iuh, Ive never genuinelyIts the same for everyone, compensate vampires, Stefan said briefly. Are you all right, Meredith? I mean, Elena could No, Im fine. And Bonnie and I have a job to do. She nodded at Bonnie, who nodded weakly back. Carolines our responsibility, and we should have realized why shereally had to come back this last time. She doesnt have a car. Ill bet she used that downstairs telephone and tried to get somebody to pick her up, but couldnt, and then she came upstairs again. So now we have to take her home. Stefan, Im sorry. It hasnt been much of a visit.Stefan looked grim. Its probably as much as Elena could take, anyway, he said. More than I thought she could take, honestly.Matt said, Well, Im the one with the car, and Caroline is my responsib ility, too, he said. I may not be a girl, but Im a human.Maybe we could come back tomorrow? Bonnie said.Yes, I suppose that would be best, Stefan said. I almost hate to let her go at all, he added, staring at the unconscious Caroline, his face shadowed. Im afraid for her. Very much afraid.Bonnie pounced on this. Why?I turn over well, it may be too early to say, but she seems to be almost possessed by something but I have no idea what. I think I have to do some serious investigate.And there it was again, the ice water dripping down Bonnies back. The feeling of how close the frigid ocean of fear was, ready to topple down on her and take her on a swift trip to the bottom.Stefan added, But whats certain is that she was behaving strangely even for Caroline. And I dont know whatyou heard when she was cursing, but I heard another voice behind it, prompting her. He turned to Bonnie. Did you?Bonnie was thinking back. Had there been something just a whisper and just a beat in the firs t place Carolines voice came? Less than a beat, and just the faintest of sibilant whispers?And what happened here may have made it worse. She called on Hell at a moment when this room was saturated with Power. And Fells Church itself is at the crossing of so many ley lines, it isnt funny. With all that going on well, I just wish we had a good parapsychologist around.Bonnie knew they were all thinking of Alaric.Ill try to get him to come, Meredith said. But usually hes off in Tibet or Timbuktu doing research these days. Itll take a while even to get a message to him.Thank you. Stefan looked relieved.Like I said, shes our responsibility, Meredith said quietly.Were sorry to have brought her, Bonnie said loudly, rather hoping that something inside Caroline could hear her.They said their good-byes separately to Elena, not sure of what might happen. But she simply smiled at each of them and touched their hands.By good luck or by the grace of something far beyond their understanding, Caro line woke up. She even seemed loosely rational, if a little fuzzy, when the car reached her driveway. Matt helped her out of the car and walked her to the door on his arm, where Carolines mother answered the doorbell. She was a mousy, timid, tired-looking woman who did not seem surprised to be receiving her daughter in this state on a late summer afternoon.Matt dropped the girls off at Bonnies house, where they spent a night in brainsick speculation. Bonnie fell asleep with the sound of Carolines curses echoing in her head.Dear Diary,Something is going to happen tonight.I cant talk or write, and I dont remember how to type on a keyboard very well, but I can send thoughts to Stefan and he can write them down. We dont have any secrets from each other.So this is my diary now. AndThis morning I woke up again. I woke up again It was still summer outside, and everything was green. The daffodils in the tend are all in bloom. And I had visitors. I didnt know exactly who they were, but t hree of them are strong, clear colors. I kissed them so I wont forget them again.The fourth one was different. I could only see a shattered color, laced with black. I had to use strong words of White Power to grip that one from bringing dark things into Stefans room.Im getting sleepy. I want to be with Stefan and feel him holding me. I love Stefan. I would give up anything to stay with him. He asks me, Even flying? Even flying, to be with him and keep him safe. Even anything, to keep him safe. Even my life.Now I want to go to him.Elena(And Stefan is sorry about writing in Elenas new diary, but he has to say some things, because someday maybe she testament want to read them, to remember. Ive written down her thoughts in sentences, but they dont come that way. They come as thought-fragments, I guess. Vampires are used to translating peoples everyday thoughts into coherent sentences, but Elenas thoughts need more translation than most. Usually she thinks in bright pictures, with a sc attered word or two.The fourth one that she talks about is Caroline Forbes. Elena has known Caroline almost since babyhood, I think. What bewilders me is that today Caroline attacked her in almost every way imaginable, and yet when I search Elenas mind I cant find any feelings of anger or even any pain. Its almost frightening to scan a mind akin that.The question Id really like to answer is What happened to Caroline during the short time she was kidnapped by Klaus and Tyler? And did she do what she did today of her own free volition? Does some remnant of Klauss hatred still linger like miasma, tainting the air? Or do we have another enemy in Fells Church?And most importantly, what do we do about it?Stefan, who is being pulled from the compu.