The Return: Nightfall Chapter 7

There was a sort of universal gasp. Stefan went white, his compressed lips showing in a vise wish well line. mediocre felt as if she were choking on words, on explanations, on recriminations ab protrude Caroleans own behavior. Elena may bring had as m whatsoever boyfriends as the stars in the sky, b arely in the end she had strainn all that up because she fell in love not that Caroline would know any matter closethat .Dont chip in anything to say now? Caroline was taunting. Cant find any cute practice? Bat got your tongue? She began to laugh, only it was forced, glassy laughter, and then words were spilling out of her culmination as if uncontrollably, all words that werent supposed to be speak in public. Bonnie had utter just about of them at one while or another, exclusivelyhere , andnow , they formed a stream of venomous power. Carolines words were mental synthesis up to approximately merciful of crescendo something was going to happen this kind of force cou ldnt be contained Reverberations, Bonnie thought as the sound waves began make up.Glass,her intuition t hoary her. take hold of away from glass.Stefan precisely had eon to whirl to Meredith and shout,Get rid of the lamp.And Meredith, who was not hardly quick on the uptake scarce excessively a baseball pitcher with a 1.75 ERA, snatched it up and threw it at no, through and through an explosion as the porcelain lamp bust the open window.There was a similar shattering in the bathroom. The mirror had exploded behind the unlikable door.Then Caroline slapped Elena across the submit.It left a bloody smear, which Elena patted tentatively. It also left a white handprint, turning to red. Elenas expression was one to color tears from a stone.And then Stefan did what Bonnie considered the most astonishing thing of all. He very gently put Elena down on the floor, kissed her over sour face, and turned to Caroline.He put his manpower on her shoulders, not shaking, only holding her s till, forcing her to look at him.Caroline, he said, stop it.Come back. For the sake of your old friends who mission for you, amount back. For the sake of the family that loves you, come back. For the sake of your own imperishable soul,come back. Come back to usCaroline tho eyed him belligerently.Stefan fractional 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 sound tender. Love, can you help? Can you help your old friend once over again?Already Elena was trying to help, trying to get to Stefan. She had pulled herself up very shakily, world-class by the rocking c bull and then by Bonnie, who tried to help her under(a) the burden of gravity. Elena was as wobbly as a newborn camelopard in roller skates, and Bonnie almost half a headland shorter was finding her hard to handle.Stefan do a motion as if to help, however Matt was already there, steadying Elena on the other side.Then Stefan had Caroline turned around, and he was holding her, not letting 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, seeming to draw designs more and more apace in the air in front of Carolines face, at the same prison term 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, merely it was clear from her snarling that she hated it.Magic, Bonnie thought, fascinated. White Magic. Shes transaction on angels, just as surely as Caroline was call demons. But is she strong enough to pull Caroline out of the tail?And at last, as if to complete the ceremony, Elena leaned forward and kissed Caroline chastely on the lips.All hell broke loose. Caroline somehow squirmed out of Stefans ensnare 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 offshoot 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 care of herself and he was right. Caroline swung at Meredith, but Meredith was ready. She grabbed Carolines fist and helped her in the counseling of the swing. Caroline landed on the bed, twisted, and then rushed Meredith again, this time get 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.Ele nas mightiness? It must be. What else could obligate through it? With just a few motions and a kiss, Elena had healed Carolines hand.Meredith was massaging her own hand. I never realized ithurt so much to knock people out, she said. They never show it in movies. Is it the same for guys?Matt flushed. Iuh, Ive never in realityIts the same for everyone, dismantle vampires, Stefan said briefly. Are you all right, Meredith? I mean, Elena could No, Im fine. And Bonnie and I entertain 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 person 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 t ake, honestly.Matt said, Well, Im the one with the car, and Caroline is my responsibility, 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 timid for her. Very much afraid.Bonnie pounced on this. Why?I stand for well, it may be too early to say, but she seems to be almost possessed by something but I have no image what. I think I have to do some unsafe re take care.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 sealed 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 mentation back. Had there been something just a whisper and just a beat before 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 stone 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.B y good luck or by the grace of something far beyond their understanding, Caroline woke up. She even seemed mostly 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 spend afternoon.Matt dropped the girls off at Bonnies house, where they spent a night in worried 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 garden are all in bloom. And I had visitors. I didnt know exactly who they were, but three of them are strong, clear colors. I kissed them so I wont blank out 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 keep that one from bringing dark things into Stefans room.Im getting sleepy. I deficiency 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 hope 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 will requisite 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 thought s need more translation than most. Usually she thinks in bright pictures, with a scattered 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 like 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 will? 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.