The Vampire Diaries: Dark Reunion Chapter Four

Meredith tilted an ironic glance at bland. Hmm, she verbalize. Now, who do you depend Elena would c all in all in meter of get at? justs grin gave way to a twinge of guilt at Matts expression. It wasnt fair to tease him ab start this. Elena said that the sea wolf is too strong for us and thats why we need garter, she told Matt. And I green goddess recollect of sole(prenominal) iodine person Elena k in a flashs who could fight off a mental pull downer.Slowly, Matt nodded. Bonnie couldnt tell what he was feeling. He and Stefan had been best friends once, even after Elena had chosen Stefan over Matt. But that had been before Matt found stunned what Stefan was, and what kind of violence he was capable of. In his rage and grief over Elenas death Stefan had nearly killed Tyler Smallwood and five other guys. Could Matt really allow that? Could he even deal with Stefan coming back to Fells Church?Matts square-jawed face gave no sign now, and Meredith was talking once again. S o all we need to do is allow some blood and cut some hair. You wont miss a curl or two, will you, Bonnie?Bonnie was so abstracted that she almost missed this. Then she shook her head. No, no, no. It isnt our blood and hair we need. We need it from the person we want to summon.What? But thats ridiculous. If we had Stefans blood and hair we wouldnt need to summon him, would we?I didnt bet of that, Bonnie admitted. Usually with a induction spell you uprise the stuff beforehand and use it when you want to strain a person back. What are we loss to do, Meredith? Its impossible.Merediths brows were drawn together. Why would Elena ask it if it were impossible?Elena asked lots of impossible things, Bonnie said darkly. Dont look like that, Matt you deal she did. She wasnt a saint.Maybe, only if this virtuoso isnt impossible, Matt said. I can approximate of maven place where Stefans blood has got to be, and if were lucky some of his hair, too. In the crypt.Bonnie flinched, but Mered ith simply nodded.Of course, she said. While Stefan was tied up there, he must subscribe bled all over the place. And in that kind of fight he might have lost some hair. If except e genuinelything down there has been left undisturbedI dont think anybodys been down there since Elena died, Matt said. The police investigated and then left it. But theres only one way to find out.I was wrong, Bonnie thought. I was worrying close whether Matt could deal with Stefan coming back, and here he is doing everything he can to serve well us summon him.Matt, I could kiss you she said.All the girls say that, he replied calmly at last, with a shrug of mock resignation. It was as close as hed gotten to lightheartedness all day.Meredith, however, was serious. Lets go. Weve got a lot to do, and the last thing we want is to get stuck in the crypt after dark.The crypt was beneath the ruined church that stood on a hill in the cemetery. Its only late afternoon, plenty of light left, Bonnie kept tellin g herself as they walked up the hill, but goose-flesh broke out on her arms anyway. The modern cemetery on one side was bad enough, but the old graveyard on the other side was downright excitable even in daylight. in that respect were so many crumbling headstones tilting crazily in the overgrown grass, representing so many young men killed in the Civil War. You didnt have to be psychic to feel their presence.Unquiet spirits, she muttered.Hmm? said Meredith as she stepped over the pile of rubble that was one wall of the ruined church. Look, the lid of the tombs hitherto off. Thats respectable news I dont think we would have been able to lift it.Bonnies eyes lingered wistfully on the white marble statues carved on the displaced lid. Hon-oria Fell aim there with her husband, hands folded on her breast, flavour as gentle and sad as ever. But Bonnie knew there would be no more inspection and repair from that quarter. Honorias duties as protector of the town shed founded were done. Leaving Elena holding the bag, Bonnie thought grimly, looking down into the rectangular hole that led to the crypt. Iron rungs disappeared into darkness.Even with the help of Merediths flashlight it was hard to climb down into that underground direction. Inside, it was dank and slow, the walls faced with polished stone. Bonnie tried not to shiver.Look, said Meredith quietly.Matt had the flashlight train on the iron gate that separated the anteroom of the crypt from its main chamber. The stone below was stained black with blood in several places. Looking at the puddles and rivulets of dried gore made Bonnie feel dizzy.We know Damon was hurt the worst, Meredith said, moving forward. She sounded calm, but Bonnie could hear the tight control in her voice. So he must have been on this side where theres the most blood. Stefan said Elena was in the center. That means Stefan himself must have been here. She bent down.Ill do it, Matt said gruffly. You hold the light. With a plastic picnic knife from Merediths car he scraped at the encrusted stone. Bonnie swallowed, glad shed had only tea for lunch. Blood was all right in the abstract, but when you were actually confronted with so much of it-especially when it was the blood of a friend whod been torturedAnd then, thought Bonnie, she faked her own death to get Stefan and Damon to invert fighting over her. But it didnt work. They hated each other more than ever, and she hated both of them for that. Shed gone back to the vampire who made her, and over the geezerhood shed turned as evil as he was. Until at last all she wanted to do was destroy the brothers she had once loved. Shed lured them both to Fells Church to kill them, and this room was where shed almost succeeded in doing it. Elena had died break-danceping her.There, Matt said, and Bonnie blinked and came back to herself. Matt was standing with a paper napkin that now held flakes of Stefans blood in its folds. Now the hair, he said.They swept the floor with th eir fingers, finding dust and bits of admits and fragments of things Bonnie didnt want to identify. Among the detritus were long strands of pale gold hair. Elenas-or Katherines, Bonnie thought. They had looked much alike. There were also shorter strands of dark hair, crisp with a slight wave. Stefans.It was slow, finicky work sorting through it all and postting the right hairs in another napkin.Matt did most of it. When they were through, they were all tired and the light sifting down through the rectangular opening in the ceiling was dim blue. But Meredith smiled tigerishly.Weve got it, she said. Tyler wants Stefan back well, well fix him Stefan back.And Bonnie, who had been only half paying attention to what she was doing, sleek over lost in her own thoughts, froze.Shed been thinking about other things entirely, nothing to do with Tyler, but at the mention of his name something had winked on in her mind. Something shed realized in the parking lot and then forgotten afterward i n the heat of arguing. Merediths words had triggered it and now it was suddenly all clear again. How had he known she wondered, heart racing.Bonnie? Whats the matter?Meredith, she said softly, did you tell the police specifically that we were in the living room when everything was going on upstairs with Sue?No, I think I secure said we were downstairs. Why?Bonnie, if youre trying to suggest Tyler was the murderer, it just wont wash. Hes not heady enough to organize a killing spree, for one thing, Meredith said.But theres something else. Meredith, last year at the Junior Prom, Tyler touched me on my bare shoulder. Ill never immerse it. His hand was big, and meaty, and hot, and damp. Bonnie shivered at the recollection. Just like the hand that grabbed me last night.But Meredith was shaking her head, and even Matt looked unconvinced.Elenas sure wasting her time postulation us to bring back Stefan, then, he said. I could take care of Tyler with a couple of right hooks.Think about it , Bonnie, Meredith added. Does Tyler have the psychic might to move a Ouija board or come into your dreams? Does he?He didnt. Psychically speaking, Tyler was as much a dud as Caroline. Bonnie couldnt disown it. But she couldnt deny her intuition, either. It didnt make sense, but she still felt Tyler had been in the house last night.Wed better get moving, Meredith said. Its dark, and your fathers going to be furious.They were all silent on the ride home. Bonnie was still thinking about Tyler. Once at her house they smuggled the napkins upstairs and began looking through Bonnies books on Druids and Celtic magic. Ever since shed discovered that she was descended from the ancient race of magic workers, Bonnie had been interested in the Druids. And in one of the books she found a ritual for a summoning spell.We need to buy candles, she said. And pure water-better get some bottled, she said to Meredith. And chalk to draw a circle on the floor, and something to make a small harry in. I can find those in the house. Theres no hurry the spell has to be done at midnight.Midnight was a long time coming. Meredith bought the necessary items at a grocery store and brought them back. They ate dinner with Bonnies family, though no one had much of an appetite. By eleven oclock Bonnie had the circle drawn on the hardwood floor of her bedroom and all the other ingredients on a low bench inside the circle. On the stroke of twelve she started.With Matt and Meredith watching, she made a small fire in an earthenware bowl. Three candles were burning behind the bowl she stuck a pin halfway down the one in the center. Then she unfolded a napkin and carefully stirred the dried flakes of blood into a wineglass of water. It turned rusty pink.She opened the other napkin. Three pinches of dark hair went into the fire, sizzling with a terrible smell. Then three drops of the stained water, hissing.Swift on the heel thou comest,Thrice summoned by my spell,Thrice troubled by my burning.Come t o me without delay. She charter the words aloud slowly, three times. Then she sat back on her heels. The fire went on burning smokily. The candle flames danced.And now what? Matt said.I dont know. It just says wait for the middle candle to burn down to the pin.And what then?I guess well find out when it happens.In Florence, it was dawn.Stefan watched the girl move down the stairway, one hand resting lightly on the banister to keep her balance. Her movements were slow and slightly dreamlike, as if she were floating.Suddenly, she swayed and clutched at the banister more tightly. Stefan moved quickly behind her and put a hand under her elbow.Are you all right?She looked up at him with the same dreaminess. She was very pretty. Her expensive clothes were the latest fashion and her stylishly disarrayed hair was blond. A tourist. He knew she was American before she spoke.Yes I think Her brown eyes were unfocused.Do you have a way to get home? Where are you staying?On Via dei Conti, near t he Medici chapel. Im with the Gonzaga in Florence program.Damn Not a tourist, then a student. And that meant shed be carrying this story back with her, telling her classmates about the handsome Italian guy shed met last night. The one with night-dark eyes. The one who took her back to his exclusive place on Via Tornabuoni and wined her and dined her and then, in the moonlight, maybe, in his room or out in the enclosed courtyard, leaned close to look into her eyes andStefans gaze slid away from the girls throat with its two reddened puncture wounds. Hed seen marks like that so often-how could they still have the power to disturb him? But they did they sickened him and set a slow burning in his gut.Whats your name?Rachael. With an a. She spelled it.All right, Rachael. Look at me. You will go back to your pensione and you wont remember anything about last night. You dont know where you went or who you saw. And youve never seen me before, either. Repeat.Good. Do you have money to get ba ck? Here. Stefan pulled a fistful of out to(p) lire-mostly 50,000 and 100,000 notes-out of his pocket and led her outside.When she was safely in a cab, he went back inside and made straight for Damons bedroom.Damon was lounging near the window, peeling an orange, not even dressed yet. He looked up, annoyed, as Stefan entered.Its customary to knock, he said.Whered you meet her? said Stefan. And then, when Damon turned a blank stare on him, he added, That girl. Rachael. Was that her name? I dont think I bothered to ask. At Bar Gilli. Or perhaps it was Bar Mario. Why?Stefan struggled to contain his anger. Thats not the only thing you didnt bother to do. You didnt bother to find out her to forget you, either. Do you want to get caught, Damon?Damons lips curved in a smile and he twisted off a curlicue of orange peel. I am never caught, little brother, he said.So what are you going to do when they come after you? When somebodyrealizes, My God, theres a bloodsucking monster on Via Tornab uoni? Kill them all? Wait until they break down the front door and then melt away into darkness? Damon met his gaze directly, challengingly, that faint smile still clinging about his lips.Why not? he said.Damn you said Stefan. Listen to me, Damon. This has got to stop.Im touched at your concern for my safety.It isnt fair, Damon. To take an unwilling girl like that-Oh, she was willing, brother. She was very, very willing.Did you tell her what you were going to do? Did you warn her about the consequences of exchanging blood with a vampire? The nightmares, the psychic visions? Was she willing for that? Damon clearly wasnt going to reply, so he went on. You know its wrong.As a matter of fact, I do. With that, Damon gave one of his sudden, unnerving smiles, turning it on and off instantly.Damon tossed away the orange. His tone was silky, persuasive. Little brother, the world is full of what you call wrong, he said. Why not relax and join the winning side? Its much more fun, I assure you .Stefan felt himself go hot with anger. How can you even say that? he flashed back. Didnt you learn anything from Katherine? She chose the winning side. Katherine died too quickly, said Damon. He was smiling again, but his eyes were cold.And now all you can think about is revenge. Looking at his brother, Stefan felt a crushing weight settle on his own chest. That and your own pleasure, he said.What else is there? Pleasure is the only reality, little brother-pleasure and power. And youre a hunter by nature, just as much as I am, Damon said. He added, I dont remember inviting you to come to Florence with me, anyway. Since youre not enjoying yourself, why dont you just leave?The weight in Stefans chest tightened suddenly, unbearably, but his gaze, locked with Damons, did not waver. You know why, he said quietly. And at last he had the satisfaction of comprehend Damons eyes drop.Stefan himself could hear Elenas words in his mind. Shed been dying then, and her voice had been weak, but h ed heard her clearly. You have to take care of each other. Stefan, will you promise? betoken to take care of each other? And he had promised, and he would keep his word. No matter what.You know why I dont leave, he said again to Damon, who wouldnt look at him. You can pretend you dont care. You can fool the whole world. But I know differently. It would have been kindest at this point to leave Damon alone, but Stefan wasnt in a kind mood. You know that girl you picked up, Rachael? he added. The hair was all right, but her eyes were the wrong color. Elenas eyes were blue.With that he turned, meaning to leave Damon here to think it over-if Damon would do anything so constructive, of course. But he never made it to the door.Its there said Meredith sharply, her eyes on the candle flame and the pin.Bonnie sucked in her breath. Something was opening in front of her like a silver thread, a silver tunnel of communication. She was rushing along it, with no way to stop herself or check her sp eed. Oh, God, she thought, when I reach the end and hit The flash in Stefans head was soundless, lightless, and powerful as a thunderclap. At the same time he felt a violent, wrenching tug. An urge to follow- something. This was not like Katherines sly subliminal nudging to go somewhere this was a psychic shout. A call for that could not be disobeyed.Inside the flash he sensed a presence, but he could scarcely believe who it was.this was a psychic shout. A keep in line that could not be disobeyed. Inside the flash he sensed a presence, but he could scarcely believe who it was.Stefan Its you It workedBonnie, what have you done?Elena told me to. Honestly, Stefan, she did. Were in trouble and we need- And that was it. The communication collapsed, caving in on itself, dwindling to a pinpoint. It was gone, and in its aftermath the room vibrated with Power. Stefan and his brother were left staring at each other.Bonnie let out a long breath she hadnt realized shed been holding and opened her eyes, though she didnt remember closing them. She was lying on her back. Matt and Meredith were crouched over her, looking alarmed.What happened? Did it work? Meredith demanded.It worked. She let them help her up. I made contact with Stefan. I talked to him. Now all we can do is wait and see if hes coming or not.Did you mention Elena? Matt asked.Yes.Then hes coming.