The Vampire Diaries: Dark Reunion Chapter Twelve

Stefan identifyd a voice whisper, soft with pain, Oh, no.A voice that hed never archetype to hear again, that he would never forget. Ripples of chills poured over his skin, and he could feel a shaking start inside him. He turned toward the voice, his attention fixing instantly, his legal opinion or so shutting d take in because it couldnt cope with so m any sudden driving emotions at once.His eye were blurred and could completely discern a wash of glow equivalent a thousand candles. exclusively it didnt matter. He could feel her in that respect. The same presence he had esthesisd the very first day hed come to Fells Church, a golden white light that shone into his consciousness. Full of cool beauty and searing passion and vibrant feeling. Demanding that he move toward it, that he forget every topic else.Elena. It was really Elena.Her presence pervaded him, fill him to his fingertips. All his hungry senses were fixed on that wash of luminance, meddlesome for her. Needing her.Then she stepped out.She moved slowly, hesitantly. As if she could barely make herself do it. Stefan was caught in the same paralysis.Elena.He saw her every feature as if for the first magazine. The pale gold hair floating about her face and shoulders like a halo. The fair, flawless skin. The slender, brisk body just now canted away from him, one hand raised in protest.Stefan, the whisper came, and it was her voice. Her voice saying his name. entirely there was such(prenominal) pain in it that he insufficiencyed to run to her, hold her, promise her that everything would be all right. Stefan, please I cantHe could see her eyes now. The vague blue of lapis lazuli, flecked in this light with gold. Wide with pain and wet with unshed snap. It shredded his guts.You dont want to see me? His voice was dry as dust.I dont want you to see me. Oh, Stefan, he can make anything happen. And hell find us. Hell come hereRelief and aching joy flooded through Stefan. He could sc arcely turn on her words, and it didnt matter. The way she verbalize his name was enough. That Oh, Stefan told him everything he cared about.He moved toward her quietly, his own hand coming up to overtake for hers. He saw the protesting brandish of her passing game, saw that her lips were parted with her quickening breath. Up c drop off, her skin had an inner glow, like a flame shining through translucent candle wax. Droplets of wetness were caught on her eyelashes like diamonds.Although she kept shaking her head, kept protesting, she did not move her hand away. Not even when his outspread fingers touched it, pressing against her cool fingertips as if they were on contrary sides of a pane of glass.He couldnt think. His heart was threatening to come through his chest. Nothing mattered except that she was here, that they were here together. He didnt notice the strange surroundings, didnt care who baron be watching.Slowly, so slowly, he closed his hand slightly hers, intertwining their fing ers, the way they were meant to be. His other hand lifted to her face.Her eyes closed at the touch, her cheek aptness into it. He felt the moisture on his fingers and a laugh caught in his throat. Dream tears. But they were real, she was real. Elena.Sweetness pierced him. A pleasure so crisp it was a pain, just to stroke the tears away from her face with his thumb.All the frustrated tenderness of the last six months, all the emotion hed kept locked in his heart that long circleed, came cascading out, submerging him. Drowning both of them. It took such a little movement and then he was holding her.An angel in his arms, cool and thrilling with life and beauty. A being of flame and air. She shivered in his embrace then, eyes still shut, put up her lips.There was nothing cool about the kiss. It struck sparks from Stefans nerves, dissolve and dissolving everything approximately it. He felt his control unraveling, the control hed worked so hard to preserve since hed lost her. Everyth ing inside him was being jarred loose, all knots untied, all floodgates opened. He could feel his own tears as he held her to him, trying to fuse them into one flesh, one body. So that nothing could ever separate them again.They were both exacting without breaking the kiss. Elenas slender arms were around his neck now, every inch of her fitting to him as if she had never belonged anywhere else. He could taste the salt of her tears on his lips and it drenched him with sweetness.He knew, vaguely, that there was something else he should be thinking about. But the first electric touch of her cool skin had driven rationalness from his mind. They were in the center of a whirlwind of fire the universe could explode or crumble or burn to ashes for all he cared, as long as he could keep her safe.But Elena was trembling.Not just from emotion, from the intensity that was making him dizzy and drunk with pleasure. From fear. He could feel it in her mind and he valued to protect her, to shield her and to cherish her and to kill anything that dared frighten her. With something like a snarl he raised his face to olfaction around.What is it? he say, hearing the predators rub down in his own voice. Anything that tries to hurt you-Ask me anything else and Ill do it, Stefan say. The killer would hit to shred him nerve from nerve, muscle from muscle, cell from cell to make him leave her.Stefan, its only a dream, Elena said desperately, new tears falling. We cant really touch, we cant be together. Its not allowed.Stefan didnt care. It didnt seem like a dream. It felt real. And even in a dream he was not going to give up Elena, not for anyone. No force in heaven or hell could make himWrong, sport. Surprise said a new voice, a voice Stefan had never heard. He recognized it instinctively, though, as the voice of a killer. A hunter among hunters. And when he turned, he remembered what Vickie, deplorable Vickie, had said.He looks like the devil.If the devil was handsome and blo nd.He wore a threadbare waterproof, as Vickie had described. Dirty and tattered. He looked like any street person from any big city, except that he was so tall and his eyes were so clear and penetrating. Electric blue, like razor-frosted sky. His hair was almost white, standing straight up as if blown by a blast of chilly wind. His wide smile make Stefan feel sick.Salvatore, I presume, he said, scraping a bow. And of track the beautiful Elena. The beautiful dead Elena. Come to join her, Stefan? You two were just meant to be together.He looked young, older than Stefan, nevertheless still young. He wasnt.Stefan, leave now, Elena whispered. He cant hurt me, but youre different. He can make something happen that will follow you out of the dream.Stefans arm stayed locked around her.Bravo the man in the raincoat applauded, feeling around as if to encourage an invisible audience. He staggered slightly, and if hed been human, Stefan would have thought he was drunk.Stefan, please, Elena w hispered.It would be rude to leave before weve even been right on introduced, the blond man said. Hands in coat pockets, he strode a step or two closer. Dont you want to bash who I am?Elena agitate her head, not in negation but in defeat, and dropped it to Stefans shoulder. He cupped a hand around her hair, wanting to shield every part of her from this madman.I want to know, he said, smell at the blond man over her head.How long? said Stefan, unimpressed.A long time The blond mans gaze turned dreamy, as if feel back over the years. I was tearing pretty white throats when your ancestors were building the Colosseum. I killed with Alexanders army. I fought in the Trojan War. Im old, Salvatore. Im one of the Originals. In my earliest memories I carried a bronze ax.Slowly, Stefan nodded.Hed heard of the Old Ones. They were whispered about among vampires, but no one Stefan had ever known had actually met one. Every vampire was made by another vampire, changed by the exchange of blood . But somewhere, back in time, had been the Originals, the ones who hadnt been made. They were where the line of continuity stopped. No one knew how theyd gotten to be vampires themselves. But their Powers were legendary.I helped act the Roman Empire down, the blond man continued dreamily. They called us barbarians-they just didnt understand War, Salvatore Theres nothing like it. Europe was exciting then. I decided to quiver around the countryside and enjoy myself. Strange, you know, people never really seemed comfortable around me. They used to run or hold up crosses. He shook his head. But one woman came and asked my help. She was a maid in a barons household, and her little mistress was sick. Dying, she said. She wanted me to do something about it. And so The smile returned and broadened, getting wider and impossibly wider, I did. She was a pretty little thing.Stefan had turned his body to hold Elena away from the blond man, and now, for a moment, he turned his head away too. H e should have known, should have guessed. And so it all came back to him. Vickies death, and Sues, were ultimately to be laid at his door. He had started the chain of events that ended here.Katherine, he said, lifting his head to look at the man. Youre the vampire who changed Katherine.To save her life, the blond man said, as if Stefan were stupid at learning a lesson. Which your little sweetheart here took.A name. Stefan was searching for a name in his mind, knowing that Katherine had told it to him, just as she must have described this man to him once. He could hear Katherines words in his mind I woke in the middle of the night and I saw the manthat Gudren, my maid, had brought. I was scared. His name was Klaus and Id heard the people in the village say he was evil Klaus, the blond man said mildly, as if agreeing with something. That was what she called me, anyway. She came back to me after two little Italian boys jilted her. Shed done everything for them, changed them into vampi res, given them eternal life, but they were ungrateful and threw her out. Very strange.What was even stranger was that she never got over you, Salvatore. You especially. She was always drawing unflattering comparisons between us. I tried to beat some sense into her, but it never really worked. Maybe I should have just killed her myself, I dont know. But by then Id gotten used to having her around. She never was the brightest. But she was reliable to look at, and she knew how to have fun. I showed her that, how to enjoy the killing. Eventually her brain turned a little, but so what? It wasnt her brains I was keeping her for.There was no extended any vestige of love for Katherine in Stefans heart, but he found he could still hate the man who had made her what she was in the end.Me? Me, sport? Klaus pointed to his own chest in unbelief. You made Katherine into what she is right now, or rather your little girlfriend did. Right now, shes dust. Worms meat. But your sweetie is just sligh tly beyond my reach at present. Vibrating on a higher plane, isnt that what the mystics say, Elena? Why dont you vibrate down here with the rest of us?If only I could, whispered Elena, lifting her head and looking at him with hatred.Oh, well. Meanwhile Ive got your friends. Sue was such a sweet girl, I hear. He licked his lips. And Vickie was delectable. Delicate but full bodied, with a nice bouquet. more(prenominal) like a nineteen-year-old than seventeen. Stefan lunged one step forward, but Elena caught him. Stefan, dont This is his territory, and his mental powers are stronger than ours. He controls it.Precisely. This is my territory. Unreality. Klaus grinned his staring psychotic grin again. Where your wildest nightmares come true, free of charge. For instance, he said, looking at Stefan, howd you like to see what your sweetheart really looks like right now? Without her makeup?Elena made a soft sound, almost a moan. Stefan held her tighter.Its been how long since she died? Abou t six months? Do you know what happens to a body once its been in the ground six months? Klaus licked his lips again, like a dog.Now Stefan understood. Elena shivered, head bent, and tried to move away from him, but he locked his arms around her.Its all right, he said to her softly. And to Klaus Youre forgetting yourself. Im not a human who jumps at shadows and the sight of blood. I know about death, Klaus. It doesnt frighten me.No, but does it thrill you? Klauss voice dropped, low, intoxicating. Isnt it exciting, the stench, the rot, the fluids of decomposing flesh? Isnt it a kick?Stefan, let me go. Please. Elena was shaking, pushing at him with her hands, all the time keeping her head twisted away so he couldnt see her face. Her voice sounded close to tears. Please.The only Power you have here is the power of illusion, Stefan said to Klaus. He held Elena to him, cheek pressed to her hair. He could feel the changes in the body he embraced. The hair under his cheek seemed to coarsen and Elenas form to shrink on itself.Stefan, I dont want you to look at me-Eyes on Klaus, Stefan gently pushed the coarsened white hair away and stroked the side of Elenas face, ignoring the roughness against his fingertips.But of row most of the time it just decomposes. What a way to go. You lose everything, skin, flesh, muscles, internal organs-all back into the groundThe body in Stefans arms was dwindling. He shut his eyes and held tighter, hatred for Klaus burning inside him. An illusion, it was all an illusionStefan It was a dry whisper, faint as the scratch of paper blown down a sidewalk. It hung on the air a minute and then vanished, and Stefan found himself holding a pile of bones.And finally it ends up like that, in over two century separate, easy-to-assemble pieces. Comes with its own handy-dandy carrying case On the far side of the circle of light there was a creaking sound. The white coffin there was opening by itself, the lid lifting. Why dont you do the honors, Salvat ore? Go put Elena where she belongs.Stefan had dropped to his knees, shaking, looking at the slender white bones in his hands. It was all an illusion-Klaus was merely controlling Bonnies intrigue and showing Stefan what he wanted Stefan to see. He hadnt really hurt Elena, but the hot, protective fury inside Stefan wouldnt recognize that. Carefully, Stefan laid the fragile bones on the ground and touched them once, gently. Then he looked up at Klaus, lips curled with contempt.That is not Elena, he said.Of course it is. Id recognize her anywhere. Klaus spread his hands and declaimed, I knew a woman, lovely in her bones No. Sweat was beading on Stefans forehead. He shut out Klauss voice and concentrated, fists clenched, muscles get outing with effort. It was like pushing a boulder uphill, fighting Klauss influence. But where they lay, the delicate bones began trembling, and a faint golden light shone around them.A rag and a bone and a hank of hair the fool he called them his lady fa ir The light was shimmering, dancing, linking the bones together. Warm and golden it folded about them, clothing them as they rose in the air. What stood there now was a featureless form of soft radiance. Sweat ran into Stefans eyes and he felt as if his lungs would burst. Clay lies still, but bloods a rover And the crack in the teacup opens a lane to the land of the dead . . . No. Dizziness swept over Stefan as he felt the last mountain of Power sigh out of him. A breath lifted the figures breast, and eyes blue as lapis lazuli opened.Elena smiled, and he felt the blaze of her love arc to meet him. Stefan. Her head was high, proud as any queens.Stefan turned to Klaus, who had stopped speaking and was glaring mutely.This, Stefan said distinctly, is Elena. Not whatever empty shell shes left field behind in the ground. This is Elena, and nothing you do can ever touch her.He held out his hand, and Elena took it and stepped to him. When they touched, he felt a jolt, and then felt her Powers move into him, sustaining him. They stood together, side by side, facing the blond man. Stefan had never felt as fiercely victorious in his life, or as strong.Klaus stared at them for perhaps twenty dollar bill seconds and then went berserk.His face twisted in loathing. Stefan could feel waves of malignant Power battering against him and Elena, and he used all his strength to resist it. The maelstrom of sober fury was trying to tear them apart, howling through the room, destroying everything in its path. Candles snuffed out and flew into the air as if caught in a tornado. The dream was breaking up around them, shattering.Stefan clung to Elenas other hand. The wind blew her hair, whipping it around her face.Stefan She was shouting, trying to make herself heard. Then he heard her voice in his mind. Stefan, listen to me There is one thing you can do to stop him. You need a victim, Stefan-find one of his victims. Only a victim will know-The noise level was unbearable, as if the very framework of s gradation and time was tearing. Stefan felt Elenas hands ripped from his. With a cry of desperation, he reached out for her again, but he could feel nothing. He was already drained by the effort of fighting Klaus, and he couldnt hold on to consciousness. The darkness took him spinning down with it.Bonnie had seen everything.It was strange, but once she stepped aside to let Stefan go to Elena, she seemed to lose physical presence in the dream. It was as if she were no longer a player but the stage the action was being played upon. She could watch, but she couldnt do anything else.In the end, shed been afraid. She wasnt strong enough to hold the dream together, and the whole thing finally exploded, throwing her out of the trance, back into Stefans room.Stefan? Are you okay?He looked wildly around the room as if trying to find something. Elena he said, and then he stopped, memory clearly returning.His face twisted. For one dreadful instant Bonnie thought he was goi ng to cry, buthe only shut his eyes and dropped his head into his hands.Stefan?I lost her. I couldnt hold on.I know. Bonnie watched him a moment, then, gathering her courage, knelt infront of him, touching his shoulders. Im sorry. His head lifted abruptly, his green eyes dry but so dilated they looked black. Hisnostrils were flared, his lips drawn back from his teeth.Klaus He applaud the name as if it were a curse. Did you see him?Yes, Bonnie said, pulling back. She gulped, her stomach churning. Hes crazy, isnt he, Stefan?Yes. Stefan got up. And he must be stopped.But how? Since seeing Klaus, Bonnie was more frightened than ever, more frightened and less confident. What could stop him, Stefan? Ive never felt anything like that Power.But didnt you-? Stefan turned to her quickly. Bonnie, didnt you hear what Elena said at the end?No. What do you mean? I couldnt hear anything there was a slight hurricane going on at the time.Bonnie Stefans eyes went distant with speculation and he mou th as if to himself. That means that he probably didnt hear it either. So he doesnt know, and he wont try to stop us.From what? Stefan, what are you talking about?From finding a victim. Listen, Bonnie, Elena told me that if we can find a surviving victim of Klauss, we can find a way to stop him.Bonnie was in completely over her head. But why?Because vampires and their donors-their prey-share minds briefly while the blood is being exchanged. Sometimes the donor can learn things about the vampire that way. Not always, but occasionally. Thats what must have happened, and Elena knows it.She expected Stefan to be deflated, but he wasnt. A vampire, he said simply.A human Klaus made into a vampire would qualify as a victim. As long as theyve exchanged blood, theyve touched minds.Oh. Oh. So if we can find a vampire hes made but where? Maybe in Europe. Stefan began to pace around the room, his eyes narrowed.Klaus has a long history, and some of his vampires are bound to be there. I may have to go and look for one.Bonnie was absolutely dismayed. But Stefan, you cant leave us. You cant Stefan stopped where he was, across the room, and stood very still. Then at last, he turned to face her. I dont want to, he said quietly. And well try to think of another solution first-maybe we can get hold of Tyler again. Ill wait a week, until next Saturday. But I may have to leave, Bonnie. You know that as well as I do.There was a long, long silence between them.Bonnie fought the heat in her eyes, determined to be large(p) up and mature. She wasnt a baby and she would prove that now, once and for all. She caught Stefans gaze and slowly nodded.