The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening Chapter Thirteen

Elena s a samed within the raft of adults and police, waiting for a chance to escape. She knew that flavorless had warned Stefan in time-his face told her that- plainly he hadnt been able to get remnant enough to speak with her.At last, with each(prenominal) attention dour toward the body, she detached herself from the group and edged toward Matt.Stefan got out both(prenominal)(a) right, he enumerate, his search on the group of adults. still he told me to recognize care of you, and I want you to stay here.To dash care of me? alerting and suspicion flashed through Elena. consequently, active in a whisper, she verbalise, I see. She supposition a moment and therefore(prenominal) spoke carefully. Matt, I need to go wash my hands. Bonnie got blood on me. Wait here Ill be back.He started to say both(prenominal)thing in protest, notwithstanding she was already moving a modality. She held up her stained hands in explanation as she reached the limen of the girls st orage locker room, and the teacher who was promptly stand at that place let her through. Once in the locker room, however, she kept on going, right out the far door and into the darkened school. And from there, into the night.Zucc whiz Stefan thought, arrogatebing a bookcase and flinging it over, sending its contents flying. FoolBlind, shunful fool. How could he become been so stupid?Find a place with them here? Be accepted as one of them? He must live with been mad to aim thought it was possible.He picked up one of the with child(p) heavy underdrawers and threw it across the room, where it crashed against the far w completely(a), splinte noise a windowpane. Stupid,stupid .Who was aft(prenominal) him? E trulybody. Matt had confront tongue to it. on that points been another attack They think you did it.Well, for once it looked as if the barbari , the petty living humans with their fear of anything unknown, were right. How else did you explain what had happened? He had entangle the weakness, the spinning, swirling confusion and then iniquity had taken him. When hed awakened it was to hear Matt saying that another human had been pillaged, assaulted. Robbed this time not only of his blood, besides of his life. How did you explainthat unless he, Stefan, were the killer?A killer was what he was. Evil. A creature innate(p) in the dark, destined to live and hunt and hide there forever. Well, why not kill, then? Why not fulfill his nature? Since he could not change it, he might as well make whoopie in it. He would unleash his darkness upon this town that hated him, that run him even now. yet first he was thirsty. His veins burned like a network of dry, hot wires. He needed to feed in brief now.The boarding house was dark. Elena knocked at the door but received no answer. microphone boom cracked overhead. There was still no rain.After the third battery of knocking, she tried the door, and it opened. Inside, the house was silent and pitch black. Sh e make her way to the stairway by feel and went up it.The second landing was just as dark, and she stumbled, trying to mystify the bedroom with the stairway to the third floor. A fallible light showed at the top of the stairs, and she climbed toward it, savour oppressed by the walls, which seemed to close in on her from either side.The light came from beneath the closed door. Elena tapped on it lightly and chop-choply. Stefan, she whispered, and then she called more loudly, Stefan, its me.no(prenominal)answer. She grasped the knob and pushed the door open, peering more or less the side. Stefan-She was speaking to an empty room.And a room make full with chaos. It looked as if some great wind had torn through, leaving destruction in its path. The trunks that had stood in corners so sedately were lying at grotesque angles, their lids gawp open, their contents strewn closely the floor. One window was shattered. All Stefans possessions, all the things he had kept so carefully and seemed to prize, were scattered like rubbish.Terror sweep through Elena. The fury, the violence in this scene of devastation were painfully clear, and they made her feel almost giddy. Somebody who has a history of violence, Tyler had said. I dont care, she thought, peevishness surging up to push back the fear. I dont care about anything, Stefan I still want to see you. except where are you?The trapdoor in the ceiling was open, and cold air was blowing down. Oh, thought Elena, and she had a sudden quivering of fear. That roof was so highShed never climbed the ladder to the widows walk before, and her want skirt made it difficult. She emerged through the trapdoor slowly, kneeling on the roof and then standing up. She dictum a dark figure in the corner, and she move toward it quickly.Stefan, I had to come- she began, and broke off short, because a flash of lightning lit the slash just as the figure in the corner whirled virtually. And then it was as if every foreboding and fe ar and nightmare shed ever had were coming original all at once. It was beyond screaming at it was beyond anything.Oh, paragon no. Her mind refused to make sense of what her look were seeing. No. No. She wouldnt look at this, she wouldnt imagine itBut she could not help seeing. tied(p) if she could have shut her eyeball, every detail of the scene was etched upon her fund. As if the flash of lightning had seared it onto her brain forever.Stefan. Stefan, so sleek and elegant in his ordinary clothes, in his black leather jacket with the collar turned up. Stefan, with his dark copper like one of the roiling storm clouds buttocks him. Stefan had been caught in that flash of light, half turned toward her, his body twisted into a bestial crouch, with a photograph of animal fury on his face.And blood. That arrogant, sensitive, animal(prenominal) mouth was smeared with blood. It showed ghastly red against the pallor of his skin, against the sharp sportingness of his bare teeth. In his hands was the limp body of a mourning dove, white as those teeth, wings outspread. Another lay on the ground at his feet, like a crumpled and discarded handkerchief.Oh, God, no, Elena whispered. She went on whispering it, living by, scarcely aware that she was doing either. Her mind simply could not cope with this mutual exclusiveness her thoughts were running wildly in panic, like mice trying to escape a cage. She wouldnt believe this, she wouldntbelieve . Her body was filled with unbearable tension, her heart was bursting, her head reeling.Oh, God,no-Elena more terrible than anything else was this, to seeStefan looking at her out of that animal face, to see the snarl changing into a look of shock and desperation. Elena, please. revel, dontOh, God,no The screams were trying to rip their way out of her throat. She backed farther away, stumbling, as he took a step toward her. NoElena, please-be careful- That terrible thing, the thing with Stefans face, was coming afte r her, green look burning. She flung herself backward as he took another step, his hand outstretched. That extensive, slender-fingered hand that had stroked her hair so gently-Dont touch me she cried. And then she did scream, as her motion brought her back against the press out railing of the widows walk. It was iron that had been there for nearly a century and a half, and in places it was nearly rusted through. Elenas panicked weight against it was too much, and she snarl it give way. She heard the cutthroat sound of overstressed metal and wood alter with her own shriek. And then there was nothing behind her, nothing to grab on to, and she was falling.In that instant, she axiom the seething purple clouds, the dark wad of the house beside her. It seemed that she had enough time to see them clearly, and to feel an infinity of menace as she screamed and fell, and fell.But the terrible, shattering impact never came. Suddenly there were arms around her, supporting her in the vo id. There was a hushed thud and the arms tightened, weight giving against her, absorbing the crash. Then all was still.She held herself motionless within the circle of those arms, trying to get her bearings. Trying to believe yet another unbelievable thing. She had fallen from a three-story roof, and yet she was alive. She was standing in the garden behind the boarding house, in the utter shut away betwixt claps of thunder, with fallen leaves on the ground where her broken body should be.Slowly, she brought her look upward to the face of the one who held her. Stefan.There had been too much fear, too many blows tonight. She could react no longer. She could only stare up at him with a kind of wonder.There was such melancholy in his look. Those eyes that had burned like green ice were now dark and empty, hopeless. The same(p) look that shed seen that first night in his room, only now it was worse. For now there was self-hatred mixed with the sorrow, and bitter condemnation. She couldnt bear it.Stefan, she whispered, feeling that sadness enter her own soul. She could still see the tinge of red on his lips, but now it awakened a thrill of pity along with the instinctive horror. To be so alone, so alien and so aloneOh, Stefan, she whispered.There was no answer in those bleak, lost eyes. Come, he said quietly, and led her back toward the house.Stefan felt a rush of shame as they reached the third story and the destruction that was his room. That Elena, of all people, should see this was insupportable. But then, perchance it was also fitting that she should see what he truly was, what he could do.She locomote slowly, dazedly to the bed and sat. Then she looked up at him, her shadowed eyes meeting his. ordain me, was all she said.He laughed shortly, without humor, and saw her flinch. It made him hate himself more. What do you need to know? he said. He put a foot on the lid of an overturned trunk and faced her almost defiantly, indicating the room with a ges ture. Who did this? I did.Youre strong, she said, her eyes on a capsized trunk. Her gaze lifted upward, as if she were remembering what had happened on the roof. And quick.Stronger than a human, he said, with deal emphasis on the last word. Why didnt she cringe from him now, why didnt she look at him with the loathing he had seen before? He didnt care what she thought any longer. My reflexes are faster, and Im more resilient. I have to be. Im a hunter, he said harshly.Something in her look made him remember how she had interrupted him. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, then went quickly to pick up a glass of water that stood unharmed on the nightstand. He could feel her eyes on him as he drank it and wiped his mouth again. Oh, he still cared what she thought, all right.You arse eat and drink other things, she said.I dont need to, he said quietly, feeling weary and subdued. I dont need anything else. He whipped around suddenly and felt passionate intensity rise in him a gain. You said I was quick-but thats just what Im not. Have you ever heard the saying the quick and the dead, Elena? Quick means living it means those who have life. Im the other half.He could see that she was trembling. But her vocalize was calm, and her eyes never left his. give notice (of) me, she said again. Stefan, I have a right to know. He recognized those dustup. And they were as true as when she had first said them. Yes, I suppose you do, he said, and his voice was tired and hard. He stared at the broken window for a few heartbeats and then looked back at her and spoke flatly. I was born in the late fifteenth century. Do you believe that?She looked at the objects that lay where hed scattered them from the bureau with one furious sweep of his arm. The florins, the agate cup, his dagger. Yes, she said softly. Yes, I believe it.And you want to know more? How I came to be what I am? When she nodded, he turned to the window again. How could he tell her? He, who had avoided q uestions for so long, who had become such an expert at hiding and deceiving.There was only one way, and that was to tell the absolute truth, concealing nothing. To lay it all before her, what he had never offered to any other soul.And he valued to do it. Even though he knew it would make her turn away from him in the end, he needed to show Elena what he was.And so, staring into the darkness outside the window, where flashes of blue brilliance occasionally lit the sky, he began.He spoke dispassionately, without emotion, carefully choosing his words. He told her of his father, that solid Renaissance man, and of his world in Florence and at their country estate. He told her of his stu pauses and his ambitions. Of his brother, who was so different than he, and of the ill feeling between them.I dont know when Damon started hating me, he said. It was always that way, as long as I can remember. Maybe it was because my mother never really recovered from my birth. She died a few years later . Damon loved her very much, and I always had the feeling that he blamed me. He paused and swallowed. And then, later, there was a girl.The one I remind you of? Elena said softly. He nodded. The one, she said, more hesitantly, who gave you the ring?He glanced down at the silver ring on his finger, then met her eyes. Then, slowly, he drew out the ring he wore on the fibril beneath his shirt and looked at it.Yes. This was her ring, he said. Without such a talisman, we die in sunlight as if in a fire.Then she was like you?She made me what I am. Haltingly, he told her about Katherine. About Katherines beauty and sweetness, and about his love for her. And about Damons.She was too gentle, filled with too much affection, he said at last, painfully. She gave it to everyone, including my brother. But finally, we told her she had to choose between us. And then she came to me.The reminiscence of that night, of that sweet, terrible night came sweeping back. She had come to him. And he had bee n so happy, so full of awe and joy. He tried to tell Elena about that, to find the words. All that night he had been so happy, and even the next morning, when he had awakened and she was gone, he had been throned on highest blissIt might almost have been a dream, but the two little wounds on his neck were real. He was surprised to find that they did not hurt and that they seemed to be partially heal already. They were hidden by the high neck of his shirt.Herblood burned in his veins now, he thought, and the very words made his heart race. She had condition her strength to him she had chosen him.He even had a smile for Damon when they met at the designated place that evening. Damon had been oblivious from the house all day, but he showed up in the meticulously landscaped garden precisely on time, and stood lounging against a tree, adjusting his cuff. Katherine was late.Perhaps she is tired, Stefan suggested, watch the melon-colored sky fade into deep midnight blue. He tried to ke ep the uncertain smugness from his voice. Perhaps she needs more rest than usual.Damon glanced at him sharply, his dark eyes piercing under the shock of black hair. Perhaps, he said on a rising note, as if he would have said more.But then they heard a light step on the path, and Katherine appeared between the box hedges. She was wearing her white gown, and she was as beautiful as an angel.She had a smile for both of them. Stefan returned the smile politely, speaking their secret only with his eyes. Then he waited.You asked me to make my choice, she said, looking first at him and then at his brother. And now you have come at the hour I appointed, and I will tell you what I have chosen.She held up her small hand, the one with the ring on it, and Stefan looked at the stone, realizing it was the same deep blue as the evening sky. It was as if Katherine carried a piece of the night with her, always.You have both seen this ring, she said quietly. And you know that without it I would die. It is not easy to have such talismans made, but fortunately my woman Gudren is clever. And there are many silversmiths in Florence.Stefan was listening without comprehension, but when she turned to him he smiled again, encouragingly.And so, she said, gazing into his eyes. I have had a present made for you. She took his hand and pressed something into it. When he looked he saw that it was a ring in the same fashion as her own, but larger and heavier, and wrought in silver instead of gold.You do not need it yet to face the sun, she said softly, smiling. But very soon you will.Pride and rapture made him mute. He reached for her hand to kiss it, wanting to take her into his arms right then, even in front of Damon. But Katherine was turning away.And for you, she said, and Stefan thought his ears must be betraying him, for surely the warmth, the fondness in Katherines voice could not be for his brother, for you, also. You will need ft very soon as well.Stefans eyes must be traitors, too . They were showing him what was impossible, what could not be. Into Damons hand Katherine was putting a ring just like his own.The put away that followed was absolute, like the silence after the worlds ending.Katherine- Stefan could barely force out the words. How can you give that tohim ? After what we shared-What you shared? Damons voice was like the crack of a whip, and he turned on Stefan angrily. Last night she came to me. The choice is already made. And Damon jerked down his high collar to show two tiny wounds in his throat. Stefan stared at them, fighting down the bright sickness. They were identical to his own wounds.He shook his head in utter bewilderment. But, Katherine it was not a dream. You came tome I came to both of you. Katherines voice was tranquil, even pleased, and her eyes were serene. She smiled at Damon and then at Stefan in turn. It has weakened me, but I am so fortunate I did. Dont you see? she continued as they stared at her, too knocked out(p) to speak. This is my choice I love you both, and I will not give either of you up. Now we all three will be together, and be happy.Happy- Stefan choked out.Yes, happy The three of us will be companions, airy companions, forever. Her voice rose with elation, and the light of a radiant child shone in her eyes. We will be together always, never feeling sickness, never ontogeny old, until the end of time That is my choice.Happy with him ? Damons voice was shaking with fury, and Stefan saw that his unremarkably self-contained brother was white with rage. With thisboy standing between us, this prating, mouthing paragon of virtuousness? I can barely stand the sight of him now. I indirect request to God that I should never see him again, never hear his voice againAnd I wish the same ofyou , brother, snarled Stefan, his heart tearing in his breast. This was Damons fault Damon had poisoned Katherines mind so that she no longer knew what she was doing. And I have half a mind to make sure of it, he a dded savagely. Damon did not mistake his meaning. Then get your sword, if you can find it, he hissed back, his eyes black with menace.Damon, Stefan, please Please, no Katherine cried, putting herself between them, sleuthing Stefans arm. She looked from one to the other, her blue eyes wide with shock and bright with unshed tears. hazard of what you are saying. You are brothers.By no fault of mine, Damon grated, making the words a curse.But can you not make peace? For me, Damon Stefan?Please .Part of Stefan wanted to melt at Katherines desperate look, at her tears. But wounded pride and jealousy were too strong, and he knew his face was as hard, as unyielding, as Damons.No, he said. We cannot. It must be one or the other, Katherine. I will never share you withhim .Katherines hand fell away from his arm, and the tears fell from her eyes, great droplets that splashed onto the white gown. She caught her breath in a wrenching sob. Then, still weeping, she picked up her skirts and ran.An d then Damon took the ring she had given him and put it on, Stefan said, his voice hoarse with use and emotion. And he said to me, Ill have her yet,brother . And then he walked away. He turned, blinking as if hed come into a bright light from the dark, and looked at Elena.She was sitting quite still on the bed, watching him with those eyes that were so much like Katherines. Especially now, when they were filled with sorrow and dread. But Elena did not run. She spoke to him.And what happened then?Stefans hands clutch violently, reflexively, and he jerked away from the window. Not that memory. He could not endure that memory himself, much less try tospeak it. How could he do that? How could he take Elena down into that darkness and show her the terrible things lurking there?No, he said. I cant. Icant .You have to tell me, she said softly. Stefan, its the end of the story, isnt it? Thats whats behind all your walls, thats what youre fearful to let me see. But you must let me see it. Oh, Stefan, you cant stop now.He could feel the horror reaching for him, the yawning pit he had seen so clearly, felt so clearly that day long ago. The day when it had all ended-when it had all begun.He felt his hand taken, and when he looked he saw Elenas fingers closed about it, giving him warmth, giving him strength. Her eyes were on his. Tell me.You want to know what happened next, what became of Katherine? he whispered. She nodded, her eyes nearly blind but still steady. Ill tell you, then. She died the next day. My brother Damon and I, we killed her.