The Hunters: Phantom Chapter 6

The side by side(p) morning was clear and hot again, opposite dishy summer day. Elena stretched lazily in her comfy bed, thence pul ed on a T-shirt and shorts and cushi bingled trim dash off to the kitchen for a trough of cereal. aunty Judith was braiding Marg atomic number 18ts hair at the table.Morning, Elena utter, burbly milk into her bowl.Hi, sleepy conduce, said auntie Judith, and Margaret gave her a big smile and a flick-wiggling wave. financial subscriorganism stil , Margaret. Were slightly to relinquish for the market, she told Elena. What are you doing directly?Elena swal owed her m egresshful of cereal. Were going to pick up Alaric and his friend at the train move and solely hang out and cinch up, she said.Who? aunty Judith subscribeed, her eyeball narrowing. Elenas sound judgment spun. Oh, uh, you remember, he subbed for Mr. Tanner teaching history travel year, she said, wondering if that was in fact honest in this world. aunty Judith frowned. Isn t he a piddling old to be socialise with senior high school misss?Elena rol ed her eyes. Were non in high school all much, Aunt Judith. And hes lonesome(prenominal) nigh six years older than us. And its non just girls. planecape and Stefan are coming, a analogous.If this was Aunt Judiths reaction to the countersign of their spending metre with Alaric, Elena could tel why Me elevator carmineith was hesitating to tel slew about their relationship. It made find to wait a couple of years, until people fancy of her as a grown-up. Since no one here knew al that Meredith had run inton and done, she seemed ilk any other eighteenyear-old to them. Its a penny-pinching thing Aunt Judith doesnt do Stefans quintup permit hundred years older than I am, Elena thought with a secret smirk. She hazards Alarics too old.The doorbel rang.Thats matte and everybody, Elena said, rising to put her bowl in the sink. See you guys tonight.Margaret widened her eyes at Elena in silent appeal, and Elena detoured on her federal boardncy to the door to squeeze the little girls shoulder. Was Margaret stil dysphoric Elena wouldnt deduce back?Out in the foyer, she ran her fingers through her hair before start the door.Standing in front of her was not Stefan, though, plainly a perfect stranger. A real y good- airing stranger, Elena note automatical y, a boy about her mount up with curly golden hair, sculpted features, and scintillating blue eyes. He was holding a deep red rose in one hand.Elena stood a little straighter, unconsciously pul ing her shoulders back and pushing her hair hobo her ears. She adored Stefan, more over that didnt mean she couldnt human face at other boys, or confabulation to them. She wasnt dead, subsequently al . Not anymore, she thought, blissful at her private joke. The boy smiled back. Hey, Elena, he said cheerful y.Caleb Smal wood Aunt Judith said, coming into the hal . There you areElena mat up herself recoil, just she kep t the smile on her pose. Any relation to Tyler? she said, outwardly calm, and ran her eyes over him, nerve-racking to be subtle, checking for for what? For signs of his beness a werewolf? She realized she didnt raze kat once what those would be. Tylers good looks had al elbow rooms had a flavor of an animal about them, with his bombastic white teeth and broad features, only if had that been a coincidence?Tylers my cousin, Caleb answered, his smile root sy chaff to turn to a quizzical frown. I thought you knew that, Elena. Im staying with his folks maculation Tylers gone.Elenas mind raced. Tyler Smal wood had run away after Elena, Stefan, and Damon had defeated his al y, the evil lamia Klaus. Tyler had left his girlfriend and some epochs confident(p)(predicate)ty Caroline large(predicate). Elena hadnt discussed Tyler and Carolines fate with the Guardians, so she had no idea what had go byed with them in this reality. Was Tyler even a werewolf right away? Was Carolin e pregnant? And if she was, was it with werewolf or human babies? She agitate her head slightly. Brave new world, indeed.Wel , dont leave Caleb out on the porch. Let him in,Aunt Judith instructed from behind her. Elena stood aside, and Caleb moved past her into the hal .Elena well-tried to reach out with her mind and whizz Calebs aura, to read him to see if he was dangerous, but once again came up against that brick wal . It would record some time to get apply to macrocosm a normal girl again, and suddenly Elena felt horribly vulnerable.Caleb shifted from pedestal to foot, looking uncomfortable, and she quickly composed herself. How commodious leave you been in townspeople? she asked, and then kicked herself for treating this boy she obviously was supposed to roll in the hay desire a stranger again.Wel , he said slowly, Ive been in town al summer. Did you hit your head over the weekend, Elena? He grinned teasingly at her.Elena displace a shoulder, theoriseing of al she had suffered over the weekend. Something like that.He held out the rose. This essential be for you.Thank you, said Elena, confused. A spikelet pricked her finger as she took it by the stem, and she stuck the finger in her mouth to stanch the blood.Dont lend oneself thanks me, he said. It was just sitting on the front steps when I got here. You essential do a secret admirer.Elena frowned. smokestack of boys had admired her through school, and if this had been nine months ago, she could arouse made a good hypothesize at who would leave her a rose. merely now she didnt learn a clue. planenesss strike old traverse sedan pul ed up outside and honked. Ive got to run, Aunt Judith, she said. Theyre here. clarified seeing you, Caleb.Elenas stomach twisted as she walked toward languors railcar. It wasnt just the strangeness of meeting Caleb that was affect her, she realized, turning the roses stem absently surrounded by her fingers. It was the car itself. Matts old Ford was the car she had driven off Wickery Bridge back in the winter, panicked and pursued by evil forces. Shed died in this car. The windows had shattered as she hit the creek, and the car had fil ed with wintery water. The scratched steering wheel and the dented lens hood of the car, covered with water, had been the perish things shed seen in that vitality. that here the car was as consentaneous again as she was. Pushing the remembering of her death from her mind, she waved at beautiful, whose eager grammatical construction was visible through the passenger window. She could lay to rest about al those old tragedies, because now they had never happened. Meredith perched elegantly on the deletion on her front porch, pushing herself light back and forth with one foot. Her strong, narrowing fingers were stil her non-white hair fel smoothly across her shoulders her expression was as serene as ever.There was nothing about Meredith that capability show how tensely and busily he r thoughts were churning, worries and accident plans whirring away behind her sang-froid facade. She had spent yesterday trying to epithet out what the Guardians spel had changed for her and her family particularly her brother, Christian, who Klaus had kidnapped over a decade ago. She stil didnt understand it al , but it was dawning on her that Elenas bargain had more far- hit consequences than any of them had envisaged. except today her thoughts were booked with Alaric Saltzman.Her fingers tapped anxiously against the ramp up of the displace. Then she schooled herself into stil ness again. Self-discipline was where Meredith ready her strength, and if Alaric, her boyfriend or at least, he had been her boyfriend veridical y her perhaps engaged-to-be-engaged, sort of almost fiance, before he left town turned out to have changed toward her in the months theyd been apart, wel , no one, not even Alaric, would see how that would pine her.Alaric had spent the past several(pren ominal) months in Japan, investigating paranormal activity, a dream come true for a doctoral student in parapsychology. His conceive of the tragic history of Unmei no Shima, the Island of Doom, a smal community where children and parents had turned against one another, had athletic supportered Meredith and her friends to understand what the kitsune were doing to Fel s church service, and how to fight it.Alaric had been working at Unmei no Shima with Dr. Celia Connor, a forensic pathologist who, scorn her ful academic credentials, was the same age as Alaric, only twenty-four. So, clearly, Dr. Connor was bril iant. From his letters and emails, Alaric had been having the time of his life in Japan. And hed certainly found a lot of interests in special K with Dr. Connor. Perhaps more so than with Meredith, who had only just graduated from a smal -town high school, no government issue how mature and intel igent she susceptibility be.Meredith gave herself a mental shake and sit up s traighter. She was being ridiculous, worrying about Alarics relationship with his crack eague. She was pretty sure she was being ridiculous, anyway. Fairly sure. She gripped the arms of the swing more tightly. She was a vampire hunter. She had a duty to protect her town, and she had, with her friends, protected it wel already. She wasnt just an ordinary teenager, and if she sine qua noned to prove that to Alaric again, she was confident she could, Dr. Celia Connor or no Dr. Celia Connor.Matts rattletrap of an old Ford sedan chugged up to the curb, just in front with Matt, Stefan and Elena sitting close unitedly in the back. Meredith rose and crossed the lawn toward it.Is everything sanction? said becoming, round eyed, when she opened the door. Your face looks like youre heading off to battle.Meredith change surface her features into impassivity and scrambled for an explanation that wasnt, Im worry about whether my boyfriend still likes me. promptly and easily, she realized on that point was another causal agent she was tense, a true one. reasonable, I have a duty to help look out for everyone now,Meredith said simply. Damons dead. Stefan doesnt want to hurt humans, and that handicaps him. Elenas Powers are gone. Even though the kitsune were defeated, we stil need protection. Wel always need to be careful.Stefan tightened his arm around Elenas shoulders. The things that make Fel s Church so appealing to the supernatural, the ley lines that have attracted al kinds of beings here for generations, are al stil here. I raft sense them. And other people, other creatures, wil sense them, too. bonnys spokesperson rose in alarm. So its al going to happen again?Stefan rubbed the bridge of his nose. I dont hark back so. But something else might. Merediths right, we have to be vigilant. He dropped a kiss onto Elenas shoulder and rest his cheek against her hair. There was no question, Meredith thought wryly, why this particular supernatural being was drawn to Fel s Church, anyway, and it wasnt because of the ley lines running through the area. Elena toyed with a single dark red rose, something Stefan must have brought her. Is that the only cause youre worried, Meredith? she asked lightly. Your duty to Fel s Church?Meredith felt herself flush a little, but her voice was dry and calm. I think thats argue enough, dont you?Elena grinned. Oh, its reason enough, I suppose. But could there be another one? She winked at Bonnie, whose anxious expression lightened in response. Who do we know who wil be fascinated by al the tales you have to tel ?Especially when he finds out that the storys not over just?Bonnie turned al the way around in her seat, her smile growing. Oh. Oh. I see. He wont be able to think of anything else, wil he? Or anyone else.Now Stefans shoulders relaxed, and up in the drivers seat Matt let out a chuckle and shake his head. You three,he said affectionately. Us guys never stood a chance.Meredith looked straight ahead and lif ted her chin slightly, ignoring them al . Elena and Bonnie knew her too wel , and the three of them had spent enough time scheming together that she should have cognise theyd see through her plan in a minute. But she didnt have to accord to it.The solemn mood in the car had lifted, though. Meredith realized they were al doing it on purpose, range out gently and careful y with jokes and lighthearted teasing, trying to ease the disoblige Elena and Stefan must both be feeling.Damon was dead. And while Meredith had developed a cautious, wary appraise for the unpredictable vampire during their time in the Dark Dimension, and Bonnie had felt, Meredith thought, something warmer, Elena had savord him. satisfying y loved him. And even though Damon and Stefans relationship had been rocky, to say the least, for centuries, he had been Stefans brother. Stefan and Elena were hurting, and everyone knew it.after a minute, Matts eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror to glance at Stefan. Hey, he said, I forgot to tel you. In this reality you didnt disappear on Hal oween you stayed the starting wide receiver and we took the footbal group al the way to the state championships. He grinned, and Stefans face opened in primary pleasure. Meredith had almost forgotten that Stefan had played with Matt on their high school footbal aggroup before their history teacher, Mr. Tanner, died at the Hal oween featuren up(p) house and everything went to hel . She had forgotten he and Matt had been real friends, playing sports and hanging out, despite the fact that theyd both loved Elena. And mayhap still do both love Elena? she wondered, and glanced quickly at the back of Matts head from under her eyelashes. She wasnt sure how Matt felt, but he had always struck her as the kind of guy who, when he fel in love, stayed in love. But he was also the kind of guy who would always be too honorable to try to split up up a relationship, no matter what he felt.And, Matt went on, as the field general of the state champions, I guess Im a pretty good prospect for spread eges. He paused and broke out in a wide, proud smile.Apparently, I have a ful athletic scholarship to Kent State.Bonnie squealed, Elena clapped, and Meredith and Stefan burst out with congratulations.Me, me now Bonnie said. I guess I analyse harder in this reality. Which was probably easier, since one of my shell friends didnt die first semester and was available to help tutor me.Hey Elena said. Meredith was always a mitigate tutor than me. You cant blame it on me.Anyway, Bonnie continued, I got into a four-year col ege I didnt even bother to apply to any in our other life because my grade point average was not high. I was going to take nursing classes at the community col ege like bloody shame did, even though Im not sure Im real y cut out to be a nurse because, yuck, blood and other fluids. But, anyway, my mama was saying this morning that we should go obtain for my room at Dalcrest before jab Day . She shrugged a little.I mean, I know its not Harvard, but Im pretty excited.Meredith join in the congratulations quietly. She had, in fact, gotten into Harvard.Ooh. And And Bonnie was bouncing in her seat with excitement. I ran into Vickie Bennett this morning. Shes definitely not dead I think she was surprised when I hugged her. I forgot we werent real y friends.How is she? asked Elena interestedly. Did she remember anything?Bonnie tilted her head. She seems fine. I couldnt exactly ask her what she remembered, but she didnt say anything about being dead or vampires or anything. I mean, she was always a little slice blah, you know? She did tel me she saw you downtown last weekend and you told her what color lip footnote she ought to buy.Elena raised her eyebrows. Real y? She paused and went on uncertainly, Is anybody else feeling weird about al of this? I mean, its wonderful dont get me wrong. But its weird, too.Its confusing, Bonnie said. Im grateful, obviously, that al the h orrible things are gone and everybodys okay. Im thril ed to have my life back. But my father blew up at me this morning when I asked where Mary was. Mary was one of Bonnies older sisters, the last one living at home as well Bonnie. He thought I was trying to be funny. Apparently she moved in with her boyfriend three months ago, and you can imagine how my dad feels about that.Meredith nodded. Bonnies dad was the protecting(prenominal) paternal type, and pretty old-fashioned in his attitudes toward his daughters boyfriends. If Mary was living with her boyfriend, he must be apoplectic.Aunt Judith and I have been fighting at least, I think so. But I cant find out exactly why, Elena confessed. I cant ask, because obviously I should already know.Shouldnt everything be perfect now? Bonnie said wistful y. It seems like weve been through enough.I dont mind being confused, as long as we can go back to real life, Matt said earnestly.There was a little pause, which Meredith broke, reaching f or something to take them out of their disconsolate thoughts.Pretty rose, Elena, she said. Is that a gift from Stefan?No, essential y, Elena said. It was sitting on my front deform this morning. She twirled it between her fingers. Its not from any of the gardens on our street, though. No one has such beautiful roses. She smiled teasingly at Stefan, who tensed up once more. Its a mystery.Must be from a secret admirer, Bonnie said. back tooth I see?Elena handed it up to the front seat, and Bonnie turned the stem around careful y in her hand, looking at the blossom from al angles. Its gorgeous, she said. A single, perfect rose. How romantic She delusive to swoon, lifting the rose to her forehead. Then she flinched.Ouch OuchBlood ran down her hand. Much more blood than ought to come from the prick of a thorn, Meredith noted, already reaching into her pocket for a tissue. Matt pul ed off the road.Bonnie he began.Stefan hard in sharply and leaned forward, his eyes widening. Meredi th forgot about the tissue, fearing the sudden sight of blood had caused Stefans vampiric temperament to take over.Then Matt gasped and Elena said sharply, A camera, quick Someone give me your phone with such a olfactory perception of command that Meredith automatical y handed Elena her phone.As Elena pointed the camera phone at Bonnie, Meredith last-place y saw what had startled the others.The dark red blood was running down Bonnies arm, and as it ran, it had streamed into twists and curves from her wrist to her elbow. The trickles of blood spel ed out a name over and over. The same name that had been haunting Meredith for months.