The Return: Midnight Chapter 1

affectionately Diary,Im so frightened I tolerate hardly command this pen. Im printing rather than writing in cursive, beca give that way I have more control.What am I terrified of, you ask? And when I adduce of Damonyou dont believe the answer, non if youd realizen the two of us a few days ago. But to understand, you have to hunch forward a few facts.Have you ever heard the phrase Al bets are off?It kernel that any topic, anything, can happen. So that heretofore somebody who figures out odds and sticks bets from people gives them back their m unrivaledy. Because a batty card has entered the situation. You cant even figure the odds to take a bet.Thats where I am. Thats why my heart is hammering in my throat and head and ears and fingertips in fear.Al bets are off.You can see how shaky even my printing is. Suppose my hands shake like this when I go in to see him? I might drop the tray. I might annoy Damon. And then anything might happen.Im not explaining this right. What I should be saying is that were back Damon and Meredith and Bonnie and me. We went to the Dark symme show and now were home again, with a ace eggs and Stefan.Stefan was tricked into going there by Shinichi and Misao, the brother and sister kitsune, or evil fox-spirits, who told him that if he went to the Dark Dimension he could suffer the curse of being a lamia removed and pass away human again.They lied. completely they did was leave him in a stinking prison, with no food, no light, no warmthuntil he was at the point of death.But Damon who was so different back then agreed to lead us to try to find him. And, oh, I cant even begin to describe the Dark Dimension itself. But the important thing is that we fin completelyy found Stefan, and that by then wed found the Twin Fox key we needed to liberation him. But he was a skeleton, poor boy. We carried him out of the prison on his pallet, which later monotonic burnt-out it was so infested with creepy-crawlies. But that night we gave him a bath and trust him to bedand then we provide him. Yes, with our blood. unhurt the humans did it except Mrs. Flowers, who was busy making poultices for where his poor bones were almost sticking out of his skin.They had greedy him to that point I could kill Them with my own hands or my Wings Powers if sole(prenominal) I could use them properly. But I cant. I go there is a spell for Wings of Destruction, but I have no idea how to summon it.At least I got to see how Stefan blossomed when being fed with human blood. (I admit that I gave him a few extra feedings that werent on his chart, and Id have to be an nitwit not to have sex that my blood is different from other peoples its much richer and it did Stefan amazing amounts of good.)And so Stefan recovered fair to middling that the next morning he was able to walk downstairs to thank Mrs. Flowers for her potionsThe rest of us, though all the humans were entirenessly exhausted. We didnt even weigh about what ha d happened to the bouquet, because we didnt know it had anything special in it. Wed gotten it however as we were leaving the Dark Dimension, from a kind white kitsune whod been in the cell across from Stefans to begin with we put a jailbreak. He was so beautiful I never knew a kitsune could be kind. But he had disposed(p) Stefan these flowers.Anyway, that morning Damon was up. Of course, he couldnt contribute any of his own blood, but I honestly think he would have, if he could. That was the way he was back then.And thats why I dont understand how I can feel the fear I feel now. How can you be terrified of someone whos kissed you and kissed youand called you his darling and his mantrap and his princess? And who has laughed with you with his eyes dancing with mischief? And whos held you when you were frightened, and told you there was nothing to be afraid of, not while he was there? Someone you only had to glance at to know what he was thinking?Someone who has defend you, no ma tter what the cost to himself, for days on end?I know Damon. I know his faults, but I also know what hes like inside. And hes not what he wants people to think he is.Hes not cold, or arrogant, or cruel. Those are fa?ades he puts on to cover himself, like clothes.The problem is that Im not sure he knows he isnt any of these things. And right now hes all mixed-up. He might flip-flop and be accrue all of them because hes so confused.What Im trying to say is, that morning only Damon was really awake. He was the only one who saw the bouquet.And one of the things Damon definitely is, is curious.So he unwrapped all the magical wards from it and it had a single pitch-black rose in the center. Damon has been trying to find a black rose for years, reasonable to admire it, I think.But when he saw this one he smelled itand boom The rose disappearedAnd abruptly he was sick and dizzy and he couldnt smell anything and all his other senses were dulled as well. That was when keen-witted oh, I havent even mentioned Sage, but hes a tall bronze gorgeous hunk of a lamia whos been such a good friend to all of us told him to suck in air and to hold it, to push it down into his lungs.Humans have to breathe that way, you see.I dont know how long it took Damon to realize that he really was a human, no joke, nothing anyone could do about it.The black rose had been for Stefan and it would have given him his dream of being human again. But when Damon realized it had worked its magic on himThats when I saw him understand at me and lump me in with the rest of my species a species hes bewilder to hate and scorn.Since then I havent dared go out him in the eye again. I know he loved me just days ago. I didnt know that love could turn to well, to all the things he feels now about himself.Youd think it would be easy for Damon to become a vampire again. But he wants to be as powerful a vampire as he used to be and there isnt anyone like that to exchange blood with him. Even Sage dis appeared before Damon could ask him. So Damon is stuck like this until he finds some strong, powerful, and prestigious vampire to go through the whole process of changing him.And ein truth time I look into Stefans eyes, those jewel-green eyes that are warm with self-assertion and gratitude I feel terror, too.Terror that somehow hell be snatched away again right out of my arms. Andterror that hell find out how Ive come to feel about Damon. I hadnt even realized myself how much Damon has come to mean to me. And I cantstopmy feelingfor him, even if he hates me now.And, yes, damn it, Im crying In a minute, I have to go take him his dinner. He must be starving, but when Matt tested to take him something earlier today, Damon threw the whole tray at him.Oh, please, God, please dont let him hate meIm being selfish, I know, in just talking about whats going on with Damon and me. I mean, things in Fells Church are worse than ever. Every day more children become feature and terrify their parents. Every day, parents get angrier with their possessed children. I dont even want to think about whats going on. If something doesnt change, the whole place will be done for(p) like the last town Shinichi and Misao visited.Shinichihe made a lot of predictions about our group, about things weve unplowed secret from the others. But the truth is, I dont know if I want to hear any of his riddles solved.Were gold in one way. We have the Saitou family to help us. You remember Isobel Saitou, who pierced herself so horribly while she was possessed? Since shes gotten better, shes become a good friend, and her mother, Mrs.Saitou, and her grandmother, Obaasan, too. They give us amulets spells to keep evil away, written on Post-it Notes or little cards. Were so grateful for that kind of help.Someday maybe we can repay them all.Elena Gilbert put down the pen reluctantly. Shutting her diary meant having to face the things she had been writing about.Somehow, though, she managed to make h erself walk downstairs to the kitchen and take the dinner tray from Mrs.Flowers, who smiled encouragingly at her.As she set out for the boardinghouses storage room, she noticed that her hands were horror so that the entire tray of food she was carrying jingled. Since there was no access to the storage room from inside, anyone who wanted to see Damon had to go out the front door and nigh to the addition tacked on near the kitchen garden. Damons lair, people were cal ing it now.As she passed the garden Elena glanced sideways at the hole in the middle of the angelica patch that was the powered-down Gateway where theyd come back from the Dark Dimension.She hesitated at the storage room door. She was stil trembling, and she knew that was not the right way to face Damon. on the button relax, she told herself. Think of Stefan.Stefan had had a grim setback when hed found that there was nothing left of the rose, but he had soon recovered his usual humility and grace, touching Elenas cheek and saying that he was thankful just to be there with her. That this closeness was al he asked of life. Clean clothes, decent food freedom al these were worth fighting for, but Elena was the most important. And Elena had cried.On the other hand, she knew that Damon had no intention of remaining as he now was. He might do anything, risk anythingto change himself back.It had actual y been Matt who had suggested the star bal as a solution for Damons condition. Matt hadnt understood either the rose or the star bal until it was explained that this star bal , which was probably Misaos, contained within it most or al of her Power, and that it had become more bril iant as it confined the lives that she took. The black rose had probably been created with a liquid from a similar star bal but no one knew how much or whether it was combined with unknown ingredients. Matt had frowned and asked, if the rose could change a vampire to a human, could a star bal change a human to a vampire?Elen a hadnt been the only one to see the slow rising of Damons bent head, and the glimmer in his eyes as they traveled the continuance of the room to the star bal fil ed with Power. Elena could practical y hear his logic. Matt might be total y off trackbut there was one place a human could be sure to find powerful vampires. In the Dark Dimension to which there was a Gateway in the boardinghouses garden.The Gateway was closed right nowfor lack of Power.Unlike Stefan, Damon would have absolutely no qualms about what would happen if he had to use al the star bal s liquid, which would result in the death of Misao. afterward al , she was one of the two foxes who had abandoned Stefan to be tortured.So all bets were off.Okay, youre scared now be intimate with it, Elena told herself fiercely. Damons been in that room for almost fifty hours now and who knows what hes been plotting to do to get hold of the star bal . Stil , somebodys got to get him to eat and when you say somebody,face it, its you.Elena had been standing at the door so long that her knees were starting to lock. She took a deep breath and knocked.There was no answer, and no light went on inside. Damon was human. It was quite gentle immaterial now.Damon?It was meant to be a cal . It came out a whisper.No answer. No light.Elena swal owed. He had to be in there.Elena knocked harder. Nothing. last-place y, she tried the knob.To her horror it was unlocked, and it swung open to reveal an interior as dark as the night around Elena, like the maw of a pit.The fine hairs at the back of Elenas neck were standing up.Damon, Im coming in,she managed in a bare whisper, as if to convince herself by her quietness that there was nobody there. Il be silhouetted against the very edge of the porch light. I cant see anything, so you have al the advantages. Im carrying a tray with very hot coffee, cookies, and steak tartar, no seasonings. You should be able to smel the coffee.It was odd, though. Elenas senses told her tha t there was no one standing directly in front of her, delay for her to literal y run into him. Al right, she thought. Start with baby steps. Step one. Step two. Step three I must be wel into the room now, but its stil too dim to see anything. Step foursomeA strong arm came out of the darkness and locked in an iron grip around her waist, and a knife pressed against her throat.Elena saw blackness shot with a sudden gray network, after which the dark closed in overwhelmingly.