'The Hunters: Phantom Chapter 16\r'

'He walked for a eagle-eyed, keen-sighted prison term, though it larnmed his surroundings neer changed. The changered dim light filtered by imagines of a constant cloud of ash. He plodded on through grime, through bollix, through knee-deep pools of grim water.\r\nOccasional y, he unclenched his clenched fist and gazed again at the locks of sensory hair. Each time, the illusion liquid cleaned them a atomic more, changing a scrap of fibrous melanizeness to two locks of shining hair, red and gold.\r\nHe walked on.\r\nE precise topic hurt, precisely he couldnt stop. If he halt he would sink approve infra the ash and mud, binding to the grave abide to death.\r\nSome involvement whispered around the edges of his mastermind. He didnt do it quite what had happened to him, moreover joints and phrases spun in his brain.\r\nWords troopsage aband atomic number 53d, words exchangeable al unity.\r\nHe was very cold. He kept walking. After a while, he recognize he was mumbling. â€Å"Left me al alone. Theyd never take a leak go away over(p) him hither.” He couldnt immortalise who this him was, just now he felt a sick sort of satisfaction from the bite of resentment. He held on to it as he continued his march. After what felt like an unchanging eternity, well-nigh social occasion happened. Ahead of him he could see the gatehouse he had imagined: spired like a fairy-tale castle, black as night. He walked faster, his footsteps shuffling through the ash. And because the earth opened unawargons beneath his feet. In the space of a heartbeat, he was fal ing into nonhingness. Something inside him howled, Not now, non now. He grabbed and clawed at the earth, his build up holding him afloat, his feet swinging into the emptiness beneath him.\r\nâ€Å"No,” he moaned. â€Å"No, they cant… Dont earmark me here. Dont leave me again.” His fingers slipped, mud and ash sliding beneath his relegates.\r\nâ€Å"Damo n?” an unbelieving voice roared. A great tendinous figure stood above him, silhouetted against the moons and planets in the sky, his vanity bared, long, spiraling tangles of hair spil ing over his shoulders. This statue of a existence reached down and grasped him by the arms, lifting him up. He yelped in pain. Something beneath the earth had latched onto his legs and was pul ing him back down.\r\nâ€Å"Hold on!” The other art object grunted, muscles rippling. He strained and heaved against whatever was clinging onto Damon †Damon, the man had cal ed him, and that felt slump, somehow. The other man gave a great tug, and final y the force below released him, and he fortuity leadingt of the earth, knocking his rescuer backward.\r\nDamon fructify panting on the ground, spent.\r\nâ€Å"You are suppositious to be dead,” the other man told him, arrange up to his feet and holding out a hand to steady Damon. He pushed a long lock of hair away from his hardiness and gazed at Damon with serious, troubled eyes. â€Å"The fact that you are not… wel , I am not as surprised as I should be.”\r\nDamon blinked at his savior, who was watching him attentively. He nonsensical his lips and tried to speak, but his voice wouldnt practice.\r\nâ€Å"Everything has been queasy here since your friends left,” the man say. â€Å"Something essential has shifted in this universe. Things are not right.” He shake his head, his eyes troubled. â€Å" entirely tel me, mon cher, how does it come to be that you are here?”\r\nFinal y Damon found his voice. It came out rough and quavering. â€Å"I… dont know.”\r\nThe man immediately was al courtesy. â€Å"I think the situation cal s for some Black Magic, oui? And some blood, perhaps, and a misfortune to clean up. And so, Damon, we must talk.”\r\nHe gestured toward the dark castle ahead of them. Damon hesitated for a moment, glancing at the emptiness an d ash around them, and so trudged after him toward the open doors.\r\nAfter Stefan sweep out of the room so suddenly, everyone could moreover stare after him as the previous door banged, signaling that he had left the house just as quickly. fair hugged her arms around herself, shivering. A slighter voice in the back of her head told her that something was very, very wrong.\r\nCelia final y stony-broke the silence. â€Å"Inte stay oning,” she give tongue to. â€Å"Is he ever so so… impetuous? Or is it a vampire thing?”\r\nAlaric chuckled dryly. â€Å" take it or not, hes always attended very low-key and practical to me. I dont recommend him being so volatile.” He ran a hand through his sandy hair and added surveyful y, â€Å"Maybe it was the contrast with his brother that made him seem so reasonable. Damon was clean unpredictable.”\r\nMeredith frowned rulingful y. â€Å"No, youre right. This isnt the way Stefan usual y acts. Maybe h es emotional because Elenas threatened? that that doesnt make sense… shes been in risk before. Even when she died †he was heartbroken, but, if anything, it made him more responsible, not wilder.”\r\nâ€Å"But when Elena was dead,” Alaric reminded her, â€Å"the worst thing he could imagine had already happened. Its doable that whats making him so jumpy is that he doesnt know where the threats coming from this time.”\r\n decorous took a sip of tea, zoning out as Meredith hmmmed modelful y, and Celia raised one wondering(a) eyebrow. â€Å"I stil dont understand what you mean when you maintain Elena died. Are you suggesting she actual y rosiness from the dead?”\r\nâ€Å"Yes,” state Meredith. â€Å"She was glum into a vampire, then she was exposed to sunlight and bodily y died. They buried her and everything. Later †months later †she returned. Shes human again, though.”\r\nâ€Å"I find al that very hard to regard, ” state Celia flatly.\r\nâ€Å"Honestly, Celia,” state Alaric, throwing up his hands in exasperation. â€Å"With everything youve seen since we got here †your scarf nearly choking you, then spel ing out a name, fairish having a vision, Stefan practical y flying to keep open you †I dont know why youre sketch the line now and saying you dont believe a girl could come back from the dead.” He paused and took a breath. â€Å"I dont mean to sound harsh, but real y.”\r\nMeredith smirked. â€Å"Believe it or not, its true. Elena came back from the dead.”\r\n decorous wrap up one long red ringlet butterfly around her finger. She watched as her finger turned white and red against the strand of hair. Elena. Of be given they were talking about Elena. Everyone was always talking about Elena. Whether she was with them or not, everything they did or thought centered on Elena.\r\nAlaric turned to point the whole group. â€Å"Stefan seems convinced that ‘he wants you operator Caleb, but Im not sure that it does. From what Ive seen of decorouss visions, and what you guys direct told me, theyre hardly ever about whats right in front of her. Calebs appearance †if it nevertheless was Caleb †could nurse been a coincidence. Dont you think so, Meredith?”\r\nOh, dont ado to ask me about the visions, Bonnie thought bitterly. Im only the one who has them. Wasnt that the way it always was, though? She was the one everyone over olfactory modalityed.\r\nâ€Å"It could be a coincidence,” Meredith said doubtful y. â€Å"But if its not Caleb she was talking about, who is it? Who wants Elena?”\r\nBonnie glanced under her eyelashes at prostrate, but he was staring out the window, apparently completely detached from the conversation. She could tel that Matt stil loved Elena, veritable(a) if no one else knew. It was too bad: Matt was frightfully y cute. He could date anyone, but it was taking him a lo ng time to get over her.\r\nBut then, no one ever seemed to get over Elena. Half the boys at Robert E. Lee high gear School had gone around gazing meditative y after her, as if she talent suddenly turn around and fal into their arms. for sure most of the boys Elena had dated had stayed a little bit in love with her, even after Elena had more or less forgotten their names. It isnt fair, Bonnie thought, twirling her hair more tightly around her finger. Everyone always wanted Elena, and Bonnie had never even had a boyfriend for more than a hardly a(prenominal) weeks at a time. What was wrong with her? population always told her how cute she was, how adorable, how fun… and then they looked past her to Elena, and it was like they couldnt see Bonnie anymore.\r\nAnd while Damon, amazing, sexy Damon, had been fond of her, sometimes, when she wasnt nerve-wracking to kid herself, she knew he hadnt real y seen her, either.\r\nIm just the sidekick, thats my problem, Bonnie thought glumly. Elena was the star; Meredith was a hero; Bonnie was a sidekick.\r\nCelia cleared her throat. â€Å"I have to cede Im intrigued by the appearance of the names,” she said stiffly. â€Å"It does seem like they point to some kind of threat. Whether or not Bonnies purported vision comes to anything” †Bonnie shot her best nasty look at Celia, but Celia ignored it †â€Å"we should unimpeachably investigate any background or context we can find for the undetermined appearance of the names. We should find out if in that respects a recorded history of this kind of thing happening before. The writing on the wal , if you wil .”\r\nShe gave a thin-lipped smile at her own joke.\r\nâ€Å"But what would we investigate?” Bonnie said, finding herself unwil ingly responding to Celias teacherlike manner. â€Å"I wouldnt even know where to start looking at for something like this. A book on curses, maybe? Or omens?\r\nDo you have anything like that in your library, Mrs. Flowers?”\r\nMrs. Flowers shook her head. â€Å"Im cowardly not, dear. My library, as you know, is mostly herbals. I have a few more alter books, but I cant recal anything that aptitude be easeful with this problem.”\r\nWhen she mentioned â€Å"more specialized books,”\r\nBonnies cheeks got hot. She thought of the grimoire on communication with the dead, stil tucked under the floorboards in her bedroom, and hoped Mrs. Flowers hadnt noticed it was missing.\r\nAfter a few pieces, her cheeks had cooled enough that she dared to glance around, but only Meredith was looking at her, one elegant eyebrow raised. If Meredith thought something was up, she wouldnt rest until she got the whole story from Bonnie, so Bonnie gave her a bland smile and get over her fingers behind her back for luck. Meredith raised her other eyebrow and looked at her with deep suspicion.\r\nâ€Å" certain y,” Celia said, â€Å"I have a striking at the University of Virginia who studies folklore and mythology. She specializes in witchcraft, folk magic, curses, al that kind of thing.”\r\nâ€Å"Do you think we could cal her?” said Alaric hopeful y. Celia frowned. â€Å"I think it would be better if I went up there for a few days. Her library isnt as wel organized as it could be †I suppose its symptomatic of the kind of mind that studies stories rather than facts †and it might take a while to discover if theres anything useful there. I think it would be just as wel for me to get out of town for a while, anyway. After two brushes with death in two days” †she sent a pointed glance toward Meredith, who blushed †â€Å"Im beginning to feel that Fel ‘s Church isnt the healthiest place for me.” She looked at Alaric. â€Å"You might find her library of interest, if youd like to come with me. Dr. Beltram is one of the best-known experts in her field.”\r\nâ€Å"Uh…” Alaric looked st artled. â€Å"Thanks, but Id better stay here and help Meredith. With her sprained ankle and everything.”\r\nâ€Å"Mmm-hmmm.” Celia glanced at Meredith again. Meredith, who had been looking steady more delighted every second since Celia had announced she was leaving, ignored her and smiled at Alaric. â€Å"Wel , I suppose I should give her a cal and get my things together. No time like the present.”\r\nCelia stood up, smoothed her sundress, and walked out the door, head high. As she passed, she brushed against the table near Mrs. Flowerss chair, send her knitting to the floor.\r\nBonnie let out a breath as Celia left the room. â€Å"Wel , real y!” she said indignantly.\r\nâ€Å"Bonnie,” said Matt warningly.\r\nâ€Å"I know,” said Bonnie angrily. â€Å"She could have at least said ‘excuse me, right? And what was that with asking Alaric to come with her to UVA? He just got here, practical y. He hasnt seen you for months. Of course hes n ot going to leave again with her right now.”\r\nâ€Å"Bonnie,” said Meredith, in a strangely choked voice.\r\nâ€Å"What?” said Bonnie, catching the oddness in her liveliness and looking around. â€Å"Oh. Oh. Oh, no.”\r\nMrs. Flowerss knitting had fal en from its table, and the skein of yarn had rol ed across the floor, unwinding as it went. Now, in the curls of soft pale pink, they could al clearly read one word written across the carpet: decent\r\n'