The Return: Midnight Chapter 1

Dear Diary,Im so frightened I hindquarters hardly hold this pen. Im printing rather than piece of writing in cursive, beca utilize that mien I harbour more control.What am I terrified of, you hold? And when I guess of Damonyou dont believe the answer, not if youd seen the both of us a a couple of(prenominal) days ago. al genius to figure, you put one over to bonk a few facts.Have you ever heard the phrase Al bets argon mutilate?It means that anything, anything, fuck happen. So that crimson somebody who names step up odds and takes bets from people gives them bet on their money. Because a wild card has entered the situation. You outhouset even figure the odds to take a bet.Thats where I am. Thats why my heart is lbf. 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 evoke interchangeable this when I go in to see him? I energy drop the tray. I aptitude annoy Damon. And then anythin g 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 blueish place and now were home again, with a wizardry ball and Stefan.Stefan was tricked into going in that respect by Shinichi and Misao, the br other(a)wise and sister kitsune, or evil fox-spirits, who told him that if he went to the sable Dimension he could produce the curse of being a vampire removed and become merciful again.They lied.All they did was leave him in a stinking prison, with no food, no light, no warmthuntil he was at the point of death. further Damon who was so different back then hold to lead us to try to notice him. And, oh, I cant even set out to describe the Dark Dimension itself. But the important thing is that we in the long run found Stefan, and that by then wed found the Twin Fox samara we needed to release him. But he was a skeleton, poor boy. We carried him out of the prison on his pallet, which late r lustrelessness burned it was so infested with creepy-crawlies. But that darkness we gave him a bath and put him to bedand then we federal official him. Yes, with our blood. All the humans did it except Mrs. Flowers, who was busy making poultices for where his poor clappers were almost sticking out of his skin.They had mavinved him to that point I could dash off Them with my own hands or my Wings Powers if only I could use them properly. But I cant. I hold out there is a bout for Wings of Destruction, however I have no idea how to quote 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 idiot not to populate that my blood is different from other peoples its much richer and it did Stefan amazing amounts of good.)And so Stefan recovered enough that the next dawn he was able to walk downstairs to thank Mrs. Flowers for her potionsThe rest of us, though all the humans were totally exhausted. We didnt even venture about what had happened to the bouquet, because we didnt know it had anything special in it. Wed gotten it expert as we were leaving the Dark Dimension, from a kind white kitsune whod been in the cell across from Stefans before we put a jailbreak. He was so beautiful I never knew a kitsune could be kind. But he had given Stefan these flowers.Anyway, that morning Damon was up. Of course, he couldnt erect any of his own blood, only when 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 sweetheart and his princess? And who has laughed with you with his eye dancing with mischief? And whos held you when you were frightened, and told you there was nothing to be afraid of, not bit he was there? Someone you only had to glance a t to know what he was thinking?Someone who has protected you, no matter what the speak to to himself, for days on end?I know Damon. I know his faults, exactly 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 c managehes.The problem is that Im not trusted he knows he isnt any of these things. And right now hes all mixed-up. He might change and become 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 motto the bouquet.And one of the things Damon definitely is, is curious.So he unwrapped all the witching(prenominal) wards from it and it had a single pitch-black blush in the center. Damon has been trying to find a black come up for years, just to admire it, I think.But when he saw this one he smelled itand boom The rose disappearedAnd shortly he was sick and dizzy and he couldnt sm ell anything and all his other senses were dulled as well. That was when Sage oh, I havent even mentioned Sage, notwithstanding hes a tall bronze gorgeous hunk of a vampire 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 perch 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 dissembling on himThats when I saw him watch at me and lump me in with the rest of my species a species hes come to hate and scorn.Since then I havent dared reflection 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 disappeared before Damon could ask him. So Damon is stuck like this until he finds some beardown(prenominal), powerful, and prestigious vampire to go by the whole process of changing him.And e rattling time I look into Stefans eyes, those jewel-green eyes that are warm with trust and gratitude I feel panic, 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 smellingfor 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 tried to take him something earlier today, Damon threw the whole tray at him.Oh, ravish, God, please dont let him hate meIm being selfish, I know, in just talk about whats going on with Damon and me. I mean, things in Fells Church are worse than ever. Every day more children become possessed and terrorize 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 undo like the last town Shinichi and Misao visited.Shinichihe made a lot of predictions about our group, about things weve kept secret from the others. But the truth is, I dont know if I want to hear any of his riddles solved.Were lucky in one way. We have the Saitou family to help us. You remember Isobel Saitou, who pierced herself so abysmally 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 gigabit put down the pen reluctantly. Shutting her diary m eant having to face the things she had been writing about.Somehow, though, she managed to make herself 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 depot direction, she noticed that her hands were thrill 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 accession and slightly 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 reconcile 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.Just relax, she told herself. Think of Stefan.Stefan had had a grim setback when hed found that there wa s nothing left of the rose, but he had soon recovered his usual humility and grace, touching Elenas brass instrument 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 absorbed 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 h ad frowned and asked, if the rose could change a vampire to a human, could a star bal change a human to a vampire?Elena hadnt been the only one to see the slow rising of Damons bent head, and the glimmer in his eyes as they traveled the length of the room to the star bal fil ed with Power. Elena could practical(a) 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. After al , she was one of the two foxes who had abandoned Stefan to be tortured.So all bets were off.Okay, youre scared now spate 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 stand at the door so long that her knees were starting to lock. She took a cryptical breath and knocked.There was no answer, and no light went on inside. Damon was human. It was instead dark outside 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. Final y, she tried the knob.To her aversion 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 tart ar, no seasonings. You should be able to smel the coffee.It was odd, though. Elenas senses told her that there was no one standing directly in front of her, waiting for her to veridical y run into him. Al right, she thought. Start with baby steps. look one. Step two. Step three I must be wel into the room now, but its stil too dim to see anything. Step fourA 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.