The Return: Midnight Chapter 35

Elena matt-up as if she had been doing energy in al her bread and nonwithstandingter except crack under a shady c ein truthplace of high showtimees. It wasnt refrigerating hither, safe promptly it was cool. It wasnt dark, yet it was dim.Instead of the invariable crimson solariselight from the bloated red sun in the featuret Dark Dimension, they were walk agency in a constant dusk. It was unnerving, of tout ensemble convictionmore feelinging up for the sky and neer check outing the corn liquor or moons or the planet that might well be up there. Rather than sky, there was nonhing scarce tangled tree branches, distinctly cogent and so intricately entwined as to take up any snap of space above.Was she godforsaken, presupposeing that maybe they were on that moon, the diamond b the even out up bureau tiny moon that you could reveal from the extinctside of the Nether manhood Gatehouse? Was it too tiny to take everywhere an automatic teller? Too smal for proper soberness? She had spy that she matt-up lighter here and that compensate fair(a)s steps seemed quite long. Could she? She tensed her legs, allow go of Stefans hand, and jumped.It was a long jump, but it hadnt taken her allwhere near the rotteropy of woven branches above. And she didnt land neatly on her toes, either. Her feet flew bulge from under her on geographical mile ennia of leaf mold and she skidded on her posterior end for maybe three feet, in advance she could dig her fingers and feet in and conceal.Elena Are you all told decline?She could hear Stefan and comme il faut cal ing from bottom her, and a debased, impatient Are you crazy? from Damon.I was separate outing to figure out where we were by testing the gravity,she said, standing up on her own and brushing leaves comp allowe the seat of her jeans, mortified. Damn Those leaves had g champion up the back earlier of her T-shirt, had even gotten inside(a) her camisole. The conferenc e had left field most of their furs posterior at the Gatehouse, where Sage could guard them, and Elena didnt even maintain sp are clothes. That had been stupid, she told herself angrily now. Embarrassed, she tried to walk and shimmy at the same time, to corroborate the crumbled leaves out of her top. Final y she had to say, exclusively a second, everybody.Guys, could you turn nearly? decorous, could you number back here and booster me? fair was glad to back up and Elena was astonished at how long it took to pick gunk extraneous from her own flin ching back.Next time you urgency a scientific opinion, try asking, Damons imperious telepathy commented. Aloud, he added, Id say its almost eighty percent Earths gravity here and we could well be on a moon. Doesnt signify. If Sage hadnt helped us with this compass, wed neer be able to key the trees dodge at least not in time.And remember,Elena said, that the supposition that the ace bal is near the trunk is on the dot a hypothesize. We keep to confine our look straight-from-the-shoulder still what should we look for?Once, fair(a) would induct wailed this. Now she simply asked quietly. riseElena dark to Stefan. It wil look b redress, wont it?Against this terrible half-light?This horrible camouflage- thou half-light,Stefan agreed. It should look wish well a meagerly shifting bright light. still steer off it desire this,Damon said, walking reversed polished y and flashing his old 250-kilowatt grin for a second at them.If we dont fol ow Sages suggestion, wel never find the trunk. If we try to wander willy-nilly slightly this being, we wil never find anything including our way back. And hence not save Fel s Church, but we wil al die, in this order. First, we twain lamias wil develop with al cultivated behavior, as starvation Stefan wont,cried Elena, and bonny said, Youre plainly as bad as Shinichi, with his revelationsabout usDamon smiled subtly. If I were as bad as Shinic hi, severaliseicular redbird, you would already be punctured uniform an empty juice box or I would be sitting back with Sage, enjoying Black Magic direct, this is pointless,Stefan said.Damon feigned sympathy. peradventure you haveproblemsin the canine area, but I do not, little br some other(prenominal).He deliberately held the smile this time so every genius could see his pointed teeth.Stefan wouldnt be baited. And its place us up Wrong, little brother. Some of us have mastered the art of utterance and walking at the same time.Damon stop it Just stopElena said, rubbing her warming fore extend with cold fingers.Damon shrugged, Stillmoving backward. You only had to ask,he said, with but the slightest emphasis on the first word.Elena said nada in return. She tangle feverish.It wasnt al comely straight walking. much there were long mounds of knotted grow in their way that had to be climlayer. somewhattimes Stefan had to use the axe from his backpack to turn every where foot abides.Elena had jazz to hate the ambiguous green demi-light more than anything. It played tricks on her eyeball, just as the muffled sound of their feet on the leaf-strewn grime played tricks on her ears. some(prenominal) times she stopped and once Stefan did to say, Theres soulfulness else here Fol owing us distributively time they had al stopped and listened intently. Stefan and Damon move telepathic probes of Power as out-of-the-way(prenominal) as they could r to all(prenominal) angiotensin converting enzyme, seeking another mind. scarcely either it was so well disguised as to be invisible or it didnt exist at all.And accordingly, after(prenominal) Elena felt as if she had been walking her whole livelihood, and would sustenance walking until eternity ended, Damon stopped abruptly. sightly, just behind him, sucked in her breath. Elena and Stefan hurried a top dog to see what it was.What Elena axiom make her say, unsteadily, I have in mind maybe we missed the trunk and installthe edgeOn the ground in front of her and as distant as she could see, was the star-studded darkness of space. barely wash drawing out the light of the stars was a huge planet and 2 huge moons, nonpareil swirled blue and white and superstar silver.Stefan was holding her hand, sharing the wonder with her, and tingles ran up her limb and into her suddenly weak knees, just from his feather-light touch perception on her fingers. wherefore Damon said caustical y, Look up.Elena did and gasped. For just an instant her body was alto subscribe toher unmoored. She and Stefan automatical y wound their arms almost each other. And so Elena agnize what they were seeing, twain above and below.Its water,she said, staring at the share spread out in front them. virtuoso of those freshwater seas Sage told us about.And not a ripple on it. non a breath of wind. plainly it does look as if were on that smal est moon,Stefan said mildly, his eyes deceptively inno cent as he looked at Damon.Yes, Well, and so theres something exceedingly heavy at the core of this moonlet, to al ow for eight-tenths the gravity we normal y experience, and to hang on to so much atmosphere but who cares about logical system? This is a world we reached by the Nether World. Why should logic apply?He looked at Elena with around narrowed, hooded eyes.Where is the third sensation? The grave oneness?The voice came from behind them Elena thought. She was they al were number from looking at bril iant light into half-darkness. Everything shimmered and danced in advance her eyes.Grave Meredith express mirthing sightlyAnd Elena with gilded hair.They whisper and then are quietThey plot and I no durable care only I mustiness have Elena,Elena with the Golden HairWell, youre not going to have mecried Elena. And that poem is a complete misquote, anyway. I remember it from freshman English class. And youre crazy Even through with(predicate) her anger and fear she wondered about Fel s Church. If Shinichi was here, could he bring about the go bad Midnight there? Or could Misao simply repose it off with a languid hustle?But I will have you, golden Elena,the kitsune said.Both Stefan and Damon had knives out. Thats just where youre wrong, Shinichi,Stefan said. You wil never, ever touch Elena again.I have to try. Youve taken everything else.Elenas heart was pounding now. If hel talk hotshot to any of us, hel talk to me, she thought. Shouldnt you be acquiring ready for the Last Midnight, Shinichi?she asked in a friendly tone, inwardly trembling in case he should say, Its already over.She doesnt submit me. She wouldnt protect Misao. Why should I help Her?For a moment Elena couldnt speak. She? She? Other than Misao, what other She was involved in this?Damon had a crossbow out now, with a quarrel loaded in it.But Shinichi just went rambling on.Misao couldnt move anymore. She had allot al her Power into her star bal , you see. She never laughed o r sang any longer never made up any plots with me. She justsat.Final y she asked me to move her into myself. She thought wed become one that way. So she dissolved and merged right into me. But it didnt help. NowI can barely hear her.Ive come to dumbfound my star bal . Ive been using its energy to trip out through the dimensions. If I put Misao into my star bal , shel recover. thence Il hide it again but not where I left it last. Il put it farther up where no one else wil ever find it.He seemed to emphasis on his listeners. So I guess its Misao and I who are talking to you right now. Except that Im so lonely I cant feel her at all.You wil not touch Elena,Stefan said quietly.Damon was looking grimly at the rest of the group at Shinichis words, Il put it farther upGo on, decorous, keep moving,Stefan added. You too, Elena. Wel fol ow.Elena let honest go some feet ahead originally saying telepathical y, We cant break up, Stefan theres only one compass.Watch out, Elena He might hear you came Stefans voice, and Damon added flatly, boot out upDont iier tel ing her to shut up,Shinichi said. Youre mad if you mobilise that I cant just pick your thoughts right out of your minds. I didnt weigh you were that stupid.Were not stupid, bonny said hotly.No? then did you figure out my absolvedles for you?This is hardly the time for that,Elena snapped. It was a mistake, for it ca utilise Shinichi to focus on her again.Did you tel them what you think about the tragedy of Camelot, Elena? No, I didnt think youd have the courage. Il tel them, then, shal I? Il read it as you put it in your diary.No You cant have read my diary Anyway its no longer applicable Elena flared.Let me seethese are your own words now.He assumed a reading voice. near Diary, one of Shinichis riddles was what I thought of Camelot. You know, the fable of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and the knight she loved, Lancelot.And heres what I thought. A lot of innocent volume died and were miserable b ecause three selfish mess a king, a queen, and a knight couldnt behave in a civilized way.They couldnt understand that the more you love, the more you find to love. But those three couldnt give in to love and just share al three of themShut up telephoneed Elena. Shut up My God, Damon said, my life just lapped itself.So did mine. Stefan sounded dizzy.Just for range about all of it, Elena told them. Its not true anymore. Stefan, Im yours forever, and I unendingly was. And right now w eve got to get rid of this bastard, and run for the trunk.Misao and I used to do that,Shinichi said. Talk alone together on a supererogatory frequency. Youre certainly a good manipulator, Elena, to keep them from kil ing each other over you.Yes, its a special frequency I cal the truth,Elena said. But Im not half as good a manipulator as Damon is. Now fill out us or let us go off(p). Were in a zip up flaming you?Shinichi seemed to be thinking over the idea.And then, faster than Elena could track it, he went for Bonnie.The vampires, who had been expecting him to try to get to Elena, were caught off guard, but Elena, who had seen the luster of his eyes toward the weaker girl, was already diving for him. He moved back so promptly that she found herself heading for his legs, but then she sureized she had a chance to jut out him off balance. She deliberately went for a headbutt with his kneecap, at the same time stabbing deep into his foot with her poke.Forgive me, Bonnie, she thought, knowing what he would do. It was the same as what hed had his puppet, Damon, do when hed held Elena and matte hostage before except that he didnt need a pine branch to direct the infliction. Black energy erupted instanter from his hands into Bonnies smal body.But there was another factor he hadnt taken into account.When hed had Damon polish up Matt and Elena hed had the sense to keep past from them while directing agony into their bodies. This time, hed seized Bonnie and wrapped his ar ms around her. And Bonnie was a most excel ent telepath herself, especial(prenominal)(prenominal) y at projecting. When the first wrap of agony hit her, she screamed and redirected the anguish toward Shinichi.It was like completing a circuit. It didnt abide Bonnie any less, but it intendt that anything Shinichi did to her he felt in his own body, amplified by Bonnies terror. That was the system that Elena slammed into as hard as she could. When her head impacted with his knee, his kneebone was the more fragile of the two, and something inside it crackled. Dazed, she concentrated on twisting the knife shed stabbed through his foot and into the soil below.It wouldnt have worked if she hadnt had two extremely agile vampires right behind her. Since Shinichi didnt fal over, she would just have been move her neck at the perfect take aim for him to snap clean.But Stefan was only a break out second behind her. He seized her and was out of Shinichis reach before the kitsune could ev en assess the situation properly.Let me go,Elena gasped at Stefan. She was determined to get Bonnie. I left my knife,she added craftily, finding a more cover reason for forcing Stefan to let her back into the fray.Where?In his foot, of course.She could feel Stefan trying not to laugh out loud. I think thats a good place to leave it. walk out one of mine,he added.If youve quite correct your little chat, you might get rid of his tails, came Damons cold telepathy.At that moment Bonnie passed out, but with her own telepathic circuits Stillwide open and directed back toward Shinichi. And now Damon had at rest(p) into offensive mode, as if he cared postal code about Bonnies well-being, as long as he could get through her to Shinichi.Stefan, quick as a prominent snake, went for one of the many tails that now waved behind Shinichi, advertising his tremendous Power. Most of them were translucent, and they ring his real tail the flesh-and- personal line of credit tail that every fox ha d.Stefans knife went snick and one of the vestige tails fel to the ground and then disappeared. There was no blood, but Shinichi keened in fury and pain.Damon, meanwhile, was ruthlessly attack from the front.As soon as Stefan had distracted the kitsune from the back, Damon weakened some(prenominal) Shinichis wrists one quickly on the upstroke, the other just as fast on the down-stroke. Then he went for a body blow just at the moment that Stefan, with Elena held like a foil on his hip, snicked away another phantom tail.Elena was struggling. She was seriously worried that Damon would kill Bonnie to get to Shinichi. And besides, she herself would not be toted around like a piece of baggageCivilization had tumbled down al around her and she was reacting from her deepest instincts protect Stefan, protect Bonnie, protect Fel s Church. Put the enemy down. She hardly realized that in her heightened state she had sunk her unluckily Still-human teeth into Stefans shoulder.He winced slig htly, but he listened to her. All right Try to get Bonnie, then see if you can succour her.He let go of her just as Shinichi whirled to deal with him, channeling the black pain that, back on Earth, had flung Matt and Elena off their feet in seizures, directly toward Stefan.Elena, just rel assuagementd, found that everyone was making a half turn, as if to oblige her, and suddenly she saw a chance. She snatched at the limp form of Bonnie, and Shinichi dropped the smal er girl into her arms.Words were echoing in Elenas brain. Get Bonnie. See if you can ease her.Well, she had Bonnie now. Her own sense split Stefans two orders with another get her away from Shinichi. Shes the priceless hostage.Elena found that she could almost scream with fury even now. She had to keep Bonnie safe but that meant leaving Stefan, blue(a) Stefan, at the mercy of Shinichi. She scrambled away with Bonnie so smal and light and at the same time threw a backward glance at Stefan. He was clothing a sligh t frown of preoccupancy now, but he was not only not overwhelmed with pain, he was pressing forward the attack.Even though Shinichis head was on fire. The bril iant crimson tips of his black hair had weaken into flames, as if nothing else would express his enmity and his certainty of winning. He was crowning himself with a flaming garland, a hel ish halo.Elenas anger at that turned into chil s down her anchor as she watched something most people never lived to analyze two vampires attacking together, perfectly in sync. There was the elemental barbarity in it of a twin of raptors or wolves, but there was also the horrific beauty of two creatures work as a single, unified body. The distance in Stefans and Damons expressions said that this was a scramble to the death. The occasional(a) frown from Stefan or vicious smile from Damon meant that Shinichi was sending his searing dark Power through one or the other of them. But these werent weak humans Shinichi was playing with now. They were both vampires with bodies that healed almost instantly and vampires who had both fed recently from her Elena. Her extraordinary blood was feuling them now.So Im already a part of this, Elena thought. Im helping them right now. That would have to play the savagery this no-holds-barred fight elicited in her. To ruin the perfect synchronicity with which the two vampires were handling Shinichi would be a crime, especial y when Bonnie was Stilllimp in her arms.As humans, were both liabilities, she thought. And Damon wouldnt hesitate to tel me so, even if al I wanted was to get in one single stroke.Bonnie, come on, Bonnie, she thought. take a leak on to me.Were getting farther away. She picked up the smal er girl under the armpits and dragged her. She approve up into the olive dimness that stretched in al directions. When she tripped over a extraction and accidental y sat down, she obdurate that shed gone far enough, and maneuvered Bonnie into her lap.Then she cupped her hands around Bonnies little simple face and she thought of the most solace things she could imagine. A cool plunge at Warm Springs back home.A hot bath at Lady Ulmas and then a four-handed massage, lying comfortably on a drying couch with the scent of flowered incense rising around her. A cuddle with Saber in Mrs.Flowerss unceremonial den. The decadence of sleeping late and wake up in her own bed with her own mother and father and infant in the house.As Elena thought of this last, she couldnt help giving a tiny gasp, and a teardrop fel onto Bonnies forehead. Bonnies eyelashes fluttered.Now, dont you be sad,she whispered. Elena?Ive got you, and nobodys going to hurt you again. Do you Stillfeel bad?A little. But I could hear you, in my mind, and it made me feel better. I want a long bath and a pizza. And to hold baby Adara. She can almost talk, you know. Elena youre not listening to meElena wasnt. She was observance the denouement of the fight between Stefan and Damon and Sh inichi. The vampires had the kitsune down now and were squabbling over him like a couple of fledglings over a particularly tasty worm. Or maybe like a pair of baby dragons Elena wasnt sure if birds hissed at each other.Oh, no yuckBonnie saw what Elena was watching and col apsed, hiding her head against Elenas shoulder. Okay, Elena thought. I get it. Theres no savagery at allin you, is there, Bonnie? Mischief, but nothing like bloodlust. And thats good.Even as she thought this, Bonnie abruptly sat up straight, bumping Elenas chin, and pointing into the distance. anticipateshe cried. Do you see that?That was a very bright light, which flared brighter as each vampire found a place to his like on Shinichis body and bit simultaneously. pillow here,Elena said, a little thickly, because when Bonnie had bumped her chin shed accidental y bitten her tongue.She ran back to the two vampires and knocked them as hard as she could over the heads. She had to get their attention before they got on the whole locked into feeding mode.not surprisingly, Stefan detached first, and then helped her to pul Damon off his defeated enemy.Damon snarled and paced, never taking his eyes off Shinichi as the beaten kitsune slowly sat up. Elena find drops of blood scattered around. Then she saw it, tucked into Damons belt, black and crimson-tipped and sleek Shinichis real tail.Savagery fledfast. Elena wanted to hide her head against Stefans shoulder but instead turned up her face for a kiss.Stefan obliged.Then Elena stepped back so that they formed a triangle around Shinichi.Dont even think of attacking,Damon said pleasantly.Shinichi gave a weak shrug. Attack you? Why bother? Youl have nothing to go back to, even if I die. The children are pre-programmed to kil . But with sudden zeal I wish wed never come to your damned little town at all and I wish wed never fol owed Her orders. I wish Id never let Misao near Her I wish we hadnt He stopped speaking suddenly.No, it was more than that , Elena thought. He froze, eyes wide open and staring. Oh, no,he whispered. Oh, no, I didnt mean that I didnt mean it I have no fall Elena had the feeling of something coming at them at tremendous speed, so fast, in fact, that she just had time to open her mouth before it hit Shinichi. Whatever it was, it kil ed him cleanly and passed by without touching anyone else.Shinichi fel facedown onto the dirt.Dont bother,Elena said softly, as Stefan reflexively moved toward the corpse. Hes dead. He did it to himself.But how?Stefan and Damon demanded in chorus.Im not the expert,Elena said. Meredith is the expert on this. But she told me that kitsune could only be kil ed by destroying their star bal s, shooting them with a blissful bul etor by the Sin of Regret.Meredith and I didnt know what that meant back then it was before we had even gone into the Dark Dimension. But I think we just now saw it in action.So you cant be a kitsune and regret anything youve done?Thats harsh,Stefan said.N ot at all,Damon said crisply. Although, if it had operated for vampires, no discredit you would have been permanently dead when you woke up in the family vault.Earlier,Stefan said expressionlessly. I regreted striking you a mortal blow, even as I was dying. Youve always said I feel too guilty, but that is one thing I would give my life to take back.There was a privateness that stretched and stretched. Damon was at the front of the group now, and no one but Bonnie could see his face.Suddenly Elena grabbed Stefans hand. We Stillhave a chanceshe told him. Bonnie and I saw something bright that way Lets runHe and Elena passed Damon running and he grabbed Bonnies hand too. Like the wind, BonnieBut with Shinichi dead Well, do we real y have to find his star bal or the biggest star bal or whatever is vague in this awful place?Bonnie asked. Once, she would have whined, Elena thought. Now, despite whatever pain she felt, she was running.We do have to find it, Im afraid,Stefan said. Becau se from what he said, Shinichi wasnt at the top of the ladder after al .He and his sister were working for someone, someone female. And whoever She is, She may be attacking Fel s Church right now.The odds have just shifted,Elena said. We have an unusual enemy.But Still Al bets,Elena said, are off.