The Fury

"All right, then," Elena said. "You’re in. Now, what about Mr. Smallwood tomorrow? What if he wants you to hypnotize Tyler again?"

"Wait," said Stefan. "There shouldn’t be a dance, not if there’s any way to prevent it. You’re on good terms with the principal; you can talk to the school board. Make them cancel it."

Alaric looked startled. "You think something’s going to happen?"

"Yes," Stefan said. "Not just because of what’s happened at the other public functions, but because something’s building up. It’s been building up all week; I can feel it."

"So can I," Elena said. She hadn’t realized it until that moment, but the tension she felt, the sense of urgency, was not just from inside her. It was outside, all around. It thickened the air. "Something’s going to happen, Alaric.

Alaric let out his breath in a soft whistle. "Well, I can try to convince them, but-I don’t know. Your principal is dead set on keeping everything looking normal. And it isn’t as if I can give any rational explanation for wanting to shut it down."

"Try hard," Elena said.

"I will. And meanwhile, maybe you should think about protecting yourself. If what Meredith says is right, then most of the attacks have been on you and people close to you. Your boyfriend got dropped in a well; your car got chased into the river; your memorial service was broken up. Meredith says even your little sister was threatened. If something’s going to happen tomorrow, you might want to leave town."

It was Elena’s turn to be startled. She had never thought of the attacks in that way, but it was true. She heard Stefan’s indrawn breath and felt his fingers tighten on hers.

"He’s right," Stefan said. "You should leave, Elena. I can stay here until-"

"No. I’m not going without you. And," Elena continued, slowly, thinking it out, "I’m not going anywhere until we find the Other Power and stop it." She looked up at him earnestly, speaking quickly now. "Oh, Stefan, don’t you see, nobody else even has a chance against it. Mr. Smallwood and his friends don’t have a clue. Alaric thinks you can fight it by waving your hands at it. None of them know what they’re up against. We’re the only ones who can help."

She could see the resistance in Stefan’s eyes and feel it in the tenor of his muscles. But as she kept on looking straight at him, she saw his objections fall one by one. For the simple reason that it was the truth, and Stefan hated lying.

"All right," he said at last, painfully. "But as soon as this is all over, we’re leaving. I’m not having you stay in a town where vigilantes run around with stakes."

"Yes." Elena returned the pressure of his fingers with hers. "Once this is all over, we’ll go."

Stefan turned to Alaric. "And if there’s no way to talk them out of having the dance tomorrow, I think we should keep an eye on it. If something does happen, we may be able to stop it before it gets out of hand."

Elena tilted a doubtful eye toward Bonnie. "Well… it would mean missing the dance itself-for those of us who could have gone, I mean."

Bonnie drew herself up. "Oh, who cares about missing a dance?" she said indignantly. "What on earth does a dance matter to anyone?"

"Right," said Stefan gravely. "Then it’s settled." A spasm of pain seemed to overtake him and he winced, looking down. Elena was immediately concerned.

"You need to get home and rest," she said. "Alaric, can you drive us? It’s not that far."

Stefan protested that he was perfectly able to walk, but in the end he gave in. At the boardinghouse, after Stefan and Damon had gotten out of the car, Elena leaned in Alaric’s window for one last question. It had been gnawing at her mind ever since Alaric had told them his story.

"About those people who’d encountered vampires," she said. "Just what were the psychological effects? I mean, did they all go crazy or have nightmares? Were any of them okay?"

"It depends on the individual," Alaric said. "And with how many contacts they’d had, and what kind of contacts they were. But mostly just with the personality of the victim, with how well the individual mind can cope."

Elena nodded, and said nothing until the lights of Alaric’s car had been swallowed by the snowy air. Then she turned to Stefan.

"Matt."

Chapter Twelve

Stefan looked at Elena, snow crystals dusting his dark hair. "What about Matt?"

"I remember-something. It’s not clear. But that first night, when I wasn’t myself -did I see Matt then? Did I-?"

Fear and a sick sense of dismay swelled her throat and cut her words off. But she didn’t need to finish, and Stefan didn’t need to answer. She saw it in his eyes.

"It was the only way, Elena," he said then. "You would have died without human blood. Would you rather have attacked somebody unwilling, hurt them, maybe killed them? The need can drive you to that. Is that what you would have wanted?"

"No," Elena said violently. "But did it have to be Matt? Oh, don’t answer that; I can’t think of anybody else, either." She took a shaky breath. "But now I’m worried about him, Stefan. I haven’t seen him since that night. Is he okay? What has he said to you?"

"Not much," said Stefan, looking away. " ‘Leave me alone’ was about the gist of

it. He also denied that anything happened that night, and said that you were dead."

"Sounds like one of those individuals who can’t cope," Damon commented.

"Oh, shut up!" said Elena. "You keep out of this, and while you’re at it, you might think about poor Vickie Bennett. How d’you think she’s coping these days?" "It might help if I knew who this Vickie Bennett is. You keep talking about her, but I’ve never met the girl."