The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle Chapter Fifteen

Elena, youre existence rude auntie Judith seldom got angry only if when she was angry no(prenominal). Youre to a fault old for this kind of behavior.Its not impudence You dont under(a)stand I understand perfectly. Youre acting incisively the way you did when Damon came to dinner. Dont you think a guest deserves a little more(prenominal) con sloperation?Frustration flooded t surface ensembleplace Elena. You dont even k instanter what youre talking ab proscribed, she say. This was also much. To hear Damons words coming from auntie Judiths lips it was unbearable. Elena A mottled flush was travel up aunty Judiths cheeks. Imshocked at you And I establish to assignthat this childish behavior only started since youve been way prohibited out with that male child. Oh, that boy. Elena glared at Damon.Oh, re everyy? Elena snarl as if she were talking to Damon and Aunt Judith at once, and she looked backwards and forth between the twain of them. each the emotions she d been suppressing for the end days for the last weeks, for the months since Stefan had retain intercourse into her life were surging forward. It was interchangeable a great tidal wave inside her, everywhere which she had no control.She recognise she was thrill. sound, thats too elusive because youre pass to have to tolerate it. I am neer going to give Stefan up, not for each integrity. surely not foryou This last was compressedt for Damon, more everywhere Aunt Judith gasped.Thats enough Robert snapped. Hed appeared with Margaret, and his face was sick. Young lady, if this is how that boy encourages you to speak to your aunt Hes not that boy Elena took another(prenominal) step back, so she could face entirely in any of them. She was making a spectacle of herself, every match slight in the royal court was looking. unless she didnt cable railway care. She had been keeping a hat on her incurings for so long, shoving d witness all the anxiety and the fear and the anger where it wouldnt be assimi modernn. All the worry about Stefan, all the terror all over Damon, all the put downwards and humiliation shed suffered at contact, shed buried it deep. simply speedily it was coming back. All of it, all at once, in a whirl of impossible violence. Her heart was pounding crazily her ears rang. She felt up that nothing mattered except to equipment casualty the people who stood in con preceding of her, to found them all.Hes not that boy, she verbalise once more, her share destructive cold. Hes Stefan and hes all I care about. And I happen to be engaged to him.Oh, dont be ridiculous Robert thundered. It was the last straw.Is this ridiculous? She held up her pass, the ring toward them. Were going to live on marriedYou arenot going to go bad married, Robert began. Everyone was furious. Damon grabbed her hand and stared at the ring, thitherfore sullen abruptly and strode away(predicate), every step full of barely leashed savagery . Robert was spluttering on in exasperation. Aunt Judith was fuming.Elena, I short forbid you Yourenot my mother Elena cried. Tears were try to force themselves out of her eye. She wishinged to puff away, to be merely, to be with manyone who love her. If Stefan necessitates, tell him Ill be at the embarkation house she added, and broke away with the crowd.She half expected fairish or Meredith to follow her, besides she was glad they didnt. The position skunk was full of cars simply virtually empty of people. Most of the families were staying for the afterwardsnoon activities. But a battered cut by means of saloon was parked nearby, and a familiar gens was unlocking the accession. two-dimensional be you leaving? She pip her decision instantly. It was too cold to liberty chit all the way to the boarding house.Huh? No, Ive got to support posture Lyman take the tables down. I was honorable putting this away. He tossed the Outstanding jockstrap placard i nto the front seat. Hey, are you approve? His eyes widened at the sight ofYes no. I will be if I merchantman get out of here. Look, can I take your car? expert for a little while?Well sure, simply I k forthwith, why dont you let me drive you? Ill go tell Coach Lyman.No I mediocre expect to be alone Oh, please dont ask any questions. She almost snatched the keys out of his hand. Ill wager it back soon, I promise. Or Stefan will. If you moderate Stefan, tell him Im at the boarding house. And thanks. She slammed the brink on his protests and revved the engine, pulling out with a clash of gears because she wasnt used to a shell shift. She left him standing there stark(a) after her.She drove without very perceive or hearing anything outside, crying, locked in her own spinning tornado of emotions. She and Stefan would drop dead away They would elope They would show everyone. She would neer posit foot in Fells Church again.And thus Aunt Judith would be sorry. hence Rober t would con how wrong hed been. But Elena would never liberate them. Never.As for Elena herself, she didnt need anydead body. She sure didnt need stupid old Robert E. Lee, where you could go from being mega-popular to being a social pariah in one day and for loving the wrong person. She didnt need any family, or any friends, every retardation down to cruise up the flatus driveway of the boarding house, Elena felt her positions long- braided down, too.Well she wasnt mad at all her friends. fair and Meredith hadnt done anything. Or two-dimensionality. Matt was all right. In fact, she might not need him plainly his car had come in pretty handy.In antagonism of herself Elena felt a strangled titter well up in her throat. short(p) Matt. People everlastingly borrowing his clunking dinosaur of a car. He must think she and Stefan were nuts.The laugh let loose a some more tears and she sat and wiped them forth, shaking her head. Oh, theology, how did things twine out this w ay? What a day. She should be having a victory festivity because theyd beaten Caroline, and instead she was crying alone in Matts car.Carolinehad looked pretty damn funny, though. Elenas body shake gently with slightly psychoneurotic chuckles. Oh, the look on her face. Somebody give way have a video of that.At last the sobs and giggles both abated and Elena felt a wash of tiredness. She leaned against the steering wheel nerve-racking not to think of anything for a while, and and thuslyce she got out of the car.Shed go and wait for Stefan, and then theyd both go back and have it away with the mess shed do. It would take a lot of cleaning up, she thinking wearily. Poor Aunt Judith. Elena had call at her in front of half the town.Why had she let herself get so up fate? But her emotions were fluent close to the surface, as she found when the boarding house door was locked and no one answered the bell.Oh, wonderful she thought, her eyes stinging again. Mrs. Flowers had at pea ce(p) glum to the Founders Day celebration, too. And now Elena had the alternative of sitting in the car or standing out here in this atomic number 82stormIt moaned through the branches of the oak trees, trigger-happy off the remaining leaves and sending them down in showers. The sound was rising steadily now, not just a moan provided a howl.And there was something else. Something that came not just from the wind, just from the air itself, or the office some the air. A feeling of pressure, of menace, of some unimaginable force. It was gathering power, drawing nearer, completion in.Elena spun to face the oak trees. on that point was a stand of them in arrears the house, and more beyond, blending into the forest. And beyond that were the river and the graveyard.Something was out there. Something very badNo, whispered Elena. She couldnt see it, save she could feel it, deal some great fig rearing up to stand over her, blotting out the sky. Shefelt the evil, the hatred, the animal fury.Bloodlust. Stefan had used the word, but she hadnt understood it. Now she felt this bloodlust think on her.NoHigher and higher, it was predominate over her. She could still see nothing, but it was as if great wing unfolded, reach to touch the horizon on either side. Something with a Power beyond scholarship and it insufficiencyed tokill No She ran for the car just as it stooped and dived for her. Her hands scrabbled at the door handle, and she fumbled frantically with the keys. The wind was let looseing, shrieking, tearing at her hair. Gritty ice sprayed into her eyes, crying(a) her, but then the key off and she jerked the door open.Safe She slammed the door shut down again and brought her fist down on the lock. Then she flung herself a crucify the seat to fit the locks on the other side.The wind roared with a thousand voices outside. The car began rocking.Stop it Damon, bankrupt it Her thin cry was lost in the cacophony. She put her hands out on the dashboar d as if to balance the car and it rocked harder, ice pelting against it.Then she precept something. The rear windowpane was clouding up, but she could discern the do through it. It looked standardised some great bird made of mist or snow, but the outlines were hazy. All she was sure of was that it had huge sweeping wings and that it was coming for her. invite the key in the ignition. grow it in Now go Her mind was rapping orders at her. The ancient Ford wheezed and the tires screamed louder than the wind as she took off. And the shape behind her followed, getting larger and larger in the rearview mirror.If she hadnt been skidding and braking already, the tree would have crashed down on her. As it was, the violent impact shook the car like an earthquake lose the front right fender by inches. The tree was a mass of heaving, slant branches, its trunk blocking the way back to town completely.She was trapped. Her only route seat cut off. She was alone, there was no run away from this terrible PowerPower. That was it that was the key. The stronger your Powers are, the more the rules of the depressed bind you.Running irrigateThrowing the car into reverse, she brought it near and then slammed into forward. The white shape banked and swooped, missing her as narrowly as the tree had, and then she was speeding down Old Creek Road into the bruise of the storm.It was still after her. Only one thought pounded in Elenas brain now. She had to cross rail water, to leave this thing behind. there were more cracks of lightning, and she glimpsed other trees origining, but she swerved more or less them. It couldnt be far now. She could see the river flitter past on her left side through the driving ice storm. Then she saw the bridge over.It was there shed made it A gust threw sleet crossways the windshield, but with the wipers next stroke she saw it fleetingly again. This was it, the turn should be abouthere.The car lurched and skidded onto the timberlanden stru cture. Elena felt the wheels grip at slick planks and then felt them lock. Desperately, she tried to turn with the skid, but she couldnt see and there was no fashionAnd then she was crashing through the guardrail, the rotted wood of the footbridge giving way under weight it could no longer support. There was a revolting feeling of spinning, dropping, and the car hit the water.Elena heard screams, but they didnt seem to be connected with her. The river welled up around her and everything was noise and confusion and pain. A window shattered as it was struck by debris, and then another. Dark water gushed across her, along with glass like ice. She was engulfed. She couldnt see she couldnt get out.And she couldnt breathe. She was lost in this diabolical tumult, and there was no air.She had to breathe. She had to get out of hereStefan, help me she screamed.But her scream made no sound. Instead, the frigid water rushed into her lungs, invading her. She thrashed against it, but it was too strong for her. Her struggles became wilder, more uncoordinated, and then they halt. seemly and Meredith were hunting around the perimeter of the school impatiently. Theyd seen Stefan go this way, more or less coerced by Tyler and his new friends. Theyd started to follow him, but then that business with Elena had started. And then Matt had informed them that shed taken off. So theyd set out after Stefan again, but cypher was out here. There werent even any buildings except one lonely Quonset hut.And now theres a storm coming Meredith said. get wind to that wind I think its going to rain.Or snow reasonable shuddered. Where did theygo?I dont care I just want to get under a roof. here(predicate) it comes Meredith gasped as the first sheet of icy rain hit her, and she and Bonnie ran for the hot shelter the Quonset hut.And it was there that they found Stefan. The door was ajar, and when Bonnie looked in she recoiled.Tylers goon police squad she hissed. Look outStefan had a se micircle of guys between him and the door. Caroline was in the corner.He must have it He took it in some manner I know he did she was saying.Took what? said Meredith, loudly. Everyone turned their way.Carolines face contorted as she saw them in the doorway and Tyler snarled. Get out. he said. You dont want to be complicated in this.Meredith ignored him. Stefan, can I talk to you?In a minute. Are you going to answer her question? Took what? Stefan was concentrating on Tyler, totally focused.Sure, Ill answer her question. Right after I answer yours. Tylers beefy hand thumped into his fist and he stepped forward. Youre going to be dog meat, Salvatore.Several of the tough guys snickered.Bonnie opened her sassing to say, Lets getout of here. But what she actually said was, The bridge.It was weird enough to make everyone look at her.What? said Stefan.The bridge, said Bonnie again, without meaning to say it. Her eyes bulged, alarmed. She could hear the voice coming from her throat, but she had no control over it. And then she felt her eyes go wider and her mouth drop open and she had her own voice back. The bridge, oh, my God, the bridge Thats where Elena is Stefan, weve got to save her Oh, hurryYes, oh, God thats where shes gone. Shes drowningHurry Waves of thick blackness broke over Bonnie. But she couldnt faint now they had to get to Elena.Stefan and Meredith hesitated one minute, and then Stefan was through the goon squad, brushing them aside like tissue paper. They sprinted through the field toward the park lot, dragging Bonnie behind. Tyler started after them, but stopped when the full force of the wind hit him.Why would she go out in this storm? Stefan shouted as they sprang into Merediths car.She was upset Matt said she took off in his car, Meredith gasped back in the comparative quiet of the interior. She pulled out fast and turned into the wind, speeding dangerously. She said she was going to the boarding house.No, shes at the bridge Meredith, drive sudden Oh, God, were going to be too late Tears were running down Bonnies face.Meredith shock it. The car swayed, buffeted by wind and sleet. All through that nightmare rile Bonnie sobbed, her fingers clutching the seat in front of her.Stefans sharp warning kept Meredith from running into the tree. They piled out and were immediately lashed and punished by the wind.Its too big to move Well have to walk, Stefan shouted.Of course it was too big to move, Bonnie thought, already scrambling through the branches. It was a full-grown oak tree. But once on the other side, the icy gale whipped all thought out of her head.Within minutes she was numb, and the path seemed to go on for hours. They tried to run but the wind beat them back. They could scarcely see if it hadnt been for Stefan, they would have gone over the riverbank. Bonnie began to weave drunkenly. She was ready to fall to the ground when she heard Stefan shouting up ahead.Merediths arm around her tightened, and they broke agai n into a stumbling run. But as they neared the bridge what they saw brought them to a halt.Oh, my God Elena screamed Bonnie. Wickery tie was a mass of splintered rubble. The guardrail on one side was gone and the plank had given way as if a giant fist had smashed it. Beneath, the dark water churned over a sickening pile of debris. Part of the debris, entirely submersed except the headlights, was Matts car.Meredith was screaming, too, but she was screaming at Stefan. No You cant go down thereHe never even glanced back. He dived from the bank, and the water closed over his head.Later, Bonnies reminiscence of the next hour would be mercifully dim. She remembered waiting for Stefan while the storm raged forever on. She remembered that she was almost beyond caring by the time a hunched foresee lurched out of the water. She remembered feeling no disappointment, only a vast and yawning grief, as she saw the limp thing Stefan hardened out on the road.She remembered how he looked as th ey tried to do something for Elena. Only that wasnt really Elena lying there, that was a wax birdie with Elenas features. It was nothing that had ever been alive and it certainly wasnt alive now. Bonnie thought it seemed wretched to go on poking and prod at it like this, trying to get water out of its lungs and so on. mount dolls didnt breathe. She remembered Stefans face when he finally gave up. When Meredith wrestled with him and scream athim, saying something about over an hour without air, and brain damage. The words filtered in to Bonnie, but their meaning didnt. She just thought it odd that while Meredith and Stefan were screaming at each other they were both crying.Stefan stopped crying after that. He just sat there prop the Elena-doll. Meredith yelled some more, but he didnt try to her. He just sat. And Bonnie would never forget his expression.And then something seared through Bonnie, bringing her to life, waking her to terror. She clutched at Meredith and stared arou nd for the source. Something bad something terrible was coming. Was almost here.Stefan seemed to feel it, too. He was alert, stiff, like a fauna picking up a scent.What is it? shouted Meredith. Whats wrong with you?Youve got to go Stefan rose, still holding the limp form in his arms. Get out of hereWhat do you mean? We cant leave you Yes, you can Get out of here Bonnie, get her outNo one had ever told Bonnie to take care of someone else before. People were always taking care of her. But now she seized Merediths arm and began pulling. Stefan was right. There was nothing they could do for Elena, and if they stayed whatever had gotten her would get them.Stefan Meredith shouted as she was unaccountably dragged away.Ill put her under the trees. The willows, not the oaks, he called after them. Why would he tell us that now? Bonnie wondered in some deep sectionalisation of her mind that was not taken up with fear and the storm.The answer was simple, and her mind promptly gave it back to her. Because he wasnt going to be around to tell them later.