The Return: Midnight Chapter 20

Meredith usual y found her parents funny and sil y and dear.They were solemn ab stunned al the wrong things like, Make sure, h unmatchabley, that you real y get to subsist Alaric originally before Meredith had no doubts about Alaric at al , hardly he was a nonher of those sil y, dear, gal ant people, who talked al around things without getting to the point.Today, she was surprised to adopt that thither was no cluster of cars around the transmissible home. Maybe people had to stay home to excite it out with their own children. She locked the Acura, conscious of the precious confine given by Isobel, and rang the doorbel . Her parents believed in chain locks.Janet, the housekeeper, looked happy to see her but nervous. Aha, Meredith thought, they throw off discovered that their obedient tho child has ransacked the attic. Maybe they want the stave back. Maybe I should generate leftfield wing it back at the boardinghouse.But she only realized that things were truly serious when she came into the family room and saw the pornographic La-Z-Boy deluxe lounging chair, her arrives throne empty. Her father was sitting on the couch, property her capture, who was sobbing.She had brought the stave with her, and when her mother saw it, she stony- broke into a fresh burst of tears.Look,Meredith said, this doesnt take over to be so tragic. Ive got a pretty good imagination of what happened. If you want to tel me about how Grandma and I real y got blemish, thats your business. But if I wascontaminated in some wayShe stopped. She could hardly believe it. Her father was holding out an arm to her, as if the reasonably rank condition of her c hookinghes didnt matter. She went to him slowly, uncomfortably, and permit him hug her regard slight of his Ar earthi suit. Her mother had a glass with a few sips left of what looked like Coke in front of her, but Meredith would bet it wasnt al Coke.Wed hoped that this was a place of peace,her father orated. E truly sen tence her father spoke was an oration. You got used to it. We never dreamedAnd accordingly he stopped.Meredith was stunned. Her father didnt stop in the middle of an oration. He didnt pause. And he certainly didnt cry.Dad dadaism What is it? Have kids been around here, crazy kids? Did they hurt somebody?We have to tel you the whole story from that time ache ago,her fathersaid. He spoke with such despair that it wasnt anything like an oration. When you wereal attacked.By the vampire. Or Grandfather. Or do you k straightway?Long pause. Then her mother drained the contents of her glass and cal ed, Janet, a nonher one, please.Now, Gabriel a her father said, chiding.Nando I cant bear this. The thought that mi hija inocenteMeredith said, Look, I think I can retain this easier for you. I already knowWell, first, that I had a twin brother.Her parents looked horrified. They clung together, gasping.Who told you?her father demanded. At that boardinghouse, who could know ?appeasement dow n time. No, no. Dad, I found out Well, Grandpa talked to me.That was true enough. He had. Just not about her brother. Anyway, that was how I got the stave. But the vampire that hurt us is dead. He was the serial kil er, the one who kil ed Vickie and Sue. His name was Klaus.You thought that in that location was only one vampire?her mother got out. She pronounced the word the Latino way, which Meredith always found more scary. Vahm-peer.The universe seemed to start moving slowly around Meredith.Thats just a guess,her father said. We dont real y know that there was more than the very strong one.But you know about Klaus how?We saw him. He was the strong one. He kil ed the security guards at the gate with one blow each. We moved to a new town. We hoped you would never have to know you had a brother.Her father fleecy his eyes. Your grandfather spoke to us, right afterward the attack. But the next daynothing.He couldnt talk at al .Her mother put her face in her work force. She only lifted it to cal ,Janet Another, por favorRight away, maam.Meredith looked to the housekeepers dreary eyes for the solution to this mystery and found nothing sympathy, but no help. Janet walked away with the empty glass, redheaded French braid receding.Meredith turned back to her parents, so dark of eye and hair, so olive of undress color. They were huddling together again, eyes on her.Mom, Dad, I know that this is real y hard. But Im exhalation after the kind of people who hurt Grandpa, and Grandma, and my brother. Its dangerous, but I have to do it.She dropped into a Taekwondo stance. I wet you did have me trained.But against your own family? You could do that?her mother cried.Meredith sat down. She had reached the end of the memories that she and Stefan had found. So Klaus didnt kil him like Grandmother. He as advantageouslyk my brother with him.Cristian,wailed her mother. He was just un bebe. Three years old That was when we found the two of youand the linageoh, the jo bHer father got up, not to orate, but to put his hand on Merediths shoulder. We thought it would be easier not to tel you that you wouldnt have any memories of what was happening when we came in. And you dont, do you?Merediths eyes were fil ing with tears. She looked to her mother, trying to silently tel her she couldnt understand this.He was inebriety my kin?she guessed. Klaus?Nocried her father as her mother whispered prayers.He was drinking Cristians, then.Meredith was kneeling on the tarradiddle now, trying to look up into the face of her mother.Nocried her father again. He choked.La sangre gasped her mother, covering her eyes. The bloodQuerida her father sobbed, and went to her.DadMeredith went after him and shook his arm. Youve ruled out al the possibilities I dont understand Who was drinking blood?You You her mother almost screamed. From your own brother Oh, el aterrorizarGabriel amoaned her father.Merediths mother subsided into weeping.Merediths head was whirling. Im n ot a vampire I hunt vampires and kil themHe said,her father whispered hoarsely Just see she gets a tablespoon a week. If you want her to live, that is. Try a blood pudding.He was laughing.Meredith didnt need to ask if they had obeyed. At her house, they had blood sausage or pudding at least once a week.She had grown up with it. It was nothing special.Why?she whispered hoarsely now. Why didnt he kil me?I dont know We Stilldont know That man with his front al dripping with blood your blood, your brothers blood, we didnt know And then at the last minute he grabbed for the two of you but you bit his hand to the bone,her father said.He laughed laughed with your teeth clamped in him and your little hands pushing him away, and said, Il just leave you this one, then, and you can worry about what she wil turn out to be. The boy Im victorious with me.And then suddenly I seemed to come out of a spel , for I was reaching for you again, ready to fight him for both of you. But I couldnt Once I had you, I couldnt move another inch. And he left the house Stilllaughing and took your brother, Cristian, with him.Meredith thought. No wonder they didnt want to hold any kind of celebration on the anniversaries of that day. Her naan dead, her grandfather going crazy, her brother lost, and herself what? No wonder they celebrated her birthday a week early.Meredith try to stay calm. The world was fal ing to pieces around her but she had to stay calm. Staying calm had kept her alive al her life. Without flush having to count, she was breathing out deep, and in through her nostrils, and out through her mouth. Deep, deep, cleansing breaths. Soothing peace passim her body. Only part of her was hearing her motherWe came home early that night because I had a concern Sh, querida her father was beginning.We got home early,her mother keened. O Virgen Bendecida, what would we have found if we had been late?We would have lost you, too My baby My baby with blood on her mouth But we g ot home early enough to deliver her,Merediths father said huskily, as if trying to wake her mother from a spel .Ah, g racias, Princesa Divina, Vigen pura y impolutoHer mother couldnt seem to stop crying.Daddy,Meredith said urgently, aching for her mother but desperately needing information. Have you ever seen him again? Or heard about him? My brother, Cristian?Yes,her father said. Oh, yes, we have seen something.Her mother gasped. Nando, noShe has to learn the truth sometime,her father said. He rummaged among some cardboard file folders on the desk.Lookhe said to Meredith. Look at this.Meredith stared in utter disbelief.In the Dark Dimension decent shut her eyes. There was a lot of wind at the top of a tal buildings windowpane. That was al her mind had a thought for when she was out of the window and then back into it and the ogre was laughing and Shinichis terrible voice ordering, You dont real y think wed let you go without questioning you thoroughly?Bonnie heard the words with out them making sense, and then suddenly they did. Her captors were going to hurt her.They were going to torture her. They were going to take her bravery away.She thought she screamed something at him. Al she knew, though, was that there was a soft explosion of heat behind her, and then unbelievably al dressed up in a cloak with badges that made him look like some kind of military prince, there was Damon.Damon.He was so late shed long ago given up on him. But now he was flashing a there-and-gone bril iant smile at Shinichi, who was staring as if hed been stricken dumb.And now Damon was saying, Im afeard(predicate) Ms. McCul ough has another engagement at that moment. But I wil be back to kick your ass immediately. attain from this room and Il kil you al , slowly. Thank you for your time and consideration.And before anyone could even recover from their first shock at his arrival, he and Bonnie were blasting off through the windows. He went, not out of the building regressive as if retreating, but straight ahead forward, one hand in front of him, wrapping them both in a black but ethereal bundle of Power. They shattered the two-way mirror in Bonnies room and were almost al the way through to the next room before Bonnies mind tag the first empty.Then they were crashing through an elaborate videoset-window made to let people think they had a cod of the outdoors, and flying over someone lying on a bed. Thenit was just a serial of crashes, as far as Bonnie was concerned. She barely got a glimpse of what was going on in each room. Final yThe crashing stopped. This left Bonnie holding on to Damon koala-style she wasnt stupid and they were very, very racy in the air. And mobilizing in front of them, and off to the sides, and as far as Bonnie could see, were women who were also flying, but in little machines that looked like a combination of a motorcycle and a Jet Ski. No wheels, of course. The machines were al gold, which was also the color of each drive rs hair.So the first word Bonnie gasped to her rescuer, after he had blasted a tunnel through the large slave-owners building to save her, was, Guardians?Indispensable, considering the fact that I didnt have the first idea where the bad guys expertness have taken you and I suspected that there might be a time limit. This was actual y the very last of the slave-sel ers we were due to check. We final ylucked out.For someone who had lucked out, he sounded a little strange. Almostchoked up.Water was on Bonnies cheeks but it was macrocosm flicked away too fast for her to wipe it. Damon was holding her so that she couldnt see his face, and he was holding her very, very tightly.It real y was Damon. He had cal ed out the cavalry and, despite the city-wide mind-gridlock, he had found her.They hurt you, didnt they, little redbird? I sawI saw your face,Damon said in his new choked-up voice. Bonnie didnt know what to say. But suddenly she didnt mind how hard he squeezed her. She even found he rself squeezing back.Suddenly, to her shock, Damon broke her koala-grip and pul ed her up and kissed her on the lips very gently. Little redbird Im going to go now, and make them honorarium for what they did to you.Bonnie heard herself say, No, dont.No?Damon repeated, bewildered.No,Bonnie said. She needed Damon with her. She didnt care what happened to Shinichi. There was a sweetness unfolding inside her, but there was also a rushing in her head. It real y was a pity, but in a few moments she would be unconscious.Meanwhile, she had three thoughts in mind and al of them were clear. What she was appalled of was that they would be less clear later, after she had fainted. Do you have a star bal ?I have twenty-eight star bal s,Damon said, and looked at her quizzical y.That wasnt what Bonnie meant at al she meant one to record onto. shag you remember three things?she said to Damon.Id gamble on it.This time Damon kissed her softly on the forehead.First, you ruined my very brave death.W e can always go back and you can have another try.Damons voice was less choked now more his own.Second, you left me at that horrible inn for a week As if she could see inside his mind, she saw this slice into him like some kind of wooden sword. He was holding her so tightly that she real y couldnt breathe. II didnt mean to. It was real y only four days, but I never should have done it,he said.Third.Bonnies voice dropped to a whisper. I dont think any star bal was ever stolen at al . What never existed cant be stolen, can it?She looked at him. Damon was looking back in a way that normal y would have thril ed her. He was obviously, blatantly distressed. But Bonnie was just barely hanging on to consciousness at this point.And poopShe puzzled out slowly.Fourth? You said three things.Damon smiled, just a little.I have to say this She dropped her head down on Damons shoulder, gathered al of her energy, and concentrated.Damon loosened his grip a little. He said, I can hear a faint murmur ing sound in my head. Just tel me normal y. Were well away from anyone.Bonnie was insistent. She scrunched her whole tiny body together and then explosively sent out a thought. She could tel that Damon caught it.Fourth, I know the way to the seven legendary kitsune treasures, Bonnie sent to him. That includes the biggest star lout ever made. But if we want it, we have to get to it fast.Then, feeling that she had contributed enough to the conversation, she fainted.