The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 8

As they hastened from the car to the secluded motel live, Elena had to put pressure on her legs to deliver them steady under her. As soon as the door to the room slammed shut, with the storm more than or less outside and her admit stiff and aching body inside, she headed for the bathroom without even turn on a light. Her clothes and hair and feet were all damp.The fluore bouquet lights of the bathroom seemed too bright after the darkness of the night and the storm. Or maybe it was the beginning of her encyclopaedism to circulate her Power.That had certainly been a surprise. Damon hadnt even been touching her, exactly the shock she had felt still reverberated inside her. And as for the popular opinion of having her Power manipulated from outside her body, well, in that respect reasonable werent words. It had been a breathtaking experience, all right. Even now just thinking slightly it made her knees tremble. al unrivalled it was more clear than ever that Damon precious not hing to do with her. Elena confronted her own image in the mirror and winced. Yes, she looked like a drowned rat that had been dragged backward a mile through the gutter. Her hair was damp, turning its silky waves into tiny wisps of curls all around her head and face she was as white as an invalid, and her blue eyeball were staring out of the pinched and weak face of a child.For just a moment she remembered being in even worse shape a few old age yes, it was only days ago, and having Damon treat her with the utmost gentleness, as if her bedraggled appearance had specifyt nothing to him. besides those memories had been taken from Damon by Shinichi, and it was too a great deal to hope that that might subscribe to been his objective state of mind. It had beenwhimlike all his other whims.Furious at Damon and at herself for the prickling behind her eyes she felt Elena turned away from the mirror.The other(prenominal) was the past. She had no image why Damon had suddenly deci ded to start jerking away from her touch, or to look at her with the hard cold eyes of a predator. Something had caused him to hate her, to barely be able to sit in the car with her. And whatever it was, Elena had to learn to ignore it, because if Damon left, she would have no chance of finding Stefan.Stefan. At last her trembling heart could find rest in thinking of Stefan. He wouldnt care what she looked like his sole concern would be for her well-being. Elena shut her eyes as she turned on the hot water in the tub and stripped off her clammy clothes, basking in her imagination of Stefans love and approval.The motel had provided a bantam plastic bottle of bubblebath, scarce Elena left it alone. Shed brought her own translucent-gold bag of vanilla bath crystals in her duffel bag, and this was the first chance shed had to use it.Carefully, she shook about a third of the beribboned bags crystals into the rapidly filling tub and was rewarded with a steamy blast of vanilla, which sh e drew into her lungs gratefully.A few minutes later, Elena was shoulder inscrutable in hot water covered with a vanilla-scented foam. Her eyes were shut and the warmth was soaking into her body. The softly disintegrating salts were easing away all pain.These werent ordinary bath salts. They had no medicinal smell, but theyd been given to her by Stefans landlady, Mrs. Flowers, who was a genteel elderly white witch. Mrs. Flowerss herbal recipes were her specialty, and right now Elena would swear that she could feel all the tenseness of the last few days being actively sucked out of her body and gently soothed away.Oh, this was just what she had claimed. Elena had never appreciated a bath like this before.Now, t heres just one thing, she told herself firmly, as she inhaled breath after delicious breath of vanilla steam. You asked Mrs. Flowers for bath salts that would relax you, but you cannot fall asleep here. Youll drown, and you already do it what that feels like. Been there, do that, didnt even have to buy the shroud.But even now Elenas thoughts were dimmer and more fragmented, as the hot water continued to relax her muscles, and the vanilla scent swirled around her head. She was losing continuity, her mind drifting off into daydreams. She was giving herself to the heat and the luxury of not having to do some(prenominal)thing at all.She was asleep.In her dream, she was moving briskly. It was only half-light, but she could tell somehow that she was skimming overmasterward through deep gray mist. What worried her was that she seemed to be surrounded by arguing component parts, and they were arguing about her.A second chance? Ive utter to her about it.She wont remember anything.It doesnt matter whether she remembers. Everything will remain inside her, if unawakened.It will germinate inside heruntil the time is right.Elena had no idea what any of it meant.And then this mist was thinning, and clouds were making way for her, and she was drifting down, mor e and more slowly, until she was deposited gently on a ground covered with pine needles.The voices were gone. She was fiction on a forest floor, but she wasnt naked. She was wearing her prettiest nightgown, the one with real Valenciennes lace. She was listening to the tiny night sounds all around her when suddenly her aura reacted in a way that it never had before.It told her someone was coming. Someone who brought a sense of safety in warm earthen hues, in soft rose modify and deep, blue violets that enfolded her even before the person arrived. These weresomeones imprints about herself. And behind the love and soothing concern she experienced, there were deep forest greens, shafts of warm gold, and a occult tinge of translucency, like a waterfall that sparkled as it drop off and foamed like diamonds around her.Elena, a voice whispered. Elena.This was so familiar.Elena. Elena.She knew this.Elena, my angel.It meant love.Even as Elena was school term up and turning in her dream, she was retention out her arms. This person belonged with her. He was her magic, her solace, her best-beloved. It didnt matter how hed gotten there, or what had happened before. He was her souls eternal mate.And thenStrong arms holding her tenderlyA warm body close to hersSweet kissesMany, many timesThis familiar feeling as she melted into his embraceHe was so gentle, but more or less fierce in his love for her. He had vowed not to kill, but he would kill to save her. She was his most precious thing in all the world. Any sacrifice would be worth it if she were safe and free. His life meant nothing without her, so he would gladly give it, laughing and buss his hand to her with his last breath.Elena breathed in the wonderful autumn-leaves scent of his sweater and was comforted. Like a baby, she allowed herself to be soothed by simple familiar odors, by the feeling of her cheek against his shoulder and the wonder of the two of them breathing to outsmarther in synchronicity.When she tried to put a name to this miracle, it was at the front of her mind.StefanElena didnt even need to look up at his face to recognize that Stefans leaf-green eyes would be dancing like the waters of a small pond ruffled by wind and sparkling with a thousand different points of light. She buried her head in his neck, afraid somehow to let go of him, although she couldnt remember why.I dont know how I got here, she told him nonverbally. In fact, she didnt remember anything before this, before awakening to his call, only jumbled images.It doesnt matter. Im with you.Fear seized her. This isntjust a dream, is it?No dream is just a dream. And Im with you always.But how did we get here?Shhh. Youre tired. Ill hold you up. On my life, I swear it. Just rest. Let me hold you just once.Just once? ButBut now Elena felt worried and dazed, and she had to let her head fall backward, had to see Stefans face.She tilted her chin back and found herself meeting laughing eyes of an boundless darkness in a chiseled, pale, and proudly handsome face.She almost cried out in horror.Hush. Hush, angel.DamonThe dark eyes that met hers were full of love and joy. Who else?How dare you how did you get here? Elena was more and more confused.I dont belong anywhere, Damon pointed out, suddenly sounding sad. You know Ill always be with you.I do not I do not give Stefan back to meBut it was too late. Elena was aware of the sound of water trickling and of tepid liquid sloshing around her. She woke up just in time to keep her head from going underwater in the bathtub.A dreamShe felt much more flexible and easy in her body, but she couldnt help feeling saddened by the dream. It hadnt been an out of body experience, either it had been a simple, crazy, mixed-up, dream of her own.I dont belong anywhere. Ill always be with you.Now what was gibberish like that supposed to mean? But something inside Elena trembled, even as she remembered it.She hastily changed not into a Valenciennes lace nightgown, but into a gray and black sweat suit. When she emerged, she was feeling overtired and lienal and ready to start a fight if Damon gave any sign of having picked up on her sleeping thoughts.But Damon didnt. Elena apothegm a bed, managed to focus on it, stumbled toward it and collapsed, flopping down on pillows that sank unsatisfactorily beneath her head. Elena liked her pillows firm.For a few moments she lay, savoring her after-bath sensations, as her skin gradually cooled and her head cooled as well. As far as she could tell, Damon was standing in exactly the same position as he had taken up when theyd entered the room.And he was still as silent as he had been since the morning.Finally, to get it over with, she spoke to him. And being Elena, she went straight to the heart of the problem.Whats wrong, Damon?Nothing. Damon stared out the window, pretending to be engrossed in something beyond the glass.What nothing?Damon shook his head. But somehow, his turned back eloquently conveyed his opinion of this motel room.Elena examined the room with the too-bright vision of someone who has forced their body beyond its limits. She contemplated beige walls, beige carpet, a beige armchair, a beige desk, and of course, a beige bedspread. Even Damon couldnt reject a room on the grounds that it doesnt match his basic black, she thought, and then oh, Im tired. And bewildered. And scared.Andincredibly stupid. theres only one bed in here. Im lying on it.Damon With an effort, she sat up. What do you demand? Theres a chair. I can sleep on the chair.He half turned, and she saw in the movement that he wasnt annoyed or playing games. He was furious. It was all there in the faster-than-the-human-eye-could-follow assassins spin and the complete muscular control that stilled it almost before it had begun.Damon with his sudden movements and his frightening stillness. He was looking out the window again, body poised as always forsomething. Right now it looked poised to jut out throug h glass to get outside.Vampires dont need sleep, he state in a voice icier and more controlled than shed heard since monotonous had left them.That gave her the energy to get off the bed. You know I know thats a lie.Take the bed, Elena. Go to sleep. But his voice was the same. She would have expected a flat, weary command. Damon sounded more tense, more controlled than ever.More shaken than ever.Her eyelids sank. Is this about Matt?No.Is it about Shinichi?NoAha.It is, isnt it? Youre afraid that Shinichi will get past all your defenses and possess you again. Arent you?Go to bed, Elena, Damon said tonelessly.He was still shutting her out as completely as if she werent there. Elena got mad.What does it take to show you that I trust you? Im traveling all alone with you, without any idea where were really going. Im trusting you with Stefans life. Elena was behind Damon now, on the beige carpet which smelled likenothing, like boiled water. Not even like dust.Her words were the dust. There was something about them that sounded hollow, wrong. They were the truth but they werent getting through to Damon.Elena sighed. Touching Damon unexpectedly was always a tricky business, with all the risks of setting off murderous soul by accident, even when he wasnt possessed. She reached out, now, very carefully, to put her fingertips on the elbow of his leather jacket. She spoke as precisely and unemotionally as she could.You also know that I have other senses now than the usual five. How many times do I have to say it, Damon? I know it wasnt you torturing me and Matt last week. Despite herself, Elena heard a certain pleading in her own voice. I know that youve protected me on this trip when I was in danger, even killing for me. That means a lot to me. You may say you dont believe in the human sentiment of forgiveness, but I dont think youve forget it. And when you know that there is nothing to forgive in the first place This has absolutely nothing to do with last weekThe ch ange in his voice the force in it hit Elena like a whiplash. It hurtand it frightened her. Damon was serious. He was also under some dreadful strain, not completely unconnected that of fighting off Shinichis possession, but different.DamonLeave me aloneNow, where have I heard something like that before? Befuddled, her heart pounding, Elena groped through memories.Oh, yes. Stefan. Stefan when they had first been in his room together, when he was afraid to love her. When he was sure he would cause her to be damned if he showed he cared.Could Damon be that much like the familiar he always mocked?At least turn around and talk with me face-to-face.Elena. It was a whisper, but it sounded as if Damon couldnt summon up his usual silky menace. Go to bed. Go to hell. Go anywhere, but stay away from me.Youre so good at that, arent you? Elenas own voice was cold now. Recklessly, angrily, she moved in even closer. At pushing people away. But I know that you havent fed this evening. Theres no thing else you want from me, and you cant do the starving-martyr bit half as well as Stefan Elena had spoken knowing that her words were guaranteed to incite a response of some kind, but Damons usual response to this sort of thing was to lounge against something and pretend not to have heard.What happened instead was completely outside the range of her experience.Damon whirled, caught her precisely, held her locked in an unbreakable grip. Then, with a swoop of his head like a falcon on a mouse, he kissed her. He was more than strong enough to hold her still without hurting her.The kiss was hard and long and for quite a while Elena resisted out of vaporific instinct. Damons body was cool against hers, which was still warm and damp from the bath. The way he was holding her if she put enough pressure on those particular points, it would hurt her maybe seriously. And then she knew he would release her. But did she really know what she knew? Was she prepared to break a bone to test it?He was stroking her hair, which was so unfair, curve the ends and crushing them in his fingersjust hours after hed taught her to feel things to the tips of her hair. He knew her weak spots. Not just every womans weak spots. He knew hers he knew how to make her want to cry out in pleasure and how to soothe her.There was nothing to do but test her theory and maybe break a bone. She would not submit when she had not invited him. She would notBut then she remembered her curiosity about the little boy and the great stone boulder, and she deliberately opened her mind to Damons. He fell into the trap of his own making.As soon as their minds connected there were something like fireworks. Explosions. Rockets. Stars going nova. Elena set her mind to ignoring her body and began looking for the boulder.It was deep, deep inside the most locked-off part of his brain. Deep in the eternal darkness that slept there. But Elena seemed to have brought a searchlight with her. Wherever she turned, d ark festoons of cobwebs fell and heavy-looking stone arches crumbled and fell to the ground.Dont worry, Elena found herself saying. The light wont do that to you You dont have to live down here. Ill show you the beauty of the light.What am I saying? Elena wondered even as the words left her lips. How can I promise him and maybe he likes living here in the darkBut in the next second she had come much closer to the little boy, close enough to see his pale, wondering face.You came again, he said, as if it were a miracle. You said you would come, and you didThat brought down all Elenas barriers at once. She knelt, and pulling the custody to their utmost length, took him on her lap. Are you glad that I came back? she asked gently. She was already stroking his hair smooth.Oh, yes It was a cry, and it frightened Elena almost as much as it pleased her. Youre the nicest person Ive ever the most beautiful thing I ever Hush, Elena told him, hush. Theres got to be some way to warm you up.It s the iron, the child said humbly. push keeps me weak and cold. But it has to be iron otherwise he wouldnt be able to control me.I see, Elena said grimly. She was beginning to get a get on what kind of relationship Damon had with this little boy. For a moment, on a hunch, she took two lengths of iron in her hands and tried to tear them apart. Elena had super-light here why not superpowers? But all that happened was that she twisted and turned the length for nothing, and finally cut the web of her finger against an iron burr.Oh The boys huge dark eyes obstinate on the dark bead of blood. He stared as if he were fascinated and afraid.Do you want it? Elena held out the hand to him uncertainly. What a poor scrap of a creature to be coveting other peoples blood, she thought. He nodded timidly as if he were sure shed be angry. But Elena just smiled and he reverently held her finger and took the alone globe of blood at once, closing his lips like a kiss.As he lifted his head, he seeme d to have a tinge more alter in his pale face.You told me Damon keeps you here, she said, holding him again and feeling heat being sucked from her into his cold body. Can you tell me why?The child was still licking his lips, but he turned his face toward her immediately and said, Im the Warden of Secrets. But sadly the Secrets have gotten so big that even I dont know what they are.Elena followed the motion of his head from his own small limbs to the iron chain to the huge, metallic ball. She felt a sinking inside herself and a deep pity for such a small warden. And she wondered what on earth could be inside that great stone sphere that Damon was guarding so intently.But she didnt get the chance to ask.