Part 24 (1/2)

”Bonnie, shut your eyes!”

Meredith hadn't left her. She was still here. Bonnie could feel vine-like tentacles gently brus.h.i.+ng her ear, lightly tasting her sweaty forehead, working toward her face, her throat...She sobbed.

And then there was a sharp, loud crack mixed with a sound like a ripe melon bursting, and something damp scattered all over her back. She opened her eyes. Meredith was dropping a thick branch she had been holding like a baseball bat. The tentacles were already sliding out of Bonnie's hair. Bonnie didn't want to look at the mess behind her.

”Meredith, you-”

”Come on-run!”

And she was running again. All the way up the gravel boardinghouse driveway, all the way up the path to the door. And there, in the doorway, Mrs. Flowers was standing with an old-fas.h.i.+oned kerosene lamp.

”Get in, get in,” she said, and as Meredith and Bonnie skittered to a stop, sobbing for air, she slammed the door shut behind them.

They all heard the sound that came next. It was like the sound the branch had made-a sharp crack plus a bursting, only much louder, and repeated many times over, like popcorn popping.

Bonnie was shaking as she took her hands away from her ears and slid down to sit on the entry-hall rug.

”What in heaven's name have you girls been doing to yourselves?” Mrs. Flowers said, eyeing Bonnie's forehead, Meredith's swollen nose, and their general state of sweaty exhaustion.

”It takes too-long to explain,” Meredith got out. ”Bonnie! You can sit down-upstairs.”

Somehow or other Bonnie made it upstairs. Meredith went at once to the computer and turned it on, collapsing on the desk chair in front of it. Bonnie used the last of her energy to pull off her top. The back was stained with nameless insect juices. She crumpled it into a ball and threw it into a corner.

Then she fell down on Stefan's bed.

”What exactly did Matt say?” Meredith was getting her breath back.

”He saidLook in the backup -orLook for the backup file or something. Meredith, my head...it isn't good.”

”Okay. Just relax. You did great out there.”

”I made it because you saved me. Thanks...again....”

”Don't worry about it. But I don't understand,” Meredith added in her talking-to-herself murmur. ”There's a backup file of this note in the same directory, but it's no different. I don't see what Matt meant.”

”Maybe he was confused,” Bonnie said reluctantly. ”Maybe he was just in a lot of pain and sort of off his head.”

”Backup file, backup file...wait a minute! Doesn't Word automatically save a backup in some weird place, like under the administrator directory or somewhere?” Meredith was clicking rapidly through directories. Then she said, in a disappointed voice, ”No, nothing there.”

She sat back, letting her breath out sharply. Bonnie knew what she must be thinking. Their long and desperate run through danger couldn't all be for nothing. Itcouldn't .

Then, slowly, Meredith said, ”There are a lot of temp files in here for one little note.”

”What's a temp file?”

”It's just a temporary storage of your file while you're working on it. Usually it just looks like gibberish, though.” The clicking started again. ”But I must as well be thorough-oh!” She interrupted herself. The clicking stopped.

And then there was dead silence.”What is it?” Bonnie said anxiously.

More silence.

”Meredith! Talk to me!Did you find a backup file? ”

Meredith said nothing. She seemed not even to hear. She was reading with what looked like horrified fascination.

23.

Acoldfrisson went down Elena's back, the most delicate of s.h.i.+vers. Damon didn'task for kisses.

This wasn'tright .

”No,” she whispered.

”Just one.”

”I'm not going to kiss you, Damon.”

”Not me. Him.” Damon denoted ”him” with a tilt of his head toward Matt. ”A kiss between you and your former knight.”

”You wantwhat ?” Matt's eyes snapped open and he got the words out explosively before Elena could open her mouth.

”You'd like it,” Damon's voice had dropped to its softest, most insinuating tones. ”You'd like to kiss her. And there's no one to stop you.”

”Damon.” Matt struggled up out of Elena's arms. He seemed, if not entirely recovered, perhaps eighty percent of the way there, but Elena could hear his heart laboring. Elena wondered how long he'd lain feigning unconsciousness to get his strength back. ”The last thing I knew you were trying to kill me. That doesn't exactly get you on my good side. Second, people just don't go around kissing girls because they're pretty or their boyfriend takes a day off.”

”Don't they?” Damon hiked an eyebrow in surprise. ”I do.”

Matt just shook his head, dazed. He seemed to be trying to keep one idea fixed in his mind. ”Will you move your car so we can leave?” he said.

Elena felt as if she were watching Matt from very far away; and as if he was caged somewhere with a tiger and didn't know it. The clearing had become a very beautiful, wild, and dangerous place, and Matt didn't know that either. Besides, she thought with concern, he'smaking himself stand up. Weneed to leave-and quickly, before Damon does anything else to him.

But what was the real way out?

What was Damon's real agenda?

”You can go,” Damon said. ”As soon as she kisses you. Or you kiss her,” he added, as if making a concession.

Slowly, as if he realized what it was going to mean, Matt looked at Elena and then back at Damon. Elena tried to communicate silently with him, but Matt wasn't in the mood. He looked Damon in the face and said, ”No way.”

Shrugging, as if to say,I did everything I could , Damon lifted the s.h.a.ggy pine rod- ”No,” cried Elena. ”Damon, I'll do it.”

Damon smiledthe smile and held it for a moment, until Elena looked away and went to Matt. His face was still pale, cool. Elena leaned her cheek against his and said almost soundlessly into his ear, ”Matt, I've dealt with Damon before. And you can't just defy him. Let's play along-for now. Then maybe we can get away.” And then she made herself say, ”For me? Please?”

The truth was that she knew too much about stubborn males. Too much about how to manipulate them. It was a trait she'd come to hate, but right now she was too busy trying to think of ways to save Matt's life to debate the ethics of pressuring him.

She wished it were Meredith or Bonnie instead of Matt. Not that she would wish such pain on anyone, but Meredith would be coming up with Plans C and D even as Elena came up with A and B. And Bonnie would already have lifted tear-filled, heart-melting brown eyes to Damon....