Part 39 (1/2)
”You know what, Jay?” He poked her teasingly with one toe. ”You worry too much.”
In moments he was lost again in Chapter Six, ”How to Make the Most of Your Community Service.” But then the screams started coming from above him. Long, loud, high screams-his sister's voice. He dropped the book and ran.
”Obaasan?” Bonnie said.
”Just a moment, dear,” Grandma Saitou said. Jim had put her down and now she was facing him squarely: she looking up, and he looking down. And there was something...very wrong about it.
Bonnie felt a wave of pure terror. Could Jim have done something evil to Obaasan as he carried her? Of course he could. Why hadn't she thought of that? And there was the doctor with her syringe, ready to tranquilize anyone who got too ”hysterical.” Bonnie looked at Meredith, but Meredith was trying to deal with two squirming little girls, and could only glance helplessly back.
All right, then, Bonnie thought. I'll kick him where it hurts most and get the old lady away from him. She turned back to Obaasan and felt herself freeze.
”Just one thing I have to do...,” Obaasan had said. And she was doing it. Jim was bent at the waist, folded in half toward Obaasan, who was on her tiptoes. They were locked in a deep, intimate kiss.
Oh, G.o.d!
They had met four people in a wood-and a.s.sumed that two were sane and two insane. How could they tell which were the insane ones? Well, if two of them see things that aren't there...
But the housewas there; Bonnie could see it, too. Wa.s.she insane?
”Meredith, come on!” she screamed. Her nerve breaking completely, she began to run away from the house toward the forest. Something from the skies plucked her up as easily as an owl picks up a mouse and held her in an unrelenting iron grip.
”Going somewhere?” Damon's voice asked from above her as he glided in the last few yards to a stop, with her neatly tucked under one steely arm.
”Damon!”
Damon's eyes were slightly narrowed, as though at a joke only he could see. ”Yes, the evil one himself. Tell me something, my fiery little fury.”
Bonnie had already exhausted herself trying to make him let go. She hadn't even succeeded in tearing his clothes.
”What?” she snapped. Possessed or not, Damon had last seen her when she had Called him to save her from Caroline's insanity.
But according to Matt's reports, he had done something awful to Elena.
”Why do girls love to convert a sinner? Why can you feed them almost any line if they feel that they've reformed you?”
Bonnie didn't know what he was talking about, but she could guess. ”What did you do with Elena?” she said ferociously.
”Gave her what she wanted, that's all,” Damon said, his black eyes twinkling. ”Is there anything so awful about that?”
Bonnie, frightened by that twinkle, didn't even try to run again. She knew it was no use. He was faster and stronger, and he could fly. Anyway, she had seen it in his face: a sort of distant remorselessness. They were not just Damon and Bonnie here together.
They were natural predator and natural prey.
And now here she was back with Jim and Obaasan-no, with a boy and girl she'd never seen before. Bonnie was in time to watch the transformation. She saw Jim's body shrink and his hair turn black, but that wasn't the striking thing about it. The striking thing was that all around the edges, his hair was not black but crimson. It was as if flames were licking up from the tips into darkness. His eyes were golden and smiling.
She saw Obaasan's doll-like old body grow younger and stronger and taller. This girl was a beauty; Bonnie had to admit it. She had gorgeous sloe-black eyes and silky hair that fell almost to her waist. And her hair was just like her brother's-only the red was even brighter, scarlet instead of crimson. She was wearing a barely-there laced black halter that showed how delicately built she was on top. And, of course, low-rise black leather pants to show the same thing on the bottom. She was wearing expensive- looking black high-heeled sandals, and her toenails were enameled the same brilliant red as the tips of her hair. At her belt, in a sinuous circle, was a curled-up whip with a scaly black handle.
Dr. Alpert said slowly, ”My grandchildren...?”
”They don't have anything to do with this,” the boy with the strange hair said charmingly, smiling. ”As long as they mind their own business, you don't have to worry about them a bit.”
”It's suicide or an attempted suicide-or something,” Tyrone told the police dispatcher, almost weeping. ”I think it was a guy named Jim who went to my high school last year. No, this is nothing to do with any drugs-I came here to watch my little sister Jayneela. She was baby-sitting-look, just come over, will you? This guy's chewed off most of his fingers, and as I came in, he said, 'I'll always love you, Elena,' and he took a pencil and-no, I can't tell if he's alive or dead. But there's an old lady upstairs and I'm sureshe's dead. Because she's not breathing.”
”Who the h.e.l.l are you?” Matt was saying, eyeing the strange boy belligerently.
”I'm the-” ”-and what the h.e.l.l are you doing here?”
”I'm the h.e.l.l s.h.i.+nichi,” the boy said in a much louder voice, looking annoyed to be interrupted. When Matt just stared at him, he added in an annoyed voice, ”I'm the kitsune-the were-fox, you could say-who's been messing with your town, idiot. I came halfway around the world to do it, and I'd think you'd at least have heard of me by now. And this is my lovely sister, Misao. We're twins.”
”I don't care if you're triplets. Elena said somebody besides Damon was behind this. And so did Stefan before he-hey, what did you do to Stefan?What did you do to Elena? ”
While the two strange males were bristling at each other-quite literally in s.h.i.+nichi's case, since his hair was almost standing on end-Meredith was picking out Bonnie, Dr. Alpert, and Mrs. Flowers by eye. Then she glanced at Matt and touched herself lightly on the chest. She was the only one strong enough to womanhandle him, although Dr. Alpert gave a quick nod that said she would be helping.
And then, while the boys were working up to shouting volume, Misao was giggling at the ground, and Damon was leaning against a door with his eyes shut, they moved. With no signal at all to unite them, they were running, instinctively, as one group. Meredith and Dr. Alpert grabbed Matt from either side and simply lifted him off his feet, just as Isobel quite unexpectedly jumped on s.h.i.+nichi with a guttural scream. They hadn't expected anything from her, but it was certainly convenient, Bonnie thought as she hurtled over obstacles without even seeing them. Matt was still shouting and trying to run the other way and take out some primitive frustration on s.h.i.+nichi, but he couldn't quite manage to get free to do it.
Bonnie could scarcely believe it when they made it into the Wood again. Even Mrs. Flowers had kept up and most of them still had their flashlights.
It was a miracle. They had even escaped Damon. The thing now was to be very quiet and to try to get through the Old Wood without disturbing anything. Maybe they could find their way back to the real boardinghouse, they decided. Then they could figure out how to save Elena from Damon and his two friends. Even Matt finally had to admit that it was unlikely that they would be able to overcome the three supernatural creatures by force.
Bonnie just wished they'd been able to take Isobel with them.
”Well, we have to go to the real boardinghouse anyway,” Damon said, as Misao finally got Isobel subdued and semi-conscious.
”That's where Caroline will be.”
Misao stopped glaring at Isobel and seemed to start slightly. ”Caroline? Why do we want Caroline?”
”It's all part of the fun, isn't it?” Damon said in his most charming, flirtatious voice. s.h.i.+nichi immediately stopped looking martyred and smiled.
”That girl-she's the one you've been using as a carrier, right?” He looked mischievously at his sister, whose smile seemed slightly strained.
”Yes, but-”
”The more the merrier,” Damon said, more cheerful with every minute. He didn't seem to notice s.h.i.+nichi smirking at Mis...o...b..hind his back.
”Don't sulk, darling,” he said to her, tickling her under the chin while his golden eyes gleamed. ”I've never set eyes on the girl. But of course, if Damon says it'll be fun, itwill be.” The smirk became a full-fledged gloating smile.
”And there's no chance of any of them actually getting away at all?” Damon said, almost absently, staring into the darkness of the Old Wood.
”Give me a little credit, please,” the kitsune snapped. ”You're a d.a.m.ned-a vampire, aren't you?You're not supposed to hang out in the woods at all.”
”It's my territory, along with the cemetery-” Damon was beginning mildly, but s.h.i.+nichi was determined to finish first this time.