Everything was frozen. Matt could smell his own fear, but he wouldn't move. He couldn't move now.
It didn't matter. He hadn't given in. If he died right now, he died knowing that.
Damon's teeth were a white glitter in the dark. Sharp as carving knives. Matt could almost feel the razor bite of them before they touched him.
I will not surrender anything, he thought, and closed his eyes.
The shove took him completely off balance. He stumbled and fell backward, his eyes flying open. Damon had let go and pushed him away.
Expressionless, those black eyes looked down at him where he sat in the dirt.
"I'll try to put this in a way you can understand," Damon said. "You don't want to mess with me, Matt. I am more dangerous than you can possibly imagine. Now get out of here. It's my watch."
Silently, Matt got up. He rubbed at his shirt where Damon's hands had crumpled it. And then he left, but he didn't run and he didn't flinch from Damon's eyes.
I won, he thought. I'm still alive, so I won.
And there had been a kind of grim respect in those black eyes in the end. It made Matt wonder about some things. It really did.
Bonnie and Meredith were sitting in the car when he got back. They both looked concerned.
"You were gone a long time," Bonnie said. "Are you okay?"
Matt wished people would stop asking him that. "I'm fine," he said, and then added, "Really." After a moment's thought he decided there was something else he should say. "Sorry if I yelled at you back there, Bonnie."
"That's all right," Bonnie said coolly. Then, thawing, she said, "You really do look better, you know. More like your old self."
"Yeah?" He rubbed at his crumpled T-shirt again, looking around. "Well, tangling with vampires is obviously a great warm-up exercise."
"What'd you guys do? Lower your heads and run at each other from opposite sides of the yard?" asked Meredith.
"Something like that. He says he's going to watch Vickie now."
"Do you think we can trust him?" Meredith said soberly.
Matt considered. "As a matter of fact, I do. It's weird, but I don't think he's going to hurt her. And if the killer comes along, I think he's in for a surprise. Damon's spoiling for a fight. We might as well go back to the library for Stefan."
Stefan wasn't visible outside the library, but when the car had cruised up and down the street once or twice he materialized out of the darkness. He had a thick book with him.
"Breaking and entering and grand theft, library book," Meredith remarked. "I wonder what you get for that these days?"
"I borrowed it," Stefan said, looking aggrieved. "That's what libraries are for, right? And I copied what I needed out of the journal."
"You mean you found it? You figured it out? Then you can tell us everything, like you promised," Bonnie said. "Let's go to the boarding house."
Stefan looked slightly surprised when he heard that Damon had turned up and stationed himself at Vickie's, but he made no comment. Matt didn't tell him exactly how Damon had turned up, and he noticed Bonnie didn't either.
"I'm almost positive about what's going on in Fell's Church. And I've got half the puzzle solved, anyway," Stefan said once they were all settled in his room in the boarding house attic. "But there's only one way to prove it, and only one way to solve the other half. I need help, but it isn't something I'm going to ask lightly." He was looking at Bonnie and Meredith as he said it.
They looked at each other, then back at him. "This guy killed one of our friends," said Meredith. "And he's driving another one crazy. If you need our help, you've got it."
"Whatever it takes," Bonnie added.
"It's something dangerous, isn't it?" Matt demanded. He couldn't restrain himself. As if Bonnie hadn't been through enough…
"It's dangerous, yes. But it's their fight too, you know."
"Darn right it is," said Bonnie. Meredith was obviously trying to repress a smile. Finally she had to turn away and grin.
"Matt's back," she said when Stefan asked her what the joke was.
"We missed you," added Bonnie. Matt couldn't understand why they were all smiling at him, and it made him feel hot and uncomfortable. He went over to stand by the window.
"It is dangerous; I won't try to kid you about that," Stefan said to the girls. "But it's the only chance. The whole thing's a little complicated, and I'd better start at the beginning. We have to go back to the founding of Fell's Church…"
He talked on late into the night.
Thursday, June 11, 7:00 a.m.
Dear Diary,
I couldn't write last night, because I got in too late. Mom was upset again. She'd have been hysterical if she'd known what I was actually doing. Hanging out with vampires and planning something that may get me killed. That may get us all killed.
Stefan has a plan to trap the guy who murdered Sue. It reminds me of some of Elena's plans—and that's what worries me. They always sounded wonderful, but lots of the time they went wrong.
We talked about who gets the most dangerous job and decided it should be Meredith. Which is fine with me—I mean, she is stronger and more athletic, and she always keeps calm in emergencies. But it bugs me just a little that everybody was so quick about choosing her, especially Matt. I mean, it's not like I'm totally incompetent. I know I'm not as smart as the others, and I'm certainly not as good at sports or as cool under pressure, but I'm not a total dweeb. I'm good for something.
Anyway, we're going to do it after graduation. We're all in on it except Damon, who'll be watching Vickie. It's strange, but we all trust him now. Even me. Despite what he did to me last night, I don't think he'll let Vickie get hurt.
I haven't had any more dreams about Elena. I think if I do, I will go absolutely screaming berserk. Or never go to sleep again. I just can't take any more of that.
All right. I'd better go. Hopefully, by Sunday we'll have the mystery solved and die killer caught. I trust Stefan.
I just hope I can remember my part.
"… And so, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the class of '92!"
Bonnie threw her cap into the air along with everyone else. We made it, she thought. Whatever happens tonight, Matt and Meredith and I made it to graduation. There had been times this last school year when she had seriously doubted they would.
Considering Sue's death, Bonnie had expected the graduation ceremony to be listless or grim. Instead, there was a sort of frenzied excitement about it. As if everyone was celebrating being alive—before it was too late.
It turned into rowdiness as parents surged forward and the senior class of Robert E. Lee fragmented in all directions, whooping and acting up. Bonnie retrieved her cap and then looked up into her mother's camera lens.
Act normal, that's what's important, she told herself. She caught a glimpse of Elena's aunt Judith and Robert Maxwell, the man Aunt Judith had recently married, standing on the sidelines. Robert was holding Elena's little sister, Margaret, by the hand. When they saw her, they smiled bravely, but she felt uncomfortable when they came her way.
"Oh, Miss Gilbert—I mean, Mrs. Maxwell—you shouldn't have," she said as Aunt Judith handed her a small bouquet of pink roses.