Robert cradled Margaret's head closer to his chest.
Bonnie didn't know how long they had been working. Hours, certainly. Forever, it seemed like. The dogs had gotten in through the kitchen and the old wooden side doors. So far, though, only about a dozen had gotten past the fires lit like barricades in front of these openings. And the men with guns had taken care of most of those.
But Mr. Smallwood and his friends were now holding empty rifles. And they were running out of things to burn.
Vickie had gotten hysterical a little while ago, screaming and holding her head as if something was hurting her. They'd been looking for ways to restrain her when she finally passed out.
Bonnie went up to Matt, who was looking out over the fire through the demolished side door. He wasn't looking for dogs, she knew, but for something else much farther away. Something you couldn't see from here.
"You had to go, Matt," she said. "There was nothing else you could do." He didn't answer or turn around.
"It's almost dawn," she said. "Maybe when that comes, the dogs will leave." But even as she said it, she knew it wasn't true.
Matt didn't answer. She touched his shoulder. "Stefan's with her. Stefan's there."
At last, Matt gave some response. He nodded. "Stefan's there," he said.
Brown and snarling, another shape charged out of the dark.
It was much later when Elena came gradually to consciousness. She knew because she could see, not just by the handful of candles Katherine had lit but also by the cold gray dimness that filtered down from the crypt's opening.
She could see Damon, too. He was lying on the floor, his bonds slashed along with his clothes. There was enough light now to see the full extent of his wounds, and Elena wondered if he was still alive. He was motionless enough to be dead.
Damon? she thought. It was only after she had done it that she realized the word had not been spoken. Somehow, Katherine's shrieking had closed a circuit in her mind, or maybe it had awakened something sleeping. And Matt's blood had undoubtedly helped, giving her the strength to finally find her mental voice.
She turned her head the other way. Stefan?
His face was haggard with pain, but aware. Too aware. Elena almost wished that he were as insensible as Damon to what was happening to them.
Elena, he returned.
Where is she? Elena said, her eyes moving slowly around the room.
Stefan looked toward the opening of the crypt. She went up there a while ago. Maybe to check on how the dogs are doing.
Elena had thought she'd reached the limit of fear and dread, but it wasn't true. She hadn't remembered the others then.
Elena, I'm sorry. Stefan's face was filled with what no words could express.
It's not your fault, Stefan. You didn't do this to her. She did it to herself. Or—it just happened to her, because of what she is. What we are. Running beneath Elena's thoughts was the memory of how she had attacked Stefan in the woods, and how she had felt when she was racing toward Mr. Smallwood, planning her revenge. It could have been me, she said.
No! You could never become like that.
Elena didn't answer. If she had the Power now, what would she do to Katherine? What wouldn't she do to her? But she knew it would only upset Stefan more to talk about it.
I thought Damon was going to betray us, she said.
I did, too, said Stefan queerly. He was looking at his brother with an odd expression.
Do you still hate him?
Stefan's gaze darkened. No, he said quietly. No, I don't hate him anymore.
Elena nodded. It was important, somehow. Then she started, her nerves hyper-alert, as something shadowed the entrance to the crypt. Stefan tensed, too.
She's coming. Elena—
I love you, Stefan, Elena said hopelessly, as the misty white shape hurtled down.
Katherine took form in front of them.
"I don't know what's happening," she said, looking annoyed. "You're blocking my tunnel." She peered behind Elena again, toward the broken tomb and the hole in the wall. "That's what I use for getting around," she went on, seemingly unaware of Damon's body at her feet. "It goes beneath the river. So I don't have to cross over running water, you see. Instead, I cross under it." She looked at them as if waiting for their appreciation of the joke.
Of course, thought Elena. How could I have been so stupid? Damon rode with us in Alaric's car over the river. He crossed running water then, and probably lots of other times. He couldn't have been the Other Power.
It was strange how she could think even though she was so frightened. It was as if one part of her mind stood watching from a distance.
"I'm going to kill you now," Katherine said conversationally. "Then I'm going under the river to kill your friends. I don't think the dogs have done it yet. But I'll take care of it myself."
"Let Elena go," said Stefan. His voice was quenched but compelling all the same.
"I haven't decided how to do it," said Katherine, ignoring him. "I might roast you. There's almost enough light for that now. And I've got these." She reached down the front of her gown and brought her closed hand out. "One—two—three!" she said, dropping two silver rings and a gold one onto the ground. Their stones shone blue as Katherine's eyes, blue as the stone in the necklace at Katherine's throat.
Elena's hands twisted frantically and she felt the smooth bareness of her ring finger. It was true. She wouldn't have believed how naked she felt without that circlet of metal. It was necessary to her life, to her survival. Without it—
"Without these you'll die," Katherine said, scuffing the rings carelessly with the toe of one foot. "But I don't know if that's slow enough." She paced back almost to the far wall of the crypt, her silver dress shimmering in the dim light.
It was then that the idea came to Elena.
She could move her hands. Enough to feel one with the other, enough to know that they weren't numb anymore. The ropes were looser.
But Katherine was strong. Unbelievably strong. And faster than Elena, too. Even if Elena got free she would have time for only one quick act.
She rotated one wrist, feeling the ropes give.
"There are other ways," Katherine said. "I could cut you and watch you bleed. I like watching."
Gritting her teeth, Elena exerted pressure against the rope. Her hand was bent at an excruciating angle, but she continued to press. She felt the burn of the rope slipping aside.
"Or rats," Katherine was saying pensively. "Rats could be fun. I could tell them when to start and when to stop."
Working the other hand free was much easier. Elena tried to give no sign of what was going on behind her back. She would have liked to call to Stefan with her mind, but she didn't dare. Not if there was any chance Katherine might hear.
Katherine's pacing had taken her right up to Stefan. "I think I'll start with you," she said, pushing her face close to his. "I'm hungry again. And you're so sweet, Stefan. I forgot how sweet you were."
There was a rectangle of gray light on the floor. Dawn light. It was coming in through the crypt's opening. Katherine had already been out in that light. But…