Stefan let go of Caroline to scoop up Elena and get her and Bonnie out of harm's way. He seemed to assume that Meredith could take care of herself - and he was right. Caroline swung at Meredith, but Meredith was ready. She grabbed Caroline's fist and helped her in the direction of the swing. Caroline landed on the bed, twisted, and then rushed Meredith again, this time getting a grip on her hair. Meredith pulled free, leaving a tuft of hair in Caroline's fingers. Then Meredith got under Caroline's guard and hit her squarely on the jaw. Caroline collapsed.
Bonnie cheered and refused to feel guilty about it. Then, for the first time, as Caroline lay still, Bonnie noticed that Caroline's fingernails were all there again - long, strong, curved, and perfect, not one of them chipped or broken.
Elena's Power? It must be. What else could have done it? With just a few motions and a kiss, Elena had healed Caroline's hand.
Meredith was massaging her own hand. "I never realized ithurt so much to knock people out," she said. "They never show it in movies. Is it the same for guys?"
Matt flushed. "I...uh, I've never actually..."
"It's the same for everyone, even vampires," Stefan said briefly. "Are you all right, Meredith? I mean, Elena could..."
"No, I'm fine. And Bonnie and I have a job to do." She nodded at Bonnie, who nodded weakly back. "Caroline's our responsibility, and we should have realized why shereally had to come back this last time. She doesn't have a car. I'll bet she used that downstairs telephone and tried to get somebody to pick her up, but couldn't, and then she came upstairs again. So now we have to take her home. Stefan, I'm sorry. It hasn't been much of a visit."
Stefan looked grim. "It's probably as much as Elena could take, anyway," he said. "More than I thought she could take, honestly."
Matt said, "Well, I'm the one with the car, and Caroline is my responsibility, too," he said. "I may not be a girl, but I'm a human."
"Maybe we could come back tomorrow?" Bonnie said.
"Yes, I suppose that would be best," Stefan said. "I almost hate to let her go at all," he added, staring at the unconscious Caroline, his face shadowed. "I'm afraid for her. Very much afraid."
Bonnie pounced on this. "Why?"
"I think - well, it may be too early to say, but she seems to be almost possessed by something - but I have no idea what. I think I have to do some serious research."
And there it was again, the ice water dripping down Bonnie's back. The feeling of how close the frigid ocean of fear was, ready to topple down on her and take her on a swift trip to the bottom.
Stefan added, "But what's certain is that she was behaving strangely - even for Caroline. And I don't know whatyou heard when she was cursing, but I heard another voice behind it, prompting her." He turned to Bonnie. "Did you?"
Bonnie was thinking back. Had there been something - just a whisper - and just a beat before Caroline's voice came? Less than a beat, and just the faintest of sibilant whispers?
"And what happened here may have made it worse. She called on Hell at a moment when this room was saturated with Power. And Fell's Church itself is at the crossing of so many ley lines, it isn't funny. With all that going on - well, I just wish we had a good parapsychologist around."
Bonnie knew they were all thinking of Alaric.
"I'll try to get him to come," Meredith said. "But usually he's off in Tibet or Timbuktu doing research these days. It'll take a while even to get a message to him."
"Thank you." Stefan looked relieved.
"Like I said, she's our responsibility," Meredith said quietly.
"We're sorry to have brought her," Bonnie said loudly, rather hoping that something inside Caroline could hear her.
They said their good-byes separately to Elena, not sure of what might happen. But she simply smiled at each of them and touched their hands.
By good luck or by the grace of something far beyond their understanding, Caroline woke up. She even seemed mostly rational, if a little fuzzy, when the car reached her driveway. Matt helped her out of the car and walked her to the door on his arm, where Caroline's mother answered the doorbell. She was a mousy, timid, tired-looking woman who did not seem surprised to be receiving her daughter in this state on a late summer afternoon.
Matt dropped the girls off at Bonnie's house, where they spent a night in worried speculation. Bonnie fell asleep with the sound of Caroline's curses echoing in her head.
Dear Diary,
Something is going to happen tonight.
I can't talk or write, and I don't remember how to type on a keyboard very well, but I can send thoughts to Stefan and he can write them down. We don't have any secrets from each other.
So this is my diary now. And...
This morning I woke up again. I woke up again! It was still summer outside, and everything was green. The daffodils in the garden are all in bloom. And I had visitors. I didn't know exactly who they were, but three of them are strong, clear colors. I kissed them so I won't forget them again.
The fourth one was different. I could only see a shattered color, laced with black. I had to use strong words of White Power to keep that one from bringing dark things into Stefan's room.
I'm getting sleepy. I want to be with Stefan and feel him holding me. I love Stefan. I would give up anything to stay with him. He asks me, Even flying? Even flying, to be with him and keep him safe. Even anything, to keep him safe. Even my life.
Now I want to go to him.
Elena
(And Stefan is sorry about writing in Elena's new diary, but he has to say some things, because someday maybe she will want to read them, to remember. I've written down her thoughts in sentences, but they don't come that way. They come as thought-fragments, I guess. Vampires are used to translating people's everyday thoughts into coherent sentences, but Elena's thoughts need more translation than most. Usually she thinks in bright pictures, with a scattered word or two.