They watched him walk away, and then Damon nodded toward the door Matt had come out of. “Shal we?” he said.
“Shal we what?” Elena asked, puzzled.
“Oh, like that wasn’t suspicious,” Damon said. He put his hand on the knob, and Elena heard the lock snap as he forced it open.
Inside was a very boring room. A desk, a chair, a smal rug on the floor.
Maybe a little too boring?
“A research office without books? Or even a computer?” Elena asked. Damon cocked his head to one side, considering, then, with a swift movement, pul ed aside the rug.
Below it was the clear outline of a trapdoor. “Bingo,” Elena breathed. She stepped forward, already bending down to try and pry it open, but Damon pul ed her back.
“Whoever is using this could stil be down there,” he said. “Matt just left, and I doubt he was alone.” Matt. Whatever was going on, Matt knew about it.
“Maybe I should talk to him,” Elena said.
Damon frowned. “Let’s wait until we know what we’re dealing with,” he said. “We don’t know what Matt’s involvement is. This could be dangerous for you.” He had taken hold of her arm again and was pul ing her gently, steadily out of the room. “We’l come back later.” Elena let him lead her away, grappling with what he’d said. Dangerous? she thought. Surely Matt wouldn’t be doing anything that would be a danger to Elena?
21
“What’s taking so long?” Bonnie asked, bouncing on the bal s of her feet. “Stop being so hyper,” Meredith said absently, craning her neck to see over the crowd outside McAl ister. There was some kind of bottleneck by the entrance to the dorm that was slowing everyone down. She shivered in her thin top; it was starting to get cold at night.
“Security’s at the door,” Bonnie said as they got closer to the entrance. “Are they carding people to get in?” Her voice was shril with outrage.
“They’re just checking that you have a student ID,” someone in the crowd told her, “to make sure you’re not a crazed kil er from off campus.”
“Yeah,” his friend said. “Only on-campus kil ers al owed.” A couple of people laughed nervously. Bonnie fel silent, biting her lip, and Meredith shivered again, this time for reasons that had nothing to do with the cold.
When they final y got to the front of the line, the security guards glanced quickly at their IDs and waved them through. Inside, it was crowded and music was pumping, but no one real y seemed to be in a partying mood. People stood in smal groups, talking in undertones and glancing around nervously. The presence of the security guards had reminded everyone of the danger lurking unseen on campus. Anyone could be responsible, even someone in the room at that very moment.
As she thought about that, Meredith’s view of the room shifted, the other students around her changing from innocent to sinister. That curly-headed frat boy in the corner
—was he eyeing his pretty companion with something more than simple lust? The faces of strangers twisted viciously, and Meredith took a deep breath, calming herself until everyone looked normal again.
Samantha was coming toward her, a red plastic cup in her hand. “Here,” she said, handing Meredith a soda.
“Everyone’s on edge tonight, it’s creepy. We’d better stay alert and not drink,” she said, already on the same wavelength as Meredith.
Bonnie squeezed Meredith’s arm in farewel and took off into the crowd to look for Zander. Meredith sipped her drink and warily eyed the strangers surrounding her.
Despite the general malaise hanging over the party, some people were so wrapped up in each other that they were managing to have a good time anyway. She watched a couple kiss, as ful y focused on each other as if there was no one else in the world who mattered. They weren’t worrying about the attacks and disappearances on campus, and Meredith found herself feeling a sharp pang of envy. She missed Alaric, missed him with a bone-deep longing that stayed with her, even when she wasn’t consciously thinking about him.
“The kil er could be right here at this party,” Samantha said unhappily. “Shouldn’t we be able to sense something?
How can we protect anyone if we don’t know who we’re up against?”
“I know,” said Meredith. The crowd parted, and she saw a face she hadn’t expected: Stefan, leaning against the far wal . His eyes lit up when he saw her, and he glanced past her with a hopeful half smile already forming on his lips.
Poor guy. No matter what Meredith thought about Elena’s decision to take a break—and, for the record, Meredith thought that Elena was doing the right thing; her entanglement with both Salvatore brothers meant that they had al been heading for trouble—she couldn’t help pitying him. Stefan had the look of someone who was experiencing the same sharp pang of loneliness and desire as Meredith did when she thought of Alaric. It must be worse for him, because Elena was so close and because she chose to separate herself from him against his wishes.
“Excuse me for a second,” she said to Samantha, and went to Stefan.
He greeted her politely and asked about her classes and her hunter training, although she could tel that he was burning to talk about Elena. He had such good manners, always.
“She’s not here yet, but she’s definitely coming,” she told him, interrupting one of his pleasantries. “She had something to do first.” His face bloomed into a smile of grateful relief, and then he frowned.
“Elena’s coming here alone?” he asked. “After al the attacks?”
“No,” Meredith reassured him. She hadn’t thought of this, and she didn’t think she should tel him Elena was
