The Fury

boys to fundraising events. This was just a more serious version of the old plan A and plan B.

Meredith gave the pencil and paper to Bonnie, who looked at it. and then at Meredith, and then at Elena. 'Fine,' she said, 'but who goes on the list?'

'Well, anyone we have reason to suspect of being the Other Power. Anyone who might have done the things we know it did: seal Stefan in the well, chase me, set those dogs on people. Anyone we've noticed behaving oddly.'

'Matt,' said Bonnie, writing busily. 'And Vickie. And Robert.'

'Bonnie!' exclaimed Elena and Meredith simultaneously.

Bonnie looked up. 'Well, Matt has been acting oddly, and so has Vickie, for months now. And Robert was hanging around outside the church before the service, but he never came in—'

'Oh, Bonnie, honestly,' Meredith said. 'Vickie's a victim, not a suspect. And if Matt's an evil Power, I'm the hunchback of Notre Dame. And as for Robert—'

'Fine, I've crossed it all out,' said Bonnie coldly. 'Now let's hear your ideas.'

'No, wait,' Elena said. 'Bonnie, wait a moment.' She was thinking about something, something that had been nagging at her for quite a while, ever since—'Ever since the church,' she said aloud, remembering it. 'Do you know, I saw Robert outside the church, too, when I was hidden in the choir loft. It was just before the dogs attacked, and he was sort of backing away like he knew what was going to happen.'

'Oh, but Elena—'

'No, listen, Meredith. And I saw him before, on Saturday night, with Aunt Judith. When she told him she wouldn't marry him there was something in his face… I don't know. But I think you'd better put him back on the list, Bonnie.'

Soberly, after a moment's hesitation, Bonnie did. 'Who else?' she said.

'Well, Alaric, I'm afraid,' Elena said. 'I'm sorry, Bonnie, but he's practically number one.' She told what she had overheard that morning between Alaric and the principal. 'He isn't a normal history teacher; they called him here for some reason. He knows I'm a vampire, and he's looking for me. And today, while the dogs were attacking, he was standing there on the sidelines making some kind of weird gestures. He's definitely not what he seems, and the only question is: what is he? Are you listening, Meredith?'

'Yes. You know, I think you should put Mrs. Flowers on that list. Remember the way she stood at the window of the boarding-house when we were bringing Stefan back from the well? But she wouldn't come downstairs to open the door for us? That's odd behavior.'

Elena nodded. 'Yes, and how she kept hanging up on me when I called him. And she certainly keeps to herself in that old house. She may just be a dotty old lady, but put her down anyway, Bonnie.' She ran a hand through her hair, lifting it off the back of her neck. She was hot. Or—not hot exactly, but uncomfortable in some way that was similar to being overheated. She felt parched.

'All right, we'll go by the boardinghouse tomorrow before school,' Meredith said. 'Meanwhile, what else can we be doing? Let's have a look at that list, Bonnie.'

Bonnie held the list out so they could see it, and Elena and Meredith leaned forward and read:

 Matt Honeycutt

Vickie Bennett

Robert Maxwell—What was he doing at the church when the dogs attacked? And what was going on that night with Elena's aunt?

Alaric Saltzman—Why does he ask so many questions? What was he called to Fell's Church to do?

Mrs. Flowers—Why does she act so strange?

Why didn't she let us in the night Stefan was wounded?

'Good,' Elena said. 'I guess we could also find out whose dogs were at the church today. And you can watch Alaric at school tomorrow.'

'I'll watch Alaric,' Bonnie said firmly. 'And I'll get him cleared of suspicion; you see if I don't.'

'Fine, you do that. You can be assigned to him. And Meredith can investigate Mrs. Flowers, and I can take Robert. And as for Stefan and Damon—well, they can be assigned to everyone, because they can use their Powers to probe people's minds. Besides, that list is by no means complete. I'm going to ask them to scout around town searching for any signs of Power, or anything else weird going on. They're more likely than I am to recognize it.'

Sitting back, Elena wet her lips absently. She was parched. She noticed something she'd never noticed before: the fine tracery of veins on Bonnie's inner wrist. Bonnie was still holding the note pad out, and the skin of her wrist was so translucent that the teal blue veins showed clearly through. Elena wished she'd listened when they'd studied human anatomy at school; now what was the name for this vein, the big one that branched like a fork in a tree… ?

'Elena. Elena!'

Startled, Elena looked up, to see Meredith's wary dark eyes and Bonnie's alarmed expression. It was only then that she realized she was crouched close to Bonnie's wrist, rubbing the biggest vein with her finger.

'Sorry,' she murmured, sitting back. But she could feel the extra length and sharpness of her canine teeth. It was something like wearing braces; she could clearly feel the difference in weight. She realized her reassuring smile at Bonnie was not having the desired effect. Bonnie was looking scared, which was silly. Bonnie ought to know that Elena would never hurt her. And Elena wasn't very hungry tonight; Elena had always been a light eater. She could get all she needed from this tiny vein here in the wrist…

Elena jumped to her feet and spun toward the window, leaning against the casing, feeling the cool night air blowing on her skin. She felt dizzy, and she couldn't seem to get her breath.

What had she been doing? She turned around to see Bonnie huddled close to Meredith, both of them looking sick with fear. She hated having them look at her that way.

'I'm sorry,' she said. 'I didn't mean to, Bonnie. Look, I'm not coming any closer. I should have eaten before I came here. Damon said I'd get hungry later.'

Bonnie swallowed, looking even sicker. 'Eaten?'

'Yes, of course,' Elena said tartly. Her veins were burning; that was what this feeling was. Stefan had described it before, but she'd never really understood; she'd never realized what he was going through when the need for blood was on him. It was terrible, irresistible. 'What do you think I eat these days, air?' she added defiantly. 'I'm a hunter now, and I'd better go out hunting.'

Bonnie and Meredith were trying to cope; she could tell they were, but she could also see the revulsion in their eyes. She concentrated on using her new senses, in opening herself to the night and searching for Stefan's or Damon's presence. It was difficult, because neither of them was projecting with his mind as he had been the night they'd been fighting in the woods, but she thought she could sense a glimmer of Power out there in the town.

But she had no way to communicate with it, and frustration made the scorching in her veins even worse. She'd just decided that she might have to go without them when the curtains whipped back into her face, flapping in a burst of wind. Bonnie lurched up with a gasp, knocking the reading lamp off the night-stand and plunging the room into darkness. Cursing, Meredith worked to get it righted again. The curtains fluttered madly in the flickering light that emerged, and Bonnie seemed to be trying to scream.

When the bulb was finally screwed back in, it revealed Damon sitting casually but precariously on the sill of the open window, one knee up. He was smiling one of his wildest smiles.

'Do you mind?' he said. 'This is uncomfortable.'

Elena glanced back at Bonnie and Meredith, who were braced against the closet, looking horrified and hypnotized at once. She herself shook her head, exasperated.

'And I thought I liked to make a dramatic entrance,' she said. 'Very funny, Damon. Now let's go.'

'With two such beautiful friends of yours right here?' Damon smiled again at Bonnie and Meredith. 'Besides, I only just got here. Won't somebody be polite and ask me in?'

Bonnie's brown eyes, fixed helplessly on his face, softened a bit. Her lips, which had been parted in horror, parted further. Elena recognized the signs of imminent meltdown.

'No, they won't,' she said. She put herself directly between Damon and the other girls. 'Nobody here is for you, Damon—not now, not ever.' Seeing the flare of challenge in his eyes, she added