The Fury

'So you do admit that she's hiding something.'

'Yes,' Elena said reluctantly. 'But it's nothing that will hurt us, I'm sure. Meredith has been my friend since the first grade…' Without knowing it, Elena let the sentence slip away from her. She was thinking of another friend, one who'd been close to her since kindergarten. Caroline. Who last week had tried to destroy Stefan and humiliate Elena in front of the entire town.

And what was it Caroline's diary had said about Meredith? Meredith doesn't do anything; she just watches. It's as if she can't act, she can only react to things. Besides, I've heard my parents talking about her family—no wonder she never mentions them.

Elena's eyes left the snowy landscape to seek Stefan's waiting face. 'It doesn't matter,' she said quietly. 'I know Meredith, and I trust her. I'll trust her to the end.'

'I hope she's worthy of it, Elena,' he said. 'I really do.'

TEN

December 12, Thursday morning

Dear Diary,

So after a week of work, what have we accomplished?

Well, between us we've managed to follow our three suspects just about continuously for the last six or seven days. Results: reports on Robert's movements for the last week, which he spent acting like any normal businessman. Reports on Alaric, who hasn't been doing anything unusual for a history teacher. Reports on Mrs. Flowers, who apparently spends most of her time in the basement. But we haven't really learned anything.

Stefan says that Alaric met with the principal a couple times, but he couldn't get close enough to hear what they were talking about.

Meredith and Bonnie spread the news about other pets besides dogs being dangerous. They didn't need to work very hard at it; it seems as if everybody in town is on the verge of hysteria already. Since then there've been several other animal attacks reported, but it's hard to know which ones to take seriously. Some kids were teasing a squirrel and it bit them. The Massases' pet rabbit scratched their littlest boy. Old Mrs. Coomber saw copperhead snakes in her yard, when all the snakes should be hibernating.

The only one I'm sure about is the attack on the vet who was keeping the dogs in quarantine. A bunch of them bit him and most of them escaped from the holding pens. After that they just disappeared. People are saying good riddance and hoping they'll starve in the woods, but I wonder.

And it's been snowing all the time. Not storming but not stopping, either. I've never seen so much snow.

Stefan's worried about the dance tomorrow night.

Which brings us back to: what have we learned so far? What do we know? None of our suspects were anywhere near the Massases' or Mrs. Coomber's or the vet's when the attacks happened. We're no closer to finding the Other Power than we were when we started.

Marie's little get-together is tonight. Meredith thinks we should go to it. I don't know what else there is to do.

Damon stretched out his long legs and spoke lazily, looking around the barn. 'No, I don't think it's dangerous, particularly. But I don't see what you expect to accomplish.'

'Neither do I, exactly,' Elena admitted. 'But I don't have any better ideas. Do you?'

'What, you mean about other ways to spend the time? Yes, I do. Do you want me to tell you about them?' Elena waved him to silence and he subsided.

'I mean about useful things we can do at this point. Robert's out of town, Mrs. Flowers is down—'

'In the basement,' chorused several voices.

'And we're all just sitting here. Does anybody have a better idea?'

Meredith broke the silence. 'If you're worried about its being dangerous for me and Bonnie, why don't you all come? I don't mean you have to show yourselves. You could come and hide in the attic. Then if anything happened, we could scream for help and you would hear us.'

'I don't see why anybody's going to be screaming,' said Bonnie. 'Nothing's going to happen there.'

'Well, maybe not, but it doesn't hurt to be safe,' Meredith said. 'What do you think?'

Elena nodded slowly. 'It makes sense.' She looked around for objections, but Stefan just shrugged, and Damon murmured something that made Bonnie laugh.

'All right, then, it's decided. Let's go.'

The inevitable snow greeted them as they stepped outside the barn.

'Bonnie and I can go in my car,' Meredith said. 'And you three—'

'Oh, we'll find our own way,' Damon said with his wolfish smile. Meredith nodded, not impressed. Funny, Elena thought as the other girls walked away; Meredith never was impressed with Damon. His charm seemed to have no effect on her.

She was about to mention that she was hungry when Stefan turned to Damon.

'Are you willing to stay with Elena the entire time you're over there? Every minute?' he said.

'Try and stop me,' Damon said cheerfully. He dropped the smile. 'Why?'

'Because if you are, the two of you can go over alone, and I'll meet you later. I've got something to do, but it won't take long.'

Elena felt a wave of warmth. He was trying to trust his brother. She smiled at Stefan in approval as he drew her aside.

'What is it?'

'I got a note from Caroline today. She asked if I would meet her at the school before Alaric's party. She said she wanted to apologize.

Elena opened her mouth to make a sharp remark, and then shut it again. From what she'd heard, Caroline was a sorry sight these days. And maybe it would make Stefan feel better to talk to her.

'Well, you don't have anything to apologize for,' she told him. 'Everything that happened to her was her own fault. You don't think she's dangerous at all?'

'No; I've got that much of my Powers left anyway. She's all right. I'll meet her, and she and I can go to Alaric's together.'

'Be careful,' Elena said as he started off into the snow.

The attic was as she remembered it, dark and dusty and full of mysterious oilcloth-covered shapes. Damon, who had come in more conventionally through the front door, had had to take the shutters off to let her in through the window. After that they sat side by side on the old mattress and listened to the voices that came up through the ducts.

'I could think of more romantic settings,' Damon murmured, fastidiously pulling a cobweb off his sleeve. 'Are you sure you wouldn't rather—'

'Yes,' said Elena. 'Now hush.'

It was like a game, listening to the bits and pieces of conversations and trying to put them together, trying to match each voice to a face.

'And then I said, I don't care how long you've had the parakeet; get rid of it or I'm going to the Snow Dance with Mike Feldman. And he said—'

'—rumor going around that Mr. Tanner's grave was dug up last night—'

'—you hear that everybody but Caroline has dropped out of the snow queen competition? Don't you think —'

'—dead, but I'm telling you I saw her. And no, I wasn't dreaming; she was wearing a sort of silvery dress and her hair was all golden and blowing—'

Elena raised her eyebrows at Damon, then looked meaningfully down at her sensible black attire. He grinned.

'Romanticism,' he said. 'Myself, I like you in black.'