The Fury

'Well, you would, wouldn't you?' she murmured. It was strange how much more comfortable she felt with Damon these days. She sat quietly, letting the conversations drift around her, almost losing track of time. Then she caught a familiar voice, cross, and closer than the rest.

'Okay, okay, I'm going. Okay.'

Elena and Damon exchanged a glance and rose to their feet as the handle on the attic door turned. Bonnie peered around the edge.

'Meredith told me to come up here. I don't know why. She's hogging Alaric and it's a rotten party. Achoo!'

She sat down on the mattress, and after a few minutes Elena sat back down beside her. She was beginning to wish that Stefan would get here. By the time the door opened again and Meredith came in, she was sure of it.

'Meredith, what's going on?'

'Nothing, or at least nothing to worry about. Where's Stefan?' Meredith's cheeks were unusually flushed, and there was an odd look about her eyes, as if she were holding something tightly under control.

'He's coming later—' Elena began, but Damon interrupted.

'Never mind where he is. Who's coming up the stairs?'

'What do you mean, 'who's coming up the stairs?' ' said Bonnie, rising.

'Everybody just stay calm,' Meredith said, taking up a position in front of the window as if guarding it. She didn't look overly calm herself, Elena thought. 'All right,' she called, and the door opened and Alaric Saltzman came in.

Damon's motion was so smooth that even Elena's eyes couldn't follow it; in one movement he caught Elena's wrist and pulled her behind him, at the same time moving to face Alaric directly. He ended in a predator's crouch, every muscle drawn taut and ready for the attack.

'Oh, don't,' cried Bonnie wildly. She flung herself at Alaric, who had already begun to recoil a step from Damon. Alaric nearly lost his balance and groped behind himself for the door. His other hand was groping at his belt.

'Stop it! Stop it!' Meredith said. Elena saw the shape beneath Alaric's jacket and realized it was a gun.

Again, she couldn't quite follow what happened next. Damon let go of her wrist and took hold of Alaric's. And then Alaric was sitting on the floor, wearing a dazed expression, and Damon was emptying the gun of cartridges, one by one.

'I told you that was stupid and you wouldn't need it,' Meredith said. Elena realized she was holding the dark-haired girl by the arms. She must have done it to keep Meredith from interfering with Damon, but she didn't remember.

'These wood-tipped things are nasty; they might hurt somebody,' Damon said, mildly chiding. He replaced one of the cartridges and snapped the clip back in, aiming thoughtfully at Alaric.

'Stop it,' said Meredith intensely. She turned to Elena. 'Make him stop, Elena; he's only doing more harm. Alaric won't hurt you; I promise. I've spent all week convincing him that you won't hurt him.'

'And now I think my wrist is broken,' Alaric said, rather calmly. His sandy hair was falling into his eyes in front.

'You've got no one but yourself to blame.' Meredith returned bitterly. Bonnie, who had been clutching solicitously at Alaric's shoulders, looked up at the familiarity of Meredith's tone, and then backed away a few paces and sat down.

'I can't wait to hear the explanation for this,' she said.

'Please trust me,' Meredith said to Elena.

Elena looked into the dark eyes. She did trust Meredith; she'd said so. And the words stirred another memory, her own voice asking for Stefan's trust. She nodded.

'Damon?' she said. He flipped the gun away casually and then smiled around at all of them, making it abundantly clear that he didn't need any such artificial weapons.

'Now if everybody will just listen, you'll all understand,' Meredith said.

'Oh, I'm sure,' Bonnie said.

Elena walked toward Alaric Saltzman. She wasn't afraid of him, but by the way he looked only at her, slowly, starting from the feet and then continuing up, he was afraid of her.

She stopped when she was a yard from where he sat on the ground and knelt there, looking into his face.

'Hello,' she said.

He was still holding his wrist. 'Hello,' he said, and gulped.

Elena glanced back at Meredith and then looked at Alaric again. Yes, he was scared. And with his hair in his eyes that way, he looked young. Maybe four years older than Elena, maybe five. No more than that.

'We're not going to hurt you,' she said.

'That's what I've been telling him,' Meredith said quietly. 'I explained that whatever he's seen before, whatever stories he's heard, you're different. I told him what you told me about Stefan, how he's been fighting his nature all those years. I told him about what you've been going through, Elena, and how you never asked for this.'

But why did you tell him so much? Elena thought. She said to Alaric, 'All right, you know about us. But all we know about you is that you're not a history teacher.'

'He's a hunter,' Damon said softly, menacingly. 'A vampire hunter.'

'No,' said Alaric. 'Or at least, not in the sense that you mean it.' He seemed to come to some decision. 'All right. From what I know of you three—' He broke off, looking around the dark room as if suddenly realizing something. 'Where's Stefan?'

'He's coming. In fact, he should be here by now. He was going to stop by the school and bring Caroline,' Elena said. She was unprepared for Alaric's reaction.

'Caroline Forbes?' he said sharply, sitting up. His voice sounded the way it had when she'd overheard him talking with Dr. Fein' berg and the principal, hard-edged and decisive.

'Yes. She sent him a note today, said she wanted to apologize or something. She wanted to meet him at school before the party.'

'He can't go. You've got to stop him.' Alaric scrambled to his feet and repeated urgently, 'You've got to stop him.'

'He's gone already. Why? Why shouldn't he?' Elena demanded.

'Because I hypnotized Caroline two days ago. I'd tried it earlier with Tyler, with no luck. But Caroline's a good subject, and she remembered a little of what happened in the Quonset hut. And she identified Stefan Salvatore as the attacker.'

The shocked silence lasted only a fraction of a second. Then Bonnie said, 'But what can Caroline do? She can't hurt him—'

'Don't you understand? You're not just dealing with high school students anymore,' Alaric said. 'It's gone too far. Caroline's father knows about it, and Tyler's father. They're concerned for the safety of the town—'

'Hush! Be quiet!' Elena was casting about with her mind, trying to pick up some hint of Stefan's presence. He's let himself get weak, she thought, with the part of her that was icy calm amid the whirling fear and panic. At last she sensed something, just a trace, but she thought it was Stefan. And it was in distress.

'Something's wrong,' Damon confirmed, and she realized he must have been searching, too, with a mind much more powerful than hers. 'Let's go.'

'Wait, let's talk first. Don't just go jumping into this.' But Alaric might as well have been talking to the wind, trying to rein in its destructive power with words. Damon was already at the window, and the next moment Elena let herself drop out, landing neatly by Damon in the snow. Alaric's voice followed them from above.

'We're coming, too. Wait for us there. Let me talk to them first. I can take care of it…'

Elena scarcely heard him. Her mind was burning with one purpose, one thought. To hurt the people who wanted to hurt Stefan. It's gone too far, all right, she thought. And now I'm going to go as far as it takes. If they dare to touch him… images flashed through her mind, too quickly to count, of what she