The Fury

about finding our supposed lair and all that. You were just winging it.'

'Well, not completely,' Alaric said. 'Theoretically, I am an expert.' Then he did a double take. 'What do you mean, when you heard me talking to them?'

'While you were out searching for a lair, she was sleeping in your attic,' Damon informed him dryly. Alaric opened his mouth and then shut it again.

'What I'd like to know is how Meredith comes into all this,' Stefan said. He wasn't smiling.

Meredith, who had been gazing thoughtfully at the jumble of papers on Alaric's desk during all this, looked up. She spoke evenly, without emotion.

'I recognized him, you see. I couldn't remember where I'd seen him at first, because it was almost three years ago. Then I realized it was at Granddad's hospital. What I told those men was the truth, Stefan. My grandfather was attacked by a vampire.'

There was a little silence and then Meredith went on. 'It happened a long time ago, before I was born. He wasn't badly hurt by it, but he never really got well. He became… well, sort of like Vickie, only more violent. It got so that they were afraid he'd harm himself, or somebody else. So they took him to a hospital, a place he'd be safe.'

'A mental institution,' Elena said. She felt a pang of sympathy for the dark-haired girl. 'Oh, Meredith. But why didn't you say anything? You could have told us.'

'I know. I could have… but I couldn't. The family's kept it a secret so long—or tried anyway. From what Caroline wrote in her diary, she'd obviously heard. The thing is, nobody ever believed Granddad's stories about the vampire. They just thought it was another of his delusions, and he had a lot of them. Even I didn't believe them… until Stefan came. And then—I don't know, my mind started to put little things together. But I didn't really believe what I was thinking until you came back, Elena.'

'I'm surprised you didn't hate me,' Elena said softly.

'How could I? I know you, and I know Stefan. I know you're not evil.' Meredith didn't glance at Damon; he might as well not have been present for all the acknowledgment she gave him. 'But when I remembered seeing Alaric talking to Granddad at the hospital I knew he wasn't, either. I just didn't know exactly how to get all of you together to prove it.'

'I didn't recognize you, either,' Alaric said. 'The old man had a different name—he's your mother's father, right? And I may have seen you hanging around the waiting room sometime, but you were just a kid with skinny legs then. You've changed,' he added appreciatively.

Bonnie coughed, a pointed sound.

Elena was trying to arrange things in her mind. 'So what were those men doing out there with a stake if you didn't tell them to be?'

'I had to ask Caroline's parents for permission to hypnotize her, of course. And I reported what I found to them. But if you're thinking I had anything to do with what happened tonight, you're wrong. I didn't even know about it.'

'I've told him about what we've been doing, how we've been looking for the Other Power,' Meredith said. 'And he wants to help.'

'I said I might help,' Alaric said cautiously.

'Wrong,' said Stefan. 'You're either with us or against us. I'm grateful for what you did out there, talking to those men, but the fact remains that you started a lot of this trouble in the first place. Now you have to decide: are you on our side—or theirs?'

Alaric looked around at each of them, at Meredith's steady gaze and Bonnie's raised eyebrows, at Elena kneeling on the floor and at Stefan's already-healing scalp. Then he turned to glance at Damon, who was leaning against the wall, dark and saturnine. 'I'll help,' he said at last. 'Hell, it's the ultimate case study.'

'All right, then,' Elena said. 'You're in. Now, what about Mr. Smallwood tomorrow? What if he wants you to hypnotize Tyler again?'

'I'll stall him,' Alaric said. 'It won't work forever, but it'll buy some time. I'll tell him I've got to help with the dance—'

'Wait,' said Stefan. 'There shouldn't be a dance, not if there's any way to prevent it. You're on good terms with the principal; you can talk to the school board. Make them cancel it.'

Alaric looked startled. 'You think something's going to happen?'

'Yes,' Stefan said. 'Not just because of what's happened at the other public functions, but because something's building up. It's been building up all week; I can feel it.'

'So can I,' Elena said. She hadn't realized it until that moment, but the tension she felt, the sense of urgency, was not just from inside her. It was outside, all around. It thickened the air. 'Something's going to happen, Alaric.

Alaric let out his breath in a soft whistle. 'Well, I can try to convince them, but—I don't know. Your principal is dead set on keeping everything looking normal. And it isn't as if I can give any rational explanation for wanting to shut it down.'

'Try hard,' Elena said.

'I will. And meanwhile, maybe you should think about protecting yourself. If what Meredith says is right, then most of the attacks have been on you and people close to you. Your boyfriend got dropped in a well; your car got chased into the river; your memorial service was broken up. Meredith says even your little sister was threatened. If something's going to happen tomorrow, you might want to leave town.'

It was Elena's turn to be startled. She had never thought of the attacks in that way, but it was true. She heard Stefan's indrawn breath and felt his fingers tighten on hers.

'He's right,' Stefan said. 'You should leave, Elena. I can stay here until—'

'No. I'm not going without you. And,' Elena continued, slowly, thinking it out, 'I'm not going anywhere until we find the Other Power and stop it.' She looked up at him earnestly, speaking quickly now. 'Oh, Stefan, don't you see, nobody else even has a chance against it. Mr. Smallwood and his friends don't have a clue. Alaric thinks you can fight it by waving your hands at it. None of them know what they're up against. We're the only ones who can help.'

She could see the resistance in Stefan's eyes and feel it in the tenor of his muscles. But as she kept on looking straight at him, she saw his objections fall one by one. For the simple reason that it was the truth, and Stefan hated lying.

'All right,' he said at last, painfully. 'But as soon as this is all over, we're leaving. I'm not having you stay in a town where vigilantes run around with stakes.'

'Yes.' Elena returned the pressure of his fingers with hers. 'Once this is all over, we'll go.'

Stefan turned to Alaric. 'And if there's no way to talk them out of having the dance tomorrow, I think we should keep an eye on it. If something does happen, we may be able to stop it before it gets out of hand.'

'That's a good idea,' Alaric said, perking up. 'We could meet tomorrow after dark here in the history room. Nobody comes here. We could keep up a watch all night.'

Elena tilted a doubtful eye toward Bonnie. 'Well… it would mean missing the dance itself—for those of us who could have gone, I mean.'

Bonnie drew herself up. 'Oh, who cares about missing a dance?' she said indignantly. 'What on earth does a dance matter to anyone?'

'Right,' said Stefan gravely. 'Then it's settled.' A spasm of pain seemed to overtake him and he winced, looking down. Elena was immediately concerned.

'You need to get home and rest,' she said. 'Alaric, can you drive us? It's not that far.'

Stefan protested that he was perfectly able to walk, but in the end he gave in. At the boardinghouse, after Stefan and Damon had gotten out of the car, Elena leaned in Alaric's window for one last question. It had been gnawing at her mind ever since Alaric had told them his story.

'About those people who'd encountered vampires,' she said. 'Just what were the psychological effects? I mean, did they all go crazy or have nightmares? Were any of them okay?'

'It depends on the individual,' Alaric said. 'And with how many contacts they'd had, and what kind of contacts they were. But mostly just with the personality of the victim, with how well the individual mind can cope.'

Elena nodded, and said nothing until the lights of Alaric's car had been swallowed by the snowy air. Then she turned to Stefan.