Dark Reunion

Stefan turned his head, the branch still on his shoulder. 'For me?'

'It had your name on it. A package and a letter. I found them on the front porch this afternoon. I put them upstairs in your room.'

Bonnie looked at Meredith, then at Matt and Stefan, meeting their bewildered, suspicious gazes in turn. The anticipation in the air heightened suddenly, almost unbearably.

'But who could it be from? Who could even know you're here—' she began as they climbed the stairs to the attic. And then she stopped, dread fluttering between her ribs. Premonition was buzzing around inside her like a nagging fly, but she pushed it away. Not now, she thought, not now.

But there was no way to keep from seeing the package on Stefan's desk. The boys propped the white ash branch against the wall and went to look at it, a longish, flattish parcel wrapped in brown paper, with a creamy envelope on top.

On the front, in familiar crazy handwriting, was scrawled Stefan.

The handwriting from the mirror.

They all stood staring down at the package as if it were a scorpion.

'Watch out,' Meredith said as Stefan slowly reached for it. Bonnie knew what she meant. She felt as if the whole thing might explode or belch poisonous gas or turn into something with teeth and claws.

The envelope Stefan picked up was square and sturdy, made of good paper with a fine finish. Like a prince's invitation to the ball, Bonnie thought. But incongruously, there were several dirty fingerprints on the surface and the edges were grimy. Well—Klaus hadn't looked any too clean in the dream.

Stefan glanced at front and back and then tore the envelope open. He pulled out a single piece of heavy stationery. The other three crowded around, looking over his shoulder as he unfolded it. Then Matt gave an exclamation.

'What the… it's blank!'

It was. On both sides. Stefan turned it over and examined each. His face was tense, shuttered. Everyone else relaxed, though, making noises of disgust. A stupid practical joke. Meredith had reached for the package, which looked flat enough to be empty as well, when Stefan suddenly stiffened, his breath hissing in. Bonnie glanced quickly over and jumped. Meredith's hand froze on the package, and Matt swore.

On the blank paper, held tautly between Stefan's two hands, letters were appearing. They were black with long downstrokes, as if each were being slashed by an invisible knife while Bonnie watched. As she read them, the dread inside her grew.

Stefan—

Shall we try to solve this like gentlemen? I have the girl. Come to the old farmhouse in the woods after dark and we'll talk, just the two of us. Come alone and I'll let her go. Bring anyone else and she dies.

There was no signature, but at the bottom the words appeared This is between you and me.

'What girl?' Matt was demanding, looking from Bonnie to Meredith as if to make sure they were still there. 'What girl?'

With a sharp motion, Meredith's elegant fingers tore the package open and pulled out what was inside. A pale green scarf with a pattern of vines and leaves. Bonnie remembered it perfectly, and a vision came to her in a rush. Confetti and birthday presents, orchids and chocolate.

'Caroline,' she whispered, and shut her eyes.

These last two weeks had been so strange, so different from ordinary high school life, that she had almost forgotten Caroline existed. Caroline had gone off to an apartment in another town to escape, to be safe—but Meredith had said it to her in the beginning. He can follow you to Heron, I'm sure.

'He was just playing with us again,' Bonnie murmured. 'He let us get this far, even going to see your grandfather, Meredith, and then…'

'He must have known,' Meredith agreed. 'He must have known all along we were looking for a victim. And now he's checkmated us. Unless—' Her dark eyes lit with sudden hope. 'Bonnie, you don't think Caroline could have dropped this scarf the night of the party? And that he just picked it up?'

'No.' The premonition was buzzing closer and Bonnie swatted at it, trying to keep it away. She didn't want it, didn't want to know. But she felt certain of one thing: this wasn't a bluff. Klaus had Caroline.

'What are we going to do?' she said softly.

'I know what we're not going to do, and that's listen to him,' Matt said. ' 'Try to solve it like gentlemen'—he's scum, not a gentleman. It's a trap.'

'Of course it's a trap,' Meredith said impatiently. 'He waited until we found out how to hurt him and now he's trying to separate us. But it won't work!'

Bonnie had been watching Stefan's face with growing dismay. Because while Matt and Meredith were indignantly talking, he had been quietly folding up the letter and putting it back in its envelope. Now he stood gazing down at it, his face still, untouched by anything that was going on around him. And the look in his green eyes scared Bonnie.

'We can make it backfire on him,' Matt was saying. 'Right, Stefan? Don't you think?'

'I think,' said Stefan carefully, concentrating on each word, 'that I am going out to the woods after dark.'

Matt nodded, and like the quarterback he was, began to chart out a plan. 'Okay, you go distract him. And meanwhile, the three of us—'

'The three of you,' Stefan continued just as deliberately, looking right at him, 'are going home. To bed.'

There was a pause that seemed endless to Bonnie's taut nerves. The others just stared at Stefan.

At last Meredith said lightly, 'Well, it's going to be hard to catch him while we're in bed unless he's kind enough to come visiting.'

That broke the tension and Matt said, drawing a long-suffering breath, 'All right, Stefan, I understand how you feel about this—' But Stefan interrupted.

'I'm dead serious, Matt. Klaus is right; this is between him and me. And he says to come alone or he'll hurt Caroline. So I'm going alone. It's my decision.'

'It's your funeral,' Bonnie blurted out, almost hysterically. 'Stefan, you're crazy. You can't.'

'Watch me.'

'We won't let you—'

'Do you think,' Stefan said, looking at her, 'that you could stop me if you tried?'

This silence was acutely uncomfortable. Staring at him, Bonnie felt as if Stefan had changed somehow before her eyes. His face seemed sharper, his posture different, as if to remind her of the lithe, hard predator's muscles under his clothes. All at once he seemed distant, alien. Frightening.

Bonnie looked away.

'Let's be reasonable about this,' Matt was saying, changing tactics. 'Let's just stay calm and talk this over —'

'There's nothing to talk over. I'm going. You're not.'

'You owe us more than that, Stefan,' Meredith said, and Bonnie felt grateful for her cool voice. 'Okay, so you can tear us all limb from limb; fine, no argument. We get the point. But after all we've been through together, we deserve more of a thorough discussion before you go running off.'

'You said it was the girls' fight too,' Matt added. 'When did you decide it wasn't?'

'When I found out who the killer was!' Stefan said. 'It's because of me that Klaus is here.'

'No, it isn't!' Bonnie cried. 'Did you make Elena kill Katherine?'

'I made Katherine go back to Klaus! That's how this got started. And I got Caroline involved; if it wasn't for me, she would never have hated Elena, never have gotten in with Tyler. I have a responsibility toward her.'

'You just want to believe that,' Bonnie almost yelled. 'Klaus hates all of us! Do you