Sick of that same old liquid cuisine?
Come and visit Shi no Shi.
Stefan started to close the page, but something stopped him. He sat and stared at the inconspicuous little ad beneath the poem until he heard Elena at the door. He quickly closed the computer and went to take the picnic basket from her. He said nothing about the note or what he’d seen on the computer screen. But as the night went on, he thought more and more.
“Oh! Stefan, you’ll break my ribs! You squeezed all my breath out!”
“I’m sorry. I just need to hold you.”
“Well, I need to hold you, too.”
“Thank you, angel.”
Everything was quiet in the room with the high ceiling. One window was open, letting the moonlight through. In the sky, even the moon seemed to creep stealthily along, and the shaft of moonlight followed it on the hardwood floor.
Damon smiled. He had had a long, restful day and now he meant to have an interesting night.
Getting through the window wasn’t quite as easy as he’d expected. When he arrived as a huge, glossy black crow, he was expecting to balance on the windowsill and change to human form to open the window. But the window had a trap on it — it was linked by Power to one of the sleepers inside. Damon puzzled over it, preening himself viciously, afraid to put any tension on that thin link, when something arrived beside him in a flutter of wings.
It looked like no respectable crow ever registered in the sighting book of any ornithologist. It was sleek enough, but its wings were tipped with scarlet, and it had golden, shining eyes.
Shinichi? Damon asked.
Who else? Came the reply as a golden eye fixed on him.I see you have a problem. But it can be fixed. I’ll deepen their sleep so that you can cut the link.
Don’t! Damon said reflexively.If you so much as touch either of them, Stefan will The answer came in soothing tones.Stefan’s just a boy, remember? Trust me. You do trust me, don’t you?
And it worked out exactly as the demonically colored bird said it would. The sleepers inside slept more deeply, and then more deeply still.
A moment later the window opened, and Damon changed form and was inside. His brother and… and she … the one he always had to watch…she was lying asleep, her golden hair lying across the pillow and lying across his brother’s body.
Damon tore his eyes away. There was a medium-sized, slightly outdated computer on the desk in the corner. He went over to it and without the slightest hesitation turned it on. The two on the bed never stirred.
Files…aha.Diary. How original a name. Damon opened it and examined the contents.
I woke up this morning and — marvel of marvels — I’m me again. I walk, talk, drink, wet the bed (well, I haven’t yet, but I’m sure I could if I tried).
I’m back.
It’s been one hell of a journey.
I died, dearest Diary, I really died. And then I died as a vampire. And don’t expect me to describe what happened either time — believe me; you had to be there.
The important thing is that I was gone, but now I’m back again — and, oh, dear patient friend who has been keeping my secrets since kindergarten…I am so glad to be back.
On the debit side, I can never live with Aunt Judith or Margaret again. They think I’m “resting in peace” with the angels. On the credit side, I can live with Stefan.
This is the compensation for all I’ve been through — I don’t know how to compensate those who went to the very gates of Hell for me. Oh, I’m tired and — might as well say it — eager for a night with my darling.
I’m very happy. We had a fine day, laughing and loving, and watching each of my friends’ faces as they saw me alive! (And not insane, which I gather is how I have been acting the past few days. Honestly, you’d think Great Spirits Inna Sky could have dropped me off with my marbles all in order. Oh, well.)
Love ya,
Damon’s eyes skimmed over these lines impatiently. He was looking for something quite different. Ah. Yes. This was more like it: My dearest Elena, I knew you would look here sooner or later. I hope you never have to see it at all. If you’re reading this, then Damon is a traitor, or something else has gone terribly wrong.
A traitor? That seemed a little strong, Damon thought, hurt, but also burning with an intense desire to get on with his task.
I’m going out to the woods to talk to him tonight — if I don’t come back, you’ll know where to start asking questions.
The truth is that I don’t exactly understand the situation. Earlier today, Damon sent me a card with a Web address on it. I’ve put the card under your pillow, love.
Oh damn, thought Damon. It was going to be hard to get that card without waking her. But he had to do it.
Elena, follow this Web link. You’ll have to dither with the brightness controls because it’s been created for vampire eyes only. What the link seems to be saying is that there is a place called Shi no Shi — literally translated, it says, as the Death of Death, where they can remove this curse which has haunted me for almost half a millennium. They use magic and science in combination to restore former vampires to simple men and women, boys and girls.
If they truly can do this, Elena, we can be together for as long as ordinary people live. That’s all I ask of life.
I want it. I want to have the chance to stand before you as an ordinary breathing, eating human.
But don’t worry.I’m just going to talk with Damon about this. You don’t need to command me to stay. I would never leave you with all the goings-on in Fell’s Church right now. It’s too dangerous for you, especially with your new blood and your new aura.
I realize that I’m trusting Damon more than I probably should. But of one thing I am certain: he would never harm you.He loves you. How can he help it?
Still, I have to meet with him at least, on his terms, alone at a particular location in the wood. Then we’ll see what we see.
As I said before, if you’re reading this letter, it means that something has gone drastically wrong. Defend yourself, love. Don’t be afraid. Trust yourself. And trust your friends. They can all help you.
I trust Matt’s instinctive protectiveness for you, Meredith’s judgment, and Bonnie’s intuition. Tell them to remember that.
I’m hoping that you never have to read this, with all my love, my heart, my soul, Stefan P.S. Just in case, there is $20,000 in hundred-dollar bills under the second floorboard from the wall, across from the bed. Right now the rocking chair is over it. You’ll see the crack easily if you move the chair.
Carefully, Damon deleted the words in this file. Then, with one corner of his mouth quirked up, he carefully, silently typed in new words with a rather different meaning. He read them over. He smiled brilliantly. He’d always fancied himself a writer; no formal training of course, but he felt he had an instinctive flair for it.
And that was Step One accomplished, Damon thought, saving the file with his words instead of Stefan’s.
Then, noiselessly, he walked to where Elena was sleeping, spooned behind Stefan on the narrow bed.
Now for Step Two.
Slowly, very slowly, Damon slipped his fingers under the pillow on which Elena’s head rested. He could feel Elena’s hair where it spilled on her pillow in the moonlight, and the ache that it awoke was more in his chest than in his canines. Inching his fingers under the pillow, he searched for something smooth.
Elena murmured in her sleep and suddenly turned over. Damon almost jumped back into the shadows, but
