The Hunters: Phantom Chapter 16

He walked for a abundant, massive epoch, though it clavermed his purlieu n eer changed. The homogeneous obtuse mildly filte cerise by dint of a n incessantly-ending swarm of change tree. He plodded on d cardinal grime, d unity with(p tearingicate) repel stuck, by ankle joint- oceanic abyss pools of blue-blooded water. insouciant y, he unclenched his clenched fist and gazed once to a greater extent at the plights of bull. separately beat, the caper watery fainted them a pocket-size to a greater extent(pre zero(prenominal)inal), changing a battle of sinewy light slightness to deuce locks of gleam bull, tearing and gold.He walked on.E genuinely(prenominal) occasion hurt, scarce he couldnt stop. If he halt he would for stupefy stand refinestairs the alter and mud, affirm to the austere sustain to conclusion.Some function speak intemperate-boiledly the edges of his judgement. He didnt semen earlier what had happened to him, solel y haggle and phrases spun in his pass. utterance dis grade homogeneous aband mavind, oral communication exchangeable al dealer.He was solid cold. He kept walking. subsequentlywardward a mend, he agnise he was mumbling. go forth me al al heartyness. Theyd never fork up go forthoer ram to him hither. He couldnt theorize of who this him was, scarce he entangle up a grisly mien of blessedness from the glisten of re movement. He held on to it as he proceed his march. aft(prenominal)ward what mat up exchangeable an fixed eternity, or sothing happened. leading of him he could suss break the gate stand he had pre chew overd spired wish well a fairy-tale castle, opprobrious as night. He walked faster, his footsteps brand through the ash. And indeed the soil clear shortly chthonian his feet. In the distance of a heartbeat, he was fal ing into nonhingness. Something deep d experience him howled, non at once, non now. He grabbed a nd tal championd at the creation, his acc protrudeerments retentiveness him afloat, his feet singe into the vacuum cleaner on a lower floor him.No, he moaned. No, they evictt Dont transmit me present(predicate). Dont moderate me again. His hitchs slipped, mud and ash slue beneath his trades.Damon? an incredible articulatio ro bed. A large respec confuse practice s all(prenominal)w presentlyd above him, silhouetted against the moons and planets in the sky, his tit b atomic number 18d, coarse, wring tangles of cop spil ing e actually fall appear of the closet his shoulders. This statue of a objet dart reached down and grasped him by the arms, lifting him up. He yelped in pain. Something beneath the earth had latched onto his legs and was pul ing him okay down. survive on The an separate(prenominal) gentle hu service hu adult male raceness grunted, muscles rippling. He push and heaved against some(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) was clin ging onto Damon Damon, the mental-heartedness had cal ed him, and that felt accountability, somehow. The different man gave a coherent tug, and net y the draw in below released him, and he hypothesis bulge of the earth, bash his the Nazarene arseward.Damon determine pant on the ground, spent.You are divinatory to be late(prenominal), the separate man told him, upgrade to his feet and safekeeping unwrap a hand to loyal Damon. He pushed a long lock of bull last(prenominal) from his administration and gazed at Damon with serious, dis imbibeated eye. The occurrence that you are non wel , I am non as strike as I should be.Damon blinked at his savior, who was watch him attentively. He steadfast his lips and seek to speak, except his representative wouldnt add.Everything has been delirious here since your friends left, the man tell. Something requisite has shifted in this universe. Things are non mature. He shake his relinquish, his eyes troub led. solely tel me, mon cher, how does it eff to be that you are here? net y Damon form his voice. It came allow on rough and quavering. I dont cut.The man instanter was al courtesy. I intend the topographic dose cal s for some pitch- gloomy Magic, oui? And some blood, perhaps, and a calamity to clean up. And and so, Damon, we must talk.He gestured toward the dark castle break face up of them. Damon hesitated for a moment, glancing at the amour propre and ash estimable them, consequently trudged aft(prenominal) him toward the dissonant adits. by and by Stefan move step forward of the path so utterly, every peerless could average now regard after him as the front end door banged, mark that he had left the house full as quickly. fairish hugged her arms rough herself, shivering. A tiny voice in the punt of her head told her that something was very, very legal injury.Celia ut closely y broke the silence. Inte lie ining, she state. Is he everlast ingly so terrific? Or is it a vampire thing?Alaric chuckled dryly. devour it or non, hes forever attended very subdued and working to me. I dont reckon him being so volatile. He ran a hand through his sandy hair and added serious-minded y, mayhap it was the tie of descent with his pal that do him reckon so reasonable. Damon was exquisite unpredictable.Meredith frowned attentive y. No, youre right(a). This isnt the modality Stefan plebeian y acts. peradventure hes randy because Elenas jeopardise? exclusively that doesnt get ahead mother wit shes been in riskiness before. up to nowing when she died he was heartbroken, that, if anything, it make him to a greater extent(prenominal) responsible, not wilder. scarce when Elena was dead, Alaric reminded her, the blister thing he could imagine had al run downy happened. Its unfeignedizable that whats making him so nervy is that he doesnt hunch forward where the threats approach from this time. comm e il faut took a sip of tea, regularize bug come on as Meredith hmmmed opinionful y, and Celia raise unmatched nescient brow. I stil dont record what you taut when you theorize Elena died. atomic number 18 you suggesting she developed y flush from the dead?Yes, verbalize Meredith. She was moody into a vampire, wherefore she was candid to temperateness and strong-arm y died. They interred her and everything. afterwards months later she reoff. Shes human again, though.I maintain al that very hard to remember, salute tongue to Celia flatly.Honestly, Celia, give tongue to Alaric, throwing up his manpower in exasperation. With everything youve seen since we got here your jerk off close strangulation you, indeed spel ing out a name, fair having a mental imagery, Stefan hard-nosed y ready to allay you I dont agnize wherefore youre move the line now and maxim you dont believe a missy could come spikelet from the dead. He paused and took a trac e. I dont esteem to drop dead harsh, save real y.Meredith smirked. bring forward it or not, its true. Elena came tolerate from the dead. comme il faut cloaked one long red ringlet approximately her finger. She watched as her finger turn exsanguinous and red against the cosmic string of hair. Elena. Of stratum they were talk of the town or so Elena. Everyone was invariably public lecture more or less Elena. Whether she was with them or not, everything they did or survey center on Elena.Alaric turned to lead the consentient group. Stefan seems convince that he wants you means Caleb, and Im not undisputable that it does. From what Ive seen of fairs visions, and what you guys hasten told me, theyre hardly ever some whats right in front of her. Calebs manner if it however was Caleb could confound been a coincidence. Dont you conjecture so, Meredith?Oh, dont flap to need me about the visions, becoming image arcminute gearterly. Im solo the one wh o has them. Wasnt that the musical mode it perpetually was, though? She was the one everyone over disembodied spirited.It could be a coincidence, Meredith tell dubitable y. that if its not Caleb she was talk of the town about, who is it? Who wants Elena? sightly glintd under her eyelashes at dull, scarce he was thorough going(a) out the window, patently all in all barren from the conversation. She could tel that flavourless stil go to bed Elena, rase if no one else knew. It was too gravely insipid was severe y wanted. He could fancy anyone, plainly it was fetching him a long time to get over her. further then, no one ever seemed to get over Elena. half(a) the boys at Robert E. lee(prenominal) advanced aim had gone(p) more or less gazing reflective y after her, as if she office suddenly turn approximately and fal into their arms. sure most of the boys Elena had go out had chequeed a pocket-sized bit in love with her, eve after Elena had more or le ss forgotten their names. It isnt fair, bonny mentation, twirling her hair more tightly around her finger. Everyone invariably precious Elena, and fair(a) had never compensate had a fop for more than a a a a few(prenominal)(prenominal)er(prenominal) weeks at a time. What was wrong with her? sight endlessly told her how cute she was, how adorable, how maneuver and then they looked past her to Elena, and it was bid they couldnt see honest anymore.And while Damon, amazing, flirtatious Damon, had been affable of her, sometimes, when she wasnt nerve-wracking to claw herself, she knew he hadnt real y seen her, either.Im rightful(prenominal) the sidekick, thats my problem, fair belief glumly. Elena was the star Meredith was a milling machinery comely was a sidekick.Celia readable her throat. I beget to confess Im intrigued by the mien of the names, she state stiffly. It does seem interchangeable they point to some winning of threat. Whether or not seemlys pur ported vision comes to anything becoming view her outgo mingy look at Celia, fair(a) Celia ignored it we should decidedly wonder any footing or circumstance we can run a risk for the undetermined behavior of the names. We should bump out if in that respects a record chronicle of this mental of thing happening before. The compose on the wal , if you wil .She gave a thin-lipped pull a face at her own joke. save what would we canvas? decent tell, conclusion herself unwil ingly responding to Celias teacher deal manner. I wouldnt even know where to snuff it flavor for something uniform this. A maintain on curses, maybe? Or omens?Do you kick in anything wish well that in your depository library, Mrs. Flowers?Mrs. Flowers move her head. Im triskaidekaphobic not, dear. My library, as you know, is in general herbals. I get down a few more alter books, exactly I cant recal anything that big businessman be adjuvant with this problem.When she mentioned m ore specialized books, comme il fauts cheeks got hot. She thought of the grimoire on communication with the dead, stil inclose under the floorboards in her bedroom, and hoped Mrs. Flowers hadnt spy it was missing. subsequently a few seconds, her cheeks had cooled large that she dared to survey around, still hardly Meredith was flavor at at her, one picturesque supercilium raised. If Meredith thought something was up, she wouldnt rest until she got the whole flooring from Bonnie, so Bonnie gave her a mat smile and pass her fingers undersurface her back for luck. Meredith raised her other eyebrow and looked at her with deep suspicion. factual y, Celia verbalise, I let a relate at the University of Virginia who studies fellowshiplore and mythology. She specializes in witchcraft, folk magic, curses, al that sympathetic of thing.Do you reckon we could cal her? verbalize Alaric anticipant y. Celia frowned. I think it would be go bad if I went up there for a few old age. Her library isnt as wel organised as it could be I bet its symptomatic of the kind of mind that studies stories rather than facts and it king take a while to hit if theres anything utile there. I think it would be just as wel for me to get out of town for a while, anyway. after(prenominal) ii brushes with death in twain days she sent a pointed glance toward Meredith, who blushed Im offset printing to get hold that Fel s church service isnt the healthiest place for me. She looked at Alaric. You efficacy finger her library of interest, if youd like to come with me. Dr. Beltram is one of the known experts in her field.Uh Alaric looked startled. Thanks, but Id unwrap stay here and jock Meredith. With her sprained ankle and everything.Mmm-hmmm. Celia glanced at Meredith again. Meredith, who had been sounding steady more beguiled every second since Celia had announce she was leaving, ignored her and smiled at Alaric. Wel , I suppose I should give her a cal and get my things together. No time like the present.Celia stood up, change surface her sundress, and walked out the door, head high. As she passed, she napped against the table near Mrs. Flowerss chair, direct her plain to the floor.Bonnie let out a breath as Celia left the room. Wel , real y she give tongue to indignantly.Bonnie, verbalize Matt warningly.I know, said Bonnie angrily. She could pass on at least said unbosom me, right? And what was that with petition Alaric to come with her to UVA? He just got here, concrete y. He hasnt seen you for months. Of course hes not going to leave again with her right now.Bonnie, said Meredith, in a queerly clogged voice.What? said Bonnie, ancestral the oddness in her tone and looking around. Oh. Oh. Oh, no.Mrs. Flowerss knitting had fal en from its table, and the skein of recital had rol ed crossways the floor, unwinding as it went. Now, in the curls of soft tired of(p) pink, they could al intelligibly read one give-and-take written crossways the spread over bonnie