Phantom (9 page)

Aunt Judith hurried back into the hallway and pressed a granola bar into Elena’s hand. “There,” she said. “At least you’ll have something in your stomach.”

Elena gave her a quick hug. “Thank you, Aunt Judith,” she said. “I’ll see you later.”

“Have fun, but please don’t forget Margaret’s dance recital tonight,” Aunt Judith said. “She’s so excited about it.” Aunt Judith waved good-bye from the doorway as Elena and Stefan strolled toward the car.

“We’re meeting the others at the boardinghouse and caravanning to Hot Springs,” Stefan said. “Matt and Meredith are both bringing their cars.”

“Oh, good, we won’t be as crowded as we were yesterday. Not that I minded sitting on your lap, but I thought I might squish Celia in the middle,” Elena said. She turned her face up and stretched like a cat in the sunshine. A breeze tossed her ponytail, and she closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation. “It’s a gorgeous day for a picnic,” she said. The world was alive with birdsong and with the rustle of trees. A faint tracery of white clouds underscored the bright blue of the sky. “Would it be jinxing ourselves to say it feels like the kind of day where nothing could go wrong?” she asked.

“Yes, it absolutely would be jinxing ourselves to say that,” Stefan said, straight-faced, unlocking the passenger-side door for her.

“Then I won’t say it,” Elena said. “I won’t even think it. But I feel good. I haven’t been to Hot Springs for ages.” She grinned with pure pleasure, and Stefan smiled back at her, but Elena was struck once again by that certain something new—something troubling—in his eyes.

“I
t’s going to be a lovely day—perfect for a picnic,” Meredith observed calmly.

Bonnie had tactfully but firmly steered Celia into Matt’s car instead of Meredith’s, and so Meredith was alone with Alaric—at last!—for the first time since he’d arrived. Half of her just wanted to pull off the road, grab Alaric, and kiss him and kiss him, she was so glad that he was finally here. All through the insanity of the last few months, she’d wished that he were there to fight by her side, to depend on.

But the other half of her wanted to pull off the road, grab Alaric, and demand that he explain to her exactly what his relationship was with Dr. Celia Connor.

Instead, here she was, driving placidly, hands at ten and two on the steering wheel, making small talk about the weather. She felt like a coward, and Meredith Suarez was no coward. But what could she say? What if she was just paranoid, and making a ridiculous fuss about a strictly professional relationship?

She glanced at Alaric out of the corner of her eye. “So . . .” she said. “Tell me more about your research in Japan.”

Alaric ran his hands through his already tousled hair and grinned at her. “The trip was fascinating,” he said. “Celia’s so intelligent and experienced. She just puts together all these clues about a civilization. It was a real eye-opener for me to watch her decipher so much from the evidence in the graves there. I never knew much about forensic anthropology before, but she was able to reconstruct an amazing amount about the culture of Unmei no Shima.”

“Sounds like she’s simply amazing,” Meredith said, hearing the acid in her tone.

Apparently Alaric didn’t notice it. He smiled a little. “It took quite a while for her to take my paranormal research seriously,” he said ruefully. “Parapsychology isn’t particularly well regarded by the experts in other scientific disciplines. They think people like me who choose to spend their lives studying the supernatural are charlatans, or naive. Or a little crazy.”

Meredith made herself speak pleasantly. “You were able to convince her at last, though? That’s good.”

“Sort of,” Alaric answered. “We got to be friends, anyway, so she stopped thinking I was a complete fraud. I think she’s found it all a lot more believable after the one day she’s spent here, though.” He gave a wry smile. “She tried to hide it, but she was blown away yesterday when Stefan saved her. The existence of a vampire makes it clear that there’s a lot conventional science knows nothing about. I’m sure she’ll want to examine Stefan if he’ll let her.”

“I would imagine so,” said Meredith dryly, resisting the urge to ask Alaric why he thought Stefan would cooperate when he had seemed so displeased that Alaric had told Celia about him.

Alaric slid a hand across the car seat until he was close enough to run a finger gently along Meredith’s arm. “I learned a lot while I was gone,” he said earnestly, “but I’m really more concerned about what’s going on right now in Fell’s Church.”

“You mean this dark magic that is supposedly rising here?” Meredith asked.

“I mean the dark magic that seems to be targeting you and Celia,” Alaric said forcefully. “I’m not sure either of you is taking it seriously enough.”

Me
and
Celia
, thought Meredith.
He’s just as worried about her as he is about me. Maybe more.

“I know we’ve faced danger in the past, but I feel responsible for Celia,” Alaric went on. “I brought her here, and I’d never be able to forgive myself if something happened to her.”

Definitely more
, Meredith thought bitterly, and shrugged off Alaric’s hand.

She instantly regretted the motion. What was the matter with her? This wasn’t who she was. She’d always been the calm, rational one. Now here she was feeling like, well, like a jealous girlfriend.

“And now it’s threatening you, too,” Alaric went on. He tentatively touched her knee, and this time Meredith let his hand stay. “Meredith, I know how strong you are. But it’s terrifying to me that this doesn’t seem to be the kind of enemy we’re used to. How can we fight what we can’t even see?”

“All we can do is be vigilant,” Meredith said. Her training had been comprehensive, but even she didn’t understand this new evil. Yet she knew how to protect herself much better than Alaric realized. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. His window was open a crack, and the breeze ruffled his sandy hair. They knew each other so well, yet he still didn’t know her biggest secret.

For a moment she considered telling him, but then he turned to her and said, “Celia’s putting on a brave face, but I can tell she’s scared. She’s not as tough as you are.”

Meredith stiffened. No, this wasn’t the right time to tell Alaric that she was a hunter-slayer. Not when she was driving. Not when she was this angry. Suddenly his hand felt heavy and clammy on her knee, but she knew she couldn’t push it off again without betraying her feelings. Inside, though, she was raging at how the conversation kept coming back to Celia. Alaric had thought of her first. And even when he was talking about the danger to Meredith, he couched it in terms of what had happened to Celia.

Alaric’s voice became a buzz in the background as Meredith clutched the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles whitened.

Really, why was she surprised that Alaric had feelings for Celia? Meredith wasn’t blind. She could be objective. Celia was smart, accomplished, beautiful. Celia and Alaric were in the same place in their lives. Meredith hadn’t even started college yet. She was attractive—she knew that—and certainly intelligent. But Celia was all that and more: She was Alaric’s equal in a way Meredith couldn’t be just yet. Sure, Meredith was a vampire hunter. But Alaric didn’t know that. And when he did know, would he admire her strength? Or would he turn away from her, scared of her abilities, and toward someone more academic, like Celia?

A black bubble of misery filled Meredith’s chest.

“I’m beginning to think I should take Celia away from here if I can get her to leave.” Alaric sounded reluctant, but Meredith could hardly hear him. She felt as cold as if she were being enveloped in a fog. “Maybe I should get her back to Boston. I think you should leave Fell’s Church, too, Meredith, if you can convince your family to let you go away for the rest of the summer. You could come with us, or maybe there’s a relative you could stay with if your family wouldn’t like that. I’m worried that you aren’t safe here.”

“Nothing’s happened to me yet,” said Meredith, surprised by the calm of her own voice, when such dark emotions were boiling inside her. “And I have a responsibility to be here and protect the town. If you think Celia will be safer away from here, do what you and she think is best. But you know there’s no guarantee that whatever’s threatening us won’t follow her somewhere else. And at least here there are people who believe in the danger.

“Besides,” she added thoughtfully, “the threat to Celia may be over. Maybe once the attack is averted, it moves on to someone else. My name didn’t appear until after Stefan saved Celia. If so, then the danger is only to me.”

Not that you care,
she thought viciously, and was surprised at herself. Of course Alaric cared.

It was just that he seemed to care about what happened to Celia more.

Her fingernails cut into her palms around the steering wheel as she carefully followed Stefan’s car off the road and toward the parking lot for Hot Springs.

“Stop!” Alaric shouted, panic in his voice, and Meredith automatically slammed on the brakes. The car squealed to a halt.

“What?” Meredith gasped. “What is it?”

And then she saw her.

Dr. Celia Connor had gotten out of Matt’s car to cross to the path up to the springs. Meredith had come speeding right toward her. Only inches from Meredith’s front bumper, Celia was frozen, her pretty face gray with fear, her mouth a perfect O.

One more second, and Meredith would have killed her.

“I
’m so sorry. I’m
so
sorry,” Meredith said for the tenth time. Her usually composed face was flushed, and her eyes were bright with unshed tears. Matt didn’t remember ever seeing her so upset about something, especially something that had ended up not being a big deal. Sure, Celia
could
have been hurt, but the car hadn’t touched her.

“I’m fine, really I am, Meredith,” Celia assured her again.

“I just didn’t see you. I don’t know how, but I didn’t. Thank God for Alaric,” Meredith said, throwing a grateful glance at Alaric, who was sitting close beside her and rubbing her back.

“It’s okay, Meredith,” he said. “It’s all okay.” Alaric seemed more concerned for Meredith than for Celia, and Matt didn’t blame him. Babbling was pretty out of character for Meredith. Alaric wrapped his arms tightly around Meredith, and she visibly relaxed.

Celia, on the other hand, tensed noticeably as Meredith leaned into Alaric’s embrace. Matt traded a rueful glance with Bonnie.

Then Stefan reached out and stroked Elena’s shoulder absently, and Matt was surprised to feel a jealous pang of his own. Wasn’t he ever going to get over Elena Gilbert? It had been more than a year since they dated, and about a century in experience.

Bonnie was still watching him, now with a speculative gleam in her eyes, and Matt shot her a bland smile. He’d just as soon not know what Bonnie saw in his face when he looked at Elena and Stefan.

“Around this bend and up the slope is the Plunge,” he said to Celia, ushering her forward along the trail. “It’s a little bit of a hike, but it’s the best place around here for a picnic.”

“Abso
lute
ly the best,” said Bonnie cheerily. “We can jump down the waterfall.” She fell in on Celia’s other side, helping him to herd her away from the two couples, who were murmuring to one another softly as they followed behind.

“Is that safe?” asked Celia dubiously.

“Totally,” said Bonnie. “Everybody jumps the waterfall here, and nobody’s ever gotten hurt.”

“Usually it’s safe,” said Matt, more cautiously. “You and Meredith might want to think about not swimming, Celia.”

“I hate this,” Bonnie said. “I hate having to be extra-careful because of some dark thing that we don’t know anything about. Everything should be
normal.
”

Normal or not, it was a magnificent picnic. They spread their blankets on the rocks near the top of the waterfall. The small falls plummeted down the side of the cliff and ended in a deep pool of effervescent water, making a sort of natural fountain that spilled into a clear bronze-green pool.

Mrs. Flowers had packed salads and breads and desserts for them, as well as meat and corn to grill on a hibachi Stefan had brought from the boardinghouse. They had more than enough food for a couple days of camping, let alone one lunch. Elena had stowed cold drinks in a cooler, and, after hiking up the trail in the Virginia summer heat, everyone was happy to crack open a lemonade or soda.

Even Stefan took a water bottle and drank as he started heating the grill, although it was automatically understood by everyone that he would not be eating. Matt had always found the fact that he never saw Stefan eating a little creepy, even before Matt knew he was a vampire.

The girls squirmed out of jeans and tops to display their bathing suits, like caterpillars transforming into butterflies. Meredith was tan and lean in a black one-piece. Bonnie was wearing a petite mermaid-green bikini. Elena wore a soft gold bandeau that went with her hair. Matt watched Stefan watching her appreciatively, and felt that little twist of jealousy again.

Both Elena and Bonnie pulled their T-shirts back on over their bathing suits almost immediately. They always did: Their pale skin burned instead of tanned. Celia lounged on a towel, looking spectacular in a casual yet daringly cut white swimsuit. The effect of the pure white against Celia’s coffee-colored skin was amazing. Matt noticed Meredith’s eyes passing over her and then glancing sharply at Alaric.

But Alaric was too busy shucking down to a pair of red trunks. Stefan stayed out of the direct sunlight, remaining in his dark jeans and black T-shirt.

Wasn’t that a little creepy, too? Matt thought. Stefan’s ring protected him from the sun’s rays, didn’t it? Did he still have to stick to the shadows? And what was with the black clothing? Was he pretending to be Damon now? Matt frowned at the thought: One Damon had been more than enough.

Matt shook his head, stretched his arms and legs, turned his face toward the sun, and tried to get rid of his thoughts. He liked Stefan. He always had. Stefan was a good guy.
A vampire,
a dry voice in the back of his mind noted,
even a harmless one, can rarely be described as a good guy.

Matt ignored the voice.

“Let’s jump!” he said, and headed toward the waterfall.

“Not Meredith,” said Stefan flatly. “Not Meredith, and not Celia. You two stay here.”

There was a little silence, and he glanced up from the grill to see his friends staring at him. He kept his face neutral as he returned their gazes. This was a life-or-death situation. It was Stefan’s responsibility now to keep them safe, whether they liked it or not. He looked at them each in turn, holding their eyes. He was not going to back down.

Meredith had risen to her feet to follow Matt to the falls’ edge, and she hesitated for a moment, clearly unsure how to react. Then her face hardened, and Stefan saw that she had chosen to take a stand.

She stepped toward him. “I’m sorry, Stefan,” she said, her voice level. “I know you’re worried, but I’m going to do what
I
decide I want to do. I can look after myself.”

She moved to join Matt, who was standing at the edge of the cliff, but Stefan’s hand whipped out to grab her wrist, his fingers as strong as steel. “No, Meredith,” he said firmly.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bonnie’s mouth drop open. Everyone was looking at him with puzzled, anxious faces, and Stefan tried to soften his tone. “I’m just trying to do what’s best for you.”

Meredith sighed, a long, gusty sound, and seemed to be making an effort to let go of some of her anger. “I know that, Stefan,” she said reasonably, “and I appreciate it. But I can’t go through the world not doing the things I usually do, just waiting for whatever this is to come get me.”

She tried to move around him, but he sidestepped to block her way again.

Meredith glanced at Celia, who threw up her hands and shook her head. “Don’t look at me,” Celia said. “
I
have no urge to jump off a cliff. I’m just going to lie in the sunshine and let you all work this out yourselves.” She leaned back on her hands and turned her face toward the sun.

Meredith’s eyes narrowed and she whirled back to Stefan. As she was opening her mouth, Elena broke in.

“What if the rest of us go first?” she suggested placatingly to Stefan. “We can make sure there’s nothing clearly dangerous down there. And we’ll be near her at the bottom. Nobody’s ever been hurt jumping here, not that I’ve heard of. Right, guys?” Matt and Bonnie nodded in agreement.

Stefan felt himself softening. Whenever Elena used her logical voice and her wide, appealing eyes, he found himself agreeing to plans that, in his heart of hearts, he thought were foolhardy.

Elena pressed her advantage. “You could stand right by the water below, too,” she said. “Then, if there’s any problem, you could dive in right away. You’re so fast, you’d get there before anything bad could happen.”

Stefan
knew
this was wrong. He hadn’t forgotten that sick swoop of despair, of realizing he was
too slow
to save someone. Once again, he saw Damon’s long, graceful leap toward Bonnie that had ended with Damon falling to earth, a wooden branch driven through his heart. Damon had died because Stefan was too slow to save him, too slow to realize the danger and save Bonnie himself.

He’d also been too late to save Elena when she had driven off the bridge and drowned. The fact that she now lived again didn’t mean he hadn’t failed her then. He remembered her pale hair floating like seaweed in the chilly water of Wickery Creek, her hands still resting on the steering wheel, her eyes closed, and shuddered. He had dived repeatedly before he found her. She had been so cold and white when he carried her to shore.

Still, he found himself nodding. What Elena wanted, Elena got. He would stand by and protect Meredith as best as he could, and he prayed, as far as a vampire could pray, that it would be enough.

The rest of the friends stayed at the top while, down at the bottom of the falls, Stefan surveyed the pool at his feet. The water sprayed up exuberantly from where the falls hit the surface. Warm, pale sand encircled the pool’s edges, making a tiny beach, and the center of the pool seemed dark and deep.

Matt jumped first, with a long, wavering whoop as he plummeted. The splash as he hit the water was huge, and he seemed to stay submerged for a long time. Stefan leaned forward to watch the water. He couldn’t see through the foam thrown up by the falls, and an anxious quiver shot through his stomach.

He was just thinking of diving in after him when Matt’s sleek wet head broke the surface. “I touched the bottom!” he announced, grinning, and shook his head like a dog, throwing glittering drops of water everywhere.

He swam toward Stefan, strong tan limbs moving powerfully, and Stefan thought how easy everything seemed for Matt. He was a creature of sunlight and simplicity, while Stefan was stuck in the shadows, living a long half-life of secrets and loneliness. Sure, his sapphire ring let him walk in the sun, but being exposed to the sunlight for a long time, like today, was uncomfortable, as if there were some kind of itch deep inside him. It was worse now that he was readjusting to a diet of animal blood again. His unease was yet another reminder that he didn’t really belong here. Not the way Matt did.

He shrugged off his sour feelings, surprised at their emergence in the first place. Matt was a good friend. He always had been. The daylight must be getting to him.

Bonnie jumped next, and surfaced more quickly, coughing and snorting. “Oof!” she said. “I got water up my nose! Ugh!” She pulled herself out of the water and perched on a rock near Stefan’s feet. “You don’t swim?” she asked him.

Stefan was struck with a flash of memory. Damon, tanned and strong, splashing him and laughing in one of his rare fits of good humor. It was hundreds of years ago now. Back when the Salvatore brothers had lived in the sunlight, back before even the great-grandparents of his friends had been born. “Not for a long time,” he answered.

Elena jumped with the same casual grace as she did everything else, straight as an arrow toward the bottom of the falls, her gold bathing suit and her golden hair gleaming in the sunshine. She was underwater for longer than Bonnie had been, and again Stefan tensed, watching the pool. When she broke the surface, she gave them a rueful grin. “I couldn’t quite reach the bottom,” she said. “I was stretching and stretching down. I could see the sand, but the water pushed me back up.”

“I didn’t even try,” Bonnie said. “I’ve accepted that I’m too short.”

Elena swam away from the bottom of the falls and climbed onto the sand, settling next to Bonnie at Stefan’s feet. Matt climbed out of the water, too, and stood near the falls, gazing up critically. “Just jump feetfirst, Meredith,” he called teasingly. “You’re such a show-off.”

Meredith was poised at the edge of the falls. She saluted them and then leaped into a perfect swan dive, arching swiftly toward the pool, disappearing smoothly beneath the water with barely a splash.

“She was on the swim team,” Bonnie said conversationally to Stefan. “She has a row of ribbons and trophies on a shelf at home.”

Stefan nodded absently, his eyes scanning the water. Surely Meredith’s head would break the surface in a second. The others had taken about this long to reemerge.

“Can I jump yet?” Alaric called from above.

“No!” Elena shouted. She rose to her feet and she and Stefan exchanged a worried glance. Meredith had been down there too long.

Meredith surfaced, sputtering and pushing her wet hair out of her eyes. Stefan relaxed.

“I did it!” she called. “I—”

Her eyes widened and she began to shriek, but her scream was cut off as she was abruptly yanked under the water by something they couldn’t see. In the space of a breath, she was gone.

For a moment, Stefan just stared at where Meredith had been, unable to move.
Too slow, too slow,
an internal voice taunted him, and he pictured Damon’s face, laughing cruelly and saying again,
So fragile, Stefan.
He couldn’t see Meredith anywhere under the clear, effervescent water. It was as if she had been taken suddenly away. All of this flew through Stefan’s head in only a heartbeat, and then he dived into the water after her.

Underwater, he couldn’t see anything. The white water from the falls bubbled up, throwing foam and golden sand in front of him.

Stefan urgently channeled his Power to his eyes, sharpening his vision, but mostly that just meant that now he could see the individual bubbles of the white water and the grains of sand in sharp relief. Where was Meredith?

The bubbling water was trying to push him up to the surface, too. He had to struggle to move forward through the murky water, reaching out. Something brushed his fingers and he grabbed at it, but it was only a handful of slippery pondweed.

Where was she? Time was running out. Humans could go without oxygen for only a few minutes before brain damage set in. A few minutes after that, there would be no recovery at all.

He remembered Elena’s drowning once more, the frail white shape that he had pulled from Matt’s wrecked car, ice crystals in her hair. The water here was warm, but would kill Meredith just as surely. He swallowed a sob and reached out frantically again into the shadowed depths.

His fingers found skin, and it moved against his hand.

Stefan grasped whatever limb it was, tight enough to bruise, and surged forward. In less than a second more, he could see that it was Meredith’s arm. She was conscious, her mouth tight with fear, her hair streaming around her in the water.