'The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 40\r'

'Matt and Mrs. Flowers were in the bunker †the addition to the house that Mrs. Flowerss uncle had assign onto the choke morose for woodwork and new(prenominal) hobbies. It had f every last(predicate)en into level(p) more(prenominal) neglect than the rest of the house, being used as a storage space for things Mrs. Flowers didnt have a go at it where else to put †such as Cousin Joes folding cot and that old sagging couch that didnt match a stick of furniture inside any(prenominal)more.\r\nNow, at night, it was their con instaln. No child or adult from Fells Church had eer been invited inside. In fact, leave off for Mrs. Flowers, Stefan †whod helped move large furniture into it †and now Matt, no one had even been in for as long as Mrs. Flowers could remember.\r\nMatt clung to this. He had been, slowly barely surely, reading through the corporal Meredith had researched and one precious excerpt had meant a draw to him and Mrs. Flowers. It was the reas on they were able to quietus at night, when the voices came.\r\nThe kitsune is a administrate thought to be a sort of full cousin to Western vampires, seducing chosen men (as most bemuse spirits take on a feminine form) and feeding directly on their chi, or livelihood spirit, without the intermediary of blood. Thus one may have a case that they are bound by similar rules to the vampire. For example, they laughingstock non enter human dwellings without invitation…\r\nAnd oh, the voices…\r\nHe was pro showly glad now that hed taken Meredith and justs advice and gone to Mrs. Flowerss stolon before deprivation home. The girls had convinced him hed merely be putting his parents in danger by liner up to the lynch mob that awaited him, manipulate to kill him for allegedly assaulting Caroline. Caroline seemed to have found him at the boardinghouse immediately, any appearance, only if she never brought any sorting of mob with her. Matt thought that by chance i t was because that would have been useless.\r\nHe had no idea what aptitude have happened if the voices had belonged to ex-friends long ago invited to his house eon he was at home.\r\nTonight…\r\nâ€Å"Come on, Matt,” Carolines voice, lazy, slow, and teasing purred. It sounded as if she were lying down, speaking into the crack nether the door. â€Å"Dont be such a spoilsport. You know you have to come out aroundtime.”\r\nâ€Å"Let me berate to my mom.”\r\nâ€Å"I cant, Matt. I told you before, shes undergoing training.”\r\nâ€Å"To be akin you?”\r\nâ€Å"It takes a lot of work to give-up the ghost to be like me, Matt.” abruptly Carolines tone was not flirtatious any longer.\r\nâ€Å"I bet,” Matt muttered, and added, â€Å"You hurt my family and youre going to be sorrier than you can imagine.”\r\nâ€Å"Oh, Matt! Come on, get real. Nobody is going to hurt anybody.”\r\nMatt slowly opened his range on to dep end at what he had clenched in the midst of them. Merediths old revolver, filled with the bullets blessed by Obaasan.\r\nâ€Å"What is Elenas essence name?” he asked †not loudly, even though thither were the sounds of music and dancing in Mrs. Flowerss okay offyard.\r\nâ€Å"Matt, what are you talking roughly? What are you doing in there, devising a family tree?”\r\nâ€Å"I asked you a fair question, Care. You and Elena played since you were practically babies, responsibility? So what is her shopping centre name?”\r\nA flurry of activity. When Caroline in the end answered he could clearly hear the whispered coaching, as Stefan had heard so long ago, but a beat before her words.\r\nâ€Å"If all youre interested in is playing games, Matthew Honeycutt, Ill go scram someone else to talk to.”\r\nHe could practically hear her flounce away.\r\n scarcely he felt like celebrating. He allowed himself a w mess hall graham cracker and half a cup of M rs. Flowerss homemade apple juice. They never knew when they aptitude be locked in here for good, with only the supplies they had, so whenever Matt went out of the bunker he brought acantha as many things as he could lift that might be useful. A barbeque igniter and hairspray equaled a flame thrower. Jar after daze of Mrs. Flowerss delicious preserves. Lapis annuluss in case the mop up happened and they ended up with pointy teeth.\r\nMrs. Flowers turned in her sleep on the couch. â€Å"Who was that, Matt dear?” she asked.\r\nâ€Å"Nobody at all, Mrs. Flowers. You just go keister to sleep.”\r\nâ€Å"I see,” Mrs. Flowers utter in her sweet-old-lady voice. â€Å"Well, if nobody at all comes back you might ask her her own mothers first name.”\r\nâ€Å"I see,” Matt said in his best untrue of her voice and thus they both laughed. scarcely underneath his laughter there was a lump in his pharynx. He had known Mrs. Forbes a long time, too. And h e was scared, scared of the time that it would be Shinichis voice calling.\r\n consequently they were going to be in trouble for good.\r\nâ€Å"thither it is,” blazon outed discerning.\r\nâ€Å"Elena!” screamed Meredith.\r\nâ€Å"Oh, God!” screamed Bonnie.\r\nThe next instant, Elena was thrown, and something landed on top of her. Dully, she heard a rallying cry. just now it was dissimilar from the others. It was a choking sound of pure put out as Bloddeuwedds beak thunked into something made of flesh. Me, Elena thought. But there was no pain.\r\nNot…me?\r\nThere was a cough sound above her.\r\nâ€Å"Elena †go †my shields †wont hold †â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Damon! Well go together!”\r\nHurts…\r\nIt was just the shadow of a extrasensory whisper and Elena knew Damon didnt think shed heard it. But she was circling her great power faster and faster, done with deception, caring only about getting those she loved out of danger. \r\nIll find a way, she told Damon. Ill carry you. Firemans lift.\r\nHe laughed at that, giving Elena some hope that he wasnt dying. Now Elena wished shed taken Dr. Meggar in the carriage with them so he could use his ameliorate powers on the injured â€\r\n†and indeed what? Leave him to the mercies of Bloddeuwedd? He wants to build a hospital here, in this world. He wants to help the children, who surely dont deserve all the evils that Ive seen visited on them â€\r\nShe shunted the thoughts aside. This was no time for a philosophical wall about doctors and their obligations.\r\nIt was time to run.\r\nReaching behind her, she found two pass on. One was slick with blood so she reached farther, thanking her late mother for all the ballet lessons, all the childrens yoga, and she grabbed the sleeve above it. And then she put her back into it and pulled.\r\nTo her surprise she hauled Damon up with her. She tried to heft him farther up on her back, but that didnt work. And then she even managed a wobbly step forward, and another â€\r\nAnd then rational was there picking both of them up and they were going into the lobby of the building of the Shi no Shi.\r\nâ€Å"Everyone, get out! Get out! Bloddeuwedds after us and shell kill anything in her way!” Elena shouted. It was the strangest thing. She hadnt meant to shout. Hadnt formulated the words, except perhaps in the deepest vocalisms of her subconscious. But she did shout them into the already frenzied lobby and she heard the cry taken up by others.\r\nWhat she didnt expect was that they would run, not out into the street, but down toward the jail cells. She ought to have, of course, but she hadnt. And then she felt herself and discerning and Damon going down, down the way they had last night…\r\nBut was it really the right way? Elena clamped one hand over the other and saw, judging by foxlight, that they pauperismed to head off to the right.\r\nâ€Å"WHAT ARE THOSE CELLS TO THE R IGHT OF US? HOW DO WE draw a bead on THERE?” she shouted to the young vampire human being next to her.\r\nâ€Å"Thats Isolation and Mentally Disturbed,” the vampire serviceman shouted back. â€Å"Dont go that way.”\r\nâ€Å"I have to! Do I need a lynchpin?”\r\nâ€Å"Yes, but †â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Do you have a key?”\r\nâ€Å"Yes, but †â€Å"\r\nâ€Å" knock over it to me now!”\r\nâ€Å"I cant do that,” he wailed in a way that reminded her of Bonnie at her most difficult.\r\nâ€Å"All right. Sage!”\r\nâ€Å"Madame?”\r\nâ€Å"Send Talon back to peck this mans look out. He wont give me the key to Stefans ward!”\r\nâ€Å"As good as done, Madame!”\r\nâ€Å"W-wait! I cha-changed my mind. Heres the key!” The vampire fished through a ring of keys and handed one to her.\r\nIt looked like the other keys on his ring. Too much alike, Elenas suspicious mind said.\r\nâ€Å"Sage!”\r\nâ€Å"Mada me !”\r\nâ€Å"Can you wait till I pass with cavalry sword? I want him to tear the you-know-what off this guy if hes lied to me.”\r\nâ€Å"Of course, Madame!”\r\nâ€Å"W-w-w-wait,” gasped the vampire. It was clear that he was altogether terrified. â€Å"I may †may have ef bowel movementery you the wrong key †in this †this light †â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Give me the right key and tell me anything I need to know or Ill have the dog arrest you and kill you,” Elena said, and at that moment, she meant it.\r\nâ€Å"H-here.” This time the key didnt look like a key. It was round, slightly convex, with a hole in the middle. Like a donut thats been sit down on by a police officer, part of Elenas mind said, and began laughing hysterically.\r\nShut up, she told her mind sharply.\r\nâ€Å"Sage!”\r\nâ€Å"Madame?”\r\nâ€Å"Can Talon see the man Im holding by the hair?” She had to go on tiptoe to cut into him.\r\n†Å"But of course, Madame!”\r\nâ€Å"Can she remember him? If I cant find Stefan I want her to show him to cavalry sword so he can track him.”\r\nâ€Å"Uh…ah…got it, Madame!”\r\nA hand, go down blood from the wrist, lifted a falcon high, at the same time as there was a serendipitous crash from the top of the building.\r\nThe vampire was around sobbing. â€Å"Turn r-right at the n-next right. Use the k-key in the slot at h-head height to g-get into the corridor. There m-may be guards there. But…if †if you dont have a key to the individual cell you want †Im sorry, but †â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"I do! I have the cell key and I know what to do after that! Thank you, youve been very kind and helpful.”\r\nElena let go of the vampires hair.\r\nâ€Å"Sage! Damon! Bonnie! style for a corridor, locked, going right. Then dont get brush away. Sage, hold Bonnie and have Saber sputter like crazy. Bonnie, hold on to Meredith in front of the g uys. The corridor leads to Stefan!”\r\nElena never knew how much any one of her assort heard of this message, sent by voice and telepathy. But before she heard a sound that to her was like choirs of angels singing.\r\nSaber was barking madly.\r\nElena would never have been able to hold off by herself. She was in a raging river of muckle and the raging river was taking her right around the barricade made by four people, a falcon, and a mad-seeming dog.\r\nBut eight hands reached out to her as she was swept by †and a snarling, snapping muzzle leaped ahead of her to divide the crowd. Somehow she was being run into, bruised, cradled, shoved, and, grasped and grasping, coerce all the way to the right wall.\r\nBut Sage was looking at that same wall in despair. â€Å"Madame, he tricked you! There is no keyhole here!”\r\nElenas throat went raw. She prepared to shout, â€Å"Saber, heel,” and go after the vampire.\r\nBut then, just below her, Bonnies voice said, â€Å"Of course there is. Its make like a circle.”\r\nAnd Elena remembered.\r\nSmaller guards. Like imps or monkeys. Bonnies size.\r\nâ€Å"Bonnie, take this! Shove it into the hole. Be careful! Its the only one weve got.”\r\nSage immediately directed Saber to stand and snarl just ahead of Bonnie in the tunnel, to keep the stream of panicked demons and vampires from jostle her.\r\nCarefully, solemnly, Bonnie took the large key, examined it, cocked her head, turned it in her hands †and placed it in the wall.\r\nâ€Å"Nothings happening!”\r\nâ€Å"Try number or pushing †â€Å"\r\nClick.\r\nThe door slid open.\r\nElena and her group more or less fell into the corridor, while Saber stood between them and the herd pounding by, barking and snapping and leaping.\r\nElena, lying on the ground, legs entwined with who-knew-who-elses, cupped a hand around her ring.\r\nThe fox eyes shone straight ahead and a bit to the right.\r\nThey were sheen into a cell a head.\r\n'