07 The Return_ Midnight - L. J. Smith

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Meredith, Matt, and Bonnie were friends. But none of them had asked about either Bonnie or Matt. Strange. If she had only known how much stranger her visit with her own family would be…
20 Meredith usually found her parents funny and silly and dear. <strong>The</strong>y were solemn about all the wrong things like, “Make sure, honey, that you really get to know Alaric—before—before—” Meredith had no doubts about Alaric at all, but he was another of those silly, dear, gallant people, who talked all around things without getting to the point. Today, she was surprised to see that there was no cluster of cars around the ancestral home. Maybe people had to stay home to fight it out with their own children. She locked the Acura, conscious of the precious contents given by Isobel, and rang the doorbell. Her parents believed in chain locks. Janet, the housekeeper, looked happy to see her but nervous. Aha, Meredith thought, they have discovered that their dutiful only child has ransacked the attic. Maybe they want the stave back. Maybe I should have left it back at the boardinghouse. But she only realized that things were truly serious when she came into the family room and saw the big La-Z-Boy deluxe lounging chair, her father’s throne: empty. Her father was sitting on the couch, holding her mother, who was sobbing. She had brought the stave with her, and when her mother saw it, she broke into a fresh burst of tears. “Look,” Meredith said, “this doesn’t have to be so tragic. I’ve got a pretty good idea of what happened. If you want to tell me about how Grandma and I really got hurt, that’s your business. But if I was…contaminated in some way…” She stopped. She could hardly believe it. Her father was holding out an arm to her, as if the somewhat rank condition of her clothes didn’t matter. She went to him slowly, uncomfortably, and let him hug her regardless of his Armani suit. Her mother had a glass with a few sips left of what looked like Coke in front of her, but Meredith would bet it wasn’t all Coke. “We’d hoped that this was a place of peace,” her father orated. Every sentence her father spoke was an oration. You got used to it. “We never dreamed…” And then he stopped. Meredith was stunned. Her father didn’t stop in the middle of an oration. He didn’t pause. And he certainly didn’t cry. “Dad! Daddy! What is it? Have kids been around here, crazy kids? Did they hurt somebody?” “We have to tell you the whole story from that time long ago,” her father…said. He spoke with such despair that it wasn’t anything like an oration. “When you were…all attacked.” “By the vampire. Or Grandfather. Or do you know?”
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L. J. Smith The Vampire Diaries The
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Contents 1 Elena Gilbert put down t
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28 Elena was nodding slowly. “It
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1 “Dear Diary, I’m so frightene
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species he’s come to hate and sco
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one. Step two. Step three—I must
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against a wall, or throw her across
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Is she thinking about Stefan in the
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vampirism was a curse. Humans never
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3 Damon leaped. Somewhere in the mi
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“So—assuming you’re alive—y
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Matt’s eyes met Meredith’s and
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comes to the final showdown with Sh
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No, I would not let Sage make me in
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“Well, I can—if you’re done,
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5 “I thought you wanted to get ou
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Stefan! I never begged your pardon
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scared, Damon thought. “I’m mor
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short shake of curls and then a yaw
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He now ascended the steps slowly. H
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“No, I’m serious! When I’m a
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“Now sit down there,” he adjure
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9 Damon dropped his hand. He simply
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them off, not when you’re sleepin
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dressed in a flannel nightgown with
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10 Damon was making his way up the
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He stood again, looking at the girl
Page 56 and 57: definitely don’t like it. And tha
Page 58 and 59: 11 When M. le Princess Jessalyn D
Page 60 and 61: Damon smiled at the surly guard.
Page 62 and 63: Bonnie threw the star ball across t
Page 64 and 65: 12 “Stefan. Stefan!” Elena had
Page 66 and 67: him back tightly, knowing that her
Page 68 and 69: 13 Elena, sleeping serenely with on
Page 70 and 71: it up with some of the papers. When
Page 72 and 73: into the urns. We do know that the
Page 74 and 75: 14 The next morning Elena noticed t
Page 76 and 77: Matt cleared his throat as somethin
Page 78 and 79: shop, maybe six or seven. One brown
Page 80 and 81: 15 Bonnie woke slowly, coming up fr
Page 82 and 83: entertainment—even the Dustbins w
Page 84 and 85: starting to feel better she was hus
Page 86 and 87: comfort of her own. The next minute
Page 88 and 89: star ball.” “Mouse, here, is ri
Page 90 and 91: examined her, murmuring, “Hair of
Page 92 and 93: 17 Meredith and Matt were sitting a
Page 94 and 95: “Since I first saw you, I loved y
Page 96 and 97: They’re faster, she thought. As f
Page 98 and 99: 18 After breakfast Matt went online
Page 100 and 101: stared at him but with eerie, uncan
Page 102 and 103: The Gilbert-Maxwells were Elena’s
Page 104 and 105: seated Misao on the couch, rubbing
Page 108 and 109: Long pause. Then her mother drained
Page 110 and 111: Meredith stared in utter disbelief.
Page 112 and 113: 21 Someone was still knocking on St
Page 114 and 115: It was Influence. Before Elena coul
Page 116 and 117: e wrong. She and Stefan had only jo
Page 118 and 119: 22 “Mama said not in Fell’s Chu
Page 120 and 121: They were just playing, he figured,
Page 122 and 123: your first witness.” “We call C
Page 124 and 125: Matt realized that the duct tape ar
Page 126 and 127: 23 In the car, Matt sat by the slee
Page 128 and 129: She had the attic bed straightened
Page 130 and 131: “I know that!” Bonnie said indi
Page 132 and 133: 24 Stefan woke early. He spent the
Page 134 and 135: “I’ll bring it,” Elena offere
Page 136 and 137: And only Matt knew how close he had
Page 138 and 139: deep kiss. For a moment he resisted
Page 140 and 141: 25 “Sleeping in the storage room
Page 142 and 143: fingers closed on a small sheaf of
Page 144 and 145: stamped on it, but the malach insid
Page 146 and 147: what was out there before they step
Page 148 and 149: Good-bye, Pelat. You may go.” “
Page 150 and 151: 27 Stefan whirled around and saw Bo
Page 152 and 153: and-ruby necklace and ring—but no
Page 154 and 155: Bonnie’s head came up. “Even th
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efore putting her down again. “Yo
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“Is it safe, having Biratz carry
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Elena hesitated. It was true; she c
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Damon’s warm hand was inside her
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oh, God, he might murder Stefan. Ag
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elow her feet, or so it seemed. It
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other Godawful Hellacious monsters
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Biratz’s trunks. “It was pointl
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30 “Strip to your underwear and g
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Something was shaking the room. Sha
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we’ll destroy the container.”
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comfortingly. At last Damon dropped
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“Can you make it?” Stefan asked
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32 “Damon doesn’t mean to be su
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At a quarter to eleven Meredith cam
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33 Elena was waiting for the fog to
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in Fell’s Church the Last Midnigh
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She found herself bumping into a ha
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34 “You’ve been fed and taken c
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There was also a picture of a pair
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“Or where,” said the old woman.
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35 Elena felt as if she had been do
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Elena did and gasped. For just an i
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he’d had his puppet, Damon, do wh
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“A little. But I could hear you,
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36 Matt broke a lot of traffic rule
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shining as silver as her hair. Matt
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knew she had to keep going. Isobel
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37 Then Meredith saw something that
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parent this night, and no parent ha
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38 Damon had stopped and was kneeli
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was proper javelin size, had gone t
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Suddenly, a huge shudder—a convul
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Thank you…Elena. Thank you…for
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39 Elena clutched the child to her.
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them and Damon’s body between two
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Elena knew, as perhaps this child d
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earlier. Stefan and Bonnie had been
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41 Stefan didn’t move or speak fo
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how do we offer them the Fountain o
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plant to survive in. Elena stared s
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air car. Instead of a crash with on
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“That’s what you tell us!” St
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escape. But she eventually was comp
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at the blurry mass of Guardians aro
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fierce and concerned and loving and
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felt her soul expand and come out o
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44 On the smallest moon of the Neth
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Other Books by L. J. Smith THE VAMP
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Credits Jacket art © 2011 by Carri
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About the Publisher Australia Harpe
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42 43 44 About the Author Other Boo
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07 The Return_ Midnight - L. J. Smith

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