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"I've been at the boarding house, with Stefan," she said slowly. "Aunt Judith, this is Stefan<br />
Salvatore; he rents a room there. He brought me back."<br />
"Thank you," said Aunt Judith to Stefan over Elena's head. Then, pulling back to look at Elena, she<br />
said, "But your dress, your hair – what happened?"<br />
"You don't know? Then Tyler didn't tell you. But then why are the police here?" Elena edged<br />
toward Stefan instinctively, and she felt him move closer to her in protection.<br />
"They're here because Vickie Bennett was attacked in the cemetery tonight," said Matt. He and<br />
Bonnie and Meredith were standing behind Aunt Judith and Robert, looking relieved and a little<br />
awkward and more than a little tired. "We found her maybe two, three hours ago, and we've been<br />
looking for you ever since."<br />
"Attacked?" said Elena, stunned. "Attacked by what?"<br />
"Nobody knows," said Meredith.<br />
"Well, now, it may be nothing to worry about," said Robert comfortingly. "The doctor said she'd had<br />
a bad scare, and that she'd been drinking. The whole thing may have been in her imagination."<br />
"Those scratches weren't imaginary," said Matt, polite but stubborn.<br />
"What scratches? What are you talking about?" Elena demanded, looking from one face to another.<br />
"I'll tell you," said Meredith, and she explained, succinctly, how she and the others had found<br />
Vickie. "She kept saying she didn't know where you were, that she was alone with Dick when it<br />
happened. And when we got her back here, the doctor said he couldn't find anything conclusive. She<br />
wasn't really hurt except for the scratches, and they could have been from a cat."<br />
"There were no other marks on her?" said Stefan sharply. It was the first time he'd spoken since<br />
entering the house, and Elena looked at him, surprised by his tone.<br />
"No," said Meredith. "Of course, a cat didn't tear her clothes off – but Dick might have. Oh, and her<br />
tongue was bitten."<br />
"What?" said Elena.<br />
"Badly bitten, I mean. It must have bled a lot, and it hurts her to talk now."<br />
Beside Elena, Stefan had gone very still. "Did she have any explanation for what happened?"<br />
"She was hysterical," Matt said. "Really hysterical; she wasn't making any sense. She kept babbling<br />
about eyes and dark mist and not being able to run – which is why the doctor thinks maybe it was<br />
some sort of hallucination. But as far as anyone can make out, the facts are that she and Dick Carter<br />
were in the ruined church by the cemetery at about midnight, and that something came in and attacked<br />
her there."<br />
Bonnie added, "It didn't attack Dick, which at least shows it had, some taste. The police found him<br />
passed out on the church floor, and he doesn't remember a thing."<br />
But Elena scarcely heard the last words. Something had gone terribly wrong with Stefan. She<br />
couldn't tell how she knew it, but she knew. He had stiffened as Matt finished speaking, and now,<br />
though he hadn't moved, she felt as if a great distance was separating them, as if she and he were on<br />
opposite sides of a rifting, cracking floe of ice.<br />
He said, in the terribly controlled voice she had heard before in his room, "In the church, Matt?"<br />
"Yes, in the ruined church," Matt said.<br />
"And you're sure she said it was midnight?"<br />
"She couldn't be positive, but it must have been sometime around then. We found her not long after.<br />
Why?"