You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
" 'Yes,' she replied. She looked at both Damon and me without liking. 'My mistress was very<br />
unhappy last night,' she said meaningfully. 'All night long, she wept.'<br />
"When she said that, a strange feeling came over me. It wasn't just shame and grief that Katherine<br />
should be so unhappy. It was fear. I forgot my hunger and weakness. I even forgot my enmity for<br />
Damon. I was filled with haste and a great driving urgency. I turned to Damon and told him that we<br />
had to find Katherine, and to my surprise he just nodded.<br />
"We began to search the gardens, calling Katherine's name. I remember just what everything looked<br />
like that day. The sun was shining on the high cypress trees and the pines in the garden. Damon and I<br />
hurried between them, moving more and more quickly, and calling. We kept calling her…"<br />
Elena could feel the tremors in Stefan's body, communicated to her through his tightly gripping<br />
fingers. He was breathing rapidly but shallowly.<br />
"We had almost reached the end of the gardens when I remembered a place that Katherine had<br />
loved. It was a little way out onto the grounds, a low wall beside a lemon tree. I started there,<br />
shouting for her. But as I got closer, I stopped shouting. I felt… a fear – a terrible premonition. And I<br />
knew I mustn't – mustn't go – "<br />
"Stefan!" said Elena. He was hurting her, his fingers biting into her own, crushing them. The tremors<br />
racing through his body were growing, becoming shudders. "Stefan, please!"<br />
But he gave no sign that he heard her. "It was like – a nightmare – everything happening so slowly. I<br />
couldn't move – and yet I had to. I had to keep walking. With each step, the fear grew stronger. I could<br />
smell it. A smell like burned fat. I mustn't go there – I don't want to see it – "<br />
His voice had become high and urgent, his breath coming in gasps. His eyes were wide and dilated,<br />
like a terrified child's. Elena gripped his viselike fingers with her other hand, enfolding them<br />
completely. "Stefan, it's all right. You're not there. You're here with me."<br />
"I don't want to see it – but I can't help it. There's something white. Something white under the tree.<br />
Don't make me look at it!"<br />
"Stefan, Stefan, look at me!"<br />
He was beyond hearing. His words came in heaving spasms, as if he could not control them, could<br />
not get them out fast enough. "I can't go any closer – but I do. I see the tree, the wall. And that white.<br />
Behind the tree. White with gold underneath. And then I know, I know, and I'm moving toward it<br />
because it's her dress. Katherine's white dress. And I get around the tree and I see it on the ground and<br />
it's true. It's Katherine's dress," – his voice rose and broke in unimaginable horror – "but Katherine<br />
isn't in it."<br />
Elena felt a chill, as if her body had been plunged into ice water. Her skin rose in gooseflesh, and<br />
she tried to speak to him but couldn't. He was rattling on as if he could keep the terror away if he kept<br />
on talking.<br />
"Katherine isn't there, so maybe it's all a joke, but her dress is on the ground and it's full of ashes.<br />
Like the ashes in the hearth, just like that, only these smell of burned flesh. They stink. The smell is<br />
making me sick and faint. Beside the sleeve of the dress is a piece of parchment. And on a rock, on a<br />
rock a little way away is a ring. A ring with a blue stone, Katherine's ring. Katherine's ring…"<br />
Suddenly, he called out in a terrible voice, "Katherine, what have you done?" Then he fell to his<br />
knees, releasing Elena's fingers at last, to bury his face in his hands.<br />
Elena held him as he was gripped by wracking sobs. She held his shoulders, pulling him to her lap.<br />
"Katherine took the ring off," she whispered. It was not a question. "She exposed herself to the sun."