The Return: Midnight Chapter 25

Sleeping in the storage room with e very(prenominal) wal covered in Post-it bank note amulets,added Meredith grimly. If we nonplus enough. I got opposite packet, but it doesnt go very far when youre emphasiseing to cover a room.Okay,Elena verbalise. Whos got Shinichis key? concepti superstar raised his hand. In my Dont tel meexclaimed Elena. Ive got hers. We cant lose them. Stefan and I atomic number 18 one team you guys are the other.They half-led and half-supported Misao out of Stefans room and pop up the steps. Misao didnt try to run away from them, to struggle, or to speak to them. This only made gym mat more suspicious of her. He byword Stefan and Elena glance toward each other and knew they were timbre the same way. yet what else was t present to do with her? thither was no other way, worldely, or even inhumanely, to restrain her for days.They had her star bal , and according to books that was hypothetical to al ow them to control her, but she was right, it take careed to be an obsolete notion, because it didnt work.Theyd attempt with Stefan and Meredith memory her tightly, while Matt got the star bal from where hed been carry oning it in a shoebox on the upper shelf higher up the clothes in his closet.He and Elena had tried to get along Misao to do things while holding the roughly empty theatre of operations to prevail Misao tel where her brothers star bal was, and so on. further it simply didnt work.Maybe when theres so atomic Power in it, it doesnt apply,Elena tell final y. But that was smal teething ring at best.As they besidesk Misao to the kitchen, Matt thought that it had been a stupid plan of the kitsune imitating Stefan twice.Doing it the second term, when the humans were on guard, that was stupid. Misao didnt seem as stupid as that.Matt had a bad feeling.Elena had a very bad feeling about what they were doing. As she looked rough at the faces of the others, she axioming machine that they did too. But nada h ad come up with a better plan.They couldnt kil Misao. They werent murderers who could kil a sickly, passive lady friend in cold blood.She figured that Shinichi must dupe very sharp hearing, and had al fast heard them walking on the creaking kitchen floorboards. And she had to assume that he knew by mindbond, or fair logic, or whatever that Misao was right above him. There was nothing to lose by shouting, through with(predicate) the closed door, Shinichi, weve got your child here If you want her patronise youl stay quiet and not make us throw her down the stairs.There was silence from the root cel ar. Elena chose to deem of it as submissive silence. At least Shinichi wasnt yel ing threats.Okay,Elena whispered. Shed taken a incline directly behind Misao. When I count to triad, we push as problematical as we can.WaitMatt said in a woful whisper-shout. You said we wouldnt throw her down the stairs.Life isnt fair,Elena said grimly. You think he doesnt comport some surprise f or us?But Leave it, Matt,said Meredith quietly. She had the troll ready in her remaining hand and with her right was ready to push on the panel for freeing the door. Everybody ready?Everyone nodded. Elena felt abusive for Matt and Stefan, who were the most honest and sensitive of al of them. cardinal,she whispered softly, two, three.On three Meredith hit the concealed wal switch. And then things began to happen in very slow motion.By twoElena had already begun to shove Misao toward the door. On threethe others joined her.But the door seemed to take forever to open. And before the expiration of forever, everything went wrong.The greenery around Misaos take spread twigs in al directions. One strand shot out and snagged Elena around the wrist. She heard a yel of hurt from Matt and knew that another strand had gotten him.Push Meredith shouted and then Elena see the stave coming at her. Meredith whisked with the stave through the greenery connected to Misao. The vine that had been cutting into Elenas wrist fel to the floor.Any remaining misgivings about throwing Misao down the stairs vanished. Elena joined in the crowd trying to push her through the opening. But there was something wrong in the basement. For one thing, they were shoving Misao into pitch-darknessand movement.The basement was ful of something. Some things.Elena looked down at her ankle and was horrified to see a gigantic maggot that seemed to have crawled out of the root cel ar. Or at least a maggot was the start thing she could think of to compare it to maybe it was a headless slug. It was straightforward and black and about a foot long, but far too plump for her to have put a hand around it. It seemed to have two ways of moving, one by the familiar hunch-and-straighten method and the other by simply sticking to other maggots, which were exploding up over Elenas head worry a hideous fountain.Elena looked up and wished she hadnt.There was a cobra wave over them, out of the root cel ar and into the kitchen. It was a cobra made of black translucent maggots stuck together, and every so often one would fal off and body politic among the group and there would be a cry.If Bonnie had been with them, she would have screamed until the wineglasses in the cupboards shattered, Elena thought wildly. Meredith was trying to attack the cobra with the stave and reach into her jeans pocket for Post-it Notes at the same clipping.Il get the notes,Elena gasped, and wriggled her hand into Merediths pocket. Her fingers closed on a smal big bucks of cards and she tugged it out triumphantly.Just then the first glistening fat maggot fel on her bare climb.She valued to scream with pain as its bantam feet or teeth or suckers whatever kept it attached to her burned-out and stung. She pul ed a thin card from the packet, which was not a Post-it Note but the same amulet on a smal rather delicate note card, and slapped it on the maggot- same(p) thing.Nothing happened.Meredith was thrusting the stave into the middle of the cobra instantly. Elena saw another of the creatures fal close to onto her upturned face and managed to turn away so that it hit her col ar instead. She tried another card from the sheaf and when it skillful floated away the maggots looked gooey but werent she gave a primal scream and ripped with both hands at the ugly things attached to her. They gave way, leaving her skin covered with red marks and her T-shirt torn at the shoulder.The amulets arent working,she yel ed to Meredith.Meredith was actual y standing under the swaying, hooded head of the maggot-cobra, overheading and stabbing as if to reach the center. Her voice was muffled. Not enough amulets anyway likewise many of these grubs. Youd better run.An instant later Stefan shouted, Everybody get away from here Theres something solid in thereThats what Im trying to getMeredith shouted tush.Frantical y, Matt yel ed, Wheres Misao?The last time Elena had seen her she had been div ing into the writhing mass of segmented darkness. Gone,she shouted back. Wheres Mrs. Flowers?In the kitchen,said a voice behind her. Elena glanced back and saw the old woman pul ing down herbs with both hands.Okay,Stefan shouted. Everybody, take a hardly a(prenominal) steps back.Im going to hit it with Power. Do it nowHis voice was like a whiplash. Everyone stepped back, even Meredith who had been probing the snake with her stave.Stefan curled his hand around nothingness, around air, and it turned to sparkling, swirling bright energy. He threw it point-blank into the cobra made of maggots.There was an explosion, and then suddenly it was raining maggots. Elena had her teeth locked so as to keep herself from screaming. The oval translucent bodies of the maggots broke open on the kitchen floor like overripe plums, or else bounced. When Elena dared look up again she saw a black stain on the ceiling.Beneath it, smiling, was Shinichi.Meredith, lightning quick, tried to put the stave thr ough him.But Shinichi was faster, leaning out of her way, and out of the next thrust, and the next.You humans,he said. Al the same. Al stupid. When Midnight final y comes youl see how stupid you were.He said Midnightas if he were saying the Apocalypse.We were smart enough to unveil that you werent Stefan,Matt said from behind Shinichi.Shinichi rol ed his eyes. And to put me into a little room roofed with wood. You cant even remember that kitsune control al plants and trees? The wal s are al ful of malach grubs by now, you know. Thoroughly infested.His eyes flickered and he glanced backward, Elena saw, feeling toward the open door of the root cel ar.Her terror soared, and at the same time Stefan shouted, Get out of here Out of the house Go to somewhere undecomposedElena and Meredith stared at each other, paralyzed. They were on different teams, but they couldnt seem to let go of each other. Then Meredith snapped out of it and turned to the back of the kitchen to help Mrs. Flowers . Matt was already there, doing the same thing.And then Elena found herself brush off her feet and moving fast. Stefan had her and was running toward the front door.Distantly, she heard Shinichi shout, Bring me back their bonesOne of the maggots that Elena batted out of the way burst its skin and Elena saw something crawling out. These real y were malach, she realized. Smal er editions of the one that had swal owed Matts arm and left those long, deep scratches when he pul ed it out again.She noticed that one was stuck on Stefans back. Reckless with fury, she grabbed it near one end and ripped it off, yanking relentlessly even though Stefan gasped in pain.When it came free she got a glimpse of what looked like dozens of smal childrens teeth on the bottom side. She threw it against a wal as they reached the front door.There they almost col ided with Matt, Meredith, and Mrs.Flowers, coming through the den. Stefan wrenched the door open and when they al were through Meredith slammed it shut. A few malach grubs and Still-wet flying ones made it out with them.Wheres safe?snapped Meredith. I mean, real y safe, safe for a couple of days?neither she nor Matt had released their grip on Mrs. Flowers and from their speed Elena expected that she must be almost as light as a straw figure. She kept saying, My worth Oh, graciousMy house?Matt suggested. The blocks bad, but it was okay the last time I saw it, and my moms gone with Dr.Alpert.Okay, Matts house using the Master Keys. But lets do it from the storage room. I do not want to open this front door again, no matter what,Elena said.When Stefan tried to pick her up she shook her head. Im fine. Run as fast as you can and smash any malach you see.They made it to the storage room, but now a legal like vipvipvip a sort of high-pitched buzzing that could only have been produced by the malach was fol owing them.What now?Matt panted, helping Mrs. Flowers to sit on the bed.Stefan hesitated. Is your house real y safe, do yo u think?Is anywhere safe? But its empty, or it should be.Meanwhile, Meredith drew Elena and Mrs. Flowers aside. To Elenas horror, Meredith was holding one of the smal er grubs, prehend it so that its underside was turned upward.Oh, God Elena protested, but Meredith said, They look a lot like a little kids teeth, dont they?Suddenly Mrs. Flowers became animated. They do thusAnd youre saying that the femur we found in the thicket Yes. It was certainly human but maybe not chewed by humans. Human children,Meredith said.And Shinichi yel ed to the malach to vex back our bonesElena said and swal owed. Then she looked at the grub again. Meredith, get rid of that thing somehow Its going to pop out as a flying malach.Meredith looked around the storage room blankly.Okay just drop it and Il step on it,Elena said, holding her breath to hold in her nausea.Meredith dropped the fat, translucent, black thing, which exploded on impact. Elena stamped on it, but the malach inside didnt crush. Inst ead, when she lifted her foot, it tried to skitter under the bed. The stave cut it cleanly in two.Guys,Elena said sharply to Matt and Stefan, we have to go now. Outside are a bunch of flying malachMatt turned toward her. Like the one that Smal er, but just like the one that attacked you, I think.Okay, heres what we figured out,Stefan said in a way that immediately made Elena uneasy. Somebody has to go to the gentle Dimension anyway to check on Bonnie. I guess Im the only one to do that, since Im a vampire. You couldnt get in Yes, we could,Meredith said. With these keys, we could just say Take us to Lady Ulmas house in the Dark Dimension.Or Take me to wherever Bonnie is.Why shouldnt it work?Elena said, Okay. Meredith, Matt, and Mrs. Flowers can stay here and try to figure out what Midnightis. From the way Shinichi said it, it sounded bad. Meanwhile, Stefan and I go to the Dark Dimension and find Bonnie.NoStefan said. I wont take you to that terrible place again.Elena looked him s traight in the eye. You promised,she said, indifferent to the other people in the room. You promised. Never to go again on a quest without me. No matter how short the time, no matter what the cause. You promised.Stefan looked at her desperately. Elena knew he wanted to keep her safe but which world was truly safe now? Both were fil ed with horror and danger.Anyway,she said with a grim smile, I have the key.