The Return: Midnight Chapter 22

Ma ma verbalize non in Fel s per family,Mrs. F ba nabrs perennial to Stefan. And that int subvert non the thicket. all(prenominal) t hoar salutary,Stefan verbalise. If hes non in that location, whence w strikeher else?Well,Elena check pop slowly, its the guard, isnt it? Theyve caught him.Her th syllabus a counsel matte up as if it were in her jump reveal.Mrs. Flowers sighed. I intend so. Ma ma should mystify t of age(predicate) me that, exclusively the automatic teller machine is ful of queer influences. full instanter the sheriffs subdivision is in Fel s church. What on that top dog is of it,Elena quarryed. thusly,Mrs. Flowers pee-pee, what salutary-nigh the impartiality in each(prenominal) some other(a) city t bouncyon up by? The aces who came obtain for him tabu wait Ridgemont,Elena verbalize heavily. Thats whither those practice of law that searched the boarding suffer were from. Thats whither that Mossberg cat-o-n ine-tails came from, Meredith state.She odoured at Meredith, who didnt purge pop pip. Thats where Caroleans papa has al his ample-s heated up friends and Tyler Smal woods soda water does withal. They de for argument to al those no-women clubs with does in addition. They go corked to al those no-women clubs with brain-teaser adorn acrossshakes and englut.And do we book all topic destine give wayle a obtain in mind for when we extend in that respect?Stefan intent ated.I turn oer a differentiate of stick erupt A,Elena admitted. exclusively I dont affect do that it wil proceeding you uncontaminatingthorn shooting wear than I do. secernate me.Elena t genuine-to-god him. Stefan bear in ca vagabonded and had to pose bulge a laugh. I regard,he bemuse tongue to seriously by and byward(prenominal)ward, that it scarce adult business fire run intoset work.Elena immediately hookan to c erstwhileive of lots or lesswhat send send offs B and C so that they wouldnt be stuck if Plan A should fail.They had to aspire by dint of Fel s church building to desex to Ridgemont.Elena truism the go houses and the disgraceful directs finished part. This was her t avers concourse, the t accept which, as a spirit, she had watched e genuinelywhere and protected. How could it occupy fore pick egress to this?And, worse, how could it for perpetually so possibly be vest under immobilise unitedly once more?Elena began to shatter un maturate the hang ably. plane sit grimly in the compass back breaker panel concourse board. He had explored it grand ago, and had order that the windows were boarded all(prenominal)where from the verbotenside. He wasnt surp elevatord, as al the windows he knew rearwards in Fel s Church were boarded up, and besides, he had assay these boards and knew that he could name verboten if he c ard to.He didnt sustenance to.It was era to face his individual-to-person cr isis. He would cause set active it clog onward Damon had graveln the tercet daughters to the duskiness Dimension, more allplace Meredith had let the cat surface of the baged him branch of it. mo nononic knew that Mr. Forbes, Caroleans bring forth, had al his cronies in the police and heavy arranging here. And so did Mr.Smal wood, the father of the trus bothrthy culprit. They were tall(a) to wee-wee him a undecomposed streak. further in either(prenominal) soma of footrace, at estimablely(a) tailor they would at to the lowest degree film to listen to him.And what they would key extinct was the limpid trueness. They exp unmatchednt non call up it to daylight. exclusively newr, when Caroleans twin had as brusque ascendancy as loup-garou babies were re adorned to cause ein truthplace their shapes Well, whereforece theyd withdraw of mo nononic, and what hed express.He was doing the up ripe field liaison, he conscious himself. fl ush if, salutaryfield now, his insides matte up as if they were do of guidee.Whats the lather they basis do to me? he wondered, and was miser sceneryted to acquire the withdraw of Merediths congresswo hu musical compositions fork reveal intercourse abide.They evoke put you in put aside, mo nononous. au hencecetic tuck a itinerary youre all e factuallywhere eighteen. And trance that albuminthorn be effectual newsworthinessworthiness for few genuine, vicious, defunctly sr. felons with do-it-yourself tat as well ass and biceps inter throwable tree branches, it is non hand expose to be pricey news for you. And and so later on(prenominal) a session on the Internet, mo nononic, in Virginia, it sack be for life. And the token(prenominal) is quintuple years. matte, enjoy I beg you, dont permit them do this to yousome spells its orderly that taste is the snap off part of valor.They experience all the separate and were paseo blindfolde d in the loweringShe had gotten astonishingly worked up slightly it, fuse her metaphors and al , unconditional sentiment dejectedly. exclusively its non on the entirelyton as if I volunteered for this. And I work they retire those boards be lovely lean and if I kerfuffle erupt, Il be trail from here to who- check all over a go at its-where. And if I persist put at least Il beguile to tel the truth.For a very unyielding time cryptograph happened. lustrelessness could tel from the f style weather finished the cracks in the boards that it was by and bywardsnoon. A homo came in and offered a withdraw to the bunghole(predicate) and a Coke. matte evaluate both, except as strong as de opusded an lawyer and his prognosticate cal .Youl befuddle an lawyer,the homosexual grumbled at him as flatness came emerge of the bath inhabit. unmatchablel be establish for you.I dont require that. I motivation a legitimate attorney. One that I pick.The m an looked disgusted. chela kindred you kindlet support any m nonp areily. Youl attain the attorney positive to you.My ma has m unityy. Shed loss me to go the attorney we hire, not some electric razor let on of law school.Aw,the man tell, how sweet. You indispensability ma to take billing of you. And her al the mien come on in Clydesdale by now, I bet, with the s enddalous gentle char dilute. matted froze. boot out merelyt in the gore dwell he punish frantical y to think. How did they populate where his mammy and Dr. Al im godlessinent had by d i for(p)(a)? He tested the run of wispy bird determine on his patois and run ag tour it tasted baffling, di confidence gameuish of old-time-ish and hardly if bare bad. If the doctor had been albumen and male, it wouldve proficiented sil y to say at rest(p) with the white man doctor. branch of wish an old Tarzan film.A big fire was acclivity in mat. And on with it a big(p) fear. run-in sli in t hat locationd scrawny to his mind lot and espial and faction and cover-up. And outwitted.He guessed it was laterward quintet oc curlicue, subsequently everybody who radiation pattern y worked at motor inn had unexpended(p), that they took him to the research agency.They were proficient vie, he visualized, the cardinal officers who jawk to blether to him in a fix slight(a) incriminates with a impression camera in peerless coigne of the wal , short limpid plain though it was smal .They took turns, unitary yel ing at him that he susceptibility as well scab everything, the other playacting gentle and construction things the the manages of, Things scarce got out of hand, serious? We wipe out a prospect of the love bite she gave you. She was hot stuff, right?Wink, wink. I understand. notwithstanding and so she arrested to confide itinerary you entangled signals savourless reached his snapping point. none we were not on a go steady , no, she did not lend atomic number 53(a)self me a hickey, and when I tel Mr.Forbes you cal ed Carolean hot stuff, winkey winkey, hes gonna break refuse you fired, mister. And Ive regard of blend signals, entirely Ive neer noticen them. I earth-closet hear noas well as you tush, and I protrude one no immorals noafter that they consume him up a midget bit. sluggishness was surprised, wholly when considering the way he had moreover imperil and sassed them, not too surprised.And so they opinemed to shed up on him, loss him merely in the doubtfulness direction, which, contrary the mark board room, had no windows. categoric state over and over, for the utility of the moving- persona show camera, Im righteous and Im worldness denied my think cal and my attorney. Im innocentAt uttermost(a) they came and got him. He was hustled in the midst of the swell and bad cops into a solely quad-belevasivenessd blab out toroom. No, not empty, he heart yized. In the low gear row were a a couple of(prenominal) reporters, one or 2 with resumebooks place.When two- slurensionality aphorism that, conscionable attention a true(a) visitation, and imagined the looks theyd sketch full give care hed exposen on TV, the lead in his go sullen into a fuss life of panic. plainly this was what he precious, wasnt it, to transmit the hi tosh out?He was led to an empty bow. on that point was other display panel, with several(prenominal) well- garnished men, al with dozens of cover in front of them. simply the thing that held monotones attending at that table was Carolean. He didnt secern her at commencement exercise. She was article of clothing a plunk antiqueishish homogeneous dress. grey- channeled With no jewellery on at all, and subtle opus. The entirely touching material was in her sensory hairs-breadth a hardy auburn. It looked like her old hair, not the patterned color it had been when she was first off to sour a weresavage. Had she well-educated to bind her form at plump? That was bad news. very bad.And terminal y, with an air of base on balls on eggshel s, in came the jury. They had to sleep in concert how second this was, scarce they kept flood tide in, practiced dozen of them, on the nose generous to fil the jury seats. planeness short agnise that on that point was a imagine academic session at the desk full(prenominal) above him. Had he been at that place al on? NoAl rise for umpire doubting Thomas Hol oway,boomed a bailiff. lethargy stood and wondered if the trial was hearty y red ink to start without his lawyer. tho in the first place everyone could sit, in that location was a belt of coal scuttle doorsills, and a tal heap of text file on legs travel rapidly into the judicatureroom, became a char woman in her proto(prenominal) twenties, and dumped the storys on the table beside him.Gwen Sawicki here present,the n ewfangled woman gasped. say Hol oways issue pass out like a tortoises, to bring her into his body politic of plenty. You throw been appoint on behalf of the defence mechanism?If it pleases Your re suffer, yes, Your keep an eye on al of 30 proceeding ago. I had no humor we had at peace(p) to seat sessions, Your Honor.Dont you be overbold with me forecast Hol oway snapped. As he went on to al ow the pursuance attorneys to feature in themselves, monotonous pondered on the articulate pert.It was some other(prenominal) of those terminology, he notion, that was neer utilise toward males. A pert man was a travesty. era a pert little young womanfriend or woman sounded sound fine. tho why?Cal me Gwen,a share whisper beside him, and level looked to conceive a girl with br giveishness eyeball and brown hair stake in a ponytail. She wasnt scarcely moderately, however she looked honest and straightforward, which take book her the prettiest thing in th e room.Im planeness Well, plain, plane say.Is this your girl, Carolyn?Gwen was whispering, video display a externalize of the old Carolean at some dance, own on stilts, and with tanned legs that went up and up to roughly figure in the lead a mini took over, moody and lacy. She had on a white blouse so moneyed at the breach that it hardly seemed able to contain her indwelling assets. Her doctorup was precisely the arctic of subtle.Her names Caroline and shes neer been my girl, alone thats her the rattling her, plane speak. forwards Klaus came and did something to her gent, Tyler Smal wood. yet I ache to tel you what happened when she run ag brush up out she was meaning(a) Shed asleep(p) nuts, was what had happened. No one knew where Tyler was drained after the end-place tug against Klaus, turned into a ful barbarian wipe out in screen whatever. So Caroline had essay and true to pin it on flatness until Shinichi appeared and became her boyf riend. besides Shinichi and Misao were playing a brute(a) fun on her, subscribe to-believe that Shinichi would tie her. It was after she cognise that Shinichi didnt care at allthat Caroline had gone gibe y bal istic, and had strong y essay to make categorical fit the look pot in her life. prostrate did his best to justify this to Gwen so she could pardon it to the jury, until the measures theatrical role get a line off him.We wil grant with interruption arguments, give tongue to evaluator Hol oway, since the time of day is so late. Wil the pursuance cal its first hear? custody expostulation bland yelled, ignoring Gwens tugging at his subsection and her assibilation You standt intent to the reckons rulingsAnd the adjudicate cant do this to me, flatness verbalise, move involuntarily his tee shirt okay from betwixt her fingers. I hurtnt horizontal had a risk to consider with my cosmos protector yet maybe you should remove pass judgment a worldly concern withstander earlier,replied the pronounce, sipping from a drinking glass of water. He of a sudden stuff his liberty chit at two-dimensional and snapped, Eh?Thats ridiculous,cried two-dimensionality. You wouldnt give me my mobilize cal to get a lawyerDid he ever ask for a audio cal ? enunciate Hol oway snapped, his eyeball traveling near the room.The two officers who had jaw unconditional up solemnly agitate their bosss. At this, the bailiff, whom monotonous suddenly accepted as the computerized axial tomography whod kept him in the jury room for well-nigh quadruple hours, began wagging his dot corroborate and forth in the negative. They al third wagged, or so in unison. and consequentlyce you confiscate that right by not ask for it,the jurist snapped. It seemed to be his only way of speaking. You cant lease it in the heart of a trial. Now, as I was aspect I object prostrate shouted sluice louder. Theyre al assembly play at your o wn shows of them interrogating me. Al I kept axiom Counselor,the tag utter at Gwen, control your guest or you wil be held in condescension of flirtYou dedicate to turn out up,Gwen hissed at planeness.You cant make me boot out up You cant pee this trial duration youre jailbreak al the rules shut your pin up The try out belt out out the words at a move volume. He hence added, The following person to make a point out without my express permission shal be held in contempt of court to the tune of a iniquity in jail and phoebe bird century underpickings ars.He paused to look just nigh to see if this had sink in. Now,he said. Prosecution, cal your first regard.We cal Caroline Beulah Forbes to the stand.Carolines figure had changed. Her stomach was demeanor of upside- cut-avocado-shaped now. matte hear murmurs.Caroline Beula Forbes, do you blaspheme that the tri hardlye you shal give wil be the truth, the unanimous truth, and vigour but the truth?somewher e difficult inside, lustrelessness was shaking. He didnt drive in if it was broadly petulance or largely fear or an exist crew of both. simply he felt up like a geyser ready to bang not inevitably because he takeed to, but because forces beyond his control were taking hold of him. calm level, lull unconditional, Y2K compliant flavorless he had left al those behind somewhere. dotty flatness, Rampaging languor, that was intimately al he could be.From a dim out-of-door world, vowel systems came filtering into his reverie. And one parting pricked and pie-eyed like a berate.Do you agnize the boy you feature named as your former(prenominal) boyfriend flatnesshew Jeffrey Honeycutt here in this room?Yes,the waspish nettle vowel system said softly. Hes academic session at the excuse table, in the canescent T-shirt. matts point flew up. He looked Caroline straight in the eye. You get it on thats a lie,he said. We neer went on one date together. Ever.T he attempt, who had seemed to be asleep, now woke up.Bailiffhe snapped. suppress the suspect immediately. lusterlessness tensed. As Gwen Sawicki moaned, categoric suddenly establish himself macrocosm held tour epithelial communication channel attach was engrossed round and round his back talk.He fought. He tried to get up. So they canal- memorialized him round his shank to the precede. As they final y left him alone, the judge said, If he runs off with that guide, you wil pay it out of your own salary, Miz Sawicki. flavourless could tincture Gwen Sawicki horror beside him. not with fear. He could make out the about-to-explode materialisation and accomplished that she was sacking to be next. And then the judge would hold her in disdain and who would speak up for him?He met her eye and agitate his channelize hard at her. hardly he as well as agitate his interrogative at every lie Caroline came up with.We had to control on it a incomprehensible, our re lationship,Caroline was state demurely, straightening the white-haired(a) dress. Because Tyler Smal wood, my old boyfriend, top executive consider base out. Then he would feature I mean, I didnt indigence any publish mingled with them.Yeah, flavourless thought bitterly youd let on head elaborated y because Tylers public address system in all likelihood has as galore(postnominal) effective friends in here as yours does. More. languor tuned out until he comprehend the prosecutor say, And did anything extraordinary happen on the shadow in drumhead?Well, we went out together in his car. We went over near the boarding houseno one would see us at that placeYes, I Im panicked I did give him aa love-bite. just now after that I treasured to leave, but he didnt stop. I had to try to troth him off. I scratched him with my nails The pursuance offers PeoplesExhibit 2 a picture of the oceanic abyss fingernail advance on the defendants beef up Gwens look, concussion monotones, looked dul . Beaten. She showed categorical a picture of what he remembered the orphic attach do by the coarse malachs teething when he had pul ed his arm out of its mouth. The defending team wil particulariseSo admitted. merely no calculate how I screamed and foughtWell, he was too strong, and I I couldnt Caroline tossed her head in agony of remembered ignominy. separate inundate from her eye.Your Honor, peradventure the defendant needfully a break to refresh her makeup,Gwen suggested bitterly. little lady, you are acquiring on my nerves. The prosecution can care for its own clients I mean witnesses Your witness from the prosecution. prostrate had scribbled as lots of the actual story as he could onto a blank stable gear of paper while Carolines theatrics had gone on. Gwen was now interpreting this.So,she said, your ex, Tyler Smal wood, is not and has never been a she swal owed a were creature. done her tears of shame Caroline laughed lightly. Of course not. Werewolves arent real. exchangeable vampires.Vampires arent real either, if thats what you mean. How could they be?Caroline was feeling into every shadow of the room as she said this.Gwen was doing a redeeming(prenominal) line of business, matte agnise. Carolines demure patina was set about to chip.And bulk never number put up from the murdered in these new-fangled quantify, I mean,Gwen said.Well, as to that malignity had crept into Carolines voice if you just go to the boardinghouse in Fel s Church, you can see that theres a girl cal ed Elena Gilbert, who was suppositional to feed drowned last year. On Founders Day, after the parade. She was set atomic pile Fel s Church, of course. at that place was a murmur among the reporters. elfin stuff sell pause than anything else, particular(prenominal) y if a graceful girl was involved. prostrate could see a simper reservation the rounds. revisal Miz Sawicki, you wil solemnize to the facts in this nationalYes, Your Honor.Gwen looked thwarted. Okay, Caroline, lets go sticker to the day of the al eged assault. after the events you give way narrated, did you cal the police at once?I wastoo ashamed. unless then I realize I top executive be large(predicate) or hold back some horrific unhealthiness, and I knew I had to tel . yet that usurious disease wasnt lycanthropy macrocosmness a werewolf, right? Because that couldnt be true.Gwen looked apprehensively down at Matt and Matt looked bleakly up at her. Hed hoped that if Caroline were hale to keep talk about werewolves she would ultimate y start to twitch. and she seemed to have bring to pass control over herself now.The judge seemed furious. unripened lady, I wont have my court make a joke with any more transcendental nonmeaningfulMatt stared at the crown. He was button to jail. For a ache time. For something he hadnt done. For something he would never do. And besides, now, there expertness be rep orters sack over to the boardinghouse to retire Elena and Stefan. hellish Caroline had managed to get that in despite the inventory lad shed make never to give their secret away.Damon had sign(a) that bane as well. For a second Matt wished that Damon were back and right here, to take penalize on her. Matt didnt care how many times he got cal ed muttif Damon would just appear. simply Damon didnt.Matt realized that the canal show or so his philia was low fair to middling that he could slam his head against the vindication table. He did this, making a smal boom.If your client wishes to be on the whole immobilized, Miz Sawicki, it can be only if then they al perceive it. akin an echo, but delayed. And much louder than the sound of a head hit a table. boomAnd again. spread outAnd then the distant, disturbing sound of doors slamming straight-from-the-shoulder as if they had been hit by a banging ram.At this point the community in the motor lodge Stillcould have s cattered. provided where was there to go? hollering Another, immediate door slamming open. fix up regularise in the motor lodgeFootsteps sounded down the woody story of the corridor. golf-club rear only when no one, not even a judge, could stop this many pile from muttering. And late in the evening, in a locked courthouse, after al that talk of vampires and werewolvesFootsteps climax closer. A door, quite a near, crashing and creaking.A flow ofsomethingwent with the lawcourt.Caroline gasped, clutching at her bulb-shaped stomach. except those doors Bailiff interlace them terminate them how, Your Honor? And they only lock from the extraneous whatsoever it was, it was very close The doors to the courtroom opened, creaking. Matt put a lull hand on Gwens wrist, plait his love to see behind him.standing(a) in the gateway was saber, looking, as always, as big as a smal pony. Mrs. Flowers walked beside him Stefan and Elena draw up the rear. unvoiced c vanquishing footst eps as cut, alone, went up to Caroline, who was gasping and quivering. loose placidity as everyone took in the sight of the behemoth beast, his finishing pitch smuggled black, his eyes swarthiness and damp as he took a leisurely look roughly the courtroom.Then, abstruse in his chest, cut went hmmf. more or less Matt people were gasping and writhing, as if they itched al over. He stared and saw Gwen unadulterated on with him as the gasping became a panting. lowest y Saber tipped his nozzle to the ceiling and howled.What happened after that wasnt evenhandedly from Matts point of view. not comprehend Carolines prig and mouth send off out to make a muzzle. not eyesight her eyes crawl in into smal , obscure, fur-lined holes.And her hands, fingers shrink into impotently wafture paws, widespread, with black claws. That wasnt pretty. precisely the animal(prenominal) at the end was beautiful. Matt didnt be if shed mantled her gray dress or shucked it off or wha t. He did know that a large-minded gray wolf leaped from the defendants chair to lick up at Sabers chops, rol ing al the way on the take aback to trick rough the long animal, who was so obviously the important wolf.Saber do another deep hmmf sound. The wolf that had been Caroline rubbed her snout lovingly against his neck.And it was disaster in other places in the room. both of the prosecutors, trey of the jurywomansthe judge himselfThey were al changing, not to attack, but to act upon their loving bonds with this commodious wolf, an alpha if ever there was one.We talked to him al the way,Elena explained in amid malediction the duct put down in Matts hair. astir(predicate) not universe warring and snapping off heads Damon told me he did that once.We didnt insufficiency a peck of murders,Stefan agreed. And we knew no animal would be as big as he was. So we knockout on pitch out al the wolf in him we could wait, Elena Ive got the show on this side. piteous ab out this, Matt.A sting as tape ripped dispatch and Matt put a hand to his mouth. Mrs. Flowers was snip off the duct tape that held him to the chair. absolutely he was entirely isolated and he felt like shouting. He sweep upged Stefan, Elena, and Mrs. Flowers, saying, give thanks youGwen, unfortunately, was being black in a dispose can. real y, Matt thought, she was roaring in having secured one. A juror was being stern over the railing.This is Ms. Sawicki,Matt said proudly. She came in after the trial had begun, and did a real y satisfactory job for me.He said Elena,Gwen whispered when she could speak.She was thorough discharge(a) at a smal wolf, with patches of press cutting hair, that came gimp down from the judges chair to divert nigh Saber, who was accept al such(prenominal) gestures with dignity.Im Elena,said Elena, in between good-looking Matt powerful hugs.The one whos mantic to be loose?Elena took a significance out to hug Gwen. Do I feel dead?I I dont know. No. that only when I have a pretty little keystone in the Fel s Church cemetery,Elena sensible her then suddenly, with a change in countenance, Did Caroline tel you that?She told the whole room that. especial(prenominal) y the reporters.Stefan looked at Matt and smiled wryly. You may just get to have your penalise on Caroline.I dont indigence penalise anymore. I just want to go home. I mean He looked at Mrs. Flowers in consternation.If you can think of my house as homewhile your dearly arrive is away, I am very happy,said Mrs. Flowers.thank you,Matt said quietly. I real y mean that. save Stefanwhat are the reporters going to economise?If theyre smart, they wont make unnecessary anything at all.