vampire diaries Shadow Souls | Page 2

disappeared will be the most precious thing I have left. The day before…Stefan got tricked into going away,
thinking he could become an ordinary human being. And now…
“How can I stop thinking about what They might be doing to him, at this very second—
whoever ‘They’ are? Probably the kitsune, the evil fox spirits
at the prison called the Shi no Shi.”
Elena paused to wipe her nose on her nightgown sleeve.
“How did I ever get myself into this situation?” She shook her head, hit the seatback with
her clenched fist.
“Maybe if I could figure that out, I could come up with Plan A. I always have a Plan A.
And my friends always have a Plan B and C to help me.”
Elena blinked hard, thinking of Bonnie and Meredith. “But now I’m frightened that I’l l
never see them again. And I’m scared for the entire town of Fell’s

Church.”For a moment she sat with her clenched fist on her knee. A small voice inside
her was saying, “So stop whining, Elena, and think. Think. Start
from the beginning.”
The beginning? What was the beginning? Stefan?
No, she had lived in Fell’s Church long before Stefan came. Slowly, almost dreamily, she spoke into her mobile. “In the first place: who am I? I’m
Elena Gilbert, age eighteen.” Even more slowly, she said, “I
…don’t think it’s vain to say that I’m beautiful. If I didn’t know I was, I’d have to have
never looked in a mirror or heard a compliment. It’s not something I
should be proud of—it’s just something that was passed down from Mom and Dad.
“What do I look like? I have blond hair that falls in sort of waves past my shoulders and
blue eyes that some people have said are like lapis lazuli: dark blue with splashes of gold.” She gave a half-choked laugh. “Maybe that’s why
vampires like me.”
Then her lips tightened and, staring into the utter blackness around her, she spoke
seriously.
“A lot of boys have called me the most angelic girl in the world. And I playe d around
with them. I just used them—for popularity, for amusement, for
whatever. I’m being honest, all right? I considered them to be toys or tro phies.” She
paused. “But there was something else. Something that I knew all my
life was coming—but I didn’t know what. I felt as if I were searching f or something that I
could never find with boys. None of my scheming or playing around
with them ever touched my…deepest heart…until one very special boy came along. ” She
stopped and swallowed and said it again. “One very special
boy. “His name was Stefan.
“And he turned out not to be what he looked like, a normal—but gorgeous—high school
senior with rumpled dark hair and eyes as green as
emeralds.
“Stefan Salvatore turned out to be a vampire.
“A real vampire.”
Elena had to pause to take a few choked breaths before she could get the next w ords out.
“And so did his gorgeous older brother, Damon.”
She bit her lips, and it seemed a long time later that she added, “Would I have l oved
Stefan if I’d known he was a vampire from the beginning?
Yes! Yes! Yes! I’d have fallen in love with him no matter what! But it changed things—
and it changed me.” Elena’s finger traced a pattern on her nightgown
by touch alone. “You see, vampires show love by exchanging blood. The problem was…that I was sharing blood with Damon, too. Not really by choice, but
because he was after me constantly, day and night.” She let out a sigh. “What Damon says is that he wants to make me a vampire and his
Princess of the Night. What that translates into is: he wants
me all to himself. But I wouldn’t trust Damon on anything unless he gave his word.
That’s one quirk he has, he never breaks his word.”
Elena could feel an odd smile curling her lips, but she was speaking calmly now, f luently,
the mobile almost forgotten.

“A girl involved with two vampires…well, there’s bound to be trouble, isn’t there? So
maybe I deserved what I got.
“I died.
“Not just ‘died’ like when your heart stops and they resuscitate you and y ou come back
talking about almost going into the Light. I went into the
Light.
“I died .
“And when I came back—what a surprise! I was a vampire.
“Damon was…kind to me, I suppose, when I first woke up as a vampire. Maybe that ’s
the reason I still