vampire diaries the return midnight

L. J. Smith

The Vampire Diaries

The Return: Vol. 3 Midnight



For Anne, the animal-whisperer
With thanks to the real Princess Jessalyn, and to Louise Beaudry for her help
with French translations.



Contents


1

Elena Gilbert put down the pen reluctantly. Shutting her diary�

2

Elena couldn�t have been out for more than a few�

3

Damon leaped. Somewhere in the middle of the leap Elena�

4

�First,� Meredith asked, �is Damon right? If you go back�

5

�I thought you wanted to get out so we could�

6

Bonnie couldn�t get to sleep after Damon�s words to her.

7

Bonnie was in her new first-floor bedroom, and was feeling�

8

Damon nodded thoughtfully, glancing back and forth between the fighting�

9

Damon dropped his hand. He simply couldn�t make himself do�

10

Damon was making his way up the beautiful rose-covered trellis�


11

When M. le Princess Jessalyn D�Aubigne had drunk her fill of�

12

�Stefan. Stefan!� Elena had been too nervous to stay out�

13

Elena, sleeping serenely with one hand locked onto Stefan�s, knew�

14

The next morning Elena noticed that Meredith still looked pale�

15

Bonnie woke slowly, coming up from some dark place.

16

�Once upon a time,� began Bonnie, �there were a young�

17

Meredith and Matt were sitting at the breakfast table, which�

18

After breakfast Matt went online to find two stores, neither�

19

Bonnie decided, with seconds precious and seeming to stretch for�

20

Meredith usually found her parents funny and silly and dear.

21

Someone was still knocking on Stefan�s door.


22

�Mama said not in Fell�s Church,� Mrs. Flowers repeated to Stefan.

23

In the car, Matt sat by the sleeping Meredith with�

24

Stefan woke early. He spent the time from dawn until�

25

�Sleeping in the storage room with every wall covered in�

26

�Now you know how it�s done?� Elena asked Meredith. �You�

27

Stefan whirled around and saw Bonnie, with only a towel�

28

Elena was nodding slowly. �It would work with what happened�

29

�Oi!� Damon shouted from outside the palanquin. �Is anybody else�

30

�Strip to your underwear and get in on the other�

31

Elena woke up feeling stiff and cramped. But that wasn�t�

32

�Damon doesn�t mean to be such a�a bastard,� Bonnie said�


33

Elena was waiting for the fog to disperse. It had�

34

�You�ve been fed and taken care of as best as�

35

Elena felt as if she had been doing nothing in�

36

Matt broke a lot of traffic rules on the way�

37

Then Meredith saw something that was not smoke or fire.

38

Damon had stopped and was kneeling behind an enormous broken�

39

Elena clutched the child to her. Damon had understood, even�

40

But after an endless time in the soft, kind darkness,�

41

Stefan didn�t move or speak for long moments. Elena�s heart�

42

�It�s not a problem,� the fair ruler, Ryannen, said unexpectedly.

43

�Elena?� Stefan said quietly. �Could you ask me to come�


44
On the smallest moon of the Nether World fine ash�

About the Author
Other Books by L. J. Smith
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher


1


�Dear Diary,
I�m so frightened I can hardly hold this pen. I�m printing rather than writing in
cursive, because that way I have more control.

What am I terrified of, you ask? And when I say �of Damon� you don�t believe the answer, not if you�d seen the two of us a few days ago. But to understand, you have to know a few facts.

Have you ever heard the phrase �All bets are off�?

It means that anything, anything, can happen. So that even somebody who figures out odds and takes bets from people gives them back their money. Because a wild card has entered the situation. You can�t even figure the odds to take a bet.

That�s where I am. That�s why my heart is pounding in my throat and head and ears and fingertips in fear.

All bets are off.

You can see how shaky even my printing is. Suppose my hands shake like this when I go in to see him? I might drop the tray. I might annoy Damon. And then anything might happen.

I�m not explaining this right. What I should be saying is that we�re back: Damon and Meredith and Bonnie and me. We went to the Dark Dimension and now we�re home again, with a star ball�and Stefan.

Stefan was tricked into going there by Shinichi and Misao, the brother and sister kitsune, or evil fox-spirits, who told him that if he went to the Dark Dimension he could get the curse of being a vampire removed and become human again.

They lied.

All they did was leave him in a stinking prison, with no food, no light, no

warmth�until he was at the point of death.

But Damon�who was so different back then�agreed to lead us to try to find him. And, oh, I can�t even begin to describe the Dark Dimension itself. But the important thing is that we finally found Stefan, and that by then we�d found the Twin Fox key we needed to release him. But�he was a skeleton, poor boy. We carried him out of the prison on his pallet, which later Matt burned; it was so infested with creepy-crawlies. But that night we gave him a bath