" 'Such a pretty girl'-but which?" said Mere-dith at last. "Sue or Elena?" Elena had actually spent a week or so in this very barn last winter-but Mrs. Flowers wasn't supposed to know that. "Did you say something to her about us?" Meredith asked Damon.
"Not a word." Damon seemed amused. "She's an old lady. She's batty."
"She's sharper than any of us gave her credit for," Matt said. "When I think of the days we spent watching her potter around that basement-do you think she knew we were watching?"
days we spent watching her potter around that basement-do you think she knew we were watching?"
"And grape juice, don't forget that." Matt grinned at Stefan. "Want some?" He proffered the leaky cup.
"Yeah, you can take your grape juice and..." But Stefan was almost smiling himself. For an instant Bonnie saw the two of them the way they used to be, before Elena had died. Friendly, warm, as comfortable together as she and Meredith were. A pang went through her.
But Elena isn't dead, she thought. She's more here than ever. She's directing everything we say and do.
Stefan had sobered again. "When Mrs. Flowers came in, I was about to say that we'd better get started. And I think we should start with Vickie."
"She won't see us," Meredith replied instantly. "Her parents are keeping everyone away."
"Then we'll just have to bypass her parents," Stefan said. "Are you coming with us, Damon?"
"A visit to yet another pretty girl? I wouldn't miss it."
Bonnie turned to Stefan in alarm, but he spoke reassuringly as he guided her out of the barn. "It'll be all right. I'll keep an eye on him."
Bonnie hoped so.
Vickie's house was on a corner, and they approached it from the side street. By now the sky was filled with heavy purple clouds. The light had an almost underwater quality.
"Looks like it's going to storm," Matt said.
Bonnie glanced at Damon. Neither he nor Stefan liked bright light. And she could feel the Power emanating from him, like a low thrum just under the surface of his skin. He smiled without looking at her and said, "How about snow in June?" Bonnie clamped down on a shiver.
She had looked Damon's way once or twice in the barn and found him listening to the story with an air of detached indifference. Unlike Stefan, his expression hadn't changed in the slightest when she mentioned Elena-or when she told about Sue's death. What did he really feel for Elena? He'd called up a snowstorm once and left her to freeze in it. What was he feeling now? Did he even care about catching the murderer?
"That's Vickie's bedroom," said Meredith. "The bay window in the back."
Stefan looked at Damon. "How many people in the house?"
"Two. Man and woman. The woman's drunk."
Poor Mrs. Bennett, thought Bonnie.
"I need them both asleep," Stefan said.
In spite of herself, Bonnie was fascinated by the surge of Power she felt from Damon. Her psychic abilities had never been strong enough to sense its raw essence before, but now they were. Now she could feel it as clearly as she could see the fading violet light or smell the honeysuckle outside Vickie's window.
Damon shrugged. "They're asleep."
Stefan tapped lightly on the glass.
There was no response, or at least none Bonnie could see. But Stefan and Damon looked at each other.
"She's half tranced already," Damon said.
"She's scared. I'll do it; she knows me," said Stefan. He put his fingertips on the window. "Vickie, it's Stefan Salvatore," he said. "I'm here to help you. Come let me in."
His voice was quiet, nothing that should have been heard on the other side of the glass. But after a moment the curtains stirred and a face appeared.
Bonnie gasped aloud.