Something kept tugging at the edges of her attention, though, sharpening her appetite. Without conscious intent, she licked her lips. That salty, metallic smell… there was something about it more delicious than the roasted chicken her mother made, sweeter than fresh-baked apple pie. So familiar, somehow, and yet she couldn’t quite place it.
Meredith’s mouth was watering hungrily when something suddenly shifted in her jaw. In surprise, her hands flew to her mouth.
Her jaw moved again. Tentatively, she touched her lips. They were so sensitive, she winced at the pain-pleasure when her careful fingers met her teeth. More cautiously, she touched again.
Her canines were long and sharp. Fangs.
The rushing, thudding sound, the smell of salt and something else—copper—was almost overwhelming. With each thud, her stomach ached and her teeth ached.
It was Alaric. She was hearing Alaric’s heart beating. She was smelling Alaric’s blood.
Horrified, Meredith scrambled out of bed. She stared down at Alaric below her, so peaceful and oblivious.
Jack had done it. He’d turned her into a vampire.
And she was famished.
Chapter 2
Dear Diary,
I’ve lost everything. I’ve lost myself.
I don’t know who I am without Stefan.
For days now, I haven’t been able to write in here. I felt like, if I wrote down everything that’s happened, it would make it real.
But it is real, whether I write it down or not.
Stefan is dead.
Elena pulled her hands away from her laptop as if it had burned her, then pressed her fingers tightly against her mouth. Stefan was dead. Her eyes filled with hot tears, and she roughly wiped them away. All she’d done lately was cry, and it wasn’t making anything better.
It seems like the earth should have stopped turning. If Stefan is dead, the sun shouldn’t rise in the morning. But time passes and every day, there’s a new day. Except it means nothing to me, because Stefan is still dead.
We all trusted Jack. He and Stefan hunted side by side, tracking down one of the Old ones, Solomon. But while we were all celebrating Solomon’s defeat, feeling happy and safe at last, Jack plunged his stave through Stefan’s heart. Jack killed him.
Elena stopped typing again and rested her head in her hands, remembering. Stefan’s eyes had met Elena’s, and he’d given her a soft smile. She’d known that they were both thinking the same thing: Now that the Old Ones are gone, our real life together can begin.
It had all happened so fast. Elena had seen that something was wrong, but before she could shout a warning, Jack had thrust his stave through Stefan’s heart. She’d been too late.
The smile had faded from Stefan’s face as his eyes widened. For just a moment, he’d looked innocently surprised, and then Stefan had simply gone blank. His eyes—those leaf-green eyes that had looked at her with such love—lost focus. His body crumpled to the floor, but Stefan was already gone.
It was true that Jack was hunting the Old Ones, just as we were. But he didn’t want to make the world safer. Jack had created a new kind of vampire through drugs and surgeries instead of blood and magic. The vampires Jack made are terrifying: immune to sunlight and vervain and, according to Damon, impossible to kill by any of the usual methods.
Jack didn’t want any competition for his lab-created race of vampires. So he set out to eliminate the most dangerous vampires, the oldest ones. Not just the ancient Old Ones, but also the clever, long-lived vampires who have lasted a few centuries. Vampires like Katherine and Damon. Like Stefan.
Jack used us all—my Guardian Power, Stefan and Meredith’s fighting ability, Bonnie’s magic—as weapons against Solomon. The Old One was too well hidden for Jack to find on his own. But once Solomon was dead, Stefan was just another obstacle in Jack’s way.
We don’t know where Jack is now, or what he’s planning next. The hunters who traveled with him—Trinity, Darlene, and Alex—were as fooled by him as we were. They’ve left town, trying to track Jack. But they haven’t got a clue where he might be.
Elena swallowed hard and wiped her eyes again with the sleeve of her bathrobe.
Meredith and Damon don’t think Jack’s really gone at all. A few days ago, Meredith fought one of his strange synthetic vampires. The vampire escaped, and Meredith barely survived. Is Jack continuing his experiments here in Dalcrest?
I should care. I should want vengeance. But instead, I’m numb.
Without Stefan, it’s like I’m dead, too.