it too. "They're coming to the boardinghouse,"she said, puzzled.
"It's so early,"Meredith said. "Which means - "
"It has to be the police after Matt,"Stefan finished. "I'd better go in and wake him up. I'l put him in the root cel ar."
Elena quickly corked the star bal with its meager ounces of fluid. "He can take this with him,"she was beginning, when Meredith suddenly ran to the opposite side of the Gate. She picked up a long, slender object that Elena couldn't recognize, even with Power channeled to her eyes. She saw Stefan blink and stare at it.
"This needs to go in the root cel ar too,"Meredith said. "And there are probably earth tracks coming out of the cel ar, and blood in the kitchen. Two places."
"Blood?"Elena began, furious with Damon, but then she shook her head and refocused. In the light of dawn, she could see a police car, cruising like some great white shark toward the house.
"Let's go,"Elena said. "Go, go, go!"
They al dashed back to the boardinghouse, crouching to stay low to the ground as they did it. As they went, Elena hissed, "Stefan, you've got to Influence them if you can.
Meredith, you try to clean up the soil and blood. I'l get Matt; he's less likely to punch me when I tel him he has to hide."
They hastened to their appointed duties. In the middle of it al , Mrs. Flowers appeared, dressed in a flannel nightgown with a fuzzy pink robe over it, and slippers with bunny heads on them. As the first hammering knock on the door sounded, she had her hand on the door handle, and the police officer, who was beginning to shout, "POLICE! OPEN THE - "found himself bawling this directly over the head of a little old lady who could not have looked more frail or harmless. He ended almost in a whisper, " - door?"
"It is open,"Mrs. Flowers said sweetly. She opened it to its widest, so that Elena could see two officers, and the officers could see Elena, Stefan, and Meredith, al of whom had just arrived from the kitchen area.
"We want to speak to Matt Honeycutt,"the female officer said.
Elena noted that the squad car was from the Ridgemont Sheriff's Department. "His mother informed us that he was here - after serious questioning."
They were coming inside, shouldering their way past Mrs.
Flowers. Elena glanced at Stefan, who was pale, with tiny beads of sweat visible on his forehead. He was looking intently at the female officer, but she just kept talking.
"His mother says he's been virtual y living at this boardinghouse recently,"she said, while the male officer held up some kind of paperwork.
"We have a warrant to search the premises,"he said flatly.
Mrs. Flowers seemed uncertain. She glanced back toward Stefan, but then let her gaze move on to the other teenagers.
"Perhaps it would be best if I made everyone a nice cup of tea?"
Stefan was stil looking at the woman, his face looking paler and more drawn than ever. Elena felt a sudden panic clutch at her stomach. Oh, God, even with the gift of her blood tonight, Stefan was weak - far too weak to even use Influence.
"May I ask a question?"Meredith said in her low, calm voice.
"Not about the warrant,"she added, waving the paper away.
"How is it out there in Fel 's Church? Do you know what's going on?"
She was buying time, Elena thought, and yet everyone stopped to hear the answer.
"Mayhem,"the female sheriff replied after a moment's pause.
"It's like a war zone out there. Worse than that because it's the kids who are - "She broke off and shook her head.
"That's not our business. Our business is finding a fugitive from justice. But first, as we were driving toward your hotel we saw a very bright column of light. It wasn't from a helicopter. I don't suppose you know anything about what it was?"
Just a door through space and time, Elena was thinking, as Meredith answered, stil calmly, "Maybe a power transmitter blowing up? Or a freak shaft of lightning? Or are you talking about...a UFO?"She lowered her already soft voice.
"We don't have time for this,"the male sheriff said, looking disgusted. "We're here to find this Honeycutt man."
"You're welcome to look,"Mrs. Flowers said. They were already doing so.
Elena felt shocked and nauseated on two fronts. "This Honeycutt man."Man, not boy. Matt was over eighteen. Was he stil a juvenile? If not, what would they do to him when they eventual y caught up to him?
And then there was