A Visitor's Guide to Mystic Falls - By Red Page 0,26
piles of books. Wuthering Heights fell off the table and bounced off her toe. “Ouch!” She glared at the offending paperback, 6882 Visitor's Guide to Mystic Falls[FIN].indd 69
8/27/10 10:36 AM
70
• A V i s i t o r ’ s G u i d e t o M y s t i c F a l l s •
then picked it up, looking thoughtful. “We could prove Damon is a Gothic hero, via Heathcliff, instead. Then I could write about how hot Damon is.” She flipped through the pages. “I mean he’d be just as yummy prowling the moors as he is in a black leather jacket. And both of them have a thing for Katherines.” She narrowed her eyes accusingly at Lizzie’s binder. “Are you doodling ve rvain?”
“Yeah, so?”
“Yeah so, that’s the plant that trapped Damon!”
“Well, it’s not like it gives Stefan the warm and fuzzies either.”
“Excuse me, but Stefan locked Damon in a room full of this stuff. That’s it. Team Heathcliff is so going to kick your ass. Team Darcy’s going down.”
“I think Jane Austen would disagree.”
“Wanna bet?”
“What do you mean?” Lizzie asked.
“I mean, we go to the source. It’s midnight, after all. All the best witchcraft happens at midnight. So I say we summon Jane Austen and Emily Brontë and let them decide: Romantic hero or Gothic hero.”
“Okay. But when I win, you have to admit Stefan’s just as cute as Damon.”
Cat winced. “Fine.”
“I’m going to want that in writing.”
“Just turn off the lights,” Cat grumbled. “And pause the TV
on that scene with shirtless Damon. I need some inspiration.”
They sat in the mostly dark room and stared at each other.
“Now what?” Lizzie asked.
6882 Visitor's Guide to Mystic Falls[FIN].indd 70
8/27/10 10:36 AM
• I n W h i c h O u r I n t r e p i d H e r o i n e s D i s c u s s t h e M e r i t s . . . •
71
“I don’t know,” Cat admitted. “We need a candle. There’s always candles with this stuff. And a grimoire. And we should hold hands. Bonnie and her grandmother held hands when they opened the tomb, remember?”
“Yeah and Bonnie’s grandmother died after the spell,” Lizzie pointed out. “If you kill us, I’m going to be so pissed at you.”
She pulled a box of matches out of the bottom drawer of the cabinet and lit the candle on the coffee table. When the wick flared, she placed it on the ground between them.
They held hands and stared at the candle so hard Lizzie’s eyes teared.
Nothing else happened.
She placed her copies of Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice on either side of the candle. “Bonnie’s grandmother said lots of things fuel a witch’s power, like worry or anger. So maybe if we concentrate on the books and think really hard about getting an A we can use that to fuel the spell.”
“I’d rather use lust.” Cat flicked a glance at the television screen.
“Concentrate.”
They stared at the candle again.
“Shouldn’t we chant?” Cat asked.
Lizzie nodded. “Jane Austen, Jane Austen, Jane Austen.”
Cat joined in. “Emily Brontë. I feel like an idiot. Emily Brontë, Emily Brontë.”
The door from the back garden creaked open.
Two women joined Lizzie and Cat. One of them wore a black dress with white petticoats dragging dead leaves. The candle flickered.
6882 Visitor's Guide to Mystic Falls[FIN].indd 71
8/27/10 10:36 AM
72
• A V i s i t o r ’ s G u i d e t o M y s t i c F a l l s •
Cat gaped. “Is that . . . Emily Brontë?”
Emily Brontë’s companion was wearing a flower-trimmed bonnet. There were ink stains on her fingers.
“And Jane Austen,” Lizzie choked. “Either the spell worked or we’re having a joint English Lit hallucination.”
“Can I count that as homework?” Cat fixed her hair. “If Damon shows up I’m going to freak right out. Now that’s a hallucination worth having.” She reached for her phone.
“And I’m so taking a picture of him.” She leaned over with such enthusiasm to see if he might be following the dead women up the path that she nearly fell over.
“Excuse me,” Emily Brontë said. “We are not entirely certain why we are here.”
“You’re here to get me an A for my English Lit paper,” Cat said. “Could you come to school with me tomorrow?”
“It’s not show-and-tell,” Lizzie said before smiling at the dead women. “We summoned you,” she explained.
“We are aware,” Miss Jane replied.
“Oh. Right. Okay.” Lizzie sounded