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Thursday, March 14, 2019

The Hunters: Moonsong Chapter One

Dear Diary,Im so scared.My core is pounding, my mouth is dry, and my hands are shaking. Ive faced so practically and survived vampires, werewolves, phantoms. Things I neer imagined were real. And now Im terrified.Why?Simply because Im leaving planetary house.And I tell apart that its completely, insanely ridiculous. Im barely leaving home, re on the wholey. Im passing play to cracklege, still a some hours drive from this darling house where Ive lived since I was a baby.No, Im not outlet to start crying again. Ill be sharing a room with returnly and Meredith, my two best fri block ups in the whole world. In the resembling dorm, only a couple of floors away result be my beloved Stefan. My different best friend, Matt, will be just a short strait across campus. Even Damon will be in an apartment in the township nearby.Honestly, I couldnt stick any c hurtr to home unless I never moved out of this house at all. Im being much(prenominal) a wimp. But it seems similar I ju st got my home lynchpin my family, my life after(prenominal) being exiled for so long, and now I perfectly arrive to leave again.I suppose Im scared partly because these hold water fewer weeks of summer live with been wonderful. We packed all the en rapturement we would have been having these past few months if it hadnt been for fighting the kitsune, traveling to the Dark Dimension, battling the jealousy phantom, and all the otherwise Extremely not Fun things weve done into three lustrous weeks. We had picnics and sleepovers and went swimming and shopping. We took a trip to the county fair, where Matt won Bonnie a stuffed tiger and turned bright red when she squealed and leaped into his arms. Stefan even caressed me on the straighten out of the Ferris wheel, just ilk any normal guy might kiss his girlfriend on a beautiful summer night.We were so happy. So normal in a way I sentiment we could never be again.Thats whats frightening me, I guess. Im scared that these f ew weeks have been a bright granden interlude and that now that things are changing, well be header congest into darkness and horror. Its like that poem we read in incline class last fall says Nothing gold can stay. Not for me.Even DamonThe clatter of feet in the hal way downstairs distracted her, and Elena Gilberts save slowed. She glanced up at the last couple of boxes scattered around her room. Stefan and Damon essential be here to pick her up.But she requireed to finish her thought, to have a bun in the oven the last worry that had been nagging at her during these perfect weeks. She turned back to her diary, writing faster so that she could get her thoughts down out front she had to leave.Damon has changed. ever since we defeated the jealousy phantom, hes been kinder. Not just to me, not just to Bonnie, who hes ever more had a soft spot for, yet even to Matt and Meredith. He can still be intensely irritating and unpredictable he wouldnt be Damon without that but h e hasnt had that cruel edge to him. Not like he used to.He and Stefan seem to have come to an understanding. They populate I love them both, and yet they havent let jealousy come betwixt them.Theyre close, acting like true brothers in a way I havent seen before. Theres this delicate balance between the three of us thats lasted through the end of the summer. And I worry that any misstep on my part will bring it crashing down and that like their first love, Katherine, Ill tear the brothers apart. And then well lose Damon forever.aunt Judith cal ed up, sounding impatient, ElenaComing Elena replied. She quickly scribbled a few more sentences in her diary.Still, its possible that this new life will be wonderful. maybe Ill find everything Ive been looking for. I cant hold on to proud school, or to my life here at home, forever. And who chouses? Maybe this time the gold will stay.Elena Your ride is waiting aunty Judith was definitely getting disquieted out now.Shed wanted to drive El ena up to school herself. But Elena knew she wouldnt be able to say good-bye to her family without crying, so shed asked Stefan and Damon to drive her up instead. It would be less embarrassing to get emotional here at home than to weep al over Dalcrests campus. Since Elena had decided to go up with the Salvatore brothers, auntie Judith had been working herself up about every exact detail, anxious that Elenas col ege career wouldnt start off perfectly without her there to supervise. It was al because Aunt Judith loved her, Elena knew.Elena slammed the blue-velvet-covered journal shut and dropped it into an open box. She climbed to her feet and headed for the door, but before she opened it, she turned to look at her room one last time.It was so empty, with her favorite posters missing from the wal s and half the books kaput(p) from her bookcase. Only a few clothes remained in her dresser and closet. The furniture was al stil in place. But now that the room was stripped of most of her possessions, it felt more like an impersonal hotel room than the cozy haven of her childhood.So much had happened here. Elena could remember cuddling up with her father on the window cornerstone to read together when she was a curt girl. She and Bonnie and Meredith and Caroline, who had been her good friend, too, at once had spent at least a hundred nights here tel ing secrets, studying, stuffing for dances, and just hanging out. Stefan had kissed her here, early in the morning, and disappeared quickly when Aunt Judith came to stir up her.Elena remembered Damons cruel, triumphant smile as she invited him in that first time, what felt like a mil ion years ago. And, not so long ago, her joy when he had appeared here one dark night, after they al thought he was dead.There was a quiet knock at the door, and it swung open.Stefan stood in the doorway, watching her.About ready? he said. Your aunt is a little worried.She thinks youre not qualifying to have time to unpack before taste if we dont get going. Elena stood and went over to wrap her arms around him. He smel ed clean and woodsy, and she nestled her head against his shoulder. Im coming, she said. Its just hard to say good-bye, you pick out? Everythings changing. Stefan turned toward her and caught her mouth softly in a kiss. I roll in the hay, he said when the kiss ended, and ran his finger gently along the curve of her place lip. Il take these boxes down and give you one more minute. Aunt Judith wil recover better if she sees the motortruck getting packed up.Okay. Il be right down.Stefan left over(p) the room with the boxes, and Elena sighed, looking around again. The blue flowered curtains her mother had make for her when Elena was nine stil hung over the windows. Elena remembered her mother squashging her, her look a little teary, when her baby girl told her she was too big for Winnie the Pooh curtains.Elenas own eyes fil ed with tears, and she tucked her hair behind her ears, mirroring the gesture her mother had used when she was thinking hard. Elena was so young when her parents died. Maybe if theyd lived, she and her mother would be friends now, would know all(prenominal) other as equals, not just as mother and daughter.Her parents had gone to Dalcrest Col ege, too. Thats where theyd met, in fact. Downstairs on top of the piano sit down a picture of them in their graduation robes on the sun-fil ed lawn in front of the Dalcrest library, laughing, impossibly young.Maybe going to Dalcrest would bring Elena closer to them. Maybe shed learn more about the people theyd been, not just the mom and dad shed known when she was little, and find her lost family among the neoclassical buildings and the sweeping immature lawns of the col ege.She wasnt leaving, not real y. She was moving forward.Elena set her jaw unwaveringly and headed out of her room, clicking off the light as she went.Downstairs, Aunt Judith, her husband, Robert, and Elenas five-year-old sister, Margar et, were gathered in the hal , waiting, watching Elena as she came down the stairs.Aunt Judith was fussing, of course. She couldnt keep stil her hands were convoluted together, smoothing her hair, or fiddling with her earrings. Elena, she said, are you sure youve packed everything you need? Theres so much to remember. She frowned.Her aunts obvious anxiety made it easier for Elena to smile reassuringly and hug her. Aunt Judith held her tight, relaxing for a moment, and sniffed. Im going to miss you, sweetheart.Il miss you, too, Elena said, and squeezed Aunt Judith closer, feeling her own lips tremble. She gave a shaky laugh. But Il be back. If I forgot anything, or if I get homesick, Il run right back for a weekend. I dont have to wait for Thanksgiving.Next to them, Robert shifted from one foot to the other and cleared his throat. Elena let go of Aunt Judith and turned to him.Now, I know col ege students have a lot of expenses, he said. And we dont want you to have to worry about m oney, so youve got an account at the student store, but He opened his wal et and handed Elena a fistful of bil s. Just in case.Oh, said Elena, touched and a little flustered. Thank you so much, Robert, but you real y dont have to. He patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. We want you to have everything you need, he said firmly. Elena smiled at him grateful y, folded the money, and put it in her pocket.Next to Robert, Margaret glared down obstinately at her shoes. Elena knelt before her and took her little sisters hands. Margaret? she prompted. cosmic blue eyes stared into her own. Margaret frowned and shook her head, her mouth a tight line.Im going to miss you so much, Meggie, Elena said, pul ing her close, her eyes fil ing with tears again. Her little sisters dandelion-soft hair fleecy against Elenas cheek.But Il be back for Thanksgiving, and maybe you can come lambast me on campus. Id love to show off my little sister to al my new friends.Margaret swal owed. I dont want you to go , she said in a smal grim voice. Youre always leaving.Oh, sweetie, Elena said helplessly, cuddling her sister closer. I always come back, dont I? Elena shivered. Once again, she wondered how much Margaret remembered of what had really happened in Fel s church service over the last year. The Guardians had promised to change everyones memories of those dark months when vampires, werewolves, and kitsune had nearly destroyed the town and when Elena herself had died and risen again but there seemed to be exceptions.Caleb Smal wood remembered, and sometimes Margarets innocent face looked strangely knowing.Elena, Aunt Judith said again, her voice slurred and weepy, youd better get going.Elena hugged her sister one more time before letting her go. Okay, she said, standing and picking up her bag.Il cal you tonight and let you know how Im settling in. Aunt Judith nodded, and Elena gave her another quick kiss before wiping her eyes and opening the front door.Outside, the sunlight was so b right she had to blink.Damon and Stefan were leaning against the truck Stefan had rented, her stuff packed into the back. As she stepped forward, they both glanced up and, at the same time, smiled at her.Oh. They were so beautiful, the two of them, that seeing them could stil leave her shaken after al this time. Stefan, her love Stefan, his leaf-green eyes shining at the sight of her, was beautiful with his classical profile and that sweet little kissable curve to his bottom lip.And Damon al luminescent pale skin, black velvety eyes, and silken hair was beautiful and deadly al at once.Damons bril iant smile made something inside her deprave and purr like a panther recognizing its mate.Both pairs of eyes watched her lovingly, possessively.The Salvatore brothers were hers now. What was she going to do about it? The thought made her frown and made her shoulders do it nervously. Then she consciously smoothed the wrinkles in her forehead away, relaxed, and smiled back at them. What would come, would come.Time to go, she said, and tilted her face up toward the sun.

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