The Hunters: Phantom Chapter 33

come apart Elena screamed. Stefan Stop it Youl kil himEven as she verbalize it, she significantized that kil ing Damon powerfulness be exactly what Stefans idea was here. Stefan tore at Damon with his teeth and hands, nonee pummeling him, still ripping feral y, with fangs and claws. Stefan, his embody in a vicious primal crouch, his canines extended, his await distorted by a snarl of animal fury, had neer looked more than than than like a bloodthirsty vampire.And shadower Elena as she watched them, that seductive, chil ing piece went on, tel ing Stefan that he would lose boththing, except like he always lost everything. That Damon as well ask everything from him and then tossed it c arlessly, cruel y aside, because Damon simply wanted to ruin some(prenominal) Stefan had.Elena turned and, too affright by what Stefan was doing to Damon to conduct each venerate left of the phantasm, slammed it with her fists. After a compensatet, matting and bonnie joined h er.As extinct front, mostly their hands still slid by the phantasmas mist. The tinctures tit was solid, though, and Elena focused her fierceness on that, hitting against the sticky ice there with as frequently power as she could.Beneath the ice of the creatures chest, a rose blazeed a rich dark red. It was a beautiful flower, neertheless deadly looking, its twine re principaling her of poisoned blood. Its thorny stem seemed swol en, thicker than a blueprint flowers. As Elena st bed at it, the glow deepened and the flowers petals open up further, swel ing to ful bloom. Is that her boldness?Elena wondered. Is Stefans prehensiley nourishing it? She smashed her fist against the vestiges chest again, right above the rose, and the phantasma glanced at her for a moment.Stop it, Elena state fiercely. Leave Stefan alone.The vestige was real y looking at her promptly, and its no, her grimace widened, her glasslike teeth sharp and shiny chthonicneath her misty lips. In the fixed depths of her look, Elena thought she caught a chil y just genuine twinkle, and Elenas own heart froze. therefore the tail turned her attention sustain toward Stefan and Damon, and, although Elena would never soak up believed it possible, things got worse.Damon, utter the trace throatily, and Damon, whod been limp and exhausted, eyes clenched shut, passive under Stefans assault, guarding his face yet non trash keep going, opened his eyes.Damon, she said again, her eyes glittering. What right does Stefan declare to attack you? Whatever you tried to accommodate from him, you were just trashing against the fact that he got everything your fathers sock, the girls you wanted and you had nonhing at al . Hes a sanctimonious brat, a selfloathing weakling, except he gets everything.Damons eyes widened as if in recognition at hearing his own deepest miseries shared, and his face twisted with emotion. Stefan was stil clawing and biting at him, hardly he fel back a little as Damon snapped into action, grabbing him by the arm and wrenching it. Elena winced with horror as she heard the crunch of something oh, God something in Stefans arm or elevate breaking. Undaunted, Stefan barely grimaced and then threw himself at Damon again, the hurt arm dangling awkwardly. Damon was stronger, Elena numbly celebrated, but exhausted surely he wouldnt be able to hold his advantage for long. For now they seemed fairly unconstipatedly matched. They were both furious, both holding with no reservations. A bestial, nasty snarl came from one of them, shaky, vicious gag from the new(prenominal)wise, and Elena realized with horror that she had no idea which sound was coming from who.The phantasma hissed with enjoyment. Elena flinched by from her and, turn up of the corner of her eye, saying becoming and Matt rate back, too.Dont break the lines Alaric sh let outed from the other side of where were they now, anyway? Oh, Mrs. Flowerss garage the garage. He sounded desperate, and Elena wondered if he had been shouting for a while. There had been some background noise going on, but there hadnt been a moment to listen to it. Elena averageMatt Dont break the lines he shouted again. You can get out, but tone over the lines careful yElena glanced down. An elaborate pattern of lines in different colors was chalked beneath their feet, and she, comme il faut, Matt, and the darkness were al together in a smal circle in the innermost center of this pattern. clean was the origin one to clearly realize what Alaric was saying. Come on, she muttered, yanking at Elenas and Matts arms. Then she picked her way, daintily but pronto, crossways the radix, away from the apparition and toward their friends. Matt fol owed her. He had to disruption on one foot in a smal section and fall upon with his other foot, and there was a moment when he wobbled, one stoolie approximately blurring a blue line of chalk. barely he caught his co unterweight and continued on.It took Elena, stil mostly focused on the desperately grappling figures of Damon and Stefan, a few seconds longer to realize she expected to move as wel . She was almost too late. As she poised herself to egress that starting time step out of the inner circle, the phantom turned its glassy eyes upon her.Elena fled, jumping quickly out of the circle and just barely managing to kick herself from skidding across the diagram. The phantom took a swipe at her, but its hand stopped before crossing above a chalk line, and it growled in frustration.Alaric shakily pushed his tousle hair out of his eyes. I wasnt sure whether that would hold her, he leadted, but it seems like its working. Now, careful y, Elena, watching where you step, make your way over here. Matt and Bonnie had already reached the wal of the garage, at a distance from where Stefan and Damon were locked in booking, and Meredith had clothed her arms somewhat them, her dark head buried in Mat ts shoulder, Bonnie nestled against her side, her eyes as round as a frightened kittens. Elena looked down at the complicated pattern drawn on the floor and started moving careful y between the lines, heading not for her other friends but for the two struggling vampires.Elena No This way cal ed Alaric, but Elena ignored him. She had to get to Damon and Stefan.Please, she said, half(a) sobbing, as she reached them,Damon, Stefan, you have to stop. The phantoms doing this to you. You dont real y want to hurt each other. Its not you. Please.Neither of them paid any attention to her. She wasnt unconstipated sure whether they could hear her. They were almost motionless now, their muscles overrefinement in each others grip as each tried to simultaneously attack and fend off the other. Slowly, as Elena watched, Damon began to overcome Stefan, gradual y pushing his arms aside, leaning in toward his throat, gabardine teeth flashing.Damon No Elena screamed. She stretched out to grab his ar m, to pul him off Stefan. Without even looking at her, he casual y, viciously shoved her aside, sending her flying.She landed hard on her back and slid across the floor, and it hurt, the impact jolting her teeth together, banging her head against the cement, light shocks of injure flaring behind her eyes. As she started to get up again, she saw with dismay Damon push through the last of Stefans defenses and sink his fangs into his younger brothers neck.No she screamed again. Damon, noElena, be careful, Alaric shouted. Youre in the diagram. Please, whatever you do, dont break any more lines.Elena looked virtually. Her landing had sent her skidding through several of the chalk hybridizations, which were now smeared al somewhat her, smudges of color. She stiffened in terror and suppressed a whimper. Was it loose now? Had she set it free?Steeling herself, she turned toward the innermost circle. The phantom was notioning around itself with its long arms, patting up and down against some c formerlyaled wal bordering the circle that unbroken it contained. As Elena watched, its mouth thinned with effort and it brought its hands together in one spot and pushed.The air in the room rippled. scarcely the phantom did not manage to break through the circle, and after a moment it stopped pushing and hissed in disappointment.Then its eyes fel on Elena, and it smiled again.Oh, Elena, it said, its voice soft with false compassion.The pretty girl, the one everyone wants, the one the boys al fight over. Its so very hard existence you. The voice twisted, its tone changing to bitter mockery. But theyre not real y echoing of you, are they? The two you want, youre not the girl for them. You roll in the hay why they are attracted to you. Katherine. continuously Katherine. They want you because you look like her, but youre not her. The girl they drive in so long ago was soft and fresh and gentle. An innocent, a victim, a foil for their fantasies. Youre nothing like her. Theyl find that out, you know. Once your mortal grade changes and it wil . Theyl be the same forever, but youre changing and getting older every day in a few years youl look frequently older than they do then theyl realize youre not the one they love at al . Youre not Katherine, and you never wil be.Elenas eyes stung. Katherine was a monster, she applaud out through her teeth.She became a monster. She started out as a sweet young girl, the phantom corrected her. Damon and Stefan pulverizeed her. Like theyl destroy you. Youl never lead a normal manners. Youre not like Meredith or Bonnie or Celia. Theyl have chances at normalcy when theyre ready, despite the way youve dragged them into your battles. But you, youl never be normal. And you know whos to blame for that, dont you?Elena, without thinking, looked at Damon and Stefan, just as Stefan managed to shove Damon away from him. Damon staggered backward, toward the group of humans huddling by the wal of the garage. Blood was d ischarge from his mouth and mensesing down Stefans neck from a terrible gash.Theyve doomed you, just like they doomed the one they really love, the phantom said softly.Elena pushed herself to her feet, her heart pounding hard, heavy with misery and anger.Elena, stop cal ed a powerful contralto voice, fil ed with such authority that Elena turned away from Damon and Stefan and, blinking as though shed been woken from a dream, looked out of the diagram toward the others. Mrs. Flowers stood at the spring of the chalk lines, hands on her hips, feet planted firmly. Her lips were a straight off angry line, but her eyes were clear and thoughtful. She met Elenas paying attention, and Elena felt calmed and strengthened. Then Mrs. Flowers looked around at the others gathered beside her.We must perform the throw outing spel now, she declared. Before the phantom manages to destroy us al . Elena Can you hear me?A surge of draw a bead on running through her, Elena nodded and moved back to joi n the others.Mrs. Flowers brought her hands sharply together, and the air rippled again. The phantoms voice broke off and it shrieked in fury, shoving at the air around it, its hands meeting resistance sooner, its invisible prison smal er. Meredith felt urgently around on the high shelf near the garage door, her hands ghost and rejecting various objects. Where had Mrs. Flowers put the wicks?Paintbrushes, no. Flashlights, no. Ancient can of bug spray, no. Bag of potting soil, no. Some weird metal thing that she couldnt figure out from touching what it might be, no. Bag of candles. Yes.Ive got it, she said, pul ing it off the shelf and dumping in all likelihood a decades worth of dust from the shelf onto her own head. Urgh, she sputtered.It was a mark of the seriousness of the situation, Meredith thought, that Bonnie and Elena both looked at her, head and shoulders coated in thick dust and spiderwebs, and neither giggled nor moved to brush her off. They al had more important thing s to worry about than a little dirt. Okay, she said. First off, we need to figure out what color candle Damon would be. Mrs. Flowers had pointed out that Damon was clearly a victim of the graspingy phantom as wel , and so would have to bundle part in the banishment ritual for it to work ful y.Looking at the two vampire brothers stil attempting to tear each other apart, Meredith bad doubted whether Damon would be participating. Stefan either, for that matter. They were solely focused on inflicting as much damage as possible on each other. Stil , they would have to get the two vampires back to make the spel work. Somehow.Meredith found herself cool y wondering whether, if both Damon and Stefan died, they could safely be counted out of the ritual. Would the rest of them be able to defeat the phantom then? And if they didnt murder each other, but simply continued to fight, endangering them al , would she be able to kil them? She shoved the thought away. Stefan was her friend.And then she determinedly made herself moot kil ing him again. This was her duty. That was more important than friendship it had to be.Yes, she could kil them today, even in the next few minutes, if it was necessary, she realized. She would regret it forever if she had to, but she could.Besides, a part of her mind noted clinical y, if things went on as they were now, Damon and Stefan would kil each other, and save her that burden.Elena had been thinking hard or maybe zoning out, focused on what the greedyy phantom had said to her, Meredith wasnt sure and now she intercommunicate. Red, she said. Is there a red candle for Damon?There was a dark red candle, and also a dark one. Meredith pul ed both out and showed them to Elena.Red, said Elena.For blood? asked Meredith, eyeing the fighters, now only about ten feet away. God, they were both just covered with blood now. As she watched, Damon growled like an animal and banged Stefans head repeatedly against the wal of the garage. Meredith wi nced at the hol ow sound of Stefans skul slamming against the woods and plaster of the wal . Damon had one hand around Stefans neck, the other ripping at Stefans chest as if Damon wanted to gouge out his heart.A soft, contraband voice was stil coming from the phantom. Meredith couldnt make out what it was saying, but its eyes were on the brothers, and it was smiling as it intercommunicate. It looked satisfied.For passion, said Elena, and snatched the candle out of Merediths hands and marched over, erectly and head high like a soldiers, to the line of candles Alaric was relighting at the edge of the diagram. Meredith stared after her as Elena lit the candle and dripped a puddle of hot wax to stand it upon.Stefan forced Damon backward, closer to the others and their line of candles. Damons boots scraped against the floor as he strained against Stefan.Okay, Alaric said, looking at the candlesapprehensively, then down at the book. Each of us wil declare the desirousies inside ours elves the weaknesses that the phantom is able to break away on and invent them out. If we real y mean it, if we manage, at least(prenominal) for the moment, to truly and sincerely run out our green-eyed monster, our candles wil go out and the phantom wil be weakened. The trick is to real y be able to banish the jealousies from our hearts and stop feeding the phantom, and if we al can do it at once, the phantom ought to disappear, or maybe even die.What if we cant? What if we try to cast out jealousy, but it doesnt go completely away? Bonnie asked, her forehead crinkling with worry.Then it doesnt work and the phantom stays, said Alaric flatly. Who wants to go first?Stefan slammed Damon down viciously onto the cement floor, a howl of anger coming from him. They were only a few feet from the line of candles, and Alaric stepped between them and the row of tiny flames, trying to shield the candles with his body. Celia shuddered as Stefan gave a low, furious growl and lowered his head to burn up at Damons shoulder. Jealousy kept up a steady stream of venomous chatter, her eyes gleaming.Mrs. Flowers clapped her hands to get everyone elses attention, her face stern and encouraging. Children, you wil al have to be honest and brave, she said. You must al truly admit to your worst selves in front of your friends, which wil be hard. And then you wil need to be strong enough to cast these worst selves of yours away, which may be even harder. But you love one another, and I promise we wil get through it.A thump and a muffled shout of rage and pain came from a few feet away, and Alaric glanced nervously over his shoulder at the battle behind him.Time is of the essence, Mrs. Flowers said briskly. Who wil go first?Meredith was about to step forward, clutching her stave for comfort, when Bonnie spoke up.I wil , she said falteringly. Um. Ive been jealous of Meredith and of Elena. I always She swal owed, and then spoke more firmly. I sometimes feel like Im only a sidekic k when Im around them. Theyre braver than me, and theyre better fighters, and smarter and prettier, and and taller than I am. Im jealous because I feel like people dont respect me as much as they do them and dont real y take me seriously like they do Elena and Meredith. Im jealous because sometimes Im standing in their shadows, which are pretty big shadows metaphorical y speaking, I mean. And Im also jealous because Ive never even had a real boyfriend, and Meredith has Alaric, and Elena has Stefan, and because Elena also has Damon, who I think is pretty amazing, but who would never notice me when Im standing next to Elena, because shes al he can see.Bonnie paused again, and glanced at Elena, her eyes wide and shining. But I love Elena and Meredith. I know I need to stop comparing myself to them. Im not just a sidekick Im useful and talented, too. And she spoke the words Alaric had given them al I have feed the phantom of jealousy. But now I cast my jealousy away.In the semicircl e of candles, the flame of Bonnies pink one flickered and went out. Bonnie gave a little buckle and smiled, half-shamefaced, half-proud, at Meredith and Elena. From inside the diagram, the phantom of jealousy snapped its head around and glared at Bonnie. Bonnie Meredith started to say, wanting to tel her friend that of course she wasnt a sidekick. Didnt Bonnie know how amazing she was?But then Elena stepped toward the candles and shook back her hair, head high. Ive been jealous of other people in Fel s Church, she declared. I saw how prospering it was for other couples to be together, and after al Stefan and I and Damon, and the rest of my friends have been through, and even after we saved Fel s Church and made it normal again, everything just kept on being so hard and so weird and supernatural. I guess Ive been realizing that things arent ever going to be just easy and normal for me, and thats been tough to accept. When I watched other people and was jealous of them, I cater t he phantom of jealousy. I cast that jealousy away.Elena smiled a little. It was a strange, rueful sort of smile, and Meredith, watching her, thought that, while Elena had cast out her jealousy, she was stil haunted by regret for the easy, golden life shed once had ahead of her and that had probably been taken away forever now.The candle was stil burning. Elena hesitated. Meredith fol owed her gaze past the line of candles to where Stefan and Damon struggled. As they watched, Damon heaved and rol ed Stefan under him, leaving a long streak of blood across the floor of the garage. Stefans foot fleecy the red candle at the end of the line, and Alaric leaped to steady it.And Ive been jealous of Katherine, Elena said. Damon and Stefan love her first, and she knew them before so much happened to change them, to warp them out of who they ought to be. And even though I realize that they both know Im not Katherine and that they love me for who I am, I havent been able to forget that they not iced me at first because I look like her. I have provide the phantom of jealousy because of Katherine, and I cast that jealousy away.The candle flame flickered, but did not go out. Jealousy smirked triumphantly, but then Elena went on. Ive also been jealous of Bonnie. Bonnies head shot up, and she stared at Elena with an expression of disbelief. I was used to being the only human Damon cared about, the only one who he would want to save. She looked at Bonnie with tear-fil ed eyes. I am so, so glad that Bonnie is alive. But I was jealous that Damon cared enough to die for her. When I was jealous of Bonnie, I fed the phantom of jealousy. But now I cast my jealousy away.The golden candle went out. Elena looked almost timidly at Bonnie, and Bonnie smiled at her, an open, loving smile, and held out her arms. Elena hugged her tightly. Other than the grief she felt over Elenas parents deaths, Meredith had never felt sorry for Elena. Why would she?Elena was beautiful, smart, a leader, pass ionately loved but now Meredith couldnt help but feel a suffering of sympathy for her. Sometimes it must be easier to live an everyday life than to be a heroine.Meredith glanced at the phantom. It seemed to be simmering and was now whol y focused on the humans. Alaric stepped around the candles toward the others, glancing back toward Damon and Stefan. Damon had pinned Stefan painful y against the wal behind Alaric. Stefans face was twisted in a grimace, and they could hear the scrape of his body against the hard surface. But at least Stefan and Damon werent endangering the candles for now.Meredith turned her attention to her boyfriend. What could Alaric be jealous of? If anything, hed been the focus of jealousy the last week or so.He reached for Meredith and took one of her hands. Ive been jealous, Alaric said, looking into her eyes. Of you, Meredith. And of your friends.Meredith reflexively arched a brow at him. What did he mean?God. He half laughed. Here I am, a alumnus student in parapsychology. Ive been dying my whole life to prove to myself that theres something more going on in the world than what everybody knows, that some of the things we think of as supernatural are real. And then I come to this smal town in Virginia because there are rumors, rumors I dont real y believe, that there might be vampires here, and when I get here I find this amazing, beautiful, self-confident girl, and it turns out she comes from a family that hunts vampires. And her friends are vampires and witches and psychics and girls who come back from the dead to fight evil. They only just finished high school, but theyve seen things Ive never imagined. Theyve disappointed monsters, and saved towns, and traveled to other dimensions. And, you know, Im just this ordinary guy, and suddenly half the people I know and the girl I love are practical y superheroes. He shook his head, looking at Meredith admiringly. Ive fed the phantom of jealousy. But now I cast my jealousy away. Il j ust have to deal with being the boyfriend of a superhero. Instantly, the dark potassium candle went out.Sealed in the inner circle, the phantom hissed and paced back and forth in the smal space like a confine tigress. It looked angry, but not noticeably weaker.Celia spoke next. Her face was tired but calm. Ive fed the phantom of jealousy, she proclaimed. Ive been jealous of Meredith Suarez. She didnt say why. But now I see that its pointless. Ive fed the phantom of jealousy, but now I cast my jealousy away.She spoke as if she were dropping something into the trash. But stil the pale purple candle went out. Meredith opened her mouth to speak she was clear on what she needed to say, and it wouldnt be too hard, because shed won, hadnt she? If it had ever been a battle anywhere besides her own mind but Matt cleared his throat and spoke first.I have He stumbled over his words. I guess no, I know Ive fed the phantom of jealousy. I have always been crazy about Elena Gilbert, as long as Ive know her. And Ive been jealous of Stefan. Al along. Even now, when Jealousys got him trapped in this bloody battle, because he has Elena. She loves him, not me. But, wel , it doesnt matter Ive also known for a long time that Elena and I together dont work, not for her, and thats not Stefans fault. Ive fed the phantom of jealousy, but now I cast my jealousy away. He blushed and careful y did not look at Elena. The white candle went out, sending a long trail of smoke toward the ceiling. leash candles left, Meredith thought, looking at the last steady flames. Stefans dark green, Damons red, and her own brown. Was the phantom any weaker? From its invisible cage, the Phantom growled. If anything, it seemed to have made the space around itself bigger again, and it was once again pushing at it, seemingly sprightliness for a weak spot.Meredith knew she had to keep the confessions going.Ive fed the phantom of jealousy, she said in a strong, clear voice. I was jealous of Dr. Celia Conno r. I love Alaric, but I know Im much younger than he is, not even in col ege yet, and Ive never real y been anywhere or seen anything of the world the human world, at least outside of where I grew up. Celia shares so much with him experiences, education, interests and I knew he liked her a lot. And shes beautiful and real y smart and poised. I was jealous because I was afraid she would take him from me. But if she had been able to take him, that would mean he wasnt mine to keep. You cant abstract a person. She smiled hesitantly at Celia, and after a moment, Celia smiled slightly in return. I cast Watch out Alaric shouted. Damon Stefan StopMeredith looked up. Damon and Stefan were staggering across the floor of the garage, past the line of candles, past Alaric, who grabbed at them. They broke out of his hold effortlessly without seeming to even notice his touch, shoving against each other desperately, struggling fiercely. Oblivious to anything but their battle, they were gettin g closer and closer to the phantom.No shouted Elena.Damon shoved Stefan backward, and the heel of Stefans boot scraped across the chalk outlining the smal circle that contained the phantom scraped across the chalk line and smudged it, and the circle was no longer complete.With a howl of triumph, the phantom was free.