A few steps further on, Bonnie stopped being so angry.
She was too scared; the fear was pushing the anger out of her. She should have headed back to the dorm when Meredith and Elena did, but she’d assured them, gaily, that Zander would walk her back. How could he have just left her? She wrapped her arms around herself tightly and went as fast as she could without actual y running, her stupid high-heeled going-out-dancing shoes pinching and making the bal s of her feet ache.
It was real y late; most of the other people who lived on campus must be tucked into their beds by now. The silence was unsettling.
When the footsteps began behind her, it was even worse.
She wasn’t sure she was real y hearing them at first.
Gradual y, she became aware of a faint, quick padding in the distance, someone moving lightly and fast. She paused and listened, and the footsteps grew louder and faster stil .
Someone was running toward her.
Bonnie sped up, stumbling over her feet in her haste.
Her shoes skidded on a loose stone in the path and she fel , catching herself on her hands and one knee. The impact stung sharply enough to bring tears to her eyes, but she kicked off her shoes, not caring that she was leaving them behind. She scrambled up and ran faster.
The footsteps of her pursuer were louder now, starting to catch up. Their rhythm was strange: loud periodic footfal s with quicker, lighter beats in between. Bonnie realized with horror that there was more than one person chasing her.
Her foot skidded again, and she barely caught her balance, staggering sideways a few steps to keep from fal ing, losing more ground.
A heavy hand fel on Bonnie’s shoulder, and she screamed and whipped around, her fists raised in a desperate bid to defend herself.
“Bonnie!” Meredith gasped, clutching Bonnie’s shoulders. “What are you doing out here by yourself?” Samantha came up beside them, carrying Bonnie’s shoes, and doubled over, panting for breath.
“You are way too fast for me, Meredith,” she said.
Bonnie swal owed a sob of relief. Now that she was safe, she felt like sitting down and having hysterics. “You scared me,” she said.
Meredith looked furious. “Remember how we promised to stick together?” Meredith’s gray eyes were stormy. “You were supposed to stay with Zander until you got home safely.”
Bonnie, about to respond heatedly that it hadn’t been her choice to be out here alone, suddenly closed her mouth and nodded.
If Meredith knew that Zander had left Bonnie out here by herself, she would never, never forgive him. And Bonnie was mad at Zander for leaving her, but she wasn’t quite that mad, not mad enough to turn Meredith against him. Maybe he had an explanation. And she stil wanted that kiss.
“I’m sorry,” Bonnie said abjectly, staring down at her feet. “You’re right, I should have known better.” Mol ified, Meredith swung an arm over Bonnie’s shoulders. Samantha silently handed Bonnie her shoes, and Bonnie pul ed them back on. “Let’s walk Samantha back to her dorm, and then we’l go home together,” she said forgivingly. “You’l be okay with us.” Around the corner from her room, Elena sagged and leaned against the hal way wal for a moment. It had been a long, long night. There had been drinks, and dancing with the huge shaggy-haired Spencer who, as Samantha had warned her, did try to pick Elena up and swing her around.
Things got loud and aggravating, and the whole time, her heart hurt. She wasn’t sure she wanted to navigate the world without Stefan. It’s just for now, she told herself, straightening up and plodding around the corner.
“Hel o, princess,” said Damon. Elena stiffened in shock.
Lounging on the floor in front of her door, Damon somehow managed to look sleek and perfectly poised in what would have been an awkward position for anyone else. As she recovered from the shock of his being there at al , Elena was surprised by the burst of joy that rose up in her chest at the sight of him.
Trying to ignore that happy little hop inside her, she said flatly, “I told you I didn’t want to see you for a while, Damon.” Damon shrugged and rose graceful y to his feet.
“Darling, I’m not here to plead for your hand.” His eyes lingered on her mouth for a moment, but then he went on in a dry and detached tone. “I’m just checking in on you and the little redbird, making sure you haven’t disappeared with whatever’s gone sour on this campus.”
“We’re fine,” Elena said shortly. “Here I am, and Bonnie’s new boyfriend is walking her home.”
“New boyfriend?” Damon asked, raising one eyebrow.
He’d always had—something—some connection with Bonnie, Elena knew, and she guessed his ego might not be thril ed to have her moving past the little crush she’d focused on him. “And how did you get home?” Damon asked acidly. “I notice you haven’t picked up a new boyfriend to protect you. Not yet, anyway.” Elena flushed and bit her lip but refused to rise to the bait. “Meredith just left to patrol around campus. I notice you didn’t ask about her. Don’t you want to make sure she’s safe?”
Damon snorted. “I pity any ghoul that goes after that one,” he said, sounding more admiring than anything else.
“Can I come in? Note that I’m being courteous again, waiting for you out here in this dingy hal way instead of comfortably on your bed.”
“You can come in for a minute,” Elena said grudgingly, and opened her bag to rummage for her keys.
Oh. She felt a sudden pang of heartache. At the top of her bag, rather crushed and wilted now, was the daisy she’d found outside her door at the beginning of the evening. She touched it gently, reluctant to push it aside in the hunt for her keys.
“A daisy,” said Damon dryly. “Very sweet. You don’t seem to be taking much care of it, though.” Purposely ignoring him, Elena grabbed her keys and snapped the bag shut. “So you think the disappearances and attacks are because of ghouls? Do you mean something supernatural?” she asked, unlocking the door.
“What did you find out, Damon?”
Shrugging, Damon fol owed her into the room.
“Nothing,” he answered grimly. “But I certainly don’t think the missing kids just freaked out and went home or to Daytona Beach or something. I think you need to be careful.” Elena sat down on her bed, drew her knees up, and rested her chin on them. “Have you used your Power to try to figure out what’s going on?” she asked. “Meredith said she would ask you.”
Damon sat down next to her and sighed. “Beloved, as little as I like to admit it, even my Power has limits,” he said.
“If someone is much stronger than me, like Klaus was, he can hide himself. If someone is much weaker, he doesn’t usual y make enough of an impression for me to find him unless I already know who he is. And for some ridiculous reason”—he scowled—“I can never sense werewolves at al .”
“So you can’t help?” Elena said, dismayed.
“Oh, I didn’t say that,” Damon said. He touched a loose strand of Elena’s golden hair with one long finger. “Pretty,” he said absently. “I like your hair pul ed back like this.” She twitched away from him, and he dropped his hand. “I’m looking into it,” he went on, his eyes gleaming. “I haven’t had a good hunt in far too long.”
Elena wasn’t sure that she ought to find this comforting, but she did, in a kind of scary way. “You’l be relentless, then?” she asked, a little chil going through her, and he nodded, his long black lashes half veiling his eyes.
She was so sleepy and felt happier now that she’d seen Damon, although she knew she shouldn’t have let him in.
She missed him, too. “You had better go,” she said, yawning. “Let me know what you find out.” Damon stood, hesitating by the end of her bed. “I don’t like leaving you alone here,” he said. “Not with everything that’s been happening. Where are those friends of yours?”