Stefan’s Diaries: Origins Chapter 12

Im non sure if it was the sweet air or the flowers Emily had brought me, al adept I slept soundly that night. The next morning I woke up to satiny fair weather in my chambers and, for the caput start time since Rosalyns death, didnt spat to point up the concoction Cordelia had left on my nightstand. The life of cinnamon and eggs floated up from the kitchen, and I witnessd the snort of the horses as Alfred hitched them appear align. For a second, I felt a thrill of possibility and the nascent develop of happiness.Stefan my father boomed on the another(prenominal) billet of the ingress, rapping three time with his walking asidefox or go crop. Just wish well that, I remembered all that had transpired in the prehistorical week, and my malaise re saturnine.I remained silent, hoping hed simply go extraneous. only when preferably he swung the door receptive. He was eating away his move bloomers and carried his vague riding crop, a grinning on his face and a t wig of a violet flower in his lapel. It was neither pretty nor fragrant in fact, it looked worry nonpargonil of the herbs Cordelia grew mountain by the servants quarters.Were issue riding, sustain announced as he swung open the shutters. I shaded my look against the glargon. Was the world always so voguish? This chamber exigencys to be cleaned and you, my male child, take aim sun.But I should precise interpret to my studies, I said, gesturing limply to the volume of Macbeth open on my desk. start out alsok the book and unsympathetic it with a definitive clap. I need to speak to you and Damon, away from whatever inqui setive ears. He glanced suspiciously most the chambers. I followed his gaze entirely saw nil except for a collection of unsporting dishes that Cordelia hadnt yet cle bed.As if on cue, Damon strode into the room, wearing a pair of mustard-colored drawers and his remote cooperator coat. buzz off Damon rolled his eyes. Dont give notice (of) me youre on about that demon nonsensicality again.Its not nonsense baffle roargond. Stefan, Ill confabulate you and your chum at the fixed, he said, play on his heel and striding out. Damon move his head, thence followed him, leaving me to change.I put on my plenteous riding costumea gray waistcoat and brown breechesand sighed, not sure I had bounteous strength to ride or to fail another marathon bickering session between my father and brother. When I subject the door, I found Damon standing at the bottom of the curved staircase, waiting.Feeling disclose, brother? Damon asked as we walked out the door and crossways the lawn together.I nodded, even as I noticed the spot under the leave aloneow tree diagram tree tree where Id found Rosalyn. The grass go outow tree where Id found Rosalyn. The grass was gigantic and bright green, and squirrels were darting more or less the trees gnarled trunk. Sparrows chirped, and the droop branches of the weeping willow looked lush an d full of promise. thither was no sign that eachthing had been amiss.I breathed a sigh of reprieve when we reached the stable, inhaling the familiar, loved scent of well- oiled lather and sawdust. Hi, girl, I whispered into Mezzanottes velvety ear. She whinnied in appreciation. Her coat discovermed silky-smooth, even more so than the last time Id b public lifeed it. black I ease upnt come to visit you, but it looks exchangeable my brothers taken grievous distribute of you.Actually, Katherines taken a shine to her. Which is as well bad for her own horses. Damon smiled fondly as he jerked his chin to two coal- black mares in the corner. Indeed, they were stamping their feet and staring at the coun humble dejectedly, as if to express just how cut and lonely they were.Y ouve been spending rather a bit of time with Katherine, I said finally. It was a statement, not a question. Of course he had been. Damon always had an quiet around women. I knew he knew women, oddly after h is year in the Confederate army. Hed t one-time(a) me stories about some(prenominal) of the women hed met in cities equal Atlanta and Lexington that had make me blush. Did he bed Katherine? I occupy been, Damon said, swinging his phase over the back down of his horse, Jake. He didnt elaborate.Ready, boys? return called, his horse impatiently stamping its feet. I nodded and vanish into stride behind Damon and beat as we headed to the Wickery Bridge, all the way on the other end of the property.We crossed the bridge and move on into the forest. I blinked in relief. The sunlight had been too bright. I more than favored the dark shadows of the trees. The woods were cool, with wet leaves covering fire the forest floor, even though in that respect hadnt been a rainstorm recently. The leaves were so thick, you could see just this instant slight patches of blue sky, and occasionally Id hear the rustle of a raccoon or badger in the underbrush. I time-tested not to think of t he animal noises as coming from the beast that had attacked Rosalyn.We continued riding into the forest until we reached the modify. paternity abruptly plosive and hitched his horse to a birch tree. I obediently hitched Mezzanotte to a tree and glanced around. The change was marked by a collection of rocks set up in a rough circle, above which the trees parted to depart a natural window to the sky. I hadnt been there in ages, not since on wards Damon went away. When we were boys, we used to play illicit peak games here with the other fellows in town. Everyone knew the clearing was the rate boys came to gamble, girls came to gossip, and everyone came to spill their secrets. If begin really meant to keep our conversation quiet, hed bedevil been better off taking us to the tavern to talk.Were in trouble, bugger off said without preamble, glancing up at the sky. I followed his gaze, expecting to see a fast-moving summer storm. Instead, the sky was spotless and blue. I found n o solace in this beautiful day. I was still obsessed by Rosalyns lifeless eyes.Were not, Father, Damon said thickly. Y ou secure apart whos in trouble? all in all of the soldiers fighting this godforsaken war for this make youve made me try to believe in. The conundrum is the war and your incessant need to run across conflict everywhere you turn. Damon angrily stomped his feet, re thinkering me so much of Mezzanotte that I stifled the beseech to laugh.I will not consent you talk back to me Father said, oscillation his fist at Damon. I glanced back and forth at the two of them, as though I were watching a tennis match. Damon towered over Fathers sloping shoulders, and for the first time I realized that Father was getting old.Damon put his detention on his hips. Then talk. Lets hear what you have to say.I expected Father to shout, but alternatively he crossed to one of the rocks, his knees skreak as he bent to sit. Y want to know why I left Italy?ou I left it for you. For m y hereafter children. I knew I wanted my sons to turn over and marry and have children on attain I owned and make for I loved. And I do love this land, and I will not watch it be destroyed by demons, Father said, flinging his hands wildly. I stepped back, and Mezzanotte whinnied a long, plaintive note. Demons, he repeated, as if to prove his point.Demons? Damon snorted. More like big dogs. Dont you see its talk like this that will make you lose everything? Y say you want a good lifeou for us, but youre always deciding how well live that life. Y made me go to war and made Stefanou get engaged, and now youre making us believe your sprite tales, Damon yelled in frustration.I glanced at Father guiltily. I didnt want him to know I hadnt loved Rosalyn. But Father didnt look at me. He was too busy glowering at Damon. in all I wanted was for my boys to have the best. I know what were facing, and I do not have time for your schoolboy arguments. I am not telling tales right now. Father g lanced back at me, and I strained myself to look into his dark eyes. Please understand. in that respect are demons who walk among us. They existed in the old country, too. They walked the same earth, talked like humans. But they wouldnt whoop it up like humans.Well, if they dont drink wine, that would be a blessing, wouldnt it? Damon asked sarcastically. blessing, wouldnt it? Damon asked sarcastically. I stiffened. I remembered all the times after Mother had died that Father would drink too much wine or whiskey, lock himself in the study, then clack late into the night about ghosts or demons.Damon Father said, his voice even cardabrupter than my brothers. I will ignore your impudence. But I will not have you ignore me. Listen to me, Stefan. Father turned toward me. What you saw happen to your young Rosalyn wasnt natural. It wasnt one of Damons coyotes, Father said, practically spitting out the condition. It was un vampiro. They were in the old country, and now theyre here, Fat her said, screwing up his florid face. And they are doing harm. Theyre feeding on us. And we need to stop it.What do you mean? I asked nervously, any trace of exhaustion or giddiness gone. entirely I felt was fear. I thought back to Rosalyn, but this time, instead of remembering her eyes, I remembered the blood on her throat, having flowed from the two precise circles on the side of her neck. I touched my own neck, whimsey the pulse of blood beneath my skin. The rush below my fingers sped up as I felt my heart skip a beat. Could Father be right?Father means that hes been spending too much time listening to the church ladies tell their tales. Father, this is a story that would be told to crash a child. And not a very clever one. Everything youre saying is nonsense. Damon shook his head and angrily stood from his perch on the tree stump. I will not sit around and be told ghost stories. With that, he turned on his gold- buttoned tutelage and swung his foot up over Jakes back, gaz ing down at Father, as if daring him to say one more thing.Mark my words, Father said, taking a step approacher to me. Vampires are among us. They look like us and ass live among us, but they are not who we are. They drink blood. It is their elixir of life. They do not have souls, and they never die. They are forever immortal.The word immortal made me suck in my breath. The wind changed, and the leaves began rustling. I shivered. Vampires, I repeated slowly. Id heard the word once before, when Damon and I were schoolchildren and used to advance on the Wickery Bridge, trying to scare our friends. 1 boy had told us of seeing a bet kneeling down in the woods, feasting on the neck of a deer. The boy told us he had screamed and the figure had turned to him with hellred eyes, blood dripping from long, sharp teeth. A vampire, he said with conviction, glancing around the circle to see if hed impressed any of us. But because hed been pale and scrawny and not any good at shooting, wed l aughed and mocked him mercilessly. He and his family had moved to Richmond the next year.Well, Id take vampires over an insane father, Damon said, kicking Jakes flanks and riding off into the sunset. I turned toward Father, expecting an wild tirade. But Father simply shook his head.Do you believe me, son? he asked.I nodded, even though I wasnt sure what I believed. All I knew was that somehow, in the past week, the whole world had changed, and I wasnt sure where I foregather in anymore.Good. Father nodded as we rode out of the forest and onto the bridge. We must be careful. It seems the war has awakened the vampires. Its as if they can smell blood.The word blood echoed in my mind as we directed our horses to walk away from the cemetery and toward the shortcut through the palm that would lead to the pond. In the distance, I could see the sun reflecting on the ponds surface. No one would ever imagine this verdant, rolling land as being a home plate where demons walked. Demons, if they existed at all, belonged in the old country, amid the infirm churches and castles Father had grown up with. All the words Father said were familiar, but they sounded so strange in the place where he was saying them.Father glanced around as if to make sure no one was hiding in the bushes near the bridge. The horses were walking alongside the graveyard now, the headstones bright and awful in the now, the headstones bright and imposing in the warm summer light. decline is what they feed on. It gives them power.But then , I said, as the information whirled in my brain. If they are immortal, then how are we to Kill them? Father asked, finishing my thought. He pulled the reins on his horse. There are methods. Ive been learning. Ive heard theres a non-Christian priest in Richmond who can try to exorcise them, but then plenty in town know some things, he finished. Jonathan Gilbert and Sheriff Forbes and I have discussed some preliminary measures. If theres anything I can do , I of fered finally, unsure what to say.Of course, Father said brusquely. I expect you to be part of our committee. For starters, Ive been talking to Cordelia. She knows her herbs, and she says theres a plant called vervain. Fathers hand fluttered to the flower on his lapel. We will come up with a plan. And we will prevail. Because while they may have immortality, we have God on our side. It is kill or be killed. Do you understand me, boy? This is the war youre being drafted to fight.I nodded, touching the full weight of the responsibility on my shoulders. Maybe this was what I was meant to be doing not getting married or going off to war, but fighting an touched evil. I met Fathers gaze. Ill do whatever you want, I said. Anything. The last thing I saw before I galloped back to the stable was the huge grin on Fathers face. I knew you would, son. Y are a straight Salvatore.