Vampire Diaries - The Awakening | Page 3

smiled at them, and took another breath, relief sweeping through her like sunlight. How could she
have been so silly? This was a beautiful day, full of promise, and nothing bad was going to happen.

Nothing bad was going to happen—except that she was going to be late getting to school. The whole
crowd would be waiting for her in the parking lot.
You could always tell everyone you stopped to throw stones at a Peeping Tom, she thought, and almost
giggled. Now, that would give them something to think about.
Without a backward glance at the quince tree, she began to walk as quickly as she could down the
street.

The crow crashed through the top of the massive oak, and Stefan's head jerked up reflexively. When he
saw it was only a bird, he relaxed.
His eyes dropped to the limp white form in his hands, and he felt his face twist in regret. He hadn't meant
to kill it. He would have hunted something larger than a rabbit if he'd known how hungry he was. But, of
course, that was the very thing that frightened him: never knowing how strong the hunger would be, or
what he might have to do to satisfy it. He was lucky that this time he'd killed only a rabbit.
He stood beneath the ancient oak trees, sunlight filtering down onto his curly hair. In jeans and T-shirt,
Stefan Salvatore looked exactly like a normal high school student.
He wasn't.
Deep in the woods, where no one would see him, he'd come to feed. Now he licked at his gums and lips
painstakingly, to make sure there was no stain on them. He didn't want to take any chances. This
masquerade was going to be hard enough to pull off as it was.
For a moment he wondered, again, if he should just give it all up. Perhaps he should go back to Italy,
back to his hiding place. What made him think that he could rejoin the world of daylight?
But he was tired of living in shadows. He was tired of the darkness, and of the things that lived in it. Most
of all, he was tired of being alone.
He wasn't sure why he'd chosen Fell's Church, Virginia. It was a young town, by his standards; the oldest
buildings had been put up only a century and a half ago. But memories and ghosts of the Civil War still
lived here, as real as the supermarkets and fast-food joints.
Stefan appreciated respect for the past. He thought he might come to like the people of Fell's Church.
And perhaps—just perhaps—he might find a place among them.
He'd never be accepted completely, of course. A bitter smile curved his lips at the idea. He knew better
than to hope for that. There would never be a place where he could belong completely, where he could
truly be himself.
Unless he chose to belong to the shadows…
He slapped the thought away. He'd renounced the darkness; he'd left the shadows behind him. He was
blotting all those long years out and starting afresh, today.
Stefan realized he was still holding the rabbit. Gently, he laid it down on the bed of brown oak leaves.
Far away, too far for human ears to pick up, he recognized the noises of a fox.
Come along, brother hunter, he thought sadly. Your breakfast is waiting.

As he slung his jacket over his shoulder, he noticed the crow that had disturbed him earlier. It was still
perched in the oak tree, and it seemed to be watching him. There was a wrongness about it.
He started to send a probing thought toward it, to examine the bird, and stopped himself. Remember
your promise, he thought. You don't use the Powers unless it is absolutely necessary. Not unless there is
no other choice.
Moving almost silently among the dead leaves and dry twigs, he made his way toward the edge of the
woods. His car was parked there. He glanced back, once, and saw that the crow had left the branches
and dropped down on the rabbit.
There was something sinister in the way it spread its wings over the limp white body, something sinister
and triumphant. Stefan's throat tightened, and he almost strode back to chase the bird away. Still, it had
as much right to eat as the fox did, he told himself.
As much right as he did.
If he encountered the bird again, he'd look into its mind, he decided. Just now, he tore his eyes from the
sight of it and hurried on through the woods, jaw set. He didn't want to be late arriving at Robert E. Lee
High School.
Chapter Two
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Elena was surrounded the instant she stepped into the high school parking lot. Everyone was there, the
whole crowd she hadn't seen since late June, plus four or five hangers-on who hoped to gain popularity
by association. One by one she accepted the welcoming hugs of her own group.
Caroline had grown at least an inch and was slinkier and