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Elena, sleeping serenely with one hand locked onto Stefan’s, knew she was having an extraordinary dream No, not a dream - an out-of-body experience But it wasn’t like her previous out-of-body visits to Stefan in his celShe was skih the air so quickly that she couldn’t real y make out as below her

She looked around and suddenly, to her astonishure appeared beside her

"Bonnie!"she said - or rather tried to say But of course there was no sound Bonnie looked like a transparent edition of herself As if solass, and then put in just the faintest tint of color in her hair and eyes

Elena tried telepathy Bonnie?

Elena! Oh, I miss you and Meredith so much! I’m stuck here in a hole -

A hole? Elena could hear the panic in her own telepathy It uess, but I’m locked in and they only feed me twice a day and take et there?

Well Bonnie hesitated I guess it was my own fault

It doesn’thave you been there, exactly?

Um, this is my second day I think

There was a pause Then Elena said, Well, a couple of days in a bad place can seem like forever

Bonnie tried to make her case clearer It’s just that I’m so bored and lonely Iof you and Meredith, too, Elena said

But Meredith’s there with you, isn’t she? Oh my God, she didn’t fall, too? Bonnie blurted

No, no! She didn’t fall Elena couldn’t decide whether to tel Bonnie about Meredith or not Maybe not just yet, she thought

She couldn’t see what she was rushing toward, although she could feel that they were slowing down Can you see anything?

Hey, yeah, below us! There’s a car! Should we go down?

Of course Can we hold hands?

They found that they couldn’t, but that just trying to kept theh the roof of a smal car

Hey! It’s Alaric! Bonnie said

Alaric Saltzed boyfriend He was about twenty-three now, and his sandy-blond hair and hazel eyes hadn’t changed since Elena had seen hioing for his doctorate

We’ve been trying to get hold of hies, Bonnie said

I know Maybe this is the e’re supposed to contact hiain?

Soet what it’s called, but look at the led as they did, their ghostly forh each other

Unmei no Shima: The Island of Doom, ritten at the top of an outline of an island The e red X on it with the caption: The Field of Punished Virgins

The what? Bonnie asked indignantly What’s thatAnd it’s raining

And this road is terrible

Bonnie dove outside Ooh, so weird The rain’s going right through me And I don’t think this is a road

Elena said, Come back in and look at this There aren’t any other cities on the island, just a naist

What’s a forensic pathologist?

I think, Elena said, that they investigateup dead people to find out why they died

Bonnie shuddered I don’t think I like this very e once, I think

There was ale Just a few ruins of wooden buildings that were obviously rotting, and soe building with an enorht yel ow tarp over it

When the car reached this building, Alaric skidded to a stop, grabbed the h the rain and et under cover Elena and Bonnie fol owed

He wasblack woman, whose hair was cut short and sleek around her elfin face

She was s with excitement and white, even teeth that made for a Hol ywood s awed

Meredith isn’t going to like this, Bonnie said

"Just Celia, please,"the wo his hand "Alaric Saltzman, I presume"

"Just Alaric, please - Celia"

Meredith real y isn’t going to like this, Elena said

"So you’re the spook investigator,"Celia was saying below them "Well, we need you This place has spooks - or did once I don’t know if they’re stil here or not"

"Sounds interesting"

"More like sad and morbid Sad and weird and morbid I’ve excavated al sorts of ruins, especial y those where there’s a chance of genocide And I’l tel you: This island is unlike any place I have ever seen,"Celia said

Alaric was already pul ing things from his case, a thick stack of papers, a smal camcorder, a notebook He turned on the cah the viewfinder, then propped it up with sorabbed the notebook too

Celia looked amused "How many ways do you need to take down information?"

Alaric tapped the side of his head and shook it sadly "As o"He looked around "You’re not the only one here, are you?"

"Except for the janitor and the guy who ferries me back to Hokkaido, yes It started out as a normal expedition - there were fourteen of us But one by one, the others have died or left I can’t even re-bury the speciirls - we’ve excavated"

"And the people who left or died from your expedition - "

"Well, at first people died Then that and the other spooky stuff htened for their lives"

Alaric frowned "Who died first?"

"Out of our expedition? Ronald ArgylPottery specialist He was exa two jars that were found - Well, I’l skip that story until later He fel off a ladder and broke his neck"

Alaric’s eyebroent up "That was spooky?"

"Frouy like him, who’s been in the business for almost twenty years - yes"

"Twenty years? Maybe a heart attack? And then off the ladder - booesture

"Maybe that’s the way it was You may be able to explain al our little mysteries for us"The chic woman with the short hair dimpled like a tomboy She was dressed like one too, Elena realized: Levi’s and a blue and white shirt with the sleeves rol ed up over a white caave a little start, as if he’d realized he was guilty of staring Bonnie and Elena looked at each other over his head

"But what happened to al the people who lived on the island in the first place? The ones who built the houses?"

"Well, there never were thatthe place may even have been named the Island of Doo But as far as I could find out it was a sort of war

- a civil war Between the children and the adults"