Page 1 (1/2)

"Are you having a good time?" Elena asked

I am nowStefan didn’t say it, but Elena knehat he was thinking She could see it in the way he stared at her She had never been so sure of her power Except that actually he didn’t look as if he were having a good time; he looked stricken, in pain, as if he couldn’t take oneup, a slow dance He was still staring at her, drinking her in Those green eyes darkening, going black with desire She had the sudden feeling that hea word

"Would you like to dance?" she said softly I’ I don’t understand, she thought suddenly And in that instant she realized that she was frightened Her heart began to pound violently It was as if those green eyes spoke to some part of her that was buried deep beneath the surface-and that part was screaer" at her So her to run, to flee

She didn’t

Chapter One

Septe awful is going to happen today

I don’t knohy I wrote that It’s crazy There’sno reason for me to be upset and every reason for me to be happy, but

But here I a myself it’s just that I’m all messed up from the time difference between France and here But that doesn’t explain why I feel so scared So lost

The day before yesterday, while Aunt Judith and Margaret and I were driving back fro When we turned onto our street I suddenly thought, "Mo for us at ho roo out theThey must have missed me so much"

I know That sounds totally crazy

But even when I saw the house and the empty front porch I still felt that way I ran up the steps and I tried the door and knocked with the knocker And when Aunt Judith unlocked the door I burst inside and just stood in the hallway listening, expecting to hear Mo from the den

Just then Aunt Judith let a suitcase crash down on the floor behind aret laughed And theI’ve ever felt in my life came over me I’ve never felt so utterly and completely lost

Home I’m home Why does that sound like a he?

I was born here in Fell’s Church I’ve always lived in this house, always This is my same old bedroom, with the scorch mark on the floorboards where Caroline and I tried to sneak cigarettes in 5th grade and nearly choked ourselves I can look out theand see the big quince tree Matt and the guys clio This is ht now everything looks strange tohere It’sis that I feel there’s so, but I just can’t find it

I was too tired yesterday to go to Orientation

Meredith picked upto her on the phone Aunt Judith told everyone who called that I had jet lag and was sleeping, but she watched me at dinner with a funny look on her face

I’ve got to see the crowd today, though We’re supposed tolot before school Is that why I’htened of the She stared at the last line she had written and then shook her head, pen hovering over the sesture, she lifted her head and threw pen and book at the big bay here they bounced off harmlessly and landed on the upholsteredseat

It was all so completely ridiculous

Since when had she, Elena Gilbert, been scared of? She stood up and angrily thrust her arlance at the elaborate Victorian mirror above the cherrywood dresser; she knehat she’d see Elena Gilbert, cool and blond and slender, the fashion trendsetter, the high school senior, the girl every boy wanted and every girl wanted to be Who just now had an unaccustomed scowl on her face and a pinch to her mouth

A hot bath and so ritual of washing and dressing was soothing, and she dawdled over it, sorting through her new outfits from Paris She finally chose a pale rose top and white linen shorts coh to eat, she thought, and the irl with a secret sotten

"Elena! Where are you? You’re going to be late for school!" The voice drifted faintly up from below

Elena ran the brush one h silky hair and pulled it back with a deep rose ribbon Then she grabbed her backpack and went down the stairs

In the kitchen, four-year-old Margaret was eating cereal at the kitchen table, and Aunt Judith was burning so on the stove Aunt Judith was the sort of wouely flustered; she had a thin, ht flyaway hair pushed back untidily Elena landed a peck on her cheek

"Good , everybody Sorry I don’t have time for breakfast"

"But, Elena, you can’t just go off without eating You need your protein-"

"I’ll get a doughnut before school," said Elena briskly She dropped a kiss on Margaret’s tow head and turned to go

"But, Elena-" "And I’ll probably go home with Bonnie or Meredith after school, so don’t wait dinner Bye!"

"Elena-"

Elena was already at the front door She closed it behind her, cutting off Aunt Judith’s distant protests, and stepped out onto the front porch

And stopped

All the bad feelings of the ain The anxiety, the fear And the certainty that so terrible was about to happen

Maple Street was deserted The tall Victorian houses looked strange and silent, as if they ht all be empty inside, like the houses on an abandoned movie set They looked as if they were es