Bonnie said it for her in a very small voice. "And I was no good, Elena. I'd started - well, I started to get hysterical and see and hear things that weren't there - or at least to imagine them and maybe even make them come true. I was scaring myself out of my mind, and I think I actually was putting people in danger. Matt's too practical to do that." She dabbed at her eyes. "I know the Dark Dimension is pretty bad, but at least I won't be able to put houses full of innocent people in danger."
Meredith nodded. "It was all...going bad with Bonnie there. Even if we hadn't wanted to come with you I would have had to get her out. I don't want to be overly dramatic, but I believe that the demons there were after her. And that since Stefan's gone, Damon may be the only one who can keep them away. Or maybe you can help her, Elena?"
Meredith...overly dramatic? But Elena could see the fine tremors running under Meredith's skin, and the light sheen of perspiration on Bonnie's forehead that was dampening her curls.
Meredith touched Elena's wrist. "We haven't just gone AWOL or anything. Fell's Church is a war zone now; it's true, but we didn't leave Matt without allies. Like Dr. Alpert - she's logical - she's the best country doctor there is - and she might even convince somebody that Shinichi and the malach are real. But besides all that, the parents have taken over. Parents and psychiatrists and newshounds. And they make it almost impossible to work openly anyway. Matt's not at any disadvantage."
"But - in just a week - "
"Take a look at this week's Sunday paper."
Elena took the Ridgemont Times from Meredith. It was the biggest paper in the area of Fell's Church. A banner headline read:
POSSESSION IN THE 21ST CENTURY?
Under the headline were many lines of gray print, but what really caught the eye was a photo of a three-way fight between girls, all of whom seemed to be undergoing seizures or contortions impossible to the human body. The expressions of two of the girls were simply those of pain and terror, but it was the third girl who froze the blood in Elena's veins. Her body was humped so that her face was upside down, and she was looking directly at the camera with her lips skinned back from her teeth. Her eyes - there was just no other way to put it - were demonic. They weren't rolled back in her head or malformed or anything. They weren't glowing eerily red. It was all in the expression. Elena had never seen eyes that made her sick to her stomach before.
Bonnie said quietly, "Do you ever sort of slip and get that feeling like, 'Oh, whoops, there goes the whole universe'?"
"Constantly, since meeting Stefan," Meredith said. "No offense meant, Elena. But the point is that all this has happened in just a couple of days; from the minute the adults who knew that there was something really going on got together."
Meredith sighed and ran fingers with perfectly manicured nails through her hair before continuing. "Those girls are what Bonnie calls possessed in the modern sense. Or maybe they're possessed by Misao - female kitsune are supposed to do that. But if we could just find these things called star balls - or even one - we could force them to clean all this up."
Elena put the newspaper down so she wouldn't have to see those upside-down eyes staring into hers. "And while all this is happening, what is your boyfriend doing during the crisis?"
For the first time, Meredith looked genuinely relieved. "He may be on his way as we speak. I've written to him about everything that's happening, and he was actually the one who said to get Bonnie out." She flashed a glance of apology at Bonnie, who simply lifted her hands and face to the heavens. "And as soon as he's finished with his work on some island called Shinmei no Uma, he's coming to Fell's Church. This kind of thing is Alaric's specialty, and he doesn't get spooked easily. So even if we're gone for weeks, Matt will have a backup."
Elena threw her own hands up in a gesture similar to Bonnie's. "There's just one thing you'd better know before we start. I can't help Bonnie. If you're counting on me to do any of the things I did when we fought Shinichi and Misao last time - well, I can't. I've tried over and over, as hard as I could, to do all my wings attacks. But nothing has ever come of it."
Meredith said slowly, "Well, then, maybe Damon knows something - "
"Maybe he does, but, Meredith, don't push him right now. Not right this minute. What he knows for certain is that Shinichi can reach in and take his memories - and who knows, maybe even possess him again - "
"That lying kitsune!" Bonnie spat out, sounding almost proprietory. As if, Elena thought, Damon was her boyfriend. "Shinichi swore he wouldn't - "
"And he swore he'd leave Fell's Church alone, too. The only reason I have any faith at all in the clues that Misao gave me about the fox key, is that she was taunting me. She never thought we'd do a deal, and so she wasn't trying to lie or be too clever - I think."
"Well, that's why we're here with you, to get Stefan out," Bonnie said. "And if we're lucky, to find the star balls that will let us control Shinichi. Right?"
"Right!" Elena said fervently.
"Right," Meredith said solemnly.
Bonnie nodded. "Velociraptor sisterhood forever!"
They laid their right hands over one another's quickly, forming a three-spoked wheel. It reminded Elena of the days when there were four spokes.
"And what about Caroline?" she asked.
Bonnie and Meredith consulted each other with their eyes. Then Meredith shook her head. "You don't want to know. Really," she said.
"I can take it. Really," Elena said in almost a whisper. "Meredith, I've been dead, remember? Twice."