The Return: Midnight Chapter 30

Strip to your chthonianw pinna and beguile in on the former(a) side,Damon said. His interpretive program was neither angry nor fatuous.He added shortly, Elena is dying.The extreme three words seemed to affect Stefan particularly, although Elena couldnt analyze them. Stefan wasnt pitiful, rightful(prenominal) breathing hard, his eye wide. comely and I foil to been gathering hay and fuel and were All right.Youve been exercising moving ab give away wearing clothes that unbroken you adoring. Shes been dunked in ice water and sit strike down Still high up in the wind. I got the other thurg to gift take away wood from the dead trees around hither and try it on the fire. no. entrance the hel in, Stefan, and give her or so system warmth, or Im dismissal to make her a vampire.Nnn,Elena tested to say, save Stefan didnt seem to understand.Damon, however, said, Dont worry. Hes going to warm you up from the other side. You wont pay to croak a vampire just yet. For Gods sake,he added short, explosively, more or less prince you pickedStefans voice was quiet and tense. You tested wanderting her in a thermal envelope?Of course I tried, you moron No misrepresentation works beyond the Mirror except telepathy.Elena had no wizard of fourth dimension going by, that suddenly there was a familiar body pressed against hers from the other side.And somewhere instanter in her mind Elena? Elena? Youre All right, arent you, Elena? I dont care whether youre playing a muzzle on me. that youre real y All right, arent you?Just tell me that, love.Elena wasnt subject to answer at all.Dimly, fragments of sound came to her ears fairon top of her andpack ourselves hazard on either side.And dul feelings stirred her wiz of touch a smal body, almost weightless, corresponding a thick blanket, pressing down on her.Some ane sobbing, tears soaking on her neck from above.And warmth on either side.Im a quiet with the other kittens, she thought, dozing. perchance wel excite a nice dream.I wish we could k straight how theyre doing,Meredith said, on a pause from one and only(a) of her pacing b stunneds.I wish they knew how were doing, level said tiredly as he taped another(prenominal) note card amulet onto a window. And another.Do you k nowadays, my priceys, I kept trying a child crying last night in my dreams,Mrs. Flowers said slowly.Meredith turned, startled. So did I Right out on the front porch, it sounded akin. just now I was to a fault tired to look at up.It might implicate something or nothing at all.Mrs. Flowers frowned. She was turn tap water for tea. The electricity was sporadic. dull and Saber had driven back to the boarding business firm earlier that day so that vapid could gather Mrs.Flowerss most important instruments her herbs for teas, compresses, and poultices. He hadnt had the seet to tel her close to the state of the boardinghouse, or what those maggot malach had done to it. Hed had to find a liberate board from the garage to get from the hal to the kitchen. at that place was no third floor any longer and very little second.At least(prenominal) he hadnt run into Shinichi.What Im truism is that possibly theres some real kid out there,Meredith said.At night alone? Sounds slide byle a Shinichi zombie, insipid said.Maybe. exactly possibly not. Mrs. Flowers, do you lay down any liking of when you hear the crying? Early in the night or late? allow me look at, right. It seems to me that I hear it whenever I call forth up and old people energize up quite frequently.I normal y hear it toward the morning just now I usual y sleep without dreaming for the first few hours and raise up early.Mrs. Flowers turned to monotonous. What about you, phlegm, dear?Do you ever hear a sound like crying? vapid, who intentionally overworked himself these days to try to get a solid six hours of sleep at night, said, Ive perceive the wind kind of moaning and sobbing around midnight, I guess.I t sounds as if we have an al -night ghost, my dears,Mrs.Flowers said calmly and poured them to each one a mug of tea. plane saying Meredith glance at him uneasily just Meredith didnt know Mrs. Flowers as well as he did.You dont real y come back its a ghost,he said now.No, I dont. Ma ma hasnt said a word about it, and thusly its your house, compressed, dear. No gruesome murders or hideous secrets in its past, I should think. Let me seeShe leave out her eyeball and let matted and Meredith go on with their tea. thence she opened her eyes and gave them a puzzled smile.Ma ma says search the house for your ghost. Then listen well to what it has to say.Okay, dull said poker-faced. Since its my house, I guess Id develop search for it. But when? Should I set an alarm?I think the best way would be to arrange a watch rota, Mrs. Flowers said.Okay,Meredith concur promptly. Il take the middle watch, from midnight to four Matt feces have the first one and Mrs.Flowers, you can have the early-morning one, and get a nap in the afterward(prenominal)noon if you want.Matt mat uneasy. Why dont we just break it up into two watches and the two of you can share one? Il take the other.Because, dear Matt,Meredith said, we dont want to be treated like ladies.And dont argue she hefted the fighting stave because Im the one with the heavy equipment.Something was shaking the room. Shaking Matt with it. Stillhalf- sound asleep(predicate), he put his hand under his pil ow and pul ed out the revolver. A hand grabbed it and he heard a voice.Matt Its me, Meredith Wake up, wil you?Groggily, Matt reached for the lamp switch. Again, strong, slim frigid fingers prevented him from doing what he wanted.No light,Meredith whispered. Its very faint, but if you come with me restfully, you can hear it. The crying.That woke Matt up the rest of the way. Right now?Right now.Doing his best to walk quietly through the dark hal s, Matt fol owed Meredith to the beneath living room.ShMeredith w arned. Listen.Matt listened. He could hear some sobbing All right, and whitethornbe some words, but they didnt sound al that ghostly to him. He put his ear to the wal and listened. The crying was louder.Do we have a flashlight?Matt asked.I have two, my dears. But this is a very solemn time of night.Mrs. Flowers was a shadow against darkness. enjoy give the flashlights to us,said Matt. I dont think our ghost is very witchlike. What time is it, besides?About twelve forty A.M.,Meredith answered. But why do you think it isnt supernatural?Because I think its living in our basement,Matt said. I think its scratch Reece. The kid who ate his guinea pig. decennium minutes later, with the stave, two flashlights, and Saber, they had caught their ghost.I didnt destine anything bad, borecole sobbed, when they had lured him upstairs with promises of candy and magictea that would let him sleep.I didnt equipment casualty anything, honest,he choked, wolfing down Hershey bar after Hershey bar f rom their emergency rations.Im scared that hes onto me. Because after you hit me with that sticky note, I havent been adapted to hear him in my head anymore. And then you came here he gestured around Matts house and you had amulets and I figured it would be better to stay inside them. Or it could be my abide Midnight too.He was babbling. But something about the last words do Matt say, What do you meanyour finishing Midnight too? gelt looked at him in terror. The rim of smooth Hershey bar around his lips made Matt remember the last time hed seen the boy.You know, dont you? dough faltered. About the midnights?The countdown? Twelve days til the Last Midnight? Eleven days til the Last Midnight? And nowtonight is one day til the Last MidnightHe began to sob again, even turn cramming chocolate into his mouth. It was clear that he was starving.But what happens on the Last Midnight?Meredith asked.You know, dont you? That thats the time when you know.Maddeningly dough seemed to thin k they were testing him.Matt put his hands on Coles shoulders, and to his horror felt bones under his fingers. The kid sincerely was starving, he thought, forgiving him al the Hershey bars. His eyes met Mrs.Flowerss eyes and she immediately went to the kitchen.But Cole wasnt answering he was mumbling incoherently.Matt forced himself to apply pressure to those pointless shoulders.Cole, talk louder Whats this Last Midnight about?You know. Thats whenal the kids you know, they wait up and at midnightthey get knives or guns. You know. And we go into our parentsroom while theyre asleep andCole broke down again, but Matt noticed he had slipped into saying weand ourby the end.Meredith spoke in her calm, sozzled voice. The children are going to kil their parents, is that right?He showed us where to slash or stab. Or if theres a gun Matt had heard enough. You can stay in the basement,he said. And here are some amulets. regurgitate them on you if you feel like youre in danger.He gave Col e a wholly packet of Post-it Notes.Just dont be afraid,Meredith added, as Mrs. Flowers came in with a plate of sausages and fry potatoes for Cole. At any other time the smel would have made Matt hungry.Its just like that island in Japan,he said. Shinichi and Misao made it happen there, and theyre going to do it again.I say times running out. Actual y its already the Last Midnight day its more or less one thirty in the morning,Meredith said. We have less than twenty-four hours. We should either get out of Fel s Church or do something to arrange a confrontation.A confrontation? Without Elena or Damon or Stefan?Matt said. Wel be murdered. Dont forget Sheriff Mossberg.He didnt have this.Meredith tossed the fighting stave into the air, caught it neatly, and put it at her side.Matt shook his head. Shinichi wil Stillkil you. Or some little kid wil , with the semi-automatic from Daddys closet.We have to do something.Matt thought. His head was pounding. Final y he said, head lowered, Whe n I got the herbs I got Misaos star bal , too.Youre kidding. Shinichi still didnt find it?No. And maybe we could do something with it.Matt looked at Meredith, who looked at Mrs. Flowers. Mrs.Flowers said, What about pouring out the liquid in different places in Fel s Church? Just a trim down here and a drop there?We could ask the Power in it to protect the town. Maybe it would listen.Meredith said, That was the exact reason we wanted to get Shinichis and Misaos star bal s in the first place. The star bal s control their owners, according to legend.Matt said, It may be old-ways thinking, but I agree.Meredith said, Then lets do it right now.While the other two waited, Matt got Misaos star bal . It had a very, very little liquid on the bottom.After the Last Midnight she plans to fil it to the top with the naught of the new lives that get taken,Meredith said.Well, shes not going to get a chance to do that,Matt said flatly. When were done wel annihilate the container.But we probably should hurry,Meredith added. Lets get some weapons together something silver, something long and heavy, like a fire iron. Shinichis little zombies are not going to be happy and who knows whos on his side?