The Return: Midnight Chapter 30

Strip to your underw pinnule and relieve oneself in on the separate side,Damon said. His vocalisation was neither angry nor fatuous.He added shortly, Elena is dying.The last three linguistic communication seemed to affect Stefan particularly, although Elena couldnt parse them. Stefan wasnt lamentable, just external respiration hard, his eyeball wide. Bonnie and I accommodate been gathering hay and fuel and were All right.Youve been exercising moving ab extinct wearing clothes that kept you warm. Shes been dunked in ice water and sitting Still juicy up in the wind. I got the other thurg to break off wood from the dead trees around present and try it on the fire. Now get the hel in, Stefan, and give her some body warmth, or Im going to arrest her a vampire.Nnn,Elena tried to say, but Stefan didnt seem to understand.Damon, how invariably, said, Dont worry. Hes going to warm you up from the other side. You wont have to fuck off a vampire just yet. For Gods sake,he added su ddenly, explosively,some prince you pickedStefans voice was quiet and tense. You tried prepareting her in a thermal envelope?Of course I tried, you idiot No magic works beyond the Mirror except telepathy.Elena had no sense of time going by, but suddenly thither was a familiar body pressed against hers from the other side.And somewhere directly in her mind Elena? Elena? Youre All right, arent you, Elena? I dont care whether youre playing a joke on me. But youre corporeal y All right, arent you? hardly tell me that, love.Elena wasnt able to answer at all.Dimly, fragments of sound came to her ears Bonnieon top of her andpack ourselves bear show up on either side.And dul feelings stirred her sense of touch a smal body, almost weightless, same a dim blanket, pressing down on her.Someone weep, tears dripping on her neck from above.And warmth on either side.Im a pile with the other kittens, she thought, dozing. Maybe wel have a nice dream.I wish we could deal how theyre doing,Mered ith said, on a pause from one of her pacing bouts.I wish they knew how were doing, plane said wearily as he taped another note card amulet onto a window. And another.Do you know, my dears, I kept hearing 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 like. But I was too tired to get up.It might mean something or nothing at all.Mrs. Flowers frowned. She was boiling tap water for tea. The electricity was sporadic. mat and Saber had driven back to the boardinghouse earlier that day so that phlegm could gather Mrs.Flowerss most important instruments her herbs for teas, compresses, and poultices. He hadnt had the heart to tel her about the state of the boardinghouse, or what those maggot malach had done to it. Hed had to find a informal board from the garage to get from the hal to the kitchen.There was no third floor anymore and very diminutive second.At least he hadnt run into Shinichi.Wh at Im verbal expression is that maybe theres some real kid out there,Meredith said.At night alone? Sounds like a Shinichi zombie,Matt said.Maybe. But maybe not. Mrs. Flowers, do you have any idea of when you hear the crying? Early in the night or late?let me ideate, dear. It seems to me that I hear it whenever I wake up and old people wake up kinda frequently.I usual y hear it toward the morning but I usual y sleep without dreaming for the first few hours and wake up early.Mrs. Flowers turned to Matt. What about you, Matt, dear?Do you ever hear a sound like crying?Matt, who deliberately overworked himself these days to try to get a solid six hours of sleep at night, said, Ive heard the wind kind of moaning and sobbing around midnight, I guess.It sounds as if we have an al -night ghost, my dears,Mrs.Flowers said calmly and poured them each a mug of tea.Matt sawing machine Meredith glance at him uneasily but Meredith didnt know Mrs. Flowers as well as he did.You dont real y thi nk its a ghost,he said now.No, I dont. Ma ma hasnt said a word about it, and then its your house, Matt, dear. No gruesome murders or hideous secrets in its past, I should think. let me seeShe shut her eyes and let Matt and Meredith go on with their tea. Then 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,Matt said poker-faced. Since its my house, I guess Id better(p) 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 agreed promptly. Il take the heart and soul watch, from midnight to four Matt rotter have the first one and Mrs.Flowers, you can have the early-morning one, and get a nap in the subsequentlynoon if you want.Matt matt-up uneasy. Why dont we just break it up into twain 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 lad ies.And dont argue she hefted the fighting turn because Im the one with the heavy equipment.Something was shaking the room. Shaking Matt with it. Stillhalf-asleep, 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 cold fingers prevented him from doing what he wanted.No light,Meredith whispered. Its very faint, but if you come with me gently, 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 downstairs living room.ShMeredith warned. Listen.Matt listened. He could hear some sobbing All right, and maybe 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 dangerous time of night.Mrs. Flowers was a shadow against darkness.Please give the flashlights to us,said Matt. I dont think our ghost is very supernatural. What time is it, anyway?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 clams Reece. The kid who ate his guinea pig.Ten minutes later, with the stave, two flashlights, and Saber, they had caught their ghost.I didnt mean anything bad, lucre sobbed, when they had lured him upstairs with promises of candy and magictea that would let him sleep.I didnt hurt anything, honest,he choked, wolfing down Hershey bar after Hershey bar from their emergency rations.Im scared that hes onto me. Because after you hit me with that sticky note, I havent been able 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 give way Midnight too .He was babbling. But something about the last words made Matt say, What do you meanyour lead Midnight too?Cole looked at him in terror. The rim of run Hershey bar around his lips made Matt remember the last time hed seen the boy.You know, dont you?Cole faltered. About the midnights?The countdown? cardinal days til the delay Midnight? Eleven days til the Last Midnight? And nowtonight is one day til the Last MidnightHe began to sob again, even while 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 Cole seemed to think they were testing him.Matt put his hands on Coles shoulders, and to his horror felt bones under his fingers. The kid really was starving, he thought, forgiving him al the Hershey bars. His eyes met Mrs.Flowerss eyes and she flat went to the kitchen.But Cole wasnt answering he was mumbling incoherently.Matt forced himself to appl y pressure to those careworn 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, steady voice. The children are going to kil their parents, is that right?He showed us where to flip or stab. Or if theres a gun Matt had heard enough. You can stay in the basement,he said. And here are some amulets. Put them on you if you feel like youre in danger.He gave Cole a whole 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 it s already the Last Midnight day its nearly one thirty in the morning,Meredith said. We have less than 24 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, When I got the herbs I got Misaos star bal , too.Youre kidding. Shinichi hitherto 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 drop 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 causation we wanted to get Shinichis and Misaos star bal s in the first place. The star bal s control their owners, match 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 energy 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 destroy the container.But we probably should hurry,Meredith added. Lets get some weapons together something silver, something want and heavy, like a fire iron. Shinichis little zombies are not going to be happy and who knows whos on his side?