The Hunters: Moonsong Chapter Thirty-Nine

Stefan hadnt had a plan when he agree to stay in Matts place. He just knew he had to save Matt, and presently he hoped Damon would come for him. Stefans wrists ached with a dul , throbbing insistent pain that was roughly impracticable for him to ignore. He tried erst to a greater extent to pul against the ropes that were holding him to the chair, routine his hold from left to right as far as he could to try and loosen his succourraints, exactly it was hopeless. He couldnt shift them.He go steadyed close to dazedly. The room looked both serene and mysterious again now, as it had when he depression kicked in the door. A good place for a deep society.Torches burned brightly, flowers were arranged around the makeshift altar. The Vitales had come acrossn the time to light up subsequently binding him and kil ing the pledges.The ropes were crossed all over his chest and birth and wound around his back his ankles and knees were tied to the chair legs, his elbows and wrists to the arms of the chair. He was Welltrussed, but it was the matchlesss around his wrists that hurt most, because they lay against his bargon skin. And they burned.Theyre soaked in vervain so that youl be too weak to break free, but Im afraid it must sting a bit, Ethan verbalise pleasantly, as if he was explaining an interesting element of the secret chambers architecture to his guest. See, I may be new at this, but I fare al the tricks. Stefan be his head against the back of the chair and looked at Ethan with fervent dislike. Not all(prenominal) of the tricks, I suspect.Ethan was cocky, but Stefan was pretty sure he hadnt been a lamia for truly long. If Ethan was stil human, if he had never become a vampire, Stefan guessed he would look much or less the alike as he did now.Ethan crouched vote out in front of Stefans chair to look up into his face, wearing the same warm, friendly smile as when hed tried to convince Stefan to join them. He looked like a pleasant fel ow, jus t intimatelyone you wanted to relax with and trust, and Stefan glared at him. The smile was a lie.Ethan was a kil er whose mask was less translucent than those of the other Vitale vampires, that was al .Youre probably right close to that, Ethan said advertent y. I imagine t present are al kinds of tricks youve patched up in, what is it, more than five hundred years?Tricks that I dont know yet. You could be very useful to me in that way, if you decide to join us after al . There are lots of things you can teach us about al this vampire stuff. He flashed that appealing smile again. Ive always been a good student.Vampire stuff. What do you want from me, Ethan? Stefan asked wearily. It had been a long iniquity, a long few weeks, and the vervain-soaked ropes were hurting his arms, muddying his thoughts.Ethan knew how old he was. Ethan knew what to offer him when they firstly addressed about the Vitale Society. It wasnt a coincidence that he was the one in this room, and then Eth an wasnt looking for just any vampire. Whats your plan here? Stefan asked.Ethans smile grew wider. Im structure an invincible vampire army, of course, he said comfortable y. I know it sounds a little ridiculous, but its al about power. And powers never ridiculous. He licked his lips nervously, showing a flash of thin pink tongue. See, I used to just be one of the ordinary little people. I was just like everyone else on campus. My biggest achievements were good grades on exams or the particular that I had the leadership of some secret col ege club. You wouldnt believe how stultify the Vitale Society used to be. except white magic and nature worship. He made a little self-deprecating grimace See how punch-drunk I was once. Im telling you something embarrassing about myself, so trust me. just then I figured out how to get some realistic power.One of the black-clad figures came up behind Ethan, and Ethan held up a finger to Stefan. attend on a sec, okay? He rose and turned to t alk to his lieutenant.After tying Stefan up, Ethan had efficiently gone back to draining the pledges, one after some other, dropping the bodies as soon as he absolute with them. They had al gone through their transitions now and were back on their feet.They seemed raspy and disoriented, growling and snapping at one another and gazing at Ethan with undisguised adoration. natural new vampires. Stefan eyed them warily. Until they had fed thoroughly, they would hover on the brink of madness, and it would be easy for Ethan to lose control of them. Then they would be even more dangerous.The pledges need to eat, Ethan said calmly to the robed woman behind him. five dollar bill of you should take them out and teach them how to hunt. You lead the hunting party and pick whoever you want to go with you. The rest wil stay here and help nurse our guest.Stefan watched as the Vitales sorted themselves out.Eight of Ethans fol owers remained, stationing themselves by the aligns of the room. St efan had managed to kil one other during the fight, snap her throat out, but the body had been tidied away someplace.Stefan gave a little unwilling moan. It was hard to think straight he was so tired, and the vervain was head start to hurt him al over, not just on his aching wrists, but anywhere the ropes touched him through his clothes. Damon, amuse come quickly. Please, Damon, he thought.Youre spill to unleash nine newly made vampires on the campus? he asked Ethan, his see snapping back to the matter at hand. Ethan, theyl kill people. People who were your friends, maybe. Youl draw oversight to yourselves. There are already police al over campus.Please, take them to the woods to hunt animals. They can live on animal furrow. He heard a pleading utterance enter his own express as Ethan solely smiled absently at him, as if he was a child begging to go to Disneyland. Come on, Ethan, it hasnt been very long since you were a human, too. You cant want to stand by and pay back spare students murdered.Ethan shrugged, patting Stefan lightly on the shoulder as he started to walk over to confer with another of his henchmen. They need to be strong, Stefan. I want them at their peak by the next equinox. And weve kil ed plenty of innocent students already, he said over his shoulder.Equinox? Ethan, Stefan shouted after him in frustration. He looked frantical y at the door by which the pledges and their escort had left. It would take them a while to direct victims. Not as many students were walking the campus alone at night these days. If he could get free, if Damon came now and freed him, they could stil stop the slaughter. If al these brand-new vampires were al owed loose on campus, there would be a massacre.Ethan couldnt suck up changed the rest of the Vitale Society al at once, he realized. The number of murders they would have act newly made as a group would have been impossible to disguise as a few disappearances. This must have been the first mass init iation. And who had made Ethan? he wondered. Was there an older vampire somewhere on campus?Damon, where are you? He had no doubt that Damon would come if he could.Despite their rift over Elena, things had changed enough in the midst of him and Damon that he knew he could rely on his brother to rescue him. He had saved him before, after al , when they fought Katherine, when they fought Klaus. There was something rock solid between them now, something that wasnt there a year ago, or in the hundreds of years before that. He closed in(p) his eyes and heard himself mother a dry, painful chuckle. It seemed like an wrong moment to start having revelations about his own family issues.So, Ethan said chattily, returning to his side and pul ing up a chair, we were talking about the equinox.Yes, Stefan said, an acid bite to his tone.He wasnt going to let Ethan see how he was yearning toward the door, expectant. He take to keep his cool, so that Damon could have the element of surprise on his side.He should keep Ethan talking, keep him distracted in case Damon came, so he fixed an expression of interest on his face and looked at Ethan attentively.At the time of the equinox, when day and night are perfectly balanced, the line between life and death is at its most weak and permeable. This is the time when animate can cross between the worlds, Ethan began dramatical y, moving one hand in a wide sweep.Stefan sighed. I know that, Ethan, he said impatiently.Just cut to the chase. He might have to keep Ethan distracted, but for sure he didnt have to feed his ego.Ethan dropped his hand. You remember Klaus, dont you? he asked. The originator of your subscriber line? Were resurrecting him. With him at the head of our ranks, wel be invincible.Everything went stil for a moment, as if Stefans slow-beating heart had final examination y stopped. Then he sucked in a breath. He felt up as if Ethan had punched him in the face. He couldnt speak for a moment. When he could, he gasp ed,Klaus? Klaus the vampire who He couldnt even finish the sentence. His mind was ful of Klaus the Old One, the pilot film vampire, the mad man. The vampire who had control ed lightning, who had bragged that he had not been made, that he just was. In Klauss earliest memories, he had told Stefan, he carried a bronzy axe he was a barbarian at the gate, among those who get downed the popish Empire. He claimed that he began the race of vampires.Klaus had held Elenas spirit hostage and tortured innocent Vickie Bennett to death for fun. He turned Katherine, first into a vampire, then into a cruel dol instead of a person, changed her until she was vicious and mindless, eager only to torment those she once loved.Stefan, Damon, and Elena kil ed him at last, but it was nearly impossible, would have been impossible without the spirits of a battalion of unquiet ghosts from the Civil war tied to the blood-soaked battlegrounds of Fel s Church.Klaus who made the vampire who made you, Ethan sa id cheerful y. It was another of his descendants who I found in Europe this spend on my trip abroad. I convinced her to turn me into a vampire. She taught me some tricks, too, like how to use vervain, and how lapis lazuli can protect us from the sun. I put lapis lazuli in the pins we wear now, so al the members have it on them at al times. She was very helpful, this vampire who changed me. And she told me al about Klaus. He smiled warmly at Stefan again. See, you should like me, Stefan. Were practical y cousins. Stefan eject his eyes for a moment. Klaus was insane, he tried to explain. He wont act upon with you, hel destroy you.Ethan sighed. I real y think I can work it out with him, though, he said. Im very persuasive. And Im offering him soldiers. I hear he likes war. Theres no reason for him to turn us down we want to give him everything he wants. He paused and looked at Stefan, stil smiling, but there was a note now in that wide smile that Stefan didnt like, a false innocence . whatsoever Ethan was going to ask Stefan now, he already knew the answer. Does this mean youre not interest in joining our army, cousin? he asked with mock surprise.Gritting his teeth, Stefan strained against the ropes once more, but they didnt budge. He glared up at Ethan. I wont help you, he said. Never.Ethan came closer, bent down until his face was level with Stefans. But you wil help, he said lightly, a trace of self-satisfaction in his eyes. Whether you want to or not.See, what I need most of al to bring back Klaus is blood. He ran his hands through his curls, shaking his head. Its always blood for this kind of thing, have you notice? he added.Blood? asked Stefan uneasily. Young vampires were never sane, in his opinion the sign rush of new senses and Powers were enough to bewilder anyone. He was starting to think, though, that Ethans reaching on sanity might not have been that strong to get off with. Hed convinced someone to turn him into a vampire?The blood of his de scendants, specifical y. Ethan nodded smugly. Thats wherefore I was so delighted to find that you were right here on campus. I made a hobby of tracking down the descendants of Klaus this summer, after Id talked the first one I met into changing me into what she was.Some of them gave me blood wil ingly, when they heard what I wanted to do. Not al of Klauss descendants are as ungrateful as you. I only need a little more, and then Il have enough. Yours, of course, and his eyes flicked up toward the door that Stefan had been sneakily watching al this time, waiting for Damon, and your brothers. I assume hel be here any minute?Stefans heart plummeted, and he stared openly at the door. Damon, please stay away, he thought desperately.