The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries #5: The Asylum by L. J. Smith & Kevin Williamson & Julie Plec

Author:L. J. Smith & Kevin Williamson & Julie Plec
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Love & Romance, Paranormal, Social Issues, Adolescence
ISBN: 006211395X
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published: 2012-01-17T05:00:00+00:00

11

The next morning, I hurried across town to Whitechapel, eager to deliver the vervain to Cora. Damon and I had spent the night pressing the flowers into liquid, braving the angry red rashes it left all over our hands and arms. Even now, safely packed in glass vials, the scent made my skin tingle and my eyes burn. Our interactions had been similarly prickly. I’d avoided any mention of Katherine, but Damon had seemed on edge and tried to disguise it by discussing his many conquests. After a while, I’d stopped listening. The story was always the same: beautiful woman, delicious blood, being invited to the finest parties in the area before getting bored and moving on. He didn’t yearn for a home the way I did. And more and more, I wondered whether that was a blessing.

I made a hasty stop at the bakery, then hurried to the alley where we’d met before. Cora was already there, hugging her knees to her chest.

“Cora!” I called to her. Her face broke into a forced smile.

“Stefan! I’m glad you’re here. Do you have the vervain?” Cora asked.

I held up the vials in response.

“Good,” she said, relieved. “They came again last night. This time they took Cathy and Elizabeth. They’re my friends, and…” She shook her head. “We have to stop them.” Cora’s lower lip trembled. It was the first time I’d seen her acting anything other than strong, and it caught me off guard.

“Don’t worry. Damon and I came up with a plan.” I handed her the vials. The glass glinted in the sunlight. “I need you to put some in every girl’s drink before the benefit tonight. It only needs to be a drop. Can you do that?”

Cora nodded solemnly.

“It will be fine,” I assured her, standing up and planting a kiss on the top of her head as I put the bag of treats next to her. “I’ll see you tonight. This will all be over soon,” I promised.

“I hope so,” Cora said.

“It will be,” I repeated. “You just have to believe it will.”

Cora gave me a soft smile in return, but I could tell her mind was spinning in her own, private way.

“I should get going,” I said, standing up and leaving her to her thoughts. Before I continued down the alley, I gave her shoulder a light squeeze. Somehow, I would make sure she was okay.

That night, a brilliant golden-orange sunset lit up the September sky, usually so thick with clouds. It was a beautiful evening, and along the Thames artists were sketching, lovers were walking hand in hand, and buskers were playing instruments and prodding visitors to give them money.

Damon and I blended into the crowd. We were dressed in black, monk robes that I’d procured from a local church. I hadn’t even bothered to compel—instead, I’d stolen them outright. It didn’t matter. It wasn’t as if I was in God’s good graces in the first place.

The Magdalene Asylum benefit was being held in the Lanesborough Hotel, opposite Hyde Park.

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