I don’t know what will happen now; I’m just so glad that he’s safe. I went to the boarding house today and found out that the police had been there yesterday. Stefan was still weak and couldn’t use his Powers to get rid of them, but they didn’t accuse him of anything. They just asked questions. Stefan says they acted friendly, which makes me suspicious. What all the questions really boil down to is: where were you on the night the old man was attacked under the bridge, and the night Vickie Bennett was attacked in the ruined church, and the night Mr. Tanner was killed at school?
They don’t have any evidence against him. So the crimes started right after he came to Fell’s Church, so what? That’s not proof of anything. So he argued with Mr. Tanner that night. Again, so what? Everybody argued with Mr. Tanner. So he disappeared after Mr. Tanner’s body was found. He’s back now, and it’s pretty clear that he was attacked himself, by the same person who committed the other crimes. Mary told the police about the condition he was in. And if they ever ask us, Matt and Bonnie and Meredith and I can all testify how we found him. There’s no case against him at all.
Stefan and I talked about that, and about other things. It was so good to be with him again, even if he did look white and tired. He still doesn’t remember how Thursday night ended, but most of it is just as I suspected. Stefan went to find Damon Thursday night after he took me home. They argued. Stefan ended up half-dead in a well. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happened in between.
I still haven’t told him that I went looking for Damon in the graveyard Friday morning. I suppose I’d better do it tomorrow. I know he’s going to be upset, especially when he hears what Damon said to me.
Well, that’s all. I’m tired. This diary is going to be well-hidden, for obvious reasons.
Elena paused and looked at the last line on the page. Then she added:
P.S. I wonder who our new European history teacher will be?
She tucked the diary under her mattress and turned out the light.
Elena walked down the hallway in a curious vacuum. At school she was usually peppered with greetings from all sides; it was “hi, Elena,” after “hi, Elena,” wherever she went. But today eyes slid away furtively as she approached, or people suddenly became very busy doing something that required them to keep their backs to her. It had been happening all day long.
She paused in the doorway of the European history classroom. There were several students already sitting down, and at the chalkboard was a stranger.
He looked almost like a student himself. He had sandy hair, worn a little long, and the build of an athlete. Across the board he had written “Alaric K. Saltzman.” As he turned around, Elena saw that he also had a boyish smile.
He went on smiling as Elena sat down and other students filed in. Stefan was among them, and his eyes met Elena’s as he took his seat beside her, but they didn’t speak. No one was talking. The room was dead silent.
Bonnie sat down on Elena’s other side. Matt was only a few desks away, but he was looking straight ahead.
The last two people to come in were Caroline Forbes and Tyler Smallwood. They walked in together, and Elena didn’t like the look on Caroline’s face. She knew that catlike smile and those narrowed green eyes all too well. Tyler’s handsome, rather fleshy features were shining with satisfaction. The discoloration under his eyes caused by Stefan’s fist was almost gone.
“Okay, to start off, why don’t we put all these desks in a circle?”
Elena’s attention snapped back to the stranger at the front of the room. He was still smiling.
“Come on, let’s do it. That way we can all see each other’s faces when we talk,” he said.
Silently, the students obeyed. The stranger didn’t sit at Mr. Tanner’s desk; instead, he pulled a chair to the circle and straddled it backward.
“Now,” he said. “I know you all must be curious about me. My name’s on the board: Alaric K. Saltzman. But I want you to call me Alaric. I’ll tell you a little more about me later, but first I want to give you a chance to talk.
“Today’s probably a difficult day for most of you. Someone you cared about is gone, and that must hurt. I want to give you a chance to open up and share those feelings with me and with your classmates. I want you to try to get in touch with the pain. Then we can start to build our own relationship on trust. Now who would like to go first?”
They stared at him. No one so much as moved an eyelash.
“Well, let’s see… what about you?” Still smiling, he gestured encouragingly to a pretty, fair-haired girl. “Tell us your name and how you feel about what’s happened.”
Flustered, the girl stood. “My name’s Sue Carson, and, uh…” She took a deep breath and went doggedly on. “And I feel scared. Because whoever this maniac is, he’s still loose. And next time it could be me.” She sat down.
“Thank you, Sue. I’m sure a lot of your classmates share your concern. Now, do I understand that some of you were actually there when this tragedy occurred?”
Desks creaked as students shifted uneasily.
But Tyler Smallwood stood up, his lips drawing back from strong white teeth in a smile.
“Most of us were there,” he said, and his eyes flickered toward Stefan. Elena could see other people following his gaze. “I got there right after Bonnie discovered the body. And what I feel is concern for the community. There’s a dangerous killer on the streets, and so far nobody’s done anything to stop him. And—” He broke off. Elena wasn’t sure how, but she felt Caroline had signaled him to do it. Caroline tossed back gleaming auburn hair and recrossed her long legs as Tyler took his seat again.
“Okay, thank you. So most of you were there. That makes it doubly hard. Can we hear from the person who actually found the body? Is Bonnie here?” He looked around.
Bonnie raised her hand slowly, then stood. “I guess I discovered the body,” she said. “I mean, I was the first person who knew that he was really dead, and not just faking.”
Alaric Saltzman looked slightly startled. “Not just faking? Did he often fake being dead?” There were titters, and he flashed that boyish smile again. Elena turned and glanced at Stefan, who was frowning.
“No—no,” said Bonnie. “You see, he was a sacrifice. At the Haunted House. So he was covered with blood anyway, only it was fake blood. And that was partly my fault, because he didn’t want to put it on, and I told him he had to do it. He was supposed to be a Bloody Corpse. But he kept saying it was too messy, and it wasn’t until Stefan came and argued with him—” She stopped. “I mean, we talked to him and he finally agreed to do it, and then the Haunted House started. And a little while later I noticed that he wasn’t sitting up and scaring the kids like he was supposed to, and I went over and asked him what was wrong. And he didn’t answer. He just—he just kept staring at the ceiling. And then I touched him and he—it was terrible. His head just sort of flopped …” Bonnie’s voice wavered and gave out. She gulped.
Elena was standing up, and so were Stefan and Matt and a few other people. Elena reached over to Bonnie.
“Bonnie, it’s okay. Bonnie, don’t; it’s okay.”
“And blood got all over my hands. There was blood everywhere, so much blood…” She sniffed hysterically.