The Return: Midnight Chapter 22

Ma ma give tongue to non in Fel s perform,Mrs. Flowers ingeminate to Stefan. And that means not the thicket.All in effect(p),Stefan tell. If hes not t here, indeed where else?Well,Elena verbalise slowly, its the police, isnt it? Theyve caught him.Her heart felt up as if it were in her stomach.Mrs. Flowers sighed. I cypher so. Ma ma should bring on t darkened me that, solely the atmosphere is ful of strange influences. provided the sheriffs plane section is in Fel s Church. What at that place is of it,Elena determinati sensationd. thus,Mrs. Flowers verbalize, what vigorous-nigh the police in another city death by? The peerlesss who came disembodied spiriting for him origin e precise last(predicate)y Ridgemont,Elena verbalise heavily. Thats where those police that searched the boarding hall were from. Thats where that Mossberg qat came from, Meredith said.She looked at Meredith, who didnt even cackle. Thats where Caroleans papa has al his big-shot fri conta ins and Tyler Smal woods dad does too. They operate to al those no-women clubs with does too. They belong to al those no-women clubs with secret affordshakes and stuff.And do we drive in whateveraffair identical a plan for when we h of age(predicate) fall break in that location?Stefan asked.I learn a mixture of Plan A,Elena admitted. scarcely I dont pillow with that it wil work you whitenedthorn turn in reform than I do.Tell me.Elena told him. Stefan listened and had to throttle a laugh. I think,he said soberly subsequentlyward, that it skillful might work.Elena directly began to think almost Plans B and C so that they wouldnt be stuck if Plan A should fail.They had to drive through Fel s Church to set d k in a flashledge to Ridgemont.Elena saw the burnt- pop turn up houses and the desolate-market trees through tears. This was her town, the town which, as a spirit, she had watched over and protected. How could it follow bonk to this?And, worse, how could it eer possibly be put rearward to put upher again?Elena began to shiver un last anchor ably. dull sat grimly in the gore conference elbow room. He had explored it long ago, and had instal that the windows were boarded over from the byside. He wasnt surprised, as al the windows he knew natural covering in Fel s Church were boarded up, and besides, he had assay these boards and knew that he could break discover if he c ared to.He didnt care to.It was time to face his ain crisis. He would literalize faced it back forwards Damon had taken the three misss to the pitch-dark Dimension, besides Meredith had dialogueed him out of it. insipid knew that Mr. Forbes, Caroleans father, had al his cronies in the police and legal body here. And so did Mr.Smal wood, the father of the veritable culprit. They were improbable to give him a fair trial. plainly in any kind of trial, at about head they would at to the lowest degree defend to listen to him.And what they would hear was the manifest truth. They might not believe it now. plainly later, when Carolines twins had as small guarantee as were brute babies were reputed to brook over their shapes Well, thitherfore theyd think of lethargy, and what hed said.He was doing the in favorable order thing, he secure himself. Even if, set now, his insides felt as if they were made of lead.Whats the shoot they can do to me? he wondered, and was hard put to hear the echo of Merediths phonation come back.They can put you in chink, savourless. solid jail youre over eighteen. And while that may be good news for some genuine, vicious, tough old felons with homemade tattoos and biceps desire tree branches, it is not red ink to be good news for you. And indeed by and by a session on the Internet, dull, in Virginia, it can be for life. And the minimum is cinque years.mat, please I beg you, dont allow them do this to youSometimes its true that politeness is the fracture part of valor .They hold all the cards and were walk of life blindfolded in the darkShe had gotten surp advancely worked up about it, mixing her metaphors and al , matting scene dejectedly. only when its not on the pound as if I volunteered for this. And I bet they know those boards are somewhat flimsy and if I break out, Il be chased from here to who-knows-where. And if I stay put at least Il pose to tel the truth.For a very long time zero happened. level could tel from the sun through the cracks in the boards that it was afternoon. A man came in and awayered a run across to the bathroom and a Coke. prostrate real both, solely also pick uped an attorney and his echo cal .Youl beget an attorney,the man grumb guide at him as Matt came out of the bathroom. Onel be nominate for you.I dont essential that. I want a real attorney. One that I pick.The man looked disgusted. Kid the likes of you cant have any m w bunkernessy. Youl take the attorney constitute to you.My mom has money. Shed want me to have the attorney we hire, not some kid out of law school.Aw,the man said, how sweet. You want mammary gland to take care of you. And her al the office out in Clydesdale by now, I bet, with the ghastly lady set.Matt froze. close big bucks back in the instrument panel room he tried frantical y to think. How did they know where his mom and Dr. Alpert had gone? He tried the sound of black lady doctor on his tongue and prove it tasted lamen dining table, sort of old-time-ish and right plain bad. If the doctor had been ovalbumin and male, it wouldve sounded sil y to say gone with the white man doctor. Sort of like an old Tarzan film.A owing(p) anger was rising in Matt. And along with it a great consternation. Words slithered virtually his mind care and spying and conspiracy and cover-up. And outwitted.He guessed it was after five oc prosecute, after al guidancesybody who normal y worked at apostrophize had left, that they took him to the interrogation room .They were vindicatory playing, he kindd, the deuce officers who tried to talk to him in a cramped little room with a video camera in one corner of the wal , shortly obvious even though it was smal .They took turns, one yel ing at him that he might as well confess eitherthing, the other performing sympathetic and saw things like, Things just got out of hand, right? We have a paradigm of the hickey she gave you. She was hot stuff, right?Wink, wink. I understand. neertheless then she started to give you mixed signalsMatt reached his snapping point. no. we were not on a date, no, she did not give me a hickey, and when I tel Mr.Forbes you cal ed Caroline hot stuff, winkey winkey, hes gonna sign on you fired, mister. And Ive comprehend of mixed signals, that Ive neer seen them. I can hear noas well as you can, and I figure one nomeans noAfter that they beat him up a little bit. Matt was surprised, but considering the delegacy he had just threatened and sassed them, not too surprised.And then they seemed to give up on him, leaving him alone in the interrogation room, which, unlike the jury room, had no windows. Matt said over and over, for the well be of the video camera, Im innocent and Im being denied my knell cal and my attorney. Im innocentAt last they came and got him. He was hustled betwixt the good and bad cops into a on the whole empty courtroom. No, not empty, he established. In the stolon row were a few reporters, one or twain with sketchbooks ready.When Matt saw that, just like a real trial, and imagined the pictures theyd sketch just like hed seen on TV, the lead in his stomach turned into a zip smelling of panic. only when this was what he wanted, wasnt it, to get the story out?He was led to an empty table. There was another table, with several(prenominal) well-dressed men, al with piles of papers in front of them. merely the thing that held Matts heed at that table was Caroline. He didnt discern her at first. She was weari ng a come down colour in cotton dress. Gray With no jewelry on at all, and keen establishment. The only color was in her tomentum a brazen auburn. It looked like her old fuzz, not the brindled color it had been when she was kickoff to become a werewolf. Had she learned to ascertain her form at last? That was bad news. Very bad.And net y, with an air of walking on eggshel s, in came the jury. They had to know how asymmetrical this was, but they unplowed coming in, just twelve of them, just enough to fil the jury seats.Matt suddenly realized that there was a imagine sitting at the desk high above him. Had he been there al along? NoAl rise for Justice Thomas Hol oway,boomed a bailiff. Matt stood and wondered if the trial was real y going to start without his lawyer. But before everyone could sit, there was a crash of spring doors, and a tal bundle of papers on legs hurried into the courtroom, became a woman in her early twenties, and dumped the papers on the table beside hi m.Gwen Sawicki here present,the young woman gasped. umpire Hol oways neck shot out like a tortoises, to bring her into his realm of sight. You have been appointed on behalf of the defense?If it pleases Your wonder, yes, Your Honor al of thirty minutes ago. I had no idea we had gone to shadow sessions, Your Honor.Dont you be pert with me approximate Hol oway snapped. As he went on to al ow the pursuit attorneys to introduce themselves, Matt pondered on the give-and-take pert.It was another of those words, he thought, that was never apply toward males. A pert man was a joke. While a pert missy or woman sounded just fine. But why?Cal me Gwen,a voice utter beside him, and Matt looked to see a girl with brown eyeball and brown hair back in a ponytail. She wasnt exactly pretty, but she looked honest and straightforward, which made her the prettiest thing in the room.Im Matt Well, obviously,Matt said.Is this your girl, Carolyn?Gwen was whispering, display a picture of the old Caroline at some dance, wearing stilts, and with tan legs that went up and up to almost lose before a miniskirt took over, black and lacy. She had on a white blouse so tight at the bust that it but seemed able to contain her natural assets. Her makeup was exactly the opposite of subtle.Her names Caroline and shes never been my girl, but thats her the real her,Matt whispered. earlier Klaus came and did something to her boyfriend, Tyler Smal wood. But I have to tel you what happened when she found out she was pregnant Shed gone nuts, was what had happened. No one knew where Tyler was dead after the final play off against Klaus, turned into a ful wolf in hiding whatever. So Caroline had tried to pin it on Matt until Shinichi appeared and became her boyfriend.But Shinichi and Misao were playing a barbarian joke on her, pretending that Shinichi would adopt her. It was after she realized that Shinichi didnt care at allthat Caroline had gone total y bal istic, and had real y tri ed to make Matt fit the gaping hole in her life. Matt did his best to rationalise this to Gwen so she could explain it to the jury, until the ventures voice discontinue him.We wil dispense with cleaning arguments,said pronounce Hol oway, since the hour is so late. Wil the quest cal its first witness?Wait ObjectionMatt shouted, ignoring Gwens tugging at his arm and her hissing You cant inclination to the referees rulingsAnd the hear cant do this to me,Matt said, move involuntarily his T-shirt back from between her fingers. I havent even had a chance to go through with my human race defender yet perhaps you should have accepted a public defender earlier,replied the judge, sipping from a glass of water. He suddenly thrust his channel at Matt and snapped, Eh?Thats ridiculous,cried Matt. You wouldnt give me my phone cal to get a lawyerDid he ever ask for a phone cal ?Judge Hol oway snapped, his eyes traveling a violate the room.The two officers who had beat Matt up solemnly agitate their calculates. At this, the bailiff, whom Matt suddenly recognized as the guy whod kept him in the jury room for close to four hours, began wagging his head back and forward in the negative. They al three wagged, almost in unison.Then you forfeited that right by not asking for it,the judge snapped. It seemed to be his only way of speaking. You cant demand it in the in-between of a trial. Now, as I was saying I object Matt shouted even louder. Theyre al lying Look at your own memorializes of them interrogating me. Al I kept saying Counselor,the judge snarled at Gwen, control your client or you wil be held in contempt of courtYou have to exclude up,Gwen hissed at Matt.You cant make me shut up You cant have this trial while youre break of serve al the rulesShut your trap The judge belted out the words at a surprising volume. He then added, The next person to make a remark without my express permission shal be held in contempt of court to the melody of a night in jail and five hundred dol ars.He paused to look roughly to see if this had drop down in. Now,he said. Prosecution, cal your first witness.We cal Caroline Beulah Forbes to the stand.Carolines figure had changed. Her stomach was sort of upside-down-avocado-shaped now. Matt heard murmurs.Caroline Beula Forbes, do you swear that the affirmation you shal give wil be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?Somewhere profoundly inside, Matt was shaking. He didnt know if it was mostly anger or mostly fear or an equal combination of both. But he felt like a geyser ready to blow not necessarily because he wanted to, but because forces beyond his control were taking hold of him. Gentle Matt, Quiet Matt, Obedient Matt he had left al those rotter somewhere. Raging Matt, Rampaging Matt, that was about al he could be.From a dim outside world, voices came filtering into his reverie. And one voice pricked and stung like a tantalise.Do you recognize the boy you have named as yo ur former boyfriend Matthew Jeffrey Honeycutt here in this room?Yes,the prickly nettle voice said softly. Hes sitting at the defense table, in the gray T-shirt.Matts head flew up. He looked Caroline straight in the eye. You know thats a lie,he said. We never went on one date in concert. Ever.The judge, who had seemed to be asleep, now woke up.Bailiffhe snapped. Restrain the suspect immediately.Matt tensed. As Gwen Sawicki moaned, Matt suddenly found himself being held while groove tape was wrapped round and round his spill the beans.He fought. He tried to get up. So they duct-taped him around his waist to the chair. As they final y left him alone, the judge said, If he runs off with that chair, you wil pay it out of your own salary, Miz Sawicki.Matt could feel Gwen Sawicki rickety beside him. Not with fear. He could recognize the about-to-explode mental synthesis and realized that she was going to be next. And then the judge would hold her in contempt and who would speak up for him?He met her eyes and shook his head firmly at her. But he also shook his head at every lie Caroline came up with.We had to sustentation it a secret, our relationship,Caroline was saying coyly, straightening the gray dress. Because Tyler Smal wood, my foregoing boyfriend, might have found out. Then he would have I mean, I didnt want any trouble between them.Yeah, Matt thought bitterly youd better walk careful y because Tylers dad probably has as some(prenominal) good friends in here as yours does. More. Matt tuned out until he heard the public prosecutor say, And did anything unusual happen on the night in question?Well, we went out together in his car. We went over near the boardinghouseno one would see us thereYes, I Im afraid I did give him aa love-bite. But after that I wanted to leave, but he didnt exclude. I had to try to fight him off. I scratched him with my nails The prosecution offers PeoplesExhibit 2 a picture of the deeply fingernail scores on the defendants arm Gwens eyes, meeting Matts, looked dul . Beaten. She showed Matt a picture of what he remembered the deep tag made by the huge malachs teeth when he had pul ed his arm out of its mouth. The defense wil stipulateSo admitted.But no matter how I screamed and foughtWell, he was too strong, and I I couldnt Caroline tossed her head in agony of remembered confound. disunite flooded from her eyes.Your Honor, perhaps the defendant necessitate a break to freshen her makeup,Gwen suggested bitterly. progeny lady, you are getting on my nerves. The prosecution can care for its own clients I mean witnesses Your witness from the prosecution.Matt had scribbled as much of the real story as he could onto a blank tacking of paper while Carolines theatrics had gone on. Gwen was now reading this.So,she said, your ex, Tyler Smal wood, is not and has never been a she swal owed a werewolf.Through her tears of shame Caroline laughed lightly. Of course not. Werewolves arent real.Like vampires.V ampires arent real either, if thats what you mean. How could they be?Caroline was looking into every shadow of the room as she said this.Gwen was doing a good melody, Matt realized. Carolines demure patina was beginning to chip.And batch never come back from the dead in these redbrick times, I mean,Gwen said.Well, as to that malice had crept into Carolines voice if you just go to the boardinghouse in Fel s Church, you can see that theres a girl cal ed Elena Gilbert, who was supposed to have drowned last year. On Founders Day, after the parade. She was run Fel s Church, of course.There was a murmur among the reporters. Supernatural stuff sold better than anything else, especial y if a pretty girl was involved. Matt could see a smirk reservation the rounds.Order Miz Sawicki, you wil keep to the facts in this caseYes, Your Honor.Gwen looked thwarted. Okay, Caroline, lets go back to the day of the al eged assault. After the events you have narrated, did you cal the police at onc e?I wastoo ashamed. But then I realized I might be pregnant or have some horrid disease, and I knew I had to tel .But that horrid disease wasnt lycanthropy being a werewolf, right? Because that couldnt be true.Gwen looked anxiously down at Matt and Matt looked bleakly up at her. Hed hoped that if Caroline were coerce to keep talking about werewolves she would ultimate y start to twitch.But she seemed to have complete control over herself now.The judge seemed furious. Young lady, I wont have my court made a joke with any more supernatural nonsenseMatt stared at the ceiling. He was going to jail. For a long time. For something he hadnt done. For something he would never do. And besides, now, there might be reporters going over to the boardinghouse to bother Elena and Stefan. horseshit Caroline had managed to get that in scorn the blood malediction shed made never to give their secret away.Damon had signed that oath as well. For a moment Matt wished that Damon were back and right here, to take retaliate on her. Matt didnt care how many times he got cal ed muttif Damon would just appear. But Damon didnt.Matt realized that the duct tape around his middle was low enough that he could dig his head against the defense table. He did this, making a smal boom.If your client wishes to be completely immobilized, Miz Sawicki, it can be But then they al heard it. Like an echo, but delayed. And much louder than the sound of a head striking a table. expoundAnd again.BOOMAnd then the distant, disturbing sound of doors slamming open as if they had been hit by a battering ram.At this point the people in the courtroom Stillcould have scattered. But where was there to go?BOOM Another, immediate door slamming open.Order Order in the courtroomFootsteps sounded down the wooden blast of the corridor.Order OrderBut no one, not even a judge, could stop this many people from muttering. And late in the evening, in a locked courthouse, after al that talk of vampires and werewolve sFootsteps coming closer. A door, instead near, crashing and creaking.A ripple ofsomethingwent through the courtroom.Caroline gasped, clutching at her bulging stomach.Bar those doors Bailiff clasp themBar them how, Your Honor? And they only lock from the outsideWhatever it was, it was very close The doors to the courtroom opened, creaking. Matt put a calming hand on Gwens wrist, turn his neck to see behind him. rest in the doorway was sabre, looking, as always, as big as a smal pony. Mrs. Flowers walked beside him Stefan and Elena displace up the rear.Heavy c cyphering footsteps as Saber, alone, went up to Caroline, who was gasping and quivering.Utter silence as everyone took in the sight of the giant beast, his coat sables hair pencil black, his eyes dark and moist as he took a leisurely look around the courtroom.Then, deep in his chest, Saber went hmmf.Around Matt people were gasping and writhing, as if they itched al over. He stared and saw Gwen thoroughgoing(a) along with him as the gasping became a panting.final exam y Saber tilted his nose to the ceiling and howled.What happened after that wasnt pretty from Matts point of view. Not seeing Carolines nose and mouth jut out to make a muzzle. Not seeing her eyes bed into smal , deep, fur-lined holes.And her hands, fingers shrinking into helplessly waving paws, widespread, with black claws. That wasnt pretty.But the animal at the end was beautiful. Matt didnt know if shed absorbed her gray dress or shucked it off or what. He did know that a braggart(a) gray wolf leaped from the defendants chair to lick up at Sabers chops, rol ing al the way on the floor to frolic around the huge animal, who was so obviously the important wolf.Saber made another deep hmmf sound. The wolf that had been Caroline rubbed her snout fondly against his neck.And it was happening in other places in the room. Both of the prosecutors, three of the jurorsthe judge himselfThey were al changing, not to attack, but to forge their favorable bonds with this huge wolf, an alpha if ever there was one.We talked to him al the way,Elena explained in between profane swearing the duct tape in Matts hair. to the highest degree not being aggressive and snapping off heads Damon told me he did that once.We didnt want a mountain of murders,Stefan agreed. And we knew no animal would be as big as he was. So we concentrated on bringing out al the wolf in him we could wait, Elena Ive got the tape on this side. Sorry about this, Matt.A sting as tape ripped save and Matt put a hand to his mouth. Mrs. Flowers was snipping the duct tape that held him to the chair. short he was entirely free and he felt like shouting. He hugged Stefan, Elena, and Mrs. Flowers, saying, give thanks youGwen, unfortunately, was being sick in a trash can. Actual y, Matt thought, she was lucky in having secured one. A juror was being sick over the railing.This is Ms. Sawicki,Matt said proudly. She came in after the trial had begun, and did a real y good job for me.He said Elena,Gwen whispered when she could speak.She was consummate(a) at a smal wolf, with patches of thinning hair, that came gameness down from the judges chair to cavort around Saber, who was accepting al such gestures with dignity.Im Elena,said Elena, in between giving Matt mighty hugs.The one whossupposed to be dead?Elena took a moment out to hug Gwen. Do I feel dead?I I dont know. No. But But I have a pretty little cay in the Fel s Church cemetery,Elena assured her then suddenly, with a change in countenance, Did Caroline tel you that?She told the whole room that. exceptional y the reporters.Stefan looked at Matt and smiled wryly. You may just live to have your punish on Caroline.I dont want punish anymore. I just want to go home. I mean He looked at Mrs. Flowers in consternation.If you can think of my house as homewhile your dear mother is away, I am very happy,said Mrs. Flowers. convey you,Matt said quietly. I real y mean that. But Stefanwh at are the reporters going to write?If theyre smart, they wont write anything at all.