The Hunters: Phantom Chapter 25

elena matt swung his gaze in horror surrounded by becomings prone figure, the name on the floor, and Elenas pale face. After a few shocked minutes, Elena spun and left the room. Stefan and Matt fol owed her as Meredith and the others moved to Bonnies side. Out in the hal way, Elena pounced on Stefan. You were supposed to look later them. If you had been here, Bonnie would shoot had some protection.Matt, trailing Stefan surface of Bonnies bedroom, balked. Elenas teeth were bared, her dark blue eyes flashed, and she and Stefan both looked furious.It wasnt Stefans fault, Elena, Matt protested gently.Alaric and Mrs. Flowers had set magical protections. Nothing ought to withdraw been able to modernise in. Even if Stefan had been here, he wouldnt commit been in Bonnies room with her al night.He should have been, if thats what it took to protect her, Elena said bitterly. Her face was tight with fire as she looked at Stefan.Even as Matt stood up for Stefan, he couldnt suppress a glow of satisfaction at seeing trouble between Elena and Stefan at last. Its ab by time Elena realized Stefan isnt perfect, the worst part of him said gleeful y. Mrs. Flowers and Alaric hurried out of the room, breaking the tension between Elena and Stefan. Mrs. Flowers shook her head. It seems that Bonnie was very foolishly trying to contact the dead, but I dont see how she could have done this to herself. This must be the result of whatever has been endangering you. Meredith is going to rest by Bonnies bedside for the time be while we investigate.Matt glanced at Elena and Stefan. I thought you said that Caleb was out of the picture.I thought he was Stefan said as they al headed d proclaimstairs. Maybe this is something he started before we fought.Alaric frowned. If thats true and its stil going, Caleb himself might not be able to stop it. Even if he died, that wouldnt interrupt a self-perpetuating curse.Elena strode out to the hal and ripped into the first of the trash bags, her jaw set. We need to figure out what he did.She dug out a stack of notebooks and shoved them into the others hands. Look for the actual steps of a spel . If we know how he did it, maybe Alaric or Mrs. Flowers trick figure out how to reverse it.The spel book Bonnie was using is one of mine, Mrs. Flowers said. Nothing in it should have had this effect on her, but Il examine it just in case.They each took a notebook and a pile of papers and spread out almost the kitchen table.There are diagrams in mine, Stefan said after a minute.Theres a pentagram, but I dont think its the same as the one we saw on the floor.Alaric took the notebook and peered at it, then shook his head. Im not an expert, but that looks like part of a standard protection spel .The notebook in front of Matt was mostly scribbled notes. Tanner first death? it asked. Halloween? Elena, Bonnie, Meredith, Matt, Tyler, Stefan all present. He could hear Merediths feet upstairs, restlessly pacing by Bonnies bedside, and the words blurred before him. He scour the back of his fist against his eyes before he could embarrass himself by crying. This was useless. And even if there was something helpful in here, he would never recognize it.Does it sorb you guys as weird, Elena asked, that Celia was the first one affected by whatever this evil is?There wasnt anything about her in the shed. And she never met Tyler, let alone Caleb. If Caleb was trying to get revenge on us for Tylers disappearance, why would he attack Celia first? Or at al , real y.That was a real y best point, Matt thought, and he was about to say so when he spotted Mrs. Flowers. She was standing stick-straight, staring off past his left ear and nodding slightly. Do you real y think so? she said softly. Oh, that does make a difference. Yes, I see. Thank you.By the time she had finished and her eyes snapped back to center on them, the others had also noticed her one-sided conversation and grown silent, watching her.Does your mother know what happ ened to Bonnie?Matt asked her eagerly. He had stayed in Fel s church fighting the kitsune with Mrs. Flowers when his friends had traveled to the Dark Dimension, and their time as comrades in arms had made him familiar with Mrs. Flowerss casual exchanges with the spirit realm. If Mrs. Flowerss mother had interrupted their conversation, she probably had something recyclable and important to say.Yes, said Mrs. Flowers, smiling at him. Yes, indeed, Mama was very helpful. Her face grew serious as she glanced around. Mama was able to sense the thing that took Bonnies spirit. Once it had entered the house, she could esteem it, although she was powerless to fight it herself. Shes upset that she wasnt able to save Bonnie. Shes preferably fond of her.Is Bonnie going to be okay? Matt asked, over the others questions of, So what is it? and Its a demon or something, then, not a curse?Mrs. Flowers looked at Matt first. We may be able to save Bonnie. We wil certainly try. But we wil have to l and the thing that took her. And the rest of you are stil very much in danger.She looked around at them al . Its a unreal.There was a little pause.Whats a phantasma? Elena asked. Do you mean a ghost?A phantom, of course, Stefan said quietly, shaking his head like he couldnt believe the idea hadnt occurred to him earlier. There was a township I heard of once back in Italy many years ago, where they said a phantom stalked the streets of Umbria. It wasnt a ghost, but a cosmos created by strong emotions. The story was that a man became so enraged at his unfaithful lover that he kil ed her and her paramour, and then himself. And these actions released something, a being made out of their emotions. One by one people living nearby went mad. They did terrible things.Stefan looked shaken to his core.Is that what were facing? Some kind of demon created out of anger that wil drive people mad? Elena turned to Mrs. Flowers imploringly. Because frankly I think this town has had enough of tha t.It cant happen again, Matt said. He was also flavour at Mrs. Flowers. She was the only one who had seen the neardestruction of Fel s Church with him. The others had been there for the beginning, sure, but when things got real y awful, when they were at their worst, the girls and the vampires had been off in the Dark Dimension, fighting their own battles to fix it.Mrs. Flowers met his eyes and nodded firmly, like she was making a pledge. It wont, she said. Stefan, what youre describing probably was a rage phantom, but it sounds like the popular explanation of what was going on wasnt quite accurate. According to Mama, phantoms feed on emotions like vampires do on blood. The stronger an emotion is, the better fed and more active they are. Theyre attracted to people or communities that already have these strong emotions, and they create almost a feedback loop, encouraging and nurturing thoughts that wil make the emotion stronger so that they can continue to feed. Theyre quite psychic al y powerful, but they can survive only as long as their victims keep feeding them.Elena was listening careful y. But what about Bonnie?She looked at Stefan. In this town in Umbria, did people fal into comas because of the phantom?Stefan shook his head. Not that I ever heard of, he said.Maybe thats where Caleb comes in.Il cal Celia, said Alaric. This wil help focus her research. If anyone has any strong at al on this, itl be Dr. Beltram.Could your mother tel what kind of phantom it was?Stefan asked Mrs. Flowers. If we know what emotion it feeds on, we could cut off its supply.She didnt know, she said. And she doesnt know how to defeat a phantom either. And theres one more thing we should take into consideration Bonnies got a lot of innate psychic power of her own. If the phantom has taken her, its probably tapped into that.Matt nodded, fol owe her train of thought. And if thats so, he finished grimly, then this thing is only going to get stronger and more dangerous.