The Vampire Diaries: The Salvation: Unseen
Read The Vampire Diaries: The Salvation: Unseen Online
Authors: L. J. Smith,Aubrey Clark
BOOKS IN THE VAMPIRE DIARIES SERIES
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES:
VOL. I: THE AWAKENING
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES:
VOL. II: THE STRUGGLE
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES:
VOL. III: THE FURY
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES:
VOL. IV: DARK REUNION
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES:
THE RETURN VOL. 1: NIGHTFALL
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES:
THE RETURN VOL. 2: SHADOW SOULS
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES:
THE RETURN VOL. 3: MIDNIGHT
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES:
THE HUNTERS VOL. 1: PHANTOM
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES:
THE HUNTERS VOL. 2: MOONSONG
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES:
THE HUNTERS VOL. 3: DESTINY RISING
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES:
STEFAN’S DIARIES VOL. 1: ORIGINS
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES:
STEFAN’S DIARIES VOL. 2: BLOODLUST
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES:
STEFAN’S DIARIES VOL. 3: THE CRAVING
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES:
STEFAN’S DIARIES VOL. 4: THE RIPPER
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES:
STEFAN’S DIARIES VOL. 5: THE ASYLUM
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES:
STEFAN’S DIARIES VOL. 6: THE COMPELLED
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons,
living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Text copyright © 2013 by Alloy Entertainment and L.J. Smith
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Produced by Alloy Entertainment
1700 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
Published by 47North
P.O. Box 400818
Las Vegas, NV 89140
ISBN 10: 1477809678
ISBN 13: 9781477809679
Cover Design by Liz Dresner
A Note About the Hashtags in This Book
A Note About the Hashtags in This Book
Elena’s diary may be private, but this book doesn’t have to be.
Everyone’s talking about the biggest shockers, twists, and swoon-worthy moments.
Look for the hashtags throughout this book and share your own reactions on Twitter. To connect with other readers right now, tag your tweets with #TVD11.
D
ear Damon,
Yesterday, I felt happy. Not my usual everyday glow, but a wild, fierce happiness that ran along my veins like fire.
I would have known, even without the slight tug of the bond between us, that it came from you. It felt like you. What were you doing? Where were you yesterday?
I’m glad you’re happy, Damon.
I miss you. Thanks to the bond the Guardians forged, we’re never really far away from each other. I’m constantly aware of you, with a low-level hum of Damon-ness running through me. But I’d like to see you in person.
I can’t believe it’s been four years. I think of how we said good-bye, that last evening at Dalcrest, the bond between our auras so new, and how I cried, and I keep wishing I could have convinced you to stay.
Stefan misses you, too. We keep saying that soon, we’ll take a few weeks and come find you, wherever you happen to be. Stefan can show me around streets he hasn’t walked for centuries, and you can take us to the hottest nightclubs, and we’ll all be together again. Family.
Sometimes I feel like I’m losing so much of my past. Aunt Judith told me yesterday that she wants to sell our house in Fell’s Church and move to Richmond. It makes sense: Robert won’t have so far to commute, and my little sister can go to a terrific school in the city. And after all, I don’t live there anymore.
But I can’t help remembering how my mother and I redecorated my bedroom there before she died, how many nights Bonnie and Meredith and Caroline and I spent there, having sleepovers and telling secrets. How you and Stefan each held me in your arms there, at different times and for different reasons.
I can say good-bye to that house, even though it hurts, but I can’t say good-bye to you, too. Please, Damon, promise me we’ll see each other again.
Elena Gilbert groaned and ran her fingers through her long blond hair. Why was it so hard to get to the point? She was getting distracted by her emotions, when she had meant to e-mail Damon for a reason.
But you already know I miss you,
she typed.
Now there’s something I have to warn you about.
Elena looked up from the laptop, glancing around her living room. Everything in her and Stefan’s apartment was serene. Warm, golden lamplight illuminated the pale walls lined with framed reproductions from art exhibits she and Stefan had attended: an abstract of a couple embracing, their bodies melting into each other; a stern-faced Renaissance angel; a field full of wildflowers. Elena’s little sister, Margaret, grinned up from her elementary school graduation picture on a table by the couch; in another photo, Bonnie and Elena stood in silver bridesmaids’ gowns on either side of Meredith, whose face was lit up in a rare smile. Heavy brocaded curtains covered the windows, shutting out the darkness. Sammy, their long-furred white cat, stretched out luxuriously across the couch cushions, only a sliver of one golden eye showing he was awake.
On the top of a heavy mahogany cabinet rested the small collection of things Stefan had carried with him through all his years of roaming the world: a few gold coins, an ivory-hilted dagger, a stone cup mounted in silver, a gold pendant watch, and a small iron coffer. And finally, the most recent addition to his treasures: a silky apricot-colored hair ribbon, stained with mud, which Elena had once lost in a graveyard.
Elena remembered when she’d first seen these objects in Stefan’s rooms in Fell’s Church, back when he had been a mysterious, almost frightening, stranger. Now she knew the story behind each of them, understood all these talismans of Stefan’s past.
The quiet apartment was practically the exact opposite of wherever Damon was right now, which was probably full of bright lights and fast cars. Elena had been so restless for so long—but, here, in the home she and Stefan had made together, she was content.