'Stefan’s Diaries: Bloodlust Chapter 10\r'

'I awoke fol scummying(a) as dusk was settling oer the city. From my window, I could see the goldfish-orange sun sinking low lavatory a etiolated steeple. The entire house was silent, and for a moment, I couldnt remember where I was. Then everyaffair came hold: the only whencher shop, the vampires, me being flung against the wall.\r\nLexi.\r\nAs if on cue, she glided into the room, just making a sound as she pu throw assailable the verge. Her blond hair was loose roughly her shoulders, and she was corrosion a simple black dress. If looked at quickly, she could be mistaken for a child. unless I could arrange from the slight creases around her eyes and the fullness of her lips that shed been a full-grown woman, probably around cardinal or twenty. I had no idea how more years shed seen since then.\r\nShe perched on the edge of my bed, smoothing derriere my hair.\r\nâ€Å"Good evening, Stefan,” she tell, a mischievous glint in her eye. She clutched a rolling wave o f dark liquid betwixt her fingers. â€Å"You slept,” she noted.\r\nI n leftovered. Until Id sunk into the featherbed on the triad floor of the house, I hadnt realized that Id blockely slept in the past week. regular(a) on the train, Id al modes been twitching, aware(p) of the sighs and snores of my fellow passengers and always,alwaysthe steady thrum of blood get over through their veins. plainly here no heartbeats had unploughed me from slumber.\r\nâ€Å"I brought this for you,” she said, pr offering the glass. I pushed it away. The blood in it smelled stale, sour.\r\nâ€Å"You hold to drink,” she said, sounding so much like me utterance to Damon that I couldnt help hardly feel a tiny pang of irritationâ€and sorrow. I brought the tumbler to my lips and took a tiny sip, fighting the urge to vomit up it out. As I expected, the drink tasted like wet water and the scent made me feel vaguely ill.\r\nLexi smiled to herself, as if enjoying a private jo ke. â€Å"Its goats blood. Its good for you. Youll farm yourself sick, the way you were feeding. A diet made totally of human blood isnt good for the digestion. Or the soul.”\r\nâ€Å"We dont get souls,” I scoffed. But I brought the cup to my lips formerly more.\r\nLexi sighed and took the tumbler, placing it on the nightstand next to me. â€Å"So much to learn,” she whispered, or so to herself.\r\nâ€Å"Well, we have nothing unless time, right?” I pointed out. I was rewarded with a rich joke, which was surprisingly ratty and throaty approach path from her waif-like body.\r\nâ€Å"You catch on quickly. Come. study up. Its time to show you our city,” she said, rafting me a plain white shirt and trousers.\r\nAfter changing, I followed her passel the resound woody stairs to where the separate vampires milled approximately in the ballroom. They were dressed up, but all looked faintly old-fashioned, as if theyd stepped out of one of the umpteen portraits on the wall. Hugo sat at the piano, playing an out-of-tune rendition of Mozart trance wearing a blue velvet cape. Buxton, the hulking, lashing vampire, was wearing a loose, ruffled, white shirt. and Percy had on attenuated britches and suspenders that made him look as though he were running late to play a plot of ground of ball with his schoolmates.\r\nWhen they saw me, the vampires froze. Hugo managed a slight nod, but the rest only stared in stony silence.\r\nâ€Å"Lets go!” Lexi commanded, leading our assembly out the door, down the designate path, through zigzagging alleyways, and finally onto a street mark Bourbon. Each entryway led to a murkily lit bar, from which inebriated patrons stumbled out into the night air. Suggestively clothed women gathered in clumps beneath awnings, and revelers acted punch-drunk, fudge to laugh or fight at a moments notice. I instantly knew why Lexi took us here. scorn our odd attire, we attracted no more attent ion than any(prenominal) of the other lively revelers.\r\nAs we walked, the others flanked me, preventing me in the concentrate of their circle at all times. I knew I was being watched sharply, and I tried to remain unmoved by the scent of blood and the rhythm of defeat hearts.\r\nâ€Å"Here!” Lexi said, not bothering to consult the rest of the group as she pushed open a saloon door that read M ILADIESin curlicue script. I was strike by her boldnessâ€back in esoteric Falls, only women of ill repute would ever raise a barroom. But as I was truehearted realizing, New Orleans wasnt Mystic Falls.\r\nThe floor of Miladies was caked with sawdust, and I winced at the overwhelmingly acrid smell of sweat, whiskey, and cologne. The tables were jammed shoulder to shoulder with men playing cards, gambling, and gossiping. i entire side of the room was filled with labor union soldiers, and in another corner, a motley good deal consisting of players with an accordion, twai n fiddles, and a flute was playing a jaunty rendition of â€Å"The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”\r\nâ€Å"What do you think?” Lexi asked, leading me to the bar.\r\nâ€Å"Is this a Union bar?” I asked. The Union army had captured the city both(prenominal) months back, and soldiers stood sentinel on nearly every corner, maintaining orderliness and re psycheing Confederates that the war they were fighting looked to be a losing cause.\r\nâ€Å"Yes. You drive in what that means, right?”\r\nI scanned the room. Aside from the soldiers, it was a solitudinarian crowd. Single men drowned their loneliness at wooden tables, barely acknowledging their neighbors. The bartenders filled glasses with a mechanized air, never seeming to register the people for whom they poured their wares.\r\nI understood immediately. â€Å"Everyone here is a stranger go across through.”\r\nâ€Å"Exactly.” Lexi smiled, understandably pleased that I was spying on.\r\nBuxto n clean his throat in disapproval. I could tell he didnt like meâ€that he was waiting for me to slip up so he could stake me without incurring Lexis wrath.\r\nâ€Å"Hugo, specify us a table!” Lexi commanded. Hugo walked his hulkish frame over to a rough-hewn table next to the band. Before he could even open his mouth, the blue-coated soldiers at the table glanced at each(prenominal) other and stood up, leaving half-filled mugs stool.\r\nLexi pulled out two hold ins. â€Å"Stefan, get next to me.”\r\nI sat, vaguely gangrenous that I was so compliant, like a child. But I reminded myself that even Hugo followed her lead. Lexi had Power, and she knew how to use it.\r\nPercy, Hugo, and Buxton also colonized around.\r\n â€Å"Now,” Lexi said, taking one of the abandoned beer mugs and waving it around in the air, just as the waitress approached us. â€Å"Lets see you how to behave in public.”\r\nMy cheeks flushed with anger. â€Å"I am behaving,† I said through clenched teeth. â€Å"Despite the fact that there are so many people that its nearly im feasible to concentrate.”\r\nPercy and Hugo snickered.\r\nâ€Å"Hes not ready ” Buxton said in a surly tone.\r\nâ€Å"Yes, he is.” Lexis words were low and slightly menacing. Buxton clenched his jaw, all the way trying to rein in his temper. I shifted in my chair. I all of a sudden felt like I was ten years old again, with Damon protecting me from the Giffin brothers. except this time it was a girl standing up for me. I was about to point out that I didnt need Lexi to answer for me when she placed a hand on my knee. The touch was gentle and calmed me.\r\nâ€Å"It gets easier,” she said, briefly catching my eyes. â€Å"So, lesson one,” she stated, addressing the entire group. A kindness on her part, I realized, since I was the only one who didnt know the fine points of being a vampire. â€Å"Lesson one is learning how to accommodate witho ut drawing attention to yourself.” She leaned back and eyed the band. â€Å"I dont like this song. Stefan, what song would you like to hear?”\r\nâ€Å"Uh .” I glanced around the table, confused. Percy snickered again, but stopped when Lexi glared at him. â€Å",,God restrain the South?” I said hesitantly. The first-class honours degree thing that came to my head, it was a tune Damon used to whistle when he was on leave from the army.\r\nLexi scooted her chair back, the legs kicking up a layer of sawdust. She sauntered over to the band and looked each of the members in the eye as she said something I couldnt hear.\r\nThe band stopped mid-chord and immediately switched to â€Å"God assuage the South.”\r\nâ€Å"Hey!” one soldier shouted. His comrades glanced at one another, clearly wondering why a band in a Union bar had suddenly been divine to play a pro-Southern song.\r\nLexi grinned, as if delighted by her trick. â€Å"Are you impressed? ”\r\nâ€Å"Very,” I said, meaning it. Even Percy and Hugo nodded in agreement.\r\nLexi took a sip of her beer. â€Å"Your turn. Pick someone,” she said.\r\nI glanced around the bar, my eye catching on a dark-haired barmaid. Her eyes were deep brown, and her hair was trussed in a low knot at the nape of her neck. Her lips were parted, and she wore a cameo pendant that nestled in the notch of her neck. In the split second betwixt seeing and knowing, I was reminded of Katherine. I notion of my first glimpse of Miss Molly, and how Id mistaken her for Katherine as well. It felt as though my maker were intent to ghostwrite me in New Orleans.\r\nâ€Å"Her,” I said, nodding toward the girl.\r\nLexi looked at me sharply, as if she knew there was a story behind this decision. But she didnt pry. â€Å"Clear your mind,” she said instead, â€Å"and allow your strength to enter her.”\r\nI nodded, remembering the moment on the train when my thoughts ha d touched Lavinias. I fixed my survey on the barmaid. She was laughing, her head tilted back toward the ceiling, but as soon as my focus locked on her, her eyes lowered to mine, almost as if Id bidden her to do so.\r\nâ€Å"Good,” Lexi murmured. â€Å"Now, use your mind to tell her what you want from her.”\r\nThat was the dapple I had missed. When Id tried to compel the conductor, Id had thousands of thoughts about possible scenarios that could happen during our interaction, but I had not asked for any of them.\r\nCome here, I willed, staring into her liquid deep brown eyes.Come to me.For a moment she held her place behind the bar, but then she took a hesitant step forward.Yes, keep going.She stepped forward again, more confidently this time, making her way toward me. I had expected her to look dazed, almost as though she were sleepwalking. But she didnt appear to be in a trance. To any bystander, she could have simply been coming to our table to take our drink orde rs.\r\nâ€Å"Hello,” I said when she reached us.\r\nâ€Å"Dont break eye contact,” Lexi whispered. â€Å"Tell her what you want her to do now.” Sit down,I thought. And, almost instantly, the girl wedged herself between me and Buxton, her thigh warm against mine.\r\nâ€Å"Hello,” she said unblinkingly. â€Å"Its the strangest thing, but suddenly I just knew that I needed to sit here with you.”\r\nâ€Å"Im Stefan,” I said, shaking her hand. My fangs elongated, and the sides of my stomach knocked together. I wanted her. Badly.\r\nâ€Å"Dont embarrass us,” came Lexis final words onward she turned from me to face the band. It was clear that while she wasnt condoning any of my subsequent actions, she wasnt necessarily condemning them.\r\nInvite me outside, I thought, placing my hand on the barmaids thigh. But even as I thought the words, I glanced at Lexi, disruption my connection with the girl.\r\nThe girl shifted, pulled her hair up, th en dropped it down on her back. She glanced at the band, rubbing her forefinger on the rim of a glass.\r\nInvite me outside, I thought again, refocusing my attention fully on her. lying-in prickled my temple. Had I lost the connection for good?\r\nBut then she gave a slight nod. â€Å"You know, its awfully loudly in here, and I want to speak with you. Would you mind if we went outside?” she asked, staring at me.\r\nI stood up, my chair scraping against the floor. â€Å"Id like that very much,” I said, offering her my arm.\r\nâ€Å"Bring her back alive, boy, or youll be tell to me,” said a voice so low that I wondered if Id imagined it.\r\nBut when I turned back, Lexi merely smiled and waved.\r\n'