30 Seconds Till Eternity
Prologue
30 seconds. Thirty fucking seconds will make a difference between life and death and I can't recall that damn code. Thirty seconds. And only one chance. And if I fail, the system alert will go on and we'll never make it out alive. I look around. Damon is right behind me, staring furiously at me.
„What are you waiting for?" he snaps.
Then he stares through the large glass window right infront of the desk I'm just sitting on. He watches her mute limb form. Poor Bonnie. She surely had her share of suffering and I'm not sure that she will ever find out how much he loves her. I know now. He still hasn't admitted it yet, but his pressed lips and pained expression speak a clear language. Not to mention the intense aura of passion and plain terror at the prospect of loosing her. I can feel the strong emotions rushing through his blood just too clearly for my taste. Who said the life of an Empath was easy? I know what I'm talking about, most of the time my abilities were a curse instead of a blessing. Maybe he notices my curious looks and faces me again. These impressive dark pools he calls eyes are directed straight at my face. I can nearly feel them physically, piercing through my body. He tries to hide it, but I feel that he is frustrated to the point of plain unarticulated screaming. He hates the fact that he is utterly helpless, that everything depends on me and my memory. How he must abhor depending on me, the worst freak he has ever met.
„DO SOMETHING!"
His voice is harsh now. He looks like he wishes to threaten me. He is good at threatening people. But with what does he want to threaten me now? That he will kill me if I fail? If I fail, we'll all get killed, vampires and humans alike. And he knows that. And he knows that I know. And with this realization words fail him. But I find myself surprisingly eloquent.
„If you want your honey back alive, shut up and let me work." I spit out. A part of me revels in his helpless fury.
„Then work!" he mutters darkly.
I just ignore him and turn back to the keyboard before me. I watch the little screen and the secquence of numbers it displays. The count goes downward, inevitably. But time stretches endlessly and each number seems to last for eternity. These could be the last seconds in my very existence and I still can't recall the precious code number. I glance over my shoulder and get a glimpse of Elena and Stefan. Elena is bent over his crouched form and comforts him as much as she can. He is in pain. I didn't even need empathy to tell that, and to tell that he is loosing too much blood. She also casts a glance at me and bites her lower lip. I bet she feels like shouting at me too, but she knows better. Still the calm beauty who made me go on this crazed kamikaze mission in the first place. Violently I turn back to the keyboard knowing I have to get a grip on myself. Only 26 seconds left. My time is running up and its now or never. Carefully I type the first number. In these fleeting seconds with all our lives at stake it all comes into my mind at once and my brain unrolls the whole chain of events which lead us to this point like a red carpet. Only 22 seconds left now and my fingers come to a halt. So far I've typed in all 14 numbers correctly, I guess, but the last one leaves me insecure again. I'm stuck between two possibilities. Seven or eight? Will it be seven or eight? My finger hovers right over the keys and I search my mind frantically for a solution, but by all means, it suddenly has gone blank. Except for the story which changed our lives so profoundly. So I step on the carpet and remember how it all began...
20 seconds left...
tbc