Chapter 3

Elena sprawled sideways on two seats, deliberately taking up all available space in an attempt to warn off anybody who might try and claim the spot beside her. Her stomach might not be grumbling, but her fangs were doing the vampire equivalent, threatening to make an unwanted appearance every time a fellow passenger wandered past her in the aisle.

She knew she wouldn't be able to hold off feeding permanently. Her vague plan included putting several thousand miles between herself and Mystic Falls before the inevitable happened. In the meantime, close proximity to anyone at the moment was a very bad idea.

Her phone buzzed and she couldn't help checking it. She might not be answering, but the messages from home gave her something to hold onto as she moved further and further away.

Damon's latest message carried an explicit threat: You can't hide. I WILL find you, Elena.

He would. After a summer of chasing Stefan, Elena knew all too well how stubborn Damon could be when he was out to find somebody. However, she'd been involved in that chase, so she had some knowledge of his mindset, at least.

Driving hadn't been an option. Her car was too easy to track, and renting a vehicle would require a credit card. If there was a paper trail, Damon would uncover it.

A plane carried the same risk. Her name would be on the passenger list and Damon would find it.

Mystic Falls didn't have a train station.

So in the end Elena had gone Greyhound, knowing that would be the last avenue Damon would check. Her only hope was that by the time he did locate her, she would have dug her heels in deep enough in a new city that he couldn't pry her free.

Elena shifted uncomfortably and rearranged her backpack so it served as a makeshift pillow. To avoid watching the darkening landscape as it slowly became less familiar, she closed her eyes and wished she'd asked Caroline about managing her suddenly super sensitized hearing. Since leaving the boarding house she'd barely slept at all, unable to filter out the endless noise around her. The older gentleman in the row beside her sucked his teeth noisily, a long, loud slurp in between each ragged snore. Toward the front, a woman coughed repeatedly into a pillow, her efforts to be polite not helping Elena in the least. A nearby couple thought they were being discreetly amorous, unaware that their impromptu make out session was being broadcast in surround sound for Elena's brain. The hum of the engine, the whir of the air conditioning, the driver's constant shifting in her seat-

It all grated on Elena, abrading her exhausted nerves until she wanted to scream. She had cycled through various stages of amusement and annoyance before culminating in a coldly unreasonable, unrecognizable fury that she was just barely holding in check.

The bus made a sharp right hand turn, coming to a shuddering stop at a dimly lit gas station. A blast of static scoured her sensitive ears, preceding an announcement by the driver:

"Okay, folks. This will be your last break of the evening before reaching Lumberton. Please be back on the bus in 15 minutes. In 15 minutes, this bus WILL depart, whether or not you are on it. Restrooms and snacks are available inside the station."

Grabbing her backpack, Elena hurried out of the bus before other passengers were even on their feet. The cool night breeze hit her square in the face and she sighed with relief after far too many hours of stale air. She headed into the gas station restroom, washing her face and grimacing at the disaster that was her hair.

A middle-aged woman emerged from a stall and joined her at the sinks. "Long trip?" she asked with a friendly smile as she turned on the water.

"Endless," Elena replied, shaking her head and trying to comb out some of the tangles with her fingers.

"Where you comin' from?"

"Virginia."

"I been on the bus since Washington, D.C." The woman frowned as she fiddled with the soap dispenser. "Talk about endless. Excuse me." The woman leaned across Elena's sink, reaching for her soap.

She froze as the woman lingered, fussing with the soap again. "You'd think they'd refill these things a little more frequently, what with all the traffic." The woman's t-shirt slid sideways, exposing freckled shoulder skin leading into a long neck that was now poised directly within Elena's reach. "I can't tell you how thankful I'll be when we finally reach Sumter." Elena's eyes were riveted on the pulse of the carotid artery. She could hear the slow, steady beat over the woman's incessant prattling, "Mmmm ... warm bed, clean sheets and coffee that doesn't taste like lighter fluid. All it takes to make me happy."

The warm scent of blood so close at hand overwhelmed Elena and she felt her eyes narrowing, the tips of her fangs forcing their way over her lips. She backed away desperately, tripping over a garbage can in her haste.

The woman eyed her curiously in the mirror, wholly unaware that she was seconds from becoming breakfast, lunch, and dinner. "Everything all right?"

Elena fled the bathroom and promptly collided with a teenage gas station employee who was putting up "Bathroom Closed For Cleaning" signs. She muttered an apology and stumbled away trying to avoid the press of multiple bodies around her, all fragrant with blood. A beer cooler caught her attention and she paused in front of it, thinking back to what Damon had said once about using alcohol to cut the craving. That, however, would require an ID.

Couldn't I have died after turning 21, at least? Elena bolted from the store, senses reeling. The bus was still half-empty when she boarded and she collapsed into her seat gratefully, intent on getting at least 5 minutes of relative peace before everything got crowded again.

Exhausted, she was just beginning to drift off into a tense, hungry sleep when passengers began to reboard the bus. When the old man across the aisle traded places with his seatmate so he could lean against the window, she breathed a sigh of relief. Even that marginal extra bit of space between them might keep her from lunging if he started sucking his dentures again.

The formerly loving couple had gotten into an argument over something or other and were now giving each other the silent treatment, so another source of noise was temporarily mitigated.

All she had to contend with was the relentless coughing of the woman up ahead. Annoyance stirred Elena instead of compassion. She was trying to sort through her wholly unreasonable irritation when another staticky announcement came over the sound system.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please. One of our buses is experiencing engine trouble. We've taken on several passengers who need to make a connection in Sumter. Please make room for them and remember that your ticket is valid only for one seat."

Alarmed nudged at her and she made a determined effort to ignore it. There was no reason for anyone to disturb her. She'd counted at least three empty seats. Curling her body around her backpack and clutching it like a life preserver, Elena tried to ignore the chaos as people resettled themselves and their belongings.

When the bus doors whooshed closed she relaxed slightly as they finally got underway again. She draped a sweatshirt over herself to give off the impression that she was sleeping and to ward off the mild airconditioned chill. Since becoming a vampire, she'd been incessantly cold both inside and out. Closing her eyes, she sank into the uncomfortable seat. Restless sleep was hovering at the fringes of her consciousness when she suddenly became aware of footsteps shuffling down the aisle. Apparently a passenger was already heading for the disgusting restroom.

"Is this seat taken?"