Nightfall (Vampire Diaries: The Return Series #1) by L. J. Smith

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Elena Gilbert has been through it all: She has fallen in love, fought ghastly evil, become a vampire, died, and then returned from dead. And now, torn between the love of two vampire brothers, she must face an ominous new danger. A demon has descended on the quiet hamlet of Fell's Church and seized the minds of numerous young girls. As his power grows, it becomes frighteningly apparent that this infernal force will ultimate threaten the whole world. This enthralling trilogy series extends L. J. Smith's teen-pleasing Vampire Diaries series. Addictive suspense.

From the Publisher

The first book in a new trilogy from L. J. Smith!

Elena Gilbert is alive—again.

When Elena sacrificed herself to save the two vampire brothers who love her—the handsome, brooding Stefan and the sleek and dangerous Damon—she was consigned to a fate beyond death. Until a powerful supernatural force pulled her back.

Now Elena is not just human. She has powers and gifts that were bestowed on her in the afterlife. What's more, her blood pulses with an overwhelming and unique force that makes her irresistible to any vampire.

Stefan wants to find a way to keep Elena safe so that they can make a life together. Damon, however, is driven by an insatiable desire for power, and wants Elena to rule as his princess. When Stefan is lured away from Fell's Church, Damon seizes his chance to convince her that he is the brother she is meant to be with. . . .

But a darkness is infiltrating the town, and Damon, always the hunter, is now the hunted; he becomes the prey of a malevolent creature that can possess him at will, and who desires not just Elena's blood but her death.

Children's Literature

This book is the fifth installment of the "The Vampire Diaries" series, picking up where the original four-book series, currently reissued in two omnibus editions, left off. Elena's return to a physical body has left her a bit confused. Her body is the same as when she was a normal human girl, but she is now able to levitate and communicates with mental pictures. As she returns to her old self, if a bit more powerful, she and her vampire boyfriend Stefan become closer than ever. But strange things are happening in their little town of Fell's Church, Virginia, and one night Stefan disappears. As Elena and her friends search for what happened to Stefan, they discover various girls of the town acting provocatively out of character and piercing themselves as if they have been bewitched. To make things worse, Stefan's brother, Damon, is acting strangely, even for him. Something evil is trying to destroy Elena's town—can she find a way to save everything she cares about and still find Stefan? A majority of the book is spent with the characters either discussing things that had just happened or what to do next, or even pausing in the midst of action to contemplate what is happening. The plot is sometimes hard to follow, introducing metaphysical concepts with little to no explanation as to what they are, if they come from previous books, or if they are new to the characters and therefore the series. While some fans will enjoy returning to Fell's Church and the romance of Stefan and Elena, this particular title fell flat. Reviewer: Kathleen Foucart

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up

This first book in the new story arc in the "Vampire Diaries" series features the same characters who appeared in The Awakening and the Struggle (2007) and The Fury and Dark Reunion (2008, both HarperTeen). Elena Gilbert has been reborn but is trapped in a childlike state, suffering from amnesia. She not only possesses extraordinary superpowers, but is also a magnet to vampires everywhere. As she regains her adult mind, she loses the ability to control her powers. Damon, who never truly leaves at the end of Dark Reunion , becomes determined to have Elena all to himself. At the same time, a new evil descends on Fell's Church, something far worse and more sinister than anything the town has encountered before. This villainous creature possesses humans, particularly young teenage girls. Even worse is its possession and manipulation of powerful Damon, who is trusted by Elena and her friends. Controlled against his will, he inflicts harm on the people he has promised to keep safe. Smith writes from several different perspectives, which adds some dimension to the plot but it is disjointed and hard to follow. The story is dark, full of suspense, and, at times, extremely creepy. Unfortunately the magical and horror elements are not thoroughly convincing, and this new evil seems to come right out of a Japanese anime comic. Purchase where Smith has a fan base or there is a strong vampire following.-Donna Rosenblum, Floral Park Memorial High School, NY

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The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Nightfall

Chapter One

Damon Salvatore was lounging in midair, nominally supported by one branch of a. .. who knew the names of trees anyway? Who gave a damn? It was tall, it allowed him to peep into Caroline Forbes's third-story bedroom, and it made a comfy backrest. He lay back in the convenient tree fork, hands clasped together behind his head, one neatly booted leg dangling over thirty feet of empty space. He was comfortable as a cat, eyes half-closed as he watched.

He was waiting for the magic moment of 4:44 A.M. to arrive, when Caroline would perform her bizarre ritual. He'd already seen it twice and he was enthralled.

Then he got a mosquito bite.

Which was ridiculous because mosquitoes didn't prey on vampires. Their blood wasn't nutritious like human blood. But it certainly felt like a tiny mosquito bite on the back of his neck.

He swiveled to see behind him, feeling the balmy summer night all around him—and saw nothing.

The needles of some conifer. Nothing flying about.Nothing crawling on them.

All right then. It must have been a conifer needle. But it certainly did hurt. And the pain got worse with time, not better.

A suicidal bee? Damon felt the back of his neck carefully. No venom sack, no stinger. Just a tiny squishy lump that hurt.

A moment later his attention was called back to the window.

He wasn't sure exactly what was going on but he could feel the sudden buzzing of Power around the sleeping Caroline, like a high-tension wire. Several days ago, it had drawn him to this place, but once he'd arrived he couldn'tseem to find the source.

The clock ticked 4:40 and beeped an alarm. Caroline woke and swatted it across the room.

Lucky girl, Damon thought, with wicked appreciation. If I were a rogue human instead of a vampire, then your virtue—presuming you've any left—might be in danger. Fortunately for you, I had to give up all that sort of thing nearly half a millennium ago.

Damon flashed a smile at nothing in particular, held it for a twentieth of a second, and then turned it off, his black eyes going cold. He looked back into the open window.

Yes. .. he'd always felt that his idiot younger brother Stefan didn't appreciate Caroline Forbes enough. There was no doubt that the girl was worth looking at: long, golden-brown limbs, a shapely body, and bronze-colored hair that fell around her face in waves. And then there was her mind. Naturally skewed, vengeful, spiteful. Delicious. For instance, if he wasn't mistaken, she was working with little voodoo dolls on her desk in there.

Terrific.

Damon liked to see the creative arts at work.

The alien Power still buzzed, and still he couldn't get a fix on it. Was it inside—in the girl? Surely not.

Caroline was hastily grabbing for what looked like a handful of silken green cobwebs. She stripped her T-shirt offand—almost too fast for the vampire eye to see—had herself dressed in lingerie that made her look like a jungle princess. She stared intently at her own reflection in a stand-alone full-length mirror.

Now, what can you be waiting for, little girl? Damon wondered.

Well—he might as well keep a low profile. There was a dark flutter, one ebony feather fell to the ground, and then there was nothing but an exceptionally large crow sitting in the tree.

Damon watched intently from one bright bird-eye as Caroline moved forward suddenly as if she'd gotten an electric jolt, lips parted, her gaze on what seemed to be her own reflection.

Then she smiled at it in greeting.

Damon could pinpoint the source of Power now. It was inside the mirror. Not in the same dimension as the mirror, certainly, but contained inside it.

Caroline was behaving—oddly. She tossed back her long bronze hair so that it fell in magnificent disarray down her back; she wet her lips and smiled as if at a lover. When she spoke, Damon could hear her quite clearly.

"Thank you. But you're late today."

There was still no one but her in the bedroom, and Damon could hear no answer. But the lips of the Caroline in the mirror were not moving in synch with the real girl's lips.

Bravo! he thought, always willing to appreciate a new trick on humans. Well done, whoever you are!

Lip-reading the mirror girl's words, he caught something about sorry. And lovely.

Damon cocked his head.

Caroline's reflection was saying, ".. . you don't have to. .. after today."

The real Caroline answered huskily. "But what if I can't fool them?"

And the reflection: ".. . have help. Don't worry, rest easy. . ."

"Okay. And nobody will get, like, fatally hurt, right? I mean, we're not talking about death—for humans."

The reflection: "Why should we. .. ?"

Damon smiled inwardly. How many times had he heard exchanges like that before? As a spider himself, he knew: First you got your fly into the parlor; then you reassured her; and before she knew it, you could have anything from her, until you didn't need her any longer.

And then—his black eyes glittered—it was time for a new fly.

Now Caroline's hands were writhing in her lap. "Just as long as you really—you know. What you promised. You really mean it about loving me?"

".. . trust me. I'll take care of you—and your enemies, too. I've already begun. . ."

Suddenly Caroline stretched, and it was a stretch that boys at Robert E. Lee High School would have paid to watch. "That's what I want to see," she said. "I'm just so sick of hearing about Elena this, Stefan that. .. and now it's going to start all over."

Caroline broke off abruptly, as if someone had hung up on her on the phone and she'd only just realized it. For a moment her eyes narrowed and her lips thinned. Then, slowly, she relaxed. Her eyes remained on the mirror, and one hand lifted until it was resting lightly on her stomach. She stared at it and slowly her features seemed to soften, to melt into an expression of apprehension and anxiety.