"You should be proud." The Vitale Society pledges were lined up in the underground meeting room, just like they had been the first day when they removed their blindfolds.
Under the arch in front of them, the Vitales in black masks watched quietly.
Ethan paced among the pledges, eyes bright. "You should be proud," he repeated. "The Vitale Society offered you an opportunity. The chance to become one of us, to join an organization that can give you great power, help you on your road to success."
Ethan paused and gazed at them. "Not al of you were worthy," he said seriously. "We watched you, you know. Not just when you were here, or doing pledge events, but al the time. The candidates who couldn't cut it, who didn't merit joining our ranks, were eliminated."
Matt looked around. It was true, there were fewer of them now than there had been at their first meeting. That tal bearded senior who was some kind of biogenetics whiz was gone. A skinny blonde girl who Matt remembered doggedly grinding her way through the run wasn't there either. There were only ten pledges left.
"Those of you who remain?" Ethan lifted his hands like he was giving them some kind of benediction. "At last it is time for you to be initiated, to ful y become members of the Vitale Society, to learn our secrets and walk our path." Matt felt a little sWellof pride as Ethan smiled at them al . It felt like Ethan's eyes lingered longer on Matt than on the others, like his smile for Matt was just a bit warmer. Like Matt was, among al these exceptional pledges, special.
Ethan started to walk through the crowd and talk again, this time about the preparations that needed to be made for their initiation. He asked a couple of pledges to bring roses and lilies to decorate the room - it sounded like he was expecting them to buy out a couple of flower stores -
others to find candles. One person was assigned to buy a specific kind of wine. Frankly, it reminded Matt of Elena and the other girls planning a high school dance.
"Okay," Ethan said, indicating Chloe and a long-haired girl named Anna, "I'd like you two to go to the herb store and get yerba mata, guarana, hawthorn, ginseng, chamomile, and danshen. Do you want to write that down?" Matt perked up a little. Herbs were slightly more mystical and mysterious, befitting a secret society, although ginseng and chamomile just reminded him of the tea his mom drank when she had a cold.
Ethan moved on from the girls, his eyes fixed on Matt, and Matt prepared to be sent in search of punch or ranch dip.
But Ethan, locking eyes with Matt, inclined his head a little, indicating that Matt should join him a little apart from the rest of the group. Matt jogged over to meet Ethan, slightly intrigued. What couldn't Ethan say in front of the others?
"I've got a special job for you, Matt," Ethan said, rubbing his hands together in obvious pleasure at the prospect. "I want you to invite your friend Stefan Salvatore to join us."
"Sorry?" Matt said, confused.
"To be a Vitale Society member," Ethan explained. "We missed him when we selected candidates at the beginning of the year, but now that I've met him, I think - we think" - and he waved a hand at the quietly watching masked figures on the other side of the room - "that he would be an ideal fit for us."
Matt frowned. He didn't want to look like an idiot in front of Ethan, but something struck him as off about this. "But he hasn't done any of the pledge stuff. Isn't it too late for him to join this year?"
Ethan smiled slightly, just a thin tilting of his lips. "I think we can make an exception for Stefan."
"But - " Matt began to protest, then instead smiled back at Ethan. "I'l cal him and see if he's interested," he promised.
Ethan patted him lightly on the back. "Thank you, Matt.
You're a natural for Vitale, you know. I'm sure you can convince him."
As Ethan walked away, Matt watched him, wondering why the praise felt sour this time.
It was because it didn't make sense, Matt decided, walking back to his dorm after the pledge meeting. What was so special about Stefan that Ethan had decided they had to have him pledge the Vitale Society now instead of just waiting til next year? Okay, yes: vampire - that was special about Stefan, but no one knew that. And he was handsome and sophisticated in that ever-so-slightly European way that had al the girls back in high school fal ing at his feet, but he wasn't that handsome, and there were plenty of foreign students on campus.
Matt stopped stock-stil . Was he jealous? It wasn't fair, maybe, that Stefan could just waltz in and be immediately offered something that Matt had worked for, that Matt had thought was only his.
But so what? It wasn't Stefan's fault if Ethan wanted to give him special treatment. Stefan was hurting after his breakup with Elena; maybe it would do him good to join the Vitale. And it would be fun to have one of his friends in the Society. Stefan deserved it, real y: he was brave and noble, a leader, even if there was no way Ethan and the others could have known that.