Chapter 1

"Evelyn"

Evelyn Aronson swept back her long red hair. She finally got to Mystic Falls and had her sights set on one person, the one and only Bonnie Bennett. She had a few plans for the witch but before she could start, she'll need a place to stay. She hadn't occupied a home in years and finally being able to settle down for at least the next few days would do wonders. She needed actual rest if what she planned to do in town would be pulled off.

It was 9 pm. The small town was quiet for the most part. Evelyn thought for sure she'll have to leave this place once this was all over. She'll head back to the city and enjoy the night life as well as her newfound freedom.

Evelyn enjoyed doing what she wanted, when she wanted. Her face was porcelain white, her hair was red and as rebellious as she was, and her eyes were a sweet cerulean blue. On more than one occasion, her beauty has charmed the likes of very powerful men, supernaturally powerful or not. And powerful men gave her what she wanted and she lived a life of luxury, until those men become possessive and controlling. There isn't a man in this world she truly loved and she had no intention to fall in love either. She'll never be bound to anyone, it was her only fear outside of death and she's already gotten to live for over two centuries. She wasn't done with life yet and the only person in the world who threatened that was Laurent Vitkosky. She shuddered at the thought of him.

Evelyn approached a large home and decided instantly that it was where she would stay for the time being. She checked her face in her compact mirror again before knocking on the front door. She stood for a minute and rolled her eyes. An old couple must have lived there, why else would she be kept waiting? She looked down at her boots, black with thick 6 inch heels. They were an old pair, reminding her of how little time she had to herself in this state.

By the time someone had gotten to the door, Evelyn had run out of whatever mercy she might have had for the owners of the house. She took a large hunting knife from her purse and hid it behind closed arms.

An elder man opened the door and gave her a smile. "Can I help you?"

"Hello," she smiled before revealing her knife and burying it inside the man's gut. "Good bye." The man dropped to the floor, dead. He hadn't even been able muster up his last breath to scream out.

She gingerly stepped over the body, careful not to get any of his blood on her shoes, the ones she hated because they were old anyway. She strolled through the living room. Old dingy furniture and black and white photos occupied the space. She considered bothering to update its look but that would mean staying for longer than she'd planned.

She turned a corner into the kitchen when she heard a woman's voice.

"Damn it," she hissed. As she looked for another knife, an elderly woman entered the kitchen.

"Excuse me?"

"Hi," Evelyn started and then burst into tears. "He collapsed at the door!" She cried out. "Please, help!"

The woman's brown eyes widened. "Henry!" she gasped and went for the door. She ran towards the front door but stopped short as soon as she saw Henry's blood. The horror and grief only had a second to settle in the women's mind before Evelyn struck her over the head with a wine bottle.

Evelyn took a deep breath. The trouble with hostile takeovers is that there wasn't enough time to actually case spells that would make things easier for her. Taking a life used to be harder. Back when she was still naturally young and innocent but then suddenly crushing under the weight of Laurent's plans for her. She didn't want to be his tool, so she ran. She killed—slaughtered—for her freedom and survival. Her magic only grew stronger though, making Laurent want her even more.

She dragged the man's body down to the basement first. She hoped there wouldn't be any more surprise guess in the home for a while. Next was the woman who Evelyn made sure not to kill. If push came to shove, she'd need a human soul to sacrifice. She hated older people because they were so fragile. It was going to be troublesome trying to keep her from going into shock and dying while she was out of the house.

Evelyn later had an restless night. Nightmares of Laurent and his plans for her woke her up every other hour. She was sure that she'd have a wonderful sleep knowing that Bonnie Bennett was so close but that's wasn't true. Until she actually had Bonnie, there was no room rest.

In the morning, she showered, got dressed, powered her face, and glossed her lips. She stared into the mirror. At 289, her magic made her look 22 still. The only thing she loved more than freedom was her beauty. But this sort of magic came at a cost. She was disturbing the balance of nature by staying alive and this young for so long. Her bones ached from time to time, her body was tired of it all, and nothing would give it more release than to finally turn to ash.

"Not today," she told her reflection. But there was a loophole to this type of magic. All she would have to do is simply occupy the body of someone who is still naturally young, preferably another witch. The body of another witch is simply more resilient.

She checked her watch, checked on the old woman in the basement, and finally headed out the front door.

It took them years to finally get rid of the heretics. Mystic Falls finally felt like the quiet town Bonnie grew up in instead of the warzone it had been for so long. By some sort of miracle, she survived, as well as all of her friends. Out of love, Stefan made sure Lily was spared. While Lily didn't love him as a son anymore, Stefan would always have hope that she would at least love him as a person one day. Still, Lily fled Mystic Falls. With her family gone, she must have felt her world caving in. She ran away and Enzo ran with her.

"Hello? Earth to Bonnie!" Caroline waved her hand in front of Bonnie's face, finally gaining Bonnie's attention. "What's with you today?"

They were having lunch at the Grille. They shared a table outside because it was finally spring and Caroline was sick of being indoors.

"Is it weird that I feel like it's been too quiet lately?" Bonnie asked as she looked over her shoulder and then back to Caroline.

"Nope!" Caroline grinned. "But it's also not weird that you're so paranoid. It's been too long since we've had this town be so quiet. Can't we enjoy it?"

"Yeah," Bonnie smiled a little. "I guess it feels strange now not having to fight for my life every 5 seconds."

"I know what you need."

"Some peace of mind?"

Caroline shook her head and said "A party in your honor. We'll invite the whole town!"

Bonnie laughed. "I don't think that's what I want."

"Of course it is! You just don't know that you want it yet. And you can try saying no but I'll just go home and bother Stefan over it and he'll go to Damon and he'll try to convince you just to get Stefan off of his back."

"Not fair!" Bonnie said. "You're not allowed to use Stefan against me!"

"I'll use my boyfriend how I please."

Bonnie groaned. There was one thing Caroline never stopped talking about and that was finally having her prince charming. It took a lot for Caroline not to be insecure and once she was over it, she was over the moon with happiness. While Bonnie always supported Elena's relationship with Stefan, it was a relief to have her friends find new happiness within each other.

"Besides, Damon won't do it unless it benefited him somehow. Otherwise he won't care." Bonnie said as she grabbed a French fries and dipped it in ketchup.

"Oh really? He wouldn't care that his very own Bonnie Bennett is tense and nervous and would greatly benefit from partying her ass off?" Caroline asked with a smug look on her face. As much as Damon annoyed her, she understood fully what Bonnie meant to Damon now. All it took was seeing them together for the first time, as well as some explaining from Stefan. For Bonnie, he'd do anything, so for Bonnie they were definitely on the same side.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You know what? Don't bother. Go ahead and throw me a party. Ease my fears. Fine me a hot date even. Whatever it takes."

Caroline's eyes brightened at the suggestion. "You better not take that back! I'm going to find you the hottest guy around."

Bonnie wasn't good with dating but now felt like that perfect time to fall in love. You know, before the next crisis hits and her boyfriend is driven away by the madness of it all.

"You think… you think I should tell the next guy I date that I'm a witch and most of my friends are vampires?"

"I think if you fell in love with a guy it would be hard not to tell the truth. Besides, what happens when your babies are starting fires with their mind on their 16th birthday by accident? It would be a great heads up if they knew that they had legendary Bennett witch blood coursing through their veins." Caroline paused, taking in Bonnie's solemn expression. "I can always compel him to be understanding. Stefan can use his heart of gold and convince him that this is just who you are. And even Damon would be willing to torture your future husband into being a perfect gentleman."

"I want Damon nowhere near my future husband." Bonnie couldn't imagine Damon being even a little bit nice to him.

"He's so possessive, who knows if you'll even get that far."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just saying that if you attempted to get into a serious relationship, Damon, being the lost demon that he is, wouldn't know what to do with himself. Damon hates everyone but he doesn't hate you and that means not letting anyone else get too close." Caroline declared and took a bite from her raw steak burger.

Bonnie let Caroline's words sink in. By now, she wasn't oblivious to how much she cared about Damon and how much he cared about her. However, she doubted her dating would cause him any trouble. He definitely wouldn't care as long as he could still call her up in the middle of the night to talk about trivial things.

"Just find me a man, Caroline. Find me someone gorgeous and sweet," she sang.

"Speaking of gorgeous and sweet, hey Matt," Caroline greeted Matt as he approached their table.

"Hello ladies," Matt grinned as he took a seat. He was still wearing his sheriff uniform making Caroline wonder if he knew how much sexier he is with that badge on.

"Hey Matt, quick question, are you ever not on duty?" Caroline asked.

"In Mystic Falls? Never."

They all laughed.

"That's actually just what we were talking about. Bonnie is a little paranoid about how quiet it's been lately. Please give her some piece of mind."

Matt frowned at Bonnie. "There has been a disappearance."

"No," Caroline groaned. "This isn't peace of mind!"

"Easy, Care. We just know that old couple living on the edge of town has been reported missing by their granddaughter. They could have just up and took a vacation for all we know. Too soon to tell."

"See? They took a vacation! Matt, you're terrible at peace of mind," she said with a bounce of her curls.

"But if Bonnie says be worried, then I would be," Matt looked over to Bonnie and smiled bitterly at her. If she was tense about something—anything—he could never tell her that it's just a feeling. When has she ever been wrong in her judgement? He put his hand on Bonnie's small shoulder. "I'll have everyone on the force taking extra precautions. No one comes into town without a once over from us."

Bonnie smiled, happy to have Matt on her side.

"Thanks for nothing, Matt," Caroline said with an eye roll.

"That's Sheriff Donovan to you Ms. Forbes," Matt said and they shared another laugh.

"That's future Mrs. Salvatore to you." Caroline said.

Matt and Bonnie shared a look and then burst into laughter.

"And what's so funny?"

"You're going to let him know you're planning your wedding day already right?" Matt asked, still laughing with Bonnie.

Caroline pouted. "Of course I am. Whatever, I have a party to plan and a man to find for you so I'm going." Caroline grabbed her purse and left.

"A man?" Matt had to ask.

Bonnie blushed but went against denying it. "I've given Caroline the task of a lifetime."

"Finding you a boyfriend?" Matt asked as he went ahead and stole a handful of her fries. "I guess it has been a while since you've seriously dated someone. Bonnie wants to get her groove back."

Bonnie slapped the fries out of Matt's hand before he could take a bite. "I never lost my groove!"

Matt tries for her fries again and it was slapped away a second time. "Come on Bonnie, let me have some!" She gave him a hard time for another minute before letting Matt have at her food.

"It would be fun getting back out there. It's been too long since Jeremy you know?" A short affair wasn't enough anymore.

Matt nodded but he was beginning to think that Caroline would do this all wrong. Bonnie didn't date often; she was sweet woman with a brave heart though. She definitely deserved someone great.

"Tell Caroline that I got it."

"Got what?" Bonnie asked, confused.

Matt lit up with his response. "I'm going to find you someone."

"Matt, come on, don't go crazy on me too."

"Seriously," he looked Bonnie in the eyes. "I already know someone you might like if you gave him a chance."

"Fine, I'll bite. Go ahead. I'll decide the winner."

"Great!" Matt got up from his seat. "Make sure you get some rest. If your right about that feeling of yours, and you always are, we have to gear up." Bonnie stood and opened her arms to hug Matt. He happily embraced his short friend. "We're gonna be ok."

"Thank you, Matt," she said into his large chest. Her fears were indeed calmed while she stood in Matt's arms. Maybe with enough luck they could stop whatever was coming before it could do any real damage.

Matt touched her cheek. "You're welcome," he said in a calm tone. "I'm gonna get out of here though. See you later?"

"Yeah, see you."

Bonnie watched Matt walk away and get into his patrol car. She wondered if maybe Matt could find someone too. Her friendship with him has been the most consistent all these years. Matt was definitely the gentlest of her friends, and she knew for sure that any girl would be happy to have him. But she quickly threw away those thoughts. Matt didn't date for a reason. He told Alaric to get out of town before disaster could hit and wipe away what was important to him. And then Alaric lost everything just as Matt warned. Bonnie was sure Matt would die for this town, but that meant not letting anyone become too important to him.

Maybe she was the same. And with that thought, misery seized her. No. It was love that made living worth it. It wasn't blind loyalty that made her protect her friends, family, and all of Mystic Falls, it was love. And she deserved love, every version of it. Maybe it was about time she chased after it the way everyone else around her did.

She would tell Matt about her realization. She'll tell him it's ok to want someone openly. And she'll tell him that his love for his friends and this town weren't enough. Even if it was terrifying, fall in love, find your very own extra special person.

Maybe they'll be lucky enough to have that person for a lifetime.