Come With Me:
A BonKai One Shot
By V.C. Turner
Bonnie knew she would regret the decision almost as soon as she'd made it, yet there she was, sliding into the passenger side of Damon's Camaro as Kai flopped down onto the leather bucket seat next to her and winked.
His charming manner affected her more than she cared to admit. She turned her head from him in a huff, adding an eye roll for good measure.
Kai recognized that she was his only ticket out of 1994. He'd been trying to wear her down for weeks with no success. He made promises of reforming his ways. Hell, he even offered to see a therapist once they got out
She expected him to resort to begging at one point, but he'd let up over the past few days. His manner seemed genuine, which almost frightened her more than threats or charm ever could.
There was no way she would free him. Nothing he could say or do would change that.
Bonnie doubted he would give up on pleading his case, but she held out hope that one day he would.
Sadness also crept into her heart from time to time. No friends or family could comfort her or keep her company when she felt lonely. Her only companion was a murderer; but, to be fair, all of her friends were murders.
Kai convinced Bonnie that a small road trip would do wonders to clear her head, so she agreed, which only served as confirmation of her lack of rationality.
Armed with nothing other than a set of car keys, Kai sped off down the interstate as they headed east toward Ocean City, Maryland.
She had no idea if the weather would cooperate for their little trip. Still, she wanted to see the ocean.
She wanted to hear seagulls as they whipped by her while her toes caressed the rough sand beneath her feet.
She'd never been there before and figured it would be the only opportunity for her to enjoy it without the hassle of tourists interrupting a late night swim or a hotel that was hopelessly booked on the one weekend she had free.
Kai's sing-song voice jarred her out of her musings.
"You're not afraid of heights are you," he asked, a coy smile on his face.
"I grew up surrounded by supernatural creatures, Kai," Bonnie insisted, "I think I can handle heights."
He nodded his head, and led them through the toll plaza just before crossing onto the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.
Bonnie never traveled to that part of the country before. Her jaw dropped the instant they reached the four-mile expanse of concrete and metal.
She scanned the gold flecks of sunlight that shimmered over the rippling water of the bay.
The winds made small waves in the water as boats rocked on the shore. Despite the desolation before them, it remained beautiful in her eyes.
Bonnie felt less comfortable as the bridge slowly increased in height as they came toward the peak of the bridge.
No traffic interrupted them, yet she still felt unsettled the higher they rose.
Kai noted her discomfort and seemed to take great pleasure in weaving slowly between the two lanes of the bridge with a wide grin on his face.
He wanted to get a rise out of her, but she refused to give him the satisfaction.
Another two hours passed before they finally crossed over a drawbridge that led to the eerily quiet resort town.
Based on his personality, she assumed he would choose to break into a luxury hotel with marble counters and polished floors.
Instead, Kai pulled into the parking lot of a quaint hotel that appeared to be several decades old.
A green and white awning hung over a white sign that simply read "Loading and Unloading."
"This is the Atlantic Hotel," Kai informed her, "It was built in the 1920s. It's one of the oldest ones here."
He exited the car and pulled his duffel bag and her backpack out of the trunk. He then opened her door, reaching inside to grab her hand and lead her to the entrance.
"How do you know about this place?" she inquired.
"We came here for vacation a couple of times when I was a kid," he noted, escorting her inside after breaking a pane out of the window to allow them entry.
Kai bound up the stairs, seeking out the largest room in the hotel and soon found one that met his standards.
Bonnie crossed the threshold, noticing the queen sized bed draped in fresh white linen, sitting atop lush burgundy carpeting. She removed her shoes and allowed her bare feet the luxury of feeling the soft texture beneath them.
Kai smiled, watching her with the kind of wonder Bonnie believed he must have seen on her own eyes.
Without asking, as if he would seek permission anyway, he grabbed her hand and led her to the patio doors at the east end of the room. He opened them dramatically to reveal a wooden deck with patio chairs leaning backward to face the sun.
Bonnie breathed in deeply. She took the ocean air into her lungs and for the first time since being trapped, she felt genuinely happy.
She stretched her arms outward and closed her eyes. She wanted this to be the "peace" her grandmother had spoken of so many months earlier.
Lost in her own world, she found herself caught off guard when she felt a pair of warm arms engulf her in an embrace. Before she could react, Kai's mouth was on hers. He kissed her quickly, but deeply before she had a chance to push him away.
She gathered her thoughts before speaking.
"What the hell was that?" she yelled at him, but there was no anger in her voice.
Kai appeared briefly wounded by her words.
"Sorry, Bonnie. I'm sure it's entirely out of the ordinary for a man to kiss a beautiful woman while standing next to a sandy beach on a perfect spring day," he chided.
"Kai, I don't trust you yet and I'm not even entirely sure I like you," Bonnie insisted.
He seductively leaned forward as if daring her to use magic to force him away.
"You like my lips well enough though, don't you," he pointed out, "The pool is this way."
Kai swaggered to the side of the building. Slipping on a pair of hotel flip-flops, Bonnie followed him with both anger and interest.
The oval swimming pool was filled with crystal blue water. She looked around for the lifeguard and chuckled, forgetting that they were alone in this world.
She heard the rapid thumping of feet running toward the pool just before a large amount of water soaked her feet. Leave it to Kai to do a cannonball into a pool just to make an obscene splash.
He rose from the water, using his hands to wipe the water out of his eyes and push his hair back from his face.
"Get in," he ordered.
Bonnie answered him with a cocked eyebrow.
"On come on Bon. Don't tell me an ex-lifeguard is afraid of the water," Kai teased.
"I'm not. I just don't want to get in with you," she bit back with no venom in her voice.
"But it's nice and cool on this warm afternoon," Kai cajoled.
"You do realize I could make it hotter by setting the water on fire?" threatened Bonnie.
"You do realize, you could make it hotter by skinny dipping with me," he said, tossing a damp pair of swim trunks in her direction. They landed in a wet heap at her feet.
Bonnie was mildly amused, but didn't want to take the bait nearly as quickly as her body wanted to.
"You're so full of shit Kai; I'm amazed you can float," she joked, throwing the shorts back at his face.
He laughed in response.
Bonnie worked hard to put up a wall between them. Yes, he was handsome and growing increasingly so by the minute, but he was also a bad person that had the potential of killing her without a second thought.
Or would he?
His recent behavior was nothing like it was when Damon was around: Threatening and dangerous.
Instead, his comments about escaping 1994 decreased significantly. His quick glances at her transitioned into longer stares. He stopped turning away when she caught him. She realized it had been years since he'd experienced any human contact.
In many ways she could relate. She missed the closeness of her friends. She missed hugs from family.
She also missed being kissed, caressed, and treated like a woman. Spending time alone with Kai shouldn't have stirred up such feelings – but there they were.
Bonnie quickly turned from him, leaning down to remove the shoes that had become wet from Kai's pool antics. She immediately noticed his eyes on her – again.
"Were you just staring at my butt?" she accused, frowning in his direction.
"With all due respect Bonnie, I am drawn to magical objects," he joked, splashing water in her direction; this time getting the bottom of her denim romper wet.
"Grow up!" she said.
Kai shook his head in frustration. Bonnie huffed at the irony of him being frustrated at her.
"Do you know what your problem is, Bon?" he asked, giving her an uncharacteristically long amount of time to respond.
"Wait, are you actually going to let me answer that question without interrupting?"
"Uh, no. It was rhetorical. In addition to never allowing yourself to have any fun – ever – you fight with your magic," he told her.
"I do not fight it!" she insisted.
"You fight it like you fight everything else. You're powerful, but you let it consume you because you're afraid," Kai asserted.
"I'm not afraid of anything," she said, glaring into his eyes.
"Sure you are. We're all afraid of something. Magic killed you - not because you were weak, but because you didn't let yourself be strong. What you need to do is figure out why you hold back," he continued.
"If I'm so strong, why does it always make my nose bleed? I've passed out. I've died from using too much power," Bonnie declared.
Kai swam closer to her, resting his elbows on the side of the pool as he looked up at her.
"No, Bonnie. You died because you felt guilty about having that much power. You felt like it would change you; turn you into something you're not. You don't want to control it because deep down, you're worried that if you own it …" he began.
"Let me guess: I'll do something I'll regret," she interrupted.
"No. You'll do something you won't regret," Kai added.
Bonnie shook her head, but she knew, deep down, that he was right. Each time she tried to control magic, it came from a place of selflessness, which she thought was a good thing. Her father taught her that magic needed to be carefully controlled. Her grandmother taught her restraint and caution. Her mother taught her nothing.
In the end, she felt like her powers were more of a curse than a blessing. She only wanted to use them to help her friends; to save them from harm. Instead, she lost her entire family to the supernatural world. It had given her nothing in return for all of her sacrifices.
Kai suggested a more selfish approach to magic; that Bonnie needed to wrap herself around the idea of owning it as her possession rather than a weapon to be wielded by others for the benefit of others.
Kai laughed to himself before speaking again.
"Don't you find this the tiniest bit ironic?"
"What is ironic about our situation?"
"That I did something entirely selfish to get what I wanted, and you did something entire selfless to get what everyone else wanted, yet we both end up stuck here."
Kai exited the pool; absent of both swim trunks and shame. The results of his workout efforts during their joint isolation showed in his thickening arms and expanding torso.
The water took its sweet time rolling down his bare chest and stomach, forcing her to look away before turning a bright shade of fuchsia beneath her brown skin. She forced her eyes to stop their decent down his body, biting her lip hard to bring herself back to reality.
He circled her once like a predator circles its pray before choosing the best means of attack. Once he decided, Bonnie's breath caught in her chest.
Kai stood behind her, his warm body blocking the breeze that danced around them. She wanted to move, but her body protested.
The space between them charged with magic, yet Bonnie knew Kai couldn't siphon her without coming into direct contact with her skin.
His hot breath on her neck forced her nipples to instantly harden. He slipped his fingers beneath the straps of her romper and tugged at them gently.
Kai leaned into her ear and whispered.
"Take this off," he simply stated, letting his lips brush her ear forcing an involuntary shiver from her.