I've been watching your world from afar
I've been trying to be where you are
There was a change in the air, a shift in the atmosphere, that fell without sensation to the guests of the ball. Bonnie Bennett walked through the front doors of the Michaelson manor only to be met with a crowd of beautiful, nameless faces. There were women dressed in gowns that would have made Cinderella cry in envy. Men fitted to the best of suits, with bowties reminiscent of an earlier age, spoke to one another with wine filled glasses in hand. Bonnie felt as though she had just stepped out of a nightmare and into the throes of the Austen era.
Bonnie, we need you.
She had managed to get to the manor as fast as she could; she was needed. Bonnie had been sitting in the living room of her house deciding whether to study for her calculus final, or to brush up on the spells awaiting her in the grimoire, when her phone had vibrated in the dead silence of the house and had caused her to jump. The text had been from Elena, and almost immediately Bonnie's heart had sank. She didn't think once and instead had grabbed her keys, ran to her car, and drove furiously to reach the manor.
Now she stood in the doorway of the Mikaelson manor, having left the cold of the night and meeting the warmth of a beautiful crowd, looking frantically for any sign of her friends. She moved forward, past a small group of men and realized at once that she stood out. Everyone present was dressed to perfection, and Bonnie stood plain as day with nothing but jeans and cardigan adorned shirt. A part of her, the part Caroline had influenced, scolded her for being so brass. Then there was the other, the part that overcame her sense, her very being, telling her to find her friends. That nothing mattered more than finding them.
She walked into the huge dining hall, adjoined to the foyer, and saw that couples were dancing. Her vision blurred with the romantic sight of flowing colourful gowns. From the waltzing couples Bonnie saw one that caught her eye immediately. Caroline was dancing in the arms of the hybrid. Bonnie stared in bewilderment and suppressed the urge to send shockwaves to Klaus. She stalked past the on lookers standing at the edges of the room, and saw Elena standing next to Elijah.
Elijah saw Bonnie before Elena did, and bowed his head in acknowledgement of her presence.
"Ms. Bennett," his warm voice played around her.
He tipped his glass to her, in mock toast, and took a sip of his wine. Elena turned around and saw Bonnie as she usually saw her. Dishevelled, irritated, and seething in the presence of vampires, and in this case it was Elijah.
"Thank god you're here," Elena's relieved voice hit Bonnie.
She reached out and hugged Bonnie, as she always did, and Bonnie's rage seemed to melt in the embrace. Elijah watched the witch with fascination. Morals so high that no one could contend, a view of the world so black and white, and willing to die for the lives of the people she loved. Bonnie Bennett was a force to be reckoned with.
"What's wrong?" Bonnie questioned in a harsh whisper, "Why did you call me?"
"Something's off Bonnie, the person in the coffin…" Elena trailed on, then with a deep breath continued, "The person in the coffin was Esther, Bonnie. The Original witch."
Bonnie's heart sank with realization and she averted her gaze from Elena to look at Elijah. His face encompassed in a bemused expression, he seemed to be watching Bonnie intently, as if the news she had just received would send her up the wall with fear. Yet it didn't, Bonnie did not betray fear nor anxiety, she stood dreadfully still and her eyes flashed with contempt.
"Your mother?" Bonnie asked Elijah, in a quiet but firm tone.
"Yes our mother, Ms. Bennett."
It was not Elijah that spoke, instead it was a rough drawl behind her. Bonnie turned on her heel and saw Klaus, dressed in a way that would have normally made Bonnie melt, looking at her with piqued curiosity. She raised her head so her eyes could meet his gaze and her face turned to stone. Klaus reached out with one hand and slowly, deliberately, grazed his fingertips to brush the length of Bonnie's shoulder down to midarm. He reached past her shoulder before her skin burned with such heat, that Klaus drew his hand back and saw the tips of his cold fingers throbbing red. His head snapped to look at her with anger and Bonnie smirked.
"Fool, I could kill you now," Klaus' threat came in a low growl.
Bonnie rolled her eyes and replied in a low whisper, "And I would die trying, with every bit of magic running through me, to kill you."
"Brother, please," Elijah chided Klaus.
"Elena let's go. Find Caroline and let's get out of here," Bonnie demanded of her friend, still looking at Klaus with cold eyes.
"No. Bonnie, the longer I stay here, the better I'll be at trying to figure out what's going on," Elena pleaded.
"Yes, Ms. Bennett. Let her enjoy the ball and relax a little. Why don't we get you a drink?" Klaus smiled, void of all warmth, and snapped his fingers in signal for a waiter.
"Forget it, I'm not planning on staying anyway," Bonnie said.
She turned around and marched off, leaving Elena in confusion, Elijah in amusement, and Klaus in irritation.
Bonnie sighed and decided for the umpteenth time that evening, that she was in fact losing her mind. She was in a ball that she hadn't even been invited too, waiting for her friends to discover what? What exactly? The purpose of the original witch? Her reasons for coming back? It was stupid to just assume that Elena would find any answers; this whole evening was a facade and Bonnie knew that she was wasting her time. Yet she did not leave, she avoided all company, but did not leave. If something happened, she would need to be there.
She stood at the end of the grand room. In the corner stood a bookshelf holding leather bound books dating back to the seventeenth century. Bonnie found more fascination with the sheer history behind the glass panes of the elaborate shelves, than the company of the people around her. She knew how foolish she looked and she would not be reminded of it with the condescending stares of those around her. Elena was now dancing with Damon, and Caroline stood at the side talking to Matt. Bonnie ducked out of sight, remaining in the picture but not wanting to be seen.
While remaining out of sight Bonnie had seen Rebekah in a beautiful olive coloured gown, descend the stairs with a handsome man escorting her.
One of the other originals.
His hair had been combed back, and his eyes were a ferocious blue. Bonnie had heard someone whisper his name, Finn. All the originals had been undaggered but Bonnie had not seen the other brother, nor the original witch. She leaned against the wood of the shelf, letting the draining events of the day overcome her. At once Bonnie relaxed and sighed quietly, closing her eyes.
"Come now, the evening can't be so boring?" Bonnie heard a slow, rough, voice ask of her.
She jumped, embarrassed that someone had caught her dosing off. Bonnie saw a man smiling at her with his head tilted, and a quizzical look in his eyes. She was taken aback with the warmth in his brown eyes and the genuine tone in his British voice.
"No, I was just- I'm waiting for my friends. I thought there was an emergency so I kind of just crashed the party," Bonnie answered, half smiling.
"Yes, of course," the man replied, as if Bonnie's answer made complete sense.
"I assume that reasons with the violation of the dress code?" the man asked, chuckling slightly.
Bonnie narrowed her eyes in the teasing way she did, when the rare opportunity arose that men flirted with her. She smiled and nodded. She stared at him for a moment before looking over to Elena, who stood now to the side of the dance floor with Damon. She peered around the crowd and saw Elijah staring at her with a confused expression, as if questioning the presence of the stranger next to her.
She looked again, hesitantly, to the man next to her. He smiled when the music changed tempo and she could see that he was gently tapping his foot with the rhythm. She couldn't help but smile, there was something so inherently innocent about the man in front of her. It was surprising and refreshing.
"So are-"
Bonnie had just been about to ask the stranger a question when she was interrupted by a loud announcement. She turned around and in the middle of the dance floor saw a woman and at once Bonnie felt a rush of connection. She gasped and something inside her started twisting into knots.
The original witch.
"Ladies and gentlemen, valuable guests, I have invited you here to formally introduce my family to Mystic Falls," her voice was firm and Bonnie could sense the slight hint of a spell.
She was charming the crowd.
"I am Esther Michaelson. My history with this town reaches back to the discovery of the New World. Which of course heavily predates the Founders of this town," Esther laughed slightly at her own joke, and the crowd was won, their smiling faces saying it all.
"My family," she continued, "consists of my children, some of whom you may already be acquainted with."
Bonnie felt the man next to her tense slightly and upon her turning he relaxed abruptly.
"My daughter Rebekah," Esther spoke, reaching her hand out to draw Rebekah out of the crowd.
The guests clapped as Rebekah smiled and stepped beside her mother.
"Two of my eldest sons, Elijah and Niklaus."
Bonnie saw the two walk up to their mother, in the prideful way she knew best. Klaus made to stand beside Rebekah and Elijah stood in the emptiness beside his mother. Esther smiled at her children before continuing the introductions.
"My other son Finn."
Finn tugged at his jacket in a mocking gesture and he elicited laughter from the crowd, he was definitely a charmer. Bonnie sighed inwardly and her frustration continued to mount. The audacity of these beings to want to run a human town with their vampire ways appalled her.
"And lastly but certainly not the least, my youngest, Kol."
Bonnie's heart stopped when she saw Esther's arm stretched in the direction she stood. The crowd turned around and it felt as though they were staring at her. Her eyes searched frantically for a sign of her friends, but instead she saw only the look of amusement on Elijah's face and a flash of annoyance flicker across Klaus'. Bonnie turned to the man beside her and saw that he was smirking at her and she immediately kicked herself for being so naïve.
Kol bent slightly and ever so gently, brushed his cold lips to Bonnie's warm cheek. At once she felt a horrible pull from inside her. The kind she only got when in direct physical contact with another supernatural being. Her heart felt like it was being pulled out of her chest, and something restricted her lungs. Then as quickly as he had leaned in Kol moved back, but he was so close Bonnie could look straight into his eyes and see every pattern that lurked within them.
"It was a pleasure to meet your acquaintance Ms. Bennett," Kol whispered and Bonnie shivered from the sound of his voice.
He could coax women into bed with that voice, convince people to do unthinkable things, he could drive people mad. Bonnie's breath was coming out in short spurts and Kol seemed to revel in the speechless affect he had on her.
"Don't you dare touch me again," came Bonnie's confident threat.
Looking at her then, in the middle of the crowd's attention, Kol knew she meant her threat. That the witch that stood before him would fight to the ends of the Earth before relenting to him, that she was capable of sending indescribable pain his way. It was this realization that sent Kol into a frenzy of heated thoughts.
He merely stepped back, then bent in mock gentleman behaviour and said, "I'll be seeing you again, Ms. Bennett."
She watched him walk away and towards his family, and regained her normal breathing. From behind the enormous crowd she saw Kol look around and then finally settle on her. He smiled at Bonnie and Bonnie sent a glare of death his way.
He had been watching the witch the second she had entered his home. The air had shifted and Kol knew something had changed with the atmosphere of the gathering. He had watched Bonnie enter the house, looking like the best possible prey. She had walked head held high to Elijah and Elena and had seen her talking to Elijah with hardened contempt. When Klaus had approached her, Bonnie's demeanour only grew rigid and Kol sensed the animosity she held for all things vampire. Her look alone could have sent many of his kind running, and yet…
Kol had been fascinated. She not once betrayed fear in the face of the oldest vampires in history. Her caramel skin had glowed in the light and her steel eyes and glinted with power. She had looked at his brothers as though they were the scum of the Earth, and that if she tried she could be rid of them forever. A woman like Bonnie, with moral values in black and white, was dangerous. It was only time before Kol threw himself in the path of danger, after all he was the 'reckless' son. And Bonnie Bennett was a danger he was ready to play with.
His gaze seemed to challenge Bonnie with unspoken words as he looked at her, through her.
You're fire is admirable Ms. Bennett. I'd like to see how long it would take for you to burn your enemies.
Bonnie screamed her last thought with her steel gaze directed at Kol, before Elena dragged her away and out of the huge manor.
Bring it on.
Bonnie had missed the absolute glint of delight in Kol's eyes and the turn of his lips.
Challenge accepted Ms. Bennett, challenge accepted.