She has been gone from Mystic Falls, her home, for a little over two months now. At the end of May, her dad, Peter Bennett, surprised her with a vacation to Richmond, Virginia. 'We need to be more involved with matters concerning our family', was his explanation for the last minute trip. If she was being honest with herself, Bonnie was grateful for the temporary reprieve from the madness that plagued Mystic Falls for the past two years.
After their failed attempt at killing Klaus, she was left with a feeling of uncertainty. Regardless of the fact that the power of 100 dead witches lay dormant in her, she doesn't know if she's capable of killing him. Add to that - she has absolutely the faintest idea of where he was hiding.
A persistent –almost nagging- vibrating noise pulls Bonnie out of the thoughts swirling around her brain. Reaching into her purse, she smiles as she recognizes the familiar number.
"Jeremy," she purrs slightly into the phone. "I'm on the way to your house right now."
"Look, I'm really sorry, Bonnie." She hears him reply over the phone. "I just finished a busy shift at the Grill. Matt was really riding my ass seeing as I am the newest employee."
Bonnie detects a bit of apprehension in his tone, but is quick to dismiss it. Why would Jeremy be hesitant to see her? She tries to quell the feelings of doubt that rise inside of her like a tidal wave, threatening to break land.
"That's okay, Jeremy. It is pretty late," She says while making a possible illegal U-turn. 'Time to make the fifteen minute drive back home', she thinks. "I will see you and Elena tomorrow morning. I ..."
The static from the dial tone appears, rendering her silent. Did Jeremy hang up on her? What was going on? Bonnie more than understands that he is dealing with things most people would not be able to comprehend. Is he angry with her for leaving after he almost died? They had talked on the phone almost every day. She would try to ask him questions pertaining to mostly him and Elena, but a veil of aloofness was cloaked over every conversation.
With her index finger, Bonnie presses the off button on her phone. What the hell had Mystic Falls endured in her absence?
The following day, Bonnie is filed with a fierce determination to see Jeremy and Elena. These two beings were among the handful of people that she felt truly had her back. And now, it seemed that at least one of them was being less than forthcoming with her.
As she pulls up to the Gilbert residence, she is riddled with pricks of sadness. The house didn't seem quite so bright without Jenna's infectious laughter permeating throughout the halls. Bonnie knocks on the door, waiting patiently for either sibling to answer.
The front door opens with a swift quickness. "Bonnie!" Elena's arms come crashing around Bonnie's petite frame. "I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you, too," Bonnie says in between fits of giggles. "Can we continue this hug fest inside? I'm kind of sweating out here!"
Elena moves out of the doorframe, allowing her friend to enter into her home. "How was Richmond?"
"Completely boring, as I've told you over the phone." Bonnie shrugs, not really wanting to talk about her mundane vacation at this present time. "How is everything here? Have you, Stefan and Damon had any luck at locating Klaus?"
The smile that resides on Elena's face slowly evaporates - almost like it had never been there at all. Bonnie immediately notices the change in her friend's demeanor.
"What's wrong, Elena? Did Klaus try to strike again?"
"Bonnie, there is something that I need to tell you. I didn't want to tell you over the phone." Elena walks into the kitchen to acquire a bottle of water for herself and Bonnie.
"Okay, I am getting really worried. What is going on?" A million horrible scenarios' are buzzing around inside Bonnie's head like a thousand bees. "Did he do something to Caroline or Tyler?"
"No, Caroline and Tyler are completely fine." Elena tries –-and fails- to control the tears that are threatening to release. "It's Stefan."
"Stefan?" Bonnie is confused. Elena did not mention anything about Stefan whenever they talked over the summer. She had figured that meant things were okay with the two of them - that they were more in love than ever.
"Before you left Mystic Falls, Stefan left with Klaus." Elena sits at the kitchen table, preparing to field a barrage of questions from Bonnie.
"Before I left? Why didn't you tell me?" Bonnie is a little hurt that Elena did not confide in her, but now was not the time for hurt feelings. "Where are they now?"
"The only way Klaus would give Stefan the cure for Damon … was for him to agree to leave with him," Elena continues, wiping away stray tears on her pale face. "Klaus made Stefan drink bags of blood to entice his bloodlust."
"So, Klaus basically manipulated Stefan's love for his brother," Bonnie realizes. She wonders what the hell Klaus was making Stefan an accomplice to. "Has Stefan made any contact with you?"
"A couple of weeks ago, I received a call from an unknown number," Elena says, sighing into her hands. "The person on the other line did not say anything, but I'm pretty sure it was Stefan."
"Wow, I'm so sorry, Elena." Bonnie envelopes her arms around Elena's shoulders for another hug. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"
"I didn't want to burden you with yet another one of my problems." Elena stands up from the brown kitchen table, walking towards the living room. "One way or another, you always get involved in my messes."
"Friends help each other," Bonnie follows her, sitting on the plush sofa in the living room. "Well, we're more than friends. You're like a sister to me."
"If we're sisters, wouldn't that make Jeremy your brother as well?" Elena teases, prompting Bonnie to swat a pillow at her friend's arm.
"Where is Jeremy, anyway?" Bonnie whips her head around the Gilbert residence, searching for her missing boyfriend. "He scrapped our plans for last night even though we haven't seen each other in two months."
"He didn't tell you?" Elena's confusion is sketched all over her face like a drawing. "He had an early shift at the Grill this morning."
"What? He told me that he had a late shift last night." The doubt that had previously invaded Bonnie's body was making a return visit. "He said he was too tired to meet up."
"As far as I know, Jeremy did not work last night," Elena scrunches her nose. She is bothered by the revelation that her brother was being dishonest with her best friend.
"Hmm. Well, maybe something got lost in translation." Bonnie tries to reconcile the situation for Elena and mostly for herself. "I'm sure I will see him today, eventually. Now, getting back to Stefan and Klaus…. "
"Damon was thinking that maybe Klaus wanted to start an army of hybrids."
"What?" The incredulity on display in Bonnie's tone is not missed by Elena.
"I know." Now it is Bonnie's turn to view the displeasure that is scrawled over her friend's face. Elena continues, "Damon, Alaric and I managed to track a pack of werewolves. We found one, but it looked like Klaus had already beaten us to the punch."
"Was Klaus successful with that one, at least?"
"I'm not too sure. The werewolf seemed completely rabid - even more so than what is standard for a normal werewolf."
"What if I attempted a locator spell?" Bonnie inquires. It is the least she could offer her distressed friend.
"Are you sure Bonnie?" Elena really wants to locate Stefan and bring him back to her. Although, not at the expense of Bonnie's health. "What about your nosebleeds?"
"Elena, I have the power of 100 dead witches somewhere inside me," Bonnie smiles, swirling her finger in a circular motion around her chest. "I think I can manage a simple locator spell."
Elena laughs at Bonnie's gesture. "I don't have anything of Stefan's over here, though. We always used to go to the boarding house."
Bonnie groans as she realizes what this new bit of information ultimately means. "I was really hoping to avoid Damon for a week or two."
Bonnie waits in the Salvatore boarding house as Elena goes upstairs to fetch Damon. Apparently, Damon had given Elena a key in her and Stefan's absent. She is curious, and also a bit afraid, to view just how close Elena has gotten to Damon in these past few months. She can't remember the last time they all worked together towards a common goal. Maybe it was during the Masquerade Ball. All of them were in agreement – Katherine had to be properly dealt with. Now, they were divided up in little groups like fractions. Elena is with Stefan and Damon, Caroline with Tyler and Matt, and her drifting back and forth between the two.
"Well, the prodigal witch has returned," comes a regrettably familiar voice from behind her. "Nice to see you again, Bonnie."
Bonnie rolls her eyes at Damon. The sarcasm dripping in between his polite words is not to be missed. Let alone to be mistook for something resembling affection. "Where is Elena?"
"She is looking for an item of Stefan's so that you can perform your witchy juju," Damon smirks, looking Bonnie up and down before allowing his eyes to rest on her face. "You look good."
"I'm sure not seeing you for two months had something to do with it," Bonnie says, crossing her arms. She is not in the mood for one of Damon's mind games.
"I'm trying to pay you a compliment, witch." He says witch as if he truly wants to call her something else. "Be gracious and accept it."
"You know w-…." Bonnie is cut off as Elena comes barreling down the stairs. She carries a grey piece of fabric, clutching it to her chest - like it's all that remains of her missing boyfriend.
"Here is his shirt," Elena hands the article of clothing to her friend. "Do you really believe this will work?"
"And even if it did work," Damon interjects himself between the two friends, "who's to say that Stefan and Klaus would even be there by the time we arrived?"
"Damon has a point," Elena admits, reluctantly.
"I could try to do a tracking spell," Bonnie offers. Her options are dwindling by the second.
"What is the difference?" Elena wonders.
"Well, a tracking spells uses the same ingredients that a locator spells does," Bonnie notes. "But instead of only locating that specific person, it also tracks their whereabouts for as long as the spell is in place."
"So, what, it is the magical equivalent to the standard GPS?" Damon scoffs, skeptical of the witch's ability to perform the spell. "I wish I had known of such a spell back in my 'obsessing-over-Katherine' days."
"At this point, we've got nothing left to lose," Elena decides, not really to pass on their only chance at bringing Stefan home safely. "Another than a map and an article of clothing, is there anything else you need, Bonnie?"
"A drop of blood from the person you're trying to track would be a nice," Bonnie answers, before looking at the other Salvatore brother. "Or the blood of a relative."
Damon extends his left arm in Bonnie's face and bites into his wrist. Elena hurries to the kitchen to grab a vial to contain the blood. "Oh, the things I do for the love of a good woman."
He knows the doppelganger has not been truly sacrificed. If not for the sole reason that the hybrids have yet to be formed, it was because of Stefan Salvatore. Or more precisely, the look on his face. He is positive that Stefan did his damndest to bestow a look of utter confusion on his face while he was questioning why the process had failed.
Klaus almost wanted to call Stefan out in the woods. To make him own up to his deception. He thought better of it at the time. He can make Stefan pay for his trickery using more tortuous devices. For instance, he could allow him to watch as he slowly drained the blood out of his dull, incompetent human. A poor imitation of the real thing -– Katherine's sheer brilliance is not to be rivaled.
He would seek retribution – all in due time, of course.
"Klaus," Stefan's voice draws him out of his thoughts. "I burned Ray's body, like you wanted me to."
"A good comrade, you are, Stefan," Klaus pets Stefan on the shoulder, steeling his eyes on his readable face. "I have very few friends left. It's a pleasure to know on whom I can rely."
"You have my full services at your disposal," Stefan pledges his allegiance to Klaus. If only to keep his friends safe, he will fall in line.
"It's satisfying to see just how high my happiness rates on your list of priorities," Klaus tilts his head to look Stefan in the face dead on. "Now, for your troubles, I have brought you a proper feast."
Stefan looks behind Klaus' frame and sees two females perched upon rocks in these same deserted woods. He does not want to want this. Even so, he compels them to stay put as he gorges on their bodies.
"Stefan and Klaus are where?" Caroline asks for clarification of Bonnie's statement.
"In Chicago!" Bonnie and Elena reiterate Bonnie's previous answer in twin unison.
"What on earth do they need in Chicago?" Caroline wonders aloud to no person in particular. She is speaking to fill the silence.
The tracking spell proved to be successful. Bonnie deduces that the duo is currently in Chicago, but they seem to be moving at a rapid pace. She, too, like Caroline, wonders what Klaus' strategy entails.
Her, Elena, Damon and Caroline make plans to leave tomorrow night. Even if Stefan is gone by them, at least they will only be a day behind. It would be less difficult to track their movements.