Author's Note: For the record, this Heretic Vampire business is an absurd loophole. It makes absolutely no sense, and I rolled my eyes so hard I nearly pulled a muscle when they introduced it. But with the way Season Six ended along with my inability to let sleeping dogs lie, I'll play along. Thanks to malachaibennett for the beta help!
Control
xxx
"You won't believe me, Bonnie, but I just want you to know that despite all of this," Kai spreads his arms, gesturing to the carnage around them with a bashful grin, "I actually like weddings."
A strangled gasp fills the air.
"It's true! Everyone's all nice and fancy. There's cake. What's not to love about people gathering to participate in some mass delusion of a happily ever after? I was super bummed when I didn't get an invitation from Jo. I mean, you'd think being her twin brother and the leader of the Gemini Coven would make you number one on the guest list." He twists the long-stemmed rose in his blood-stained hands. "Then again, maybe I was invited and my letter just got lost in the mail between dimensions."
He tilts his head at the quiet room. "Is that a guilty silence I hear, or did you finally die?" A barely audible wheeze floats to his ears. "Ah, guilty it is. Although it sounds like you're not too far off from the latter."
Kai stands up, tossing the flower aside and walks over to where her body landed in the debris. "Looks like dear old Damon is a no-show," he sighs, exasperated. "The whole point was that this would torture him for a while, you know? Kill the best friend to get the girl, and have the girl hate you forever. Or let the best friend live, and be alone for seventy-so years while wanting to kill her." Knees cracking, he crouches down with a mischievous grin. "Between you and me, I'd have put money down on him snapping your neck no more than two years in. Damon's a selfish guy."
A tear rolls out of the corner of her eye, streaking past her temple and disappearing into her hairline. The blood leaking out of her mouth starts to dry. Her heartbeat slows.
Then blood—magical, healing blood—floods her mouth. Bonnie swallows reflexively at first, then her hands come up to grip the wrist pressed against her mouth. She shuts her eyes tightly and drinks deeply.
Kai doesn't anticipate the effects. His jaw drops at the heady sensation of her lips urgently drawing blood out of his wound. He can hear her body repair every break and every tear as his blood flows inside her. Soon enough, her lungs have no trouble reaching for air. Her heartbeat is steady and strong, yet she still holds on, desperate to not die again. She tongues the seam of the nearly closed cut on his wrist and he moans, eyes bleeding red for a moment before he regains control. "And here I thought I was the only vampire in the room."
His voice snaps her out of her panic and she rips her mouth away from him. Her green eyes are clearer now, sharp with the instinct to survive. She tries to move away, but his hand on her shoulder pins her to the floor.
"Kai." Her tone is equal parts anger and caution.
A smile slits his face, hovering inches away from hers. "Hi."
His hand moves up to cradle her face, thumbs gently stroking her cheekbones. He shushes her when she cries out. "Don't worry, I'm just taking a little to keep you calm," he croons, fingertips glowing. "Can't have you breaking my bones again when I'm so low on blood right now. You're welcome, by the way."
"Bonnie!"
He glances over his shoulders and sees Damon at the entrance of the reception room, struggling to enter.
"Damon," she calls out, sounding annoyingly relieved.
Kai clenches his jaw, but forces himself to relax. He stands up and holds his arms out with a wry smile. "Now you show up? I hate to break it to you, Damon, but I'm afraid you missed your chance. I had a dying Bonnie Bennett delivered to you on a silver platter, and you had the nerve to be late. Really, how inconsiderate can you be?"
"Aren't you dying from a werewolf bite? I think it's inconsiderate that you're still alive."
Kai beams. "I'm fine now, thank you for asking. Sucked the magic right out of the bite."
"Of course you did," Damon grouses.
"I am pretty resilient."
"Let her go, Kai, or I swear I'll test that theory."
"Why don't you come over here and make me?" He moves closer to the entrance as Damon struggles against the barrier. "Oh, that's right. I put a ward up to keep supernatural beings out."
"If you hurt her—"
"I'll be doing you a favor." Kai tilts his head challengingly. "It's the truth, isn't it? Someone offs Bonnie and you get Elena back with no guilty conscience darkening your reunion. And since you can't enter this room, I'd be taking the choice away from you, and pulling you out of this sticky situation. Are you really going to tell me that deep down it's not what you really want?"
Damon glares murderously, and Kai laughs in his face. "Hear that, Bonster?" he calls out over his shoulder. "He's not going to pick you. But you already knew that, didn't you?" He walks back to her side just as she manages to stand up.
"Bonnie, I'll get you out of this. I promise," Damon says, staring at the blood smeared across her lips and the tear stains on her face.
"It's a little late for big declarations. We all heard your silence." Kai moves behind her and rests his hands firmly on her shoulders, ignoring her flinch. "Hey Damon, you've met my dad, right? I'm sure he showed you our coven's favorite trick."
His eyes widen. "Don't—"
"Invisique."
xxx
Kai takes her deep into the woods on the outskirts of town. With the full moon in the sky and the quiet stillness of the night around them, it reminds him of the last time he had her alone. All they were missing was snow.
Bonnie twists in his grasp. "Let go of me!"
"I told you I'd to make you suffer in new and inspired ways." Kai presses his body against her back, savoring the tension stiffening her spine. "You're not getting off so easily," he whispers playfully into her ear.
"Motus!"
He stumbles backwards, and laughs as she collapses without his support, winded from the spell. Despite himself, he's impressed she can still use magic in her current state.
"I wouldn't try that again if I were you," he warns. "You're running low on witchy woo. The next one might be your last."
She crawls her way to the nearest tree, before slowly getting to her feet, leaning heavily against the trunk for balance. It's pathetic to watch, and he's unsettled by the wisp of empathy that rises in him.
"What do you want, Kai?"
"Oh, you know the answer to that, Bonnie. I wanted to not be left behind in 1903. I'm not sure if you fully realize this, but food was very scarce back then, and modern comforts? Didn't exist yet."
"But you made time traveling seem like so much fun. Who was I to shorten your trip?" She smiles sweet and unrepentant, her eyes silently telling him that she doesn't care. She doesn't care that she left him to rot, and it hollows him out. It's unfair how he is still so stupidly affected by her when she remains unmoved by him.
"Well, what wasn't fun was becoming food for a group of desiccated heretics." His eyes narrow. "I spent a week fading in and out while they drank their fill. Didn't die though, obviously. Apparently no one dies in the prison world, even if you don't have a drop of blood left in your body. Go figure. Guess we got all frantic about you killing yourself for nothing."
She jerks back in surprise. "What are you...how did you know that?"
"Typical," he tsks. "They beg a witch to do the grunt work and then take all the credit when it's done. How did you think you knew where to find the headstone?"
For the first time, she looks at him without suspicion and anger darkening her features. Her eyes flicker over his face while she sifts through her memories to that moment. "The map. That was you?" she asks in disbelief.
The corners of his lips lift in a sardonic smile. "Did Damon not tell you this when I asked him to set up a meeting with you? I'm going to have some words with him later. Of course it was me. Risked my life casting an untested spell trying to help your friends send you that message. Got stabbed in the middle of it, but I persevered, you know? I believe that's two thank yous you owe me now."
Her expression scrunches up in anger, wiping away her shock. "You think you deserve gratitude? You're the reason I was stuck there in the first place!"
A wave of magic slams her against the tree. "We're never going to see eye-to-eye on the events leading up to me leaving 1994 without you, so let's just agree to disagree," he says lowly. "However, I've tried telling you on multiple occasions that I underwent a distinct change after the merge, and that the me I am now is not the me that gutted you and left you for dead. I even helped get Damon's insane mother back against my better judgment, but what did I get in return?" Kai clenches his jaw and bares his teeth in an imitation of a smile. "No good deed goes unpunished after all."
Bonnie tilts her head up proudly, stoking his rage. "Fine. I'm listening now. If you've really changed, undo the spell. Unlink me from Elena so that she wakes up."
"Didn't you hear me earlier? Here, I'll explain it again in a way you can understand." He clears his throat, before speaking, slowly enunciating each syllable. "I can't. I died. Spell is permanent."
"I don't believe you."
He shrugs, tugging the sticky collar of his blood-soaked shirt away from his neck. "You are entitled to your very wrong beliefs."
"You know a way around it. Tell me what it is!"
Instantly he is in front of her with his hand on her neck. "Even if I knew about this nonexistent loophole, what makes you think I would tell you?" he asks lightly. "What makes you think I would ever go out of my way again to help you or your ragtag band of misfits?" He pauses, eyes dilating as he feels her pulse underneath his thumb—a warm, rhythmic beat that echoes tantalizingly in his ears.
His fangs drop.
"Kai," she breathes warily.
"Well, this is new." He carefully tongues the sharp tips. "You know, after being stuck in 1994 for so long, I think becoming a vampire is the right path for me. I've been ageless for eighteen years. I'm not sure how much I would have enjoyed growing senile and gray." He relaxes, and the magic holding her down disappears. She tries to wrench his hand away to no avail. "I can see the sweat well out of your pores, Bon. I can hear your heart pounding away, moving all that delicious blood through your body." He leans in close, eyes bleeding red, the veins around his eyes pulsing in anticipation. "You won't mind if I have a little taste, will you? Just something to take the edge off. I'm just so thirsty."
"Kai, stop!" she screams, bracing herself as his fangs scrape over her neck.
His teeth are poised to sink deep. He can hear the rush of blood calling to him, but can't bring himself to break skin. Something makes him hesitate, makes him feel bad. Furious with himself, he rips away from her with a growl and turns away, pacing. His magic crackles around them before he takes a deep breath and calms down.
He turns back to her. Bonnie's holding back tears, one hand shakily covering where his teeth grazed her. Her distress angers him, upsets him. A lot. He doesn't know what it means.
"You should have just given me that second chance, Bonnie," he says with a lightness he doesn't feel.
"You didn't deserve it," she accuses, slowly moving away from him. She means to run. He decides to let her have the head start. "Murdering your siblings is hardly a sign of sanity and atonement."
"Well you should be thankful for that. I have every reason to drain you dry right here and now. It's what any sane vampire would do in my shoes. But thanks to the merge and Luke's annoying habit of being empathetic, I can't bring myself to eat you."
"My condolences," she says sarcastically.
He runs a hand through his hair and lets out an agitated sigh. "Feelings. Who needs them?" Kai stills as a thought occurs to him. "Certainly not a monster like me…"
Bonnie stops backing away, alarmed at his contemplative expression. "No. Kai, you can't."
"Why not? This seems like the logical next step in the vampire grieving process. Caroline flipped it when her mom died." Kai looks down, despondent. "I'm the sole survivor of the Gemini Coven, Bon. I don't think I can bear that burden."
"Don't you dare compare yourself to Caroline," she demands, furious. "Her mother was terminally ill. You murdered your coven. You're the reason you're alone, and you don't even care."
"Maybe not," he concedes, dropping the act with an easy grin, "but I still have the option of turning off my humanity. Feelings are hard, and I'm not good with them. I miss the old me, you know? I was more assertive, and didn't let things compassion and guilt get in my way."
"Is that so terrible to you? Caring about other people?"
"It is when no one believes you're sincere," he replies, pinning her with his gaze. She doesn't look away, doesn't blink, but he can still read her emotions, still see the unwilling speck of doubt bloom in her green eyes. She could read him the same way too, if she wanted. It's an exposed weakness he doesn't need, and won't have for much longer. "All caring got me was a golden ticket to another miserable prison world. You didn't trust that I had changed and marooned me in 1903."
She shakes her head vehemently. "You don't get to blame this on me. You left me! And when I came back, I didn't feel safe because you were here too. I kept thinking you would appear out of nowhere and stab me again. You escaping 1994 was a mistake, so I fixed it."
"I'm flattered I've been on your mind so much. Really, it does wonders for my ego. I've been thinking a lot about you too. But here's the thing, Bonnie." He strides up to her with quick, angry steps. "I was put in a cage for nearly twenty years. I wasn't going to repeat that experience. So I got out, and made sure no one could ever do it again. You can't banish someone to a prison world if it no longer exists, and it doesn't if the leader of the Gemini Coven dies."
He smiles brightly, enjoying the way it unsettles her. "You said the old me was still inside of me somewhere. Let's prove you right, and have him come out to play."
He closes his eyes, blocking out her protests, and searches for the switch. It's easier to find than he anticipates.
When Kai opens his eyes again, he sees Bonnie, just as distressed as she was a moment ago, and doesn't care. It's liberating.
"I feel so much better already," he sighs in relief, rolling his shoulders back. "Now, how about that taste?"
His fangs sink into her warm neck, tapping into an artery almost immediately. Her blood rushes over his tongue and he groans. She tastes incredible, sweet and thick and, oh god, the power. It makes his head spin and his body hum with pent up energy. He bites down harder, holding her flushed against him. She screams and tries to twist away, her hands pushing against his shoulders. Her movements make his teeth tear the wound wider, sending a fresh gush of blood into his mouth.
Slowly she stops resisting. Her hands twitch weakly on his shoulders, and he pretends it's a caress.
Through the fevered haze of his bloodlust, Kai registers Bonnie growing limp in his arms. Reluctantly, he retracts his teeth. Blood wells in the puncture wounds, and like an addict, he laps at it, eager for one more taste. He cleans her that way, and doesn't let a single drop go to waste. When he pulls back just enough to look at her, the veins under his eyes are still fading beneath his skin. He spots the dried trail of blood on her chin and swallows tightly. He leans close to lick it off her skin, ending at the corner of her mouth, and smiles against her.
"You are absolutely mouthwatering, Bonnie Bennett," Kai whispers ardently against her lips. "I don't think I can give you up just yet." He glides his teeth over his palm, watching a red line rise from his skin, and presses it against her lips.
He doesn't realize how much he took from her until now. Her eyes barely stay open, and she takes one small sip at a time. It exasperates him that she's so close to death, but there's no other way around it. He sits down and gathers her in his lap, keeping his bleeding hand over her mouth. His other hand gently strokes the length of her neck, encouraging her reflex to swallow. "You better not die on me," he says in a lilting tune. "There's still so much fun to be had together."
When he's sure she'll make it through the night, he carries her back to the Whitmore dorms. After a few suspicious students question him and two dead bodies to drain and bury later, Kai finds her room and tucks her into bed.
He lightly traces her features with the tip of his finger. "Don't you worry, Bonster," he grins down at her, before mimicking a deep, robotic tone, "I'll be back."
