The Deal
By V.C. Turner
Bonnie stood next to Caroline in the main room of the Salvatore mansion. Golden light cascaded in through the picture windows that lined the west wall, but the tension of the moment overshadowed the beauty surrounding them. The flames lapping in the fireplace crackled nearby, but neither of them felt the warmth of the blaze.
Instead, the two beautiful childhood friends focused their attention on Damon, who sat motionless in a straight-back chair with his eyes firmly shut. Sybil had laid waste to the blue-eyed vampire's mind two days earlier. She'd used the remainder of her siren abilities to take revenge upon the man who refused to give in to her influence; all for the love of another woman – one she could never be.
Before he began to desiccate, Bonnie connected an IV to his left arm in the hopes that the blood bag infusions would be sufficient to keep him alive while they searched for a way to help Damon out of his current predicament.
Less than 48 hours earlier, Caroline found Sybil attempting to escape the mansion. The blonde vampire unceremoniously removed the siren's heart from her chest while Bonnie used the Candle of Imprisonment to trap the wench in the Salvatore dungeon.
Once they "woke" Damon, they would give him the satisfaction of helping kill Sybil with the newly assembled bell.
Caroline stood on his right side placing a hand on his shoulder. She turned to Bonnie, concern lacing her usually upbeat voice.
"Are you sure you want to go in his head, Bonnie?" Caroline asked cautiously, "You might not like what's in there."
Bonnie considered the decision she was about to make. In all the years she'd known Damon, she never felt the need to peek into his subconscious and find out what lurked in the dark corners of his mind. Damon usually gave her the benefit of telling her exactly what he was thinking. He didn't hold back. She knew his faults. She knew his flaws. She knew his past. Those months they spent in the prison world changed her perspective on the eldest Salvatore vampire. They shared so much – sometimes freely; sometimes reluctantly.
She eventually understood Stefan's protectiveness of him. She realized Caroline's optimism that he'd someday become a better person. Deep down, although she refused to admit it to anyone else, she also recognized Elena's attraction to him.
Bonnie looked at Caroline, plastered on her signature strong smile, and answered.
"Hell yeah," she said definitively.
They closed their eyes in unison as Caroline used her vampire talents to enter Damon's mind and take Bonnie along with her for the ride.
The Bennett witch had experienced visions before, but they usually arrived on their own. She had never purposely tried to evoke an image, nor had she attempted to have someone do so for her. She relaxed as the darkness surrounded her mind.
Her first vision was of fog, wafting through the cemetery in Mystic Falls. The sensation of the chill of the night wrapped around her and she instinctively shivered. She felt Caroline's hand wrapped around hers as the scenery began to change.
Blinding light followed by a loud, thunderous sound tore the friends from each other's grasp. Bonnie felt herself floating into an abyss from which she wondered if she could ever return without assistance.
A few moments passed before she was able to feel herself on solid footing again.
Bonnie's eyelids fluttered open as she allowed the light to slowly slip beneath her long lashes and touch her emerald eyes. She took her time adjusting to her new surroundings before panic set into her tiny frame.
Caroline was nowhere to be found.
"Caroline!" she cried out with worry, more for her friend than for herself. Bonnie didn't fear death, but she didn't welcome it either.
She continued to remind herself that she was not lost in a physical place, but in the mind of a man she had come to call friend.
She called Caroline's name several times, but only the echo of her own frightened voice answered her.
Bonnie swallowed hard and looked around to note the bright spring day, the lush green grass, the scent of flowers blooming all around, and the Salvatore mansion sitting quietly in front of her. She frowned, wondering if she had just been kicked out of Damon's mind and somehow transported outside.
She walked on shaky legs toward the front door, not even bothering to knock because no one ever seemed to do so. Once she entered, familiar scents filled her nose. The aroma of food wafted through the air and her stomach growled in response. She knew that smell: butter, whipped cream, syrup... PANCAKES! She smiled at the memory and the fact that Damon would be thinking of their time together in this prison world of his own mind. She stepped into the foyer and waited for the chorus to Salt-N-Pepa's "Whatta Man?" to play through the house.
She decided to do something she didn't do when they were stuck in 1994: scare Damon. Hopefully it would give him something to smile about and perhaps give him a reason not to wallow in his own self-loathing.
When she rounded the corner to the kitchen, she peeked to see that his back was turned to her. She tiptoed behind him, grabbing his shirt and screaming at the top of her lungs.
"Boo!" she yelled, giggling as she backed away.
He spun around, only it wasn't Damon that turned to face her with a wicked grin on his face.
It was Kai.
Kai Parker watched her with amusement as he masked another emotion Bonnie could not identify. She backed away slowly, her mouth hanging open in shock.
He isn't real. He can't be real. She chanted to herself.
The handsome warlock clutched his chest in mock distress before placing the plastic spatula on the counter and appraising Bonnie from head to toe.
"You look even sexier with long hair," Kai said, a compliment he apparently meant, but his words fell on terrified ears.
Bonnie backed up, feeling for the knife block on the counter behind her. Killing him was an instinct she developed when he chased her around in the prison world. Even though she knew this experience couldn't be real, she needed to defend herself – just in case.
She wanted to say something, anything to make this vision of Kai vanish from her view – and from Damon's mind, but she couldn't. The magic inside of her blocked was blocked by something she could not describe and, therefore, could not remove in time to use it against the bastard that stood before her.
Kai continued to look her up and down, studying every feature as if he'd forgotten what she'd looked like and he needed to remember and appreciate her beauty all over again.
His constant staring unnerved her more than a direct assault ever could. She finally found her words.
"Why the hell are you in Damon's mind?" she asked.
Kai removed the towel draped over his shoulder and placed it next to the spatula. He backed up to lean against the kitchen sink. He apparently wasn't ready to attack -yet.
"Fair question, Bon Bon -," he started.
Bonnie glared at him.
"Don't call me that!" she demanded, "No one calls me that."
"Except Damon, right?" he pointed out. The implication was clear, and the smirk on his face only stoked her anger more.
"Damon is my friend," Bonnie asserted, standing a little straighter as she filled her lungs both with an abundance of both air and confidence.
Kai's look of disbelief showed as his jaw set and he took a step toward her. Bonnie pulled out a carving knife and Kai stood still.
"Are you sure that's all it is: friendship?" he asked, "Because I saw more than just you walking away from him 13 times in the prison world. I saw you coming back…13 times. It wasn't because you were lonely either."
Bonnie's blood boiled. Just how much did he see and why would he bother spying on them in the first place?
"I wasn't the one so lonely I had to sneak around in dark places to spy on people," Bonnie asserted as anger forced her full lips into a thin line.
Kai chuckled, but there was no evil in his demeanor. He felt genuinely amused at her statement, and he neglected to counter with a smart-ass remark of his own. That alone surprised her, but not enough to allow her to let down her guard.
He took in a deep breath before speaking again. His voice softer than his mysterious intentions.
"I saw it Bonnie," he said.
Bonnie swallowed hard and began to shake with guilt over the memory; a minor betrayal not worth mentioning to Caroline and especially not to Elena – no, never to Elena.
"You saw nothing," she added, hoping he would drop the subject.
She wasn't that lucky.
Kai folded his arms across his chest, disappointment blooming behind his blue-grey eyes.
"Come on Bonnie. That night, two months into another May 10th. You sat next to each other sipping bourbon and playing poker at 2 a.m. until you both figured out that no one would know if anything happened between the two of you," Kai pointed out, looking jealous.
"Nothing happened," Bonnie hissed at him through gritted teeth. She was lying. He knew it and he would call her on it with details in 3…2…1.
"If that was nothing, can 'nothing' happen with me too?" he asked with a smile that appeared meant to punish her: Not betraying Elena; but for Bonnie betraying him.
Bonnie released the knife and moved quickly to slap Kai in the face as hard as she could. The act of anger stunned them both as her labored breathing made the only sound in the room.
She gathered her composure once again. She refused to let him continue to get the better of her.
"It was a kiss. That's all," she pointed out, not knowing why she had to defend herself to this man that had done so much to torment her and continued to do so from the grave.
"That was more than a kiss. That was a hell of a lot more than a kiss. That was curiosity turned into lust that lasted for, what, a few hours at least. Then you ran away, again," he said, this time, his anger broke through his bravado.
Bonnie tried to grasp the reason for Kai's purpose in Damon's mind. She decided he represented the guilt Damon felt for betraying Elena that night.
Bonnie tried to forget it, but there were times, even when she was with Enzo, that she thought about it. Sometimes she felt the guilt weigh heavily on her chest. Other times, she felt the excitement bubble beneath her breast. It shouldn't have happened even if it didn't go as far as both of them wanted it to go that night.
They never spoke about it. They never needed to. Some words need to remain unsaid and some deeds need to remain buried in the subconscious.
That's why Kai was in Damon's mind.
"You're not really here, anyway," Bonnie said, scowling at Kai.
"The thing is Bonnie, I am here. I'm as real as you are; standing next to Caroline trying to pick through Damon's mind so that the vamp boy can wake up. You see, one little side effect of spending time in Hell is that you're connected to all the devil's children. You can slip into each other's minds and have a peek if you want. It's a way to pass the time while your soul burns for, well, all the things you did to deserve going to Hell," he pointed out.
She watched as Kai shuddered at some memory he kept conveniently to himself. Perhaps he held back because he didn't want to show weakness. Perhaps he didn't want her to see him feel something else…like regret or remorse.
"If you're really here, then you're here for a reason. What is it so we can get this over with and I can help Damon," she asked him, wondering if he'd even bother to tell her the truth.
Kai and Damon were similar in that they both enjoyed who they were…at least they appeared to enjoy it. They both confessed their sins to her. They both wanted to be forgiven by her. Why she held such power over killers, she didn't know. What she did know was that she wanted to get to the bottom of this little puzzle he was laying out for her.
"I'm here because you and I both want something and we can both help each other," he began.
Kai motioned for Bonnie to join him at the kitchen table. Reluctantly she followed. For some reason, the mental trip down Damon's memory lane was becoming physically exhausting for her. After she sat down, he continued.
"I'm here to make a deal with you," Kai offered.
Bonnie raised an eyebrow rather than speak. He knew she didn't trust him, so there was no point in actually saying it out loud.
"What you want is to save Damon and break the spell between you and Elena, fine. I can do that," he said, "What I want is to get out of Hell with my awesome hybrid powers intact."
Bonnie sat back in her chair, waiting for "the catch." After a couple of minutes of silence, she finally asked him the question.
"You want me to help you get out of Hell so you can go on some murder spree?" she bluntly questioned, drumming her fingers on the oak table.
Kai leaned forward and grabbed her hand to stop the noise she was making. He held it more gently than she expected. He rubbed the pad of his thumb against the back of her hand, then released it.
He sat back in his chair and answered her.
"I don't have anyone left to kill," he said earnestly.
"Not even me," she added in a voice that sounded like an accusation.
Kai shook his head.
"Especially not you," he said, softly, "I just want to live, Bonnie."
She looked in his eyes and for the first time, she actually believed him. The flicker of doubt in the back of her head began to fade with each passing second.
Bonnie considered his proposal. To be free from the sleeping curse would mean that her life would be her own; her destiny would no longer be tied to Elena. She could do anything. She could be anything: witch or vampire. Her mind mulled over the prospect of becoming a vampire. In truth, she didn't like the idea at all. As a witch, she could extend her life … if she ever got her powers back.
Her powers. She'd forgotten just how much she missed them and her connection to nature. She missed how the power of the earth flowed through her like the blood in her veins.
"What exactly do you need? I don't have magic anymore," Bonnie pointed out.
"Actually, you do, you just don't realize it. Everything about you is magic, Bonnie," he said, looking in her eyes and then looking away quickly, "I can tap into it again if you let me try."
Bonnie still didn't want to trust him. She didn't want to trust the reality she was in, but the benefits of working with him were too great to pass up. If he stepped out of line, she would just make sure he died again.
"Like I said, what do you need to do this?" she inquired.
Kai reached for a scrap of paper and a pencil and wrote down the ingredients she would need to make the deal a reality. He handed the list to her and waited for her reaction.
Bonnie read the list aloud.
"Bennett blood, why am I not surprised," she began, "My grimoire, a piece of amber stone, a sample of each element – earth, air, fire and water, and…the blood from the Gemini king."
She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Well, I'm not exactly a king, but you know what I mean," Kai said with a smile. Had she not known the evil he represented, the smile would have made her blush. Perhaps it did a little, but she pushed the feeling aside.
"So I get all these things for you when I come out of Damon's brain. What then?" Bonnie asked, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"You need to meet me at one of the gates of Hell on the next full moon. You'll also need to find the binding spell in your grimoire and you bring it with you," he said.
Bonnie had read the grimoire plenty of times. The binding spell she'd used with her mother was complicated and required another Bennett witch to recite it with her.
"I'm going to need my mother for the spell," Bonnie noted.
"That's not the spell I mean," Kai said, not looking at her.
"What do you mean?" Bonnie inquired. The spell she was thinking of was the only one in the book …. that she could remember.
Kai held back a grin before speaking again. The other shoe was about to drop.
"The spell I'm talking about is the binding spell for, true love. Saying it with all the ingredients ties people together across time, space, dimensions, spells, etc. It's the loophole I said didn't exist," he explained.
Bonnie's anger threatened to surge forward, but she kept it in check.
"You said no loopholes," Bonnie seethed.
"No loopholes you'd be willing to risk going through," Kai said.
"Why wouldn't I risk it, especially now after all the hell I've been through?" she asked.
"Because, like I said, this spell binds you to your true love, and maybe not so deep down inside, you know it's not the man you're with," he said as he lifted her chin and looked in her eyes.
Bonnie pulled back from his touch once her heart slowed back to a normal pace. She gathered her thoughts before standing up and heading toward the door to find Caroline.
"The full moon is in three days," Bonnie added, "Where am I going to find a gate to Hell?"
Kai stood but kept a respectful distance from Bonnie.
"One of the gates is placed strategically at the center of this god-forsaken town," he explained, "Go there with everything on that list and start saying the spell at midnight."
"And if it works…," she started to say.
"If it works, Damon and Elena wake up, you're released from the sleeping curse and get your magic back, and I get out of Hell to live my life," Kai asserted.
"And everyone gets their true love," Bonnie said.
"Everyone connected by the spell does, yeah," he said, honestly.
Bonnie began to walk away from him, heading toward the front door. Doubt filled her, but it didn't stop her from wanting to go through with the plan.
Still, she needed to ask another question to which she felt Kai already knew the answer. She turned to face him, not realizing that he had followed her, standing in her personal space as if he deserved to share it.
"So…. if I'm going to be eternally bound to this person in three days, who's supposed to be my true love?" she asked.
Kai smiled down at her and shook his head.
"What I can tell you is that the spell doesn't make the choice for you. The universe doesn't really make the choice for you," he said as he brushed the hair from her face and placed it behind her ear. He then slowly traced his fingers down her jawline to her neck, down to where her heart thundered beneath her skin.
"This," he continued lightly touching her heart, "This chooses for you."
Bonnie began to shake, but not from fear of Kai. She feared what secrets her own heart held that the spell would reveal to her at the next full moon.
"But…who?" she started to speak.
He leaned into her ear and whispered.
"Well, I know who mine is," he breathed into her ear, "And I guess in three days, we'll both find out yours."