Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries or any of the characters affiliated with it. Anything recognizable is property of Julie Plec and co.
Prologue
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
For you are with me,
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me
It should be raining.
The air was thick, a heavy coat on a humid day, waiting to be shed at the first proper gust of wind. Bonnie Bennett toed her heel in the grass, distracted by the sheer layer of dust it left on her glossy black pumps. The earth was much too dry. She should've worn a more sensible shoe, her body's weight distributed primarily on the stiletto heel. She had a pair of Mary-Janes that would've gone with her outfit just as well, a pair that would have been much more prepared for the hardness of a ground leeched of moisture. She should have worn them.
It should be raining.
She could hardly focus on what was going on around her. There were so many people around her, it was overwhelming, yet at the same time, she barely registered them. She was alone. It was warm and dry and humid and the scent of rain hung in the air, even though Mystic Falls hadn't seen it for days. It was a strange taunt, one that consumed her even as man's voice droned on, even as people cried. She only had one recurring thought: Sheila Bennett was dead and it should be raining.
Funerals were meant to be gloomy, the day was meant to mourn the loss of greatness, the Mother was meant to cry as her child left the plane. Not this, not this atmospheric uncertainty.
People were standing and moving towards the hole in the ground. She felt as if she had missed an important cue as she followed clumsily. Everything was off kilter. A crack of lightning would have snapped her out of her dazed state but the weather continued to be resistant to her will.
Watching her grandmother's body being lowered into the ground was like an out of body experience. Logically, she knew what was happening. Grams was dead. Bonnie was supposed to be saying goodbye. But she felt like she was watching a scene in a movie. She sympathized for the girl on screen but it wasn't her own pain, this didn't feel real.
How could she cry for a woman she had barely known?
Looking at the turnout, she truly wished she had. All of the town's citizens must have been there. The local history teacher who had said a few words. A woman who she knew to have been the mayor was a few seats away, holding on tightly to her teenage son's hand. Beside him was a beautiful blonde, tears falling softly down her face. She had a handkerchief that she was using to dab away at them. There were others with them: a doe-eyed brunette, a stone-faced young man with statuesque good looks, a corn-fed, blond boy. There were more of them: another young boy, a raven-haired girl, a fair-skinned woman. They were all together, all looking like the death of a university professor was the end of their world.
It was nice to know that her grandmother would be missed. It made her feel closer to the woman. She wished she could miss her too.
Bonnie stepped forward and played her role. She stooped down to throw a handful of dirt on the wooden casing. She shook the hands of strangers. She accepted condolences.
A wake was being held at the Mystic Grill and as she got ready to head over, she heard a crow in the distance. The bird of death. It felt symbolic.
She still wished it would have rained.
Author's Note: I haven't written a story in years and I've never really done a multi-chaptered one. I love Bonnie Bennett more than I love most characters and I've had the idea for a few months to write a story of a Bonnie who hadn't been entangled in the supernatural drama from the get go and how that would have affected the storyline and her character so this will be AU with canonical elements, I guess. I would love to hear people's thoughts and reviews even though I haven't really given you much yet. The next chapter should hopefully be up by the end of next week!