Obstacles

4:45… that's what her alarm clock showed when she finally dared to look at it. 4:45, so she's been awake for over 30 hours now. Her eyes hurt like hell and she had to yawn every five minutes. But still her body and brain couldn't find the way to finally give in to the exhaustion.

Bonnie gave up. She pulled the blanket back und sat at the edge of her bed. With a quick look to her left she made sure that Caroline was still in a deep sleep. She wouldn't want to wake the blonde vampire, they lived through some hard month and it wouldn't get any easier, so Bonnie wasn't going to be responsible for another friends suffering.

As silent as she can be Bonnie left hers and Caroline's dorm room. When she passed the third empty bed in the room, her whole body got covered in Goosebumps. This used to be Elena's bed. Elena. Her best friend. The one that she would never see again. And that was her fault. If she wouldn't have been so vengeful she would still be with here. Bonnie tried to calm herself down. ' She's not exactly dead Bonnie, she's just sleeping for a long time.' She told herself. It didn't work. Like it never did, not once since Elena fell into her long sleep a few month ago.

Bonnie tried so hard to blame someone else. Of cause there was the obvious choice to blame, Kai Parker, but Kai was dead. She couldn't even make him pay for what he did to Elena. Besides, Bonnie was sure that there would have been a way around the spell, if only Kai would have admitted it. No spell is without its flaws. He could have been useful. She felt a little mad at Damon for just taking the easy option and killing the Heretic.

Thinking about the son of a bitch made Bonnie shiver. An image came to her mind. Kai looking completely irritated and confused, while Bonnie herself was lying on the floor, dying. Damon leaving her behind. Kai loosing his head. Bonnie closed her eyes to try to get the images out of her mind. No matter how much she hated that Parker Bitch, remembering his death was not pleasant for her.

Bonnie reached the lounge of her dorm, only to find it empty. But no wonders, it was the middle of the night and only early in the semester so no one had to write an essay due to tomorrow. She let herself fall onto the old brown couch. She was so tired. She wished she could do something productive while staying up, like figuring out how to defeat those Heretics that Kai unleashed to the world, but her brain wouldn't function. So the only thing she could to was revel in her own thoughts and waiting for the sleep to take over her body.

Today Caroline, Damon and her tried to talk to Lily Salvatore again. But of cause she wouldn't hear them out since Bonnie and Damon so violently mistreated the agreement Stefan made with her by killing one of her dear pets of supernatural lunatics. Bonnie couldn't blame her. She herself wasn't the most trusting person when she once got betrayed. And the month of isolation in the 1994 prison world and everything that happened there weren't any help either. But there had to be a solution to this. Damons opinion was that they should just kill all of them, but that did not work out so well the first time they tried. They needed a new plan. So Bonnie spent the howl day researching Heretics, which was pretty hard since there was no real literature she could depend on. Sure she found some articles on the internet but she couldn't be sure that that information given there would really apply to the real version of a Heretic.

Bonnie was frustrated. She had no idea where to get any more information. The only ones who knew a little about those creatures were the Gemini, but they are all dead. Another reason she secretly was mad at Damon, because he killed the only source left they had. Of cause Damon did not know that the Heretics were back that time, but that fact didn't stop Bonnie to feel the way she felt. Kai had to be stopped, of cause. But she still would have done it more civil and maybe not so violently.

Why are you thinking about this Parker kid again, Bonnie Bennet?, she thought. You can be glad he is no longer here to torment you. He can never hurt you or anyone else ever again.

That thought for once gave Bonnie a little peace. She turned to her side and closed her eyes. The new plan had to wait until the next morning. She couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.

He used the protection of the night to get to his source. After month of search he finally found a witch that could help him. Or at least tell him why all his attempts to bring his wife back to life with the phoenix stone didn't work.

He lied to Bonnie about destroying it, a fatal mistake if she found out before he could bring Josette back to life. Alaric didn't understand why it did not work. The unknown man he tried the stone on did come back for a few seconds but Jo's body showed no sign of movement when he tried to resurrect his dead wife.

He couldn't exactly ask Bonnie, the one witch he knew he could trust, so he searched for someone else. It took long but he finally found one in the area. She was close to the Gemini back in the day, but wasn't one of them. He had high hopes that she could help. The clock was ticking. It was only a matter of time before Bonnie and the other found out his secret. And they all made clear that they'd rather have things staying dead than risking to unleash another evil to the world.

Alaric slipped into a small flower shop at the end of the street. The shop was dark and he could not see anyone. Then he heard a voice "You are late, Alaric Saltzman."

"I am sorry, but I had to wait until no one would see me. I am kind of known in this town and don't want people to ask questions that I will not answer."

"I understand.", said the elderly woman. A candle got lit and Alaric could see her now. Grey, curly hair, fixed with a dark hair band. Her clothes were oldshool and she wore a long skit. The last time he saw her in her shop she looked way more modern. But this is witch business that requires the accurate amount of atmosphere. "Come closer, Alaric Saltzman."

He did what she said. Without another word the witch demanded Alarics hand. He hesitantly gave his hand into hers. The witch started chanting.

Wind bursted into the shop and more candles got lit. For someone not so known to the witch culture this might seem scary but Alaric took it as a good sign. At least the woman was a real witch.

After a while the woman began to scream in pain.

"What's wrong?" Alaric screamed, trying to loosen the grip on his hand. The witch opened her eyes abruptly.

"I know what you have to do!", she said.

"What? What am I doing wrong?" Alaric pleads.

"I know what you have to do, but I cannot let you do it. It is too dark, too dangerous. This town will not make it through."

"I don't care about this town; all I want to know is how to get my wife back. What am I doing wrong with the phoenix stone?"

"It is not the stone that is the problem" the old woman claimed. "It is its subject. The one you are trying to get back. Your wife. She has no hold in this world."

"What do you mean no hold?"

"It is like she has moved on. So let her. There is no reason to disturb the dead that found peace."

"Peace?" Alaric banged his fist on the small table, he was angry now. "You just said there was a way to get her back, now tell me what it is! How do I use the stone to get her back?"

"That is the ting, Alaric Saltzman. It is not her that you need to bring back from the dead."
Alaric did not understand. What was the old witch trying to tell him? Then he had an idea forming in his mind.

"Then who is it that I have to resurrect first?" But he did not need the witches' confirmation.
She gave him a knowing look.

"I will not tell you how to do it. The world is a far safer place without this monster in it. If you want to proceed it is your choice. But listen, Alaric Saltzman, from this day on you will not find a single witch that would help you with your agenda. It is a huge thing to do because you can't just resurrect the version of that person that you have to hand. It has to be the right one."

The right one? How can there even be a right one? But Alaric was confident. The information he just got made his whole plan even more difficult but he was willing to go that far.

"So you will not help me?" he asked.

"I am sorry. But the witches are not able to help you anymore. I think you have to give up, Alaric Saltzman."

"Well, let that be my decision."