Title: And There Will Be Blood
By: Jezzi B.
URL: visit jezzibness . livejournal . com for all chapters in a cleaner format.
Fandom: Vampire Diaries (Book & TV)
Pairing: Damon/Bonnie
Rating: M +16
Type: Multi-chapter
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the show, book series or the characters. The writing here in is for no profit and simply a fan work.
Summary: Bonnie receives an unwanted Christmas gift from Damon with a shocking message. We go back five weeks into the past to see how things lead up to Christmas. Bonnie is now experiencing a new life in New York with her boyfriend—who happens to be Elena's ex—Matt. Her abilities seem to have dissipated, allowing her to finally lead a normal life. Everything seems picture perfect until Damon shows up in town to deliver her a message that someone close to her will die if she doesn't retrieve her powers.
NOTE: I am going to write the characters as they are in the current show, but incorporate elements from the book series. Try your best to remove what's happened in the storyline of the show/book, I'm touching on those elements, but I've written this story from the angle of Bonnie not fully knowing what Damon is. I wanted to take this approach because it works better for the story.
AND THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Chapter 1
It's often said "patience is a virtue"; "Good things come to those who wait"; "Save the best for last". Unfortunately these words of valid wisdom were lost on Bonnie Bennett. It was exactly three days before Christmas and she was simply dying to open her present.
Bonnie lifted her fingers up to tuck her long dark strands behind her ears, allowing her exotic eyes to focus on one parcel in particular. It was painfully hard to ignore the smooth, shiny, black box with the gold ribbons. The packaging alone begged the viewer lucky enough to glance its way to touch the flawless surface.
Bonnie released a deep breath.
Why can't my powers work when I want them to?
Times like these she wished she could trade psychic powers for x-ray vision.
Just wait— he said don't open it until Christmas. You know what will happen if you open it now…
Her heart was racing; she couldn't stop the anxiety that was rushing through her blood and rising to her cheeks. This presents wasn't like the other gifts. A complete contrast from the rosy, warm, snowman wrapping-paper Elena had used and the green Santa Clause paper her grandmother had used.
Bonnie began to shake. It was too much; she had to know. Maybe if she knew, she'd be better prepared. Why should she wait for her fate? She had to break the rules. She had to seize the day. Before she could even give it a second thought, her fingers were lifting up the elegant box…
It was so much lighter than she expected it to be and the wrapping felt strangely icy. She examined it slow and carefully. The gorgeously sinister wrapping taunted her; the shimmering gold lead to a small card. She tucked one finger under the flap to view the name within.
"To: Bonnie, with love, Damon."
Her lips curled with disgust. He was sick; did he really enjoy pretending to be so innocent?
She impulsively began to tear the paper apart, venting her frustration on the parcel. As the shreds of black were torn from the box, letters became visible atop a white surface. She turned the present horizontally to read the writing.
"This is the last warning. You'll regret opening this..."
It can't be worse than what I've felt all week antagonizing over this damned box.
Bonnie placed a hand against her stomach, providing herself with one last encouraging breath before slipping the cover off the box. She braced herself, practically closing her eyes for a moment before forcing her gaze to stare at the contents.
There was two simple items: A crow's feather and a letter.
She gawked at them with perplexity, an expression that was soon followed with relief & laughter. He did have a heart after all; he didn't do what he said he was going to.
Bonnie lifted the cream-colored card, noticing its plainness before reading it.
"You'll be dead at 12AM tonight."
A sharp scream escaped Bonnie's throat as she flung the card towards the wall. She literally dragged herself back against her carpet, pushing herself as far away as humanly possible from the Christmas gift.
Oh God! Oh God! He is going to kill me!
She struggled like a frightened rabbit, scrambling to her feet clumsily. She had to leave; she had to get out. She tossed up her chin to come face-to-face with piercing green eyes staring at her with an animalistic curiosity. She stopped breathing.
Damon…
Damon's presence sent her reeling; he was too intense. He stood with such a dominant posture, cloaked in expensive black attire. Both gorgeous and deadly, Damon represented the fears and the desires hidden within every woman. He tilted his head in a demented fashion, amused by her visible fear.
She remained frozen and mute. Was she really so stupid to think that if she didn't move that he wouldn't attack her?
"I'm really disappointed in you—" Damon sighed side-stepping to walk towards the tree "—I went to so much trouble to prepare the perfect surprise for you…"
Bonnie dared not to even attempt running, she knew it'd only excite him and she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction.
"I've never been good with surprises," she answered dryly, vainly trying to mask her nervousness.
"That is painfully apparent. Unfortunately though, in this case, it really pays to wait. Seems I have no choice, but to make Christmas come early this year…" He wasn't even facing her as he spoke.
She swallowed hard, her body felt numb all over. She clenched her fists tightly; she refused to grovel. If she was going to die, it was going to be bravely.
"Just take it! I know what you came for, just take my blood!" She shrieked at him, causing the dark waves of hair to curtain the sides of her face.
Damon turned to her, revealing his monstrous face. Once green eyes now were tinged with blood-red and purple veins. Sharp canines were revealed in the most wicked and eerily beautiful smile.
"With pleasure—" He produced delicately through his horrible teeth before he began his lunge towards her.
Five weeks earlier…
"Um, hello? Bonnie, have you heard a word I've said?"
The voice stirred Bonnie from her thoughts. Quickly, she delivered a sheepish smile to Matt who sat directly across from her. The two were seated outside in front of a small café deep in the heart of New York. People rushed all around them, but within her little space—with Matt—there was a mock of life put on pause.
It had been two years since she'd moved away from Mystic Falls to go to school in New York. She just had to get away from small town life. She never expected to end up at the same school as Matt. He'd managed to land an athletic scholarship in New York. She didn't think she could date again; he proved her wrong in more ways than one. She felt so guilty choosing to date Elena's ex boyfriend, but Elena herself had assured her that there were no hard feelings. Matt was kind, dependable and most important of all, he was safe, much safer than…
"God, I'm so sorry, I've been spacing out too much lately," she apologized, reaching her hands to hold his.
Matt smiled warmly, squeezing her fingers in return.
"Had anymore visions?" He queried with a calm tone.
Bonnie was experiencing a dry spell—if it was possible for a psychic to have a dry spell. She definitely was having cosmic writer's block.
She shook her head.
"No, but you know what, maybe that's a good thing. I can go back to being a normal girl with a wonderful, normal boyfriend and a normal life," Bonnie reasoned.
"Ouch—" Matt still smiled though. "—Normal boyfriend…"
"Hey, don't take it that way, you know you're special and did you completely forget that I said 'wonderful' first?"
She leaned over the small table to place a kiss against his mouth.
Matt's hand lifted to gently touch her face, returning the kiss.
Nothing.
I feel nothing more than simple affection. I force myself to, I know he's good for me, but I feel nothing when we kiss.
She had to wonder if he really felt something too or not. She couldn't shake the feeling that a part of Matt would always belong to Elena. Elena had that affect on men; she could get them to fall in love with her indefinitely. Matt & Stefan were hopeless against Elena's beauty and charm. Being the creepy, psychic witch didn't exactly win her any points in the dating field.
What about Damon?
She couldn't figure him out. All she knew was that Damon left her with an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Okay, I've got to get to work, if I'm even one minute late they'll fire me," Matt quickly stood, slipping back on his gloves to warm his fingertips.
It was freezing; Bonnie didn't know why she enjoyed the cold so much. Her grandmother had always said she was hot blooded, she never realized until she moved to New York that it was literal.
"Good luck! Kisses!" She offered as she watched Matt's departure.
Bonnie flipped open her purse, searching for her wallet. She had gotten used to paying for lunch with Matt, she knew he was at a financial disadvantage.
"Bonnie, gotta hand it to you. You have superb taste in men—"
A sudden chill raced up Bonnie's spine.
In a moment of involuntary panic she threw up her gaze to see a dark, handsome figure standing near her table. It was unmistakably Damon Salvatore, the troublesome one. Bonnie had always noticed three key things about Damon. 1. He liked to make people miserable. 2. He was a jerk. 3. He had an unearthly appearance, which was almost unsettling.
"—I mean, the way he fled and left you with the bill before his coffee even got cold was pure genius. " Damon invited himself to Bonnie's seat, claiming Matt's previous spot.
Bonnie narrowed her eyes at him.
"I don't remember asking you to have a seat," she was irritated by his arrogance.
He crafted an alluring smile to his lips, "Oh, I was certain you would have asked me, I just saved you the trouble. How rare is this? Two old friends meeting by chance in the Big Apple. It's almost like its fate, isn't it?"
Bonnie sighed; she knew this was going to be fruitless.
"We were never friends, Damon. What are you doing in New York? "
Damon lifted his hand to signal the waitress, deliberately taking his time in answering. He motioned to Bonnie to wait as the young, peppy blonde approached them.
"Can we have another tea for the lady here?" Damon asked with such a smooth tone.
The notations in his voice and the softness to his smile were flustering the waitress. Bonnie herself couldn't deny the affect, she just knew him well enough to know the wolf in the sheep's clothing.
The waitress gave her most flirtatious giggle before agreeing and departing into the café.
Bonnie couldn't take this. She began to stand, collecting her purse under her arm.
"You can enjoy that tea, I'm not staying. Especially when you don't even tell me why you're here."
Damon seemed unfazed. He lifted a napkin from off the table behind him to place in his lap. His movements were so fluid and poised.
"It would be worth your while to learn patience, Bonnie. I noticed that about you from the beginning. You're such a rush-rush type of girl. In school you rushed in and out of relationships, you rushed away from Mystic Falls. What's it going to take to get you to value time and see how truly precious it is?" His eyes lifted to watch her carefully.
Bonnie found herself mesmerized by his stare; somehow she couldn't look away. Despite every notion her body was telling her, she was drawn to his gaze.
He's everything I don't like. He's everything that Matt isn't. I have a good life, a normal, good life.
She mustered up enough strength to cast him a defiant expression. She'd definitely not look as weak as he made her feel.
"Damon, I'll ask you again and if you don't answer, I am leaving. Why are you here and what do you want?" She felt proud of managing to stand up to Damon.
Damon stood from his seat; the mere action caused Bonnie to flinch. However, his expression seemed indifferent, almost too calm.
"I am in New York to see you, Bonnie," he said simply.
Bonnie felt the strangest desire to tug up her collar to hide the slow blush that was rising to hr face. He really traveled all the way to see her?
"Me? Why?"
"I need to borrow your talent on a matter." He looked as though it was paining him to actually require her services.
"My talent?" Suddenly is occurred to her. Damon was referring to her psychic abilities. She quickly began waving her arms to dismiss the idea.
"No! What do you think I am? Some kind of fortune teller?" She was fuming.
Damon took great pleasure in her anger; he enjoyed her being so animated. He was smiling again. It was the kind of smile that could freeze water and kill crows. He placed his palms on the tables' surface, leaning forward to draw his face dangerously closer to Bonnie's. His voice lowered to hushed tones.
"Have I ever mentioned that you're absolutely irresistible when you're so angry? All the blood just rushes to your face, it's so—exhilarating…"
Bonnie lost all train of thought. He was too close to her, she was a deer caught in the headlights. She had to will herself to say something.
"Stop it, Damon. I can't help you. Even if I actually wanted to help you with whatever it is, I can't. My talent, curse—whatever you call it—it's gone." She avoided his eyes. Something told her he wasn't the type to enjoy being denied.
"It's not gone. A gift like yours never leaves, it just hides itself," Damon was still as placid as ever.
Bonnie folded her arms, biting on her lower lip carefully, "What if I don't want it to come back?"
"Oh, I think you do. I promise you, I'll even help to give you a running start, because if you don't awaken those little magical powers of yours, Elena may die…"
Bonnie couldn't breathe; her world had just stopped. Those final three words rung in her mind loudly. She shook her head rapidly.
"What? What do you mean?"
How can he be so calm? Why didn't he mention Elena from the beginning?
Damon was silent as the waitress delivered the tea in front of Bonnie, asking if they needed any additional items before Damon politely dismissed her. The wait was killing her.
"Elena is missing…" He stated.
"How? Why didn't I hear about this? Do the police know? I've got to tell Matt!" She was already digging through her purse for her cellular phone.
Suddenly, as if only a mere second passed a hand was firmly against her wrist. His fingers began spreading up toward the palm of her hand. Her eyes lifted to meet Damon's.
"I know you're very excited to tell your boy-toy about poor Elena's most unfortunate situation, but if you don't mind carrying the guilt that you killed your best friend, I suggest you keep your mouth shut."
She gave him a meaningful look, something wasn't adding up.
"Damon, what aren't you telling me? How can I save Elena? You want me to use my psychic powers to somehow locate where she is? This is a job for the police, not for me!"
"Police cannot find the kind of being that took them…"
"Them?"
"Oh, Stefan's gone too," Damon waved his hand as if his own brother was unimportant.
"You know Stefan, he's always been much weaker than me. I think he must have low iron in his blood from a lack of a proper diet—" He was actually smiling. "—Oh, your tea is getting cold, drink up." God, he was sick.
Damon had to be the worst messenger on the face of the planet. Bonnie could envision him telling her the world was about to be hit by a comet with a smile before offering her a slice of cake.
"How can I possibly think about tea after you've just told me about Elena and Stefan being taken by some unknown assailant?"
Damon finally released her wrist, settling back into his chair.
"You'll drink that tea because firstly, I—unlike your doting boyfriend—am actually paying for your drink and secondly, because you'll need it for where we're going."
She almost regretted asking, "Where are we going Damon?"
"To Oz, Dorothy. Trust me, by the time I'm through with you, I can guarantee you will have your powers back or you will die trying…"