After the darkness took a toll on them, they were gone. Bonnie and Damon were a duo unmatched on earth. Many have tried to stop them, but always at a loss. And in one life-shattering moment, Stefan lost everything.
June 28th. Mystic Falls. A supermarket. Stefan can retell it with the most vivid memory.
Bonnie busted down the door of her Grams' home with her magic. It was like floating a feather for her. Light work. She walked into her childhood home unfazed by it. She wasn't there to reminisce about everything she'd learned, her struggles, her gains, and definitely not her losses. She shrugged at how nothing had changed. It all remained the same.
She switched through the front rooms quickly, not glancing at anything. It was her room that was the goal. It had a special book in it that she had to retrieve. It was pertinent for what Damon and Bonnie had planned.
Speaking of the dark weasel, he was just walking into the house. The darkness that consumed him allowed him entry into any place. There wasn't a need for an invite. Anyway, it's not like Bonnie wouldn't have hesitated. The two of them were so in tune with one another. So linked and so intertwined. Bonnie would think of it as two branches that so happened to dance with another while growing. An outsider would perceive it as spiraling, but Bonnie felt a growth within her. She was finally becoming who she was. While Damon, well, he was always skating the surface of darkness. Wanting to take a peek at what waved at him below. It was unexpected when something finally pulled him in, and he didn't expect to have a guest with him either. Though Bonnie wasn't just a guest, she was more than that.
She tore through her room. Blankets, pillows, dresser drawers, and clothes flying everywhere. She checked under her bed, growing irritable by the minute. The closet was nothing but lifeless clothes and ugly shoes. At least that's how Bonnie put it.
"Those shoes were ugly," Damon added. Bonnie shot him a glance. A smiled stretched across his cheek. "Of course, you'd look good in them."
"Shut up before I stitch up your mouth," She replied, pressing a palm into the floor. Damon, who was leaning on the door, walked into the room and kneeled next to her.
"You just know how much I love that, don't you, you bad witch?"
Bonnie tried not to show it, but him being so close made her uncomfortable. There was a feeling there comprised of many things. Bonnie being Bonnie latched onto the one thing she felt kept her safe, uncomfortableness. With that, she could block any other emotion trying to poke its way inside of her.
"Don't be such a cornball," Bonnie tells him. He got the hint. And quickly, falling on his butt. "And help me find this book! This world isn't meant for us!"
Damon shook his head. She'd been saying this a lot. Over and over. He did want to know what she meant by that. He wanted to parse what she repeated daily. Or maybe he just loved the sound of her voice? She sounded urgent and alarmed. A shift was always there when she mentioned. He knew the book meant something deeper, and so he followed along with it. It's not like he was enjoying Paris or anything, and wanted to come back to Mystic Falls. A dreadful, soulless place full of empty people, dead or alive.
This room was no exception. This house. Nobody inhabited it. And if anyone did, Damon would have sucked them dry… if there was anything left to suck. Mystic Falls was a ghost town now. A different kind. There were people, but nothing keeping them alive. Damon knew that, and Bonnie knew it too. For her, returning wasn't about that. It was about retrieving a spell so that their power can be bigger.
"I'll wait outside." Damon was about to leave when Bonnie stopped him. She'd finally located the book, underneath the floor boards. "I don't see why you didn't use a locator spell. I thought you were smart Bonnie."
"That's why I knew this book— you wouldn't have found it with a locator spell. It doesn't work like that."
Damon rolled his eyes.
"3,042." Bonnie said, glancing away.
"What are the numbers for?"
"Forgot already? It's how many times you've rolled your eyes at something I said."
Bonnie leaves the room, moving past Damon. Sometimes he didn't understand her. She was quirky. And through all their travels, kills, and steals, she was always doing something weird or peculiar. Like once, a dead body lay between them, they had just murdered, and Bonnie placed her hands on the man's temples. Damon's brow furrowed. He asked her what she was doing. She smiled. She wanted to know what his last moments were. Every person they had either killed or drained had one thing on their mind before dying. Regret. Bonnie was seeing if this man had the same. Her look went cold. She snatched her hands away from his head. It was regret.
That was in South America. Back in Mystic Falls, the two were kind of bored of the same old kill. The same old drain. Their powers had grown to be immense. Where changing her hair color was a chore, Bonnie had learned to do it in milliseconds. And how fast was Damon's ability to extract another's heart and pierce it with his fangs. Impeccable. But, just because their situations changed, doesn't mean they didn't. Something dark did animate their choices a bit, but it didn't affect who they were inside.
That's why when Stefan showed up unexpectedly, sitting on the hood of Damon's Camaro, it wasn't so easy to make him leave.
"Hello, brother," Stefan said. Damon was impressed by how much he'd changed. On the opposite, Stefan was saddened. He stood and gave Damon a long, dragging look. His mouth sort of dropped. Damon shifted in his place.
"We don't have time for this," Bonnie said, walking into her Grams' yard and keeping a steady eye on Stefan.
"And Bonnie," Stefan said averting his eyes to her. "I can feel that energy. What are you now?"
"Handle him, Damon." Bonnie vanishes in thin air, leaving behind nothing but a few sparks and black dust. Stefan was in shock.
"She's powerful. You think she can handle that much power?" Stefan asks Damon. Damon shrugged like he didn't care. Of course, he did, but he didn't want to stand in her way. They were having way too much fun. Not only pillaging through cities, destroying and maiming, but just the imagining. The ideas. The things they were capable of together. He loved it. He loved the danger the darkness brought her. He was even doing it now. In the midst of his little brother. Imagining the ways he could dismember Stefan. What, in a blink, he could do to him. Because Damon already knew what Stefan was there for, because he's Stefan. He didn't, however, know what Damon was itching to do. It did scare him.
"How've you been, brother?" Damon asks him. "I thought you were in Paris."
"Yeah, looking for you. And Caroline is still there by the way."
"Has she grown accustom to the sewers yet?"
"That's not funny."
"Itching for cheese?"
"Damon!" Stefan grabs Damon's neck and Damon quickly reverses it, pinning Stefan onto his Camaro. He looks at the hood of his car.
"See, Stefan, now you dented my car! Man, I didn't want to have to kill you!"
"Then don't."
Damon releases him, backing away. He stuffs his hands into his pockets and glares at him. An awkwardness filled the air between them. Damon was enjoying it, but only because he could see Stefan suffering.
"You know, Bonnie could've did worse. To her." Damon explained.
"Oh, what? Did she give Caroline the friendly discount?"
Damon chuckles. "Something like that."
The street was empty. For a second Damon thought Mystic Falls was completely empty of people. Either way, Damon and Bonnie would've come here to stir up some chaos one last time.
"Where is everybody?" Damon asked. Stefan got off the car, rubbing his neck. He was caught off guard by Damon's strength.
"People are leaving."
"They're finally beginning to realize the kind of town this is."
Stefan didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. Matter of fact, the both of them didn't know what to say. Damon didn't want to murder his brother, but if he had to he wouldn't hesitate. And Stefan wasn't sure what to say to bring Damon back.
Damon looked away. He felt something, something swelling inside of him. He blinked it away. He thought it away. For him, that was a type of danger. The type of danger he wanted to avoid. Going back into that state of being, where he was before, kept him locked up. His potential to fully be who he was, was no more. Stefan took a step towards him, and Damon lifted his leg up, kicking his foot into Stefan's chest.
Stefan flew. The windshield to the Camaro shattered. Damon launched into the air, his fist pulled back, and he landed on Stefan, his fist pummeling Stefan's fist. Stefan caught the next fist and threw Damon off of him. He rolled into the middle of the street. Stefan hopped off of the car and marched to Damon. His foot rammed into Damon and Damon flew back into a car door.
"Get up," Stefan demanded. He picked Damon by his shirt and slammed him into the car door again. Damon smiled. The pain was easy. But Stefan didn't know that. He thought he failed to reach Damon's humanity, but where he failed was switching up tactics. The humanity was there. It was just cloaked by the darkness eating him up.
"You think this hurts me?!" Damon said. Stefan punched him in the jaw. Damon's head jerked to the side. "You think I care?!" Again, Stefan jawed him. Blood bubbled through his lips. "You don't affect me anymore, Stefan!" Stefan growled as he punched Damon. Three times. Damon dropped to the ground. A glob of blood and spit puddling onto the street. "You are not my humanity, anymore, Stefan. You never were." Stefan's chest rose in anger. He picked his foot up and slammed it on the back of Damon's head.
"You feel that?" His teeth were clenched. Stefan felt he had no choice. He just wanted his brother back. He just wanted him back.
"No."
Damon, using his speed, stood up. He angled his head and smirked.
"No, brother." He said. His elbow rose, Stefan didn't even notice, and hit Stefan in the chin. He stumbled back as Damon approached him. He was like a giant when Stefan looked at him. His face was bloody. His face was twisted. The blood and bruise molded together to make Damon resemble a mad clown.
Damon spun then kicked Stefan in the face. He fell straight onto his back, coughing up blood. Damon, in moments, pressed his knee into Stefan's chest very slowly. He covered Stefan's mouth to watch him choke on his own blood. The suffering went forever. At least to Stefan, it felt that way. For Damon, it wasn't long enough. So held his hand there while Stefan tried to remove it. But he couldn't. He was powerless. Damon relished in it: the squirming, the choking, that look of terror in his eyes. It was always tasteful and satisfying.
Stefan's palm patted against Damon's hand. It patted and patted unremorsefully. Damon knew that he couldn't kill Stefan this way. He was a vampire. Which is why Damon's brow lifted in disbelief. He turned his head.
The street was so quiet. Just inaudible. A peace washed over him he hadn't felt in a long time. Was it Mystic Falls? Or just watching his brother suffer? It truly didn't matter, because when he looked at Stefan again, he removed his hand. It was covered in blood, which disgusted Damon, and he wiped it on Stefan's white shirt.
As he stood up, Damon said, "Since when do you wear white?"
Stefan couldn't say anything. He was still too choked up.
Bonnie breathed in the brisk air of Mystic Falls. Sitting in the cemetery, she wondered where Damon was. She knew Stefan had no chance of stopping him, or them, and what they were up to.
"Peno," Bonnie chanted. The book opened in front of her. It flipped to the exact page she needed, but she didn't understand the language.
She placed her palm on the book and closed her eyes. The books words began to flow through the old, torn pages and into her fingers. This, for her, was like a high. And it was a very powerful form of magic. One not even her Grams' could stand. Bonnie not only could stand it, but she could harness it. Use it of her own volition.
When the darkness came for Bonnie, she tried to fight it. While it swallowed Damon hole in seconds, it took a month to completely grab her. The fight took a lot out of her, even as she thinks about it now, it makes her feel uneasy. That's why she's so grateful to Damon. Without his help, she wouldn't have garnered control of it as much as she has now. He helped her embrace it. He showed her how to embrace the darkness.
A flicker of that moment flashed in her mind. His hand reaching towards hers. She remembers a veiny, black ventricle growing down his arm. It doesn't have to be like this, He whispered to her as she cradled in the dark. Take my hand, and I'll show you how to take it on. When she touched his fingers, when he tugged at the slightest, and when her small body moved out of the darkness and toward his light… that's when she knew she could trust him.
Just as she sat in this forest, in front of this book, trusting the lightness in the air. She trusted him. Thinking about it now, she never got to say thank you.
The spell was now in her system. She could feel it quaking. She was ready.
"Wow…" Bonnie said to herself. The magic of this spell was immense and intense. It heightened the power she already had in her. Just like Grams' said it would.
Bonnie's eyes creased. She heard scream, but it was like a whisper, that started growing louder and louder… like it was approaching her existence from another. The scream turned into a screech. Bonnie dropped and held her ears.
"GRAMS!" Bonnie yelled. She knew the voice sounded familiar. Through thin air, her Grams appeared. She was naked. Bonnie was taken aback. She stepped back. A bit afraid of what she was looking at.
Her Grams was covered in dirt. She looked around like a scared puppy. Her eyes landed on Bonnie and she jumped back, falling to the ground. Bonnie, realizing she was more afraid, tried to comfort her but Grams put her hand up.
It was clear Grams didn't know where she was. Her eyes were wide with damning curiosity. But also, they were clouded in fear.
Bonnie unconsciously itched her ear. Probably nerves. She wasn't sure why Grams showed up or why the spell did this. She must've missed something. As she ran to her book Grams ran away. Bonnie stared at her Grams, her eyes calm.
"Grams…" Bonnie started, "I'm not going to hurt you." Bonnie slowly bent down to look at her book. "I'm just trying to fix this. You shouldn't be here."
"You—" Grams mumbled. Bonnie looked up attentively. She waited to see if Grams would continue.
"Go on. I what?"
Grams met Bonnie's gaze. "You need me. I'm just the first."
Bonnie was confused. "The first what?"
Grams didn't say anything. She just looked at the ground. She nodded, then she walked towards Bonnie. Bonnie watched her closely. She was so skinny, like she hadn't eaten in days. Bonnie wondered where she'd been all this time. Heaven? Hell? Wherever it was, it wasn't a good place. It almost brought a tear to Bonnie's eyes wondering where her Grams had been. Bonnie always thought she was in a happy place. Now she's wondering if there is a such thing.
"I'm the first to go," Grams said, standing directly in front of Bonnie. Bonnie shook her head. She didn't understand, but when Grams placed her hand on Bonnie's and vanished. Bonnie knew. Soon after, Bonnie collapsed to her knees and gasped. Over and over again, she let out a breath. A new magic traveled her through her body. It was intoxicating. Addicting. And even when Bonnie knew it was her Grams' magic, she wanted more. The darkness was starving. It wanted more.
Behind her, another of the Bennett line appeared. Frail and naked. Bonnie turned around and walked towards her. The lady was screaming, crawling away from Bonnie, unknowing what she was there for.
Bonnie started to hear more screams. And more from the Bennett begin to drop from thin air. They filled the forest with their screams and cries. It was almost too much for Bonnie. Almost… almost knocking at her caged humanity. She wouldn't let it. Her body dissipated into the air, and a black mist swam through the air, weaving in and out of trees, and stopping in front of a Bennett ancestor. When her body formed itself in front of one, they went crazy. One of them tried to run but Bonnie stopped them. With her mind. They walked to her, touched her, and passed through.
These witches were all over the forest. And Bonnie eventually got to every single one of them.
When she was done, she lie in the forest and stared up at the sky. The feeling was overwhelming, not just for her, but every living thing around her. The plants, shrubs, trees, and bushes just died. They turned black. The trees started falling over around her. Their leaves crumbling and smothering the light into darkness. It was like a black snowfall. And the spell, the spell that Bonnie was trying to do, was finally prepared.
