*Disclaimer: I don't own TVD or Deadly Class*
Author's note: I have aged down all of the characters including Bonnie. Just fair warning, this fic is going to be dark so if you are looking for fluff, I recommend my other Kennett fic, Timeless.
Bonnie Bennett roamed the streets of New York. The rain was pouring down and she needed to find a place to sleep. This ally looked promising, she found a place that was semi-secluded from the rain. She laid down on the hard ground, switchblade in her hand.
She couldn't go back to the shantytown tonight. He would be looking for her. First thing tomorrow, she needed to get out of town, but she couldn't travel at night it was too dangerous. Both because there was less travelers so someone was more likely to recognize her and because other more dangerous predators travelled at night. And though Bonnie wasn't prey, she was usually mistaken for it.
The rain chilled her and she coughed. It felt like half the night passed before she drifted to sleep.
Bonnie woke again because someone was digging through her pockets. She shot awake and lashed out blindly with her knife. At this point, Bonnie no longer needed to press the button to eject it. It happened on its own.
A girl screamed and ran. Bonnie gave chase and threw herself at the girl. They both landed on the ground and struggled.
It ended in seconds and Bonnie quickly realized the girl she was pinning down was a prostitute. She used to work for a guy named Luca. Until Luca tried to turn Bonnie into one of his girls and she slashed his throat with his knife.
Yesterday.
"Please, I just need a few bucks!" the girl cried. "Luca's brother thinks I killed him because I found him."
Bonnie felt nauseous. "Does he know I did it?"
The girl shook her head. "I need to skip town, please. I didn't rat you out."
An act, which Bonnie saw had cost her. There was a large bruise forming under her eye. She remembered suddenly, this was the girl she had pushed aside when she fled the alley covered in Luca's blood.
"Take it and go," Bonnie said.
She got up and watched as the girl ran away.
Bonnie went back to the place she had been sleeping in. she was broke again, but he could hitchhike in the morning if she needed to.
XXX
The next morning, Bonnie was both exhausted and broke. After the girl robbed her, she had slept fitfully.
Bonnie snuck into the restroom at a nearby convenience store. She cleaned herself up and washed her clothes in the sink. Then she dressed in a clean pair of jeans and a fresh purple sweater. She had stolen the outfit from Forever 21 last week. She applied some lipgloss and mascara. Living on the street meant she couldn't get her hair relaxed, she just could not spare the money. So she used some oil (also stolen) to pull her curls up into a tight ponytail. Now, she looked like any of the high school girls in New York.
Afterwards, she trudged down to the freeway. She stuck her thumb out and waited.
Almost no time passed before a black Maserati pulled over. The window rolled down and Bonnie saw a stylish blonde girl was behind the wheel. She flashed a wicked smile.
"Going out of town?" the driver asked with a posh British accent.
"Yeah."
"Get in."
Hesitating, Bonnie checked that her switchblade was still tucked in the back of her jeans. Even if this girl was trouble, Bonnie could handle her.
Bonnie got in. "Thanks."
The girl started driving. Bonnie was tempted to relax. The car's leather interior and the smooth purr of the engine was soothing. It was the nicest surroundings, she'd had in months, but if there was one thing Bonnie had learned was that she could not ever let her guard down. If people were nice, it was because they wanted something.
Men they only wanted one thing. But the women on the street were equally dangerous. They wanted money and were willing whatever it took to get it. Some stole and Bonnie had heard the stories about the ones that supplied girls to pimps and human traffickers.
"You look pretty good for a street kid," the blonde said with a sideways look. "I'm Rebekah."
"I – I don't live on the streets."
Rebekah snorted. "Of course, you do," she rolled her eyes. "Why else would you hitchhike alone with no particular destination?"
That was a reasonable deduction. It put Bonnie at ease. For a second there, Bonnie had thought she would have to stab Rebekah.
"Hm," Rebekah pursed her lips and surveyed her. Bonnie's heart started pounding. Would Rebekah recognize her from the news? Every cop on the city was looking for her. "What's your name?"
"Sheila."
Which wasn't technically a lie. It was her middle name.
"Sure, Sheila," Rebekah snorted. Bonnie was starting to get antsy. "What are you running from?"
"Everything."
"Vague."
Rebekah turned back into the city. She started driving down a small, crowded road in Chinatown. It filled Bonnie with fear.
Bonnie grabbed the handle, ready to throw herself out the car. It filled Bonnie with fear. The locks slammed on.
Bonnie whipped her switchblade out. Rebekah was completely unimpressed, she scoffed and rolled her eyes. Bonnie stabbed at her. Rebekah caught her wrist and twisted. The knife fell to the floor of the car.
Rebekah slammed her face into the dashboard and Bonnie blacked out.
XXX
Bonnie woke with her hands tied to a chair. There was something covering her face. She struggled to breathe and get loose.
"I'm telling you, Kol. She's a stone cold killer," Rebekah said.
She sounded close.
"She doesn't look like much," a male voice with a British accent said.
"She tried to cut my throat!"
"So?" another male voice said chortling. "I want to do that least three times a week."
"That's because you're an unhinged sociopath, Kai," Rebekah drawled.
The hood was pulled from her face. Bonnie was blinded. Then it passed and she was able to take in her surroundings.
Standing in front of her was a group of five teenagers. Rebekah a tall brown haired boy with dark eyes. Next to him was a tall lean boy with black hair. There was a girl with curls and a sulky expression. Then there was a black man with a killer smile.
"Where the hell am I?" Bonnie hissed.
"Oooh, scary," the brunette girl mocked.
"Are you a killer?" the boy with the British accent asked. He crouched down in front of her. "She is pretty," he said over his shoulder.
"Yean and angry," Kai said bouncing on the balls of his feet. "What do you think sissy, killer or nah?"
The girl that looked like Kai came forward to look her in the eyes.
"No, just a scared little girl that had to kill to protect herself. Not King's material."
"I agree with you, Jo," the curly haired girl said tossing her hair. "She'll be dead in a week."
"Never thought I'd see the day we would agree, Katherine," Jo said.
Bonnie felt exposed. How did they know all of this? How could these girls just look into her eyes and know she was scared, not a true killer? Because she had to be one. Convincing herself she was a cold-blooded killer was the only way, she had managed to live with herself and stay alive on the streets.
If she wasn't a killer, what was she? Some fucked up kid?
No, Bonnie wouldn't accept that. So she schooled her expression into a cold mask.
"I'll kill all of you."
"Oh, I like her. Can we keep her?" Kai mocked.
The rest of them all laughed, but Kol was studying her. He looked her up and down before smirking.
A woman stepped into the room. It was first then, Bonnie realized she was in the back room of what looked like an Asian grocery store. The woman was Asian and was dressed in head to toe black. Leather pants and a leather jacket. There was a 6 foot sword hanging from her back.
"Forgive me students, they forget that viciousness only serves to make them look weak. I am Pearl. The headmistress of King's Dominion."
"Am I supposed to be impressed?"
What the hell kind of weird brothel was this woman running? Wait – headmistress was it some kind of freaky internet webcam porn? Because with a warrant out for her arrest there was no way any real school would take her.
"Tell me, Bonnie," Pearl said slowly. "Are you satisfied with your life?"
"Yes, I love living on the streets. Sleeping in the gutter and fighting off pimps. It's perfect."
Pearl smiled and it was a cruel smile, devoid of warmth and amusement.
"I run a school that trains creative problem-solvers."
"Assassins," Rebekah interjected with an air of smug superiority.
"Yes," Pearl said with an annoyed look at her student. "You're particular talent will be nurtured there. Honed until you're one of the deadliest people in the world. As for your problems with the law – well," she sighed. "You will be safe at King's Dominions. So what will it be?"
"You know this is insane, right? A school for professional assassins, I mean what even is that?"
She looked at the teenagers again and discovered they were all wearing uniforms. Navy blue uniforms with red lapels and matching ties. Their shirts were all a crisp white and the girls wore pleated skirts.
"Oh, it's real, Bonster," Kai said with a chipper smile. "Are you in or out?"
For some reason, Bonnie's eyes landed on Kol. He smirked at her and there was something of a challenge in his eyes. Bonnie weighed the possibilities. Keep living on the streets until the police caught up with her, which would happen sooner or later. Or she could join a school for assassins. One that could protect her from the police. Since she didn't like the idea of spending the rest of her life in prison, the choice felt simple.
"Yeah, I guess I'm in. not like I have anywhere else to go."
XXX
An hour later and Bonnie was in Pearl's office. She had given her a wooden box with two new uniforms.
"King's Dominion was founded by my grandfather. He came to America like many other Chinese to find a better life. Instead, what he found was a nightmare of oppression and endentured servitude."
"The American dream," Bonnie mumbled.
Peral gave her an assessing look. "So my grandfather taught himself to kill. He used that skill for a purpose and founded this school to help the oppressed fight back. Since then our focus has broadened, but I have never forgotten our purpose. So I select students such as you."
"But why me?"
"Why you?" Pearl raised an eyebrow as if it should be obvious. "You have rage and justifiably so, I daresay. Here I can help you hone it, weaponize it. I will give your rage a voice loud enough to be heard around the world."
Bonnie couldn't help herself, she smiled.
"Some people deserve to die," Pearl said. "But you already know this."
Bonnie thought about it. The men that ruined her life had deserved it. Those that dismissed her claims of self-defense in spite of all evidence to the contrary. They tried to put her on trial, did they deserve to die as much as the men she murdered? For systematically persecuting and dismissing victims like her? Maybe.
XXX
Bonnie took a hot shower in the morning, the first one in six months. Then she got dressed in a broomcloset. It was serving as her room until she got assigned a dorm. It might only be a janitorial closet that smelled of cleaning products and have an uncomfortable cot, but to her it was heaven.
Feeling uncertain, she checked her switchblade. Still tucked in the back of her skirt. Ever since that night, Bonnie had not goen anywhere without it.
She looked around the hallway only to find Rebekah leaning against the wall. She smirked and studied Bonnie.
"You should buy some makeup now that you're off the streets, you'll want a look that says killer."
Bonnie didn't think there was anything wrong with a bare face, some mascara and a nude lipgloss.
"I'm not big into makeup."
Rebekah frowned. "Don't be dense, little."
"Litlte girl?" Bonnie hissed.
Rebekah ignored her. "Paint on a mask because your rep has already spread. Half the class is terrified of you and the other half wants to test you."
"Uh-huh."
Bonnie was aware her reputation had spread. Pearl had warned her about that last night. Along with the rules at King's Dominion.
No disobedience.
No drugs.
No sex.
Do not reveal the school's location.
Do not murder the other students.
"Just some friendly advice," Rebekah curled her fingers in a friendly wave and left.
Bonnie waited until she was gone before following.
The school's hallways were crowded, filled with students in matching uniforms. Bonnie made her way to the library, all too aware of the stares that followed her. Some even called out killers.
"Killed your own father?" one girl shouted. "You're dead, bitch," she added a racial slur Bonnie had never been called before.
Bonnie ignored her and kept going. If she concentrated this was just like her old school, Mystic Falls. Teenagers were all the same. The only difference was these ones were professional murderers in training.
The librarian was a shrunken old lady. She gave Bonnie books about poison, bomb-making, warfare, human psychology and an arsenal of weapons. She put in her backpack. Even though, she was now armed to the teeth, she still preferred her switchblade.
Bonnie's first class of the day was poison. The teacher was a woman named Meredith Fell that had spent years of life posing as a specialist doctor. Apparently, it was how she gained access to most of her targets.
"Tell me what poison makes a statement?"
Kai, who was in the seat next to her, leaned in to whisper to her. His closeness freaked her out. "Get Damon's attention for a minute, would you, Bonster?"
"Who?"
"The guy in front of you," Kai said looking at her as if it was obvious.
Bonnie eyed him. She made sure to move away from him. His close proximity was starting to make her panic. She could already feel her heart pounding in her chest.
"Why?"
"Because I'd owe you one and in this place that's worth something."
"Fine."
Bonnie knocked the book in front of her down. Damon turned around when it hit the floor.
"Could you pick it up for me?" Bonnie asked tensing.
If she were a different kind of girl, she might be able to flirt with him to get her way, but she wasn't. and she hated it when men looked at her like an object. Some kind of prize to be won.
Damon's eyes trailed along her legs and smirked. Bonnie resisted the urge to kick him in the face.
"Sure thing."
Just as Damon was reaching for her book, Jo moved Damon's soda can within reach of Kai. Kai used a dropper and slipped a few drops into Damon's soda can. By the time, Damon put her book on her desk, it was done and his soda was back in place.
"Why do we use poison?"
The girl next to Damon raised her hand.
"Yes, Jo."
Meredith pointed to her.
"To send a message. No one is safe."
"Very good."
Damon's stomach gave a large lurch. The whole class started to laugh. The laughter grew even louder when it happened again.
Damon raised his hand. "I need to use the bathroom."
"No," Meredith said. Damon's stomach rumbled again. "Sit down."
Meredith approached Damon and Jo's workstation. She smelled his soda. "Pay attention class, Damon invited this attack with his arrogance. Always remember this Damon."
Damon's stomach gave in and a foul smell filled the room. Bonnie covered her nose. Kai was laughing maniacally.
"You get a mop," Meredith said putting the soda can in front of Kai.
XXX
After lunch, Bonnie went to her locker. Inside of it there was a doll with a knife in it. There was a note attached.
Father killer.
The word is patricide, Bonnie thought.
"Just a friendly greeting from the local Nazis," Kol said.
Bonnie looked over and saw he was leaning against the locker next to hers.
"Okay,"
"Don't let them bother you."
"Uh-huh, tell them the word is patricide," Bonnie eyed him skeptically. "Are you one of them?"
He looked genuinely offended. "I'm from a different crime syndicate, love. We're the Originals."
Now Bonnie was genuinely confused.
She started to walk away. A heavy hand landed on her shoulder.
"Baby girl –"
Bonnie didn't let him finish his sentence. In a split second, her switchblade was out. She whirled around and shoved him against the lockers. She pressed the blade against his jugular. It was first then, she saw it was the black boy that had been present yesterday when she was recruited.
"Don't ever touch me," Bonnie hissed.
She heard a chuckle. She glanced over and saw it was Kol. He gave her a little wave with his fingers.
"Relax, baby girl –"
Bonnie pressed the knife into his flesh. "Don't call me 'baby girl'. What do you want?"
"I was going to recruit you to join my crew. You would be safer with your own people, but since you have a knife at my throat, that's gone."
He pushed her back and walked away. He turned around and shouted: "You're dead, psycho."
Kol sauntered over to her. "Shouldn't have done that. Joining a gang is mandatory for survival at King's Dominion."
"I don't do groups."
"Suit yourself. Watch your back, hot head."
Kol walked away.
Bonnie went to her next class, hand-to-hand combat. The traditional Gui, she was wearing had been difficult to tie, but she finally worked it out.
The teacher was a stern woman that talked a lot about finding an opponent's weakness. Then she told them to pick a partner and find their weakness.
Rebekah grabbed her as a partner.
"How's your day going?"
"Someone got poisoned in Poison class."
Rebekah had her in a headlock. Her heart was pounding and she was fighting every instinct she had to kill Rebekah. Touch did that, it triggered bad memories and made her lash out on pure instinct.
"Welcome to King's," Rebekah tossed her aside. "Heard you crossed Marcel today."
"He shouldn't have touched me."
When Bonnie hit the floor, she saw Damon and Kai were wrestling. It looked like Kai was about to break Damon's arm.
"Why? You seem to make a good rag doll," Rebekah said smirking.
"What's up with that?" Bonnie nodded toward the two boys.
"Oh, them," Rebekah rolled her eyes. "They're always at each other's throats."
Class ended and Bonnie made her way to the cafeteria. All around her were tables filled with hostile students. She saw a few familiar faces.
Marcel ran his finger along her throat. His eyes were hard and merciless. But if he came for her, he would be in for a nasty surprise.
She scanned the cafeteria for an empty table. She spotted one near Marcel's group and sat down facing him. She would be stupid to give him the chance to sneak up on her.
It was only lunch time and she had already seen that at King's Dominion, the knife in your back was real.
The lunch here was better than anything she had eaten in weeks. She forced herself not to scarf down the dumplings. Instead, she ate them slowly, savouring each bite.
A short, plump and very pretty girl flopped down across from her. She had long curly black hair and big blue eyes.
"You must be the new girl. I'm April Young," she said between mouthfuls of wanton soup.
Bonnie didn't say anything.
April seemed a little uncertain, but still carried on. "So word is the Nightwalkers are out for your blood."
"Who and why?"
"Wow, you really are new," April said. "Marcel and his group. Mostly black kids with OG parents from the ghetto."
"Oh, yeah, that."
"Heard you blew it big time when he tried to recruit you."
"I don't do gangs."
"I would if I could. Here, let me tell you how this place works."
"Sure," Bonnie mumbled.
Truth was, she wasn't overly interested in how King's Dominion worked. She was only here to stay out of prison and to get a ticket to some kind of future. Which was more than she'd had on the streets.
"Marcel's guys, the Nightwalkers are fourth on the totem pole so you could have bigger problems."
Bonnie looked at the table and noticed for the first time, they were almost all black. Except for a petite brunette that sat next to Marcel.
She looked toward the table with Kol and Rebekah. It too was crowded, all white people. They all gave off a vibe of smug superiority that made Bonnie want to start shit with them too.
"That's the Originals as in the Original crime syndicate. Number one at school and the world. Run by siblings. See the guy with the curly haired brunette hanging around his neck?"
Bonnie nodded.
"That's Elijah Mikaelson. He's a senior. When he leaves, he's going to help his brother take over for his father. There's a war between Klaus and Kol, which brother takes Elijah's place at King's. Smart money's on Kol, he's a total psycho. And if I were you, I'd stay out of their way."
"Okay, what about Kai?"
Kai was at a table with his sister and a group of kids, she didn't recognize.
"The Coven. His twin sister Jo is his second in command. They're the kids of some psycho cult leader. Mass suicide. The twins are the only survivors. Rumor has it the rest of Kai's siblings survived too, but Kai went on some kind of rampage killing all of them. I've heard he is a diagnosed sociopath."
Just then Kai looked over. He smiled and winked. Looking at him now, Bonnie believed the rumors.
"Creepy, who else?"
In spite of her better judgement, Bonnie was getting more interested in hearing the stories of her classmates. Some of this shit was so fucked up, it might even trump hers.
"The Salvatore brothers, Stefan and Damon," April said glancing at them subtly out of the corner of her eye. "Pretty low on the totem pole, but not as low as Hayley and the Dixie Mob."
"Who and is that what I think it is?"
"Our local radical nazis."
"Yeah, Kol mentioned them. They've left me a gift."
"Oh that's bad," April said her eyes large and worried. "Anyway, there's the Yakuza kids. Pearl's daughter Anna is their leader. Don't ask me why a Chinese girl is leading the Japanese mob because I don't know. That's basically everyone of note."
"Got it, thanks."
"No problem. You're like me, a rat."
"Excuse me?" Bonnie hised sitting up straighter. She was ready to lunge at April, if she tried anything.
"Calm down," April rolled her eyes. "It means you're like me. You have no affiliation and you're not a Legacy, you're the first in your family to attend King's Dominion."
"Great."
Typical Bonnie Bennett luck.
"You should hang with us on the school roof. It'll keep you safe. As safe as any rat gets at King's anyway."
"No, thanks. I'm not a group person."
"It was nice to meet you. Too bad you won't survive until graduation."
Bonnie waved when April left.
XXX
Bonnie found AP Black Arts the most fascinating so far. Maybe it was because Pearl was the teacher or maybe it was the topic, but Bonnie was riveted.
"Who do you choose as your victim? The corrupt politician…"
Hayley, one of the nazies slipped a piece of paper onto her desk. It was a folded note. Pearl didn't stop talking, but she did hit Hayley in the face with the pointing stick she used for the blackboard.
Blood spurted from Hayley's face. Bonnie gasped in surprise and disgust. The rest of the class jumped, but didn't react much. Kol laughed and so did a few others.
Hayley mouthed 'open it' at her.
Was this normal at King's Dominion? With shaky fingers, Bonnie opened the note.
You're gonna die, father killer. Black bitch!
The note was covered in Swastikas. It was also a fairly terrible threat as far as threats went.
Bonnie closed it and instead tried to focus on Pearl's lecture.
"Who you choose as your victim will tell me everything I need to know about, who you are. Pick a lab partner. Comb the city and find a target."
Rebekah raised her hand. "Any victim?"
"No," Pearl's lips curled into an indulgent smile. "A random victim will tell me nothing. Find someone you believe deserves to die. Hide the body, dispose of the evidence. Most importantly, bring me proof. It's worth half your grade this semester. Fail and you will die in their place."
The bell rang and the class dispersed. Bonnie looked around for a partner. Her first instinct was to partner with Rebekah. She didn't seem interested in killing Bonnie or anything else creepy.
Unfortunately, Kol appeared next to her desk. His hair was artfully disheveled and he wore a wicked smile. One that in the past might have made her blush. Now, it filled her with dread.
"Partner with me, love?"
His accent, Bonnie thought and his voice, it was hypnotic. But she was not about to be charmed, especially not by a trained killer.
"Only if you don't call me love. Like ever again."
Kol rolled his eyes. "As if I cannot think of more nicknames for you. Anyway, wear black and meet me out back in an hour."
"Alright."
Bonnie didn't get far after AP Dark Arts. As she approached the dormitories a tall, skinny, black girl blocked the door. She tossed her curls, crossed her arms and smirked sinisterly.
"What?" Bonnie said making sure to keep the knife out of sight.
"You threatened Marcel."
"So you're a Nightwalker. Your boy, Marcel? He shouldn't have snuck up on me."
"Cute, I'm Katie. Just thought you should know the name of your killer."
Adrenaline coursed through her body. Her heart was pounding so loud she could hear it. Her palms were sweaty and her body shook.
Katie lunged at her. Bonnie whipped out the knife. She slashed aiming for Katie's throat, but Katie was ready for her. She blocked the move. She pulled out a pair of nunchucks and hit Bonnie's hand.
Bonnie screamed and dropped her switchblade. Katie hit her in the throat with her nunchucks. She gasped for air. Katie knocked her to the ground. She grabbed a fistful of Bonnie's hair and slammed her head against the concrete cement. Stars danced behind Bonnie's eyelids and she started to pass out.
Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think of this chapter. I know there isn't a lot of Kennett interaction, but next chapter is going to be Kennett heavy. What do you think of the premise? Is it too dark? Personally, I love me some angst. I'm fireismyelement97 on tumblr if you want to leave me a drabble request.
Izzy