The scent of smoke in the air is overwhelming. It's not the warm aura of wood smoke, a smell that reminds someone of roasting marshmallows and laughing as they tell scary stories around a campfire. It's not the pleasing perfume of a room filled with burning candles, or the crisp fragrance of matches being lit and birthday candles being blown out.
No.
Bonnie has loved those smells since she was a little girl. She was always fascinated by fire, and yet terrified of it at the same time. When she became a witch, her struggle with being comfortable around fire vanished. She now loved the color of flames, whether a vibrant orange or a light blue. She loved the way it constantly changed its shape, always adapting so that it could destroy anything in its path. It was only then that she realized how much she wanted to be like fire. She wanted to be beautiful as she demolished whatever she pleased.
Bonnie got her wish. She knew how much she needed her magic. Without it, she felt like half of soul was missing. Like Caroline with vampirism, Bonnie's magic made her the powerful, fearless woman she is today. And today, she needed all the power and bravery she could get.
When she woke up beside Matt on the cold cement of Damon's cellar, glancing at the duct tape wrapped tightly around the slice in her wrist, she knew exactly what she had to do. Kai was on the loose, and judging by the fact that he was wreaking havoc in a tuxedo, she knew where his next reunion would take place.
Matt helped her off the floor, his eyebrows pulling together as he stared at her arms. He wasn't perplexed by the duct tape, but by the trembling of her muscles.
"Bonnie, you ok? You're shaking like a leaf," he asked, genuine concern written clearly on his face.
Bonnie released a breath through her nose and glanced down at herself. Yes, she was shaking, but not because she was scared.
Because she was angry.
The last time she'd felt magic bubbling in her veins, swirling in the pit of her stomach, begging to be unleashed upon someone, was during prom night when Elena, her so-called best friend, tried to kill her. Bonnie had known Elena's humanity was off. But she didn't care because she could feel the rage radiating off of her in waves. It wasn't like some people describe it, like seeing the world in a haze of red.
No.
That night, Bonnie felt true rage, true hatred. The world around her blurred and slowed down. She saw nothing but the one who had made her furious. Her eyes had narrowed as she glared at Elena, and all she could hear was the ringing in her ears.
The anger inside of her hadn't feel like a storm.
No.
The anger inside of her had felt like a bomb ripping through her stomach and expanding rapidly upwards. The explosion had to go somewhere. The bomb could not be contained inside of her. When her anger took over, she let the magic tear through her. The ringing in her ears blocked out the noise escaping the building, allowing Bonnie to only hear one other thing…
Elena's screams.
And in that moment during that night, the sound of Elena screaming only made Bonnie smirk with glee and allow the explosion of magic to grow stronger.
Bonnie wasn't necessarily glad that she'd had to hurt Elena. But she was proud that she had stood up for herself.
Bonnie loved explosions. Bonnie loved campfires and roasting marshmallows. She loved lighting matches and blowing out candles on top of a cake.
But she hated the smell of burning plastic.
It was like inhaling bitter chemicals that made her nostrils burn. And that was all she could smell as she unleashed her rage upon Kai inside of a barn that was littered with wedding decorations.
She didn't pay attention to the screams of everyone around her. The ringing in her ears only grew muffled when Kai spoke a snarky line to her in the middle of their battle.
She would raise her palms and throw chairs at him. Kai would flick his wrist and send the chairs crashing into what remained of the windows. Bonnie would walk closer to him and chant, which only made Kai smile and step towards her. He was always in a state of awe when he watched Bonnie do magic. Even when he had his own, he'd never grow used to how stunning Bonnie was when she let darkness consume her. Her cheeks glowed and her lips curved into a snarl when she shouted out spells.
He countered her spells, of course, but he watched her with a curious smile as she fought to think of another way to put him down.
Bonnie began chanting the words to a powerful spell which was meant to throw huge objects at Kai. He smiled and waited anxiously for her wrath, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he remarked how cute she was when she was trying to kill him.
But Bonnie stopped midsentence and suddenly groaned, falling onto her hands and knees, her head hanging in front of her.
Kai's smile wavered. He watched blood drip from her nose.
His heart pounded so hard in his chest that he didn't even realize how loudly he'd began shouting her name.
He was crouched in front of her the next instant, hesitantly laying his hands on her shoulders. He repeated her name and tried to hold her up, his eyes searching for any other injuries.
Bonnie let out a shaky breath and groaned again.
Kai's brow wrinkled and his eyes slipped closed as he began chanting a powerful healing spell. The spell was just beginning to work when Kai heard a familiar slicing sound and felt something cold against his skin.
He opened his eyes in confusion and felt warm liquid suddenly dripping down his chest. A drop of bright red blood appeared on the front of his white button up. The scarlet color quickly spread and began pouring all the way down to his stomach. The warm feeling in Kai's chest then morphed into an intense piercing sensation.
By the time Kai's eyes drifted to Bonnie's face, seeing her victorious glare, the pain had grown tenfold. He uttered her name in a broken voice and then fell onto his back, laid out in the middle of the aisle. He gasped and stared at the high crossbeams in the barn.
"You stabbed me," he rasped, coughing as he felt blood pooling in his mouth.
"You stabbed me first," Bonnie retorted, moving to stand beside him in the aisle.
Kai didn't know how he found the will to laugh, but the sound managed to escape from his throat.
"Actually, you stabbed me first," he said. "Remember that pickaxe in 1994? The day you sent Damon back and left us there, stranded together? So I mean if we're being fair, you started it."
"Fine," Bonnie huffed. "I started it, then. But I'm the one who is finishing it." She moved to kneel beside him.
"It's funny, actually," Kai grinned, feeling his blood begin to seep from the corner of his mouth. "You've stabbed me in the heart twice now. First metaphorically, when you left me in 1994, and now literally, when I come back to get revenge on my family. For whatever it's worth, I admire your persistence."
Bonnie scoffed.
"Maybe you'll admire me less when I rip out this knife," she wrapped her fingers around the handle and barely shifted it, pulling a loud groan from Kai, "and then stab you in the gut with it. Just so we're actually even, right?"
"We're already even, Bon," Kai smiled. Judging by the way Bonnie cringed in return, he assumed his usually white teeth were now stained with his own blood.
"What do you mean 'we're even'?" Bonnie asked, narrowing her eyes.
"For the day you tried to kill yourself in 1994," he answered like it was obvious.
Bonnie blinked in confusion. Kai watched her expression closely and let out a laugh that made him wince and then cough. After a moment, he regained hat little composure he had left and said, "Damon never did tell you, then."
"Tell me what?" she growled, gripping the knife harder.
"Come on, Bonnie," he said. "I know how clever you are. How do you think Damon got back into that prison world? He certainly didn't do it by himself."
Bonnie shook her head.
"What are you saying?"
"I did the spell," Kai stated. "Willingly, too. Damon asked nicely, said it was your birthday, and so I caved in. I felt guilty. You know how much power it took to send Damon, Elena, Jeremy, and myself back to 1994? Ugh. Let's just say I was sweating in lots of gross places."
"Ew," Bonnie wrinkled her nose in disgust. "So what, you felt guilty and did a hard spell so they could give me a message. Why should I care?"
"Because during the spell, my little sis showed up and stuck a fire poker through my entrails," he said. "You think nosebleeds are bad when you're doing a huge spell? Trust me, being speared with fire pokers and gouged with forks are much more painful. And messy."
"Why did Liv attack you?" she asked, eyebrows pulled together in confusion.
"Because I had just merged with Luke and she wanted revenge on me," Kai explained breathlessly. "She didn't care if I was saving your life, she just wanted to see me dead."
"My Grams is the one who saved my life," Bonnie snapped, leaning closer towards Kai's face.
He chuckled and it made her want to stab him all over again.
"Your Grams may have given you the incentive to live, but she isn't the one who actually saved you. Jerome was trying to – "
"Jeremy," she corrected sternly.
"He," Kai continued in annoyance, "was trying to open the garage door. I was bleeding to death, but I remembered what you were about to do. So I made myself keep going and gave him a little magic boost to push the garage door button. Therefore, I saved your life."
Bonnie blinked, her lips parted as she took in the information. After a moment of Kai breathing heavily and Bonnie considering his words, she shoved his shoulder.
"Oh really, you saved my life? And how am I supposed to believe you?" Bonnie snapped. "You just killed Alaric's pregnant wife!"
"She's not dead yet," Kai said.
"It doesn't matter!" Bonnie yelled, moving to crouch above him, much like the last time she'd stabbed him. "You killed her babies! Her children! And you think I'm supposed to feel guilty for killing you?"
"No," Kai said, wincing as his breathing grew heavier. "I don't want you to feel guilty for anything. I just wanted you to have the full story."
Bonnie scoffed.
"Yeah, sure."
Kai watched her for a moment, his eyes beginning to water as a small smile grew on his face.
"You look like her, ya' know," he said.
"Like who?"
"Sheila Bennett," he said, his smile still intact. "I met her a couple times when I was a little kid. Every time she saw me, she'd just stare into my eyes, like she was looking directly into my soul. It creeped me out the first two times, but then I saw the look on her face. Like she pitied me and understood me at the same time. No one else besides her has ever looked at me that way, except for you once or twice."
Bonnie wasn't sure what to feel, but the ringing in her ears was quickly fading.
"She only talked to me, like really talked to me, just this one time," Kai continued, coughing a few times. "She told me not to fear what I was. To embrace my powers. To never let anyone tell me I was a freak of nature." He paused to laugh. "She actually told me that nature makes no mistakes. That I was born with my powers for a reason, and to never let anyone make me believe I shouldn't have them."
Bonnie sucked in her bottom lip and bit it. He couldn't possibly be making up this story. Bonnie knew her Grams well enough to realize that every word Kai was saying must've been true.
"Her advice worked, for a little while at least," Kai said, his smile becoming pained. "I guess a person can only take so much before they break, huh Bonnie?"
It wasn't until then that Bonnie felt water dripping down her cheeks and realized she was crying. She sniffled and wiped at the tears with the back of her hand.
What ifs were running through her mind and she suddenly felt like she would be sick.
What if Kai was telling the truth about feeling guilty? What if she'd just killed the only other person on the planet who knew what it felt like to be stranded in another world all alone? What if she was just as evil as he was for killing him?
Kai's soft chuckle made her turn to stare at his bloodshot eyes. He was crying, too.
"What's all this?" he teased, smiling one of his widest smiles. "Bonnie Bennett crying over me?"
Bonnie swallowed. They stared each other down, vision slightly blurry around the edges from their tears, and then Kai took one more wheezing breath. In a raspy voice, Kai Parker spoke his last words:
"I'm embarrassed for you."
Thanks for reading, feel free to leave a review with your thoughts. :)