AN: Here it is, guys. Chapter 2 of 3 Seconds Too Late. As the story progresses, it will make more sense. I'm feeling like a bit of a slow burn with this one.

And, on a completely unrelated note, who else is deliriously happy to see author Jazzywazzy08 stories back on the site? This one's for you, hun!

Disclaimer: The characters within this story are the property of LJ Smith & The CW.

When Bonnie Bennett took her last breath, two others returning to earth from their domiciles in hell, returning to life after varying lengths of time spent dead, took their first new breaths.

The woman opened her eyes. She was in a dark, cold and decrepit room. A crypt from the smell of it. She was naked, of all things. Not that being naked in public was a serious issue for her. She had done much worse with an audience of actual living bodies.

The issue was the hybrid circling the crypt. Not a hybrid like the man who embodied her greatest fears, but something else, perhaps even worse. A witch and a vampire mix. Heretics, they were called. The woman stood with what little strength she had, weakly staggering to Sleeping Beauty's coffin as she heard the Heretic, Valerie, chanting. The woman pushed open the lid, staring at the sleeping body of Elena Gilbert.

The woman watched her with growing impatience. She had been promised a last chance to live. IF and only if, Princess Elena willingly bit the dust. After all, there was only room for one Petrova to walk the earth.

"Come on, come on," she muttered. She poked the girl's face and nothing happened. The crypt began to tremble as the Heretic's magic battled against Bonnie's. "Come on, little doppelganger. You haven't done a goddamn thing to help Bonnie, your so-called best friend since the first time you jumped on a Salvatore's dick. How many times has she died for you? How much has she lost for your well-being?" she whispered harshly. "Damon murdered her tonight. For you. Not for Stefan, not for the town, but because he was too impatient to wait sixty years. Is that what you want to come home to? Can you really live with yourself knowing that the love of your life viciously murdered your best friend? Be a good little girl and do the right thing for once in your life."

Elena Gilbert's chest lifted once as though she was taking a deep breath, fell, and didn't rise again. The woman blinked and sucked in a breath as she felt her strength and powers returning. "Thanks, bitch. Owe you one." She kissed the now decomposing body on the lips and transformed into her animal form just as Valerie reduced the crypt door to dust and rubble. The Heretic was so focused on the clearly dead body of Elena Gilbert, she missed the adorable white kitten darting out between her legs.

"Well, shit," Valerie muttered. "Lily will not like this one bit."

Across town, the naked man rose from ashes like a phoenix after its burning. Although, no one could ever mistake him for a being so pure.

He staggered to his feet, starving, angry, and vengeful. Only it would seem that it was more than his own murder he needed to avenge. His...resurrector was gracious enough to show him everything about his 90s dream girl. The images flashed before his eyes on a loop, forcing him to see all that she had endured. The love, the loss, the devastation, some at his own hands, others caused by those who were falsely given the title of friends.

The town was exactly what they showed him. Deserted. Abandoned. Dead. His meal, however, came in the form of unfinished business. A nuisance he once relegated as a harmless loose end. Now, however, the drunken, grieving man would serve a purpose.

In normal circumstances, he would banter. Taunt him as he had so easily in the past. Relish in his impotent anger towards the man who had ripped away everything that mattered most with three stabs of his knife. But there was no time for that. His girl was in trouble.

Alaric Saltzman was too drunk to properly stand, let alone defend himself against the man he hated the most. As he drained the last of Alaric's blood, he couldn't help but suspect that he hadn't cared to live any longer without his wife and unborn children anyway. The smile on Alaric's face as he died and the whispered, "Jo," on his lips, was anticlimactic.

The man shrugged and proceeded to steal Alaric's pants. It's not like he would need them now anyway.

His nudity concealed, the man closed his eyes and let his magic burst through, silently, diligently seeking the witch's. There were false trails, some long cold, some still warm as if she had only performed her spells this morning. Bonnie Bennett's magic was sprinkled all throughout the town of Mystic Falls. The doppelganger may have been the catalyst in leading supernatural threats to the town, but any creature with a rudimentary sense of power would come and stay just for a taste of that magic.

He found her easily. She was in a house that he knew for a fact didn't exist in his Prison World.

The Originals mansion. There was magic here, too. Not Bennett magic. It was darker, a touch more vicious. Had to be from the bedroom she so happily claimed, he thought more than a little bitterly.

He could hear Damon. He was drinking as usual. It did surprise him that he hadn't rushed off to wait beside his beloved Elena's coffin once he had done the deed.

He used his magic to unlock the door, but didn't bother cloaking himself. Damon deserved to see this coming.

They were in the sitting room. The red haze that had been steadily pulsing since his resurrection blazed to blinding proportions.

Damon sat seemingly lifeless in his chair. His shirt was torn open. There was dried blood on his face and chest. Dried blood from long healed scratches made by a woman fighting for her life. He moved only to turn up a bottle of bourbon to his lips.

On the couch to Damon's right, Bonnie lay dead. Her hair that had grown several inches since the night of what he fondly referred to as the Red Wedding, was tangled. Her makeup was smudged and streaked from crying. The upper half of her dress was torn in a way that left her breasts a breath away from being bare. His stomach rolled unpleasantly and he was beginning to second guess whether Damon had done more than just murder her.

Damon, in his drunken state, belatedly sensed the presence of another supernatural. His eyes flickered to where he stood, and in two blinks, Damon lost his shit.

"You twisted piece of shit!" he growled, lunging without considering the consequences.

He smirked without humor, allowing Damon to tackle him out of the room so that they wouldn't hurt Bonnie. They crashed into a table, shattering it to pieces, but neither man cared. He caught Damon's arm just as he brought his hand down to punch through his chest cavity.

He snapped it in half. "My, my, you've been busy in my absence, Damon." He let his anger spill into his magic, smiling maniacally as Damon screamed from his bones breaking over and over again. "I just LOVE what you've done to the town. Got some new digs, I see," he carried on casually setting Damon's blood to boiling. "Oh, and it looks like you've finally decided on killing maybe the only person capable, and might I add WILLING, to save your sorry ass. Busy, busy, busy!"

"She's dead because of you, asshole!" he grunted, trying to fight off the pain.

He chuckled darkly. "I suppose it is convenient to blame all of the woes of Damon Salvatore on little old me. I could even empathize with you doing whatever necessary to save that poor excuse for a vampire you call brother. But this was never about Stefan. No, no, no, you went after Bonnie because you just couldn't fathom sixty years passing without fucking a doppelganger." Kai tsked, casually prowling around the prone, writhing from of Damon Salvatore. "This has been a longtime coming, Damon. And after tonight, you won't ever touch my witch again."

Damon could only watch wide-eyed and gasp as a slow fire rose in a perfect circle around his body. Kai held his hand above Damon slowly forming it into a fist and Damon knew enough about witchcraft that once he did, the flames would consume him.

Stop, Malachai!

Kai whipped his head around furious over the interruption. "And why should I? He more than deserves this," Kai snarled.

The silent Heretic glided from the shadows. Beau ignored both Damon and Kai in favor of Bonnie.

Who is to say what this wretch deserves? You, who has hurt and betrayed the same witch you claim? Left her broken to the point where she felt she had no other recourse than to stab you, abandon you, and serve you as a meal for starving Heretics.

Kai's eyes narrowed. He just barely refrained from clenching his fist. "Bonster and I may have our issues, but I would never have actually killed her!"

The Salvatore was only acting on his mother's wishes.

"I'm sure Lily didn't tell him to do that!" he gestured towards Bonnie half naked body.

No. Brutalizing her was not one of Lily's directives.

Something clicked in Kai's mind. "You watched him attack her and did nothing to stop it?"

My instructions were precise, Malachai. Ensure that Bonnie Bennett's heart stops beating should her son fail. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Kai clenched his jaw. "Did he-?" he couldn't bring himself to get the words out. He had watched her death, courtesy of her family, but he had to be sure. The scent of Damon's arousal mixing with the potent flavor of Bonnie's terror was stifling. "Did he...?"

Beau turned to Kai for the first time since entering the mansion. His eyes softened into something akin to sympathy.

No.

Beau shrugged off his jacket and draped it over her exposed upper half.

He moved to lift her in his arms and Kai almost dropped the fire spell completely. "What do you think you're doing?"

Damon's part may be over, however, Miss Bennett's is only beginning.

Kai turned his attention back to Damon and set to re-breaking his bones all over again. "Well, buddy, looks like this is goodbye for now. Bonnie and me need to hit the road."

"Bastard," Damon groaned. "Kill you for this."

"You got lucky last time, Damon. You won't catch me slipping again." With that, Kai snapped his fingers and only gained a small satisfaction from watching his neck break. Kai slowly walked over to Bonnie. His satisfaction over seeing Damon in pain fading the longer he looked at her. "What about her things? She won't want to go anywhere without Cuddles."

Lily foresaw this. She had Caroline, compelled by Nora, to gather all her belongings while they were in the attic. There is nothing left for her here.

Kai watched Beau speed from the room and sighed to himself. He shot a parting hateful glance to Damon and carefully took Bonnie in his arms. He held her securely against his chest. Kai met Beau at the entrance. They ran together and for a moment, Kai was able to lose himself in the adrenaline of vampire speed. Wind whipped through his hair and whispered teasingly over his bare skin. That was as close to flying as he could get. Not that Kai had had much time to test his limitations as a Heretic before being decapitated.

The closer they neared the Salvatore Boarding House, the stronger the desire to take Bonnie and run in the opposite direction, despite the severe warnings her relatives gave him.

Please do not allow this night to become any more difficult for yourself and Miss Bennett, Malachai.

"Gotta say, Beau, really wish you'd stay the hell out of my head."

Perhaps you should consider broadcasting your thoughts on a more quiet frequency, if it bothers you.

Kai rolled his eyes and shifted Bonnie higher. From this angle, with her head tucked beneath his chin, he could pretend that she had just fallen asleep in his arms.

Too soon, Kai could see the boarding house. This house had tormented him in death, more so than the replica crime scene of his childhood home.

Kai's ears twitched, his keen senses coming in to play so that he could better assess the situation he was about to enter.

Lily was there, impatiently waiting, if the sound of her heel tapping against the floor was an indication. He could hear Stefan who by the sounds of his screams and cries was still being tortured. The Lesbian Heretics were there, orchestrating the torture. Kai could admit to himself that Nora and Mary Louise would have been something he would have loved to watch in their Prison World, if they hadn't been, well, draining his blood at the time. Then of course, there was Lily's very first Heretic, Valerie. She was suspiciously missing.

Let us not keep them waiting.

Beau opened the door waiting for Kai to step through. He did so, reluctantly, vowing that he would do whatever was necessary to protect Bonnie against Lily and her merry band of misfits.

They were in the parlor and the first sight Kai's eyes found once Beau moved aside was the bare ass of Stefan Salvatore, hanging by his wrists over a puddle of blood. When this was over, Kai would have to seriously consider bleaching his eyes.

"Beau, welcome home!" Lily sighed happily, sipping her wine. Alcohol was one of Lily's triggers, but at this point, human life meant little to nothing to her. "I take it everything went according to-" Lily froze in place. She had long smelled the dried remnants of Bennett blood. Of course Damon obeyed her. He was too much a fool for Elena Gilbert not to. But how could she ever fathom- "Malachai," she whispered. "You have returned to us."

Kai swallowed his anger towards his maker. She was the reason Bonnie died tonight. "No one's more surprised than I am, but who am I to question the Powers That Be?" he maneuvered around a now unconscious Stefan, acutely aware of the four sets of eyes boring into him. He lowered Bonnie onto the couch, securing Beau's jacket around her. Kai tried to keep his feelings concealed, but Lily could always read her 'children'.

"Still enraptured by Miss Bennett, I see," she said calmly.

"Of course he is," Valerie huffed, suddenly appearing in the room. She tossed her purse on the table, flicking her hair from her eyes. "It matters not that she fed him to us, dear Malachai will always crave what she will never give."

Kai turned to Valerie with a wry smirk. "Val! How good to see you again. Still the bitter bitch you were in 1903?"

Valerie's smile was acerbic. "Still letting the witch carry your balls in her purse?" she chirped pleasantly.

"Listen to the language you've picked up since my untimely demise. How are you still single again?"

"Children, children!" Lily intervened before Valerie could retort. "There will be time enough for your amusing, yet petty squabbles. Valerie, dear, did you fetch Miss Gilbert as I asked?"

Valerie's expression morphed to one of regret. "I did break the witch's spell like you asked, it was surprisingly taxing, actually."

"That's my girl," Kai said, smiling down at Bonnie's still form.

Valerie pointedly ignored him. "But when I found the doppelganger's coffin, it was already open and..."

"And what?" Lily asked, impatiently.

"She was dead. Her body was decomposing. Neither the witch's spell nor my counter should have caused this."

Lily turned to Kai. "Do you know something about this, Malachai? My tricky, tricky son?" she glided closer to him, her face wiped clean of emotions. It was YOUR spell, after all."

Kai began to think. That wasn't a part of his spell at all. Once Bonnie's heart stopped, Sleeping Beauty should have opened her eyes.

...unless this was one of the effects of his resurrection. But that didn't make sense. The Bennett witches, even at their worst, were all about balance. If Bonnie died, he was allowed return to the living realm. If Elena Gilbert died...someone else must have come back as well.

Valerie hissed at him, suddenly clutching his throat. "What did you do?"

"Valerie!" Lily gasped, appalled. As if sudden psychotic behavior was a recessive trait from those in her bloodline. "Malachai is your brother, release him at once!"

"He has done something, Lily," she said, refusing to let go. "I can no longer HEAR him."

Lily's suspicious blue eyes narrowed on Kai who maintained his self-control when really he wanted to twist off Valerie's head, shove it up Lily's ass, take his witch, and get the fuck away from Mystic Falls as fast as he could.

"Valerie's right," Nora stepped forward. "I cannot hear his thoughts either."

"Nor I," her lover, Mary Louise echoed.

"And what of you, Beau? Are Malachai's thoughts silent to you as well?"

Kai and Beau's eyes met across the room. Beau could hear his thoughts fine a few minutes ago. Oh, he bet the other Heretics would just love that! Beau turned to Lily and nodded affirming.

"Explain yourself," Lily demanded.

"I haven't done a thing to block my thoughts. It must be a side effect" - perk - "of my resurrection. As for Elena's death, nothing in my spell should have killed her." And for good measure, Kai burned Valerie's hand to the point of blistering. She jerked back with a hiss, glaring at him as she retreated to go sulk in her room.

Lily pursed her lips, unsatisfied, but then her gaze fell on her youngest son. "Release Stefan and return him to his brother," she advised the couple. "Then come straight back. We need to find some food for the Bennett witch."

"And what if the others attempt to come for her?"

"They will. It is only a matter of when. And should Damon try tonight, kindly inform him that we will happily return her to him in pieces."

The two Heretics unchained Stefan and ran from the boarding house.

Kai sped towards an unimpressed Lily. "Let's not do this, Lils," he said recklessly, hoping to provoke her. "You didn't order Damon to murder his best witch friend just so you can kill her again."

"Are you so sure?" she raised a single brow. "That witch has been a thorn in my side long enough. She purposely kept me from my family, she undermined my attempts at freeing them, SHE KILLED MY SON!" Lily screamed, her tears spilling down her cheeks. She turned to the mantle where the urn sit. Her fingers lightly tracing the intricately carved letters of Malcolm's name. The other Heretics had tried for days to reanimate him, until Lily, tired of the heartbreak ordered his remains burned. "She killed my Malcolm. And she deserves nothing more than to suffer until I decide otherwise."

"She may have had a hand in killing Malcolm, but it was Damon who did the deed. Damon. Not Bonnie."

"An accomplice is as guilty as the murderer, Malachai."

"And now she is just as much of your blood as he was. Just as I am." Lily turned away from Malcolm's urn, and Kai knew he had her. "You lost Malcolm, true enough, but in his death you gained two more children. Another son and a new daughter."

"A new daughter?" she echoed, walking past Kai towards Bonnie, unaware that his fingers itched to put as much physical distance between the two as possible. Lily kneeled beside the couch, gently petting Bonnie's hair. "A new little girl," she cooed.

"But you have to give her the chance to redeem herself for the sins of her former life."

"Yes, yes, you are right, of course." She stood in a single fluid motion, drying her tears. "Take her upstairs, Malachai. While I would like for the family to surround her as she wakes, it will be enough of a shock to her when she remembers how she came to be a part of my bloodline."

Kai, not willing to wait and see if Lily would have another meltdown, quickly but carefully, gathered Bonnie in his arms again and rushed towards the stairs.

"Oh, and Malachai?" he stiffened, looking back at Lily warily. "I advise you to see to it that Miss Bennett completes her transition. Because if I have to climb those stairs and force the blood down her throat myself, in the immortal words of my eldest son, I will have no other recourse than to dot, dot, dot."

Kai nodded stiffly and put her in what used to be his old room in the Prison World's boarding house. Beau entered silently, bringing three bags filled with Bonnie's belongings, including her bear Cuddles, and her grimoire.

"She's going to hate this," Kai muttered. "When I was stalking them in the Prison World, Bonnie and Damon would get plastered on bourbon and confess their biggest secrets by the firelight. You know what was Bonnie's greatest fear? It wasn't not being strong enough to save everyone. It wasn't being a failure in a long line of notoriously powerful witches. Hell, it wasn't even dying because one of her gang had gotten themselves too deep to save themselves. It was becoming a vampire. Becoming the one thing that had been the source of so much grief in her life starting from when she was just a child." Kai laughed without humor. "It's funny. I always knew that I was beneath Bonnie Bennett. And when I bartered your lives for Lily's blood, I did it because I hoped that the revulsion, that the disgust and hate I was sure to see in her eyes would make me forget. Make me forget the warmth of her hand against my chest, being the first person willingly touching me in eighteen years. It was supposed to wash away the memory of stabbing her and leaving her behind. The hurt and betrayal in her eyes as I left her bleeding out on the front lawn of my childhood home. I can't even blame it on the merge because my mind and my emotions were my own back then. This witch, this five foot two witch made me both human and monster, and I don't know how I'm supposed to force her to exist as the one thing that's hurt her the most."

Beau, who had been listening with his arms tucked across his chest, stepped forward and squeezed his shoulder. You will not force her because it is not your will. You will help her because it must be so. Do not allow all she has accomplished and every pain she has suffered to become meaningless, Malachai.

Beau left the room, leaving Kai to watch over his witch until she would rise.