Chapter 2
It's 4:57 am. At least to Damon it feels that way.
He watched the clouds descend as night fell upon him. The waves far ahead of him became nothing but white fog. His thoughts spontaneously jumped from the things he held monumental in his life to the devastation that is his pride. It was almost like he was in a trance. The clouds, the night air, the thoughts… it had a hold over him and his emotions. His actions. The tension building up inside of him like a calm before the storm.
He pulls off his black thermal in the silence, sits it beside him. His forearms chilled on the muddy shore when he leans back. Bonnie silently watches him from the edge of the forest. She becomes concerned for Damon, a natural occurrence for Bonnie. Biting her lip, she struts across the sandy beach in his black, leather jacket.
"Damon," she says to him. He doesn't move. Fixated on the fog. She sits next to him, crossing her legs.
"We've got to get you pants," He remarks, "Cause I am so tired of seeing your chicken legs."
"Damon, I have something to tell you."
"I know. I put two and two together, yada, yada, yada. The other side collapsed didn't it? I just don't remember it."
"It did."
Damon faces Bonnie. "Why can't I remember it?" He asks her. She shrugs then falls on her back. A sudden rage of nostalgia chimed over her, and she remembers learning about heaven and hell— and being so drawn to the idea of eternal suffering. She imagined fire. Lava. Burning. Tortured, immoral souls in a constant flux of self-destruction. While a red devil with black horns sits upon a throne, laughing at the chaos he's created. The chaos humans accepted as they accepted their most ludicrous desires and deviant lifestyles on earth. Her imagination lived horrific and abundant through hell. So abundant she brought the images to life on paper as a child. Though now, the hell she imagined is nothing compared to the hell she is in now.
Damon itched his head. He chuckled to himself and looks away, pursing his lips. She lifted her head curious as to why he's laughing.
"What's so funny?" Bonnie asks, glaring him.
"It's just… the universe knows were the most unlikely pairing and… they decide to kill us. Together."
"Ugh," She leans her head back down. "Damon, it's not so bad."
"And look at their track record! Stefan and Elena. The doppelgangers." He shakes his head and stares into the foggy distance again. "It's like… the universe wants to keep Elena and I apart." Ever since he got here his one urge was to find a way back to Elena. It frustrates him that he can't do that.
"Maybe it's not the universe."
"Trust me, chicken legs. It's the universe."
"No, I'm serious, Damon. Maybe you and Elena just aren't meant to be."
He turns and looks at her, furrowing his brow in surprise. He chuckles. "I could say the same about you and little Gilbert."
She sits up, now trying to diffuse the conversation. "Okay, let's not make this about me."
"Hey, both of our relationships have reached an end. It's about both of us."
"I'm done talking about this." She lays down on her side, facing away from Damon.
Damon rolls his eyes and realizes the only good thing here is Bonnie. She reminds him of home, of Elena, and also, he can annoy her to no end while at the same time put a smile on her face. He knows she's putting on a front. Her body displays an act of courage that her eyes can't hide. He's watched her before in the dark of night and in the last hour before dawn. He notices the twitch of her smile when a flow of disappoint begins to rush in. This death shared between them only softens the spot Damon has for Bonnie.
Damon lay next to Bonnie while she slept peacefully on her side. He gazed up at the sky, searching for an inkling of hope. Cold air begin to seep in from the west; a sign that dawn is approaching. He turned towards Bonnie, and in an instant, she in the calmest of movements turned to face him. She inhaled and exhaled like a baby. Damon placed his hands on the underside of his cheek. Her eyes slowly opened and a confused look washed over her.
"What're you doing?" she says in a whisper.
"I was thinking about looking for something to eat… other than you," He replies in a sarcastic tone.
She sits up. "Then go. I'll be fine right here." Her chin raised.
He stands up and starts unzipping his pants casually. Bonnie covers her eyes.
"Damon!"
"It's getting cold, and if I'm going to leave you here, I'm not going to let you freeze to death. Elena wouldn't want it."
"I don't think Elena would want me wearing your pants either!"
"I don't think Elena has jurisdiction over that, now does she?" He glares at her, smugly, and tosses his pants on the ground.
"I'm not wearing them. Who knows how many days we've been out here?"
"Are you saying I smell? Cause you smell pretty sweet right now Bon-Bon, and I would love to take a bite out of you, but I won't. Because you've been oddly compelling and because you're Elena's best friend. And if somehow we find a way out of this, I can't go back spewing lies about how you got mauled by a UNICORN. When really I am the one who had a snack and got a little carried away!"
Bonnie could feel her heartbeat beating faster. Damon couldn't last one night without revealing his usually violent, but snarky self.
"Fine. But stop using Elena as an excuse for being caring. For caring about me! Because who else is there Damon!? It's just US! And you sure as hell wouldn't be here if it wasn't me."
Damon is disgusted. He walks away. "I doubt that."
"Well, believe it!" Bonnie slams her a fist into the sand. She does it again with more intensity. And again. And again with both fists. She is fuming. Her body feels like it is on fire and she just wants to jump out of her bones. If anybody can elicit these emotions from within her it is Elena Gilbert and her whiny psyche or Damon Salvatore and his prideful, childish antics. And with all that is going on, how could a person like Bonnie not be irritated with the recent events. It's all just eating away at her.
As he ventured into the forest, the solitary Salvatore thought about Bonnie's remarks on his relationship with Elena. Could she have been right? Is the prophecy of Elena and Stefan in its truest form now? All of this seems predetermined.
Damon marches through the forest scanning the environment. He looks over his shoulders and sees the tip of the sun. He touches the ring on his other hand, reminding himself that he'll be okay. Though his nerves are getting to him, he ignores them and continues trekking off into the forest. He picks up a scent. An old one. Not old referring to something archaic but old as in a smell that invokes a sense of familiarity. It's inviting and intriguing. His eyes turn dark red and his fangs elongate. It is food, just not what he is expecting.
But he is hungry. "Damn it," He says quietly through his teeth. He searches for the small animal. His nostrils flare as he lifts his chin to get a better scent. The further he goes into the forest, the stronger the scent gets. And in return, it makes him hungrier and angrier. He grunts and looks up at a branch. A strange bird is perched upon it. As dark as coal, the bird looks like a distant relative of a crow. A mutated kind of crow, because of its long beak. and hunchback stature. It is huge, but it is food and that brings a smile on Damon's face.
He launches at it. It flies away weaving through the many branches. Damon drops to the ground and rolls, picking himself back up and sprinting at his prey. He leaps and kicks off a tree, gaining momentum and closing the gap between him and his prey. Damon has determination as his motivation. And Bonnie. If he didn't find something to curb his hunger, Bonnie could possibly be his next meal.
So, this is what needs to do. And not for Elena. For Bonnie.
The bird swoops up into the sky and disappears. Damon stops and tries to track the bird. He catches no scent of it.
"NO!" screams Damon, his head lifted to the sky. The veins in his head almost burst because he yelled so loud, and with so much emotion. He can't scent anything, nothing. He drops to his knees, then to his hands, and he imagines Bonnie's succulent, witchy blood drifting down his throat. The warmth and sweet taste.
His mind is everywhere and scattered. What's he thinking? He can't—
I can't drink from Bonnie, he thinks to himself. I'll kill her. I can't kill her. She really is all I have right now.
Damon is smartening up. Trying to do the right thing and make the right decisions. If he's to have hope there is a way home, then he has to think anything is possible. So, he stands back up and zooms through the forest looking to satisfy his thirst.
The bird flies down and pierces Damon in his back, stopping him in his tracks. He groans; his face full of pain. The bird's sharp beak extends through his body and Damon belts even louder, balling his hands up into fists and collapsing to his knees.
Bonnie stands before the shore. She's been watching the sun rise in its patience and leisure as it takes its time to unfold, to become what it's supposed to be. It doesn't rush to show the world how beautiful and powerful it can be. Bonnie wondered if she was the sun at one point. Maybe it was when she'd first discovered her powers. She wasn't exactly excited, but she was grateful to have been gifted with something so uncommon. But when her grams died the first time, maybe she lost her light. Her patience was no more. And now that her grams was dismembered in front of her, she's not sure of much. There is one thing she is sure of though, and that's life. This is her life now. Even if for a moment, or eternally, this is where she is— with Damon Salvatore. And if she doesn't at least try to learn patience again… there is no use to try anything.
She steps foot into the lukewarm water and walks forward. When the water hits her waist she dives under the water and swims to a less shallow area. She rises up and the water is just above her neck.
"Wow," she chuckles in amazement. She could feel the tingle of fish and water snakes swimming and worming around her legs. A chuckle rises out of her again. She swims around a bit and starts to enjoy this vast ocean, wondering where exactly she is. There are no other visible islands around, just the one she found herself on. And is it even an island? The shoreline goes on for miles, both ways. She doesn't want to think about those things though. She just wants to enjoy this moment. A moment where she feels at ease, even if for a second.
Her head tilts back and she floats atop the water, eyes closed and smiles open.
A hand from beneath rises slowly out of the water and quickly claws at Bonnie's side. She gasps in pain. Something dark and tall shoots up out of the water behind her. She hears the sound and turns around. Another one shoots up flying into the sky, the sun still rising in the background. Two more shoot out from the water.
She starts swimming to the shore in a panic but is pulled under the water. The mysterious things that flew out of the water drop back down into the sea, not a splash in sight and creating ripples around where Bonnie was taken.
Moments pass and Bonnie inhales excruciatingly as she comes up for breath. Her neck bleeding from a bite, she puts pressure on it while trying to reach the shore with one arm. One of the mysterious things rise in front of Bonnie, an evil grin on his face. His hair is blonde and eyes a pure gold. He reveals his yellow, sharp, and cone-like teeth. Then another appears behind Bonnie, and one to either side of her. She is trapped.
"Please," Bonnie begs, "Don't kill me."
The one behind her puts a hand on her shoulder and she jumps.
"Oh, don't worry," replies the blonde one in a thick British accent. "We won't." They latch on to her with their teeth and drag her under the water.