A.N: Thanks for your lovely reviews! Means a lot! Chapter title inspired by Florence and the Machines.
2
No Light, No Light
"No! Somebody help me!"
Bonnie turns back to Stefan, his corpse-like skin desiccated and skeletal as if two thousand years had already passed. She flinches. His blank eye-sockets glow red like the brake-lights of his car and she realises she must be under some illusion.
"Qetsiyah! QETSIYAH!" she calls into the darkness. "What did you do to me?!"
To us, Bonnie. I gave you what you wanted, and now we must find a way to destroy Silas together.
Can you trust me? For we cannot bury him, unless we have each other's trust. This is not an illusion. We are not inside the veil anymore. We are in the safe and we must find a way to get out of it. Do you have any suggestions?
"B-bonnie?" Stefan chokes. "Is t-that you?"
"We're going to get you out of here! Hold on, Stefan!" she tries to keep him afloat.
She hears the spell fall from her own lips. Qetsiyah is chanting. Stefan is unconscious and she hears the hinges of the safe unlock.
She screams when she's faced with the dead-glassy eyes of Galen Vaughn, the vampire hunter. Like a summoned zombie he swims to the surface with them at the end of his clasp and places their frozen and wet bodies on the edge of the bank. He stays as though his task is not complete.
"Thank you," she whispers, shivering violently in the night air. She tries her wrist against Stefan's mouth but she's not really there. Her blood is not beating, she's useless.
Jeremy, Bonnie thinks.
The Gilbert boy you died for?
Yes. I have to find him.
Bonnie feels Qetsiyah inside her head, but she has control for the moment. She stands, rummages through her pockets and to her amazement pulls out her cell phone. Please answer, she thinks as it rings.
"Hello?" Jeremy's voice sounds uncertain and she realises how devastating their last meeting had been for him. She's unsure of how to start, and Qetsiyah doesn't offer any advice. She's alone for the moment and she starts to panic. "Who is this?"
"Jeremy, it's me. Bonnie," she said, blurting on like an idiot, "I need you to meet me at the reserve, and I need you to come alone. I know you have questions and I didn't mean to contact you like this, but please, something terrible has happened, and I need you..."
"If this is some sick, twisted, prank-" Jeremy started.
"It's not, Jeremy, it's real. I'm here at the reserve and I need you. I need you because Stefan needs blood and I can no longer give it to him. Please hurry, I'll explain everything, just please hurry."
-:-
Mr Bennett stands on the stage. He's testing the microphone. There's townsfolk about. The meeting was last minute because it was at Stefan Salvatore's urgent request. He's standing at the platform too and he's in a cheery mood. Mr Bennett wonders when Bonnie's getting home and why he's not heard from her since graduation. He has a surprise waiting in the garage: a new car. Something he knew she'd appreciate.
"It's ready," he advises Stefan. Mr Bennett stands aside and listens as Stefan welcomes them all.
"This summer I have consumed an immeasurable amount of blood. and I have found myself getting stronger and stronger everyday - and I started to wonder, what are the limits to my powers, how many people can I influence? Two? Ten? An entire town square? I know this is possible. I know that when you leave tonight I will have gotten inside every one of your heads and you will have no choice. You will obey me because I am your new mayor."
Mr Bennett heard the words too late. His actions were slow, like whatever he did could not stop from the inevitable defeat he was about to encounter. Stefan's cheery smirk was the last thing he saw before his eye-lids grew heavy and he keeled over. His efforts had been appreciated but his usefulness had expired.
You must stand up, Bonnie. Fight for your father.
Why is he doing this? What will he gain?
Power. His wish is to be with the woman he loves, the woman, I despise.
The breeze lashes across his face, stinging his eyes but he sees nothing. There was no regret in Silas' actions for his plan had been set in motion. If he controlled Mystic Falls, then he controlled them all.
"My loyal followers, I have a quest for you. I need you all to find the cure. I know it is still in Mystic Falls. I can smell it. I want you to retrieve Katerina Petrova and bring her to me."
If..he gets...the cure... he will die?
Yes, but we must find the girl, Katerina Petrova before he does.
Jeremy sits in the Bonnie's bedroom with the curtains drawn just like Bonnie asked. He's watching over a Stefan. He offers him more of his blood. "She said she would be back soon. I don't know what to do. Should I call Elena? Or Damon? What if she gets herself killed, I mean again?"
Stefan doesn't respond for some time, he's too busy feeding. Then he heals him and says groggily, "Wait til Bonnie's back. She's in charge. I think that however she's here, she has someone to guide her. I heard her when I was drowning, she mentioned the name Qetsiyah. Do you know who Qetsiyah is, Jeremy?" Jeremy shook his head. "She's the one Silas cheated on. In other words, Bonnie's got an incredibly powerful witch on her side, and we don't want to get in her way, do we?"
"No," Jeremy murmured, although he wasn't satisfied. "What about Damon?"
"I think for the time being it's easier not to mention it. For the moment, no-one needs to know."
-:-
Caroline looks up from the fire. Stefan is almost skipping with joy as he enters the Boarding house. She knew burying Silas was good for them but she didn't realise how much it meant to Stefan.
"You're in high spirits? I'm guessing everything went well then?" she said, chewing on her ice in her scotch. She had lots to think about, like how Damon and Elena were fooling around upstairs and how she didn't want Stefan to throw the coffee table through the wall again.
"More than well," he grinned, helping himself to a drink.
Caroline stood up abruptly. "Maybe we should go to The Grill. Do you want to go to The Grill? Yes, I think we should. I mean, Matt's probably working and we always get free drinks, and besides there's not much scotch left because Damon and Elena drank it before I got here..."
"You're nervous," Stefan said, he loses some of his joy and she feels guilty. She can hear Elena's mewls as she falls against Damon's bed, and she can't believe Stefan is acting so calm.
"If you wish to leave, then I will follow," he says rather formally.
Caroline puts on her jacket, and finally bursts out. "You don't care that they're having sex?"
"I don't particularly like it, but no, what can I do?" he says, holding the door open for her.
"Well, you don't have to put up with it. You should come live with me. Seriously, you don't need them rubbing it in your face. I'm so angry at her - it's disgusting!"
"Caroline, I will gladly move in with you. Shall we go now?" he says, surprising her.
"Yes, uh - did you want to pack a bag?" she hesitates, and again his warm smile surprises her.
"No, I have all I need."
They sit at the Grill talking. The subjects change frequently because Caroline is often obsessed with the topic of Damon and Elena getting together and how selfish she thinks Elena is. He tries to make her feel better but she's getting drunk on champagne and shots. He's amused when she leaves her chair to sing a set of karaoke songs, and he claps enthusiastically from his seat, as Matt wipes down their table.
"What's got into her?"
"I believe my mood has transferred to her. Maybe for the better," Silas infers.
"I've missed that smile," Matt says, and he pats Stefan on the shoulder. "Don't let her lose it."
Matt goes back to work and Caroline is still hogging the mic, despite the long line of girls whinging because it was their turn three songs ago. Matt looks back to Stefan but oddly he's no longer there.
He sees him enter the girl's bathroom and though he's suspicious, Caroline finds him and they chat about how energised she is, and how she had to leave the stage because she needed to speak to her fans. "Where's Stefan? I need him to sing a duet." Matt points to the bathroom and Caroline kisses his cheek. "Don't work too hard, Matt," she says and he returns to the bar.
Caroline pushes open the bathroom door, but stops when she sees Elena and Stefan talking. She looks closely, her head is spinning and she realises exactly how many shots she's had. Lingering by the crack in the door, she realises that it's not Elena but Katherine. She was applying her lipstick to her pursed lips, doing her best to ignore him, which was a first considering how much she wanted to steal him away from Elena a year ago. Caroline heard Katherine scoff.
"Now I'm human you're interested in me? Give me a break, Stefan. You never loved me. You insulted me by chasing the lovely, Elena, and since she chose Damon, you've got no-one. Well, except Caroline, who has you all wrapped around her little finger. Matt, Tyler, Klaus, you, but I'm just sorry I won't be able to see you hook up because I'm leaving town," Katherine said.
"I'm sorry to hear that you are running again."
"What else would you have me do? Wait around and be killed by Silas? I don't think so. Now, how about you tell me what you're really doing here."
Caroline watched. She hated Katherine for several reasons but mostly she hated her for using and turning her, and for treating Stefan so badly. She wished she could walk in there and tell her exactly what she thought of her, and she would have if the next event hadn't have happened.
"I realised this was us parting ways, and I thought, I needed to make sure you knew what you meant to me. What you meant to both myself and Damon. You gave us life, Katherine. I'm grateful, I am."
Caroline was wondering where this was going. She had never seen Stefan like this. Had he eaten human blood? Was this the ripper talking? Katherine laughed, shaking her head and explaining that on more than one occasion he had made it clear he would rather see her die. "And now, thanks to the cure you can. Why don't you get to the point, Stefan?"
Stefan smiled, stepping closer to her and lowering her lipstick from the mirror. Katherine merely watched curious, and bemused. "Because I want you to suffer," he said. Caroline thought she was hallucinating. Katherine spluttered indignantly, but he spoke over her. "You thought you could trick me? You thought I would not find out, but I know everything Katerina Petrova and you can't run from me."
Katherine was staring at him with her red lips parted. "Ste-" she began but his hand sprung out around her throat, and she was bewildered as well as surprised, because Stefan tightened his grip.
"Wrong, Miss Petrova. I am not Mr Salvatore, although I am related. He seemed as surprised as you though when I turned, and he had every right to be, you see, he was my shadow self, I'm guessing you do know what that means?"
Katherine's eyes gave away her fear, and Caroline who by this point frozen at the door heard Katherine say his name, and then what she saw confirmed that the person who looked and acted like Stefan Salvatore was in fact, Silas, and the real Stefan Salvatore had something terrible happen to him. Katherine struggled against Silas' grip, and as he let her down, pressing her against the wall he said: "I'm surprised it took that long. I thought you were supposed to be wise, but then you are only five hundred years old and no match for me."
"What do you want?" Katherine trembled.
"Isn't it obvious? I want the cure?" Silas said.
"But, I drank it..." she murmured.
"Then, it is all your blood I will take," he said.
"No!" Katherine shouted, attempting to escape but he smashed her head against the sink.
Katherine lifted her head. There was blood everywhere. Silas flipped her around, biting her neck, and Caroline being Caroline could not let him kill her.
Perhaps it was because she saw in him the ripper, or because she was simply stupid, but whatever the reason she had to erase the image from her mind.
She kicked down the bathroom door; throwing the door at his surprised face and stole Katherine from beneath his almost-mortal nose.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Saving your life, don't argue!"
"I didn't know you cared?"
"I don't, but despite how much of a bitch you are, you're a candy floss compared to that monster," Caroline said, searching the crowd for Matt.
A/N: Please review.