The party is in full swing when Bonnie and her grandmother reach the head of the grand staircase. There's laughter and a roar of talking. People dine on small assorted snacks, most of them coming from Sheila's harvest garden in the backyard. Once spotted, the rest of the Bennett coven ascend the staircase to greet Bonnie and Sheila. The rest of the coven include Emily, Sheila's sister, Joanna, and Joanna's daughter, Lucy.
"Aren't you excited, Bonnie?" Emily asks in her soft, sweet voice, "This is all for you."
"I feel like my chest is in my stomach," Bonnie chuckles nervously.
"You'll be fine," Lucy reassures, "I trust Aunt Sheila and so do the rest of us. You're made for this."
Bonnie wishes the reassurance from her family was enough to put her at ease, but it wasn't. In fact, it made her more nervous because they all believed in her and they were all counting on her. A server came up the stairs and handed each witch a glass of champagne. Sheila taps on her glass to get the attention of the room. The roar of voices dulls until it is silent. Emily uses her powers to dim the candle light of the room.
Sheila clears her throat before speaking. "Family and friends, thank you for coming to this joyous occasion. I have known many of you for years, my family helping and aiding yours for generations. Today that legacy continues with the induction of my granddaughter, Bonnie, as the new regent of our coven. I'm sure she will uphold tradition as well as bring the Bennett family into a new era." She holds up her glass and everyone follows suit. "To Bonnie."
"To Bonnie!" the party guests repeat and everyone takes a sip of their drink. A server comes by and takes Bonnie's empty glass. She descends down the stairs to where Caroline and Elena are waiting for her.
She lets out a long winded breath. "I feel like I'm going to collapse."
"You did well!" Elena exclaims, "Now you are officially regent. So be prepared for everyone at this party introducing themselves to you."
"Do they have to?"
"Of course. My father says it's a custom," Caroline explains, "It's why this party is thrown in the first place. I'm sure your family could induct you as regent without all the fuss, but in order for the townspeople to meet the new regent formally, they have these festivities."
"What I'm hearing is that this is completely unnecessary and I could have just saved myself the time and the dressing up."
Elena places a hand on Bonnie's shoulder. "All you have to do is play the part. At least for tonight."
"I don't think it's just tonight." Bonnie sighs and puts on a smile as people begin to crowd her and throw introductions at her.
The night continues this way with everyone at the party making sure Bonnie knows who they are. Even people she had met before tonight felt the need to introduce themselves again. Bonnie didn't know what to do with all the attention. Suddenly she was the most important person in town. It was all very surreal and all she wanted to do was go back to her room and sleep. She was thankful for Elena and Caroline who hadn't left her side the entire night.
It was close to midnight when Bonnie felt like she was emotionally and physically burned out from all the festivities. She was about to stop playing her part and just disappear up the stairs when an older man she knew, but not formally approached her. Gisuseppe Salvatore was well known in the town of Mystic Falls. He was head of the town council, the council made up of all the founding families who knew more about the world hidden around them than they ever let on. The whole town knew of the existence of witches, but there was more out there to be known about.
"Bonnie, pleasure to see you again," Gisuseppe greets taking Bonnie's hand in both of his as a handshake, "I was hoping you would become the next regent. You always have shown great promise."
"Thank you, Mr. Salvatore," Bonnie says dipping her head slightly, "I hope our families will continue to be close friends and allies as we always have."
"I'm sure we will." He motions to the two young men standing behind him. One with light brown hair and one with dark hair and deep blue eyes. From the sudden giddiness of Caroline and interesting look in Elena's eye, Bonnie could guess these were the Salvatore brothers, Gisuseppe's sons Stefan and Damon. "I don't believe you've ever met my sons. This is my oldest, Damon, and my youngest, Stefan."
Damon takes Bonnie's hand and brings it to his lips for a kiss. "A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Bennett."
Stefan does the same with a warm smile on his face. "A real pleasure."
"Oh, please, just call me Bonnie," she says taking her hand back, "Ms. Bennett sounds so formal and I'm quite she we're around the same age."
Damon dips his head. "Very well, Bonnie." He smiles at her, a very devilish smile, Bonnie notes. She glances at Gisuseppe who seems to be watching his sons' every move plus her reaction to them. It was then that she realized what he wanted. It was a good thing to be in the favor of a Bennett witch, but it was an even better thing to be married into their family. Having such a powerful family backing you up, why it was treasure men would kill for. Bonnie was amused at Gisuseppe's shamelessness at basically whoring out his sons.
Gisuseppe looks behind his shoulder a group of men talking. Bonnie notices Sheriff Forbes is apart of the group. "Well, I will leave all you youngins to get acquainted." He excuses himself from the group and joins Sheriff Forbes and the other men.
The last thing Bonnie wants is to be left alone with two boys trying to win her hand for their father's sake. She realizes Caroline and Elena are still with her and thinks quickly. "Stefan, Damon, have you met my good friends, Elena Gilbert and Caroline Forbes?"
"I don't believe I've had the pleasure," Stefan answers his eyes trained on Caroline.
Damon's eyes were now trained on Elena. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Gilbert."
Elena curtseys. "The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Salvatore."
Bonnie takes all of their sudden distraction and uses it to excuse herself from the conversation. That was it. She was done. It was late and the party should be over soon anyway. She didn't have to stay to watch it fade and die out. She maneuvers through the crowd making her way towards the stairs when she, quite literally, runs into someone almost knocking them and her over. The person she ran into manages to catch themselves as well as her before either of them can fall.
"I'm so sorry," Bonnie apologizes, "I should have been looking wh-" Her sentence stops short as she touches the person in front of her. An immediate feeling of death and chaos run through her making her hair stand on end and a shiver run up her spine. She steps back quickly and is face to face with someone all too well known in the supernatural world.
"Don't worry about it, love," he says, "It's just a little slip." A smirk plays on his lips.
"What are you doing here?" Bonnie hisses. She can feel her newly recharged magically energy coursing through her veins ready to defend herself and everyone at this party.
"I can see an introduction is not needed, but I'll give one anyway." It was then that she noticed he was accompanied by two people, if you could even call them people. A nicely dressed man with dark hair and a beautiful blonde girl with a deadly look to her eyes. The man in front of her bows slightly, but Bonnie knows it is just for show, to tease her. "I am Klaus and these are my siblings, Elijah and Rebekah. We are the Mikaelsons."
