Jules stumbled through the woods trying to catch Tyler or Mason's scent. She couldn't believe that the whole pack was slaughtered that way, especially so close to the full moon. They should've been at their strongest but the vampire that attacked them was old, powerful, strategic and smart. She moved so fast they could barely follow her and whenever they turned around to spot her, another pack member was lying dead with a chunk of their neck ripped out. Jules ran away with only a leg wound and managed to get into a human's home that the vampire woman wasn't invited into and dealt with her wound there. She lost a fair amount of blood and the sun was about to set and she would shift. It would hurt more because of her leg wound. Jules turned swiftly as she heard a twig snap behind her.
"Mason? Tyler? Is that you?" No one answered, and Jules was suddenly on edge. Another twig snapped but closer to her and she began limping backwards to get away. She turned around to run away but ran straight into Klaus instead.
"Look what we have here: a lone wolf." Jules' eyes widened in fear as Klaus grabbed her by the back of her hair and sniffed up her neck.
"You smell like a friend of mine. Bonnie Bennett-Forbes, does the name ring any bells?"
She had flashed behind Reggie and ripped his heart out. He fell to the ground while she stood there with his heart in her hand smiling.
'Hi, my name's Bonnie. I thought you all would like to know that...' Her face transformed as black veins appeared under her emerald eyes.
'...before I kill you.' And then she pounced.
"Yeah it rings bells, every one of them. She killed my pack." Jules said warily. Klaus shook his head with almost disappointment and fondness on his face.
"I should've known. Bonnie seems to have grown up into quite the vampire." He said to himself, before looking at Jules.
"Well don't worry, love. You'll join your pack soon enough." Klaus told her before Greta hit her on the back of the head, knocking her out. Klaus raised an eyebrow at that.
"What? We have a moonstone to find." Greta told him with annoyance in her voice. She didn't like the look he got on his face when he thought of Bonnie: the nostalgic, fond, almost affectionate look. It was too close to the look she thought he pretended to give Caroline and thought he gave to her. She officially hated both the Forbes'. She was already planning how she would kill Bonnie after Caroline was dead. Klaus smirked as Greta walked away. How naive she was. Her jealousy was laughable especially since though Caroline would be his first choice, Bonnie would be his second and Greta wouldn't even make the list. Klaus picked Jules up and hoisted her over his shoulder before following behind Greta, wondering all the while when Bonnie was going to make her appearance.
TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD
As soon as Klaus left, Kol took the opportunity to sneak out and go looking for Bonnie. He checked Caroline's apartment first, then the Grill and then finally decided to check the Salvatore Boarding House. As he came upon it he could see Bonnie sitting on the steps alone staring into space. He smirked as he realized she was so engrossed in her thoughts she didn't notice him.
"Now Bonnibelle, what are you doing out this late? It's dangerous out here you know." Kol said sarcastically. Bonnie started before a smile stretched across her face.
"Kol!" She exclaimed happily flinging herself at him and hugging him. She usually wasn't this affectionate, but he was her oldest friend.
"I hear you've been busy ruining Nik's plans." Kol said as they pulled back.
"I don't know what you mean." She said way too innocently. Kol rolled his eyes before speaking more.
"I assume you have a plan."
"I have a plan." She confirmed but didn't elaborate.
"Which is...?"
"None of your business if you're not willing to take Klaus down."
"You're going to kill him?" He asked incredulously.
"I'm going neutralize him with the help of my witch friends and if Klaus has any back up-"
"Which he does, a good number of vampires are patrolling the area where the sacrifice will be."
"The hunters, both the supernatural and human ones, will be more than happy to deal with them. Stefan's going to get Caroline out of there and Damon if he can get to him while you and me, we're going to put our vampire muscle to good use. We need to be up close and personal with Klaus to desiccate him."
"How close is up close?"
"Close enough to hold his heart in our hands."
Kol raised an eyebrow at that.
"We're going to need more help." He said, pulling out his phone.
"What are you doing?"
"Texting my siblings to come join us, they'll want him gone just as much as me. They'll join us, I left the door unlocked so they could leave."
"What about Caroline, Damon and Elena?"
"They're still locked up."
"Good. Klaus needs to think everything is going according to plan straight up until my plan gets underway."
"Something you're missing. He doesn't have a werewolf."
"Yes, he does. Tyler and his uncle weren't the only ones I didn't kill, there's a werebitch: Jules. I let her get away on purpose so Klaus would find her. He will perform the ritual straight up until the actual spell. He'll kill a were and a vampire then drink from the doppelganger then Greta will use the moonstone to cast the spell."
"This Jules is the werewolf and the vampire..."
"He'll probably use one of his minions if it gets down to the wire and he still doesn't have one. You know he won't use Caroline. As for Damon, Klaus crippled his self by turning Stefan and killing Lilian, Lexi, Giuseppe and Zach. Damon's the last known Salvatore warlock which makes him invaluable but doesn't mean he's not going to be in danger if Klaus decides it's too much work to try and convert Damon to his side." Bonnie said. Kol narrowed his eyes at her. Her face was impassive, her voice nonchalant and logically detached but her eyes betrayed her worry to him. You wouldn't see it if you didn't know her but thankfully for him, he did. He decided to fish a bit.
"Why not just kill the warlock, cut off Greta's connection to him?" Bonnie's head snapped over to him with a fierce glare.
"We're not killing Damon."
"Because..."
"Because I said so."
"And why should I listen to you, little girl?" He asked with amusement.
"Because I'm in charge, this is my plan. That means you listen to me. Basically, you signing up for this is tandem amount to you becoming this little girl's bitch and I said leave him alone." Bonnie warned, getting in Kol's face threateningly. Kol stared at her for a few seconds before he started laughing. Bonnie looked taken aback before she rolled her eyes as she realized her mistake.
"You... and him?" He asked between guffaws. Bonnie sighed.
"Yeah, get it all out. Go right on ahead." She mumbled sarcastically before crossing her hands over her chest and clearing her throat as Kol stopped laughing.
"A warlock? A Salvatore warlock at that? You? Of all people? You and Damon Salvatore?" He said with amusement. Just saying it made him burst out laughing again. Bonnie couldn't help but laugh too. The irony wasn't lost on her. She, who even though she was trusted by the Salvatore bloodline to protect their most guarded secret had killed some of them before, and now she was in love with their last powerful descendant.
"Okay, we actually do have a serious problem to deal with without bringing my love life into this."
Kol looked down as his phone buzzed.
"Elijah says they're on their way. They'll leave Katherine and Sage at the house for now so when Nik's minions go for Damon, Caroline and Elena they can throw them off the scent of mine and my siblings' whereabouts. Then Elijah will text them on what to do after that."
"Good." Bonnie commented before walking into the house. She walked into the house, through the living room and into the kitchen where Stefan sat with his back to her by the island with a two picture in his hands. Bonnie looked over his shoulder and saw that one was of him and Caroline at the Grill and the other seemed set during the festive Christmas season and featured about 15 people. Out of it, Bonnie could identify Giuseppe, Lilian, Zachary, Damon, Stefan and Alexia Salvatore. Bonnie guessed they were other family members. Stefan and Damon had some extended family, but their closest family was all dead. His brother was all Stefan had left in that regard and Bonnie could relate because her sister was all she had left. Plus, Klaus had Caroline and despite her teasing and scathing remarks Bonnie knew Stefan loved her. He was good for Caroline. Nowadays, she hadn't seen the blonde happier than when she was with Stefan and Bonnie felt that way about Damon even though she was only now coming to a place where she could admit that. She and the younger Salvatore was in the same boat. She lowered herself into the seat next to him. He spared her a glance before looking back to the pictures. Bonnie sighed before speaking.
"I'm going to get them out of there." She reassured.
"I know you can. Caroline told me about how you saved her from Klaus before." Bonnie sighed before she let that memory take over.
Bonnie hid behind a tree as some of Klaus' people patrolled the lush, green, moon-bathed forest looking for Caroline. Earlier that day, Bonnie had managed to break both Caroline and Katerina Petrova out of the confines of Klaus' mansion. Bonnie entrusted Katerina to Rose and Trevor temporarily and Caroline was with them at Bonnie's secluded cottage in the woods. She looked down at the moonstone which was now in her possession. Her leverage. It glistened an ethereal white as the moon hit it. She slipped it into her boot before climbing a tree and hopping from branch to branch lithely in the opposite direction to the trackers. They couldn't find her with no tracks to follow. She looked down below her as she got closer to the cottage and could see Caroline and Rose speaking to each other outside of it, prompting her to roll her eyes in annoyance. She jumped down from the tree landing in the middle of the two women and startling them.
"Do you realize how stupid this is? You know if I were anyone else, you would be dead Rose, and you'd be on your way back to Klaus, Caroline. Get inside... now." Bonnie hissed at them. The two women walked inside with mild embarrassment. Bonnie followed them, sweeping the woods once. She looked over into the kitchen to see the owner of the cottage, Miss Flowers, sitting there with bite marks on her neck. Bonnie saw red. She didn't care much for humans, but the little, old lady had gained a spot on Bonnie's short list. She grabbed Rose by her hair and threw her roughly into the stone wall, making her slam her head on the way.
"Who attacked her?" She asked menacingly, lifting the younger vampire up by her throat.
"It was Katerina. She turned herself into a vampire so Klaus couldn't use her for his ritual. It wasn't Rose's fault!" Caroline explained quickly as she saw Bonnie's fingers inching towards Rose's chest.
"I was supposed to watch her. I didn't do it well enough. It was my fault." Caroline continued, blaming herself to save Rose even though it was technically Trevor's fault. Bonnie sucked her teeth before letting Rose go.
"Where is she?"
"Sleeping. Trevor's watching her."
"Turning was both the dumbest and smartest thing she could've done. Klaus can't kill her for the ritual, but he can still kill her for stopping the ritual to begin with." Bonnie turned to Caroline then.
"Change of plans, you're leaving now." Bonnie dragged Caroline out through the back before turning to her sister and speaking quickly and quietly.
"There's a woman, her name is Sage. She's no friend of Klaus because he daggered his brother, Finn, who she's in love with. She lives in Madrid. She'll harbor you until Klaus' searching gets more discreet, then you get yourself to the colonies and you do it quickly. Do not correspond with me or Sage through letters under your true name thereafter. Instead use an alias we'll both understand." Bonnie ordered before turning to walk away.
"Wait." Caroline called after her.
"What?" Bonnie asked, annoyance clear in her voice.
"... why are you helping me?"
"Does this really seem like the appropriate time for a sisterly heart to heart? You just escaped from the most powerful man in the world-"
"With your help when you supposedly hate me. Why?"
"I say things I shouldn't, you know that already. You're my sister, my closest living relative, it wouldn't be much of an amusing eternity if you weren't around to pester." Bonnie replied nonchalantly and teasingly but Caroline remained serious.
"Just don't go looking into this for an answer because I don't have one to give. Not right now. You need to get out of here. Use the trees and just go... before I change my mind." Caroline nodded before turning to climb the nearest tree. She hesitated before turning back to Bonnie and pulling her into a hug. The older girl was stoic before breaking and returning the hug as well.
"Thank you." Caroline whispered before flashing off into the woods. Bonnie sighed and shook her head before heading back inside.
Bonnie snapped out of that memory before turning to Stefan.
"You love her, don't you?" Bonnie asked rhetorically.
"With all my heart."
"Then there's nothing to worry about. We'll get her and Damon... and Elena back, no problem."
"Thanks." Bonnie just shrugged. Stefan was important to both Caroline and Damon and he intrigued Klaus which had been saving his life thus far, but she'd put nothing past the original. She had to protect Stefan just as much as she had to protect the others.
TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD TVDTVDTVDTVD
Damon looked up as the cellar door opened. Some of Klaus' guys came towards him, wordlessly opened the cage and dragged him out. He didn't know what was happening but if his suspicions were correct, it was nothing good. He was still too weak to fight against them so he silently let them drag him up the stairs. As he was brought into the first floor of the mansion and was being dragged towards the door, he saw men dragging Elena and Caroline behind him. They were loaded into a van and driven towards the woods. None of them talked to each other and the men taking them didn't speak to each other either. Caroline stared at her lap for the whole ride while Elena clung to Damon's arm for comfort he couldn't provide.
When they reached the nondescript location in the woods they were pulled from the van and saw a blonde woman standing fearfully in the middle of a ring of fire with two other rings connecting to it and each other. Greta stood behind a stone alter made from a large boulder with a smooth wooden bowl before her and candles lit around her. Vampires that were obviously compelled stood on the borders of the clearing, seemingly keeping watch and guarding the ceremony. The full moon shone a bright, otherworldly blue in the clear sky. It was minutes away from being at its apex and thus the abominable ritual would begin.
Damon could practically feel his ancestors rolling in their graves. This was what they all worked so hard to prevent. Generations and generations of Salvatore witches and warlocks died to protect the moonstone and conceal the needed ingredients that would unbind Klaus' werewolf side. As the last Salvatore warlock, Damon felt like he was failing in his family's mission and there wasn't really anything he could do about it. He was too weak in every way: physically, mentally, emotionally, magically; Klaus had broken what little spirit was left in Damon and he knew it. It was his goal all along. It's why he killed Lilian and Lexi and why he turned Stefan into a vampire: to make sure Damon suffered. That felt like a self-centered thought, to think Klaus went to all this trouble just to hurt him but that's what it felt like at this point. Damon snapped out of his thoughts as Elena was dragged to one of the rings and he was dragged to the other while Caroline was pulled towards Klaus as he sauntered over in their direction.
"What are you doing? What is this?" Caroline asked.
"This is a celebration. After a thousand years of being denied my birthright, I finally will break the curse my mother set upon me and embrace my true power. I want you here to see this." Klaus answered, caressing her cheek. Caroline pulled away roughly.
"You won't be doing anything without a certain missing ingredient." They heard a voice say. All heads within the clearing whipped towards the voice coming from the forest. Bonnie strutted out from the dense trees holding the moonstone in her hand. Klaus smirked at the sight of her, Jules gasped, Damon and Elena's eyes widened, and Caroline had to try her hardest not to let any emotion show on her face.
"Bonnie Bennett-Forbes. It's been a while."
"Indeed it has, Nik. I see you haven't changed, not that I expected you to." She commented, surveying the scene with an air of nonchalance. Her eyes briefly caught Damon's and he felt like the spirit within him that he was sure had been completely shattered by Klaus piece itself back together at the speed of light, his heart beating a bit faster. He felt pathetic that one look from her inspired this reaction, but it had been months since he last saw her.
"I assume you have some reason for coming here." Klaus stated in a calm tone. Inside he was giving himself a mental pat on the back. He knew Bonnie and if it was one thing she was towards him, it was devoted. Almost fanatically so and no matter what he did to hurt her, and he had done many things to do so, she always came back. He wasn't worried about the moonstone because once he realized she had it he knew he'd see Bonnie tonight. He wasn't wrong.
"Obviously, otherwise I'd be elsewhere." She replied with heavy sarcasm.
"What? You think you can bargain with me? Trade the moonstone for your sister?" Bonnie's face turned in indignation.
"Do you really think me that predictable? You've obviously forgotten who I am. I'm the bad sister, remember? The evil one who has made it her business to make my saintly little sister's life a living hell. I've managed to live up to my role in this little game pretty well over the past 500 years..." Bonnie replied, her Scottish accent carrying on the wind towards Damon, Jules and Elena while she walked closer to Klaus. She stopped before him before suddenly thrusting her hand out and holding the moonstone out to him much to the shock and surprise of Damon, Caroline and Elena.
"I don't plan on switching roles anytime soon." Klaus raised an eyebrow at that.
"Why should I believe you?"
"Why shouldn't you believe me?" She challenged.
"Touché."
"Do you want this thing or not? Because if not I'll just chuck it into the lake or something, I have no use for it."
"Bonnie, you can't seriously be doing this right now." Caroline said in disbelief with hurt clouding her voice.
"Actually I am." The blonde shook her head while tears gathered.
"I thought... I thought that you and me-" I thought we were okay now. I thought you were coming to save me. She wanted to say but recognized how pathetic that sounded and her sister would just scorn her even more for acting like a child.
"You and me what, Caroline?" Bonnie asked in a hard tone.
"You're still the same girl you've always been. The one seen as so innocent, so sparkling clean but we both know the truth, don't we? We know what's lurking beneath that mask you so like to put up. I wonder if your little boytoy has seen you when you give into your true nature. I wonder if he knows about Monterrey and Indian Hill." Caroline looked away with pain in her eyes. Kol said Bonnie would help them, why was she doing this now?
"You killed the werewolves." Klaus said. He still wasn't sure if Caroline was acting or not.
"I don't like werewolves. Smelly, annoying little pests. I let one live, I knew you'd find her." Bonnie answered, staring at her nails for a moment. Damon watched the scene and he knew something wasn't right. He knew Bonnie, he knew what she was like when she was acting and when she was seriously being apathetic, and he knew she was acting now. He knew she had a plan, he just didn't know what it was.
"You're not going to try to save Damon or Elena?"
"Salvatores and I don't have the most... amicable history in the world." It wasn't a lie.
"And I could care less if Katherine's lookalike dies." Not a lie either.
"And you really hate your sister this much?" Klaus asked. Bonnie looked directly into Klaus' eyes.
"Trust me, there isn't an entity on this earth who could even begin to decipher the level of hatred in my heart." Once again, not a lie.
Klaus smirked before taking the moonstone from Bonnie's hand. He held it for a few moments watching it gleam in the moonlight. Bonnie was speaking to that darker part of him again. He had always tried to ignore her call for Caroline, but it was always a struggle. The moonstone didn't do anything to show that Bonnie was lying about what she said. He walked over to Greta and handed her the moonstone. She took it almost reverently while glaring at Bonnie and Caroline. She wanted to end them now. Bonnie felt her eyes and looked back at the other woman challengingly.
"Your disdain for witches hasn't changed at all, has it? I always found that ironic considering your past." Klaus commented in amusement as he noticed Bonnie and Greta's staring contest.
"What can I say? I'm a walking contradiction." Bonnie answered, turning around and meeting Damon's eyes for the first time. There was a question there, one Bonnie couldn't really afford to answer right now, not in any way he'd want. She raised her eyebrows at him as he continued to stare her down.
"What, warlock?" She asked. Damon shook his head at her.
"Nothing." He knew she was up to something now as she pretended not to know him. Caroline knew as well and turned to stare at Bonnie. She gave her a meaningful look and Caroline turned away. Klaus came back over, and Bonnie turned her look into a glare.
"Stare any harder and dear Caroline might just burst into flames." He commented at Bonnie's intense look.
"Maybe that's exactly what I want."
"All in good time." Klaus answered, noncommittally. He wasn't surprised really. If there's one thing he could always count on, it was Bonnie coming back to him in the end, her seeing things his way. It was quite endearing, but he still wouldn't give up Caroline for her. Greta let the fire circle around Jules fall in her jealousy and the werewolf took the opportunity to try and escape. Klaus flashed over and ripped her heart out. He looked to Greta in barely restrained anger.
"The moon is at its apex." She replied plainly. He walked over with the heart and placed it in the bowl she was chanting over.
"What's this supposed to do anyway?" Bonnie asked, trying to distract Klaus. She could hear Kol and the others getting into position.
"I assume you know the Sun and Moon curse is a myth?"
"I was there when you and Elijah came up with it."
"That curse is made up as you well know. The real curse is binding my werewolf side. We still need all the same ingredients but it was easier to find the doppelganger, werewolf, vampire and moonstone with both werewolves and vampires searching for it so they could break the so-called Sun and Moon curse. Once I break my mother's wretched spell, I will become a full hybrid and thus be modified."
"How?"
"The sun won't affect me."
"Already doesn't."
"Neither will vervain or wolfsbane, though it'll be annoying. I'll be faster than any other being and stronger. I'll have a werewolf's venom, so a bite won't affect me, yet my blood will remain the only cure for a werewolf bite."
"Hmm. And you'll be able to make other hybrids."
"Turn werewolves into hybrids, yes."
"What about vampires with the werewolf gene dormant in them?"
"It'll remain dormant, I'm afraid. You're quite interested in this." Klaus said with narrowed eyes.
"It's quite interesting... kind of, but not really." Bonnie answered cheekily. Klaus rolled his eyes at her. He forgot her sarcasm. Greta had been chanting a spell over Jules' heart during the whole exchange, then she finished the spell. Klaus suddenly flashed to a vampire who was guarding the perimeter and ripped their heart out. The others were compelled and didn't do anything about it. Bonnie raised an eyebrow at the action.
Knew it. He's so predictable. She thought to herself.
"I need a vampire for the ritual." He explained when he caught her watching.
"Caroline's right here. Ah, yes but of course she's your epic love." Bonnie said, rolling her eyes.
"Green is usually your color but not so much in this instance." Bonnie glared at him but didn't say anything else. Klaus saw that as his control over her being asserted. Really, it was just Bonnie wanting to get this show on the road. The fire around Elena fell and she stepped back in fear as Klaus came towards her.
"It'll be over soon. Don't worry, Miss Gilbert." He dragged Elena who was struggling feebly to the alter and held her by the bowl. He cut her palm and let her blood flow into it. When her blood got into the bowl the fire behind Greta sparked spontaneously. The contents of the bowl, including the two hearts, began to smoke and sizzle. Elena was so enraptured she didn't notice Klaus go behind her until he sunk his teeth into her neck. Damon and Caroline looked worriedly at Elena as Klaus began draining her. Elena didn't even have time to scream as her body hit the floor. Klaus' eyes changed to yellow and his body began contorting after he drank Elena's blood. Greta grabbed the moonstone to complete the ritual but as she recited the spell over it, she felt the moonstone drawing her power away instead of giving more to her. She was confused by it but decided she just need more power to compensate. She grabbed a vial from her pocket which contained Damon's blood and poured it onto a bone necklace around her neck. She squeezed the necklace and uttered a spell that would allow her to tap into Damon's power to complete the spell.
She pulled onto his magic as she continued to try to complete the spell to seal Klaus' transformation. Damon could feel the tugging in his chest, like someone wrapped his heart in chains and was pulling at it. It was uncomfortable and slightly painful. He held his chest as another tug came along and he didn't notice the group of people enter the clearing and begin fighting with Klaus' vampire bodyguards.
Andie, Connor, Vaughn and their groups immediately began hand to hand combat once they were given the signal by Kol. The witches were in a safe, guarded location a little way away from the clearing chanting with a prone body laid out on a pentagram before them. Soon Klaus fell to the floor as wave after wave of pain hit him again and again. Rebekah, Kol, Katherine, Finn and Sage began helping the hunters fight against the vampire within the clearing as they were clearly skilled, despite their compelled state.
Klaus noticed his siblings going against him and felt betrayal. He looked around, but it was chaos and he could barely think beyond the pain. As he searched for Caroline, he couldn't find her. Finally, he saw a flash of blonde but could only see Caroline running away holding Stefan's hand. Bonnie was next to Damon, who was on his knees clutching his chest as if he were in pain. Greta was holding her own against anyone who attacked her, but she was obviously growing weaker and more and more tired by the second. Just then Elijah flashed above him.
"Hello Niklaus."
"Traitor. The ever-noble Elijah, killing his own brother."
"You brought this upon yourself and I'm not killing you, that would serve no purpose and bring too much collateral damage in the end. I'm not going to kill you, merely have you get a taste of your own medicine." Elijah's hand suddenly plunged into Klaus' chest and held his heart. Finn and Sage came and held Klaus down by his arms whilst he struggled so the witches' spell would work correctly. Klaus yelled and screamed for Rebekah to help him. She turned to him with sadness in her eyes. She wanted to help but she wouldn't. This had to be done. She turned away from him and continued to fight the other vampires.
Emily, Lucy, Bree, Tessa and Sophie looked down at Matt as he laid in the middle of the pentagram. He was going to be the person whose heart they stopped to desiccate Klaus. He had on one of the Gilbert rings, which they got from Jeremy so he would come back but they still all recognized that they were tampering with dark magic and anything could happen, anything could go wrong. They looked to each other in silent agreement and all of them pressed their hands to Matt's body. He jumped a little at that, but he wrapped his hand into a fist and wore a mask of determination to show he wasn't afraid. He was ready, and he didn't regret his decision to volunteer, especially since it seemed the only way he could help at all.
Bonnie knelt by Damon in the clearing as he clutched his chest.
"What's wrong? I can't help you unless you tell me what's wrong." Bonnie told him firmly as he breathed heavily.
"Someone's... channeling me. My magic. Ah!" He stuttered out before he doubled over in pain as his nose began bleeding. Bonnie whipped around to Greta angrily, it was the only option. She got up to run over to the witch but hit a barrier. Now that she noticed it, the only people able to get close to Greta were human. She was using Damon's power way too much and it was going to overwhelm him and kill him. Suddenly everyone in the clearing stopped as an eerie wind picked up in the air. They could hear voices on the wind and it was severely disconcerting. The leaves in the clearing began to swirl around in the air, the candle fire flared up into the heavens, the trees danced, and the branches bent precariously before it all suddenly stopped. It was dead silent for a few seconds and Elijah looked around in confusion as his hand still held Klaus' heart. Before he could wonder what was happening, a wave of pure power blasted out from the witches' circle towards the clearing and everyone felt it, even the humans. It knocked the wind out of mostly everyone there except Klaus. He began screaming bloody murder and Finn and Sage were forced to hold him down even tighter. Abruptly his screaming stopped as his skin began to get gray, dry and veiny.
Greta's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. She grabbed the bone necklace and tapped into the dark magic that it represented and fused the darkness with Damon's power. She uttered spell after spell to block and reverse the desiccation spell. Emily, Lucy and the others felt Greta's attempts and pushed harder against her to complete the spell. Greta pulled more of the dark power and Damon's magic and pushed right back. Damon couldn't even scream anymore as his ears began bleeding as well as his nose. Bonnie looked over to him as he fell on his side to the grassy ground. He clenched his teeth as pain exploded in his head. He could feel the blood getting into his mouth, but he didn't care. He curled in on himself holding his head, but it did nothing to abate the pain. Bonnie looked to Greta and knew that she had to stop her somehow, but how? She looked over at Stefan who was frozen watching Damon. He had come back once he got Caroline someplace safe.
"Stefan!" He didn't seem to hear her, his eyes trained on Damon's blood covered, twitching body.
"Stefan, look at me!" He snapped out of it and paid attention.
"Go to Lucy and tell her the witch pushing against the spell is channeling Damon. They have to cut off the connection! She's killing him!" She shouted over the fighting which resumed after Klaus stopped screaming. Stefan nodded and immediately ran out to the woods. He got to the cave where he left Caroline and saw her watching the witches chanting over Matt in awe and fear.
"Lucy, Klaus' witch is channeling Damon's magic. She's killing him. Bonnie says you need to sever the connection if you want to save Damon and complete the spell." Lucy didn't look up, but they noticed her and Sophie chanting change to a different spell.
Bonnie looked at Damon with worry. She couldn't lose him, she just couldn't. She noticed that black veins, the telltale of dark magic was beginning to spread across his ivory skin.
Stefan and Caroline watched the black veins web reveal themselves on Lucy, Emily, Sophie, Tessa and Bree's body.
As Andie charged at Greta again, she saw the demonic patchwork etching itself across caramel skin.
Lucy and Sophie's chanting hit a crescendo and both Greta and Damon's eyes flew open in shock as if an electrical current hit both their bodies simultaneously. They both went limp at it and Andie took the chance to shoot her arrow at Greta, straight into her chest. Greta looked at the arrow in her heart in disbelief before she fell down dead.
Lucy and Sophie rejoined their coven-mates in their chanting and Elijah watched as his brother turned completely gray - desiccated. He removed his hand from the blonde's chest and looked up to see the battle dwindling down with his side being the clear victor. He perused the clearing to see they had lost three human hunters. Katherine stood over Elena's prone body and Bonnie was shaking Damon's bloody one.
"We need to leave." He announced. Bonnie was still trying to wake Damon and didn't take notice at his words. Kol looked over at her with narrowed eyes before walking over to them. He looked down at Damon. He listened very carefully and could just barely make out a sluggish beat or two.
I can't believe I'm doing this. He thought scornfully.
He bent down, bit into his wrist and pressed it against Damon's mouth. Bonnie looked over to Kol and he just noticed the tears in her eyes.
"You didn't think to feed him?" He asked softly.
"I was-"
"Too emotionally invested is what you were. Feelings cloud your judgement." He told her in chastisement.
"Yet if not for my emotions, my feelings for you, I wouldn't be helping you two now." Bonnie smiled at Kol's roundabout way of saying he considered Bonnie a friend, if not an acquaintance.
"Don't look so smug. What about the Gilbert girl?"
"Emily connected her lifeforce to Alaric's. He has a Gilbert ring like Matt. He died when Elena did but the ring will bring him back and her too."
"So just this once, things worked out?"
"Just this once." Bonnie answered looking down at Damon.
Until he wakes up and we talk. She thought wearily.
