TW for mentions of animal abuse and violence
Though some people were still staring at Austin's retreating back, a handful were giving her scornful glances. Bonnie was starting to become agitated. She sat down on a bench in the park and began tapping her foot impatiently. Rusty scratches against her leg for attention, she picks him up and puts him in her lap. "I can say I have an alibi, which I really do, but magic was more than likely involved in this."
Noelle was tapping her chin, pacing back and forth thinking of solutions. "True, but we need undeniable proof."
Sian's entire being radiated sadness. "She doesn't deserve this. She's innocent."
Caleb's shoulders are tense, watching the townspeople warily. "We know that but unfortunately the combination of Bonnie being a witch and her familiar being him is going to have the town on edge."
Bonnie grew apprehensive. "What's wrong with Rusty?"
There was a beat of silence until Sian spoke up. "A lot of the townsfolk believes he's a curse."
Bonnie's eyes narrowed, leaning forward head slightly tilted.
Sian clenched the knapsack closer to herself. "He wasn't always a chow chow puppy, some months back he was a pitbull. A-uh-a guy who was into dog fighting wanted to use him but Rusty disobeyed one too many times and he...killed him."
Noelle closed her eyes, lips pursed in anger while Caleb just watched for Bonnie's reaction. The young woman grasped Rusty to her; Harsh breaths coming out of her nostrils. Rusty whined attempting to twist his little body around to reach her face.
"That wasn't the only time...I think he died twice before that too. He never really made it to adulthood." Sian buried her face into her bag murmuring. "Like owner, like dog."
Caleb put a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe you should head on home."
"I'm fine Caleb." Came her curt reply.
Noelle finally opened her eyes. "No Caleb's right." She turned to him. "Take her out of here, there's too many emotions swirling around."
"But Noelle!"
"I said no."
Sian just cast sorrowful eyes at Bonnie and then buried her head back into her bag so only her copper hair was showing.
"I'll take her with me to the scene, see if we can find something."
"Okay. Keep us posted."
"Will do. Be safe." With one last look at Bonnie he grabbed Sian and ran off in the direction of a small side street.
After watching them leave Noelle turned to Bonnie. "Let's go get your hair done."
"You can't be serious." Even Rusty's head tilted in confusion at Noelle's ridiculousness.
"As serious as a heart attack." She peered at Bonnie closely. "Have you ever had cornrows before."
"No."
"Individuals? Locs? Weave of any kind?"
"No, no, and no."
"Yeah that won't do. Get up." Rusty barked twice which Bonnie assumed it meant hell no.
"Look Noelle I'm a suspect in a murder I can't just be prancing around getting my hair done."
"Yes you can! This will get your mind off of things and a chance to try something new with yourself!"
"Someone you knew personally just died. How can you be so blase about this?"
"Because, one, changes for the better start small. Or in your case big and then small. You already got out of a toxic environment." She sat down beside Bonnie. "And two, she was already dying. She had maybe another week or two tops."
Realization dawned on Bonnie. "You're giving me another alibi in case something happens again."
She made finger guns. "Now you got it."
"Did anyone ever tell you you're annoyingly persistent."
"So I've been told." She stood up and faced Bonnie holding her hand out. "Let's go."
"I'll go but I'm not taking your hand."
"Sweet! Come on my car is parked on the other end of the park."
"Cool, but we have to stop by the pet store first. I need dog food for Rusty."
"Fine by me."
Elias takes a swing at Kai but he's distraught and his eyes are blinded with tears so Kai has no problem avoiding him. When he swings again Kai grabs his arm twisting it behind his back then snapping it at the elbow. At this point he's past caring if anyone hears him as he drags Elias kicking and screaming to the pool.
Using his bulk, Elias manages to break free of Kai's hold only to be kneed in the stomach and elbowed in the face. Seeing as that wasn't taking him out Kai gripped Elias's hair and slammed his face into the diving board. With his knee in his back he then heaved his brother's head into the pool.
"Come on Eli, you're a good swimmer, let's see how long you can hold your breath under water. Last I heard it was for a solid seven minutes! Let's try for eight!"
Elias is desperate now and his thrashing around is getting worse, Kai presses his knee down harder and uses his other to break his brother's good arm. Suddenly Kai feels it, the approaching footsteps followed by shapely brown legs. When he looks up he's staring directly into a pair of moss green eyes. No anger, fear or hesitation; Just disgust and disappointment. He's used to Jo giving him that look over time but with her it's different. It's like his heart is being squeezed and his ears start ringing and everything around him becomes a white noise save for her voice.
"You're a monster. You don't deserve forgiveness."
Kai catapults awake to the smell of something burning and quickly put out the flames attempting to scorch the place. Glancing downward he notices that the journals remained intact. Checking his phone it reads 7:20pm, which means he was reading for at least five hours and passed out for the rest.
His phone vibrated with an unknown number popping up. With a degree of caution he answered. "Hello?"
"Kai? It's Mahir. I've been trying to get in contact with you for hours. I thought you got caught in a trap Joshua set or something."
"Uh yeah. I got distracted reading." He's still disoriented from getting up so fast.
"You okay? You're less talkative than usual."
"I'm fine. How did you get my number anyway?" Kai had sent a coded message to the coven in order for them to show up at the restaurant.
"Josette."
"Mahir, what did you do?" His voice held a warning tone. In spite of Jo wanting nothing to do with him he still held a soft spot for her.
"Chill, I just tracked her down and asked for it. Her husband though...he may have a cracked rib or two. My presence caught Josette off guard and he reacted accordingly which put him in his current predicament."
"And Jo?"
"Gave me your number and told me she never wanted to see me again."
"Okay good. As long as Jo's fine I don't care what happens to her husband."
"Heh. Sooo...how is it?"
"The things I found in here are indescribable! This place is just wow! But Mahir the craziest part are the journals I found here. They detail the Salem Witch Trails and the cause behind it."
"What? I thought that was mass hysteria."
"Same here but my ancestor Alastor described something completely different. He said something possessed a normal human woman making her act differently, unusual fits of anger, muttering strange things, and contorting her body into odd positions. It's recounted as a black mist that mostly wreaked havoc at night."
"Save for the black mist part you just described The Exorcist." Kai could hear air whipping in the background Mahir must've been outside driving. "That's crazy."
"Tell me about it, Bon-I mean a Bennett ancestor was blamed for obvious reasons along with some others."
"Anything else?"
"Apparently my ancestor was super thirsty. There's as many entries about Ana Bennett as there are about the trails."
Mahir let out a hearty laugh. "Seems like that runs in the family. Joshua was like that with Sheila, though he hid it well."
Kai's lip curled in disgust. "I did not need that picture."
"I don't know man I met Lucy Bennett once and let me tell you I would gladly bring her into the family."
"Stop!" Kai grabbed the suitcase he brought with him and opened it. "Look I'll call you back when I land back in Virginia."
"Cool. Catch you later."
"Later." Kai started stuffing it with the journals putting the Bennett one on top. "I'll just keep this with me for the time being." Looking back he also grabbed the Tesseract as well. He had a strange feeling he would need it.
Stepping out into the crisp night air Kai replaced the magic barriers and glamour back on the place and headed to the ferry.
Elena runs into the room, phone in hand. "Damon I found them. They're...on the campus."
"Gee why didn't we look there first." He sat on the couch watching tv.
"Because someone was too wrapped up in his mother and then Bonnie." Elena spat.
"Why don't you want to bring Bonnie back Elena? She's our friend." He smirked. "Are you jealous or something? We did get pretty close in the prison world."
Elena was starting to question what she saw in him. "No Damon I'm not jealous. It's just that when I last saw her she looked so tired, so done with everything. As much as it pains me to say it I-I think she's better off without us." She hung her head sadly.
Damon turned the tv off. "That's bullshit Elena and you know it! She belongs here with us!"
"Not if it's only killing her inside! Bonnie's too good, to nice to say anything, but I watched her leave, Damon not you. And besides why are we bringing her back anyway? Just so she can fix all of our problems like always? Sacrifice herself like always?" Tears were beginning to pool in her eyes. Bonnie leaving of her own accord struck something in her. She was used to her friend just bouncing back from whatever was bothering her, ready to help the team.
Damon got up from the couch. "Elena, where is this coming from?"
"From watching my best friend leave everything she has ever known and loved behind just to have peace. Realizing that she did so much for me, hell everyone in this damn town, while I barely did the bare minimum for her." She fell to her knees sobbing. "I was so self absorbed I didn't even acknowledge Bonnie's problems. Or her constant suffering."
"Elena." Damon crutched down placing a hand on her shoulder. "Bonnie chose to do those things because she loves you. Like when she sent me back to you."
"But she shouldn't have had to do it in the first place. We should've done better Damon." She shook his hand off and stood up wiping her eyes. "Get up we have to get Stefan and Caroline to turn on their humanity before anymore people die."
The salon they were heading to was on the other side of town. Bonnie was eyeing the small houses they were passing along the way, taking mental notes of the ones that had a for rent sign. Rusty, who wore himself out playing, was sleeping soundly in the backseat.
"Question."
"Shoot."
"How long does this process take?" Bonnie didn't want it to take too long as she wanted to check out those houses. The idea of the duplex sounded nice but she wanted privacy.
"You can't be serious." Noelle's tone was somehow both mocking and curious.
"Yes I am. I've never had any of those hairstyles before." She pointed to her bob. "It's always been like this and or curly."
Noelle side-eyed her. "Oh wow, but to answer your question it depends what hairstyle you get and how many people are doing your hair."
"Hmm. Do you have a book or magazine?"
"For the hair? Yeah there should be a magazine or two in the backseat."
Instead of just reaching back she used magic to put it in her hands. Bonnie began flipping through it, coming to a stop at a particular hairstyle. When they came to a light she pointed to it. "I think I want this one. The faux locs."
Noelle gasped. "I think that hairstyle would look gorgeous on you! Did you want shoulder length or long?"
"Long. I haven't had long hair in a while." Not since before she died for the second time. The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth. "Never again."
"Eighteen inch would probably be best then." Noelle parked in front of a small african salon/barbershop. "We're here."
Bonnie peered at it from the passenger seat. It's a nice two story spot between a clothing boutique and a shoe store. Houses lined the rest of the street.
Noelle turned to her. "You ready?"
She glanced back at Rusty's sleeping form. "As I'll ever be."
Noelle left the back window open a crack and together the girls sashayed into the shop. There were two other women getting their hair done, three of the hairdressers were free. The place smelt of incense and it gave off a relaxing feeling.
Bonnie cleared her throat and spoke. "Hi. I would like to get my hair done in this style." She pointed to the the magazine she held up.
One of the middle aged african women smiled at her. "Sure, do you want any colors?"
"Black with caramel highlights."
The woman waved her over and Bonnie sat down. "Did you wash your hair today?"
"No."
"Okay. So first I'll wash and blow dry it then we'll get started."
"Alright."
As the two women walk to the back of the salon a heavy metal tune goes off catching the quiet place off guard. Noelle gives an embarrassed smile. "Sorry. I'll be in the sitting area Bonnie."
Bonnie gave a thumbs up and laid her head back in the sink so it could be washed.
In the process of getting it washed Bonnie could hear Noelle talking on the phone to someone. She could barely understand what was being said but she did recognize a few words from those anime that Jeremy used to watch.
"Arigato, ja matane." Noelle hung up and sat down next to Bonnie.
"You speak japanese?" Bonnie figured Noelle was mixed but not with japanese.
"Fluenty. My mom taught me."
"Cool."
5 minutes later Bonnie was in the chair getting her hair done. 10 minutes later another woman joined her speeding up the process. Noelle's phone rang again and she side-eyed Bonnie.
She raised an eyebrow in question.
"It's Caleb."
Bonnie went to lean forward but remembered there were people in her hair. "Answer it!"
She muttered a spell and put the phone on speaker. "Find out anything?"
Sirens could be heard in the background where he was. "We found another one. This time there are organs missing."
She groaned. "Who was it?"
"Mr. Shaw." Caleb said solemnly.
Noelle closed her eyes in reflection. "He was the local bookshop owner." She said to Bonnie.
"Gutted him like a fish. I'll be shocked if they get any-oof!"
Noelle and Bonnie could hear a deep voice reprimanding him followed by a quick sorry.
"That was the chief." The sound of the poilce chatter grew further away. "Anyway when Sian touch the body she freaked out and then fainted."
"What?!"
"Calm down. She of course then woke up spouting gibberish and promptly vomited. Other than that she's fine."
"Did you manage to catch anything?"
"Uh, let me see...here it is! She said something about a messenger of the U.M.N and don't leave the castle."
Noelle looked like she seen a ghost. "The U.M.N is involved?" Her hands begin to shake causing her phone to clatter to the floor. "No." Her voice came out in a whisper.
Bonnie was bewildered. "Noelle? What's the U.M.N?"
She wasn't responding just beginning to hyperventilate.
"Noelle!" Bonnie grabbed her arm and shook her.
"What?" Her eyes still looked haunted but otherwise she was coherent.
"What's going on? You were starting to panic."
"The Underground Magic Network." She blurted it out.
"Yeah you said that."
"They're a massive group of dark magic users that terrorized Havencrest twenty years ago." She bent down to pick up her phone. "Probably trying to release that thing under the church in the woods."
"What thing?" Something besides Rusty was calling her here, that much she knew for sure.
Noelle met her gaze. "The black mist that caused the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. The six covens sealed it in this town." Her eyes didn't dare linger from Bonnie's. "I think we were meant to find each other."
Author's note: Whoo another update! I don't have much to say other than happy belated BonKai day family! Ngl I was super engrossed in other stuff and I had to work that day so yeah. Hopefully everyone who reads this chapter enjoys it! Make sure to leave a comment and or review!
