"Why does he keep doing that?" asked Damon. He was annoyed with Andrew for popping up and offering him no real answers. "I don't want to try to perform magic again. It isn't working!"

"That's not necessarily true. You just need more practice. It took me days to cast my first spell, there's no way you can do this in a few minutes. You have to give it one more shot." Bonnie gave Damon a pleading look. He was at a loss. He didn't want to be disappointed yet again. At the same time, he didn't know what else to do. He looked at the book in his hands and considered going back to reading it when Bonnie interrupted his thoughts. "The book might have the answers that you're looking for. Andrew even mentioned that it will help you figure out how to get me back to earth. But none of that matters if you can't cast a simple spell. Think about it, Damon."

"I don't want Andrew to just come in here and call the shots only to disappear again without giving us any real answers."

"I get it but right now we don't have a choice. I believe Andrew because everything that we've read in that book so far seems to agree with what he's told us. He's the only person around here who seems to know something. The only way we're going to ever get out of this place is by listening to what he says."

"I know", Damon agreed reluctantly. "That doesn't mean I have to like it", he said as he put the book back down. "I seem to be completely incapable of performing magic. So what do we do?"

"Learning to perform magic takes time. You can't just give up after one try! Let's give it one more shot." She turned so she sat facing Damon again. "Take your ring off again."

"Yeah, sure, 'cos levitation is the most important thing I can ever learn." But he still slipped off his ring and placed it between the both of them.

"No, but it's somewhere to start. Last I checked, I was the one who could perform magic while we were still alive."

"You were also the one who thought she was teaching a newbie witch magic."

"Just concentrate, Damon. Imagine the ring floating in air and then command it to do exactly what's on your mind."

Damon took a deep breath and looked at the ring. It didn't seem like he was going to get out of this. He closed his eyes for a minute trying to push everything else out of his mind. He then focused on the ring and pictured it floating in the air. Bonnie sat in front of him and watched the ring intently. Just when she thought nothing was going to happen this time, she noticed the ring being lifted off the floor by just a few millimetres and it wobbled in the air for a second before it dropped to the floor again. Bonnie sat up straighter and asked, "Did you see that?" Damon nodded, too surprised to speak. "You did it. You just need a little more practice and you'll be able to keep it in the air longer. Don't let the ring's response break your concentration."

"I have an idea. Now that you know that I'm doing it right, why don't you read the book while I practice? I would feel just a little bit better if you didn't sit around watching me like that." Damon took out the book and handed it over to Bonnie. She took it from him and sat back leaning on the wall. "You've got yourself a deal." When he saw Bonnie sit back and start reading the book, he turned his attention back to his ring. He blocked out everything around him and focused on making his ring float and following his directions.

Bonnie flipped the pages of the book until she found the page where Damon had stopped and began reading. "The intermediate realm for human souls is called the Golden Pathway. It works exactly like the Passage. The realms that these two intermediate realms lead to are completely different. The only realm in which supernatural beings coexist with humans is earth. On the surface, the earth is exactly what you think it is but it is the most complicated of all realms as this is the only realm where witches and travellers can perform magic. In addition, humans can be turned into supernatural beings. While multiple realms of the dead can be monitored by a single guardian, multiple guardians are required to monitor the earth.

Humans rarely cause any trouble on earth. Very few of them know about the supernatural beings they share their world with. With the population of the supernatural entities being as large as it is, five different guardians watch over the magic which is performed by them. Each of them monitors a different area. I was one of these five guardians until I chose to return to earth as a human. We ensured that the balance was always maintained. In a manner of speaking, we were the enforcers for the universe on earth. One last thing you must remember about the earth is that it is filled with a number of secrets. Learning these secrets is important in order to travel between the earth and the other realms. I will explain these later in this book." Bonnie looked up from the book and was about to mention what she had just read. But she saw Damon sitting with the ring in front of him, concentrating hard. She watched for a little while and noticed that he was able to get the ring about an inch off the floor until it dropped again. Each time the ring fell down, Damon grew increasingly annoyed but with every effort, he was getting the ring to levitate for a slightly longer duration. Not wanting to disturb him, Bonnie turned back to the book. She figured she would tell him what she had just read whenever he decided to take a break.

"Other than the realms of the dead, the intermediate realms and the earth, there is one more realm that exists. This realm is called the Darkness. It is a large and dark space to which only the vilest of supernatural beings are sent. The souls that are sent there spend their time alone. When the universe decides that they have paid for their crimes, they will be able to pass on to the Passage and then to their afterlives. Those who have been sent into the Darkness don't always pass on to the Passage. Some of them fail to repent and that is what happened many years ago. A vampire who was cast into the Darkness refused to feel any remorse for his actions on earth. He wandered the Darkness alone and soon found a way to interact with others in the Darkness. The vampire recruited the worst souls who entered the Darkness. Together they called themselves the Knights. To this day, the Knights are the guardians' greatest opponents. These Knights even found ways to intercept souls who were on their way to the Passage or the Golden Pathway. It is the duty of the guardian in charge of the Passage to retrieve these lost souls as well. The Knights cannot perform magic but they are smart and resourceful. They have found ways that make up for this. Guardians usually stay away from the Knights and as a result there isn't much that we know about them or about how they intercept souls."

Bonnie was troubled by what she had just read. Andrew had mentioned that Damon was supposed to be in charge of the Passage and according to the book it meant that he had to ensure that the lost souls were returned to the Passage. Andrew hadn't mentioned anything about that or the Knights. She continued to read, "Most of the lost souls are held in the Darkness against their will. But some of them have joined the Knights. Despite their limited powers, the Knights have disrupted the guardians' tasks to a great extent. The High Council is in the process of making plans to reform these Knights. Since most guardians fear them and rightly so, this task has proven to be very difficult. There is also a prophecy that states that a powerful guardian will rise and will bring the Knights to justice. The exact terms of this prophecy is known only to the High Council.

The High Council is in no way more powerful than the other guardians. They are simply elected representatives. Knowing the words of the prophecy gives the guardians a significant advantage in defeating the Knights. It is a secret that must be protected at all costs. The prophecy is kept a secret from other guardians for fear that the Knights might attack them while they are travelling through the Darkness and learn about it. The Darkness separates the earth from the other realms. In order to travel back to the earth, a guardian must cross the Darkness. This takes considerable expertise. New guardians are often attacked easily while in the Darkness.

The task of the guardians of the various realms of the dead is to monitor everything that takes place in their realms. They are usually called on to decide cases if any dispute arises. They have to ensure that everything goes on the way that it should without any disturbances.

I hope that what you've read this far is enough to convince you that all this is true. This is not something I would lie to you about. You have to trust me and you have to learn how to perform magic. Learning to perform magic will take a lot of time and you must start as soon as you can. It is important that your father doesn't find out about it. He does have some amount of knowledge about supernatural beings. In Italy, vampires were found in plenty and from his interaction with the vampires that he has caught and killed, your father does know a lot about magic and the traveller and has come to hate them as well. If he finds out that you and your brother can both perform magic, he will not hesitate to kill you. He doesn't realize that magic is not always a bad thing.

There is a traveller in Atlanta by the name of Trish Samuels. She owns a store that sells the various ingredients that might be necessary in casting spells. She is well experienced in the task and will be able to teach you as well. Tell her that you are my son and she will understand exactly what you need to start with as I have already explained everything to her. If Stefan wishes to learn as well, you can teach him later. When you perform magic after you become a guardian, you will be drawing power from the universe directly. The universe is simply everything natural around you. All things on this realm and all others have power that can be accessed by guardians in them. Stones have very little power while plants have the most. The air around you itself has a lot of power. Drawing power from the universe is similar to drawing power from a talisman. Trish will explain this to you as well." Bonnie stopped reading when she felt Damon shifting closer to her. "What happened?" she asked.

"I need a break. Did you find anything interesting in the book?"

"I did actually."

Damon shifted to a more comfortable position. "Let's hear about it then", he said.

"From what I understood, there are a lot of secrets in this place. Turns out, not all the guardians are in the know. There's another realm called the Darkness and apparently you need to cross this realm in order to travel to or from the earth. It's also supposed to be the realm where the vilest of supernatural beings spend their time in penance before they can pass on to the Passage. But not all of them pass on; some of them found ways around their solitary confinement and they have been causing a lot of trouble for the guardians. They call themselves the Knights. There is a prophecy that there will arise a powerful guardian who will destroy them. But the only people who know exactly what the prophecy says are the members of the High Council."

"Does it really surprise you that the High Council keeps secrets from the other guardians?"

"Honestly? Yes, it does. The members of the High council are supposed to be equals. They are supposed to be elected representatives."

"So is our government. Do you think they don't keep secrets from the others in the country?" Bonnie shook her head. "This is exactly like that. This is politics on a much smaller scale but politics all the same."

"Alright then aren't you concerned about the fact that Andrew left out a major part of your duties as a guardian?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The Knights sometimes intercept souls on their way to the one of the intermediate realms. It's the duty of the guardian in charge of the Passage to retrieve these lost souls. That means you will have to deal with the Knights directly."

"That actually sounds like fun. The afterlife wouldn't be interesting enough if there wasn't some kind of fighting involved. Besides, I'm dead so I doubt I'll be in any danger. And to answer your question, it doesn't bother me that Andrew didn't mention this earlier. He did say that he would explain my duties once I managed to learn magic."

"Damon, you're not taking this seriously. From the way your mom describes these Knights, they seem like something you should be very worried about." She paused for a moment and took a calming breath. "How are you so calm about all of this anyway?"

"Well, that's because we can't afford to have both of us freaking out right now. At least one of has to keep an open mind. I would have loved to be the one freaking out but you beat me to it. Now, would you like to go back to being the voice of reason or is there something else that's bothering you?"

"No, I'm fine. I just don't like all the secrecy but I'm not going to freak out again."

"Good", Damon gave her a smile, "and about time too. Keeping a level head is just too hard", he said with a smirk. "Anything else I should know about?"

"The rest of what I read was about magic; about how to draw the power of the universe. It's supposed to be similar to drawing power from a talisman. Let's see what you can do with the ring."

"Not much", Damon answered. He set the ring down and got to work. Putting all his thoughts into making it float he positioned his hand over the ring and slowly as he lifted his hand higher, the ring rose higher. He was able to make it float mid-air for a few seconds before he let it drop, "That's all I can do. I can't get it to move anyway I want it to."

Bonnie smiled at him. "That's alright. This is really good. You're learning a lot faster than I expected you to. Maybe a little help might be just what you need right now. If drawing on the power of the universe is the same as working with a talisman, then the first step is to be conscious of it. Everything natural around you is part of the universe. The air is also a part of the universe and that's what you'll be drawing your power from. Once you've done that, you will feel the power within you swell. I can't explain how it feels but you'll know it when you feel it. Then you need to channel that power on the spell that you're trying to cast."

Damon tried to follow Bonnie's instructions. He tried to be conscious of the universe but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't feel anything. "I don't think it's working. I don't feel the power or anything."

"It takes time Damon. Just concentrate." With that Damon sat trying to draw the power of the universe, hoping that it would somehow work.

AN: Hope you liked it. Please leave a review.