When Tara Came to Town

Of course, the plan was simpler in theory than in application. She expected that much. She expected Tyler to be pissed that she had used his body to harbor Klause. She expected Caroline to be heartbroken that she had saw her through mourning over his loss, knowing all the while that he wasn't dead and that Klause was inside of him. She even expected Elena and her Salvatore flunkies to have nasty things to say about it...

Damon grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the sky, "I should kill you, witch!" She lifted her hand to mentally attack him, but before she had the chance to, Damon was violently flung across the house. Alaric. Damon's eyes widened at the sight of him, then he smirked at Bonnie and said, "You really never know when to quit with the magic tricks, do you, Judgy?"

Alaric glared at him and spun his indestructible stake between his fingers. "No, Alaric. Not him. Neither of the Salvatores, or any friends of Elena," she said, calmly – but she did not sound quite like herself.

"Esther?" Damon asked.

Bonnie pursed her lips at him and said, "Bonnie Bennett. I know that name is hard for you to remember, because I've never meant anything to you, but a quick and easy way for you out of a jam at my own expense. The only reason that you've been spared is because of Elena. If any vampire deserves to die, you do, and I'm sure one day, someone will make you taste the one thing that you've so selfishly and carelessly handed out all of this time. But it's not going to be tonight. My suggestion to you is to stay the hell away from me and stay out of Alaric's way."

Alaric clenched the stake in his fist and bared his fangs at Damon, "Bonnie, you said it yourself. He deserves to die. Nature wants him on the other side." She just placed a hand on Alaric's shoulder and pulled gently on him. He pointed at Damon and said, "What happened last time will never happen again. You and the others better not come near Bonnie." He escorted Bonnie away, with his hand in the small of her back. He whispered, "You should've let me do it. He isn't your friend, Bonnie. He never was. Now, noen of them are." And that was the day that she really lost her friends. None of them came near her, after the fact, though she had a feeling that they were probably plotting.

Tara Thornton lurked around at night, but was not about during the day. Bonnie was at the Mystic Grill when she first noticed her. Jeremy was working late with Matt, and Bonnie was hanging out, going over her ancestor's grimoire when the dark skin woman walked in, wearing a worn leather jacket and nice fitting jeans. She came to the bar and sat down, "Can I get a vodka tonic, please?" She asked, in the most country accent that Bonnie had ever heard. Bonnie looked up at her and immediately noticed that something was off about her. It was almost like Bonnie was developing the ability to sense them, because her mind automatically said, 'vampire,' without any provocation.

The older woman turned suddenly and eyed her, suspiciously. "You got a problem?" She asked, glanced at the book under Bonnie's hands and frowned at her.

"I have several," Bonnie answered, evenly. "Try not to become one of them, please."

"Try not to stare," Tara said as the bartender handed her the drink, "Witch," she said to punctuate the statement. She pulled a few bills out of her pocket, then clenched her head for a moment, before rushing over to snatch Bonnie up by the collar, with her fangs glaring.

"Thought so," Bonnie said, coolly. Alaric snatched Tara off of Bonnie and shoved her away. He reached for his stake.

Tara glanced at the weapon, at Bonnie and whispered, in fright, "Necromancer," before making the dash. Alaric went after her, but Tara disappeared quickly. When he came back into the bar, Jeremy was standing next to Bonnie, checking on her, with his hand on her arm.

"Who was she?" Alaric asked.

Bonnie shook her head and said, "I don't know. A better question is what she's doing in Mystic Falls?"

Tara was following leads. She withdrew as much information as she could around Bon Temps to see if she could find out something about the authority. Things were falling apart in the vampire community, thanks to the Necromancer witch, Marnie's assaults against them. Unfortunately, that was precisely when Pam decided to turn her into a vampire, and God, she hated it. Being subjected to Pam, even feeling love and lust for her... She never thought that she would ever see the day. Her travels led her to this place – Mystic Falls. She was trying to find a vampire named Kol.

Supposedly, if she could find a way to take down Kol, she could take down Eric Northman and Pam, as well. Sure, she would have to die, but she should have been dead, anyway. She was supposed to die when that raging bitch Debbie shot her! "Well, well, well..." she heard a voice say softly from behind her. "If it isn't dregs from my cup," he said. Tara had no idea, at the time, what that even was supposed to mean. She simply studied the vampire. He was old, powerful. She stared at him as his eyes drifted over her. "Why are you so tattered?" He asked and stroked his hands down her jacket, eyeing it with utter contempt.

"Excuse me," she said and tried to move past him, but his hold on her tightened. He smirked at her, but she could tell it wasn't affectionate.

"You have a place to stay?" He asked. He made her skin crawl. He had an English accent and curly hair – and though they looked nothing alike, the first person who came to mind when she looked at him was Franklin.

"Yes," she said and moved gently.

"Where?" he wondered.

"Staying with a cute little witch with pretty eyes," Tara lied and took a giant step back.

"You're an ally of the Bennett witch," he said, now studying her curiously. He circled her, taking everything about her in. Bonnie Bennett had become an enemy of every existing vampire in the world, even those who once considered her a friend. Either this vampire was a traitor, about to be shredded apart, or she was a liar... about to be shredded apart. "What is your name?"

"My name is my business," she said and finally tried to storm away from him, but he was in front of her before she had the chance to even prep her step to run.

"I can see that being nice to you is no way to behave. Pardon my mistake. I won't make it again," Kol said and threw her over his shoulders before dashing off with her.

His speed alarmed Tara. Even though she had super speed, hers was nothing like this guy's. "I'm an original," he told her. "My name is Kol Michealson, and some tragic loser who has benefited from the effects of my blood has turned you into a vampire. You are such a disappointment and I don't really think I can abide something like you coming from someone like me." He said as he chained her up by her arms.

"Excuse me? Was that a racist comment?" She asked, angrily.

"Babe, what we are transcends race. Race is a human issue. It was a pureblood comment, perhaps. An original supremacist comment, maybe." He touched her face, "You do have fire; that, I'll give you. Maybe we could work on your legion of flaws and make you worthy of my blood."

"You're Kol." She stated, staring at him. He liked the fact that she knew who he was and was impressed that even though she had heard of him, she was not afraid. "You're the original responsible for this blood in my veins? Well, I don't even want it, so don't think I'm going to be trained into doing anything for you. And I been tortured by a damned vampire before, when I was still human. So this sh*t should be a walk in the f***ing park!" She spat on him and rolled her neck. Kol wiped at the fluid like it was ghastly.

"You will regret challenging me, Dregs," he said.

Bonnie and Alaric walked up to the door of the place that they were summoned to. She knew what it was about. Elijah wanted Klause's body's whereabouts. Bonnie wanted to keep Klause as leverage. "I didn't want you to bring me back, but you did it anyway. I want to kill vampires, but you stop me from doing it – what exactly is my purpose, to you, Bonnie? Am I to be your personal vampire bodyguard?"

He answered, sarcastically, "Yes. It worked out so well for Elena that I just had to have one for myself!" She shook her head and said, "I don't keep you from killing vampires. Alaric, my heart just isn't ready to see the people that I care about have that happen to them."

"You care about Damon and Stefan?" He asked.

"Elena is still trying to get used to being a vampire. I watched it happen to my mom. Caroline explained how she felt when it happened to her." She shook her head, "I just need more time on that," she said.

Kol opened the door for them and smirked at Bonnie. She turned up her nose and raised an eyebrow. She couldn't stand his ass. Every time she saw him, she thought about the fact that he befriended Jeremy in order to kill him on command, if Klause so desired. Now, she guessed he was Team Elijah, since no one knew where Klause was. Rebecca was not around, but Bonnie figured that Elijah probably made her leave so that her temper would not ruin the meeting. Upon entering, the first thing that Bonnie noticed was Tara, lying on the floor in a pool of blood. She looked at her, then at Alaric.

"Does that belong to you?" Kol asked. "I apologize. Sometimes, I take people's things without asking."

"No harm done, we don't know a thing about her," Alaric said, tensely holding onto the stake inside of his coat.

"So, a liar it is. I was wondering," Kol said and collected the vampire woman from the floor. "Time for more torture, Dregs. The witch didn't vouch for you."

"Vouch?" Bonnie spoke up. "Did she say that we knew each other?"

"She said that you were sleeping together," he commented. Then chuckled and said, "I meant bunking! She said bunking. It's my mind that goes off to another place."

"What are you going to do to her?" Bonnie asked.

"That isn't your concern. You don't even know her." Kol said and hung Tara up again. Bonnie had a flashback of seeing Damon hanging up in a similar way, coincidentally, in this very room. She grimaced, thinking of how on that night, she gave up the chance to kill all of them in exchange for Jeremy's safety... and Abby's. She watched Kol torture the screaming vampire and she shut her eyes and turned away. "What are you doing here if it has nothing to do with the witch?"

"I wanted to KILL YOU!" Tara finally screeched. "I want you dead, so that everything that has ever been touched by your nasty ass filthy blood dies too!"

Kol folded his arms and shook his head, "You know, self hate really is not acceptable in my bloodline. But, it will be more fun to keep this up, as a punishment, than to kill you straightaway." Bonnie reached out and began to attack Kol's brain. He fell and held his ears. How could she do that to him, an original? She did not have the power...

"I am using the power of Ayana," she told him, and all of her bloodline.

"Stop. It. You..." Alaric rushed upon him with his stake and just as he prepared to kill him, Elijah wrestled with him until he fled back to near Bonnie.

Elijah straightened his clothing and tossed Alaric his weapon, "I did that to prove a point," he said. "Do not make me have to do such a thing, again." He helped Kol up and said, "Untie the stray and give her to Bonnie Bennett." Kol groaned as he let Tara down and pushed her across the floor with his foot.

Alaric folded his arms and looked at Bonnie. Bonnie was staring at Elijah, trying to figure out exactly why he wanted her to come see him. He had wanted her to come alone, but Alaric insisted, even though she was confident that she could handle this alone. "Bonnie, please. Come, have a seat with me."