Chapter 7
"Honest"
Stefan flashed down the stairs of Bonnie's basement. He saw Caroline hanging on the wall and had to hold back the tug in his throat to empty his stomach. Caroline's face was covered in dried blood but her eyes continued to bleed. Her clothes were stiff and thoroughly stained red with the blood pouring from her stomach. Her wound won't heal itself if it can't close.
"Caroline!" He pulled the stakes from her hands, feet, and stomach. He caught her before she could fall to the ground. She held onto him, her body trembling violently on his arms. She was crying and so was he.
He took her in his arms and stood straight. He wouldn't think of how long she'd been there alone, or how naive he had to have been to believe Caroline was the type to go so far as to skip town to avoid him, he wouldn't even think if the trauma she'll feel for the rest of her immortal life. He saw red and as soon as Evelyn was out of Bonnie's body, he would personally rip her throat out.
He had to get Caroline out of the basement, out of the house, and away from this nightmare. Caroline's wounds began to heal as soon as she was free of the stakes but the pain still seemed endless. She felt uneasy and sick and for the first time since becoming a vampire, she felt weak.
Stefan brought Caroline to her house. He decided against bringing her back to his place from fear of what seeing Bonnie's face would do to Caroline's head.
She lied her down on the couch. "Don't leave!" She panicked.
Stefan lowered himself onto the couch next to her. "I'm not leaving," he whispered. She nodded rapidly and carefully eased herself onto Stefan's chest. "I'm not going anywhere," he cooed as he stroked her hair.
Stefan stayed on the couch with Caroline until she fell asleep. He thought about what Evelyn said earlier and wondered how powerful this person could be. He hadn't done anything personally to him or anyone he cared about yet the only way for Evelyn to leave is to kill him first. So much for Caroline's theory of Bonnie just being paranoid. This man must be powerful or else Evelyn would have gotten rid of him herself.
"Stefan?" Came in Caroline's weak voice from the couch. He had waited until she fell asleep before moving to another seat to think things over.
"Yes?" He answered.
"I'm thirsty."
"Right," Stefan said and jumped to his feet. Of course, she was hungry. "Wait here and I'll get you some blood."
"No," she groaned. "Don't leave. Please?"
Stefan nodded. "Ok, then I'm going to go make a phone call."
Stefan stepped into the hallway to call Damon even though he knew Caroline would hear it anyway. Damon picked up immediately.
"Stefan, Caroline needs blood."
"We all do, it's a perky trait of being a vampire Stefan," Damon said and Stefan could hear Bonnie scolding him on the other side. "Fine, why can't she get it herself?"
"Is that the real Bonnie?"
"Yeah, good old Evelyn is letting Bonnie have her own body for a while. Wasn't that nice of her?" He asked sarcastically.
"She's going through a lot right now, Damon, the both of us need to support her."
"Trust me, Caroline doesn't want my support."
"Then put Bonnie on the damn phone," Stefan roared.
There was a moment of silence and then Bonnie's sweet voice was on the line. "I don't know how much time she's going to let me have control of my body so tell me what you need."
"There are blood bags in the fridge. Caroline needs them."
"Can I... See her?" She was hopeful but not naive. She was ready to hear Stefan turn her down, let her know it was out of her hands from the beginning, and she silently nodded to his explanation. Caroline wasn't ready. He wasn't sure when she'll be ready either.
When she hung up, Damon already had a grim face on.
"It wasn't your fault." His words resonated with Stefan's
"It's never anyone's fault is it?" she breathed, feeling anxious all over again.
"She's going to get over it. She's been through worse. Me, for example," he smirked though it was nothing to be proud of. "She's not some delicate flower."
"As anyone told you that you're literally the worse at pep talks?"
"No but I'm sure you won't hesitate to remind me in the future."
Bonnie rolled her eyes and headed toward the basement. As she was going down the spiral staircase Evelyn spoke, scaring Bonnie a little, making her trip down a few steps.
Evelyn laughed, 'Try your hand at being a bit more graceful darling.'
"What do you want?"
'I just thought I'd give you a warning. I'm taking back this body in exactly five minutes.'
Bonnie panicked, running down the rest of the staircase and making an effort to run back to Damon. Once she got the blood bag, she sprinted up the steps. "Damon!" She yelled once she got back up the stairs.
Damon was putting on a light jacket. "What?"
Bonnie blinked at him. "Um, nothing."
"Ok?" He chuckled. "You ready to hit the road?"
"Yeah, I am," she walked up to him and hugged him again.
"I can't say I'm surprised you can't resist me anymore, Bon, but this is hardly the time."
Damon expected another pinch, or maybe a punch, but she said nothing. Bonnie is a tiny women, even in heels, she only came up his chest. She wasn't weak though and Damon could feel the strength of her arms as they wrapped around him.
"Bon?"
She looked up into his eyes, the green of her eyes were practically glittering. "Damon..." She purred before getting on the tips of her toes to place a kiss on Damon's lips. She immediately went into feverishly kissing him. Damon, shocked, didn't resist right away. Kissing Bonnie made his heart race. She fit so well in his arms. It wasn't until he realized that Bonnie in her right mind wouldn't do what she was doing that he tore away from her.
"Evelyn!" He growled.
Bonnie laughed. "Don't be so mad Damon. You liked it right? We can do that plus more if you want. You like this body right?"
Damon said nothing. He grabbed the bags from the floor, only vaguely aware that she dropped them at their feet during their kiss, and headed out the door without her. Once he was outside though, he covered his mouth.
What the hell was he thinking? So caught up in a kiss he should have saw right away wasn't really Bonnie's. He vowed not to fall for it again.
When Stefan opened the door, he was surprised Damon was alone. Damon opted out of telling Stefan what went on between him and Evelyn.
"How's little Ms. Forbes doing?"
"She's... It's bad."
"I've been told I'm terrible at it but let me take a crack at this." His said as he cracked his knuckles.
"This isn't a joke Damon," Stefan said as Damon walked right past him and onto the house.
"Who's joking?" Damon asked in all seriousness.
When he found Caroline curled up on a couch, cradling a pillow, he exhaled. She was perfectly still except for the moments her body would jerk and shed grab her stomach.
"Caroline?" Damon stepped into the living room. When she didn't reply, he called to her again, "Care?"
"You don't get to call me that."
"And she speaks! I gotta say I was worried there for a sec. Also, if I don't call you Care who will? My brother isn't one for cute pet names."
She lifted her head from her pillow. "Get out of my house."
"I can't do that. I'm here to help you get out of this funk. Here," he tossed the blood bags to her. She allowed it to fall to the fall instead of catching it.
She rose to her feet. "Get out or I'll make you."
"Yes! That's the fire I want. I mean, hugging your pillow while you cry on the couch? This is who you are now?"
"You don't know who I am," she growled as her fangs descended.
Damon smirked and nodded towards her. "Then show me."
Caroline didn't hesitate to lunge at the older Salvatore brother with every intent to kill him. Her mother will have to forgive her. Damon had it coming ever since he lured her in and made her his personal blood bag. He didn't deserve forgiveness, he didn't deserve Elena, and he certainly didn't deserve to have Bonnie as a best friend either.
Damon took the punches Caroline laid on him without a fight, one sock to the chest had him hurdled across the room and through a window. On the ground outside, Damon cursed aloud.
Caroline jumped out the window and landed in front of him.
"I hate you. Everything you touch turns to shit!" She kicked him with every word she uttered. "First me, then Elena, and now Bonnie. You ruin people!"
Damon spat out blood and slowly got to his feet. "So what? I'm the bad guy. I always have been and I always will be!" He squared his shoulders as the broken bones in his body amended and healed itself. "Of all the crap I put you through personally, Bonnie being possessed and staking you to a wall is what has you lying in a fetal position? Stefan was locked in a box for an entire season, drowning over and over again, and he gets up every damn day."
"I'm not Stefan," she cried, her tears blurring her vision. "And I'm not an Augustine vampire."
Damon exhaled and slowly walked up to her. Her blue eyes were unsteady but his weren't. She was standing still as Damon opened his arms and gently put them around her. She started to shake again but Damon hadn't let her go.
"You're so good, Caroline. What Evelyn did, it's already in the past. Nothing to do now but look ahead."
Caroline pushed at Damon's chest and freed herself from his hold. "You're no expert in moving on Damon." And it was the truth as far as the world knew.
Damon hesitated before speaking. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "What if I told you I'm so much better at it now?"
She shrugged. "I'd think you were lying but that's none of my business."
"Fair. But kicking my ass must have felt good."
Caroline chuckled despite herself. It earned a grin from Damon. "Yeah well you also didn't fight back. I won't count that as the ass whooping you deserve."
Stefan watched them from inside the house, through the massive hole on the side of her house where a window used to be. Seeing Caroline fill to the brim with rage and then Damon allowing himself to be her punching bag was nothing short of insane. Yet he knew not to make a sound. Damon was serving a purpose that he wouldn't have been able to.
And then he saw Caroline laugh, although dryly. Damon is shameless and that made him more honest than he was at times like these.
"So which one of you is going to pay to have this window fixed?"
Caroline pointed at Damon and Damon pointed at Stefan.
"Matt!" Bonnie smiled at him.
"Hey babe," Matt hugged her tight. "Let's go, I'm hungry."
It's dangerous at night, Matt had decided, so they've been seeing each other during Matt's lunch breaks during the day. At least until he felt like he had some grip over the recent crimes occurring in Mystic Falls.
They sat down in the outdoor seating at a restaurant. Matt was in a good mood but Evelyn knew that would change as soon as she started talking. As soon as the truth was out. She stalled, content with listening to Matt talk about his day. Work was tough but work is always tough. His deputies all look up to him and he felt guilty for not having his life as together as they all think he does.
"They're looking at me as the guy who has it all put together. And you made it worse."
"Me?"
"Yeah, you come by the precinct smiling at everyone and bringing me lunch, they think my life is perfect because of you."
She blushed. "I can't help being so perfect."
"But you're not perfect either. You get the funny little vein in your forehead whenever you're upset."
Bonnie slapped her hand over her forehead. "Shut up!"
He laughed, filling her stomach with butterflies yet again. It was his fault that Evelyn hesitated to leave Mystic Falls. It was because of him that Evelyn felt emotions that did nothing but weaken her resolve.
"I have to tell you something," she started slowly. Matt won't make a scene, she knew, but she feared the look he'd give her. He'll hate her. "I'm not really Bonnie Bennett."
"What?" Matt asked. He wasn't sure he heard right.
"My name is Evelyn Aronson, a witch. I'm possessing Bonnie's body. I'm the one… you've really been with this the entire time."
His eyes widened. "Bonnie?"
"Evelyn," she emphasized.
"Oh god…" Matt's expression hardened. "What hell did you do with Bonnie?"
"She's still here," she touched her chest. "She's still inside."
"What do you want?" He spat. They hadn't been in a good place after all. It was all a lie and Matt pitifully fell for it. Not once did he question Bonnie's new personality, too caught up in the passion because he was so damn happy just to have her.
She shook her head, unable to speak right away. "Nothing. I don't want anything, Matt, not from you, you're fine."
"I'm fine? You!" Matt's voice rose and then he looked around. "You stole my friend's body for a reason right? What the hell do you want then?"
Tears lined her green eyes. "I just want to be free."
"You hijack someone's body and then talk about freedom?"
She wiped away her tears. "I had no other choice."
Suddenly, Matt guessed the truth. "It was you… behind all the murders."
She looked at him with sad eyes but Matt wasn't moved. "You watched me be wrecked over these cases and went on as if you were innocent."
"It's either me or them, Matt," her voice hardened. "I choose me and I don't care how brutal I have to be about it."
"So what, who are you going to kill next? Me?"
She laughed. "No, I would never," then she added, "unless provoked. You know the truth now so there are no more lies between us."
"Why can't you just let her go?" He pleaded.
"Because she's the perfect candidate. Her blood line is exceptional and she was easy to find."
Matt glared at her. Evelyn felt ashamed for wanting this man even more. Even when he was mad, he was beautiful. There was absolutely nothing he could do to make her hate him and yet she knew she'd still kill him before he got in her way any further.
"So that's it? You take her body and run off with it?"
She replied honestly, "You can always run with me."
Matt sucked his teeth and stood. "And why the hell would I do that."
"Matt wait! This could still work!" She reached for him and he smacked her hand away.
"Give Bonnie back her body. Otherwise stay the hell away from me."
Evelyn sat still for a long time after Matt left. What an idiot she'd been. There was nothing more important to her than her freedom and nothing more vital in the world than her own safety. Yet she risked it all in the name of Matt Donovan.
Stupid.
She took a deep breath. She'll have to move forward. Maybe Matt will manage to survive the oncoming carnage and she'll come back for Matt once he has no other options.
"You've been awfully quiet. Still upset about earlier?"
'This is what you like right? I could almost understand you and Matt. But Damon? What was that about?'
"Damon is fond of you so I wanted to see how far that went. He must like you a lot right?" Evelyn stopped caring if the people she walked by questioned her sanity. Matt was the only one that mattered. "Besides, it's not like I was getting any closer to sleeping with Matt."
'You're sick.'
"Oh please. A girl's got needs. So what if I'll take it from Matt or Damon?"
'Sex isn't the problem here Evelyn! This isn't your body and it's not you Matt or Damon wants to be around.'
"If Damon let loose a little I'm sure he'll have me. Did you feel the spark between us? Did you know Damon wanted you that badly?"
'Damon doesn't want me. He's waiting for Elena.'
"So that kiss was a fluke? Listen sister, I can flip through your memories like a book. I can point to at least a dozen times where you two were close enough to touch. So what if he's waiting for Elvira to wake up..."
"Elena," Bonnie corrected.
"That doesn't mean he could never be attracted to you. And it definitely can't be that he could never fall in love again."
'I don't want to talk about this. Especially not with you.'
"Suit yourself. But I'm officially single and ready to seduce Damon if I have to. Or maybe Stefan, but, he'd be more of a gentleman though right?"
'You're disgusting.'
She smiled.
A few days after everyone got to know the truth, Evelyn moved into the Salvatore home. She decided she'd be safer there and the Salvatore brothers begrudgingly agreed.
Matt agreed to keep a lookout for newcomers into town. He blockaded every entrance into Mystic Falls except one. No one was getting through without his knowledge. Caroline spent most of her time inside her house with Stefan but the memory of her month in Bonnie's basement didn't sit so heavily in her chest. Could she pull through like Damon said she would?
"When is this witch supposed to visit anyway?" Damon asked. He was more irritated than usual now that Evelyn inside Bonnie's body was around all the time. He was used to her face of course; they lived together in his house for months. However, not once did Bonnie make breakfast with hardly any clothes on.
Evelyn looked up and smiled. "Is that how you greet people? That's very rude of you Damon."
"I'd be a little less rude if you had clothes on," he pointed to her and gestured to her body. She had on a thin t-shirt and a pair of panties.
"When I was born, a woman was lynched for being so provocative."
"I'm sure."
She flipped a pancake over the skillet. "See what I'm doing? I'm doing our thing to make you more comfortable," she grinned.
"It's not our thing. It's my and Bonnie's thing. You don't get to use it," he said as he took the skillet from her hands and threw them against the wall.
"I'm sensing some hostility here," she whispered then shook her head with her hands on her hips. "Classic Damon."
Damon made a fist at his sides. He couldn't fight her while she was still inside Bonnie's body. He also couldn't call her a liar. So he left the room, utterly defeated. Classic Damon.
"Now what am I going to eat?" Evelyn questioned aloud. There was a long pause after which she snorted. "Really? Today didn't feel like a victory to you?"
Damon hadn't returned to the house after leaving that morning. In fact, he had disappeared for several days afterward. With Damon gone, Stefan took it upon himself to make sure Evelyn hadn't run off in the night with Bonnie's body. Caroline made him promise to ask how Bonnie was doing for her.
"Who are you talking to?" Stefan questioned as he walked into the kitchen.
"I'm talking to Bonnie. She's quite opinionated."
"Some say so," Stefan's response sounded on the edge of agreeing with her, although he was referring to Damon's early impressions of her.
A moment of silence passed and Evelyn suddenly laughed. "Bonnie's mad that you didn't defend her."
"Is she?" Stefan was suddenly interested in how Bonnie being possessed worked. "You hear her? Excuse me for being a little late on the details of you hijacking my friend's body."
She rolled her eyes. "Unfortunately, in taking someone's body, I can't get rid of the original soul. I'm stuck with Bonnie until I get a new body."
Stefan recalled Katherine taking over Elena's body. He never asked what it felt like not to have control, or if she could see and hear what Katherine was doing. Especially when she was trying to seduce him.
"But passengers shouldn't be able to move into someone's life so seamlessly. You knew all of our names, our history."
Evelyn frowned. "Don't insult me. I am no traveler. I swear, if I'm forced to hear about that low level magical being, I'll scream. It's truly a wonder how they managed to a cause so much trouble."
"You can see into Bonnie's memories? That's..."
"Amazing? Extraordinary? Yes, all that. Trust me, travelers don't compare to witches. They're packs of wild dogs, huddling together for warmth. Even if they had children, it wouldn't compare to what a blood related coven can do."
"Fine," Stefan huffed and threw his hands up. "So you steal her body for her Bennett blood line," Stefan began with an irritated tone; it was the part of the story he got from Damon. "Why not start a coven of your own and not piggyback on the strength of others?"
"A coven?!" Evelyn could laugh at the prospect. "That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid. Covens are suffocating—cult like even. I had to slaughter my entire family just to escape mine."
"You..?"
"Yes. Spelled their throats while they slept so they couldn't scream," She walked closer to Stefan. "Found a knife and gutted them in their beds, one by one," She touched his cheek and continued to speak in an airy attractive tone. "You're a ripper Stefan; you know what it feels like to literally tear through someone's neck. You know that crazed hunger, that infamous, blood soaked high..." She bit her lip.
Stefan's nostrils flared and his fangs descended against his will. "What are you doing to me?" He hissed, suddenly the thirst for blood hit him like a ton of bricks.
"It's a witch's version of compulsion. I'm charming you. It's subtle isn't it?"
"Charming?" His voice was raspy now. He could hear her blood flowing through her veins, calling to him.
She smiled sweetly, got to the tips of her toes, and kissed Stefan on the side of his mouth. "You're so good Stefan. Had I not been tainted by this world you would have been a fine man to marry 2 hundred years ago. Before you loved Katherine and before Laurent loved me."
"Please stop." His eyes were bloodshot now and a sweat broke out on his forehead.
"Tell me you'll give me what I want and I'll free you."
"What is it?"
With her mouth still against his, she uttered Damon's name. "Until I say so, you leave this house. Understand?"
Stefan nodded and suddenly his thirst was tamed. He inhaled violently and looked down at her in shock.
"Charmed?"
"Charmed. It's something I learned how to do from the only witch I know who's more powerful than I am. Unfortunately, it only works on vampires since witches are the ones who created your kind."
"Why do you want Damon so badly?"
"Because Bonnie wants Damon and I won't have to work so hard."
"Hard for what?" Stefan asked and his only answer was a shy laugh.
Damon, under the urging of Stefan. Returned to the Salvatore mansion to stay with Evelyn and Bonnie. Even after Stefan's explanation, Damon didn't understand what subtle compulsion was or why is it that he's never even heard of it until now. Still, until they fulfilled their end of the bargain, nothing else could be done but to make sure Evelyn didn't run off with their friend.
"I own a boutique right?"
"Bonnie owns a boutique," Damon corrected.
They were sitting at the kitchen. Evelyn made breakfast wearing something closer to what Bonnie would wear, a tank top and pajama bottoms. She was also acting sweet and Damon didn't like it.
Damon sucked his teeth. "You think you've got this all figured out huh? I'm going to make sure you don't make it out of this alive."
She stepped forward and looked Damon in the eye. "Try your hand at it Damon. But know that if I die your best friend goes with me. And you'd lose your mind," she whispered as her hands traveled up his stomach and stopped on his chest. "So play nice."
Damon's suddenly found himself sedated. "What is that? That's charming trick of yours? You like to spell vampires?"
She cracked a knowing smile. "It's no spell. Didn't Stefan explain? It's our own little perk after creating the original vampire that would lead to an infestation of your kind."
"If you hate me so much why am I here?"
Evelyn was effectively silenced. Wanting Damon as much as she did despite hating him was definitely an odd occurrence. Unfortunately, it was also completely out of her hands.
"What? No reply?" Damon asked after another moment of silence. Evelyn seemed surprisingly unsure of her response. "Oh, I see, you've got a little crush on me."
Evelyn's expression turned grim. "No I don't."
"I get it; you possessed Bonnie's body and then found out she's got a hottie like me for a best friend."
"That's absurd."
"Well Evelyn, I'm taken. My girl's in a coffin—long story—and I gotta admit—I'm not super attracted to evil witches."
She sucked her teeth. "I don't have to be your type Damon. You'll do as I say anyway or else you'll never see Bonnie's face again. And Bonnie's your type right?"
Damon sighed. For Bonnie, he'll have to play nice. "What do you want?"
Evelyn grinned. "I want to go shopping."
"Shopping?"
"Yes. Bonnie's wardrobe is pitiful. I want new clothes and jewelry and other things that are expensive and shiny." She sat down and sighed. "I can't live an ordinary life Damon," she confessed. "Bonnie's existence is as extraordinary as paint drying. She's is a side character in her own life. How sad."
"You can always exit Bonnie's body and I'll end that life of yours. Call it mercy."
Evelyn shrugged. "Oh Damon, you can't kill me. I know you'll try if I do leave this body but it wouldn't work because vampires are inferior to witches and I could literally blow your brains out through your nose."
"Cute," he muttered.
"Hey Elena..." Stefan approached the coffin. It was late and he finally found the right moment to come see her. He sat down and stared at the coffin. Years were passing by but every time he sat with her, it felt like only yesterday did they put her coffin in this tomb.
"I, um... I wrote some stuff down," he started as he pulled his folded journal from his pocket. "I thought I'd give this writing thing another chance but... you know its hard for me to break a habit. I feel like I'd rather just be here, as creepy as that sounds."
He took a deep breath, opened his journal, and read aloud every word he'd written. He talked about Caroline, Damon, and Bonnie. Then he talked about Evelyn and the damage she caused. When Elena went to sleep, she worried about Bonnie living her life the most. Bonnie deserved all the happiness in the world for all the sacrifices she's made for her friends and family.
"You should have seen her Elena..." He went on. "Caroline's a wreck. She beat the crap out of Damon which must have felt good but I don't know how else to help. And Bonnie's still stuck inside herself somewhere. Damon and I have to get rid of this Laurent guy or else Evelyn disappears with Bonnie and then... I never get to see either of you again."
He stood then and placed his hand on the casket. "I wish you were here. Maybe if you were we could have figured this all out together. Caroline needs help, Bonnie needs help, Damon still needs help, and me? I don't know what I'm doing anymore."
