Elements of an Ill-fated Romance
Chapter Seven Part One: That which we Refuse to See
Playlist: Viva La Vida by: Coldplay & Tell me the Worst by: Will Young
She had been having nightmares… It started with flashes of sharp canines moving towards her, red-blood pupils staring her down… haunting her at night in her dreams. And then came the screams; His screams of agony waking her from a restless sleep that turn into her own of fear and apprehension. Covered in a cold sweat, her whole body shaking she swears that she never killed him at all.
Ever since that night of the stakeout she had been haunted by the vampire that almost ended her. He has infiltrated her mind and taken up permanent residence in her dreams forcing her to abstain from sleep at all costs… living off of caffeinated beverages, and uppers. But it's not enough because he's showing up everywhere… his image bleeding into her waking life. He looms in hallways, appears around corners, lives in every mirror.
She first sees him in her car as she's trying to merge lanes on her way to school. Elena was in the passenger seat rummaging through her backpack complaining that she may have left her research paper at the Salvatore boarding house. She blames Stefan for her predicament even as she sends him a text about loving him. She laughs softly trying to cover a yawn when she looks into the mirror to move to the next lane. He's in her back seat, blood stained teeth, pale skin and a grin that's so wide and menacing that she screams and jerks the steering wheel dramatically to the left. When she looks again he's gone. She swallows hard, her breathing is harsh her heart slamming against her ribs painfully.
"Bonnie… are you okay?"
Elena's voice sounds like its volume is set on low. Gradually coming back to its full level along with honking of cars as they pass her by and stare. One guy goes so far as to give her the finger but it's slow to compute… everything seems to slowly ease back to the forefront. "Bonnie… hey… you still there?"
"Yeah… yeah I just thought… I thought I saw…" She shook her head and swallowed hard. "Sorry… I think I just dozed off." She answered lamely. She offered a small smile that she can barely feel. And they both know her statement is a lie but she won't look at her, and Elena doesn't have the heart to push the issue.
"Bonnie…"
"I'm fine." Her words are soft but firm and that's where they leave it. The rest of the ride is filled with a tense silence.
The next time is at school. She was alone in the girls' locker room changing for gym class. Slipping her arms through a thin blue ¾ length sleeve school t-shirt over black shorts, she closed her locker door and saw him. He lunged for her. Sharp fangs, clawed fingernails, came at her and there was no Damon to pull him off. Her scream bounced off the narrow walls as she stumbled back, tripping over the bench she hit the ground hard. Her heart slammed against her chest as she took deep breaths. Looking around the empty space she found little comfort in the fact that she was alone. She exhaled a shaky breath as the tears clouded her eyes… her hands were shaking as she brought them to her trembling lips.
"I'm going insane." She whispered to herself.
Sliding up the locker doors she ignored the way the metal scraped into her flesh. Taking a moment to compose herself she finished up and headed outside.
The sun is hot against her skin chasing away the chill that had settled inside her. She heads for the track, and smiles at the coach. He gives a small nod. "You're late…Give me four laps Bennett with the hurdles." He states marking her tardy on the clipboard.
She nods thinking the exertion might do her some good. But her legs feel like dead weights and by the time she hits the second corner she's already winded and by the third bend there is a stitch in her side and she has to stop completely. Pressing her fingers into the shooting pain she winces and leans over resting on a hurdle trying to catch her breath. And that's when she sees the tips of shiny black leather shoes. And she knows it's him even before she looks up into his eyes. They are shielded behind dark square shaped shades and he's smirking at her. "What do you want?" She asks tiredly.
"I thought cheerleaders were supposed to be all tight butts and chipper. Now you've obviously got the tight butt down but you really need to work on that attitude." He remarked and she could see the arch of his eyebrow as it's raised over the rim of his glasses.
She rolled her eyes as she stood up straight. She wiped the thin film of sweat with the back of her hand and swallowed hard.
"You don't look good." He observed. He peered at her and she could feel the intensity of his stare even behind his shades. "You look kind of pale."
"You're one to talk." Looking away she sighed. "Why are you here; you can't be here." She exhaled in a deep breath because words were hard to expel in her current state.
He shrugged absently as he stared her down. "I came for your endearing company... you're eyes are really puffy." He finishes the sentence as if the two are connected.
"No they're not!" And the words are a lie because she knows exactly how puffy they are… but this is Damon and he doesn't deserve to be right. "Answer my question."
"What question?" He asked but the smile that crested his lips said he knew exactly what question.
She sighed. "What are you; five? Do you really have nothing else better to do than follow me around?" She began walking the laps being sure to amble around the hurdles.
"Is that what you think I'm doing?" He questioned and she arched an eyebrow at the way he had fallen into step beside her. If he noticed the hypocrisy of the situation he didn't mention it.
"I don't know what you're doing… or trying to do. So why don't you just tell me and then leave?" She asked softly feeling the tension in her side ease away with each step.
"You know I'm getting the impression that you don't want me around."
"Really?" The sarcasm dripped from her response even as she winced from the pain.
He looked down at her. "You know I could help with that." He offered.
"Right like I would ever let you touch me." She scoffed.
"Oh so I guess that was another vampire in the library teaching you the waltz?"
"Yeah… Stefan!" She retorted. "Speaking of which, why aren't you off bothering him?" She asked.
"Because I'm here bothering you." He answered. "And let's just set the record straight that if it weren't for me you would have fallen all over yourself at that wedding. You would have torn that pretty purple dress before you blinked.
"Stefan was a great teacher and wait…How did you know my dress was purple?" She asked a moment later.
"Facebook." He answered quickly.
"What do you know about Facebook?"
He shrugged. "What; because I was born in the eighteen hundreds I can't know about Facebook?" He shot back. "Hell I have more friends than you do."
"You're so... weird." She remarked.
"I've been called worst." He smiled.
She furrowed her brow. "Look Damon, I'm really not in the mood for this today."
"Well that's too bad." He cut her off.
"Yeah and why is that?" She asked
Stepping in her path he sighed. "Because you and I are going on a road trip."
She raised a brow. "What are you talking about?"
"You…me… my car… the open road; You know that sounds kind of kinky." He stated as if imagining the possibilities.
She chuckled because obviously he had been out in the sun for way too long. "I'm not going anywhere with you."
He sighed. "So you're just going to allow innocent people to die?" He asked and only waited a moment before continuing. "There have been reports of vicious attacks targeting backpackers going through the trails of Maryland and I thought seeing as how your overflowing with self-righteousness that you would want in."
She furrowed a brow at his statement as if giving it some thought. "Perhaps they're animal attacks." She replied and saw his questionable stare. "What; it's not unheard of for a bear or a mountain lion to attack people!"
He nodded. "How many mountain lions do you know leave their victims in treetops with puncture wounds to the neck?" He asked and got little satisfaction from her widening pupils.
"Another vampire?"
"Ding, ding, ding! Give the girl a prize!" He clapped slowly. "Now can we please stop messing around and get going?"
"Wait… I'm not going with you to Maryland."
He threw his head back as if exasperated. "Why not?"
"Well for one…I don't want to go with you. Why can't you take Stefan?" She asked with a furrowed brow.
"Because he annoys me… and he's weak. Not to mention he would suck all the fun out of this with his brooding." He added and saw just the hint of a smile... he could tell that she was wavering. "Besides I thought you wanted to be apart of the great fight against evil. And I am really disappointed that you would allow your personal feelings to get in the way of helping innocent people." He remarked haughtily.
"I wouldn't… I'm not!" She defended hating the self-righteousness in his stare.
"Then what is it?"
"Look around you! I'm at school! It's not like they're just going to allow me to walk right off school property, get into a car with you and drive off!"
"Not a problem. I'll be right back." He smiled before turning on his heel and making a beeline for her PE coach.
She watched them for a moment unable to hear the conversation. Damon had his hand on the older man's shoulder as though relaying crucial information. Minutes later she was given a pass, being excused from class and sent on her merry way.
She furrowed her brow but was too stunned to question what just happened. Twenty minutes later she was in the passenger seat of his car and pulling out of the school parking lot.
His hands on the steering wheel, fingers tapping to the beat of Coldplay coming through the speakers he smirked.
She turned to him. "How did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"That… back there. How did you convince him to let me go?"
He shrugged. "My powers of persuasion are out of this world." He suggested. "Let's just being a vampire has its perks."
To her the words were too cryptic and she didn't have the energy to decipher them.
"Whatever." She rolled her eyes turning her attention to the passenger window. The scenery whizzed by in a blur of colors. Summer was upon them and with it brought sunshine and the blooming of flowers; Purples, pinks and yellows blending together in an earthy masterpiece.
"Are you going to be a grouch the entire trip because I gotta tell you Bennett…that's kind of a turn-off." He remarked.
She sighed. "This isn't a vacation."
"Oh God; you sound like Stefan…and trust me, that's not a compliment!"
Turning away from the scenery she stared at his profile and it always caught her off guard just how beautiful he truly was… and if it weren't for his sociopathic behavior she might even been attracted to him. "What's the deal between the two of you anyway? Why do you hate him so much?" She asked.
He glanced over at her. "Are we bonding now?"
She shook her head. "Forget I asked. I should know by now that if I want honesty I should go to your brother."
He chuckled darkly. "Right; because he's so pious and full of goodwill towards men."
"At least he never tried to kill me."
"Okay let's get one thing straight; I wasn't trying to kill you! I was… a little upset. If you don't remember your little ancestor reneged on our deal! I think I was entitled to my emotions." He defended. "I mean if you want to get technical it really wasn't even about you!"
"It was kind of about me considering it was my throat you tried to rip out!"
"Semantics…" He pointed out. "You know if anything this is Emily's fault. You should be pissed at her, not me!"
She shook her head. "Your logic baffles the mind do you know that?"
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment." She threw his words back at him and saw him smile ruefully…
Silence settled over them again. This one less tense; It could almost be considered peaceful. Trees fluttered by as they drove. The lull of the engine humming in her ears, the steady pace of the car… all became contributions to relaxing her shredded nerves and trying to coax her into slumber.
And as her eyes drooped she felt cool breath on her neck and sat up sharply. It took her a moment to realize that it was the air conditioning blowing through the vents. Damon looked over at her.
"So what's with the insomnia?" He asked.
"What?"
"Insomnia…It means lack of sleep." He explained.
"I know what it means! I just don't know what you're talking about."
"You're a bad liar."
She sighed. "Fine…I don't want to talk about it."
He waited a beat. "Is it some kind of girl thing?"
She furrowed her brow. "What? What does that even mean?"
"Okay is it a boy thing?" She remained silent in hopes that he would just drop this conversation.
"Your powers maybe?" He hedged.
"No! It's not about my powers! Why can't you just drive and be... quiet?" She asked.
"Alright so it must be a boy thing." He answered. "You know I am a guy… I might be able to help!"
"The only person you're interested in helping is yourself."
There is a beat of silence. "Is it that Taylor boy?" He asked.
"Who?"
"You know… that long faced boy that's always hanging around you like he's a dog in search of a bone? He was at that stupid Founder's Day parade."
"Tyler… Tyler Lockwood?" She asked.
"Yeah… whatever…" He glanced over at her but she remained silent. "No… he's not really your type anyway."
"Because you know my type?"
He shrugged. "I know what you're looking for… good, reliable, Bonnie; quick to right the wrongs of evil-doers… never late for a class; always turns her homework in on time… loyal to her friends to a fault… yeah I think I know your type." He listed off. She rolled her eyes. "Which is why you look for similar things in men… like Matt." If he noticed her shift in her seat he doesn't comment. "Blond hair, blue eyes… a natural golden boy… he would be absolutely perfect for you… if he weren't so into your two best friends."
She is quiet because it is becoming unnerving the way he is reading her. The way the words roll off his tongue makes them sound callous and sting just a little bit more than she wants them to.
"I'm not into Matt." Her statement sounded hollow even before it left her lips.
He threw a look her way letting her know her lie is unnecessary. "Sure you aren't… not that it would matter because he wouldn't be enough for you." And his tone is filled with such a bold certainty that she can't help but be curious.
"Why is that?"
"Because Matt may be nice… but he's boring… predictable… why do you think Elena lost interest?" He asked.
"You don't know what you're talking about… Matt and Elena they always had issues and then after her parents died…" She tried to defend.
He cut in with an eye roll."After her parents dies they drifted apart… if you believe that; then you're not nearly as perceptive as I thought. She was looking for an excuse out of that relationship because it wasn't what she wanted."
"You're making it sound like she used her parents' death as leverage… she's not like that."
"I'm not saying she planned it… She saw an opportunity and she took it… There are many who would have done the same thing… I know I have." He stated. "Your best friend likes excitement and nice guys like Matt are anything but."
"Stefan is a nice guy."
"Stefan is a vampire. And don't act like you haven't seen glimpses of what my brother is capable of… you poked around in his head that night… you know exactly what he can do!" He shot back.
She didn't want to talk about what she had seen in Stefan's mind… she didn't want to visit that place. "Wait… are we talking about me or Elena?" She asked.
"Oh we are definitely talking about you! So keep up!" He smiled. "Little Bonnie Bennett…desperate to blend into a sea of nameless faces… trying so hard not to stand out…the girl that wants nothing more than to be normal… but you're not... never have been and never will be. Attempting to hide what you really are… All that passion… all that magic… simmering beneath that cool façade…just waiting for the right amount of pressure… just a small nudge… Matt wouldn't have a clue what to do with you."
She watched him with rapt attention. The way he licked his lips as if ready to devour her. It created heat in places she was ashamed to think of. "And why is that?" Her voice is soft almost afraid of the answer.
"Because Matt is only human… and for someone like you… that will never be enough." His voice is quiet and serious.
They hold a stare before she finally looks away and she can hear the soft sound of him chuckling beside her. There is heat moving to her cheeks and she's not even sure why but it bothers her… angers her the way he thinks he knows so much… that he can pull her apart with such callousness. Expose her innermost feelings and insecurities as though speaking of the weather. She feels vulnerable… flayed by a sadistic bastard that cares for nothing beyond his own amusement.
"Stop trying to analyze me. You don't know anything about me…" Her voice is low… bordering on the edge of hostility.
"I think I do." His voice is light almost melodic.
Looking over at him she nods. "Right… because you're qualified to pass judgment. You sit there trying to get into my head because you're too scared to face the truth about yourself. It's so much easier to pick me apart than to own up to all those years you wasted pining away for a woman that never cared for you." She stated. "All that waiting… all that loyalty and devotion... God how she must have scarred you."
"I'm just fine..." He smirked but it never quite reached his eyes.
She nodded unbelievably. "Right… Katherine was your whole world for over a hundred years… your reason behind anything and everything and you were merely a fleeting thought in hers." She wanted to stop but he had cut her so deeply and the words just kept coming. "Actions don't lie. The way you treat your brother because he robbed you of something that was never truly yours to begin with… resentful of the possibility that perhaps she preferred him…wanted him more…and you just can't bare it… you can't face the fact that although you might have been willing to give up everything for Katherine… she wasn't even willing to spare a second thought on you.
"You would rather walk around pretending to be all pissed off and threatening to rip her apart but I wonder… which one of us is really hiding… beneath the anger... your cool disposition… what do you really feel… and when the day comes… when you see her again… what are you going to do… whose side are you going to be on?"
They do not speak again for an hour!
