Title: And There Will Be Blood
By: Jezzi B.
URL: visit jezzibness . livejournal . com for all chapters in a cleaner format.
Fandom: Vampire Diaries (Book & TV)
Pairing: Damon/Bonnie
Rating: M +16
Type: Multi-chapter
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the show, book series or the characters. The writing here in is for no profit and simply a fan work.
Summary: Bonnie receives an unwanted Christmas gift from Damon with a shocking message. We go back five weeks into the past to see how things lead up to Christmas. Bonnie is now experiencing a new life in New York with her boyfriend—who happens to be Elena's ex—Matt. Her abilities seem to have dissipated, allowing her to finally lead a normal life. Everything seems picture perfect until Damon shows up in town to deliver her a message that someone close to her will die if she doesn't retrieve her powers.
NOTE: I am going to write the characters as they are in the current show, but incorporate elements from the book series. Try your best to remove what's happened in the storyline of the show/book, I'm touching on those elements, but I've written this story from the angle of Bonnie not fully knowing what Damon is. I wanted to take this approach because it works better for the story.
AND THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Chapter 9: Roots Entwined
"I have no soul! There is no redemption. You can plan and pretend to be human, but I chose to have power!" Damon was snapping the words through his fangs.
Stefan was being held firmly by the throat. Damon squeezed viciously without pause.
"There is freedom of choice Damon, simply because we are vampires, it doesn't mean we have to let our primal instincts define us!" Stefan contended.
"You chose to love!" Elena shouted.
Damon whipped his menacing gaze around to Elena. She was breathing so hard, angry, worried and determined to save Stefan. It was almost touching.
"You told me you wanted to make Bonnie a vampire, I thought you were insane, but I just started to understand it. You care about her and you don't even understand what you're feeling. You don't want to love someone that will wither and die, because Katherine's betrayal and death hurt you so much—"
Elena hesitantly added, "—and you won't hurt Stefan, or me. You were never going to let that thing get us. You've had over a hundred years to kill Stefan; you've saved him every time."
Damon's hand released Stefan's throat. He couldn't deny it, any of it. In the past he'd have delivered a comeback, he wouldn't have even cared. Today was different; Elena was able to understand something within himself that he hadn't even accepted yet.
Elena hurriedly seized possession of Stefan as he knelt in the snow. Their affection for one another was too apparent. They were inseparable; even with Elena remaining a feeble human, their souls were infinitely bound.
I always wanted to make you miserable, little brother. I wanted you to feel how I felt. What a twist of fate, you end up making me feel what you do.
Something wasn't right. He'd been far too distracted; he didn't even notice that there was one voice missing from the chorus. He knew before he could even turn around that she was gone.
"Bonnie!" Elena was screaming.
"She took the tome!" Stefan's voice was unsteady.
Damon could see Bonnie running in the distance, kicking up snow with each pound she made against the earth. There was no time. He had to stop her. He had led the creature right to them and Bonnie was defenseless.
Stupid. Why are you sacrificing yourself? You know he'll kill you.
The idiotic witch actually was trying to save their lives, and in the process—giving up her own…
Why?
Why save me? After all I've said to you, why save me?
Before Damon's muscles could react, she was gone. Her small frame carried off into the wind and skies. With the departure of Bonnie, Damon's entire world had stopped.
There were no sounds anymore.
He couldn't hear the wind. He couldn't feel the snow beneath his feet.
Elena was yelling at him, racing in her skinny-leg jeans towards him to pound on his chest furiously. With all of her tears and her antagonism, he still couldn't hear any of it.
Stefan was trying his best to stay on his feet; his skin was sick and pale from the vervain poisoning. His brother's eyes meet his own and within them Damon could see no judgment. There were few instances in his years with Stefan where they shared such an expression—no—here, and now, Stefan's eyes reflected back support.
"Elena, stop." Stefan's voice was as smooth as water through a brook, "Damon has to go."
Elena's fists were dropping to her sides, her sudden aggression shifting into concern, "He can't go after her alone! Stefan, you know how powerful that thing is, even Damon can't kill that thing by himself!"
Damon's face was void of all emotion. He had no words of valor or promises to return to impart to the two. He was used to being the bad-guy and he knew what to say as one.
Damon tuned to show his back to the two; the action alone displaying his resolve to go unattended.
"Damon?" Stefan called after his brother.
Damon didn't speak or turn around, he simply turned his chin towards his left shoulder, listening.
"Make the right choice…" Stefan said no more than this.
Damon smirked slowly and in a flutter of black and feather a crow flew into the still winter air.
"Don't touch me…" She could only whisper.
If she were to be loud or yell she feared what he would do. His presence was so ominous it made her stomach turn weak and sick. His fingertips were stained with blood that smelled horrible. It had to be old animal blood—at least she prayed that it was.
The Nightmare Man; he was all the things born of a child's night terrors, death was worn about him like a cloak despite whatever bestowing of immortality he possessed.
He placed one finger against Bonnie's collarbone.
His skin was so frosty it burned. Bonnie's eyes fluttered terribly. She couldn't stop her body from shaking. Her powers were reacting uncontrollably to the creature.
Blackness was filling her vision; everything was going dark.
Remember who you are, Bonnie.
Who are you?
You are not the normal girl.
Bonnie forced her eyes open with all the strength in her body. Such a small task felt so heavy and so painful. She was fighting against the affects of the creature.
Her bright eyes were met with red-rimmed ones.
"Resilient," The creature whispered like a snake. He was intrigued.
His long fingers unexpectedly were growing sharp claws. His hand was hovering slowly over her heart. He was going to take her heart; she had felt that from the moment she first encountered the creature.
He began to chant in Ancient Greek, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he loomed need her.
Bonnie prepared to die.
Mentally she had accepted death; her life I exchange for her friends to live on. She reminded herself that it was never about her; she came to Alaska to save Stefan and Elena. They were safe now.
"Not smart, you were far too easy to track with the scent of that goats blood lingering on you…"
Bonnie knew that voice, but it couldn't be…
She slowly placed her attention towards the narrow staircase.
Damon was standing there with crows' feathers about his feet. He was silently furious. Bonnie had seen Damon angered, but not like this. It was a quiet seething of unbridled rage being held back with a great deal of effort. His fangs were already visible, dark veins raced beneath his eyes in anticipation.
No—why did you come here? I tried to save you!
Bonnie could think it, but she couldn't say it.
The creature stood to full posture, his tall frame stretched out like a shadow.
"You are used to believing you always have the upper-hand. You are here, because I wanted you to be here," The nightmare man hissed.
"Get away… from her…" Damon was fighting to keep his composure.
"I wanted you to see how the ambrosia you so desire is made," the creature continued.
"Get away… from her…" Damon repeated.
"You must devour the heart, in its entirety. The heart of a powerful human with the lineage of the ancients is required. The heart must be filled with sorrow—" The nightmare man grinned insidiously, "The sorrow she will feel when she sees the person she loves die…"
Bonnie's lips passed a quick breath, "Damon run!"
Bonnie could feel a tear running down the side of her face. The creature was going to kill Damon and make her watch.
Damon didn't move, in fact, he waited for the creature to make the first move. The Nightmare man moved like a cobra with his strike. His claws were the first to make contact with Damon's flesh, ripping open his shirt and causing his skin to bleed.
This fight was different from the one at Samuel's; this was the battle to end all battles. Damon was not slacking, he was pouring every ounce of himself into the fight, grasping against the creature's arms and twisting it until it snapped. The harder Damon fought, the stronger the beast seemed to become; simply shaking his bones back into place before stabbing his foe once more.
Damon's blood was starting to stain the floor; his unearthly beautiful features becoming marred by the dark rouge liquid.
Bonnie's tears were flowing freely, she could hardly see through them.
The creature slammed Damon against the floor, thrusting down his claws through Damon's shoulder to nail him there painfully. Damon released a loud, ferocious growl as his fingers literally tried to scrape the claws out of his flesh.
"Your spirit impresses me," the creatures tongue was thin, red and far too long.
The creature twisted his claws in deeper.
"I see myself in your eyes, young vrykolokas. There is more ways to inflict her with sorrow than simply your death. A choice I present to you, vrykolokas. One, break her heart, break her soul and feast with me. Have immortality with me. Two, die pitifully and painfully. End your bane existence."
Damon was laughing; even pinned against the floor bleeding profusely, he simply laughed.
The creature tilted his head in curiosity, "You laugh at this?"
Damon met the nightmares gaze without shrinking in the least.
"You think that I would actually consider being stuck with you for eternity an attractive proposition? You took something that is mine, someone that belongs to me. Someone I promised that come heaven or hell I'd clutch her from the grips of the grim reaper himself to reclaim her. This vrykolokas chooses the human."
Bonnie's world was spinning. Damon was confessing indirectly in his own way. No matter what, no matter whom, he'd always be there to protect her. She couldn't be weak; she couldn't let it end here.
Damon, why did it take me so long to see?
The creature watched Damon with intrigue as if the Damon's beliefs were nothing ore than a curious thought process. The Nightmare cracked a crooked smile with red, shiny broken lips. He arched his back high like a cat, revealing a protruding boney spine.
He softly whispered in a slippery tone, "Then you choose to die—permanently…"
The creature slid out a wooden stake from the pocket of his robe, holding it high over Damon's chest.
"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Bonnie shrieked and when she did her bonds began to burn off her wrists. Immediately she sat up; her eyes were swimming with fire, and her fists were clenched. There were no windows, but all about Bonnie there was wind stirring her hair around her face.
The creature quickly turned his attentions to Bonnie, staring in awe at the power that swam about her.
Damon didn't waste the golden opportunity. He jerked forward, shoving his palm against the stake to turn it towards the Nightmare man. There was a split moment of recognition as the two met face-to-face. A startling revelation was merited at that moment. Damon was able to see, he was not a monster—not like this heartless thing. Damon was better than him.
And without faltering, Damon plunged the stake into the heart of the beast.
The creature claws were retracted and his hold was relinquished. He stood to his feet, struggling to tug out the wooden dagger.
Damon shouted out, "Bonnie, use fire, NOW."
On cue all of the fire and wind that swirled about Bonnie was now flying towards the creature. The candles now obeyed the commands of Bonnie over their previous master. The Nightmare howled like a wounded fox as the flames licked him apart.
This was the key to killing the immortal. The very person, whose heart had the power to grant the immortality, had the power to take it away.
The Nightmare's cheeks sunk in quickly, turning hollow and black. He was reverting back to a dried up thousand-year-old corpse. Once his ashes hit the ground, the flames exploded onto the floor and the walls.
Bonnie's eyes were turning back to normal and reality was returning. They were in a burning building…
"Damon! We have to go now," Bonnie was shielding herself from the flames as she made an effort to get close to Damon.
He remained on the floor with a pool of blood all around him. Even in such a weak position his eyes were defiant and his teeth made him look just as dangerous as he was at full health.
"Go…" Damon's voice rough.
How could she possibly listen to that request? Bonnie knelt at his side, staining her clothing with his dark blood. Her thin arms reached to lift his head into her lap. It reminded her of how Samuel had died, and how helpless she had been to stop it.
"No," Bonnie uttered quietly.
Damon's piercing eyes stared back into Bonnie's fiery ones.
"I didn't give up a perfectly good immortality for you to pull a Romeo and Juliet here," Damon was able to make jokes even in the face of death.
The fire grew hungrier and closer.
"I won't leave you, 'heaven or hell'—you know—from the grim reaper himself…" Bonnie forced a bittersweet smile as she quoted him.
The way Damon was looking at her now, no other man had before. He was looking at her as if she were an amazing piece of artwork hanging in an extravagant gallery in a foreign country. He was staring at her with eyes of hunger, amusement and discovery. His expression alone made her belly ache.
Damon's blood covered hand lifted up to touch Bonnie's hair. She didn't mind, not anymore. Then his fingers were on her neck, she didn't mind that either. His fingers were strong as he firmly made her crane down to meet his lips.
She felt his mouth on hers without any resistance. Sounds became fuzzy and the heat mixed with the orange glow of the flames felt almost pleasant with him tasting her. She was melting into his arms, starving to just be near him now. The witch and the vampire; Fire & Ice. He was kissing her with a dark desire that was growing within. Her body was pressed down on his chest.
She realized that she didn't want the moment to end. They couldn't die here. Damon was too weak to leave; the creature had damaged his body too deeply. She knew there was only one cure to repair a Vampire's health immediately.
She lifted his other hand to the base of her throat, letting his fingers feel how strong her pulse was.
She could feel his body shift beneath her; he was stimulated by the warm flow of her blood.
It's okay. You can take my blood…
Damon broke from the kiss soundly, snapping out his fangs to linger them near her chocolate throat.
The flames were closing in. There wasn't enough time!
There was a loud noise and then the house above was shaking. Their affectionate pose was lost as the wounded vampire prepared to defend Bonnie once more.
A dark figure hot through the flames and landed beside them. The figure rose to turn towards the two, revealing his face.
It was Stefan. He was back to health.
"Stefan?" Damon was genuinely astonished.
Stefan offered a hand to help Damon to his feet.
"Despite the fact that we have our differences, you are my brother. Always."
Damon was reluctant to accept the offer, but ultimately he did…
