Chapter 10
She wasn't sure what had possessed her to do it; it was like she was almost compelled to do it (which was thankfully impossible, as she still drank her morning tea with enough vervain to make even Klaus feel violently ill). He responded almost immediately and it seemed like the dam finally broke. They crashed through the room, leaving random pieces of clothes strewn across the floor before collapsing on Bonnie's new bed, which groaned terribly under the weight of the both of them. There was something achingly familiar about being with him again, something she hadn't even known she had missed so terribly until now.
"Wakey wakey…"
"Huh" Bonnie grumbled disorientated. She opened one eye and shut it again immediately.
"Eggs and…"
"Please stop!"
Caroline sighed and Bonnie could feel her sit down next to her. "Okay, but only because you look like…"
"Thank you, Caroline" Bonnie muttered and finally emerged from under her covers. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see how you were. Which I think is good, because you don't look to good."
"What do you mean?"
"Did you do something to your hair?"
Bonnie's left hand flew to her hair. "No?"
"Oh, well maybe it's just, I don't know, the light or something. Actually, you look a little like…" Her mouth gaped almost comically. "Bonnie Bennett, you little minx!"
"Oh god…."
"You totally had sex" Caroline exclaimed. "It was that Brent guy, wasn't it? I knew you liked him."
"It wasn't him" Bonnie admitted. She almost wished it was, though, seeing as Kol had apparently fled the scene of the crime like he had Buffy on his tail.
"Oh, one night stand?" When Bonnie shook her head, Caroline frowned. "Please tell me you didn't…"
Bonnie sighed. "I did. I just… It happened and it was amazing and now I feel like a complete idiot because apparently, he didn't agree."
Caroline made a face as she looked around the room. "Did you have sex or have a fight?"
"Bit of both."
"Hm." Caroline tilted her head a little. "What happened?"
"One minute we were yelling at each other and the next, well…"
Caroline jumped off the bed. "Ew, Bonnie! A little warning next time, please!"
Bonnie groaned a little as she got out of bed. She was feeling sore and her muscles felt tired.
"Where are you going" Caroline asked.
"If you're just gonna make stupid faces and immature sounds, I'm gonna get ready for class."
"No, Bonnie wait. I'm sorry, okay, It's just, seriously, Kol?"
"Okay, seriously, Klaus? Why are you being so judgemental?"
"I'm not, I'm worried about you!"
"Well, you have no reason…"
"Bonnie, you were a ghost! When Kol left, you just checked out! It scared me, it scared all of us!"
"I didn't check out, I…" Bonnie started to argue.
"Yes, you did! You didn't talk to us, you barely slept or ate. Stefan had to pick you up to make sure you went to Matt's funeral!" Caroline sighed. "I don't want that to happen to you again, I don't want you to get tangled up into Kol's web only for him to disappear again and you end up hurt again."
"It's not like that" Bonnie muttered, even though it was apparently very much still like that seeing as Kol had left her alone in the bed this morning.
"Then please, Bonnie, explain to me what exactly it is like? Because I'm really afraid you don't know either!"
Bonnie sighed and sat down on her bed. "I can't explain it, it just feels safe to be with him. It makes me feel better."
"I hope you know how unhealthy that sounds?"
"I'm well aware" Bonnie muttered. She looked at her watch. "But thankfully, I get to think about something else for the next two hours."
"What" Caroline asked, looking confused.
"I have class in thirty minutes."
"Oh… Well, you want me to go look for some furniture for you?"
"No, my dad has a meeting in the city next week, I'm sure he won't mind bringing me a few things. So, I guess I'll just see you tomorrow night then?"
"Yes! I can't wait to go to an actual college party."
"Care, I've been telling you over and over again, it's nothing special. Mostly it's just a lot of drunk guys and girls in way too short dresses making really bad lifestyle choices they will surely regret in the morning."
"So? I want to experience that too. It's gonna be awesome!"
Bonnie shook her head; there was just no reasoning with Caroline. "What are you going as?"
"I'm not really sure yet! I've picked out something for you, though."
"No thanks" Bonnie immediately answered. She had let Caroline bully her into increasingly skimpier and stupider costumes every year through high school.
"Come on, Bon! You're like borne to be Jasmine!"
"Jasmine? From Aladdin?"
"Yes!"
"NO" Bonnie almost yelled. "Caroline, just… No!"
"Why not?"
"I am not dressing up in something like that." The thought of showing that much skin made her toes curl in horror.
"But you'd look amazing!"
"I don't care. And I have to be in class in a moment." She walked out before Caroline could argue further.
As it turned out, Bonnie should probably just have accepted the Jasmine costume. Bearing her mid-riff didn't seem quite so bad as being stuck in a two sizes too big maid costume. She was never ever ever asking Sara for a last minute favour again.
"I think you should have…"
"I know" Bonnie growled at Caroline, as they stood in front of the house where the party was held. "I look ridiculous."
"Kinda, yeah" Caroline agreed.
"I hope you realize the irony in your costume" Bonnie bit back at her.
Caroline, in what seemed like the world's worst joke, had dressed as Little Red Riding Hood (or Little Red's daring older sister who worked the Red Light District Fridays to Sunday).
"Klaus helped pick it out."
"Of course he did." With a lot of trepidation, Bonnie knocked on the door and put on her biggest, fakest smile when some frat guy dressed as Donald Trump opened the door. "You're fired" he greeted them. Bonnie just rolled her eyes and followed Caroline inside.
Before they had even walked three feet into the house, both of them had a cup of alcohol in their hands. The music was pounding and there were definitely more people in the room than what was allowed. Caroline was already on her way to the dance floor and Bonnie had been spotted by a guy from her history class.
"Hey Bonnie, right?"
She nodded. "Dave?"
"I'm flattered you remember" he said with a smile. "You look really good."
An obvious lie, but Bonnie let it be; he was probably just trying to be nice. "Thanks. And I must say, you make a really good Perez Hilton."
"Why thank you" he said in girly voice. "Having fun?"
"Just got here."
"Oh, well then you definitely need something better to drink." He turned around and poured her something from the table beside him and handed a new cup to her.
"Thanks" Bonnie smiled and raised the cup.
"Yeah, you don't wanna drink that" someone sad behind her and before Bonnie could protest, her cup was being lifted out of her hand.
"Hey" Dave objected.
"Damon? What are you doing here?"
"Apparently saving you from waking up tomorrow with a very nasty ache" Damon said, staring at Dave.
"What?"
"He spiked your drink" Damon explained with an eye roll before turning to Dave. "Rohypnol?"
"Uh" Dave stuttered, looking at his shoes.
"Yeah, I bet your parents are really proud. Why don't you go home and rethink your life?"
Bonnie stared at Dave's retreating back. "You just Jedi mind-tricked him!"
"I was feeling generous!"
She looked at the cup. "Thanks, I guess. I hadn't noticed anything."
"No worries" he smiled. "It's my job to protect your family line, remember."
"Yes, and remind me again how well that's going?"
"Well, you're still alive and snarking" he countered.
"Why are you here, Damon" she asked and started to move through the throng of people. She had lost sight of Caroline, who had no doubt lost herself on the dance floor.
"I was asked to make sure you were alright."
She wanted to groan. "So Kol compelled you to be my guardian for the night."
Damon stepped in front of her and smiled a little. "I don't need to be compelled for something like that."
Bonnie wasn't sure how to respond to that. "What are you dressed as?"
"I'm Christan Grey" he said with a smirk, indicating the fact that he was wearing a suit.
"How original."
"Coming from the what, really frigid maid?"
"I had to borrow an outfit from a friend" Bonnie defended.
"You might want to rethink that next year. Maybe invest in a pointy hat and a fake rubber nose. I take it you already got the broom."
"Oh ha ha" Bonnie muttered. "So why are you really here?"
"I already told you, I was asked to look out for you tonight. And clearly you need it."
"Who asked you?"
Damon narrowed his eyes a little and suddenly pushed her hair away from her neck. Bonnie quickly slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me."
"I take it you've made up with Kol?"
She self-consciously covered the mark at the base of her neck. He hadn't actually bitten her as much as he had nibbled, but it had left a mark all the same.
"Maybe you should ask him to go easier on you next time" Damon suggested with a raised eyebrow.
"Stay out of it" Bonnie warned, trying once again to shake him off by walking into a new crowd of people.
"Or maybe you like it a little rough? Is that it?"
"I swear I am about two seconds from setting you on fire" Bonnie warned.
Damon scoffed at her. "Please, I know you're malfunctioning."
Bonnie flew around to face him so fast it made her dizzy. "What?"
"Why do you think I'm here?"
"Kol told you?"
"I think it's pretty obvious, seeing as you haven't as much as lit a damn candle since leaving Mystic Falls."
"How do you know that?"
"I like to check in."
As if having Kol admit to keeping tabs on her wasn't enough, Damon just had to stalk her as well. She briefly pictured the two of them sitting in Kol's squad car, sharing a donut and taking turns watching her through a pair of binoculars. They were both complete psychos.
"Hey… What are you doing here?" Caroline had just popped up in front of them and her tone turned from peppy drunk to frosty in a manner of seconds.
"Oh look, it's Little Red Riding Ho."
"Go to hell Damon" Caroline sneered.
"Take a look around, Barbie… I'm already there" he countered with his usual smirk.
"Come on Bonnie, let's dance."
Bonnie wasn't sure what she was most inclined to do; she really didn't like dancing with Caroline, who usually just used her as a human pole, but chatting with Damon wasn't exactly her idea of fun either. She let Caroline push her out onto the dance floor.
"What the hell is Damon Salvatore doing here?"
Bonnie shrugged. She didn't feel like getting into detail about how he had apparently been stalking her on a hobby basis. She was genuinely shocked, though; she had no idea he cared enough to take a break from his busy schedule of stalking Elena.
"Lots of drunk college girls…. Seems like his type of party" Bonnie muttered as she tried to move to the beat of the music.
"He's such a creeper" Caroline said with a scowl, but her disposition suddenly turned sunny. "You're here!"
Bonnie turned around and saw Klaus. It was like the people on the dance floor just parted for him automatically to let him through to them (proving that drunk people in fact did have a natural survival instinct). "Speaking of creepers" Bonnie muttered, looking him up and down.
Klaus was wearing scrubs and had paired them with shiny black military boots and what appeared to be the remains of his dinner. His blond hair was combed into a razor sharp side part and on his chest a label said 'gynaecologist". Bonnie almost threw up.
She didn't even bother to excuse herself but just walked off the dance floor, intending to find the nearest exit. She had been to the party for maybe an hour and she was so ready to just go home now. Maybe she would rent the Notebook on her way. She had just spotted the door when someone called her name.
"Bonnie, hey!"
"Hey Brent" Bonnie greeted. She tilted her head a little when she noticed his costume. "And you're dressed as a vampire?"
"You like it" he asked with a smile.
"Uh…"
"Because, you know, of the whole you being Bella thing."
Her eyes must have looked almost comically wide. "What?
"Our talk…" Brent suddenly looked like he dearly regretted his costume.
"Oh yeah, right" Bonnie laughed uneasy, thinking back to their initial meeting. "Funny."
"So, you want a drink?"
"I'm kinda taking it easy right now" she said, not trusting someone she barely knew to hand her drink at the moment.
"Oh okay, sure… So, are you at least enjoying the party?"
Bonnie looked over to where Caroline and Klaus were dancing. "Yeah, sure" she lied easily and smiled at Brent.
"Hey you wanna dance" he asked when he noticed her looking at the dance floor.
"Uh, not right now."
"So, did you get a new place to stay?"
She nodded. "Yeah, just moved, actually. Single room."
"So no more weird room mates?"
"Hopefully not. I have enough in my weird friends" she said with a genuine smile. It was so easy to talk to Brent.
"Well, what's life without a few weird friends, huh? How's your ankle?"
"All fine."
"That's great. Maybe we should go running together some day?"
"Oh that sounds like fun, doesn't it Bon Bon." Damon had once again materialised out of thin air next to her. He put his arm around her, which she immediately shrugged off. "I'm Damon" he said without offering Brent a hand to shake. "Bonnie's old friend."
"Emphasis on old" Bonnie muttered. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"
"No no, I promised to look after you and that's what I'm doing." He gave her a dazzling smile that might have sent Elena into a frenzy.
Bonnie noticed the song playing now was Kesha's "Die Young", which felt strangely ominous. "Why don't you go get me a drink" she suggested to Damon. "Since you're so concerned for me."
He made a face. "Fine. Don't go anywhere."
"Who was that" Brent asked as Damon started to push his way through the crowd.
Bonnie frowned a little. "He kinda used to date a friend of mine. Or she dated his younger brother but… And he dated one of our other friends. And we sometimes worked together, I suppose… It's a really long story, actually" she said. "I don't know why he's here."
"No offense, but he seemed like…"
"A total jackass" Bonnie asked? "Yeah, that barely covers it. He's pretty insufferable."
"What was he dressed as, exactly?"
Bonnie groaned a little at having to say it out loud. "Christian Grey."
Brent almost chugged his drink all over her from laughter. "Really? That's… Wow…"
"I know. I don't even want to think about the fact that he actually read that book."
"Have you read it" Brent asked and there was a definite twinkle in his eyes.
"I'd rather not say" she said and blushed a little.
"That's kinda hot" he said and she could feel herself blush even more.
She had tried her best not to think about Kol since she had woken up in an empty bed two days ago, but the first day she had been sore enough to constantly think of him whenever she moved on her chair in class. It had been so distracting that she'd barely been able to focus on her professor. She had thought of calling him, asking him, well, anything really; why he had just left like that, where he was, if it had been as good for him as it had been for her, if he wanted to come over like right now? But she didn't, because in the end she was still very much the same Bonnie Bennett she had always been and her pride forbade her from calling him first. He had left, so he should be the one to call and beg! But standing here with Brent, blushing a little because of a dirty, stupid book, that felt almost like cleansing her system. Kol who, she told herself. She had ben so preoccupied by all the new sensations since their night together she had barely been able to function, and for a while she thought she saw him everywhere. Like now, for example. Oh wait…
"Kol" she squeaked.
Brent looked confused. "Isn't that the name of your ex?"
She had maybe five seconds before he reached them. "Brent, whatever happens now, I'm so sorry" she hurriedly whispered.
"What? I don't…"
"Hello" Kol interrupted with a terrifying smile.
Bonnie desperately wanted a hole to open up and swallow her! He was wearing his goddamn uniform!
"Where's your guard dog" he asked her.
"He went to get me a drink."
"Hm…" Kol turned to look at Brent. "I'm Kol."
"Brent" Brent said, looking somewhat less sure of him self than he did a minute ago. "Uh, cool costume."
"It's not a costume" Kol corrected.
Brent visibly gulped. "Your ex is a cop" he said, looking at Bonnie.
"Among other things" she muttered. "Why are you here?"
"Came to find Nik."
"The Nazi gynaecologist is dancing with his girlfriend."
"So, uh, are you like here to arrest someone" Brent asked. He looked like he was sweating a little now.
"Why? Are you worried" Kol asked, still smiling a little. "Nice costume, by the way. Very… Authentic."
"They're over there" Bonnie pointed out. She really wanted Kol to leave.
He nodded and turned to look at Brent again. "It was very nice to meet you, Brent. I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to chat later." One last horrible smile and he was gone.
Bonnie wondered if she looked as terrible as Brent. "So that was your ex, huh? Wow."
"Yeah, he's… I'm really sorry."
"He's a cop…"
"Yeah…"
"A pretty scary cop!"
"Brent, listen…"
"And British. He's like British, right? I mean, he had the accent…"
"Brent…"
"Is that even allowed? I thought you had to be American to become a cop."
"Brent" Bonnie almost yelled to get his attention. Despite the loud music surrounding them, a few people still turned around to look at her. "Listen, I'm really sorry about him! He just like to rattle people. Just forget him."
"Yeah sure…" He tried to smile but still looked like he most of all just wanted to go home and lock the door.
Bonnie tried to restart the conversation a few times after that, but Brent seemed completely rattled and she finally just gave up, telling him she had to find Caroline and wishing him a good night. He gave a shaky laugh at that and almost ran the opposite way of her.
"Great" she muttered, looking around. "Just… Great."
"Hey Bonnie."
Bonnie turned around. "Sara? What…" She was enveloped in a tight hug. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, the party just sounded so fun when you talked about it so I just had to come."
Bonnie narrowed her eyes a little. She was pretty sure she had downplayed the party as much as possible when she had talked to Sara about borrowing a costume. In fact, she was sure she had told Sara they were probably only gonna be a few people and she was thinking about leaving before ten.
"So, having a good time" Sara asked, apparently completely oblivious to Bonnie's scowl.
"I think I'm just about full on fun for the night" she said, looking around her. She couldn't see any of her chaperones.
"Oh don't be like that" Sara said, nudging her. "Hey, I heard there's more quiet down the hall, why don't we check that out?"
"Uh, not sure that's a good idea. I should maybe…"
"Come on Bonnie, live a little" she laughed and started to drag her out of the main room and down the hall.
Bonnie followed with a sigh of dejection. Maybe it would do her some good to get away from all the noise and her scary ex and the vampire Nazi couple and Damon… Yeah, this was probably a good idea. She was just about to tell Sara that when she was roughly pushed into a dark room.
"Sara! What's…"
"Oh shut up" Sara yelled, closing the door behind them and locking it.
"What…"
"So, the great Bonnie Bennett doesn't know what's going on, does she" she said in a mocking tone.
"Sara, what…"
"Where's the damn stake?"
"What?"
"The stake, Bonnie, the stake! The stake that can kill the whole vampire infestation."
Bonnie's eyes went wide for a moment. "You're… You're one of them?"
"If you mean one the witches trying to rid the world of the vampire rodents, then yes. I am!" She sounded proud.
Bonnie just stared at her. She had been friends with Sara for almost a year and she had never suspected anything. Why was she doing this now? "I don't understand…"
"What is it that you don't understand, exactly? That you're helping these filthy things destroy life after life, helping them sustain and grow stronger and kill more people? That makes you just as bad as one of them."
"Is that why you killed Lucy?"
"Lucy…" Sara spat on the floor as if the name made her feel sick. "Lucy was even worse than you, she helped that bitch Katherine escape our grasp again and again. But we got her in the end, too."
"Katherine is dead?"
"Dead and dusted! We burned them together, it was kinda poetic actually."
"And Alicia?"
Sara shrugged a little. "She got in the way. I thought it was you but once she'd seen me, I couldn't very well just let her live." She smiled a little. "You know, I really thought you had me figured out when I came to see you right after you found her, but no… Everything just fly right over your head, doesn't it? Luckily you needed a costume for this ridiculous party and I knew it was my chance. I can probably pin this on some drunk frat boy."
"Why would you wait a whole a year?"
"Well, at first we didn't plan to, because you are from Mystic Falls where all this evil seems to originate from, but then it became clear to me that you had left everything behind. You didn't even practise anymore, and I started to pity you because you led such a miserable and pathetic little life. So I just stayed to make sure you really were just a sad former witch and didn't help vampires anymore. But then when I came to see you after I'd taken care of your roommate…"
"Is that what you're calling it" Bonnie interjected heatedly. It felt so wrong for Sara to talk about Alicia like that.
"When I saw you there" Sara just pushed on like Bonnie hadn't said anything, "I also saw that vile creature Niklaus and his blonde flavour of the month. And then your ex showed up, dressed up like a human but I knew right from the moment I saw him what he really was. Just another original rodent!"
"You're sick!"
"I'm the sick one? No, you're the sick one here, helping them, screwing with one of them. But no more, Bonnie… It stops tonight."
Bonnie took a small step back and hit the wall behind her. She was powerless to do anything to stop Sara, short of actually physically attacking her. So that's what she did! They tussled for a bit, scratching and pulling each other's hair. Bonnie had been able to catch Sara by surprise and had the initial overhand, but now she was starting to regret never joining Elena for Alaric's self-defence lessons. With a loud grunt, Sara managed to shake her off and she hit the floor, hard.
"Little bitch" Sara growled and kicked her.
Bonnie tried to roll away when she heard Sara start to chant. There was no use in trying to call for a protection charm, she might as well have tried to grow wings, so she would have to figure something else out, and fast! "Help" she screamed, trying to get up. "Anyone, help!"
"Shut up" Sara yelled, pushing her over. They collapsed together on the floor again, and Bonnie felt that Sara might not be as strong as she had let on. With all the strength she had left, Bonnie grabbed Sara's head and pushed it onto the floor as hard as she could. There was a resounding crack and she could feel Sara's grip lighten. She pushed herself up off the floor and started for the door again, only to have Sara reach out and pull on her right leg, making her fall hard to the floor again. She could feel a warm, metallic liquid spread through her mouth and was pretty sure she had at least knocked out a tooth.
"Would you just stop fighting" Sara growled at her, also getting up. She started to chant again as she walked slowly towards Bonnie. She closed her eyes and gave a last ditch try to summon some kind of witchy power, but nothing happened. It was almost like she was being mocked.
"I guess this is goodbye" Sara said, pulling out a knife from somewhere inside her coat. "But this is better, trust me. There's no vampires where you're going."
The door practically flew of its hinges and Damon almost fell into the room. Sara looked annoyed for a moment, but then started to chant again. Damon immediately started to howl in pain, clutching his head.
"Nifty little trick, don't you agree" Sara asked with a twisted smile. "I'll deal with him afterwards." She pushed past Damon with her knife raised.
It happened so fast Bonnie was unsure of what actually transpired. She felt a surge of hot energy course through her and then there was a sort of pop and she felt a wet and clammy something hit her face, her arms, everywhere she wasn't covered. "What?"
"Holy…" Damon panted, looking at her like she had just grown wings and an extra head.
Kol burst into the room followed by Caroline and Klaus. Kol seemed to notice her vacant stare and grabbed her shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes. "You're OK!" She wasn't sure if he was trying to compel her, but there was a calming notion in his voice and she nodded a little.
"What the hell happened" Caroline shrieked.
"She just sort of…" Damon frowned a little. "Popped."
"She popped" Klaus asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Just…" Damon made a motion from his head, mimicking an explosion.
"Oh my god" Caroline exclaimed staring at Bonnie. "How?"
Damon looked at Bonnie, who kept staring at the remains of Sara's body. Her head was missing! It might have been sort of funny, she thought, if she'd seen it in a movie or something, but having it happen to you without even knowing how it happened... She didn't feel much like laughing.
"Can you walk?"
Bonnie looked up, dazed, and met the cool brown eyes of Kol. "What?" It was like there was an echo in her head. Kol looked sort of blurry and she suddenly felt really dizzy. She felt herself stumble, only to be picked up in strong, hard arms and then she sort of floated out of the room and through the house, away from the party, the noise and Sara's headless corpse. She nuzzled into chest and closed her eyes, blocking everything out except from the voice telling her that she was OK.
She wasn't sure how long she had been drifting along, but she felt the cold air hit her skin and opened her eyes. "Where are we?"
"Almost home" Kol told her, carrying her up the many stairs. She recognized the stairwell; they were almost outside his apartment.
"Why?"
"Because you need to be somewhere safe right now."
"I'm safe?" Even in her dazed state she wanted to cringe a little at her pathetic tone.
"You're safe with me, I promise."
"OK" she muttered, closing her eyes again.
Kol locked them into the apartment and closed the door soundly behind them. He helped her find her balance and she gingerly walked into the living room. The lights were on, which was weird because he hadn't been home before that.
"Hey Bonnie" Elena greeted them in a tentative voice.
A/N: Confession: I actually read Fifty Shades of Grey! I had to stop after the first book though, because I was worried that my face would never return to its original colour and that my toes might never uncurl. So, yeah…
I was kinda thinking about maybe borrowing Conner and the whole mythology surrounding the Five, but I'm not really sure I could do it justice, so for now, I'll keep that idea on the back burner.
Thanks soooo much for your lovely reviews and suggestions for costumes for Bonnie. I ended up with maid because it what was I had originally written, but I love that you played along anyway. I pretty much live on your reviews, so please keep them coming, I love to hear your thoughts, and as always, if you have questions of any kind, please don't hesitate to ask.
Anne