Hello, my lovely readers. Are you ready for a pre-Halloween ghost story? Enjoy!
Chapter 10: History 3030: The Occult
Standing in front of the podium Bonnie's eyes were burning from lack of sleep. She felt relieved that Damon was awake but she felt like the world was upside down. Yawning, she shuffled her papers and smiled at the familiar students as well as the new faces. Rebekah and Jeremy came and sat in the third row. Sighing, she watched as Kol came in to sit beside his sister. Of course he was in her class. That made as much sense as anything.
"Hello, everyone. I believe that it's 1:35. So, we can begin." Bonnie picked up a stack of papers. "These are your syllabi. Please, take one and pass them back." She walked to the front row and began to pass the papers to her students.
Bonnie went back to the podium and turned on her laptop. Making sure her computer was connected to the school's, she pulled up the syllabus. "Welcome to History 3030: The Occult. During this term you will be reading five books and five articles. I expect you to write three responses to some type of phenomena worth 25% of your grade. You can use one of those responses as a jumping off point for your final paper. But, please, do not simply cut and paste your response into your final paper. Think of it as a rough draft or a first draft of the final project. There will be a five page draft of your final paper worth 20% of your final grade. You'll have a ten page paper worth 30% of your grade."
"Finally, 25% of your final grade will be from your in class participation. That does not mean that I expect all of you to speak every time you come to class. You don't even have to come to class if you don't want to. However, I would suggest that you do, because when you leave this institution and take a job you will not be able to skip without penalty. Think of this as a practice run for the real world."
Looking around the room Bonnie was pleasantly surprised that no one had walked out of the room. "Thank you for deciding to take this course. I hope to make it as interesting as possible for all of you. This is an unusual subject matter. We will be discussing those areas of nature which many of us do not believe in. My grandmother used to tell me she was witch. Now, I know you're sceptical, So was I, but my Grams was a great woman who had many talents. One of those talents was making a concoction which kept me healthy through most of my childhood while my classmates fell victim to the common cold, broken limbs and the flu, I was perfectly healthy. Whether that was magic or an overprotective guardian you can judge for yourselves at the end of the term."
Bonnie allowed her gaze to move over the room to take in the sight of students texting, typing away at their laptops and a few girls having a whispered conversation with Kol. Sighing, Bonnie shuffled her papers. This was what she was used to while giving a lecture. Two-thirds of the audience being interested in their own lives outside of the class. Maybe, if she stopped posting her lecture notes on-line they would pay attention. No, they'd probably pay someone to take notes and then Xerox them. Turning her gaze back to the girls grinning at Kol, Bonnie had a better idea.
"Speaking of phenomena. We are lucky enough to have with us one of my hometown's local ghost experts. Kol Mikealson, if you could, please, come down and honor us with your stories." Bonnie felt satisfied as Kol's expression turned from smugness from the girls' attention to horror at being put on the spot.
Recovering quickly, Kol got up and sauntered down the stairs. "Do you have any favorite story you would like me to regale the lovelies with, Bonnie?" Arching an eyebrow Kol came to stand a little too close to Bonnie.
"This isn't the ball park, Mikealson." Bonnie snapped taking a step over to the right. "This is my classroom. And you can tell whichever story you like." Allowing her lips to curve ever so slightly, Bonnie raised her chin in defiance as she took a seat.
"As you wish, Professor Bennett." Kol replied with a bow. Straightening up, he grinned at the class. "All right, children, turn your electronics off, darlings. For I am about to tell you a grand story which will give you chills for years to come." Rubbing his hands together Kol watched as his classmates groaned and shuffled their belongings to turn their various toys off.
"Thank you." Jumping on top of the desk, Kol made himself comfortable. "Well, this was some years back when your Professor was just Bonnie and we were…" Glancing at Bonnie, Kol decided to not go into too many details. "When Bonnie and I were friends. Your professor, my brother, Nik, his wife, Caroline, my sister, Bekah, myself and a few more of our friends had decided to go to a haunted house for All Hallows Eve."
"My sister was fourteen and Nik and I decided that she shouldn't be allowed to go into the house. So, we drew straws on who would babysit the brat."
"Hey, you wanker." Rebekah yelled from the audience.
"Oh, yes, I forgot my lovely sister is here with us. But, Bekah, it's my story. Wait your turn." Ignoring Rebekah Kol continued to talk as Rebekah walked down the stairs with Jeremy hurrying behind. "As the story goes. Rebekah was whining about how badly she wanted to go into the house and I was watching her. Rather, Bonnie and I were watching her. The others were in the house having a grand time. Or so I thought."
"You were being the dullest person on earth," Rebekah interrupted. She stood in front of her brother. "This is how it actually went. Our older brother, Nik, told Kol that since he was younger and should not be in the house either that he should stay outside and watch me. Bonnie had decided to stay because she thinks haunted houses are freaky."
"Yes, you were being an infuriating brat, whining, 'Oh, please, Kol. 'Let me go in for a minute. Please, I'll give you my allowance money for six months.'" Kol pressed his hands together and leaned forward to smirk at Rebekah, who folded her arms over her chest.
"I did not sound like that." Rebekah whined and the other students began to giggle.
"As I was saying, Rebekah was whining and it was getting later and later. There was a bit of a breeze that night and Bonnie was wearing this thin witch's dress which was highly inappropriate." Turning to look at Bonnie, Kol grinned widely as she glared. "So, then Bekah begins to tell us that she needs to pee desperately. I knew this was just a lame trick to get me to take her into the house but it was getting late. So, I gave in and we walked into the house. The first thing any of us noticed was that the house was eerily quiet."
"There were candles burning out in the foyer but we didn't hear or see anyone in that area of the house. We didn't even hear the music which had been playing just minutes ago as we approached the front door which was unlocked. Bekah reminded me that she needed to use the ladies' room. We began to walk upstairs in the hopes that there was a bathroom up there."
"Each step we took the stairs creaked and cracked beneath us. Even I was feeling a bit paranoid as we walked up the steps. Opening the various doors we found no one nor did we find the bathroom. Finally, we found it at the end of the hall. Inside the room there was a small window hanging open. I went in first and shut the window and inspected the room before leaving my sister alone with Bonnie who Bekah would not let leave her side."
"While the girls did their makeup or whatever, I began to hear a voice calling to me. At first I thought it was the wind. Then I realized it was my brother, Nik's voice. He was calling my name and he sounded like he was in pain."
"I told the girls that I was going downstairs and that I would be right back." Kol said before Rebekah huffed. "Problem, sister."
Huffing again Rebekah glared at Kol. "You did nothing of the sort. You left us up there all by ourselves."
Sighing Kol wrapped an arm around Rebekah and pulled her closer to him. "You'll have to excuse her. That night still scares her."
"Does not." Rebekah protested.
"Does, too." Kol and Jeremy replied.
"Back to the story. As I said I went downstairs in search of my brother, Nik. He was still calling my name but his voice sounded weaker. And it was making me nervous. Then he screamed." Turning, I saw an open door and ran toward it. I was sure that was where my brother was. Rushing down the stairs, I barely noticed the sound of the door shut behind me."
"When I got to the bottom of the stairs I could only stare in profound horror. There were my friends. They were all dead. Except Nik and Caroline. That was the worst part. Nik was still in his tuxedo. That year he had a thing for the twenties and Caroline was dressed in a nighty. Don't know who she was supposed to be but Nik liked the costume."
"Well, this scene was quite ghastly. And I thought that Caroline was trying to help Nik as she was leaning over him. Then I noticed the bloody knife in her hand. 'Caroline,' I shouted. She turned to me. She was sobbing and clutching the knife. 'He cheated on me.' She screamed and then pointed it at our friend, Elena. 'With her. And he knew.' She pointed at Elena's boyfriend, Damon. By all appearances Caroline had stabbed them both to death and my brother was dying from where she had just finished with him."
"I knew this was not good. I just hoped that I could distract her. And that Bekah and Bonnie could leave without getting hurt. 'Caroline,' I said as calmly as I could. 'What happened? Please, start at the beginning.'"
"Caroline sat down beside Nik with the knife in her hands. She was shaking and I was truly worried about what she would do. She had obviously snapped. Taking a shaky breath she began her tale."
"We came into the house and everything seemed really cool at first. There were all these people. And everyone was laughing and singing and dancing. Nik and I started dancing and then we had a drink. Then he went upstairs. Then there was this voice. It told me to come down here and I needed to know something. When I came downstairs, it was Elena and she told me about how she had been sleeping with Nik. I was shocked. I told her, 'No. You're lying.' Then she told me things about him that would be impossible to know if she hadn't. I ran upstairs and grabbed a knife. Running back down here, I found Elena and stabbed her. It wasn't hard to get Damon or Klaus down here. Oh, God, Kol. What did I do?' Caroline had asked me."
"Before I had time to react she took the knife and then stabbed herself, Juliet style and fell on top of Nik. Without thinking about what I was doing, I turned around and ran as fast as I could. Running up the stairs, I began to jerk at the door which would not open. When it finally did I raced out and up the stairs to retrieve Bonnie and Rebekah, who were upstairs screaming."
"As I got to the door, it suddenly opened and Bonnie and Bekah fell on the floor. 'Where were you?' They both screamed at me. 'We have to get out of here.' I told them. 'Caroline, lost her mind and killed Nik.'
"Well, this caused Bekah to begin to wail and I was already scared. So, I grabbed her by the waist and began to drag her downstairs. Then Bonnie tells me that there was some kind of evil mojo in the house. Or some such nonsense. I didn't believe her. 'The window and the mirror in the bathroom exploded while we were in there,' she told me and showed me a nasty gash on her right arm and one on Rebekah's forehead which was still bleeding. This was enough proof to me that we needed to get out of there quickly."
When we got to the door, it wouldn't open and I kept jerking at until we heard a noise behind us. Then we turned to find Caroline there. Somehow she wasn't dead. At this point I was desperate to get the door open and began to jerk at it frantically. Then Caroline stabbed Rebekah in the back. I remember her screaming in agony." At this point Kol began to rub his sister's back, who looked pale as he continued the story.
"Bonnie picked up a lamp and cracked Caroline over the head with its base. She was horrified as Caroline fell to the floor, dead for the second time that night. I gathered my dead, baby sister into my arms, with all my strength I kicked the door of that retched place down and walked out with Bonnie behind me. She was numb as we walked outside."
"'What do we do now?' Bonnie asked me and I had no idea. I began to head toward where Damon had parked his car. My jaw dropped open when I saw Nik, Caroline, Damon and Elena. They turned to us and Nik hurried over. 'What happened to Bekah?' Without letting me reply he took her into his arms. Caroline came over and asked if Bekah was okay."
"'Of course she isn't. You stabbed her.' I had snapped which was ridiculous since there was no blood on her dress and all of our friends were fine. 'What do you mean she was stabbed?' Nik yelled at me as Bekah woke up. 'I think she passed out.' Damon said coming over to look at Bekah.
"'I did not. Caroline stabbed me in the back.' Bekah protested as Nik sat her on her feet. She began to feel at the back of her dress which had no mark and there was no blood. She reached up to her forehead which also had no mark. "But…" Bekah seemed dazed as did I. Bonnie touched the back of Caroline's head and then jerked her friend into a tight embrace. 'I didn't kill you,' Bonnie said to Caroline. I imagine she was quite relieved."
"As it turns out about an hour after they went into the party Elena felt light headed so they had decided to go outside. When they found that we were no longer outside they decided to go back in and didn't find us. After going over the grounds they still couldn't find us. They had given up and decided we must have gone back home when we came outside. They hadn't heard us yelling and Caroline had not attempted to kill any of them let alone us. That was one of the strangest and spookiest nights of my entire life and we still don't know what exactly happened. Do we, Professor Bennett?"
Standing up, Bonnie came to stand beside her friends. "No, we didn't ever figure out what happened, did we?"
"How about round two this Halloween?" Kol challenged, his eyes bright.
"Count me out." Rebekah said, shaking her head.
"Challenge accepted." Bonnie replied, her eyes lighting up. "Then you can present on what happens for part of your class participation grade."
"No problem." Kol retorted and then hopped off the desk. "It's been lovely class but seeing as it's time, you can go away now." He waved the other students away.
"Lunch?" Rebekah asked after Jeremy retrieved their belongings.
"Yes," Bonnie replied.
"So, was any part of that story true?" Jeremy asked as they walked into the hallway.
"Every last bit." Kol stated with a serious expression.
"And you want to go through that again?" Jeremy asked, looking bemused.
"Of course, darling. It's something to tell the grandchildren about." Kol said looking at Bonnie, who blushed as they headed out to lunch.
I hope you enjoyed the story. I don't know how good I am at writing scary stories.
I know Hayley is not one of my favorite characters and not just because the Kayley sex or Kayley baby. Blame the writers not the actress is my motto. Speaking of which I do not plan on having Klaus cheat on Caroline. K and C just have a lot of issues they need to work through and it's going to be challenging. None of the relationships in this story are easy or without ups and downs. As for a Klaroline baby, I haven't quite figured out whether or not they can conceive on their own or not. Stay tuned.
Thank you for the favorites, follows, reviews and for reading. Thank you Guest, guest, guest, guest, guest, Alexis, guest, boomkarakaraka05 (I hope you liked the Kennett in this chapter.
Love,
LL