Chapter 11

Fire Is The Devil's Only Friend

Hate the sin, but love the sinner.

-Mohandas Gandhi

January 27, 2011- The Salvatore Boarding House Living Room

"Have you guys seen Bonnie, she's not been herself lately. I'm kind of worried." Damon and Stefan both shook their heads at Elena's words, they were poster boys for nonchalance.

"It just seemed odd that she didn't answer her phone, she might have been able to help Rose." Damon winced at Rose's name but quickly recovered.

"What do you want us to say Elena? Neither I, nor my brother, know this Bonnie very well." Stefan nodded behind his brother absentmindedly.

"This Bonnie?" It was only when Elena drew attention to it when the two vampires realized Damon's mistake.

"Yes, this Bonnie. We're over a hundred fifty years old Elena, you expect us to have only met one Bonnie in our lives?" Elena sighed and shook her head in defeat. Damon had a way of making you feel stupid whenever he wanted to. With that Elena walked from the room, calling a farewell over her shoulder as she made her way out the front door. She was going to take the matter up with Caroline. When the door shut Stefan immediately whipped his head towards his brother.

"We should tell her."

"Tell her what? Oh, by the way Elena, we met your BFF back in 1864 when we were still human and Stefan was a total ass to her. Oh, and we've been meeting her on random days in history ever since. She's not gonna find that at all hard to believe. Especially when Bonnie can't affirm it because it hasn't happened to her yet! Besides Bonnie swore us both to secrecy. We'll tell your little girlfriend when Bonnie comes back, you know it has to be soon. She has the same haircut and she was wearing the outfit we first saw her in the other day. She'll be going back any day now, that's probably why she needed the Bloodstone. She just hasn't worked out the spell's kinks yet." Stefan shook his head.

"What if she's already gone and come back. Maybe she's acting weird because she doesn't want to talk to us after what happened." Now it was Damon's turn to shake his head.

"Believe me Stefan, we would know if she was back. She's wearing certain accessories that she didn't have before she went back." He gestured towards his left hand.

"She could easily have taken the ring off Damon. It's not like she has any sentimental feelings toward the thing. I doubt that day brings back good memories." Damon just shrugged.

"She was still wearing that thing the last time I saw her." And the conversation ended, there was nothing more to discuss.

November 28, 1942- Corner of Shawmut Street, Chicago Massachusetts

"I thought the police were supposed to be keeping the whores off the streets." Those words were the first I heard when I came too. Not very welcoming words, especially in the tone that they were spoken in. My head throbbed as I sat up. I was getting tired of waking up leaning against the side of a building with no idea where I am. I just want to wake up in my own bed, in my old room. I no longer care if my dad never changed my Strawberry Shortcake wallpaper. I want to go home.

"I thought I might find you here." It was a blonde a few feet away who had spoken- her quick glance to me the only indication that I was the one she was addressing. That and the fact we were the only people left in the alley, the rest had scampered off when they saw I was coming to I guess. I looked at her dumbly- not quite sure what to say to her 'greeting'.

"You are Bonnie right?" I nodded my head. If it turned out that she was just another chick that knew me as Bonnie Abella (was I part of Damon's back story in this time too?) I just might strangle her. Or did Katherine send her? Both of those options were proved wrong when she stepped out of the shadows and I was able to make out more than just her blonde hair. It took me only a few seconds to place her face (and if I had seen it in my own time or my travels) and a few seconds more to match a name to that face.

"Lexi." It wasn't a question, I knew for a fact that it was Lexi. But I figured I should acknowledge her in some way and stop acting so stupid. Though I think I have some right to act stupid though, I am going through loads of confusing things right now. But whatever, back to the blonde vampire. With a affirmative nod, that I didn't need, she pushed off the wall and was in front of me before I could even register the blur. She held her arm out for a helping hand and I was reminded that I was on the ground leaning up against a wall on a dirty street. Ignoring the scandalized looks from the few people passing by I reached out and grasped her hand, allowing her to pull me from the ground.

I opened my mouth to ask a question- but my brain couldn't quite organize everything so I could form the question. There were too many questions anyway, none of which I could articulate. How did you know I was here? How did you know who I was? Why does everyone think I'm a hooker? Where am I? What's the date? What was going on?

Apparently the questions had shown on my face because she started answering a few.

"A friend of mine found you a few minutes ago. She scared off any who were hoping to do…business with you and then fetched me to get you. She had to run off after someone, but she left me with instructions to make sure you're alright." I kept staring at her. I knew three people in this time. Damon, Stefan, and Katherine. Both Damon and Stefan were guys so she definitely wasn't talking about them, and I knew for a fact that Lexi thought Katherine was in the tomb (because she totally would have ratted Katherine out to the brothers if she had known Katherine was walking free) so she couldn't be speaking about her either. That left me with no options and a mind still scrambling to make sense of things.

'It's November 28th, in case you're so out of it you don't even know that. How did you know who I was?" I glanced up. She obviously had no idea about my travels through time; does that mean her so called friend has no idea either? She could be trusted in my time, but what about now? Back in my own time I would never have even considered trusting Katherine, but now I would probably trust her with my life. Time changes things, it twists them, and I haven't spent enough time in each place to figure exactly how it twists them.

"Well?" I glanced up. She was eyeing me expectantly, like I owed her an answer or something. Which I guess I did, considering the fact that she did rescue me from the street and all.

"I'll explain once we get to…well once we get to wherever we're going. Who is this friend you've been talking about? And where exactly are we going?"

"We're going to Rose and I's apartment." Rose. The vampire I had met on the Titanic. That must be who she was talking about, mostly because I didn't know anyone else named Rose. I nodded and stayed silent for the rest of the way.

"You got her?" I heard Lexi answer Rose from the kitchen of their apartment while Rose walked into the living room, where I sat. Rose sent me a smile before calling through the door she had just come through.

"Come on Trevor, there's someone I want you to meet!" I didn't say a word as a tall man with dark hair ambled nervously through the door. I stood from my seat on the couch and held out my hand.

"Hello, I'm Bonnie." He eyed my hand.

"Rose, are you sure she can be trusted, she may turn us in? We cannot afford to trust the wrong people in our situation." I let my hand fall back to my side; I didn't want to look more foolish than I already did.

"Trevor! Firstly, I know our situation, and I know what got us into the situation." Trevor looked very guilty after this line; I assume he was the one who got them into whatever situation they seemed to be talking about.

"I know, and I feel guilty every single damn second because of my stupidity! But that's what I'm saying, from what you told me about her, which wasn't much, all we know is that she tried to save a bunch of humans' lives. Katherine," My ears perked up at that. "Seemed like a good person back then too." So they knew Katherine? And they had been wronged by her. But then again, in the vampire world, who hasn't been wronged by Katherine?

"Katherine, as in Katherine Peirce?" All three of their heads snapped towards me.

"Katherine Peirce, Katerina Petrova. You know her?" I suddenly realized it might not have been such a good idea announcing that I knew the person they all seemed to hate.

"Umm…sort of."

"How is that possible? She had been imprisoned in a tomb in Virginia since 1864." Oh if only you knew Lexi, if only you knew.

"Well I knew her before then; I stayed on the Salvatore estate for a short period of time and spent time with both her and the brothers."

"Bonnie, if that is your name, that was nearly a hundred years ago. You are not a vampire, it's impossible for you to still be alive." Lexi turned to Rose. "She must be lying. There is no one in this time who knows her, other than some evil vampires I am sure she hangs out with. We need to wipe her memory and get her out of here."

"Firstly, I'm wearing vervain and I am pretty sure there is still some in my blood stream as well. Secondly, is it really wise to talk about the disposing of your guest directly in front of them? And thirdly, have you ever heard of a doppelganger?" Now I really had their attention.

"As in the Petrova doppelganger?" I shook my head.

"There are more doppelgangers than just the Petrovas; they are merely the most important to the vampires. Or at least they think they are. You see, you may need the doppelganger's blood to break the curse, but you also need the doppelganger of the witch who cast the spell to break it." I was not really sure where I was pulling all of this from, all I could think of was how alike Elena and Katherine had looked and how being a doppelganger had seemed like the only reasonable explanation for me to appear exactly the same as I had so many years before.

"Klaus never mentioned this, he had all the steps memorized, he would have realized…" I shrugged my shoulders.

"Klaus just isn't as well informed as he thinks he is. Besides, why would any witch tell him the truth, it's not like we want the sun and the moon curse to be broken."

"She's lying, it was an Aztec shaman that cast the curse, and if she was a doppelganger she would be a man." I just waggled my finger at him, channeling Katherine and summer at theater camp to keep me from breaking my character.

"Ah, little known fact. Aztec shaman, who cast the curse, didn't really cast the curse. He didn't even have any powers. His daughter, the first Bonnie, cast the curse while he made stupid gestures with his hands pretending to do magic. He was a real bastard and all, but his daughter was powerful. Besides why do you think it took so long for Klaus to find the moonstone, we were protecting it. Anyway, are we done with this interrogation?"

"Not quite. If you're a doppelganger, how did you recognize Rose?" Shit. This is why I should leave the plotting up to the masters like Katherine. Wait, I can do this. I grew up a side kick to Caroline and Elena, some of their plotting must have rubbed off on me.

"We're gifted with the knowledge of the former doppelganger on our eighteenth birthday." I shrugged my shoulders and feigned a look of nonchalance. "We would be useless without it." I perked up suddenly, thinking of Caroline instead of Katherine.

"But really I'm bored at the moment, the moonstone who knows where and the doppelganger won't we born for a long while. I really have no purpose…so, let's go have fun." I smiled brightly, hoping that would convince them of my innocence and they would take me somewhere. Preferably a bar, before this whole mess with vampires/witches/ Elena's parents death, she, Caroline, and Elena used to drink all the time. When a break up occurred they're best friends didn't become Ben and Jerry. No, they only associated with Jack, Jose and Jim (the only men you really can trust) before they came across new (better) man in whatever bar or club they were at. It had been a hard feat considering how small of a town they lived in (everyone knew they weren't over twenty one), but they had managed. So right now, with all the drama that was a lot more serious than Caroline and Michael Martin's break up, I could really use some hard liquor.

Rose sent her a small, tired smile while Trevor just hit her with a glare. It reminded her slightly of Stefan's first response to her, both had disliked her immediately from no doing of her own. Lexi answered her question though, her voice controlled and neutral while her face was the epitome of boredom.

"We'll take you out okay, maybe a club," I smiled (truly genuine this time) thinking about my last time at a club. It had been fun, and exciting, and Katherine had introduced me to the most famous American mobster of all times. "But fist we have to talk about a few things. So you just wait here, okay?" I nodded and they made their way over to the next room, whispers exchanged on the way over. They were discussing me of course, whether I was telling the truth (nope), whether I could be trusted (what was I really going to do to them), and if they should actually take me out somewhere (probably not a smart idea).

After about thirty seconds I got tired of waiting. I wonder if ADHD or whatever can kick in later in life, like randomly. You're normal and taking a test (or waiting while in the next room over a bunch of vampires discuss your future) and suddenly BAM (!) you can't sit still. So naturally, with my newly diagnosed hyperactivity, I sneak off my seat and over to the door. I'm hoping that they're too involved with their discussion to really care about the noises that they can hear with their super vampire hearing or whatever. Or at least, that this won't affect their decision making process in a negative way. Pressing my ear against the crack between the door and the door frame, I was able to hear snatched of their frantic whispers.

"We need someone to bring her to him, someone who he won't recognize but someone who also won't feel guilty about it. He'll kill both of us on sight, so we would have to get out of here before he is even called. We can't call any of them either, Lexi can though." That was most definitely Trevor.

"We can't ask that of Lexi, she would be putting herself in danger. Besides she would feel guilty, you know she would." Lexi interrupted.

"First of all, I am right here. Secondly, I think I may know someone who will hand her over with pleasure, all of us will be gone. He can hand her over to him himself. And frankly, it would probably be doing the world a favor if he kills him if it turns out he's lying."

"I don't want to do this, she is a good person." Rose again. If I meet her in the future I should give her a gift or something, she really is great, you know, for a vampire. I think I will count her among my vampire friends. That makes Katherine, Caroline, Stefan, Rose…and Damon? What has my life come to?

"Who is he, a vampire I assume?" Trevor again. I heard a shuffle near my feet and glanced down. I immediately stifle my screech. Mice…their apartment had mice. Gross. I quickly pressed my ear against the crack again, hoping to catch who they were talking about, other than me of course. Who were they handing me over to? And who was doing the handing. Unfortunately my small run in with the mouse had caused me to miss a few sentences. I only caught the tale end.

"Demon" Talk about creepy. What's Lexi going on about demons for, aren't they all demons? Are vampires demons? I so have to look this up, because if they are, I have way too many demon friends. I hurried back to my seat on the couch as I waited for them to come back through the door. For vampires they were kind of slow.

Rose immediately made her way over and enveloped in a warm, but very short, hug. She squeezed tightly before whispering in my ear and letting me go.

"I am so sorry." It suddenly struck me that, if it was demon handing me over, how horrible could the person they were giving me to be? And why was I even here, neither Damon nor Katherine are here. I feel completely lost. Part of my brain is registering the fact that Trevor is speaking at me (not really to me, just at me) but the rest is still reeling. Was I going to die? Was I even allowed to die, this was the past after all, there must be some kind of weird magic thing keeping me from dying right? I thought back to the Titanic. No, there was nothing keeping me from death and I had to remember that. First, I needed to find Damon. Second, I needed to get as far away from Damon as possible... I was going to take one more trip through time and then I am going to wake up in my own bed. I can just forget all of this ever happened. I'll just have to avoid the Salvatore's for a while, at least one of them… Focus Bonnie, find Damon, and get away from Damon. Okay, deep breaths.

"So who are you getting to hand me over?"

"Damon Salvatore." Well, that was easier than I thought. Ahh Damon, Demon, an easy enough mistake to make.

"Ah, I see you finally ditched Saint Stefan, Lexi, good call by the way." Damon had strutted through the door five seconds ago and he was already insulting people, that must be some kind of record. But then again, it is Damon, so probably not.

"Damon, be quiet. I don't want to hear it, so don't even bother. He's already been notified and apparently he was already close by, he's on his way. You can handle it, just make sure she gets to the Opera House in time and you'll be fine. Hope I never see you again." She spun out of the room in a whirlwind, her long blonde hair whipping behind her, and I heard the front door slam shut a second later. Damon paused for a beat, frozen in place and not uttering a word.

But just as quickly he sprang back to life, startling me slightly from my perch on the couch. He just sent me an easy grin and a wink.

"Hello there gorgeous." He was across the room immediately, my hand in his grasp and his lips on my knuckles. "I didn't know when I'd be seeing you again," He breathed in deeply through his nose before raising his face to meet my eyes. "But you smell just as delectable as ever." He pressed another kiss on the back of my hand before I snatched my hand away, eying him with disgust. He smirked back before making himself comfortable beside me on the couch. I inched away from him, nervous. He was acting like the Damon Salvatore from the future, and that was not good. Although I never knew quite where I stood with Damon (from any time) he always seemed much kinder in the past than he ever had in my time. But now, he was just as unpredictable and dangerous as I remembered him to be.

"So, when are we leaving for the Opera House?" Damon surveyed her silently, as if measuring her up.

"Soon, but first we need to get you out of those clothes," His eyes swept over my body and I gave him the darkest glare I could. He chuckled slightly before raising his hands just above his head in mock surrender. "And into new ones. Klaus will notice if you're in out of date clothes and he won't believe your story. Which was so obviously a lie, I'm surprised they even fell for it. You must be a marvelous actress." I rolled my eyes, he was a charmer. His voice was as smooth as honey and I could almost see why he had women falling head over heels in love with him for decades. Almost.

"Fine, where exactly are we supposedly getting these clothes? It looks like it's a bit late to be going to any department stores." He shook his head at me, holding a hand at his heart as if I had hurt him.

"Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie. You wound me. You thought I would take you to a department store? No, I know somewhere much better than that. Now come on." He stood and I cautiously followed his lead, slinging my bag around my shoulder before facing him completely. His grin, which was disturbingly menacing and attractive at the same time, did nothing to comfort me.

"Don't look so scared Bonnie, live a little." And suddenly the space between us had disappeared and I was pressed against his chest staring into his eyes. My breath hitched (purely out of surprise of course) and I immediately felt the blood pooling to my cheeks. As his eyes glanced down to look at my flushed face I suddenly remembered that this was a vampire I was pressed up against. This wasn't some guy where the only risk was a bad kiss, this was a vampire, this was Damon. I was sonot going to turn into a vampire lover like Elena.

I ignored the small voice in the back of my head asking if I had made this decision too late.

"What do you think of this dress Miss Bonnie?

"This one would bring out your eyes magnificently."

"Oh, try on these shoes Miss Bonnie!"

"How about this necklace, it would match that dress perfectly."

I almost laughed aloud in delight at the servants surrounding me, holding up various articles of clothing that I guessed were high fashion in this time. I had felt a twinge of guilt when Damon had first compelled them, but it wasn't like he was forcing them to do anything bad. Besides, this felt like a (slight more sinister because of the whole vampire aspect) straight out of Pretty Woman. And that had been Mine and Caroline's favorite movie growing up (even with its inappropriate themes), and even if Elena had preferred Material Girls.

"Why not this hair style? Here, look at yourself in the mirror." I was swiveled around to see the up doo my hair was currently being held in place as. Looking at the ten people bustling around me and I myself sitting still in the middle of it I couldn't help but laugh.

"I can't decide! There are so many choices, and I really have no idea what is in right now. I just…" I trailed off as I ran my hand over three dresses being held before me at the moment.

"She'll take that, that, that, and…this." Damon had picked my outfit for me. I had to be slightly relieved, I really had no idea what to pick. But I was slightly apprehensive as well, from my vantage point I could just make out his figure leaning against the doorframe from the corner of my eye. I had no idea what he had picked, but I was comforted in the fact I could see all of the possibilities; and none of them looked like stripper attire.

"What year is it? What's going on nowadays?" He pushed himself off the wall and strode across the room, locking eyes with me in the mirror as the girl pinned my hair back.

"It's November of 1942. America's as war." My eyebrows furrowed slightly, 1942 that would mean…

"With Germany?" He nodded curtly before amending my statement slightly.

"With the Nazis and their allies." And that w as when a thought struck me, I remember my history classes through school. Mr. Turner may not have been the best teacher (far from it) in the world, but he loved statistics. I remember us studying WWII. I remember how many people were killed.

Over 5 million Jews. Half a million gypsies. Fifty thousand Catholic priests.

And those weren't exact, though the Nazis were sickenly good record keepers, they still could not keep track of all the blood their hands spilled. Not even counting those who hadn't died; but were driven to insanity. I turned to glare at him, startling the girl holding out the dress for me to step into.

Here before her stood a man who was nearly invincible, and her was just going to let all those people die?

"You're a vampire, why don't you just go over to Germany and rip his heart out. You would be saving millions, Damon. How can you just sit here, and let him kill all of those innocent people?"He shook his head at me, as if I were still a child. "What? You could kill Hitler! Easily!" I was starting to get angry, was he really that much of a jackass?

"Bonnie, he knows. Do you really think that he would still be alive if he didn't? He has pissed off quite a few vampires, if he was clueless he would definitely be dead at the moment."

"Oh." Now not only did I feel stupid (Damon seemed to have a talent for making people feel that way) but I felt kind of bad too. I was accusing him of being a heartless ass that didn't care about all those people. "Sorry." It wasn't a very sincere apology, but at least it was one, right?

He waved his hand, nonchalantly brushing away the half said accusations of a few minutes prior. No words were said as I felt the last buttons of my dress being buttoned. I felt a necklace being draped around by neck for a moment before the weight of the metal was suddenly gone and Damon was no longer leaning against the door frame in front of me.

"No, this one, something this beautiful deserves to be worn by someone worthy of its beauty." For the second time in my life I felt his fingers brush my skin as he close the clasp of yet another necklace he was gifting me with. Blood pooled to my cheeks once again and I knew that even if my blush would be hard to spot for a normal person, Damon could probably smell my blush. How embarrassing.

"Now come, we've overstayed our welcome here." I barely got a glance in the mirror (and all I really say was a blur with my hair) before being tugged from the room and out of the house. I half ran half leaped to keep up with him. My feet were stumbling over themselves before they fell into a only slightly uncomfortable pattern. We were not really going that fast, but Damon's legs were much longer than mine and he seemed very exuberant over wherever we were going. Was he really that eager to turn me over to Klaus? He did realize he was practically handing me over to the devil?

I guess this was the answer my mind had been seeking the entire time. The kisses, the moments I had thought meant something, the engagement ring; they all meant nothing. He would fight so hard for Elena if she had been in this situation. In fact, in modern times I know he is fighting hard for her. I know Elena, she's probably tried to hand herself over to Klaus multiple times already, she was always such a martyr. I also know that both Stefan and Damon have put aside their differences (to an extent) to protect her (even from herself). I sigh, trip again, and regain my balance without Damon breaking his stride. Her story is not a romance, it's not a tragedy, hell it's not even a comedy. And you know what? Having a life that could never be made into a movie; totally sucks.

"Wait! That's the alley I woke up in!" It was true, it was the same alley. However, it seemed Lexi had not told Damon where she had come across me so his long strides stopped short. This caused me to run headlong into his back (not that he seemed to notice, I bounced back but he hadn't moved and inch).

"They found you in an alley?" I looked at him strangely. What had he expected? Didn't he know that I showed up in the worst places? Hmm, maybe not. When I woke up with him there after spending time with Katherine I was already in a bed. I wonder where I had actually appeared.

"Umm, yeah. I really have no control over where I show up. Where did you find me?"

"I came home with," He paused for a minute trying to remember something. "Dinner," I guess he was trying to remember that girls name. Did he actually let her go as I had asked. "And I found you there on the bed, sleeping."

"Well believe me, that is not the norm. When we were out west I woke up leaning against the side of a building. And here, I obviously did the same. Now, come one, we have to get to that Opera House." I'm not sure why I was hurrying him to bring me to my very probably death (I knew there was no possibility of my lies convincing Klaus, my only chance at living was if he had some secret group of witches working for him or something). He spun around t face me, holding my shoulder with both hands to keep me looking at him.

"Bonnie, you didn't actually think I was going to bring you to some random vampire like cattle up for slaughter did you?" I shook my head, hoping he would not catch on to the fact that I did think that is what he was doing.

"But Damon, you kind of have to. It's Klaus, the-." He put a finger to my lips to effectively cut me off.

"Klaus is a myth, he doesn't actually exist, Bonnie. He was made up by a bunch of paranoid vampires and werewolves." Oh, he was naïve. Klaus wasn't real, sure. "Now, come on. There's a reason I brought you here. And that reason; its fun." And without waiting for any verbal response from me, his hand once again was grasping mine and pulling me forward. He pulled me toward the building that bordered the alley on one side.

"He pulled me through the building so swiftly (and the lighting was not very good I can tell you that) that I couldn't quite determined what the building was. What I could tell was that it was full, completely packed. Finally he stopped. On a stage surrounded by artificial palm trees (the decorating was very Casablanca) was a man playing piano. All around were booths and tables. A few couples swayed to the music in the middle of the room.

"What is this place?" I watched as a young man unscrewed a light bulb (was that allowed) as his date watched on with giggles. Once he had succeeded the task the room was even darker and you barely make out him or his date. It didn't matter if you couldn't see them, we all knew exactly what they were doing.

"This room? This is the Melody Lounge. The whole thing is the Cocoanut Grove. Now, enough talking, let's dance." And then I was spun, right into his arms and we were swaying along with the other couples. And for a few moments, a few precious moments, we were both at peace. And then my fat mouth ruined it (I think that the club setting brought back my horrible old habits).

"Do you love Katherine, Damon?" He immediately recoiled, putting distance between our bodies. My head felt fuzzy from both exhaustion and the cigarette smoke surrounding us. I never could smoke, it affected me badly.

"What?"

"Well, you're willing to wait around a hundred and fifty years for a comet to come around again so that you can let her out of the tomb. You must love her right?" He pulled me over to sit in a booth.

"God, I need a smoke to have this conversation." And with that he pulled a lighter and cigarette out of his jacket. He looked back at me after inhaling deeply.

"I didn't know you smoked." He shrugged before inhaling again.

"It takes edge off, better than bourbon even." He blew out and the sweet smell of cigarette smoke hit me more powerfully than before. I wrinkled my nose and tried to prevent myself from swaying as my head swam.

"Well I could never, just the smoke makes me feel sick." He immediately flicked the cigarette away. He then seemed to realize that the entire room was enveloped with smoke. Everyone was smoking.

"Come on, let's get you some fresh air than." In a minute we were out on the street once again. I breathed in the fresh air in wonder, my head already feeling clearer.

"Come on let's walk." This time it was me pulling him along. My hand pulling the crook of his arm while his hands stayed firmly within his pockets. His faced held a small smile due to his amusement at my obvious excitement to get away from the smoke filled club. We were only three blocks down when I heard the sirens.

"What's going on?" I hadn't been asking anyone in particular, I hadn't even realized I had asked the question aloud. It was just the question you always ask inside your head when you here sirens; 'What happened' or 'Who's hurt'.

"Why don't you turn around and see, Miss." And I turned just as the fire truck rushed by me. Down the street was a building ablaze. Three blocks down. I walked a few steps closer, a few steps away from Damon who hadn't moved. The Cocoanut Grove was on fire. I ran down another block. It was definitely the Cocoanut Grove, no doubts on that. And it was definitely on fire, and the firefighters couldn't seems to be doing anything about that. Worse though, barely anyone was coming out.

"Why isn't anyone coming out?" I was nearly hysterical but another man who was watching from a few feet away answered my question.

"I've been in there a few times, all the fire escapes are boarded and chained to keep people from leaving without paying their bill. The other doors open inwards, people are probably in such a rush to get out that there is no way to open the doors inwards. Plus its always over packed. The front door is revolving, all in all, the place was just begging for a fire." I turned back to Damon who was watching the scene with an impassive face.

"Take me back to Lexi and Rose's place. Now." He nodded and held out his arm for me to take. I didn't take it.

Everyone was crowded on the street outside the Cocoanut grove so once we turned the corner the streets were empty.

"You didn't put out your cigarette."

"Pardon?"

"In the club, you didn't put out your cigarette. You started that fire."

"Bonnie, I highly doubt-."

"No, you started that fire! Why didn't you put it out!" I was yelling. I was making a scene. I'm sure if there were people here they would be staring.

"Bonnie, I didn't start the fire. And even if I did, who cares-?"

"WHO CARES? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? PEOPLE ARE DYING IN THERE DAMON! DYING!" I heard a clap of thunder behind me and the wind whip my hair around my face. The rain started to pour and lighting streaked the sky. More thunder.

"Yes, I am well aware of what is going on, Bonnie." He was the epitome of cool and collected while I was seething and red in the face. "But they are just a few humans. Hardly worth anything really, worthless actually, they wouldn't have amounted to anything I'm sure-."

"Just a few humans, Damon?" My voice was calm then. I guess it would be the calm after the storm (the storm stopped as soon as my I had calmed, had I caused that?) but for some reason I felt that it was the calm before the storm.

"Yes, now-."

"They're just worthless humans who would never have amounted to anything, right. It's almost good that they dies, get rid of some of the excess population, right?" He didn't respond, probably the best choice. "What about me, Damon? Am I just as worthless as the rest of them? Maybe I should go back there and throw myself into the blaze?"

"No! Bonnie, you're worth so much more-!"

"Damon, I'm just as human as the rest of them, why am I so much more important?" I turned and walked away, hoping that tomorrow I would wake up in my own time already.

"You're Bonnie, you're worth more than all of them put together." I pretended not to hear, because even if I was held above the faceless masses, I would never be above Katherine or fucking Elena.

"Just leave Damon, I've never liked Chicago. The sooner you leave, the sooner I can." And I continued down the street till I found the building Rose and Lexi's apartment was located in. I made my way up the stairs and thanked my lucky stars that the door to the empty apartment was unlocked. Except the apartment wasn't empty. Sitting on the couch, sipping something from a tea cup, was a man. Behind him stood a man and a woman both dressed in black; bodyguards. I knew who this man was instinctively. Why did he need bodyguards? He should be the strongest vampire in the history or, well ever. He seemed to catch where my gaze lay.

"I do not like to get my hands dirty, believe me Bonnie, I require no protection." His accent was hard to place. It sounded German, but it also held the beauty of a French accent. It was as smooth as honey and I had a feeling this man didn't need compulsion to get people to do what he wanted.

"I never would have thought you did Mr…I'm sorry I don't know your last name."

"Please just call me Klaus." I nodded and took a seat on the couch opposite him." He poured me a cup from the teapot without asking if I wanted any.

"Don't worry, it is simply Earl Grey,I did not add a simple drop of blood." I smiled and took a sip. It tasted like ordinary tea.

"Now, my secretary told me that a vampire had caught an interesting witch who claimed she was a doppelganger of the witch who performed the spell, and that to break the curse the witch casting the spell must be a doppelganger. Now, is this true?" Well, there was really no point in lying to him.

"No, I just told them that to explain why I look exactly the same as I did thirty years ago."

"You're not a vampire, and you are not a doppelganger. So, how did you manage to do that?"

"I'm traveling through time." He chuckled slightly, shaking his head.

"Now that is one I haven't heard before, but then again anything is possible. You are a witch, correct. I do not think a normal human's body could handle the stress of actually travelling through time. And how exactly are you changing time periods? A spell? A specific object?"

"Yes I'm a witch. And the first trip back was activated by a spell, it was only supposed to take me back a few months but it ended up taking me to 1864. Now I'm trying to get back to my own time, but I only disappear when a certain vampire sets a certain amount of distance between us."

"Hmm, that's an interesting one. Is this certain vampire running out of town right now?" I nodded. "So we don't have much time left do we?" I shook my head. "Well, I could use this time to kill you. But I quite look forward to running into you in the future, so instead why don't I do something a bit untraditional." I nodded. I wasn't going to die today!

"Ask me a question, any question, and I'll answer it truthfully." Oh this is like those things they ask you in school where they are like 'If you had one question for *insert important person here* what would you ask them?'It's always so hard to decide! How old are you? How many people have you killed? Does being alive for that long suck? Finally I settled on something I had been wondering.

"If vampires have rings that protect them from the sun, and if vampires are nearly extinct, why bother trying so hard to break the curse. Why not work towards world domination or something?" Oh god, I just gave him the idea to take over the world! Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. I just changed the future didn't I? Klaus' laugh broke through my panicked thoughts.

"You are quite amusing, I really do look forward to meeting you once more. As for your question, let's see…. I do not wish for world domination, I could have had it long ago if that is what I wanted. Though I am not sure how those enchanted stones work for other vampires, but they block the sun for me. I always feel like it is night, no matter how hot the sun. I am a man of simple pleasures Bonnie; all I desire is to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin again. I would do anything just to feel that joy again."

"Even kill innocent people." He laughed again.

"Bonnie, in this day and age, or any for that matter," He sent a wink at me. "No one is innocent. Everyone is a sinner, and all saints are fakes." I decided not to contradict him, partly because he had a point, and mostly because I didn't want him to change his mind about the whole not killing me thing.

"I sense you fading, Bonnie, you will be going soon." He stood and I followed his lead. He stooped and picked up my bag and pressed it into my hands. "I assume this is yours?" I nodded and slung the bag over my shoulders. "And take this too, you never know what time zone you will end up in." He handed me a long tan double breasted overcoat. That could be useful.

"Elijah, Corinne, remember this one. She is going to be important." Both nodded in agreement with Klaus. Klaus grasped my hand and laid a kiss, not on the back of my hand but on my wrist, right above the vein. Creepy. I felt myself begin to fade (how had he felt it before I had)?

"Goodbye Klaus."

"Till next time Bonnie." And then I was gone. For a moment I was vampire free. If only my life stayed that way.