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Chapter 10: Goodbye
Bonnie lifted her head up from Damon's wrist-her thirst satiated.
Thank God, I was so thirsty.
She stood up and Damon followed.
"What are we going to do about this mess," Bonnie asked.
"Compel the living. Bury the rest."
Bonnie deeply sighed. "Hooray! Another series of murders to hide. Just another day in Mystic Falls."
"No need to be so pouty. Anyways, I call all the non-witches."
"Knock yourself out."
Bonnie began chanting. The wedding guests slowly woke up. Before they could fully assess the situation before them, Bonnie and Damon quickly vamped to each guest and compelled them to remember a brief ceremony and reception.
"Why don't we have any pictures," a guest questioned.
"Don't you remember, silly? Alaric and Jo wanted everyone 'to live in the moment' a.k.a no pictures," another guest replied.
"Oh, yeah."
And the two exited the room.
"That's the last of them," Damon said.
"Now to the fun part. Burials," Bonnie said before vamping outside.
"Where are you going?"
Bonnie vamped back inside with a bundle of dirt between her palms.
"Miss me, already," she quipped.
Then, she placed the dirt on the ground, stood back, and began chanting. The corpses formed a circle around the dirt before disappearing along with the dirt. Bonnie turned to face Damon.
"By the look of confusion on your face, I'm sure you would like to know what happened. All I did was use the soil as a binding agent to this place which means the people are now buried under this hall. A bit creepy for a wedding hall, but it beats having to transport 30 dead people across town. Even people in Mystic Falls may catch on to that."
"Fair point. Well, time to head outside. We still have our resident psycho to deal with."
"Ah, the gift that keeps on giving."
Bonnie and Damon headed outside to meet up with Elena and Jeremy. Matt was still sleeping soundly in Bonnie's car.
"Is our great leader locked up nice and tight," Damon asked.
"Yep," Jeremy replied.
"We saw the guests come out. What are we going to do about the deceased," Elena asked.
"Already taken care of. The only thing left to do is spell this place shut and compel the people who run it to forget today's incident and keep this place closed for a while. We need to take a closer look at this place to help us understand what went wrong with Kai's spell. Thankfully, we live in a small town so keeping it closed won't affect too many people," Bonnie stated.
Then, she vamped inside and compelled the hall's owner and employees. They exited the hall followed by Bonnie. Then, Bonnie began spelling the hall.
"Let's all meet at the boarding house," Damon stated.
"Ok," Jeremy replied.
"I'll mass text everyone to let them know," Elena added.
When Bonnie finished up, she and Jeremy got into her car while Damon and Elena got into Damon's. Then, they all drove off. After arriving at the house, they all got out of the car.
"I'm locking Kai in the cellar," Damon said as he opened the truck of Bonnie's car.
He lifted Kai up and carried him to the cellar. Jeremy picked Matt up and carried him into the house followed by Bonnie and Elena.
"Everyone else should be here soon. I'll go get some drinks," Elena said as she looked at her phone.
Then, she headed to the kitchen. Jeremy headed upstairs to lay Matt down to rest. Meanwhile, Bonnie threw herself onto the couch and leaned her head back.
Great! Now, I'm hungry again!
Damon entered the room and plopped down next to Bonnie. He pulled her feet into his lap and began giving her a foot massage.
"Long day?"
"More like long few hours-hehe-stop it," Bonnie exclaimed as she fought off bursting into a fit of giggles.
Damon smiled, "Just trying to cheer you up. You're the one that told me you're most ticklish at your feet."
"Hee-stop it! Ugh! Why did I ever tell you that?"
Then, Bonnie burst into a fit of laughter as Damon tickled her.
"Uhmph..."
Bonnie and Damon quickly turned around to Elena clearing her throat. Damon immediately dropped Bonnie's feet. Both had guilty expressions on their faces as they put space between themselves on the couch.
"Just brought the drinks. Everyone else is arriving as we speak," Elena said as she placed the tray on the table.
"Ummm...thanks," Bonnie meekly said as she took a drink from the tray.
"Thank you, Elena," Damon said.
"No problem," she said as she sat down in the loveseat.
Jeremy came downstairs as the front door opened. Stefan, Caroline, Alaric, Tyler, Jo, and Liv streamed in. As they gathered in the living room, they began to discuss the situation.
"Alaric told us what happened. First, allow me to apologize on behalf of Kai. What he's done to you all was truly cruel. I can't even begin to imagine how you feel Bonnie," Jo said.
"Thank you but there's no need to apologize. It's not your fault," Bonnie replied.
"I know, but he's my twin, I can't help but feel responsible. Now, to the other issue at hand, the reaction to Kai's spell was very odd."
"Odd is not the word. Creepy is more like it. Someone in the ruling coven is practicing dark magic. To be honest, I'm not surprised. Luke and I were kept out of the loop for alot of things. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone but us were in on it," Liv added.
"I took a look at the spelled circle Kai used and it corroborates his story. Plus, you two are unharmed like he said. I hate to admit but I think he's telling the truth. He's not the one that killed all those people. Whatever protection spell that guarded the ruling coven was created using dark magic. In fact, my main fear is that it's Expression," Bonnie stated.
Everyone in the room sat in solemn silence.
"Why would they use Expression? Doesn't that contradict your coven's motto about the sanctity of spirit magic? I mean that was your whole issue with the Travelers, right," Caroline asked.
Liv and Jo stared at each other. Then, Liv replied, "Yes, but like I said, the ruling coven has a lot of secrets. They strictly regulate the rest of the covens in the Gemini. They even go after what they consider rouge witches like the Travelers. But, they rarely hold themselves to the same strict scrutiny. I remember one of my childhood friends who dabbled in dark magic. Anyone else would have been banished from the Gemini, but her parents were in the ruling coven so her actions were brushed off as teenage curiosity."
"I see much hasn't changed…I knew I shouldn't have invited them to the wedding...oh my God, they probably only came to see if I was pregnant. No wonder dad was so nosy. How could I be so thoughtless," Jo said as her voice cracked.
Stefan cleared his throat then said, "There's no need to blame yourself. This is quite the situation. The ruling coven is practicing Expression for some unknown reason. Then, as a result of that along with Kai's actions, 30 people are now dead. Plus, we don't know how many people they sacrificed to power their Expression based magic."
"So we are dealing with a group of wicked witches who probably want to kidnap Jo for her twins i.e. their ticket to a Kailess future. And of course, now that they know their great leader is back, they probably want to take him, too. Naturally, we can't let either happen for Jo, the twins, and Bonnie's sake. So what's our next course of action," Damon asked.
Alaric looked down and said, "I know this sounds incredibly selfish but Jo, Liv, and I are leaving town. We were planning on leaving after the wedding anyways, but it's even more important than ever that we leave. The ruling coven is without a doubt more desperate than ever for a set of twins and I refuse to give them ours."
"Alaric-"
"I'm sorry, Damon. I need to be selfish. I will NOT lose my wife or kids. We already have a place to go and Liv will cloak us from the Gemini."
"Fine. So what are everyone else's plans?"
"I'm going with Liv, Jo, and Alaric." Tyler looked at Liv then added, "I know things have been weird between us and I know I'm not a werewolf or a hybrid anymore, but I promise I WILL protect you."
Liv blushed and smiled, "Tyler..."
"Enough with the lovefest. Next," Damon stated.
"I'm heading back to Colorado. Elena will be coming with me. We'll research the Gemini and send any information we find your way," Jeremy said.
"Elena," Damon questioned while looking at her.
Avoiding eye contact with Damon, Elena stated, "We'll talk later."
Bonnie cleared her throat then said, "I'm in for investigating the Gemini."
"Me, too," Caroline added.
"Ditto," Stefan stated.
Damon continued staring at Elena. Then, Alaric said, "I think it's best if we head out now. For all we know the ruling coven is still in town."
He stood up. Jo, Liv, and Tyler followed suit.
"Give Matt our best. I feel like crap leaving before he wakes up, but we can't risk staying in town any longer," Tyler said.
"If you guys need anything, don't hesitate to call us," Liv added.
Jo turned to Bonnie and said, "We mean it. Anything. Just give us a call. I feel horrible just running and leaving you to deal with Kai, the Heretics, and the Gemini. At least this way, their resources will be split between looking for me and looking for Kai."
Then, they all exited the house and drove off.
"I'm going to go check on Kai," Bonnie stated.
"Are you sure that's safe," Caroline asked.
Bonnie smiled as she exited the room, "I'll be fine, Car."
"I'm going to go check on Matt," Jeremy said.
"I'll go with you," Stefan said.
Caroline looked at Damon and Elena. Then, running after them she exclaimed, "Wait for me. I'm going, too!"
"They cleared the room fast," Elena glibly said.
"Is that all you have to say," Damon asked.
Blushing, Elena said, "It wasn't supposed to come out like that...I honestly have been meaning to tell you for a while. It just-"
"It just what? Wasn't the right time? Look, you don't have to this. I already made my decision. I want to become human with you. I'll take the cure the moment Kai undoes his curse and we deal with this whole Gemini situation. I-"
"Damon, I think it's for the best if I leave. I made this decision after I went baby crib shopping with Jo."
"That was almost two weeks ago!"
"I know. I just...I didn't know how to tell you. After I became human, I began reflecting over my life as a vampire. I thought about us. I thought about myself. I-As a vampire, I became an incredibly selfish person. I put my happiness, my convenience over everyone else and people suffered because of it. As a vampire, I finally was able to embrace my feelings for you, but our relationship was so dysfunctional and toxic. For every moment of happiness we had, we had a moment of sorrow. We became so dependent on each other that we were destroying ourselves. After you died, I couldn't even function. That's not healthy. I-"
"What are you saying?"
"...I think it's for the best if we spend some time apart. I already took a leave of absence from Whitmore. I need to rediscover who I am and I need to do it alone. Damon, I love you, but I have to do this. After I find myself, I will be more than happy to spend the rest of my life with you if you still want me."
"If?"
"Yes, if. I didn't want to bring this up, but...I see how you and Bonnie look at each other."
"Excuse me."
Elena smiled then said, "I'm happy for you, Damon. For you both, actually. I've never seen either of you so happy."
"That's because she's my best friend. Look, if this is about Bonnie and me-"
"It's not. I'm honestly happy for you. I've known you for years now and I've never seen you this happy. To my next point, with this whole Gemini situation, Jeremy and I will be nothing but liabilities if we stay here, but we still want to help. Like Jeremy said, we'll send any info we find your way. And if you need us for anything, we'll rush back here."
"What about the cure situation?"
"I'll leave that to you and Bonnie. It's not my place to decide."
Damon moved closer to Elena. He gently grasped her face and lightly kissed her.
"Goodbye, Elena."
"Goodbye, Damon."
A quick preview of Chapter 11: New Enemies-
"Come to join me, Bon Bon," Kai said.
"Do you ever shut up? There are some things we need to discuss."
"No problem. For the girl I love, that's not a problem at all."
"Excuse me…"