AN: Hello my beautiful peeps. Yep, it's that time again! Sorry it took me sooo long to update, but this one drove me to drink, delete and drink again. If not for Francesca this version of chapter 11 would be shredded to hell and parlaying in that big waste basket in the sky. However, since she has her middle finger covering the delete button, I have no choice but to give you guys this update and hope I can stand the flames. Because odds are, I'm more than likely going to burn for this one. Okay, now that you've all been properly warned, let's get into these comments.

Squishysib, I'm glad you thought the shower scene was up to par. And yes you're right, Elena definitely has a face full of cock from all the defense she's running between Bonnie and Kol. Poor Matt, he might as well have Xbox stamped across his forehead, because Elena hasn't stop playing him yet! I'm sorry this chapter took its sweet time to make your alert bling, but I had several, eat my update, moments and I rewrote this mother sucker more times than I care to admit. And thanks for feeling my unconventional prose. My writing style can be a hot crooked mess, but it helps to expel the crazy blowing at Cat 5 in my head. And as always thanks for the amazing feedback! I hope this ugly stepchild of an update was worth the wait.

AngelicHeaux, I'm glad you're here for the direction this story's going, but remember to keep your seatbelt clicked. Messing around with Francesca, this train can jump the track at any given moment, so watch out for those killer twists and sharp turns. And I'm happy you approve of Bonnie and Kol's pacing, because since these two started clicking, I've noticed the brakes on my pacer are no longer working. I swear Kennett is trying to replace Bonnie and Clyde as the original ride or die pairing. Thanks for taking your time to tell me what you thought about the last chapter, it really helped me to get this update out. Hope you enjoy this one.

NameIsKohl, thanks for loving the WIP. Just when we thought Mystic Falls had misplaced all of its human, here comes Matt creeping from the wood work in all of his butt naked glory to remind one and all of the simple pleasures of humanity. I'm glad you enjoyed the last update. Thanks for taking the time to review.

Serendipity, no one saw Matt coming, not even me! Just who in the hell told him it was okay to jump out of the land of Random to slay Bonnie and Kol's vibe? And you're welcome, that bridge had it coming. Also, I hoped you'd like the lemon flavor water, and no there was no added sugar or tang. That shower scene had everything but penetration. Sorry, but it's coming. I swear on Kennett. Thanks for reviewing. Enjoy the update.

To the guest who's wondering if Kennett doing the do is going to cause something magical to pop, from all the signals being thrown I wouldn't be surprised. Francesca is definitely up to something! And yassss! After everything JP took my girl through on TVD she can use a bow to go along with all that rain!

Nekilarose, yes! Elena set Matt the hell up, but her heart was in the right place though. At least I think it's in the right place, you never know with her. And I'm glad this WIP can still snatch a laugh out of you, I guess Francesca's aim remains true! Oh, and you're right, Sam and Krys can have a picnic in the middle of a drive by and the only injury they'll walk away with is hangover.

Amillionconstellations, You preaching to the converted. I been feeling a way about Elena since she stuck a dagger in Rebekah's back.

This is for the guest wondering if Kol will take a dip in Bob Marley. Rest easy, there are only so many times Matt can stop Bob from putting lips to the mic.

Freckled98, don't worry, Kol will definitely be working the middle. And I hope that conversation between Bonnie and Rudy was worth the wait. Let me know what you think.

Zoey24, thanks. I'm glad this Kennett WIP could get it tingling for you. They're one of my favorite otp's, so I had to contribute to the fandom and I'm stupid happy you enjoyed the first chap. I look forward to hearing what you do honk about the rest of the wip. *Warning things go sideways the morning after, so be warned!*

This is for the guests who thought the dialogue in chapter 4 was blazing, thank you. I strive to keep it hot! And here's the update you requested. Enjoy!

Okay folks, disclaimer is standing on deck about to give birth so I'm gonna step to the left before ish goes live. Thanks again for reading and reviewing. Feedback is everything! Alright, Disclaimer, please proceed with the denying and disavowing. Last thing we need is JP, The CW and LJS coming for our edges!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, none of these characters belong to me. And to add unfairness to poetic injustice, neither does the shows or the books. However, I still intend to pull the characters' strings and make them dance, all while having a ball upsetting canon plot lines!


"Nine," Rudy Hopkins bellowed. The sound originated from the deepest part of his chest.

His rage infested eyes ricocheted between Matt and Kol. Pissed didn't begin to describe the fury which leapt from his half crazed gaze. Bonnie couldn't remember ever seeing her dad so angry. She wondered if he knew about her late night binge drinking sessions under his desk, too.

Almost as if he sensed her brainwaves, he captured her in his sight. An echo of disbelief flickered in his caramel brown depths. Guilt flamed her ass. Her dad trusted her to behave like a middle-aged librarian in his absence, not a bitch in heat fresh off the leash. What the hell had gotten into her? Kol Mikaelson! Not yet, but give her time. The corner of her mouth twitched in an attempt to force back a nervous grin.

"You think this situation is funny?" Her dad boomed. The vein bulging diagonally across his forehead looked one throb away from bursting.

If she didn't step up, at any given moment, he would stroke out. But what the hell could she say? That the situation at hand was only partially what it appeared. Her back had met concrete, while Rudy towered before her like a fucking brick wall.

"Dad-,"

The door slammed open even wider. "Hon, is everything—oh!"

A tall familiar looking man staggered to a stop in the doorway next to her dad. Thick, dark, wavy hair fell across a broad forehead into a pair of very large, but compelling, sapphire eyes. His gaze brimmed with concern as he searched her father's face. The intimacy between the two snatched her antennas upright. A single spark of curiosity enflamed her mind. Just who in the hell was this man?

Her stare fell to the orange hair baby strapped to his stomach. The squirming bundle looked to be no more than six months in age, while his alert azure stare appeared much older. She returned her gaze to the man's face. When the stranger's wide disapproving gape took in Matt and Kol's birthday fits, his hand flew to cover the baby's eyes.

"Eight!" Her dad yelled.

"Who's he?" Bonnie ignored her dad's need to be extra. "And why the hell is he in my room?"

Her attitude spiked. It wasn't enough for her dad to show up unannounced. No, he had to drag home a 'work' buddy as well. And what was with the baby?

Light pink stained the man's cheeks. "Please forgive me, Bonnie. I honestly didn't mean to violate your privacy, but your dad-,"

"Seven," Rudy spit through clenched teeth, refusing to hear a damn thing.

The man grabbed her father's hand in both of his. "Rude, stop with the counting. You're going to give yourself a heart attack. Let's go downstairs. We can have a finger," he paused while his glance swept over the occupants of her bedroom again, "or three of Cognac. It'll allow everyone time to dress. What'd you say, Hon?"

Bonnie's jaw dropped for the third time that night. Did he just call her dad Hon? In front of her? This one must be new, yet he looked so damn familiar. Where the hell had she seen him before?

"I say six! I want these bastards out of my damn house!" Her dad raged. "If they were so worried about their fucking clothes, then they wouldn't have come out of them in the first place! Five!"

The strangers jaw squared as his hands left the baby's eyes to cover his ears. "Oh my Sarah Palin, Rude! Do you mind not sounding like a hip-hop mixtape in front of our son? Last thing this country needs is another white rapper."

Oh my Sarah Palin? And did he just say…

Bonnie's chin hit the ground again. At this rate, she might as well keep her mouth open with all the jaw dropping revelations sliding her way. "Our son?"

Her questioning gaze swung from the man, to the orange haired baby, and then her father, who was now paying too much damn attention to the carpet.

"I'll catch you later, Bon," Matt said, almost falling on his face as he attempted to wiggle into his jeans, minus his damn underwear. His pointed stare landed on her father and the stranger with the even stranger chubby face baby. "You and your dad seem to, um…have a lot to catch up on. Call you tomorrow?" He didn't wait for an answer, before turning to hop from her room wearing only one shoe, while clutching the other awkwardly in the palm of his hand.

A slab of wood shifted against her back as Kol's cool lips grazed the side of her neck. When he stepped around her, she almost swallowed her tongue. He looked like a fucking fantasy from one of her freak nasty wet dreams. And even though her father gave the impression of a Spanish Fighting bull faced with a sea of red, she still couldn't stop her starving gaze from devouring the flexing muscles in Kol's spectacular glutes as he swaggered to retrieve their bags.

Every step her Original took gave irrefutable meaning to the phrase, poetry in motion. Even, the stranger's appreciative leer followed every move her Original executed. The poor man looked so thirsty, she almost believed he hadn't drunk a single drop of water in days. But who could blame him, just looking at Kol would give even Aqua man cotton mouth.

"Get dressed and send him on his damn way," Her dad barked, while elbow checking the stranger in the shoulder. "Family meeting downstairs in five minutes."

Bonnie shook her head so hard she thought her brain would fly out of her ear. She needed to focus on Rudy, and the crap spewing from his mouth like a busted sewage pipe. Silently counting the well-defined muscles in Kol's abdomen wouldn't do her concentration any favors. "No! I don't need five minutes. You need to tell me something right now. What's going on? Who the hell are they?"

"Watch your mouth," Rudy snapped, attempting to incorporate a, 'no bullshit vibe', into his tone. She tooted her lip. He might as well take a damn seat, because people without legs didn't get to stand on pedestals and give sermons. "We're not having this conversation while you're half dressed with a butt naked boy standing in your room looking at me like I'm the got damn problem!" His demon possessed glare found Kol's amused chocolate browns. "Now, boy. As I see it, you're out of time. Either dress faster or get desiccated."

"By you?" Kol laughed.

"Kol!" She pinned him with a, back the hell off, glare.

"Alright," her dad's head bobbed as he spun on his heel to head for her door. "Don't move. You just stand right there until I get back."

"Rude, please calm down. Your heart-," the stranger began.

"Why do you keep saying that? What about his heart?" She questioned taking a couple of steps forward.

"Bailey!" Rudy stopped mid-stride. Squeezing his eyes shut, he slapped a palm to his forehead, and then released a sigh that dropped his shoulders. After a lingering moment, he trained his gaze on her. "It's nothing, BB. My heart's fine. Just need to find a way to stay active while I'm traveling."

The stranger pursed his lips, while spearing her dad with sharp judging eyes. The expression on the man's face snitched that Rudy Hopkins was full of all sorts of incomplete truths. Her dad's health and personal life was a better kept secret than Jimmy Hoffa's whereabouts.

"What's going on, dad?" She asked as her guts began to bubble and boil. "You've been gone for the past three months-,"

"Don't be ridiculous, Bonnie," he said in tone meant to disarm stupidity. She clenched her fists and sucked in enough air to oxygenate two. Why did he always talk down to her whenever he found himself tangled in all of his wrongs? "I've flown back to Mystic Falls every other weekend to check on you."

She rolled her eyes until they felt as if they would spin right out of her head. "Remaining only long enough to make sure the bills were paid and I didn't go hungry."

"And apparently I was worried about the wrong damn thing! I should've had you fitted for a chastity belt instead of fussing over food and frivolous utilities," he yelled. The baby began to wail, but Rudy ignored him to continue going in verbally. "I raised you to be good and not…" His hands flapped around like he was attempting to snatch the right word from either thin air or his ass.

"Nope." She gave her head a little shake, before tucking her forearms under her breasts. "Don't run out of words now. Finish what you were gonna say. And not what, hmm? A whore…slut…disappoint…check me if I'm wrong, Rudy!"

Her dad sighed as he reached out to rub the squalling baby on the back. "Look, this entire situation is deviating from the course I plotted. There are things I wanted to discuss with you over a nice dinner, but our flight was delayed." Once the baby quieted down to soft hiccupping noises, he placed a kiss on the child's head and turned fully around to face her. "Then I hoped to have a nice conversation with you in the family room. After which, I'd give you a little time on your own to come to terms with everything we've discussed, but that plan burst hell wide open too."

"Forget the plots and plans, dad." She closed the distance between her and Rudy. "If you have something you wanna say, just say it."

Her dad's glower fell to her Original who'd begun sliding his beautiful thighs and slim hips into a pair of jeans. "Send your guest home first. Then we'll get into the changes concerning this family." Kol blessed her father with one of his narrowed eyed smirks, before shrugging into his shirt.

"Okay," her head bobbed. "Soon as you send your company on their way, I'll walk Kol out," she said, giving the stranger and baby a pointed stare.

The man lifted a freshly threaded brow, but remained silent.

"Fine, since you're so determined to put our family business in the streets," Rudy shrugged, "then so be it. Bonnie, this is Bailey Davenger." He locked hands with the stranger. "My husband." Her dad's ice cold glare melted the moment his caramel irises skimmed over Bailey's face. When the infant trapped between their bodies released an indignant squawk, they both laughed. "And this little ball of pink and orange," he cooed, in a childish voice, while making silly faces at the tot who gurgled right back at him, "is Samson, our son and your baby brother."

"The hell!" Her hand dropped to her hip, right before her mind regurgitated the memory of where she'd seen Bailey Davenger. "You married him? But he's a flaming-,"

"BB, you may not be able to accept the fact I'm gay, but you will-,"

"Republican—wait, what?" Bonnie blinked.

"Respect me and your stepfather." He placed an arm around Bailey's shoulders, while skewering her with a look about as emotional as a white wall. "Regardless if you agree with who I was born to be or not."

"Please, pssh." She used both hands to wave his words back at him. What he was not going to do was come for her like she was a gay basher or some certifiable homophobic. "I've never had any problems with you being gay. You're the one who decided to camp out in the back of your closet with, apparently, an entire family."

"How'd you-,"

"Your browser history for one. Precisely, how many Crockett and Tub's fanfiction pairings are you going to read before you figure out it's time to bury that dead horse? That stupid show has been cancelled longer than I've been alive!" She raged, while feeling like she was the one an outburst away from having a massive stroke. Her fingers interlaced with Kol's once he reclaimed his spot behind her.

Bailey snorted. Amusement twinkled his eyes, while he gently bounced and swayed from side to side. "You and your obsession with Don Johnson." He scoffed. "It's absurd. Entertainers are the worse, Rude. If not for them and that rock the vote nonsense, the country wouldn't be in such turmoil. Our so called Commander and Chief is a complete nincompoop, by the way. Talking about yes we can, when it's more like no we didn't! Damn the slogans. We need someone who's going to make America great again."

"Who in the hell turned on Fox news?" She questioned, drilling her dad with an accusing glare.

Did her liberal father really want to spend the rest of his life with a misguided dogmatic television journalist like Bailey Davenger? The same Bailey Davenger who urged Americans to surrender their passports and move to Canada when President Obama was elected. Her dad was a raging Democrat. In what world could they be happy together? Satan and the mother Teresa made more sense than her dad and D-Bag Davenger.

"We've talked about this, baby," her dad chided. "No political talk during family time."

Baby? Her eyes narrowed. "So let me run this back for clarity purposes." She said, raising a hand, hoping to bring a screeching halt to the crazy train. "You married a man you barely know, adopted a baby, and if that's not cracked enough, he's a Republican?" The sheer madness of it all provoked her brain to throb.

"Your father and I dated for two years before we decided to marry," Bailey added. When she leveled him with a dirty look, he lifted his chin to stare down his nose at her. "For clarity purposes of course."

"Two years?" Her world was imploding.

"BB, I'm-,"

"Who are you?" Bonnie whispered.

For the first time since her dad started clocking frequent flyer miles, she recognized him for what he truly was…a stranger. And even worse, a father in name only. She hardly knew anything about the man who'd been there since the night Abby pushed her out.

"Is he the reason for all the extended business trips over the last couple of years?" Her emotions were everywhere. She was so pissed, she could ball up in a knot and laugh until she pissed the bed. "You even missed Grams' funeral."

"I'm sorry, Bonnie. But there was no way I could drop everything to make it back for your grandmother's funeral. I was in the middle of a right to life case," he blustered. "Had I left, two fifteen year old boys would've died."

Her hands fisted at her sides. She hated when he used the excuse of making the world a better place as an explanation of being a run-away father. "That may be a damn good reason for not showing up for Grams' funeral, but it doesn't even begin to cover why you lied."

Rudy's face crumpled as the corners of his mouth sagged. He shoved a finger towards the ceiling. "Omitting facts are not lies."

"Rubbish." Kol slipped his arm around her waist to rest a palm on her lower abdomen. "Intentionally, omitting truths are nothing more than an alternative form of deception. To do so is indeed tantamount to lying through the slits of your bloody teeth."

"Take your hands off my daughter and go turn a door knob, boy," Rudy's voice deepened. His chest barreled as his nostrils flared. "Nothing being discussed here is any of your damn business."

"Boy?" Kol scoffed.

"Kol's not going anywhere. He's right, dad. You've been lying by omission for the last couple of years. All because you were too big of a coward to tell me the truth. For as long as I can remember you've pushed me away. I didn't understand back then, but I do now." Despite her blurring vision, she jabbed an accusing finger at him. "You resent me." When Rudy shook his head, she bobbed hers in contradiction of his denial. "You resent me because I'm the chain binding you to a life that you no longer want…that no longer fits!"

"Stop that," Bailey snapped, while locking hands with Rudy. "Your father loves you. You're all he ever talks about."

"Right, that's why he couldn't wait to replace me with a fun size orange haired cherub," she sniffed.

"He's not replacing you, Bonnie. In fact, he drove the designer insane when it came to decorating your room." Bailey tsked. "He had to make sure everything was just so."

"What room?" She rested a hand on top of Kol's. Her gaze flicked from Bailey to her dad.

"Damn," Bailey said, squeezing his eyes shut. "You haven't discussed the move to New York with her yet. Hello, mouth. How's the foot?"

"The hell! Who's moving to New York?"

"Worry not," Kol pressed a kiss to her neck and murmured, "I'd follow you to the bowels of hell if it be your chosen destination, Little Love."

"The hell you will. I'd stake your undead ass first," her dad barked, practically foaming from the mouth.

"Undead ass?" Bailey tugged, Rudy's hand. "What's wrong with you? He's just a teenage boy. Stop with all the unnecessary death threats. The more resistance you create between those two, the more attractive he becomes to her. Keep this up and they'll be wrapped tight in wedded bliss by the end of the week."

"Perhaps not by the end of the week, but I must confess I have been making plans," Kol said with a hint of playfulness coloring his tone.

"Yeah?" She angled her neck to regard him through squinted lids. "What kind of plans, Mikaelson?"

He blessed her with a smug smirk. "The kind, which concludes with a wedding night to-,"

"Over my rotting, life deprived, body!" Her dad hissed, before snatching his hand from Bailey. "After tonight, you'll never see my daughter again. Pack a bag, BB. We'll be leaving for New York tonight on the Red Eye."

"You're crazy if you think I'm leaving Mystic Falls for New York," she said, working way too hard to remain cool and respectful. "Abby needs me, and so does my friends. Who the hell is going to save them from themselves if I hot step it out of town in the middle of the night?"

"Abby?" Her dad's determined expression cracked. "Why the hell would your mother need you? You haven't seen her in years."

Bonnie lifted her chin. Her gaze steady. "She's back, and up until recently, was staying at Grams."

"Abby wouldn't be so reckless," Rudy insisted. She frowned. Was that fear dancing in the depths of his eyes? "She knows what being around you would mean in her condition."

"Why didn't you tell me your ex-wife was back, Rude?" Bailey wrapped his arms around his middle to embrace the baby. Uneasiness laid waste to his self-assured expression.

Her dad's searching gaze continued to scour her face. "Because she's not. Whatever's going on with Abby, she'll just have to figure it out on her own. She always does." He took a step back. "Now pack, we'll be leaving as soon as we can book a flight."

"How many times do I have to say, I'm not going anywhere, before you finally believe me?" she snapped.

"Bonnie," Rudy's face scrunched as he squeezed his eyes closed. "You may be smelling yourself, but contrary to whatever this undead filth is telling you," Kol snorted, "you're not grown. The stench that has your brain ready to jump out of your skull isn't adulthood. It's disobedience, and as long as you're inhaling oxygen within these walls, I'll not accept it from you. So you can either fall back in line and do as you're told, or go be grown somewhere else."

"Fine," Bonnie seethed through the slits of her teeth.

Satisfaction unlocked the muscles in her father's face, before he permitted a rush of air to burst from his lips. "Thought you might see it my way. Your stepfather will call the airline and book us a flight, while I gather a few things from my office." The acid in his tone somewhat neutralized. "That should give you enough time to dress, pack, and say goodbye to your parasite."

She watched her dad hustle Bailey from her room, and then close the door behind them. After waiting a moment or three, she whirled around and stalked over to the closet and snatched her overnight bag from the top shelf.

"New York may very well be a vast improvement to Mystic Falls, but our ties to this tenth circle of hell still remains ever binding." Kol turned to track her movements with a shadowing stare.

"And that's exactly why we're not leaving," she muttered as she stuffed an armful of underwear in the overnight bag. "He gave me two options, remember? Guess which one I'm choosing."


Abby found herself wandering down a dark damp tunnel fifty-eleven feet beneath the ground. The soft lights glowing at the end of the pitched in black channel gave guidance to her feet. Bennett magic, though altered and dark as it may be, beckoned to her. She could feel her baby girl. Her anxiety and fear was palpable, but so was her resolve. Truth be spoken, the determination she exuded, dampened the scent of fear, while muting her anxiety. Whatever task she'd set her mind to do would be carried out. Hell and its consequences be damned.

The tunnel gave way to a cavern, filled with a thousand and one flickering flames. At least that's how many candles there might as well had burned. Those waxed bastards were every damn where. Even wooden poles wrapped in, kerosene drenched, cloth blazed at random sites inside the cave. What a fucking waste! Even if the world found itself hurled into an obsidian abyss, there still would've been no need for so many damn candles and torches. Who had that type of cash to be crapping it away on waxed wicks and bamboo sticks?

A moment later the strange situation gave birth to an answer to her musings as the sight of her daughter whipped into her line of vision. She opened her mouth to ask Bonnie if the sun had decided to take a vacation, but nothing other than air whooshed pass her lips.

"You have to put up the veil," the sound of her mother's voice brought a screeching end to her attempts at spoken word.

She walked further in the cavern, praying her mind wasn't playing her crazy. "Mama?" She mouthed. Her vocal chords, however, were still incompetent in their lack of vibration.

Her baby girl flounced pass her. "Not yet," she snapped.

Who the hell did this child think she was talking to, one of her so called friends? Sheila Bennett may have been a lot of things, but not deserving of respect wasn't one of them. Bonnie B had better watch her P's and Q's before someone snatched a knot in her A's and S's.

"What are you doing, Bonnie?" Her mother's question came out urgent and pressed.

Abby's gaze swung between her mother and daughter. She was missing something important. Their vibe was all wrong. There was only tension where there should've been love and joyful tears.

"I can bring Jeremy back," her baby girl said. Her tone and expression pleaded for understanding. "I can keep him here."

"Jeremy Gilbert?" Abby mouthed. Didn't that little fucker leave her girl for a ghost? Why the hell would she want to bring him back? He looked good—living it down—in Denver. Besides, wasn't she and that deranged Original a thing now?

"No you can't," Her mother insisted, taking a step towards Bonnie.

"Elena needs him. This was always the plan." Bonnie tossed over her shoulder as she hurried to the other side of the cave. "Jeremy wasn't supposed to die."

No! Not again! This wasn't supposed to happen now. She'd transitioned to stop this damn outcome.

"It was the will of Nature. There's no magic in this world strong enough to challenge her." Her mother had the, I didn't raise you to be stupid, look on her face. The expression was beyond justified if Bonnie really believed she could go ten with the mother of all.

"I have every magic. I have the spirits," Bonnie countered. Her mother scoffed as her baby girl began to chant and the flames rose on the candle wicks. "I have expression." The blazes on the torches roared and doubled in size.

"Stop it, Bonnie." Fear stretched her mother's eyes wide.

Slithering black veins writhed up her daughter's forearms as she whispered, "I have the darkness."

"Bonnie, don't," her mother begged, even as her voice hollowed and she faded away.

Her baby girl stared at the spot where her grandmother had once stood for a moment, and then she began to chant. The fire blazing on the candles and torches continued to rage, while the parasitic worm like black veins resumed slithering upwards until they reached her face. When her chant ended, Nature snatched the air from her baby girl's lungs as compensation for the forbidden magic she'd wielded. Once the transaction was complete Bonnie collapsed.


"Oh fuck no!" Abby screamed, even before her eyelids had a chance to snap open.

She pulled herself into sitting position, allowing her glance to dart around her bedroom. Her heart pounded. Slowly, but the damned organ still felt as if it would burst right out of her chest cavity. How the hell could dying still be Bonnie's fate? Her transitioning should've been enough to keep her baby girl safe. For she would damn near Mystic Falls and everyone who had the misfortune of calling the cursed place home, if it meant her daughter's continued existence.

We can protect her. Give us free reign, Minnares. We'll subjugate Nature and force the so called mother of all to cower at your feet. Not this shit again! She squeezed her eyes closed. The cloudy blackness swirling behind her lids, waited impatiently to be wielded. Instead of giving in to the enticing darkness, she shoved the wicked sorcery into a vaulted corner of her mind.

"Be at ease, Abby." A cool palm rested between her shoulder blades. "There's unjust cause for alarm. Newly transitioned vampires often suffer night terrors. Lend me but a moment and I'll fetch you a tumbler of brandy to sooth your senses."

"I'm fine," she snapped, while shrugging his hand from her back.

Why the hell was Elijah still in her bedroom? They had a synergistic agreement. He fed her and she allowed him to puncture her femoral artery every now and again. She hadn't signed up for sleep overs or some fictional grand romance he'd wistfully tell the next chick about one day.

"Here." He shoved his wrist in her face. "If not brandy, then have your fill of my blood. We both know my essence is rather accommodating when tasked with seeing to your comfort."

Her magic hissed. Smite him, Minnares! His wrists are for those who are lesser than you. Instruct the half immortal on his place. Make him bare his throat for your consumption. "I'd rather have your carotid," she said, slapping his wrist away from her face.

Abby could feel the sting of his stare on her cheek. She side-eyed him when he took too long to give her an answer. His mask of impassivity remained intact, but his eyes burned hotter than a street corner hooker who didn't believe in condoms. It made her wonder about all of the secrets locked away in that sociopathic head of his.

"Only mated pairs consume blood from the others throat. The act is not only intimate, but it is in fact sacred." His blazing hot stare devoured her face, like he was searching for a green light.

No motherfucking go! Abby's face folded into a look of disdain. She hoped the expression gave him nothing but red lights, brake lights, or whatever the hell light he needed to understand, she'd explore a million different avenues before she ever took that route with him.

Be wary of the nonsense he spews. For he is a fool whom is ignorant of the true ways of his own kind, Minnares. No—fucking—shit, Miss Marple! I doubt being an Original came with a damn manual.

"And who in the hell made up that corny shit, Rebecca?" Abby slid from the bed to pace around her room.

The nightmare of her baby girl's death was still fresh in her mind. If she didn't expel the nervous energy bubbling inside, she'd lose control of her magic. On the contrary, Minnares. Control will finally be yours. She groaned. The darkness in her magic was more relentless than a hormonal teenage boy begging for the panties.

"Ridicule me until your heart bursts with content, Ms. Bennett. The fact still remains, you made inquiries into consuming blood from my carotid. Enlightened minds would find such queries quite revealing," he murmured as his gaze ran unchecked over her, t-shirt and panty clad, body.

His perverted gaze devastated the crotch of her underwear. When was the last time she had a chance to slip away for an inappropriate weekend? Damn it, Abby! Get your beast back on a chain. Since she'd become whatever the hell she was, sex and Original blood stayed violating her brain. Her hormones had worn her out. They were jumping harder than the first time she saw Jodeci sweating it out in leather in the desert. She gave herself a mental, powdered palm, bitch slap. Elijah was too damn distracting, and her plans wouldn't plot themselves.

"How's this for revealing?" She marched over to her bedroom door and yanked it open. "Get the hell out of my room, before I give in to the urge to flambé my very favorite Viking dish."

Elijah slid from the bed like he'd been rolled in butter. His grace and masculine beauty could inspire books on top of books of poetry for those so inclined to put prose to page. She on the other hand was not Mya Angelou. His undead ass looked way better walking out of her bedroom door, than he did staying.

"Your desire thickens the air," he said, coming to a stop in front of her. "Are you quite certain you cannot imagine another way to utilize me?" He began to toy with a rogue curl that escaped from the bun on the crown of her head. "Consent to me appeasing your ache." His intoxicating brown liquor colored irises did something the cool, calm, and very debonair Elder Mikaelson would never do—verbally. His enthralling gaze pleaded for her to have him. "And the throb which assaults you every rising and setting of the sun, will no longer be your burden to bear.

Indulge yourself, Minnares. He is yours to do with as you see fit. The cool hand he placed on her hip, fucked around and sparked a battle between her body and mind that put the Trojan War to shame. Her treacherous good girl went rogue and started pushing all the wrong buttons in her brain in an attempt to override her will. Beat the hell down, she rested her forehead between his artistically sculpted pecks. When he moved to close the distance between them, she pressed her fist into the hard prime cuts of his abdomen muscles to maintain the gap of separation.

"Not only do I have my Jack rabbit on deck, but I also have a fresh pack batteries. So I'm good," with that said, she shoved him across the threshold and closed the door.

"My goddess. I thought he was going to stand there imitating a statue all night," the familiar raspy southern twang of Sheila Bennett's voice came close to stopping her slow beating heart. Abby froze, too afraid to turn around. "Well, are you gonna watch the door all-night, or are you gonna turn around and face me?"

She spun on her heel to regard her mother or the demon impersonating her late mother. "Mama?"

"Hello, Abigail," her mother said, running a critical gaze over her. "I would say you look well, but you're undead and we both know I'd never be able tell that lie with a straight face."

"Humph." She bobbed her head. "Here we go. Should've known you'd figure out a way to cross the veil just to tell me how rundown I look and how questionable my actions have been as a mother since I've reentered Bonnie's life."

"Oh child please." Sheila shooed her off with a hand. "I'm not here to question your choices, Abigail. I'm sure you have your reasons for deciding to forsake your upbringing, magic, heritage and nature to become a vampire."

"You act as if I turned on purpose, mama," she said, striding over to the bottle of Merlot on her wardrobe.

"Child, please." Her mother snorted. "Do I look like a damn fool to you? Don't forget I raised you. So stop with all this foolishness. Why the hell did you allow this to happen to you?"

"Mama, what do you want me to say? I've already told you-,"

"Lie to me one more damn time, Abigail Bennett!"

Abby exhaled her frustration as she poured wine into a paper cup. Without taking her eyes from the temporary solution of all her worries, she spoke, "I had a vision the night I transitioned." The familiar weight of her mother's stare further loosened her unwilling tongue. "I saw Bonnie die." She downed the cup of wine, before refilling it with the dark red fluid. "Tell me, what the hell kind of mother would I've been to cross over knowing what fate had planned for my baby girl?"

"Abby," Sheila said in a tone she always used when she found Abby neck deep in a mess of her own making. "Fate will have her way no matter what side of the veil you're standing on when she comes calling."

"Not this time, mama," she said. Clutching the bottle of wine, she drifted over to the bed and dropped down on the edge of the mattress. "Let Fate fuck around and shit the bed, thinking she can come for Bonnie. By the time I'm finished with that bitch she'll know there's no will on this planet greater than mine. Especially, not when it comes to my baby girl."

Her mother shook her head, while slamming her low with a glare. "As always, you're picking battles that don't need winning. Can you even imagine how many of our kin you've pissed off with your transition?"

"Do you really think I give a damn about those dead biddies stalking from the other side? You know they tried to kill your granddaughter to help Esther's deranged ass." The muscle in her mother's jaw twitched. Her reaction barely registered, but the understated clench of her back teeth indicated Sheila's displeasure over the whole Esther and Original fuck fest.

"You aren't safe. Neither is Bonnie." Her mother gave the bottle of wine a long cotton mouthed look before reclaiming her gaze. "Ayana's been having meetings with the Original witch. Meetings that require powerful privacy spells."

"Okay," she paused to take a long sip of wine straight from the bottle. After the bitter red slid easily down her throat, she continued. "If they wanna have a go at my crown, then I'll make sure they have ample space and shit ton of opportunity." The darkness in her magic stirred with approval.

"This is not a game, Abigail! Your magic may be strong, but they are many." Sheila snatched the bottle from her grasp and slammed it down on the night stand. "My granddaughter needs you focused. Being sloshed out of your, got damn, skull isn't going to do either one of you any favors."

Abby almost swallowed her tongue, while her eyes swelled from their sockets and threatened to hit the floor. "How'd you-,"

Sheila eyes narrowed to slits of hazel. "You and Bonnie have targets on your back, which means you need to be more cautious and cunning than President Obama at a Klan rally." Her mother's warm palm slipped in hers.

"There issues are with me, Mama. Not Bonnie." She covered their linked hands with her free one. "She's just a child who has only a small understanding of the magic she possesses and what it truly means to be a Bennett Witch. My baby girl is hardly a threat to their precious Bennett Legacy. So why come for her?"

"All I know, is it has something to do with her and that Original boy sharing a soul," Sheila said, while taking a seat next to her daughter on the bed. "If she accepts him as her mate, then the curiosity you present will be nothing compared to what they'll become."

Abby laughed despite the lack of humor to be found in her daughter's twisted predicament. "I knew Kol Mikaelson would be trouble the first time I lifted the lid on his coffin. And he only reaffirmed my beliefs the morning his arrogant ass swaggered from Rudy's front door."

"I agree. No good can come from Bonnie's association with the younger Mikaelson boy, but he's not the Original to whom I was referring," her mother said in a tone solely meant for spilling tea.

Abby side-eyed the hell out of Sheila. "If not Kol, then who?"

"The Hybrid."

"Klaus?!" Abby howled from the bottom of her underworked lungs. "He's the other half of my baby girl's soul?"

Her mother thumped her chin. "Close your damn mouth, Abby. Anyone with a functioning third eye can see their auras are two halves of the same whole."

"Shit." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "How am I going to protect her from all of this supernatural bull, Mama?"

"If you really wanna help Bonnie, then you need to understand what the hell you've become." Sheila held her gaze with a steady unblinking stare.

"I've read and reread every single one of Jonas Martin's grimoires. There's nothing in any of those books that even begins to explain what's happening to me."

"Forget Jonas Martin's grimoire collection. Most of those magical pamphlets belonged to single generation witches who felt the need to write down the most banal of spells. If you wanna know how to start a fire or float a feather, then go right ahead and scour those tenderfoots' booklets until your eyes cross," her mother said with a cocked brow and a one shoulder shrug.

Abby snorted. With all the shade her mother continued to throw, her magic would never be free of the darkness. "Well what would you have me do, Sheila B.?"

"There is a coven of witches in Tanzania who practices black magic and still worships the old religion. They're called the Morrigan." Her mother squeezed her hand, and then stood.

"That's impossible. Genuine black magic no longer exists. Believe me, I've looked." She assured. "The disciples of the old religion was put down over two thousand years ago. The beginner of our line ensured the extinction of the old ways in the name of Nature and spirit magic. You used to tell me bed time stories of Qetsiyah, and the Magical Blood Wars."

"Who the hell knows how those fanatics managed to avoid the purge? You just better be glad they survived, because they're the very last of your hope," her mother said.

She speaks the truth, minnares. Of course she does, Abby fumed. Sheila Bennett had so many damn secrets she'd taken to the grave, they could barely close the lid on her coffin. Anger drove her to stand. "Where was this information when I was looking for practitioners to cleanse my magic of darkness? Why am I just hearing about this coven now?"

"Because I didn't know, Abigail." Her mother's bright orange aura flared. The potent surge of magic caused Sheila's curls to straighten and snap back into place in an impossibly slow motion. "Not until I crossed the veil. By the time I learned of the coven, the spirits' proclamations had already come to past. You were back in Bonnie's life to help her carry out their will."

"I'm done caring about the Bennett spirits and their will."

"Just as well," Sheila said as she began to fade. "Your focus should be centered on getting to Tanzania and finding that damn coven."

"But I'm a Bennett and the undead. They'd rather see me desiccated, than utter a single chant to help me." Abby rushed forward, while urgency invaded her tone.

A closed lip smile highlighted the astute glint in her mother's caramel toned eyes. "I'm sure you'll figure it out, Abigail. You've always been a step ahead of everyone else," Sheila said before she completely vanished.

"That's because you raised me to be a leader, Sheila B," she muttered to herself.

"You were born to lead, Abigail Bennett." Her mother's voice echoed off of her bedroom walls. "All I did was make you aware of who you are, and the mountains you were created to move."


"You are all types of freaky, lady," the quite inebriated cur said as he lay supine on the forest floor with his eyes closed. He licked his fleshy lips, no doubt anticipating the moment he perceived to come next. "Must admit, I've never done the wild thing in the wild before." Nervous laughter bubbled from his lips. "With all the squirrels, coons, and doo dads watching. Oh, wow! You got me whizzing just thinking about it."

"You must be silent, lover." A frustrated sighed rushed from Esther's mouth as she clutched the athamae over her head, while desperately endeavoring to maintain her concentration.

She'd blundered the invocation three times since she initiated the spell. Each folly caused her to have to begin anew. The blithering son of a pig simply could not manage to hold his unprompted lips together. His incessant prattle knew not the meaning of end! For her next sacrifice, she intended to invest in rope. Ah, and a gag. A gag with a ball that could be shoved into the sacrificial human's mouth.

The same sort the fetching leather clad madam utilized on her prisoner of passion in the moving picture Donovan insisted she observe with him. And well she did, for the verbal restraint in its construction was rather ingenious. Why, if only she'd been in possession of such an object a thousand years ago. Ha! Her faithless hound of a husband would've no doubt known his place.

"Sit on my face and I swear you won't hear a peep out of me." Esther scoffed. She would not seat herself upon the buffoon's face, even if her hind quarters depended upon such a loathsome act. "It's all I've been able to think about since you flounced into the bar. I've never tasted anyone as sophisticated as you. Bet you glide across the tongue better than lobster and caviar…or like that stuff they scarfed down on Dynasty all the time. Think they called it pate. Yeah, it was pate. Bet you taste just like pate."

Did she really require another sacrifice? Could she not just dispatch the cretin, before he had the opportunity to procreate? "Gonna be a real shame sending you back to Satan, but all whores belong in hell. There's just no getting around it, classy lady."

"Indeed, hell often does reside around classy ladies." Esther agreed, though she'd managed to only hear but a few words, here and there. For she'd bestowed a great portion of her attentiveness to completing the chant, and on the magical blade, which now glowed amethyst.

"That's not what I said, Silly Filly!" The imbecile's dull mucky brown eyes snapped open to regard her, but then protruded from his thickened skull when his gaze collided with the glowing athamae. "The whore of Babylon!" The idiotic drunkard's appendages flapped back and forth like a tortoise turned on its shell.

Taking advantage of his unfortunate position, Esther climbed on his bloated belly, and then gripped his sides with her knees. "Fear not, you filthy beast. I mean to provide your wretched soul with great purpose. My word is yours. There will be insurmountable meaning in your demise."

She attempted to plunge the blade in the center of his chest, but the insufferable mongrel took hold of her wrists when the point of her dagger was but a mere inch from its mark.

"Not tonight, you jezzy bell! The voices warned me you'd come," he gasped as they wrestled the other for control over the athamae. "Reckon you know what that means."

"Voices?"

"Means I'll be tossing you back into the same lake of fire you slithered from, you sneaky little slut." His wide hips left the ground in jerky up thrusting movements. He nearly unseated her from all of his thrashing. Once her perch upon him became precarious, he slammed his free arm into her and she tumbled sideways from his hulking body. She lost her grip on the handle of the magical dagger. "I've trained years for this moment. Your daughters in wickedness, gave me bookoos of practice. Slicing their rotten flesh to ribbons, taught me exactly what I needed to know to vanquish you, Lilith!"

"Who in bloody blazes is Lilith?" Esther tucked and rolled to avoid being pummeled by two beefy fists.

The eve had taken a turn for the unexplainably strange and she hadn't even a pittance of time to lend such nonsense. She reached for the talisman nestled between her bosoms only to have her hand come away wanting. Her heart hurled itself at her ribs. The crystal must've slipped from her neck when she tumbled to the ground.

"Your tricks won't work on me, because I see you for who you are." He climbed to his feet, and then began to slowly stalk towards her. A grin twisted his grotesque lips in the most unbecoming way as her crystal dangled from one his tightly clenched hands. "You're the mother of all monsters, whores, and Hillary Clinton."

"Yes, yes," she said, while scurrying backwards on her hands and feet. "You're correct, I am the mother of monsters, and while whore is a harsh word to be utilized in description of my wayward daughter, I'll be the first to confess Rebecca could benefit in being a bit more selective in who she invites to breech her borders, but I know not of this Hillary Clinton to whom you refer."

A despicable smirk cursed his unfortunate mouth. "You may be the whore who corrupted Babylon, but you sure are a class act. That accent of yours gives me chills, woman! Ooh wee! I can't wait to have my way with your cold dead body. I'm gonna rock your corpse until rigor mortis sets in."

"Why, I fear your senses have travelled beyond your reach," she sputtered.

When he stooped to lay claim to her ankle, she kicked him in the face with the point of her heeled boot. The squeal he released reminded her of Mikael's prized hog. Rolling free of his blubbering flesh padded frame, she reclaimed the athamae before climbing to her feet. He whirled away holding his eye. Her grip tightened around the dagger. The sniveling dog! She would perish before she allowed him to defile her person…or remain among the living, since he was after all a necromancer. The vilest of sorts.

"My got damned eye," he wailed. "What've you done to my eye, you cunt?"

"You dare?" She gasped. "Never mind your bloody eye, for I will have your insolent tongue."

Rage feasted on her cautious nature and propelled her forth. Before she could contemplate her actions, she leaped on his back. When she attempted to lock her legs around his wide waist, he snatched her over his shoulder, and then unburden himself by discarding her on the ground. The sparse amount of oxygen in her lungs burst free upon her body's impact with the forest floor.

Stunned and jarred from her ungraceful landing, she could only gaze into the senseless wild eyes of her sacrificial captive and think…damnation! Oh, why in bloody blazes did she not select the toothy dullard who donned spectacles and struggled with a speech impediment? Why, he was nothing more than bones housed in skin. Had she chosen him, she'd be back in her apartments by this point viewing Meredith Grey and her dream worthy doctor. Due to her blunder however, she now found herself locked in combat with a gorilla beast three times her person for the explicit right to subsist.

Her former victim turned homicidal villain, ambled forth until his oversized frame extinguished the light of the moon. The blade's dim glow repelled a trifle of the darkness spawned from her antagonist's shadow. She clutched the handle of the athamae in both hands with the sharp tip of the magical blade pointed towards its intended mark.

Without even a suspicion of warning, the hulking mountain of flesh lurking over her stumbled, and afore she could fully comprehend what may come next, she discovered herself submerged by a sea of rancid flesh. A grunt, howl, and whimper later, she was freed from the confinement of her cumbersome meat coffin. Someone did her a kindness and assisted her to a standing position. Wetness saturated her from neck to midsection.

"Esther, I know you said not disturb you, but Donovan's-," the motel manager began.

She disregarded formality and flung herself into Esau's limp hanging arms. "You've delivered me from the oddest of endings. Did you know that driver of trucks had a mind to butcher me, and then molest my corpse? Why, had you not come along and assist me in slaying this beast my life would be forfeit. For such unflinching bravery, my gratitude is eternally yours."

She stooped next to the mammoth of a man to pry her talisman from his fist. Once achieved she stood to regard Esau with her most pleasant smile.

"Um, no, no. That's really unnecessary." The humble man raised his blessed hands. "Save your gratitude, Ms. Mikaelson. All I want is for you to keep your promise."

The torches reignited when the pads of Esther's index finger and thumb slid over the crystal talisman. A gasp escaped the confines of Esau's mouth as his frightened stare traveled over her bloodstained torso. Ignoring his somewhat feminine sensibilities, her searching gaze, landed on her failed opponent. The handle of the athamae protruded from the center of his chest as glassy unseeing eyes peered into the heavens.

An inappropriate laugh galloped from her lips. She covered her mouth with the palms of her blood tainted hands to staunch the sound. Her triumph over the rotter was a prelude to the conclusion she'd impart upon her miserable children. And should the young Bennett witch attempt to occupy the ground between her and her detestable offspring she'd conclude her as well.

"The fuck!" Her eyes almost leaped from her head. The sound of Donovan's voice at her back forced her heart to beat swift blows into her breasts. "You dropping bodies around my spot, E? Nah, that shit don't work for me or my legitimate interests," a clicking noise, spun her on her heel to come face to barrel with a rather formidable weapon. "Think it's time I see other bitches, and I know its way past time that you hollered at the bitch who made you."

"Sopor," she uttered, while caressing the crystal.

Donovan's eyes rolled upwards, and then closed. His body crumpled at her feet. She peered down at him as her skull threatened to burst from troublesome regrets. For, since she'd squandered a portion of the magic in the talisman, the blade would require another sacrifice. A sigh slid from her lips as she gazed down at her lover's uncorrupted handsome features. If only…

She closed her mind to such thoughts. There was no reason in shedding tears over milk which no longer resided in the pail.

"Esau, do me a kindness and place Donovan in the storage compartment of his automobile." She walked over to her would be killer. A murmured chant returned the gory magical blade to her waiting palm. "Also, excavate a portion of earth to entomb this carcass. For it is my will that the maggots and night crawlers feast well this eve."

"You're insane, woman. This is all getting too far out of pocket. Donovan was never-,"

Oh, blessed goddess of creation! Must she suffer such unprovoked defiance at every turn when the fruition of her aspirations was nigh? She clutched her talisman in her palm, and forcibly conveyed her desire. "This topic will not be conversed again. I've not misremembered you maintained the continuation of my existence, and for such I am indebted. My life, however, is outmatched by my purpose. Place yourself in the path of my aim and you'll discover your life holds even less value. Now go, do my bidding."

Esther dismissed her savior and reluctant servant without affording him a second glance. She strode over to a tree stump nearly as old as she. It served as a provisional altar, which held a map and other magical paraphernalia. All had fallen into place. The time had arrived for her to locate her eldest son and most unexpected disappointment.

In a single move she dangled the talisman over the map. The crystal glowed the same shade as the blade. A smile coiled her mouth. Yes, sacrificial soul magic would serve her well. She pierced her hand with the point of her blade. Her dark ruby life force, seeped from her palm to pool in the center of the page. She then began to chant a litany in Latin. Once the talisman connected with the chosen progeny directly linked to her blood line, the thick fluid trundled across the page until it reached West Virginia. After which, the slightest of dribs parted from the crimson drop and continued on only to halt upon Mystic Falls.

Why the little reprobate! He'd aligned himself with his demonic siblings. What other interpretations were to be found for Finn's current location? Variables. She abhorred the bloody lot of them. No matter, she'd traveled too far to allow her treacherous son's betrayal to be a deterrent. She slammed the point of the blade into the crystal. The screaming soul of the recently departed slipped easily into the talisman. The gemstone vibrated from the additional power. Satisfaction swelled within the deepest depths of her. Soon the remaining balance of her debt to nature would be repaid and her eternal rest would finally know peace. The plot would proceed as scheduled.


"Can you believe that hypocrite took my car?" His little love asked.

Kol held his tongue. For he knew there was no answer that would serve her to satisfaction. Since they'd departed from her residence. She'd expressed her ire by making inquiries into her father's action during their confrontation. Inquiries, which apparently didn't require responses. He'd ascertained that fact by the swift cutting edge of her lethally sharp tongue. When he'd attempted to offer his exceptional insight on her father's thoughtlessness and implied abandonment as a parent, she'd bloody berated him as if she were a bloody shrew from a poorly plotted Shakespearean travesty.

On she raged of him not comprehending her father or, and he quoted, his struggle as a single dad attempting to raise a woman. Rubbish! Anyone who spent a majority of their time gallivanting about the globe, would undoubtedly discover child rearing to be a struggle. After all, being ever present assisted greatly along the path of ensuring the superior upbringing of one's offspring. Even his bitch of a mother grasped that concept.

"Worry not, little love," he said. His hand found her thigh, and he intentionally allowed his little finger to graze her intriguing crotch. Memories of how easily she'd melted on his tongue infiltrated his mind. The urge to bring about a pleasurable end to what she'd instigated earlier, rode him harder than, the bare arse, Lady Godiva. "I'm positive when emotions begin to descend, your father will see to the return of your automobile. Until said time, Nik will just have to endure us utilizing one of his many over compensations."

His beautiful seducer's eyes travelled over the supple black leather interior, and the complex musical system. A small half smile further offset the symmetricity of her mouth. "As much as it slays me to even ask Klaus for the time of day let alone use of one of his cars, guess I should be grateful we're not walking."

A telling haggard sigh crept from her lips.

"We don't have to undertake such a trying spell this early in the morn. The sun will soon rise to greet the sky and you have yet to close your eyes, little love." His hand left her thigh to cup her cheek. "I'm sure the homicidal history instructor's incapacitation will hold long enough for you to rest."

She nuzzled his palm. "Maybe, but I'm doing this now, Kol."

"Why must you discount your own distress simply because the doppelganger beckons?" Oh, how he resented the Salvatores' favored pet, and what she meant to his mate. Bonnie would bloody martyr herself yet over a nonsensical cause inspired by that insipid bit of fluff. "You've had not only a mind numbingly gratifying evening, but it's also been wrought with emotional turmoil as well." He leaned forward to press a chaste kiss upon her delectable mouth. "Only one of those occurrences are conducive with casting unpracticed incantations. Would you care to place your brash on which one will aid in your endeavors?" He placed another kiss at the corner of her lips.

An unwilling moan vibrated within her throat. "Not even if I had Bill Gates' bank account. Your ego has more than enough hot air without me adding fuel to your already well-established arrogance." Mischief glinted her emerald jade toned eyes, before she cast her gaze away to stare at the doppelwench's house. "Besides, I'm not here because Elena crooked a finger. Innocent people are dying, because Alaric's losing his damn mind. If I leave now and he escapes…" Her head swung slowly from side to side as her gaze reclaimed his. "Alaric killed Care's dad, and yet she still asked me to help him, Kol. If she can rise above all the bullshit taking shots at her, then how can I not do the same?"

"You're not their bleeding savior, Bonnie."

"And my heart doesn't pump ice water either, Kol." She leaned forward and pressed her soft full lips to his. Irony found its place between them in the form of her heated mouth and his cold nature. For the sleet in his veins thawed under the all too searing blaze of her kiss. "Now come on so we can get this over with, I'm exhausted and my head is banging." He attempted to puncture his radial artery, but she placed a hand over his wrist. "Later when all of this is in our rearview." She brought his arm to her mouth and brushed her lips over the denied artery. Her verdant pools then rose to enslave him. "Did you remember to bring the spell?"

"Of course." He passed her the parchment he utilized to transcribe the necessary incantation upon from one of the relics in Nik's ancient grimoire collection. "I trust you were able to secure all the required ingredients for the brew while I secured the incantation?"

She tapped her oversized traveler's bag. "Please, I'm a walking apothecary," she said, before releasing her door and taking her leave of the passenger seat. The alluring vision, her skillfully rounded derriere presented raided him of logic and sound mind.

Well Hell's glorious bells! Would there ever come a moment in time when his desire for her didn't suffocate him? He departed from his place behind the wheel of Nik's automobile. With Original speed he joined her on the verandah right before she raised her dainty clenched hand to knock upon the doppelganger's door.

A moment later the unoriginal doxy answered. Astonishment stretched her eyes wide. "Bonnie?" The delight swimming in her gaze evaporated the moment her mundane brown stare collided with him. "What're you doing here?"

His mate's nose wrinkled. "Are you burning sage?"

"Abby told Care it helps to relieve stress," was her hurried reply. When her flagrant stupidity elicited a scoff from him the muscles in her pinched little face stiffened. "What's up, Bon? Why're you here?"

"Caroline told me about what the ring is doing to Alaric. We're here to help," his little love replied. "She said she'd call to let you know we were coming."

The doppelwench's eyebrows nearly leaped into her hairline. "Who's we?"

"Come on, Elena." Bonnie's luscious upper lip curled at the corner as her hand found her hip. "You know I don't do stupid questions. Now do you want our help or not?"

"Bonnie, you can't expect me to invite him in," she sputtered, directing a pointed glare in his direction.

"That's exactly what I expect. Kol's not gonna hurt you, Elena," Bonnie gazed at him from the cut of her eye, "Tell her, babe?"

"She's completely safe this eve, little love." His gaze narrowed as his stare moved to regard Elena. "The doppelwench has my word."

The twit's mouth opened and closed several times before it managed to conceive a viable sentence. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Calm down. Kol's only joking." His little love insisted.

She was quite adorable in her naivety. Not only did he intend to hurt the pointless sket when an opportune moment presented itself, he also meant to bleed her bloody out. He refused to allow Nik to obtain the hybrid army he so coveted or have Bonnie beholden to a wench who was cursed to expire prematurely no matter what sort of lackluster life she decided to occupy.

"It's fine, Goddess." Kol captured, Bonnie's hand and guided her away from the door. "You have all you require to complete the spell. I'll wait here until your return." He pressed lingering kiss to the corner of her irresistible little mouth before giving her a little shove towards the door.


"Make sure he drinks this twice a day. It'll subdue his altar." Bonnie placed the container on the counter, and then turned to repack her bag. "This is by no means a long term solution, but it'll give me and Kol time to figure out something more permanent."

She'd spent nearly an hour suppressing Alaric's deranged alter ego. The drunk bastard had called her a female dog so many times she began to wonder if he thought bitch was her name. For all the changes she'd undergone to put Mr. Hyde on a leash, Dr. Jekyll should've been grateful. The ancient spell had run the train on her rain maker, and it hadn't so much as dropped two singles on the night stand for her troubles. If she ever saw that tacky ring on Ric's hand again she'd chop off his damn finger. To hell with asking questions.

"Is that all?" Elena demanded. She stalked across the kitchen to stand next to her, while hurling glares at the side of her face sharper than Colten Hayes jawline.

Bonnie released an annoyed sigh. She just couldn't with Elena. "Yep, it's already been mixed. All you need to do is add two cups of water."

"I'm not talking about your shitty herbs, Bon!" She slapped the counter, while shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "Did you really help Kol and Rebekah burn the last of the White Oak?"

"Before we go there, how about you answer me this?" Bonnie's eyes crossed. Elena was working nerves she didn't even knew she possessed. "Why the hell did you trick Matt into believing he has feelings for me? Thought you were done running mind games on him, Elena. He's not your raggedy ass my buddy doll. You can't just pass him around and hope whoever you give him to will be grateful enough to do whatever the hell you want—ow!" Something sharp pierced the side of her neck. "The hell!"

"I'm sorry, Bon." Elena's voice became distant, while her face floated over hers from the end of a long dingy tunnel. "But my best friend wouldn't save Klaus. Not after everything he's done. The Originals have to be controlling you. I don't know how, but I promise I'm gonna find a way to fix you."

"Di…ya…rug…me?" She slurred as her knees buckled. A pair of ice cold arms caught her before she hit the ceramic tiled floor.

"Yes, but everything's gonna be fine," Elena insisted.

"Ma…entiya…foot…is…," She struggled between gasps.

"Damon, hold on. She's trying to say something." Elena began to smooth her hair away from her face. "What were you saying about your foot, Bonnie? Does it hurt?"

"It…prolly…will…afta…I…shove it up your-,"

"Easy, witchy." Damon's voice collided with her ears even more muffled than Elena's. "Nobody likes a potty mouth."

Black spots gnawed on the edges of her vision. Any minute she'd lose consciousness, and be at the mercy of America's dumbest vampires. The thought twisted her gut and tied her intestines in knots. If she didn't put an end to their foolishness, before her lights flickered the hell out, they'd have her stashed away for days attempting to brain wash Kol from her mind. Hell, they'd locked down Care's mom for almost two weeks without even pretending to think twice.

Elena had misplaced her fucking mind! How dare she use mental violation as a means to control her? Rage swelled inside of her to kick the, rotting dead shit, out of the drug induced haze. Without even a summons her magic shot from her center enhanced by Kol's ancient essence. The power she'd come to know better than her name felt unfamiliar and by far more potent than anything she'd ever wielded. Including the power she'd harvested from a hundred of her dead ancestors to put down Klaus.

Blended sorcery roared through her veins and arteries in strategic pursuit of the chemical invader. The moment her and Kol's magic clashed with the intruding substance, she lost her grip on their combined power. The cabinets in the kitchen flung themselves open. Plates, bowls, and glasses flew from their respective shelves. Some crashed at Elena's feet, while others slammed into the refrigerator at her back just narrowly missing her head.

"Damn it, Elena," Damon hissed. "Did that geriatric hag say how long the potion would take to strip away her magic? If she keeps this up the Original Stan is gonna hear her."

Bonnie's mind spun right out of her skull. She couldn't believe those bitches had the audacity to come for her magic. Why not chop off her legs and arms too? Since they'd plotted to mutilate her, they might as well be thorough.

"No he won't, Damon. Esther says as long as the sage burns no one will be able to spy on us. No matter if they're human, supernatural, or the government."

"Yeah and she also said this stupid concoction would work," he snapped back. "I'm giving her another dose."

Her so called best friend dodged flying dishes to dash across the kitchen. "Damon, no! Giving her too much can kill her."

"I'll take my chances."

The hell! A fraction of a second later, Bonnie smelled smoke. Quarter of a second after that, her ass collided with the ground as Damon's motorcycle boots massacred the ceramic tiles between him and the kitchen sink. Once there, he shoved his—quite literal—flaming hair under the faucet. Despite being still dizzy, she managed to climb to her feet and stumble towards the front door. Halfway across the living room, it felt like someone had dumped a book bag full of bones on her back. The slight weight in her altered state proved to be more than enough of a burden to drive her to her knees.

"I'm sooo sorry, Bonnie," Elena whispered next to her ear right before another needle punctured her neck.

This time, whatever was in the syringe, took her down so fast, she only had time to blow out the front windows of Elena's house and think a single name. KOL…


Shards of glass burst from the sills of all the windows positioned at the front of the residence. Instead of the sharp jagged edges embedding his person, they glided around him without as much as a graze to his pale perfect skin. The wanker whom endeavored to steal him from behind wasn't as fortunate. No, he most regrettably found himself impaled from face to ankles in fragmented slivers.

Light glaring from the lantern by the door reflected off the broken pieces of cut glass protruding from Salvatore's body. A rainbow of colors danced upon the bland painted white wood of the verandah. Who would've perceived those idiotic moving pictures Bekah extorted him into watching, knew something of the undead, he—an Original—hadn't even begun to perceive. Vampires truly did sparkle!

Kol took a moment to regard the younger vampire with a narrowed eyed smirk. The stake clenched in the little sods fist clattered rather abruptly to the ground. His foolishness was quite the impairment. Not only to himself, but those forced to suffer him as well. Honestly, what was his plan? To spear him until they were both overcome by exhaustion?

Kol stooped to retrieve the abandoned stake from the floor. Moving beyond Original speed, he plunged the wood into the center of Salvatore's chest, effectively nailing him to one of the columns. When the bunny chaser hurtled over the shock of still being among the undead, he glared at him. His stare beady and accusing. Kol opened his mouth to interrogate the shiftless bastard.

KOL…

The sound of his little love's voice, reverberating off the walls of his mind slew the question before it could slip from his lips. The desperation laced throughout the tone of her barely audible whisper pumped undiluted fear into is cold undead heart.

Something reprehensible was afoot. He tilted his head and trained his ear to listen for movement or sound inside the residence. Unnatural silence greeted his superior auditory senses. Bonnie's earlier mention of scenting sage kindled his mind. The sodding doppelslag had cast a silencing spell. Fury bred from terror, tore a growl from the bases of his lungs. What the bloody hell was he thinking to allow Bonnie to stroll behind enemy's lines unprotected after besting those two meager excuses for vampires' only mere hours before? He was a bloody idiot!

Snatching Salvatore from the bondage of the stake, he slammed his hand into the gaping hole before the wound had an opportunity to close. An exhale later he clutched the younger vampire's shriveled blood pumping organ in his fist.

"Salvatore," he purred, while strolling closer to the door with the younger of the brothers shuffling after him in an attempt to keep his heart housed within his chest. "Come have a look at what I've managed to ensnare. Oh, and do be so kind to bring my mate along as well."

Moments later the door swung open. "Oh my god! Stefan?" The doppelgänger gasped.

He disregarded her to lend his attention to the unconscious witch nestled in the elder Salvatore's arms. She lay completely still even as her chest rose and fell with great effort. The scent of her mouthwatering essence bewitched his nostrils. Her golden aura shrouded her body like that of a burial cloth. What the sodding hell had they done to her? A blistering burn scorched his throat. His thirst for blood and vengeance tore away the calm she'd only just given him days before when she'd graced his existence with meaning. He would fucking slaughter them all!

"Before you start foaming at the mouth, let me assure you the witch is fine. She's just exhausted. Betraying your friends can really...drain you." The elder Salvatore allowed mockery free reign over his tone. He swaggered forth, stopping just shy of the barrier barring Kol's entrance. "If you know what I mean," he said, all while giving him a raised brow grin.

"Tread carefully and mind you words, Salvatore. Your pointless sibling is one tug away from final desiccation and supernatural purgatory." He squeezed the younger vampire's heart for emphasis. A reluctant whimper forced its way from the younger vampire's lips. "Return my mate and I'll forgo my retribution for another day."

The doppelwhore's wide eyed gaze left the younger Salvatore to beseech his elder brother. "Give him Bonnie, Damon."

"No!" The younger Salvatore wheezed. "With Bonnie on their side Klaus will be unstoppable. You have to let me go, brother. Finish this for, Elena."

Kol gave the sodder's heart a slight tug, before raising a finger. "Behave with abandon and I shall take my time with the ever uninspiring Elena." His words soared from his lips unburdened by deception and emotion. "And attend me well on this, Salvatores. I mean to have you bear witness to every excruciating act I have planned for her until you're so crazed by her screams you'll plead to conclude her misbegotten life yourselves." He stepped closer to the door until his chest pressed against the barrier and he stared the elder of the two directly in the pupils. "You. Have. My. Word."

"Damon, please," the simple minded twit whined. "He'll kill Stefan!"

"I'd consider my own fate were I you. For the younger Salvatore's end will be swift. Yours, however…" he permitted her limited imagination to fill in the rest.

"One of these days I'm gonna make you eat your million dollar words, Mikaelson." The elder vampire seethed through the clench of his teeth.

"You have my expressed permission to try, Salvatore." A cold smile chilled his lips. "Now unhand my witch and know I will not ask again."

Obstinacy conquered the elder Salvatore's facial features. "Stefan's right. I can't allow you to get your—butterfly wing ripping—fingers on Bonnie."

Kol's rage snatched control from his slipping grasp. Like a beast freed from his restraints, he released his hold on the younger Salvatore's heart to instead rip out his throat. When most of his blood gushed from the wound, he permitted the little bugger's dying body to drop to the floor. He whirled back around to face the eldest of the two.

"You have two minutes before your sibling is beyond the point of saving. The board is yours, Salvatore. What will your next move be?" Kol taunted, as he zipped to stand nose, chest, and toes touching close to the barrier.

"I swear to god, Mikaelson," the Salvatore seethed. "If my brother dies, this bitch is done. I'll tear her apart right before your eyes."

Volatile energy swelled inside of him. Before even having the liberty to comprehend his actions, his hand tore through the veil to wrap around the bleeding ulcer's throat. The bugger's eyes nearly leaped from their sockets, when he found himself snatched from within the safety of the barrier.

"You were saying?" Kol inquired in a deceptively calm tone as his glare drilled holes in the toddling vampire's skull.

"Whatever happens don't leave the house, Elena," Salvatore ordered without disrupting the deadlock of their shared glare.

"There's no point. He can get in, Damon," The bane of his eternity had the cheek to reply, while stepping from the former safety of her home. "Just do what he says and he won't kill you. Because the last thing he wants is for Bonnie to see him for the psychopathic freak show everyone, including his mother, already knows him to be."

Kol easily snapped Salvatore's neck. As the sodder's body folded in on itself he retrieved his mate's limp frame before it had the opportunity to meet the ground.

Once his little love was safe back in his care, he swung his glare to consider the doppelgänger. "Make no mistake, you and I will dance for the role you attempted to apprise in this satirical farce of a drama."

"Dancing is one of my favorite ways to pass the time." The brainless simpleton raised her chin in challenge. "For Bonnie, I'll twerk all night."

"Well, it would seem that we now have a standing engagement. I for one am looking forward to the bloodshed." His regard drifted to the younger Salvatore slowly desiccating on the portico floor. "You have thirty seconds before final death claims this one. He'll need a couple of pints if you are to revive him. And I'd take care were I you. Us psychotic freak shows can become quite the rippers when confronted with extinction, darling."

Kol whirled away only to have the blood drenched pike plunged into the stained column cross his field of vision. Not really fathoming why, he ripped the stake from the wooden post, before taking his leave of the verandah. Once he saw to his mate's safety, he planned to lend a great amount of time to pondering the logic behind Mystic Falls' most incompetent vampires. A nagging in the most calculating part of his mind warned their actions that night was somehow part of a much larger whole, and if his suspicions proved true, then retribution would be his sooner rather than later.


AN: Well there you have it my, clever peeps. After this chapter, I'll be cleaning tea from my keyboard for days. So while I get to scrubbing, hit the review button and tell me what you think. I'm dying to read your views on the fallout between Bonnie and Rudy. I also wanna know what you thought about Abby's reason for transitioning. And let's not forget Esther's tango with a serial killer. How does this chick always seem to catch breaks like most people catch buses? Oh well, flame or acclaim me in comments. Whatever the review notification brings, I'm looking forward to reading your feedback. Thanks again for taking the time to read this chapter. Hope to catch you next update.