"Chateau… what?" Bonnie repeated.
"Chateau de Versailles, it was scrolled out in cursive at the top of the gold invitation Caroline was holding," Kai said moving around the room to grab a pen and paper writing down what he was able to see through Care's eyes during the spell and closed his. "It said this year's theme is Beauty and the Beast… which you have to admit is kind of perfect, and that everyone's to dress in costumes of the pair from over the centuries. Oh and it's a masquerade! That could get interesting. And it starts at 9PM and goes all night; ideal setting for a couple vampires letting loose."
"With masks and costumes to cover up the spree they could have at a Masquerade Ball. Just the name of that place sounds rich; it's going to be massive."
"It's our best shot at getting them, it'll be easier to split and keep them apart. It's the only place we know they will be at and the party will be when they'd least expect an attack. I say we go for it."
"To a Beauty and the Beast Masquerade… really?" Bonnie let out skeptically walking around the spacious living room, "Isn't that kind of a couple's thing; with the 17th Century clothing, and dancing, and romance?"
"Yeah," he commented with a bold stare sliding his hands into his pockets, "so do you want to go?"
Seeing flashes of elegant outfits and envisioning an expanse building filled with happy guests intermingling in one of the most beautiful places in the world was forcing the little girl within her front and center; dazzled by all of the possibilities.
"I really do," she confessed and Kai hopped to his feet off the white couch taking a step towards her spinning Bonnie quickly before pulling her into him.
"Excellent, it'll give me another chance to show off my moves."
"It would be a shame for the Parisian guests to miss out on such a treat. But it's only a little after two, we still have to wait until tonight."
"I'm sure we can find something to do in a place like this," he remarked with a cock of his eyebrow and heat tilt like you would give someone who didn't understand the punchline.
"You want to roam around the streets of Paris?" she wondered and was equally surprised by his eagerness.
"I haven't been out and around common folk for quite some time, color me interested. You're telling me you'd rather stay here?"
"I said no such thing; I was just asking you a question. We need costumes for tonight, maybe we should start there."
"Oh I know the perfect spot – super secluded, I came across it on one of my trips here it was only a few minute walk from the Tower."
Within minutes they were both dressed; Kai in dark jeans and a dark blue button down, and Bonnie in light jeans, a beige low cut blouse and a loose open brown jacket over it and headed out of the hotel. It was still chilly 45 degree weather but both seemed more than happy to endure it, opting to walk the distance to Kai's supposed secret hideaway and managed to find it in a short amount of time.
"Wow," Bonnie breathed looking down the long narrow street aligned with shops and people passing by, chatty and cheerful.
"Welcome to the Rue de Commerce," Kai pronounced with a slight accent and roll of his tongue, "it's your heart's desire, I'm sure."
Positive she looked like a typical tourist mouth agape and eyes sparkling taking in every building and person around her, Bonnie sauntered down the cobblestone path taking in her surroundings and heard Kai's gasp behind her.
"Look at the name!" he hollered from five feet back and turned to his face of delight, Bonnie's eye-line following his pointed finger and dissolved into laughter reading the name
"KooKai?"
"If there was one type of store in the whole world I would name my establishment after this would not be anywhere near my top ten, but it doesn't matter; let's check it out!"
Looking at the woman's clothing on the display mannequins Bonnie made it through the doors first and went straight for the one wearing a brown spaghetti strap dress and polka dolt brown and white scarf.
"Bonjour! Comment vas tu aujourd'hui?"
Bonnie's head turned towards the voice and saw a bubbly woman behind the counter smiling brightly at them both, freezing at the realization her two years of French in school was not going to be much help today.
"Nous sommes grand merci."
"Besoin d'aide pour trouver quelque chose en particulier?"
"Ballgown jaune, comme la beaute et la bete."
"Oh oui! Un moment s'il vous plait."
"Merci vous cous."
Kai looked over to her as the woman turned out of sight and Bonnie could only imagine the bewildered look she was giving him, for lack of a better phrase being blown away by what she just witnessed.
"You speak French?"
"Of course, you don't?"
"I know a little bit here and there but I wouldn't call it fluent," she said with a wave of her hand making him chuckle.
"But you know Latin, that's so much more difficult to learn."
"And a necessity in the world I live in, my high school French hasn't seemed to make an appearance until this very moment. So you know Latin and French-"
"And Spanish," Kai added.
"Okay."
"Portuguese," he offered and her eyes squinted, "and you know, there's a couple different types of Latin so you can't really just bunch that into one; but yeah, to name a few."
"I think I hate you a little bit, but I also feel like I need to travel everywhere with you as my personal translator."
"I'm up for that," he nodded with a soft smile running his hand around her waist drawing her in slowly, "I'm a little spotty on my Russian and Arabic, and German is one I will never attempt again, but other than that we could go anywhere you wanted."
Bonnie's heart rocketed up to her throat, cutting off her airway hearing Kai's soothing words making vows to do the things she's spent her entire life dreaming of – already living out one of them right now. Breathing in deeply she let herself get lost in the moment, closing the distance between them leaning her head against his shoulder away from his face and her arms tucked between them resting against his stomach.
"I suggest il bellissimo luogo d'Italia," he rasped and Bonnie listened closely knowing one of the words in the sentence.
"Italy!" she beamed turning her head to face Kai, "of course you know Italian too; you're just full of surprises. So what was happening during the conversation I missed?"
"She asked how we were and if we were looking for anything so I told her a yellow ball gown, like Beauty and the Beast," he laughed, "she was very excited."
"You know the color of the dress?" Bonnie cracked up leaning back still within his arms, "were you a secret fan of Disney movies?"
"Oh it was no secret I love animated movies, having smaller people running around was just the excuse. But Disney didn't create the story; it's been around since the 1700's."
"I know they didn't, Disney seems to get all of their kid's movies from some pretty gruesome fables."
"Yeah this one's no different, I'm pretty sure the beast eats her at the end," he snorted, "or at least tries to kill her a few times and the backstory is a little too bleak for children. It's fitting that it's the theme this year, seeing how the story was from a French author originally called La Belle et la Bete."
"You have a vast knowledge of some of the most random information," Bonnie said with one eye squinted a little more than the other, looking him over, "but you know so much."
"In the top of my class, baby," Kai remarked and puffed his chest out exuding confidence, "also, after a decade in the prison world I'm pretty certain I read every book I could get my hands on; it's so weird some of the things you remember, right?"
"Absolutely," she agreed, also well informed of certain particulars Bonnie never thought she'd come across.
Kai's arms tightened around her – intentional or not Bonnie wasn't entirely sure – and peered up locking in on his eyes feeling his carefree and easygoing spirits radiating off of him until it surrounded her as well like an invisible bubble. Sliding her palms up his stomach over his pecs Bonnie rose onto her toes bringing herself closer but still not eye level to Kai and leaned in so she was a breath away, his gaze flashing to a scorch before closing the distance.
"Oh d'etere jeune et amoureux," the woman's voice cooed coming back into the room and Bonnie stepped back looking over to her as Kai let out a forced sound of laughter. "Si beau."
Bonnie's eyes trailed back over to Kai who looked two shades lighter, glancing between the two and cleared his throat gesturing to the woman. "She found a couple dresses for you."
With her eyebrows still scrunched Bonnie looked back to the right and her face morphed into one of excitement, running over to the four dresses of varying shades of yellow and gold with different styles. Two stood out to her, almost too classic and poised for Bonnie to have the pleasure of wearing and a chill ran down her spine feeling Kai close in behind her.
"These are too stunning for me to pull off, maybe something a little less luxurious."
"Everything you just said in that sentence was incorrect," Kai commented leaning in, hearing his soft sounds of amusement, "try them on and see how they look."
"Now?"
"No, when we get back to Mystic Falls," he said smoothly without missing a beat, Bonnie's smile splitting and turning to shove him lightly enough that he didn't move.
Grabbing one of the dresses Bonnie made her way into the dressing room in back and slid on an extravagant 1700s-era looking dress; the ruffles on the bottom looking strikingly similar to Belle's gown and slid on the matching gloves. The tight corset was the same bright golden yellow and cut straight across her chest with tiny pockets for sleeves. She was a little taken back that it was almost an exact replica but there was something about it – a little too bright and modern – that had her wavering. Needing to go back out to get the other dress Bonnie made her way to the front end watching Kai's Cheshire smile spread from ear to ear.
"Is it terrible?"
"Well look at you; the spitting image of a Disney princess. Ask and you shall receive, apparently. How do you like it?"
"I love it, but – there's still something about it, I don't know. I'm going to try on the other but I have a notion I'm not going to be able to afford this store."
"As a matter of fact, you can," Kai disagreed pulling his wallet out of his back pocket and sliding out a card holding it out for her to take – which she did not. Moving the few steps across the room Kai placed a credit card in her hand and Bonnie's eyes went directly to her name written in the bottom left hand corner.
"What the hell is this?"
"It's your new credit card," he stated like he was talking to a child, "you use it to buy things when you don't have cash on you, which is-"
"Shut up; why is my name on this? I'm not taking your money."
"I know which is why I got you a card so you can spend your money and not make a fuss every time I use mine."
"Absolutely not."
"Oh come on Bon, we're in France, a vacation away from the real world aside from the whole 'saving your friends' mission. The account's already set up in your name fully stocked in the bank so whatever you want to do with it – it's yours, or we can just continue to use mine."
"You – I –"Bonnie stammered, "I'm not accepting this."
"Then don't use it; or give it to this exuberant shop owner, that will really make her day."
Looking back and forth from the card in her palm to Kai her brain kicked into overdrive tripping over her thoughts and jumbling them making coherent sentences near impossible. Holding out the other dress Bonnie snatched it out of his hand and gritted her teeth on the way back, not even looking at her reflection in the second dress. Ready for round two she stormed her way back out watching Kai's cheeky grin fade and eyebrows rose.
"What?"
"What?" he repeated, "did you look at yourself; how do you like it?"
"Oh… no, I was too wrapped up I guess I forgot," she realized looking down at the bit of yellow lace over her chest.
"Go look in the mirror."
Pivoting and heading back for the dressing room the full length mirror on her right caught her eye and froze, taking in her appearance. This dress didn't look as identical to the original as the first but it was still the same ball gown style of a sleeveless corset and puffy bottom. Instead of a bright yellow the bottom was a shimmering faded gold up to the corset and a thin layer of white lace fell from the corset halfway down, decorated with yellowish-gold etches of flowers and a few scattered balled-up roses with the same gold fabric. The corset was a soft white and the small sleeves cut straight across her biceps, the same lacey material only in matching gold with another small rose directly in the center. There were no long gloves or hair accessories to go with the dress and yet… she felt elegant.
"Magnifique!" the woman clapped coming up beside Bonnie and kissing both of her cheeks.
Turning back towards Kai she could only muster a small smile feeling exposed even though she was fully covered and trailed her eyes until they met his.
"You look beautiful."
Bonnie's hands went to the small space of white feeling her stomach twisting into knots and thought her skin was on fire from the sudden rise in body temperature. Inhaling quick breaths she thanked Kai in one of her sweeter tones and turned heading back for the changing room putting on her regular casualwear.
"I can't get it."
"You're getting it," he remarked and she held out the piece of plastic for him to take back, "you don't even know how much it is."
"Too much."
"Excusez-moi, combien ca coute?"
"267 euros."
"Two hundred and sixty-seven…"
"Euro's."
"So what does that make it in US dollars?"
"Not the same price," Kai said with a bright smile and snatched the card out of her hand giving it to the woman.
"Cut it out!"
"If it makes you feel better just think of it as one of those gift cards you can spend anywhere, and this one's for this spur-of-the-moment trip overseas."
"Merci," the woman said handing over the card and dress wrapped in a plastic covering to Kai and kissed both of his cheeks before he spouted out another line sounding so fluent you would think he's lived here his entire life.
Bonnie had never heard Kai speak in anything other than sarcasm and this new French accent had his voice dropping an octave lower, giving him a rugged and sensual undertone. By the end of the night she had already planned to make conversation with guests knowing he would have to keep it going and Bonnie wouldn't have the distraction of the topic to have her focus stray. Walking out of the small store and ready for the next Kai reached for her wrist in a gentle gesture to stop and stood in front of her, looking around before waving his hand over the dress making it disappear.
"There, that'll make things easier," he smiled and started off again towards the next store.
Bonnie had lost count of how many boutiques, café's, shops, and other people she had come into contact with; the hours flying by as the night rapidly approached and looked out the window of the fancy jewelry shop they stumbled across.
"Look it's already getting dark out."
"And then the real fun will begin," Kai remarked leaning against the glass counter and bumping shoulders with her, "are you excited?"
"I'm anxious, antsy, maybe a little nervous – but excited?" she said through a crooked turn of her lips, "I think that'll kick into gear once I'm there and see everybody dressed to impress."
"Oh that's without a doubt," he smiled and she looked down at the bracelet her eyes kept wandering back to; one of pure simplicity. The white gold box chain was attached through 7 small round diamonds and the chain hung lower after the clasp dangling a small Eiffel Tower. "See something you like?"
"Everything," Bonnie said with brutal honesty, running her fingertips over the glass wishing she could take every piece home with her. "Ready? We still have to find you something to wear."
"Ah yes, the famous blue suit from the 1800s; I can't wait."
Laughing out loud at the thought of what Kai will look like she pivoted and headed for the front door turning left and made it to the next store before realizing Kai wasn't next to her. Spinning in a circle Bonnie looked back to the front entrance and saw him standing in front of it, scanning the crowd before spotting her and waving her back.
"I thought you were beside me."
"You took off too fast, and then I saw that store over there," Kai said pointing diagonal to the right, the front window displaying suits, "figured it was a good spot to check out."
"Those look like new Armani suits; I doubt you'll find what you're looking for."
"You never know," he said in a chipper tone and laced his fingers through hers walking across the street reading the name Giacobbi overhead.
Bonnie wandered over to the mannequins looking over the tailored suits and was startled when she heard Kai's voice behind her only a few minutes later. Turning and taking in the view in front of her Bonnie had to forcefully keep her teeth locked together in fear her jaw would drop open and gasp on command. Disregarding what he was looking for entirely Kai stood in front of her wearing black dress pants, dress shoes, a white button up with the top two undone and opened, and a onyx vest button up over it. There was no tie or coat in sight giving off a vibe of sex appeal, but it was the matching fedora with an onyx ribbon around the brim and buckle on the left that was tilted to the side over his right eye that had Bonnie worried her knees would give out.
"What are you wearing?"
"The most expensive piece of clothing I've ever owned, you like?" Kai said with a curve of his lip and hands outstretched making the fabric grip his muscles tighter, "it comes with the coat and tie but I got halfway through changing and noticed I kind of like it like this."
Bonnie had to take a long calming breath to steady her raging hormones that were one wrong boutique away from taking him in the changing room. First the accent, now the new look – she felt the need to give him another once over scrutinizing if this really was the same person she met in another world.
"And what about your costume for tonight?"
"Oh I'll just make it with a swipe of my hand back at the house," he stated off the shoulder like it had been his plan all along – which it probably was.
Watching Kai mosey back out of sight she heard him speaking to the man at the front desk and appeared a moment later still in the suit. "Where are your clothes?"
"Right here," Kai said lifting his hands of balled up clothing before they poofed from sight, "and now they're back at the place with my coat and tie. You thought I was going to change back into that when I'm looking this good? Oh no, I'm about to be sporting a style of a monumentally different kind; I'm wearing this for the walk home."
"Lovely," Bonnie said in a mock-sweet tone, her body and mind both joining forces to take her down before she could make it back to the apartment. Moving with an extra quickness in her step they weaved through the streets – her intentions slowed down by Kai's hand clasped in hers – but still managed to get back with decent timing. "Okay the party starts in an hour; I think I can get away with soaking in the tub for at least half that amount of time."
"If you go in there you're never getting out."
"I know," she whined, "but I want it so badly. Even the shower seems like it could keep me in there for hours."
"If you go for the open waterfall shower fifteen feet to my left, we'll definitely be in there for hours."
"We?" Bonnie said in a high voice through her laugh, taking her a moment to hear him smoothly slide that in there, "then there's not a chance I'm going to risk that; giant globular tub it is."
Scooting out of his clutches and closing the door behind her before Kai got any farther ideas, Bonnie breathed out a sigh of content looking over the spacious tub as it filled and the water almost poured over the sides when she sank in so deep only her nose and top of her head was out of the water. Time seemed to sleep away in this warm embrace and had to keep her eyes open and active not to risk drifting off and having Kai barge in on her. After what only seemed like minutes Bonnie stepped out of the still warm water, drying off with plush towels and wrapping the same comfortable robe around her.
"You are masquerade ready in that flowing cotton robe," Kai joked still fully clothed lying on the bed, "personally I was preferable to your other choice."
"Then I guess I will rely on your judgment," she nodded playing along, "what would I do without your expertise?"
"Be lost, inevitably," he soothed swinging his legs over and drifted his finger down the bit of space of her chest between the robe. "In any case you would have struck out in today's French-speaking activities."
"You are right about that," Bonnie chuckled and moved to the other side of the bed where her dress was, running her hand over the lace.
"I'll be out in five minutes," Kai said heading for the door and hearing the trickling of the nozzles going.
Bonnie had managed to scrunch and curl her hair with moose and get the dress on in that amount of time but couldn't work the laces behind her, her naked back to the door when she heard it open. "Hey, can you help me?"
"Can do," Kai murmured closing the distance and started to pull the laces farther apart.
"Kai!"
"I know I'm just teasing," Bonnie heard through his smile and went up her back tightening each lace, the corset sucking in everything including her oxygen and making her chest look even bigger as the lace didn't leave much to the imagination. Spinning the bottom of her dress into a twirl Bonnie was immediately met with Kai's naked torso and jumped back a step not seeing the towel through all of the dresses material. "You know I have no outfit to change into yet, right?"
"Yes I know," she brushed off as the memories ignited off his nakedness that close to her from behind, "so let's see it already."
"Alright, here goes." Closing his eyes the line between Kai's eyebrows appeared and snapped his fingers, Bonnie's eyes widening at the transformation he underwent in the blind of an eye.
Kai was wearing what looked to be the exact same outfit she knew so well but better suited for a dark prince; the shade of blue closer to imperial and the gold lapels and vest matched the bottom of the dress. The only thing that made the suit really stand out that it was from another time is the puffy white cuffs and ascot that rested on his chest. This outfit was nothing compared to the one she just witnessed that she would be dreaming about later, but Kai didn't look nearly as ridiculous as Bonnie had hoped for.
"You clean up pretty nice, Mr. Beast; leader of the coven."
"Mm why thank you, I believe that makes you the Bon of the Ball."
Bonnie couldn't hold in her laughter, the strictness of her outfit only letting her get it out in pants, "I think that's the cheesiest thing you've ever said to me."
"No, that's the cheesiest thing I've ever said, period. It must be the outfit."
"Mhm must be," she said amused and slid on a pair of gold heels with straps going across her foot and up her ankle; footwear that she would be jealous to see anyone in. Not that it really mattered, seeing how the shoes were hidden underneath the puffy skirt but the added height brought her eye-level to Kai and that made them a two-for-one deal Bonnie couldn't pass up on. Looking around to make sure she had everything she let out a unsettled sound forgetting the most vital piece of the costume. "Kai we forgot the masks!"
"One of the perks of having magic on our side; how do you want it to look?"
"Hm," she pondered, "gold, not a full porcelain mask but the metal ones with spaces in between and designs so you can see my skin through it, and a little bit of flashy-ness."
Closing his eyes and humming he ran his fingers over the side of Bonnie's face and then the other, doing it once more as a smile starting to spread and she smacked his hand away knowing he was messing with her. Laughing out once Kai rubbed his hands together and connected them so the sides of his index fingers touched and palms were facing down, scanning over her hands as a masquerade mask materialized.
"How's that?"
"Kai, this is gorgeous," Bonnie observed looking over the fine details of metal swirls connecting the mask but leaving open spaces all over and smiled wider at the bonus of tiny diamonds trailing down either side of the nose as well as at the bottom underneath the eyes, and a few scattered at the top including one at the tip which would be in the middle of her forehead. "I love it."
"I'm glad, now my turn," he repeated the same motion and slid another mask over her now empty hands, this one looking drastically different from hers.
Where Bonnie's mask covered both of her eyes, Kai's made of porcelain only fully covered his right eye down to his lower cheek and across half of his nose above the other eyelid as well as the whole forehead. Bonnie's royal and stylish look was the contrast to his dark and sinister approach, reminding her of the Phantom of the Opera's mask only much better. A large diamond shape from the bottom cheek, out to the bridge of his nose, up to his forehead and over to his ear was painted the shame shimmering imperial blue looking like a night sky in the light surrounding the eye socket and already knew how vibrant Kai's eyes will be when he puts it on. The same design was over what little space was left above the top of the other socket and a gold stitching separated the rest of the blacked out mask. Kai's grin spread deviously and took it out of her hands, holding it up to his face and Bonnie's skin flushed in a sheen layer of sweat seeing the wild beast within gazing back at her.
"This is going to be a wild night," Bonnie let out through a shaky break and Kai lowered the mask, the cloud of carnality lifting with it.
"I can't wait. I'm sure you didn't read many comics as a kid but Deadpool has a mask with a similar design, and this makes him look like a pantywaist."
"A what?"
"A lesser man," he concluded and her smile widened, "oh and I have another trick up my sleeve."
Waving his hand over the porcelain a glimmer appeared in its wake falling onto the mask before evaporating, repeating the same motion over hers.
"Flashy," she commented.
"I put a glamour spell over the masks; when we're not wearing them everyone will see our faces but as soon as they're on guests will see someone different."
"Will we see still be able to see each other?"
"Try it out," he said with coyness and she lifted the metal to her eyes, Kai copying her movement and smiling when his devious grin and luminous eyes shined back at her. "I think we're good."
Gathering all of the essentials needed for tonight – which didn't happen to be much seeing how most of the grunt work is coming from both of their concentration and recollection of past spells – they both made their way to the front door and set off for the real reason they were here.
xx
"You have to be kidding me," Bonnie let out as she looked out her window to a building so extensive she assumed the only castle-sized monuments built like these where within the hidden underworld of royalty – and she may not be far off.
"It's something, right?"
Before making it to the building the limousine - curtesy of Kai's insistence – had to travel around a massive oval garden with paths that people could walk through and a fountain in the center. The sheer length in size from left to right had Bonnie intimidated not only about not finding Caroline and Stefan but getting lost along the way and never finding her way out. The architecture across the front of the building was breathtaking, designed so that the three-story chateau walls turned in on each side twice until you reached the door; reminding Bonnie of having to walk down an endless hallway with the sides closing in on you until you eventually reached the end. Lights all along the roof gave life to the building during the nighttime and Bonnie could already see the trimmings of gold etched along the buildings windows, moldings, and pillars.
Pulling up to the front Kai stepped out of the limo first putting his mask in place and reaching his hand out, Bonnie placing hers within it and stepping out into the crisp night breeze. Placing her mask over her head and tying it in place she slid her hand through Kai's arm and scanned through the crowd of people mingling making their way up the steps and through the front door. The interior was exactly what Bonnie had imagined when she heard she was going to an extravagant mansion and her expectations only skyrocketed when she got a taste of what was to come from the outside. There was a true sense of Renaissance in the air as they wandered through the halls, the color schemes of red, black and gold seeming very fitting; along with the ancient artifacts, 1700's construction and design, and different style staircases around every corner.
"I am never going to find them in this place," Bonnie concluded looking over barely recognizable faces underneath an array of masquerade disguises.
"We'll find them; places like these are notorious for big dance numbers and group dining and things of that sort, they're bound to pop up."
"And until then?"
"We enjoy our night," he smiled looking at her eye-level on his right and slid his hand over hers with a quick squeeze.
Bonnie had tried to take a note out of the Kai Parker handbook and not stress over every miniscule detail, enjoying being in such an awe-inspiring place such as this and committing it all to memory. Although she wasn't able to understand 90% of the casual conversations going around Bonnie was more than willing to include Kai into them whenever possible, the sound of his raspy voice rolling over the language satiating something within her that she wasn't aware was there prior to today. Without registering two hours had passed by in a blur and Bonnie's friends were still nowhere to be found – the fact that they've been walking around all of this time and haven't gone through the same room twice a testament to the sheer magnitude of this building, and her nerves were spiking higher over each unknown face that passes her by.
Hearing commotion in the next room Bonnie walked through one of the open glass doors with Kai close behind and her appreciation for this palace bumped up another level, locating the ballroom. The distance across from where she stood to the stream of archway doors leading to the backyard was no more than fifteen yards, a vast contrast against the length of almost two football fields flanking either side of them. Overheard a beautiful piece of art was painted in blues and gold across the cathedral ceiling aligned with low-hung diamond chandeliers lit with candles, the color scheme continuing down the walls with a gold reflective surface under Bonnie's feet. Gold statues and brass artifacts were scattered throughout the perimeter and the room was pungent with classic sophistication, it feeling alive with its inhabitants and the static nerves coursing through Bonnie's veins were charging her with electricity causing her arms and legs to shake. Scanning from right to left one face blended into the next and her vision began to blur, Bonnie's racing heart quickening her breathing and felt like she was hyperventilating; the same overwhelming feeling overcoming her at the party when she first came back home.
"Not again," she whispered squeezing her eyes shut silently commanding her body to become less tense.
"I think I found them," Kai voiced beside her and Bonnie's eyes darted open following his line of view to the far end on the left.
A man facing them was dressed in an outfit similar to Kai's but a deep shade of plum with a square black mask blocking most of his face down past his cheekbones but Bonnie could still spot out Stefan's hair in a crowded room. As her feet propelled her forward she could feel Kai's hand resting against the back of the corset and kept her eyes on Caroline's low braid and blue ribbon beckoning her to turn around. Spinning away from Stefan and back in Caroline's light laughter trickled down the long ballroom hall and Bonnie picked up her pace, Kai's hands drifting to the front of the corset and tugging back halting her movements.
"What?"
"Run the plan by me one more time."
"Kai they're right there-"
"Humor me."
Gritting her teeth Bonnie moved in closer so no one could hear and Kai slid his hand around her back. "We are going to divide and conquer; first by getting them in separate rooms and then laying on the magical charm. As long as we keep our masks on they won't know who we are and anonymity is key. I'll find a way to get Care out of this room and lock her in another using a spell to seal the doorway, and then I'm going to break her down with anything I can find locked away in her mind. When it works-"
"If."
"When it works, she will be the one to pull Stefan back."
"How are you so sure?"
"Because he made the choice to turn it off because of Caroline; she has a way into his heart and will be able to reach him."
"Yeah but he doesn't care about anything including how your friend feels about him right now."
"It doesn't change the fact that Stefan might be in love with her, and if he is he'll come back to her."
"Ever the romantic," he said amused, "but you've never lived on the wild side; it can get pretty addicting."
"Well I should know, I'm talking to the expert; and yet here you stand in a priceless home with a herd of partygoers and you haven't heavily maimed or murdered a single one."
"Ah but the night is far from over. So while you're doing some hoodoo hallucinations I'm supposed to keep the ripper distracted?"
"Stefan , and yes. Nothing too severe, you don't need to pull out your witch card or do something impulsive and get yourself involved and in too deep – please don't do that. Just… keep an eye on him, you know which room is spelled already so do your best to steer him anywhere else."
"Sounds easy enough, and what about after you do this trip down memory lane that either works and Caroline's all bubbly sunshine or doesn't and goes to kill you again?"
"I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," she said lightly and Kai's nose flared, staring into a pair of bright eyes through an otherwise unreadable expression. "It's going to work Kai; I have a good feeling about this. Do you trust me?"
The sentence left her lips before Bonnie was consciously aware of what she was asking, her breath catching in her throat and limbs went stiff looking over Kai's face. It was infuriating enough that he was a master of deception when it came to his outer appearance – not able to see through the façade until he wanted you to, but there have been a few occasions when Bonnie's gotten him to lower the mask and show her the person he really is; the irony staring straight back at her through a hooded gaze. Replaying the words her mind wandered back to a faint conversation of Kai saying the only person he's ever put his trust into was Jo – which ended horrendously – and the tension kept Bonnie's feet fastened to the floor watching him through wide eyes as his expression faltered, curving up one side of his lip and tilting his head.
"Enough not to let the ripper eat me?" Kai questioned breathing in sharply through his teeth with an over exaggerated sound, "you see how snazzy I'm looking in this ascot? I'm practically a three-course meal."
The relief flooded through Bonnie as a rolling of laughter broke through her uncertainty easing out her rigid muscles with each exhale. Running her hands up his chest Bonnie wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him into an embrace and rested her chin against his shoulder.
"If everything goes well then this should take a half an hour – hour at most. If it's possible stay in here since I'll be close-by but if you can't then stay within range or else I'll never be able to find you again."
"An hour, hmm; I hope I'm his type," Kai joked lightening the mood.
"Be careful – and don't be an imbecile."
"Is that you worrying that I'll be okay?" he chuckled leaning back to look at her.
"And if it is?"
Kai turned his back to Caroline and Stefan lifting his mask, Bonnie's brows furrowing before he tilted her head up underneath her chin and leaned down feeling his lips glide softly over hers. The gentleness to his touch had Bonnie's mind beginning to drift but then Kai leaned back and it was over before it began.
"Try not to get yourself killed."
The parallel of his sentence to hers had the smile spreading across her face before she could contain it, the light chiming of bells and people scuffling behind Kai drawing her attention away. Most of the guests started moving to the perimeter where they also stood and Bonnie wiggled out of Kai's arms pulling him with her towards the center. Two lines began forming of Beauties and Beasts from one end of the ballroom down to the other and quickly put together what was happening, attempting to jump backwards out of range and stumbling into Kai's chest.
"We should get out of the way."
"We could, or…" sliding his hand behind her back and propelling her farther down the line Kai stopped short and pivoted Bonnie by the hips standing her between a man and woman and stood opposite her, the broad smile on his face completely visible with the mask on.
"I don't know the steps!" Bonnie whisper yelled in a harsh voice, looking from Kai to the girl on his left and pausing, Caroline's vibrant eyes sparkling through a similar styled mask in a powdered shimmery white; noting Stefan was directly on her left. Bonnie immediately noticed and loved that both of them had chosen their two favorite outfits; her in gold and Care in blue. Instead of the white long sleeve and apron giving it a ratty look, this one was fit for a fairytale with the same tight bodice and puffy bottom of a shimmering cyan blue and thick spaghetti straps.
"Just follow what everyone else is doing," he whispered back with a wink, the music beginning signaling the couples to all tilt their heads down or curtsy in greeting.
The couples on both sides of them began first; Stefan moving behind Bonnie and coming up on her right side to meet Caroline in the middle – who had just done the same thing on the opposite side – and clasping hands, staring into each other's eyes before spinning into their original place. Kai shrugged curving his lips down in an 'easy enough' gesture, shaking her head as a smile threatened to return. Stepping back and moving to the right Bonnie met Kai in the middle, eyes darting back and forth between the one that's enclosed by the mask and the other that's mostly visible before twirling and finding her place.
Caroline's gaze locked in on Bonnie and she froze, her friend nodding and smiling before taking a step towards her and she copied her movements pivoting in the middle and moving back a step now standing next to Kai. The boys did the same and they ended up in their original positions but different spots; groups of four immediately linking hands and twirling one step at a time in a circle before parting back into pairs for a brief moment to hold hands and get back into formation. The steps started over and Bonnie was more fluent the second time around, light on her feet and feeling invigorated partaking in a dance that is over 300 years old.
This time it was their turn to go first with something different and Kai reached out for her right hand with his, sliding his left behind her back and taking casual steps down the line gazing in the other's expression. Glancing to the girl in front of them when they turned Bonnie lifted her left arm bending it and holding it out beside her like she was waiting for someone to give her a high-five and walked back, staring across to Kai while the next group went. Stefan and Caroline stepped into the middle, reaching out and resting their palms against the other's stomach with opposite shoulders touching and walking around each other in a circle half a dozen times. Ready to do the same Bonnie could feel his touch sizzling through the bodice as the heat burned in his eyes, the intensity almost causing her to trip over her footing and steadied herself stepping backwards and doing a curtsy to Kai's bow signifying the end of the dance.
"I did it!"
"And you didn't even fall on your face, I'm so proud," Kai oozed with fake-tears of joy.
"Well aren't you two a nice change of pace; you're actually entertaining," Caroline pepped walking up beside her, "love your dress."
"Thank you, yours is amazing too."
"And that mask," she remarked turning and pointing at Kai, "that has to be the scariest one I've seen tonight."
"I think it's great," Stefan stated, "got the flare and hint of terror; everything a masquerade is made of."
"I knew there had to be someone here that would appreciate this masterpiece; looks like I found who I'll be conversing with over this monumental letdown of a party."
Kai's eyes flashed over to Bonnie before starting up a discussion and Bonnie knew this was her opportunity, thinking quickly and convincing Caroline to help her find a bathroom.
-x—x—x—
Kai had made it a full twenty minutes before Stefan's suspicions started to spike which was fifteen longer than what he had expected. Similar to this new version of Caroline, the ripper seemed to be fascinating to talk to with a quick wit that even Kai could appreciate.
"I can't place it, but something about you seems familiar."
"I have one of those faces."
"That might be true if I could see more than a fraction of it," Stefan observed, taking his own mask off as soon as the girls left.
"Or it could be the voice but they're both pretty average."
"What did you say your name is?"
"K-"he started and tripped over his name, going with the first one with the same sound that came to mind attaching on a last name from his coven, "Chris Cooper, and yours?"
"Stefan; so where's your girlfriend?"
"Oh she's not, we're – it's complicated."
"You brought a girl you aren't dating to Paris?" Stefan asked skeptically heading for one of the doors and Kai cursed under his breath, following him into the hall the girls disappeared to.
"She really likes Masquerades. What about you, how long have you two been together?"
"That is a long story for another time," he said and nodded a goodbye starting off in the opposite direction.
"Did I hit a sore subject?" Kai asked hot on his heels, "let's see if I can take a guess; uhh you've been on and off? No that's not it. She wants a commitment but you just can't imagine settling down. Am I getting closer? Okay last guess; you care about her too much to be with her."
"You know what I find interesting?" Stefan wondered turning to face him, "The way you placed yourself next to us in line and within minutes separated Caroline and me, now doing your best to keep us apart. While I can appreciate a good con you would either have to be one of the most idiotic people on Earth to pick me in a building of a thousand… or you have a reason to."
"Listen, I'm just trying to kill time until our girls come back from getting lost in this palace," Kai reasoned taking a casual step closer, "and I don't know anyone else here so I figured I'd get to know the friendly couple beside us that started up a conversation."
"Take off your mask."
"Why?"
"So I can see your face."
"It's not nearly as captivating as this design."
"Last chance," Stefan smiled and vamp-sped to him grabbing the back of his hair and smashing his face into a marble archway shattering the porcelain mask, a little impressed with the quick moves and impulsiveness the other Salvatore possesses.
Knowing his cover was blown Kai blew out a breath and looked at the shattered pieces near his feet, turning as he spoke, "you know I really liked that mask."
The moment Stefan's eyes connected with his he grabbed Kai by the lapels and threw him backwards crashing through bedroom doors and sliding across the room. Looking around at the immense overkill of gold aligning the floor, interior, and molding on the ceiling Kai went with the first thought that came to mind and raised his hand to the entrance, muttering Vis Porta to put up the same boundary spell Bonnie was telling him about a moment before Stefan came barreling through.
"Kai you are a long way from home – technically you don't even have a home but let's call Mystic Falls your 'temporary living environment'."
"I'm okay with that."
"Of course I say temporary because if you don't start talking I'm going to torture you until your last breath and take the whole Gemini Coven down with you," Stefan smiled.
"Well that's not very nice – or festive."
"Where's Bonnie?"
"Hmm?"
"The Bennett Witch you strolled in here with to get to us; where is she?"
"Bathroom?" he guessed rising to his feet and sitting on the thick gold baluster banister separating the bed from the rest of the room, "or maybe they're off exploring, I for one could see that appeal. So I have to ask, why Paris? Are you a closet romantic, enjoying the City of Lights with yours truly and hitting all of the hot spots? I mean why not, right; you seem to be the only one that has the right idea to take advantage of being able to travel anywhere."
"Caroline loves a good Masquerade," Stefan mimicked with the same rueful grin, "but being tricked? Well, you saw how well that ended last time. Are you sure you two thought this whole plan out? I mean you decided to split up; your first mistake."
"Figured we'd make it more of a fair fight, level out the playing field," he interjected.
"You stuck the more powerful witch with the weaker vampire," Stefan ticked off on his finger and Kai's jaw ticked, "and left an inexperienced kid who just recently got back into the game with me; honestly was any of that given more than a moment's thought?"
Not really, Kai mused as a smile spread, "we all have our crosses to bear."
"So you're not going to tell me where they are?"
"Have you seen this place? Your guess is as good as mine," he remarked drumming his fingers beside him against the railing considering his options as Stefan backtracked for the door. "I'm more of a visual person; I'd need to get a good look first."
An inch away from the entrance Stefan came to a standstill, moving his hand up the doorframe into the open space of the entrance and pressing against an invisible force-field. Letting out a sound of amusement he turned and leaned back against the entrance, crossing his legs.
"And that was your final mistake."
Sliding his hand into his pocket Kai threw his palm out halting Stefan's movements and pulled backwards as his phone went soaring into his hand, a fingerprint lit up and flashing red in the center of the screen. The spell they had found that was the closest to what Kai had experienced was essentially the equivalent of a hallucination where your perception believes the illusion you're seeing is real; unable to be consciously aware of the reality that's happening around them. Still, the red flashing made him wary enough to magically zap the screen shattering it and dropped it by his feet.
"Starting now?"
Stefan moved in a blur and Kai moved his hand in front of him, using Stefan's movements to swing him over his head crashing into the wall behind him and falling on the side table before hitting the ground. Taking a few quick steps away from the gold baluster his back was to the entrance when he heard footsteps entering the room and Stefan's words of protest falling on deaf ears.
"You were supposed to stay on the other side of the door."
"But welcome to the party," Kai said with a gesture to the massive room of royalty and looking back to another Belle and Beast tattered from the 1500s in blood-soaked costumes. "Though it seems like you were having some fun of your own."
"I pinged Care's phone and she's close; there's a witch inside that needs to be taken care of."
Kai's fist clenched glancing right towards Stefan and smiled as he became paralyzed from head to toe without oxygen. "What my fellow Beastly companion meant by that is that there's someone taking care of things and everything should be wrapped up relatively soon. Oh and also you guys kind of ended up with the short straw on this side of the door because I'm not nearly as merciful."
Both took that as their cue to charge him and Kai lifted his left palm pushing forward and blowing them backwards over the coffee table and loveseat. Vampire Belle was up first whipping shards of glass at his face and body and he waved his hand carelessly watching them all fall in front of his feet breaking more with the impact. A large object blocking out the light of the chandelier caught him off guard as the loveseat came barreling over him to crush him and took his focus off of Stefan using both hands to stop the heavy piece of furniture hurtling it back in their direction.
A sharp pain in his neck had Kai yelling out through gritted teeth that turned louder when he heard the loud crack of his right shoulder dislocating from the pressure of being forced forward with his arm twisted behind his back and fell to his knees. Looking forward to the girl closing the distance Kai glanced overhead and flicked his left wrist as the glass chandelier with candles came crashing down, hitting her at the perfect moment. Laughing through the pain his left hand hovered in front of Stefan's head on the right side of his neck and he unlatched falling backwards in pain as aneurysms started to burst in his brain. Breathing out sharply Kai rose to his feet and squeezed his right hand, the pain from his shoulder apparent but was still able to use it and twisted his forearm aiming his palm at the other guy and muttering 'aneurisma CREPITUS'. The man cried out in pain and reached for his collar, sounding like he was choking and closed his eyes shaking his head an instant before it exploded as his body fell to the ground.
"Oh man, did you see that?" Kai let out through his laughter looking to Stefan holding his head on his left and the girl struggling to get out from under all the glass on his right. "It's so good knowing parts of the old me are still here just slightly dormant under a pile of humanity. I've always wanted to do that to someone – is that weird? Does that say something about my psyche?"
A loud wailing cut off his rambling and felt the impact of Belle on steroids close-lining him to the ground WWF style. The sound of his chuckling set her off even more and picked him up throwing him halfway across the room landing near the headless body and let out a sound of disgust.
"You killed him!" she shrieked already on him again and Kai pressed his hand over her eyes imagining fire as she scrambled backwards against the floor, her eyes blazing red as she scratched at them.
Kai had just enough time to repeat the chant when Stefan snapped his left wrist and shouted out a 'vatos' through his torment watching everything erupt around them blowing them both backwards.
"This really didn't have to turn into a standoff of who has the bigger source of power – which we both know is me, let's just take a breather before someone gets killed."
"Other than the two whose heads you just made explode?" Stefan gritted moving to get back to his feet, Kai struggling to do the same as every muscle in both of his arms were locked and searing with sharp pangs.
"Yeah I'm talking about people of importance here, not your lackey's."
"This is my final act of kindness; let me out, and I won't drain every last drop of blood from your body. Which is a deal I don't even want to put out there because a witch's blood is sweeter than anyone else's – it's like a drug – and a coven leader's has that extra kick from being connected to so many others. It adds that taste of zest; like a salted pretzel dipped in chocolate."
"Great, now I'm hungry," Kai mustered up in his best voice of merriment, "now that you mention it I was walking around this house for at least an hour and didn't stumble across one kitchen; that's bad masquerading service."
"Wasn't your whole vendetta against your father surviving at all costs? Feel free to jump in if I'm missing information but you are the one that went around the house killing one sibling at a time saving the best for last, all to merge with your twin-"
"And become leader of the Gemini Coven, yes – I've heard this story before if you want to skip to the end."
"And not reflect on every gruesome act you've done to save yourself?" Stefan asked with a head tilt then shrugged, "okay. But I don't know what you'd consider the end of that story; when you ended up in the prison world, or the moment we find ourselves in now."
"I just meant the end of your speech; I think we both know this isn't going to be either of our last days."
"You're putting everything you've worked for up until now at risk… for what – a girl?" Stefan concluded and howled with laughter. "That merge really messed you up, didn't it?"
"To put it lightly," Kai agreed and flicked his wrist snapping Stefan's leg at the knee, and then the other, watching him collapse to the ground. "But it did give me these kick-ass powers."
"Don't!" Stefan roared and Kai followed his eye-line to yet another overdressed man and woman hovering in front of the doorway, "Caroline's in trouble; kill the witch if you have to."
A burst of violent uncontrolled rage overcame Kai and forced his dislocated shoulder to raise his arm straight in front of him roaring out an expletive as the shocks of pain ran down his back and up his neck and zoned in on his targets snarling out 'incendia'. First the gentleman quickly followed by his lady lit up in flames from their feet and trailed up their legs, shrieks and cries echoing off the walls and they took off running disappearing from sight. Looking to his left Stefan wasn't in his slumped heap on the ground and scanned his surroundings before his dislocated arm was yanked up behind him.
"Mot-" Kai began that got muffled out by Stefan wrapping the strand of gold rope from the curtains between his teeth, forcing his head left to give him easier access to his neck.
"It looks like I'm going to have to find Caroline myself and since you won't lift the spell, your death should do the trick," Kai heard before the sharpness pierced through his jugular.
-x—x—x—
"Where are we going?" Caroline asked as they turned down the hall leading to the room.
"I thought I passed a bathroom in this hallway, down there on the right."
Having Caroline leading the way they made it to the end of the door and she swung the double doors open in a grand gesture walking into the spelled bedroom. This room seemed vastly different from many others she passed, more muted and dainty in pastel pinks, beige, and white; tying it to the rest of the building with gold accentuates spread throughout the walls and furniture.
"It's not in here."
"I know," Bonnie stated stepping through the entrance as she swung around to face her.
"Who are you?"
"Your best friend," Bonnie smiled lifting the mask.
"Damn it Bonnie, what are you doing here?"
"Trying to stop a catastrophe from happening the only way I know how."
"You can't save me," she snapped, "because I'm not lost. I know exactly what I'm doing and in complete control; leave, before that changes."
"I'm not going anywhere."
"You also didn't come here alone," Caroline said with a raise of her eyebrow and eyes flashed with the thrill of gossip. "Did Kai take you to Paris?"
"He didn't take me anywhere; we both came to find you, wherever that happened to be."
"I guess 'followed you' would have been a better description seeing how you'd be the only reason for Kai to come here too. Wow," she let out with a low whistle, "you've got that sociopath whipped."
"Wrong – all of that," Bonnie rebutted with a shake of her head and looked at Care's eyes shining bright, the flare of her scandalous self almost believable if she didn't know her better.
"Oh come on Bon it's just us girls, you can admit you think he's sexy," Caroline encouraged with a wide smile but Bonnie held her ground. "I might even humor you and hear you out over why we're here if you're honest with me."
Tilting her head from side to side with a knowing grin Bonnie looked over her friend's expression and clucked her tongue before letting out a nervous laugh. "He's gorgeous; I thought I was in trouble before the merge happened."
"There she is! Now how hard was that – don't you feel so much better now? Like a weight's been lifted letting out that bout of truthfulness to your best friend since childhood, who has eyes… and has seen you two in a room together."
"I think you have the gift of imagining whatever you believe, Care."
"I wouldn't completely reject that statement, but sometimes I don't need my imagination to do the work when I have the live show. What's going on between you two – why don't you want to tell anyone? Is it serious, has it been going on the whole time; are you afraid of what everyone will say? I would be too if I was in your position after the things I've heard some of them say but who cares, life is short. Seriously… I mean Stefan could be killing Kai right now for all we know, or vice versa, that's the tragedy of it all; you have to enjoy the little things as they come."
"That's good advice," Bonnie said with sincerity, "but why don't we switch the hot seat for a few minutes."
"But this topic is so much more juicy," Care whined.
"Tell you what; if you do something I really want you to do, then I'll do the same. Just think about that for a second before you answer, you can find out some really riveting details with this deal."
"And what would that something be? Hmm let me guess; could it be 'flip my humanity switch on for 300'?"
"Ding ding ding," Bonnie sing-songed, "and on the first attempt."
"Yeah, that's not going to happen."
"But it is; it's just a matter of how, and this way you'll have something that will make me equally if not more traumatized by the end of it."
"Tell me how good of a kisser he is; and this transformation, have you gotten to see the before and after up close and personal? So how far-"
"So many questions that could have potential answers if only there were something you could do to speed up the process."
"If only."
Bonnie breathed in deep knowing she was going to have to do this the hard way and looked at her surroundings, making herself comfortable on the bed to her left. Leaning back and moving around the pillows Caroline watched her skeptically from five feet away, Bonnie leaning over to the glass of water on the bedside table and taking a sip.
"Are you sure there's nothing I can do to convince you?"
"Afraid you wasted your time," Caroline concluded sitting on the end of the bed near her feet and Bonnie's stomach fluttered with anxiety knowing it was show time. "But I'd like to think the romantic trip to Paris wasn't squandered."
"Not yet," Bonnie agreed leaning forward and wrapped her hands around Caroline's wrists, "constringitur."
The gasp that left her lips let Bonnie know the spell to freeze her body was enacted. "What the hell?"
"See you said there's no way to convince you but I just think we haven't found the right way yet, don't you agree? So here's what I've come up with," she said dipping both of her index and middle fingers into the water and placing them against Caroline's temples. "If you won't turn it on willingly because you don't want to see the chaos of life, maybe bombarding you with every memory and emotion you should be experiencing will cause the flip to switch all on its own."
"That's a long shot, and you're out of your mind."
"I'm willing to go to some pretty questionable places to keep everyone I love safe."
"That's a tricky trait to have so close to your heart, you could get yourself killed – oh wait," Caroline retorted snickering.
"That's not how tonight is going to end."
Pontem Praesidio. Anchora Immortalibus. Per menta mi heava cor anmina. Pontem Praesidio. Anchora Immortalibus.
Closing her eyes Bonnie began the long journey of fighting against Caroline's subconscious to gain control as the Mind Breaching Spell burrowed deeper. The ritual was used to allow a witch to breach someone's conscious mind and invade their memories, warping or amplifying them as the sorcerer pleased. Bonnie wasn't looking to change anything but heightening Caroline's every overly expressed sentiment was a definite, starting from the very beginning. Kai had clued her in better about what he had gone through after the merge and it was essentially like watching a movie from childhood to present day through a new perspective – one Bonnie was willing to enforce on Caroline without hesitation.
Beginning with happy times of their childhood she began the decent through Caroline's life, picking and scratching at bits of recollections breaking them loose until they played out in front of each of their eyes coated in affection or devastation. Making sure to amp up every major moment in her life Bonnie paused on when Care's father left stirring up those old feelings of abandonment before reminiscing over the love and passion she felt during both of her relationships with Matt and Tyler, reminding her of how strongly she can still feel over the ones closest to her. Pulling at more loose ends the horrifying fear of death flashed across her vision seeing Caroline getting murdered by Katherine and becoming a vampire; using every bout of terror and confusion against her, throwing in the deaths she's racked up along the way.
A whimper escaped Caroline's throat and she pressed forward feeling in her gut that it was working, conjuring up every time she's discovered Bonnie died and a tear slid down her cheek and throat tightened experiencing the heartbreak and mourning Care has suffered through on her behalf. A weight lifted from her chest replaying all of the times of sheer blissfulness when she discovered Bonnie was still alive, smiling through her tears observing their warm embraced reunions and words of endearment. A clear image of Klaus appeared and she ripped off the bandage letting the flood spill through like a Klaus Mikaelson kaleidoscope; Bonnie seeing the true relationship between the two that happened when no one else was around. The intimacy, the development from enemies to something much more, and the raw passion were all eerily similar to Bonnie's current lifestyle choices who also happens to have a certain ex-villainous vibe with identical traits to the darkest and most damaged Mikaelson.
Progressing from one love to the next Stefan moved front and center flashing in bright lights and was able to move through their entire relationship with ease; starting with that first day of school sophomore year to the night before the rave when Stefan spilled his guts and let her know every detail he felt about her – and how impassioned he felt them. Every longing touch, stare, kiss, and words of affection were trickling through Care's mind playing out slowly to absorb each gesture and got a hidden glimpse into their personal lives seeing with her own eyes what they felt for one another was genuine.
Taking the last tragic turn Bonnie opened the wound of her parents dying; first the father that she had already lost once when she was a child to finding him bled out in a hospital room. What's worse wasn't even the death itself but what she had to endure when her father discovered she was a vampire and thought he could torture it out of her. In an ironic twist of fate he was then turned from having vampire blood in his system to save his life and Caroline had to stand by idly as he chose to leave this world – and her – for the final time. Blowing out a deep exhale Bonnie pulled loose the final piece of the puzzle; Sheriff Forbes.
A lifetimes worth of moments started to pass by; some going through in a blur while other's slowed down or stopped completely to reflect on. Liz and Caroline were each other's rock – being the only constant and source of true love in their lives – and the look into their relationship solidified what Bonnie had always believed. Replaying her mom's death was one of the worst things she's had to do because she can feel the heartache and agony so crushing she thought her chest was going to collapse under the weight. Bonnie had hoped that experiencing the pain that she so desperately ran away from and seeing that she was strong enough to survive it would push Caroline over the edge and snap her back to reality, but it seemed like she needed one final push and Bonnie only had one play left. The connection let her know that Care was on the edge leaving Bonnie with full reign over her mind and able to transfer her own thoughts telekinetically; the images forming of Bonnie searching the house the day after Caroline ran and coming across a note left behind.
Hello sweetheart,
I'm sitting here watching another episode of 'Friends' and thought this was a nice time to write you a little something to be able to look back on whenever you need to. I want you to know more than anything how proud I am that you are my daughter; I was blessed by an Angel the day you entered my life and I have been nothing but grateful each and every day. You have taught me what being a strong woman means – someone filled with such a bright light even while they are surrounded by darkness – and I pray that I have been able to teach you half of the things you've opened my eyes to. You are a beacon of hope to every life you've touched, Caroline – truly a gift from above, and I believe in my heart the light within you will always shine through against any tragedy you have to endure. I've lived my life honey, and it was better than any fantasy I could have imagined; don't let anything stop you from living yours to the fullest. I love you, baby – always carry that with you.
Love,
Mom
A loud sob broke through Bonnie's blurry vision and blinked causing tears to roll down her cheeks and looked forward to Caroline's bloodshot eyes as she tried to gasp in a breath. Pulling her into Bonnie's arms she let out a sigh of relief squeezing her friend tight with the knowledge that she was back to her real self, the joy practically pouring out of her body. Even with Kai's help neither was able to come across anything that could take away the pain the same way flipping a humanity switch could, but he did find one revolving around grief. The spell reminded Kai of acting as a trigger - zapping the person's mind, and now Bonnie wasn't able to see it any other way. This enchantment worked by attacking the negative and sorrowing thoughts when they began to come forward and coated them with meaningful moments, soothing the mind. Swiping off the bracelet that was a birthday present from her mom that she always wears, Bonnie forewarned her a moment before slicing Care's finger and dripping the blood over the silver chain.
Asinta Mulaf Hinto, Sho Bala
A puff of smoke emerged out of the droplets of blood signifying its complexion and Bonnie clasped it back around her wrist, Caroline's anguished sounds easing from wailing to weeping after a couple minutes and was finally able to catch her breath.
"I-I-I…" Caroline stuttered and Bonnie shushed her in a soothing tone.
"You did it Care – you came back, that's all that matters. Everything else comes after your safety and being in your right frame of mind, the rest you can get through and you have all of us by your side."
"I ruined Stefan's life."
"Stefan's had too long of a lifetime for any one moment to be able to make that much of an impact; it's a bump in the road. And if anything I'm sure he has been having an absolute blast in this laidback mindset so I don't think he's holding any grudges."
"But the way I made him turn it off - oh my God you and Elena," Caroline sniveled lifting her head to look at her face, "Bonnie I'm so sorry. I know you have no right to believe me but I was never planning to hurt you, I swear."
"I believe you," Bonnie expressed feeling her heart swell up and pound seeing the remorse and embarrassment in her friends teary eyes.
"I've made such a mess out of all of this and now I'm on another continent with the guy I like and my best friend me because you were forced to chase me – wait did you say Kai was here too?"
"Yeah," she smiled before the expression froze searching frantically for her phone, "oh no - Kai. I don't know how long we've been gone I have to go find him."
"Of course," Caroline nodded wiping under her eyes and Bonnie copied her movements, "I can't… I don't know if I can face Stefan yet. I actually have an idea forming to try and make up for what I did so he has to believe that this whole plan didn't work."
"I can do that," Bonnie agreed and they tied up all of the details and loose-ends before lowering the boundary shield and splitting off in different directions.
Going down the flight of stairs as quickly as her heels would take her Bonnie stormed back into the ballroom still engulfed with houseguests and weaved throughout them, not finding a sinister mask anywhere and went back out the same door. The piercing cries from a man and woman around the corner had Bonnie running the short distance to them and gasped at the two balls of fire running straight towards her. Pressing her body into the wall the two ran a few feet past her before falling to their knees and collapsing forward, turning her head left towards the direction they came from and sprinted the short distance stopping short at the set of broken double doors.
"Kai!" Bonnie called out at the sight in front of her; Kai on his knees with a rope around his mouth looking bruised and broken with Stefan behind him twisting his arm back and draining him from his neck. Throwing her hands out Stefan sailed backwards connecting with the wall and she took a step towards the opening.
"Wait," Kai uttered weakly before Stefan was back in place and pulled Kai to his feet letting out a sharp noise through his teeth.
"Being a witch is a funny thing; you have all of these abilities making you seem superhuman but in the end, you die the same way as a mere mortal."
Stefan did something with his hand behind Kai's back out of sight and he groaned out painfully bringing his left elbow up and connecting with Stefan's nose as blood exploded down his nostrils. Bonnie was baffled by the rumbling of laughter she could hear coming from Kai's throat letting out a grunt when he was pushed to the ground, only moving his left arm to catch himself with his elbow before Stefan yanked him back on his knees.
"Stefan, stop it – please! I had a plan to trap Caroline and try to force her humanity back on with magic but it didn't work and she promised not to retaliate if I let her go. She's out there somewhere, probably back in the ballroom, looking for you."
"And why do you expect me to believe that isn't another lie?"
"Because right now the main thing I care about is the guy in front of you not dying, and I have never been more straightforward".
"Awh," Kai cooed that turned into a cough and Stefan's grip tightened on him.
"One quick move and my fist breaks through his ribcage to his heart and it's sayonara Gemini."
"Bye-bye coven," Kai hummed.
"But I'm willing to avoid another death tonight if you lower the force-field and stay out of my way for good; this will be your only offer and warning."
"Okay," Bonnie agreed lifting her hands to the doorframe vocalizing, "Et Vasa Quisa".
The moment the spell was lowered and she stepped through Stefan whooshed by her like a gust of wind and Bonnie's eyes followed him, gasping out loud at the two bodies with no heads lying on opposite sides of the room. Running to Kai's slumped position her hand caught his head the moment it started to lull forward, lifting it and seeing the bruise near the corner of his mouth and scratch over one of his closed lids. The tears welled in Bonnie's eyes looking over the rest of him and felt them flowing down her face examining his left wrist was broken and that his other shoulder was twisted forward. The wound on the right side of his neck looked brutal and still bleeding, thinking fast and removing his puffy white ascot from around his head gently before scrunching up the material and pressing it against his side as his breath hitched sharply moving to lean away.
"Tired," Kai murmured, "we should go."
"I'm taking you to the hospital."
"Uh uh," he hummed and said in a weak voice of authority, "Doctor can you take care of this vampire bite right here? No? Well you don't say."
"You've probably lost too much blood and I am already looking at two different broken bones. If I can find Caroline she'll give you her blood."
"That's gross," he said with a scrunched nose and mouth, "and one's just dislocated, easy to pop in; but we really should go before someone walks in and questions us about the decapitated Beauty and the Beast."
Glaring at him through tears Kai's gaze lifted to hers seeing a small smile appear and moved restlessly until Bonnie helped him up, carefully avoiding both of his arms. Taking small and deliberate steps they made their way to the closest door and spotted the limo, closing the distance before lying Kai across the backseat and resting his head on her lap. Dropping hers against the leather seat Bonnie blew out a shaky breath – unable to anticipate how the rest of the night is going to end.