Chapter 25:
"What kind of dreams?" Nettie asked, happy that she didn't have to look at dresses as long as she was busy talking to Bonnie.
"Usually I am at his grave and he just sort of... Appears in front of me." Bonnie was still feeling the effects or Jeremy's death. But she hadn't thought it would get this bad.
"I hear grieving is normal." Nettie said, sighing as she leaned back in the white couch. She wondered why everything in this dress shop was white.
"When I woke up the couch was on fire." Bonnie raised her brow.
"Oh, well... Is that normal?" Nettie asked her. How could she know what was usual for a witch...
"I don't know if it's because I was emotional in my dream, or if Shane was right. Without his help, I'll lose control of my magic."
"Okay, and who is Shane?" Nettie asked her. The name was familiar but she couldn't remember who it was.
"A professor... He's was trying to help me control my powers."
"Oh..." Nettie nodded her head. She still didn't know who the guy was. "Well why not mention this to him?" She asked, watching as Caroline modeled her dress.
"He's dead." Bonnie raised a brow at the blonde. How did she not know this?
"Right."
"Guys, you haven't said a thing about my dresses..." Caroline looked over at the girls.
"You look beautiful, Caroline." Bonnie smiled at her.
Caroline looked to Nettie. "We are still getting you a dress, right?"
"Uhm... I don't think I'll be going. Things have gotten... complicated." Nettie scratched the back of her head.
"Is everything okay?" Bonnie asked her. She looked genuinely concerned.
"Yeah, I just don't want to talk about it."
Caroline frowned at Nettie, but turned to go back into the dressing room again after a moment of silence. "So this Shane guy who you can't control your magic without is dead," Nettie said. "So what do you do about that?"
"Well..." Bonnie paused. "I was hoping maybe you could help me."
"Me?" Nettie was confused.
"Well... Yeah." Bonnie looked to Nettie hopefully. "If anyone would be able to help me, it'd be you."
"Why would you think that I could help you?" Nettie asked her. Her mind wandered as they spoke and she thought about how annoyed she was with vampires.
"Because you're magical, Nettie. And not like vampire magical or witch magical... You're something special."
"Pfft, you don't have to tell me that." Nettie grinned, winking at Bonnie. Bonnie rolled her eyes.
"Leila! Come out of that damn bedroom already! I'm bored!" Nettie grumbled, knocking roughly on her sister's bedroom door. "LEILA!"
Leila moved towards the door, talking through it. "Nettie, seriously." She frowned. "Can't I just have some time to myself?"
"You've had FOREVER." Nettie slammed her fist on the door again. "I'm hungry!"
"Don't you have the prom to plan for? Go get some food while you buy your dress. Problem solved." Leila said from behind the door.
"I'm not going!" Nettie said, "Elijah isn't talking to me because his brother kissed me. He's being rude!"
There was a silence and the door slowly opened. Leila looked at Nettie with wide eyes. "What happened?" She sounded flabbergasted.
"Elijah is being rude! I told you. I don't think he wants to take me anymore." Job done!
Leila stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind her. "No, I heard that. I meant... Klaus kissed you?! And you let him?"
"Oh uh... I guess I did?" Nettie hadn't thought about it much. At least she hadn't tried to. She had focused more on how many times he has whooshed around the room, catching her off guard. She didn't like to be caught off guard. "I hadn't thought about it."
"You..." Leila looked a little ticked. "You realize that he compelled Damon to kill me? Or did you forget? You're kissing a killer!"
"I know that Leila, you don't think I know that? He tried to kill me to." Nettie grumbled, "I guess I just..."
"Just what?" Leila looked more sad than upset now. "Elijah is a good man. Klaus is just..." She didn't finish her sentence.
"Damon tried to kill Jeremy multiple times! AND you. I mean... When Stefan was compelled to hurt Elena he fought it because he loves her. Damon didn't even try!" Nettie was standing up for Niklaus for some reason.
"Are you saying you don't think Damon could ever love me?" Leila frowned deeply. "Maybe Stefan just has more willpower. You know how hard it is to fight compulsion?"
"No, I don't!" Nettie couldn't be compelled.
"Then don't judge Damon." Leila hugged herself. "Fine, make out with Klaus, go out with Klaus, I don't care. Just leave Damon out of this."
"We didn't make out!"
"Whatever!" Leila sighed grumpily. "Looks like we're both not going to prom..." She looked away, at her bedroom door. She was thinking about hiding herself away in there again.
"I don't care about PROM! It's like you never listen to me." Nettie yelled. She sighed, calming down as she glared at her sister. "Look... Just... Turn me." She said randomly. She took a small vile from her pocket, shoving it as her sister.
"But I... What?" Leila stopped mid sentence and looked at her sister, shocked. "Turn you?" She then looked down at the vile.
"Yeah, just fill that and I'll get the rest down. I think three floors should be enough to kill a person, don't you?" The house was high enough wasn't it? If she took a nose dive that would be sufficient.
"Wait..." Leila stuttered. "W-What the hell are you going on about?"
"Vampires annoy me Leila. I can't handle it anymore. I want you to fill this vile so that I can go kill myself. Bam, Nettie is a vampire! Am I speaking English here?" Nettie was getting annoyed with her sister. She was asking too many questions.
"I don't get it. Why would you want to be a vampire? Especially if they just bother you?" Leila frowned at Nettie. "Did Klaus ask you to do this?"
"I can't keep up!" Nettie slammed the vile down on the counter, sliding it towards Leila. "Just tell yourself I will die long before you do and justify it. Come on."
Leila shook her head, catching the vile as it slid in her direction. "No. I won't turn you Nettie. Being a vampire isn't all rainbows and unicorns. It's not easy." Leila put a hand up. "All these emotions I feel are heightened, I have to drink blood to survive. I don't want this for you! We both know you have problems! This will just make you crazy!"
"FINE!" Nettie yelled.
"Back so soon, Brother?" Stefan asked, looking up from his book where he sat by the fire as Damon strolled into the room. "It's only been a few days since you left."
"Elena doesn't want to be found. I give up." Damon snatched a bottle of bourbon from the table and popped the cork, taking a long drink from it.
"Talked to Leila yet?" Stefan asked, having gotten the full story while Damon was asked.
"What am I even supposed to say to her? Sorry I tried to rip your heart out while I took your virginity?" Damon started chugging down the alcohol. "Oops my bad!"
Stefan raised an eyebrow. "You need to lay off on the Bourbon."
"And you need to lay off Elena." Damon countered giving Stefan a flat look.
"Do you see me chasing her, Damon?" Stefan replied calmly.
"NO! I see you making me do the chasing so you won't seem like creepy ex boyfriend stalker!"
"WHY ARE WE YELLING?!" Nettie yelled loudly, slamming the front door.
Both the brothers looked over at Nettie's commotion. "Nettle." Stefan said in greeting.
"Great, great, great uncle Stefan." She grinned.
"What do you want?" Damon deadpanned.
"I'm meeting Bonnie here in an hour. She said you might have a ring that belonged to Jeremy."
"You mean the Gilbert family ring?" Damon nodded his head. "Yeah, we have it. But we'll hold onto it until Bon-Bon get's here. Giving you shiny things is dangerous."
"Not giving me shiny things is dangerous." Nettie stuck her tongue out at Damon.
Damon didn't answer, just chugged some more of the brown liquid.
"Really Damon. You're drunk." Stefan looked to his brother.
"Perfect! Damon we need to talk. In private." Nettie said, eyeing the amber nectar as it fell down his throat. "Please."
Damon gave Nettle a look that said he was almost afraid to be somewhere alone with her right now, but he agreed anyway. "All right. We'll go upstairs, then." Damon grabbed a second bottle of bourbon as he passed the table on his way upstairs.
"What?" Damon almost barked at her.
"I think you need to calm your boots Damon. I can fix whatever happened with my sister. I just need a little persuasion. Especially because I would be doing it out of the goodness of my heart." Nettie lied.
"Leila would hate me for doing whatever you are asking wouldn't she?" Damon raised a brow at her. He wondered if this was a trap.
"Did you not just hear my words Damon? I can fix it."
"And what do I have to do in order for you to fix it?" He asked her carefully, watching as she tucked her hand into her pocket.
"Fill this." She said, handing him the empty vile.
Damon looked at the vile a moment, like he was contemplating the situation. He finally took it from her hands and popped it open. "With what?" He narrowed his eyes.
"Blood, gross. What did you think I wanted you to fill it with?" She scrunched her nose up, "Just hurry up, I need to deal with Bonnie and I don't need her in my business."
Damon gave her a measured look before breaking the empty bottle of bourbon over his desk. He took the jagged glass to his palm and sliced it open. He squeezed his hand into a fist and filled the vial with his blood. He popped the lid back on and handed it to her.
"Thanks broody. I'll talk to my sister for you. Just... Maybe if you showed up at the prom all dressed up... It would help." She winked at him before leaving him alone to ponder over her words.
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"You got it?" Nettie asked Bonnie as she approached her in the graveyard. Nettie was anxious about the ring more then she was about the spell Bonnie wanted to try.
"Yes, Damon handed it over." Bonnie smiled, opening the palm of her hand. Nettie's eyes widened as she stared down at it. "It's really hard for you isn't it?" Bonnie asked Nettie.
"What is?" Nettie asked, shaking out of her daze.
"Leaving the ring alone." Bonnie watched the girl squirm a bit.
"I guess."
Bonnie looked at Nettie for a long while, like she was trying to read her or something. Whatever the reason was, it was creeping Nettie out a bit.
"All right, so what next?" Nettie asked, snapping Bonnie out of her daze.
"Oh, well..." Bonnie started walking through the graveyard and Nettie followed. Bonnie eventually crouched down beside a grave, Jeremy's grave. She looked up at Nettie and patted the ground beside her. "Sit down with me. Just take my hands." Bonnie reached out to Nettie after placing the Gilbert ring down on the gravestone.
"Kay." Nettie had no idea why she was doing this. But Bonnie was one of Leila's new friends so she was obligated.
As Nettie took Bonnie's hands and sat down beside her, Bonnie started chanting softly, in another language. Nettie watched her with curious eyes.
And then Bonnie stopped. "Okay so now close your eyes and think of Jeremy." She and Nettie both closed their eyes. Bonnie began chanting under her breath, repeating over and over.
"Do you miss me?" Jeremy's voice came from behind the girls. Nettie jumped in place, moving.
"Don't let go." Bonnie told her, looking over to Jeremy. They both stood up. Jeremy smiled at them. "Of course I miss you..." Bonnie said to Jeremy softly.
"Bonnie." Nettie said, staring ahead.
"Do you want this to be real?" Jeremy's gaze focused on Bonnie.
"Yes." Bonnie replied.
"Bonnie." Nettie repeated.
"Then it can be. Bonnie...your combined magic can bring me back for good. You have the power to do the spell now." Jeremy told her, staring strangely down at Bonnie.
"Bonnie!" Nettie stammered.
"You're not Jeremy. Silas?" Bonnie finally realized who it really was.
"That's what I was trying to tell you Bonnie. That's not Jeremy... That is Jeremy." She pointed beyond where Silas was standing. Off behind a nearby tree, Jeremy watched them quietly.
Silas reached for Bonnie's wrist but she stepped back. "You need me, Bonnie."
"I don't need you. I don't want anything to do with you. I have Nettie, she can help me."
"You have no idea how dangerous you are. If I don't help you, you'll kill yourself and your friend." Silas smirked.
"Hang on a second. We seem to be throwing around the word friend pretty loosely." Nettie tried to interrupt.
"Wake up on fire recently Bonnie?" He asked her.
Bonnie's eyes widened in shock. "Did you do that to me?"
"Please, Bonnie, let me help you."
Bonnie shook her head. "You don't care about me. You only care about bringing down the wall to the Other Side, and I won't do it."
"We need to go," Nettie said, reaching to snatch the Gilbert ring off the headstone. Jeremy vanished in the distance.
Bonnie nodded her head.
"Go!" Nettie slipped the ring into Bonnie's hand and Bonnie took off. Nettie stood her ground in front of Silas.
"What are you going to do love?" His appearance shifted to Niklaus. "You're just some tiny little human."
Her hand shot out quickly, just like she had practiced. Her light sent him flying up into the air. His body hit a nearby tree roughly and he fell to the grave below unmoving. It was becoming clear that not only could she throw people around, she could also knock them unconscious somehow.