The Island
Tyler can't remember ever meeting Bonnie's mom. He's seen her dad around, even her Grams when she was still alive, but Abby Bennett's face is completely unfamiliar to him. She and Bonnie look alike, but Abby's face is marked by age. Bonnie's tense. He can feel it where she stands next to him, her arms crossed tightly across her chest. Her heart is pounding, and he reaches out to touch her back, trying to be comforting somehow.
"You want the cure now?" Bonnie asks.
"No," Abby says. "I don't need the cure. I've made peace with what I am. What I want is to keep you safe."
It's strange to see most people in Bonnie's house these days, when it's so usually occupied by just him and Bonnie and Jeremy. Abby looks even stranger than most do. Dressed all in black, with her hair hanging long and wavy past her shoulders, and her hands folded in front of her, she takes up very little space. But Bonnie's as uncomfortable as Tyler's ever seen her, and it makes the whole house seem small.
"I don't need you," Bonnie says. "I never have."
"You're in over your head," Abby says warningly. "Silas-"
"How are you going to help me, Mom?" Bonnie says. "What can you do?"
"I don't know," Abby confesses, "but I'd feel better if I was there with you."
"I don't really care what makes you feel better," Bonnie snaps.
"I've helped you before," Abby reminds her. "You've asked me for help before."
"I haven't asked you now."
Abby nods her head slowly and looks like she's trying to think of something to say, to try a new approach with Bonnie perhaps. "I don't believe we've met," she says with a tight smile as she extends her hand toward Tyler. "I'm Abby."
He shakes her hand. "Tyler Lockwood."
"You're Carol's son," Abby says. "You're grown much taller since I last saw you."
"Over a decade ago," Bonnie says.
"Yes," Abby agrees. "It's been a long time."
Tyler nods awkwardly. He doesn't know what to do. Neither Bonnie nor Abby moves to leave, and he won't leave Bonnie there alone, not unless she asks. They just stare at each other.
"When are you going to get the cure?" Abby asks.
"Soon," Bonnie answers. "Tomorrow, I think."
"You're skipping school?"
"After school," Bonnie sighs. "We'll probably miss the next day though."
"Let me go with you," Abby says again.
"No."
"Bonnie-"
"No," she repeats. "We're going, and we'll bring the cure back. You can go back to wherever it is you've been. You can hang out with Lucy or Jamie or whoever, but you don't need to be here."
Tyler avoids looking in Abby's direction. "Come on, Tyler," Bonnie says, slipping her hand into his. She's tugging him toward the stairs but she stops short and lets out a frustrated sigh.
"You can sleep in dad's room if you want," she says. "There's blood in the fridge. Tyler needs it so don't drink it all. In the morning I want you gone."
Tyler hears Abby's murmured thank you as Bonnie pulls him behind her up the stairs. She gets into bed without saying anything to him and rolls over, putting her back to him. He hesitates, wondering if he should say something, if she even wants to hear him say anything. Silently he lies down next to her, not touching her but wanting to. They've been lying there for several minutes when Bonnie turns over to face him. Her gaze searches his face, but he doesn't know what she's looking for. "Bonnie," he begins but she shakes her head.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Okay."
Tyler wakes up first. The sun filters in through the windows, covering him and Bonnie in golden light. Outside he hears birds and the rattle of leafy tree branches that blow in the wind. Downstairs he hears someone walking around.
Abby's still there.
He's thirty minutes ahead of Bonnie's alarm and he climbs out of bed, padding down the stairs. When he gets to the kitchen Abby is sitting at the table with a bloodbag and the newspaper. "Morning," she says.
Tyler blinks at her. "You haven't left."
"No," Abby says with a polite smile. "Bonnie's still sleeping?"
"Yeah." He can imagine her reaction when she wakes up. Abby should have been gone yesterday, but he can't be the one to suggest that she leave. It's not his house, she's not his mom.
"Do you stay the night here often?" Abby questions, taking a long sip of blood. It makes Tyler thirsty so he grabs his own, and he steels himself for the awkward conversation they're about to have. At least he has something to do with his hands now.
"I've been staying here for a few months now," Tyler answers.
"Do you always sleep in her room?"
Tyler grimaces down at his bloodbag. "Sometimes."
Sometimes we even have sex while I'm in there.
Abby blinks at him as if that information is completely uninteresting. "Does Bonnie's dad know?"
"No."
She hums as she swallows down more blood. "Does your mom know?"
"My mom's not in town," Tyler says. "We're hiding her from Klaus."
Abby nods in understanding. "I'm sorry to hear that. You're a hybrid, aren't you? Lucy mentioned that."
He lets out a breath of relief at the change in subject.
"What else did Lucy mention?"
"Not nearly as much as she should have," Abby says down to the floor. "She didn't tell me this cure was with Silas. Or that Bonnie may have to awaken him to get it." She crosses one leg over the other. "Or that Bonnie has a live-in boyfriend."
Well maybe they haven't left that subject completely.
Tyler wonders if he should tell Abby that he's not Bonnie's boyfriend. He decides against it. That will just complicate matters even further. This might have been even worse if Abby had showed while Jeremy was still there. Or maybe it would have been better because Jeremy would have been there so Tyler wouldn't have to endure this conversation alone.
"Lucy did tell me you three killed Damon and Stefan Salvatore," Abby says, "and that you're targeting Klaus. Which is why you need the cure."
Tyler nods.
"So, what are your plans after graduation?"
He hovers near the counter, drinking down his blood and wishing he could just drown in it right now. He could try to excuse himself maybe, return to Bonnie's room and pretend this hadn't happened.
"College?" Abby asked.
"Hopefully."
"Where?"
"I haven't decided yet." He and Bonnie both got accepted to places in California. They haven't talked about it lately, but it rests in the back of his mind. He could go to California with her. They could go together. It's far. Far, far, far away from Mystic Falls. It could be perfect.
"You're just kids," Abby says. "You should be thinking of college, not Silas. He's not a job for kids. You shouldn't go. You don't know what you'll find there or what you'll bring back."
"We'll bring back the cure," Tyler says. "It's the only way to kill Klaus."
"I know it doesn't seem like it," Abby says, "after everything Klaus has done to all of you, but there are worse things than him in this world. Silas is one of them."
But Silas is in a tomb, and they'll do their best to keep him there. Klaus is walking around.
"She's not going to let you go with us," Tyler says.
Abby doesn't answer. He listens for Bonnie upstairs, still asleep.
"She cares about you," Tyler says. "Damon turning you was one of the reasons she decided to kill him. That's why she was so angry when Elijah was here. She feels something for you, but Bonnie also has a habit of caring about people who don't care about her the way she deserves to be cared about."
And he knows all about shitty parents.
Sometimes Tyler wishes his dad had just left. It would have saved him and his mom some trouble. Other times he's not sure about that. When Richard Lockwood died, Tyler missed him, wanted him back, then wondered why he felt that way at all. Maybe that's all that matters, knowing your kids would feel something akin to grief if you died .
Bonnie's alarm sounds. A few seconds later and it turns off, quieted by a press of Bonnie's finger. He can hear the familiar sigh she lets out whenever she has to wake up for school. "Bonnie will be down soon," he says. He takes his bloodbag with him as he goes upstairs.
Waking up in his own bed has never felt so strange. The couch at Bonnie's was in some ways more comfortable than his full-size bed, in his own room. For one he knew what to expect when he woke up at Bonnie's, the rush for the bathroom, fast showers so he wouldn't use up all the hot water, eating fast in Bonnie's kitchen. He doesn't know what awaits him here.
Jeremy still has clothes left over at his house, clothes he forgot about in all the time he's been at Bonnie's. After his shower he stands in front of the mirror admiring the tattoo. It's spread and its growing has stopped. He doesn't know when it finally finished, sometime while he was sleeping, but he knows it is. He can feel it, the sense of completion that is now written across his skin.
Finally, he thinks before pulling on his shirt. Once he's dressed he joins Elena in the kitchen where she's scrambling eggs on the stove.
"Morning," she says, turning her head to look at him. She does a double take.
"What?" he asks, noticing her wide eyes.
"I can see it," Elena says. "Your Mark. I guess it really is finished now."
Jeremy rubs his arm where the mark creeps out. "Yeah. And I guess I should grab a jacket."
"Unless you want to tell everyone you got that tattoo over the weekend," she laughs. "I found the tents in the basement, sleeping bags, too. I found jackets and scarves and stuff. It's all in the living room. I packed up what I could already."
"Cool," Jeremy says, sitting at the table. Right after school they're on cure duty. He doesn't remember any of them specifically inviting Elena to tag along but since the company line is that they're getting this thing for Elena in the first place, it probably looks better that she go, especially if Rebekah is insisting on being there.
"How'd you sleep?" she asks, turning the stove off. She deposits eggs on a plate and places it in front of him.
"Fine," he lies. He tossed and turned for awhile, woke up a couple of times and thought about calling Bonnie and Tyler, just to see what they were doing. Then he decided not to, in case they were being romantic or something and he'd be interrupted. "You?"
"Fine," Elena echoes. "Have you talked to Bonnie and Tyler?"
"Not, but I have to go over and get my backpack," he says. "My books and stuff."
They eat breakfast quietly, Jeremy chewing his eggs and Elena drinking her blood from a coffee mug. When he finishes, he waits for awhile just in case she has something she wants to say. She's reading over her biology notebook, covered in diagrams on cells and experiment notes, not looking at him.
Finally, Jeremy says, "I should go over there."
"Do you want me to drive you?" she asks, flipping her notebook closed. It's like a switch has been flipped, making her aware of his presence again.
"I can walk," he says. He heads upstairs to grab a sweatshirt and pulls it on to hide the Mark. When he goes back down Elena is still in the kitchen. "I'll see you at school."
He's at the door when she says, "You don't have to stay here."
Jeremy turns around, eyes narrowed in confusion. "What?"
Elena's standing now with her hands hanging at her sides and her mouth twisted into a frown. "If you really don't want to be here, you don't have to stay," she says. "You can go back with Bonnie and Tyler. Kol's dead. That's not gonna change if you move out. So if you don't want to be here then you don't have to."
"Calling it quits kinda soon aren't you?"
Elena shrugs. "If this is how it's gonna be then-"
"Give me a minute to get used to it again," Jeremy says. "We'll figure it out. What happened to wanting to try?"
"I am trying," Elena says. "I'm going to keep trying. I just don't know if you are."
"Elena, you can drive me to Bonnie's if you want to," he sighs. "I just didn't want to put you through the trouble. It didn't mean anything."
"It's not about that," she says. "Not completely."
"Just give it some time," Jeremy says. "I'm here, okay? I'm not gonna leave. Do you want to talk about Stefan and Damon?"
"You have to get your stuff."
"I'll ask Tyler to bring it school for me," he says. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I don't know what to say."
Yeah, that feeling's mutual.
Jeremy sniffs. "So, do you want to drive me to Bonnie's then?"
Elena grabs her keys.
Bonnie ignores Abby. As best she can, she ignores her. She doesn't even tell her to leave. While Tyler's in the shower, Bonnie makes herself some tea and pretends she doesn't hear Abby's "Good morning".
When Jeremy comes over, looking for his backpack, he stops short upon seeing Abby. He opens his mouth to speak.
Don't talk to her, Bonnie tells him. We're not talking to her. She peeks out the door to see Elena in her car at the curb, wearing a pair of giant sunglasses. She seems to be looking in Bonnie's direction and she considers waving at her, but Elena looks away. Jeremy gathers his stuff without saying a word.
That's right. It's Caroline who wants to be friends again, not Elena.
Bonnie feels Abby approach from behind her, peeking out the door as well. "I see you two aren't doing very well."
Bonnie almost demands to know why Abby thinks she can comment on the state of friendships she hasn't been around to know anything about, but she remembers that would count as talking to her. Instead she checks the clock on the wall, wishing it would go faster so they can leave.
"I'll see you guys at school," Jeremy says as he's headed out the door. She can tell he wants to kiss her, but he hesitates in front of Abby. After seeing Bonnie retire to her bedroom with Tyler last night, she'll surely have questions.
Abby's ruining everything.
She gives him a feeble wave before he goes.
"Bonnie," Abby says. "Are we going to talk?"
"I don't even know why you're still here," Bonnie says. "I told you I wanted you to leave."
"I didn't want to go without us talking first."
"We talked last night."
"I mean about other things," Abby says. "How you're doing."
Tyler comes downstairs, and it's a relief to see him. "We have to go to school," she says, grabbing her bag and going out to the car.
The school day goes by at a crawl. Some compulsion here and there and the four of them - Bonnie, Elena, Jeremy and Tyler - are excused from classes. Rebekah probably works much of the same angle, but Bonnie hears nothing from her except a text to confirm the time they'll be leaving.
"Be careful," Caroline says as Bonnie throws her stuff into the back of Elena's car. She's driving them to the airport, where they'll board a plane that will take them to Nova Scotia where they'll get into a car that will deposit them at a dock which will have boats to take them to the island where Shane says Silas and the cure are buried.
"We will," Bonnie promises.
Caroline nods her head toward Bonnie's front door. "What about her?"
Bonnie turns her head to see Abby lingering on the porch with her arms wrapped around herself. She finds Bonnie's eyes and holds her gaze until Bonnie looks away. Then she feels stupid. It should be Abby looking away, not her.
"I told her I want her gone by the time we get back," Bonnie says. "She said she wanted to see me off at least."
"At least you don't have to take her with you," Caroline says. She reaches out for a hug. "Good luck."
Over Caroline's shoulder Bonnie sees Rebekah coming down the street with a giant bag on her back. She looks ridiculous, walking around with it. When she reaches them she doesn't bother with niceties. "Are we leaving or not?"
"Oh, Canada," Rebekah says with a breathy sigh as they clamber out of the boats. She steps out easily, splashing through the shallow water without a backwards glance at any of them and pulling her sunglasses down over her eyes. "Hard to believe that ancient cure is buried here of all the places on earth. We might as well be in an episode of that show. You know the one. I've seen reruns. There's an island, smoke, annoying people. Do you know which one I'm referring to?"
"Yes," Bonnie says as she follows behind her, nearly falling face first into the water before Shane grabs hold of her to keep her steady. She doesn't thank him, but goes after Rebekah where they march up onto the beach.
It's all very, very green. The last time it took a vacation it was to visit her dad's side of the family for the summer, but she's never on an island before. It's probably supposed to be a lot more relaxing than this particular trip.
"This way," Shane says as soon as Tyler's tugged their boat onto the sand where it sits. He leads them toward the trees.
"Are there no people on this island?" Jeremy asks.
"Not really, no," Shane answers. "Come on."
Bonnie tightens her grip on her bag and walks after him. Tyler walks next to her. They're all quiet. She'd talk if their company wasn't so mixed. What is she supposed to say to Tyler and Jeremy that she can also say in front of Elena? That she can also say in front of Rebekah? That she can also say in front of Shane?
It's going to be a long trip.
Rebekah walks nearest to Shane, in a hurry to reach their destination. The only thing keeping her from passing him up is that he's leading the way. Otherwise she would have overtaken him already. They make camp as it starts getting dark.
Rebekah erects her tent as far from them as possible without enclosing herself in the trees. Bonnie glances in Jeremy's direction where he's gotten his up right alongside Elena's. The Gilberts were never short on camping gear. Bonnie meanwhile has only Tyler's to fall back on, a giant tent, perfect for a Lockwood, plus equally large sleeping bags.
"You can sleep with him if you want," Tyler says, whispering as he throws down his sleeping bag inside.
Bonnie pulls her hat down a little further on her ears and cast him a sidelong glance. "I can't sleep with you?"
Tyler smiles a little. "You can always sleep with me."
"Bonnie?"
They turn at the same time to see Shane standing behind them, his hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket. Bonnie feels herself deflate. "Can we talk?" he asks.
She had been doing pretty well with avoiding him. On the plane she pretended to be asleep for much of it. On the boat Shane had been too occupied with steering to speak to her. But she was idle and now she can't ignore him.
Reluctantly she follows Shane toward the center of their camp, near the fire that she started for them. "What?" she demands.
"I've looked over Jeremy's mark," Shane says, pulling pictures Jeremy took for them from his bag. "And I think I know what they mean."
Bonnie blinks. "Please share."
"All of these are the story of Silas and Qetsiyah," he says, spreading them out on the ground at her feet. "We already know that. These explain the cure." He jabs at the pages with his index finger pointing to the coiling lines that trail up and down Jeremy's bicep. "It's buried with him. It's just..."
He taps the photo pointing her to the words scrawled on the edge. She bends forward to read: One dose.
"Are you sure?" Bonnie asks.
Shane nods.
Rebekah isn't going to be happy. But then again, they're using it for the same purpose. Sort of. Maybe they'll just let her have it, let her cure Klaus so they can go about their business. But will Rebekah still be on board once she learns they don't intend to let Klaus grow old and die? That they're planning on killing him now? Bonnie decides she doesn't have to know. They'll deal with that when they have the cure in hand.
"It's fine," Bonnie says. "What else?"
"When we get there it will require you and Jeremy both to open Silas' tomb," Silas explains. "You'll need to channel the power of his Mark."
Bonnie nods. "Okay. We done?"
"No," Shane says. "Here, these markings." They look more like ancient scratches. If it says a word, Bonnie can't read it. "I think it means Bennett. Your name."
"Yes, I know what my name is."
Shane chuckles down at the pictures. "Only the magic of a Bennett witch can awaken Silas."
"I'm not waking him," Bonnie says. "I told you that. And I shouldn't need to, should I?" Shane's expression is a cross between disappointed and impatient. "If there's a way to get the cure without waking him up," she goes on, "then I'll do it that way. And why would you want me to? I know you want your wife back, but why would you want her the way Silas will make her? She'll be his, not yours. She won't be herself."
"She'll be alive," Shane says. "And I don't believe that."
Bonnie rolls her eyes. "Why not? Why is that the one part you find so hard to believe?"
"Because it's not true," Shane insists. "I've been here before, Bonnie. Silas spoke to me."
"Silas is in a tomb."
"He spoke to me," he repeats. "He told me what to do, showed me my wife. He assured me he could return her to me. That's how all of this started."
Bonnie shakes her head and glances over to Tyler who is watching them warily. "Shane," she says, "I'm sorry about your wife. We've all lost people, but I'm not raising Silas. I'm here for the cure, nothing else." She moves to return to Tyler, but Shane speaks to her again.
"What if you don't have a choice?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bonnie says, whirling back around.
Shane swallows. "It means the cure is down there, but we don't know what state it's in. What if you have to awaken him anyway?"
All these what-ifs.
"I'm not waking Silas."
Tyler rolls in his sleep. He's gotten used making contact with Bonnie's body during the night. Somehow, someway he always touches her. But he brushes up against nothing but empty air this time, and his eyes snap open.
She's gone.
She's probably with Jeremy, but he climbs out of the tent anyway. Their little camp is quiet. From Rebekah's tent several paces away and Elena's at the opposite side, it's silent. He hears Elena's heartbeat, Rebekah's, too. But there are some missing.
He can't hear Jeremy's or Bonnie's or Shane's.
"Fuck," he hisses, marching toward Elena's tent.
"Elena," he barks. She wakes up immediately, grabbing hold of the stake she's slid into her sleeping bag with her. He has no idea what she plans to do with that. If Rebekah tried to kill her, that little thing wouldn't do much.
She lowers it when she sees him. "What?"
"Jeremy and Bonnie are gone. So is Shane."
He goes to Rebekah's tent next, hearing Elena scrambling out of hers behind him. She looks in Jeremy's tent for herself. "Where are they?" she demands.
"If I knew I'd be with them," Tyler says. He doesn't have to wake Rebekah. She's already emerging from her tent, brushing her hair from her face.
"Bonnie and the hunter are missing are they?" she says. "The professor as well?"
"Yeah," Tyler confirms.
"They're going for the cure," Rebekah says.
Elena shakes her head. "They wouldn't go without us."
"Excuse me for not putting all my faith in those three," Rebekah snaps.
"We can't trust Shane," Tyler sighs. "We knew that when we came here. He must have done something."
"Then I suppose we should be looking for them," Rebekah sighs.
Elena's already nosing around the trees, examining the ground. "There are tracks over here," she says. "They went this way." They grab their bags and sling them over their backs. There's nothing they really need in there except for bloodbags, but they barely feel the weight as they walk.
Rebekah makes a clucking sound with her tongue. "If your brother ends up dead at the end of this little excursion that will be quite the irony, won't it?"
Elena doesn't answer her.
"No one's dying," Tyler snaps.
"I won't be too upset about it, if I'm being honest," Rebekah adds.
Elena spins to face her. "Shut up or I swear to God-"
If Elena means to be threatening, she fails. Rebekah throws back her head and laughs. The sound arcs through the trees, seeming to bounce off the trees to reverberate in their ears. "I could break off a sharp point of wood right now and shove it into your heart. "
"We have to find Bonnie and Jeremy," Tyler says impatiently. "Let's go."
"Because you want that cure to condemn Klaus to a mortal life," Elena says bitterly, spinning around and resuming their hike. "You're all bent out of shape because Kol's dead, but you're here with us so you can punish Klaus. Don't pretend to care about your family now, Rebekah."
Elena doesn't stand a chance. Rebekah's on her in a second, snapping her neck and watching her crumple to the ground with vague interest. "I'm going off on my own," she says, turning and stepping through the trees. "If I find Bonnie and Jeremy I'll bring them back."
Tyler pulls a bloodbag from his bag and cracks it open just before Elena wakes up. She looks around, her head snapping in every direction, searching for a sign of Rebekah's shiny blond head. "She's gone," he says, holding the bag out to her. "She's looking on her own."
"We should find them before she does," Elena says. She hesitates upon taking the bag from him, but does anyway.
"If she finds them, she won't hurt them," Tyler says. "Not that she could with Bonnie there. Besides, she needs them." He zips his bag back up and stands. "Ready to go?"
Elena drinks down the rest of the blood quickly and drops the plastic to the ground. "Yeah."
Bonnie's hand is clammy in Jeremy's as they follow Shane through the trees. She's still not sure how she got here, what led her. It probably had something to do with the man walking at Shane's side. He's taller than all of them with long dreadlocks that stop at his waist. She can feel the magic pouring off of him in waves. What is he here for? If Bonnie's the one who can open the tomb and awaken Silas, what purpose will this one serve?
"Where are we going?" Bonnie asks, tightening her grip on Jeremy's fingers. The only light is from their flashlights, lighting up small sections of the forest at once. It's not enough light, but she senses with her magic, looking for signs of anyone else. There's nothing human or vampire near them.
"To Silas' tomb," Shane answers. "To get your cure."
"I'm not raising him," Bonnie reminds him. She can take them both if need be. Shane won't be an issue, being human and having no magic. She's never really gone up against another witch before, but she's stronger now. And she's a fast learner.
"So you've said. Do you want your cure or not?"
"Why'd you have to separate us from the group?" Jeremy demands. "We were coming here anyway." He's taking this better than she is.
"The extra people weren't needed," Shane says. "It works better this way. We only have the necessities. This way."
The witch is leading the way now, walking quietly. The mouth of the cave is hidden in the darkness, so well that Bonnie doesn't realize they're approaching it until her feet sound against smooth rock and not dirt and grass.
"We'll be okay, Bonnie," Jeremy whispers to her. "Tyler's probably looking for us already."
But he won't find them. This island is huge. She could attempt to alert him somehow, give him some kind of beacon to follow but the witch's presence makes her nervous. They need her and Jeremy, but they don't need Tyler or the others. She doesn't want anyone else getting hurt. They wander through the darkness together, Shane and the witch whispering quietly to one another. When Shane finally stops, he lets out a relieved sigh. "Here we are." He motions to them. "Come on."
They step toward him, leaning to look down into the giant hole open before them. Inside of it, Bonnie can't see anything but more darkness, so black that it looks endless. Shane is pulling rope from his bag. "Ready?"
Jeremy's fingers tighten on hers.
They're not in Mystic Falls anymore.
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