Hey, guys! This chapter is one of my favorites and it was really fun to write! Bonnie goes through some major character development here and a lot of questions are answered. Unfortunately, this story is nearing it's end, but I promise more stories are to come. Also, I strongly encourage listening to the beautiful song that inspired this chapter.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this chapter, throw me a PM or just wait until the following chapters, because I swear your questions will be answered in the conclusion. Enjoy! Love you guys. XOXO

Chapter 24

A few more moments and she'll wake up. Just a few more minutes. She'll wake up, she has to.

The beautiful voice pulled me from the brink of darkness. This voice wasn't spoken aloud, it was whispered through the mind. I was connected to him somehow. I tried to open my eyes, to tell him I was alive, that I would do anything for him. Something was weighing me down, stopping my eyes from opening. My eyelids were sparkling, the red almost glittering. Was this wrong? Or was I in transition into something evil? Did Damon make me a vampire? Who was I now?

Damon's voice floated back into my thoughts, If she doesn't wake up, then she's dead because of me.

I heard someone pacing nearby, sounding more aggravated than anything. Their hands swung impatiently at their sides, swirling the dust motes in the air back and forth. I could hear everything. From the light pace, it sounded like a woman. Elena, most likely. Her soft leather boots ground the loose dirt into the concrete floor.

Damon's voice spoke aloud, addressing Elena fiercely. "You're not helping."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Elena said, her voice piercing the quite. Her voice sounded absolutely wicked, more like Katherine than herself. "I'm not the one who didn't follow the plan. The plan was go in, distract the guards, and I would get her out! God dammit, Damon. You're so frustrating."

A feral snarl rolled out from Damon's lips. "I told you the guards were wearing vervain. Parker was one step ahead of us."

My ears perked up to the sound of Parker's name.

"He's always one step ahead of us these days," Elena mumbled, sounding exasperated. "Feel her pulse, he'll be here any minute."

Suddenly Damon's cool fingers were on the curve of my wrist, pressing lightly. A moment passed, then for the slightest second, his hand was cupping my face, smoothing curls away from my face. "Come back to me, Bonnie. I know you can hear me. Come back to me," He repeated.

I can't... I don't know how, I thought.

Damon waited a second longer, waited for me to respond. But I couldn't. I didn't know if he could hear my thoughts, or if I could just hear his. How did that make sense? How can I wake up so I can ask these questions?

"Come back to me ..." He whispered.

Think, Bonnie, think. A memory came to mind, Stefan appeared. He was looking at me sincerely, almost testing the waters. There was something about his voice that had alerted me, something that made me think he was keeping a secret. His voice rang clear 'I'll be looking out for you, Bonnie …' I had thought he was worrying about Damon.

Suddenly another memory surfaced. I was with Stefan again. Turning away from me, his vibrant green eyes piercing into mine. There was something there that I hadn't understood, something that made me think he knew more than he let on. His eyes raked over my face, trying to read into something far greater. 'I know more than you think.' He had said. Had something already been put into action then? How much did Stefan know? What was he keeping from us?

Maybe, somewhere deep inside me, I had always known Stefan was a key piece in this puzzle. That explained why it had been so hard for me to let him go, and why he had always been on my mind when I was with Damon or Parker.

One thing was for certain in the moment; Stefan knew more than he let on. And I had to find out what it was before it was too late. Who knew what Parker might do next? He had already turned my friends against me, isolated me, and got me thrown in jail, made everyone believe I had killed Michael.

Stefan hadn't been at my trial. Where had he been these days, anyway?

Why would Parker be messing with my life? It made absolutely no sense. He had loved me, the key word being had. Everything with Parker had seemed fine until … Until I kept choosing things over him. First it was leaving him to go to California, then it was choosing Stefan over him. After he finally had me, he didn't want me to stray too far. It was clear. Then when I broke up with him, seemingly for Damon, it must have been the breaking point. He had reached the brink of his sanity when I had chosen someone over him again. It had been the last straw.

But why would Matt, Caroline and Meredith be so quick to turn against me? Maybe Parker had something against them? Something didn't fit…

Then Damon suddenly stood, whipping around so fast the air around him barely moved. "He's coming; I can hear him."

Elena's heartbeat picked up the pace, but her voice was controlled. "Quick, move her into the shadows."

I heard footsteps coming down a long shaft, like a tunnel. Where were we? From the heavy footfalls, it sounded like a man. He was breathing roughly, from exertion, I presume. Then it must not be a vampire. My heartbeat quicken at the thought of Parker coming to meet Elena and Damon.

Suddenly the footsteps stopped just shy of our cave. "Is-is anyone there?"

Matt? Why would Matt be here? My head spun with a hundred possibilities.

"Yes, Matt, we're here," said Elena. "Show yourself."

Two steps to the right, a loud intake of breath. "I'm not scared of you. Parker told me what you guys were trying to do. I couldn't let that happen. Not after what she put my family through. We know you have her and if you don't let me take her, I'll go to the police."

"Now, Mutt, you can't honestly believe a word that comes out of that lying fool's mouth, can you?" Damon's ironical voice rang through the tunnel eerily, sending shivers down my spine.

"I don't know what to believe. But I know the facts. And the fact is- she killed my brother."

"She didn't do it, Matt. She was framed." Elena said in a soft voice, trying to coax him out of hiding. "You know Bonnie. The real Bonnie. She would never hurt anyone, especially not Michael. She loved you and your family too much to ever-"

"To ever put us to shame? She put the whole town to shame when that knife was found. Now you're trying to tell me she was framed?" He scoffed. "You're never going to win. She was marked the second she ran away."

My heart gave a sudden jerk, shocking me back to life. Something about what Matt said, something about the way he said it, reminded me of something.

Damon was beside me, holding me upright. "Bonnie?"

I opened my eyes slowly and met beautiful onyx black eyes. A smile spread onto my face so fast I didn't even think to stop it. "Damon …"

Matt crept closer, leaning over to get a look at me. I could see his shocking blue eyes over Damon's shoulder. The sight of him, looking at me with such an intensely accusing stare, brought tears to my eyes.

"She's a little incoherent," Elena explained to Matt, leaning closer to him.

He jumped back, looking at all three of us. "I'm not scared of you," he repeated.

"But you should be," Damon said, looking over his shoulder at him. "And so should Parker. Do you hear that?" He shouted towards the tunnel.

Damon stood, pulling me up with him and holding me close. "Now go. And tell your master that we're not going down without a fight."
Matt took one last look at me, then took off down the tunnel.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and spoke aloud. "Damon, what is Parker? What is he really?"

Damon met my eyes. "A vampire. Just like me and my brother, and just like you."

"What did you just say?" My breath caught in my throat and I detached myself from him. The room was suddenly spinning. "I-I can't be a vampire, Damon. I'm Bonnie McCullough, 17 year old high school senior, Queen of Robert E. Lee."

His eyes showed no sympathy. "Not anymore. You can never be that girl again."

My heart sunk to the floor. I looked at Elena, demanding an explanation with my eyes, but she only looked away. "What do you think you've accomplished here? You got me out of prison. That's fantastic. But if I can't go back to my old life then none of it matters-!"

"You can't go back, Bonnie," Elena whispered.

I paused, catching my breath. "What?"

Elena's eyes were sad. "I'm so sorry, Bonnie, but there's nothing we can do. There's no way to clear your name; Parker made sure of that. Even if we could clear your name, nothing could repair the damage it has done. Do you think anyone at school would even meet your eyes if you went back? Your family moved away to Richmond after your trial because of the gossip, the real Katherine is dead, Meredith and Caroline have gone rogue. You can't go back."

I sank down to the floor, feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. Tears streamed down my face. Nothing could explain the agony ripping through my chest. Have you ever had your life just taken away from you? Torn from your fingers, without a warning or a reason? There's a crushing feeling. The depression needles its way into your bones, hopelessness courses through your veins.

In that moment, I knew Elena was right. There was no going back. I could never be that Bonnie that everyone said hi to in the halls again. I would never have margarita's with Meredith and Caroline again and gab about boys. I would never have to worry about ruling my kingdom. All of that had been taken away from me.

Who was I now?

Damon touched my arm gently, resting his hand there.

Feeling his presence there, knowing he was with me through this, made me feel a tiny bit better. It lit a spark in me. I wasn't completely hopeless. I still had one thing worth fighting for; revenge.

I turned to Damon, letting the anger completely engulf me. I could feel the wicked smirk on my face, feel my eyes lighting up with fire, and I could see my own reflection in Damon's eyes. "Let's get back at the bitch."

.

Walking down the dark street, I could almost feel the night enveloping me. How beautiful the night could be when you weren't twisted up in some sort of drama! The moon, the stars, the trees and nightlife. Truly extraordinary.

My footsteps only made the slightest noise as I padded along the sidewalk. Leafs gently made their way across the street. In the distance, a dog howled, adding a sort of eery feeling. The air smelled like lightly burning leafs. It was my kind of night.

Then suddenly something in the atmosphere shifted. I felt eyes on my back, the slightest chill ran down my spine. I whipped around, seeing nothing. I turned on my night senses, searching for any sign of Power.

"Who's there?" I called to the empty street.

"Stefan," A bell-like voice whispered against my neck.

I turned around at lightening speed. Standing directly behind me, looking fierce yet somehow sweet, was Bonnie. She held her petite frame with new found stature. There was something remarkably different …

My breath caught in my throat. "You're a vampire!"

Bonnie smirked slightly. "Oh, yes. Stefan, I don't have much time. You have to tell me what you know about Parker and his plan."

"H-how did you?... Wait, what?" I was floundering to keep up. "Who changed you?"

"Why, I did, brother," Damon's voice floated from behind me. I turned and met his wicked eyes. "Don't look so surprised. I believe my Bonnie asked you a question."

"Stefan," Bonnie called me back. "Stefan, we need your help."

I shook my head, trying to collect my thoughts. "I-I know Parker is a vampire. He framed you for Michaels murder but... but Michael isn't dead."

Bonnie met Damon's eyes over my shoulder, communicating some sort of message with him. "Do you know where Michael is?"

I shook my head. "No."

"How do you know this, brother?" Damon asked.

I looked to him, feeling cornered. "I overheard Parker ..." I looked back to Bonnie, "discussing his plans with Katherine."

She rose her chin slightly. "Katherine?"

"Yes."

Bonnie walked closer and looked into my eyes with her huge brown ones. "Stefan, if you know anything else, it would be wise to tell me. Please, Stefan."

I shook my head, feeling somewhat entranced with her. "I don't know anything else."

Bonnie stepped around me and trotted up to Damon. "Then we're done here."

In the next second they were gone.

.

Chapter Title:

Dark Paradise by Lana Del Ray