A/N: I'm really sorry for such a long wait. Got caught up with school and work. But here's an update, finally. BTW, I feel like my writing has changed (for the better) during my hiatus. Anyways, please feel free to leave your thoughts.

Chapter 26

Bonnie felt the skin of her thumb tearing as she drove the sharp edge of her tooth into it. It was only when she felt the pain that she drew her hand away and laid it upon the book. Her moistened finger pressed against the page leaving an oval shaped imprint above the number 476. She turned it. "Surely it was in here somewhere", she thought, flipping the page again once she had scanned it for the words Binding Spell and Talisman, but with no avail. At this point the search had led to an excessive amount of page turning and little results. "Come on", she whispered frantically as she drew nearer to the back cover.

"How's it going Witchy," said Damon emerging at the top of the stairs. Bonnie took a second of her frantic search to look at him. He stopped at the middle of the staircase. He wouldn't go beyond, for the witches' protection wouldn't allow it. Doing so would kick any vampire into oblivion.

Bonnie sighed heavily when she reached the last page then slammed the back cover shut. "There's no spell…" she said, more to herself than to Damon who now donned a bewildered expression.

"What do you mean there's no spell—"

"There's no fucking spell!" she shouted and both of them grew quiet.

"This is no time for games, Bonnie. You're a witch, damn it. Figure something out," he said and this made her look at him sharply. She wanted to climb up those stairs and slap him into oblivion herself, but instead she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to clear her head.

He was right though, she thought, there had to be some way. The witches were the architects of the magic and being a witch she'd find a way to deconstruct it. The image of her grandmother projected in every pathway of her mind, and something told her that she was the aid. However, the only way of contacting her was by summoning her spirit. She couldn't wait for it to happen out of her will such as a dream. No, if she wanted to summon her spirit herself, she'd have to perform a séance.

"I need candles," she finally said and Damon perked at hearing her speak.

"Candles?" he asked unsure of what she meant.

"Yes!"

"From where?"

"I don't know, Damon. Be productive for once and look for them yourself," she said sliding the book into her bag. He gave her a hard look before rolling his eyes and dashing out of sight.

The room was quiet again despite there being someone else with her. Klaus lied dormant on the slab of wood. The charcoal necklace around his neck protected him from the room's magic. Bonnie knew this when she first spotted it. He was always a step ahead, except for tonight.

She brought herself closer to him. His arms and legs were tightly bound against the rest of his body. She studied his face. Even in slumber his features appeared rigid. His cheekbones were high upon his face and his lips were a hard line. Though his eyes were closed, Bonnie noticed a different Klaus. She thought about the guy she had spoken to days earlier. The guy who kept his family encapsulated in the canvas above his fireplace, despite having them now in coffins. He was an artist both with the brush and with life. It sort of shocked her to think that deep down inside this murderous monster was something gentle and it only seemed to surface more now than ever beneath the light.

His blonde lashes were delicately pressed upon each other. She noticed a white speck hanging from his right eye. She hesitated at first, but slowly leaned over him reaching cautiously. Using her index finger against her thumb, she parted them slightly, edging towards the tip of his lashes. She held her breath, as if doing so would prevent him from waking, and as she pressed her finger tips together, capturing what she thought was the speck, a loud crash emitted through the entire house. Her hand jolted into his eye and she gasped clasping the other over her mouth. Staring attentively, she searched for any signs of movement from the body. There was none. No flutter of the lashes, no twitching of the lid, no hunching of the brows. She took a deep breath then turned towards the door.

Standing quietly she heard rapid movement coming from upstairs. Then a figure flashed in front of the doorway. Due to its rapid speed she couldn't make out its identity. Feeling her abdomen contract, along with her heart's excessive pumping of blood, Bonnie gathered ways to protect herself. Just as she made her way upstairs, what seemed to be a deer came crashing at the doorway. But she remembered she hadn't seen any the drive up or down the woods. It wasn't until she caught her breath that she noticed the deer was actually a person and that the red stained fur was actually the strands of his matted hair.

"Stefan!" She propelled herself forward to where a mangled figured now laid holding his side.

"Stefan!" She brought herself to her knees, crouching beside him, taking his head to her hands.

"Sorry for dropping in like this," he said almost in a strain.

He looked up at her and never did she witness such fragility until now. His eyes had seemed to lose their silvery glint and now they appeared a dulled green. His face had acquired significant bruising and beside his dark brow was a streak of blood trailing back to his forehead. She let out a choked out sob before taking her hand to his head. With the sleeve of her jacket she gently pressed the gash beneath his hairline.

He winced at contact, shifting beneath her and that's when she noticed the cherry colored stain his shirt had acquired. She slowly went for it and with such carefulness folded it up towards his chest. She held back another cry when she found a large portion of Stefan's abdomen damaged to unrecognizable proportions. The spot from which the blood poured was a skinless wound. His stomach rose slowly and descended causing more blood to dispense.

"It doesn't look that bad," he said realizing she was horrified. He let out a soft chuckle before bursting into coughing fits.

"Not bad?!" she said looking at him in disbelief. "We need to get you out of here." Trying to devise a plan and at the same time comprehend the image of Stefan's injuries, she grabbed his elbows and with all her strength lifted him up and propped him against the doorway. "Hold on," she said running down the stairs retrieving her bag, the ashes and the dagger. Throwing the messenger bag over her shoulders she then buckled her knees and lifted Stefan the best she could. She stumbled underneath his weight, but managed to steady her steps.

"It's beautiful out there," he whispered and Bonnie, trying to balance him and her thoughts, replied, "What?"

"There's a garden full of hybrids," he responded and Bonnie's eyebrows furrowed. She figured he must have suffered a concussion. They wobbled to the right then to the left. The front door never seemed farther away.

"Where do you think you're going?" said a voice, bringing them to a halt. Bonnie tried to look back, but turning was quite difficult, what with Stefan draped over her shoulders.

"We're leaving," she said still not facing who ever stood behind them.

"No. Not until I get what I came for," he said. Hybrid for sure, she thought. Bonnie could hear him inch closer to them, the floorboards giving him away.

"He's in the basement," she said clutching to Stefan as tightly as she could when she felt him slipping.

"What are you doing?" he whispered.

"Trust me," she breathed.

"Follow the trail of blood. Down the stairs," she instructed. They both remained quiet waiting for the hybrid's next move. The floorboards creaked again, this time the sound becoming fainter.

"Let's go," she said resuming their limped pace to the door.

A loud shout followed by deafening cries came from below as they reached the main door. The witches' protection spell had worked.

"Good call," Stefan huffed out.

As they stepped out onto the lawn of the Old House, Bonnie brought both of them to a sudden stop. Upon the damp grass that had a darker shade of green tonight, were bodies of people littered everywhere: The Garden of Hybrids.

"Wow…" she said mouth ajar. "You guys did a number."

"One got away, though" he said clutching to his side with his other hand. "But you handled that."

Five shadowed figures trekked their way towards them.

"Bonnie," shouted Elena. Bonnie stopped once her friends approached, letting Stefan down to lie on the grass.

"Stefan," said Elena tossing her crossbow to the grown before crouching down and inspecting him.

"Are you okay?" Alaric asked, but Bonnie was too fixated on Elena's closeness to Stefan as she brought his head to her thighs, to notice he was referring to her.

"Hey, Bonnie, you okay?" said another voice she knew, but had not heard in a long time. The sound awakened her like the reawakening of some old memory. Bonnie turned to find Jeremy with Matt standing beside him.

"When did you guys get here," she said not knowing whether to be surprised, grateful or bothered.

"I overheard Elena and Alaric…" he said and she noticed a crossbow in his hand.

"Are you all okay?" She glanced at all of them as to not address him directly. He, however, remained observing her; the pupil of his eyes darting to capture her every move.

"We're all fine. The only thing now is how we get rid of all these bodies," said Caroline examining the ground. At first glance, it looked like a bunch of littered clothing scattered in no specific pattern. Some of the bodies were headless, others missing limbs and there were those who lay there—all limbs intact— with arrows penetrating the flesh. There was one in particular that caught Bonnie's attention. He lied on his side; his head slightly lifted from the ground with an arrow for support. It had entered clean through his right temple and out the left, the tip pinning down brain remnants and goo.

"We'll have to burn them," she said.

"But that'd get on Channel 9 news," said Matt and a scattered "right" followed.

"There has to be about…" said Jeremy raising himself on his toes to scan, "thirty of them."

"We'll dump them," she quickly said.

"But where?" said Jeremy, but she ignored him, rushing down to kneel on the ground.

"How are you doing," she rushed out. Stefan took her hand in his and laid his wistful eyes on her.

Elena pretended not having seen the silent exchange and said, "He's bleeding real badly. Is this even normal?"

"Why is everyone loitering around this morgue," said a voice from behind them. They could hear the crunching of grass and twisting themselves around saw Damon approaching.

"What's this—"he said, but Elena shot up and intercepted him. "Damon," her voice was barely above a whisper. His raven brows dove. He trailed from Elena, to Bonnie then, taking a step forward…

"What's happened to him," he said, not moving while the bag of what Bonnie supposed were candles rustled in the wind.

"He's hurt," said Elena, her hand still pressed against his chest. Bonnie watched as his pale-blue eyes searched Elena's brown ones. He didn't move. He stood there silently observing the others and then through a gap between Elena and Bonnie herself, his brother.

"Fix it," he said to her, his gaze hard and demanding.

"I don't—"

"No excuses! Here are your fucking candles," he said tossing the flimsy bag at her knees.

Bonnie wouldn't fight with him this time. Despite how different they were, how their poles were on opposite ends, she understood his pain. Damon was not much for showing emotions. She figured he'd rather be burned at the stake than to be caught feeling. But right at this instant, masked in the rigidity of his voice and gaze, was a vulnerable boy caring—feeling—for his brother.

She sniffed hardly to clear her nose and to stop herself from crying. She didn't know what she'd do to cure him. This wasn't like last time when she extracted Elizabeth's bullet from his torso. This time his abdomen needed repairing. She needed to stop the blood as soon as she could. Looking at its red tint she thought about the time she cut her arm after riding her Little Mermaid bike into a rosebush when she was six. The first thing she noticed was the blood trailing down her arm and around her elbow like a tiny map of red rivers. Looking at it she began crying, the pain following. Her grandmother came rushing towards her, as she always did in life, and inspected her arm.

"Shhhh, Bonnie, quiet down now sweetie," she said trying to calm her down. But grandma didn't seem so calm herself: looking wildly at the gash then frantically around the park. She took her towards a hedge away from the others. Kneeling down, holding her arm up towards her face, her grandmother closed her eyes tightly. Bonnie remembered noticing the wrinkles on her lids and how it resembled the bloody map on her arm. Then she watched her grandmother's purple stained lips shaping out words she could not understand. Suddenly she felt a pain in her arm, sharper than the rosebush cutting it open. Looking down, she watched as the once torn skin, sealed itself together. It was the first time her grandma had used magic to heal her.

Bonnie closed her own eyes and placing both her palms above Stefan's wound began moving her lips the way her grandmother did. She knew the words this time, but nobody around her could understand them. Suddenly Stefan began wincing, crying, and twisting on the ground.

"Shhh. It's okay, Stef," said Elena crouching beside him again, holding his shoulders for restraint.

Bonnie continued with the spell, feeling her power escaping her palms and finger tips. Suddenly Stefan's squirming stopped and he began to breathe easier. Bonnie opened her eyes then sighed in relief. It was as if the wound had never been there except for the blood being the only evidence that it had. Just like her arm like that day at the park.

"You did it," said Elena breathing out all the air that seemed to have been stored away in her chest. Bonnie was also amazed at the effects, just as she was the first time she watched it being performed.

"Alright, let's get him home," said Damon walking away towards the woods. Bonnie watched as he walked off, never looking back to see if any of them were following. Matt and Elena both went for Stefan.

"Where did you say you wanted the bodies?" said Jeremy. Not breaking away from Damon's silhouette she responded, "I don't know…"

"I got it," said Alaric adjusting his crossbow behind his back.

"What's that?"

"Beneath the ground, in the tunnels where the other vampires were stored. We'll burn them down there. Now, you: Bonnie and Elena get Stefan back home. The rest of us will take care of this mess."

They all nodded and Bonnie went for Stefan, both she and Elena taking an arm to their shoulders.

"Wait, Klaus," Bonnie said remembering that he was still slumbering inside the house.

"Got that too," said Alaric with a reassuring smile.

She nodded then the three of them limped towards the moon, their shadows stretching before them.

Bonnie traced his hairline until her finger stopped on the bandage. She had been doing this for a while now: running her fingers back and forth along Stefan's forehead. His delicate eyes remained closed as he quietly relished in deep sleep. She then felt her pocket vibrating.

"Okay honey. You and Elena have fun, but don't stay up too late, now," her father had texted. She put the phone back to sleep then slipped it into her pocket.

"Your phone keeps vibrating," said Stefan, his voice croaky. Bonnie looked down at him, his eyes still remained shut.

"Sorry. That was my dad," she replied, taking the phone back out and putting it on the night table.

"Is he worried?"

"Always"

"Well, he shouldn't be," he said and she watched how his adam's apple acceded and descended as he swallowed.

"He's my dad."

"Doesn't he know he has a powerful witch for a daughter," he said finally opening his eyes. He pulled himself up by his elbows and then leaned over pressing his rough dried lips upon hers.

"He doesn't," she said.

"What? He doesn't know?"

"Nope," she said tracing his lips with her thumb. "Lick."

Stefan stuck out his tongue wrapping it around her finger. She gave him a sly smile then lubricated his lips.

"How can you even hide that kind of thing," he said still eyeing her with disbelief.

"Easy. I don't do magic in front of him."

"Why are you keeping this away from him?"

"Because he wouldn't understand."

"So both you and your grandmother just kept silent?" Hearing him mention her grandmother made her heart soften into velvety matter. It was the first time he had mentioned her without wanting to extract information from her.

"Yes, we just practiced alone in the woods when I finally discovered my power."

He took a moment to think, his eyes fixated on her neck, but they seemed to be focusing on something beyond. "How do you think he would react if you did?"

"He'll probably freak," she replied. "I'd have to run away like my mother, assuming that's why she left." Bonnie pulled away from him then brought her knees to her chest.

Stefan sat up beside her, groaning when he felt the aches of the battle.

"Have…have you heard from her?"

Bonnie lightly rubbed her lips against her knees, feeling a tickle from the fabric of her jeans. She didn't want to answer. Speaking the words would be much harder to think them. But she opened her lips and said them anyway. "Never."

"Do you miss her?"

"I don't even know her," she said clutching her legs even tighter.

"Would you like to meet her?"

"If I did, it'd only be to ask her why she left."

Stefan nodded.

"But I doubt I could find her. My father has been looking for her all my life. Even if he pretends she never existed."

"Well, your father loves you a lot. I'm sure he does it to protect you," he said rubbing his hands along her arm. "As do I."

Bonnie's eyes abandoned her knees and they fell on Stefan. He exposed a smile so warm that it wrapped her up and shielded her from any cold the winter could impose.

"I love you," he repeated.

She didn't know how to react. Her body went numb.

"I…I love you too," she finally got out.

Then a smile cracked on her face causing him to lean in and kiss her again. Passion seethed through the rhythm of their lips. Bonnie noticed her senses returning when she felt Stefan's hands guiding along her waist and up her torso, underneath her laced bra and to her breasts. He rubbed them gently; she swelling with excitement at the touch. She then trailed her hands along his bare chest, feeling the scar from where the skin had reattached. She pulled away bringing her face to a spot beneath his rib and gently pressed her lips against it. He brought her head back up to his and resumed his amorous expression. She then guided her hands to the rim of his boxers, lifting the elastic enough to slip her fingers through. They blindly searched within and as they grazed upon the warm flesh of his manhood—

"I brought a mid night—"

Bonnie quickly broke away from the embrace fumbling for the sheets and found Elena with plate of finger-sandwiches scattered at her feet.

For any of my guests, if you'd like to receive updates please make an account. Thanks so much for the previous comments. Hope to get more feedback, subs, etc! :)