Chapter 2 – Shifting Sands

Bonnie locked the door of the bathroom behind her, Kai whistling a tune behind her as he made his way from the master bedroom/bath to the kitchen. She stepped over to the double sink in the cheery yellow and white room and turned on the taps in both full blast before she let the sob stuck in her chest loose to tear its way up her throat. She clapped her hand over her mouth as the ugly sound broke forth and sank into the corner between the walk-in shower and the end of the cabinet. She shook as she cried, letting herself have the moment to get out her overwhelmed emotions before she lost it at a moment she could ill afford. She cried as she thought about her Grams and her promise that she had ensured Bonnie could find peace and to stay strong. Never had Grams lied to her before, she may not have told her a lot that Bonnie felt she should have known, but she had never outright lied and she refused to believe that her Grams would have lied about this. Grams knew the Other Side was collapsing, she knew they could be obliviated. She wouldn't have lied to Bonnie then about why she sent her here.

No, there was no way Grams would have lied. There was a way to find peace here, she just hadn't found it yet. She just had to stay strong like Grams said. She comforted herself over her grief for Gram with that thought even as she cried thinking about the faces she had seen in the pictures she had passed just now in the hallway and how terrified they must have been as one of their own committed such unspeakable crime against them. She cried for the parents who would have been devastated and she even cried a bit for the lost, so lost, man/boy who could have done such a thing. How do you get to the point where something like this can happen? She didn't like Kai, but in this moment, she felt sorrow for him. She could not imagine how it could come to this, how he could seem to feel just..nothing about what he had done.

Had he always been this way?

Bonnie worked hard to calm herself, using the focusing exercises she had been learning for magic and instead casting her mind back over the few psychology courses she had managed to take in college, before the issues of being Anchor had absorbed all her attention. She had always had a fascination with psych stuff and, before she had found out about her powers and started spending more time doing magic and occult studies and things such as that, she had loved to read any book she could get her hands on about anything to do with the mind. She tried to put it all to good use now as she frantically sorted thru what she could recall, trying to find something that might give her a clue how to deal with the man outside singing loudly to the Cranberries as pots and pans made the occasional clang.

All she knew was she was way underprepared for how to deal in a situation like this. She thought thru her options again now that she wasn't so tired and in pain and could really think.

She was trapped, unquestionably, in this world, and the only other occupant was clearly disturbed. She had no magic to either escape or protect herself. What could she do? He could literally decide to kill her at anytime… even though he had declined to do so yet. So why hadn't he?

She continued to forcefully calm her mind, making herself think thru the situation. Logically, he really could have killed her several times now already. Why would he refrain? What was stopping him?

She slowed her breathing, practicing the deep breathing exercises her Grams had taught her when she began to channel her magic and her reason continued to make its way to the forefront. As she continued to think, the answer seemed to float to her and it was quite simple. Loneliness.

He had been alone, literally the only person in the world, for nearly 20 years. Strike that, the only living thing. She couldn't remember when she had first noticed but, there were not even any bugs here, much less more relatable and sentient species. How he had managed to survive that level of complete solitude she could not imagine. Bonnie knew she would have killed herself long since. So….what kind of effect could that have had on him? If he wasn't crazy to begin with, pretty good chances were, he was now. But if he had been mentally unstable already when he was sent here, would it have made him more so? All signs were pointing to yes, but she wasn't sure.

She thought back to when she and Damon had first encountered him. She honestly couldn't blame him for wanting to kill Damon. God knows she had numerous times, Elena's boyfriend or not. IF he was raised like most witches, he would see nothing wrong with killing a vampire since vampires were all evil…or so they thought. Once they got him to the boarding house, he had seemed congenial, albeit weird, which she had at first chalked up to being stuck in this crazy-ass world by himself for god knew how long. Even when they discovered why he was there, he had only threatened them when they planned to leave him. Although it bothered her to admit it, truthfully, he had not gotten dangerous until after she had killed him. She winced at the memory, aware that her own actions had probably escalated issues.

She wondered idly when pre-emptive murder had become her go to reaction for dealing with potential threats.

The only thing she did know for sure was, she had to find a way to get on, if not his good side, at least, non-hostile ground with him. She didn't want to spend however long it was she would be stuck here running for her life.

There had been times when he seemed, if not quite normal, at least, friendly. Could she encourage that? Did she want to? They were stuck together now, the lone two occupants in a really screwed up, science fictiony type scenario. Could she survive all by herself if they went their separate ways? Assuming he would he even let her?

Bonnie considered it. Almost as soon as she did, she realized she simply could not survive being so utterly alone for very long. She didn't want to end up as unstable and probably crazy as Kai was and she realized that it could be a possibility for her if she had to go it on her own here. It would eventually kill her…or make her kill herself. And even though she had been dead already, she didn't wish to be again anytime soon, prison world or no prison world.

No, even pyscho company was better than none at all. She huffed a small laugh, remembering thinking something along the same lines shortly after getting stuck here with Damon. But Damon had been the devil she (sorta) knew. Kai was….something different.

Maybe they could do once a month meet and greets? They go their separate ways and get together once a month for drinks and to share travel stories?

Bonnie sighed deeply and slid her hands from off of her face, letting her head bang back against the wall behind her. She hit it a few more times, gently, for good measure. Maybe she could jog a good idea or two loose.

"Yo, Bon, you fall in or something?"

The knock and voice at the door startled her badly and she jumped up, banging her elbow against the countertop, causing her to swear loudly.

"You need a hand in there or just.."

She could hear the mirth in his voice and she tried to quell her panic as she cut him off.

"I'm fine. Just taking a minute to clean up. Do you mind," she said pointedly.

"Oh, by all means, don't let me be accused of rushing a woman in the bathroom," he laughed as it sounded like he walked away.

Bonnie opened a few cabinet doors til she found what she needed, grabbing a washcloth and running it under the cold water to try and clean herself up. She refused to wear evidence of her tears in front of him. She had that much pride at least. She scrubbed at her face and neck, feeling unbearably grubby in her days old jeans and blood covered shirt. But she had nothing else so, after combing thru her hair with a comb she found and a borrow of mouthwash for the nasty taste of being drugged and sleeping so long caused, she felt as presentable as she would get. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. Green eyes too large in her heart shaped face but otherwise ok.

"You can do this Bennett. You are smart, tough, savvy and more than a match for crazypants out there. You can, you will, survive and thrive and think your way thru this whole godawful mess until your friends find a way to get you out or you find it yourself. You were smart before you had magic and you are still smart. Grams said to stay strong, that she had guaranteed you a way to find peace. You will find a way."

Bonnie stared hard at herself then shook her head, laughing softly at herself for pep talking herself in the mirror, a habit she had always had but right now, she needed all the help she could get…even if it only came from herself.

Straightening her posture, she nodded once and left the room.