Abby Bennett
The drive had been silent. Bonnie was sitting in the back seat of the car, staring out the window, and she hadn't made a peep. Elena had attempted small talk, multiple times, but only received polite smiles and shakes of the head in return.
After telling Bonnie that it was her mother who knew the desiccation spell Bonnie's mood had dropped. It was clear to Alex that she was dwelling on the past and from what little she knew about her mother, she didn't blame her. Elena had briefly gone over the details about how Bonnie's mother had abandoned her and her father without as so much as an explanation. While Bonnie had never openly mentioned her mother in the past, the mix of emotions made it clear that she had never dealt with the effects of the abandonment.
Alex had decided that it was best to let her work it out. There was no doubt that once Bonnie came face to face with her mother that things would just come spilling out.
Alex was relieved as they passed the welcome to 'Charlotte' sign, they weren't too far away. It had made sense after a quick locator spell that Bonnie's mother, Abby, had stayed close by. If she had pinned down a powerful vampire, like Mikael, she probably wouldn't want to stray too far away.
"What if she doesn't have the spell?"
Alex was surprised Bonnie had spoken but didn't mention it. She said, "Renee taught me a trick to see someone's memories. If she doesn't have it or remember it, I can retrieve it."
"Whose Renee again?" asked Elena.
"My mentor slash boss, technically." Alex turned off the road onto a dirt path that led to a small isolated house surrounded by large trees and a big green garden. "I think we are here."
"Let's make this quick," said Bonnie. She was out of the car before Alex had even taken the keys out of the ignition.
Alex sighed. "Keep an eye on her," she said to Elena. "She may be trying to act all tough, but she will crack sooner or later."
Elena nodded. "Must be a witch thing."
Alex frowned. "What's a witch thing?"
"Keep your emotion bottled up."
Alex rolled her eyes. "Shut up, let's go."
Elena smiled and let out a small giggle.
They caught up to Bonnie as she knocked on the door. They waited before a young dark-skinned boy opened the door. He offered them a polite smile. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah," said Bonnie. "We are looking for Abby Bennett."
"She isn't home right now. Went to the supermarket about an hour ago. Maybe I can help," said the boy.
Alex smiled. "Unless you're a witch, I doubt it."
The boy frowned. "Oh, no, I'm not." He stepped back and said, "Abby should be home soon if you'd like to wait."
Bonnie charged in, and Elena offered a polite smile before following.
"Sorry about that, and thank you," said Alex. It was strange being the polite one of the group. Typically, James was chasing around after her while Renee or sometimes Sarah was left to apologises for Alex's inappropriate or rash actions.
"That's okay," he said.
They all stood around the kitchen awkwardly and the boy, who had introduced himself as Jamie, was making them coffee. Bonnie was standing with her arms crossed and looking out the window. Her body tense in anticipation of Abby's arrival.
Elena was being Elena, making polite conversation to break the tension and learn a bit about Abby and Jamie. It seemed that after abandoning Bonnie, Abby had adopted another child and decided to raise him instead. If it had been possible, Alex was sure steam would have billowing out of Bonnie's ears.
Alex's phone buzzed in her pocket and she was surprised to see Elijah's name on the screen. After their conversation the day before she had figured he wouldn't be reaching out to her, she thought she was going to have to call him. Alex excused herself and stepped out the back door onto the porch. "Elijah, I didn't expect to hear from you."
"I was hoping that Nadia's grimoire had been of some assistance."
"Not in the way you thought it might; however, I have thought of a way to stop Klaus instead of killing him."
"How?"
"I should be able to desiccate him like Mikael was. That way he won't be able to hurt anyone, and you can do with him as you please."
"Why don't I believe that you will simply hand my brother over to me if this is successful?"
Alex didn't know how to respond. Her emotions about him were turning her decisive decision-making skills into a jumbled ball. "Damon and Stefan want to dump his body in the ocean."
Elijah hummed. "And what about you?"
She had hoped he wouldn't single in on her. Stupid feelings were overcomplicating it. "I don't know."
"Why don't you know? I would have thought a witch such as yourself would be strongly sided with the Salvatore's desires."
"You would think so." It slipped out. Alex smacked herself in the forehead, she was an idiot.
"Has the huntress had a change of heart?"
"As I said, I don't know. Things have changed. The past few weeks, I have seen things, felt things that I had never even thought of before." Alex sighed and rubbed her hand across her face. This was not the time to word vomit her feelings for him over the phone.
"Alexandra—"
"I can't talk about this now," said Alex, interrupting him. "I will tell you when we get back."
Elijah didn't respond, and for a moment, she thought he had hung up. Alex heard him as he took a deep breath and then said, "I would never expect you to go against your beliefs. The fact that you have even considered another option beside killing Niklaus means a great deal to me, so for that, I thank you."
Alex couldn't help but smile. Her heart fluttered at his words, and when she realised how she was reacting, she wanted to smack herself again. She took her a deep breath, herself, and said, "You're welcome. I better go."
"Alright, call me when you are back."
"Will do." Alex ended the call and gripped the phone tightly in her hands. How Elijah had managed to creep inside was still boggling to her and with every conversation, it seemed to get worse. The whole situation should be simple, kill Klaus, save Elena. That is what it should be. But now because of her messy feelings, it was stop Klaus—without killing him, give him to Elijah, keep Elena safe. Trying to get around the other vampires and witches was going to be tricky, she might not even be able to do it. The other thought that was also nagging her was could she actually let Klaus go? He had no doubt caused so much suffering and killed so many people in his thousand years. How could she hand over a monster like that? How could she let him continue to live? And Elijah had the same past no doubt, but there hadn't been a single thought that had ever entered her mind that perhaps she should find a way to put Elijah down as well.
Everything was backwards and becoming too much.
Alex pushed down the messy ball of emotions and thoughts and focused back on the family reunion that she was about to witness, or miss, as she could hear another female's voice from inside.
Stepping back inside, a woman, who Alex's assumed was Abby, stood across the kitchen and was staring a Bonnie was a fond smile.
"Abby, this is Elena's sister, Alex," said Bonnie.
Abby turned to look at Alex and nodded. "You have certainly grown up."
Alex frowned as she assessed the woman. Any witch, no matter how strong they were, would be surrounded by their magic. It was like a protective bubble that would shine around them and depending on the witch, their magic could be sensed in different ways. Abby had no such arua. It was like her magic had been stripped away from her leaving a scar.
"Time will do that," said Alex. "What happened to your magic?"
Bonnie and Elena turned to look at Alex surprised. "What do you mean?" asked Bonnie.
"How could you tell?" asked Abby.
"One of the many special talents I have learnt, seeing witches arua's. You look like an ordinary human, not a witch." Alex crossed her arms and leant against the kitchen cupboard.
"That would be because I lost it."
"How do you lose your magic?" asked Bonnie.
Alex frowned. "By pushing yourself too far, if a witch isn't ready or doesn't have enough strength, certain spells will deplete you."
"Is that what happened to you?" Bonnie questioned.
Abby nodded. "About 15 years ago, a vampire came to town looking for the doppelganger. You, Elena. No one could manage to kill him so I lured him away and bound him in a tomb here in Charlotte."
"Mikael, we've met," said Alex.
"He's out?" Abby looked shocked.
Alex nodded. "I let him out."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because Mikael's son, Klaus Mikaelson, has come to Mystic Falls to kill Elena and break the sun and moon curse. I woke Mikael up because he is the only thing on this planet that has the stake that could kill an original." Alex pushed off the counter and walked around the table.
"That spell nearly killed him, and you just woke him up," snapped Abby.
"I don't need to explain myself to you." Alex snapped back.
"Abby, Alex, enough." Bonnie stepped between them. "We didn't come here to argue about Mikael."
"Why did you then?" asked Abby.
Bonnie said, "We want to desiccation spell you used on Mikael so that we can use it on Klaus."
"Correction, so I can use it on Klaus," said Alex.
Abby frowned and shook her head. "I don't have it. I tore if from my grimoire and burnt the page."
Alex sighed. Nothing could be easy. "I can pull it from your memory if you would like."
Abby stepped back from her.
"Abby, please. If you don't help us, and Mikael fails then Elena could die," pleaded Bonnie.
Abby looked over her shoulder at Jamie who was standing quietly. He nodded his head, encouraging her. "A memory spell won't be necessary. I couldn't forget the spell even if I wanted to." Abby opened a drawer and pulled out a pen and a notebook. "I am just warning you, to complete the spell you will have to stop a human heart."
"It's dark magic?" Bonnie looked shocked.
"Yes," said Abby.
"Whatever it takes," said Alex.
Abby frowned and started writing down the spell and instructions. "Don't treat this lightly," she said. "The spirits don't like it when a witch goes against nature like this."
"The spirits will understand," said Alex.
