As Kai continues to fight the siren's control over him, Bonnie finds herself at the center of a deadly game and forced to make a heart-wrenching decision involving two of the most important people in her life.
"This would be so much easier if you flipped that humanity switch off." The provocative siren's voice made Kai look up. "I've got big plans for you and it'll simplify the entire process if your emotions are locked away."
Kai rolls his eyes into the back of his head and stands there.
"Look at how well Damon has adjusted over the past week." Kai's eyes shifted to his comrade. "He's happy, and you can be too."
"Stop wasting your time with him. You'll never crack Malachai," Damon responded, shaking his head in disdain. "His own father locked him up in a prison world for almost twenty years. He's literally been through hell and back."
The siren thinks for a second. "Really?" her brow furrowed slightly, but for the most, she kept a neutral expression. "You know what I'm curious about. How is it that a powerful Gemini Leader like yourself can't even perform a simple spell anymore?"
Kai frowned, not liking where Sybil was taking this conversation.
Sybil laughs, and Damon looks at her, confused. "Let me get into that head of yours once more. Maybe I can figure out what's blocking your magic."
Kai moves to straighten up, eyes wide like a deer in headlights, but before he could pull a fight or flight, Sybil pounced on him, her fingertips touching his temple.
Kai sat on his bed alone. Another night, another fight. His father had just finished screeching in his drunken outburst and was now sitting on the couch watching the football game on the cable. Kai wasn't bruised today, but he's still hurt. He looked at his hands. He scrutinized the skin.
'I've never been so disappointed.'
'You're worthless, Malachai, worthless.'
'Why couldn't you have died instead of your mother.'
'You freak, I hope you burn in hell for what you did to them.'
When Kai opens his bedroom door and the first thing he sees is Joshua standing in front of him, fist raised, and Kai knows he's about to be maimed. The quick blow sends Kai recoiling across the room before the back of his leg catches on the bed, forcing him to flop down on the mattress. Joshua marches across the room and grabs Kai's short hair and throws his son down onto the bed. Kai just lays there. When he's like this, he can't feel the shooting pain. He can't feel fury or self-loathing.
Soon enough, Sybil forces herself out of his head. Kai takes a moment to process that recap of his childhood with his father and swallows.
"Did you enjoy the show?" Kai makes a challenging noise and glares at her.
"What an angry man your father was. It's no wonder you turned out the way you did." Sybil threw the comment out casually like it was obvious. "Look, I know all about abusive fathers⎯"
"I'm not bonding with you over this," Kai snapped, what little patience he had for the woman keeping his facial expression controlled.
"Malachai, let me help you," Sybil stated calmly, tangling her fingers through her currently messy locks, frustration. "Who is Bonnie Bennett?" she asks, her voice was cloaked with wrath.
"No one." Kai shook his head, expression softening. "Just a girl I fucked in the past. She's no one special."
Sybil did not seem completely convinced. She gave herself a lot of time to think things through, to mull over her thoughts, and try to observe them objectively. "You know what I think? That girl is holding you back. She's probably the reason you can no longer access your powers. She has a strong emotional hold on you, doesn't she?"
"Kai isn't your normal rate witch, he's a siphoner." Damon's smugness rubbed Kai wrong.
"Siphoner? That's a new one for me." Sybil grinned, and Kai's skin crawled. "What are they, a special brand of witches?"
Kai let his face contort. After a second, his voice shaking with resentment, he answered. "More like an abomination to nature. I had no real magic of my own. I had to siphon it from others."
"That's until he killed his brother in their family merge and became a full-fledged witch. But nowadays old Malachai can't even lift a finger without falling over." Damon drawled in imitation of Kai's irritated tone.
"When a witch is absentminded, they become ineffective." Sybil stared at him with a wary gaze. "And I'm betting it's this girl who got his head stuck in the clouds. You disobeyed me to go sneak off to see her."
"I told already, she's no one important." Kai repeated, again. He was soon experiencing an unpleasant, groggy headache.
Sybil went to tap the side of his nose. "Is that so? I guess we'll find out. Damon, darling?" she called, a bitter edge to her voice.
Damon hummed a little. "Yep."
"I need you to do me a favor and kill Bonnie Bennett."
The vampire made a noise of protest, his face scrunching up. "Sure." With that, Sybil flounced out of the room, Damon nipping at her heels playfully.
When he was certain Sybil and Damon were gone, Kai finally let out a single tear of frustration. Now he was afraid of the potential danger Bonnie was in. With his humanity off, Damon won't hesitate to kill Bonnie. He was completely under the control of the siren. There was no way Kai could stand by and let Damon kill Bonnie, which means he'll have to take matters into his own hands.
"Enzo and I are getting married."
"Wait, what?" Bonnie replies with a mouth full of pizza. She holds her finger up and takes a minute to chew and swallow, chasing the dough with a wash of classic coke. "When did this happen?"
Lips curling up slightly in what can only be amusement, Lucy replies. "Couple weeks ago. It wasn't anything big, but with so much going on I didn't know when to tell you."
"This is epic, congrats Luce." The younger girl reaches her hand out and touches her cousin. Lucy just squeezes it. "No one deserves this more than you."
Lucy grinned widely back at Bonnie. "The wedding will be on hold until we can save Kai."
Like clockwork, Bonnie let out a dramatic sigh and locked eyes with her. "You don't have to do that,"
"Look, Kai's my friend, too, and I want him there. I won't get married without him and my maid of honor."
"You mean that, Luce?" Bonnie asked, biting her lip as she studied Lucy.
The older woman smiled a bit, at Bonnie's loss for words. "Who else? My only other friend is Valerie, and that seemed wrong." She takes her hand from Bonnie's, reaching for a slice of pizza. "I mean, I like the girl. She's really been an enormous help at the armory."
"How's Sarah?"
Lucy pursed her lips. "She's good, annoyed that she's locked up, but she and Enzo are bonding. Not sure if I should be jealous, or not. I can't wait for Stefan to ship her off to New Orleans to Klaus's sanctuary."
"You have nothing to be jealous of. Enzo would never betray you." Bonnie made a vague gesture. "You got a good one."
"I know. I never thought I'd be getting married or be a vampire. My life has really changed drastically." Lucy blinked, and her expression visibly brightened.
Bonnie swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "But you're happy, right?"
"Happier than I've ever been. I spent so many years keeping people at arm's length, because I thought I was protecting myself. But I was so lonely, Bonnie." Lucy pushes her shoulders back, breathes out through her nose. "When Abby gave me this second chance, I knew I couldn't go back to how my life was, not after being here with you and Enzo. Not everything we've been through together"
Bonnie made an appropriate noise of sympathy and agreement.
Still in a state of shock, Lucy continued truthfully. "We're going to rescue Kai from that siren. I'll even plan for us to have a double wedding in the spring."
The younger Bennett shrugged without looking up from her plate. "Stefan said you guys might have figured out how the armory captured the siren in the first place," Bonnie whispered, the sadness heavy in her words.
Lucy shook her head, lips moving silently, trying to form words. "More like we have a couple of wild speculations, but Valerie found what seemed to be a weapon that we could use against it."
"Great, now we just need to find Kai and Damon again." Replied Bonnie, an edge to her voice. At least she understood.
These past few months — they'd been a real eye-opener. She wished she could go back and change things. There was so much she would have done differently. There was no way she could go back and change things. All Lucy could do was bring Kai home. For Bonnie.
"Maybe we need to reinforce your relationship with nature again."
Bonnie always felt at peace with nature, being out here in the open forest or heading out by the lakes. Something about all of this kept her calm, even when she'd gone through hell.
Bonnie crouched down, taking in nature's view. "We've tried this before, Val. It didn't work."
"Yes, but that was before we found Malachai." Valerie focused on her naively. "We are so close to bringing him home, but we still have a dangerous siren on our hands and you being without magic won't serve you any good in this fight."
"The spirits are probably chastising me," Bonnie muttered. She moved her hands across the forest floor, inspecting the broken twigs and shuffled leaves. "I was a vampire huntress. I lost all my magic and not to mention my alliance with the vampires has always irritated them. I broke all the laws of magic."
Valerie bristled. "Screw the laws, screw the spirits. You're Bonnie freaking Bennett. You've come from one of the most powerful bloodlines. If you can't do this, then there's no hope for the rest of us."
Bonnie raised her eyebrows. That was so dramatic. "Wow, never expected such high praise from you."
"Look, we have some nasty danger coming our way." The heretic informed her, thoughtfully. "Getting Kai back won't be easy, the fact that he can't escape from that creature means he's probably too weak to fight her, which means you and I will have to fight for him, and I could really use the help."
"I don't know if this is what I want anymore." Bonnie rubbed her hands together briskly, shaking the dirt off her fingers, and stood up to face Valerie. "Sorry. It's just something Caroline put into my head."
A slightly worried look struck across Valerie's face. "Of course. What did that bloody wrench taunt you about?"
"She told me the harsh truth." Bonnie placed her hand on her hips and continued. "Kai is an immortal heretic. He and I could never have a future together like you and Stefan or Lucy and Enzo. My life is bound to Elena's, which means I have sixty-plus years with him. Halfway into that, I'll be old and wrinkly while he's young and gorgeous. No kids, no white picket fence. It's just a quick ride for us."
Valerie chuckled. "When I met Kai in 1903, he was obsessed with you, if in a very unhealthy way. He tried to paint it as hate, but he was in love with you. It was real by then, because he'd already merged with his brother. Heightening his emotions of passion and love, it was just misplaced." The blonde licked her lips before continuing. "What Lily asked him to do to you was cruel and unjust. It strips you of having a choice with your future. But there's always another way."
Feeling a bit guilty, Bonnie replied. "I'm trying to figure out what that is."
"Denying your truth is possibly what's been suppressing your magic. Not the spirits." Valerie said with finality. "You must figure out what it is that you want out of life. No one can make that choice for you."
"So little Bonnie Bennett is powerless again." Incoming a booming voice a few meters behind them. "God, why are you always so useless? Just like your mother."
Startled at the sudden voice, but disappointed at the person it belonged to. "You bastard."
Valerie stared at him in surprise. "Damon, I see you escape your master."
"Valerie, Stefan's still keeping you around." His glare lacked any real malice. "I guess they need a witch in the group since Bonnie's gone deficient again."
"Why are you here, Damon?" Bonnie asked, wiping at her face.
Damon eyed her with his boyish grin. "I'm here to kill you, Bonnie." Her eyebrows rose in interest. "And since you are no longer serving a purpose. I guess you won't be missed."
Damon quickly rushed forward to Bonnie, but before he could get even close, his body froze in place.
"Phasmatos Ossox Errox femus." Bonnie watched as the vampire slowly collapse. Valerie hit him with a bone-breaking curse. Damon was screaming in agony.
"You... bitch…"
"Gadyen nan balans, gadyen nan la foi. Se pou nou fe sa yo dwe fe."
Damon's head fell back and crumbled on the forest grounds.
Bonnie's focus was sharp on Damon's unconscious body. She hadn't realized she had spaced out so hard until there was a tight pull on her wrist. "What spell was that?"
"A sedation spell," Valerie grumbled, looking out towards Damon instead of her. "We need to get back to the house."
Bonnie nodded, allowing Valerie to escort her quickly out of the woods.
"How pathetic are you?" Sybil asked sharply, taking two long steps towards the vampire.
When his head rolled towards her, a sneer dancing across his lips, her smirk expanded. "I didn't expect the heretic to be here. It's not like I can fight against magic."
Kai chuckled at Damon's comment. He stared up at the old trees with thick branches.
Sybil opened her arms wide, outstretched to the forest. "How is it that a century's old vampire gets knocked out without a fight?" she asked. Her voice was suspicious. "I've seen you in action, Damon, so explain yourself or I'll force it out of you."
Damon's eye flickered to Kai. The other man knew Damon wouldn't be able to keep the secret for long. Either way, his silence spoke volumes to Sybil, who pressed her manicured nails to the vampire's temple and started digging.
Kai was sure Sybil was seeing Bonnie and Damon together. Their long history in Mystic Falls. And probably their time in the prison world with him, which means she'll know that Bonnie was more than a one-night stand. She'll know how much both men cared one this one girl.
"How interesting." She moved off of Damon suddenly, a mischievous but hopeful look in her eyes. "You both have a history with her. This changes everything."
"Leave her out of this." His voice shook slightly, but he didn't think Sybil noticed.
Sybil stepped closer to him. "Yeah, I don't think I will Malachai." A tiny but triumphant smirk on her face. "You've had a week to tell me the truth of your relationship with this girl, and you lied. And I hate liars."
"I didn't lie. Bonnie and I only got together once, that's it." His voice still shook, but Kai covered it well. "I left her behind for you. You have my unwavering loyalties."
Sybil considered it for a moment. "But you love her," she said seriously, face somber as she hooked her finger with his. "And those bonds are still there. This means you aren't devoted to me, not like Damon is. So as long as you keep refusing to turn off your humanity, you are no use to me. Especially without your magic."
Kai felt his heart constrict tightly, hating himself for knowing that he wouldn't be able to convince the siren that he was solely loyal to her.
"By sunset I want you and Damon to fight to the death." Her voice was encouraging, soothingly calm. "That's an order, and Damon," she pauses. "Bring his head to me."
With that, Sybil strolls out of the forest alone. When it was just the two of them, Damon grinned at his disappointment.
"You know this will not end well for you?" he inquired, disturbing Kai from his thoughts. "All you had to do was give up control. Sybil would've fixed your deficient ass and turn you back into that bloodthirsty killer. But you had to resist her. And now you're going to die by my hands."
He sounded annoyingly arrogant about this.
"I'm not playing games with either of you." Kai hissed, fighting down the urge to just rip Damon's heart out. "And don't underestimate me, Damon, I don't need magic to kick your ass."
Not wasting any more time, Damon charged straight at Kai, throwing the first punch. Kai growled as he dodged, and Damon twisted his legs.
Damon moved into another fighting stance and Kai came for him this time, body twisting in an attempt at a jump, twist, and kick. Somehow, Damon barely blocked the hit with his arm, but it sent enough pain that the vampire gave a hiss.
"You're a better fighter than I thought, for a former witch." Damon complimented him. But Kai didn't respond as they continued to trade blows. Damon used the momentum from his dodging to twist his body and sweep Kai off his feet while he was unbalanced. This was Kai's only chance.
"Espirimus Paratis"
Kai chanted softly, and he watched as Damon's neck snapped and the man fell to the floor. Now he only had until sundown this evening to figure out a plan before he has to kill Damon or vice versa.
"That bitch has Damon under her spell, Stefan." Bonnie bellowed on the phone. She and Valerie both arrived at the boarding house to get weapons. "I'm not sure if he'll be able to fight off her control."
A pause. "Where is Kai?"
"He wasn't with Damon. He's probably with her. Look, I have no idea what to do." Bonnie said as dramatically as she could. "If Damon wants me dead, then I'm dead."
"This makes no sense. Why is he doing this?" Stefan questioned, his stomach sinking.
"We can't focus on the why. Right now, we need weapons," Valerie replied to her boyfriend on speakerphone. "Where do you hide your crossbow?"
"Check the library," Stefan answered, his voice going soft. "I'm going to track them down. You two stay put."
"Has Enzo and Lucy made any progress on that weapon?" Valerie asked as she looked around the library, which was barely ever used anymore. It had high ceilings, a large table that sat at least a dozen people, and an exquisite mirror with a scrolled frame on top. Nearby was a cabinet with shotguns and crossbows.
"Not much, but we don't have all day to figure everything out. We're going to have to risk it." There was a quiet note of desperation in his voice as the realization of what was happening washed over him.
Valerie didn't seem worried about responding. Instead, she had opened her bag, rummaging through it, before nodding to herself. "If it comes to it, I'll fight them off the best way I can without killing them."
"Call us back as soon as you find them." With that, Bonnie ended the conversation. "This is going to end badly."
"I hope you still have your huntress moves." Shifting the bag from one shoulder to the other, Valerie leaned against the table in the library area. "If we could just shake that beast's hold off Damon and Kai."
Bonnie didn't want it to come down to having to kill Damon, to save her life. She was so grateful that Damon saved her right before she killed Kai. That would have scarred her for life. And the second he did the right thing, everything went back to shit when he tried to chase after Elena's voice that wasn't real. Now her boyfriend was wrapped up in this mess with Damon.
"I can handle myself in a fight," Bonnie replied finally, taking a deep breath. "I don't know the state Kai is in and if he had access to his magic, I'm screwed."
Both women bagged up all the weapons they could find and stationed themselves in the parlor. When they entered the front room, where they found a beautiful brunette woman sitting in the middle of the room.
"Hello, Bonnie. I'm Sybil." The woman announced in a sickly sweet voice. "I've been dying to meet you."
"We know who you are," Valerie said, visibly irritated, and then added. "Why did you send your attack dog after Bonnie?"
Sybil looked straight at Valerie, then at Bonnie, and smiled. This made Bonnie stiffen, arching an eyebrow, and she forced herself to keep her composure empty and cold as Sybil spoke.
"I'm having a hard time getting two men to be fully committed to me." Here she paused to stare at Bonnie again, and Valerie watched her figure go rigid. "It's so weird because this has never happened before. Yet Bonnie seems to have both of them wrapped around her manicured fingers. I mean, I get Damon. He's a horndog at best, but Malachai has me stumped."
Bonnie puffed out her chest in indignation. "You're the one with the mind control. You managed to get them to do your biddings for months, killing hundreds of innocent people."
A small smile tugged at the corner of Sybil's lips. "They weren't exactly innocent. I had Damon and Malacahi kill bad people, the most inhuman mortals."
Bonnie clenched her jaw as she assessed the situation. "And that makes it better."
The small smile broadened as Bonnie had challenged her. "I'm doing the world a favor by taking the lives of bad men," she continued on in this manner until, suddenly, "Let's stay on topic, tell me how you inspire so much devotion in two men who are supposed to be completely devoted to me."
Bonnie and Valerie looked helplessly at one another, but Sybil was still too unstirring.
Valerie laughed. "Oh wow, who would have thought a siren would be asking a witch for relationship advice." The heretic responded, amused. "Can't say this is a surprise. Malachai is quite overly infatuated with Bonnie, which makes a lot of sense when you think about it. He was a sociopathic murderer."
Her words cut through Bonnie like fire, and she froze, her heart pounding in her chest.
"Malachai, claims you two had a one-night stand. What about Damon? Did you guys ever… you know…"
Bonnie didn't move. The answer seemed stuck on her tongue, like she was deciding how much she should give away. "Never."
"Is it because of Elena?" Sybil sat there, drumming her fingers on the wood of her chair.
Bonnie let out a quiet snort.
"Even after all that time alone in the prison world for months, nothing happened." Sybil said with a bright smile, "Damon does not seem like the fateful type, especially after the time I've had with him. And boy does he know how to do wick things with his tongue." This excited her.
"Damon might be easy to get to, but you 're going to have a hard time breaking Kai." Bonnie paused to rifle a hand through her hair. "He's been through a lot of abuse, from his father, from his coven. They trapped him in a prison world for years. He'd kill himself before ever submitting to you." She sat down in one chair on the other side of the room.
Sybil didn't seem satisfied by her answer. The siren's lips tighten even further, a nerve twitching in her jaw, drawing her attention to the sharpness of her jawline. "I figured that." Sybil huffed a satirical laugh. "See, the thing is ladies, I needed two loyal soldiers, and it seems like neither boy can cut their ties from the past. But now I'm realizing I only really need one of them. Lucky for you gals, I'm feeling generous today. I'm willing to give Bonnie the honor of choosing which one gets to live."
Valerie sniffed loudly.
And Bonnie's breath caught in her throat and terror-filled her lungs and forced them to heave out all oxygen in a rush of adrenaline.
"I'm not playing this game with you. I don't care how jealous you are, you can't force someone to love you." Bonnie grew defiant, chewing on the inside of her mouth as she shifted away. "Good luck trying to get Kai and Damon to submit to you. I won't be in the middle of it."
She stood up, ready to leave the conversation.
"In exactly thirty minutes, Damon and Kai will fight to the death." Her voice was smug. "I'm not giving them a choice anymore. However, I am still willing to give you the choice of picking one of them. If not, I'll let them settle it amongst themselves. And Bonnie, I'm betting on Damon."
Bonnie moved soundlessly. The agony and destruction slipped into her features, slight enough that only Valerie could notice them. She shook her head. No. She wouldn't play this game, not now. She couldn't.
The wind blew gently, carrying the scent of wet soil and stone, dead leaves, pine needles. The smell of nature laid to rest, life buried and slumping into the ground to awake once more come spring. The sunlight washes across the peaks of trees.
Pulling a cigarette, Kai tapped it before placing it between his lips and seeking his lighter. He used his thumb to ignite the flame. Dragging the lit cigarette to his lips, he inhaled as deeply as could and paused to allow the smoke to fill his lungs and satisfy the need which had been pestering him for so long.
"What was so important that we had to meet here?"
Stefan pulled up in a grey SUV at Mystic Falls High School grounds. Cautiously, Kai brought his gaze up to the younger Salvatore, who stared back at him with a wry look, his arms crossed over his chest.
"I'm gonna need a favor from you." He announced evenly as he exhaled a puff of smoke.
"If this is some sort of elaborate trap, forget it." Stefan replied after a moment's hesitation, "Enzo and Lucy have a tracker on me."
To clear his thoughts, he took another drag of the cigarette. "Of course they do," Kai responded after a moment of contemplation. "This is about Damon. I'm not sure how much longer I can protect Bonnie from him or the siren. She knows about our history with Bonnie."
"We can protect Bonnie. I'm more worried about you and Damon." Stefan added, scratching his head. "Where is Damon?"
Kai pointed to the trunk of the blue Camaro. He hopped off the truck and popped it open and there, passed out, was Damon. He was slowly regaining consciousness. Stefan blinked, nonplussed.
"He flipped the switch on his humanity. I can't keep him in line anymore," Kai simply stated. "Sybil had taken all his self-control. He gave up Bonnie to her, and now she wants Damon to kill me."
The chilly breeze seeped into Stefan's bones, causing him to shiver slightly where he stood. In the trunk, Damon started groaning in pain, slowly shaking.
Stefan tilted his head as he replied calmly. "She's a magical creature, can't you just siphon her."
In lieu of an answer and hyper-aware of their sudden proximity, Kai blew the mouthful of smoke directly into Stefan's face, and his eyes dilated with pleasure as he watched the anger rise in the other man's face.
"I can't siphon anything, no magical creatures or objects. Not such I siphon the magic to open the vault. Hell, I can't even do a pain infliction spell without it affecting me too."
"Valerie opened the vault after you did, and she still has her powers."
Taking another deep drag from the cigarette, Kai takes a moment to parse the meaning from Stefan's tone.
"You don't think you're dying or something?" There was an element of concern in Stefan's voice, and Kai pointedly ignored it.
But Stefan's question caused him to pause. "My psychological states of mind might be causing my powers to fluctuate." Kai shrugged in response.
"Make sense you've been through a lot these past few years. Bonnie still hasn't gained her magic back at all. Valerie's been trying with her. But honestly, I think Bonnie has given up hope."
"Fuck." Kai couldn't afford Bonnie to give up any hope. "Time is running out. I have no intention of losing out to Damon, not now."
"Why did you call me here, Kai?"
Somehow, Stefan kept Kai's eye contact, even when his conscience of logic mentally kicked him.
Kai sighed in resignation after a few bitter moments. "If you can't get through to him, I'm going to kill him."
It felt, for all the world, like a trap was closing around him, and his shoulders slumped beneath the pressure.
"Don't you think it's a bit pathetic that you're wasting your time with two men who don't want you? Honestly, how hard is it to find two weak-minded little boys to chase you around." Valerie paused, only for a moment, merely examining the older woman's face, which hadn't changed from its stern expression in the least.
Bonnie was driving her car to the high school going the speed limit, even though she wanted to hurry up. Time was dwelling down, and they had about a few more minutes before Damon and Kai killed each other.
"Or I could just break them both to my will." Sybil's icy voice cut through Bonnie, and she had to force herself to not look into those dark eyes. "Step on it, you don't wanna miss your boyfriend being slaughtered."
Bonnie stopped breathing momentarily. She was being tested; she knew it.
"Are you at least a bit excited?" Bonnie quirked an eyebrow, and the woman gave a small chuckle. "Oh, is someone feeling powerless right now?" Sybil snorted from her place in the backseat. "Bonnie, you have all the power. All you have to do is tell me who you want me to spare."
Bonnie drums her fingers against the wheel, left to right, right to left, left to right, right to left. "Doesn't matter who I choose, it's not like you're going to free them." Her angry eyes glared at the siren from the rearview mirror.
"That's true, but whoever dies has to spend an eternity in never-ending emotional torment." Sybil drawled, unaffected by the other women's glares. "Where do you think they're going to end up? Not some cloud-filled afterlife. Oh no, honey, they are homicidal monsters. They're going downstairs, where all they will know is loneliness forever and ever."
"It's sick the way you're getting off on this," Valerie stressed, practically radiating frustration.
"What would you do, Valerie? Who would you choose?"
Bonnie glanced down at Valerie's lap. She noticed the girl was silently trying to send an SOS text to someone, possibly Stefan. This was her chance to distract the siren in the back.
"Valerie would always choose Kai. He's like her brother. They have the same sire mother." Bonnie says, voice slightly breathy. She started feeling faint and sick. She could feel her heart beating in her chest, and her hands were slick with sweat.
"Really? For a second I thought you were harboring a little crush on him." Sybil's mouth twitches like she's trying not to smile. "His soul is so tainted, and the fact that he killed his entire family is so dark."
"He tried to revive his sister back," Bonnie piped up. "The spell didn't work, but he made amends with his brother-in-law. Kai has spent the past four years trying to right his wrongs. That sociopath you're dying to meet, he's gone. You're not going to find him. No matter how hard you try to push Kai, he'll never be that person again."
The siren's eyebrow arched delicately as she took in Bonnie's response. "That sucks. From what I saw of him in the prison world, he seemed fun." Sybil ground out firmly. "He was so sexy and vicious. How did you manage to resist him for so long?"
Bonnie shifted uncomfortably. She hated Sybil bringing up her time in the prison world with Kai due to what memories came to mind.
"The clock is ticking Bon Bon. Are you really going to sit there and allow Damon to kill your boyfriend?" Sybil teased, using her personal nickname to get a rise out of her. Bonnie didn't flinch.
Bonnie's smirk grew, if only by a fraction. "No."
She slams down on the brake and everyone jerks forward; the seatbelt cutting painfully into her chest. Sybil goes flying out the front windshield headfirst.
"Holy shit," she says, not daring to look away from Sybil laying out in the street.
A small hand presses over her own, and she jumps like Valerie's shocked her, regretting it immediately when Valerie jerks back, eyes darting down.
"We have five minutes left. I text Enzo to meet up there."
Bonnie presses down hesitantly on the accelerator, her knuckles turning to ash and her fingers aching with how hard she's gripping the wheel, and the car slides slowly forward.
They abandon Sybil in the middle of the road, as Bonnie makes a U-turn to take a shortcut to her old high school. She hoped she got there in time. Still, she had no plan on how to save both Kai and Damon.
"No, Damon, I won't do this." Stefan gawked, eyes flickering up to stare at the man as they stood in the dark boiler room.
"You're my brother, are you really going to let that witch kill me." Damon promoted, putting a hand to the shoulder of the younger man.
"He's your friend, or did you forget how he saved your life?" Stefan reassured with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"And I saved him. I paid my debt," Damon exclaimed. "I never asked him to come into the vault. It was his own stupid decision that lead him here. He had an out, and he chose this instead."
"You really haven't changed a bit. Is this what Elena has to look forward to when she comes back. This selfish, arrogant version of you." Stefan inquired, arms folded.
"She knew what she signed up for." At that, Damon shrugged, looking at Kai with curiosity rather than indignation. "This is hardly a fair fight, he had magic."
Kai stared at the brothers, consumed with pain. "That spell I used on you earlier drained me."
"Which means we can win this," Damon said quietly, assessing Stefan. "Stop pretending as if you're going to let me die. I'm the only family you have left."
"How do you think Bonnie's going to feel when you kill the love of her life? She would never forgive you." He looked positively livid. Kai's lip turned up in disgust at Damon.
"He doesn't give a shit about Bonnie, he never has." Kai's voice was venomous. Damon shivered at it slightly. "Sad thing is, if I didn't go and try to save his ass, it would be her here fighting with him instead, and I'm sure he would willingly kill her. Because she's not Elena."
Every beat of his heart pumped poison through his veins. Strange and unfamiliar. It wasn't anger. Kai knew anger.
"Get out of here, Kai. I need to talk to Damon alone."
Kai's mood shifted to contentment for a fraction of a second. "Too late Stefan." The clock was seconds away from striking at six o'clock.
"Damon, fight this," Stefan barked out louder than intended.
"Sorry, brother."
The clock strikes six and Damon lunges at him. Kai sidestepped Damon's swipes. Quick on his feet, he dodged Damon's follow-up strikes. Kai noticed Damon's balance was off, and it littered his defense with openings.
Damon kept one side of his body turned away from Kai while attacking his off-hand only. It was disappointing watching Damon stumble around him in circles like an idiot. Kai ducked another of Damon's slashes and rammed his fist into the muscle of Damon's shoulder on an upward swing. The vampire's reaction was immediate.
Grimacing, he grabbed his upper arm. Blinded by pain, as he apparently was.
Damon didn't see the swipe at his leg coming. He hit the ground hard, rolling onto his back, and was immediately pinned to the ground by Kai's foot pressing down on his shoulder.
The strewed noise of agony bursting from Damon's lungs left Kai's stomach clenching with what felt like anger. Damon coughed, picking himself off the floor, and rubbed his back.
They clashed against each other repeatedly. They were well matched with Kai on the upper hand. But Kai could feel the power coursing through them both; the fear, the pain. Sybil's mind control was strong. He felt the blood pounding through his veins and his breath heaving out. With every blow Damon dodged and every attack coming back, ducking and tugging and throwing their weight around each other as Stefan watched from the side, not knowing how to put an end to this.
"I'm sorry, Kai." Stefan finally spoke. "I can't let you kill my brother."
Kai clicked his tongue. Not like he didn't see that coming. Meanwhile, Damon couldn't help but smirk right back up at his brother.
"I can't let you do that, Stefan."
Valerie intervenes when she hears Stefan's choice to save Damon from Kai. Stefan already had a shovel in his hand, getting ready to charge at Kai.
"I can't let Damon die."
"And I won't let your psycho brother kill Malachai."
The couple were both at a crossroads. Both wanted to fight for their family. For their brothers. Damon took this as an opportunity to sprint up behind Valerie and snap her neck. Her body thuds against the floor. Kai did the same, charging up behind Stefan, snapping his neck.
While Kai wasn't looking, Damon's fist contacted his abdomen. All the force the other could muster behind it. Somehow, Kai holds up and doesn't waver. Damon's grin faded, his bones crack at his fingertips. Kai breathed in sharply.
"Damon! Please fight through this. Kai is your friend. Stop!"
Damon grunts at that.
"He can't, Bonnie. You're the only one who can stop him. Make a choice." Sybil leans against the wall behind them.
Bonnie frowned, her eyebrows furrowing together and true concern splashing across her face.
"You don't haven't too, Bon." Kai reassures her, "Whatever Sybil wants, you don't have to do it."
"Who's it going to be, Bonnie?" Sybil asked softly, catching Kai's attention. "Your best friend or your boyfriend?"
Bonnie's nerves spike, but she calms down enough to reply when she feels Kai's gaze on her. "I choose… Malachai."
Her voice coughed out, and Damon frowned. A look of anger flashed across his face. He had lost.
"WHAT?" the vampire snarled, voice gruff.
Bonnie nodded slowly, unsure of what to do next. Kai held back his nervous excitement. Sybil raises her brow and Damon stares at Bonnie.
"Damon, step away from Malachai." Sybil commanded, voice polite but edging on hostile. The vampire was forced to follow through, moving several feet away from Kai.
"Bonnie, you can't do this to me. What about Elena? She wouldn't want you to do this to me. I can't lose her." Damon whined, honestly wailed. Kai bit his tongue to refrain from lashing out, forcing as sweetly of a smile as he could muster up at the absolute idiot that he had spent the past few years trying to understand.
In her frustration, Bonnie swung at him. But anger blinded her and not thinking about everything she'd learned over the past year. Damon dodged it easily.
Bonnie frowns and drops her arm to her side. "I don't know who you are anymore, Damon. Maybe deep down inside, there's still some part of you left. Maybe deep down my friend is still in there. But I would never let Kai die. I will always choose him."
A loud whistle emitted when Sybil opened her mouth. "Aww, true love prevails."
"You nasty little bitch, I should have let you die that night, after your worthless piece of shit boyfriend cursed Elena. You're the reason all of this is happening. You think I'm going to burn in hell because of you."
"Phasmatos Navaro Pulsus Sanguinox."
Damon fell to his knees, shouting at the excruciating pain Kai was causing him. It was the acidic blood spell Kai had used on Elena in the past. He was now turning Damon's blood into acid.
"Phasmatos Navaro Pulsus Sanguinox." Kai's hands tingle and burn, leaving him with no feelings at all.
All the while, Damon's breath was getting shorter as his skin continued to be burned by the spell. Kai swooped up behind him and snapped his neck. Damon hits the ground unconscious.
Kai felt the pressure behind his eyes. He felt something leaking down from his nostril. Blood. But Kai was burning bright and hot. He felt broken and raw. He could still feel the blood dripping down to his lips, and he stuck his tongue out for a taste.
"That was the sexier thing I've ever seen."
Bonnie watched as Sybil moved in closer. She'd seen that look before, on predatory animals, a slow easiness to their movements so their prey wouldn't run away.
"That's the Malachai I've been waiting for." Sybil continued, stepping into Kai's personal space. "Don't worry, I'll fix you up and turn you back into that merciless killer you once were."
Kai backed into a wall, an entire month spent in a storm of emotional upheaval dissipating into the blinding brightness of this moment.
"I'll do what you want. Just leave Bonnie alone." Kai said, but it came out as a murmur.
It took every ounce of willpower for Bonnie not to reach out and touch Kai, and she mostly only managed, because she didn't know whether to kiss him or punch him.
"Anything for my favorite toy." Sybil agreed. Her voice went soft, and her eyes flicking down to Kai's lips, "Just as soon as you turn your humanity off. I need to ensure your loyalty to me."
Bonnie's stomach was in knots, and fear flooded through her. This was not a good deal. Her breathing came hard and fast as she tried to figure out how to stop this. Stefan and Valerie were still laid out, lifeless on the ground.
"Don't give her what she wants."
Bonnie felt the powerful urge to melt into the floor and never move again. Instead, she looked up at Kai with his enormous shadow. Bonnie never felt smaller in her life. The pain started seeping in at the edges. Their eyes met before Kai glanced back at Sybil.
"I'm trying to help you, Bonnie. I mean the whole star-crossed lovers is great for novels and televisions. But you don't think you and Malachai actually can have a future together, do you?" Sybil closed her mouth but already felt a smile twitch at her lips. "Oh, you did."
Kai pushed off the wall and made it across the room to Bonnie. Despite her hard exterior, Bonnie's insides went soft when Kai's hand reached up to her face. He traces along her jawline, getting close with his teeth, and scoots closer to touch her curls. Kai holds Bonnie in an intense gaze, somehow still the one in control, and pulls her forward by the back of her neck until their foreheads touch.
"Keeping you safe is more important. Just leave this alone. I got myself into this, I'll figure it out on my own." He growls and Bonnie nods, at a loss for words. "Just tell them about me..." She didn't need him to say their names. She knew he was referring to the twins.
Bonnie's heart was just as worn out and she sniffled with a nod, wiping her eyes before any tears could escape. Before she could get a glance at Kai's expression, she leaned forward, her forehead on the other's shoulders, hesitantly wrapping her arms around him for a hug.
Kai wallows thickly and slowly returns the hug. When he felt Bonnie tremble in his arms. He immediately tightens his hold and pulls her close, protectively curling his body around hers.
Pulling away, Kai closes his eyes to switch his humanity off. When his eyes opened back, Bonnie could feel the coldness shift in them.
Sybil smiled, a barely perceptible movement of her lips that bordered on fondness. "Finally, I've been waiting a long time for this. First order of business. Malachai, will you please kill your girlfriend, Bonnie?"
The siren stared at him hard, and after a pause, he shrugged one shoulder. "No objections here."
Bonnie tried to breathe, airflow interrupted by sudden sobs. "You lying bitch."
"Let's play a little game, Bonster." His eyes raked over her. "You run and I'll catch you. Just like old times."
Bonnie didn't waste time leaving Valerie and Stefan's unconscious bodies on the ground. She turned and ran. Not pausing until she reached back to the high school parking lot for her car.
"God, you are still not good at running." Kai appeared behind her, pushing her against the side of the car. Bonnie was forced to face him.
She didn't want to die. Oh god, she didn't want to die by his hands.
"How are we going to do this?" Kai stared at her for a second, then made a sound which could have been a laugh. "I could always turn you into one of us. Then you and I can be together forever." He said as he leaned in and smelled the side of Bonnie's neck.
She was left whimpering.
Kai's hand darted out and grabbed her by the neck and squeezed hard enough to cut off her air supply. This couldn't be how it ended for her. She couldn't breathe.
"Stop fighting it. When it's over, you'll thank me." Kai said, letting his hand drift down to Bonnie's arm.
Someone must have heard her prayers. Because she could hear the loud sound of a car braking near them. There, in a pickup truck, were Enzo and Lucy. Sadly, Sybil also came racing towards the scene.
"Malachai, get rid of all of them."
Enzo tapped the tuning fork on his truck. There was a high-pitched vibrating tone echoing the air. Causing both Sybil and Kai to double over in pain. Bonnie's head clutched in her hands. Her fingers tightened around her scalp. She pressed her eyes closed and tried to breathe. But she felt like she was drowning.
Stefan and Valerie emerged from the boiler room and into the parking lot. Lucy pounced on Kai and snapped his neck in the process. And Stefan moved behind Sybil and knocked her out with a shovel. Damon was nowhere to be found.
"What happened?" Stefan asked, hand fluttering instinctively back to his hip, and he stomped his foot.
"It's the tuning fork, mate. It works against witches too, it seems." Enzo opened his mouth again, closed it, then let out a weak laugh.
Bonnie caught Stefan's eye and held it, gaze stern and voice to match it. "I can't believe you were willing to kill him." She gritted her teeth, holding herself in place.
"Damon's my brother. He's all I have. I can't turn my back on him." Stefan said, frowning.
Bonnie stared up at him, speechless, while Stefan stared back, a long moment of silence stretching between them that Valerie interrupted.
"Then how about you go find your brother since he's all you have then."
Stefan's face went pale. "Val, I didn't mean…"
Her bloodshot eyes narrowed minutely. "Go, Stefan, we have everything under control."
The vampire rubbed the back of his neck. "Fine," Stefan said, and walked away.
"We'll take the siren back to the armory with us. Are you two going to be okay with Kai?" Lucy looked at her cousin curiously.
A flicker of doubt fell over Bonnie's face, harshness momentarily washing away. "We got it."
With that, Bonnie turned to help Valerie put Kai in her car. She can't risk herself for Damon anymore. He was going to hurt one of them, but it wouldn't be her or Kai. The safest thing for her to do is let Stefan try to save his brother. Alone.
AN: According to Shelia Bennett, emotions can either fuel a witch's power or prevent a witch from properly accessing them. Also, the spirits of non-living witches have the power to prevent other witches from harnessing their own magic. If they felt like Bonnie and Kai broke the laws of witchcraft, they can punish them. At this time Kai's magic is fading, possibly because he let the siren out. Bonnie lacks magic because she was a huntress, and huntresses are immune to magic. Both Kai and Bonnie will be struggling to deal with regaining their powers together. Next chapter will have a character death, and a surprising revelation from one of the characters.