A/N: Thanks for the reception guys! I really appreciate it. I'm super excited to continue with this and very glad pseudo cult leader Klaus is a big hit. Keep an eye out for lots of OOC moments like S1 Elena who cared about her friends and morally dubious (yes really) Klaus without all the tedious man pain who I hope might actually wet some panties (I mean it BOTH ways ;) and the MF gang acting like they have over one brain cell between them. Stay tuned.
Tonight was a blood moon. It hadn't occurred to Bonnie until her friend Joss pointed it out during that evening's gathering. It made sense. All day, something stirred inside her, building anticipation. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it pinched repeatedly at intervals. Like a pinprick. Bonnie chalked it up to restlessness accumulated from the prospect of a free weekend.
It was a hot Friday night. Nothing special. On this side of town, things were quiet and dull, apart from a few restaurants and nail salons still open late. All the good bars serving college kids were half an hour away in Rosemont. Blood moons had no distinct significance to witches, at least none that she knew of. There was no reason it should affect her.
"I was driving back from Gideon tonight after dropping off Taylor with my mom when this pulse rushed through me. I don't know how to describe it; it was as if a rainbow burst through me or something. Sounds silly when I put it like that," Joss confided. She narrated to Bonnie how she'd sensed her powers come on stronger in the past week. A consequential feat, considering the difficulty Joss had in the past.
"That's not silly at all!" Bonnie gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "It means your powers are growing. I had something like that happen to me too." She recalled her own early days after learning she was a witch. Floating feathers and playing with magnets peppered a simpler time, even if it was brief.
"It only took a year and then some," Joss said dryly.
"Better late than never."
"You sound like my mother."
Bonnie snorted a laugh. "She sounds like a smart woman."
Joss smiled with fondness. "Too smart for her own good. One reason I'm glad I moved back here."
"I'm glad too or else I'd have to suffer Scarlett's cupcakes by myself." The two ladies stifled their laughter to avoid alerting the subject of their ridicule, seated paces away, entertaining some other witches with an anti-gravity spell she'd learned with a pencil. Scarlett was a nice person, but her baking skills left little to be desired. Everyone's polite little nibbles and avoidance of said cupcakes didn't stop her from bringing a tray of home-baked goodness to every gathering.
They were all seated in the back room of Lotus Yoga Studio, where gatherings held every Friday night since her first year of college. While it wasn't the most glamorous location, the owner, Diedre, was the witch who organized these gatherings. She was generous enough to host them in her place of business after hours.
Bonnie found out about it in her freshman year by accident — an online forum, if you could believe it. After Grams' death and learning of the supernatural, it felt like she was paddling a deep ocean by herself. There was no one to teach her what she needed to know. Her friends were just as clueless and her dad wasn't interested in knowing more because of his own fears.
A gathering for any witch, both questioning and established, to get together and share with one another, the ad had said.
The next week, Bonnie summoned courage and drove down here, heart racing the entire time. One year and a few months later, it helped her greatly, even if it resembled a band-aid solution.
"Does she make those things with cement?" Joss whispered.
"Semtex," Bonnie giggled.
The older woman rolled her eyes. "At least she brings snacks." Taming her magic was a good reason to keep coming to these, but Bonnie enjoyed having Joss' company more than anything.
Witches were a cliquey bunch. They liked to draw invisible lines in the surrounding sand to deter newbies from gaining easy access. A far cry from all the sisterhood and family vibes all those Wiccan forums declared.
But Joss was an easy-going exception.
On the surface, it seemed like the two had very little in common. Bonnie was a college junior majoring in history and mythology at Whitmore. Joss was a retired police officer in her thirties. She worked for the NYPD after a stint in the army left her disillusioned. She took early retirement from the force after an incident and came back to Virginia with her son, Taylor.
They had something in common; they were both late bloomers. Bonnie discovered magic when her best friend's vampire boyfriend, Stefan Salvatore, rolled into town and brought a trail of exacerbating events with him. Joss learned about her powers just one year ago after accidentally setting fire to her mother's garden. All the commotion Bonnie endured made her grateful for an ally she could relate to. Elena and Caroline were great, but they didn't quite get it.
"Good evening everyone!" Diedre entered the room, interrupting all conversation. Her sequined dress billowed behind her like a periwinkle mist. She was a yoga instructor from Maine who enjoyed traipsing all over the country. Her roots settled in Virginia for the time being. She belonged to a coven from her hometown but was happy to associate with witches anywhere, not quite sharing the same cliquey attitude to Bonnie's delight. "I brought a friend!"
A new face followed her entrance. It was a tall, dark-skinned woman in a body con dress and black leather jacket. All eyes zeroed in, but the stranger didn't whither beneath the attention. She was beautiful in a peculiar, carefree way. Her eyes betrayed nothing but alluring indifference, scanning the entire plain walled back room. She reminded Bonnie of those seventies models draped over Mustangs or motorcycles with a cigarette hanging from their lips. The confident sway of her shoulders revealed how much she enjoyed being the object of their curious gazes.
Diedre clapped her hands. "A wonderful evening to you all. Someone new is joining us today. This is Greta. She's just moved to McKinney from the East Coast. She made contact on the forum and drove all the way down here to meet us. Why don't we all give her a warm welcome?"
Everyone greeted her in a disjointed fashion, voices varying in tone and volume. Bonnie did a small wave accompanied by a friendly smile, knowing how it felt to be the new girl. Greta appeared uninterested in the welcoming chant but winked in Bonnie's direction, puzzling the young witch.
"Do you know her?" Joss asked.
Bonnie shook her head. "Never met her in my life."
Perhaps she was being friendly.
"Where are you from, Greta?" Kirsten asked, tone doused with saccharine. Kirsten went to Whitmore too, but their circles did not overlap. In fact, Bonnie only found out because of the sticker on the other girl's car. They interacted little during gatherings, either. She was the quintessential Southern sorority belle with platinum hair and a euphonic accent.
Greta raised an eyebrow. "Not sure what that has to do with anything."
"We like to talk about ourselves a little, just to make everyone more comfortable," Diedre explained.
"I suppose it makes sense." Greta sighed as if asked to perform a burdensome task. "I'm from New York. That satisfy y'all?" Her drawl was mocking.
Oh no, here we go.
"Oh! I've been there before." Kirsten's eyes sparkled in delight. "My cousin works on Broadway and got us into Hamilton. Amazing show, I have the entire album on vinyl." Bonnie heard this entire story more times than she'd liked. The other girl never missed an opportunity to bring up her fantabulous trip to the big city. Poor Joss got the brunt of it when she joined the group.
Greta gave her a blank look. "Congratulations?"
Joss suppressed a laugh and Bonnie bit her lip, feeling bad for wanting to laugh. Kirsten never shut up about her damn trip to New York. You'd think she was the first person ever to see Hamilton.
"Do you have a coven back there?" Scarlett crossed her legs.
Greta paused. "Something like that."
"Lucky," Scarlett muttered.
Most of the witches here, like Bonnie and Joss, were freelancers. None of them, apart from Diedre and two other witches, could boast of being full-fledged coven members. Unless you were born in one, getting into a coven was difficult. Most wanted to know your entire family history from Adam and asked super invasive questions. Some administered trials to test magical efficacy because they didn't want any weak members. There was even a coven in Portland, Bonnie learned, that made its members bind themselves to their leader to maintain their life force, which was an automatic red flag.
She'd learned all that from Joss, who tried to join a few covens in Charleston but got weirded out by the entire process. Bonnie was still learning about the Bennett line from the few scraps of information Grams left behind. She knew quite a few of her ancestors made waves in their generation, but something in her was quite reluctant to dig in. Perhaps it was fear for what she'd find. Stefan told her about Emily and her unfortunate fate. A reasonable conclusion to make was many of the earlier Bennetts suffered from similar circumstances. Either way, it didn't feel right letting someone else dig into history she was hazy on.
For now, the gatherings satisfied a bit of her itch for company. They practiced spells together and kept individual journals called Book of Shadows to keep track of the spells they'd mastered. It got monotonous from time to time, but Bonnie convinced herself that it was enough.
"I hope you'll feel welcome with us," Diedre interjected with practiced cheer. Her goal was to invite as many witches as possible to their gatherings. The reason was unclear but Diedre remained steadfast
Greta shrugged one shoulder, making it clear she was uninterested either way. There was an awkward silence. It dissipated when Cleo, one of the younger witches, showed off her new telekinetic skills. Everyone complimented and encouraged her, but Greta remained unimpressed by the display. That was how the next twenty minutes continued; everyone practiced minor spells and discussed basic Latin but the newcomer did nothing other than yawn loudly.
Bonnie got a distinct impression that Greta was of an advanced sort, judging by the haughty way she regarded them. Insecurity washed over the young witch like a waterfall.
"When are we going to do real magic?" Greta asked in a loud voice.
She interrupted Kirsten and Scarlett from their antigravity spells. The latter furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"
"These are just party tricks."
Diedre cleared her throat, unimpressed with the interruption. "There's no such thing as minor magic. The more we practice our skills, the better we get. I'm sure you learned that in your coven, Greta."
Greta smirked. "Never said I was in a coven, did I?"
"Show us your fancy tricks then," Kirsten challenged.
"You're not the crowd I like to show off for." Her gaze settled on Bonnie, sending shivers down her spine. Mischief twinkled behind those brown eyes. "But I'll make an exception."
Greta cleared her throat, getting up to lift grab a half-eaten cupcake from Scarlett's hand. She stood in the midst of the room, eyes trained on the object in her palm. Bonnie held her breath.
"Objectum tempus mutatio."
The cupcake remolded itself like the rewind function on a video, each piece filling in patches until it was whole again. Uneaten. There was silence in the room. The seamless show of power shocked Bonnie. She'd seen nothing like that before.
Diedre's eyes bulged from her skull as she jumped out of her chair. "That's forbidden! You're doing time magic!"
Greta chuckled, unmoved by her ire. "Forbidden by who?"
"The spirits!"
Her eyes rolled with impressive ease. "The spirits don't control what I do." That was something Bonnie hadn't heard before. In her short time as a witch, all she'd heard over again was how the spirits controlled magic and made witches servants of nature. There was no other source of magic in the world. What could Greta mean?
Diedre's face was as red as a ripe tomato. "I won't have any of that contaminating nonsense in here. I think you should leave."
"Whatever." Greta tossed the now whole cupcake back to a stunned Scarlett. She snapped her fingers and a card with digits embossed in gold appeared on Bonnie's lap. Joss had one too, holding it in puzzlement. Everyone in the room got one. "Call me if you want to learn something real. Not these clown tricks you're all so comfortable with."
"Get out!" Diedre fumed. None of them ever saw her lose her temper this way before. She had an easy-going air about her even when Bonnie suspected that her over-cheeriness was a manufactured front. In a million years, Bonnie couldn't imagine her breaking the veil like this. Greta sauntered out with one final wink over her shoulder. After her departure, Diedre stormed around the room, taking the cards Greta conjured and throwing them in the trash.
"I'm sorry I let that abomination into our group. What she just did could get us all punished by the spirits," Diedre ranted.
"Why?" Joss spoke.
Diedre narrowed her eyes at the other woman. "Because the spirits demand so. Messing with time upsets the balance of things and leads to grave consequences." An icy shiver passed through Bonnie at the mention of consequences.
If there were any, Greta didn't appear to care. She performed it with the ease of a professional who could do it in her slumber. Or had been doing it in her sleep. How grave could they be in that case? Enough to warrant the title of abomination.
"Good riddance," Scarlett declared, and the others murmured in agreement. Bonnie didn't. Her feelings swerved between admiration and morbid fascination. Then wracked with shame for feeling either of those things. How could she admire someone doing forbidden magic? For going against the moniker of nature's servant? Yes, Bonnie didn't know all it entailed, but she was certain that not crossing lines dictated by the spirits was one of them.
That pinprick feeling came again; this time sharper. She winced, feeling its stab on her leg.
"You ok?" Joss looked concerned.
Bonnie paused, unsure of whether to reveal it. "Yes, just freaked out by what just happened."
Joss scoffed, arms folded across her chest. "I'll say. I've never seen Diedre so pissed off."
"Me neither."
An hour later, she was back home in the apartment she shared with her best friends. She drove home in a weird trance, replaying the events over again. There was nothing else to it. Forbidden magic was, well, forbidden. Nothing rationalized going against the established order.
"I don't answer to the spirits," Greta had said. How else did she practice if she didn't acknowledge the one source of it?
Or perhaps there's more than one way, a treacherous thought whispered. Watching that new girl play with time was an admittedly ethereal experience. Deep down, it got boring doing the same minor spells over and over. But the alternative sounded like it promised danger. Diedre's reaction proved that.
No, she couldn't go down that hole. Bonnie didn't require a PowerPoint presentation to know a bad idea when she saw one. Heck, her life so far was an attestation to that. Surviving Damon Salvatore's reign of terror in the name of finding his lost love was an experience that didn't need repetition. Nor did anything that resembled it. That witch, Greta, left and definitely wouldn't be back next week. To ignore it was the best thing to do.
Caroline, Elena, Tyler, and Stefan were all playing Cards Against Humanity and munching nachos in the living room when she got back. 30 Rock ran muted in the background. They greeted her with enthusiasm.
"How was witch club?" Caroline sipped a can of soda.
Bonnie rolled her eyes with a fond smile. "Stop calling it that."
"But that's what it is!"
"It's not."
"In that case, Vamp club is when you and Stefan go hunting." Tyler winked at Bonnie, coming to her unexpected rescue. Caroline gave him a gentle smack on the shoulder. They were good for each. It only took turning into a werewolf and vampire respectively for their one to realize it.
Stefan chuckled good-naturedly. "More like a vegan club with a twist." At least he could crack a few jokes now. He'd come a long way from the brooding emo monk Bonnie first laid eyes on. Their relationship had an interesting ebb and flow, but these days it was much more positive. After everything Damon related and the death of Grams, Stefan tried to monitor her, to keep her safe. They were friends in a tentative sense.
"How was your gathering?" Elena untangled herself from her boyfriend long enough to hand Bonnie a soda.
She opened it with a pop. "Eh, it was fine. Normal. Nothing serious happened. Just routine stuff."
"Make any love potions?" Caroline asked in a sing-song voice.
"Care!" they groaned in unison. These days, Caroline made every opportunity to set Bonnie up or inquire about her love life. The sentiment was sweet, but no one caught her eye and she wasn't interested in trying hard. Her last relationship was with Jeremy, Elena's little brother. That turned out to be a mistake in more ways than one, but he was a freshman at UV, to her great relief, and their paths seldom crossed. There was one fling with an exchange student from Croatia a few months ago, but nothing concrete.
Bonnie used their distraction to slink away to her bedroom for a shower. After that, she'd get back to the living room to steal some of those nachos and convince them to go for a round of Candyland. However, something caught Bonnie's attention as she removed her jeans. It fell from her pocket. A card, like the one from earlier in the gathering, with the same phone number on it.
Heart thumping, she bent down to pick it up and flipped the back. Written in expensive gold embossed calligraphy:
Don't let her see this one ;)
Klaus retired to his study, slipping away in the heart of the excitement. The others drank and made merry for hours on end. Excitement perfumed the air. They all deserved it. All their hard work and unending loyalty would soon be rewarded.
Only three more months till the next blood moon.
Three months until he'd break his curse. In the grand scheme of things, it was nothing. Time moved differently for an immortal, where days felt like seconds and decades passed in the blink of an eye. But these three months appeared like an impossible eternity. Heat burned beneath his skin, clawing for action.
How ironic; after spending years in ascetic-like restraint, a few months might be his breaking point. He took a breath he didn't need, taking absentminded sips of a finger of scotch.
Rash choices cause mistakes, Klaus reminded himself.
A welcome distraction came in form of approaching footsteps in the hallway. They stopped outside the door, waiting for permission.
"Enter."
Greta entered the room. He surveyed her appearance from head to toe. She still wore the clothing from her assignment, scent tainted with unfamiliar magic. "Well?"
"She's powerful." Greta had one hand on her hip. "As powerful as we thought. She didn't do any spells or magic yet I felt it from where I sat."
That didn't surprise him. She was a Bennett, after all. Powerful witches to that line were like gambling is to Vegas. Inexplicably tied together. "What impression did you get from her?"
Greta smiled, teeming with visible satisfaction. "A little lonely, but willing to make friends. From the way she looked when I performed the spell, I'd guess she wants more from her magic, even if she didn't quite recognize it herself. Or she's in denial about it. Either way, there's a vacuum we'll be able to fill." Now that's what he wanted to hear.
"When her only companions are half-baked vampires and a doppelganger, that's an expected outcome."
The witch took a seat opposite the hybrid. "There's one witch hanging around her, but she won't be a problem. Another late bloomer who's even more clueless."
He nodded, slow and contemplative. "Good work."
"There's no need to thank me," said Greta. "All of this will bring us closer." Her devotion was unmatched. Greta was the first witch Klaus recruited. Her family had some clout in the supernatural world, but Greta possessed an imagination none of them could conjure. Playing by the rules didn't interest her one bit. A trait he admired.
A lazy smile cornered Klaus' handsome face. "We're already close. The doppelganger is ready for picking and our Bennett witch is about to transform into something beyond her wildest dreams."
"Will the Ripper be a problem?"
Klaus trailed the rim of his glass with his forefinger. Stefan Salvatore, not a name he'd thought of in over seventy years. Learning of his adventures in Mystic Falls and romance with the doppelganger was worth a mild eyebrow raise but nothing led him to believe this carrot munching emaciated version posed a threat. "No, he won't. Our priority is to earn the trust of Bonnie Bennett. Everything else is secondary." The Bennett witch was the most important part of the ritual. The Katerina copycat had her uses, but without the right touch, all was for naught. There was no chance for mistakes. Not when he'd waited centuries to get this chance again.
"Something tells me Bonnie would benefit from being the focus of someone's devotion," Greta recalled the other girls' wistful glances at her friends all coupled up. After the dramatic exit from that pathetic excuse of a gathering, she'd stalked Bonnie home, waiting until her friends and their significant others left for a party. Bonnie didn't accompany them, opting for a quiet evening. Greta heard everything with a sound magnifying spell she'd learned during a jam in South Ecuador.
From the little gleaned about her life, the girl was used to being by herself. An absent father and runaway mother. Her grandmother had passed, leaving Bonnie all alone to deal with the repercussions of a world still unknown to her.
Klaus hummed. "Don't worry about that. I'm sure we'll be able to give Bonnie Bennett everything she needs."
We're gaining some momentum. I love writing Klaus all plotty and stuff. How do we like Joss and the MF gang?