A/n: Edited on 11/9/2015.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 11: Beautiful Girl
Mystic Falls
Present - February 8,2011
Damon stared at the fireplace, letting his mind wonder as he took a long sip of his bourbon. The bitter aftertaste lingered in his mouth for the remainder of the morning as he had drank his third glass. His doubtful thoughts poisoned his mind with its snakelike venom paralyzing him at the thoughts of the future.
Bitter was the perfect word to describe to him inside, and it was nothing new. He was always bitter about something, but unlike of his broody, self-hateful younger brother, Damon always vented with a bang. No use of being in misery if you could have a good time with it. That was a chunk of his life, and he loved it. The booze, blood, sex, and the women. He invented the lifestyle practically! Oh, how he can drown himself in that forever.
But, he should be happy...right? Damon finally got the girl. He won! It was worth it. He's told himself that he was happy to keep him asleep at night, but it only did so much good. Whether he didn't admit it or not, he's changed into something that he was not.
He wasn't good, and he knew it. The bad boy persona was his trademark. Like slipping a hand into a glove, he fit into it perfectly. Damon often said that he was the bad guy, the villain. He's no hero. People still don't get it sometimes. Why are people so stupid these days, especially with this generation? He's not another Edward Cullen to sweep a Bella Swan off someone's feet. He was never a person of giving. Damon was always cheering for the receiving end.
Take. Take. Take.
And he did take. He took Stefan's girl. He won!
Right?
Then why did he feel like he still felt like he was in second place?
Of course, fate always had to throw him a catch. Anything that seems too great for once will always throw a wrench in Damon's plans. Sure, he wasn't in awe for the sugary happy endings, but happiness shouldn't be so far away from him. Why can't he just grasp it and take hold of it for once without it slipping through his fingers?
The sire bond should be nothing, but a load of crap. What can Damon say, though? He's had tough luck all of his life from the time he was a human and now as a vampire.
"Damon, glad you're still here." His baby brother spoke as he brought brown plastic bags full of stuff. Groceries, necessities, and blood.
"I'm just peachy. How's your search for Barbie Klaus coming along?" Damon asked finishing the last of the bourbon glass before tossing it to the fireplace, making the glass break on impact.
As always, Stefan was worried like a paranoid fox on hunting grounds. Damon wondered why he still hung around this small town if it weren't for Elena. Stefan had so much going for him, he could practically do anything that he chose. Why still be in this town besides the damn barrier spell hanging over their heads?
"Thank you so much for the concern," Stefan replied with a bit of sarcasm in his tone mixed with annoyance, "but, we have bigger problems at hand."
"Lighten up, Stef. You're such a buzzkill."
"Damon…" Stefan started, but Damon knew a whole lecture was going to come without stopping if Damon didn't have anything to say about it.
"Save it, Stefan. We're screwed right now. I'm just not down in the dumps about it."
"We need this cure. Why can't you see that?" Stefan asked, stumped about Damon's view on the situation.
"The only reason I'm looking for this stupid cure is because I'm doing it for her. Elena wants it, and I'm going to get it. If you want my opinion, here it is. She's better off without it." Damon lashed out, lurking around for another bottle of bourbon before the urge of killing someone became too great.
Stefan stayed silent, watching his older brother's body language. Both of them knew each other like the back of their own hands. Something else was up with the one of them, the other brother would general spot it on ahead of time. Deciding not to push it, he dived into more of the important stuff. "Rebekah's not answering her cell. I guess I'm just worried about her too much."
"Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner. He finally got the million dollar question." A sarcastic remark flew out of his mouth with his infamous smirk as the cherry on top.
"Very funny. Look Damon, we need to go over a game plan." Stefan situated himself on the couch, ready for Damon to come back from nosing around in the groceries bags.
"May I remind you about a few certain obstacles first? One: we have a sadistic murdering psychopath who wants our throats torn out. Two: Klaus has a furry bitch on a leash over there who also almost used our asses as a chew toy. Three: we are stuck in a pretty solid barrier spell by yet another mysterious witch. And four, Shane is rotting in jail nice and tight. Do I need to explain anymore?" Damon had about enough with this whole quest for the cure. It's all everyone talked about these days. Who would want to be cured of being a powerful creature will all the upsides to it?
"Well, Klaus' wolf is out our hands for the time being. The next logical step would be figure out who the witch would be. Got any ideas?"
Damon glared at his brother. It's not like he had all of the answers. "I may have one, but it's pretty far-fetched."
"What would that be?" Stefan asked, wondering what Damon was talking about.
"We've seen the barrier spell. I've seen it, but someone has to be pretty experienced enough to pull that off, even more experienced than Magicless Judgy." He pointed it out as if it wasn't already obvious.
"Okay, so do you know someone who's a witch that didn't want to smite you?" Stefan found it a little hard for him to believe that there was a witch that could even like, let alone be attracted to Damon Salvatore.
"Stefan, don't you know me? I've seen all sorts of women. They all loved me. Vampires, humans, a little bit of werewolf, and even witches."
"Are you going to tell me more about this woman you're talking about?"
Damon shushed him. "Patience, little brother. Let me just tell you the story."
Stefan rolled his eyes. "Okay, start talking."
"It started back in the twenties. I was kind of drifting a bit in no humanity. Still obsessed with the psychotic slut-vampire at the time, then I met her." Damon explained starting the story out.
"Sounds more like a twisted love story if you ask me," Stefan assumed.
"Will you let me finish please?" Damon asked annoyed by the sudden interruptions. Clearing his throat, he resumed where he left off. "Anyway, I met her a long time ago. And what can I say? She threw me a damn curveball."
Chicago, 1922
The Roaring Twenties' definitely lived up to its reputation, especially in downtown Chicago. Everywhere you went,it was practically just one big dance party. The real fun though, was breaking the rules of society and letting loose. That was the true addicting thrill. What's the best part about it? There's too much going on to notice.It was perfect hunting ground for vampires just like cities of New York City and San Francisco.For a one certain handsome vampire named Damon Salvatore, it didn't matter about the populous location. It was all the goodies inside the party bag that mattered the most.
With his humanity switched off, he had let his instincts take over.There was no feeling, no chains to keep him down. He felt free to do as he wished. Freedom as his disposal. To him, it was like living one nonstop party filled with booze and women. The more, the merrier.
Yet here was Damon Salvatore, the handsome blue-eyed playboy of the vampires, drowning his sorrows because he was pining over one woman who had screwed him over so many years again.
Damn.
He downed his second bottle of bourbon. "Give me another bottle. Same as last time." Damon told the bartender who was already compelled from the beginning, no thanks to the Salvatore.Downing the next bottle, he wondered if he should get the blood of the bartender to add flavor to the drink.
"Drowning your sorrows doesn't do much good," a calm female voice was caught into the vampire's hearing.
"Babe, do me a favor and mind your own business. I do as I please." Suddenly, the bottle was levitated out his hands and broke into pieces. A look of disbelief came to his face,and then it was replaced by aggravation. Damon turned around, trying to figure who the usurper was that destroyed his favorite drink was.
"Like I said, drinking isn't good for you. And as often my friend even says so herself, she can be quite a contradiction." The woman in front of him said as his eyes raked over her appearance. She wasn't overly beautiful, but she was modernly attractive. Blonde hair and light blue eyes that were lighter than his own. The crème dress hugged her curves enough and fitted against her frame.
"What are you supposed to be? My therapist? Sorry honey, but you don't fit the role." Damon commented cruelly, planning to make the woman go away, but she didn't budge.
"Just think of me as an unbiased stranger you can talk to without someone judging you, or more or less as an unbiased witch. Is that all right?" She asked in a patient and tentative manner, careful not to anger him. The witch paraded up closer to the bar, the sound of her heels clicking behind her as she walked. The nameless witch sat herself beside him unafraid.
"Just to warn you, if you're trying to pull some miracle as to make me feel again, it's not going to work." He said stating the obvious.
"I know already from the beginning, but I'm letting you know that I'm not moving away until you start talking, even if that takes me all night." She told him as she waited for him to talk. And for once in Damon's life, he listened.
"You talked to a witch you never knew about your problems? I don't believe this. Is this the same Damon I know and sometimes loathe?" Stefan gave Damon an incredulous look.
"As far-fetched as if sounds, yes. She was like my free witch doctor slash shrink. I recall a very good looking witch doctor if I remember correctly."
"Get to the point, Damon." Stefan said tired of Damon running in circles.
Damon sighed as he continued to finish the story. "Anyway, my point is that she's a witch unlike anyone I've seen. She had a power I hadn't seen in a long time, powers enough to make a spell like the barrier spell work, but it's just a theory unfortunately. It's impossible for her to be here."
"How come?"
Damon pursed his lips. "She was a free spirit. Never staying in one place too long. I hardly saw her. It was rare. She's probably dead now. Anyway, it doesn't matter anymore."
"There's more to this than you're letting on, Damon." Stefan said as he listened more to his brother, taking in Damon's pause and silence.
"I'm not going to get into details about that. It's my life, Stefan, and I would like to have a few things kept to myself. Now if you excuse me bro, I'm going to go hunting. Just make sure Elena doesn't stray off when she gets back from school. Trouble follows her like a tick to a bloodhound." Damon stated as he went outside and wandered around looking for fresh blood to clear his head.
His thoughts drifted to the witch he had talked about previously before. Then Damon recalled what he had left out purposely to Stefan. He wasn't going to tell him all of his inner feelings and stuff. He was the villain, not some sugary and sappy hero. He can let Stefan have that happy ending.
Damon had to admit that he savored those times he did see her. She wasn't there to bring him back into the light like some missionary on a Lord's mission. She didn't try to change him nor did she bark at him for him spewing insults and retorts. In fact, she laughed it off and let it roll off her back. But, what he remembered the most was the unwavering patience in her calm eyes as he ranted and raved all the through the night and straight on until morning. For once in his vampire life, he felt that in those rare moments, he experienced a certain peace for a change.
At Bonnie Bennett's house...
Another useless book. Another dead end. Misery sure loved to keep the witch's company, unfortunately a magicless one. She scratched through the next book on her notepad that she had listed before with her blue ink pen. Bonnie Bennett searched through any solution possible to restore her magic, but there was nothing.
She rested her head in her hands, trying to keep a cool and clear head. Her brain scrapped to the bottom of the barrel for any idea that seemed possible to get her magic back. She'd thought of contacting the spirits, but then the next thing she thought was 'What good would that do?' They would only reject her. And for the things she had done, they would have done worse to her. Bonnie shuddered at the thought.
She was an important key to this. Her magic was the key. There had to be more to this puzzle.
Her bedroom door opened showing her father. "Hey."
"What do you want?" Bonnie asked curtly, not really in the mood for talking.
"I just came to check on you," he answered with concern in his eyes.
She scoffed. "A little late for that, don't you think?"
Rudy sighed heavily, still trying to get through to his estranged daughter, but he knew that she was stubborn. And after losing her magic, Bonnie had even become more introverted, not wanting to talk to anyone right now. This town maybe under lockdown, but she was still going to school for the time being. Rudy wasn't the all strict father that she made him out to be. He had yet to see her even to make her stop contact with her vampire friend, Elena Gilbert, who he still thinks was unhealthy for his daughter.
"Bonnie, I know I always haven't been the best father, but I'm trying to do my best now. Don't throw something away so blindly." He said walking closer to her. "I'm trying to do what's right."
Bonnie heaved a sigh, too tired to argue with him. If she was going to have any more dent as to her search, there's only one person she knew that could clear any of this up.
"Where's Professor Shane?"
"Still kept in jail for the time being. Why?" Rudy asked concerned.
"I need answers. I'm nothing without my magic." Bonnie pointed out, getting up from her bed and browsed through her closet for a change of clothes.
"You mean without your expression." He corrected her.
"This isn't about expression. What made me who I am is gone. You don't know what it feels like to be useless; to be without of something that's a part of you." She exasperated. She needed to go. "If you excuse me, I need to change." Bonnie said in a quieter tone.
Rudy contemplated for a moment before making a final decision. If seeing the professor would make her happy at least somewhat without causing harm, the mayor was willing to do it. He would have to monitor the exchange if anything goes wrong. The professor already proved to be shadier with every outcome that had come to pass.
"Only if you let me drive you." Her father replied leaving the room and closing Bonnie's door to give her privacy.
Small hope grew in her heart at the chance for a solution. This could be Bonnie's only chance, and she wasn't going to waste it.
Changing out of her yoga pants and t-shirt, she settled for a pair of dark leggings, a light sweater, and some flats. Bonnie fixed her hair casually and got her things. She needed to be ready.
As her father drove her to the police station, the ride was silent with no conversations between them. Bonnie was just fine with silence. It gave her the time to think. As they drove, she did noticed how there were more police officers and cars patrolling the place. Weird.
As they got out of the car heading inside the police station, Sheriff Liz Forbes was on her shift as usual, but you could see the exhaustion in her face as she kept trying to bury herself more into her work.
"Hey, Rudy. What can I do for you?" The Sheriff asked the mayor, eyeing his daughter warily.
"Bonnie needs to talk to Shane on some matters. Nothing major. Just to tie up loose ends," he explained to the sheriff, hoping that this maybe could close the distance between his daughter and him.
"Why should I do this? We don't need any more dead kids. Your daughter could be next." Sheriff Forbes questioned almost to the point of where she intended on refusing them. There was too much death in this small town. She didn't want another daughter to die on her hands if she had the chance to prevent it.
"Bonnie is without her magic. Shane's locked up tight. Only for a few minutes, Liz. That's all she needs." Rudy reasoned with the still grief-stricken sheriff.
Sheriff Forbes hesitated, but she nodded slowly. "It will be monitored. If anything happens, she's pulled out. You understand?"
"Yes." Bonnie answered wasting no haste.
"All right, I'll set everything up. Be careful and be quick." Sheriff Forbes went to set up everything for this personal interrogation.
As Bonnie and her father waited, her father looked at her in concern. "Are you sure about this? You can back out now while you still can."
"I'll be fine. I need to do this, trust me." Bonnie took deep breaths in effort to try to ease the high trepidation of her racing heart.
The sheriff came back done with her errand. "He's in the interrogation room. Make it quick."
Bonnie nodded to the Sheriff and her father. Taking a slow breath, she made her towards the familiar interrogation room that she had talked the professor the last time before. The former witch saw the guard in front of the door, opened it, and with careful steps she stepped through. The professor was dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit with his hands and feet bounded by metal handcuffs.
"Bonnie," he spoke her name, so shocked to see her in such a state. "What have they done to you?"
"My magic was taken away. What else does it look like?" She angrily replied. This was the only chance to find a way to regain her magic, and this was no time for pleasantries.
"Have you found out any way to try to regain it back?" What kind of useless question is that? Bonnie just said her magic was taken away, didn't she?! How many times did she have to repeat it?
"No." She spoke through clenched teeth.
"Maybe that isn't all that bad. You do know about the barrier spell over town, right?" He questioned her.
Bonnie did a double take. "What?"
"There's someone else who can use magic, maybe even can find a way of getting your power back. She may be still in town."
"Even if there is another witch in town, it doesn't do any good. You said that only a descendant of Qetsiyah can use the spell to open the tomb. Where are we going to find another Bennett witch when we're stuck here?" She seriously doubted the professor's crazy logic at this point.
"The one who used the barrier spell maybe a Bennett witch. No harm in checking your family tree, huh?" Shane let his words hint something else. Bonnie's brain brewed with ideas. It's possible, it should be. The power of magic followed through her veins, maybe it's time to backtrack.
{Louder Than Thunder}
Outside of New Orleans...
Past - January 27, 1910
It was happening again. Every night she relived it as they came back with a vengeance for the consequences of what she had done. Like she wasn't guilt enough. Even from the dead, it still wasn't enough for them to leave her alone in peace. She was cursed. Of course, that was the price she paid for bathing in their blood.
"Jean…come on, child. Wake up." A familiar motherly voice ended the hellish nightmare. Her eyes opened to see Adelaide kneeling down to her level of where she slept.
Jean sighed in relief. "It's you. Thank God."
"I'm thankful you're safe," Adelaide agreed. "Do you need to get some more sleep?"
"Not really. It's not like I can sleep anymore, anyway. I'd be lucky if I get just a few hours let alone a couple of days." Jean said as she pulled back the blanket and stood up in the walkway, trying to stretch her sore muscles. The familiar Creole witch stayed close to Jean, monitoring her like a hawk.
"Stop hovering so much. I hate it when you do that." Jean muttered slightly annoyed, but still grateful for Adelaide's concern. She was happy to see Adelaide again.
"Same ole' Jean. You always hated me watching over you like a mother hen even when you were little." Adelaide reminisced the few golden memories of the brunette's childhood.
Jean laughed a little bit, but there was no humor in her voice. Adelaide had suspected this, but not to this much extent. The eldest witch recalled a livelier and witty girl that she raised since the very night she was born. Seeing her now almost scared her even with those copper eyes that were once happy darkening into something else entirely. They held a more haunted look. Jean was damaged, not externally either.
"But, you cared about me. It doesn't matter now. You have me again. That's all that matters." Jean reassured her.
"What happened that night?" Posing the question out there, Adelaide was trying hard to understand what she had missed. She still blamed herself for not being there for Jean when she needed Adelaide most. She wondered if the werewolf blamed her or not.
Jean didn't look back at her. Running a hand through her short brown hair, the wolf heaved a heavy sigh. "I don't want to talk about it," she said curtly hoping that the witch got the hint.
Deciding that since Adelaide just got Jean back, right now may not be the best time for an interrogation. And God only knew what other atrocities that Jean partook or had seen that was unspoken to witch. Delaying this for another time, she laid a hand on her former charge's shoulder. "I love you, Jean. You know that, right?"
Memories of the close bond between them flooded into Jean's mind, bringing her back to a time when things weren't so bad. Her copper eyes softened at Adelaide's sentiment. She never admitted this to her mother or anyone, but the witch was the closest thing Jean had to a mother. With much affection, Jean brought herself into the witch's arms, embracing her tightly around her waist. The familiar natural smell of herbs, spices, and magnolias permeated her nose, lowering her senses to a somewhat peaceful state.
"Forever and always."
Their moment was cut short when Jean's sharp wolf hearing caught a new and unknown voice.
"I can't, Caroline. Not anymore. And, I have to congratulate you. You've done it or rather it confirms what I've been theorizing."
She didn't recognized his voice. The English accent was foreign to her. Around in Louisiana, it's a rare occasion for someone from Britain to around that deep in the south.
"What?!"
"Adelaide, I don't know what the hell is going on but there's some argument that you may have to intervene." Jean said in wonder.
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is that I keep hearing a male English accent and another woman arguing at each other like they're husband and wife." The way both of them were reacting, they were probably married for a while. Or that's at least from what Jean assumed. To her, marriage was the worst and most expensive mistake anyone can make. Observing the woman who had taken care of her for so long, she saw the familiar gaze of realization in her face.
"Stay here, I'll be right back." Adelaide spoke promptly, heading to the opposite direction.
"You don't have to tell me twice. I don't want to get entangled in that." Jean thanked her, though a part of her wanted to separate the two, settling arguments weren't her forte. She was only good at arguing, not maintaining the peace.
Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Trust me, you'll be glad to stay out of this. It's tiresome between these two."
Leaving Jean, the witch sauntered over towards Klaus' area, approaching slowly as she listened in on the conversation.
"That's for me to know, love. Regardless, you can't shake it off, sweetheart. Your blood calls to me. Just like mine calls to you. You know what this means? You're mine."
"Why does it seem like I'm the only one who has to settle these skirmishes?" she grumbled under her breath, but hearing a familiar and furious snarl broke Adelaide from of her thoughts. Opening the door in time to see Caroline about to attack Klaus, she held her hand out to stop her.
"STOP CAROLINE!"
Caroline was forced to stop in her tracks to hold her head yet again as more arteries in her skull burst. Adelaide regretted adding more pain to her, but it was the only way to stop her from making a dire mistake. Klaus wouldn't have mercy on her, even if he was in a pleasant mood. A newborn hybrid against the strongest Original of them all weren't good odds on any given day.
The female hybrid couldn't help, but glare daggers at the witch's move. Just when she was so close - dammit! "Adelaide!"
"Caroline," she spoke in a stern tone, "just be quiet."
"But-"
"HUSH!" Adelaide reprimanded her loudly, her voice short and to the point.
"Alright, settle down ladies. We don't need to make a mess." Klaus said coming in between the witch and hybrid.
Adelaide turned her head to Klaus, her dark eyes in a fixed glare mixed with annoyance.
"'Settle down?' Really, Klaus? Let me explain something to you. I've got enough on my plate as it is when it comes to these children and making sure they're not lead astray. And let's not forget about the messes I have to take care of when it comes to you." The witch referred to Klaus. "The last thing I need to add to my list of duties is play negotiator in sexually-intensified spats between you two. And if you have any respect for me, you keep these fights to a minimum."
"Yes, love. I'm sure that we get the message." The male vampire said in a droll tone, bored with the lecture.
"And for your information, next time that I have to settle this between you two, things aren't going to be so pleasant. And if you'll excuse me, I will be taking my leave." The witch turned on her heels and marched out the door, happy to be away from the almost...seemingly married couple. The way they fought was almost like that even to Adelaide's eyes.
Damn.
Caroline fumed as she watched Klaus with that damn smirk on his face, amused like a naughty child had successfully snuck his way to getting a cookie from the cookie jar. Trying to regain her footing and heal from the spell, she could feel Klaus' eyes on her back. And to make it worse, she could also hear his chuckles.
"What's so funny?" She snapped with her blue eyes glaring.
"I didn't say anything." Klaus's cheeky smirk showed off those damn dimples she hated to…she just hated when he does that thing he does. Now whatever this crap that was between her and Klaus was just making things more awkward and more irritating.
"I don't care. I don't want any of this. I just want to-ugh!" She grunted in frustration waving her arms about in the same manner. She went to get out of Klaus' hair when a strong hand grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to turn around and gaze into his face.
"And what would that be, love?"
"Stop calling me that! God! I just want to get away from you! Do me a favor for a change and just leave me alone!" Caroline tried to flash away from him, but Klaus bested her. He blocked her way out by backing her against the wall with his arms caging her in.
"Like it or not, you're stuck here. And, I don't care what you want. Now, we can do this the easy way and get along, or we can do this the hard way. I suggest you think hard. I'm not one for manners, even toward beautiful ladies like yourself." Klaus's eyes were hard and unrelenting, and Caroline was eternally stuck in this game of cat and mouse. His face was close to hers, much to her dismay. Dammit, why does he have those damn kissable lips?
"Now, you can go."
He released her slightly pushing her towards the door. Caroline stayed mute, but sent a disgusted evil look to him wishing just to piss him off even further. She left the Original in a huff with her blonde hair whipping behind her. Caroline slammed the door behind her with her newly found strength hoping one of his possessions broke. Judging from hearing the shattering sound just now, Caroline was at least successful with that. She may have lost the battle, but she certainly wasn't going to lose the war.