So the weekly update I usually promise, I am delivering this time.
I've been looking forward to this chapter since the moment I came up with the title.
Cassie half dragged and half carried the shocked witch to the front door.
"I don't know what's happening to me, Grams," the girl sobbed.
"Oh my baby, I know, darling, I know. I'm sorry, baby." Sheila directed the girl to the couch as she rocked her gently. Two hours later, Cassie levitated the sleeping girl to her bedroom.
"I thought I had more time, Miss Black," Sheila admitted. "I didn't want to admit how powerful she is either."
"It's okay, you can guide her."
"You mean we can. I want what's best for her, right now, that means taking your help."
"I've already given you my word, Sheila. I'll come by tomorrow morning?"
"You can stay the night," Sheila offered.
Cassie saw it the peace offering it was. She was concerned about Damon but didn't want to deal with the vampire sibling drama. So she decided to take the older witch's offer."
—
The morning found the three witches at the small dining table halfway between the living room and kitchen.
Cassie took the liberty to make some tea, finding some calming herbs along the shelves. Sheila brought out some cups. Ten minutes and three empty teacups later, Bonnie broke the silence, "So I am a witch."
Sheila confirmed, "We come from a long line of powerful witches all the way from Salem."
"So, you actually teach occult in your courses?"
"No, most people do not have any affinity. The course has its share of believers but for the most part, it's just kids looking for an easy grade. It is a good cover to openly deal with rare and mystical items."
"Does dad know?"
"He knows, but he doesn't believe. Your mother told him after she had you."
"And mom?"
"She was also a witch, but she does not practice."
"Cassie is also a witch?"
Cassie took this one, "A different sort, but yes, I am also a witch."
"So, what's going to happen to me?"
Cassie and Sheila looked at each other, reaching some kind of silent agreement.
Sheila started, "Bonnie, you are the most powerful witch of our kind that I've come across. Probably the strongest of our line. That kind of power needs to be tamed and controlled. It is important that you learn to focus and channel your power, or you can hurt yourself or those around you."
"Like yesterday, you mean," Bonnie was half guilty, half scared.
"Today is not even a fraction of your capacity, darling. Your powers will grow in the years to come."
"Isn't it easier if I don't do magic?"
Cassie answered, "It's who you are Bonnie, you can't change that. You're going to have to learn to control even if you don't wish to practice."
"Is that what you want, baby girl?" Sheila asked tiredly.
"No, I've tried to deny this for a while now, pretending as if nothing changed. It has, I'm different. But if I'm a danger to others, I was willing to consider stepping away. I want to know everything about my powers."
Cassie took over, "Good. The first rule of magic is that you never reveal it to non-magicals."
"So I can't talk about it to Elena or Caroline?"
"You cannot."
"But they're my friends, how can I keep this from them?"
"Bonnie, we've been persecuted for our powers, witch trials, burnings, hunts. Modern religions are extremely intolerant of magic. The more people know, the easier it spreads, the higher the chance of danger. This is not just your secret either, you share it with hundreds of other witches. Imagine your Grams being hunted because you felt uncomfortable keeping a secret. I'm not asking you to never confide in another soul. But don't trust two teenagers with that kind of information."
"I don't like it, but I get it. I'll keep it a secret."
"Great, so how about breakfast and then we can dive into witch training?"
One hour and a stack of pancakes later, Bonnie was as ready as she could be.
"Let's start with magic. Magic is sentient, it has a will of its own. Most magical users consider it a gift, a responsibility, an honour. Everything that has life has magic. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the plants, the soil, human beings, you get the gist. Some beings have an affinity to tap into that magic deep inside these life forms. Witches are such beings.
Now the word witches itself is not entirely accurate. Different cultures and races have different nomenclature for it. Like warlords, mages, Wiccans, Wix, wizards and so on. Right now, let us call anyone who can tap into and transform magic as witches. They are all conduits of magic. They have the apparatus that allows them to do so. Regular humans or mundanes lack it."
"With me so far?"
"Yes, witches and mundanes. Witches are conduits, mundanes are not."
"There are witches who are more than conduits. Witches of nature have the right circuitry to be conduits, they also have weak batteries so they can store magic.
Some witches have inbuilt reservoirs of magic, known as a core. The witches of nature call them witches of creation."
"The nomenclature is confusing."
"It is. Let's try this, Wix have magical cores, Wicca don't, they are conduits only. Better?"
"Yeah."
"Wicca are witches of nature, they call Wix witches of creation. We'll leave the other terms for later. I'm a Wix, I have a core. You are Sheila are Wicca, you don't."
"Got it, no core for me."
"Wix are generally more powerful than Wicca, because of the cores. You do, however, have extraordinary batteries and circuitry which makes you as powerful as an average Wix."
"Lucky me," Bonnie muttered sarcastically. "That is why I need to be more careful, right?" she asked the two earnestly receiving solemn nods.
Sheila informed her, "Traditionally, witches of nature keep and teach magic within the bloodline. But I'm is not as young as I used to be, I doubt I can handle your power even if I was as strong as I used to be. So Cassie has offered to help. I will cover potions, rituals, family magic and the like. Cassie will help you with channelling and other powerful spells."
Bonnie's response was cut off by Cassie's phone ringing. Damon's name flashed on the display, "I have to take this," Cassie told them as she stepped out.
"Damon, how are you feeling? You doing okay?"
"I'm peachy, witch. Without my magic ring, Stefan is getting it back."
"Why do you sound like something's up?"
"Well, I may or may not have turned someone when I was angry and bored last night. We now have a baby vamp in our hands."
"You what?" Cassie half yelled.
"Not my finest moment, I'll admit. I just realized how much work keeping a new vampire in control is, especially for keeping low profile. You don't happen to know a reversal spell do you?"
"No, Damon, vampirism cannot be reversed."
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Didn't hurt to ask. How about a tracking spell? This chick seems to be a runner too."
Cassie took a deep breath before answering, "I'll be there in half an hour Damon, we'll figure it out."
"Ladies, I have elsewhere to be, sorry to cut this short. Bonnie, we'll pick this up tomorrow morning, say 5 am. I know it's Monday and you have school, so plan accordingly."
"How do you lose a vampire during daylight, Damon?"
"She hasn't transitioned when she escaped," Damon offered her a glass of whiskey. She turned it down without a thought, used to his alcoholic mornings by now.
"Who did you turn?"
"Vicki Donovan."
"Matt's sister?"
"And Jeremy Gilbert and Tyler Lockwood's something. Very cliched triangle," Damon rolled his eyes dramatically.
"Fine, let's go find her before someone else does."
"No ring, so I go extra crispy in the sun, remember?"
"I'll cast a temporary shield, Damon. She must know you turned her, you're the best bet at getting her to listen to us."
"Ugh, not how I wanted to spend my Sunday morning."
"Suck it up. I cast a shield that'll stay for four hours. Where to first?"
"Let's go the Gilberts, see if Stefan is there. I already have an invitation too."
—
As soon as Elena laid her eyes on Damon, she tried to shut the door back again.
"You need to leave," Elena stuttered, "Jeremy, go back to your room," she yelled for her brother.
"Wow, I did not think Stefan had it in him to be honest," Damon smirked at her. "Little tip, next time don't invite people you're not sure of."
"Wait, you know?" Cassie asked Elena, slightly alarmed.
"Damon is a cold blooded, serial killer of a vampire. Yes, I know. You killed all those people. How could you?"
Cassie held her wand in her ready to obliviate the brunette. She just needed to know how much the girl knew.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Elena. I don't care either. Is Stefan here?"
"No, he left early, said he had to give you something or you'll hurt us."
"Stefan, always catastrophizing. Did you see or hear about Vicki Donovan?"
"She's in Jeremy's room, why?"
"Great, why don't you be a doll and stay in the kitchen, I have some business here."
"I won't let you hurt them, Damon," Elena blocked Damon's way up the stairs.
Cassie pulled Elena out of the way and signalled for Damon, "Get Vicki, I'll handle this girl."
She threw a mild compulsion so the girl stayed put and listened to her, "Elena, I will not hurt you, but you need to be honest with me, how much do you know?"
"I know everything. Katherine turned Damon and Stefan. The brothers have been fighting ever since. Damon will hurt me if it means hurting Stefan. He has no morals or humanity."
She wondered briefly why Stefan tried to portray Damon to be a monster at every opportunity, but she had bigger problems for now.
"Did you tell anyone else about anything supernatural?"
"No."
"How did you find out?"
"The clues were everywhere. Stefan does not age, his injuries vanish, and his face changes from time to time. I confronted him and he confirmed it."
"You will have no doubts about Stefan, vampires, or anything magical, Elena. You will not try to dig or connect dots."
She raised her wand to wipe the girl's memories when she was pushed away.
"Stay away from her," Stefan growled.
"The girl knows about vampires, Stefan. I'm erasing her memories."
"I can't let you do that."
"Excuse me?"
"It's her choice, Cassie, and she chose to know."
"It does not work like that," she snapped at him beyond annoyed.
Damon came down with Vicki in his arms before she could petrify the stupid brother.
"I'd love to see you kick my brother's ass, but I had to knock her out to keep her from munching on her brother or boyfriend. Let's move it to the boarding house."
He handed the limp vampire to Stefan and turned to the panicking boys behind him. They were silenced, but their faces showed terror. He compelled them both to remember nothing about this incident. Matt was to go home and Jeremy was to do his homework and play video games.
They left Stefan to calm Elena and sat Vicki in the car.
"I'm coming with you," Elena announced as she sat in the backseat next to Vicki. Stefan got on the other side.
"She has no business here," Cassie glared at Stefan.
"But Saint Stefan knows the best, Cass," Damon mocked as he took off.
"Unbelievable," she muttered.
"Hey, you two are the ones taking Vicki away, who knows what you'll do to her."
"Why do you care?" Damon asked.
"She is a decent human, Damon, they care about each other's well being," Stefan answered.
"Yeah, right," Cassie snorted.
Thankfully the tense ride from Gilberts to the boarding house was over. Stefan laid down Vicki on one of the couches, Damon went to fetch some blood bags he looted from a nearby hospital the night before.
Vicki stirred awake saving everyone from further argument.
"Do you remember what happened?" Stefan asked her gently.
"Yeah, Damon and I were partying, and then he snapped my neck. I'm not dead because Damon fed me his blood. I am a vampire. Oh god, I'm a vampire."
"Not entirely, you didn't transition yet. You're very much human right now until you decide to take blood. Do you want to be a vampire, Vicki?"
"Yeah, man, it sounds fun."
"This life isn't for everyone, Vicki. I need you to be sure."
"Why don't you just ask her to die, brother," Damon scoffed. He told Vicki, "You died with vampire blood in your system. You either drink some human blood and become and vampire, or you die."
"I don't want to die," Vicki told them very matter of factly. "Gimme the juice, I loved it yesterday," she gestured for the blood bag.
"Oh no, Stefan, she can't," Elena told Stefan, drawing attention to herself.
"You want me to die?" Vicki snarled at her.
"No one said that, Vicki," Stefan stood in front of Elena.
"Here you go," Damon offered her the blood bag. "I'll show you the ropes of being a vampire, but here's the gist, blood is food, sunlight kills, your senses are heightened and you're a cocktail of Superman and Flash. Go crazy in Stefan's bedroom. I'll join you in a bit."
Vicki ran up in a flash, came down immediately and told them, "Dude, you were right, I am Flash." She saw the look of displeasure on Damon's face, "Yeah, I'll be upstairs, got it," and vanished again.
"I can't believe you let that happen," Elena turned to them accusingly.
Damon ignored her, "My ring, Stefan," he asked.
Once it was firmly on his hand, he loomed over Elena, "I don't have to tell you the consequences of her squealing about this elsewhere, Elena. Every you reveal this to will die extremely painful deaths while you beg me not to. Understood?"
The girl nodded her head and Stefan took her away.
"I can't believe we let her walk," Cassie groaned.
"Saint Stefan to you. We'll wipe her memory if she becomes a problem. Right now, she's just a pain in the ass.
Bonnie has a lot to understand about magic (and you guys about this world), but I didn't want to put it all in one chapter because it looked like a boring lecture. So added Vicki's transition in parallel.
Was it too many shifts in POVs? I tried to keep it third person, but I might have slipped into third or first from time to time. Tell me if it needs fixing.
Also, folks, please review? Need some validation as I steer the story.