'I can't explain why I'm drawn to you, like a moth to a flame. But all I wanna see is you burn.'
Bonnie had no idea where to start with finding this 'Kol' guy, he'd stopped following her around ever since the dreams had started. Or at least she hadn't spotted him since. She had a hard time believing the guy in her dreams was the same guy she'd spoken to at the grill. That guy was a dick. The guy in her dreams was the polar opposite.
Though the guy in her dreams also seemed to be living in the distant past so she supposed they couldn't exactly be trusted for reliability. His name probably wasn't even Kol.
But there was something else that was nagging at her. Those other people that had been mentioned in her most recent dream. Kol's father, Finn, Ayana and Kol's mother. Who were they? Would their identities shed some light on her current predicament?
She doubted that. But still, the thought lingered.
She was sorely in need of a distraction. She'd gone to the grill to pick up some food before she had to return to their coffin situation. She'd been so consumed and drained by the dreams that she'd barely taken any time for their ongoing coffin dilemma. A fact that displeased Stefan greatly. And a displeased humanityless Stefan was a pain in the ass. More so than normal.
But it was as she was waiting for her food that she saw him. The stranger that had been plaguing her dreams that she now knew as Kol. She deliberated for a moment as she gazed in the direction of the kitchens, an indignant rage bubbling away beneath her skin. But even as she felt herself being overcome by her anger her magic still rejoiced at his proximity.
This had to stop, she thought as she stomped over to him.
"What the hell did you do to me?" She snapped as soon as she reached him.
The bastard had the audacity to look up from his drink with an amused smirk at her obvious frustration.
"Well, hello darling. What can I do for you?"
"I want to know what the hell you did to me?"
"Me? I haven't done anything." He continued to smile contentedly as if she wasn't accusing him of messing with her mind.
"Bullshit. First, you won't stop following me. And now I'm going to these stupid witchy dreams with you in them." She snarled.
Okay, she hadn't entirely intended to mention the dreams, wanting him to confess before she admitted as much but she was exhausted and overwrought. She hadn't slept well in weeks. And despite how obviously insufferably cocky he was, she couldn't entirely silence the part of her that acknowledged how attractive he was, something her magic had definitely taken note of. All of which culminated in her being unable to think properly.
As if privy to her thoughts his grin stretched even further.
"Dreaming about me, darling? Well, I'm flattered."
"I know you had something to do with it." She instinctively reached out to grab his wrist, her magic immediately recognising the cold, dark sensation of an old vampire, she let go almost as quickly. But there was something else there, a flash of something that ignited her magic but it was gone as soon as she let go.
She stumbled back a step from Kol. At least she now knew why he looked the same as in the dreams that appeared to be from centuries ago. But what did that mean? Had her dreams actually happened? No, they couldn't have.
Kol was still watching her with that damn smile as she tried to process this. Something about the way he looked at her made her feel like a pet that had just performed a particularly entertaining trick. Patronising amusement, she mentally labelled the look. God, she wanted to smash his smug face into the bar top, but with gritted teeth, she turned away just as her order was called.
Grabbing her food she sped towards the door and away from Kol, only looking back at him once to glare at him. That insufferable smirk was still in place.
God, she needed to get away from him.
~x~
After her run-in with Kol, she figured the best place to be was the caves that no vampire could enter. So she'd spent the rest of the day in the caves skimming through grimoires trying to find answers. Abby had been helping originally but had long since disappeared to 'recharge'. Bonnie wished she had the same luxury.
But there was little in them that she hadn't already seen and dismissed. She'd even dug into her pilfered collection of grimoires from the Martin witches. But still nothing.
Maybe she needed to brush up on her Latin? Not that she had enough time for her actual studies with the supernatural drama she constantly found herself wading through to dedicate time to any more extracurricular studies.
Before she knew it, her eyes were sliding shut. The exhaustion of the last week or so hangs heavy on her bones tempting her into sleep. She really had no choice in the matter.
~x~
It was the day after a full moon, this Bonnie knew with a certainty she couldn't explain, and they were in the caves that she'd only heard of in previous dreams. There was something familiar about the stony walls that Bonnie couldn't put a finger on. Moreover, the details of these dreams lacked the vagaries that dreams usually possessed, everything was crystal sharp, the emotions overwhelmingly intense. There was more to this than her usual psychic witch dreaming.
But Renata had been brought down to the caves for a specific reason she knew. Her mother required help with a spell and she'd enlisted all of her children to accomplish such a feat. While it was clear that it was a big spell if all of their magic was required, her mother had been vague on the details.
Renata fidgetted uncomfortably as she watched her mother - she hadn't wanted any help with the preparations, wanted to ensure there weren't any mistakes - the caves felt colder than usual without Kol's mischievous laughter to keep her company. She rubbed at her arms as she shivered.
"Cold, Renata?" Her brother, Birger, asked.
"More impatient than cold. Why won't mother let us assist her?" She redirected.
"It's important that nothing goes wrong with the spell, she wants to oversee it personally." He told her as he came to stand beside her to watch their mother.
Renata turned to her brother in confusion, Bonnie likewise was lost.
"Do you know the purpose of the spell we are to perform?" Her brother hesitated. "Birger? Do you know why we're here?" She prompted.
Her brother turned to meet her inquisitive gaze.
"You must trust mother, she is only doing what is best to keep us safe."
"Safe from what?"
"You know how she's been since Viggo's passing." And with that, he strode away before she could question further.
Renata was sure they were hiding something from her, Bonnie was inclined to agree. Birger had been intentionally vague, redirecting her questions where possible before making his escape. Whatever spell they had enlisted her help for they didn't think she would agree if she knew their reasoning. Which only made her more determined to find out.
She started to stride towards her mother who was still preparing the ingredients for the spell when something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. An etching in the cave wall surface. She turned towards it to give it her full attention. As she stepped closer she recognised the etched names of her in-laws. Her heart gave a painful pang as she gazed upon her husband's name.
It had been too long since she had seen him. Things had been different ever since Henrik's death and Esther's subsequent betrayal when she stole Renata's family's most carefully guarded secret. Qetsiyah's spell. The spell that had granted her husband rebirth, stealing his magic from him in the process.
The magic that bound them together had felt different ever since as consequence of Esther's meddling. She could follow the thread that bound them together right now and it would still lead her to Kol, though he may no longer be able to reply in kind to her magic, she could still feel him. But for how long? He was immortal and she was most decidedly not.
It wasn't the first time she'd been faced with this realisation but the truth hadn't become any less painful as of yet.
Needing a distraction she changed course back to her original objective; to get answers.
"Mother, for why have you brought us down here? Surely your talents would be better needed elsewhere?" She queried.
"This is more important Ren. As keepers of the balance, it is our duty to keep the villagers safe." Her mother told her serenely.
"But safe from what?"
"Wolves and immortals, we are outmatched, my dear. We require sanctuary." And with that, she called for the rest of her children ignoring any further questions Renata had. "Come my children."
Her sister and two remaining brothers came to join hands with their mother obediently. Her family turned to look at her imploringly but Renata still had doubts. Her magic bristled at her mother's explanation, she was sure she wouldn't like whatever it was that they were doing.
Not giving her a chance to escape, her sister and brother grabbed her hand completing the circle, her family began to channel her as her mother chanted. Her magic writhed more ferociously as the spell progressed. She could feel the twine that connected her to Kol twist and knot painfully before righting itself just as the spell completed.
She wrenched her hands free and gaped at her family in shock. How could they use her magic like that?
"Renata…" Her mother started but Renata had already turned on her heel and fled from the cave, she didn't care for their explanations. She had to find Kol.
~x~
Bonnie woke with a gasp, jerking upright from where she'd slumped with her back against the coffin. She stood slowly, muscles stiff from her impromptu nap. Something was nagging at her. There'd been answers in that dream she was sure of it.
As she stretched the kinks out of her back she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. The cave etchings. Subconsciously she drifted closer, drawn to the names in the corner. They were the same as in her dream, while the rest of the wall had been blank the story of the originals not yet told, and the cave itself hadn't been as worn by time, she knew it was the same
Which meant… Not wanting confirmation but unable to stop herself she turned to regard the names more closely once more. Kol. Her in-laws, Renata had said in her dream. He wasn't just an old vampire, he was one of the oldest.
"Figured it out then, darling?"
Bonnie whipped round at the now familiar voice, anger bristling as she registered Kol stood there at the threshold. Rage overcoming logic she marched towards him encouraged by the way her magic reacted to his presence in a now familiar fashion thanks to her dreams, she recognised it as a perversion of the bond Renata had once held with Kol.
"You're one of them." She snarled.
"A Mikaelson? An Original? Yes, I suppose I am."
"Don't play games with me! What is this? What did you do to me?"
"I didn't do this to you." He repeated his words from the grill. "I don't have any magic after all."
Bonnie laughed bitterly, "So what, you got some witch to perform some trick spell to get me to hand over your brother's coffin? Is that it?"
Kol seemed amused by her ire, which only irritated her further.
"I didn't make a witch do anything to you. They enlisted me if anything. And I couldn't care less about that coffin, I'll even tell you what's inside if you like."
Bonnie scoffed, "And I'm just supposed to believe you? You're a vampire and a Mikaelson."
Kol just smiled further at her assessment.
"You're right to not trust vampires, but you can trust me. I know you can feel it. The way your magic reacts to me."
Bonnie froze at that, the blood draining as she registered the truth in his words.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She stuttered out her dismissal.
"Don't you?" Kol grinned before taking a step over the threshold and then another.
Bonnie staggered back a step, fearful.
"How did you do that?"
"Renata's family created the spell that kept vampires out of this cave. However, Renata and I were bonded and as such our magic could never be used to harm the other. Renata told me what her family had done as soon as the spell was complete, safe in the knowledge that her family didn't know about our twined magic."
Bonnie went colder, if possible at this. Bonded? She'd heard of witches joining their magic with another, it was an ancient practice, practically unheard of anymore due to the consequences of the witch trials. The bond didn't just allow you to share your magic with another, but also their pain and even their deaths.
"A soul bond?" Bonnie couldn't help the way the word fell from her lips numbly.
Kol merely hummed in response as he stepped past her to regard the cave etchings. Not even glancing at his family's stolen coffin.
But Bonnie didn't need confirmation. It explained why Renata could feel Kol and why it had become one-sided once he'd lost his magic. It didn't explain the dreams or what they had to do with her though. But she was afraid of the answer now.
"Why did she look like me?" She asked instead.
"She didn't." Bonnie felt relief sweep through her at that, assuming it to be a dream trick. "You look like her. She came first."
And just like that, her hopes were dashed.
"Why?"
Kol turned to look at her when he spoke next. Bonnie was secretly glad of the distance he'd put between them, she wasn't sure she could have handled the implication of his words if she was being distracted by his proximity too.
"Ayana wanted to keep her family safe. Just as my mother wanted to after losing her son."
A perversion of a mother's love was the reason they were both stood here together right now, a millennia after the spells had been cast. She knew what Esther - because she knew who Kol's mother only referenced in her dreams was now - had done to her children. But she had no idea what Ayana had done to Renata and what that meant for her.
Bonnie moved towards the coffin, allowing it to take her weight as her legs threatened to give out beneath her.
"I don't believe you." She said instead, desperately clinging to denial, refusing to acknowledge all that she'd learnt in the past few weeks and the way that information slotted together.
Kol shrugged, moving away from the wall and towards the coffin.
"No, I don't suppose you would. You don't know everything yet." He didn't elaborate on what else she was missing, instead changing the subject. "Would you like to know what's in the coffin that my brother wants back so desperately?"
"It's a weapon to kill Klaus." She told him firmly, refusing to be cowed by a vampire. She wasn't some fragile mortal, after all.
It was bad enough that she didn't know what was going on with her and her dreams she would not become dependant on him. She wanted to distance herself from him and the man in her dreams as much as possible.
Kol grinned at that, "Is that what the spirits told you?" He hummed. "I don't suppose they're wrong. It's Esther."
"What?" That was not what Bonnie had been expecting. "How? She's been dead for a millennium? What good is a pile of bones?"
"Because she's not a pile of bones. Ayana and Eira did a spell to preserve her body when they sealed the coffin."
Bonnie didn't need Kol to tell her that Eira was the sister from her dream, Renata's older sister. The fact she knew that without prompting, yet didn't know what was happening to her was more than a touch alarming.
"Why? Esther betrayed them."
Kol's smile grew, seemingly proud of her demonstrated knowledge of Renata's life. It was probably weird to hear his dead wife's words uttered from another's lips, yet he didn't seem to agree.
"Because by that point Ayana had also used unconventional magic to save her child's life. And as the one who cast the spell, Esther has the ability to undo it."
"Why are you telling me this when I've already told you of our intention to kill your brother with it?"
Kol straightened, smile slipping into something more serious.
"Because it's better if you hear it from me."
"Why? So you can manipulate the outcome? This is all just some ploy to you, isn't it?"
Kol frowned at the accusation, Bonnie would almost suggest he was hurt if he wasn't a millennia-old bloodthirsty parasite. He didn't have the right to be hurt after all the lives he'd undoubtedly hurt. She doubted he could even feel anything anymore, the only emotion he expressed an attempt to manipulate.
"No, of course not. It just doesn't matter, whether you raise Esther or not, Klaus will kill her all the same. He has a penchant for murdering parents. But my brother has told the rest of my siblings that you hold our mother hostage and they will come after you. I'm merely giving you some forewarning."
Bonnie didn't believe him. Oh, she knew the Mikaelsons wanted their coffin back and thanks to the Salvatores, she knew the rest of them were awake now. No. What she didn't believe were his intentions. Vampires were notoriously manipulative and arrogant. No doubt a trait they'd gotten from their progenitors seeing as the Mikaelsons held it in spades.
"Then tell me how to open it."
"No. I don't know how to."
"Bullshit. You were a witch, don't pretend you don't understand the magic that was used."
Kol smiled at her again. Honestly, Bonnie was getting sick of that expression. Sick of the way it drew her in, sick of the way it made her magic react, sick of the fact he kept goddamn smiling when she was so pissed. It felt mocking.
"True, but my family had already fled Mystic Falls when Ayana and Eira performed the spell. Klaus came back for her body afterwards."
"Why? Why cart around the corpse of the woman you killed?"
Kol tilted his head to the side as he regarded her.
"Because she was our mother. She was family even after she betrayed my brother."
"Funny sort of family."
Kol smiled again at her assessment, and yeah, Bonnie decided, she was definitely gonna end up slapping that expression off of him if he kept doing that. If only to distract from the way it sent her magic soaring.
"Hmm. You would know." He hummed brushing off his jacket as he stepped away from her back towards the cave's entrance.
"What the hell does that mean? And where are you going?"
Kol turned to look at her over his shoulder, one eyebrow cocked.
"I think I've told you enough today, it wouldn't be nearly as fun if you didn't work it out for yourself." And with that, he sped out of sight.
"You haven't told me anything! Jackass!" She shouted after him.
Bonnie sighed as she turned back to face the coffin that supposedly held the body of Esther Mikaelson, mother to the original vampires. Bonnie grimaced at the thought. God this was so fucked up and gross. She hoped Kol was lying if only so she could dismiss everything else he'd said.
She didn't want to think about Renata and her soulbond to Kol and what it meant for Bonnie who had her face. She had to believe it was a lie, an elaborate ploy for the Mikaelsons to get their coffin back. A fabricated weakness on Kol's part so they'd believe he was vulnerable to her.
It was a lie, it had to be. So why did her magic twist as if she was the one lying?
A/N: So sorry about the wait for this one, I've been caught up with uni and family but it's finally done. Bonnie knows Kol's a Mikaelson! Woah. Anyway let me know your thoughts in the comments :)
Comments:
DancesWithButterflies: I like it.
Glad to hear it!
H: Ahhhhhj! I love this! This is such a good idea! Love the writing! Can't wait to read more
Ahh thank you sweetie! I wanted to try my hand at a kennet story where 'Bonnie' had been around when the Mikaelsons were human and went with reincarnation because I didn't want to lose her being a witch
NarcolepticPanda: Your story is soo amazing! I'm already hooked and I can't wait for the next chapter. Please continue this awesome work!
Thank you so much sweetie, sorry for the long wait
jerkchickenz: I love this story already. Very interesting premise.
Thank you sweetie, I'm having a lot of fun with the concept
jerkchickenz: At least Bonnie knows Kol's name now.
Yep! Full name and all now 😂
