Bonnie tossed her purse onto the floor the instant she stepped into the washroom. Ignoring the annoyed looks of some of the women using the facility, she blithely commandeered sink and turned the water onto cold.
The day just couldn't get any worse. Not at all. Short of being decapitated, which in her honest opinion would be an improvement, there wasn't a single thing to make the day worse. "Someone stake me." She muttered, splashing cold water onto her face, body bent over the sink and head propped by her hands to keep it from falling into the water entirely.
All she had wanted was a few hours of undisturbed quality time on a computer. Just a few hours to hack away at her manuscript and get the damn thing finished before this vendetta of the Hunter reached the apex. It was so close to completed… if she survived this little adventure, she could do the edits, if she didn't, her editor could have it edited post-mortum. 'Charming line of thoughts, McCullough.' She smirked into the mirror.
Sadly, her desire for peace and quiet was too much to ask for. Elena and Meredith had grim stubbornness written all over their faces when they tracked her down at one of the computers in the public library. With barely one full day of solid rest behind her (and needing about six weeks more but doubting her new teddy-bear would be so accommodating) Bonnie just wasn't prepared to handle the Queen of Fell's Church and the Princess Royal.
"Maybe alcohol would help?" She muttered, wincing at the ache in her back from the awkward position she was still in. "Or a bullet to the brain."
Was it too unreasonable to expect her alleged friends to support her decisions? To accept that Damon was her friend and ally, to understand that she just couldn't forgive them with the flick of a switch? Couldn't they just back off?
'Well, no… now that you mention it. Elena's a pit-bull with her jaw locked on a nice juicy hunk of meat.' Bonnie splashed more water on her face, sighing as the droplets dripped off her nose. 'And Meredith just wants to put you back in your pretty little box like the good china doll you're supposed to be.'
There was a definite ache in her back now. And her shoulders were starting to throb. 'Might as well go back and face my firing squad.' She frowned down into the porcelain curve of the sink. If she didn't go back, Elena would just violate the sanctity of a retreat. And being cornered in a bathroom, with no escape at all was not on Bonnie's lists of things to do. "I should have stayed in bed with Damon and waited for Stefan to come pitch a fit." She muttered irritably. "It can't get any worse."
Of course, those were famous last words. The bustle around her had faded as the women left the small washroom, leaving Bonnie to her own grumpy thoughts and mutterings. The peace, however, was short lived.
"Bonnie McCullough." The insipid voice was only partially drowned by the roar of the flushing toilet as the stall opened. "Fancy seeing you in the public library!" Kiera's wide red-lipped smile and sparkling eyes had no warmth to them, it was a cold predator eyeing down prey.
"I stand corrected." Bonnie muttered under her voice, shutting off the water and blotting her face with a paper towel. "Kiera. Darn. You survived your little trip. You couldn't conveniently get hit by a tour bus, huh?"
"And you survived my Hunter."
Instantly, Bonnie stiffened. HER hunter? Other than the gang that had been at her place last night, of which Matt had not been party to, the population of Fell's Church was unaware of what was making the series of killings. "Claiming ownership, now?" She mocked lightly, her mind racing furiously. "Maybe you should try a pit-bull. They tend to bite a little harder."
Kiera sniffed, moving to the sink beside Bonnie to wash her hands. "You know what I mean, McCullough." She bit out, voice low and threatening. "Do you know what I had to go through to entrap that creature? To ensorcell it to do my bidding?"
The white foaming soap on Kiera's hands was more appropriate being in her mouth to show the world how mad she had to be. "You broke a Hunter." Bonnie nodded, clucking her tongue off the roof of her mouth. The pieces of the puzzle were just falling into place. She wasn't the reincarnation of an Ancient, she was Matt's ex. "Let me guess, you wanted to kill off the population of Fell's Church but didn't want to get blood on your lily white hands or break a nail."
The other woman's laugh was chilling for the depths of insanity it harbored. "No silly, I wanted it to kill you. Everyone else was just a side-effect I hadn't really anticipated. No harm, no foul – well, except that you're not dead."
Bloody marvelous. It was all Bonnie could do to just stare at her. "You're insane." She hissed after a long moment, while Matt's girlfriend touched up her lipstick. "Do you know what you've done this town because you have a vendetta against me?"
Kiera shrugged without a care in the world weighing her down. "Don't care." Pausing in the act of touching up her mascara, she glanced out of the corner of her eyes at the fuming redhead. "How did you survive, by the way? I gave explicit instructions."
Brown eyes narrowed, fire building within. If she were even a hint more like Damon, or as ruthless as Kiera, she had power enough to fry the woman's brains inside out. However, there was no guarantee that would stop the Hunter. "Carefully." She hissed. "Very carefully."
"Try to be less careful." Kiera waved the mascara wand at her vaguely. "I need you to die before the next full moon. It's very important."
'I'm freakin' Alice and I'm fallen down the rabbit hole, haven't I?' Bonnie stared hard at the elegant profile of Kiera's face, torn between wrapping her hands around the girl's neck or running the hell away. Still, there were unanswered questions that needed to be resolved. Like, the importance behind the next full moon. "Why's that?" She tried for that light conversational tone, the mindless 'don't mind me, nothing worrisome here to get excited about.'
Kiera smiled, her expression chilling and predatorial. "Klaus, dear girl. You are my ticket to freeing Klaus – and my immortality. All that power." Her eyes closed as she breathed in an air of anticipated ecstasy, breathing it out slowly and refocusing with chilling intent on Bonnie. "You sealed him. You binded him to the underworld. And, when your blood is spilled, I can summon his freedom."
It wasn't about Shiri. It wasn't about the Hunters. It was all about KLAUS! They had been so off base, so wrong to believe that Honoria held the truth and the only truth. Goddammit, how stupid could she have been? "You're beyond insane." Bonnie grit out between clenched teeth, furious beyond measure. "And, I think I'm going to kill you now."
How proud would Damon be of her? And how horrified would Elena be? Not that it mattered. She took a half step towards Kiera, and smirked beyond pleased when the little bitch's eyes widened in alarm.
"You wouldn't dare." Kiera gasped. Hands fluttered. "I'm powerful. I can…"
"Get on your broom and ride out of here?" Bonnie muttered, grabbing ahold of Kiera's long hair when the girl spun to make a run for it. "Get in line, sister. After the last six weeks, life in prison or hell, the death sentence sounds pretty fucking good. Especially if I know you're quite dead." One savage pull, and Kiera's pretty little head would bounce on porcelain sinks of the bathroom – problem gone. And for good measure, she'd fry her brains out while she lay dying. Perfect.
Her arm muscles were just tightening up for that reflexive pull even as Kiera screamed, and tragically, it was clear to her that Elena and Meredith hadn't been too far away. "Bonnie!" Elena's cry was nothing short of horrified.
Bonnie snarled at the blond anyway, and savagely jerked back, using some power to crack Kiera's shields as she did so. In a perfect world, where all the fates owed her one and were paying up, Kiera would have shattered her skull right then and there. Unfortunately, the real world had the addition of Meredith in it. Meredith who grabbed onto Kiera and pulled her away from the sink edge. It didn't prevent the other blond from reeling in psychic pain, however.
"Now why did you do that?" Bonnie grumbled, her teeth still clenched in a snarl. "She's the bloody sorcerer. It's her pet Hunter tearing this town apart!"
It was no good, frick'n'frack had already decided against her. Elena grabbed Bonnie's arm, hauling her back away, and Kiera fled through the door while Meredith locked it, advising her to call the police.
Jerking her arm free from Elena, Bonnie lifted up her bag and slung it across her shoulders. Two things she was certain of, Elena wouldn't listen. And Kiera wouldn't call the cops. However, if she had to put money on it, the Hunter was already on it's way here. 'Leave them here to die, or shoo them out?' She considered her two oldest friends while they lectured her on the damage Damon had already done to her psyche. 'As if I could shoo them anywhere. Would be nice. Note to self: give a nice eulogy.'
Nimbly slipping under the outstretched arm of Meredith, she strode briskly to the door. "Do what you want." She cut into Elena's warble. "The Hunter is probably on it's way here, once Kiera summons it, and it'll kill everything in this building. I'm going home."
"You're unstable!" Was her responding farewell.
'They ain't seen nothing yet. Such a loss.' On the upside, Damon would believe her. About Kiera. Thought put the body into motion, and her brisk strides to the main aisle that led to the doors of the library were only slowed by a fraction as she grabbed her backpack sitting at a nearby carousel, a backpack containing the flash-drive with her manuscript electronically on it.
"Bonnie McCullough, just you stop right there!" Elena's strident voice had many heads bobbing up, rather like the gophers in the arcade games.
Her life was turning into a bad soap opera. That was all she could say. 'Definitely should have stayed in bed today.' Slowly turning around, Bonnie waited for the Queen and Princess of Fell's Church to approach. Meredith's expression was grim, while Elena just looked confused.
"Now is not a good time for this." Bonnie found herself muttering all the same.
"Now is the only time." Meredith bit out. "You can't just go assaulting people. It's wrong. It's illegal and…"
Bonnie shivered, a sudden premonition creeping down her spine. "And you have no idea what is going on in this town, but you're going to tell me how to act, what to think, what to do, and stuff me into the dollhouse where it's safe." She frowned, glancing around skittishly for any hint of where the danger was. The main doors were behind her, the carols around her seemed vacant, and the shelving ran perpendicularly to the main aisle, allowing her a clear view. No one was there.
But, there was a sense of danger. She could feel it, and practically taste it. 'It's close.' Turning around and looking out the doors was the obvious course of action, but she felt as if she needed to appear unaware, or unconcerned 'Ha!'
"Bonnie!" Meredith barked at her inattention, until it became clear that it wasn't pure inattention but something more. Even Elena was starting to act skittish, and if there was one thing Meredith had come to identify, a skittish Elena meant something bad was nearby. Her gaze turned back to Bonnie. "What's going on? What's wrong…"
Glass shattered overhead, and Bonnie was already moving towards Elena and Meredith while the two girls looked up. She knew, instinctively, what had just come through the skylight. "Go, go, go!" She shouted, her mind screaming for Damon while she pushed the two girls. "Take this." She instructed Elena, shoving the backpack with her precious manuscript into the other woman's arms. "Get out of here, now. Get Damon. THAT is the Hunter. It's Kiera's. Tell Damon! GO!"
As if to punctuate her point, the create swung it's scythe in a broad arc, narrowly missing the space Bonnie's neck had occupied a second before. Somehow, the threat of immediate death managed to galvanize Meredith and Elena into full cooperation. "Which way?" Meredith panted as she turned and began running up the aisle.
"Emergency exit." Bonnie pushed Elena from behind. "Go."
The creature, preternatural and strong, moved easily behind them. It would catch up, or overtake them, that Bonnie was certain of. The dark robes seemed to flow behind it as it moved, and the hooded robe combined with the scythe gave the ghastly resemblance to the mythical 'grim reaper'. 'Reap this.' She grumbled, throwing herself sideways, and grabbing a chair to hurl at the creature. The creature swiped at the chair, but it still slowed it down giving Bonnie a chance to put more distance between herself and it, and at the same time, separating herself from Elena and Meredith.
The townspeople were already running for the exits, and in the back of her mind, Bonnie realized that would potentially make this the smallest killsite the creature had ever had since it had begun it's little terror-spree. She wasn't sure, however, whether to be proud or dismayed at that fact.
'I need something else to throw at it. I need to fry Kiera's brain… that might break the spell… gah.' She tripped, her eyes shooting wide when a heavy dagger flew over her head and hit hard into a wooden bookcase. 'Nasty!'
Dying was not an option. There were two alarming possibilities. If it didn't take her head, or rip her heart out, or… some other gruesome ways of disturbing her human remains, she'd rise again. She was pretty damn sure of that. If it did kill her, Klaus would rise again. Either way, not a win-win for the town of Fell's Church.
'I need more furniture. I need to go out the main doors, and keep running. The cops will be there, and that kind of chaos will buy me plenty of time…' She glanced at the doors at the other end of the building, and then at the carols around her. 'I'm a kickass powerful witch. I can do this.'
Nothing like a rousing pep-talk. Too bad her backup dancers weren't around. Throwing herself head over heels, she spun around and summoned her powers. It was, truthfully, an impressive light show, made even more spectacular when all the furniture on the east side of the building suddenly lifted from the ground and went flying into the Hunter.
The creature flailed under the weight of the furniture, and Bonnie seized the opportunity to run like hell. Her physical endurance had improved under Damon's rigorous training, and she actually felt a momentary flash of hope that she would succeed. At least, until the creature took one of the desks she had thrown at him and tossed it back at her. Her head hit the ground hard, and for a moment she saw stars.
'Damn.' She rolled as the axe came down where her head had lay a moment before. Kicking hard, she rolled herself backwards in a somersault, and scrambled to her feet. 'Not good.' She thought, staring at green glowing eyes. 'Very not good.' Her gaze shifted to the axe that was raising for another likely fatal swing. 'His primary weapon.'
Where the thought came from, she didn't know, but the power moved readily. Ruthlessly, she tapped into the powers that lay submerged below the town and channeled it for her own purposes. This was her town, she was it's guardian, it was hers to use… so damn it, she would. In magical terms, she knew it was called a Levin-bolt, but didn't care. All she cared was that it destroyed the damn axe, or scythe, or labrys… pick your name, but the sharp bladed thing that had haunted many of her dreams.
The head of the axe shattered under the bolt, and the effect must have hurt given the unearthly screech the creature made. Bonnie didn't care, she spun and run.
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Stefan was clutching the passenger side door like his life depended on it as Damon took a corner hard. His brother's face was set in a hard grim expression, and he knew that asking him to slow down wasn't worth the breath. One moment, Damon had been sardonically relaying the story of the past few weeks and the next bolting in alarm for Bonnie's rental car.
Something, somewhere, had happened. And most likely to Bonnie.
All Stefan knew for certain was that if he hadn't been a vampire, and hadn't consumed some of the human blood Damon had been keeping in Bonnie's fridge, he wouldn't have been fast enough to get into the damn car before Damon had peeled away. He could only pray he was vampire enough to take on whatever they found at their final destination.
"That's the town centre!" He suddenly exclaimed as the clock-tower came into sight. "What…"
People were running, screaming, away from the library, and reaching out with his senses, he could feel the panic. Pushing beyond the people, he focused on the library and felt his body chill. "What IS that?" He breathed.
"The Hunter." Damon growled.
"That's what you've been fighting?"
Damon snorted. "Fighting would mean we'd actual dealt with each other hand to hand. I don't stand a chance against this creature. All we've managed to do is escape dying."
Well, double damn. This was not good. Damon was pragmatic against most situations, but still arrogantly confident in his own predatory attributes. Stefan wasn't foolish enough to believe that in a true battle between each other that Damon wouldn't kick his ass, so he knew if Damon didn't feel he could take on this creature, he himself didn't stand a chance.
And if Damon couldn't fight it, then Bonnie was in infinitely more danger than could be readily measured. His eyes widened spotting Elena running away from the library. "Stop the car!" He barked.
Whether Damon was listening to him, or had seen the girls himself, he sent the car screeching to a stop, threw the door open and ran like a bat out of hell for the main library doors.
"Damon, don't!" Elena screamed, reaching for Stefan even as she protested at Damon's actions. Her face was white, and body shook hard.
He ignored her, and kept running.
"Get in the car," Stefan urged.
"Bonnie said Kiera…" Elena gasped, fighting her boyfriend. "She said Kiera is controlling it."
It didn't seem possible, but he would worry about that later. His first priority was Elena and Meredith's safety. "Get in the car." He reiterated.
"We have to find Kiera." Meredith argued.
"We will. Get in the car."
"Or I could save you the trouble." Kiera's dulcet voice sweet interrupted the trio. "I'm right here."
Stefan spun around, eyes widening as he spotted the blond with Matt hovering expressionlessly behind her. Her smile was vacuous, and eyes malicious, and in the blink of a moment, as an alien power curled around him and froze his body to the spot, he realized Bonnie had been right all along.
It took more power than he liked to move his head, and more power than he had to contact his brother. Not that it mattered, because Matt's precious girlfriend had grabbed Damon in her power too, and left him frozen on the stairs to the library. "I can't have you interrupt. My pet is just about to kill Bonnie, and I'd rather she didn't accidentally survive again. Thank you."
"W..why." Elena ground out.
"Power. Immortality. Revenge." Kiera shrugged. "Take your pick. I tried to free Klaus using magic, but your little friend is far stronger than I think any of you, including her, realize. It took me a year to find one of these Hunters, and months to wrap enough coercion spells around it to control it. It's still fighting me, but once Bonnie's dead I won't need it anymore. And Klaus will be easy to free."
Stefan closed his eyes. Klaus. That was why the construct had looked so real. Kiera had some sort of connection to Klaus. Dammit.
"Follow." She ordered, her power moving them like puppets towards the library. "We want centre stage seats when my Hunter brings out Bonnie's head."
Elena was whimpering, and Meredith wasn't even capable of that. But, all of them were struck with the horror of this moment, and the terror that came in their futile efforts to free themselves. Like automatons, they walked behind Kiera and she staged them on the stairs like actors in some bizarre play.
Damon was furious, and fighting her spell hard. His powers gave him partial protection and resistence to her complete control, but not enough to do anything. There was a burning fire in his eyes that promised a great deal of bloodletting if he could just get his hands on the blond witch. Stefan was inclined to help.
Kiera danced up the stairs until she could see through the glass doors. "Oooh, she's feisty." She laughed.
'Bonnie.' Stefan closed his eyes. 'Oh God, please. I don't deserve your attention or help, but she does. Please help.'
Damon had managed to move a foot. It wasn't much, but Stefan clung to his brother's efforts. They needed to disable Kiera. And then, maybe they could stop this creature.
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Her lip was bleeding from her biting it, but she needed the pain to focus on. The Hunter was moving again, and she had seconds to get to the doors and out to freedom, precious little seconds. Just because his precious axe was destroyed, didn't mean his claws couldn't finish the job, or one of the other knives that it seemed to carry.
'Run, run…' Bonnie chanted silently. Her eyes fixed on the prize. Movement there went unnoticed, until a flash of blond caught her eye. 'Elen… Kiera!' She was so close to the doors, she could see the drama unfolding on the steps, and her sensitivity to power let her 'see' what she had done to her friends. 'Damn. Oh damn.'
Pain lanced through her, tearing into her abdomen like raw fire and her world spun. 'Wha…?' Blood blossomed across the front of her shirt, and she looked down to see the metal shaft of the axe poking through. 'Oh, shit.'
Kiera was dancing in glee, sunlight shining down on her bright head. 'I have to help them…' Bonnie thought faintly, the pain and trauma slowing her down physically not mentally. 'Don't have time. Seconds.'
It was like being in the clearing all over again, with seconds stretching eternally before her and yet not lasting long enough. Klaus dancing about in glee, throwing lightening to disable Damon and Stefan… throwing lightening. Throwing lightening.
Her hand reached out, in Kiera's general direction, but her powers stretched beyond summoning something from the clear sky that was impossible under the laws of nature. It was churning in the ether, so much energy, so much power, all it took was the grace of the Gods to free it. Godstrike. Lightening strike. Something no witch, no vampire, no creature could survive. Something that would destroy Kiera.
It flashed even as she felt the Hunter's hand close around her falling body, and it's long nails bite deep into her flesh. She rode power, however, and her body was beyond all consequence. It flashed as she surrendered her flesh, it flashed as the heavens roared, and it moved true to her intent, with her standing position as the terminus.
Kiera hadn't stood a chance. And as Bonnie slumped to the ground, the Hunter preparing to rip her apart, neither did it. Nor the library.
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"Ooh," Kiera laughed. "He's staked her. And now he's going to rip her apart!" She smiled happily at Damon. "Does this hurt you?" She asked with callous curiosity. "I know you worked awfully hard to keep her alive."
Her attention turned back, lips parted in anticipation of what was to come and hands clasped together anxiously.
Damon howled, his frustration painful to everyone.
And then, they were free. The lightening had flashed so close, that the air was scorched with ozone, and burnt human hair. Stefan spun around, but Elena, Meredith and Matt were slumped unharmed on the ground. Damon flew past and through the library doors, only to fly backwards in a backlash of fire. "NO!" He roared.
Stefan moved then, grabbing his brother and fighting with all his strength to hold him still. "You can't." He shouted. "Do you want to die too?"
The library went up in flames faster than he could have believed. So many old books, so much old wood just ripe tinder for a little bit of flame. 'Bonnie. Oh God, Bonnie.' In so many ways, they had failed their red-headed friend. And he had no illusions about who had slain Kiera. It hadn't been any of them. The lightening had come from a clear blue sky and shot right through the library doors.
Damon struggled hard, but as the roof came in, slumped in surrender. "I promised her." He whispered. "I promised she'd make it through."
Stefan bowed his head, forehead resting against the back of his brother's head as Damon dropped to his knees. He'd never know what the connection between his brother and Bonnie had been, but he knew it was unlike anything he'd ever seen in his brother before. And it hurt to see it shattered before it had a chance to bring some measure of warmth to his brother's solitary life. Even as a friend, Bonnie would have been the first of such for Damon.
Elena was weeping openly, but still in possession of common sense that had them all stepping away from the burning building, and letting the authorities that had finally decided to show up do their work.
All in all, it was a very sad little group that found their way across the street, huddled on the curb distraught at the death of a dear and very special friend.