Bonnie Bennett Pov

I intensively glared down at the diary of Emmalynn Bennett, the small book I read out loud made me wonder.

"Bronzen- Binyamin Chaska. The Armory First Wolf?" I looked at Angelo who sat across my motel room table. "If she knew him, What happened to him?" Angelo slowly removed his glasses, sliding them up on top of his low cut hair.

"I think you should read it for yourself. I believe your ancestors created the spell of the vault and continued to add on to Emily Bennett's Grimoire to keep in mind how evil things she found could become and how to stop it with a spell."

"Why do you insist we read it now?"

"Bonnie, honestly I would like for us to help each other. Perhaps we could continue to read it together- just in case there's something more familiar to you and your past than mine. Though if you'd rather read it alone, that's fine with me."

"We both know of the Armory."

"Yet, there weren't any family meetings on discussion of the past, nor were documented diaries laying around the foyer that I could gain excess too. That diary of Emmalynn Bennett seems legit… but is she Emily Bennett's daughter or niece?"

"Not sure. Emily was only known to have a brother as far as I know. My Grams told me our ancestors lived in secrecy for over a hundred years and fled Salem in 1692 and relocated to Virginia. Back in high school she said it was important that we remained in hiding. She definitely wasn't wrong though it was too late."

"Why? What happened? Why didn't you?" Angelo asks, sliding his eye glasses back to his face.

"Because of my friendship with Elena." I sighed thinking of how we were normal teenagers dealing with the grief and death of Elena's parents, until Stefan came into her life and everything changed. For her as well as for me.

"What happened?" He asked.

I shrugged, with a laugh.. "Oh, you know.. the usual teenage angst- a young sad-lonely girl falls in love with a vampire and everything changes." I say dramatically sarcastic.

"Ah- I get it. Like Twilight." He grinned over at me using air quotes and I burst out laughing.

Caroline and I once joked that that was Damon's favorite book.

"Yeah -that. Anyway- back to The Armory.. How could you grow up there and be left in the dark?" Confused as I was it made sense for him not wanting any parts, definitely after once crossing paths with his cousins Alex and her wacky sister.

"For the little that I had witnessed of the treatment of the creatures there -not that I care much for them- It was all still cruel and barbaric. I refused to be a part of it or fall in line. I even told outsiders… My family didn't take that kindly. They iced me out -so to speak- I never felt they trusted me there ever since."

"Must have been lonely- You must still harbor some of that -teenage angst- huh?" I mocked.

He chuckled. "Well, actually if I'm being honest - I had to let that angst go or it would have consumed me. I didn't ever want myself to become what the Armory turned into years before everything happened. It was believed that Enzo was the first to survive being locked away in there, then allowed out. However, he was not. After you bolted the remaining door to the evil.. When I returned from China I decided I had to look deeper at everything." He says.

"So if Enzo was abandoned at a workhouse at age four and thought his father was an Italian line cook, then at age fourteen on the street and died at only twenty-seven… How is it that he was captured? How is it all connected? The Armory is in Grove Hill, Virginia. His human life was crap. Alone, living off of scrapped food. He knew nothing of family." I stated.

"Is that what he told you?" He whispers.

I shrugged. "Enzo did whatever it took to find the truth, yet all he learned was that the Armory was nothing but shady-historical-lunatics. No offense. He worked for them for four months."

"No offense taken and I had known of him then… a little. I tried my best to ask my mother for help, but all she said was that she needed him to be safe and rid of the Salvatore brothers before he could be told any information or truth about his family."

"Right, a family that abandoned him at a work-house, never bothered to look to see how he turned out. A family that wiped any trace of his history. 1903 Southampton, England, he was helped onto a ship to New York by Lily Salvatore - he was dying, she gave him her blood in order to turn him, and he later died before the ship docked in Manhattan."

"Lily Salvatore… your friend Damon's mother? What happened to her?" He asked.

"The Gemini Coven put her in the same prison world as I had been."

"I've heard of them… there once was a photograph in an ancient Armory in China, along with a Grimoire of the Original Gemini Twins."

"The Original Gemini Twins? Never heard of them." I stated.

"Many haven't. Not many Covens are ever discussed unless there's a threat or need of their power."

"Who are they? The twins I mean? If the Armory there had knowledge of them then they must have originated from China, right?" I say curiously.

Angelo shrugged. "Not entirely sure, the Armory burned down before I could investigate further."

"How is that possible?"

"I assume a Coven or group of vampires were responsible." He said looking down to the floor of the hotel room and I could easily tell- there was something he wasn't telling me.

"Enzo was experiment number 12144 in the Augustine Society. How could it be possible that they've never been stopped?" I say frustrated.

The Augustine Society isn't so secretive to witches.

"They are protected by very old magic."

"Old? Or Dark?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.

"That's a very brilliant question. Clearly to me… very dark." He says.

Not words I like to hear at all.

I sighed. "Enzo was found by the Whitmore family after he left his post in Eastern Europe during World War II. He was imprisoned by Dr. Whitmore, who shipped him overseas and forced him to endure his torture and experimentation for ten years."

"I've read that in the case studies, but it only had the date he was sent over till 1953."

"I'm guessing the year Damon was imprisoned by Augustine and Enzo assisted their escape. Damon broke free he turned off his emotions and abandoned him instead of freeing him… he told me the sorrow he felt after that happened." I frowned at the sorrow Enzo must have felt.

"With the remaining followers of the Whitmore family to continue on." Angelo adds. "I never felt the home of the society was ever my family. I just need more proof."

Confused, I ran a hand through my hair. "Proof such as what?"

"The connection, this link between your ancestors and the Armory."

"Obviously, Emmalynn Bennett is that connection." I scoffed.

"I know, I know though there must be more! You know." He exclaimed passionately.

"What more do you need? They originated from Ancient Greece, then eventually settled in Salem, Massachusetts but- after the witch trials began, they relocated to Mystic Falls in 1692. They have lived in the town and maintained the secrecy of their magic for over one hundred years." I stated.

"The Bennett family is known to be dominated by women. What happened to Emily's brother and son?"

I shrugged. "No idea."

"What about your mother?" He asked and I'm sure she would have mentioned something if she knew.

"Look, as much as I love climbing up my family tree - there's obviously much more information out there you just have to know where to look." I state.

My Bennett family has been linked to both the Salvatore and Petrova families since 1st Century B.C., with Qetsiyah as my oldest known ancestor. We are also descended from a Traveler bloodline. Yet, I still don't know much about Angelo or what he's truly after. All I know is I need to find out tonight at the charity Ball.

"It must feel empowering to not only come from such brilliant power but to also be a force of it." Angelo says generally smiling at me.

"Right, I should create a Grimoire of my own." I joke.

"I certainly wouldn't oppose it. Among us little people you truly are a-"

"If you say a legend, I will kick you out of this hotel room so fast and banish you from Paris." I say cutting him off with a threat.

Angelo laughed, giving his hair a scratch. "I was actually going to say… you are a magnificent, phenomenal woman. The Bennett legacy lives on and I know no one else alive is as talented or brilliant as you."

I rolled my eyes. "No need to flatter me, I'm not sure if I'll be much help on your quest anyway." I stand to my feet to grab a bottle of water from my mini fridge.

"There's a connection to Dalton and your ancestors as you read for yourself, there's just no listing reasons on what truly happened between them." He also says getting to his feet slowly.

"I'm sure he only wanted to use them like most brainpower men and they were fed up once they found out he was working with the townspeople. Isn't that the usual tale in these past stories? Emily's personal Grimoire, I go nowhere without it now.. Even though I rarely use it, she was legendary… I agree with what you asked before… Is she Emmalynn's daughter or was she named for her?"

Angelo nods. "That is certainly what I love to find out." He smiles, completely intrigued. The motion was contagious but I held my grin back. I nodded instead. "What year did Emily Bennett die?" He asked.

"1864, near the end of the American Civil War. According to Katherine Pierce, Emily was a loose end and she was betrayed. The town learned she was a witch and they burned her at the stake."

Angelo sighed. "I'm so sorry to hear that, that pain must have been excruciatingly painful to witness."

"Yeah well- we all wish our ancestors could live to old age and die-comfortably-warm-in their beds. Sadly, this life isn't like that. I'm not even sure Abby knows how Emily's children handle her death. I can only imagine from the way my father was murdered in front of me it must have been a tragic tale." I say trying my best not to picture one of the most terrible moments of my life, but it comes anyway.

"Was it by a vampire?" He whispers, moving extremely close to me.

I stood in place by the television dresser. "No- no, Silas was an immortal-witch, literally a Spirit of Hell."

"What happened to him?" Angelo reached over to open my bottle of water, touching my skin with his. Suddenly the image of fire, books and needles on a marble floor' flashed into my mind and a colon smell of eucalyptus spearmint surprisingly filled my nose. I composed myself fast, not allowing the small vision to alarm me.

I cleared my throat, as he removed his warm hand from mine. "Killed. Stabbed with a dagger by his Doppelganger ..Stefan." I say in hesitation, remembering the very first vision of Stefan when I felt 'blackness, and death'. With Angelo it was 'flames, and intensity of heat'.

"Stefan Salvatore… He was the one who killed Enzo?" He ask.

I exhaled. "Stefan wasn't himself, his humanity was off. Anyway, Emily used the Grimoire to detail all of the spells she created over the course of her life, including enchanted objects such as the Gilbert Rings, the Gilbert Compass, and the Gilbert Device. Originally, those enchanted objects were all creations of Johnathan Gilbert, a Founding member of Mystic Falls. Maybe I could do a locator spell on the journals to see where they ended up."

"That could work… or you could finish Emmalynn's diary."

"Clearly, Emmalynn falls for the tall, dark, lurking, wolf-guy- and his keen intuition about the deep forbidden woods." I say sarcastically.

"Binyamin." He corrected with a grin turning to grab the diary.

"Whatever- all I know is already things aren't looking so good for Emmalynn." I say brushing passed him to sit back down in my chair by the window.

"How do you figure?" He chuckled, crossing his arms leaning against the dresser with the book still in his hand.

"Come on, Emily supposedly had romantic feelings for Johnathan Gilbert and that was clearly doomed from the start. Emily also knew what Katherine was doing to Damon and Stefan before they were turned. What I can't seem to understand with her being so powerful- Why did she let Katherine get away with so much? Katherine must have known something Emily needed to end the vampire but I obviously failed." I started thinking back on it out loud to him.

"Perhaps information, or perhaps this Katherine woman was her way in with Johnathan Gilbert." Angelo said flirtatiously, moving his eyebrows up and down. "The closer she gets to the in-crowd, the closer she gets to Johnathan. They kill the necessary evil together and hope to live happily ever after."

I couldn't withhold my laughter. "Ew, and there's no such thing."

Angelo chuckled. "What? It isn't too far off."

"Have you seen photographs of Johnathan Gilbert? Though I give you points for imagination." I mumbled the last part.

Angelo narrowed his eyes. "No, never seen a photo of Johnathan Gilbert. Have you? Wait, let me guess- he wasn't that hot." He mocked.

I burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, I can't believe we're talking about this." I waved my hand.

"No, come on, you can tell me. Besides, that's not all it can be. Sexiness. Physical looks are a bonus when it comes to common human interest though Imagination is more important than knowledge in these cases."

"Einstein? Really?" I say at his ridiculous quote.

"Look at it this way… perhaps Emily and Emmalynn have much more in common than we know. They both fell for men who took a liking to them, those guys clearly were on 'Team greater good."

"Oh right, it could have been their big brains. Nothing says sexy like a very intelligent man with a shady past." I joked, cocking my eyebrow at him.

"Let's imagine, think about it… it's the 1800's… you're in a town full of killing vampires and such… and here's a man who's not only smart- but has a pulse and a purpose. Those feelings that led Emily to secretly spell Jonathan's objects in order to make them work. She didn't have to help him, yet there had to have been something that attracted her to him."

"Like his sense of humor?" I mocked.

"Exactly, or maybe he was a great cook- we don't know." He said and I laughed again.

Why were we analyzing this? In retrospect we weren't just talking about Emmalynn and The Armory Wolf or Emily and Jonathan Gilbert. It was the known fact of how two people with no common interest could possibly have any romantic involvement. Then again I once felt that way towards Enzo and he became a special person to me.

"Hmm- yeah I never thought about it. Though I'm sure it may have been the strong dislike of vampires. Maybe Emily needed to get close to Katherine in order to try and stop her. Then Emmalynn needs to allow the werewolf to help her to stop the Wendigo." I suggested.

Still super strange that those things exist.

"Ah, I see- the whole 'know thy enemy' term in so many ways." Angelo nods. "I can see that. Now, What did Johnathan Gilbert devices do exactly?" He asked.

"The rings would resurrect a human wearer if they died at the hands of a supernatural being. The compass, hidden within a pocket-watch, could point to the direction of a vampire and the mechanical device would emit a powerful, high-pitched frequency for five minutes, which would incapacitate any vampire or werewolf in its vicinity."

"Interesting. Will any of these objects be auctioned tonight at the gala?" He asked, "I didn't see them listed on the booklet.

"More or less." I replied. "For the spells that are in Emily's Grimoire for Daylight Amulets are easy for me to design with any jewelry but the Gilbert Compass and the Gilbert Device had to be recreated with new elements. That'll surely come in handy for all kinds of hunting… experience." I noted, already assuming he was clearly new to the strange and unexplained hunt. Question is which device would he want to get his hands on.

"Well, Emily's Grimoire could help us in the search for information on Dalton." He took his seat across from me in the other chair by the window.

This 'Us' term gave me pause.

yet, I nod comprehending what he was doing here, and why he sought me out.

"Alright so In 1882 Dalton first opened the vault. What went on after that?" I noted. "Later Enzo called the Armory home, Alaric Saltzmen made a generous donation of some of those supernatural artifacts… Are you sure there isn't something specific that you need? Because at the moment they are still under lock and key and I will not allow them to fall into the wrong hands." Who knows what old ancient evil is waiting to get their hands on.

"No." Angelo shook his head. "To be honest, Bonnie even if something from the Armory artifacts were familiar I would not know what to do with them. I'm as vanilla as most come when it comes to ancient-supernatural-things."

I narrowed my eyes feeling there was something he was not saying. "So the journals… are all your after?"

Angelo nodded. "Yes."

He was clearly lying.

Dalton had no compassion they say.. that time in the vault took away his empathy. His capacity for love. Eating away at his soul. There was nothing left but darkness. Will I be able to spot that in a stranger? In Angelo before it was too late?

I don't really know Angelo and I can't just take his word for everything.

"Then why do I have the feeling that you're hiding something?" I say.

Angelo eyes glancing to the left out the window towards the sunny sky, then he sits up locking his fingers together.

"What do you mean? I've told you-"

"You told me just enough so I won't question any vague doubts. Telling as few details as possible, yet there's always something I don't know from someone like you."

He snorted. "Someone like... What exactly?"

"A shady well-dressed fellow with an even shadier past." I stated.

"I know, though Bonnie- I promise you… there isn't anything in my past that will harm you. I hope something can tell you how I can make a better friend than my cousins. You can trust that. You can read me."

"Not even remotely, though I hope so soon enough." I'll have to perform a similar spell I had with Luka Martin years ago- that would force Angelo into telling me his true reason for seeking me out. When he fully reveal his desires then I can tread lightly. I just have to make sure the out come will be greater than what had transpired when I was a young newly teenage witch.

"Then ask me anything, I'm an open book." He says.

I shrugged. "Guess that's a good thing.. Yet you can still conceal whatever you want."

"No, I can't. Alright look, I'm aware that all witches are … cloak and dagger and I don't want to toss that word trust around until I can give a perfectly good reason for you too. All witches have a right to be cautious."

"Is that right? How many witches have you met?" I ask.

"A few."

I nod. "And none of them could help you to find Enzo's journals?"

"Not a single one. One just pointed me to you. She had recently moved back to New Orleans, and she told me she was an old friend of a Lucy Bennett years ago." He breathed.

Lucy, a cousin of mine who died. I really wish I could have learned more from her.

"I knew Lucy's name from the Armory tales." He continued.

"Lucy was known by all I see?" I say as when I first met her, she was working for Katherine.

"Yes and I've seen photographs in the new New Orleans coven. She seemed mysterious." He comments.

"Hmm.. like most witches." I mocked, and certainly didn't know there was a new coven.

"Almond brown eyes, and long dark hair… tall with an athletic body as if she kicked a lot of butts and took no names…" He joked. "My ah... my brother… Gideon, who is a medium once seen her at the Armory."

"Medium?" I say, only knowing one medium "Like Matt Donovan?"

"Whose Matt Donovan? Former flame?"

I laughed. "No."

"I heard my cousin Alex had Virginia committed after she killed your cousin Lucy."

"I know. I assumed years ago when I read Virginia's Diary, then learned Virginia forced Lucy to seal the Armory vault with Yvette inside. Do you care that I spelled and locked Alex inside the Armory with the darkness that lived inside it? I can imagine the family meeting on that." I say questioningly.

"To be honest… I should but Alex wasn't on 'team-greater good." What does that even mean and how could he know of that if he was in China at the time? Or wherever he was.

I narrowed my eyes. "The St. John's seem to be only loyal to those they call family… blood relations or not." I stated.

"I don't know Bonnie, in reality my entire life I've been living for a family who I truly did not know. The only truth I knew was of you. Your Bennett bloodline. I never cared for magic or vampires or anything except escaping to a place where I knew the people were pure and had purpose. Somewhere normal."

"Wow, your mother must be strongly-obsessed with all supernatural beings huh? The fact that you grew up in the Armory and wanted nothing to do with it, is bewildering to me." I admitted.

"Leonardo 'Gideon' Andino' my older brother… and Othniel 'Jeremiah' Andino are my adoptive-brothers… Raviv Lawrence is the man that raised us… but Dalton St. John Jr. step-brother David claim to be our biological father."

"Oh." I mouthed.

"Dalton St. John was the leader of the Armory for a long time. He had many acquaintances and friends. He and his fellow colleagues ventured inside the Vault beneath the Armory, then he went on to have two sons. Some say he captured many orphans and put them to work."

"So… your mother…Grace St. John, is not really your mother.. What happened to her?" I ask.

"She's alive and we are related in blood but I'm not sure how completely."

"Does she know that you are searching for the journals through me?"

"No. She only knows that I'll be at a gala tonight in France for musical entertainment."

"You're a musician?" I asks surprise.

"Kind-of. I was forced to be a pianist when I was five years old. I just never had the passion for it unless I-" He cut off and I narrowed my curious eyes.

"Unless you were what?"

He cleared his throat. "Unless I was writing for a girlfriend or crush." He confessed.

I nodded. "I get it."

Enzo taught me to play the guitar years ago… I miss our practices and daily banter.

Most days I miss him most.

"What is it you get?" Angelo questioned.

"Old people dancing… birds sings in trees.. you're an old soul, obviously. Explains a lot -cut-dapper-guy who of course plays the piano, in a 'I'll be seeing you- Billie Holiday-vibe."

He laughs. "See… you can read me."

"Sometimes you can tell a lot about someone from what musical instruments they play. Besides, you grew up in the Armory- they definitely have a formal way about themselves, if you know what I mean."

He laughs again. "Yes, that is true. Not only do my elders torture creatures of the night, they dress well while doing so." He joked.

I shook my head rolling my eyes. Still hard to believe he isn't part of why the Armory was created for, even Enzo barely got out without loving to effect the same torturous pain for vengeance in a moment in time.

"Can I ask you something?" Angelo asks in a serious tone.

"If it's about Enzo… Let's just wait until we find the journals." I say, not in the mood to talk about Enzo anymore with someone who looks exactly like him.

"Alright, I'll ask the next question on my list." He jokes.

"Oh goody, you have a list." I mocked.

He chuckled then looked to me completely serious with cautious eyes. "How did you wake her?"

I glared over deep into those dark brown eyes that I needed to avoid.

It was clear he meant my oldest friend ever. Who told him about that?

"Elena?" I say.

"Yes. The witch coven told me about her."

I shrugged.

"Let's just say… A very powerful spell." I stated.

"I know… it's just the whispers of what happened years ago- I can't help to ask you face to face."

I exhaled. "Ever since I found out that I was more than a psychic- I practiced four types of magic as I learned them: Traditional, Spirit, Dark and Expression. I stick to Traditional Magic to be on the safe side… it was more freeing than draining... and that's how I did it, through purity not dark-power."

"Was there a moment in your life that you truly disliked who you are?" He asked and it instantly made me think… Who is he truly and what is he running from? Could he not like who he is? Could he want to use what I know to change himself?

"I spent 278 days inside a 1904 prison world. The first month there I hated being who I was yet never felt so proud of who I am at the same time. So to be honest, no. There wasn't a moment in my entire life that I regret having and being of The Bennett Witch Bloodline."

Angelo smiled with a nod, then flipped to a certain page of Emmalynn Bennett's diary. "Beautiful answer. Alright. I will allow you to finish this before it's time for your charity event. There's some research I must do, and I'm sure there are dresses you cannot wait to try on." He smiled standing to his feet, handing me the small book. "Au revoir mademoiselle Bonnie Bennett." He winks then slowly turns to take his leave.

There was something about him that was screaming 'Enzo' yet he wasn't him. Definitely attractive, yet not completely trustworthy. He was hiding something, and I intend to find out what it is.

I didn't even have to say another word as Angelo glanced back silently before closing the room door behind him.

Looking down at Emmalynn's diary, I sat back to continue to read where I left off.