AN: *Peeks through fingers* I'm sorry for the hiatus. It took a while to bounce back from dealing with having to process losing both of my in laws and recovering from being really sick. I almost didn't write today because I heard about the Supreme Court reversing Roe v. Wade, but I used my anger to just focus on doing the one thing I love most in this world and that is writing. Please protect your peace and don't let the hate in this world get you down. If that means staying off of social media for awhile, I strongly encouraged that.
TRIGGER WARNING! There is a mention of suicide in this chapter, so proceed with caution. To the new readers who have stumbled onto this story, welcome! To those who are faithfully still reading, I am very appreciative that you are still here and reviewing. To the guest who asked about Damon's return...yes, that blue eyed beautiful bastard will be back but not anytime soon. Introverted Musings...it's funny you mention the vault because in my outline I've been struggling whether or not to make that apart of the plot. It's still up in the air, but if it does come into play in the story, I guarantee you that it won't be Sybil who is trapped inside. She was so beautiful, but I just couldn't stand her character.
Mizzpray: I missed that while editing and I'm completely horrified. I apologize for the mistake and thanks for pointing it out. I will go back and fix that.
"Every bargain we made was chewed over carefully before it was swallowed. Each one seemed like the best choice at the time, and yet it seemed that we swallowed enough unwholesome things to bring us down to the very edge of death."
― Alter S. Reiss, Sunset Mantle
...
I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house
That don't bother me
I can take a few tears now and then and just let them out
I'm not afraid to cry every once in a while
Even though going on with you gone still upsets me
There are days every now and again I pretend I'm ok
But that's not what gets me
...
Several miles outside of Mystic Falls, a 1963 Porshe 356 Karmann Coupe was speeding down a dark and lonely road. Inside of this classically expensive car was a emotionally distraught vampire who was shaking and covered in blood from head to toe. Glancing in the rearview mirror, anxiously the vampire found himself trying to figure out exactly who and what he was in that moment. Was he Stefan Salvatore or was he The Rippah? He had spent so much time going back between his two persona's that he was beginning to think that there was no separating the two. He thought he had gotten a handle on his blood addiction and he had been living a somewhat productive life, but earlier that night, things had changed drastically.
He had been driving home after making a run to a store outside of town to get parts for his motorcycle that was currently out of commission when he had come across a man who had been stumbling down the road. Apparently, the guy had been a college student who had gotten in a fight with his parents and had decided to go for a walk to clear his head. Stefan had offered the kid some sagely advice and had every intention of taking him home but sometime during the ride, Stefan had caught the scent of blood coming from his passenger. After some casual inquiry, he discovered that the kid's knuckles were bleeding due to him irrationally putting his fist in a wall during his confrontation with his parents. His hand wasn't bleeding that bad, but it was enough to trigger Stefan's hunger. He had tried to control himself and keep his blood addiction at bay, but his hunger had drowned out the pleading sounds of his conscience and before he knew it, he blacked out.
When he came to, the entire cabin of the Porshe had been splattered with blood and the young kid had been dead. Stefan haven't even bother to learn his name.
After depositing the body of his victim in the trunk, he climbed back into his car and drove around feeling completely cold and numb.
It was times like this where Stefan found himself really missing Lexi. She was always good about reigning him in and putting the demonic Ripper genie back into the bottle, but unfortunately, his ball busting best friend was gone and that was all thanks to his arrogant and heartless brother. Thinking of Damon, a manic laugh escaped Stefan's lips as he took a sharp turn leading into Mystic Falls. Damon was the reason for most of the terrible things that had taken place in his life, yet Damon would walk around acting like he was the victim and Stefan was the sole cause of his demise. Eternal misery. That's what Damon had promised him, and he was starting to feel like that his brother had made good on that promise. If he had to look back on his life, what did he have left to hold on to? Lexi was dead, Elena had broken his heart, his blood addiction had given him a one-way ticket to eternal damnation and Caroline had been smart enough to take the pieces of happiness that she was fortunate to be blessed with and get as far away from him as possible.
He was alone. He was unloved. He was a monster. He was a gluttonous pig who couldn't handle his hunger and when his greed got the best of him, that's when people would die.
The blood addiction, the killing, the guilt...it was too much. He realized that he couldn't continue to live like this anymore and it was time to put a permeant end to his suffering. Starring at the horizon, a bitter smile touched his lips because he knew that in less than a few hours, before the sun would rise on the sleepy little town, humanity would no longer be plagued with his presence. He would be free of the burden of his self-loathing and never-ending appetite and the world would be a better place for it.
Removing the daylight ring off his finger, he was preparing to chuck it out the window, when he grimaced at a strange pain twisting inside of his chest. At the exact moment that the pain started, the Rascal Flats song that had been playing on the radio cut off abruptly and was replaced with white noise. As Stefan reached to adjust the knob, he noticed that it was 11:11 and a heavy sense of Deja vu settled over him. The last time he had felt this exact same feeling was when Elena's parents had gotten into a car accident and drove off a bridge that cost them their lives.
He couldn't explain it, but the need and the urge to get to the bridge was so overwhelmed and powerful that he stomped on the gas and started speeding in the that direction as fast as he could go.
Once he arrived to the destination, he slammed on breaks and felt his eyes widened at the scene.
A tree had fallen on the other side of the bridge and a Toyota Prius was flipped upside down next to it. There was smoke bellowing out of the engine and the smell of gasoline was heavy in the air.
Jamming his daylight ring back onto his finger, he clenched his jaw before exiting his Porche and making his way over to the totaled vehicle.
As he moved closer to the scene of the accident, he realized that something about the Prius seemed familiar. Seconds later, he felt his knees buckle when the unique scent of earth, vanilla and jasmine caught his attention. His undead heart twisted in his chest as he realized he knew who was inside of the car.
"Bonnie," he choked out in horror.
Rushing over to the side of the car, he discovered the Bennett witch unconscious and pinned violently to the steering wheel.
Blood.
There was so much blood.
Acting quickly and methodically, Stefan gripped the door handle of the car and tore it off with ease allowing him access to Bonnie who looked like a broken doll. There were severe injuries to her body, but what concerned him most was the deep cut across her face.
"Bonnie. Hey Bonnie," he called out gently with a tremor in his voice as he touched her cheek searching for warmth. "Can you hear me?"
No response.
Moving as gingerly as he could he reached around and unbuckled her seatbelt before retrieving her out of the driver seat and laying her gently on the ground.
Her head lolled to the side and her eyes remained closed and he was preparing to bite into his wrist to feed her his blood when something happened in that moment that made his spine stiffen.
He placed his ear in the middle of the chest and listened desperately only to discover something terrible.
There was no heartbeat.
Three weeks earlier...
"Come on you elusive creature. Get in the blasted ball."
Bonnie took her eyes off the dirt path in front of her and glared at Enzo who was deeply emerged in a game on his phone.
"Seriously? You're playing Pokémon Go? What are you, like five?" she smirked.
"The game is rated E for everyone thank you very much," he muttered under his breath as he launched his second to last Poké ball to at the rare Pokémon who unfortunately decided to flee at the last moment.
Bonnie sucked her teeth and mumbled an insult towards him before turning her attention back to her task at hand.
When Alex asked her to investigate and neutralize a nest of vampires that was located at a farm in the back woods of a small county in West Virginia, Bonnie had jumped at the chance to stake and burn members of the undead. However, when she learned that Enzo would accompany her on the mission, she had been less than enthusiastic to be trapped on a stakeout with a vampire that she did not particularly care for.
"Well, when you get done chasing after Pikachu, maybe you can try focusing on the mission we have ahead of us," she suggested snippily as she dodged a low hanging branch, "If you want to play childish games, do it on your own time, or maybe try actually having a life."
"I bet you were never this nasty to Damon. If you wanted him to do something for you, you would just bat those big green eyes of yours and ask him nicely," he grumbled before slipping his phone into his jacket pocket.
Bonnie clenched her fists tightly feeling a surge of anger rush through her at the mention of her former friend.
"What was one of my many rules you agreed to follow when I decided to come work with you at the Armory?" she asked evenly.
"That you and I will not have a conversation about 'He who should not be named'," he sighed rolling his eyes as he kicked a pebble out of his path.
"And what did I say would happen if you broke my rules?" she asked slowly.
"Your exact words were that you would cut out my tongue and force me to wipe my own arse with it," he repeated dryly.
"Consider this your one and only warning. The next time, I will make good on my threat," she promised darkly before squatting a mosquito that had l landed on her shoulder.
Enzo glanced at her sideways.
"If I didn't know any better, I would think that you get off on the thought of causing me physical pain."
"If I'm being honest, I can say that it's one of the many things that truly brings me a perverse amount of joy," she admitted with a saccharine smile.
Was it wrong that he found himself a little turned on by the violent streak inside of the Bennett witch? Probably.
"I like the fact that you have a dark side. I think it suits you," he said smiling at her appreciatively. "It's like dark Vadar meets my little pony."
"Star Trek reference. Seriously?" she laughed.
"For your information, it was a Star Wars reference. Confusing the two will get you killed in certain circles," he warned with a deep chuckle.
"I'll make sure I keep that mind if I ever accidently stumble across Comic Con," she snorted before giving him a sideways glance, "I didn't realize you were such a big nerd."
"Well, I do like to have hobbies outside of draining pretty emo girls and hanging around cemeteries," he said
"Cute," Bonnie dead panned.
"I prefer devilishly handsome, love," he grinned.
"I agree with the devil part," she snarked.
Enzo chuckled and a genuine smile briefly appeared on Bonnie's face.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at their destination and after spending a couple of moments casing the joint and coming up with a game plan, the witch and the vampire made their way into the farmhouse under a cloaking spell.
As Bonnie stepped foot through the barn doors, she recoiled as she was smacked in the face with the stench of blood, sweat, alcohol and sex. There was an old eighties rock song playing from a speaker across the room that had seen better days and there was one lone couple on the dance floor drunkenly swaying and singing along to the music like they didn't have a single care in the world.
On the other side of the farmhouse, Bonnie found a handful of vampires lounging on several bales of haystacks. One was a tall leggy blonde, there was a scruffy guy with a horrendous looking man bun, a chick with a dream catcher on her lower back, a Latina vampire dressed head to toe in Gucci and a young male vampire who was toying around with a needle and a small bag filled of some unknown white substance.
Cracking her knuckles, Bonnie narrowed her eyes and stretched her hands out in front of her and focused on the vampires who were blissfully unaware of their presence. Uttering an immobilization spell, Bonnie kept the vampires frozen in space while Enzo broke through the cloaking spell and snapped their necks.
"Well, that was easy enough," Enzo mumbled as he kicked one of the unconscious vampires in the rib with the toe of his boots before moving on to the next body.
"I really wish that you didn't say that" Bonnie protested yanking on his jacket sleeve to get his attention.
He turned away from the second vampire body and frowned at her confused. "Why not?"
"Because you just jinxed the mission. Saying that something is easy enough is a good way for the universe to prove you wrong," she grumbled as she helped him searched the bodies for the magical relic they were hunting.
"You sound ridiculous and overly superstitious," he said condescendingly.
"And you sound like you were spoiling for a fight," she argued heatedly.
"If it's a fight you want, I will be more than happy to oblige you, mon ami."
Bonnie and Enzo whirled around and found a tall vampire with shoulder length brown hair standing behind them smoking a cigarette.
Enzo could immediately sense the danger in the air and instinctively, he took a step forward and placed himself between Bonnie and their adversary.
"What are you doing? I don't need you to protect me," Bonnie hissed annoyed.
"This is not the time to prove how big of a feminist you are," Enzo growled back.
She gave Enzo a dirty look before turning her attention towards the bored looking vampire.
"Why didn't you go down with the others?" Bonnie asked frowning.
"Because this little trinket makes me immune to magic," he said smugly as he pulled down the collar of his shirt and flashed a orange crystal necklace that was hanging around his neck.
"How did you get that?" Bonnie asked suspiciously as she leaned in to take a closer look at it.
"A pretty little witch was more than happy to part ways with it when I showed her a good time. Maybe I can be persuaded to part ways with it if you let me tap a vein," he purred licking his lips seductively. "You look like you taste like a dream."
Bonnie eyes widened in outrage, and she was about to tell him where he could shove the crystal, but Enzo quickly intervened by once again grabbing her and gently pulling her behind him.
"She's not interested," he said coldly.
"If your little witch isn't willing to make a fair trade, I suppose we have nothing left to discuss," he shrugged before attempting to walk pass them.
Bonnie quickly blocked his path with his determination reflecting in her mint green eyes.
"You are in the possession of something that belongs to a coven who would very much like to have it back," Bonnie informed tightly, "Hand it over and you can walk away. No harm, no foul."
"And if I don't?" he challenged baring his fangs.
"Then we will happily take it off your corpse," Enzo said jovially.
The vampire laughed taking one final pull of his cigarette before flicking it away.
Without any warning, he lunged forward and grabbed Enzo and flung him into a beam causing it to shatter and explode sending shards of wood and splinters flying everywhere.
"Enzo!"
Bonnie made a move to aid the fallen vampire, but a blur flashed in front of her, and she found the nameless vampire starring down at her with murder in his pale green eyes.
With Enzo temporarily immobilized, Bonnie was completely vulnerable, and she felt fear surge through her as she slowly backed away from the vampire whose happy face was on full display.
Bonnie was so disoriented that she didn't notice that the cigarette that the vampire had tossed aside earlier had managed to ignite some straws of hay on fire and the barn was slowly began to be filled with smoke and fire.
Before she could turn tail and run, he grabbed her by the throat and lifted her in the air choke slamming her causing her head to bounce against the ground. She barely had time to cry out in pain before the vampire's pale fingers were wrapped around her throat in attempt to strangle her. She was seconds away from losing consciousness when Enzo grabbed the vampire and snatched him off top of her before throwing him into a tractor causing the metal to scream in protest.
Bonnie struggled to her feet and tried to use a spell to expel the fire, but the pain inside of her skull was making it hard for her to focus.
As Enzo and the vampire fought viciously, Bonnie spotted a dark figure emerge from the shadows and for a moment she felt dread when she realized there was another adversary.
Her fear immediately disappeared when the mysterious person revealed their face causing her heart to nearly stop. The figure was wearing a disheveled tuxedo and a had raven black hair and ice blue eyes that were all too familiar.
"You should try staying away from farmhouses, Bon Bon. You always seem to have a near death experience when you go inside of them."
She blinked owlishly and while she knew that her mind was playing a cruel trick on her; she was still paralyzed by the fact.
"Damon?" she whispered in disbelief.
"The one and only," he replied with a cheeky grin.
She closed her eyes and shook her head.
This isn't real. He's not here...
"I'm here. I'm always going to be here because you and I are one. We are Bonnie and Damon and Damon and Bonnie. There is nothing that could ever pull us apart," he breathed heavily, "I don't care if it's a prison world, heaven, hell or some damn coffin locked away in a warehouse... I will always be a part of you and I will always be inside of your head. I am not going anywhere."
Pushing through her pain, she flung herself through the flames and tried to grab the devilishly handsome vampire only to watch in horror as he disappeared before her very eyes.
She was confused, but her confusion was quickly replaced with terror as she realized that her right leg was on fire.
"Bonnie!"
Bonnie found herself being swept up in Enzo's arms and she felt the world rushing past her as he sped them out of the burning farmhouse and into the safety of the dark cool woods where they came to a rest beneath a large pine tree.
Releasing her from his arms, the dark-haired vampire attempted to examine her, but she shoved him away. She was preparing to make a mad dash back towards the burning farmhouse, but Enzo tackled her gently pinning her down to the ground.
"We have to go back. He needs me to save him," she screamed frantically.
"There is no one in there Bonnie," he tried.
"You didn't see him!" Bonnie practically sobbed as she struggled to escape his grip, "Damon was in that fire. He needed me and I couldn't save him. I didn't save him."
Enzo was confused but as he watched the farmhouse collapse on itself, he began to gain a little clarity. The last time Bonnie had been inside of a farmhouse had been the night of Ric and Jo's wedding. Bonnie had learned about the spell connecting her lifeline to Elena's. It was also the night she had nearly died at the hands of Kai only to be rescued by Damon. It was clear that tonight's incident had triggered that memory and she was having some kind of a breakdown.
He didn't want to cause her anymore pain, but he knew that he would have to be a little rough if he was going to snap her out of whatever crazed trance that she was in.
"Listen to me, Bonnie! Damon was not in that farmhouse, and he is not trapped in that fire, "Enzo growled pinning her wrists firmly over her head. "He's desiccated in a coffin in some god forsaken warehouse along with that bloody Gilbert girl. He's not here. He left you. He left us and he isn't coming back!"\
Staring up into the vampire's whiskey-colored eyes, Bonnie felt her anxiety and fear fade before it slowly became replaced by shame and sadness.
Sensing that she was returning back to her normal mental state, Enzo released her and gingerly helped her off the ground.
He heard her hiss in pain and after a quick examination of her person, he realized that she had a nasty gash on her hairline and her leg had severe third-degree burns.
"You're hurt love," he paused before biting into his wrist and offering her his blood. "Drink."
Bonnie quickly latched onto his wrists and drank his blood hungrily. Usually, she would have balked at the thought of ingesting anything that Enzo had to offer, but her leg was burned to the white meat, and she was in so much agony that she would have taken blood from Putin if it meant giving her a brief reprieve from the pain.
As his blood coursed down her throat, her body naturally attempted to reject it, but as she started to heave, Enzo slipped his hand up the back of her shirt and the contact of his cool fingers against her hot skin calmed her so that she could finish drinking without rejecting his blood.
Once her wounds had completely healed, Enzo gently removed his wrist from her mouth.
"Are you okay?" he asked gently as he cupped her face in his large palms.
Bonnie inhaled deeply and tried to ignore how the back of her hand shook as she dragged it across her mouth wiping the residue of Enzo's blood off of her lips.
"I'm so sorry. I could have gotten the both of us killed."
"Don't beat yourself up over that, love. It could have been worse. At least I didn't lose my hand this time," he joked causing her to laugh softly.
Bonnie lifted her head slightly and locked eyes with Enzo and she was surprised to find what was lurking on the surface. Earlier when they had been bickering and at each other's throats, his glares had consisted of annoyance and disdain. Now as she stood inches away from him, all she could see was tenderness and care and it left her feeling caught off guard but in a good way.
They were both so caught up in the moment that they didn't notice several agents approaching them.
"This was supposed to be a simple recovery mission. What the hell happened?" Agent Johnson asked gruffly.
Bonnie was about to respond, but Enzo interjected quickly.
"The target was not only an artifact thief, but an arsonist. Luckily, our resident witch was able to neutralize him and recover the artifact before the whole place went up in flames," Enzo lied easily as he dangled the trinket that he managed to get off the vampire during their violent confrontation.
"We have to fill out an incident report and we are going to need Ms. Bennet's statement. Its standard procedures put in place by Alex," he said curtly.
Bonnie was prepared to comply when Enzo stepped stopped her.
"Don't worry, love. I will handle it," Enzo reassured squeezing her shoulder gently before following Agent Johnson over to where other agents had set up command central.
As Enzo briefly gave the agent his statement, he kept glancing over the direction where he had left the Bennett witch. She was slumped against a tree with her knees drawn up her chest and her arms wrapped around her leg. To the average eye, she looked like she was okay, but Enzo wasn't so sure. Bonnie had been adamant that Damon had been trapped in the fire inside of the barn house. The conviction in her eyes and the desperation in her voice almost had him believing that Damon had miraculously made his return during the chaotic mission. However, Enzo had made peace with Damon's exodus from their lives and knew that there was no chance of him coming back. Bonnie on the other hand seemed to be struggling more than he realize and while he knew human had their ways of grieving, Bonnie wasn't just some ordinary human. She was a witch so he couldn't help but wonder if her grieving experience might be more intense and if her emotions might trigger some magical repercussions. Either way, there was one thing that he knew for certain.
There was something wrong with Bonnie.
Bonnie swore softly as she rushed towards the children's ward located in the West wing of Mystic Fall's Memorial hospital. She was supposed to have been there ten minutes ago to drop off a box full of toys and books, but she had overslept causing her to run behind schedule. Bonnie absolutely hated being tardy, but it wasn't like she had been sleeping well lately.
Ever since the incident with Enzo and the Armory involving the dramatic recovery of a magical artifact from a murderous vampire, Bonnie felt like she was off her game. While she wanted to believe that her hallucination of Damon that night in the woods had been a one-time thing, she was starting to believe otherwise. She had been getting the feeling that someone was following her and watching her, but every time she looked over her shoulder to confront the mystery stalker, the only thing she would find was a cold gust and the brief flash of deep piercing ice blue eyes.
Making her way down the hospital's corridor, Bonnie felt her stomach churn as she smelled a strong odor lingering in the air. It was officially Pumpkin spice season. Bonnie wrinkled her nose as she brushed past several women who were exuding the scent that would suffocate you at any given Bed, Bath and Bodyworks store.
"Bonnie?"
Hearing her name being called unexpectantly caused Bonnie to nearly trip over her own feet and the box of books and toys she had been carrying scattered across the floor.
"I'm so sorry," the man apologized profusely as he bent down to help her gather her things. "I didn't mean to startle ya."
Bonnie looked up and was surprised to find that her helper was the man who had moved in with her neighbor Grace McCoy. He had been the cute stranger who had stopped to check on her after seeing smoke coming from her house. During the initial meeting, she didn't really pay attention to his looks, but now that he was standing in front of her, she was able to really look at him and what she saw was very attractive. He was at least six feet tall with shoulder length chestnut brown hair, piercing blue eyes, a strong jaw line and a five o' clock shadow.
"Michael, right?" she inquired as she watched him drop a Bratz doll into the box.
"Yes. Glad to see you remembered me," he grinned with a sparkle in his eyes.
"Well, it's not every day that a nice man appears on my doorstep, and I bite their head off," she said sheepishly, "Sorry about that. I'm usually not that rude."
"It's okay. We all have our bad days," he said kindly. "If you don't mind me asking, what brings you to the children's ward?"
"I volunteer to bring donated toys and books for the kids," she informed.
Michael peered into the crate and plucked out a book and his eyes lit up.
"Frog and Toad? That's old school," he noted with a nostalgic smile.
"I actually had to dig a couple of these books out of my attic. My grams use to read Frog and Toad to my mom when she was a little girl," she said fondly.
"Are you sure you want to give up something that holds such a special memory?" he asked gently.
Bonnie nodded somberly. "It's what my grams would have want. She was an educator and so I think that she would be happy knowing that these books are going to children in need."
"Was?" he murmured with a look of sadness on his face.
"She died years ago," Bonnie revealed softly.
"I'm sorry for your loss," he said somberly.
She cleared her throat before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"So, what brings you here? Are you a volunteer as well?" she asked as she handed the box to a nurse sitting behind the nursing station.
"Not exactly," he said quietly before motioning her to follow him. They walked a couple of feet down the hallway and stopped when they came to a day room where several children were sitting in large chairs hooked up to tubes and needles.
"You see the little girl with the purple streak in her hair? That's Ally. She's my daughter," he said proudly.
"She's beautiful," Bonnie smiled.
"Thank you," he murmured. "To answer your question, I'm here because my little girl is receiving chemo."
Bonnie felt her heart twist in her chest.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered.
"When her mother got sick, I thought that there was a chance that she would survive. She was the strongest woman that I knew and one day, she was just...gone. I never thought I would feel anything that painful again, but then Ally got sick and it really broke my heart." He paused clenching his jaw as he struggled to keep his emotions in check. "I keep wondering what if I could have done something different you know? What if I took her to the doctors frequently? What if they could have caught this in time? I was so busy grieving the loss of my wife that I practically handed her over to my sister to raise and I didn't think to even...," he broke off emotionally.
"You couldn't have known," Bonnie tried gently.
"I'm her father. It's on me to protect her and keep her safe," he growled emotionally. "I love that little girl more than anything in this world. If I could trade places with her in a heartbeat...I would."
Bonnie didn't know what to say that would bring comfort to him, so she remained silent.
"I'm sorry to unload on you like this. I have a habit of oversharing and most people tend to get uncomfortable and run in the opposite direction." Pause. "It's just nice to talk to someone who understands what it feels like."
"What do you mean?" she asked puzzled.
"I didn't mean to be presumptuous. It's just that...you have this look in your eye and I know it very well because I see that same look in my own every day when I look in the mirror," he explained.
"What look is that?" She asked evasively.
"The look of someone who is grieving. Someone who has lost someone very dear and near to their heart." Pause. "When I lost my wife, I had to deal with grief, and I there came a point that I would have done anything and everything to bring her back. I prayed to God multiple times a day and I offered to be a better person. I was like you...volunteering my time and donating money to causes hoping that acts of charity and selflessness would do something to take my emotional pain away."
"Did it help?" she asked quietly.
"For a while it did, but once I realized that charity was a temporary bandage on a flesh wound, the depression hit and let's just say that time was some of the darkest days of my life," he admitted with a pained look on his face.
"I may not know exactly how you feel, but I have been in dark places before. It sucks," she said honestly.
"Hey, listen. If you ever want to talk, I can give you my number and you can call me anytime," he offered with a warm smile.
Bonnie was attempting to figure out a polite way to decline his invitation, when her phone rang.
"I'm sorry. I have to get this," she said apologetically.
"Of course. It was nice to see you again," he said warmly before heading into the room to join his daughter.
Bonnie took a deep breath before answering the phone.
"Yeah," she grumbled.
"I was expecting a much warmer greeting given the fact that I have been covering for you at work. Everyone seems to think you have fallen off the face of the earth," Enzo grumbled.
"I'm sorry about going MIA. I had some personal things come up and I needed some time to myself," she mumbled.
"You don't have to apologize to me, love. I'm just worried about you." Pause. "What's going on with you?"
"It's just working through some issues with my magic," she lied quickly.
"Is that so, love? Performance issues is nothing to be ashamed of," he said lightly, "I'm pretty sure you will figure out a way to get your witchy mojo back sooner than later."
"Yeah, but until then, I don't think it's safe for me to come to work," she said uncomfortably.
"Take all the time you need to get better, love. I'll let Alex know that you just need some personal time."
Bonnie breathed a deep sigh of relief.
"Thanks for covering for me, Enzo," she said appreciatively.
"No problem, darling. What are friends for?"
Bonnie wanted to tell him they weren't friends, but she figured why insult him when he was doing her a favor.
"Goodbye, love."
"Goodbye Enzo."
Putting her phone back in her bag, Bonnie took one last glance in the room where Ally and Michael were and smiled as she watched how the father and daughter were laughing together. Even though they were going through something extremely heavy and hard, it was nice to see that they managed to keep smiles on one another faces. Watching them made her realize that maybe her own issues weren't as bad as she had made them out to be. Yeah, she had been abandoned by her best friend, and yes, he had broken her heart. She could admit that she probably wasn't coping as healthy as she could be, but in the end, at least she wasn't dealing with a life-threatening illness. She had a lot to be grateful for and going forward, she was going to do her best to be optimistic.
Making a mental note to keep them in her prayers, Bonnie turned on her heels and left the hospital.
As Bonnie entered the parking garage and drew closer to her vehicle, she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up indicating something was off.
"You should have given him your digits, Bon Bon. He was super cute."
Bonnie yelped and jumped backwards causing her back to slam against the driver's window of her Prius.
"Hello Bon Bon."
Damon placed his hand on the roof trapping her between his arms.
"Something about this feels familiar," he joked.'
Bonnie stared at him blankly. Instead of wearing a tuxedo covered in splotches of blood, he was wearing pants that were navy blue and the top was white with cartoon ducks plastered all across it.
"It's finally happening," she mumbled brokenly, "I'm going insane."
"Are you so unobservant as not to have found out that sanity and happiness are an impossible combination? No sane man can be happy, for to him life is real, and he sees what a fearful thing it is."
Bonnie glared at him fighting the urge to scream out in frustration.
"Aren't you going to at least pretend to be impressed. I just quoted Mark Twain. I'm such an intellectual," he boasted.
"Get out of my head," she snarled.
"Hey, this is your fantasy, not mine," he chuckled defensively.
"You are not a fantasy," she said with a sharp edge and slight tremor in her voice, "You are a figment of my broken mind."
"If that's the case, you should march your tight little ass back in the hospital and head up to the floor where they keep all the nutcases in stray jackets and in a padded room," he smirked.
Before Bonnie could respond, Damon had disappeared.
A harsh breath of air escaped her lips as she slumped against her car. Closing her eyes, she let out a dark chuckle.
"Oh god. I think there is something wrong with me."
As days went by, the hallucinations that haunted Bonnie became more frequent and more intense. She had tried magical herbs, spells and even excessive drinking to get rid of the hallucinations, but the blue-eyed devil always seemed to find a way to pop up and torment her whenever she least expected it and it was starting to make the people around her look at her as if she had gone insane.
Just the other day, Bonnie had caught a movie with Matt when Damon had popped up causing Bonnie to spill her popcorn in the lap of the bewildered sheriff's lap. Not too long after that incident, Bonnie had been helping Valarie shop for a new wardrobe when Damon had followed her around the shopping mall lecturing her about the pros and cons of the kitten heel versus the stiletto which had caused Bonnie to freak out causing her magic to lash out nearly causing a pretzel cart to melt down causing a panic in the mall. It didn't matter if she was engaging in public social events with her friends or in private, Damon had a way of forcing himself into her reality and making her shut down both mentally and emotionally.
Pulling into the Boarding House's driveway, she sighed with relief when she noticed that Stefan's Porche was nowhere to be found. It meant that the brooding vampire wasn't home, and Bonnie could search for the Grimoire in peace.
She was no stranger to being in bad moods, but today felt different. She felt completely numb. No anger, no overwhelming sadness, just nothing. Breakfast had tasted bland; birds cheerful chirping had gone unnoticed and every smile she had formed at work and given to her coworkers had been forced and insincere. It was like she was moving through her life like a robot with no sense of purpose or meaning.
Climbing out of her Prius, she made her way inside the Boarding House not surprised to find that it was unlock. Seeing how the owner was a vampire who could rip you apart in many different ways, there wasn't much to be scared of on his part. Shivering from the horrific images that began to flood her mind, Bonnie pushed aside Stefan's troubling past and made her way upstairs and into the library.
Over the years, Damon had kept a secret collection of Grimoires that he claimed were very valuable to him and that only she and Stefan knew where they were located. He had given her permission for her to access them whenever she wanted, but the one rule was that she was to never take them outside the walls of the Boarding House. He didn't want anything to happen to the grimoires and didn't want them to risk falling in the wrong hands.
Bonnie had been miffed that Damon seemingly didn't seem to trust her or think she was responsible to keep them safe in her care, but she begrudgingly agreed to the rule. Now that he was no longer around, she was going to completely disregard his rule and take the Grimoire home where she plans to flip through it while watching bad reality tv and downing the rest of the white wine she had chilling in the fridge.
After spinning the numbers into the old school safe (Jenna Jameson's body measurements) Bonnie pulled the door open and rifled through the contents.
As she lifted the oldest looking Grimoire from its slot, she noticed a red light in a tiny square in the corner flash on. Taking a closer look, a soft snort escaped her lips as she realized that it was a hidden camera. She knew Damon cared a great deal about the Grimoires, but the fact that he had gone out of his way to set up a security to monitor the Grimoires showed that he was not only very serious about taking care of the things he valued, but he was borderline paranoid.
She was preparing to lock back up when she noticed a small marble chest from the back of the safe.
Feeling curious, she reaches down and removed the small marble chest from its resting place and opened it slowly. As she removed the contents, she smirked as she discovered several pictures of Damon and Elena being playful in a carnival photo booth, there was an engagement ring that made her heart twist in her chest and had a sweet engraving dedicated to Elena on the inside of the band. There were other little trinkets and tokens including a weird red string bracelet and a couple of passports. She was preparing to replace the items when a piece of paper trapped between the passports and a small composition book fell to the floor. As she retrieved it, she felt her eyes widened as she discovered the paper was actually an obituary.
Father. Husband. Mayor. Friend.
Rudy Hopkins. 1970-2003
Bonnie was speechless. She knew that it was Abby who had made the funeral arrangements for her dad when he was murdered by Silas, but she never knew that Damon had placed an obituary in the paper. As she scans the newspaper article, her eyes widened at the date. It was two days after Jeremy had informed Damon that Bonnie was dead. Maybe him writing the obituary was a way to expunge the guilt he felt when he learned she had been a ghost the entire time
"There are so many things I wish I could tell you, but I honestly I don't know where to begin," she admitted quietly as she stared down at her dad's picture in the obituary, "When I was little, I use to blame you for a lot of things. I blamed you for the reason why momma left, and I blamed myself for the reasons why you were never around. Being raised by Grams, I use to think that she was the only person in the world who wanted me and when she died, I truly felt abandoned. I felt like there was no one in the world left to care about me, but I was wrong." She paused smiling as she toyed with a blade of grass between her thumb and index finger, "When she died, you showed up and even though I wished that we were closer, I knew that you did the best you could. I just regret that I never gotten the chance to tell you that or tell you that I loved you so much."
"There is still a chance for you to tell Papa Bennett how you feel."
Hearing Damon's voice caused Bonnie's heart twist in her chest, and she folded her hands in her lap to keep them from shaking.
"Really? I couldn't have this one sacred moment to myself?" she asked quietly.
"You do realize that if you weren't so desperate to bring Jer Bear back to life, you would have been alive and around to prevent Silas from slitting your dad's throat, right?" he asked bluntly.
Bonnie flinched and narrowed her eyes defensively.
"How could I have known that things would have played out the way they did?" she demanded, her voice trembling dangerously, "It's not my fault that my dad is dead."
"If you truly believe that, then why are you standing here so consumed with guilt?" he asked curiously as he flopped down on the couch and crossed one leg over the other, "I know you better than you know yourself, which is how I know that you blame yourself for your dad's death. You were so desperate to help get Elena the cure that you didn't even consider the consequences of your actions until it was too late. You have a pattern of doing that. You allow people to pressure you into doing things that comes back to bite you in your ass and as a result, you are forced to carry around the guilt of the wreckage your decisions leave behind."
Bonnie closed her eyes and tried to push the sound of Damon's voice and face out of her head, but she knew that when she opened her eyes, he would still be present.
Inhaling sharply, her eyes flew open, and she spun around to face the grinning vampire who was sipping a glass of Burbon lovingly. If Damon insisted on haunting her and giving her pointless commentary on her life, it was only fair that she got the answers to the questions that had been plaguing her conscience for the past few weeks.
"Are we friends?" she asked softly.
"Of course, Bonnie," Damon scoffed as he put the glass down on the table and walking over to her, "We don't actively try to kill each other anymore..."
Damon flippant attitude caused her sadness to morph into anger.
"No, I'm not doing that. No insults. No jokes." She growled with a slight tremor in her voice. "Are. We. Friends?"
"I desiccated because I didn't want to hurt my friends, so yes, Bonnie. We are friends," he murmured lifting his hand to brush the tears off her cheeks.
She could have sworn that she felt his fingers on her skin.
"You wanna hear me say that I made a mistake? Okay fine," Damon relented quietly, "I made a mistake three weeks ago. I should have never climbed in your bed, and I shouldn't have run away."
"But you did. I am not okay with your decision. I am not okay with you choosing yourself, and I'm not okay with never seeing you, my best friend, ever again," she whispered allowing the tears to fall from her eyes, "This hurts me. This hurts...this hurts me."
"Bonnie...," he started slowly as he gazed deep into her tear stained eyes, "Listen to me."
Bonnie never heard what her hallucination was preparing to tell her, because the sound of someone clearing their throat made her realize that she was no longer alone in the room.
"Bonnie?"
The Bennett witch slowly turned around and she felt the color drain from her face as she found Stefan standing in the doorway of the library. She had been so involved with her conversation with Damon that she didn't hear him even enter the house.
"Stefan," she greeted him a little too enthusiastically, "Hi!"
"Hi, Bonnie," he responded with a half-smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"You are probably wondering what I'm doing here. I needed help with something magic related, so I thought I would swing by and comb through one of Damon's secret Grimoires," she said.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked as he slowly advanced towards her.
"Yes. I was just putting it back," she lied before moving away from him and returning the Grimoire back to the safe.
"Do you want to talk about this magic related problem?" he inquired as he folded his arms across his chest.
Bonnie shook her head before closing the safe and secure it.
"Not really. I wouldn't want to bore you out of your mind," she said being careful to keep her voice neutral.
"You don't have to worry about that. I'm all ears," he promised making it clear that he wasn't planning to drop the issue anytime soon.
Bonnie licked her lips nervously as she realized that she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. For one horrifying moment, Bonnie considered coming clean and telling Stefan everything. She considered telling him about the hallucinations, the intrusive thoughts of self-harm and suicide and her mental decline all together.
"Bonnie, please. Just talk to me."
"Tell him so he can just swoop in and save the day already," Damon said examining his nails with a bored look on his face.
"I can't talk to you about this," Bonnie mumbled brokenly.
"Why not?" Stefan asked frustrated.
"Because you are going to think that I'm going crazy," she laughed bitterly, "Hell, I think I'm going crazy."
"You are only as sick as your secrets and from where I'm standing, you aren't well," he said gently as he caressed the side of her face tenderly.
Bonnie's head snapped up and she blinked confused by his rare intrusion into her personal space. She opened her mouth to confess when she saw that there was splattered blood on his shirt. She also caught the scent of perfume and vodka on his skin. She swallowed deeply as she came to a heartbreaking realization.
Stefan was feeding from humans again.
Looking at his flushed face and his eyes practically glazed over, she was sure of it. Knowing this, there was no way she could come clean about what she was going through. If Stefan was battling a relapse with his blood addiction, the last thing he needed was for her to dump her issues involving her hallucinations of his brother onto him.
"I'm sorry, Stefan, but I have to go," she said abruptly.
Before Stefan could protest, Bonnie brushed past him and fled from the Boarding House.
As he stared at her retreating back, he couldn't help but feel like there was something wrong with Bonnie.
Present Day
"Alright ladies and gentlemen, this next request is a throwback and it's dedicated to Matt Donovan. A very special friend wanted me to give you a shout out and wish you a very happy Birthday! Let's get it!"
As the DJ blared 50 cent's "In the Club" throughout the club, Bonnie was grinning ear to ear to find Matt laughing his ass off. It was the former quarterback's birthday and the gang had gathered together at club Jinx in Richmond to celebrate this milestone in their friend's life.
"Anyone want to own up to that cringey and really embarrassing tribute to me?" he asked scowling playfully as he looked around the table.
Val threw her hands in the air defensively.
"It wasn't me. I am still wrapping my head that you all call this horrid sound music," she said sipping her drink.
Matt turned his suspicious glare onto Tyler who was busy ogling a pretty raven head girl at the bar with tight jean booty shorts and a tank top that said, 'It's not going to lick itself.'
"Really, Donovan? You think I actually give a rat's ass to inform a room full of irrelevant douche bags and skanks that is your birthday?" the hybrid scoffed.
Finally, Matt's eyes landed on Bonnie and the look on his handsome face was positively scandalous.
"Oh, come on! Bon!" he protested loudly.
Bonnie licked the droplets of lemon-flavored vodka off the top of her lips before moving around the table and throwing her arms around Matt's neck and hugging him lovingly.
"You know I had to go old school. Happy Birthday, Mattie," she cooed before placing a wet kiss on his cheek.
"Thanks, Bon. I'm really glad that you came out tonight. I've really missed seeing you around," he murmured once they pulled apart.
Bonnie smiled apologetically. The past few weeks had been hectic. She had been juggling her job at the Armory, volunteering at the children's hospital at Whitmore, struggling with maintaining stability of her magic and dealing with the weird side effects of Tyler's werewolf bite. She had been so stressed out that her friends had taken notice and so when Matt had practically twisted her arm into convincing her and Val to join him on a night out on the town in Richmond, Bonnie had reluctantly given in. While she wasn't really into partying, her mood had changed drastically once she had walked inside of the festive venue. The crowd was energetic, the people weren't that bad looking and the music was decent. The club was three stories tall, and each floor featured a different genre of music. The first floor was techno music, the second floor was pop music, and the third floor was hip hop.
The Mystic Falls crew minus a brooding vampire was currently on the second floor where bubbles were starting to be released causing the energy inside of the room to go up a couple of notches.
"What do you guys think of the place?" Matt asked with a Corona bottle dangling between his fingers.
"It's nice," Bonnie said nodding her head approvingly.
"The drinks are interesting," Val said frowning down at the concoction in the plastic cup in her hand.
"Would you like to try something else?" the former quarterback offered with a flirtatious smile.
"That sounds lovely," Val smiled before following Matt over to the crowded bar.
"Want to check out the rooftop? This floor is lame," Tyler complained bored.
Bonnie rolled her eyes exasperated.
"We are here to celebrate our friend's birthday. Maybe try waiting a whole hour before making it about you," she huffed annoyed.
"Why shouldn't it always be about me?" he sneered. "I'm awesome."
Before Bonnie could respond, he grabbed her hand and maneuvered them through the crowd leading her towards the staircase where they made their way out an exit door leading to the rooftop. Once they arrived, Bonnie yanked her hand away from his and was preparing to give him a piece of her mind for man handling her when the words died on her lips. The scene on the rooftop was something out of a dream. There were strings of yellow string lights draped several feet above their heads along with several multicolored Japanese lanterns. On the opposite end of the roof was a small makeshift bar and instead of tables and chairs, there was a small garden filled with flowers right next to a stone fountain filled with beautiful gold, orange and white Koi fish.
"Wow," Bonnie breathed as she observed the atmosphere incredulously.
"This is pretty dope," Tyler murmured in agreement. "Dance with me."
"Are you asking me or telling me?" she smirked.
Tyler muttered something about her being a pain in the ass before taking her hand and leading her to the dance floor which was fairly empty.
Bonnie giggled softly as he whirled her around before pulling her into her arms where they fell into a graceful and natural two step.
"So how long are you in town for?" she asked striking up casual conversation.
"I'm just here for the weekend. I have things to take care of back in Montana."
"Let me guess. You have some poor girl waiting anxiously for your return?" she teased playfully.
"Well technically it's three girls and four guys waiting for me," he replied.
Bonnie's eyebrows shot up to her hairline.
Tyler laughed at the quizzical expression on her face.
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Bennett. I'm talking about my pack."
"I didn't know you had a pack."
"There is a lot that you don't know about me," he said casually as he pulled her body flushed against his, "There is a lot I can show you.
She bit her bottom lip biting back a smile as she stared down at her feet. Was Tyler Lockwood seriously flirting with her right now?
Bonnie licked her lips nervously as she felt knots being formed in the pit of her stomach. The air began to become heavy and thick with heat and energy and sweat began to form on the small of her back where his hand was resting. Starring into his eyes, she found dark desire lurking on the surface and it when his gaze fell from her eyes to her lips, she realized that he wanted to kiss her. Everything inside of her told her to say no and that this was a terrible idea, but even as she was mentally rejecting Tyler, her body was defying her and moving closer towards him. She didn't know if it was the mark, but something intense and powerful was drawing them together and, in that moment, she couldn't stop whatever she was feeling for him from physically manifesting even if she tried.
Taking this as a positive sign, Tyler leaned down and brushed his mouth against her softly in a gentle kiss.
Bonnie felt an electric shock go through her and she impulsively pulled away shaken by what had just transpired.
Tyler smiled at her gently before holding brushing his nose against hers.
"Don't run from me."
Bonnie felt her smile slowly disappear as his words made her feel a troubling sense of Deja vu. His words were damn near identical what Damon had told her before they had gotten intimate. Tyler was just like Damon. He was trying to make him trust her so that he could get close to her and once he got what he wanted, he was just going to leave. The more she thought about it, the more emotional she became and something inside of her snapped. The string lights began to flicker ominously, thunder began to roll across the sky and the previously cool evening air became hot and sticky.
Feeling uncomfortable with the change of the weather, the two couples and the DJ abandoned the rooftop and headed into the building.
As the weather grew worse, Tyler felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he watched the emotional witch standing in front of him begin to unravel.
"Bonnie?" Tyler whispered confused.
"Get away from me. You are just like him," she hissed pointing at a space behind him.
Tyler looked over his shoulder and frowned. There was no one there.
"Just like who?" he demanded turning his attention back to her.
"Damon," she screamed in his face.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he growled. "Damon isn't here!"
He made a move to reach for her, but she stumbled away with a look in her eye that reminded him of a wounded animal who was cornered, and that meant she was unpredictable and dangerous.
"Every man who has ever come into my life only wanted one thing and that was to use me and take from me. Guess what? I have nothing left to give so back off," she snapped.
"Bonnie, I need you to listen to me," Tyler said calmly, "I know exactly how you are feeling, and I know that you are losing control right now. You just need to just stop and think about what you are doing. Just st-" he started, only to be cut off as his body went flying into the DJ booth causing the smooth warbling of Dana Glover to end abruptly.
Tyler grunted as he landed on his ass and while the vampire inside of him wanted to fight back and take Bonnie's pretty little head off her shoulder's, the wolf inside of him wanted only one thing and that was to protect her.
As he made his way to his feet, he felt a sharp pain in his head and cried out as he fell to his knees. Gritting his teeth, he clutched the sides of his head as he felt every single blood vessel inside of his pop over and over again. This was pure torture, and the sheer agony would have been enough to make any other supernatural creature pass out, but Tyler was stubborn and wasn't going to give into the pain. He knew the only way to reach Bonnie was through their bond, so pulling his focus off his current state of torment, he forced his eyes open so that he could meet her gaze.
"Bonnie, you have to stop. I am not your enemy, and I don't want to hurt you," he managed to say as blood began to pour from his ears and nose. "I'm not him. I'm not Damon."
Bonnie could feel the sincerity and desperation through their bond. It was so intense that the place where he marked her began to throb and she cut the pain inducing spell short.
As she stared at Tyler who had slumped over on his side panting in pain, she felt guilt and remorse flood through her.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered sadly before disappearing through the exit door that led off the roof.
Keeping his breathing steady, Tyler was able to rise up off his knees and lifting a beefy hand to his mouth, he wiped the film of blood from his lips.
Making his way back into the building, he quickly tracked down Val and Matt who were busy laughing and flirting on the dance floor.
"What the hell happened to you?" Matt asked alarmed when Tyler approached them.
Tyler swore softly. He knew that his bloodied appearance was drawing attention, but there was no time to consider that. He needed to find Bonnie and he needed to find her fast before she hurt herself or others. While he hadn't been able to connect to her completely with the bond, he had felt something briefly that had made him extremely worried. Beneath the anger, sadness and confusion, he had felt an overwhelming sense of hopelessness and despair.
"Where is Bonnie?" he demanded.
"I don't know. The last time we saw her she was with you. What happened?" Val demanded.
"We have to find her. There is something very wrong with her."
As Bonnie roared down the road in her Prius that was pushing close to ninety miles per hour, Bonnie found herself shaking uncontrollably. She knew that she had no business driving in the condition that she was in, but after her confrontation with Tyler, the last place she needed or wanted to be was in a public place. A part of her couldn't help but wonder if she had overreacted to Tyler's advance. Even through their bond she could tell that his motives weren't nefarious, but the look in his eyes and the way that he had kissed had spooked her.
For a moment she had let her guard down and she had felt what it was like to be genuinely wanted and that affection was something she had craved for so long, but she always seemed to find the things she wanted the most in all the wrong places.
First it had been Jeremy who had betrayed her with a ghost, and then there was Damon betraying her by crawling into a coffin. If she let Tyler in, she knew there was only a matter of time before he betrayed her, and she would rather die before she let those three times be the charm.
...
It's hard to deal with the pain of losing you everywhere I go
But I'm doin' It
It's hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I'm alone
Still Harder
Getting up, getting dressed, livin' with this regret
But I know if I could do it over
I would trade give away all the words that I saved in my heart
That I left unspoken
...
"I don't blame you from laying the smack down on dog breath. That's low hanging fruit, even for you, Bon Bon."
Bonnie gaze sharply lifted to the rear-view mirror, and she was exasperated to find Damon residing in the back seat.
"Damon."
"You sound disappointed. Hoping for someone else?" he inquired
She felt feverish, manic and desperate. Most of all, she just felt tired. Tired of dealing with the voices in her head, the cruel hallucinations and the drain it was having on her mentally, physically and emotionally.
"Leave me alone. You are literally the last person I want to see," Bonnie said tiredly.
As she picked up speed, she sped around a corner tightening her grip on the steering wheel feeling her adrenaline began to increase with each passing second.
"Oh, come on. We both know why I'm really here. We also know that I can't ever see Elena again. Neither can you," he sighed dramatically, "That's just not until..."
"I die," she replied morosely.
"Which brings us to the reason why I'm here. I just wanted to say thank you before it was too late."
"Thank me for what?"
"For fighting the good fight. Going gently into that goodnight and a whole slew of sappy cliches. Bottom line, you are going to die Bon, as much as I hate to admit it, it's going to make me a very happy man which is why I figure the least I could do is dive into your brain and say goodbye.".
Bonnie laughed bitterly. "Why? You usually don't bother."
"Would it help if I said I was sorry?" he pouted prettily.
"Not good enough," she whispered harshly as her eyes rimmed with burning tears, "Never has been, never will be."
"Harsh."
"If there was one thing I could change about our friendship, I would have never pulled you off that street in Amsterdam."
"Screw you, Damon."
"Oh, you screwed me alright," he hissed as his eyes bulged angrily, "Got your life all intertwined with Elena's, dooming and let's be honest all of our friends to a lifetime without the one person we miss the most which to be perfectly clear, ain't you."
Feeling broken, she allowed the tears that she had been fighting back for so long to fall freely down her cheeks. She had survived so many different traumatic events that would have torn the average person apart. She had been abandoned by her mother, her grams died prematurely, she had awakened Silas to get the cure only to turn around and watch him slit her father's throat, her mother returned only to be turned into a vampire, she died, was resurrected, died again and left alone to suffer at the hands of Kai in the prison world, had her life bound to her best friend who was doomed to sleep until Bonnie died, and now she was abandoned by the only person that she considered to be her family. There was only so much heartache and pain a person could take before they completely fell apart.
"Do you know why we are on this road?" he leaned forward and murmured in her ear," This road is the first time I met Elena. This road is where I knew that I was going to love that beautiful girl for all eternity and that bridge at the end of this road is where Elena became a vampire. That bridge is the perfect place of all because this is where you are going to die and give me my girl.
"Get out of my head!" she shrieked.
A pulse of magic erupted from her a lightning bolt to emerge from the sky striking a tree across the bridge. Bonnie was too blinded by her tears to see the tree fall into the road until it was too late. She tried stomping on the breaks, but the front of her car rammed into the tree nearly crushing the vehicle like a soda can. All that could be heard was the screeching of metal, glass being shattered, and the sound of metal hitting wood.
"Let go, Bon Bon," Damon's voice coaxed weakly.
Her eyes fluttered and she slowly felt herself slipping away.