"Now be careful girl, don't spill that salt everywhere. We need it in a perfect circle," Sheila chided as she readied the spell.
"Yes Grams," Bonnie said as she placed the salt carefully. Once the circle was complete, Bonnie closed the lid on the jar of salt. Grams sat in the center of the circle and Bonnie went to go sit besides her. Grams grabbed both of Bonnie's hands when she sat down, their knees touching.
"Now listen careful to me girl," Grams said with no small amount of ominousness in her tone. "We need to be careful when we are contacting the Other Side. There are things and people that would want to do us harm or try to bargain with us. We are only doing this to contact our ancestor. Only her. No one else."
"Yeah. Of course Grams. Only Emily, no one else," Bonnie nodded. Grams smiled and pressed a hand to her cheek.
"Smart girl." Grams grabbed both her hands and looked into Bonnies eyes. "Repeat after me."
Grams began to chant something in Latin. She spoke the words with all the confidence in the world and Bonnie followed after her. She stumbled over some of the words, but she kept pacing with Grams repeating the words the moment that they escaped Grams lips.
The candles in the room flickered for a moment and then the flames grew higher, flaring. Bonnies eyes widened as she took in the sight, but Grams held her hands harder. Then with a sudden gust of wind the lights went out. Grams stopped her chanting and Bonnie looked around the room and gasped.
There standing near the edge of the circle was a woman. She was dressed in some old time fashion of some sort that Bonnie could not place. She had a hat on her head and her hair was bundled underneath the hat. Her eyes were cutting as she looked down at the both of them.
Bonnie wanted to shrivel under her gaze, but tried her best not to wilt. Grams opened her eyes and looked to Emily who stood at the edge of the circle.
"Emily," she greeted as if she was greeting on of their neighbors. Bonnie looked at Emily and her dusty dress and the boots that she wore. This was one of her ancestors, one of her kin. Bonnie was amazed at that fact. She didn't know anyone else in her family besides Grams. But this was one of them. Sure long dead, but in her features, Bonnie could see some of her own.
"You conjured me because of the Originals have you not?" Emily asked. Grams nodded her head. Bonnie gripped her hands tighter.
The Originals? Who were they? She looked at her grandmother, but her grandmother only had eyes for Emily. Emily nodded her head and took a look around the room.
"They say that they are unkilllable is this true?" Grams asked.
"They are immortal in the way that all vampires are. Undying except for one thing," Emily answered. "You need to find the wood of an ash tree. Form a stake out of the ash tree that made them and plunge it into their hearts. That is the only way to kill them."
"Shit." Grams cursed under her breath. An ash tree? How was a tree going to help them stop whoever these Originals at all. Bonnie frowned as she took in all this information. How much was Grams hiding from her?
"But be careful. They know of your movements. The Original Witch says that they know of your plans to defeat them."
It was all too much for Bonnie. She knew nothing that was going on and all these people that Emily was mentioning she hardly knew them. Grams was hiding a lot from her. So much that, Bonnie could not properly understand the scope of the situation.
"Can we trust Katherine?" Grams asked, but Bonnie was upset. The thought of her Grams hiding so much from her. She pulled her hands away. With the connection broken Emily's form wobbled and wavered.
"Be careful—" was all that she was able to get out before she disappeared from sight. Grams turned to look at Bonnie but she was already rising from the ground her brow furrowed and her lips in a straight line.
"Bonnie, why did you do that? I wasn't done speaking with Emily!"
"Who are the Originals?" Bonnie demanded. That got her grams's mouth to close. "Grams tell me, who are the Originals?"
"That is something that you don't need to concern yourself with—"
"There it is. You always say that. What is the point of me being a witch if you don't tell me anything!" Bonnie shouted.
"I am doing this to protect you! There are beings and things out there far more powerful than you know and—"
"You always are saying that you're protecting me, but you leaving in the dark isn't helping anybody! How will I know if I'm in over my head if you never teach me these things!"
"Bonnie there are things that you don't need to know yet. Teaching you to be a witch is going to take time and patience and a lot of practice. There is no way that you do this and get it immediately."
"I've been patience and you haven't taught me shit—"
"Don't take that tone with me! I have raised you and I am the adult here not you! There are things that you don't need to face. I am the one that is going to face them. You just need to worry about school and that is it!"
"Have you ever thought, maybe for one moment that by letting me in, that by allowing me to shoulder some of the burden that I could be helpful to you Grams. That maybe for once you didn't have to take the world on alone. I'm not a child anymore Grams. What will it take for you to see that?"
Grams rose from the floor and walked over to Bonnie. She cupped her cheek and Bonnie leaned into the strong, familiar warmth of it.
"Bonnie. I love you. But this is something that I have to deal with myself." Bonnie jerked away from the hold. Really? After everything she was still going to face this challenge with the Originals by herself? Bonnie frowned at her grandmother and pulled away from the woman.
"Fine. Goodluck talking to Emily on your own," Bonnie hissed. She turned and stomped towards the door. And in a few steps she was out of the house and marching down the street.
She pulled out her phone scrolling through the contacts, but who should she call? Who would understand the lies and the mysteries that was her Grams. She found a new number that she never entered into her phone before. It was plastered with emoji hearts and kisses.
When did he— he probably used some of his vampire magic. Clicking the button, Bonnie listened the to dial tone for a moment before he picked up.
"Bonnie darling. Calling about that dinner?"
"Yeah. I have some free time on my hands."
If Grams wasn't going to teach her, she would find someone who would.
Elena stood in front of the door to the Mikaelson house. From far away the house stood like an imposing monolith of Greco-Roman architecture and manicured lawns. But up close the house was not that imposing at all. It still had all the fixtures of a house, from windows to a door and Elena thought she could heard people arguing on the inside.
She remembered the words of Stefan. These people were vampires, settling her for who knows why. She had drank the vervain tea that Stefan made sure that she had. She squared her shoulders and knocked on the door.
The sounds of arguing stopped and footsteps rushed to the door. The door was pulled open by a boy with a smirk and brunet curls on his head. He leaned on the door in what he seemed to think was suave. He brushed back his hair from his face and looked her up and down, daring to give her a wink when their eyes met.
"Well hello darling. What is a little minx like you doing all the way here? Surely you didn't come all this way to see me?" He said. His voice was low, low enough to entice Elena to want to her more. But a hand clapped him on the side of his head and a familiar blonde head came into view.
"No one is here to see you Kol," Caroline bit out at him. She shoved him away from the door, but Kol was only laughing as he was pushed away.
"Caroline darling, stop, you are completely emasculating me in front of our guest!"
"Well maybe if you minded your own business I wouldn't 'emasculate' you so fucking often. Don't you have something better to do?" Caroline sneered. Kol laughed and left the door finally. Caroline sighed and looked at Elena. "I am so sorry about him. He doesn't know how to act around company."
Elena nodded her head and gifted Caroline with a smile. "Don't worry, I have a brother. I completely understand what you mean." Caroline gestured for Elena to come in and Elena stepped inside.
The house was just the way that she remembered it from the welcoming committee, spotless white floors, tasteful art pieces hanging on the wall. Hell even the afternoon glow was lighting this place in ways that gave the illusion that the house was burning with fire.
Caroline stepped in front of Elena and lead her down the hallway and into the kitchen. There sitting at the breakfast nook was a charcuterie board filled with succulent cheeses and decadent meats, garnished with fresh fruits.
"Sorry, this is so sparse," Caroline said as she gathered her notes and such from her bag. "This is what I was able to whip up in the short time that I had and—"
"No, no," Elena said with a wave of her hands, "this is more than okay."
Caroline beamed at her and they settled down at the breakfast nook, the two of them and splayed out their notes between them. They got into the groove of working together with Caroline asking questions and Elena explaining what the teacher expected them to do. It was almost mindless work that Elena did not even notice when the sun dipped below the horizon.
"Okay," Caroline clapped her hands, "let's take a break."
Elena nodded and stretched out, feeling all her joint pop and shift back into place with the movement. The two of them picked at the charcuterie board and chatted idly. Caroline's eyes lit up with an internal fire as she launched a question to Elena.
"What's going on between you an Stefan?" Caroline said plainly as if she was asking about the weather. Elena ducked her head and smiled to herself.
"Nothing really. We just talk and hang out with one another. It's nothing serious," Elena said.
"Nothing serious? Elena, I have seen the way that he looks at you. It reminds me of how Klaus used to look at me when we first started dating." Caroline said with a wispy look in her eyes. Elena leaned closer. How did a vampire couple as old as them meet?
"How did you and Klaus meet one another?" Elena asked.
"It was a long time ago. I helped him work out some problems with his dad and then Klaus never let me go." Caroline said with a smile. "But enough about me. How did you and Stefan meet?"
"It was during an accident. My parents and I went over the bridge and Stefan pulled me out," Elena said. Her throat tightened when she thought of the accident. She remembers the rage that she felt when Stefan told her about what he did that night, about how he saved her and didn't go in after her parents. But no, that fight was over. It had already been played out.
"Oh I'm so sorry Elena." Caroline reached over and brought Elena into an awkward embrace. Caroline patted her on the back and then pulled away, a small red mark on her chest. Probably from the vervain in her necklace. One second it was there and the next it was gone. "Don't worry. At least now you have Stefan."
"Yeah," Elena swallowed the knot in her throat. "At least I have Stefan now."
Caroline leaned back in her seat and nodded. "Did you hear about the animal that attacked those two deputies?"
Glad to be moving on from the topic of Stefan, Elena nodded her head. "Yes. It is terrible that they passed away." Caroline bit at her finger, her eyes wide as she looked at Elena. Elena could not help but think that Caroline looked like one of the Barbie dolls she saw in the store the other day.
"Does that happen often here? These animal attacks?"
"Not too often. But enough that they recommend that you don't linger outside at night." Vampires without daylight rings were on the prowl at night and it was better that they all stayed inside at night. Caroline nodded her head.
"I'll be sure to tell my family," she said, her pallor regaining color. "But let's stop with these maudlin topics. My god you'd think that this place was a funeral home."
She sighed and they turned back to the notes that lay abandoned on the table and resumed their study session. Elena wondered why Stefan was so cautious around these vampires. They were nice and it seemed that all they wanted to do was just live their lives in peace and quiet. Maybe that is all some vampires really wanted. Some peace and quiet.
She did not know what had gotten into Bonnie.
Shiela did not know what happened when they were performing the seance, but something had annoyed Bonnie. And for the girl to work up the nerve to even curse at her. Shiela frowned as she remembered it. Maybe it was time to move away from this town. Sure her family had been here for generations and they had built this town with their blood, sweat, and tears, but it was starting to become too much. Let some other witch's line be the guardians of this town. The Bennett line had given too much up.
Shiela pulled out her card to pay for her groceries when a hand stopped her. She furrowed her brows and looked up. A blonde woman with a dazzling smile looked down at her.
"Allow me," she said. The woman swiped her card and with a few clicks of a button, Shiela's things were paid for. She looked at the blonde woman up and down. "Let me help you bring this to your car."
The two women walked as Shiela rolled the cart filled with her bagged groceries out to the parking lot. Shiela took a step outside and when they were out of earshot from the rest of the people milling about she said, "So to what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from an Original?"
The girl shrugged her shoulders. "I just wanted to make sure that Ayana's line was still doing well." Shiela stopped at her car and popped open the trunk. The two of them shoveled the food into the back of her trunk.
"I don't need check ups from the Originals," Shiela said with a frown on her face. "I don't need you to check up on met at all. So maybe mind your own." The thought of the Originals checking up on her unsettled her. Why would they need to make sure that the line of Bennetts were okay?
"You know a long time ago, your ancestor told us things about what we were. She told us about who we were and even took care of us at one point. We haven't forgotten that kindness." The blonde got a misty look in her eyes as she remembered the distant past.
Shiela could never fathom it. To live so long, and see so much, she could never imagine living that life. How did they sustain that will to live? Shiela could feel the ache of age in her bones and she was ready to be put to rest whenever the good Lord decided to send her to the Other Side. How could they live so long and not grow tired, grow bored with life?
"That doesn't explain why you're checking up on me and paying for my groceries," Shiela said with a hand on her hip. The blonde Original peered down at her from over the top of her sun glasses.
"Do you think your line has lived so long because of pure luck? Do you think that there has not even been the slightest interference to keep you all from kicking the bucket so to speak," she said.
The thought gave her pause. The Bennetts have always been surprisingly resilient. From Salem to now, they had never succumbed to the myriad of mistakes and bad things that had fallen other witch lines. Things that should have ended their line had not. And now this woman was suggesting that it was all because of their intervention?
"I know you know it to be true. The fact that your line has survived so long is due to my family's subtle pushing."
"You're lying," Shiela bit out.
"You know it to be true. How else could your line have survived so long? How else could you have avoided catastrophe when it befell all the other prominent witch lines? We protected you Shiela. It was us, the vampires that you hate so much, that have kept you safe."
Shiela leaned back against the car. "Well then why are you telling me this? Why bother tell me this at all?"
"I just wanted you to know. I wanted you to know that it was vampires who protected you all these years… And then maybe ask for a favor."
Ah, there it was. "I knew it. You could never do anything without asking for something in return."
"I'll have you know that protecting you family has been completely altruistic on my part. I just need you to make a spell for me." The blonde original pushed back her hair and pulled the glasses from her face. Shiela was struck with how young she looked.
She looked to be no older than a teen. She still had all the trappings of youth still on her, the fullness of her cheeks to the quivering of her lip. She played with the sunglasses and then looked to Shiela from under her lashes.
"I need you to make a spell for me. A spell that would make me undetectable from a locator spell."
"Now why would I make a spell that dangerous for you?" Shiela asked. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at the young—or perhaps older—woman. The blonde woman said nothing and rested her hand on the cart.
"You don't know what it is like to live with my brothers. To live with Klaus. I just need a break. And I need to make sure that they cannot find me."
Shiela said nothing and the girl's dam of emotions seemed to break and build back up in a matter of moments. The girl slid on the sunglasses and turned towards the sun.
"It was only a suggestion. I'll give you some time to mull over it then." And with a gust of wind, the girl was gone. Shiela sighed and climbed back into her car. On the drive home she could not get the words of the girl out of her head. She had said that vampires had been the reason for her lines prosperity this whole time. That it was because of them and not the resilience of her and her ancestors that the Bennett line had lasted throughout the centuries.
The thought was preposterous, but it stuck with her. No matter how much she tried to throw the thought aside it was still there lingering in the back of her mind.
Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait. Usually I'm a pantser, but I plotted out this story like three or four years ago and have been following the outline and it is hard to follow an outline. It saps my creativity faster than just pantsing it.