Author's Note: So, here's another chappy. Please forgive any typos I am literally typing this up as my Muse feeds it to me. I am trying very hard to make it all make sense because we're dealing with two worlds/planes/times etc. Try not to think too hard on the technicalities and just enjoy the story, your head will hurt less that way, trust me on this ;) As always please give a review, feedback is always nice to get. Thanks!
"So, we didn't destroy hell," Stefan said in a defeated tone as he and the other sat listening to Drusilla tell them about what had happened.
"No," Drusilla replied as she shook her head slightly. "Hell is just a plane like this one and the one you came from, and infinite others." She further explained. "You can't destroy them but sometimes under unnatural circumstances, one plane may become linked with another one."
"Right, which is probably what happened when Matt rang the bell," Stefan stated as he nodded his understanding.
"Yes, the bell was the key that opened a doorway that linked your two worlds and also linked it here to ours," Drusilla confirmed. "Bonnie," She turned to face the other witch in the room. "When you released hellfire you didn't destroy hell you just shifted it completely from your world to ours, and over time the doorway between our world and that hell world has weakened. Things have slipped through into our world and wreaked havoc. Over the centuries my family has used magic to try to fight all the evilness that has gotten through, but with every new generation it was as if the doorway got bigger and the creatures coming through got more dangerous."
"God, I'm so sorry," Bonnie said feeling genuine guilt over what she was being told.
"Psst," Damon blew out as he rolled his eyes and plopped down in the chair across from where Bonnie and Drusilla sat, as Stefan stood by the hearth of the fireplace. "You have nothing to feel sorry for Bon-Bon, you saved 'our' world," He said as he sipped at his drink.
"And to hell with everyone else, is that it Damon?" Bonnie asked irritably as she looked at her friend with a scowl. "God, why are you being so cold and suddenly so cynical?"
"Probably because in essence, he's his younger self again, the vampire Damon who was at the height of his powers," Drusilla answered and the others regarded her in confusion, and so she began to explain. "My ancestors have been trying for centuries to find a way to close the doorway to hell, but none of them knew the right spell to use, nor were any of them powerful enough."
"You've been trying for centuries?" Bonnie asked as her guilt compounded.
"Yes, time is different for each of our worlds. It's quite difficult to explain because time is different depending on which plane you're on, and how long you've been there. From your side of things and how your time worked, for every year that passed in your world it would 'seem' as if only a minute passed here."
"That's why Bonnie showed up only a few minutes after I did?" Damon asked and Drusilla nodded.
"Yes, from your perspective it seemed that way, but only because you yourself haven't been in this world for very long so in your mind things are still running by the rules of your world's time. The longer you're here the more your mind and body will align to this time. The reality is that for every century that passes here, a year passed in your world, so from Stefan's point of view because he's been here the longest, it has been a very long time from when he got here and when you came knocking on the door." Drusilla proclaimed and Stefan nodded in agreement. "Trust me it's given me headaches thinking about it too just understand that some things, like time, are very different here when you try comparing them to your old world's standards. New world, new rules just try to think of it like that. Anyway, as I was saying, it was my grandmother who had the idea that our best bet to close off the hell world from our world was to bring the ones responsible here, so she spent her entire life scouring through the timeline of your world to find you. At first, whenever she made a connection it was either too fleeting to see anything or it was too early or too late in your individual timeline, but eventually she got it right. She felt that it was imperative to grab your younger selves when you were most powerful."
"Yeah, well I was most powerful when I first arrived back in Mystic Falls, and I was also full of hate and hell bent on revenge against my brother," Damon spoke out as he sent an icy glare to Drusilla, who nodded in agreement.
"Yes, but you learned to overcome those urges. I took Stefan's younger self from when he was a Ripper," These words brought a look of concern to each of the other's face. "And Bonnie's right before she did the hellfire spell," Drusilla stated. "Because these were the times that you were all your most powerful selves, but you've also retained all of your knowledge, memories, and experiences from throughout your lives," Damon frowned up in disappointment at what she was telling them.
"Wait, so you're saying that Stefan is 'technically' a Ripper who will probably kill us all in our sleep?" Damon directed to the witch.
"He has the potential, yes, same as you have the potential to revert back to your vengeful ways, but you've always had the potential within you. You just learned how to stop that side of yourself from controlling you. You 'choose' not to let it control you," She replied. "And as I said you all have retained all of your knowledge, memories, and experiences up to the point of your deaths in your world. I know that you will not harm any innocence."
"Right, yeah, Bon-Bon I'm bunking with you," Damon said. "No offense little brother but I've seen you as a Ripper, and it's hella scary." Bonnie only nodded in reply relieved by the offer.
"No, I get it. I'm actually not comfortable with the idea of having that within me either," Stefan finally spoke out.
"But you've had it in you the entire time that you've been in my world, and how many innocent people have you tortured and slaughtered?" Drusilla questioned and Stefan regarded her with a slightly perplexed gaze as he thought about it. "Exactly, none. Yeah, you're a vampire, with a Ripper within you, but you're also a good man, Stefan. My family has been watching you for as long as you've been here, so we know you are a good man. I suspect that that goodness has kept you in control all this time. Besides, you don't need to worry I would never allow you or Damon to harm anyone, I would destroy you before it ever came to that," She promised.
"No," Bonnie spoke out as she shook her head. She then closed her eyes and took a deep breath and chanted. "Spiritus Ducentia Protego Me," Suddenly a shockwave of energy went through Bonnie, Damon, and Stefan. Bonnie then opened her eyes and rested them upon Drusilla.
"What did you just do Witchy?" Damon asked as he sat stock still and nervously eyed his surroundings.
"She did a protection spell which will prevent anyone else from doing magic upon you," Drusilla was the one to answer. Damon relaxed as he smirked at the woman who had become his best friend, confidant, and greatest ally.
"Nice," Damon said as he smiled.
"They're my friends, my vampires, and they're literally all I have in this world. Sorry, but I won't allow anyone to harm them," Drusilla bowed her head a bit respectfully.
"Very well, but if they lose control-"
"I'll handle them, don't worry," Bonnie confirmed and Drusilla conceded with a nod and continued her story.
"My Grams," She said and Bonnie couldn't stop the smile that came to her face at hearing that familiar nickname. "Was able to determine that somehow you three were directly linked to the spell, you were there when it was performed, and she perfected a spell that would bring together your younger bodies here as well as your souls at the moment of your deaths in your world. Getting your soul was the easiest," She said to Stefan. "Yours came along with hell. But we had to wait some time until you two died before they could be pulled over," She stated.
"You're the Anchor of this world?" Bonnie asked?"
"Yes, but you'll learn that although we have basically everything and everyone as you have in your world, things, as they were in your world, don't apply the same here. So, yes I am the Anchor but with different rules and abilities. I'm also the last of the Bennett bloodline in this world," Drusilla said but then cast a small smile. "Well, I guess that's not true anymore."
"So, we're not ghosts and this isn't some kind of purgatory?" Bonnie asked.
"No, you're very much alive."
"No, that's not confusing," Damon spoke out as he crossed his eyes a bit. "Tell me this, you said you have everything and 'everyone' that we had in our world," His words struck Stefan with a realization and made him think of the woman he hadn't thought of for centuries.
"Yes," Drusilla said with a heavy sigh already knowing where this was leading.
"So, there is an Elena Gilbert in this world, and I get to make her fall in love with me all over again. Wait, is there another me here because competing with myself will be very hard?" He added as he frowned up a bit at te thought of it.
"No, the Damon Salvatore of this world died long ago and Stefan Salvatore of this world, who was your ancestor here not your brother, died during the Civil War," Drusilla replied.
"What about me?" Bonnie asked. "And Enzo?"
"And Elena," Damon tossed in.
"Bonnie Bennett, Elena Gilbert … and Caroline Forbes," She looked to Stefan sensing he was wondering too. "All died a very long time ago. It was a car crash. All the girls were together. Bonnie was driving and a drunk driver came out of nowhere, struck them, and all three were killed instantly."
"Wow Bonnie, you have this uncanny knack for keeping me from my lady love," Damon said and tried to sound playful and not too bitter about it.
"I died too asshole," Bonnie spat back at him outraged and hurt by his accusation. "I mean the Bonnie of this world died, and it wasn't even her fault."
"No," Drusilla agreed. "The drunk driver responsible was multi-billionaire playboy, Damon Salvatore, who was also killed in the accident," She said as she arched a brow and stared directly at Damon, who in turn gulped down the lump that had formed in his throat, as her words caused a hush and a somber feeling to fill the room. "On every plane, in every world, the same people encounter each other in some way, and not always a good way. In one world you two may be father and son," She pointed to Stefan and Damon. "Or brother and sister," She then pointed to Bonnie and Damon. "The truth is that having the Stefan, Damon, and Bonnie of this world already dead made things much easier."
"Because two of us couldn't dwell on the same plane," Bonnie stated.
"No, at least not for very long, not before one or both of you died, which is why Katherine Pierce is now dying a very slow and quite painful death," Drusilla announced and the others in the room stared at her in shock.
"What !? That bitch is still alive and she's here?" Damon nearly roared as he leaned to the edge of his seat.
"Right, because she was brought along with hell the same as me," Stefan stated and Drusilla nodded.
"Yes, but up until very recently your Katherine Pierce was bound only to the hell world, but she's managed to find an open door into our world, thus the reason you're all here now. Unfortunately, there was a Katherine Pierce already very much alive in this world, which is who I was referring to. She's just a happy go lucky teenage girl who had just started going to college. She was very excited because she got into the same college as her boyfriend, Enzo St. John," Drusilla spoke the last part a bit softer as she looked to Bonnie, who looked to be crushed at the news for a moment before she took a deep breath and shook it off. "She's suffering and I fear that because your Katherine Pierce is a vampire she will be the one to survive. I have personally taken the Katherine of this world into my care because I am the only one who knows what's happening to her, but there's really nothing I can do for her so long as the Katherine Pierce from your world roams freely here. I've tried to locate your Katherine but I am embarrassed to say that I am still quite a novice when it comes to magic. I was only able to do the spells I have because of Grams' Grimoire. She took great notes."
"Yeah, she did," Bonnie said with a warm smile. "I'll help you find our Katherine, we'll do a locator spell together," Bonnie said and brought a broad smile to Drusilla's face. "Normally, I'd need something of that person but you've got something even better. You've basically got the person so it should be very precise in locating our Katherine. So, take me to her, to your Katherine."
"Take 'us' to her," Damon replied as he stood first. "Because I want to personally dispatch of 'our' Katherine Pierce the second you find her."
