Hello, my lovely readers. Sorry for the long wait. Hope you enjoy the chap. On with the show…
Ch. 11: Can We Trust Her?
Sitting on a picnic table, just outside of the high school; Bonnie Bennett consulted her SAT Prep book. It felt weird, sitting out here, by herself, and studying. She glanced at her phone, again. No one had called, or texted back
Caroline should have shown; if no one else. Elena had decided to try to track down Jeremy, Damon and Stefan went as back-up. Tyler might be... Bonnie had no idea. Kol and Rebekah probably planned to compel their way into college; if they even intended on attending. Bonnie felt her stomach tighten at the thought of her absent boyfriend. Did he ever think of their future after high school? What kind of future did they really have?
Closing her book, Bonnie started to unzip her bag when she felt the air shift. "Giving up so soon? Thought you lived for this," Rebekah tapped the cover of the book with a long fingernail, "stuff."
"She does." Kol appeared, folding his arms over his chest. "Not all of us can live for shagging the entire football team."
"Shut it, Kol," Rebekah snarled. Flipping the book back open, she smiled. "Oh, here is a good one: Abhor!" she declared. "Bonnie, tell us, love: What does that mean?"
"Emphasis on the last syllable," Kol added. This caused Rebekah to elicit a snarl and to knock Kol into the nearest tree.
Staring at her hands, which lay, uselessly, in her lap, Bonnie said, "I missed you. Last night." Her words were aimed at Kol.
Picking himself up, Kol dusted himself off, but he did not look in Bonnie's direction. "Oh? Yes?" He paused and Bonnie waited for an explanation. She knew they'd been struggling since coming back from New Orleans, but she'd been hoping they could work through it. One of the reasons they had not been able to was Kol's desire to return to NOLA, to tear everyone in The Hunter's Council limb from limb. And the other reason...Bonnie did not want to dwell upon...
"I had something I had to take care of." Kol's lack of an explanation for his absence did not make Bonnie feel any better. His lack of concern for her feelings on the subject left her feeling confused, scared, and a little angry. But Rebekah broke into the lapse with her own commentary.
"Let us guess: You were busily undergoing a personality transplant. Good on you for trying. Too bad it, obviously, it did not take. The younger Original smirked at her big brother. Rebekah did not seem to register the tension brewing between her brother and his witch.
Kol shot Bekah a dark look which Rebekah did not seem to notice. She'd returned to the Prep book. "How about: Extenuating?" she offered. "They use that a bit in the law shows. The reason Nik kept Kol in a box for so long was that there were extenuating circumstances!"
Now, Kol openly-glared at his sister, but he spoke to Bonnie instead. "I'm sure Freya was sure to keep you company in my absence..."
"Actually, I haven't heard from Freya for most of a day." Bonnie heard her own words and frowned. Since they'd met, Bonnie and Freya rarely went through a day without some sort of contact...
"How very terrible. For both of you," Kol retorted and Bonnie felt his word rip into her.
Again, Rebekah interrupted "I'll call her. She's probably just been called away, for something witch-y." She waved a dismissive hand. "Where is the wolf? I want to quiz him. You two are no fun."
As if Bekah had summoned him; Tyler appeared. And he was not alone. "Ty. Matt. What's up?" Brows knitting together, at the all-too-serious looks on the two boys' faces; Bonnie waited for the world-shattering announcement they seemed poised to give.
"There's someone new in town," Tyler told them, solemnly.
"And that is news?" Kol came to lean against the table, next to his sister. Neither Original seemed impressed, and Rebekah returned to the SAT book.
"YES!" Tyler snapped, his eyes lighting up with an energy that left Bonnie tense. "Matt, you should tell them."
"Since when is he part of this?" Kol waved a hand to include himself, Bekah, Bonnie, and Tyler. Kol's gaze lingering on Matt, making it clear that Matt was the unwanted ant at the picnic.
Matt gulped, "He's right. I don't feel right, being here, without Caroline here."
"As well you shouldn't," Kol growled out. "Go play with your little mates and your inflated cowhide."
"Let the boy speak!" Rebekah snapped, setting the book aside, and slid off the table. "Come, Matt, you have nothing to fear from us," her tone was gentle and coaxing. A snake charming its victim before sinking it's fangs in.
"Nothing to fear, but her ability to rip your still-beating heart out of your chest and drain it before your lack of a brain quit working. If it ever did." Kol grinned at Matt and Bonnie felt annoyed.
"Matt, you've got to tell them. They're in danger, too." Tyler cried.
"We're in danger? Have you ingested the wrong drugs with your kibble this morning, pray tell?" Kol sneered at Tyler.
"I would really feel better if Caroline was here," Matt began when Rebekah let out a loud groan.
Placing her hand on Matt's arm, Rebekah said, "Relax."
Bonnie watched Matt's body settle. It took a minute before Bekah glanced over her shoulder. "Who the bloody hell is Julian?"
"Julian?" Bonnie and Kol looked at each other. Seeing Kol's jaw tighten; Bonnie got to her feet. She intended on going to him, but he sped over to Matt, pushing Rebekah out of the way.
Hold on Matt tightening, Kol stared at the quarterback. "Tell me what you know!" the vampire hissed, displaying fang.
Seeing Matt's eyes beginning to well up from pain; Bonnie stared at the back of Kol's head until her boyfriend dropped to his knees, howling in pain. "Bonnie, stop!" Kol cried.
"Only if you promise to stop bullying Matt. That is not how we treat friends." Bonnie watched Kol through narrowed eyes.
"And if you don't back off; I'll make you!" Tyler's eyes glowed yellow and his own fangs came out.
"Bite me, wolf, and they'll be finding bits of you I scatter across The States, for decades," Kol replied through clenched teeth. No more than he made the threat than Bonnie increased the volume of the spell. Kol let out a howl, his nose leaking blood down his shirt. "Enough!" he relented, staring at Bonnie. "Enough, love! I'll behave!"
"Good. Because we're in this together." With one, last warning look, Bonnie walked over to stand before Matt. "Matt, we really need for you to tell us how, and why, you know about Julian." She made her request as non-threatening as possible. Her eyes pleaded with Matt. She could only protect him from Kol for so long.
"Who is Julian?" Rebekah demanded, hands on her hips.
Everyone ignored her. "Caroline -" Matt tried, again.
Shaking her head, Bonnie maintained eye contact with Matt. "Caroline is not here. But I am. And I can tell Care what you know, but you have to help me, Matt. Can you do that?"
Nodding, Matt looked at Bonnie. "He came into the Mystic Grill. With Hayley. He introduced himself as her father. I didn't think about it until I remembered Ty saying that Hayley is an orphan. She was also acting really nervous; when I tried to ask about Caroline. She called Care 'Carl.' Something was wrong. Is wrong."
"Hopefully that means that Julian doesn't know about Caroline," Tyler added, folding his arms over his chest. "But someone needs to warn her. Before Julian runs into her on the street."
"I called her, about studying for the SATs," Bonnie remarked, "but she never replied."
"I tried to call her, too." Matt looked at the others. "Should we try to find her?"
"You're fools if you do." Kol's comment made all eyes turn to him. "It's The bloody Hunter's Council, for pity's sake. Hunting is what they live for. It's in their blood. They'll be looking into all of you."
Kol's words made sense. Just because Caroline was supposed to be gone, that did not mean The Council would not still take a special interest in her friends. "Just remember, you're not just Caroline's mates: The newbie seems to have inherited you lot."
"Kol's right," Bonnie groaned, shaking her head.
"Just because Undead of the Month Club is you boy toy, doesn't mean he's right," Tyler retorted.
"Tyler," Bonnie snapped. "Think about it, they'll be watching us. If we go after Care; we'll lead them to her."
"Caroline can handle herself. Plus, she has us," Tyler argued.
"If you think that The Council will not skin your pelt off, and feed your bits to nightwalkers; you're a fool," Kol informed Tyler. "However, I will rip Julian's face off if he comes near me, again." That said, Kol sped off.
"Rebekah," Bonnie said and Rebekah nodded.
"I won't let him do his worst. Yet." The air stilled where the Original sister had been.
Bonnie turned to Tyler and Matt. "We'll keep trying to contact Caroline. But we have to act normal." As she spoke, other students began to arrive on campus, and Bonnie opened her bag, putting her book away.
"Hey!" Hayley's voice made Bonnie drop her bag under the table. "Let me get that for you." The young Slayer slid her arm under the table and she retrieved the bag. "You haven't seen Care, have you?"
"No. Have you?" Bonnie tried to make her question as casual as possible while she chocked the strap of her bag between her clenched fingers. Images of Hayley, and Julian, subduing, and dragging Caroline off to be tortured entered Bonnie's mind.
"Nope." Hayley shook her head. "Which is good 'cause Julian is in town." She whispered the last part and gave Bonnie a long look.
"Yeah?" Bonnie tried to seem surprised. "Why?"
"Checking on how things are here. Just routine stuff." Hayley shrugged. "You think they'll have mac and cheese for lunch?" She headed toward the school and Bonnie forced herself to go with the younger girl.
"No idea," Bonnie replied. She wondered what else Hayley was hiding, because Julian's visit was anything but routine. Bonnie would stake her life on it.
"I need you to talk to Hayley," Bonnie informed Tyler, between third and fourth periods. With Care AWOL; Bonnie had adopted the role of leader. And Tyler was cool with that. Until now.
"What? Why me?" Tyler demanded. He so did not want to meet this Julian guy. After Kol's warning, Tyler kept having visions some mystery man, skinning Tyler's wolf-form, and making a nice, werewolf-skin, winter coat. "You should ask Matt. "Yes. Nice. Dependable. Made-out-of-human-skin, three hundred and sixty-five days of the year, Matt."
"No, Tyler. It has to be you." Bonnie's jaw was thrust out and she had that glint in her eye that said she was not screwing around.
"But -" Tyler tried anyway, but Bonnie took him by the arm and pulled him into an empty classroom.
Closing the door, Bonnie turned to Tyler. "We faced the likes of Mikael and Esther Mikaelson. And Klaus. We can survive Julian."
Bonnie's reasoning was sound. However, Tyler did not understand why Bonnie couldn't talk to Hayley. "Why can't you do it?" he blurted.
"Because she doesn't like me, Ty," she retorted with an eye roll.
"Sure, she does," Tyler said with a grin.
"Not like she likes you." Bonnie stared at Tyler. Then it hit him. "She's sixteen. In a new town. Lonely. Use it."
Tyler shook his head. He always thought girls like Bonnie did not approve of girls being manipulated like this. But Caroline's life was on the line, again, and it looked like the wavy line of morality just got wavy-er.
"Okay." Tyler nodded. He would do this. For Care. "I'll see what I can find out."
"Thank you." Her words were spoken so quietly; Tyler had to use his supernatural hearing to pick them up.
Wordlessly, the two left the room and went to their classes. For the next three hours, Tyler's eyes were on the clock, ticking down to lunchtime. That would be the earliest time he could speak to Hayley.
When the lunch hour rolled around, Tyler entered the room and trained his senses to find Hayley. It took him a couple of minutes before he picked up her scent of pine cones and lemon shampoo. She stood toward the middle of the line, with her tray balanced on her hip and a bored look on her face. That was a good sign.
Making his way over to the line, Tyler moved to stand to Hayley's right. "Did I say: 'Great shirt' this morning?" he said quietly.
Whirling on her black boot, Hayley lit up. "Tyler!" she cried, smiling widely before glancing at her smiley face T. "I was going for ironic." She tucked her hair behind her ear and glanced up at him through her eyelashes.
Oh, boy! Yeah. She was flirting with him, hard-core. "It's great," Tyler repeated himself, his eyes going back to her shirt. He shouldn't stare too long, or she would think he was staring at her breasts, which he was.
"No cuts," a kid behind them complained, glaring at Tyler. "You jocks think you can have everything."
Before Tyler could reply, Hayley edged around Ty and stood in front of the boy. "Hi! I don't think we've met. I'm Hayley. And I'm new here," she grinned at the boy, leaning against the railing to their side and titled her head. "And you are?"
"Um...I'm...Ben?" The boy was flushed and Tyler watched him stare at Hayley.
"Ben. Well, my friend, Tyler, really needs to eat lunch and get back to his SAT Prep. 'Cause," she wiggled a finger for Ben to move closer and she lowered her voice, "he lost a scholarship. And his dad is the Mayor. And Papa Lockwood will make Ty's life hell; if Ty doesn't get in, somewhere. That's just between us. So, you would be doing Ty a favor. Say he'll owe you one?" She glanced from Ben to Tyler with an innocent look.
Ben glanced at Tyler. Tyler rubbed the back of his neck and looked down. "Here." Ben held out his tray. "I have a free period, and I can get some non-perishables for lunch."
"Thanks, man." Tyler took the tray and moved into Ben's space. He leaned closer to Hayley. "You use your powers for good, right?"
Hayley chuckled. "Most of the time." They moved down the line. "Mac and cheese," she cried in delight.
"You really like that stuff, don't you?" Tyler remarked, feeling a story coming on as he watched the lunch lady place a lump that claimed to be meatloaf on his tray. He grabbed a shiny, red apple, and a whole milk on his way to the register.
"First thing I learned to make on my own. Plus, it's cheap," Hayley said on the way to an empty table.
Sitting down, Tyler tried to think of the best way to deal with the Julian situation. Hayley startled him out of his thoughts with: "Where is everyone else?"
Several seconds passed before Tyler replied, "You mean Bon...and..."
Hayley leaned over. "Matt told you all about Julian, didn't he?" She searched Tyler's face, and fell back in her seat, seemingly having lost interest in her mac and cheese.
"Yeah," Tyler admitted. "After what went down with Kol; he decided to disappear. 'Til it's safe."
Nodding, Hayley looked angry and depressed. "It's not fair," she muttered.
"What's not fair?" Tyler waited.
Hayley took a couple of bites of her mac and cheese and then pushed it away. "I make better," she grumbled at the tray. After a pause, she added, "I just got them..."
"Them?" Tyler, again, felt confused.
"Friends," Hayley said, dully. "I spent my life at Council Headquarters. Train. Read. Sleep. Don't go out. Don't listen to music. Don't watch TV. Or talk to boys. And friends... Ha!" Hayley's tone had become bitter. "Never. 'Til now." Looking up at Tyler, Hayley looked vulnerable.
"So, you must have a lot of resentment-towards Julian-for managing your life, like that. I would hate someone who did that to me." Tyler hoped he wasn't pushing her too far.
"I DON'T hate Julian!" The vehemence of Hayley's response left Tyler stunned.
Taking a moment, Tyler softened his tone, "I didn't mean to offend," he began while Hayley played with her leftovers. "It's just...if someone controlled me-that much-It would resent it..."
Looking up, Hayley folded her arms on the tabletop. "I did. But as I got older, I read up on the girls before me-you know that oldest Slayer only made it to twenty-two? And I want to go longer. I want to grow up. Maybe get married, one day. And have kids." Stopping, she said, "I at least want to go to college…" Her tone was wistful, like she already knew that all of her dreams would never come true. "And Julian, he saw something in me. He taught me to fight. He taught me to read…" Smiling, she rolled her eyes.
"What?" Tyler coaxed.
"He also taught me to waltz. He said that some vampires-like the Mikalesons-live like royalty. I would need 'social graces,' to be able to hunt them." Hayley pushed her chair back and stood up. "Want to hit the vending machines before classes?"
"Sure." Tyler rose. He didn't have to keep asking Hayley questions because he felt pretty clear already. No matter how close Hayley might be to this group: she was Julian's daughter.
Standing outside of his sixth period class, Alaric Saltzman had been texting with his doctor girlfriend, Jo, when Bonnie Bennett appeared. "Alaric, we need to talk," Bonnie hissed, glancing at the student body.
Alaric glanced at the time. There was still ten minutes between fifth and sixth periods. "Okay." Alaric shoved his phone into his jeans pocket, and then twisted the knob, allowing Bonnie in first.
Going to the teacher's desk, Alaric leaned against it, crossing his arms and ankles, waiting for Bonnie to tell him what was happening.
"Julian is in town," Bonnie announced gravely.
"Oh?" Alaric nodded. He'd been expecting something else. "Marcel called me. To give me a head's up." Pushing off the desk, he rounded the desk, and busied himself cleaning the blackboard.
"You knew?" Bonnie cried, marching over, to stand beside him.
"Yes, Bonnie. I knew." Alaric glanced at the still-closed door.
"And you did not care to impart this information on the rest of us?" Her voice had gone up an octave.
Keeping his voice low, Alaric began to write dates on the board. "Elena, Damon, and Stefan, are out-of-town. So, I'm not worried about them. And I texted Caroline. I know she would call the rest of you." Alaric did not mention that all of this fell under the Hunter-Slayer purview, and that did not include "friends of," under the heading. Right now, Caroline's friends were on a need-to-know basis. Or maybe Alaric's training was kicking in too hard. He had basically been fired. He should be telling Julian to screw himself. And Julian hadn't bothered to call, or visit; so maybe Alaric would put that on his to-do list.
"Wrong!" Bonnie snapped, reminding Alaric she was still there and his hand froze. "Matt told us. He saw Julian. With Hayley. At the Mystic Grill. Caroline hasn't contacted me since the time preceding the Julian appearance. Worried now?"
Opening his mouth to reply to what the witch had just said; Alaric found students coming into his classroom. "Thank you, Bonnie, for letting Jeremy know about that assignment."
Bonnie returned his forced smile. "He needs all the help he can get." She turned and made her way out of the classroom.
Returning to the blackboard, Alaric felt a pit beginning to grow in his stomach at the thought of Caroline disappearing. They just got her back. And with Julian popping up... Alaric struggled to not put the two events together, and to begin to unravel at the possibilities.
No, Alaric would get through the rest of the day. Then he would gather together Caroline's friends and try to figure out where his Slayer was.
Like most times in life, when you need the hours to pass quickly; they dragged on, and on, and on. After consulting a clock, any clock, one hundred and eighty-five times, Alaric felt relieved when the end-of-the-day bell rang.
"Remember, your papers are due tomorrow," Alaric called. He was already packing his own bag as he spoke. With any luck, none of his over-eager students would stop, to ask a question, or to suck up. There was always one of those.
And as if they read his mind, the classroom emptied out; leaving Alaric alone. He shouldered his bag and made his way to the door. No students lingered outside. Sighing in relief, he pulled out his keys and locked the door. Now, he just needed to track down Bonnie and Tyler.
Turning, Alaric cried out. He was no longer alone. "Hi, Ric!" Hayley greeted him with a grin. She'd changed since their class, earlier in the day. Wearing a tank top, sneakers, and a pair of loose jogging pants, she screamed pent-up Slayer energy. Alaric remembered his early days, with Caroline, who had the same vibe that Hayley was currently sporting. "Thought we could spar. Unless you're busy with your lady." She let out a quiet laugh, bouncing on the heels on her feet.
"Isn't that Marcel's domain?" Alaric said, pocketing his keys.
Rolling her eyes, Hayley said, "Julian's here. And he's kind of, all over Marcel. In a bad way. So, I thought...if you weren't busy..." She frowned and her shoulders drooped. "Never mind. Sorry I bothered you." She whirled on her heel and started to stride off.
"It's not a bad idea. I'm just behind in my work-work. You know what, I'm free tomorrow. I can take you to Caroline's favorite spot. Today, you could try Elijah." Alaric watched Hayley's mood brighten.
"Yeah. I could call Mr. Suit, and see if he's up for some action." Hayley's eyes went wide. "Sparring action. Not teen-and-old-fuddy-duddy-vamp-action. I am not pro-vamp getting it on with human chicks. Oh, God! Okay. No more words. Ever again. What is this town doing to me?" Hayley was muttering the latest part to herself as she hurried away.
Shaking his head, Alaric chuckled before he remembered his mission. He headed down the hallway and turned, only to run into someone else.
"Damn it! How does this keep happening?" Alaric felt his age. These kids were going to give him a heart attack. And he wasn't even thirty, yet.
"I was coming to find you," Tyler informed Alaric, seemingly oblivious to Alaric's raw nerves. "We're meeting in the library." The wolf led the way, talking the whole way, "I got held up by Jordan. He wanted to talk about a bad play we made in the last game..."
Alaric tuned out the rest of the conversation until they got to the library. "I'm telling you, man, we had them where we wanted them. And we could have won. But their linebacker got hit in the head, and they sent in an alternate. This guy was huge. I mean massive! Like a mack freakin' truck, right? And our QB does not want this guy landing on him, so he keeps fumbling the ball, and running away from passes. (Don't tell Matt I told you. He'll kill me.) That linebacker... I'm pretty sure I saw him playing for the Chicago Bears, last year. Any chance he's a vamp? 'Cause Care, or Hales, could stake him. Call it 'school spirit.'"
"Tyler, enough with the play-by-play," Bonnie called. She sat next to a computer. "I need you over here." She patted the seat to her right and in front of the computer.
Making his way over, Tyler took a seat, and Alaric moved to stand behind the werewolf. "What am I looking for?" Tyler was all business now.
"You're looking for where Julian is staying and tracking his movements." Leaning closer to Tyler, Bonnie glanced at her friend.
"Cool." Tyler muttered and Alaric watched as the boy's fingers went over the keyboard, like he'd been born attached to one. "And we're in." Tyler leaned back in his seat.
"In what?" Alaric felt confused, staring at an unfamiliar database as a list of names popped up on the screen.
Bonnie glanced up. "When someone new arrives in Mystic Falls, the mayor makes a point of spying on them. This is a list of every person who came to town, in the past fifteen years. Some of the files are massive. They track your credit card receipts or any other computerized data about you. Purchases of property, your last call for take-out, and includes anytime a camera spotted you, anywhere in Mystic Falls."
Frowning, Alaric stared at the list. "A: That is a major violation of privacy laws. B: How do you know about it? And, C: I'm on that list, aren't I?" He looked from Bonnie to Tyler.
Bonnie nodded. "Yes, to A and C. Sorry. But this could help us in the long run, and we need to know if Julian had anything to do with Caroline's disappearance." Her eyes went to the glowing computer screen.
Alaric could not argue with that logic. Tyler cut into his thoughts. "I was twelve when my dad told me to play video games, in his office. He was hitting on some woman and didn't want me in the way. I started poking around and found this database. He really needs to get better security software."
Clicking on Julian's name, Tyler brought up... Not much. They found which plane he'd used to get to Mystic Falls and when it arrived, after that; it was like he'd left the map. Nothing to do with a hotel, or apartment rental. He was probably staying with Marcel. Alaric did not include the others in this idea. Julian left no credit card receipts. So he was paying in cash. However, he did have a traveling companion, and she might still give them a lead.
With a sigh, Alaric ran a hand though his hair. "Well, that was a waste -" he said. He would try the old-fashioned way, over the weekend, without the high schoolers.
Alaric's mental planning was interrupted when Bonnie said, "Click there." She pointed at a video file from one of the camera outside of the Mystic Grill. Tyler clicked on it and they all leaned closer. "That date is yesterday. Who is that?" She pointed at the person who was not Julian. There was no audio, so they had no idea what was being said.
A couple of minutes later, the stranger turned toward the camera. "Take a screen shot and print it for me," Bonnie ordered Tyler. Soon, the printer was whirring. Bonnie left and came back. "Hello, Father," she muttered.
"Wonder what Julian needs with a priest," Tyler mused.
"Or what a priest wants with The Council." Alaric felt a headache coming on. They needed to find Caroline, now.
I apologize for any errors. I typed this up on my phone.
Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.
Be safe,
-J