Oblivion Chapter 6: Heroes of Mystic Falls
Damon found himself looking back at the gates of Gardenia often. He watched the gate until distance obscured its view. The feeling he felt when Bonnie died churned inside of him as if it were yesterday. The last thing he wanted was to be separated from her. He couldn't understand why he would have such feelings for Bonnie Bennett.
He smiled in thought of her goodbye to him. He grinned even bigger when he pictured her crying over him.
He never thought in a million years that she would ever weep over him, but then again, he hadn't imagined a lot of things until he came to this planet.
Damon suddenly envisioned him and Bonnie as a couple. He soon lost that sparkle in his eye. Even if that was what he wanted, and she wanted the same thing; he was sure she wouldn't go through with it because of Elena. Her loyalty to her friend was truly staggering. The only other person he knew whose loyalty would rival Bonnie's was his brother's.
He couldn't think of Bonnie without thinking of Elena. He started listing the pros and cons of each relationship, which was something he had never done before either because he didn't see Bonnie in the romantic sense.
He had done so much to so many people to win Elena over. Like hurting his brother and compromising who he was in the process. He wondered how the hell he could even imagine being with anyone else but Elena.
He chased after her for two straight years. He did every underhanded and selfish thing imaginable, and as luck and a sire bond would have it, he finally got the girl he wanted, but through the course of their love, things changed.
He changed Elena. She was no longer the best version of herself. She was now an obnoxious codependent and self-absorbed watered-down version of his first love, Katherine Pierce, but Bonnie Bennett had all the strengths of Katherine and none of her weaknesses.
She was a do-it-yourself girl. She didn't need anyone to hold her hand as she walked off into the unknown, alone. She was a fighter. That was all akin to Katherine Pierce.
What Bonnie had that Katherine never did, and Elena use to, was compassion, and she was selfless, sometimes to a fault. A woman like that would balance out his unbelievably selfish ways and he was finally seeing this.
Bonnie was indeed the entire package and her personality didn't change to fit her man. She remained that same woman no matter who she loved or what changes occurred in her life.
As the mantra of thoughts concerning his relationships to the women that were important or once important to him played out in his mind, he began to see why he felt so drawn to Bonnie. She was, in fact, everything he wanted and needed from a woman. If it weren't for this planet, he wondered if he'd ever come to realize or admit these things to himself.
"Cheyenne, did you grab the five canisters of my friend's blood?" Tupac yelled, brutally taking Damon from his thoughts.
"There were only three canisters of his blood left."
"Three?" Tupac inquired, pushing his brow into his forehead.
"Yes, and one of the canisters I used, giving everyone three drops as instructed by Chogan," Cheyenne answered.
"Which was a dumb fucking idea," Damon mumbled under his breath.
"Where is the other canister?" Tupac thought aloud.
"Maybe Chogan kept it as insurance," Peyak added.
"Insurance for what?" Tupac looked at his friend with a scowl.
"Who knows. You know how Chogan is," Peyak said, not affording his friend a glance.
"Smells fishy to me," Damon's murmured, dissatisfaction plowed his brow.
"Damon, how long have you and your lady been together?"
"What, no questions about my blood, and how I'm able to walk around in the sun?" Damon replied animatedly, miffed.
"I have tons of questions for you, but I know you won't answer them, at least not honestly, so why waste my time." Tupac shrugged. "…so, you and Bonnie?"
"We're not together," Damon answered aloofly, looking straight ahead.
"You said she was your woman and that she was special to you." Tupac darted him a puzzling look.
"She is…I mean she's special to me, but she's not my woman."
"Okay, so she's not your woman, but you want her to be."
"Psst, please. Bonnie Bennett is a pain in my ass." He reddened.
"The way you screamed in protest of me hurting your woman told me she's more than just a pain in your ass. How long have you been in love with her?"
"I'm not in love with her," Damon enunciated hotly, becoming angry with Tupac's accusations.
"What would be so wrong with loving Bonnie? She's a beautiful woman, and she seems to have a great head on her shoulders."
"She is a great woman, but it'll never work between us," Damon replied disappointedly.
"Well, you better grab hold of her before someone else does."
::::::
The mighty gates of Gardenia were now closed. For the first time since being on Parallel Earth, Bonnie and Damon were separated.
She felt an emptiness that she hadn't since losing her Grams. Being detached from Damon made her extremely depressed. Even with Jeremy she didn't feel exceedingly disoriented by his absence like she did now. She chalked it all up to it being about Elena.
She convinced herself that if something happened to Damon, Elena would blame her, and she would lose her forever, but she was lying to herself.
She and Damon had handled business and separated immediately thereafter on many occasions. She never thought one second about it, but this time things were different.
Like those times when they took down Klaus and Silas. They always came together to save the day, then parted ways without so much as a "Kiss my ass" when they went their separate ways.
Now, here she was, feeling like Damon had taken half her heart with him when he left. Out of all the people in the world that she would feel lost without, she never conceived that he would be one of those people. Her stomach began to twist violently in knots; she trembled inside just thinking about him not returning to her.
He had become her precious picture in a frame or that beautiful expensive piece of jewelry that was left behind after the fire, but now he was out of her sights. She could no longer protect him or watch his back.
"Well, it's just us girls now. What would you like to do today?" Zinnia threaded her arm through hers.
Bonnie didn't answer; her eyes were still fixated on the stone gate.
"Bonnie, are you okay?" Zinnia inquired, again, watching the outlander with a concerned gaze before gently nudging her.
"Huh, what?" Bonnie gazed blankly in her direction.
"What would you like to do today?'"
"Uh, I don't know. We can do whatever you guys do here in uh-," Bonnie trailed off.
"Gardenia. That is the name of our little city."
"Mmm, Gardenia. That's a beautiful name."
"Since you are not sure of what you want to do, why don't you help me make the spirits and the kidney pies for our feast tonight?"
"Feast?" Bonnie cocked her head to one side.
"When the men go away to battle, we have a big feast to celebrate their bravery, and we pray that the Gods will bring them home to us. It's a time for us women to comfort each other and to do things we normally don't do when our men are among us."
"Ahhh, I get it. It's sort of like a girls kick ass night out." Bonnie smiled, nodding as if devious thoughts were rolling around in her head.
Zinnia laughed, then led Bonnie to the town hall. Once inside, she led her to a table topped with large glass jugs filled with red liquid. She knew that it was wine because Zinnia had already introduced her to their spirits. The table was also covered with piles of fruit. She spotted the purple fruit that Damon said she shouldn't eat, but there were piles of the fruit all over the table.
"Hey, what is the name of this fruit. Does it affect a person's emotions?" Bonnie asked, picking up one of the fruits from off the table.
"This…," Zinnia picked up one of the fruits, too, "…is called passion fruit and it should only be consumed in small amounts. We mix a few drops of it into our spirits to help enhance its potency. It heightens your desires, lightens your mood, and gives you the feeling of floating on clouds. I love this fruit." Zinnia explained animatedly before resting her forehead on Bonnie's, sending her a cute grin.
"Have you ever kneaded dough, Bonnie?" she asked, leading Bonnie to another table. She dipped her hand down in to a bucket of hot foaming water. She washed her hands and then dried them off. Bonnie did the same. Zinnia handed her a small ball of dough.
"My Grams showed me how to knead dough," she finally answered.
"Grams?" Zinnia squinted, bemused.
"She was my grandmother. She's the person responsible for bringing me and my friend here to your world."
"Oh, okay. Tell me about that by the way. I've been curious about where you and Damon are from and how you got here."
"We're from a little town called Mystic Falls, which also on a planet called Earth," Bonnie giggled. "It was a very quiet place before every supernatural being on earth discovered our little haven." She rolled her eyes, then continued.
"Damon and I died. Well, I died once before to bring back my friend's little brother. He was her last surviving family member. I wanted to bring him back for her. I wanted Elena and Damon to be happy together. I knew she would never be happy after losing her only family."
"Wait, so you died, twice, and were able to come back to life?"
"Yeah, Damon was the reason I came back to life the first time. I had to come back as the Anchor, the bridge between the land of the living and a place called the Other Side, which was where the supernatural went after death." She paused. "Well, the Other Side was deteriorating, and it was taking me along with it, but my Grams came up with a spell to save me, that's how Damon and I ended up here." Bonnie folded her bottom lip between her teeth, recollecting.
"Your Grams sounds like she was an awesome person, and who is Elena? I thought Damon was your man?" Zinnia looked at her confused.
"No, Damon is very much in love with Elena. He all but ruined his relationship with his brother to have her."
"He seems so smitten with you. Are you sure he's not in love with you?"
"Heavens, no! Damon Salvatore doesn't love me." Bonnie blushed. She laughed hilariously at the idea.
"By all that is holy and right, you are in love with him." Zinnia instigated playfully.
"No. No." Bonnie tensed and shook her head fervently.
"When he left today, how did it make you feel?" Zinnia inquired sassily, jutting out a knee, and propping a hand on her hip.
Bonnie exhaled and looked at the woman seriously. "I'm not in love with him. I can't be in love with him. My best friend is in love with him, and she's like a sister to me. I won't betray her," she enlightened with conviction.
"What if you never make it home? What if this place is your new home? Are you okay with him moving on with one of the women here in our city? Are you okay with losing him forever?" Zinnia asked seriously.
"We will make it home, and I won't do anything to taint our newfound friendship or my bond with Elena."
"You are a good friend. I hope this Elena girl is worth your friendship and your happiness." Zinnia looked at Bonnie unsurely, slightly shaking her head.
"Elena is a good friend. I'm making the right call." Bonnie was never surer of herself.
::::::
Stefan woke up to find Lucy Bennett on the other side of the bed, laying naked, and uncovered.
Stefan was ready to get back to Mystic Falls to set the wheels in motion to save his brother. There was something else nagging at his consciousness—his conversation with Caroline.
He knew his words had hurt her, but he wasn't ready to be in a relationship—with anyone. He felt emotionally detached from everything way before he turned off his humanity. Caroline was the only thing that kept him grounded as he teeter-tottered between the living and the darkness.
He had finally made the decision to leave Mystic Falls because it hurt too much to watch Elena and Damon be so exultant together at the expense of his happiness. Instead of making a clean getaway, he met a watery grave instead.
After coming back from amnesia, his ripper self, he bonded with Caroline. He wondered how he could've thrown away what they had all because he lost his brother, but he did. Stefan had always chosen Damon above all. His brother always came first, even to Elena, but sadly, he couldn't say the same for his brother.
Damon was so selfish and hard up for Elena Gilbert that he even went so far as to carry her along with him on his suicide mission.
He loved his brother immensely, so much so that he pushed the women that he loved into Damon's arms. Now that he no longer had his emotions, he realized what a wanker he was for doing such a crappy thing even to Elena. She was also a crappy individual in retrospect.
Elena's deep feelings for her brother's killer is what caused the sire bond in the first place, and every time he thought about it, he became incensed all over again.
Stefan blinked his eyes rapidly, ridding his brain of all the roaming depressing thoughts.
He looked out to his large hotel room with its neutral colors then over at Lucy's nutmeg, naked body. He inched closer to her. He floated a hand down to her leg. He squeezed her tone thigh. The action caused his loin to twitch in remembrance of what her warm cavity felt like around him.
His sexual appetite was insatiable. A part of him wondered what it would be like to be with Caroline.
"Morning," Lucy called softly.
"Hey, you. You ready for round one hundred?" Stefan averted her a lustful ogle.
She snorted.
Stefan crawled on top of her, pushing her legs gently apart with his knees. He pushed himself in to the place that he was now so familiar with before pinning her arms to the bed. "Mmm, you're ready for me. I like that," he moaned against her lips.
Lucy wrapped her legs around his back. Stefan started pumping her robustly.
"Mm, her." Enzo licked his lips at seeing Stefan and Lucy be all hot and heavy.
Stefan gave him a gloating smirk while pulling the sheets over their nudeness.
Lucy shrieked and slapped her hand over her face.
"What do you want, Clone?"
"Are we still pushing off today, mate?"
"Yeah, give me five minutes."
"Fifteen. Fifteen minutes," Lucy corrected strongly.
"Yeah, what she said." They snickered deviously.
"Don't hurt him, Lucy." Enzo winked, then left.
"Who the hell is it now?" Stefan snarled, then snatched his phone from off the nightstand. He rolled his eyes when he saw that it was Elena. "Hello," he greeted, annoyed.
"Stefan, thank God. I was worried about you. Why did you hang up? Look-," she breathed. "I know I haven't been that much of a friend to you lately, but I want to be. I want things to be like they use to be between us. Talk to me, Stefan. How are you holding up?"
Stefan was immediately taking in by Elena. He really wanted to believe that she cared about him. "Things are okay now, and I'm holding up, but I'm kind of in the middle of something right now. Can we talk when I get back to Mystic Falls?"
"Please tell me you have a spell to bring Damon back?" she hurried out.
Something in Stefan snapped. In mere seconds Elena went from worrying about him hanging up on her to worrying about Damon. It was official; she was never going to change. She would always play the brothers against each other for her own benefit.
Everything was always about her. She would bat her eyes and whine in her raspy voice. For the first time, he felt like joining that long list of people who did indeed hate her.
Stefan glowered at his cellphone. He then sat his cell on the pillow next to him and Lucy.
He commenced to fuck Lucy.
"Stefan? Stefan, what is that? What are you doing?"
::::::
Damon, Tupac, and his men traveled a day's time from Gardenia. They decided to set up camp and get a little rest before traveling any further. The men built small fires, relaxed, and rested their feet.
Damon, the people person that he was, decided to spend his time with the space-aged looking horse creature. He really didn't need any of Bonnie's blood, but he decided to take a few drops of it anyway. He grabbed the canister from the satchel attached to the horse, popped the lid on it, and then took a swig of her divine crimson essence.
He didn't have a wallet size picture of Bonnie; her blood was his picture. He closed his eyes, savoring the taste of her nectar as it rolled around on his tongue. He thoroughly enjoyed every drop of her witchy goodness.
It was like a drop of honey to him, and when he drank straight from her tap, it was a magical orgasm bursting forth into his mouth, and that feeling would travel right down to the very heart of him.
He smiled in recollection of it all as he drifted down alongside the animal to the forest floor. He looked up at the three moons in the sky, still grinning like an idiot. His mind soon drifted back in time when the Other Side was imploding.
He wondered why he wasn't heartbroken about his death. He got the prize; he won Elena. Shouldn't he have been more shaken up about not having more time with her? Elena rode with him to his bittersweet end, but then he traveled into the light to a whole new world with Bonnie. He couldn't help but feel that fate was trying to tell him something.
He and Elena met a tragic and bitter end, but he and Bonnie transcended to a new beginning, and they had been working together ever since to save, help, and to a certain extent comfort one another on their journey. Whether this place was a temporary or permanent home, he was glad to be sharing it with her. Secretly, he hoped that it would be the latter, even though he didn't mind, at all, going back to Mystic Falls for his brother.
He thought about Stefan off and on since he'd been on Parallel Earth, but not as extensively as he did about Bonnie and Elena.
He would make sacrifices for his brother, but when it came to Elena, he didn't. He chose her over Stefan every time, and the minute the realization settled into his wakefulness, he lost his grin. His outlook turned grim. Why wouldn't he let Elena go for Stefan? That was the million-dollar question.
Stefan needed to be coddled. He could handle whatever life threw at him. His brother was perfect for Elena in every way, but he didn't care about that. All that mattered was his feelings. She was the right woman for him (so he believed).
They were two of a kind. How could he be with someone that was as selfish as him? How could they possibly make it work?
Damon's thoughts were disrupted by the men's loud laughter. He stared over at the fire, an empty look in his eyes. He cocked a brow suspiciously at hearing whispering in the woods behind him. He bounced to his feet. He tuned out Tupac and his men and focused on the whispering in the woods.
"Is everyone in place?" A voice questioned.
"We're ready, My Lord."
"Once the order is given, follow my lead."
Damon's eyes widened in horror. Tupac and his men had been betrayed. They had walked right into an ambush.
He ran immediately to Tupac.
"Tupac, may I have a word with you." Damon ground his jaw, offering the man a serious gaze.
"Not now, outlander. I'm in the middle of something." Tupac shooed him away.
"I need to talk to you, right now," Damon said through gritted teeth.
Tupac looked at him. He could sense that something wasn't right.
"What's up, outlander? You're trying my patience."
"There are men in the woods gearing up to attack you and your men." He looked him square in the eye.
"No, you're wrong," Tupac said in disbelief. "How do you know?"
Damon tapped his earlobe.
Tupac walked back over to his sword, and his men. He placed a finger to his lips, silencing his men, and then gestured to the woods. While he was trying to inconspicuously get his men together, Peyak had other plans.
Hundreds of horses and men came charging out of the woods. Damon snatched his gaze to the thickets as the men came charging with spears, arrows, and some even had laser weapons.
Tupac and his army were like lambs going to slaughter as their enemy gunned them down like dogs, impaling them with long spears, and plowing them in to the ground with their animals.
Tupac cried out. The man's cry brought Damon's attention back to him.
Tupac was laying on the ground with two arrows in his chest. This enraged Damon. He didn't care that much for the leader, but he respected him immensely. He understood his cause which was to save his woman and his people.
Damon treaded over to Peyak, a deadly sinister look in his eyes. Peyak fiddled around in his quiver for another arrow and shot it at him. He caught the arrow with one hand, never breaking stride. He watched his foe ramble around for another arrow.
Peyak shot another arrow at Damon and once again he caught the weapon in one swift movement.
His foe fiddled around in his quiver for another arrow. Damon now stood in his presence, watching him scramble to arm his weapon. Peyak slowly lifted his dreaded eyes up to him. He let out a soft groan. He lowered his head, to see his heart in Damon's hand.
"No," he groaned. His trembling hand reached up to feel the cavernous hole in his chest. Damon shoved him to the ground with his own heart. His body hit the forest floor with a clunk, and then his heart came plopping down on top of him.
Damon had wasted too much time on Peyak. He rushed over to Tupac, ignoring men dying all around them.
"That motherfucker shot me. He betrayed me," Tupac choked out his own blood.
"Did you have my blood?" Damon asked seriously.
Tupac shook his head.
Damon snatched the arrows out of his chest. Tupac let out a deafening scream. Damon bit into his wrist and forced him to drink his blood.
"Will…will…will it save me?" He gave Damon a probing squint, blood lacing his chin and lips.
"You're going to be okay." Damon laid Tupac's head back down on the ground. He grabbed his sword and looked out to all the men dying around him. He didn't want to be involved in these people's war, but it was either that or die.
With vampire speed, he raced to his first soon to be victim, and jabbed the weapon right into his heart. He snatched the spear from the deceased body before it hit the ground and propelled it through the air, killing three more soldiers with one direct hit.
He spotted one of the laser-like weapons on the ground. He slid across the forest floor, taking the weapon in his hand, flashed to a standing position, then fired off his first shot. The red beam struck his foe and blew the victim clear off his horse, leaving a cavernous hole in the man's chest. Damon grinned, amazed by the guns power.
The more of them he killed, the more it put him on their radar. He noticed the leader on his horse, calling for one of the biggest damn men that Damon had ever seen to take him down.
The enormous man charged him with his axe held high up in the air. Damon went charging his foe, to meet him head on. He hit the ground and went sliding thorough the large man's legs, gashing his knee. The giant hit the ground. He vamp sped back to him to finish the jump. He plunged the sword straight down through the top of his head, and then broke the blade off into his skull.
Seeing that the battle was turning in Gardenia's favor, the enemy called back his soldiers.
Tupac watched with relief as his foe retreated.
Damon and Cheyenne met up with Tupac.
"Peyak betrayed us!"
"Do you think he gave the other bag of blood to Sultan's camp?" Cheyanne asked, with quickened breathes.
"I'm sure he did, but none of them were like Damon, they're still human," Tupac replied, scanning the land to see all his fallen men.
"Tell me what to do now Damon?" he pleaded.
"You don't want your planet overrun by vampires. Burn the bodies," he advised.
"No, Tupac. We can't kill them. If Sultan's people have his blood, he can make soldiers like Damon. We need more soldiers like him if we hope to have any chance against them," Cheyenne explained passionately.
"What do you think, Damon? You're okay. You're a little too cocky, but you're okay." Tupac was dead serious.
Damon cut his eyes nastily at him. "Not everyone can handle being a vampire, just ask my brother."
Tupac never even weighed his options. "It'll be daylight soon. Cover the bodies, and if you find one of Sultan's men alive, I want to interrogate him."
"You're making a big fucking mistake," Damon objected strongly.
"What other choice do I have!" Tupac screamed, a vein popping out of his neck.
Damon gave him a crudely insulting stare. "I don't give a damn about you or your people, but Bonnie's back there in your village. If anything happens to her, you better pray that all your Gods-."
"Pray that what? Huh?" Tupac puffed out his chest, occupying Damon's personal space.
"Why don't we interrogate the prisoner." Cheyenne cleared his throat as his eyes shifted nervously between to two fuming men.
Tupac sparred no further focus on Damon. He whirled around and jerked the prisoner up off the ground, punched him repeatedly in the face, and demanded that he tell him what he wanted to hear.
"Well, this is going to take forever," Damon snorted.
Tupac glared up at the gloating man with his arms folded and his legs spread cockily apart. "Fine. Let's see what you can get out of him." He shoved the detainee to the ground.
Damon snatched the man up by his collar, then dilated his pupils; the man's eyes mirrored his. "What are your plans for Chogan's people?"
"We…we…-," the man violently shook as he feebly fought against relinquishing to Damon's power.
"We were sent to slaughter your men and destroy your home. Emerald City believes that if we destroy Gardenia it will weaken the rebels' resistance," the man struggled to answer.
"Emerald City? Jesus; where is that, the Wizard of Oz?" Damon joked.
"No, it's Emerald City," Tupac answered seriously.
Damon sent the man a ridiculous glower and then went back to cross-examining the prisoner.
"What do you mean destroy their home?" As soon as the question was in the air, a strange sighting of the sun popping into the twilight caught the camps attention.
"Bonnie," Damon breathed, dread in his eyes.
"We too have supreme soldiers. Your beloved Gardenia is no more." The man spit out his own blood and let out a heartless laugh.
Damon speeded to the horse creature, mounted the beast, and then took off.
"Damon! Wait!" Tupac shouted after him.
"Cheyenne, kill him, and finish covering the men. At the first sign of darkness, return home with the men."
"What if they wake up and we can't control them?"
"Kill them."
::::::
Back in Gardenia, Bonnie was returning home from helping Zinnia and her friends with the feast. She popped back home to prepare for their girls' night out. As she rushed around the little villa, she heard something hit the roof. She rushed to the door and looked around the little home with a fearful gaze.
She finally spotted the silver box that Lucy and the other witches had sent through the portal. She walked over to the box and picked it up. She looked it over suspiciously. The box suddenly popped open, startling her.
As soon as the box opened, Bonnie could feel an eerie aura in the air. The trees began sway; the wind strangely howled her name, something was wrong. She could feel it in her bones.
::::::
Miles outside of town, Zinnia was going for more water, the yellow fruit, and a slug creature which made the best delicatessen. She wanted to make the special treat for Bonnie as well as her special tea. She had no idea that Bonnie had discovered some days back that the yellow fruit made incredible tea, and that Bonnie hated those slugs.
"Hello," An ominous voice called to her.
She turned around, seeing a large monstrous man looking down on her. By way of the three enormous moons in the sky, she could see that his fangs were at least two inches long, eyes were bloodshot red, fangs bulged out of his temples and black fangs swam over his entire face.
"What…what…who are you?" Zinnia trembled before him.
The man didn't answer. In a blink he grabbed hold of Zinnia's neck, draining her dry. Her body fell to the forest floor followed by her carrier. The flowers in her basket tumbled onto the ground next to her dead body. Zinnia's heart beat was no more, her lifeless amber eyes still gazing hauntingly at the three moons hanging in the sky.
The only living thing in her body now was Damon's blood. It ran vigorously through her veins and zigzagged its way quickly through the arteries in her heart. It was on a mission to complete its only task, creating a vampire.
As Zinnia lay on the ground dead, dozens of vampires flashed by her corpse en route to Gardenia to kill and destroy.
::::::
Out of nowhere, Bonnie and Damon's animal appeared.
"AHHHHH!" Bonnie screamed and went flying back up against the house. She studied the animal wearily with appalling wide eyes before realizing it was their friend from before.
"Monkey Man!" She went leaping into the massive gorilla-like animal's arms as if it were a human being, still clutching the silver box.
The creature dropped her to the ground and began hopping up and down and pounded its fist to its chest. She was first frightened, but too many coincidences were happening around her. The wind picked up strength, and her name being carried by the howling wind was now more pronounced.
She shivered with a feeling significance gnawing at her cognizant.
She rushed the canister into the house and then walked towards town, her animal friend followed. She soon heard screams of horror coming from the town square.
She quickened her pace. They finally reached the edge of town and vampires were everywhere in the streets. She spotted Chogan on top of a building, swinging a spear frantically around, trying to keep from being attacked.
Bonnie was consumed by the horror surrounded her, so much so that she didn't even notice her animal breaking vampires' backs and necks left and right to protect her at all cost.
After seeing dead children dead on the streets, she knew she had to act. She closed her eyes. Damon believed she had her powers, so now was time to test that theory.
She began to chant. She didn't know a spell. All she knew was that she needed the sun to appear in the sky. Her veins gorged and webbed across her skin. She smiled, closed her eyes, and titled her head back with exult.
As she chanted, the clouds in the night sky began to violently roll around. There was suddenly a tiny break in the sky, allowing sun rays to peep through. She kept chanting, her magic getting stronger.
This world gave Bonnie unfathomable powers, supremacies that she didn't know yet how to handle. Her thoughts shifted to Damon as she chanted her incantation. A droplet of blood rolled down her lips, but she persisted.
The clouds surrendered to the light of the sun. The vampires in the street burst into flames. Their flashed flamed until they were nothing more than ash.
No longer able to hear screaming and snarling. She ceased her invocation. Her eyes popped open and she looked wildly around her, seeing that the vampires were gone. She gave a half smile before dropping to her knees. She groaned, clutching her stomach tighter. "Damon."
:::::
Night time had come and gone. Dawn was eagerly creeping upon the land. Zinnia was now at the mercy of the sun. A ray of light streamed across her foot. She rapidly blinked. She couldn't believe she was still alive to see another day. She felt a burning sensation, then smelled the burning of flesh. She screamed and stood with vamp speed.
She yelled out in pain once more after revealing her entire body to her new natural born enemy—sunlight. She took cover behind a tree.
"Help me!" she cried for dear life.
Bonnie was nearby. She was also waking at the first sign of light. She slowly opened her eyes, squinting as her gaze adjusted to the bright light shining down upon her. She felt the fur of her animal friend glued to her face.
She raised up to see the town off in the distance.
"Come on. Let's go," she croaked out; the animal cradled her securely in its arms and then jumped out of the tree, landing on its feet.
The only person on Bonnie's mind as they trotted back to town was Damon. She hoped with all her heart that he had returned or that he was okay. She needed to see him, and she needed to know that he was all right.
It took Damon and Tupac less time to return to Gardenia than it did to leave. They gave their animals no mercy. They ran them without rest and as fast at their hooves would carry them.
They came riding through the gates like mad men, expecting to see the worst. There was chaos in the streets, but the city was still livable. There was minor damage to some shops and dead bodies on the street, which was disheartened, but nothing screamed complete devastation of the parish.
Damon jumped off his creature and raced home. Bonnie wasn't there, and he immediately became agitated. He circled, gripping the hair at the top of his head, fearing the worse; in true Damon fashion, he began tearing up the place.
On the other side of town, Tupac was doing the very same thing after realizing Zinnia and his children weren't home. He tore out of the house and ran to the town square. He searched the townhall center. There he found his two children but not Zinnia.
"Daddy!" his son called out and ran quickly to him. The woman holding his baby girl followed.
"My boy." He closed his eyes as he tightly embraced his son. "Niaran." He ran his fingers through his baby girl's hair. "Where's Zinnia?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen her. We've looked all over town for her. Maji said she believed she went to the woods for a Linton and hala."
"Shit! Watch my children!"
Damon ran from home to home and shop to shop, still not finding Bonnie. Everything was closing in on him. He felt like he was suffocating. His chest began to hurt. He grabbed his upper body and squeezed his eyes tightly shut. He had to keep it together. Bonnie had to be alive.
Bonnie had to be here. He needed to see her run down the street, screaming she was okay because there was no Silas, Amara, or Qetsiyah on this planet. There was no magical person that he knew of that would take him to the bowels of hell to get her back.
"Damon." He heard a voice call to him. It was male and the sound of it made him want to rip the head off the dick with balls heading his way.
If they weren't Bonnie, then they had no reason to call his name, unless they wanted sudden death. Damon finally turned around to see that it was Tupac. So maybe I don't kill this one, he said internally.
"I can't find Zinnia." His eyes shimmered with tears. "…and Bonnie?"
"I can't find her," Damon answered faintly.
"I think I may know where they are. We'll go together." Tupac tapped Damon's shoulders, inviting him to come along,
As Damon turned to follow Tupac, he heard his name being called, yet again. He whipped his head in the direction of the voice, her voice. It was Bonnie Bennett.
His eyes widened in astonishment. He wanted to run to her, but the weight of the emotional hell he'd felt not seconds ago of the absolute worse happening was still there. It was like an anvil sitting at the pit of his stomach. He started walking towards her, dragging his feet. It was the most he could muster.
Bonnie beamed at seeing Damon's beautiful, chiseled face. She let out a relieved laughing cry. She jumped out of her animal's arms and walked swiftly to him. She then began to jog to him, her body having a mind of its own.
Damon saw Bonnie quicken her pace. He wanted to do the same, but he was still weighted down with overwhelming emotions. He left Bonnie not twenty-four hours ago. He had to fight in a war not of his own making only to come back to the village where he left his dear friend to see dead bodies in the street.
He was there to protect her, and that was all he wanted to do since God knows when, and if he had to be honest with himself, he was sure that he had wanted to protect Bonnie for as long as he could remember.
Never had being reunited with a friend felt so good, refreshing, and heart-wrenching as they trotted to each other like two estranged lovers. With Elena it never felt this euphoric. She was always tied to his balls and in his hair in some type of way.
For the first time, he finally knew what the phrase 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' felt like.
"Damon! Damon!" Bonnie cried though her dazzling smile.
He was too elated and amazed. No tears or sounds of any kind could escape. He needed to hold her in his arms.
They were finally within reaching distance of each other. She leaped into his arms, and he was right there to receive her.
He caught her in his clutches and twirled her around as he held her snuggly in his grasp. He cradled her head into his neck and looked out into the world with wide, moist, glistening blue eyes.
"I was so worried about you," she cried.
"I know. I know," he chanted, winded, still holding on to her as if she would slip away to obscurity.
"I see your woman is okay?" Tupac inquired slyly.
"She's more than okay. She's alive, and she's here with me." Damon placed Bonnie gently back down on the ground, holding her gaze. He rubbed her warm cheek softly with his knuckles.
She looked at him with a penetrative gaze. She had seen this face of his before. It was the same look he gave her when they left Mystic Falls. She had never seen him look at anyone this way before that night, not even Elena.
He looked at her with the most beatific of faces. It pleased her and frightened her all at once. Bonnie swallowed nervously under his gaze. She'd give anything if Damon Salvatore would kiss her lips, just one kiss was all she wanted or needed.
"I'm glad that you two have been reunited but will you please help me find Zinnia?" Tupac quaked worriedly.
Bonnie and Damon were standing there blushing and gawking at each other, not hearing a word he had spoken.
"Hello!" Tupac yelled.
"Ah!" Bonnie shrieked, reeling around to him.
"What, Goddamn it!" Damon snapped, exasperated.
"Zinnia!" Tupac yelled back angrily.
"Fuck!" Damon growled.
"Come on!" Tupac bellowed, and then took off running. Bonnie and Damon tailed.
Damon turned on his vampire hearing. He stopped dead in his tracks. "Wait! I think I hear her
"It is her!" he raced away, finding Zinnia huddled behind a tree.
"Zinnia, what the hell?" Damon kneeled in front of her.
"The sun is burning me!" she screamed hysterically, throwing jabs at him.
"You're a vampire." His eyes widened in horror.
Damon caught her by the wrist, stopping her attacks. "I'm trying to help you!" He grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently. He scanned her frame with an assessing gaze. "You picked a hell of a time to flounce around town covered in nothing but a hanky!"
"I'm on fire!"
"Ugh!" Damon snarled and then threw her over his shoulder. He got to his feet, respired, preparing himself for the next bold move, then vamp sped away. He raced by Bonnie and Tupac, a screaming, and smoking Zinnia on his shoulder. "HOUSE!" he screamed in the wind.
Bonnie and Tupac gave each other a mortified glimpse, "Shit!" they exclaimed in harmony and then ran after them.
Damon zoomed to the house and threw Zinnia inside. She flew across the living room, hitting the wall and then hit the floor. He raced around the villa, closing all the shutters, putting the place in the black. She was crying and wiggling about, putting out patches of fire.
He squatted down to her, looked into her eyes, and compelled, "Calm down," he spoke, gently holding her chin, keeping her gaze locked to his.
"Why am I able to see your eyes with such clarity?" she noticed after calming.
"It's one of your gifts."
"I feel this hunger inside of me. I don't like this feeling. I don't want to be this. Please kill me," she cried.
"Zinnia, I love being a vampire. I wouldn't change what I am for anything in the world. I can show you how to live with this. I hardly know you, but I know you're strong. It takes a strong person to live with an incurable disease, knowing what the outcome will be, and still find the courage to smile. You're extraordinary, Zinnia."
"What about daylight?" She questioned pitifully, tears escaping her.
"You can walk in the sun but think about all the simple things in life that you take for granted; those little things will never feel as good to you as they will now."
"Like what?" she sniveled.
He pulled her closer to him, turning her back to his front. He wrapped his arms around, holding her wrist firmly. He blew into her neck. Zinnia closed her eyes and smiled as Damon's breath tickled her senses. He then ran his fingers down her face. Never had she known a simple touch could feel so intense and beautiful.
"See, doesn't this feel wonderful?" he susurrated.
Zinnia nodded hypnotically.
Tupac and Bonnie finally arrived.
"Hey!" Tupac roared after being shoved violently into the dark house.
"Sorry," Bonnie giggled.
"Zinnia, where are you?" Tupac bellowed.
"I'm here," she responded, trembling.
"We'll leave you two alone," Damon said, taking Bonnie by the arm, and then lead them outside.
"So, she's a vampire?" Bonnie asked as soon as they closed the door behind them and descended the steps.
Damon pressed his lips shut; his eyes widened in a matter-of-fact gesture, giving her a nod.
"This is bad. What happened? Why are you two back so soon?"
"It was a fucking ambush, and that's not even the bad news."
"Omigod, don't tell me," Fear crossed her face.
"They took out almost half of Tupac's army. Zinnia is not the only vampire we have to worry about."
"More vampires!" She shoved her hair back away from her face, and anxiously shifted from one foot to the other.
"…so, what the fuck happened here?" Damon widened and narrowed his eyes, troubled.
"We were attacked by vampires; it appears Tupac was betrayed, and your blood has been shared with another clan."
"It was Peyak who betrayed him, and there's no way these women and children could've fought off these vampires. Bonnie, do you have your powers back?" His face brightened as he inched closer to her, invading her personal space.
She blinked up at him, giving him a consequential glance. "I do have my powers back," she vacillated.
"We can go home." Damon rocked happily back and forth, wiggling his brow at her.
Bonnie's visage remained somber.
"Hey, what's wrong? You getting your magic back is good news, right?" He took her by the shoulders, and caringly caressed them.
"My magic is really powerful on this planet. My body felt like I was on fire. I can't control my powers. I might not survive our trip back home."
Damon paled; his eyes bulged with fright. A stubborn hush resulted in the wake of her disclosure.
"You'll conquer handling your powers. I'll help you." His jaw tightened.
"You will?" She sent him a stunned gawk.
He chuckled sweetly. "You're my friend, that's what friends do, right?"
She blushed. He reciprocated her warm affection. He took to touching her, again. She wrapped a hand around his as his hand skated romantically up and down her naked-flamed arm. She kissed the back of his hand and beamed up at him. He quivered under the gaze of her beauty.
"I'm so glad you're alive, Bonnie. I thought-."
She raced her hand to touch his face. "It's okay. You're not going to lose me. I'll always be here for you."
He swallowed, building his bravery, "…and I'll always be here for you." They gleamed at each other, then joined a tender embrace. He squeezed her snuggly to him, and she buried her head into his chest, smiling all the while, her eyes closed.
Her smiled slipped away and her eyes popped open as she remembered the package from home. "I found a silver box last night. It's from home."
"Home?" His eyes were like sharks. "Elena," he breathed.
A veiled expression of uncertainty crossed her face. She lowered her gaze to the ground and walked solemnly away from his presence. "Yeah, Elena."