Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Diaries in any shape or form. But I do own my OC.
A/N: Okay, this is the Miss Mystic Falls chapter and Bonnie returns to the TVD storyline. We'll also see exactly how Aliyah's relationship with Bonnie has developed and especially how they act around each other in public. Because Bonnie's a main character in this story, I will be doing the scenes with her as well.
Reviews:
mythzzrosenov: I hope he doesn't either :( Poor Aliyah, if he does.
NicoleR85: You'll have to wait until Founder's Day to see which pairing I picked for Bonnie and I think you'll like it :) I have a new twist on it.
Guest: I'm so glad you're enjoying Aliyah :)
MadaleineWinchester: Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying the story and Aliyah!
Skyeward MusicLover: Thank you so much!
Guest: Thank you so much!
tate4eva: I'm glad you're enjoying the Bonliyah relationship :) I've already started writing Season 2, so we should see a lot of manipulative Aliyah coming out and her playing a lot of games behind the scenes.
Stormdancer
Chapter 6
Miss Mystic Falls
"So, do you have everything you need?" Aliyah asked Bonnie as they stepped out onto the threshold of her apartment. "Books, pens, pencils, paper, calculator…" She said, teasingly.
"Oh, I hate you so hard." Bonnie scowled at her.
Aliyah laughed and shut the door behind her, turning her keys in the lock and locking it.
"Why are you even coming with me?" Bonnie asked. She then paled. "You're not walking up to the school with me, are you?" She asked, horrified.
Aliyah rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Bonnie girl, I'm just going to drop you off."
Bonnie's brow furrowed. "How are you gonna do that?"
Aliyah raised an eyebrow and gestured to the new silver Lamborghini Reventón that was parked on the street in front of her penthouse apartment.
"I'll drop you off." She repeated and motioned for Bonnie to get inside the passenger side. "You know, I'm gonna sell the apartment."
"Wait, what?" Bonnie turned around in the seat to stare at Aliyah with shock.
Aliyah turned the wheel, peering at the road through the dashboard. "Well, I was always planning on selling the apartment. It was always meant to be temporary for me. I wasn't sure exactly how long I was planning on staying in Mystic Falls when I got here. I wasn't sure how you'd react to me, so I got an apartment. But when you moved in with me, I had some of my men begin renovations on a house up in the woods that I bought when I got here. I hope you don't mind, I just really like my privacy. And, there's no sentimental value to the apartment and people – including your friends, if you choose to live with me – are going to want to come out, and the apartment doesn't really sound like the kind of place where you can invite people over."
Bonnie was suddenly quiet, reading in between the lines of what Aliyah had said. "You want me to live with you?" She asked, quietly.
Aliyah tensed, wondering if she had said the wrong thing. "I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to… I just thought, you might not want to stay in your grandmother's place because of all of the memories… and your Dad hasn't been back since before she died." She shrugged. "You don't have to if you don't want to… it was just an idea I was putting out there…" She rubbed the back of her beck, nervously.
Bonnie smiled at her, slowly. "I'd love to live with you, Aliyah. But if my Dad comes back…"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, darling." Aliyah said, reassuringly. "Now that you're reintegrating yourself back into society after almost becoming a permanent shut-in," She ignored Bonnie's glare. "You'll have a life and your craft can't surround it. So, after school, why don't we go and look at the place, see how you like it?"
Bonnie nodded and grinned. "That sounds great, Lee-Lee." Aliyah glared at her. "Oh, come on, you call me 'Bonnie girl' as if I'm some dame in the 1920s," Aliyah hid her smile. "The least you can do is let me call you Lee-Lee."
Aliyah pursed her lips. "Fine." She said, reluctantly. "But only you, got it. I don't want anyone else to call me that." She said, warningly.
Bonnie mimed zipping her mouth shut and throwing the key away.
They finally arrived at the school and Aliyah parked on a side street.
"What are you going to do today while I'm at school?" Bonnie asked, curiously.
"Well, I'll be counting the seconds until you finish school," Aliyah teased her and Bonnie hit her on the arm. "Hey! That hurt!" Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "Okay, no, it didn't. Anyway, Miss Mystic Falls seems to be an interesting and important tradition here in Mystic Falls, so Carol Lockwood invited me over to get some pictures of the competition and asked me to cover the event in my 'book'." She mimicked quotation marks.
"More schmoozing." Bonnie said, mock-sympathetically.
"Are you mocking my pain, Bonnie girl?" Aliyah asked, sternly. "Because you're not too old for me to take you over my knee." She threatened, half-heartedly.
Bonnie laughed and pushed open the car door, stepping out, her hand running over the sleek black frame of the Vanquish, smiling to herself. "It is an awesome car." She commented. "Okay, see you later, Lee-Lee." She teased
Aliyah huffed. "Text me when you're done and I'll come and pick you up. If anyone gives you any trouble," Bonnie rolled her eyes, knowing that Aliyah meant Elena with that comment. "Tell them to get stuffed." She smirked, turning the key in the ignition and driving off.
Aliyah stood outside the Founder's Hall, listening into the conversation between Sheriff Forbes, Damon and John. She had been passing by the place on her way to see Carol Lockwood when her hearing had picked up Damon's conversation with Sheriff Forbes and John Gilbert.
"There was a disturbance at the hospital blood bank last night; some of the supply was compromised." Sheriff Forbes told the other two.
Aliyah frowned, thinking that the tomb vampires were being very obvious if the Council was able to catch onto what they were up to. She rolled her eyes at the lack of ingenuity that came from young vampires. They had absolutely no finesse, no skill at getting what they wanted. They just went after what they wanted, with no thought of hiding their tracks.
"Compromised? You mean stolen?" Damon asked.
"We almost missed it. The inventory records were altered but when the night manager was questioned he had no recollection of changing them."
"Meaning that the vampire who stole the blood used mind control to hide the theft." John clarified.
Aliyah rolled her eyes, her distaste for the man showing clearly on her face. The arse thinks that he knows everything that there is about vampires because he's a part of an ménage a trois with Katerina and Isobel.
She could practically hear Damon scowl in response. She never thought that she and Damon Salvatore of all people would have anything in common, but they did with their mutual hatred of John Gilbert – the arrogant sod.
"I know what you meant." Damon said, coldly.
"We wouldn't have noticed had John not alerted us to recent discrepancies in other hospital blood banks in the county."
Aliyah could practically hear Damon roll his eyes. "How lucky for us, we have John."
"We're stepping up security at the hospital, giving the guard vervain to prevent this from happening again."
Aliyah smiled to herself, lucky that she had asked her men to deliver her blood bags from a few towns over, and never repeating the same town for a few years at the most. She hated drawing attention to herself, but everywhere she settled after 1925 had been with herself constantly on alert. She had never stayed in a place longer than a few months, for fear that Niklaus would find her if she stayed in a town too long. There had been a few times over the last eighty-five years that Niklaus had almost been able to catch her, but she had escaped in the nick of time.
But she needed to remember that the guard in front of the hospital had vervain on him. In case, she needed to use the hospital for something or another, it wouldn't do well for her not to be prepared.
"Sheriff, may I offer a suggestion? Why don't Damon and I put our heads together? We can track down whoever is doing this." John told the Sheriff.
"Truthfully I can use the extra hands. Is that something you would be willing to do?"
"Well, of course, I mean if it'll help." Damon said.
Aliyah smirked, being able to read Damon's disdain for the idea between his promising words. She smiled to herself, her sympathy for Damon disappearing as she realised that Damon hated the idea of working with John Gilbert, her annoyance for Damon outweighing her distaste for John currently. And any idea that had Damon chewing off at his own arm to avoid made her feel all warm and tingly inside.
"I think we could make a good team, don't you think Damon?" John said.
"John, whatever I can do to help keep this town safe; even if it means spending time with you."
"Okay, this week, we're gonna set outside our regular curriculum for a lesson in local history as we approach Founder's Day. Apparently, the community leaders feel it's more important than World War 2, but hey, what do I know?" Alaric rolled his eyes, clearly finding that the idea was stupid.
It was then when Bonnie walked into his classroom, stunning everyone into silence with her reappearance. She hadn't been seen in public since her grandmother's funeral, having holed herself up in Aliyah's apartment for the past few weeks. Aliyah had asked her to come everywhere with her, but Bonnie had chosen to decline, not wanting to come into contact with anyone she knew right now, not when she was attempting to sort out her feelings about them.
"Sorry, I'm late." Bonnie murmured, not being able to rouse any enthusiasm to be back in this classroom.
"Well, it looks like we will be at full occupancy today. Welcome home, Bonnie." Alaric said, shooting her a smile.
Bonnie sat down in her usual seat and saw Elena smiling over at her, but when saw Stefan staring at her doing the same, she couldn't help but feel that familiar resentment welling up in her. She tried her hardest not to look at the girl who had been her best friend since the sandbox, and turned her head to face Alaric at the front of the room. Elena and Stefan looked at each other, not understanding exactly why Bonnie was acting like this.
She had listened to every single one of Elena's messages and then deleted them, having absolutely no patience for the brunette girl who had inadvertently caused her grandmother's death. She knew Elena was her friend, practically her sister, and she loved her, dearly, but she was still feeling a little annoyed that Elena had managed to go on with her life while she had been mourning her grandmother's death. Sure Aliyah had help stave off her grief, but she had drowned herself in it a few times over the last couple of weeks. Her Grams had been the only one who had ever chosen her, had been with her, no matter what, and suddenly she was gone and she was alone.
She supposed that was why she had latched onto Aliyah the way she had, feeling comfortable with the much older woman in a way that she hadn't managed with Stefan, despite his inherent kindness. With Stefan and Damon, it was hard to forget that they were monsters. But with Aliyah, even watching her stake one of those tomb vampires with a sudden viciousness, it was easy to remember that she used to be a witch, who had her life turned upside down when she was turned into a vampire. She wasn't inhuman and cruel like Damon, but having an innate darkness in her that she supposed everyone had, and she wasn't dishonest like Stefan. Aliyah knew she was a vampire and she didn't hide the fact. Instead, she chose to make Bonnie understand a little bit more of what it actually meant to be a vampire. A burning hunger, freedom and power, a limitless existence with loneliness worked into the mix.
It was almost poetic coming from her.
Aliyah had always been honest with her. About her intentions, her nature and her actions. She had never hid anything from her and instead shown her that knowledge was power and you couldn't have too much of it. Elena hadn't even told her that she had found her birth mother, let alone told her that the tomb vampires were out and about. She had gone on dating Stefan as if Sheila Bennett hadn't been put in the ground because of a vampire's obsession with a woman who was sleeping with his brother at the same time and had left him for dead over a century ago.
She hadn't ignored any of Caroline's calls. The blonde girl was such a breath of fresh air to Bonnie's gloom that she hadn't been able to. Instead, she had listened to all of Caroline's chatter about Matt, Miss Mystic Falls, Kelly Donovan, finding Vicki's body, with a small smile and an interested ear, glad for this slight bit of normalcy in her life. In fact, if anything, her Grams' death, as well as Aliyah's views on Caroline, had made Bonnie better appreciate Caroline as a friend, realising that maybe she had placed all of her eggs in one basket with Elena and had treated Caroline as if she were second best to her. And she wasn't. Caroline may be a bit insecure and neurotic, and definitely a Mean Girl when the situation called for it, she didn't know anything about vampires and witches and prison tombs except for her brief relationship with Damon, but Caroline was an inherently good person even if she didn't show it very often.
It was like Aliyah said, she had all of the time in the world to fix her relationships with her friend.
"Thank you for inviting me over, Carol." Aliyah smiled at the middle-aged woman.
"Oh, there's no problem." Carol waved off. She smiled, sweetly, at the younger woman. "I'm so glad you agreed to do this interview."
"Well, it would be lovely to talk to the woman behind Miss Mystic Falls." Aliyah smiled back, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "So, tell me about Miss Mystic Falls."
"Well, the first Miss Mystic Falls pageant was supposed to be held in 1864, but unfortunately, it was postponed due to the Battle of Willow Creek." Carol explained. "Soldiers fired at Fell's Church, killing 27 people in the process. It was a black day for Mystic Falls and the pageant was cancelled due to mourning period."
Fell's Church. In 1864. Too much of a coincidence. This must have been when the Founding Families trapped the vampires in the tomb. Oh, this town has so many secrets. And only in the last century or so. I still think that the fact that this town is where the original vampires were created. Where the Original Hybrid was born and created. Where the Original Witch died and where three of the most powerful Bennett witches lived so much of their life.
"This year, the Founder's Court consists of Caroline Forbes, Tina Fell, Blair Fell, Elena Gilbert and Amber Bradley." Carol Lockwood said, reading off a piece of paper.
"So, mostly Founding Families?" Aliyah raised an eyebrow, recognising the pattern and resisting the urge to roll her eyes, the elitism of the woman in front of her irritating her.
"Well, we try and be as inclusive as possible." Carol said, nervously. "But you can probably see that only girls from Founding Families would really be interested in something like this."
"Oh, no, I can understand." Aliyah waved off. She held up her pad. "That's the reason why I'm writing this book. Maybe more girls will be interested if they understand how rewarding these traditions can be."
Carol Lockwood didn't look all that pleased by the possibility of girls from non-Founding Families being a part of the Founder's Court in future years, but she hid her distaste behind a cheap smile.
"So, as this year will be the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Mystic Fall's founding, so this year's Founder's Court will have the opportunity to ride on one of the floats during our Founder's Day parade."
Aliyah smiled to herself, scribbling something on the pad.
She did love throwing people off their game.
"You know, when I said that I was going to help you and your brother, I didn't mean that gave you free reign to call me whenever you want." Aliyah snapped. "I'm not your go-to girl when you or your brother inevitably screw up."
"But you're the one who wanted to help us." Damon pointed out.
Aliyah raised an eyebrow. "Yes… to kill the tomb vampires. To protect my niece, many times removed, from the homicidal vampires who may want to get revenge on the descendant of the woman who trapped them inside a tomb. Not to hold your hand every time you piss off a vampire who is decades older than you. I know you don't really have a sense of self-preservation, but I'd like to remember you that there are other lives at stake here. Like your brother's, Elena's, Bonnie's, Caroline's. All of the other people who live here in Mystic Falls if you screw this up." She patted him on the shoulder, condescendingly.
"So, is there an actual reason why you called me here or do I have to guess?" She asked, coolly.
"Oh, come on, Morticia, you know you're falling for me. It's only inevitable that we would succumb to our growing sexual tension. You know, anger sex-"
Aliyah smiled, viciously. "Finish that sentence. I dare you. It's been so long since I've killed something. I really want blood on my hands and you'd be the perfect victim."
Damon sighed. "You're such a wet blanket." He shook his head. "Well, Anna, you know, Pearl's daughter, the little girl next to her back at the farmhouse. She's coming over."
Aliyah grimaced. "If this is some sort of sex thing, I swear…"
Damon smirked at her. "It's nice to know that your mind wanders to that, when you think of me and women. I am that good."
Aliyah snorted. "Oh, Gods, it's like meeting the reincarnation of Casanova. You know, with less notches on his bedpost and a bigger ego."
Just then, someone rang the doorbell and Damon walked over to open the door, revealing the young teenage girl from the Gilbert kitchen who was drinking Jeremy's blood.
"I suppose I should be grateful, you learned how to use the bell." Damon said, dryly.
Anna faltered, slightly, seeing Aliyah stand in the living room as well. Her mother had been tight-lipped about who the strange woman was, but Anna had seen the flash of fear that had appeared on her mother's face, that night outside the farmhouse. The flash of fear was enough to make Anna wary of the woman in front of her. Her mother was over five centuries old, almost as old as Katherine, if her mother was afraid of this woman for some reason, then there was reason to be afraid. But she had to wonder what the connection between the Salvatore brothers and the woman was.
Anna shook her head, freeing her mind of those thoughts. "I'm here on behalf of my mother." She told them, stepping over the threshold.
Aliyah raised an eyebrow, not exactly pleased with Pearl's lack of control over the other tomb vampires. "On behalf of or in spite of?"
"I'm sorry about what the other vampires did to Stefan. Abducting him, torturing him… It wasn't supposed to go down like that." Anna apologised, sincerely.
"You're playing house with half of a tomb of really pissed off vampires. What do you think was going to happen?" Damon asked, incredulously.
"My mom is devastated; they tried to overthrow her." Anna told them.
"Is there any particular reason why she isn't here telling us this?" Aliyah asked, coldly.
Anna shrugged. "She doesn't really do apologies."
Damon narrowed his eyes. "Well, it's a coincidence, 'cause I don't do forgiveness. Just run along. And if you're going continue playing house with these little vampires pets, you might wanna stop robbing the blood bank dry because they're onto it."
Anna shook her head. "I haven't been to the local blood bank in at least a week."
"Then, it's one of the other tomb vampires." Aliyah said, pointedly.
"The others are gone." Anna said, heatedly.
Aliyah tensed. It was never a good idea to have twenty-seven revenge-driven vampires loose on an unsuspecting town and too many of them had seen her. All it would take is one rumour from one of them that she was there, that the doppelganger was here, to bring Niklaus or Elijah to Mystic Falls, and she couldn't have that, not with Bonnie here as well.
"Well, where did they go?" Damon snapped.
Anna shrugged. "They weren't cut out for this town. After what happened with your brother my mom kicked them out and they took off. It's just us and Harper now."
Bonnie was walking through halls, on her way to her locker, reading a stack of papers, so engrossed in what she had missed in the last few weeks that she completely missed Elena calling out her name as she ran after her.
"Bonnie!" Elena shouted, attracting attention from others in the corridor.
Bonnie blinked and turned around, her eyes tightening at the side when she saw it was Elena who had called her name.
"Hey." She said, blandly.
"Hey, I tried to grab you after class but you already taken off. How are you? How's your dad?"
Bonnie pursed her lips. "We're dealing, it's been hard." She said, vaguely.
"And Aliyah?" Elena asked, softly, her doubt in the sincerity of the woman showing clearly in her voice.
Bonnie tensed. "Aliyah's fine. She went to see Mrs Lockwood today for an interview." She said, coolly.
Elena decided to drop that subject, resolving to bring Aliyah up to Bonnie at a later time. "Everyone here really missed you." She said, weakly.
"Yeah, I just had so much to deal with after Grams' funeral and honestly, after you told me the tomb spell failed, I just didn't really want to come back." Bonnie said, slowly.
"I hope that you understand why I called… I wanted you to know before you came home." Elena murmured.
"I understand why. I just… shouldn't know." Bonnie said.
There was an awkward pause, neither of them knowing what to say to each other as they looked at each other.
"I know it's been really hard…" Elena started.
That was when Caroline interrupted them.
"Bonnie! Bonnie! Thank god you're home!" Caroline exclaimed and threw her arms around a stunned Bonnie. "I know we talked everyday but I missed you."
Elena was startled by that information. She must have left countless messages on Bonnie's voicemail and Bonnie hadn't replied to a single one of them, yet she had the time to talk to Caroline everyday? She couldn't help but feel that this was Aliyah's fault. It seemed as though her relationship with Bonnie had changed, drastically, since Aliyah had swarmed into town, and she couldn't help but wonder if Aliyah had badmouthed her to Bonnie, making her turn against her. She had the perfect opportunity to do so. Bonnie had probably been mad already because of what had happened to Sheila and Aliyah had probably taken advantage of Bonnie's grief to turn Bonnie against her.
"How are you doing?" Caroline asked, perkily.
Bonnie laughed, softly. "Better. Better."
"Oh, hey," Caroline's eyes widened as she remembered something. "I met your cousin at the Bachelor Raffle. She's gorgeous, Bonnie. How come you didn't mention her to us before?"
Bonnie rubbed the back of her neck, sheepishly. "Well, we didn't meet up a lot. Only whenever I went over to my aunt's place, and I don't go there very often. But after my Grams' funeral, Aliyah dropped everything and came down to Mystic Falls to spend some time with me. She said we're 'bonding'." She chuckled, remembering how excited Aliyah had been when she and Bonnie had their first girl's night, all movies and pizza and pyjamas and Aliyah had even managed to turn the other cheek when Bonnie took a few swigs of her whiskey.
"She seems really nice, Bonnie." Caroline said, sincerely, remembering how the nice woman had comforted her after her disastrous encounter with Kelly Donovan. "I think she's been good for you."
Bonnie smiled to herself, thinking of brunette who had become a whirlwind in her life and made her question everything she previously thought. "She has." She said, honestly. "She's been really good at keeping me busy and not letting everything overwhelm me."
"Well, I can help with that. Major wardrobe problem. You need to help me pick up the perfect dress for the Founder's Court." Caroline told Bonnie.
Elena perked up at that. "The Founder's Court? Did I miss something?" She asked Caroline.
Caroline simply stared at Elena as if she had just crawled out from under a rock. "The Founder's Court! You know, Miss Mystic Falls. They announced it today and you and I are both on it." She said, slowly, as if she were talking to a small child.
Elena's eyes widened, her eyes glazing over as she reminisced. "Oh, my God! We signed up for that so long ago… I completely forgot." She shook her head.
"So, are you dropping out then?" Caroline asked, barely being able to hide her enthusiasm for the idea.
Elena cursed under her breath, half wanting to drop out. There was just too many things going on right now, and Miss Mystic Falls seemed like the thing that should be the last on her list. But she couldn't.
"I can't." She grimaced, looking at Bonnie and knowing that she knew exactly why she couldn't drop out of the competition.
"No?" Caroline raised an eyebrow, feeling herself deflate inside. Now, she would never win the pageant. There was no way she was going to be able to able to win against Elena Gilbert of all people.
Bonnie pursed her lips and turned to Caroline. "Her mom is the one who wanted her to enter." She explained, watching as realisation dawned in Caroline's eyes.
"Well, you look marginally better than the last time I saw you." Aliyah commented, as she walked down the steps of the Salvatore Boarding House, meeting Stefan on her way out.
Stefan looked at her and then looked at the house and then looked at her again. "Are you sleeping with my brother?" He asked, bluntly.
Aliyah threw her head back and laughed. "Now, that is the funniest thing I have heard in a very long time." She wiped the tears from her eyes. "Broody, I'm more likely to tear your brother's heart out than sleep with him. I'd rather drown myself in vervain than let his diseased self touch me." She watched him, carefully. "You've drunk human blood recently, haven't you?" She asked, knowingly.
Stefan crossed his arms over his chest. "What of it?" He asked, defensively.
"Well, you look different. Less Edward Cullen and more the Count from Sesame Street." Aliyah commented with a bright, teasing smile.
"And you think it's because of the human blood." Stefan shook his head.
"It is, Broody." Aliyah said, pointedly. "You've spent your entire vampire existence like you've been on a constant drug crash. And suddenly, you drink human blood and you're all happy-go-lucky? You still not seeing the connection, here?"
"It's not what you think." Stefan said, sharply, and pushed past her, up the stairs and into the Boarding House.
"Darling, we need to stop meeting like this." Damon teased as he and John approached Aliyah at the Grill, where she was sitting in one of the booths, drinking a glass of bourbon and nipping at her cheese fries.
"Oh, my God. At first, it was only Tweedledum here," Aliyah gestured to Damon. "But now, it seems I've got another stray chasing after me now." She crooned, eyeing John Gilbert with dark, furious eyes. "Tweedledum, what part of 'leave me the fuck alone' do you not understand?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Well, he said he wanted to discuss something with me and I thought it best to bring him to you first." Damon smirked.
"How thoughtful." Aliyah snarked. "What do you want?" She asked John, impatiently, eager to get back to her lunch.
"Where do we start looking for vampires?" John asked, taking a seat opposite to Aliyah, while Damon sat next to her, much to her displeasure.
"Why should I care?" Aliyah raised an eyebrow. "I have better things to think about than to catch a bunch of rowdy vampires."
"And you obviously don't care about catching vampires, you're here talking to us." Damon said, pointedly, steeling one of Aliyah's cheese fries. He then growled in pain, when she slammed her silver fork right into his nearest hand, slicing through bone and flesh and blood.
"Actually, I care very much." John said, loftily.
"What would Isobel say about that? I mean, considering that she is one." Damon smirked.
"Isobel and I share a mutual interest. The original Jonathan Gilbert has an invention that was stolen by a vampire. That vampire was then burned alive in Fell's church, or so Jonathan thought and the invention was lost forever. But then the vampires weren't killed, were they? They were trapped and now they're free, thanks to you which means the invention is retrieval." John said, narrowing his eyes at them.
Aliyah started laughing, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, but how and why would this concern me? I'm not really interested in your Hardy Boys mission. I don't really care about your whole 'Founding Families are really vampire hunters' shtick."
"What is this invention anyway?" Damon asked, interested.
"The only thing that matters is that I want it back and you're going to help me if you want your secret safe." John threatened.
Aliyah raised an eyebrow, inwardly laughing at the thought of the arrogant sod actually having the gall to threaten her.
"Why bring me into it, John?" Damon asked, curiously, leaning back in his seat. "I mean, I don't know what you are talking about much less who has it."
"Oh, come on, Damon! You were around back then, you know who these people are, what they look like. He was friendly with a woman who turned out to be a vampire. Her name was Pearl. Does that ring a bell?" John smirked, knowingly.
"Okay, that's enough testosterone." Aliyah snapped. She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm kind of tired of playing games with the two of you. It's boring me. You should really leave before I start to get angry and start killing things… starting with you two." She said, coldly.
"I beg your pardon?" John raised an eyebrow.
She turned to look at Damon. "Let me guess, the only reason you're entertaining his little blackmail scheme is because you think that he and Isobel can lead you to Katherine, but, trust me, the bitch would never let anyone know where she is. And this moron has absolutely no clue where she is, Tweedledum, because if he did, he would know that Katherine and Pearl were best friends." She turned to look at John after sufficient realization had dawned in Damon's eyes. "See, you don't know everything, do you, John?" She asked, innocently.
"I'll tell the entire council what you both are." John threatened, realizing that he was losing his control over the entire situation.
Damon snorted. "Go for it! I'll kill every last one of them. Then I'll sever your hand, pull your ring off, and I'll kill you too. Do you understand that?"
Aliyah's phone buzzed and she looked down at it. "Well, that's my cue to leave. I really do hope I don't see you too soon."
With that exit, she left the Grill, on her way to Mystic Falls High School to pick Bonnie up.
Caroline and Bonnie were in the hallway.
"The Fell cousins don't have a shot and Amber Bradley is only on the court so the pageant doesn't look like its founding families only, which of course it is. So that leaves Elena, who totally has the sympathy vote since her parents died. How can I compete with that?" Caroline complained, pressing herself against the lockers.
Bonnie shook her head, remembering exactly how Caroline was. "Very nice, very sensitive." She said, dryly.
Caroline closed her eyes, realizing how tactless her words must have sounded. "Oh, I'm sorry, this must sound really unimportant. In light of everything." She said, slowly.
Bonnie smiled, softly. "It's okay, I get it, you want to win." She said, knowingly, remembering how ecstatic both Caroline and Elena had been when they had signed up for the Miss Mystic Court last year.
Caroline shrugged. "Well, my grandmother was Miss Mystic and both of my aunts. My mom is the only one who didn't get the gene and I want this. I actually deserve this."
They entered the room where all of the other contestants were practicing the dance. Bonnie saw Elena and Stefan leaving the room and had the sudden urge to run away as fast as she could and wait for Aliyah to come and pick her up outside in the hedges, not willing to go through this confrontation just yet.
"Bonnie. Hey." Elena gave her a hesitant smile.
Stefan looked at Bonnie and his eyes softened, smiling at her. "Hey, how are you?"
Bonnie bit her lip, afraid if she opened her mouth, everything that she had been burning to say since her grandmother had died would spill out. It was this silence that made both Elena and Stefan realize that there was definitely something wrong with Bonnie.
"I begged Bonnie to fill in for Matt, he had to work today." Caroline said, cheerfully, sensing the tension between the other three.
Elena looked at Bonnie and decided to go ahead. "Bonnie, do you have a minute?"
"We only have thirty minutes for rehearsal." Bonnie pointed out.
"It'll only take a minute, please?" Elena begged.
Bonnie nodded, reluctantly, and the two walked out of the room.
Elena rounded on Bonnie. "Bonnie, you have to tell me what's wrong." She pleaded.
Bonnie shook her head, not believing that this was the right time to get into it. "It's not worth talking about."
Elena raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean not worth it? You barely said ten words to me and you won't even look at Stefan. Is that what it is? Is it Stefan?"
Bonnie gritted her teeth. "Listen, Elena, I can't just pretend that everything's okay. Everything my Grams did was to protect us from those vampires in the tomb. And now they're out which means she died for nothing." She said, pointedly.
Elena bit her lip. "I'm so sorry Bonnie. What can I do to make it better?" She asked, helplessly.
Bonnie smiled, sadly. "That's just it, there's nothing you can do. I blame him, Elena, him and Damon, and I'm not gonna put you in a situation where you have to choose sides. I'm just having a hard time with it, okay?" Not to mention, I'm feeling a bit annoyed that you managed to go on with your life after your boyfriend's brother practically murdered my grandmother.
"Is this Aliyah? Has Aliyah been telling you things?" Elena asked, awkwardly.
Bonnie scowled. "No, she hasn't. Contrary to popular belief, Aliyah hasn't done anything to me. She's been really good to me since my Grams died, Elena. She's protected him and she's helped with my powers. I get that she doesn't get along with you, Stefan and Damon, but she genuinely wants to help me."
"But, you're so against vampires, Bonnie. How can you be okay with her?" Elena spat, suddenly angry that everything around her was changing so abruptly. "She's not a good person, Bonnie. She hurts people. You should have seen the way she killed those tomb vampires. She can hurt you easily."
"Yeah, you're right. She can hurt me easily." Bonnie nodded. "Do you know my magic doesn't work on her?" Elena looked startled. "Her mother apparently put a protection spell on her. It prevents her from being harmed by a witch. She's had all of this time to hurt me. I've literally been staying over at her place and she's had a thousand chances to kill me, and she hasn't. I have to give her the benefit of the doubt. I did when you started dating Stefan and I was even willing to help all of you open the tomb. Aliyah's my friend, not to mention, she's my family and she's helped me a lot, Elena. Especially when you were too bothered with Stefan and Damon to give a damn about me in the last couple of weeks." She spat.
Elena shook her head. "That's not fair, Bonnie. I left you messages-" She argued.
"Yeah, like three." Bonnie rolled her eyes, her inner anger coming out easily. "Caroline called me everyday. Aliyah sat down and talked to me every time I started crying. My own dad couldn't be bothered to come down after my Grams died, but Aliyah's been there since Grams' funeral. She's plied me with ice cream and we've watched movies and we worked through my magic together. She's my friend and she's been there for me. If you're going to complain about her, do it to Stefan and Damon, not to me." Bonnie sighed when she saw the tears rush into Elena's eyes and immediately felt bad.
"Look, I'm sorry Elena, I didn't mean to be so harsh. I just have a hard time about people questioning me about Aliyah. It's my choice, not yours." Bonnie shrugged. "Look, I don't want you to choose between me and Stefan, you should respect that and ask me not to choose between you and Aliyah. Like it or not, you both are on the same side."
Elena sighed. "She's the one that doesn't like me, Bonnie." She pointed out.
Bonnie nodded. "You're right and that isn't fair to you. But I've always defended you to her. She's had it bad with Katherine, Elena. She doesn't want to get hurt again. You should be able to respect that. Just give her some time and she'll warm up to you, once she realises that you're nothing like Katherine." She bit her lip. "We should probably go back inside."
When Aliyah picked Bonnie up after the rehearsal, neither of them talked while she drove up to the renovation site until Aliyah found herself sick of the silence.
"Okay, you wanna tell me what's wrong?" Aliyah asked, glancing at Bonnie through the corner of her eye.
"Elena and I had a bit of a confrontation today." Bonnie sighed.
Aliyah nodded. She looked at Bonnie through the mirror, hesitantly. "But you were probably expecting that, weren't you? I mean, you weren't answering her messages. She was going to talk to you about it, wasn't she?" She said, slowly.
"Yeah, but," Bonnie huffed. "I find it hard to talk to her around Stefan. I see him and I just angry, Lee-Lee. It's like my Grams is dead and he and Damon just go around walking, as if nothing happened. Elena too! It's not fair." She said, quietly.
Aliyah nodded, twisting the wheel, sharply, as she made a right. "You're right, it isn't fair. But as I recall, you were the one who wanted me to keep them alive. Say the word and they die now. I can assure you, Elena's life will only be better without them in it."
"No." Bonnie shook her head. "If you killed them because of me, Elena would never forgive me and I do still care about her a lot. I just need time before I can deal with Stefan." She paused. "We started arguing about you too."
"Let me guess, I'm brainwashing you to believe that Stefan and Damon are evil and Elena is the cause of all the problems in your life. I won't deny that the last one is true," She ignored Bonnie's glare. "But I don't have to stoop down to brainwashing to make you believe it. You'll see it in time." Bonnie rolled her eyes.
"I told her that if I'm not making her choose between me and Stefan, she shouldn't make me choose between you and her. You've been really good to me since my Grams died and it wasn't fair of her to just blame you like that." Bonnie said, quietly.
Aliyah softened when she heard that. She reached over and patted Bonnie's knee. "Thanks for that, Bonnie girl. You didn't have to defend me like that."
Bonnie shook her head. "You're my friend and you're my family, Lee-Lee. The least I can do after everything you've done is defend you to Elena. But," She hesitated. "Can I ask you a favour?"
"Depends on what it is." Aliyah said, cautiously.
"Can you just give Elena a chance?" Bonnie said, quickly.
"Bonnie," Aliyah sighed. "I told you before, didn't I? I don't hate Elena, far from it, actually. I feel quite sorry for her. She doesn't deserve the life she's had. But you don't understand yet. Her existence makes life complicated for a lot of people, including you. I don't object to her, per se, I object to what she stands for. There are a lot of people that can get hurt because of her, and life would be so much simpler if she didn't exist. It's not that I look at her and see Katherine, I don't." I see Tatia. "I just see another high school girl, but with my experiences, I have to be wary around a doppelganger, because I've known them to hurt people I care about." She pursed her lips, feeling herself soften around the young girl, wondering what it was about the witch that made her so damn gentle. "But for you, I'll give her chance. I'm not going to tell you that I'll love her immediately. But I'll try my best to stop insulting her when I see her. Will that please you?" Aliyah asked.
Bonnie nodded. She stared out of the dashboard. "So, where is this place, anyway?" She asked, curiously.
"Closer to the boundary of Mystic Falls." Aliyah told her. "I thought we could do with some privacy."
They finally came up some windy road covered by trees on either side. It was then that Bonnie could see the long, winding stone driveway that led to a large house smack dab in the middle of the trees. Bonnie's eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she saw the lavish three-storey house, a mixture of black wood and mahogany on the outside. Glass doors and windows encompassed the entire thing and she had the feeling that if it were night, then the entire house would be bathed in a golden glow. On the right hand side of the house was a sit out, accompanied by a real-life fire pit. She could see the construction workers renovating as they drove up the driveway. Finally, right in front of the house, Aliyah stopped the car and motioned for Bonnie to get out.
"So, what do you think?" Aliyah asked, hesitantly.
"How do you afford all of this?" Bonnie asked, confused. "I mean, you have this spectacular penthouse apartment, and now you have this freaking mansion in the woods. Isn't it expensive?"
Aliyah shrugged. "I'm old, Bonnie girl. Over the years, I've been able to accumulate quite the nest egg."
"How much?" Bonnie asked, interested.
"Well, let's just say that I could buy a house like this every day for around a century and I'd just be spending petty cash." Aliyah said.
Bonnie's eyes widened. "Oh, okay, wow." She said, stunned.
"So, do you like it?" Aliyah asked.
"It's lovely, Lee-Lee. Is there a swimming pool?" Bonnie asked, excitedly.
Aliyah bit her lip and nodded. "At the back. And there's a hot tub on one of the balconies and Jacuzzis in the bathrooms."
"This is amazing, Aliyah. It's awesome." Bonnie whispered, staring up at the house with awe. "And it's all for us?"
Aliyah nodded with a smile.
"Thanks, Aliyah." Bonnie murmured.
Aliyah and Bonnie, wearing a dark beaded dress that came to the middle of her thighs, her dark brown hair out and curled just past her shoulders, arrived at the Founder's Hall on the day of the pageant and Bonnie excused herself, citing that she was going to go and find Caroline. Aliyah nodded and made her way to the servers, carrying trays of golden, bubbly champagne, and helped herself to a glass, sipping at the delicious liquid, standing by herself to the side. She had her camera stuffed in her bag, some Nikon thing that Bonnie had suggested for her ruse as a photojournalist. She thought she would observe the festivities for a little while before heading on up to take photos of what exactly was going on.
"You in the running for Miss Mystic Falls?" Damon's voice came from behind her and she grimaced.
Aliyah looked down at her tight, black dress that was covered in sequins until her waist, shaping into a leather belt and then fell to her knees in smooth satin. She wore tall, black pumps and a myriad of silver bracelets on one of her wrists, as well as long earrings. Her hair was soft and curly, falling to the middle of her back, and her makeup was done to perfection, dark eyeliner and red lipstick.
"Well, I am a hotshot, big-city photojournalist, I have to look the part." Aliyah pointed out.
Anna strode up to them. "I remember this event from 1864, I was supposed to enter before everything happened."
"Ah," Damon sighed. "Nostalgia's a bitch."
"If you're just going to be a prick, you can move along." Aliyah said, sharply.
Damon turned to Anna. "John Gilbert thinks your mom stole an artefact from Jonathan Senior back in 1864."
"What are you, his errand boy?" Anna raised an eyebrow, making Aliyah smirk.
Damon shrugged. "I don't know what it is but I don't want him to have it."
"I could ask her, but you know, you've made it pretty clear that you don't trust us so why should I even bother?" Anna smirked.
"Because you want to stay in Mystic Falls and John Gilbert's in town, making that impossible. Find out where it is. He leaves, you can buy a welcome mat."
"With that, I think I'm gonna leave. This conversation's boring me." Aliyah said and walked away, pulling her camera out of her bag.
She strode into the Founder's Hall, finding Carol Lockwood standing off to one side, surrounded by a number of people and clutching a clipboard to her chest.
"Aliyah!" Carol called out and waved her over. Aliyah walked over with a dark smile and kissed both of her cheeks as a hello. "There you are! Have any idea where you'll start today?"
She held up her camera. "I got a few photos of the outside. I was thinking I'd get some pictures of the pageant contestants. Do you mind?" She asked, gesturing up the stairs to where the dressing rooms were.
"No. No problem at all. Go ahead." Carol encouraged.
With a smile to Carol and a nod to the others, she walked up the stairs and knocked on the first dressing room. Bonnie answered the door and stared at her for a second.
"What are you doing here?" Bonnie asked, confused.
She held up the Nikon. "Have to use this sometime." She muttered so that only Bonnie could hear. "Come on, let me in. I need to get some pictures of Caroline. Is she ready?"
Bonnie frowned. "Can you even take pictures?"
"I've been around for a very long time. It makes sense that I've taken a photography lesson once or twice in my day." She hissed. "Now let me in before Carol Lockwood comes in and finds out that I'm just trying to screw her over."
Bonnie rolled her eyes and opened the door. "Caroline, look who's here."
Aliyah walked in to find Caroline Forbes standing in front of the mirror, wearing a strapless green dress that fell to the floor, her blonde hair wavy and falling to her shoulders. The girl turned around and smiled, nervously, at Aliyah.
"Oh, hi, Aliyah. What's up?" Caroline smiled at the older woman.
"Well, I came to wish you luck and to see if I could take your picture." Aliyah said, holding up her camera. "I don't know if Bonnie told you, but I'm writing a book on the traditions in Mystic Falls. I'd love to have your photo."
Caroline's eyes widened and she blushed, preening slightly. "Oh, wow, yeah, that'd be great."
Caroline walked over to the window and Aliyah knelt on the floor, holding up the camera and making sure it was focused on Caroline, before she snapped the photo. She took a few more, with Bonnie and Caroline, a few with just Bonnie and just Caroline, before she wished Caroline luck and said her goodbyes. She walked over to the next door and knocked. She was surprised to find that Jenna answered the door and guessed that this must be Elena's dressing room. Jenna was wearing a one shoulder, dark grey silk dress, with her hair pinned over one shoulder.
"Hey, Jenna." She leaned in and kissed the blonde woman and both of her cheeks. She showed Jenna the camera. "If you guys aren't too busy, would you mind me taking your picture?"
Jenna's eyes widened and she smiled, widely. "No. No problem at all."
She walked in and Elena stood there, wearing a halter-neck, royal blue dress that fell to the floor, dipping low in the front, her brown hair pinned by bejewelled pins behind her, falling in soft curls down her back.
"Wow, Elena, you look beautiful." Aliyah gushed, being as sincere as possible. She could appreciate Elena's beauty, but it didn't do anything for her after she had seen the same face on two other women.
"Thanks." Elena smiled, shyly, still not knowing what to make of the woman.
"If you're ready, do you mind if I take your picture for my book?" Aliyah asked, slowly.
"No. Absolutely not." Elena smiled.
Elena posed and Aliyah too a few pictures of her. She asked Jenna to pose along with Elena, and Aliyah took those too with a smile on her face.
"Aliyah, if you're done with the other contestants, would you like to join Alaric and me downstairs?" Jenna asked.
"Oh, I'd love that." Aliyah grinned and they walked down together, their arms hooked in each other's, Aliyah conveniently forgetting the other three contestants.
"Miss Elena Gilbert, escorted by Mister Stefan Salvatore." Mayor Lockwood intoned.
Aliyah watched as Damon desperately searched for Stefan, inwardly hiding a groan of annoyance, wondering if this was the point where Stefan snapped and became Niklaus' favourite pet, the Ripper. While Aliyah hadn't relished Stefan's bloodlust the way Niklaus had, back in the 1920s, she did have a measure of affection for him as a man that Rebekah loved.
After losing her mother and her brother, being exiled as a witch, her in-laws were her only family, and while there had been much tension between Elijah and Niklaus, the centuries they had spent together had allowed them to form a bond, Rebekah and Kol quickly forgetting that Aliyah was not their real sister but treating her as such. Rebekah's lack of a maternal figure in her life after Esther's death, coupled with the changes that their newfound vampirism brought, had made Rebekah look to Aliyah in a maternal sense. Rebekah and her had always been close. They had been best friends since Rebekah was born, Aliyah helping out Esther with the children once they were born, despite the seven-year age difference between them. Then, Aliyah had become Rebekah's sister-in-law and her respect for Aliyah had only grown until they became vampires. There had been an initial fallout after that, but Rebekah and her had quickly come back together and many times after that, she would be the one to shield Rebekah from Niklaus' anger.
Rebekah had taken to Stefan in a way that she hadn't considered possible. After losing Marcel in New Orleans, she thought Rebekah was entirely too broken-hearted to find another man. But the moment that the blonde had laid her eyes on the Ripper of Monterey, she had been lost and Niklaus had been forced to accept the much younger vampire into their ranks. Niklaus had delighted in the way that Stefan seemed to decapitate and murder his victims as he drank their blood, but Aliyah had never been able to revel in the feed the way they did. She didn't like mess, even as a human, and that had transferred to the way she took her victims. She preferred the seductive pull of nipping at her victims and watching as their faces contorted in pleasure, sharing her girls and boys with Niklaus and watching as his eyes devoured her body, finally settling on the sweet blood pooling in her mouth, before he would growl and take her against the wall like an animal.
It was the greatest form of power.
To have the Original Hybrid drown with pleasure in her arms.
Elena slowly came down the stairs and looked for Stefan, but she couldn't find him anywhere. Damon quickly strode over to the bottom of the staircase and took Stefan's place to escort her. Aliyah watched as Elena smiled at him and Damon took her hand, leading her out of the Founder's Hall and outside, past Jenna, Alaric, Aliyah and Bonnie, to where the other girls and their escorts were.
"What is she doing with Damon?" Jenna asked them, quietly.
Aliyah pursed her lips. "I have no idea." She muttered in disapproval.
And the cycle begins again. So much for Elena being different from the other Petrova doppelgangers.
They watched as the girls and their escorts began to dance and Aliyah narrowed her eyes when she saw Elena and Damon dancing and smiling at each other.
She felt a stab of reminiscence, remembering how many parties she, Niklaus, Elijah, Kol and Rebekah had been to over the years. Some of them had ended with bloodshed, with Niklaus losing control of his anger and killing half of the guests, leaving her and Elijah, as the only sensible ones in the family, to compel the other half, or with Kol losing control in general and slaughtering all of the humans.
The most rewarding part of the night had to be walking down those stairs and meeting Niklaus at the bottom, him looking at her as if he had never seen her before in his life. His eyes were awed and hushed and he stared at her as if she were the sun and the moon and stars all rolled into one perfect package. Centuries after their marriage and she couldn't help but feel pride that she still had this sort of affect on him.
She wore an azure dress with intricate white embroidery across the neckline, under the best and the on the hemline, with sliced sleeves leaving her toffee-coloured skin bare. Her hair was done in a curly updo with diamond pins worked into the strands. She wore simple earrings, not too long and not too flashy and a simple silver necklace.
He took her hands in his and raised them to his lips, pressing sweet kisses on her knuckles.
"Oh, my love, has there ever been anything in the world more beautiful than you?" He whispered against her skin.
And she smiled at him.
But there was something to be said about going to one of these balls, back when the idea was still so new in their minds, having spent their lives in a small village, living in huts, and now they were being invited to the ball of one of the richest noblemen in the district. She was sure that Niklaus was feeling some measure of pride for that accomplishment, delighting in hers and Rebekah's excitement and knowing that he was the one to give it to them.
The night was a wonder, not much different to the many other balls they had been to. They drank wine and ate food and smiled at everyone, Aliyah keeping a tight hold on Niklaus' arm before he tore into the throat of every man who was eyeing her.
"You will dance with me." Niklaus ordered.
Aliyah rolled her eyes. "If you express that as more of a request than an order, then I will, of course, acquiesce."
Niklaus took one of her hands and led her over to the dance floor. They faced one side and Niklaus' left hand took her left hand and stretched them out in front of them. His right arm wrapped around her waist, his hand coming to slide across her hip, and hers came to cover his. They stalked forwards, hopping once for every three steps they took. They wrapped their arms around each others' waists and swayed to the music, twirling around in a circle. Finally, Aliyah's right hand came to hold Niklaus' left hand over their heads, both of them taking a step back from each other and coming to together, bowing as they approached each other.
The dance ended with Niklaus' arms wrapped around her lithe waist, Aliyah's hands on his shoulders, his nose dipping down to graze the length of her neck.
Aliyah laughed and played with the ends of his shoulder-length hair.
"Are you happy, hellcat?" Niklaus asked her, quietly, a sudden vulnerability in his eyes that he hadn't expressed to her in so many centuries.
"I would only ever be unhappy if you ever stopped loving me." Aliyah said, sweetly, pressing a warm kiss to the underside of his jaw.
"I would descend into hell before that would happen." Niklaus vowed. Then, he smirked. "And I am immortal, my love."
Aliyah and Bonnie watched as all of the girls stood on the stage, one of them missing, as Mayor Lockwood arrived to announce the winner.
"Before I crown the winner, I'd like to offer a personal thank you to all of these young ladies for their efforts to better our community."
Aliyah clapped, politely.
"So, without further a due it is my honour to announce our very own Miss Mystic Falls, Miss Caroline Forbes!"
Aliyah watched as Caroline's mouth dropped in surprise and she cheered along with Bonnie and everyone else, the former beaming up at her best friend, as the Mayor crowed her Miss Mystic Falls and placed the banner around her shoulders.
"Okay, so now might be the time to tell you that Stefan's been having some trouble with his bloodlust." Aliyah muttered to Bonnie in hushed tones.
"What do you mean?" Bonnie asked, frowning.
"Well, he drinks animal blood. Noble concept, but impractical in the long run. It's in a vampire's nature to feed on humans, Bonnie. If you hold yourself from it for too long, the hunger becomes too much. So, you gorge. You go on a blood binge and you can't bring yourself back from it." She shook her head. "I've seen it happen before. It's not pretty… for the vampire or for their victim." She said, darkly.
Bonnie gestured to Elena and Damon, who seemed in the midst of a heated conversation. "What are they saying?"
Aliyah let her senses reach out towards Damon and Elena, hearing their voices become clearer.
"That Amber girl is missing and there were signs of a struggle in the bathroom. They think that Stefan was the one to take her." Aliyah muttered to Bonnie and watched as the witch's face hardened.
"What do we do?" Bonnie asked her, quietly and coldly.
"Well, this is probably the best time to see if you can take down a vampire." Aliyah said, dryly. "We have to put him down. Not kill him, but incapacitate him long enough so that we can put him somewhere where he won't hurt anyone."
Bonnie nodded, determinedly. "What do we do?"
"You have to use the aneurism spell on him, immediately. Once he's sufficiently weakened, I'll snap his neck. You okay with that?" Aliyah looked at Bonnie.
Bonnie nodded and they followed after Damon and Elena.
Aliyah and Bonnie made their way into the woods and were stunned at the scene they came up on. They watched as Stefan's face transformed, his eyes swirling black, the veins under his eyes rising and his fangs elongated. They watched as he tore into the blonde victim's throat, the girl screaming as he did so.
"Stefan!" Elena shouted, horrified.
Stefan released Amber, the blood dripping from his mouth and pooling on the ground.
"Stefan, come on, get control." Damon approached him, slowly, as if he were approaching a skittish animal. "It's okay, come on. Breath through it, man." He said, reassuringly.
Stefan grabbed Damon, his face burning with anger, and threw him against the tree. Damon jumped to his feet and was ready to lunge at Stefan again.
"Stefan, stop it!" Elena exclaimed.
Aliyah rolled her eyes. Oh, yeah, because that's going to do so much.
"Now, Bonnie." Aliyah said, coldly, her voice brooking no argument.
Bonnie's eyes narrowed in concentration, her gaze intent on Stefan, as the magic fluttered around her. She shoved as much of her magic as she could in Stefan's direction, and watched with just the slightest bit of pleasure as Stefan gripped his head in pain, Bonnie popping each of the blood vessels in his brain in a continuous action. Stefan sank to the ground from the pain and Aliyah knew this was the perfect opportunity. One moment she was standing next to Bonnie, and the next, she was standing right behind Stefan. She gripped both sides of his head with her hands and twisted, sharply, hearing the telltale crack of his neck snapping.
Stefan fell to the ground, his eyes closed and seemingly dead, his entire body limp.
Aliyah regarded Damon and Elena, coldly. "Get him somewhere safe, where he can't hurt anyone." She warned. "If he doesn't get better, I will kill him."
"She doesn't remember what happened." Sheriff Forbes told Elena, Bonnie and Aliyah.
Damon nodded. "It's a good thing the girls got here when they did, she lost a lot of blood."
The sheriff looked at Bonnie, Aliyah and Elena. "You didn't see anything?"
There was a long pause and Elena and Damon wondered if Bonnie would choose to out Stefan to the council now. When she didn't say anything, Elena breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the sheriff.
"No, we just found her and then called Damon." She said, innocently.
Bonnie pursed her lips. "Is she gonna be okay?" She asked, worriedly.
"It looks like it, yeah. Why don't you girls get back to the party? Damon and I can take it from here." Sheriff Forbes said, reassuringly.
Elena nodded. "Okay."
She, Bonnie and Aliyah left, the latter giving Damon an inconspicuous nod.
Aliyah slid into the driver's seat of the car and waited for Bonnie to join her, watching through the rear-view mirror as Elena approached.
"Bonnie, can we talk about this?" Elena pleaded, tears coming to her eyes as the terror that she may lose one of her best friends struck her in the heart.
Bonnie shook her head, staring at Elena, sadly. Seeing what she had seen here today had only reinforced what she felt towards Elena and Stefan and Damon. Stefan was a monster, there was no doubt about it. How could Elena go on dating him as if there was nothing wrong?
"There's nothing to talk about." She said, slowly.
"Bonnie, please!" Elena whispered.
"I told you I wasn't gonna make you choose, but I need to make the choice for myself. Please just leave me alone." Bonnie said, quietly, sliding into the car and shutting the door behind her, ignoring the way that Elena's face fell.
Aliyah pursed her lips and looked at Bonnie. "Buckle up, Bonnie girl." She said, quietly.
And she turned the key in the ignition and drove away.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Aliyah asked Bonnie, quietly, both of them lounging on Aliyah's bed.
"Was I too harsh?" Bonnie whispered, her voice muffled by the pillow that she was clutching to her chest.
Aliyah clucked her tongue, not sure of how to answer the question. "I think… you're at that time in your life where you have a make a decision that suits your life. You love Elena, she's your friend, that's wonderful, but if you need more time, there's nothing wrong with taking it." She said, reassuringly. "Stefan and Damon are vampires, Bonnie girl. People die around them and you've experienced that first hand. Your relationship with Elena doesn't have to deteriorate but it may be hard to keep up the same level it used to be with Stefan and Damon around as constant reminders. That being said, you have a right to be angry, but you don't want to get around to a point where anger is all you have left, Bonnie." She said, quietly and meaningfully, her eyes glazing over. "That's not a life, Bonnie."
"You think I should forgive Elena." Bonnie said, quietly.
"No, I think you should do what you feel is right. If you feel like you need more time, then I think you're justified. But your relationship with Elena doesn't have to cease to exist just because Stefan and Damon are now in the picture. Bonnie, it's not a crime to need space from everything. You've experienced a lot in the last couple of months, but you shouldn't isolate yourself. Give it some time and then go hash it out with Elena, okay. Don't worry about it right now. Just rest, darling." She said, soothingly.
Bonnie let Aliyah wrap her arms around her and she leaned down, resting her head against her shoulder, feeling the older woman's warmth surround her, comfortingly. She breathed in Aliyah's familiar scent of rose and jasmine and allowed it to lull her into slumber, feeling her eyes drift close. She felt Aliyah's hand come up to stroke her hair and she felt the tears falling onto Aliyah's skin, too exhausted to do anything about it.
That night, Aliyah stepped out for a breath of fresh air and tensed when she heard someone watching her. She waited for a moment and spun on her feet, lunging for them with practiced ease and pinning them to the wall by one hand, crushing their windpipe.
"Easy, there." Damon wheezed, both of his hands clutching around the fingers that were wrapped around his throat.
"What do you want?" Aliyah snarled, every single bit of her patience for the day completely disappeared. She had seen enough today not to trust the Salvatore brothers. They were wild cards. Either one would snap any time.
"Pearl gave me the device John was looking for." Damon groaned through the pain.
"What does that have to do with me?" Aliyah hissed, her nails digging into his skin and tearing.
"There's two of them. One of them is a pocket watch where the stile will point at a vampire. Pearl gave me the other, but we don't know what it does." Damon's fingers tore at her wrist, but she did not let up on her grip.
Finally, after a few moments, she stared him in the eye and let her compulsion ring true.
"You will tell me anything you find out about the devices. You will make sure your brother is fixed before he returns to school. You will not remember any of this. " She said, coldly.
She spun on her feet and walked back into her apartment, shutting the door behind her, leaving him crouched on the floor, panting harshly, as air returned to his lungs.
A/N: Wow, this was a very long chapter! I honestly wasn't intending for it to reach 11K. Anyway, a lot of things happened in this story. Bonnie went back to school, John's looking for the Gilbert Device, Aliyah's renovating a house for her and Bonnie, Miss Mystic Falls happened and Aliyah and Bonnie worked together to take Stefan down. I hope you like the way I've characterised Rebekah's relationship with Aliyah, as well as the flashback of Aliyah and Klaus at a ball in around the 1300s.
Anyway, hope you all liked the chapter and don't forget to review.