Chapter 011
Hard to Fathom
Saturday, December 25, 2010, 11:00 p.m.
The Mikaelson Mansion
Today was Christmas. I don't think Bonnie's holidays were particularly joyous last year with my having passed so soon before. I also know her father broke several of my grandbaby's ribs on Christmas morning so this year would have been better if only because she was safe but more than that the Mikaelson's did their best to make sure that my baby girl felt loved and cherished the whole weekend. Not that they don't do that on regular days too, but they made a point to give her happy holiday memories.
Kol has been taking her to the falls every day except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for more than a week and a half before he deemed Bonnie capable of attacking vampires properly with a degree of regularity. She thought they might be done on the 21st, because she had so much control that day, but he told her it was merely because it was the Winter Equinox and a total lunar eclipse, so her power and her control were both amplified that day.
Therefore, they wound up having to keep working on it for two days after the Equinox, though, as I said, not on Christmas Eve or Christmas day itself. Thankfully on the 23rd, she had it mostly under control, so the chances that she'll kill someone by accident are far slimmer than they were when they started working on it that first day at the Falls, and now Kol and I are both confident she can protect herself or others without accidentally killing someone.
Bonnie's friends, or specifically those other than Caroline and Jeremy, only know she's been spending her time with Kol and Rebekah, so most of her old friends are not happy with her new friendships. I know if Kol hadn't compelled her friends into keeping the truce no matter what, that it would be just a matter of time before Elena or Stefan and maybe Tyler and/or Matt would do something stupid and break the truce.
The evening of Christmas Day and two days shy of two weeks after that first day at the falls, Bonnie and Kol are reading her family history before going to sleep. They finally discover that every witch in our line going all the way back to Qetsiyah, the witch who made Silas immortal, were the first of their generation when the oldest of the previous generation died. Bonnie reads that entry four times before moving on to Qetsiyah's mother so that she can know as much as possible about the woman who created the very first immortal.
Qetsiyah's mother was the youngest when her parents died, so the line of firsts goes back about 3,775 years to Qetsiyah. Bonnie goes to bed shortly afterward. She finishes reading the whole book the next day, but now a few hours later she's rereading specific entries that are particularly interesting like Qetsiyah and Ayana's entries.
According to the various notes in the margins, every book going all the way back to Qetsiyah's grandmother is in the collection of grimoires my daughter and I passed down to Bonnie. So, Monday afternoon she goes digging through boxes looking for Ayana and Qetsiyah's books while on the phone with Rebekah but gives up until the blonde suggests, "Why don't you just teleport the specific books you want to a predetermined place like your bed or the floor in front of you?"
I have to admit it's a solid idea and Bonnie and Kol agree, so Rebekah and Kol begin teaching my baby girl the basics of writing her own spells and even though they have multiple teleportation spells they write their own, or mostly she writes it. Then they give her constructive criticism and suggestions on how to improve the potency, ease of casting, and preciseness of the spell. Thankfully this lesson goes much more smoothly than the last.
Tuesday, the day after Rebekah made her suggestion Kol deems the spell ready to try so after double checking with her mother that it's safe to perform my grandbaby goes home and does the spell and seems surprised that it works. I never doubted it would work, but I know Bonnie had her doubts, so I laugh lightly at the picture she makes while she literally jumps up and down when the four piles of books appear on the floor in front of her.
She calls Kol shortly after she successfully completes the spell and when he picks up, she doesn't even say hello before she tells him, "It worked Kol. It actually worked. I can't believe I wrote a spell from scratch, and it actually did what I wanted it to do."
I can hear the wide smile in his voice when he tells her, "Congratulations, Little Bella. Let me know the next time you need another spell, and we'll keep working on improving your spell writing technique. I'm proud of you, though. Beks and I barely made any suggestions to make this spell better, so mostly you did it on your own."
She frowns and shrugs obviously thinking he is giving her more credit than she deserves, but she doesn't call him on it. Instead, she tells him, "Well I just wanted to let you know it worked. Now I want to check out the fifty or so books both women owned and or wrote."
I imagine he's nodding even though my precious girl can't see him before he tells her, "Please check with your mother or me before trying any of the spells you might find. I imagine a good number of the spells in Qetsiyah's books are very Dark if the Immortality Spell is any indication of the type of magick she performed. Bonnie smiles and tells him, "I promise not to try anything without talking it over with you first."
The next day she informs him, "I found The Immortality Spell and The Immortality Reversal Spell that turns an immortal back into a mortal in Qetsiyah's books. Incidentally, I also found The So-Called Sun and the Moon Curse Esther placed on Nik after he activated his wolf side in Ayana's books. I guess she disapproved of Esther shackling him just like I did, but she made sure to write down everything about the spell the bitch did. She made note that someone was going to need it and mentioned another entry in another book that will be relevant, but I haven't found it yet, and I decided to just read through all of her books instead of skimming, so I'll be less likely to miss it when I come to it."
I'm unsure why Ayana thought someone, probably my granddaughter, would need to know the details of the curse placed on Niklaus. I am sure, however, that our ancestor knew what she was talking about in every instance I've ever heard of, so I know it will prove true. I think the key is the other entry and although I'm anxious for Bonnie to find the passage I know my grandbaby's plan to carefully read everything is the right one.
Kol tends to agree with me but he nods while smiling, so she shows him the spells she did find, and he reads each spell before frowning and saying, "Bonnie, I need you to swear on your grams' safety that you won't tell anyone, especially Ms. Gilbert or Damon, that you have any of these spells."
Her eyes are wide, but she nods and tells him, "I swear I won't tell. That's not why I went looking for them. They're the darkest spells I've ever heard of, so I figure it can be a learning experience and you can go line by line with me and explain what makes them so dark."
He smiles because she is a very eager student, so he tells her, "If you promise on the lives of all of your friends that you won't try to do any of these spells then I'll be happy to go over each one line by line."
She smiles and nods, so they set about going over each spell, and it takes them all day and most of the night to get through all three spells. Needless to say, my grandbaby now understands The Laws of Nature a whole lot better and knows that those three spells are so dark it's not even slightly funny.
Before going to bed, she is still reading Qetsiyah's books when she comes across another spell that she thinks is too dark to try. When my precious girl sees Kol Thursday morning, she asks him for his opinion so after reading the spell twice he frowns and asks her, "Bonnie, why are you asking? Do you have a need to permanently silence someone?"
She laughs and shakes her head before telling him, "No, not at all. It just seemed too dark, so I figured I'd ask you about it, and see if you agree. I'm trying to spot the dark spells on my own and then confirm with you and Abby that they're too dark to ever try."
He smiles widely and leans in kissing her forehead before telling her, "In that case, yes that spell is far too dark to be safely performed without upsetting the balance."
My granddaughter nods and then goes back to reading the book.
Bonnie looks up a few minutes later and hesitantly tells Kol, "Um, I think I just found the other entry Ayana wrote about in the other book. I think I now know why Nik's aura still has a few holes. This spell should fix it, and it doesn't look dark. I think we should do it because we technically currently have all the ingredients necessary available in Mystic Falls and those holes in Nik's aura leave him vulnerable to attacks if a Witch is stupid enough to try to take on The Original Hybrid."
I think that because no one has ever tried to attack any of them that way despite the much larger holes in their auras that they had for the last 1,009 years that the chances are good no one will attempt it in the future either, but it would be nice to completely remove all the holes in his aura.
Bonnie bounces in her seat and hands the book to the original, and he reads it while I read over his shoulder. She smiles when his eyes get progressively wider while he reads farther and farther down the page. When he finishes reading, he looks at her and asks two very vital questions, "You'd seriously be willing to do this spell? Because it would have to be you who does it not to mention exactly how do you plan to get Ms. Gilbert's blood because she's currently giving you the silent treatment?"
She smiles and tells him something I've known for some time now, "I already have three dozen bags of her doppelgänger blood and just over a dozen bags of her vampire blood. I also have almost three dozen bags of Tyler's blood. All we'd need is Nik's blood, the blood of a random werewolf, which I also have stored away, and then we'd just need Nik to agree. It should probably be done after The Full Moon which is three weeks from yesterday if I'm reading it correctly about the necessary phase of the moon."
My baby girl is definitely reading it correctly about the required phase of the moon. Kol's eyes are wide, and his jaw is hanging open though at the idea of her having all that blood just stored away somewhere. He just stares at her for three solid minutes. I know because I can see the clock on the wall from my spot behind him. He snaps his jaw closed a moment later and asks the next necessary question, "Little Bella, how do you have all of that blood?"
Smiling she tells him honestly, "Well, my friends have all been unconscious multiple times. Every time someone was in my care it was for a long enough period to drain a bag or two out of them. I never knew why I was doing it, but I think it's because The Universe and God knew I'd find this reversal spell. Do you think Nik will agree to do it?"
I absolutely think he'll agree to do it and apparently so does Kol who nods and tells her, "I do. Although I'm also sure he doesn't feel the need to make more hybrids, but it drives him starkers to no end that even if he wanted to make them he can't."
Pausing Kol stands then walks to her and tips her chin after he kneels in front of her while she sits in her chair, and he looks right into her eyes before he asks, "You need to think extremely hard about whether or not you want to offer this spell to my brother. Remember that you owe him nothing, and he in fact already owes you."
She frowns and tilts her head to the side before she asks, "Do you want me not to offer?" It's evident to me that if he tells her not to do it, then she won't do it, but she also thought that he'd be happy that his brother could be entirely whole for the first time in over 1,009 years.
While that is true he doesn't want it to happen at Bonnie's expense, so he shakes his head and tells her, "I'm actually ambivalent about it for the most part. It makes no difference to me either way, not really anyhow, but you and your friends fought very hard to keep Nik from being able to make hybrids, and now you're suggesting that you do a spell that will make it possible for him to make them without the use of doppelgänger blood. He'll have no limitations on him anymore, so I want you to consider the ramifications of doing this spell before you suggest it to him. Once he knows it's possible he probably won't rest until you perform it, so make sure you're ready for him to no longer be dependent on doppelgänger blood before you make the offer."
She nods and tells him, "I know he's an ass more often than not, but he deserves to be completely whole just like the rest of you. Why should all of you be able to make vampires, but he can't make anyone like him? I've never thought that was particularly fair, but I objected to him using Elena's blood because I figured he'd get greedy and drain my best friend of every last drop of blood she had, which isn't too far off from what he tried to do on at least one occasion."
Kol nods but then tells her, "Think on it for a few days at least and then we can talk about it if you still think it's a good idea, okay? There is no hurry to complete this spell. I want you to take your time and weigh all the ramifications of your possibly performing it because you're also probably not going to want to ask your mother about it, so you'll need to rely on my word alone that it's safe. Otherwise, I'd be willing to wager my substantial estate that your mother will tell your friends and they'll storm the castle with the intent of killing us all once and for all."
She just stares at him wide-eyed, so he tells her, "Make no mistake, Bonnie, if they attack us first we won't hesitate to end them this time. We've been very forgiving thus far, but it won't continue if they break the truce. They'll be dead before they can utter the word 'Oops.'"
She nods and tells him, "I know. I'll think about it all and get back to you okay?"
He nods and tells her, "You should put that book in your bag and bring it to your house tonight and keep it there until you make your decision."
My baby girl just nods and takes the book back from him and then closes it and puts it into her book bag that's sitting on the floor beside the chair she's sitting in.
Kol stands back up and goes to the cabinet in the wall and takes out a bottle of his finest scotch and pours himself a generous portion before drinking half of it in one swallow. Bonnie's hazel eyes widen, and when he looks up at her again she hesitantly asks, "Um, you're not mad at me are you?"
He sighs and puts his glass down on the corner of his desk and walks back over to her before he kneels in front of her again and reaches up stroking her cheek and says, "No, Little Bella, I'm not angry with you. I'm worried that my brother will find out you have that spell and try to force you to perform it, thereby breaking the truce, but I'm not angry with you."
Frowning she tells him what we both already know, "If you want me to forget I have it and not offer, I'll do it. I'll completely ignore that it's in the book and I'll lock the book up where your brother can never get to it."
He frowns back and tells her, "Without trying to influence your decision, I don't actually want my brother to be stuck the way he is forever. I want him to be whole and able to create progeny just like himself the same as the rest of us can, but I worry what that will mean for you and your friends. I'm not sure you realize it or not, but if you do that spell you'll be picking a side, and it won't be Elena Gilbert's side. You'll be definitively choosing the Mikaelsons' side, so you need to consider that before you make your decision, because I know right now you're holding out hope that you'll be able to reconcile with your friends. That likely won't be possible if you do this spell, and they find out about it, which they probably will the first time Nik turns a wolf successfully."
Nodding, my granddaughter tells him, "Jer and Caroline would probably forgive me. Damon, Stefan, Elena, Tyler, and Matt will never forgive me, but I'm beginning to realize they're not going to forgive me for making the truce with you either, so what does it really matter?"
He nods and then leans in and kisses her forehead before he tells her, "That's why you need to think about it long and hard before you make the offer to Nik."
She nods and then picks up the other book she was planning to read today and opens it to begin reading but before she does so she asks, "Did you notice the part where if he feeds a vampire his blood after the spell is performed that the vampire will be immune to werewolf and hybrid bites permanently?"
He nods and stands in one smooth fluid movement, and then he moves to his own chair and sits down with his own book to begin reading himself. He opens one of three of Chalina's books that Bonnie gave to him and then looks at her and says, "Yes I noticed that part, but we only get sick if we're bitten. We don't die from it. However, if a wolf bit us and the wrong person had a White Oak Stake at the same time, well, then that might prove fatal. Nobody's managed to have both at the same time thus far, so I'm more worried about what doing the spell will mean for you than what it will mean for my siblings and me."
Nodding my baby girl then begins reading, but she never turns the page, so she ends up rereading the same sentence ten times. She's caught on the fact that Kol is more worried about her than helping his siblings be safer. Truth is he figures they've survived this long, so he doubts the wolves will be a viable threat in the future.
She doesn't know what his greater worry for her means precisely. I know from Bonnie's thoughts that he's been glowing green the whole time they talked about the spell, so she knows he wasn't lying. So that leaves her baffled about why he cares more about her and her welfare than the welfare and safety of his siblings and himself.
She doesn't ask him for clarification though, so she remains confused before she closes her eyes and just concentrates on focusing on her breath. A few minutes later, she opens her eyes and looks in front of her to find him watching her.
Frowning he asks, "Are you okay, Bonnie?"
She frowns back, mostly at his use of her first name because she knows him well enough by now to know that he's serious because he used her given name instead of his nickname for her. She pauses and seriously considers his question before nodding and telling him, "Yes, I'm just confused, but I'll figure it out eventually."
Smiling, he nods and tells her honestly, "You usually do," then he goes back to reading his book, and she follows suit with much more success this time.
Almost two hours have passed, and Bonnie fidgets for the twentieth time in a minute. She has a plan, and her window of opportunity is quickly shrinking.
Her fidgeting causes Kol to look up from his book while he sits across from her in his study. Marking his place in his book, he then closes it and places it on his lap before he asks her, "Little Bella, is something wrong? You know you don't have to do the spell, right? I won't tell Nik that you found it if you choose not to do it."
Her green eyes widen at that, "N-no, that's not… I still want to do the spell."
Smiling gently, he shakes his head slightly and asks, "Then why are you acting like you have ants in your pants?"
I laugh, and so does my grandbaby before she asks, "How on earth do you know that saying?"
He smiles bigger and tells her, "Elijah used to say something very similar to me when I was a boy, so when I heard a mother at a store comment that her son had ants in his pants I immediately understood her meaning, and it stuck in my mind."
He pauses then frowns and tells her, "Don't think I don't realize that you never answered my question. What is bothering you, Bonnie?"
She thinks, 'Damn, he said my first name again.' As I thought earlier she knows him well enough by now to know that he means business, so she sighs and looks at the floor in front of him before she asks him, "What, what would you say if I asked to borrow one of your mother's books?"
His chocolate eyes widen, and his frown deepens before he says, "I need more than that, Bonnie. Which book specifically? And for what purpose?"
She sighs but tells him, "The one from the first day."
Leaning forward he puts his elbows on his bent knees before he asks, "The one with The Cleansing Ritual? I wasn't aware that you had a chance to look through it beyond the spell we did."
Shaking her head, she tells her frowning companion, "Um, I didn't, not really."
He sighs again and says, "Bonnie, we've been friends for just under a month. Have I ever offered to get angry with you when you asked for something, even if I did ultimately end up denying your request?"
She shakes her head, "Um, no, it's just… I'm not sure you'll like what I want to do with it. I thought about doing it from memory, but I'm not confident enough in my memory so…"
Now his frown deepens, and his voice is sharp when he asks, "So if you remembered the spell you want to use better, you wouldn't bother speaking to me about this spell, you'd just do it instead?"
Frowning back, she thinks, 'Well when he says it like that it sounds like a really shitty thing to do.' What she says though is, "I-I don't know. I, God, it's nothing bad."
He's still frowning, but his tone of voice is less sharp and sadder when he says, "And yet you seem not to want to ask me about it. Is it dark?"
My flustered baby girl shakes her head hard and tells him, "No, it's not the spell itself that you'll object to."
He places his book onto the floor by his chair and then stands and begins pacing back and forth, back and forth. He stops and then still frowning asks, "So what exactly is it that you think I will object to?"
She gulps, and then she takes a big deep breath, and after letting it out slowly she tells him, "I want to do the spell on Abby."
His eyes widen before he goes back to pacing, back and forth, back and forth, "Which spell, Bonnie?"
Looking at her feet, she whispers, "The Cleansing Ritual."
He stops in his place at that and slowly turns to look at her. She's currently nibbling on her lower lip. He just stares for a minute or two before he blinks and says, "You wish to try to give your mother back her magick."
He doesn't pose it as a question, but she still nods and tells him, "Yes, don't be mad."
His frown deepens before he says, "I'm not angry that you want to do the spell on your mother. I'm angry that you don't seem to trust that I'm not selfish enough to forbid you from trying to help your mother."
My near tears granddaughter whispers, "I trust you."
Kol huffs at that and takes a step closer to her, and she flinches, so he stops and says, "Do you? I'm finding that hard to believe given that you didn't want to broach the subject with me and that you just flinched when I stepped closer to you. I'm not going to hurt you, Bonnie."
He lets out a heavy breath and takes a step back and then moves to sit again. He just stares at her for a few minutes before asking, "What have I done to make you think that I would hurt you?"
Her eyes widen, and she shakes her head quickly before she tells him, "I don't."
Staring her right in the eye, he says, "I don't believe you, Bonnie. Why else would you have flinched when I moved closer to you?"
His shoulders are slumped, and his eyes are soft and sad at the thought of her thinking he'd hurt her. She resigns herself to the fact that she now needs to talk about her father again. My precious girl knows as well as I do that the topic will just further agitate him, "Um it wasn't… I'm not… it's a conditioned response. I'm sorry. It wasn't you. It was me. I'm sorry."
He narrows his chocolate eyes, and he leans forward and puts his elbows back on his knees but holds his clasped hands in between his two knees before he asks, "You're referring to your father and his habit of hitting you, and that's why you flinched. Is that what you're saying?"
She's trembling, and when a tear slides down her cheek, she wipes at it angrily. Kol forces himself not to move towards her and take her into his arms. His instincts are screaming at him to comfort his mate, but he knows he needs to wait and work out what just happened first, so he can work to keep from frightening my granddaughter again in the future.
She wipes at yet another tear and whispers, "Please don't be mad, please. I'm sorry. Please."
He can't stop himself this time, so he moves to his knees and walks to her on his knees very slowly obviously gaging her reaction to him moving closer. When she doesn't flinch, he lets out a breath and asks, "It's because I was standing over you and was angry. That's why you flinched?"
She closes her hazel eyes, and more tears flow down her cheeks, but she still nods, "Yes." Then without opening her eyes, she tells him, "Intellectually I know that you would never even think to hit me and even deep down I know that. I just, I couldn't stop the flinch. I'm sorry."
He understands now, so he nods and then slowly reaches out and pulls her into his chest. She lets him, and she takes comfort in his closeness while his strong arms that could tear her to shreds without even trying wrap around her tightly.
He allows her to cry for a few minutes, and then he kisses the top of her head. His voice shakes with his restrained anger when he hotly says, "If I didn't know his death would hurt you more, I'd kill him for what he's done to you!"
Still sniffling, she stiffens in his arms. Rudy did a real number on my baby girl, so she's not used to talking about his bad behavior because he made it perfectly clear that she's not allowed to tell anyone. And even beyond that, she doesn't want to test Kol's restraint. The mere fact that he's usually short-tempered and impulsively violent and yet he still let her father walk away the other day after practically witnessing him hit her is amazing to her. Not only does she intellectually know he would never hurt her but she also knows down to her marrow that in almost all instances Kol will end anyone who does dare to harm her.
He gentles his voice and says, "You're safe with me, Bonnie."
Nodding her head, she tells him, "I know. I really didn't flinch because it was you. It was just the muscle memory I guess you could call it. Anyway, can we stop talking about it? I'm not supposed to talk about what he did, and I get nauseous thinking about what he would do if he found out that you know."
His arms tighten around her at that before he says, "I would never let your father or anyone else hurt you, you know that, right? My compulsion alone should keep him from ever harming you again."
She nods her head against his chest but tells him, "I know that, but it still makes me nervous, especially when I think about what you would do to him if he found a way around your compulsion."
He smiles slightly before he tells her, "Oh ye of little faith. I'll have you know that I've been compelling people for close to 608 years. I am a master at it, so your father is not going to find a loophole. However, I need you to promise me that if he does or if someone else hurts you that you will tell me immediately, so I can fix it. Can you do that for me?"
She just nods as much as his hand on the back of her head will allow. He thinks over the last ten minutes and realizes they are extremely far off topic. He also understands that her reluctance to ask him about the spell wasn't indicative of her lack of trust or faith in him, but rather the conditioning her father caused with his abuse. Her father's rash and violent reactions to her often seemingly irrelevant behavior has caused her to refrain from asking for things.
That's one of the things that makes her an amazing woman in most cases. She gives but doesn't expect anything in return. However, she takes it to the extreme and fails to ask for the things she needs or really wants even when doing so wouldn't adversely affect the other person.
He decides, 'I shall have to work on changing her behavior. While her selflessness is admirable, not asking for things is not healthy.' He knows that by not asking for things and honestly by being too scared to ask for things she's inadvertently hurting herself, so he promises himself that he'll slowly retrain her out of that fearful behavior.
The first step is giving her want she wants and reinforcing in her mind that he's not angry that she asked, so he pulls her face away from his chest and kisses her forehead then pulls back entirely and says, "Okay, so we got sidetracked. In the future I want you to ask me for things. Things you want or need and things that you want to be done for other people you care about, okay?"
Her mouth opens to argue, so he places his finger over her soft lips and despite her slight frown tells her, "Asking for things isn't a bad thing. I know you well enough to know you won't abuse the privilege. Now, as for the spell, I don't object to you giving your mother back her magick. I would propose that you allow me to compel the knowledge that vampires lose their magick out of her mind so that she won't think anything of it or wonder how you knew it would work, which could lead her to wonder about my siblings and me and our magick."
She figured that's what he might say if he agreed, especially after he compelled Rudy, so she nods and tells him, "Abby's easier than my dad because she already doesn't take Vervain."
He pulls back again and pretending he didn't compel her to remain Vervain free he asks, "She knows there are vampires in town who can compel other vampires and she doesn't take Vervain?"
Shaking her head, my grandbaby tells him, "It makes her violently ill, worse than Caroline or Elena and Damon. I mean it hurts them obviously, but it actually makes Abby throw up if she tries to eat or drink it. She even tried just a few drops in her coffee, and she threw up everything she had eaten all day."
His's chocolate eyes are wide before he says, "I've never heard of that happening before."
She shrugs but tells him, "Right after she transitioned I watched her put three little drops in her coffee and then stir it before drinking it, and within a minute or two she ran to the bathroom and puked up her lunch."
He nods and says, "I didn't doubt you, Little Bella. I was simply telling you that I've never heard of that happening despite my age and experience."
He drops his arm from around her and looks at his watch before he says, "It's almost 2:00 p.m. Do you know if your mother has any plans today?"
My baby girl smiles slightly and tells him, "I'm meeting her at her house at 2:30 p.m. I was hoping to convince you to lend me the book by then, and then we'll go to the beach."
He nods and tells her, "If you don't object, I'll accompany you and her so that I can compel her right after she does the ritual."
She grins and nods before leaning up and kissing his cheek, "Thank you, Kol. Not just for letting me do the spell on Abby, but for uh, the thing with my dad, too."
He frowns and tilts his head to the side before asking, "The day at the beach, you wore a one piece because you had bruises underneath it, correct?"
Her hazel eyes widen before she asks, "How did you know that?"
He kisses her forehead again and tells her, "There was a bruise on your back, and I thought maybe I had put it there the previous night when I slammed you into the wall, but now I thought it might not have been me that gave it to you."
My precious baby girl nods and tells him the sad and anger-inducing truth, "Uh don't get mad, but if you gave me any bruises that night, I honestly didn't notice because my torso and my shoulders already had them. He uh, he usually hit the same places, so I've found a bathing suit that covers most of the bruises and then if any show I just tell people who ask that I bumped into a chair or fell or something."
He's frowning before he kisses her forehead again and says, "I hate that you've had to hide his actions from the world."
She nods and hugs him tighter, but then she stiffens when he asks, "Why didn't you tell your grandmother? Everything I know about her says she would have gotten you out of there."
Now she frowns before telling him, "He's my dad, and Abby was already gone. Plus, he threatened Grams. She wouldn't have cared, but he made the threats to me if I told her or anyone else, so I kept quiet."
My fists clench at that knowledge. I suspected as much, but to hear it confirmed that that monster threatened to harm me if my baby girl asked for help makes my blood boil.
Kol nods and then glances at his watch and says, "We should go meet your mother. Do you think she'll be willing to run there?"
Bonnie smiles and says, "That was the plan. She was going to hold me and run there, but now if you don't mind, I think I'd rather you do it because I'm not particularly close to Abby and her holding me makes me uncomfortable, but I wanted to do it quickly instead of needing to drive there and back. This way the trip will take two hours round trip."
He nods and smiles slightly because while she didn't come right out and say it, she clearly implied that she is entirely comfortable with him holding her close.
He shifts so he's standing beside her instead of in front of her and then leans down and picks up her bag, handing it to her before he puts his hand in the small of her back and begins leading her out of the room and down to the first floor.
Kol easily heard his sister having a fit during his conversation with Bonnie, so after we walk down the stairs towards the front door he pauses at the doorway to the den and asks, "'Bekah, is it safe to come into the room?"
When my granddaughter looks up at him her face clearly asks, 'Why wouldn't it be safe?'
Rebekah says from inside the room, "It's safe for now, but I've got to clean this up before Nik gets home and asks about it."
Bonnie's hazel eyes widen when the pair walks into the room. There is couch stuffing all over the place, and the couch is in three pieces. The coffee table is also missing a leg and smashed to pieces. Bonnie doesn't get to question Rebekah before she pulls her into a bear hug and tells her, "I meant to tell you the other day that I promise not to touch him either."
Bonnie's eyes widen at the realization that Rebekah heard everything. It never occurred to her that anyone else in the house could listen to their conversation. I don't know why it didn't. There have been enough reminders, often enough so she should have at this point.
She's incredibly lucky that Niklaus is not home because her flinching simply because Kol was angry and standing over her would have set him off, and none of them would have been able to stop him from killing her father.
I can clearly see in Kol's mind that it took more than three decades before Rebekah stopped flinching from Mikael's abuse, so I'm not surprised that she tore apart the room in her anger at the same injustice happening to Bonnie. I know each of the Mikaelsons except for Kol views Bonnie at this point as a little sister. They would kill for her just as they would for each other and Kol, well, he's head over heels in love with her so it goes without saying that he would kill for her.
The important thing to note however is that all four of the surviving Mikaelsons and the three on this side of The Veil with me would all stay their hand and not kill if it would make her happy and/or prevent her from experiencing emotional and mental pain. Put simply they love her and would do anything for her even let the man who has been beating her for the last 18 years live to tell the tale.
Rebekah is obviously a little worried about her fit upsetting or scaring Bonnie, but Rebekah's fit and the fact that she would feel such anger on her behalf actually touches my granddaughter deeply. Bonnie just nods at her and ignoring the news about Niklaus' actions tells her, "Thank you for not hurting him. I'm sorry about your furniture though."
Rebekah pulls back from their hug and waves her hand while she says, "Oh there's no need for you to be sorry. You didn't do a damn thing wrong. However, I knew you'd object if I went and did this to your father, so I took my anger out on the hapless furniture instead. Provided I get it cleaned up before Nik gets home everything will be good because he'd storm out of the room and kill your father in the blink of an eye because he's seen the kind of behavior you exhibited earlier from me back when we first fled Mikael and got away from his daily beatings. Given how close we all are and how much we all love you the corresponding behavior would upset all of us, but Nik is particularly sensitive about that sort of thing."
Bonnie just stares at her with wide eyes, so Rebekah nods once and says, "If you tell him I told you this, I'll steal your phone and begin texting Elena about how madly in love you are with Damon and Stefan both."
Rebekah waits for confirmation that Bonnie won't tell and when she nods slowly, Rebekah says, "Between you and me I've known Nik to avenge random women he didn't even know if he witnessed them suffering similar fates as us. He does not suffer abusers lightly. In fact, he usually kills them as slowly and painfully as he can manage, and I hope you realize how important you are to him that he hasn't already gone and killed your father. Knowing you flinched because Kol was angry though would probably test his restraint more than might be prudent, so I'll get this cleaned up and he'll, I hope, never find out."
Bonnie's eyes are wide, and she opens her mouth to ask her why Niklaus of all people would do such a thing on her behalf, so Rebekah tells her, "He gets that way when someone he cares about is hurt, and make no mistake he cares about you, Bonnie. Anyway, I just called, and the store down the street has already loaded the replacements onto the truck, and they should be here in about—"
Just then the doorbell rings, so she smiles and says, "Right now."
Kol leaves Bonnie in the den for a minute then speeds back to her with the book they'll need in tow. He puts his hand back into the small of her back, and they follow his sister to the door and exit while she talks to the workmen.
The men go into the house, and a moment later they carry the pieces of the old couch out and place them behind the truck they drove here.
Kol smiles and leans down to Bonnie's ear before he tells her, "Don't worry, Little Bella, my sister is an expert at hiding the evidence of a temper tantrum before Nik can find out and have a tantrum of his own."
She giggles when Rebekah says, "I heard that, Brother, and my tantrums are nothing compared to yours."
Bonnie can't seem to help the hysterical giggle that escapes her mouth when Rebekah continues her thought, "Mine are less messy than yours, too, because yours usually involve body parts not pieces of wood and stuffing."
As much as that statement should worry my grandbaby, she hugs Kol closer to her because his sister's comment has the opposite effect and makes her feel safe. Kol sincerely hopes that the one thing she has never doubted since they made their truce, that flinch earlier notwithstanding, is her safety when with him or any of his siblings, even Niklaus, but especially himself.
He needn't worry. She knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that they would never dare harm her and she also realizes that it has very little to do with the truce and everything to do with how much they care for her.
Kol hands her his mother's book and then sweeps her up into his arms, so she asks him, "Um, my car?"
Smiling he tells her, "We're already running late, so we'll actually get there on time if I run us there. We'll come back for your car later. Maybe I can talk Beks into sweet talking your arse of a father into letting you stay over tonight even though you're already planning to sleep over tomorrow night. My compulsion should make him agree pretty easily."
She giggles and tells him, "Only use the force for good, Obi-Wan Kan Obi."
He laughs and says in a perfect imitation of Yoda's voice, "May the Force be with you."
She laughs harder before he nods pleased with himself, and then he asks, "Where am I running us to?"
Smiling at his grinning face, she tells him, "104 Piedmont Ave. Take a left at the light and then the third right."
Bonnie can't tell if Kol, whose arms she's firmly held by, is following the directions she gave him because we're moving so fast that everything rushes by in a blur, but a few moments later he slows and then walks her to my daughter's front stoop.
As much as I always wished that Abby would come back and have a relationship with my grandbaby I find that now that I know that my daughter left Bonnie with Rudy knowing full well the kind of abusive ass he is I'd prefer my baby girl have nothing to do with her mother.
I'm contemplating ways to break the news to her when Freya, Finn, Henri and I finally get to communicate with them all again. For the time being though I send up a prayer, "Please, God, don't let Bonnie get hurt by my daughter's selfish ways."
Kol puts her down and then follows her up the stairs to the door. She barely knocks once before the door swings open. Abby has a scowl on her face when she asks, "What's he doing here?"
That attitude just won't do so Kol decides that because Bonnie already knows her mother is Vervain free that compelling her to be civil might make their impending excursion less trying on both of them. Therefore, he catches Abby's eye and tells her, "I'm coming along for the run, and you will not argue or object to that fact. Not only that, you will remain civil the entire time we are together."
My daughter repeats the words back to him before he releases her and then he says, "We are ready when you are, Ms. Bennett-Wilson."
He pauses then smart man that he is it occurs to him, 'Damn, she had to know that her husband was abusive. Not only that but the ass' abusiveness might answer the mystery of why she left.'
Bonnie has expressed her confusion multiple times about why her mother would just leave and then stay gone. So, his eyes widen, and in an effort to give Bonnie answers, he asks a question that the response to may very well shatter any hope of Bonnie and her mother reconciling, but he feels Bonnie needs to know so, "Do you know what your ex-husband has been doing to your daughter?"
My baby girl turns to look at him with wide, frightened eyes, so he wraps his arm around her before her mother frowns and says, "I'm guessing you mean he hits her?"
Both of their eyes pop open wide and could easily fall out of their heads they're so wide before Bonnie asks, "A-Abby? What?"
She frowns and shrugs, "Why do you think I stayed gone when I finished desiccating Mikael. I realized I preferred not living in fear, so I just didn't come back. I figured my mother would keep him from hurting you. I came back when you told me she died because I wanted to see if he was still abusive, but I've never seen any evidence that he hurts you, so either he got better at keeping it a secret or he stopped."
Well now Kol's slight dislike of her has just multiplied exponentially. Bonnie is frowning and wondering, 'Do I want to bother doing the spell and help her when she couldn't bother to make sure her own daughter was safe from her abusive husband?'
Kol senses her dilemma so he pulls her down the steps and a little down the walk to give her the illusion of privacy before he says in a hushed voice we all know Abby can hear perfectly, "The choice is yours, Little Bella. I'll take you both to the beach if you want to do the spell and give her back her Magick, or I'll take you back to my house and convince my sister to sweet talk your father into letting you stay over."
Abby chooses that moment to butt in when she says, "I compelled him. It was the first thing I did when I became a vampire. I visited him and compelled him to never eat or drink Vervain. He wears some in a bracelet on his left wrist, but only when he leaves the house, so if you remove the bracelet or get him at home he's completely compellable. Plus, I already compelled him not to hurt her about a few days ago when I decided it was better to assume he was abusive and compel him not to be than to assume he wasn't and do nothing."
I can't help myself when I scowl. Bonnie and Kol are both also glaring while my granddaughter tells her mother, "Don't sound so damn impressed with yourself Abby because while you've been fear-free for the last 18 years, I've been living in fear every day that I might do something else to piss off daddy and get smacked around. Hell, half the time growing up I got hit because I reminded him of you."
Kol and I both grit our teeth at that piece of information, and he resists the overwhelming urge to go beat her father within an inch of his life.
Bonnie turns and looks at him before whispering, "Can you compel her to forget about the spell and the fact that vampires can get their Magick back and then take me back to your house. I'll even let Beks try talking my dad into letting me sleep over."
When Bonnie looks up into her mother's wide eyes, Abby says, "Please don't, I'm sorry."
Bonnie gives her a hard look and tells her through gritted teeth, "That's far too little, far too late, Abby. Make her forget that we had this conversation at all so I can keep asking her if spells are safe, because I trust her just enough to rely on her for that, but that's it. I trust her for nothing else."
Kol nods and speeds up the steps catching Abby's eyes and telling her, "You will forget that we came here today. You will forget that we had any conversation and you will forget everything Bonnie told you about The Cleansing Spell returning magick to vampires. You will forget that my family and I have our magick back and you will never seek for a way to return your own magick back to you."
She repeats his words back to him and then he says, "You will always remember in vivid clarity that your husband would hit you and that you suspect that he was abusing your daughter. You will live with the knowledge and overwhelming guilt that you left your baby girl with a monster far more dangerous than any vampire."
When she repeats the words, he tells her, "You will forget that I just compelled you or what the compulsion entailed."
My usually selfish daughter repeats those words back to him, and as soon as the last word passes her lips, he releases her and then scoops Bonnie up and runs her back the way they came.
As soon as she's sure her mother can't hear her, my baby girl bursts into tears. Each sniffle and sob tears at both mine and Kol's hearts and honestly makes him want to beat both of her parents within an inch of their lives.
Bonnie is their daughter, their own flesh and blood, and yet they willingly and willfully hurt her worse than anyone else ever has. Despite the many atrocities he's committed through the years he finds it hard to fathom that a parent would harm their child in such a heartless manner, never mind that Mikael did the same thing to his own children.
When he slows down, she looks up finding that they're not at his house but at the Falls instead. He takes her to a rock formation and then walks along the wall of rock before he pushes slightly on a spot and a door pops open. Her eyes open wide when he enters the cave and then whispers, "Inardesco" and torches along the walls ignite.
He walks to the end of the tunnel and then tells her, "I couldn't get in here while I was a vampire until I got my magick back, but now I come down here fairly often to look at the old drawings Nik drew on the nights of The Full Moon. I thought you might enjoy hearing the stories behind them."
She sniffles and wipes her nose on the back of her hand but nods, so he sits on the ground with her in his lap and then proceeds to spend hours telling her stories of his youth as illustrated by his extraordinarily talented older brother.