Chapter 019
Why Are You More Deserving?
Thursday, January 20, 2011, 1:15 p.m.
Kol's Bedroom
Kol basks in the fact that my grandbaby just said she loves him thinking, 'I am a lucky bastard that I have managed to earn her trust and love. I don't know what good thing I did to deserve her, but I'm bloody lucky I did whatever it was because my life would not be anywhere near as fulfilling or satisfying without her spreading her love and joy all over my small little slice of the world.'
She reminds him of a mixture of his two previous loves. She has the sweetness, manners, and innocence of his Eija and the quick wit, backbone, willingness to fight, and self-confidence, well, self-confidence in everything except love, that Chalina had.
Chalina never doubted his feelings for her, and he knows that's why it's taken Bonnie so long to admit she has feelings for him. She was worried he only saw her as a right now kind of girl and not a forever kind of girl. He thinks, 'It's fortuitous that I finally finished The Linking Spell and was able to show it to her because I know for a fact that her new confidence in me is because she finally realized I want her forever and not just for right now.'
If she had said no to coming to New Orleans, he would have taken her aside and actually given her the reassurance she needed to know he loves her. He wanted her to come to the realization herself without him saying the words first, though, because the words have more meaning when the feelings are already established as being there through actions. If he told her he loves her, but she hadn't figured out that he felt that way on her own she would have needed to take him at his word, and he doesn't think they're quite to the point yet where her trust in him is unflinching and unquestionable. That's not to say they're not quickly getting there, but that sort of thing takes time and patience.
Now, while he's not particularly well known for his patience, Bonnie is worth every second he's needed to wait for her to come to the realization that she is his world and that he will never hurt her or intentionally break her trust.
He's very mindful not to betray her fledgling trust in him. He knows that alone can break them even before they really start.
That's not to say doing so is particularly difficult. It's not difficult at all. Bonnie just inspires those around her to automatically return her loyalty, honor, consideration, and love.
Think about it, even Niklaus has mellowed with his backstabbing since my granddaughter came into the Mikaelson's lives, his trying to dagger Elijah notwithstanding.
It's not surprising, to Kol at least, that his tendency to anger quickly and allow his jealousy to cause him to lash out has all but vanished. He's confident in Bonnie's feelings for him, so he's not threatened by her relationships with anyone else, not even Jeremy, so he hasn't gotten jealous.
Oh, he gets envious when Bonnie spends so much of her free time with Rebekah, but he hasn't found himself getting jealous and then angry about it. Instead, he usually goes and joins them in whatever they're doing.
When the sounds of his mate leaving the house and then driving away reach him in his room, he gets up at vampire speed and finishes dressing before heading downstairs, quickly drinking a pint of blood, and then he hurries out the door to go eavesdrop on Bonnie's conversations with her friends.
Despite her leaving before him, he still gets to the Salvatore's house before she does, so he heads to the garden and leans against a tree that shouldn't be visible from inside the house.
When she arrives, she lets herself in and then sits and waits for Damon to come downstairs. Kol moves so he can see into the room, but anyone looking out the window won't see him.
Bonnie fidgets and plays with the locket he gave her for Christmas while he watches her through the window.
She stops playing with her necklace a moment later and looks up when Damon enters the room. He sits down across from her and looks at her expectantly, so she tells him, "Damon, I, uh, have something I need to talk to you about."
He sighs and asks, "What did I do now?"
Frowning, she sits forward on the couch and tells him, "To my knowledge, nothing. Why did you do something?"
Frowning back at her, Damon shakes his head and says, "No, but usually everyone assumes it was me who did whatever they don't like that happened."
Nodding, she tells him, "You're right, and I know I have been a huge part of that trend to assume the worst of you, and for what it's worth, I'm sorry. Once you turned your switch back on, I haven't been entirely fair when it comes to you. Every time Stefan apologizes for something he did everyone is quick to forgive him. You recently apologized to Caroline for your horrible treatment of her, and she said she believes you really meant it and we all still treat you like a pariah."
That's one of the things Kol loves most about Bonnie. When she figures out her beliefs are incorrect, or she makes a mistake, she doesn't cling to the old belief or continue with the action. Instead, she not only admits she was wrong, but she also apologizes as soon as she can.
Damon obviously wasn't expecting an apology today, though, so his eyes are wide when he asks, "Why the sudden change in heart?"
Kol smiles when his witch shrugs and says, "Because the premonition I had about Kol showed me that you love my best friend more than you even love yourself. You searched high and low for 144 years for a hunter to help him activate his mark. You were tireless in your search to end Elena's curse, and no matter how difficult things got, you never gave up on your search or Elena. Then you gave the ultimate sacrifice and killed her to spare her the pain of burning up in the sun because you knew there would be no stopping her from killing herself. You made sure she wasn't scared or in pain and made sure that she knew that you loved and cherished her, and then you killed her in her sleep, so she would die peacefully."
She leans forward slightly and says, "Incidentally, if Kol had died that night, Elena would have been the only one out of all of us that would have had a peaceful death and her peace at the end was entirely because of you and your selfless love for her."
She pauses but then shrugs slightly with that smile still on her face while she says, "I'm sure you've done a lot, I mean a lot, of bad things in your 146 some odd years as a vampire. I'm sure most, if not all of it, was while your switch was firmly in the off position. Now that your switch is on you've done nothing that I'm aware of that I would classify even as questionable behavior never mind evil. You even apologized to Caroline, Jer and me without being prompted to for the bad behavior you subjected us to when you first arrived."
She folds her hands in her lap and says, "I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that above all else you love Elena like no other. You make sacrifices for her day in and day out, and I don't think any of us really acknowledge the role you've had in keeping her and the rest of us alive for better or for worse."
Kol grins when she shrugs again and with a sheepish smile on her face now says, "Plus, I seem to have become more understanding of the bad things an honestly repentant vampire might have done in his past."
Damon sighs, "This is about Kol. You're in love with him, aren't you?"
Kol smiles to himself when Bonnie, who holds his heart in the palm of his hand, nods and tells Damon, "Sort of, I think so, yeah."
Frowning, Damon tells her, "Either you are, or you aren't. There is no in between, Bonnie."
Huffing, she says, "Fine, then yes I'm in love with Kol Mikaelson, but before you go giving me a lecture on all the horrible things he's ever done remember that Elena loves you, and you've probably done the same things he has. The only difference between the two of you is that he's had longer to do those bad things."
Kol smiles at her words. She loves him and more importantly she does so even knowing he's done bad things in his past. Her capacity to forgive and give second chances blows his mind constantly. I mean Niklaus killed Jenna, not to mention Elena herself, and yet Bonnie gave him a chance to prove himself to her.
She had no way of knowing the hybrid wouldn't throw that opportunity back in her face, but she gave it to him all the same. A lesser woman would not have bothered giving him another chance. Oh, they might have let him continue living, but they wouldn't have offered him their friendship.
She also gave Kol a chance to prove himself after witnessing the evil he's capable of in her premonition. After seeing what she saw, he's incredibly surprised that she was so open to giving him the opportunity to earn her friendship.
He can't think of anyone else he's ever known who would have realized that the premonition never happened and that it was only what could have happened not what actually happened. Still, even knowing that under different circumstances he would have killed everyone she loves, she gave him a chance to be her friend, which blows his mind. It's just one more thing that makes him love my granddaughter with all his heart.
Damon nods and tells her, "I know. So, is that what you wanted to talk to me about, the fact that you're in love with an original?"
Shaking her head, she tells him, "No, not really. I need you to promise not to tell anyone what I'm about to tell you until after they come to you with the knowledge. I decided to do this in order of how nerve-wracking telling the person is and because, all due respect, your opinion on my personal life matters the least to me you're first."
Kol grins at that while Damon just nods and tells her, "I won't tell anyone until they tell me."
Smiling she says, "Thank you," then she pauses while he just nods before she tells him, "Um so you know I love him, and, well, his family is moving to New Orleans to take care of some business matters there and well, um, heaskedmeifIdgowithhimandIsaidyes."
Kol forcibly holds in his laughter lest they both hear him. Damon chuckles quite loudly, though, and says, "One more time, Bonnie, with a little air in between each word."
She giggles and says, "Sorry, so he asked me if I'd, well, if I'd go with them, and well, I, um, sort of said yes."
He grins and asks, "You sort of said yes, or you did say yes, because again there is no in between, either you did, or you didn't."
She giggles again and tells him, "I definitely said yes."
He looks at her hard for a second before his gaze softens and he tells her, "That's better. When you tell everyone else, own it. You love this man, and you're moving thousands of miles away to be with him, so give him and your relationship the respect it's owed and be proud and happy for yourself."
He pauses then he rubs the back of his neck before telling her, "I know we haven't always seen eye to eye, and honestly that's really my fault because I did try to kill you when I first arrived and I'm the one who turned your mom. I've told you recently, but I'll repeat it, I'm sorry about both of those things. Anyway, you're one of the most levelheaded, loyal, and compassionate people I've ever met. You're a good friend, and don't think I don't realize that you knowingly and willingly gave up your lifelong friendship with Elena to save all of us."
He shifts in his seat and shrugs, "If Kol Mikaelson makes you happy, and he better or original or not I'll beat him until he does, but if he's who makes you happy then who am I to judge? As you pointed out, he and I have done the exact same things. He's just been around longer, so he's done more of it than I have. If I get to have Elena love me, then it makes sense that he should get to have an amazing woman love him, too."
Kol doesn't know how wonderful or amazing Elena really is. He thinks she's not very much of either, but he agrees with the sentiment none the less.
Damon stops then frowns and asks, "He treats you right doesn't he?"
My grandbaby nods and says, "He treats me like I'm a princess most of the time and the most precious thing in the world to him."
He nods and says, "Good, then, in that case, best of luck and I hope you keep in touch."
Her hazel eyes widen, and Kol understands why when a moment later she asks, "Uh, Damon, you feel okay?"
He nods while his eyes narrow and he asks, "Yeah, why?"
She smiles and just says, "Because I guess I expected you to freak out and yell and then storm out of the room or maybe throw a tumbler full of scotch at the wall, and you haven't done any of that."
He chuckles and tells her, "Well, I can't be too predictable, now can I? I've got to keep you all guessing as much as possible."
Giggling Bonnie then stands and says, "Thank you, Damon, not just for today, but for loving my best friend the way you do. She may not love me anymore, but I still love her, and I worry about her, but I know with you by her side I can worry a little less."
His eyes widen at that, but he nods before she then walks over to him and leans down kissing his cheek telling him, "Keep my number handy and if you guys need magick, provided it's not dark magick, I'll be happy to come and visit and help you guys out."
He nods, so she smiles and then shows herself out.
Kol smiles. That went much better than he anticipated. He's known for a while now that despite Damon's penchant for sarcasm he genuinely cares for Bonnie. He respects her, too, probably more than any of her other friends, so Kol supposes he shouldn't be too surprised that went so well. Plus, he did compel him to be reluctantly supportive, but he's beginning to realize he might not have needed to force Damon to be supportive like he initially thought he did.
Either way, that went well, so Kol and I both let out a little breath.
Because she already told Kol the order she plans to tell everyone in, he heads to the Lockwood Estate.
Kol arrives at the Lockwood's large house a few minutes before my granddaughter does, so he finds a place on the terrace outside the living room and gets comfortable.
When Bonnie arrives, she knocks, and Tyler lets her into the house before showing her to the living room and sitting down across from her on one of the couches. This pain in Niklaus' ass is the one out of all of her friends that Kol is most nervous about Bonnie speaking with because although the originals have compelled him and the others not to physically harm Bonnie, he's still a loose cannon.
Elijah simply reinstated his younger brother's compulsions, and when Kol compelled him, he compelled him to be reluctantly supportive enough so that he left it so that Tyler can be incredibly reluctant. That means he may very well become incredibly angry before he calms and becomes supportive.
Kol knows Tyler's angry words have the potential to cut Bonnie deeply. Although Kol knows Elena will react worse and her words will cut even deeper, he thinks Tyler's unadulterated hatred of the Mikaelson family will make his words more forceful, which will upset Bonnie.
Tyler ties with Elena as the most likely to wish Kol dead to my grandbaby's face, so, Kol's muscles are tight, and he's pacing while he listens to them.
The two teens sit there not saying anything for a minute, just staring at each other before Tyler chuckles and asks, "You said you had something important to tell me, so what is it?"
She smiles ever so slightly and then says, "I need you not to tell anyone what I'm about to say until they come to you because I'm telling each of you one at a time, and I need you not to get angry and go tell everyone. Can you do that?"
Tyler nods and shifts in his seat so that his elbows are resting on his knees while he leans towards Bonnie, "This is about your friendships with The Originals, isn't it?"
She nods back and says, "Yes, I know that you hate Klaus and with good reason after what he did to your mom and you, but the rest of them aren't like that."
Tyler surprises Kol and me both by telling her, "I know, despite breaking up with Caroline last week we're still pretty much guy-girl best friends, and we talk a couple of times a day and most nights before we head to bed. She's told me about Christmas and New Years as well as movie night last night. She said Kol and Rebekah were funny and nice and that they never did or said anything to make her suspicious of them or their intentions towards you."
He sighs and says, "She also pointed out that she thinks they genuinely care about you and that you are the only reason any of them have kept to the truce you and Kol worked out. Honestly, I can understand because you're the only reason I've kept to the truce because I want nothing more than to find a way to separate Klaus from his sire-line and then rip his heart from his chest. I knew it would upset you, though, and that it would put all of us in even more danger. Because none of the Mikaelsons, including Klaus, have made any suspicious moves since you made your deal with Kol, well, I figure peace and the rest of my loved ones' safety is more important than revenge. I also figure based on what Caroline refused to talk about that you have feelings for Kol."
Bonnie smiles and tells him, "I do, and that's actually part of why I'm here right now. I don't know if you know or not but Nik, err, Klaus left town. He's in New Orleans dealing with some things, and it looks like the rest of the Mikaelsons are going to follow him there, and they're all going to stay there indefinitely. They um, they asked me if I'd go with them, and I said yes."
Kol tenses when Tyler's eyes flash gold, but he thankfully remains perfectly still before he says in a lowered voice, "You're moving to New Orleans with them?"
My grandbaby cautiously nods so Tyler nods back and says, "I don't trust Klaus and the fact that you're familiar enough with him that you're calling him 'Nik' pisses me off and worries me all at the same time, but I also know he's not why you're going."
She smiles softly and tells him, "You're right, I'm going because I'm in love with Kol, and I want to be with him no matter what for all time."
Tyler's muddy brown eyes widen before he asks, "Are you considering him turning you?"
She shakes her head, "No, I am considering a linking spell, though, that would link us and make me live as long as he does. That way I wouldn't lose my magick, and I wouldn't have to feed on people or drink blood at all."
Kol smiles, pleased that she only said that she's considering it because it's a significant advantage to them that no one outside his family and her mother and Jeremy know about it, and even Abby and Jeremy don't know the pair did the spell yet.
Tyler nods slowly and then tells my baby girl, "Well, I know you well enough to know I'm not going to talk you out of this. Besides, if they didn't care about you Kol probably wouldn't have bothered writing that spell for you to do to return Jer's arms to him, so I guess the best I can do is tell you to stay safe, and whatever you do don't trust Klaus. He's not a nice guy even if his brother and sister might be. And well, if you ever need help taking Klaus down, you know how to find me."
Bonnie nods back and then tells him, "I'm telling Caroline last so that she doesn't get a chance to blab to anyone, so it'll be much later tonight when she calls to talk to you about it, okay?"
He grins and nods again, and then he stands, "Okay. Well, take care, Bonnie."
She stands and then follows him to the door. When she gets there the sound of rustling fabric tells us that she's hugging him, then the door opens. My ever-intelligent granddaughter pauses and asks, "You still drinking Vervain every day, Tyler?"
I imagine he's nodding while he tells her, "Every morning and with every cup of coffee I drink throughout the day."
I can hear the smile in my baby girl's voice when she says, "Oh, okay, good." and she walks to her car and gets in before driving off to talk to Matt.
Matt is much of the same and just as reluctantly supportive as everyone else was, and Kol finds himself hoping Bonnie doesn't question too closely why none of them are reacting badly. It hadn't occurred to him when he compelled them all to be reluctantly supportive that she'd meet that reluctant support from each of them all in the same afternoon. He knows she finds it all a little suspicious because she asked Matt about taking Vervain, too.
My precious girl is double checking that Kol didn't compel her friends into compliance. He did, but she won't know that because he also compelled most of them to believe that they are still drinking Vervain every day.
While Bonnie knows some of her friends are Vervain free, such as Damon, his brother, and Elena, my grandbaby hasn't realized that when the original said he may have compelled her friends, he meant all of them, not just the ones he deemed most likely to cause issues.
When Bonnie finishes with Matt, Kol and I follow her to The Coffee Shop and hide a few alleyways down across the street, so Kol can hear and see her conversation with Stefan.
Bonnie's evident distrust of Stefan makes Kol distrust him even more because Bonnie has impeccable instincts when it comes to that sort of thing. Even before their conversation earlier, he knew that there must be a good reason that she's so very leery of Stefan.
Kol may not have initially known why my baby girl dislikes him so much, but Kol knows Bonnie's choice of venue for this conversation speaks volumes about her level of comfort when it comes to the younger vampire.
I mean Damon tore into her throat intending to kill her, and she willingly and happily met him in the privacy of his home where if he had reacted violently no one would have known she was in danger.
His brother, though, who saved her from Damon, him she's meeting in a busy and public setting so that he'll be less likely to make a scene or attack her.
Bonnie enters the shop, and Kol and I hear my granddaughter say hello to Lisa and order her usual Iced Mocha. Then she comes back outside with her drink in hand and sits down at one of the little bistro tables and waits.
I can hear Stefan's thoughts a mile away while he wonders why my grandbaby wants to speak with him privately? 'Maybe she wants my advice on convincing Elena to take her back? That must be it because Bonnie and I have never been particularly close. She doesn't like me, and I honestly don't like her.'
She's too perceptive for his tastes, and if she knows as much about him as he thinks she does, he knows my baby girl could turn all their friends against him with a few well-placed words, or, well, she could have before she befriended the Mikaelsons. Now he thinks that their friends are really his friends and she's left out in the cold, which honestly would suit him fine if she wasn't so powerful.
He thinks he and her former friends need her magick and they definitely need her not to use her magick on the Mikaelsons' behalf.
Stefan knows Caroline can feel the power rolling off Bonnie in massive waves, but he correctly thinks she doesn't realize how rare that is.
Stefan has met a decent number of witches in his 146 years as a vampire, and he's never met one with as much power as Bonnie Bennett, not even Emily had that much power, and she was previously the most powerful witch he had ever come across.
Above all, Stefan thinks they need my precious girl on their side, or the Mikaelsons will be even more unstoppable than they already are, so he hurries down the street towards The Coffee Shop where he's supposed to be meeting Bonnie in… he looks at his watch. 'Damn, I was supposed to be there two minutes ago.'
He looks around, and after determining that there are very few humans on the street, he picks up his pace so that he's moving at vampire speed, or his equivalent of it anyway. His diet drastically limits his abilities. He's still stronger and faster than humans, but any vampire who drinks from humans instead of animals is, much to his chagrin, infinitely stronger than he is.
The self-imposed weakness rankles something fierce. However, the benefits of being a known animal drinker in a town full of vampire haters slightly outweigh his need for as much power and strength as he can get his hands on.
When the Coffee Shop comes into view, he spots Bonnie sitting outside while she drinks her Iced Mocha. It's mid-January so he was expecting they'd sit inside but if she wants to freeze while they talk, then he's certainly not going to stop her.
He slows down, and his eyes widen when he realizes that my grandbaby was looking right at him even though his movements should have been too fast for her human eyes to see. He thinks, 'Hmm, I'll have to think on that later and exactly what it means.'
Walking to the table at a human pace, he smiles his go to 'I'm your friend, and I care' smile and tells her, "I'm just going to get a coffee, and then I'll be right out."
She nods and continues sipping her drink while he goes inside before returning with his own coffee a few minutes later. He sits and then after taking a sip of his drink he asks, "So Bonnie, what's so important that you needed to speak to me away from Elena or anyone else? Have you finally come to your senses? I know she said not to come to her when you realized the Mikaelsons are evil, but I don't think she really meant it. You're her best friend, Bonnie, she'll take you back."
Bonnie shakes her head causing her brunette hair to move around her shoulders and then says, "Um, I haven't come to my senses as you put it. I just wanted to tell you that I'm moving to New Orleans next week. I plan to tell Elena next, and I figure she'll need someone to talk with about it after I leave."
His eyes are wide, and he wonders, 'She's moving to New Orleans? Elena never mentioned Bonnie having any relatives there, and it's the middle of her senior year. What could possibly be so important that she's moving to a city where so far as I know she knows no one and might end up having to repeat her senior year?'
Frowning, he tries the slightly indirect approach to get his answers, "What's in New Orleans?"
My precious girl smiles innocuously and says with a straight face, "The French Quarter."
Stefan tenses at her flippant response that she's obviously using to avoid answering the question and through gritted teeth asks the 'annoying witch we need on our side at all costs,' "I know that, but what's causing you to move there, halfway through your senior year no less."
Frowning, she takes a deep breath, releases it slowly through her nose and then takes another shallower breath before telling him, "The Mikaelsons are also moving to New Orleans. I'm going with them."
Stefan mentally screams, 'She's what?'
He proves just how unstable he is when he slams his hand on the table leaving a small dent in the shape of his fist and making her jump before he takes several deep breaths through his nose and releases them each slowly.
He's fully aware of the fact that Bonnie could kill him in a millisecond and not think twice about it if he attacks her, especially given his diet of choice.
After a few more calming breaths he asks, "Are you out of your mind, Bonnie? They're trying to lure you away from your friends where you're safe."
She shakes her head in the negative and tells him, "No they're not."
Stefan's vampire senses might be drastically dulled compared to Damon and Caroline's senses, never mind the Mikaelsons', but even he can tell that she wholeheartedly believes that statement. Her heart rate, breathing, and temperature remained constant while she spoke and her pupils didn't change size either so she definitely wholeheartedly trusts that The Original Family isn't trying to lure her away from her friends where she is much safer.
Not that he really cares whether she's safe other than in terms of their ability to use her magick against their enemies.
Stefan knows he can't tell her that though, so he tries a different tact, "They only want you for your magick, Bonnie. I know you think that they can get anyone to do magick for them, but you don't realize just how powerful you are. The power rolls off you in waves, and honestly, it's overpowering and a little unsettling just how powerful you are."
She shakes her head again and frowns before telling him, "Their own magick is even stronger than mine because it's over a thousand years old, so they don't need me to do magick for them. They can do it themselves."
He wonders, 'Wait, what? Their own magick?' Damon told them all about the conversation that Kol and Bonnie had the morning Kol removed his compulsion from Damon, so Stefan knows that the Mikaelsons used to be witches. 'Becoming vampires should have removed their ability to access their magick though, so unless she did something incredibly stupid, they should have no magick of their own. Please don't let her have done what I think she did!'
His eyes are wide, though, and his muscles are tense when he asks in a low, dangerous voice, "What do you mean their own magick? What have you done, Bonnie?"
She shakes her head once again and ignoring his scowl, tells him, "I didn't do anything. They did the same ritual I did to return my magick to me, and it had the same result for them that it did for me. They don't need me for anything. They want me around because they genuinely care about me."
'Shit, she did give them back their magick. Okay, there is nothing I can do about that now,' so he skips over the fact that they have their magick back and instead he shakes his head back at her and focuses on sowing seeds of doubt in her mind by telling her, "You're deluding yourself if you really believe that."
He looks at her while she just stares at him and then his eyes widen when something that he thinks should have occurred to him six weeks ago becomes glaringly obvious. 'Kol must have used his good looks and the charm having existed for over a thousand years has afforded him and seduced her.'
He already knows the answer, but he still asks her, "You're in love with him, aren't you?"
My brave baby girl holds her head high and nods while she tells him, "Yes, and he loves me back."
He thinks, 'Dammit, why didn't we realize he wasn't just approaching her as a fellow witch who had no access to his magick but also as a man who is attracted to her? Now there is no hope. If we go to war with them, Bonnie will undoubtedly side with the Mikaelsons against her childhood friends.'
He still tries to sow seeds of doubt, though, so he tells her, "He doesn't know how to love, Bonnie."
He admits to himself, 'Okay so that's a flat out lie because if I can love, then he probably can too, but I highly doubt he has actual feelings for her. She's just a child and far too useful for a savvy vampire to pass up the opportunity of gaining her allegiance any way possible. He's smart I'll give him that. She believes he loves her. Dammit, we are totally screwed at this point because she will happily betray the people she's known her whole life to protect the man she thinks is in love with her, the man she's in love with.'
Bonnie frowns and asks him, "Did you love Elena?"
Scowling harder with narrowed eyes he tells her, "It's not the same," then he thinks, 'And yeah so it could be if she wasn't so damn useful. There is no way he actually cares for her, though. He'd definitely be more likely to fall for a worldly and far older female vampire, not some mortal witch who's never left Virginia and isn't even twenty years old yet, never mind that she is possibly the strongest witch born in the last couple of thousand years.'
Shaking her head, Bonnie asks, "Why isn't it? What makes you more deserving of love and forgiveness for the monstrous things you've perpetrated against the world?"
She pauses, but when he doesn't make a move to answer her, she tells him, "You know I looked up The Ripper of Monterrey."
His eyes widen at that, and his muscles stiffen even more before she tells him, "You killed more than 36,000 people in a little over a year. By doing so, you wiped out whole family lines and an entire village. And I checked, you didn't spare the kids either. You tortured them just like you tortured their parents, and then you killed them all."
His mind shouts, 'Shit if ever there was an inconvenient time to have a notorious reputation, now is it. Still, I wasn't wrong that her old friends likely won't give her words much weight if she does choose to share whatever she may know about me.'
Bonnie pauses to let the fact that she knows the true scope of his crimes sink in before she tells him, "At least Kol is honest about the monster he's been. You, on the other hand, walk around pretending to be this tame, housebroken beast that can do no wrong."
Smiling a not nice smile to rival the one he's seen each of the Mikaelsons wear at one point or another, Bonnie tells him, "I spoke to Nik about you too."
He thinks, 'There she goes calling him Nik again. I'm honestly surprised that he lets Bonnie get away with calling him that. The Nik I knew back in the twenties wouldn't have put up with a lowly mortal acting so familiar with him, even if she is a powerful witch.'
He focuses back on her words before she says, "And if he's to be believed, and I'm inclined to believe every word he said on the subject of you and your ripper days, you treated at least 15 other villages to the same treatment Monterrey got."
It dawns on Stefan that Niklaus is likely playing the same game Kol is just without the romantic angle. He figures that's got to be why the hybrid allows Bonnie to call him Nik.
He also thinks his former 'brother' told her everything he knows about Stefan's ripper days to win her to their side. 'If she doesn't trust me and her friends do then she's likely to have arguments with them which would allow the Mikaelsons to swoop in and play the concerned, caring friends. Still, Klaus knows everything I did before my meeting him, and hell even while we spent time together in Chicago, I didn't hide my exploits because I never thought twice about boasting to him about my murderous activities.'
Stefan brings his thoughts back to what Bonnie's saying and not on his past when she says, "And before you try to deny it, I checked his facts. The towns he named existed, and then everyone was slaughtered using your MO, and then the towns didn't exist anymore. I added up the estimated death tolls for each town… by my best estimate and rounding down to give you the benefit of the doubt, you killed more than 576,000 people in seven years."
His green eyes are wide when she lets that sink in. Although those seven years were among the best in terms of his having as much fun as he wanted with as many victims as he could find, he thinks his death toll was honestly more like twice or triple what she thinks it was.
My grandbaby frowns before she tells him, "I asked Beks to give me an estimate of how many people Kol has killed. Do you know what she said?"
Stefan derisively thinks, 'She honestly probably said whatever she thought would keep Kol on Bonnie's good side.'
Bonnie smirks again and tells him, "She said he's probably killed about 200,000 people. When posed with the same question Kol told me it was probably along the lines of a little more than 333,000, so by his best guess in a thousand years he's probably killed about 243,000 fewer people than you did in seven years."
Stefan sincerely doubts either number is accurate because he's heard stories of the Mikaelsons' 'Happy Homicidal Maniac' through the years. According to Stefan's sources Kol slaughtered hundreds daily for centuries. He's the stuff of legend and one of the vampires he tried to emulate in his early years.
Stefan shakes his head at the fact that Bonnie obviously believes the much older vampire when she says, "He's been alive a little less than seven times as long as you have. Even though I'm only counting the bodies you accumulated in the seven years I looked into, you still managed to kill 243,000 more people than he has in his whole 1,009 years as a vampire. I'm sure they weren't your only victims through the years either and that your death toll is actually probably more like at least four or five times as much as the 576,000 from that seven-year stretch."
She leans forward and says, "In 146 years, Stefan, you have probably killed more than two million people, probably a lot more."
He frowns and thinks, 'Okay, she's got me there, and it's actually probably closer to four or five million, especially if you take the wars into account.'
He had a bit of 'fun' during those years over in Europe and the war going on around him was the perfect cover for his bloodshed. Lexi thought he was keeping to animals during that time, but he just couldn't resist all that free-flowing blood for very long.
Taking a sip of her Mocha my grandbaby just sits there for a minute. Then she asks, "So given that you've killed probably at least two million more people than he has despite his advanced years and he didn't torture them, I might add, tell me, Stefan, what makes you more deserving of my forgiveness. You don't even seem sorry for the deaths you've caused, not really anyhow, so why should I forgive you and not him."
Once again smiling that not nice smile she picked up from Kol and his family, she continues her thought, "Oh, I know you talk the talk and make it sound like you're sorry, but I don't buy it."
He frowns and tells her, "I doubt Kol means it either." He means that too. He believes Kol is a cold-blooded killer just like he is and despite what I know to be the truth, Kol is famous for reveling in the deaths he caused, so Stefan doubts any Mikaelson has any real remorse over any of the murders they've committed through the years.
He thinks that Kol's pretend remorse only exists to lure the unsuspecting Bonnie into believing he's a good guy.
Her hazel eyes widen when he doesn't argue her point and practically acknowledges that she's right that he feels zero remorse about any of his crimes, but she says, "He seems much more contrite and honestly apologetic for his crimes, far more than you ever have been."
Stefan, being a conniving psychopath, sees an opportunity, so he latches onto it and tells her, "You said it yourself Bonnie, he's been alive almost seven times as long as I have, so of course, he's a better liar than I am."
Despite her usual inclination towards sympathy, she frowns and then leans forward and tells the unsympathetic vampire, "Here's the difference though, he said he's sorry, and I believe him. You don't even bother apologizing."
Stefan once again thinks derisively, 'Well, of course, I don't bother apologizing. I'm not sorry, and although he did apologize, I know he only did it to win brownie points. If I thought apologizing would win Elena back from my brother I'd tell that lie, too.'
My grandbaby stands with her drink in her hand and tells him, "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you to your face that I'm moving to New Orleans with the Mikaelsons because I figure I owe you at least that much because you did save my life that one time."
Then without waiting for a response, she turns and walks away. He watches while she stops at the trash can, guzzles the last few sips of her drink, and then throws out her empty cup before she walks to her car and gets in.
She sits there taking deep breaths for a minute while she visibly shakes. Stefan thinks my granddaughter isn't as aloof as she wanted him to believe. He smiles his version of a not nice smile when he realizes that she was frightened of speaking with him. Given the information, he now knows she has on him, no wonder she was afraid. If that fact didn't completely ruin his chances of keeping her from defecting to the Mikaelson's side, he'd be pleased that she's so frightened of him. She should be.
When she pulls away the scheming vampire takes out his phone and calls the one person he thinks might still be able to keep Bonnie from switching sides and joining their enemies.