A/N: Hey people! I'm dedicating this chapter to *zsaclar*, love you chica! This chapter does pick up where chapter 10 ended. I only edited this once and will go back and clean up when my brain is less loopy. Happy reading and thank you so much for the reviews! Let's keep the love flowing.
"There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive."
Don't ask Damon why he was quoting Jack London's Call of the Wild in his head as he gaped like a wide-eyed child seeing a quarter disappear into thin air. He felt the opposite of alive as he watched the gray-skinned being that shifted in and out of sight. Each time the vampire blinked that incorporeal being seemed to loom closer while the coldness of the air turned biting, piercing his dermis, mutating Damon into a literal icicle.
Silver pools of mercury consisted of its eyes, and its glossy black hair nearly looked blue, and…as Damon leaned up on his elbows, crab crawling to the door…it appeared the ghostly apparition was a woman.
It smiled revealing a flash of gleaming white teeth; two sharpened points caught his attention the most. It rushed forward in a blur and Damon tried to book it, zoom out of the house, but his throat was seized. He was lifted once more and brought down with such bruising force it knocked a painting off the wall and caused a chair to capsize. He was flipped to his back and a gray fist slammed into his sternum, fingers digging into his body.
The tendons on the sides of Damon's neck protruded as he howled from the excruciating pain. Writhing and thrashing futilely, he could do nothing but take it.
Bonnie hadn't stopped rubbing her legs trying in earnest to generate some warmth. "What was it you think was unleashed when the other side came down?"
Esther! Lenore made a steeple of her ringed fingers resting them on her lap. "As a child I've grown up hearing tales of sea monsters and women with tails luring men into caves to suck out their souls. Yet this I've seen with my own eyes. Bear with me.
"It was said that before Markos was trapped on the Other Side, he used an awakening spell that essentially activated those who had a drop of traveler blood in them. Even some vampires were said to be affected by this. Those vampires…if they turned a witch, but the witch chose to transition maintained her powers while being the undead.
"They have no formal name, but many refer to them as revenants—which is a Latin term for the word returning; however revenants in mythology were thought be ghosts or reanimated corpses who's sole purpose was to terrorize humanity. In other cultures they were believed to come back to life to seek revenge or serve some other purpose. Not much difference between them and what I'm doing," a tease of a smile lit the older witch's features. "The difference lies in retaining magical abilities while being immortal.
"They were powerful. Deadly powerful. Able to annihilate a city in a single spell. Imagine my children if they had access to magic."
"Wow," Bonnie intoned.
"Every revenant was rounded up and beheaded. The spirits refused them admission to the other side and created another dwelling place for them using the magic that held the other side together. Now with it gone…"
"The inmates are free from their cells," Bonnie concluded.
Esther nodded gravely. "They can't interact with this plane, at least not yet. Yet I felt that day I sent Damon back to retrieve you…they were trying to figure out a way to."
"Do you think they'd be able to possess anyone?" Bonnie was thinking of how she had been lured to cross over the boundary by that being, and what could have happened to her had Damon not shown up.
Esther considered Bonnie's question a moment before answering. "We've been given plenty of examples that under the right circumstances anything is possible."
Scratching the back of her neck, Bonnie posed, "How do we send them back? How can we get rid of the magic-free bubble over Mystic Falls? I'm assuming that's the real reason why you're here."
"Perceptive as ever," Esther complimented. She twisted on the couch, facing the younger witch more head on. "We can rebuild the Other Side, Bonnie. With my coven and your gifts we can seal the chasm."
And there it was. The sales pitch. The other shoe dropping. Bonnie rose from the couch to pace the living room floor. Constantly being entreated to help bring this down, kill this Original, open this coffin, wake this person up, transfer this soul, be a doorway she was tired of being stuck in the middle, of everything coming down to her.
"You're going to need an anchor and I'm not going back to being the anchor."
"I would never ask that of you."
"Good. Why do you need my help? You and your coven…if you used traveler magic to send someone back in time you have the power it would take to rebuild purgatory."
"It's an unfortunate lot you've been born into, Bonnie that most spells in order to be truly effective need…"
"Bennett blood."
Esther said nothing because the stoic expression on her face said it all.
"I get it. Qetsiyah was my ancestor. Emily Bennett was my great-great-great grandmother, and I'm Sheila Bennett's granddaughter. Being at the end of the line sucks ass," grounding her tongue in her cheek, Bonnie locked gazes with Esther. "What if I said I didn't have any powers?"
"Then I'd say you're a liar. I could feel you, sense you at least twenty miles before I reached the city."
Damn, Bonnie thought. There went one way of wiggling out of what Esther needed her help to do. "They're unstable."
"As I imagine they would be. Have you even stopped to question how it was you became a witch again?"
"I have," Bonnie rasped. "I was in a prison world and once my emotions were pushed to the edge, they reignited."
"It was more than just an emotional flicker that acted as the catalyst, witchling. You were a corporeal, a tangible spirit, but still very much dead in the non-traditional sense. There was an awakening within you, too, Bonnie, and with this awakening latent abilities were pushed to the surface. You held together a world that contained cosmic, spirit and yes, traveler magic. Did you think none of it would rub off on you?"
Well, Bonnie surmised that could explain the hike in her powers she showcased the night she, along with Stefan and Enzo found Damon before he was torched to death on a stretch of lonely highway.
However, jumping back into the foray, Bonnie wanted to delay. "If I decide to help…I want something from you in return."
"Oh?" a dark brow lifted.
"Yes," the green-eyed witch strode to the couch. "I want you to promise that once the Other Side is reconstructed…you give Lenore her body back," Bonnie leaned forward as a storm brewed in the depths of her irises. Esther didn't recoil but did begin to look worried. "I think it's time you end the practice of mooching off the lives of black women. Black witches in particular."
Esther's…well technically Lenore's nostrils flared.
"You used my family's power to keep your body in pristine shape for a thousand years. Channeled me and my mother and every other Bennett to try to write your wrong, and what did we get out of the deal? You possessed me and used my blood to turn a friend into a monster who left me for dead. Now here you are in another witch's body doing whatever it is you've come back to do that will probably result in this poor woman's needless death. So I'm not going to agree to anything until I have your word that you're going to give this woman her life back. We can even take out a blood contract. You want my help those are my terms."
Esther adjusted her posture sitting up straighter, chin tilting a bit higher than it had been before. Her original body was nothing more decomposed skin and blackened bones, and she still had so much work and purification to do in New Orleans that abandoning this body at this perilous time wasn't an option.
Yet Esther reminded herself that her agenda had changed, and she was about reform these days. Rewriting mistakes had led to more mistakes being made. And, she could grudgingly respect the younger witch for making her own terms instead of rushing head first into something without the full knowledge of what would be the outcome or side effects.
Rising to her feet, she opted to show herself to the door.
Bonnie followed to the atrium. The witches squared off and, with the imperceptible nod of her head, Esther left Bonnie's house.
He was not used to being the tip of the knife but rather holding its handle, yet he couldn't get a handle on this situation. Whatever this thing was doing to him hurt and yanked several truths about what really made a vampire a real-enough being to the surface. The pain was unfathomable and Damon swore what little soul he had was being sucked out of him like juice from a melon.
His body was contorted on the ground and his hands swung and grasped nothing but dust motes. Unable to look beyond the mercurial eyes of the malach, his term for what the hell this thing was, Damon fumbled for anything he could use as a weapon. What he couldn't see was that his own flesh was losing color, changing into the veiny gray that spelled the demise of a vampire. His hair was turning white, lips a horrific shade of blue.
"….notttttt gonnnaa diee like…this…" Damon wheezed out, yanking the protection charm from around his neck, holding it up like a cross was meant to ward off evil in old vampire movies.
This of course left him open to the effects of traveler magic.
A screeching wail singed his ears and the fingers that had been ripping through him loosened and withdrew.
Damon sputtered, grasping for breath. Blood from the center of his chest stained his shirt and he lied immobile on the floor for a moment hearing the gunshot blast from his father's gun, tasting the dirt he landed on. Heaving for a breath, courage, Damon dug deep for whatever power he had left, and flew out of the boardinghouse running to safety.
He pitched himself over the barrier back into the realm where spirit magic was heavily saturated. Damon landed awkwardly on the ground—well a ditch and, judging from his surroundings, he was only ten feet outside of Mystic Falls' city limits.
His eyes refused to stay open and Damon gave himself up to unconsciousness.
Bonnie stood with her back against the wall slurping a stoli and cranberry through a tiny black straw observing the mingling crowd. People stood in clusters of varying number talking companionably to one other. She mused the scene was too familiar; however, the notable difference being this wasn't the boardinghouse, the Lockwood estate or Klaus' sprawling mansion, but a sorority house. Tonight was the Delta something or another's holiday mixer. Caroline had dragged her along since she had designs to pledge.
Bonnie had actually balked when Caroline arrived on her doorstep, two garment bags slung over her shoulder.
"You actually want to join a sorority?" Bonnie had fired up her flat iron and unearthed her cosmetics.
"Why are you acting so damn surprised? Don't I fit into the stereotypical sorority trope? Blonde, bubbly, neurotic? I want the full college experience. Once I graduate I don't want the most interesting thing about my time at Whitmore to be surviving with my life."
The green-eyed witch couldn't fight against that logic. She was just taken aback because it was so…normal.
"You should think about pledging too," Caroline nudged her.
Bonnie's nose wrinkled. "I've been hazed enough. I'll pass."
An hour of beautification later, dressed in flirty cocktail dresses, Caroline's in black (hopeful pledges had been prompted to don a classic little black dress), Bonnie's in royal blue, they walked through the columned walls and into an environment that made the witch's scalp itch. She could smell the long history of racism and classism in the building.
The party was open to the public, meaning anyone could attend so long as they came with someone who was actually invited. For a second it did pass through Bonnie's mind Caroline wanted her to come to show she met the requisite of having one black friend. The sorority boasted about being non-discriminatory, but looking at the collection of portraits of former and current members' things were unsurprisingly monochromatic.
Sitting her now empty glass on a nearby table, Bonnie licked tangy sweet residue from her lips effectively rubbing off her lipstick. She'd have to find a bathroom to fix it soon. In the meantime, since none of the sorority members was going out of their way to make conversation with her, Bonnie busied herself with looking through the list of contacts in her phone.
For a very long time she stared at Damon's number. Her feelings were still hurt over what he did and Bonnie had the strongest urge to delete his number, but that would have been overkill. She suspected the universe or circumstances would find a way to throw them together. It would only be a matter of time. Plus, she'd eventually have to talk to him and everyone else about what Esther shared with her today. Ugh.
Sighing, she cut her phone completely off and tucked it in her purse. At that same time Bonnie felt a pair of eyes on her, and when she looked to the right, sure enough there was a guy standing a few feet away, leaning his shoulder into the wall.
He was…cute. Young looking with a babyish face he probably used to con his way into trouble and out of it. He had short cropped black hair, brown eyes, and wore a dark suit with Jordan's on his feet.
He dangled a glass of champagne in his hand and lifted it up toward her. Bonnie waved and hastily redirected her gaze elsewhere.
Out of her peripheral she spotted him moving closer. Bonnie's first knee jerk reaction was to head to the opposite side of the room. Yes, she still experienced a slight debilitating case of nerves if a cute guy showed an interest in her. On account of her history with men—mostly festering like garbage during a humid summer, Bonnie had been conditioned to think nothing good could happen between her and the opposite sex.
However, she didn't want to outright judge him. It was too late because he cornered her.
"Hi," he said.
Bonnie tossed him a brief glance. "Hello."
"I'm Luc," he stretched out a hand.
Bonnie was preparing to retort when she saw Stefan enter the living room. He wasn't looking anywhere in her direction and he hadn't shown up alone. Elena was with him. Seeing the doppelganger made her stomach bottom out. Bonnie wasn't ready to face Elena for reasons that couldn't become public knowledge.
Forcing her attention back to Luc, Bonnie reciprocated his introduction. "Bonnie, nice to meet you," she shook his hand and there had been a definite jolt. Something only one subspecies was capable of emitting. He was a warlock. Not a very powerful one, but one all the same. Her weariness doubled.
"Bonnie? That means beautiful, right?"
Yes, she thought with an inward roll of her eyes because she heard the question too many times growing up. "It does."
"It fits. You're…the most stunning girl here."
Bonnie's cheeks warmed. Couldn't be helped. "Luc...is that short for something?"
He didn't release her hand, but smiled crookedly. "Luciver. My parents set me up to be shunned, obviously," he quipped.
Bonnie's eyes stretched. "Your name is Lucifer?"
"Spelled L-U-C-I-V-E-R. The V didn't make one damn bit of a difference growing up. You know I was never called to answer any questions in Sunday school," he laughed. Bonnie giggled, uneasily. "Grade school was horrible. College people don't seem to care and actually think it's cool. My friends rag on me saying stupid shit like 'if you don't get your act together Luciver is gonna eat your soul.'"
"Are you evil?" Bonnie questioned half-jokingly serious.
"Depends on the day of the week. You attend Whitmore, right? I've seen you around campus a couple of times."
"I do attend," she wouldn't elaborate more than that, and slid her hand out of his grip.
"Cool. What's your major?"
"Undecided. You?"
He grinned, which enhanced his features making him appallingly attractive. "It's not theology. It's mechanical engineering. I love building things with my hands. My dream is to create a self-sustaining engine to reduce dependability on natural gas."
"Ambitious."
Luc hunched a shoulder and fixed his sharp gaze on Bonnie who gulped. "So you're an undecided major attending a holiday mixer at a sorority house best known for their…I won't pollute your ears," his grin widened. "What are you hoping to do, Bonnie?"
The question presented a realm of possibilities in which she could travel down any road. Bonnie sighed wistfully, "Get everything I want out of life."
"Then that's something we share in common," Luc inched closer. "I came to this school because it's a long way from home, and I also knew I'd find something great here. This area of Virginia has a lot of history."
"It does." The weariness Bonnie was feeling shot up another notch. "Well, it was nice chatting with you, Luc but I need to go find my friend."
The smile on his face vanished as he saw an opportunity slipping through his fingers. "Wait…I've been told I have a motor mouth. I didn't mean to hog the conversation."
"No, it's fine. Sometimes it's good to listen."
Luc nodded. "Very true. Look, you probably get asked this all the time but…could I have your number?"
Bonnie's automatic response was no. When she was with Jeremy it had been so easy to turn down guys, but she no longer had him to hide behind. She was on her own, and declining swapping numbers, accepting male advances period could lead to being accosted or the guy having enough common decency to accept her refusal without being a fuckboy about it.
Luc seemed nice enough, charming, but Bonnie sensed his magic and the vibes he gave off reminded her too much of Kai, and Ben, and Shane that she found herself looking at him sideways.
"I'm sorry, Luc. I'm in…a complicated situation right now," Bonnie evaded.
"I get it. I mean, I'm not asking to be your boyfriend or anything, or to even go out. I'd just like to…talk sometime. It can be lonely," he gave her a meaningful look. "Being what we are."
Bonnie murmured noncommittally. "Being a college student is lonely," she deflected his true meaning, "that's why I have a best friend to help me through those days. Enjoy the rest of your night."
A few steps was all it took for her to run into Elena whom she hoped to avoid. Like actors, their faces showed the right amount of surprise and happiness belying what was really happening on the inside of them.
"Hey!" Elena widened her arms and wrapped them around Bonnie. She felt her stiffen but ignored it. "I was hoping to run into you."
Bonnie pulled away doing what she could to maintain a level of civility. "Yeah," she said through a tight smile. "Caroline dragged me to this thing. I saw you walk in earlier with Stefan. Did you guys come together?"
"We arrived separately but managed to get here at the same time. I didn't even know he was coming. You know how he is when it comes to these types of things."
"I do which begs the question of why he's here."
Elena looked over her shoulder and then back at Bonnie. She whispered conspiratorially, "I think he's trying to make it up to Caroline for being an ass over the summer."
"So she took my advice and called him?"
"I'm assuming. I haven't questioned either of them about it." A beat. "Is…Damon here?"
Bonnie's eye twitched. "No."
Elena bobbed her head accepting Bonnie's answer but it was evident she was disappointed by the news. The doppelganger became a chatterbox filling the semi-uncomfortable silence that lapsed between the two friends, filling Bonnie's head with pointless drivel. The sound of her voice began to grate on the witch's ears competing with the music and the numerous conversations happening around her. And while Elena blew hot air out of her mouth, Bonnie couldn't stop thinking about yesterday, and catching Damon and Elena kissing.
She didn't realize she was concentrating too hard on Elena, her mouth specifically as her thoughts traipsed to a place of watery graves, the grave in which Elena had been rescued from once. The second time…not so lucky. Water was the scythe death had originally designed for Elena. Water was the accelerant Bonnie used to start fires.
Bonnie knew the most effective way to get Elena to stop talking was to blurt out about her make out session with Damon. That would only lead to more blabbering; more "how could you's" more "what about my feelings for a man I don't even remember". No, Bonnie wasn't interested in listening to any of that at all. In fact, her ears could use a severe break.
Elena suddenly couldn't breathe. Her jaw moved as she tried to talk, only a choking, gurgling sound spilled from her diaphragm. Terrified, Elena clutched her throat, but it couldn't stifle the gush of water that came surging out of her mouth. That drew attention. Scared umber orbs stared at Bonnie helplessly who looked at her almost emotionlessly. It wasn't until Caroline appeared asking what was going on did Bonnie snap out of it.
The little witch blinked.
Caroline rapped Elena on the back, hissed, "Are you all right?"
Throat on fire all Elena could manage was a shaky head nod. Bonnie soon found herself under scrutiny.
"Bon…" Elena wheezed. "Did…did you do that to me?"
"Accident, sorry. I should go and…get you some water," she said and seeing the two vampires' dubious expressions thought better of it. "Maybe a napkin instead."
Making her way through the crowd, Bonnie inadvertently sought out Luc.
He had moved on to try his luck—ha—with someone else. Someone who appeared to be a bit more receptive to his advances if the way the girl was basically eye fucking said anything. But Luc honed on to Bonnie's signal and looked directly at her. She quickly darted her attention elsewhere. However, she had caught his knowing grin.
Lovely.
Sometime and many drinks later, stumbling across the front lawn, arm locked with Caroline's, Bonnie pulled her friend down to whisper something in her ear.
Caroline was smirking because Bonnie was adorably drunk, but her smirk disappeared and before she could exclaim, "You kissed Damon!" the blonde vampire had to catch her. She was out cold. That girl could never handle her liquor.
"Well this is awkward," Caroline thought, flabbergasted at what her friend confided wondering if it were true or the work of Jose Cuervo. She tossed Bonnie on her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and endured the catcalls and propositions from horny coeds.
Caroline drove Bonnie home, took off her shoes and jewelry and tucked her into bed. She sat on its edge, examining her favorite gal pal, and said aloud:
"Lucky bitch. You got to kiss your Salvatore."
It was insanely late to be out and more to the matter traveling to the Salvatore boardinghouse, but Jeremy realized he left an important item there and he wanted it back.
He bobbed his head to "Wanted Dead or Alive" and remained vigilant as he drove. The moon was hardly visible being sheltered behind clouds as it was and streetlights weren't a luxury in this part of town. All he had for visibility where the headlights of his car that cut through misty fog.
He made the turn off to the Salvatore property.
Little Gilbert frowned slightly at the sight of Damon's Camaro. From what he could tell none of the lights in the anterior portion of the house were on. But the biggest question on Jeremy's mind was…how was Damon even able to cross into town without dying?
Another thing that perplexed Jeremy was the wide open front door. "Damon?" he bellowed once exiting his vehicle. Other than a hoot from a voyeuristic owl no one else answered his summons.
"Damon!"
Jeremy spun around after getting the eerie sensation he was being watched. He was met with nothing save trees and endless shadows. He looked at the house which seemed ominous, more ominous than usual. Jeremy was leaning to better listen to his instincts and instinct was telling him not to go into that house.
Digging into his pocket, Jeremy pulled out his phone and called Stefan. "Hey? Do you know where your brother is because I'm looking at his car and it's parked in front of the boardinghouse? Do you know if the barrier has been lifted?"
"I don't know. Damon didn't say anything to me about that or that he was heading into Mystic Falls."
"I've called his name several times, but I don't know if he's here. I don't have a good feeling, Stefan. I would call his cell if I had his number."
"I'll give him a call, but I advise you leave."
"Yeah, bye."
Hopping back in his car, Jeremy burned rubber and missed the pair of glowing silver eyes peering from the darkness of the boardinghouse atrium.
A stinging slap to the ass woke Bonnie out of her slumber. She grumbled half-heartedly before stuffing her face in the pillow. However, the strong, enticing scent of coffee made her mouth drool and eyelids flutter open. Rolling to her back, Bonnie studied the person standing next to her bed.
"Care…" she coughed to clear her dry throat. "Caroline? What are you doing here? Oh hell," Bonnie grabbed her head.
"Figured you'd need this," Caroline handed Bonnie the steamy mug of coffee. She made herself comfortable and watched as her friend blew over the top of the mug before taking a tentative sip. "How much of last night do you remember?"
Bonnie sat the beverage on her night table before rubbing the sleep out of her eye. Last night was a jumble of discord. She recalled not wanting to be paraded around like an accessory while Caroline kissed sorority girl ass, and she may have had a conversation with the devil, and there may have been some dancing involved and…did she almost induce death on Elena? Other than that Bonnie had no clue.
She shrugged.
Caroline nodded expecting as much.
"I didn't do anything stupid did I?" Bonnie asked.
"If by stupid you mean kissing Damon Salvatore, no you had a harmless night of fun."
Bonnie's eyes stretched considerably. Damon wasn't at the party. She definitely would have remembered seeing him. So that could only mean…
"I told you that we kissed?" her voice had gone up several octaves.
Caroline plucked a lint ball off the sleeve of her knit cardigan. She leveled a glare at the mortified looking witch. "Yes! Why would you do that?"
Typically this would have been the part where Bonnie hung her head in shame and confessed to being out of her mind. She went nowhere near that route. Instead, she defiantly jutted up her chin, and folded her arms.
"Because I wanted to."
Caroline had her rebuttal prepared but it vanished and in its place stupefaction took up residency. She frowned in disapproval. "What do you mean you wanted to kiss him?"
"It's just as I said, Caroline. We kissed. I wanted to kiss him. He didn't force himself on me. It was a joint and mutual effort." Bonnie got out of bed once finishing her proclamation.
The blonde gaped in disbelief. "I don't know what to say right now."
Bonnie who was buried deep in her closet countered, "There's nothing you need to say."
"I beg to differ because the Bonnie I know would never ever kiss Damon Salvatore even if he wasn't her best friend's boyfriend."
"They're not together!" Bonnie poked her head out of the closet. "Elena wiped her memories of Damon. Those two haven't even discussed rekindling their romance since Damon's been back."
A pang went through Bonnie as she annoying recalled what Damon revealed to her about there being a part of him that still wished to be with Elena. Yeah, that wasn't helping with her mood or headache.
"And how would you know?" Caroline challenged.
"Because Damon is always with me."
Caroline blinked at the vehemence in Bonnie's voice. "Are you fucking him?"
"Did I say we were fucking? I said we kissed."
"When?"
"Two days ago and before you ask me, yes it was the first time we swapped spit."
"I don't believe this," Caroline worried her forehead with her fingers. "This is the kind of shit I typically do, not you, Bonnie."
"What are you talking about?"
"Go after a guy who's hard up for someone else."
Bonnie exhaled harshly. Her chin quivered and the items on her bedside table began to rattle. That didn't escape Caroline.
The vampire redistributed her weight on the bed, the springs squeaked. "Look, Bon…I just need you to be smart. Damon likes to spread himself around even while he's pining for some perpetually tanned Petrova," Caroline's anger simmered down as she approached her friend and dragged her completely out of the closet. "You're not the kind of person who inserts herself in someone's relationship drama. Yes, I've seen how close you and Damon are now compared to what you used to be, but don't confuse that into believing he has feelings for you that extend beyond friendship. What do you think is going to happen once Elena has the compulsion lifted? That's he's going to throw away the opportunity to be with her to be with you?"
Those words were a slap to the face, Bonnie could admit, and a fear that bugged her persistently.
Caroline gulped when she saw Bonnie's eyes become fiery with rage before cooling icily.
"Are you saying I'm not good enough?"
Caroline balked. "No! I'm not saying that at all. If anything you're too good for Damon."
"I don't care about being too good, I just want to be right for someone," Bonnie argued. "Elena has been around Damon for a little over two months, and during that time did she make any kind of effort to get to know him? Spend time with him? Reconnect on any level? Would she have done it if I were still trapped in 1994? Or is she only now interested in getting her memories back because Damon has shown the least bit of interest in her? Look, you're right. I don't insert myself into my friends' relationship drama, but…"
"But?"
Bonnie murmured quietly. "I really like him, Caroline."
A wave of sympathy washed through the blonde vampire as her brows knitted together.
"I know it's hopeless," Bonnie flashed a watery smile, "but this is how I feel. We kissed and it was…everything I needed it to be, everything I didn't even know I wanted it to be. And that could just end up being our one moment, but at least I have it. It's mine. Regardless of what happens next, in that moment I knew our feelings were one in the same. Do you understand?"
"I do. You know I do."
Bonnie stared at her feet before looking Caroline in the eye. "I don't have a lot of support but I could really use yours."
Caroline smiled and pulled Bonnie in for a hug. "You know you have it. No matter what I'm here for you."
A few moments later, the girls held one another at arm's length.
"There's something else I need to tell you. That I need to tell everyone," Bonnie went on to explain. "Esther is alive-ish and she's told me some very disturbing information."
"Klaus' mom?" Caroline's jaw dropped.
"Yes. That bitch."
"What did she say?"
"You're gonna need to sit down for this."
Before Caroline's butt cheek could hit the mattress, her cell was ringing. She unplugged it from the charger, answered, "Hey Stefan."
"Caroline, hey are you with Bonnie?"
"Yeah. What's going on?
"…something's happened."
Damon Salvatore really hated traveling through the woods. Not only did it ruin his boots, but his ears wouldn't stop fixating on every little noise an insect or bird made. Nevertheless, he couldn't deny its tranquility nor beauty. And so he suffered in silence as he trekked forward not really positive on what he was doing out here.
Damon moved quietly through the beech trees that surrounded him on all sides. Faint rays of sun managed to penetrate to the ground while mist curled and billowed on the still air. Nothing seemed to be remiss in this ecosystem right off the beaten path of suburbia. However, something just didn't feel right to the vampire.
What he wasn't feeling was a sense of déjà vu as if he's lived this moment before. The feeling was more acute than that. What Damon's problem was…he had no idea how he even got here.
That made him stop walking abruptly, cocking his head to the side.
Damon tried to remember the last thing he had been doing and came away with nothing. Had he been drooling on Alaric's couch? Driving around town looking for a quick meal and a fuck? Had he been in the process of self-medicating with booze and trying to coax a particular witch to take a walk on the wild side?
Turning in a complete three-sixty Damon bellowed, "Hello!"
A twig snapped to his right and he spun toward the noise. She stepped out of hiding, a curious expression on her face. Damon observed as she pressed her back into a tree, hands sinking into the hidden pockets of her little black satin tiered skirt.
Damon's eyebrow went up in the air. "I must be dreaming," he attested but was appreciative of the view nonetheless.
Her legs, as short yet curvaceous as they were seemed to go on for miles because of the black velvet sky high pumps on her tiny feet, and the short hem of her skirt. Her hair was longer than he was used to seeing it, long like it had been before, coiffed into waves that fell to her lace covered breasts.
"Where are we exactly?" the immortal wondered.
"A place that is unseen by the seen."
Damon snorted. "That wasn't cryptic at all."
However he couldn't help but believe her words. The colors were dull blue now that he was taking a second look, and they appeared to be the only two people for who knew how many miles.
Damon approached the source of who he assumed was the anchor, his lifeline. He stood in front of her, marveling at the way her caramel skin glowed even under the overcast sky. He leaned forward but found himself kissing the tree. He looked around confused and saw her standing some distance away.
"What's wrong?" Damon inquired.
"You have the faintest clue. I'm not here for that. We need to talk. Walk with me."
They fell in step with one another. Bonnie drew her hands behind her back, her head craned to take in the scope of the sky. Damon watched her for a moment before mimicking her actions.
"You were touched."
He grinned. "It was a good touch, I hope."
In unison they looked away from the sky to acknowledge one another.
"This touch…it's landed you here. This isn't where you're meant be, but it's a crossroads of sorts."
"Are you going to present me with the blue and red pill? Am I about to learn my existence has been a computer program this entire time and this is the matrix?"
Damon had hoped his sarcasm would earn him an annoyed scowl. He got nothing from the witch.
"What will save you, Damon?" Bonnie asked.
"Save me from what?"
"Will it be love or obsession?"
Damon averted his attention to the ground allowing the lure of brown leaves sweeping across the path to distract him from Bonnie's question.
Out the corner of his eye he saw her palming something small and red, and when he focused on the object he discovered it was a shiny apple.
"Obsession weakened you, blinded you, ruled you. Did so much damage that outside of obsession you have no clue as to who you are. You're lost, wandering around unable to decide what's you and what you've allowed yourself to become that you were never intended to be. But," another apple, green this time materialized in Bonnie's right hand, "there's something else. A you you've never met. A you that's literally been dying to meet you, Damon. A you that never has to compare himself to anyone because he knows he is more than enough. A you with a god's intellect and a lion's heart. Do you want this you? If so, you're going to have to bury the you that you are right now, for the you that is present is the one who constantly gets in his own way. So which will you choose to get out of this place?"
Damon mulled over Bonnie's spiel. The paradox and waited for the epiphany. Would it show itself like a mirage in the desert, elude him like a hare running from a wolf. How many more times would he have to die or be brought to the brink of death to get his life together? Damon knew what he wanted more than he wanted to show how badly he craved it. His problem was never walking down the path because he honestly talked himself into believing it wasn't meant for him. That he didn't deserve it. Yet here he was in this place having to choose. A first for him it seemed.
Damon caught Bonnie's elbow halting her from taking another step. She looked up at him expectantly. "I've made my choice."
His hand hovered, going from apple to apple, hovering in the middle.
Love or obsession.
He plucked the green apple out of her right hand and bit into it.
The smile on Bonnie's face was utterly sublime. "Then you know what to do. Get on your feet and come to me."
Damon jerked awake, eyes darting around the darkened space trying to grasp where he was and what he had been dreaming.
Chills racked him and he coughed and found himself unable to stop coughing. Footsteps hurried to where he was. Lights were snapped on blinding Damon who shielded his orbs with his arm.
"Damon, hey it's all right."
"Stefan?"
"Yeah it's me. You're okay."
"What?" Damon fought to sit upright and with his brother's assistance he was propped up along the sofa. A blood bag was slapped into his hand.
Objects were slow to come into focus. When they did Damon realized he was in Alaric's apartment. His brother had his broody forehead on full display. His drinking accomplice stood some distance away with his arms folded, Vampire Barbie occupied a barstool and…
Bonnie was perched on the arm of an overstuffed chair, stone faced.
He couldn't look away from her. Her arms were crossed, knuckles were practically white. "You're here."
"I am," she replied.
Stefan switched his attention between his enthralled brother and the incensed witch. He had found Damon on the side of the road literally on the edge of Mystic Falls completely unresponsive. Stefan had called Bonnie, who at first, did not want to hear anything about Damon. Yet it wasn't until the youngest Salvatore began describing his brother's state that Bonnie reluctantly agreed to meet up at Alaric's.
And now she sat wishing her heart would slow down. Wishing she didn't still care about Damon. Wishing she hadn't been petrified at the thought of how close he came to being killed. Taking one look at him, Bonnie knew without a doubt that Damon had an encounter with a revenant. She had never seen him so ashen, his hair was peppered with gray, and the brilliant blue color of his eyes was near to obsidian.
"Drink the blood, Damon," Bonnie urged.
He followed her instruction without complaint, sinking his fangs into the bag and slurping its contents. Once finished, he tossed it to which Alaric clucked his tongue at the mess he'd have to clean up. In increments the color returned to Damon, the gray bled from his hair leaving glossy raven locks in its wake, and his eyes…well those were taking longer to return to their sapphire hue.
"What happened to me?" Damon kept his entire focus on Bonnie, devouring every little thing about her.
"That's what we'd like you to tell us," Stefan said. "You look like you went several rounds with the grim reaper and almost lost."
Damon blinked and it wasn't until he was handed a compact mirror from Bonnie's purse could he see what Stefan was talking about.
"Damn."
He met her eyes and shakily got to his feet. Bonnie backed up a little. The other occupants held their breath while Damon and Bonnie engaged in an intense staring match.
"I'm sorry," he cupped her cheek, reveling in her warmth.
"Yeah, you are."
He smirked. "It didn't mean what I thought…it might have meant."
Bonnie knew he meant the kiss with Elena, but she wasn't buying it right now. Damon narrowly escaped becoming a dead-dead vampire again, and his emotions were probably all over the place.
She pulled his hand away. "We can talk about that later." Or never.
"Today just showed that later isn't guaranteed. I'm not putting this off and I don't care if you don't believe me, but I've made a choice, Bonnie. And that choice leads to you."
Chapter end.
A/N: If you're reading this again, I changed the vrykolakas' to revenants since the definition of revenant fits better with the kinds of beings I have in mind. In this story witches who are turned but retain their powers won't be referred to as heretics, but as the revenants. I missed the episode where Jo informed what a heretic is and I think they are former Gemini coven members turned by Lily. If that's incorrect whatever. I want things to be a bit broader and inclusive as in any vampire with a drop of traveler blood would be able to make a witchpire or a vampire-witch hybrid. Damon's made a choice, who is this Luc guy, and what will Bonnie decide when it comes to Damon and Esther! Lenore's request? Stay tuned. And thanks for reading. Please, don't forget to review!