Resurrection: Chapter One
By V.C. Turner
Bonnie placed the last candle on a small brass pedestal engraved with the letter "B." She sat cross-legged in the center of a circle cloaked in the darkness of the woods just outside town. She smiled in satisfaction at this one candle of power: a coal black piece of wax, expertly molded into a cylinder that stood five inches tall.
A shimmering ring of gold encircled its base. The wick poking out of its top was black, not white, like the other ten candles around her. It was different. It was special. She had made the masterpiece from the remains left behind after Kai's body was burned.
Hating him had been her passion. Resurrecting him had become her obsession.
Bonnie tried to bring him back using traditional magic, earth magic and representational magic. None of it worked. Desperation was consuming her each day. Damon had no right to kill Kai so quickly. The man deserved to suffer for all he'd put her through: the stabbing, the torture, and the abandonment. Trapping him in 1903 wasn't enough of a payback in her eyes. He continued to torment her from the grave. He haunted her dreams and consumed her waking thoughts.
The spell Kai placed on Elena resulted in the fracturing of her relationships. Her "friends" resented her, and it showed. They remained cold toward her despite their insistence that living without Elena for 60 years would be bearable.
Damon constantly reminded her what she owed him, and used her when necessary to cast spells, or fight against the relentless attacks of the Heretics. Caroline regarded her with a combination of pity and bitterness as her visits to their dormitory became less and less frequent. Stefan completely ignored her existence, and Matt constantly reminded her that leaving town would be her best option.
Still, even if she had left, Bonnie had no place to go. She didn't know where her cousin Lucy was hiding. Her grandmother and father were dead. Her mother lived in Washington, D.C. as she continued to master the snatch, eat, erase, method of vampire survival. Her relationship with Jeremy had been over for some time.
She was alone.
Bonnie had nothing to keep her sane. She had no one to keep her safe. She sulked in solitude among the ruins of the Salem witch massacre. She slept, curled up, in her room at her Gram's house.
Revenge was what kept her motivated. It kept her warm when no one else would.
She had one goal: Resurrect Kai to find out how he bound the spell so she could break it, wake Elena, kill him and leave Mystic Falls forever.
She told no one else what she was planning. She secretly researched spells from the library of grimoires she had in her possession until she finally came upon one spell using light magic.
She wasn't sure if using light magic would bring back someone so evil, but she had to try. She'd lived through the consequences of dark magic and was killed by Expression while trying to resurrect Jeremy. Light magic appeared to be her best and safest option.
Bonnie closed her eyes and chanted in Latin:
"Spiritus Te. Exaudi orationem meam. Convertero cuius curatio, per iniqua, Cérei hujus ardescit. Turn infuso carnis et ossis et molliret cor lapideum."
She repeated the plea, over and over as all the white candles burned higher, illuminating the branches of the trees above.
The black candle, however, melted into forest floor. The ground began to shake; a slow rumble that built up as the seconds ticked by.
Bonnie rose from her place inside the circle, but soon found herself trapped within its magical boundary. She couldn't move beyond it as the grown shuttered beneath her feet. She began to question everything in that moment: her spell, the tone of voice, her heart. Had she said the right words? Had she sounded angry rather than grateful? Had she asked them with the right intentions?
The ground stopped its violent movement and settled beneath her quivering feet. She breathed in deep and waited. Nothing. The wind didn't rustle the leaves. The candles had settled back into their normal glow. Only the golden ring that surrounded Kai's candle remained atop a clump of disturbed dirt.
Bonnie waited for a hand to spring up from beneath the ground like she was in the midst of some horror movie. It didn't happen. No burst of flame broke through the darkness. Nothing. She had failed. The spirits had cut her off for she had forsaken them again in some unknown way. She leaned over and picked up the ring of gold lying on the ground. She then gathered the rest of her things and headed home to her grandmother's cottage.
As she found her way out of town, she noticed an odd glow coming from the worn down mansion on the site of the witch massacre. Common sense told her to keep driving since she often found homeless men seeking shelter there from the cold. She didn't want to disturb them. She felt protective of those less fortunate than herself.
A mile further down the road, she heard her name being called in the distance. She slammed on the brakes so hard that her seatbelt drew the breath from her chest. It was a woman's voice: Emily Bennett, her ancestor. She turned the car around. She knew better than to ignore a witch from her own bloodline.
Bonnie made her way back to the mansion, stepping cautiously inside as if Emily were waiting on the ragged couch inside. She noticed the glow again. A golden light flickered main room off of the foyer. The fireplace roared to life with fresh wood burning brilliantly inside it.
"Bonnie," a soft female voice said behind her.
Bonnie turned to see Emily, dressed in a lace hoop skirt and a bonnet. She appeared to Bonnie as flesh and bone, not the faint apparition she expected.
She swallowed hard and spoke to this powerful spirit that had never been bound by The Other Side or any other supernatural entity.
"Yes," Bonnie's voice squeaked. She was ashamed of how weak she sounded. How could she possibly call herself a worthy Bennett witch when she flinched at the sight of her own family?
"Bonnie, I've come to give you a final warning before the ancestors grant what you ask," Emily stated, her voice echoing off the tattered walls.
"What is it," Bonnie answered, "I understand about consequences."
"Not like this one," Emily stated, "This one is going to test you differently than the others. You will not be tested with pain or grief. We know you can handle those. You will be tested by something much more powerful. You must accept it. You must accept you."
Bonnie swallowed hard and considered those words. There was always a double meaning behind everything a witch said, yet making a deal with your family couldn't be nearly as deadly as making one with the devil.
"I accept," Bonnie added, not fully believing her own words, but knowing there was little choice but to utter them.
Emily smiled at Bonnie with pride, and nodded slowly. She raised her hands, and the windows and doors of the mansion flew open, putting out the flames in the fireplace. Bonnie backed herself into a corner of the room and waited. She willed her eyes to shut, but they wouldn't. Fear had taken hold.
Figures began to appear around the room: the spirits of all the Bennett witches from the 1800s until the present. Their faces smiled at as if they'd all found peace through her simple act of acceptance.
The final spirit to arrive was Bonnie's grandmother, Sheila Bennett. She spoke to Bonnie in the most comforting tone the young woman had ever heard.
"Hello, baby," she said.
Bonnie's eyes began to well with tears, but she held them back. Standing the presence of such power forced her to see she her duty was to embody their legacy with strength and not sorrow.
"Hi grams," Bonnie said weakly, her voice betraying her.
Sheila walked to her granddaughter and wiped a wayward tear from her eye.
"This is what I was talking about sweetheart when The Other Side was ripped away," Grams said.
"I don't understand," said Bonnie.
Sheila stepped closer; so close Bonnie could feel her breath.
"When I told you about finding peace, I didn't just mean for me. I meant for all of us," she added.
Bonnie stood in silence and waited. Sheila continued.
"I sent you to that Prison World because you are one of the last living Bennett witches. When Damon turned Abigail, he broke Bennett the line. We couldn't let you die because you need to restore it," she added.
"I don't understand. How am I supposed to…" Bonnie stopped and looked down at her abdomen, then back up at Sheila. A frown settled in on her brow and stayed there.
"Damon wasn't supposed to go there with you honey. He threw off the balance. You were supposed sent there so you could -," Sheila cut off her own words. She scanned the room, seeking consensus from the rest of the coven.
"You were supposed to meet Kai there, help him escape," Sheila added, watching the horror cross Bonnies face.
"How would helping a psychopath escape his own prison help me continue the Bennett line?" Bonnie demanded, her voice finally gaining the strength it needed.
"Honey, Kai isn't evil. Well – he wasn't supposed to be. The Gemini made him that way. They never wanted him to be a leader because they knew he was too strong, so they cast a spell on him to remove his magic, then treated him like an abomination - so that's what he became. Cold. Dark. Evil. We convinced the Gemini not to kill him and offered to help create a prison world for him instead. They didn't know we had the key," she said.
"Bennett blood?" Bonnie asked, hoping her simple answer was right.
"More than that honey. You," Sheila answered.
Emily walked up to them and spoke.
"Sheila, we don't have much time. If you can't tell her, let me," Emily said softly.
"I'll do it," Sheila went on, turning to her granddaughter, "There is only one way to carry on the Bennett line: we have to combine our bloodline with the Gemini. I sent you there to do just that."
Bonnie's heart stopped. She was supposed to, she gulped at the thought, marry Kai and have children. How could her own family condemn her to such a fate?
She shuddered at the thought of it. Anger boiled within her. How could they do this to her? How could this ever be her version of peace?
"Why him, Grams," she pleaded.
"Because it will take the power of the Bennetts and the Gemini to defeat the Heretics and all your enemies to come," Sheila stated.
"Grams, I don't have that kind of power," Bonnie said helplessly.
Shelia and Emily looked at one another and said in unison, "You will."
One by one, Bonnie's ancestors passed through her. Each one introduced herself. Each one gave her their power. With each ancestor came their magic, their strength, their personality, and their will.
Bonnie's veins hummed. Her skin came alive. As she greeted each one, she also bid them a tearful goodbye while thanking them for their gift.
The last to merge with her would be Emily and Sheila. Emily went first.
"Bonnie, you should know that harnessing my power will give you strength, but it will also give you a flood of emotion. Controlling that kind of passion can consume you if you're not careful. You have to live. Do you understand?" she asked.
"I do," Bonnie nodded, accepting Emily's spirit within her.
She burst into tears just before Grams took her turn. She couldn't control it. She buckled at the waist, but Sheila Bennett held the child she'd raised firmly.
"You know baby, I always knew you were special. I always know you were going to hold inside of you the best of us. Make sure you don't forget what we're giving you – you hear," Sheila said.
"Grams, I don't want to say goodbye to you not again," Bonnies voice was faltering again.
"Baby, this is NOT goodbye this time. This is 'I'm gonna see you again when it's the right time, okay,' " Grams smiled, holding onto Bonnie's arms, "I love you baby girl. You know that. I'm a part of you; So, so I'm not gone."
Bonnie held on tightly, praying she didn't have to let go of the only person that loved her for who she was.
"After I pass through you, Bonnie, you have to throw that gold ring into the fireplace, okay?"
Bonnie nodded, her neck struggling to keep her head held high like her Grams had taught her. Tears burned her face as Grams passed through her. She shook from the heartbreak, but still felt the power of all of the Bennett women. It rushed through her like an unyielding tide as she fought to stay upright.
Bonnie did as instructed. She used the power coursing through her veins and ignited the fireplace with her mind. She then tossed the gold ring from the candle into the burning embers.
The room began to glow – a fierce white light that lit the room brighter than daylight. She shielded her eyes just before the fireplace exploded, sending her back at least 10 feet and into the far wall. Bonnie somehow managed to land on her feet with a grace she'd never possessed before.
As the glow dissipated, her eyes came into focus. She walked toward the remnants of the fireplace. The power inside her hummed, energizing her blood. She wasn't afraid of what she'd find in the rubble.
Her heart beat in her ears so loudly she was certain if a train passed by, she wouldn't have heard it.
The crossed the room and heard moaning – an anguished sound that evoked an unexpected pity from her breast.
There in the heap was the owner of the sound. Covered in grayish black soot and earth laid the naked, shivering monster that was destined to be – her husband.
"Bonnie?" he said, his voice barely audible above her own heartbeat. He sat up, as if to get to get a better look at her.
Scanning her from head to toe, his expression relaxed.
She'd spent so long hating him that she'd forgotten how handsome he was. Covered in ash, his gaze still stirred something inside her. She was no longer allowed to fight it. Her life now depended on it.
"Welcome back Kai," she said with a surprising amount of emotion.
He scanned the room until his eyes locked on a worn out sofa that managed to survive the explosion.
Kai stood without shame, drawing in a deep breath and coughing out dust. He breathed in again to clear his newly resurrected lungs. Bonnie watched as his bare chest rose and fell. The movement hypnotized her. She shook her head to gather her thoughts. She needed to regain composure and not be distracted by his dirty, yet perfectly sculpted form as he crossed the room and sat himself on the sofa.
"I was going to ask if I was in Heaven or Hell, but judging by the look of this house, I assuming Hell," he said, his smirk slowly rising from his lips as if he were trying to get Bonnie's permission to use it.
"You're back," she told him, trying not to look into his eyes.
"Why did you bring me back?" he asked. Bonnie thought she detected some level of fear in his voice, but she quickly pushed the thought away.
"I planned on killing you," she said.
He rose, noting the slight flush in her cheeks as he approached.
"And…now?"
Bonnie swallowed hard, missing the humming sensation of all that power she'd felt just moments ago. It remained inside her, but it was controlled – almost dormant. Without thinking, she reached out and touched Kai's shoulder.
The power inside flared up within her again. She understood his purpose now. Neither of them could survive with all that power locked inside their fragile human bodies. They needed to share it, to embrace it. They needed to feed on it. They needed to feed off each other.
She finally answered his question when she accepted the answer herself.
"…Now," she said, trailing her fingers along his chest, "Now, I think need you."
Kai sighed, the smile spreading across his lips, finally touched his eyes now that he had Bonnie's permission and invitation. He covered her hand with his and looked into her eyes.
"Well, I suppose that settle's it," he said, "It's Heaven."