Chapter 4 Arising Fire

Bonnie's Grandmother lived right next to a field, a small path led to the dark of the forest. The house itself was built out of dark wood, the windows were really tall so that a lot of light, sun or moon, could reach inside to make the dark walls appear friendlier. She parked her car in front of the red old postbox with her child hands in white on it. She liked to put her hand on the trace of her younger self ones. She was fascinated by the process of growing and becoming older. Bonnie wasn't really afraid auf becoming old, she saw it as an experience, an adventure like her Grams. In spite of her age she did everything she wanted. She smoked weird stuff, visited Europe and Salem as she always wanted and went to see her creepy witchy friends all around the country.

Today Sheila Bennett sat on her couch reading a book Bonnie didn't know. The whole house smelled like vegetable soup mixed with cookies. A smell which threw Bonnie back in her childhood, when she sat on the floor of the living room, waiting for the cookies to be ready and looking through Sheila's creepy old books written in another language. A language Bonnie always wanted to learn but her Grams told her that one day she would know how to speak it.

„Hey Grams", Bonnie said while she wore out her jacket.

„There you are, my sweet girl! "the old woman said, stood up, went to her granddaughter and embraced her. „You're such a fool Bonnie, I can't believe you went into forest alone just before dawn! "

Slowly she went to the kitchen; Bonnie sat down on the sofa, suddenly tired of the long day and all the things that happened. She heard the sound of dishes in the kitchen and her belly groaned. Soon Sheila came back and brought her a bowl full of hot delicious soup and a plate of cookies.

„Oh thank you, I'm starving," Bonnie said and began to eat.

The whole time she watched Bonnie eating, Sheila thought how beautiful her granddaughter was. She had a lot from her mother. But only her appearance, the full dark hair, the chocolate brown skin and the big green eyes with golden sparkles, Sheila had herself. No Bonnie was selfless, kind and brave. But also stubborn. Sheila had to smile; she had been exactly like her when she was at that age. But she saw that Bonnie wasn't that happy today, she seemed strong minded to solve whatever was concerning her. Sheila put the grimoire back in the shelf. Bonnie had finished the soup when she couldn't hold back her questions anymore.

„Grams, I know I've never wanted to hear anything about it. But a lot of things happened lately I can't explain. And I don't want to go to a psychologist, so please, what's happening to me?" she asked.

Sheila smiled. „So finally you want to hear the craziness you and your father forbade me to talk about"

Bonnie took a cookie and looked her in the eyes. „Well you are my last hope. If I don't listen to your explanation I have none. And that would mean I am really creepy insane".

Her Grams stepped back to the shelf and took out a really heavy book.

"My sweet girl, the answer is magic"

She sat down next to Bonnie and gave her the book. Bonnie opened it and saw the pages full of hand written words, beautiful, mysterious and surrounded by drawn flowers. Words that in the past didn't mean anything to her. But suddenly she felt something in her chest as she read the words. A feeling that let her know what to use the words for.

„These are spells, aren't they?" Bonnie whispered and caressed the old paper.

„Yes these are really old, basic spells and you did them without words right? You had problems with lights when you were moody. Something broke just like that?"

Bonnie was speechless." How do you know?"

"Cause I was like you when I was 17. That year my mother took me to a psychologist because she didn't understand what was happening to me. My father, who was a witch, had left us to live with his girlfriend. So this was the worst thing that has ever happened in my whole life. I had to take pills and became sleepless, depressions followed. I lived in the shadows, all around me people telling me I was insane. I think this was the darkest period in my lifetime. Being treated like an abnormality by the people you love. At Thanks Giving I visited my Grams who lived miles away, and she explained what was happening to me. That my magic wanted to be controlled. Controlled by my body, my brain, my hands. But first I had to believe in magic. And I did. Because there was no other way. And god dear child, magic is a wild thing. It's hard to control but spells like these can concentrate your magic. But you only have one life Bonnie, you're not eternal, just because you're witch doesn't mean that you don't have to die like a human. And you're still made out of flesh and blood. If you do a spell which is too powerful for you, you will see your life flowing with the magic out of your hands. So magic can be dangerous, really dangerous, yes, yes..."

She stopped like she had been gone in memories of the past. Bonnie sat on the silky pillow, not able to move one of her muscles. She just was overwhelmed by the feeling. The feeling deep in her heart, that everything her grandmother had been telling her for the last minutes, was true. And she just couldn't believe it! But every inch of her body screamed yes, as she got conscious of her power.

And then she felt it. Felt it flowing through her blood, pulsing in the rhythm of her heart. And she felt it like a fire in herself. A wild fire, she was able to use. But also a fire able to burn her. To kill her. But she realized that it was a part of her, like hands or ears, it was hers. She began to smile.

„Spells aren't the only power you have. You also can control the elements. Fire, Water, Earth and Air are all yours".

„So what exactly can I do? And how?" Bonnie asked restless. She wanted to discover this unbelievable new world, experience the things she could do.

" Well you need to find the force within you, take it and lead it into your hands and concentrate on what you want to let fly, try it with that pillow!" she pointed on the red pillow next to her.

Bonnie fixated it. She felt the fire in her veins again, raised her hands, took a deep breath and let it escape her body. First nothing happened and Bonnie thought it had all been a big lie. But then she felt something in her back moving. Her hands still raised she turned around and saw the pillow behind her back starting to fly up. She nearly cried when her head saw the proof for everything she just felt and heard.

„It's working! It's true!" she screamed while crying.

Sheila watched her granddaughter experiencing her magic for the first time and was happy. It was what she wanted since Bonnie was born. When she turned back Bonnie's mouth fell open. Every pillow in the room was floating right under the ceiling! Tears ran down her eyes when she imagined what she could do with the fire in her body. She felt the fire running through her hands, her cheeks glowing; she never felt so good before. Slowly Bonnie put her arms back down and the pillows fell on their places.

„Since you were born Bonnie, I wanted for you to become old enough. Because what you just did is only the beginning. You are much more powerful than you can imagine. You're a witch of the most powerful witch family that has ever existed. You're ancestors fled from Salem to not be burned in the terrible fires that killed a lot of us. And here in America we grew stronger, spread throughout the continent. You are a Bennett witch Bonnie, be proud of your name".

„The whole burning witches thing in the middle age is true so?"Bonnie asked overwhelmed how that changed her view on the world.

„The darkest period of our existence, yes. It was the mistake of letting humans know about our power. So we learned to keep it for ourselves".

Bonnie's happiness disappeared. „So I can't tell anyone?"she said thinking of her friends.

„Well of course you can. But only the ones you really trust, you know who will keep your secrets. But dear, you're not the only one with magical powers. There are others, too, who will feel you're a witch".

„How many other witches are there?"

Sheila stood up and took another book out of the shelf.

„Not only other witches, dear child, " she said while giving her the book.

"Don't say all fairytales are true," Bonnie said notable of understanding what that would mean.

Slowly she opened the book. „Vampires-and -Werewolves- the never-ending fight," she read out loud. „Vampires and Werewolves exist?"she whispered and turned around the page.

On the left site was a man, his eyes dark red, veins all around them, his mouth open with fangs in it. And it was like she had seen this transformation before.

The red eyes, the veins..."I've seen this before..."

But it felt like deep smooth fog in her brain that was wrapped around the memory.

„Where?" Sheila asked alarmed.

„I can't remember. It has happened a lot today that I saw or smelled something that I knew but didn't remember why or when! What is it?"

The brown eyes of her Grams widened. „You have been compelled to forget something by a vampire!"she said surprised." Concentrate on the fog and try to break it with your magic. You can do that!"

"So I met a vampire before? And he compelled me to forget?" Bonnie asked afraid.

Sheila nodded. The young girl closed her eyes, trying to catch the fog with all her power. It was a fight, an inner fight of different kinds of magic. There was Bonnie's fire fighting against the ice cold wafts of mist in her head. And suddenly they disappeared. And the memories came back. The scene in front of the classroom, the missing time in the bathroom. And the moment she saw red eyes with veins all around them. The blue light of the bathroom reflecting in dark eyes. And the fear that arose in that moment, the fear of something unknown directly in front her. And now she understood everything, his animal like movements, his dark aura, the comments about eating her. He really wanted to eat her. But this thought…made her think about his touches again. His hand near her core, his fingers touching her skin. And this feeling when you remember lust started under her stomach and spread in her whole body. This tingly of joy. She just wanted to feel him again even though she just got to understand that he was a vampire. Much stronger, faster and more dangerous than everybody she met before.

„So he also lives forever? He could be really old?"

„He and his brother Stefan are both very old. Their family has lived here for a long time. They are more than 150 years old"

Bonnie didn't want to understand it. She just couldn't get that this incredibly hot young man was older than her grams.

„What the hell, "Bonnie stuttered. Do you know the moment when your heart stops to beat because of what you just got to hear? Bonnie's heart did. She couldn't work with all the information, her brain was not able to go on thinking.

„I just need a moment," the young witch said, stood up and left for the veranda.

Slowly she opened the dark wooden door, pulled away the strings of colored pearls and stepped outside. She took one of the big blankets that have always had their place next to the door. With a sigh she sat down on the rocking chair.

She was a witch.

She had magic within her tiny body.

And Damon was a vampire.

And there were much more fairy tales that were true. She began to rock backwards and forwards and turned her head to the deep black forest to her left. Her heart bumped not regularly when she thought of everything she was capable of at the moment. She raised her hand and thought of wind making the trees whisper and her hair flatter. And the second of her thought, she felt it. A fresh breeze on her skin, the trees telling a little story. She smiled in herself. She started a plan how to show Elena what she just got to know. A memory they both would never forget.

And in the dark of the wood, hidden behind a tree, the vampire stood and observed his little girl experiencing her magic. His eyes got darker while he thought of the hunt he would start to get her; his white teeth shone in the night the moment he grinned and turned around to disappear again.

Author: Fire