Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the show, book, series or the characters. The writing here in is for no profit and simply a fan work. Please continue to support the creators by watching the show and/or reading the literature. Thank you.
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Damon quickly realized that he should have informed Bonnie to stay put prior to ending their phone conversation.
He found himself leaning on a wall in the hallway of Bonnie's dormitory with his arms neatly folded across his chest. He had intended to slip in fairly discreetly, but the young girls that walked through the hallway were quickly drawing attention to him.
He could hear them whispering to each other about how "hot" he was when they thought they were out of earshot.
If only Bonnie were able to hear such comments, he'd be able to gloat.
Damon ducked his chin down.
Damn, he missed teasing her. Bonnie's angry expression always had the power to arouse him more than anything else had ever managed to.
"She's not here," a quiet, nervous voice was speaking.
Damon's reflexes had him standing upright in a fraction of a second. His eyes regarded a small Asian girl whose face wore distress written across it. Damon could easily deduce what was going on—he'd managed to cast that same expression on dozens of his victims in the past. The girl was obviously being forced to speak with Damon.
Damon stood in a manner that was threatening, "Then, where is she?"
The lithe girl looked fatigued and her eyes were red from crying, "The voice said she's at the subway."
The girl didn't appear to be compelled; she wouldn't be so distraught if that were the case.
Damon's jaw tightened, "What voice?"
"The voice on the phone," the girl was finally breaking down, the tears flowing in waves as her fingers reached out to grip Damon's jacket, "I don't know anything else. It told me that if I didn't tell you, they'd kill my sister."
Damon didn't know this girl enough to adequately provide any sort of comfort for her. He pushed her from off him gently in the same fashion one would push away an unappetizing plate of food.
He stared at her with sobriety, "Do you stay in this dormitory?"
The girl looked perplexed, but nodded wordlessly.
"Good, lock yourself in your room, and don't leave it," Damon advised. He would seek answers from her later after he retrieved Bonnie.
Damon didn't waste another moment. He ushered himself out of the hallway, storming outside with determined steps of authority.
So, they wanted to play games?
Well, it was time to get the ball set into his court…
AND THERE WILL BE LIES
Chapter 3: Train Ride
Bonnie didn't know who or what she was supposed to be looking for…
She was standing along side a mass of stoic-faced commuters on the platform to await the train. So far, she didn't see anything that stood out to her. There was a woman to her right desperately trying to quiet her screaming infant. There was a man to her left complaining to a co-worker about the possibility of them being "canned" if they didn't land the contract.
No sign of Matt; no sign of anything…
Bonnie shut her eyes tight. They felt as if they were burning. She followed the rules; she spoke to no one; she made it on time. She was here. What did they want from her?
The metro was coming. It announced its presence with lights, vibration and an echo of fanfare. It slowed to a stop in front of Bonnie and the other potential passengers. Bonnie took a step back and to the side to allow people to depart from the cab car.
Once a small group had cleared, she could see something written in marker against one of the seats on the train.
It simply said: Bonnie, sit here.
Bonnie nudged her way through a series of elbows to slip onto the train and into the seat. She studied her surroundings swiftly. There had to be some clue here that would lead her to Matt's whereabouts.
Across from her on the other seat, a homeless man was lying fast asleep. He had a bottle of booze concealed in a brown bag. Against the back of his greasy, brown jacket there was a sheet of legal paper that stated: Go to the last car on the left and sit down.
Bonnie questioned herself at that moment. This person that had Matt captive was cunning and well planned. They knew everyplace she'd look or sit, before she even thought to take action. They knew she was a witch and had probably prepared for that as well. Could she get Matt out of this alive?
She couldn't afford to think negatively. Not now. She had to try.
She complied with the note, making her way past the standing passengers until she reached the final car. She slid open the door and peered inside.
It was empty.
Was she supposed to just sit and wait? Bonnie scanned the subway car interior for any sign of a note, or markings of any nature.
There was nothing save for the flickering fluorescent lights.
Bonnie wrapped her fingers against a handrail. She wouldn't sit; she'd stand. Somehow, standing made her feel stronger than she actually was. She would watch and she would wait…
There were several stops made. With each stop, more passengers left the train, and fewer passengers boarded. She had felt a degree of safety when the subway cars were full and bustling with random sounds, but now, the only people that remained were passed out drunk.
Just when it started to feel like she'd been waiting for too long, a young man in a navy-blue hoodie began to walk down towards her cab car. Bonnie readied herself as the young man opened the door and joined her.
Bonnie waited for the man to speak, to say anything, but he simply walked past her and sat down.
They were the only two people left now…
The hooded young man bobbed his head to music emitting from the headphone ear buds connected to an iPod. Was he really just a normal passenger?
"If you want to see Matt alive again, you'll do exactly as I say."
Bonnie had been right to keep her guard up. The young man now had a serious expression crossing his face. He reached up to pull down his hood, revealing his face clearly. He looked like an average college student. No special or defining features. It was a face that was easy to forget or simply not take notice of.
Bonnie worked hard to control her voice, even as her body trembled with anger, "Is he OK?"
The young man smiled at her inquiry, "Is he OK? No. Alive? Yes…"
"If you've done anything to Matt I'll—"
"Kill me?" The young man interrupted with.
Bonnie fell silent for a moment; she was hot with rage. "What do you want me to do?" Her tone was icy and unforgiving.
The young man gestured towards her, "There is a knife taped underneath the seat beside you. Reach under and grab it. Take out your hand and drag a diagonal line against your palm. I'll be needing a sample of your blood."
Bonnie remained still, "What's to keep me from using the knife on you?"
"You won't risk endangering Matt's life," he concluded.
Bonnie didn't take her eyes off the man for even a moment. She crouched down, blindly feeling under the seat. Finally her fingers felt the wooden hilt of a knife. She gripped to it securely and yanked it down hard.
The man didn't seem to be bothered at all by the fact she was wielding a knife in her palm. He had been right. Bonnie had no choice, but to play along, at least for now.
Bonnie opened up her other hand, lifting the blade to rest the cool metal against the center of her hand. She braced herself for pain and in one quick stroke she cut her flesh. She bit hard on his lip, trying to stifle the sounds of anguish that instinctively followed the cut.
Drops of her blood were quickly pattering onto the floor.
The man nodded with approval, "Now the other hand."
It hurt too badly, Bonnie wasn't sure if she was capable of cutting herself twice. She closed her hand into a fist to control the bleeding.
Bonnie shook with refusal, "One is enough, and you said you only needed a sample."
"Follow the rules, Bonnie," the man warned, "Cut the other hand."
Bonnie shut her eyes. She just had to do it one more time and it'd be over. She had to do it.
Bonnie steadied her wounded hand and placed the knife in its grip. She placed the blade slowly against her other palm, and took a deep breath.
Suddenly, the lights were off.
The subway train was still moving, but it was pitch black. Bonnie dropped the knife, straining her eyes to try and see in the darkness. Glass was shattering somewhere near her, followed by a loud thud. She could hear a scuffle and a deafening scream.
Red-emergency lights turned on to reveal the horrors of what had taken place.
It was Damon…
He stood like a lion over a wounded gazelle, watching the bleeding young man cower at his absolute power. He was strong and terrifying; the sight of him alone shocked Bonnie and made her throat burn.
Damon displayed a irreverent grin across his lips, his eyes were positively glowing with delight, "New rules…"
"Damon?" Bonnie's mind was slow to process the reality of her situation and Damon's presence. She felt grateful in one second and quickly remembered that Damon was about to potentially kill Matt's captor.
"Damon!" Bonnie called out desperately, "Damon, please don't kill him. He took Matt, Damon. If you do anything to him, we'll never get Matt back."
Damon completely was ignoring Bonnie's warning. His face was pale and disfigured by the smell of blood. His fangs fully protruded from his mouth. He reached down to grab the young student by the throat, lifting the boy up until his feet dangled in the air.
The young man was sobbing messily as he struggled to pry Damon's vice grip from off his windpipe.
"He didn't take Matt," Damon was utterly disgusted as he discarded the boy onto the floor. "He's nothing more than a human puppet—everything he's said to you was programmed. He was compelled."
The young man was out cold—alive—but unconscious.
Damon grasped hold of the young man's hoodie, tearing off the hem to hold it out to her hastily, "Bonnie, I have no self-control right now; cover it up."
Bonnie's mouth parted in astonishment, "But how—"
"—How do I know everything?" Damon finished, lifting his sleeve to cover his nose and mouth. "Wisdom comes with age."
Of course, Damon would be trying to be funny in a situation that was completely not funny.
Bonnie took the cloth and began to wrap it around her hand, but she struggled with the thing. It was a difficult task for one hand to manage.
Unexpectedly, Damon's fingers were irritably taking the long strip of fabric from her. He released a noise of annoyance, as if he had to tie someone's shoelaces. He made sure the bandage was tight and stopped the blood from flowing.
"Put pressure on it," Damon ordered.
Bonnie closed her hand tightly. He didn't have to tell her more than once, she was painfully away of the consequences otherwise.
Damon suspended movement, allowing his features to return to normal. His fingers were clasping against her tiny wrist, leading her towards the broken window, "Now, lets get off this train."
Did he really expect them to climb out the window?
"Damon"—Bonnie's tone was questioning his sanity—"shouldn't we just wait for the next stop?"
"There isn't a next stop," Damon answered quickly.
"What?" Bonnie could already feel the wind velocity from the broken window assaulting her hair. "Trains don't just run without stopping!"
"The only place this train is stopping at is Hell," Damon raised his hands to grasp hold of Bonnie's face, "Look at me and listen—there is no one driving this train."
"There are emergency breaks then, we just have to go and find them," Bonnie tried reasoning with him, her voice almost taking on a demanding tone.
"The breaks and the emergency brakes have been destroyed," Damon spoke with frankness. He lifted her as if she were light as cotton to stand on the seating.
Bonnie was uneasily trying to follow Damon's logic, "Damon, how are you figuring all of this out?"
"How else would you catch a vampire and a witch? It should be obvious by now; Matt is your bait, and you are my bait. They want us both. It's what I would have done— " Damon paused, "It's what I did."
"Still— " Bonnie's fingers were clenching on to Damon's jacket, "I can't climb out that window. We're going too fast."
"Hey. Trust me," Damon grabbed hold of Bonnie's waist securely with one arm, using his other hand to grab hold of the windows outline, "I'm faster."
Bonnie braced herself for the worst.
She felt her hair whipping around her and the sheer force of the train's speed fighting against them. Damon pulled the two of them out through the window as easily as passing through an open doorway. His movements and footing even against the screaming train was calculated and swift.
Before she could even be sure of what was happening, they were hanging off the side of the train. Bonnie practically dug her fingers into Damon's flesh, pressing her face deep against his chest.
Damon enclosed his body around her, sheltering her like a football helmet just before a tackling blow. In one hurried moment, Damon flung themselves from off the train…