Ghosts

The spirits of the dead witches were all around her, surrounding her as she lay there, as motionless as the body this coffin was intended for. She sniffed and smelt decay; there was a nasty thought, one which she wished had never occurred to her. If she was in fact in a coffin it was probably second hand. The thought that a dead, rotting, body had been laid exactly where she was laying now made the atmosphere even thicker and suffocating.

X

He would have been able to dig faster had the soil been not so hard, and maybe if he had dug faster he would have gotten to her before the wolf decided it didn't want to be such a wimp. The soil must be saturated with... blood? No, not blood, he could not imagine feeling her blood on his fingers, because if he even allowed that thought an inch of consideration he might just lose it.

"What are you going to do once you have Bonnie?" Katherine asked.

"Have a word with Elena," he lifted a large lump of dirt with his clawed fingers, "maybe something more." The thought of Elena made the blood inside him boil, but it wasn't simply anger. He was furious with her, almost murderously so. Could he kill her? Definitely. Would he? Would he slay her in cold blood? His heart said yes.

"I must admit, I think you are the stronger of the two of us," She went on, her tone thoughtful.

"How so, Katherine? In what way? I am certainly not as cruel as you, as sadistic. What do I have on you?"

"You've made a choice." She said simply. "You chose her."

"Would it kill you to help?" he asked scathingly, trying to ignore the emotion within him, "I can't move this much soil with only my bare hands!" He was getting nowhere on his own, even with vampiric speed and strength, he could only move so much dirt at a time. Why hadn't he thought to bring a shovel? Because he did not own one – there had seemed no need to acquire one when his own body was tool enough.

"No," Katherine said almost casually, her dazzlingly blue eyes glinting in the moonlight like sapphire jewels. She crouched next to him on the ground, "but it would ruin my nails and these cost quite a bit at the salon." She saw the expression on his face, "But I do know what kind of creatures might do this – what do you know about Japanese folk-law?"

X

She was tired and could barely breathe. Each breath in felt like too much work and the ability to even shape words with her mouth had deserted her. It had taken too long to realise that she had only so much air too breathe, too long to understand the cost of each breath. She would suffocate before anyone ever found her, and without a spell they probably never would. If only she could think the words... but her brain wasn't working.

The only thing she felt was an aching in her chest – a kind of longing that nothing in this world could ever compare to. She doubted anyone else felt this level of desire for anyone, no matter how they proclaimed otherwise, not even Elena. Elena might love Stefan very much, but she did not love him enough that it was painful. This desire Bonnie had to be with Damon was strong and torturous when they were apart. Like now. She heard herself moaning but she could not fathom how she could find the energy to make the sound.

Bonnie's heart almost started beating faster when she heard the voices. If she hadn't been so lethargic she might have shouted something, the relief was that instantaneous and absolute. She thought she wouldn't care who freed her, it didn't really matter if they would help, but to see her wth him... well, she thought she would have almost preferred never being found at all.

"Bonnie!" Damon exclaimed, reaching into the pit to touch her.

X

The two Kitsune were by the stream when Stefan and Elena found them at last. They were so still at first that they could have been lawn ornaments for all that they moved. Their stillness was their disguise, Elena thought, and because she knew this it wasn't really a disguise at all. One was called Misao and the other was Shinichi, the two fox spirits who preferred to cause trouble than fix it.

When Stefan spoke his voice was quiet but it made Misao flinch just enough to reveal the trick. He looked at Elena and made a face that was in equal parts pained and humoured. "What have you done with Bonnie?"

"We took her to the graveyard," Shinichi sang, his voice so sweet and pure and yet all the more sinister for it.

X

Damon held her small body to his as they both sat on the ground, their eyes both unseeing and full of memories. He never wanted to feel that way again as long as he lived, and he knew he wouldn't as long as she could be at his side for all eternity. He bent to one knee with the grace of the most skilled dancer. He took her hand and kissed it and said, "Bonnie McCullough, I will understand if you say no, but..." he gulped, "Bonnie will you..."

She rushed into his arms, surprising him once again, and held him tightly.

"... Marry me?"

THE END

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