The Road Home

The tense silence filled the entire car.

Caroline, Elena and Abby had spent the night at Bruce and Vivien's after Abby's arrival. Over dinner, Elena and Caroline recounted the events that led to Bonnie becoming the Anchor to the Other Side and then becoming stuck there during its collapse. Breaking down into tears over hearing the news, Abby barely touched her dinner or breakfast the next morning. Vivien suggested Abby accompany the girls back to Mystic Falls to help in the investigation. Otherwise, waiting around for news of her daughter's fate might create unending anxiety and frustration that could send Abby over the edge, the consequences of which no one wanted to see.

Elena began the car ride trying to small talk with Abby, asking her what she had been up to since they had last seen her. But Abby simply gave monotone, one word answers like "nothing" and "stuff." Caroline asked if Abby wanted to listen to anything in particular on the radio, but Abby left the decision with the girls. Numerous times over the last hour, Caroline kept reaching for the radio, intending to turn it on and set it to any station or play some MP3's that she and Elena would like to listen to, but always changing her mind. She would constantly glance up into the rear view mirror at Abby, not wanting to disrupt her quiet mood, watching her staring blankly out the window lost in her world of guilt and grief. The rumble of the engine, the thumps on the road, the rushing of the wind passing by the open driver and passenger windows were the only noises the trio heard for over an hour.

Caroline kept gripping and rubbing the steering wheel while incessantly tapping her left foot, the sound of which began distracting Elena as she stared out her open window. Changing her glances from the road to the rear view mirror and back again, she was trying to think of something relevant to talk about to kill the monotonous, soundless atmosphere in the car. Her eyes widened and a grin appeared on her face as she finally thought of something to talk about.

"Uh…Abby, I was wondering if you'd mind answering something for me," Caroline said. "I mean, seeing as how you're a witch—I mean, you were a witch—I mean—"

Caroline gripped the wheel again, tapping her foot even faster than before. She finally glanced up into the rear view mirror and sheepishly smiled.

"Heh, heh—*ahem*—I mean, since you know about magic—," she continued, "—um…could you explain what the difference is between pure magic and spirit magic? The Travelers said that they only practiced 'pure magic' and I was wondering what the difference was and why we can't get into Mystic Falls."

"Pffft! Pure magic!" Abby scoffed while still staring out her window.

Caroline and Elena glanced at each other momentarily.

"Magic is magic," Abby explained finally. "It just depends on the source and how one draws on that source. Most witches draw upon Nature for their magic, whether it's from the Earth or a celestial object. Some say it's drawing upon the spirit of Nature. That's why sometimes it's called spirit magic, although that mainly applied to drawing through the spirits on the Other Side."

"And what if you don't draw upon Nature?" Elena asked.

"Necromancers draw from the dead. So do those who practice Ancestral magic. Sacrificial magic draws from the sacrificing of animals or supernatural creatures. So there are other sources and other ways to draw from a source. Then you have the Travelers and their so-called 'pure magic'—magic whose source and avenue are…questionable."

"I…I don't understand," Caroline replied.

"There are only so many paths and sources that a witch can draw upon for magic. What the Travelers draw upon and how they do it, they consider it as drawing upon the Earth's purest magic. But some in the witching community call the way they do it as drawing through pure darkness. Others even call it satanic. Whatever it is, it's certainly not good."

"You mean to tell me that the Travelers were practicing some kind of black magic?" Elena asked, turning around in her seat to face Abby.

"In a way."

"But, why does the spell in Mystic Falls affect vampires? Weren't vampires created with black magic?" asked Caroline.

Abby solemnly lowered her eyes. Her regression from a servant of Nature to a mere human to a creature of darkness was still a difficult reality. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.

"Vampires were created using witch or spirit magic along with dark magic," Abby finally confirmed. "The vampire spell was neither purely dark nor purely natural. The magic that created you—," Abby closed her eyes again and cleared her throat, "—that created us, is a mixture. Therefore, vampires cannot exist under the Traveler spell."

Elena pondered the information for a moment. She stared blankly out her window, trying to come up with some loophole now that she was getting a better understanding of the magic that was involved.

"What kind of magic can be performed in Mystic Falls then?" Elena asked. "If Traveler magic is a form of black magic, could other black magic be performed there too?"

"Hypothetically, I suppose so. Any unconventional magic that runs along the same avenue of darkness that the Traveler's own magic supposedly runs on could possibly work. Even that garbage that your Professor Shane tried to teach Bonnie once might also work."

Elena's eyes enlarged. "Expression?! Expression might work there? So…maybe we can find someone who practices Expression to help bring the spell down."

Abby leaned forward between the front seats and quizzically looked at her as though Elena had lost her mind.

"Elena! There is a reason why a curse was placed on the Travelers—why Nature itself was used to keep the Travelers from congregating and practicing their magic for 2,000 years! There is a reason why Expression is utterly condemned by witches. Because that kind of magic is extremely dangerous and the consequences of using it could be devastating."

Abby slumped back in her seat and stared out the window. Shaking her head, she continued. "I'm actually surprised that nothing further happened when Bonnie used that filth. Dealing with dark forces like that…it can be catastrophic, beyond just suffering death. I guess Bonnie got lucky."

"But—" Elena started before briefly catching a glimpse of Caroline, whose glare told her to leave well enough alone.

The trio sat silent for a few minutes before Elena's phone started buzzing. It was a text message from Matt.

"Matt says he needs to see me and Stefan as soon as possible. I wonder if he discovered something about the spell," Elena reported.

"Did you text Jeremy?" asked Caroline.

"Yeah, also Alaric. They said they'd meet me near the cemetery outside of the town's border later this afternoon, once we get back. After Alaric texted me about Jeremy walking out on him, I figured the three of us needed to get together to talk about Jeremy's attitude. I'll have Matt meet us there as well. Maybe he can talk some sense into Jeremy." Elena leaned back into her seat and stared up into the car's ceiling. "—*sigh*—its times like this that I wish my parents were still around, then I wouldn't have to bother with all this raising-a-teenager stuff. A part of me just wants to go away and leave Jeremy with Alaric and not worry about being a responsible adult for a while."

In unison, Caroline and Elena shut their eyes and pursed their lips. Caroline wanted to apologize on Elena's behalf, saying that she didn't mean anything by her comment, but she knew it wasn't her place. Elena wanted to apologize to Abby too, but the damage was done. Elena knew that an apology would not suffice. And yet, for a brief moment, Elena also didn't care.

Why do I have to apologize for anything? Abby's the one who left Bonnie…twice! It's not like it wasn't her decision or anything. Poor Bonnie grew up without a mother and that's Abby's fault. She was a bad mother! Why do I have to feel guilty for anything?

Elena glanced at Abby through her peripheral vision, noting that Abby hadn't turned her gaze away from the window or made any kind of reaction to Elena's comment. She turned away from Abby and back to looking out her own window. A slight smirk appeared on her face as the satisfaction of knowing she put Abby in her place filled Elena with minor exuberance.

As the car travelled further up the road, Caroline could see a tall, lean male brunette, dressed in a white t-shirt and blue jeans, extending his hand out, hitchhiking for a ride.

"Ooooo—check out the hot hitchhiker!" Caroline mused.

"Should we pick him up?" Elena mockingly asked.

"Why not? Maybe we can have some fun with him!" Caroline giggled.

The car pulled up to the hitchhiker as Abby perplexingly analysed the scene happening before her. She didn't peg Elena and Caroline as the types to pick up a male hitchhiker to use 'for fun.' She was concerned that perhaps the girl's vampire natures had grown more vicious since she last saw them. She wondered how much they had changed. Her fears dissipated somewhat as she got a better look at the hitchhiker.

"Hey! I was wondering if you ladies would mind giving a down-on-his-luck high school student a ride," said the hitchhiker, leaning on the front passenger side window.

"Down-on-his-luck, huh? Well, rides in this car aren't free, buddy! If you don't have any money, maybe we can think of some other kind of arrangement," Caroline said, winking.

"Heh…heh…well, I—Abby!" Stefan stammered upon noticing Abby sitting in the back seat. "Hi! Uh…this…this is unexpected."

Abby glanced at Stefan and nodded a greeting.

"Yeah…uh…it's a bit of a long story. Get in and we can tell you all about it," Elena directed.

Abby shifted to the left side of the car behind Caroline while Stefan occupied the right side. As the car drove off, Elena turned in her seat to address Stefan.

"So, what happened with those former Travelers you were going to see? Did you meet them? Did they know anything about the spell that could help us?" she inquired.

"Uh…no…no," Stefan muttered. "They said that they were too much out of the Traveler loop to know anything about the spell or how to disable it. They…weren't big on talking to me."

"Well, we were talking with Abby about the magic that the Travelers used. There might be hope that we can use some other form of magic to bring the spell down," Elena explained. Abby glared at her momentarily, her eyes sending beams of disapproval towards Elena.

Elena, oblivious to Abby's stare, continued with Stefan. "We might need to see that Traveler couple. Maybe they know of some other kind of magic that could help. Do you think they'd be willing to do that?"

Stefan's gazed switched from Elena to the car floor. He shifted in his seat, trying to get comfortable amidst Elena's questioning.

"I…uh…I don't think we can depend on them to help us. They—they didn't seem too keen on having anything to do with the Travelers or with vampires. They really just want to be left alone and I think we should respect that."

Elena's lips flattened in disappointment as she turned around and faced forward in her seat.

Stefan glanced out the window, but was still feeling a pair of eyes on him. He instinctively looked up into the rear view mirror to see Caroline's eyes glaring back at him. She held his gaze for a few seconds, slowly blinked and then returned her gaze back to the road.

"By the way, Matt wants to see us," Elena told Stefan.

"What for?"

"I don't know, but it sounded important."

"Well," Caroline interjected. "I figured since Elena has to meet up with Jeremy and Alaric, I'll drop her off close to the cemetery, while the rest of us will go and meet my mom at the town border. I talked with her last night and she said that she'd drop by Miss Sheila's house and pick up a few things for Abby. After that, we can go by the cemetery and meet up with everybody else and see what Matt has to report."

"Sounds like a plan," Elena said approvingly. "Maybe we can get in touch with Liv afterwards. She's been ignoring my text messages. Either she's hasn't found anything yet or she's given up on helping us. Either way, her and her brother are the only witches that we know of that can possibly help us now. I'm hoping we don't have to coerce them again."

"Like killing Luke and sending him to the Other Side?" asked Caroline.

"That was your call," Elena retorted.

"I know, I know. But it worked, didn't it?"

"I guess. I'm surprised they even stuck around Whitmore and agreed to help us some more."

"Why wouldn't they? We're awesome, right?" giggled Caroline.

"Sure we are!" smiled Elena.

As the two girls bantered back and forth, Abby glanced at each of them in the car one more time.

They had changed.

Confrontations

Elena stood, facing the gravestones of her parents.

While clutching onto the necklace that Damon had given her when Stefan had gone Ripper, the necklace that helped to turn the tides of her feelings away from Stefan and towards Damon, Elena placed a rose in front of each gravestone. One for her father and one for her mother.

"You wouldn't have liked him, would you?" she asked the two stones. "Hmpfh! You probably wouldn't have liked Stefan either. But somehow I think you would've preferred him over Damon. I know you would've flipped out over Damon trying to kill Jeremy…twice! And maybe rightfully so. But if you only knew him like I knew him. If only you could see the good man that was underneath the rebel exterior. Heh! I think of all the people in this world that I would've had nuclear fights about him with, it would've been you two. But I'd give anything to have those nuclear fights. I'd give anything to have him and you guys here with me now."

The crackling of leaves and twigs proclaimed Jeremy's arrival. Elena turned her attention to him, crossed her arms and sternly glared at him as he made his way into the cemetery.

"Well, gee…thanks for coming here so quickly. It's only been over an hour since Caroline dropped me off here!"

Jeremy shrugged. "I was playing a video game and wanted to finish it."

"A video game?! THAT'S your excuse?!"

"What's your problem, Elena?"

"My prob—," Elena sputtered. "My problem is your attitude! Alaric told me that you abandoned your training with him?"

"Yeah…and? Look, what difference does it make? There are no vampires in Mystic Falls. And besides, Matt seems to be better at it than I am. So Alaric can go and train him and leave me alone."

"Matt isn't supernaturally blessed with Hunter skills. You are! You've been given a gift and—"

"Oh, please! Matt has already given this lecture. I suppose you're gonna point out that Bonnie would be disappointed in me too, huh?"

"Knowing her as I do, she would be. But not just her. Them too," Elena said, pointing to the two gravestones. "They were once vampire hunters too. They would be so disappointed in seeing you give up on something that they dedicated their lives to—disappointed in seeing you use excuse after excuse to do nothing with your life!"

"Wow! That's real low, Elena. But, okay. You want to talk about mom and dad being disappointed? How disappointed do you think they'd be about you and Damon?"

"Don't start with that!"

"Oh, what's the matter? The lecturer doesn't like being lectured? You know damn well they'd disown you for falling in love with the kind of monsters they were trying to kill, if not for becoming one yourself!"

"Damon is not a monster and neither am I."

"Damon tried to kill me, TWICE! He snapped Alaric's neck. He practically raped Caroline. He—"

"He did not rape Caroline!"

"Well, he certainly didn't take her out to dinner and a movie! After everything he's done, I don't get why you still try to defend him."

Elena breathed in deeply as she ran her hands through her hair. "Maybe…maybe because I see the good in him and feel he deserves a second chance. Just like Bonnie gave you a second chance after you cheated on her with Anna!"

Jeremy sneered and turned away, shaking his head.

"Oh, what's the matter, Jer? Too low?"

"Bonnie overlooking me kissing Anna and you overlooking every despicable act that Damon has done is not the same thing and you know it!"

"It is the same thing! We've all committed horrible crimes, Jer. I've killed people. Stefan's killed people. Caroline and Alaric have killed people. And so has Damon. None of us are perfect and that's the point. Each of us has been through so much—we've endured and caused so much grief and yet we're still here. We endure, we learn and we deal with it all and move on. That's what I've done and that's what you should be doing. But you aren't."

"Just deal with it, huh? Ya know…that's exactly what Damon told me after he tried to kill me. You're beginning to sound more and more like him each day."

Elena shrugged. "Maybe that's not such a bad thing."

Jeremy shook his head again and turned slightly away from her. "There was a time when family came first for you. Especially before someone like Damon. There was a time when you never would've been proud to be like him. But ya know…I take it back. You're not like Damon at all. In fact, you remind more of Katherine!"

Elena walked towards Jeremy and attempted a slap him across the face. Jeremy instinctively moved his head back and caught her hand and smirked.

"Should have tried it at vampire speed," he advised.

"I would've taken your head off if I did that!"

Throwing her hand down, Jeremy attempted to brush past her. "Like I said…like Katherine."

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked, pushing him back.

"I've got a video game to go finish."

"We're not done here. We're waiting for Alaric and then we're settling this."

"It's already settled! I'm done with the training and I'm done with the lectures. Now let me through!"

Elena pushed him back again. "I said no!"

"Don't do this Elena!"

"Or what? What are you going to do, Hunter? You're not good enough to beat me!"

Staring directly into Elena's eyes, Jeremy reached behind his back. Elena smiled as she knew what he was reaching for.

"Alaric's gun? Really, Jer?"

"I was going to return it to him later today."

"And what? Now you're going to use it on me?"

"Just let me go home."

"I said no! But go ahead and whip the gun out, for whatever good it will do you. You still won't get past me."

The distant rustling of leaves and branches disrupted the violent tension between the two. Elena turned her head to the side as her vampire hearing picked up the sound of a visitor approaching.

"Or should I say, past us? Sounds like Alaric's here."

Elena turned around and was surprised to see a slender, athletic young woman wading through the trees and branches of the forest surrounding the cemetery. The woman finally arrived to where Elena and Jeremy were and scrutinized them briefly before she spoke.

"Hi! I…uh…I was looking for Elena and Jeremy Gilbert?" the woman softly asked.

Jeremy ambled and stood beside Elena as she glared at him momentarily before turning her attention to the stranger.

"That's us. What can we do for you?" responded Elena.

Grinning, Istas rapidly pulled out her gun and pointed it at the Gilbert siblings. "You can go ahead and die for me!"

Off The Wagon

"Abby! It's so good to see you again. It's been far too long," Sheriff Liz greeted as she hugged Abby while both stood near the border to Mystic Falls.

"Still trying to keep law and order in the town, eh Liz?"

"Well, it's not easy. I don't know many sheriffs who have to deal with the supernatural on top of ordinary citizens running amok. How have you been doing? With the transformation and all of that?"

Abby sighed and pressed her lips. "It's been a learning curve, that's for sure. Unfortunately, when you make a mistake, sometimes it can mean life or death for someone. I'm definitely not comfortable with that!"

Stefan and Caroline leaned on the side of the car a bit of a distance away, eavesdropping on the conversation between Liz and Abby.

"It seems like you're not the only one having trouble with blood lust," Caroline murmured to Stefan.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Caroline turned to look at him. "What happened between you and the Traveler couple?"

"Nothing," Stefan replied, shrugging.

"C'mon Stefan! It's me you're talking to, remember? The minute you told Elena that lie in the car, I knew something was up. Maybe she can't pick up on that anymore, but I can. Now what happened?"

"Caroline, I told you. Nothi—"

As soon as Stefan looked into Caroline's stern face, he knew she wasn't buying what he was selling. He pushed himself off of the car and walked a distance away from Caroline, cupping his face in his hands and then running his hands through his hair.

"I killed them."

"Why? What happened?" asked Caroline, disturbed.

"I was trying to get some answers out of them. The husband was being uncooperative but the wife was willing to help. I guess I was being a bit too aggressive so the husband attacked me. He got cut in the process and that's when I lost it. I smelled his blood and it was just—it was just too much. I killed them and tried to burn the bodies, but then their children and grandchildren showed up."

"Their grandchildren showed up? Did you kill them too?!" Caroline asked worryingly.

"No. I quickly compelled each of them to fall asleep and moved them a safe distance from the house. I made it look like a gas leak in the kitchen caught fire and burned the house down with the grandparents inside. I woke the family up and compelled them all to remember the house exploding when they arrived that knocked them all unconscious, and then once again compelled them into sleep on the front lawn. I called the fire department and waited to make sure they got there in time to keep the family from being harmed by the burning house before I disappeared. It was the only thing I could think of to spare the family from knowing the truth."

"Why were you trying to hide this from me?"

Stefan sighed heavily while looking at the setting sun. "I don't know, Caroline. I think…I think it's because I wanted you to think…I wanted everyone to think that I had a handle on this Ripper thing. But I don't. I never truly do. With Lexi, I'd go through periods where I have it licked and I can handle being in the presence of human blood and it won't affect me. But then, it's like out of nowhere, the urge becomes so strong, and I fall off the wagon. It's a struggle that just never seems to end."

"You're a recovering addict, Stefan. I don't think you should ever expect the struggle to end. I certainly don't. That's why I'm here to help you. But I can't help you if you keep moments where you fall like this from me."

Stefan stood silent for a moment. He lowered his head and closed his eyes. He finally lifted his head up and sheepishly looked over at Caroline. "I didn't want you to be disappointed in me."

Caroline walked over to Stefan and hugged him. The two stood quiet for a moment, their eyes closed and locked in their embrace. Caroline finally spoke into Stefan's ear. "As long as you keep trying and keep fighting Stefan, you'll never disappoint me. Lexi was there for you until the very end. And I will be too!"

She pulled back and stared into Stefan's eyes. She put her hand to his cheek and smiled proudly at him.

"—*ahem*—Sorry to interrupt," Liz said, smiling approvingly at seeing Stefan and Caroline embrace, "but I have to ask you two something. I just got a call from one of my deputies. The renovation crew at The Grill found two dead bodies in their dumpster in the alley this afternoon. EMT's on the scene described a male and a female as the victims. The male victim's throat looked to be ripped open by several puncture wounds as though by some kind of animal, and he seems to have suffered some severe blood loss. The female victim appears to have had her neck snapped. Both had blood smeared across their mouths. Officers on the scene discovered more blood on some walls and on the street leading into the alley. Tests will have to be done to see if all the blood comes from the victims or not. But from what my deputy is telling me, it sounds like—"

"It sounds like a vampire attack," Stefan said.

"But, that's impossible. Vampires can't exist in Mystic Falls anymore," Caroline said.

"Are you sure that's still the case?" asked Liz.

Caroline vamp sped to the edge of the town's border. She placed her hand with the daylight ring across into Mystic Falls and her hand immediately began to sizzle and erupt into flames. She withdrew her hand and began shaking it to douse out the flames.

"The spell is definitely still up," Stefan replied.

"Then who or what killed those two people?" asked Abby.

"Wait…isn't Matt working as part of the renovation crew?" Stefan wondered.

"I think so. Why?" replied Liz.

"He sent a text message to Elena this morning saying he needed to see her and myself as soon as possible. Maybe he knows something about this."

"Well, if he saw something, I don't know why he wouldn't tell me about it first," replied Liz. "Can you tell him to get in touch with me?"

"We're actually meeting him over at the cemetery," replied Caroline. "Elena's meeting with Jeremy and Alaric and she sent a text to Matt to meet her there too. We're heading that way now so we'll ask him if knows anything about this."

"If he does, let me know. I'm heading over to The Grill to investigate this further."

Liz gave each of them a hug and then got into her car and left.

"That's really weird about those two dead bodies. Who or what do you think could have done this?" asked Caroline as the three of them all got into the car.

"I don't know. I just hope there's a human explanation behind it," replied Stefan. "I think we've all endured enough supernatural chaos to last us for a while!"

Under Control

Darkness engulfed her.

It was as though a black sack was placed over head. She blinked, or at least she thought she blinked. But instead of seeing light alternating with dark, it was dark alternating with dark, causing doubt in Bonnie whether her eyes were even open, whether she was awake or still dreaming, alive or dead.

And yet in the midst of the darkness, the images kept flashing before her.

Thoughts.

Memories.

Dreams.

Phantasmagorias.

She wasn't sure what those images were. She tried to focus on them but couldn't. It was like driving down a hot, sun baked highway where you can see the heat emanating from the road and surrounding landscape which makes a mirage appear and then disappears as you get closer, making wonder you if you had even seen it at all. It left Bonnie frustrated because the images were still ever present, on the periphery of her focus, taunting and challenging her to concentrate on them, only to disappear when she did.

The sensations that the images brought were familiar and yet foreign. She kept feeling like they were of her experiences in Mystic Falls—local landmarks, familiar streets, recognizable buildings. And yet they weren't like the experiences that she had had before. When she recalled real experiences from her past and compared them with the feelings she was getting from these—pictures—in her head, there were distinct sensations that these new 'memories' held that she did not hold with her previous ones.

Hatred.

Malevolence.

Domination.

Death.

It was as though someone had taken video footage of Mystic Falls through her eyes and ran them through filters that had those names. Those images made her feel vile and tainted, the same as she felt while under the influence of Silas and Expression magic, only multiple times worse.

Yet, at the same time, she felt something else—something seemingly at the other end of the spectrum. It too mirrored her experience with Expression magic. Surges of different sensations descended upon her. They were joyful—ecstatic—orgasmic. Wave after wave of electrical jolts of pleasure coursed throughout her body. Seemingly, in those moments when the images of her other 'self' using magic popped up, that's when such sensations visited themselves upon her—unwelcomingly. Unlike with Expression, where she willingly gave herself over to the rapture that came with performing Expression, here it was different. She felt like she was forced to enjoy it. Though she had never taken drugs, it was like someone had strapped her down and jabbed a heroin needle into her arm, forcing her into a state of euphoria that she had never asked for. Her soul and body were being used in a way that she had not consented to, and her rapist plunged her into corrupted orgasm as a means to make up for it, to get her to cease her struggle and accept their violation.

As she stirred in the darkness, she opened her eyelids again, and found herself squinting from the sudden presence of light. She tried to turn her head, but found she could only move it ever so slightly. She blinked several times, trying to adjust to the intensity of shifting from complete darkness to bright ambiance. Once her eyes got adjusted, her heart sank at the sight before her.

Mirrors—in every direction.

She became overwhelmed with panic and fright as she realized that she was not in some dream. It was real. Her encounter with the beings that called themselves the Sovereignty really happened, and that they really did do all the things to her that she remembered. She was lying with her back on the floor, her eyes darting from side to side as she tried to get up, but felt the effort an exhausting exercise in futility. It was as though someone had upped the gravity in the room, keeping her pinned down to the floor. She could wiggle her toes and fingers, so she wasn't paralyzed. That thought brought some small relief, yet she sorrowed at the reality that she still was immobile.

As she sighed and stared towards the mirror ceiling, she noticed something unexpected. Next to her naked form lay someone else. She squinted, trying to bring into focus the face of the person without spinning into vertigo because of the endless reflections the mirrors were making. Her eyes widened as she recognized the person beside her. She tried to turn her head to the left, succeeding only partially, her eyes reaching the extreme limit that her eye socket would allow in order to get a better view of the last person she'd ever expect to see.

"Damon?!" she queried, her voice a mixture of both shock and jubilance at seeing someone she knew.

"Hey Bon Bon." His voice was nonchalant, like they had just casually bumped into each other at the Grill on a Friday night. Damon looked as if he were half asleep, his eye lids heavy and half closed.

"Damon? Is that really you?"

"Do you know anyone else with this face and this bod who looks this good in his birthday suit?"

Bonnie took a brief look towards Damon's crotch in the mirror and quickly turned her gaze away, whether out of embarrassment that he was naked before her, or because she was curious enough to look at all, she couldn't tell.

"Hey, it's okay to look, Bon Bon. I've been admiring the view for some time now myself."

Bonnie desperately tried to lift her arms up to cover herself, but it was no use. She relaxed her body in resigned frustration, realizing that the damage was done and she was in fact lying naked next to the last person she would ever want to lie next to naked.

"It's you alright. No doubt about that!" Bonnie lowered her eyes, attempting to avoid any and all views of Damon within the reflections of the mirrors.

"You sound disappointed. You were expecting someone else?"

"I'm not disappointed, Damon. I'm actually kind of relieved to see you. And yes…I was expecting someone else."

"Who?"

Bonnie closed her eyes and swallowed, attempting to stifle the fear and dread in her voice. "Someone…something else."

"The Sovereignty?"

Bonnie's eyes expanded as they targeted Damon's face in the ceiling mirror. "You too?!"

"Yeah." His tone was still casual.

"Who did they appear as to you?"

Damon sighed heavily. "First Katherine. Then Elena. Then Stefan. What about you?"

Bonnie sighed too and peered downwards. "My Grams. What did they do to you afterwards?"

"I'd rather not talk about it." His usual swagger and confidence was non-existent as Damon tried to turn his gaze away as best he could, experiencing the same limitations in movement as Bonnie did.

If his experiences were as disturbing as hers, but so profound in its impact that he couldn't smirk or shrug his way through describing them, then it must have been traumatic indeed. Unlike Elena, whose feelings for Damon caused her to feel pity and come to his defense, whether he deserved it or not, Bonnie felt like Damon was finally paying for his sins. A slight grin of gratification crept onto her face, disappearing instantaneously once guilt began clouding her conscience.

"Who are they Bonnie?" Damon asked, breaking her emotional combat.

"I don't know."

"Don't you?"

Bonnie's eyebrows creased. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"They told me that I was chosen because I took part in the completion of an Expression Triangle spell and—"

"What?! When did you do that?"

"Do you mind? I'm talking here. And what difference does it make? It was a long time ago. What I'm getting at is that Expression stuff is Silas territory. And since you and he were rather intimate—"

"We weren't intimate, Damon!" Bonnie retorted. "He tricked me! And let's not move so quickly from your part in all of this. Why were you involved in an Expression Triangle?"

Damon rolled his eyes and sighed. "I killed twelve humans for a witch in New Orleans so I could break a sire bond with someone. I didn't know what the hell she was talking about. She told me that once I killed the twelve people, the sire bond would break. Needless to say, it didn't work."

"Big surprise!"

"I know! Witches, right?"

Bonnie shook her head as best she could in frustration. "I'm not critiquing the witch. You killed twelve innocent people for some selfish reason. Will wonders never cease?"

"Oh, hello Miss Pot! Kill a dozen witches lately?"

"I didn't kill the witches. Caroline did accidentally while trying to save me. The witches were trying to purge Expression from me."

"Pfft! A convenient excuse," Damon said, staring harshly at Bonnie in the mirror. "Silas had you in his corner and wanted that Triangle finished. You knew full well what bringing twelve witches to purge Expression from you was going to lead to. You wanted it to end that way."

"I was being manipulated, Damon!"

"So was I, Bonnie!"

Both stayed quiet for a time, their gaze turned away from each other, both realizing they had reached a stalemate in their argument. Bonnie thought about the Triangle connection, and finally piped up while still staring away from Damon. "I don't think Silas or any witch has anything to do with this."

"Why do you say that?"

"Do they seem human to you? The Sovereignty?"

Damon's eyes narrowed, seemingly contemplating the fact that he hadn't noticed before. "Are you sure?"

"No. But having dealt with the worst of the worst, whether it was Katherine or Klaus, I could still sense humanity in them. Even when Elena had her humanity turned off, there was something human still there. Like there was humanity still there to be restored. These…beings? I don't sense a shred of humanity in them at all. It's not like a vampire with the humanity turned off that can be turned on. It's like there's no humanity to turn on at all! They seem like…aliens."

"Well, maybe they are. It would explain the light show we got before the Other Side collapsed on us."

"Really, Damon? Aliens?!" Bonnie asked, exasperated.

"Hey, you said it, not me. Besides, it would also explain why you and I are here, lying in some strange room all naked and stuff. They always say the aliens are interested in experiments on the human body." Damon peered around the room with his eyes. "Maybe they're watching us right now, preparing to steal my sperm and your eggs to create some kind of alien hybrid."

"Where do you come up with this stuff? So we're part of an alien breeding program? Bonnie's expression shifted between incredulousness and amusement. "I've got to admit, it would take some serious alien intervention to get me to breed with you!"

Damon smirked while gazing over Bonnie's naked form in the mirror. "Really? I'd be highly motivated to participate!"

"Ugh! Am I supposed to be flattered by that comment?"

"Ya know, a simple 'thank you' would've sufficed. I am, after all, paying you a compliment."

"Gee, thanks Damon!"

She looked away but still felt his stare pulling her attention back to him in the mirror. "What?"

"Well?" Damon asked.

"Well what?"

"I gave you a compliment. The polite thing would be to return one back."

"Are you serious?"

"I've had a pretty bad day today, Bon Bon. Seeing you here kind of made it better…until you woke up and started talking. I just think if we're going to be stuck here together, that we try and get along. Besides, you can't seriously look at what I've got goin' on and not be somewhat enthralled."

Bonnie rolled her eyes and shook her head. She finally sighed deeply and turned her attention back to Damon. "Fine! Oh, Damon, what a hot bod you have. Elena must be so lucky to have such a stud to come home to!"

"Thank you!" Damon closed his eyes and flashed a satisfied smile.

Bonnie glanced at his face and, tried as she might, could not stifle a laugh. It surprised her that Damon could act so goofy at a time like this. But she was thankful for that. It represented the first time she felt a sense of normalcy and comfort within that place where everything was strange and ghastly.

Her content mood was horrifically broken with a new presence amongst them. While the mirrors revealed nobody else in the room, Bonnie could see Damon all of a sudden being picked up off the floor by some force. When Damon's full form finally shifted from her peripheral to central view, a murky shape suddenly had him by the throat. She couldn't make out the features of it. It was somewhat humanoid in form, incredibly tall and bulky. It seemingly had two arms and hands, one of which was grasping Damon and holding him up high off the floor. The rest resembled a person underneath layers and layers of swirling and shifting black materials, like a mixture of oil and fumes chaotically dancing together. The one distinct feature of the creature was that it seemed to have two appendages jutting out from its back. Bonnie could have sworn that they looked like wings.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE?" The shape shook Damon back and forth while it suspended him in the air with the one hand, as though he weighed nothing. The voice was like those that she and Damon had heard before. It was genderless, ageless, lacking in humanity.

Damon struggled with the creature, grasping at its arms but unable to effect any change in its grip. Effortlessly, the creature threw Damon against one of the mirror walls. Instead of Damon bouncing off the wall or shattering the glass, the mirror wall absorbed him, as though it was made of liquid instead of anything solid.

Once Damon disappeared, the Warden turned its attention onto Bonnie. Looking into its face, while she still couldn't clearly make out any distinctive features, she could tell that it was smiling at her. A grotesque, sadistic, perverted smile, like an intelligent predator that had cornered its prey and had all the time in the world to devour its victim as slowly as desired, able to savour every nuance of living flesh, blood, anguish and suffering.

Bonnie began to tremble. She desperately tried to move but her body was still being pinned down. As the Warden approached her, she began to think of spells that could perhaps help her.

"Phasmatos incendia!" Bonnie chanted indignantly. She repeated it twice more, hoping to set the creature on fire, but nothing happened.

"Suctus incendia? AHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" The laughter was the same as before when she was confronted with their fake Grams. Multiple voices joined in the glee this one creature seemed to be revelling in.

"You simple, little bitch! You think your pathetic parlour tricks work here, with us? We who master that which you wield?" In an instant, the black creature was on top of Bonnie, its face mere inches from hers. The stench coming from it was pungent and filthy, like an animal that had an open wound that was infected and had gotten out of control. "It's time for some more fun. Let us copulate and breed iniquity!"

"NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

The Warden stopped and stood erect. "So be it. Either you let us have fun, or your Grams does!"

The ceiling mirror stopped reflecting Bonnie and suddenly showed another naked person, older and female. It was Grams, with another black creature hovering over her. Grams' face was a mask of tears, horror and pain as the black shape ran its claws over her naked body. Bonnie's mind was instantly transported to the time when the Ancestors punished Grams instead of Bonnie for Bonnie's misuse of magic. Bonnie immediately began to weep.

"NO! PLEASE! LEAVE HER ALONE!"

"It's your choice…Bon Bon!" The Warden beside her said with coolness and apathy.

Bonnie closed her eyes, signalling her consent.

The Warden ran its hands over Bonnie's body, laughing and quivering as it did so.