Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or any quotes used/borrowed.
Notes: Short chapter, sorry guys. However, this is the final chapter of "timshel" and the next installment will be up as soon as I am able to do so, and it will be called some variation of "the devil may cry." I hope you've enjoyed this story and I hope you enjoy the next! I will post one more thing after this chapter, which will be the soundtrack, as always.
we will stand and we will hold your hand
"Cold is the water
It freezes your already cold mind
Already cold, cold mind
And death is at your doorstep
And it will steal your innocence
But it will not steal your substance."
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"It wasn't your fault, darling." Kol must have said it a hundred times in the last three days, but between having a rushed memorial for Jeremy after the Salvatores and Elena left town, and dodging her angry father who was intent on getting her to quit practicing, Bonnie wasn't in the mood much for listening.
She was intent upon Esther's grimoire that moment, missing her graduation rehearsal, where Matt and Caroline were almost certainly missing her. She flicked through the pages with a magical wind, just another change in her since the youngest Gilbert's death; nearly everything was done with magic by her hand. Even Kol, who cherished and reveled in his connection to it didn't particularly think Bonnie's usage was exactly . . . healthy.
His phone vibrated in his pocket for the third time that morning, but he continued to ignore it; whatever it was that Klaus wanted to say probably wasn't going to be of any interest of Kol's.
"Bonnie, maybe you should take a break," He suggested lightly as he bounced backward onto her bed. "Your dad is downstairs, muttering to himself about finding a way to get rid of your grimoires."
Bonnie's head shot up and Kol almost did a double take; her eyes were milky white. "Bonnie?"
"I'm going downstairs," She said robotically. Bonnie flipped the book closed and hugged it to her chest as she practically flew down the steps to the kitchen, where her father was puttering about. Kol pursed his lips.
He flashed to her desk and noticed little droplets of blood on the mahogany exterior and several symbols scribbled onto loose leaf paper. Kol squinted but couldn't recognize much about the doodles besides the fact that they were of his mother's creation. "What are you doing, Bonnie?" He ruffled through the pages, and taking a quick look at the door to make sure that Bonnie wasn't on her way back, took a second to fold them up and shove the sheets into his pockets.
Kol heard shattering glass in the kitchen and a panicked shout. His head jerked up in time for the front door to slam so violently that the house trembled with the residual power Bonnie had fused into it. Her father moaned and Kol flashed down the stairs to see what had happened. He found Rudy lying on the kitchen floor in a puddle of his own blood, which was pouring from an open wound in the middle of his gut. Rudy's eyes narrowed when they landed on Kol, but before he could condemn him, the human began to cough up blood and thick mucus.
"Bloody hell," Kol cursed and he stooped down to Rudy's side. "What happened, then?"
"Bonnie's gone crazy with all that magic," Rudy spat in a hoarse voice. "It's my fault; I should've paid more attention to her and made sure she didn't fall into that witchcraft garbage."
"While I don't agree that witchcraft is rubbish," Kol said with a withering glare, "I do think that Bonnie has . . . gone a little overboard. Here." Kol bit into his wrist and shoved it into Rudy's mouth, rubbing the human's neck roughly to make him swallow. Rudy choked but some of the blood made it down and the skin on his stomach rapidly stitched itself back together.
"A little?" Rudy growled. "What are you even doing here, vampire?"
"Going to help you help Bonnie," Kol said grimly. "Even I have to admit that the Expression has possessed her. She's done things that the Bonnie Bennett I know would never have done." This admittance wasn't said lightly.
Rudy crawled to his feet, swaying a little, and so supported his weight by using the counter to help him keep his balance. "I'm not working with you. For all I know, you've been helping poison her mind."
Kol rolled his eyes and turned on his heel. "I'll bugger off out of your house then, Mayor, and find some people that will help me save your daughter from becoming a source of all evil."
"Wait."
Kol paused.
Rudy ground his teeth loudly. "Just . . . save my daughter. But then you need to leave. She can't do this with you here; she'll worry about you endangering others, like I am right now. You're no good for this town, vampire. And as soon as you do this to her, you'll be unwanted, even by Bonnie."
Kol left and let the door slam shut behind him.
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"I was here in the seventies; it was great," Damon explained and he spread his arms wide. "The Big Apple. It was the perfect place to be a vampire because you could kill indiscriminately and no one would catch you."
"Great. So you brought me here to be nostalgic?" Elena deadpanned. They were walking on the sidewalk, letting themselves get lost in the sea of bustling, busy people. Her bangs were pulled over in a bump, showing her bright but otherwise uncaring face.
Damon shook his head. "No, I brought you here because I wanted to prevent you from pissing your friends and family off while your humanity switch was off, and maybe try and persuade you to turn it back on, eventually."
Elena flipped her hair and sighed. Damon pretended to not notice the changes in his girlfriend, like the way she only acted like their relationship was purely physical, but otherwise she couldn't give two shits about him.
"So, we're here so that you can try and make me 'good' again?" Elena snorted. "Doesn't sound like a good time to me."
"Don't worry," He breathed into her ear, eager to elicit some kind of reaction. "We'll have lots of fun. I promise." He pulled back and winked. "Now, let's get lunch." Damon tugged her along in the crowd by the wrist, but she followed eagerly enough until they passed a hair dresser's shop.
"Wait," She said and pulled Damon to a stop. "I want to get my hair done and see how well the stylist tastes afterwards." Elena quirked her lips and darted away from him, slipping into the glass building. Damon followed after.
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"What are you doing here?"
"Now, is that the way to greet the only person ready and willing to help your very own Glenda the Good Witch reform?" Kol drawled. Matt Donovan folded his large arms across his chest and glowered. His tiny girlfriend stood at his side and looked up at the Original with narrowed, suspicious eyes. Matt was wearing a blue graduation gown, having just finished a practice run through with the rest of his senior class. Anna was dressed casually, still being a junior and only there for support.
"Does that mean you know why Bonnie wasn't here today?" Anna asked.
"Or why she's been acting kind of crazy?" Matt added.
"Or why she's been putting weird protection spells on all of us?" Caroline joined their small remaining circle of friends that weren't off cavorting in other states or doing God knew what. The other three sent her confused glances, and the blonde gave them a tight smile and sharp nod. "I heard her the other day and it did not sound like the usual Latin stuff, guys. I mean, seriously? If she's going to putting a spell thingy on my house, I'd like to reserve the right to know. So, what do you know, Mister Magic Expert?" Caroline turned to look at Kol very primly with arched brows.
Amused, Kol answered her. "The Expression is taking possession of her body. We've both looked in a few grimoires to determine if there's a way to control the magic, but there's been nothing so far."
"Did you have any ideas?" Matt asked slowly.
"I think the only thing to do is get a coven of witches here to purge it from her body," Kol said grimly. "I have connections. All you need to do is get Bonnie someplace secluded where no one will hear anything."
"Why?" Caroline squinted suspiciously.
"I never said it was going to be painless."
"Wait a minute." Matt raised his hands. "If this is going to cause her pain, I don't know if –"
"This is the only way, Donovan," Kol reprimanded sharply. "If we don't do this, then you'll lose your friend; Expression will consume her and it looks like she'll become either an empty husk with no humanity or a tool for whatever evil can manipulate her."
Matt fell silent and no one else tried to argue. "I'll make a few calls. You keep her occupied."
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"That was fun," Elena said as she practically bounced on the sidewalk ahead of Damon. "But not quite as exciting as I'd thought." She gave Damon a significant look. "Let's go somewhere you used to haunt."
Damon grinned despite himself. "I know just the place that was a significant part of hedonistic past." He offered his elbow. "Come along, Gilbert." Elena breezed past his arm and started down the sidewalk without him.
"Where to?" She called back.
Damon hurried to catch up and lead her to the bar he'd frequented in the seventies, trying to take the helm of the ship back into his control. She trailed behind him when they reached his place, but scrunched her nose while he fondly grinned at his memories. Elena gave the balcony a cursory glance, but remained unimpressed.
"This looks about right," He said satisfactorily.
Elena sniffed. "I was promised hedonism."
"Well, girly, hedonism isn't a big fan of the sunlight," Damon drawled.
"Or soap," She sniped.
"Easy. Not everybody hot a hot new haircut today." He nodded at her and Elena smirked. "Just give it a couple of hours and the place will be decked out with more punk-ed out rocker-wannabes than you could eat in a decade." The place was admittedly dusty and looked its age. Only a few people were milling about, including the bartender who was wiping down the counter. "I spent most of the seventies here. Billy's was the underground of the underground; perfect place to eat all night and get your fake IDs."
"Where was Stephanie in all of this?" Elena asked idly as she spun around, giving the place a more critical eye.
"We occasionally split up over the years. Sometime we needed some space from each other," Damon explained. "This was one of those times. Unfortunately, I still wasn't alone."
Elena looked intrigued. "Oh?"
Damon gave her dry look. "Lexi dropped by."
She giggled. "You got Lexi-ed?"
"Unfortunately." Damon rolled his eyes. "I had my humanity off at the time and was drawing a lot of attention, apparently."
"She found you because you left a trail of bodies?" Elena asked. "Sloppy of you."
"Actually, Steph found me but decided that her precarious stance on the wagon couldn't handle me at the time and so she sent Lexi after me to clean up my act." It was one of the many times that Stephanie and Damon had not seen eye-to-eye on at all. She'd gone on her own bender after their little stint in Virginia in the fifties with the good doctor, but managed to get herself back on track by '63. Damon, however, had not. She'd grown concerned, blah, blah, and sent in the cavalry.
"Sounds dreadful," Elena commiserated.
"Dreadful enough to get a drink?" He suggested.
Elena shrugged. "If you buy."
"Of course."
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"Where are we going?" Bonnie asked as she tugged her jacket tighter around herself. She followed Kol through the bushes and thick shrubbery, rubbing her arms.
"To find the answer to your little problem," Kol replied.
Bonnie stopped in her tracks. "You found somehow to help control my magic?"
Kol lied. "Yes, now come on. We're wasting time." He motioned with his hand and Bonnie picked up her pace.
"Why do we have to come all the way out here?" Bonnie asked.
"This is going to get a little messy," The Original admitted. "I thought it was best that your father didn't hear." Bonnie quirked a brow, but said nothing as they continued until they found a lone witch standing in a large, circular clearing in the forest.
"Aja," Kol greeted warily.
The witch was dark skinned like bonnie, but she had curly brown hair instead of the straight locks Bonnie was sporting now. An amulet hung from her neck. "Kol Mikaelson." Aja nodded but her eyes were settled on Bonnie. "Is this the Bennett witch?"
"Yes. Bonnie, meet Aja, the head of a coven. Aja, Bonnie." Kol quickly introduced. "She was friends with your mother."
Bonnie's eyes widened. "Wow. It's good to meet you."
Aja smiled. "And you." She grew serious. "Listen, Bonnie, I know you're scared, but I've dealt with Expression before. I know the hold it can have on you."
"Thank you for helping me," Bonnie said quietly. "I appreciate it. It's just so difficult to control; how did you manage to figure it out?"
Aja slowly shook her head. "It's uncontrollable, Bonnie."
"Wait. What?" Bonnie shot a look at Kol, whose face was impassive. "What's going on, Kol?"
"Aja's going to help," Kol explained lightly, "in the only way that is possible."
"By what means?" Bonnie asked tightly.
"By purging it from your body," Aja explained grimly and as if on cue, eleven other witches stepped out of the trees and flooded the clearing. "You're going to be okay, Bonnie Bennett. We're going to take care of this."
"I don't want it taken care of," Bonnie said coldly. "I just want to control it."
"It can't be controlled, she said," Kol retorted coolly. "It controls you."
"You're the one who wanted me to do this!" Bonnie accused. "You can't be on their side!"
"He's the one that called us," Aja said to her. "And he was right to be concerned. I can smell the darkness in your heart, Bonnie. You must be saved."
"No," Bonnie growled and her eyes turned milky white. She raised her hands to fend off the witches.
Aja narrowed her eyes.
Then she and her coven began to chant.
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Just as Damon had said, as the night crawled in, a very distinctive crowd began to filter into Billy's, along with a band that was eager to relive the 70s and 80s through their passion for music. The bar became alive and couples and friends moved onto the dance floor to perform some elaborate head banging and body grinding.
Damon and Elena sat at a round table together, drinking shots.
"I'm hungry again," Elena complained.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Damon whispered into her ear and delighted in the easy grin that lit her face. "Let's get some dinner." They lost their jackets and slipped onto the dance floor together, letting their sexual chemistry lead their movements together. Damon pulled another woman into their little niche and let Elena take the lead.
"Don't scream," She compelled the human and wasted no time; she dived for the neck. Damon waited a moment while she started to get her fill. Then he put a hand to the human woman's chin and slid his fangs into her throat. The blood flooded his mouth and Damon grinned, feeling some of the thick, syrupy substances leaking from the corners of his mouth.
And so they fed from girl to girl, man to man, enjoying themselves.
"Tell me more about your time with Lexi," Elena demanded when they paused to get some drinks from the bar.
"Is that jealousy I hear?" Damon drawled teasingly.
Elena huffed. "Of course not."
"Well, we met every night for months, right her in Billy's," Damon explained, "and she tortured me in the worst way possible; she made me talk to her."
"The horror," Elena deadpanned, a little bit of the human shining through.
"She wanted me to talk about Katherine," Damon continued. "We got wasted every time."
"Sounds like a real party." Elena tossed back a shot and then shot Damon a look. "I hope you got her back for that."
"I did," Damon assured her but felt a pang of mild regret. Damon refused to date to talk about what he had done to Lexi with Stephanie. He'd mentioned once to get a rise out of her and she'd flown off the handle and given him the lecture of a lifetime. "I manipulated her to get her off my back."
Elena was immediately intrigued. "How?"
Damon hoped he wasn't giving her any ideas. "I pretended to flip my switch back on and have feelings for her. So we had a bunch of mind-blowing sex until one morning I got tired of the game and locked her on the rooftop for the sunrise to get her. Obviously, she survived." Thankfully.
Elena was impressed.
"Hey, you want to go back to the hotel?" Damon asked. "I can think of a number of things we can do before the night is out." He wiggled his brows.
Elena pursed his lips, considering. "Why not?"
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Kol watched as Bonnie's body arched up off the ground. He watched as she writhed and screamed and forced himself to remain detached from the situation. Toward the end of the ritual, he felt something inside of him burn and pop, and sudden feeling rushed through his lips. He felt like something had been returned to him.
The screaming stopped.
"It is done," Aja said dispassionately. "The Expression has been purged and her own magic must recover. I do not anticipate that she will be able to practice for weeks, months even." Her hands dropped to her sides and her coven melted back into the forest. She nodded at Kol. "She's all yours." Aja turned to leave, but stilled. "There's something about you, vampire . . . something unusual."
His magic.
"I'll figure it out some day," the witch said, almost as if warning him. Then she disappeared.
Kol stooped down and picked the witch up and cradled her to his chest before flashing out of the woods and to her home. He went in through the window and laid her onto her bed, tucking her into her quilts and sheets. The sound of a heart beating downstairs told him Rudy was home and waiting.
Kol went to Bonnie's desk and pulled his mother's grimoire off of it. Then he did something entirely too cliché for his tastes and taped a creased letter to her mirror.
On his way out of the house, he passed Bonnie's father.
"It's done," He tossed out and Rudy jerked, surprised.
"She's normal now?"
Kol snorted. "She's not being controlled by dark magic anymore. But she's still a witch and you can't get rid of that. If you can't handle it, Dad, I'd suggest you get out of her life for good, before he crush her again. Have a nice day." The Original stepped out of the house and pulled out his phone to listen to the voicemail Klaus had left him.
"Stop ignoring me, little brother. I'm taking New Orleans back and could use some of your special brand of psychosis to help. Call me back."
"Well, well, well, Niklaus. That is a tempting offer."
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When Bonnie woke up, she knew she wasn't alone. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes revealed Caroline and Matt, sitting on the edge of her bed. "Guys, what . . . ?"
"Oh, Bonnie . . ." Caroline sighed and put a hand onto her shoulder.
"What's going on? I can't . . . I can't remember . . ." Her head was fuzzy and felt like someone had stuffed cotton balls in it.
"Listen, Bon, there's something we gotta tell you," Matt said. "And . . . you're not going to like it."
"But it was for the best," Caroline reassured. "Promise."
"Start from the beginning," Bonnie commanded. "Please."
"Well . . ."
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tbc.