Like A Man Possessed

By: Tracy Cook

Disclaimer: I own nothing. These characters belong to the creators of Vampire Diaries.

Couple: Bonnie/Damon

Rating: M

Warning : This fic will have serial killer Damon in it. And lots of murder and violence and smut!

Chapter Twenty-Six

Without You

'My World Begins And Ends With You,

Stand By Me, 'Till Candles Die.'

White candles surrounded them as they sat on the floor in the hotel room. The flames flickering violently in the darkness. Luckily, the spell didn't call for any strange ingredients, a quick trip to the supermarket was all it took. They needed a few herbs, some candles, and some other things that Bonnie had told Damon he didn't want to know what they were.

The main ingredient though, was the source of life.

Blood.

"Let me have your hand." Bonnie spoke in a serious tone of voice, staring over at Damon. He had a hesitant look on his face as he glanced around at the candles, but he extended his hand to her. He wasn't backing down now. Despite himself, he had agreed to go through with the spell. He only hoped that the woman of his affections would make it out alive.

'She has to. There is no other option.'

Bonnie bit down on her bottom lip and furrowed her brow in concentration as she held onto his hand tightly. "This is probably gonna sting a little bit." She warned.

He didn't look worried about it in the slightest. After everything he had been through a little sting wasn't going to hurt much. "I think I can handle it."

She nodded her head and lifted the knife, casting her green eyes over to the grimoire to make sure that she was carving the symbol correctly. If she made one slight mistake it would throw off the entire spell. They didn't have time for mistakes. She had to do it perfectly the first time.

Bonnie's face contorted in pain as she dug the tip of the knife into the sensitive skin of the palm of his hand, drawing blood. She heard him hiss and she knew that she was hurting him. But, Damon was putting on a brave face and pretending like it was no big deal. Her heart was pounding loudly in her chest as she glanced up to see if he was okay. He offered her a small nod, urging her to continue.

She took in a shaky breath and let it out in order to calm her nerves and then she continued, dragging the knife along the palm of his hand. She etched the marking from the book into his skin.

Damon hissed again and he looked away from the blood that was now pouring from his hand. It hurt a lot worse than he had expected. After carving symbols into his wrists for weeks straight he had expected to have grown some sort of immunity to the pain. Apparently, he hadn't.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Bonnie asked worriedly.

"I'm sure." He forced a smile. No matter how badly it hurt. No matter how intense the spell they were about to perform was. It was all going to be worth it in order to get their happily ever after. That was what he was holding onto. That was what was giving him the strength to keep pushing through all of the darkness in his life.

"Okay." Her voice was shaky as she gently lowered his hand and then she lifted her own. One of the requirements for the spell was for the witch performing it to carve the same exact symbol into the palm of their own hand.

Damon watched her with concern swimming in his blue eyes as she started to dig the tip of the knife into the palm of her hand. He could tell that she was in pain, but she was fighting through it. Bonnie Bennett was a fighter. She was the strongest woman he had ever met and that was one of the things he loved most about her. But, it was also one of the things that scared him most about her. Bonnie would fight until she had nothing left to give. She would sacrifice herself for the things that she loved.

'And for whatever reason she chooses to love me...' He thought, watching the blood drip from her hand. 'If she doesn't come back from this...' He didn't know what he would do. If Bonnie didn't come back to him, if she died to save him, he would never forgive himself.

She set down the knife beside her and said, "Okay. Next it says that we have to link hands and combine our blood."

"This is kinky." Damon teased with a suggestive smirk and a waggle of his brow. "Even for me."

"You are horrible." Bonnie scolded with a roll of her eyes. But, his joke did earn a smile from her, which she was grateful for. Even in such a serious moment he could still manage to say the most inappropriate thing possible. It made her love him even more.

"You love it." He said.

She did.

Both of them knelt to their knees and moved closer to each other. The flames from the candles was the only light flickering through the room. Green eyes landed on blue in an intense and loving stare. Bonnie knew that they didn't have time to waste, but she just wanted to stare into his beautiful eyes for a second longer. She just wanted to get lost in them. Remember them, in case she never saw them again. 'I am going to see them again. I am strong enough to complete this spell. We are getting our happily ever after.'

"I do." She breathed out softly. Her heated breath rushing against his face as she rested her forehead against his.

"You do?" Damon asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"I do love it." Bonnie admitted. "I love everything about you, Damon." She tried to force the tears back as they filled her eyes, but she couldn't. They were falling down her face, staining her cheeks. Her lips were trembling and her hands were shaking. Her heart felt like it was going to break through her rib cage. The truth was she was terrified. She was just as scared to lose Damon as he was to lose her. At this point, even if they got the demon out of him and she survived, they were facing a long life of trials. The police were after them.

They would never be free.

But, she had to believe, somehow, someway, they would get their happy ending.

"Don't do that, Bon-Bon." Damon whispered sadly. Lifting the hand that wasn't bleeding, he wiped her tears away with his thumb.

"What am I doing?" Bonnie asked.

"You're saying goodbye." He leant up and pressed a comforting kiss to her forehead. "This isn't goodbye. This isn't the end. This is the beginning."

'Without You,

Things Would Never Be The Same Again.'

'That film looked so real...' He thought to himself as he watched the flames dance in the fireplace. He was still sitting on the couch. Hayley had fallen asleep about an hour ago. She was nuzzling against his chest and snoring softly as he gently ran his fingers through her hair. Today, he had found out that the woman he loved was pregnant with their child. That he was going to be a father.

That moment had changed everything for him.

Everything that Hayley had been telling him for years started to make sense to him. His job was dangerous. He had already almost died on the job. The last thing he wanted was to die on the job and leave Hayley and their child alone. He didn't want his son or daughter to grow up without a father.

Elijah was starting to realize other things too.

Rebekah's words had been repeating over and over in his head. All along he had felt like he couldn't trust her, but she just wanted him so desperately to trust her. She had begged him to give the idea of demonic possession a chance. For whatever reason she thought that it was a possibility. She believed so strongly that Damon was possessed and that he wasn't responsible for his crimes, that she had gone behind his back and lied to him.

There had to be a reason.

It was more than just her faith in her brother.

She believed it.

'How can she believe in something as absurd as demonic possession? The last time that someone claimed to be possessed she tore them apart.' Perhaps it was that knowledge that was making him doubt everything. Rebekah had dismissed every other case of "demonic possession." She didn't even really believe in the excuse of insanity. Yet, she was taking Damon's side on this case. It made him feel like there must have been some truth to it. It made him question everything he believed in.

And that was exactly what terrified him about it.

Elijah was a strong believer in black and white. You are a murderer because you are evil and you deserve to be locked away. He didn't really know what he thought of the afterlife, but he knew he didn't believe in demons.

At least he hadn't believed in demons.

Now he was second-guessing everything.

More than anything, he was second-guessing his decision to remove Rebekah from the case. He felt like he had sacrificed his friendship because he was too stubborn to believe that everything he had once thought was a lie. He hoped that she would forgive him someday. He hoped that she would understand why he had done it.

He heard his phone start ringing in the pocket of his pants and he tried his hardest to move to get it without waking Hayley up. His attempts were futile though. As he reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out, she started to stir and wipe the sleep from her eyes.

"Mmm." She hummed sleepily.

Elijah pressed the send button and held the phone to his ear. It was one of the other police officers assigned to the case. Now that Rebekah was off of the case, he was the one in charge of calling if they got any leads. He was feeling conflicted about the case now, but he had to do what he had to do. He had to do what was right. Damon Salvatore was a murderer. He couldn't be out on the streets.

"Did you find anything?" He spoke urgently into the phone.

Hayley watched her husband with worried eyes. She was more worried than ever that he wasn't going to come back to her, now that she was pregnant. She just wished that the case was solved so that he could quit the force.

"We aren't sure. But, there were a few reported sightings of people that looked like our suspects at a hotel down on Henderson Avenue. I thought it would be worth checking into."

"Thank you. I will call you in a few minutes for the details." Elijah said, hanging up the phone politely. He could talk about the case after he left the house. He wanted these moments to be about Hayley and himself.

He stared down at her apologetically. He felt like every single time they got a chance to just relax and be with one another, something would come up. "I am so sorry, Hayley."

"Don't be." She smiled and traced her fingers along his chest through the fabric of his uniform. "Just make sure you come back to us."

"I'll be back as soon as possible." Elijah said with a twist of his lips. He couldn't wait to get back to her. Maybe this case was just what he needed to realize the most important things in his life. It wasn't about saving people if he couldn't protect the people he cared most about. 'Like Hayley... And Rebekah... And our child...'

He leant down and captured Hayley's lips in a slow and compassionate kiss. "I love you."

Before he stood to his feet to walk out of the room, he moved toward her stomach and placed a gentle kiss to it saying, "And I love you too."

'Time Won't Heal Our Broken Wings,

I Can't Live A Day Without You.'

When the symbols carved into their palms connected, and they interlaced their fingers together, it caused a shift in the room. A cold breeze started to rush violently around them, causing their hair to fly and the flames to flicker rapidly. Damon's eyes were focused on her. He was looking to her for strength. He was looking to her for guidance.

Bonnie hadn't told him. She had been too scared that he would tell her that the spell wasn't worth it.

But, if the connection was broken this time, she wouldn't return to her body.

She would die.

"You better come back to me, Bonnie." He said with a small smirk. His dark hair was being thrown around wildly. As always, he was covering up his fears with playfulness. But, deep down, he was terrified. Damon needed Bonnie in his life. "I love you."

The way that he said the words were different than ever before. He said them with such meaning. With such intensity that it shook her to her core. She swallowed hard and nodded her head, "I love you too." She spoke loudly through the wind. Her hair was flying all over the place and her skin was freezing cold.

She could feel it's presence.

Edetah was consuming Damon in darkness again, and this time she could feel it in her veins.

Damon's head snapped back and the dark veins rose, moving beneath the skin of his throat like serpents. His eyes rolled back into his skull and his body started to shake. Bonnie held on tightly to his hand, making sure not to break the connection. The demon wanted to break the connection. It was trying to force Damon to pull his hand away, but he was fighting it.

She lifted her chin confidently and she started to recite the words to the spell. Her muscles were tense and it felt like there was a heavy weight on her chest making it difficult for her to breathe, but she battled through it.

Blood started to trickle down from her nose. She could taste the metallic tang on her lips.

It felt like her heart was being squeezed tightly now and there was a pain shooting through her entire body, but she continued reciting the spell. She refused to stop until the demon was gone.

'Suddenly, her eyes snapped shut and she took in a sharp breath as she was consumed by the darkness.

It wasn't like the other visions she had. She wasn't staring through Damon's eyes. She was in her own body, walking through the darkness as he had numerous times before. It was her turn to face the demon. She had to be the one to banish it back to hell where it belonged.

Bonnie couldn't see her hands in front of her face as she wandered blindly through the darkness.

"Edetah!" She called out to it. She knew it was scared. It didn't want to return to hell. It wanted a chance at a human life.

She could hear her heart pounding loudly in her ears. Bonnie was terrified, but she kept moving. She was determined to find Edetah. She was determined to finally bring peace to the man she loved. All that she needed to think about was sipping coffee with Damon on the deck in Kansas as they watched their children play, and that got her through it. That forced her to keep pushing.

Closing her eyes, she focused her thoughts and calmed her racing heart.

'Calm down, Bonnie. This demon can't do anything to you. You just have to find it and get rid of it.'

When Bonnie's eyes fluttered open she noticed a light in the far distance. Perplexity covered her face as she headed in the direction of the light. The closer she got, she started to realize that it was a clearing in the darkness. There were trees, and butterflies flying through the sky. Colorful flowers painted the forest floor and the sun was pouring down. It was only in that one place though. She knew that was where she needed to go.

She moved toward the light as fast as she could.

Once she was standing beneath the sun her skin was enveloped in it's warmth and she felt powerful. She felt energy flowing through her body. And that was when something happened that she hadn't been expecting. Large white wings broke through the skin of her back, and towered over her head. It didn't hurt though. It felt like she was finally free.

Bonnie didn't understand what was going on. She just accepted it.

The grimoire had stated that each person's journey through the darkness would be different.

This was her journey.

"So, we meet once more." A deep voice jolted her out of her thoughts. She could feel the demon's presence behind her. It was radiating a bitter coldness.

Bonnie turned and faced Edetah with her chin held up high and confidence gleaming in her green eyes. She was going to do whatever she had to do in order to protect Damon. Her wings were towering over her and flapping in the wind. That was when she noticed that the demon had wings as well. They were dark and appeared to have been made of smoke. They were swirling above it's head like serpents.

"I'm here to send you back to hell." She stated simply, hovering above the ground.

For a moment it scared her that she was flying. But, in a few seconds she got the hang of it. This was all happening in Damon's mind. She wondered if he could see it. She wondered if he was there urging her along.

"You can try, little witch." It sang. "But, I am afraid you shall not succeed.

Bonnie flapped her wings with all the power she could muster and she lunged herself at the demon.

Edetah easily dodged her attack.

But, he didn't dodge her second attack.

She could feel Damon internally cheering her on. Bonnie felt like she was invincible. She jumped on the demon and she dug her fingers into it's skull, staring straight into it's eyes. Now, all she had to do was complete the spell and then Damon would be free of the darkness forever.'

"Put your hands above your head!" Elijah shouted as he pushed open the door to the hotel room. He was wielding his gun and he was aiming it directly at the two of them. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Bonnie was bleeding from her nose, she was coughing up blood, and Damon's head was snapped back with his eyes rolled into his head. Just like the video.

He was scared as he aimed his gun at Damon's head. "Stop what you are doing right now and put your hands above your head!"

Nothing changed.

They were still performing the strange satanic ritual.

"I must warn you that if you do not do as you are told, you will leave me no other choice but to shoot." Elijah didn't want to shoot either of them. He was starting to have his doubts about the case and he would feel guilty if he was forced to kill either of them. He just wanted Damon locked up behind bars where he, or whatever was inside of him, could never kill again.

His finger hovered hesitantly over the trigger.

As he started to pull down on it, Bonnie's head snapped in his direction. That was when he noticed that she was bleeding from her eyes. His heart started to race and he fought the urge to run. He had to finish the case. "Bonnie Bennett, put your hands above your head or I will shoot."

Bonnie had no control over her body. It was some other part of her that was controlling her. It was the part of her that knew that the connection couldn't break. It was the part of her that was trying to secure her future with Damon. She just needed a few more seconds to complete the spell and the demon would be gone forever.

Suddenly, the flames from the candles started to rise to the ceiling, forming a protective wall around Bonnie and Damon as she finished the spell.

Elijah's brown eyes widened as the entire hotel room was consumed in the flames.

He was paralyzed by his fear.

As the spell reached a conclusion, Damon could feel both Bonnie and the demon leave his mind. He felt like he was finally free for the first time in a long time. But, as his eyes opened he noticed that he wasn't free. Bonnie was laying in a pool of her own blood and her body was weak and cold to the touch. The intense heat of flames were surrounding them and smoke was filling his lungs. He could hear sirens in the distance.

Damon reached out and he lifted Bonnie into his arms. He had to protect her at all costs. Holding his breath he ran through the fire as fast as he could. He could feel the flames dancing along his skin, burning him, but he didn't care.

He needed to get Bonnie out.

He needed to make sure she was alive.

'I've Been Searching In My Soul, For Those Sad Words To Say Goodbye,

Without You, I Would Die.'

Author's Note :

Gosh, thank you all SOO MUCH for all of your wonderful reviews and for reading this fic! I am so happy to see that so many people are enjoying it and I really hope that y'all like this chapter just as much! The next chapter is going to be pretty depressing. :(( But, soon we will find out if Damon and Bonnie are going to get that happy ending they want, and I know you all want! :))

So, thoughts on this chapter? Are you excited that the demon is finally gone? Are you worried about Bonnie? Are you worried about Elijah? Worried about Hayley and the baby? Hoping for a Bamon happy ending? What are you feeling?

Thank you so much for reading! It means everything to me! I love you guys!

-Tracy Cook-