A/N: It's been a busy inbetween. Hopefully it hasn't been too long. Elena is still elusive, but she'll appear soon. Read, review, and enjoy.
Disclaimer: I own nothing Vampire Diaries related.
iv.
It was evening by the time they reached the derelict lodge on the outskirts of town. Stefan kept the headlights trained on the front porch as Bonnie stepped out. It looked as rundown and gloomy as she remembered. She climbed the sunken steps to the porch. The hairs on her arms rose and her skin turned to goose flesh. Power buffeted her, knocking her back a few steps.
"They haven't moved on."
Stefan appeared beside her. He winced and placed a hand to his head. "I think they want a pound of flesh."
Bonnie moved towards the door. The witches were assembling to block her. She slapped her hand against the door with such force it broke apart. The strain on her movements fell away and Bonnie inhaled deeply. She stepped over the threshold.
"They're lying low. Come on. I think I know where to go."
Stefan followed her until the headlights no longer penetrated the dark. The air lost most of its mustiness and got cooler. Bonnie reached out to touch the wall but found none there. An arm shot out in front of her.
"Careful. The stairs have fallen away."
Bonnie fumbled for her lighter. She saw his face, all the hard lines set and his strange eyes peering into the darkness. Her eyes looked down. She let go of the lighter and it floated down into the gaping hole. Most of the stairs had been cleared away. Large brass cellar lights lined the outer hall. These were new additions.
Stefan placed his arm around her waist. Bonnie put a steading hand on his shoulder. They jumped and landed in a matter of seconds.
"You didn't close your eyes this time," Stefan said. He let her go.
Bonnie found the light switch. Pale light illuminated the passageway to the cellar. "This time I wasn't scared," she said.
The cellar room was cold and musty. And empty. Bonnie glanced at Stefan. They entered the room and walked the perimeter, meeting in the middle.
"Someone did stay here, years ago."
Bonnie could taste enchantment in the cool air. The spirits hid the room from their sight. There was no way she could strip the glamour without assistance from another witch. Whispers invaded her mind. They condemned her, hurled invectives at her, warned her of nature's swift and terrible wrath. They wanted her to crumble under their power, to know she and her chosen path would go up in flames.
Bonnie took every brutal word to heart. She let them overwhelm her until they felt satisfied, and pushed against the tide, against their power. She saw the many faces, young and old, vengeance etched in their faces.
"I was willing to sacrifice myself to you before," Bonnie said, "but never again. If I burn, you will all burn."
A line of fire shot out from her feet and along the floor. The voices howled.
"Undo the glamour," Bonnie said. The room remained empty. Bonnie inhaled. The fire ripped up the wall and licked the ceiling. The howling increased. Stefan grabbed his head and fell to the ground next to her.
"Show me the room!"
Stefan began to scream. Bonnie shut him out and focused on the keen wailing of the spirits as the flames ate at the rotted wood. Their panic suffused her emotions, as well as their torment. The fire petrified them. It made fresh a death long past. They fought to suppress the flames but Bonnie fanned them.
"Show me!"
A whoosh of air swept her face and she saw a desk, a sofa, a clothes rack, a row of maps, and tables covered in notebooks, jars of pencils and pens, and metal boxes. The maps and one of the tables were on fire. Bonnie cut a hand through the air and the fire went out. The voices fell to a murmur. Stefan went limp.
Bonnie sank to her knees beside him. She took his face in her hands and sped the healing process. The blood cleared from his eyes and he looked at her, slightly piqued.
"My head was going to implode."
Bonnie sat back on her heels as he sat up. "But it didn't. They relented."
He gazed into her face. "You would have let them."
"Think of it as payback for that coin toss."
Bonnie stood and went to the nearest table. Books on the occult, mythology, classical texts, and on the history of Mystic Falls. She left this table to Stefan and went to the next. After a few minutes she realized most of the notebooks and texts were notes from college courses. Bonnie was picking through a folder of papers, absorbing details about the Gilbert lineage, when Stefan called her over.
"What is this?"
He handed her a worn journal opened to page full of multicolored scribbling. At first she couldn't understand the writing. It wasn't English or Latin or French. She got a Spanish word here and there, but the rest…she tested the phonetics of a sentence.
"Sounds old," Stefan said. Bonnie inhaled. It was old. They spent a summer creating a language for their world, a world as extensive and whimsical as two six-year-olds could make it. They spoke that language every day for two years, writing it on the notes they passed and in the journals they shared. It startled her how easily her tongue shaped the words. She read the rest of the journal silently.
Stefan touched her hand. "What does it say?"
"It's mostly about you and Damon, how she's torn between the two of you, blah blah blah," Bonnie said. She dropped the book and picked up another one. Stefan watched her for a moment. She had her back turned. He bent and swiped the creamy, heavy card off the floor. He quickly scanned it, turned it over, grimaced, and tucked the envelope into his coat.
"Will you be alright?"
Bonnie glanced at him. "What happened?"
"Something. It won't take long."
Bonnie turned back to the journal. It was rather recent, and full of mundane observations. Bonnie flipped to the last pages, ready to set it aside, when a name caught her eye: Marlisa Rose. She stopped and read the page. Elena had detailed the trip to see Marlisa, but didn't include why. She mentioned Lorel and how significant she was to the plan as a means of distraction. Distraction from what? Bonnie scanned the rest of the pages, hoping for some kind of clue, but Elena didn't even trust herself to explain on paper.
Bonnie closed the book. Elena left Lorel behind to kill Damon. And there was a contingency plan in case Bonnie returned. But that was a big if. Bonnie walked around the room. The puzzle pieces began to sort themselves. Lorel. Elena. Marlisa Rose. Damon. Klaus. Herself. Stefan. Alaric. She stopped before a gilded mirror. The person in the mirror was unrecognizable. She stared at the dark eyes and pale mouth, at the cobwebs clinging to strands of wavy hair.
"Who are you?" Bonnie asked.
The image blinked at her, frowned, and pulled back so far that it disappeared just as pain blossomed in her neck, shoulder, and lower back. She sat up on shiny sand colored marble. A massive crystal chandelier hung above her. People in tuxedos and evening gowns twirled around her. The faint strains of chamber music echoed in her head. Bonnie swayed to her feet. The dancers brushed by her. Someone caught her hand and she was dancing too. She looked up into Stefan's grim face. His hooded eyes looked past her and she turned her head as a scream cut the music. Rebekah lay crumpled at before the orchestra, blood spurting from her neck. Bonnie made to run to her but Stefan held her fast. She watched as a hybrid withdrew a stake and struck right at the heart.
Bonnie lashed out at Stefan and he let her go abruptly. She slipped and fell into a pool of blood. Rebekah's gray, mortified body stretched towards her. Wolves emerged from the shadows, coming closer. Bonnie heard them growl, heard the click of their claws on the marble. Her vision blurred then faded as they lunged.
Bonnie shot up, coughing. The room was pitch black and frigid. She fumbled around in the dark until her fingers brushed a candle. An instantaneous flame cast a small circle of light. Shadows leapt and shivered. The witches.
They spoke in dry unison. "We know the end of this."
Bonnie frowned. "Let me guess. I die, you win?"
"You are powerful. We know this. We gave to you access to our magic. And you scorned us to save a Foundling."
"I don't need to be reminded of the past."
"Yet in the end, the past is all there is."
Bonnie struggled to stand. "I'm not interested in your games. You helped Elena Gilbert, a Foundling, plot to kill me, your ancestor. In the end, we all screw each other."
"We were wrong," they said. Bonnie squinted at the shadows.
"We have sacrificed enough. We do not seek to wage any more battles. We want peace, Bonnie. We want to rest."
"I don't understand—"
"We will help you. But you must do something for us in return."
"What?"
"Burn this house to ash and give us back to nature."
The witches never asked. They demanded. And she had been at their mercy before, helpless before, begging. It was strange to hold the power. But she could not be sure of it, or them.
"We know why the Salvatore left."
Bonnie squinted at the shadows. "Why?"
"He went to kill the hybrid."
"Again, why?"
"Because he is the one she wants. He is the one she has always wanted."
Her stomach dropped. She realized then that he had left her stranded in the house with spirits that wanted her dead. He was always the most perfect distraction, and he was always five steps ahead of everyone. Elena expected him to come to Mystic Falls, not her. He was supposed to join her here, and together, they would kill Klaus. Saltwater burned her eyes.
A blast of air cooled her enflamed cheeks. She turned to her left and heard the whistle of wind.
Bonnie took the candle and peered down the passage. She saw faint moonlight and smelled cold.
"She is determined. And determination can be more dangerous than any art we may conjure."
Bonnie tucked the last journal she read into her coat. "You may be," she paused to look about the room, "Elena is deadly, but she depends on the power of others. I need no one."
She blew out the candle.
Stefan left the roadster. Bonnie hopped into the seat and sped off towards the Salvatore boarding house. As she drove up the drive Alaric hobbled around to the side of the house. He carried a shotgun.
She blew the horn and Alaric waved an arm. She pulled up alongside him.
"Where's Stefan?" Bonnie asked.
"Out somewhere trying to kill that hybrid."
Bonnie cursed. She eyed the shotgun. "What's with the artillery?"
Just then the night reverberated with growls. Bonnie leaned over and opened the door for Alaric.
"Go," he said. She took off, sending pebbles up into the air. Alaric looked back, then removed a case of shells and loaded the gun.
Bonnie glanced at the rearview mirror. A pack of wolves flowed over the road behind them. Their golden eyes reflected the moonlight. She grasped the gear shift and accelerated. Alaric shifted around in his seat. He aimed and fired. One of the wolves went down. The others picked up the pace.
He continued to fire until the gun was empty. Only three wolves remained.
Alaric sunk back into the seat. He turned to her. "I have two shells left."
Bonnie glanced at him. A wolf was at the passenger side, about spring at Alaric. She yanked the wheel. The wolf went flying into the trees as the car spun and skidded off the opposite shoulder. The wolves were on them in an instant. One clamped its jaws around her arm. The bones fractured. In the next few seconds the wolf slumped against her, the side of its head a gaping hole. The night fell silent. Blood seeped into the air. Bonnie reached out for Alaric and found his hand grasping hers.
Together, they climbed out of the car and stood on the road. Alaric had a terrible gash on his cheek and was covered in blood. He leaned on the gun stock. Bonnie looked around.
"What the hell just happened?"
"I don't know. Stefan came just before the attack. Lorel took off and he followed and then they came, separated us, and now we are where we are."
Bonnie walked down the road a hundred yards. There was a wolf impaled on a tree, dead. She peered into the woods. Mists rose between the black trunks. She needed to find Stefan.
"Is it dead?" Alaric asked when she returned.
"Yes." Bonnie retrieved the journal from her jacket. "I need you to take this and get out of Virginia. Go to D.C. Get a hotel room. Lay low until I call you. "
Alaric examined her face for a minute. "Your arm is broken. If you're going to go galloping through the woods, it needs to be set."
Bonnie was about to protest when he limped back to the car and returned with Bonnie's head scarf. "Come," he said. He used the scarf to secure her arm. He watched her face as he did so. Her eyes were on him, but she was not present. He jostled her arm as he tied a strong knot and the pain rippled her features. She blinked and started.
"Are you done?"
Alaric stepped back. "I think you should come with me. Stefan and Damon can deal with this. I'm human and, as much as you hate to admit, you are too."
"But I'm a magical human," Bonnie said. She grinned. Alaric gave up.
They cleared the wolves from the car. Alaric put it in neutral and with a little psychic push from Bonnie got it onto the road. He got in and started the engine.
"Don't do anything extraordinarily dumb."
"How about just plain dumb?"
Alaric snorted. "Right. I'm expecting a long story when I see you," he said. He drove off.
Bonnie turned in the direction of the boarding house and went east. She ran over broken ground, scrambled over fallen trunks, ran until her chest hurt and the pain from her arm turned into a dull roar and continued to run. A light rain dampened her clothes and skin.
"Bonnie!"
She went sprawling. Nausea left her momentarily dizzy. She sucked in air but got a mouth full of mud. A hard, heavy body covered hers. She spit out dirt and leaves and shoved at the person's shoulders. Bright blue eyes briefly met hers before a wolf barreled into him. Bonnie rolled to her feet as Damon and wolf tussled. The wolf's jaws sniped at his face. Bonnie raised a hand. The wolf seized, then slumped against his chest. Damon shoved the body away and staggered up.
"You look terrible," he said.
"Where's Stefan?"
"Somewhere in these fucking woods. The place is crawling with wolves. "
Damon peered at her arm, saw the blood on her clothes, and gazed beyond her, towards the road. "Is Alaric okay?"
"I got to him, sent him away."
Damon nodded. "We need to head back to the house. If anything—"
An inhuman cry cut him off. Damon snapped his head in its direction and took off. Bonnie ran after him. Her legs were lead and each breath felt like fire. She stumbled into a tree, jarring her arm. She cried out, remembered the wolves, and strangled off the pain with magic. She was in the process of standing when Damon appeared beside her.
"Come on," he said. He circled an arm around her waist, held her tight, and flew into the air. Fir tops brushed her ankles. The moon shone bright and clear and the air was thin and cool. For a second they were still, hovering, and then they dropped, crashing through tree limbs. Bonnie saw the ground rushing up. She glanced at Damon. He tightened his hold and they landed, Bonnie being kept off her feet as he pitched forward a few steps.
"Stop," Damon yelled. Bonnie looked up. Stefan stood poised above Lorel in human form, his eyes feral and his teeth incarnadine.
"She can't live," Stefan said.
Bonnie ran toward him, hand outstretched, but Stefan was quicker. He had her heart as Bonnie forced him back.
"No," she said. Lorel slid her eyes to Bonnie. She died with rage burning in her eyes. Bonnie collapsed beside the body. Blood and damp soaked into her jeans.
"You fucking idiot," Damon said. He dragged Stefan onto his feet and punched him. Bonnie heard the crack.
Stefan swung and caught Damon on the cheek. In one fluid motion Stefan gave him the upper cut and then slammed Damon head first into the nearest tree. Damon fell with a sickening weight. Bonnie watched as Stefan stood over his brother. She manipulated her trembling hand into a fist and found her feet.
"You killed our only lead to Elena," Bonnie said.
Stefan glanced over at her. His black eyes shone in the darkness. "She posed too much of a risk. We'll find Elena another way."
They stared at each other.
"Elena was Klaus's distraction," she lowered her voice, "you were mine."
Stefan narrowed his eyes. "I didn't know what she was planning until I found the invitation. The wolves had started their attack by the time I reached the house."
"You left me to the witches," Bonnie said.
"You're reaching."
"Am I?"
Stefan took a step towards her. Bonnie held up a hand. "You take another step and I blow a matching hole through your chest."
Stefan stopped. "I had no idea—"
"Stop lying to me," Bonnie said. Her voice struck him like lightning.
"I had a vision. The first since that night five years ago. And you were there, not to help me or to protect me, but to hinder me," Bonnie rubbed her arm. It was numb. She was cold and tired despite her anger.
"You knew, Stefan, didn't you? Maybe not the details, but you knew what she was planning, and you decided to help her in that nauseatingly passive way of yours."
They both turned towards Damon. He grimaced at Bonnie. "And you, with all your indifference, you just had to develop a blind spot to this sorry excuse for a—"
"Enough," Stefan said. He snarled at Damon. "Enough."
"Why stop him? He's right. As usual," Bonnie said.
"Don't turn to him against me," Stefan stepped closer, "don't cast me off because of Elena."
The shrill ring of a cellphone cut Stefan off. He turned from Bonnie and Damon as he answered.
"What?" Stefan paused. He swung around to meet her eyes. "What?" he said again, but softer.
Damon edged closer to Bonnie as the silence stretched out. She didn't notice him, only Stefan. She looked at him and wondered when it started to hurt. Five minutes ago? Five hours? Five years? The imperturbable short range of emotion she allowed herself had imploded in one spectacular act of unconscious betrayal. This was what Caroline felt then, in those seconds of recognition. This crushing hopelessness, this utter devastation. Bonnie tried to clear her mind, but the feeling was a paralytic fog. She stood there watching him speak in such a low voice Damon strained to hear.
"I'm on my way. I'll tell her."
Stefan looked at her.
Damon cursed. It all became real again. Bonnie pressed her hand against her broken arm. The flesh was warm and swollen. She gasped as the bone fragments snapped back into place. The torn muscles and tendons of her arm healed in a matter of seconds. Her fingertips began to tingle. She rotated and flexed the arm.
"What are you doing?" Damon asked.
"Taking care of myself, as I should have continued doing," Bonnie said.
She glanced at him. "How fast can you get to D.C.?"
Damon frowned. "Maybe forty-five minutes."
"Go, find Alaric. Head to Bethesda. They will definitely come for him now."
Damon gazed down on her as though to compel her. "Find me."
Bonnie nodded. A slight breeze stirred her hair and he was gone.
Stefan and Bonnie stood alone in the woods. The end of something hung in the air, descending with every breath she took. The first twinge of despair made her blink. Stefan grabbed her arms and kissed her. He kissed her long and hard, refusing to give her air. He kissed her and she allowed herself to believe in him for the duration. It lasted until she couldn't.
Bonnie broke away from his kiss with tears shimmering in her eyes. She looked at him, her chest hurting and her stomach roiling. He held his hands out to her.
"Let's leave. We can leave this, Bonnie. We can leave them to war it out and live our life."
"Leave." She dropped her head back and laughed. "Live our life?" Her laughter echoed. A cold wind rustled the leaves at their feet.
Bonnie lifted her head to smile at him. It had all the brittle charm of foil.
"We had a relationship built on fucking, murder, and betrayal. I won't lie, I thought perhaps it went deeper, that it was something alive. Maybe it was, I don't know. But you proved every horrible thing about us to be true. You fucked me both ways. To get over Elena and for Elena," Bonnie inhaled. She looked him in the eye, calm and steady. "Stefan, I'm going to have to decline your offer of escape. You're welcome to leave, keep your ass pale and smooth for Elena."
Bonnie turned to leave. Stefan blocked her path. "Fuck you, Bonnie. This isn't about her. This is about you and me and our fucking guilty conscience, about the messes we've made. Own that, at least."
Bonnie nodded. "Happily. We're shit people. The difference between me and you is that I've accepted it and you can't. You won't. So you keep atoning by secretly aiding that picture of love you once knew. Now get the fuck out of my way," Bonnie said.
They stared each other down. Stefan was furious, but her impassivity was stronger. He stood aside. Bonnie walked through the woods to the road, and followed it until a truck driver offered her a lift.
She didn't think the entire ride. The driver dropped her outside of Richmond. By the time she reached The Jefferson, a chill had entered her bones. She entered her room and leaned against the door. For a moment nothing had happened. Bonnie smelled his cologne and thought Stefan was in the bedroom, and then she shivered and it all happened, all at once.
A succession of loud bangs snapped her out of it. She raced into the bedroom and dug around her suitcase for the cellphone. It rattled and shook in her palm. She answered immediately.
"How did you get this number?"
"I have my ways. My sister is dead."
Bonnie breathed. She sat on the bed. "I know. I was with Stefan when he got the call."
"There are already reports of more deaths, werewolves and vampires alike. I'll soon be an endangered species."
"The hybrids broke the compulsion. Elena must have found a way."
"Elena is responsible for all of this, yes." There was a pause. "I have always underestimated her. She's nothing like the two before her."
"She just launched a bomb and you're thinking of forming a fan club?"
"I've always been a fan. But this time she's gone too far. Our existence is at risk."
Bonnie rubbed her temple. "This is the second 'our' I've heard today. I have to agree with you, though. No one is safe. The Hundred have given her protection until recently. She has one of the most powerful witches alive on her side. She's planned this well."
"And Stefan?"
"Stefan," Bonnie sighed. "Stefan is her pet. She won't hurt him. Not yet anyway."
Another pause. Bonnie took the opportunity before he could speak again. "Why did you call me?"
"Because one must make sure their allies in peacetime are still their allies in war."
"Don't fear then. You're the only vampire I can trust."
"And you the only witch. You have my number. Use it."
"I will, Elijah," Bonnie said. The line disconnected. Bonnie stared at the device in her hand. She was in another war. She looked up to see her reflection. Another war she'd have to fight. But for whom?
The question lingered in her mind long after she left the hotel in fresh clothes and carrying only her worn rucksack. The morning started to break. She hailed a taxi and gave her two hundred dollars.
"D.C.," Bonnie said.
The cab took off.