Chapter thirty one

Dinner had been fun. Yvette had even allowed Henry to enjoy himself a little, for which Damon was grateful. He'd have never heard the end of it from Elena or Caroline if there had been the slightest sign of abuse going on. They would understand when they got older. They were too young to understand human injustice much less what went on between the supernatural communities.

He didn't like it because it was another vampire but how was it any different than what he had done to Caroline in the beginning. Weren't he and Alex just a juxtaposition of him and Andi? There was a balance there somehow. Still… if he were ever to come across the bitch in a dark alley when he wasn't involved with Alex … only one of them would be coming out.

They paid the bill and went outside.

"I don't want to go home. It's too early. We should go do something." Caroline said and Elena smiled.

"Sure." It was good to see her friend smiling again; genuinely smiling, not merely faking her way through the day. Elena knew the difference. She had been there for months after her parents had died. Up until Stefan had come into her life. "We can catch the late show over at the theater."

Thinking of Stefan she took out her cell phone as they were crossing the street.

"We already have plans." Damon said. "So we'll leave you to it." He slipped an arm around Alexandra's waist as they crossed. He heard the car engine rev, and without taking time to look pulled Alex out of the way, just as Caroline pulled Jeremy and Elena back.

Henry reached for Yvette and they were both struck as the SUV swerved directly at them speeding up as it did so. Henry rolled over the hood, grabbed on to the roof rack and punched through the roof ripping a section of it back before reaching in to claw at the driver.

Bonnie screamed and grabbed the vervain soaked towel at her side and held it to the hand that had come through after her. When the vampire screamed in pain and let go she sped up then suddenly stopped to send it flying forward off the car, and then sped up again running it over as she drove frantically out of town. She could already hear the sirens of both police and ambulance.

Alexandra ran to her sister's side, as Damon went to pull Henry out of the road. He could tell by the shriek of horror and rage that Yvette was gone. He handed Henry off to Elena. "Get Matt's truck and take him back to the boarding house. Lock him up down stairs. He's going to be crazed when he wakes up. "He said kneeling beside his lover and pulling her close. "I'll take care of it. "He told her as he turned her face to his. "Look at me." He said wiping the tears from her face. "I'll take care of it."

She nodded and leaned into him a moment before turning her attention back to her sister.

"Stay with her." He told Caroline and took off down the street at a run. He'd never catch up to her this way, there were too many places to turn off the road. He turned off out of sight and lifted into the air, taking the form of his crow. He caught an up draft and soared high above the town scanning the streets until he spotted the car in the distance.

"What happened here?" Liz Forbes asked as she got out of the car. "Caroline, are you alright?" Her daughter might be a vampire but Liz knew all too well how fragile vampires really were under the surface.

Caroline nodded. "It was Bonnie, Mom." She said wiping her own tears away. She didn't know Yvette and wasn't grieving her loss, but the loss of her friend. No matter what happened now there would be no saving Bonnie. Damon had left with murder in his eyes. "She did this on purpose. "

"Alright honey. " She said and knelt beside the body making sure that the woman was actually dead before calling it in. "What was she driving?"

Alexandra looked at Liz for what seemed to her to be an eternity, even though no time had really passed at all. "it was a Silver SUV" she began and the words just kept coming, tumbling from her mouth like water over the falls. She paused occasionally looking around her trying to find Damon, but then she remembered why he wasn't there and started talking again.

Liz gave a worried look to her daughter as she gently touched Alexandra's face. The woman was cold and clammy to the touch and she didn't have to shine a light in her face to see her eyes were dilated. She put in a call for an ambulance as well. "She's in shock. I'm sure she'll be fine, but I want her checked out at the hospital."

Caroline nodded. "Mom… it was Bonnie." She said again. "And Damon went after her. If he catches her he'll kill her. "

Liz swore. "I'll go after them." She said. "You stay here and make sure she gets into that ambulance. I'll take statements later… if there is anyone left to prosecute."

Damon pulled up the fog, forcing her to slow down on the winding roads just enough to allow him to land on the car, hopping twice he reached the hole Henry had made and slid inside. He tore at her with his talons, pecked at her head, listening to her scream. It had been far too long since he had heard the terror in someone's voice, since he'd smelled the fear as the endorphins and adrenaline filled their blood. He had every intention of enjoying this.

Bonnie lost control of the car and it sped off the road. It flipped on its side. The fiberglass screeched in protest until it came to a halt, lying on the driver's side. She fought against the crow, trying to get loose from the seat belt at the same time. She felt something wet beneath her fingers and she grasped the towel lashing out at the giant bird, wrapping it in the vervain soaked cloth and tossing it into the back of the SUV.

She wasted no time climbing out the passenger's side and then jumping to the ground. Looking around she saw no choice but to head into the woods and hope to find cover there.

Damon nearly succumbed to the vervain. He was woozy when he shifted back to human form to escape the towel. "Bitch." He said as his head cleared and he kicked out the back hatch. He stood in the road just listening, and then he smiled. "There you are." He breathed and began to follow. He had no desire to be quick this time.

The fog thickened and he moved quickly through it, sensing the forest and what was in it more than seeing. He found her and sped around to be in front of her as she ran. Bonnie backed away and started running to the left, to the right, no matter, he was there instantly.

"I haven't ripped anyone's throat out in months. I'm looking forward to this. You don't mind if I savor the moment do you?" He said, a slow wicked smile spreading across his face.

"You would be dead if it weren't for me." Bonnie said, and started running again, only to find him blocking her path once more.

"True, and normally that would put me in a much more forgiving mood. " He said "That and I really hated that bitch. On the other hand however, you did it in front of Alexandra. You mowed down her sister right in front of her. I just can't find it in me to forgive that. Sorry. Still going to have to rip your throat out. "

He lunged forward gripping her throat and pressing her back against the nearest tree.

Bonnie attempted in vain to cause him pain, her powers didn't seem to work on him and she screamed in frustration as much as fear.

"Yeah, since your attempt at making Stefan your little magical pawn, I've been adding rowan to my diet. The crow likes the berries so it all works out." He said forcing her head to the side, exposing her jugular.

Bonnie struggled in his grasp. "No." She said clawing at his face. "No!"

"Still Alexandra does have her little rules." He said. "no leaving bodies all over the country side, no bringing home take out." He said leaning his head in closer to her throat, pressing his fangs against her throat. He pulled back a little then. "Do you think she'll forgive me? " He asked next to her ear.

"Go ahead." Bonnie said tightly. "Go ahead Damon. Kill me. Your witch is dead. There is no way you can defeat Klaus now without killing him. " She said "So go ahead.

Witch? He thought and pulled back to look into her eyes.

"Damon." Liz said aiming a rifle at him.

"Go away Liz. This doesn't concern you. It's vampire business." He said not bothering to look her way.

"I can't let you kill her."

"She ran her down like a dog. Right in front of Alex. Have you ever watched someone you love die, Liz " Damon said, not looking away from Bonnie's face. "Did Caroline tell you what she did to Tyler? That she tried to kill her and Elena? I'd be doing the town a favor and you know it."

"None of that matters right now. I can't let you kill her." She said firmly. "Don't make me shoot you. You're my friend but I will shoot you if I have to. Death isn't always the answer. There are other ways to deal with our problems than killing people. "

He looked over his shoulder to glare at her then turned his head back to Bonnie. "Fine." He looked the girl over and a slow smile spread across his face. "You've been Klaus's bitch for a while now. He wouldn't let you use vervain. It takes away too much of his control. " He locked gazes with her and leaned in close, ignoring the sound of the rifle cocking behind him. The more he whispered the wider her eyes became until finally she began to shriek. He let her go then, as she fell to the ground, screaming in terror and sobbing.

"What did you do?" Liz asked.

Damon clasped her shoulder. "I took your advice. You were right. There are other ways to deal with our problems. " he said "I really would have liked to rip her throat out though. Six months next week. People are gonna start thinking I've reformed or something. You need my help or can I get out of here?"

Liz looked at him not sure if she was horrified or saddened. "You can go. Alexandra was in shock, they'll have taken her to the emergency room." She said walking over to Bonnie who was curled into the fetal position and sobbing.

Damon called Elena as he walked through the woods. "I need you to get over to the apartment and stick to Avril like glue. Bonnie was trying to take her out not us. "

"Oh god. " She said quietly. "What do I do about Henry?"

He told her where to find the stash of liquid vervain. " Give him a shot of it. It'll keep him out long enough for you to get to Avril. Take her back to the boarding house. I'll bring Alex there when they let her out of the hospital. And where the hell is my brother?"

"I don't know. His phone keeps going straight to voice mail." Elena said.

"Great." Damon said. "Let me know when you get hold of him." He hung up and sped toward the hospital. He was going to need to feed soon. Changing forms took a lot out of him.

"Hey how is she?" He asked softly spotting Caroline coming back to the room with a cup of coffee.

"She's sleeping. They gave her a sedative, and an IV of something to help her. " She looked Damon over and was surprised to see so little blood on him. " Did you…?"

He shook his head. "I was going to. Then your mother showed up and threatened to shoot me." He said with a disapproving look. "No more tattling."

"You really didn't kill her?"

"I really didn't kill her." He blinked as Caroline hugged him. "Hey watch it with that coffee, its hot." He said and put a hand on hers that was holding the coffee. "But I did … sort of drive her a little crazy, not that it was a long trip. "

"Damon!" Caroline exclaimed.

"She ran a woman down. It wasn't self defense, it wasn't to feed, it was to keep us from being able to put lover boy there" He tapped the pendant resting just above her cleavage, "Back into his own body. She did it to protect Klaus." He snapped. "All of you want to pretend you're human, well we're not. We take care of ourselves and we avenge our own. Wake up little girl and smell the b positive. " he said and turned to enter Alexandra's room.

She was asleep but still he could hear the hitching breaths that had not yet quieted. Even though her mind was numbed, her body was still wracked with grief. God what she must be going through, he thought. He couldn't imagine losing Stefan like that. One moment laughing and smiling and the next broken and bloody on the ground and the world was changed forever.

You got used to losing the humans in your life. The people who got sick and old. They died. You accepted it and moved on. But the people that were like you, the people you had known for centuries in some cases those losses came hard.

Damon climbed onto the narrow hospital bed with her and pulled her close. "I've got you," he murmured to her. " Shhhh I've got you."

Julianna Sauveterre opened the armoire and picked up a bottle of vervain, intending to make an evening cup of tea. Vervain and Chamomile were her evening favorites, but a splash of color where there should be none caught her eye. She picked up the long narrow glass box that held three disks within, two of black, and one of deep blood red.

She sank to the floor, unable to draw in breath as the tears fell down her cheeks. She rocked, her arms closed tight around herself as silent sobs racked her body. "My baby…" she repeated whisper soft until she finally screamed under the weight of those two words.

The heavens echoed her cry with one of its own. Thunder clapped over Mystic Falls, and it began to rain.