A/N: Sorry for the late update. I hope all your questions will be answered in this chapter, and I hope you appreciate the fight scene and how I dealt with it. Some ppl we're asking about a J/B ship…enjoy! I'm sorry, I know you guys liked Lucia I did too :( it was a sad loss. I've only got a few more chapters coming up and then I'll be on vacation. If I have time to write on the road then I'll post another story that I'm working on called 'The Rope'. Enjoy the chapter and please review!
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Chapter 25: The Efficiency of a Witch
Elena sighed sadly watching Damon standing motionless outside. He and Stefan had just buried their baby sister and he stood in the fading sunlight staring down at the ground they put her in. She wanted so badly to go to him, but she knew that he needed his space right now. Elena plopped down on the couch feeling utterly numb.
Jenna was dead, Lucia was dead…she didn't even want to think about who could be next. She looked up when Bonnie sat down beside her. "Hey." She started quietly. The whole house was quiet; it felt too weird to speak louder than a whisper. "I think I'm on the something. Is Damon around?" she asked hesitantly.
Elena motioned with her head to the back garden. "He's in the garden, probably best not to bother him right now…what's up?" Elena sat up a little straighter preparing herself for Bonnie's news.
Bonnie reached into a large silk bag and pulled out a couple trinkets, handing one to Elena and keeping the other for herself and concealing it in her jean pocket. "Glamours; they're to disguise our thoughts, so Icarus doesn't know what our next move is." Bonnie explained with slight excitement. She was happy that finally all her hard work paid off.
Elena smiled happily. "Bonnie that's brilliant!"
She shrugged modestly. "I didn't want to say anything until I was sure I could do it. I fashioned one for all of us." She showed Elena the rest in the silk bag.
Elena hugged her friend tightly. "Thank you so much. Finally a step forward…Damon will be pleased to hear this." She stated hesitantly. She knew this would make him moderately happy but she knew it wouldn't be enough to make the pain go away.
Bonnie pulled away and smiled. "I'll round everyone up to tell them the good news."
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Stefan stepped out into the garden staring silently at his brother's back. He'd been out here for a couple hours now and the sun was falling beyond the horizon. "Hey…" he called out but Damon didn't move. "Bonnie asked to see all of us; I think she came up with something." Stefan stated gently hoping to grab Damon's attention.
"He was sending a message." Damon claimed somberly, not even bothering to turn around. "I've been going over this a million times in my head…and he was sending a message."
"What are you talking about?" Stefan asked stepping closer to Damon.
Damon whipped around to glare at his brother. "Lucia! He didn't kill her to get to Elena…he wants me to give her up. This is all just a game to him! He wants us to decide who lives and who dies, because either way we lose!" Damon shouted a vein popping out of his forehead.
"Damon-" Stefan started in an attempt to calm him down.
"Stefan!" Damon bellowed desperately. "Our sister is dead…there is nothing you can say to make this better." Damon stormed past him and into the house taking a moment to collect himself in the kitchen before finding Elena.
He found Elena in the living room with everyone else. She was sitting on the couch which was also occupied by Jeremy, Caroline and Alaric sitting on the arm, so he sat on the floor in front of her letting her run her fingers through his hair. Isobel and Katherine sat together on the other couch, while Tyler stood and so did Stefan.
Bonnie stood in front of the fireplace before everyone, pulling out the talismans from her bag. "Okay before we start, put these on." She handed them out to everyone.
Damon looked at his curiously. "What are these?"
"Talismans." She replied shortly.
Katherine raised it in the air in front of her holding it with two fingers. "It doesn't go with my outfit." She claimed arching her brow high.
Caroline giggled nervously. "Yeah they are kinda tacky, Bon." She admitted playing with the feathers dangling from it.
Bonnie rolled her eyes. "It's a glamour…as long as it's on you Icarus is clueless; completely blocked out of our minds." She stated confidently.
Alaric grinned. "Bonnie that's great! How did you come up with this?" he looked at his with interest, studying it like only a teacher can.
"A combination of a couple of spells lots of practice and a few nosebleeds." She rushed uneasily. Jeremy gave her a look that said he didn't approve. He'd been trying to tell her to take it easy on the spells but she wouldn't let up. She knew he was worried for her safety, and a part of her was comforted by that.
Damon caught Bonnie's eyes. "You are a witchy genius." He told her sincerely.
She gave him a half smile. "Thanks. So after reading the grimoire front to back a million times, something jumped out at me…literally." She added as an afterthought. She figured it was a sign or something from Emily. Could've jumped out earlier, She thought to herself. "It's a binding ritual." She started.
Stefan frowned. "To bind what?"
Bonnie glanced up at him. "To bind Icarus to his true form. I don't know how long it will hold for but it should be long enough to do some damage."
"I'm guessing we're doing the damage…lovely, I've been itching for a good fight." Isobel piped up sarcastically. She knew she wasn't the fighter type, and if he could overpower Katherine and kill Lucia then it wouldn't take much effort for him to cast her off.
"So how are we going to get him out in the open?" Alaric questioned, stuffing the talisman in his pocket.
"Me." Everyone looked at Elena like she was completely barmy. "I'll pretend I'm surrendering, it's what he wants anyway." Elena stated bravely. "He wants me to make the decision to come to him on my own…otherwise he would have taken me by now, he's had many chances to!" she exclaimed, feeling like she was finally able to do something instead of letting everyone protect her. "We'll make him believe he won, that way we catch him off guard." She concluded with determination. Elena could see Damon looking up at her with worry, but concealed to everyone around them.
Isobel shook her head slightly staring at Elena. "I don't know if putting you out there like that is the best idea." She opposed gently.
Elena's eyes swung to her mother. "Got any other ones? 'Cause by all means I'd like to hear em'." She ground out exasperatedly. "Look I can handle it." She glanced down at her boyfriend confidently. "Damon I can handle it." She wanted to put him at ease that she was able to do one thing. Just this one thing.
Damon sighed in resignation. "We'll be right there if anything goes wrong." He promised lacing his fingers with hers.
They waited until night fall to hunt down Icarus. They figure the first place to check was the address left on the post it. Elena drove in her car with Damon and Bonnie; Katherine, Isobel and Stefan were running and Jeremy, Caroline and Tyler drove with Ric in his car.
They pulled up out front the house and sat there for a moment. "They're set up around the house, they'll be able to hear what's going on inside so you're not alone." Damon stated talking about the other vampires, easing her nerves when he noticed her gripping the steering wheel tightly.
She nodded smiling at him briefly. "Okay…I love you." She whispered squeezing his hand firmly. She turned to Bonnie in the back. "Thank you so much Bonnie…we wouldn't be able to do this without you."
The witch threw her friend a lopsided smirk. "No pressure or anything." She sobered up and nodded. "You're my best friend; what kind of a friend would I be if I didn't have your back?"
Elena smiled thankfully. "Okay…I'm going now." She took her seatbelt off and reached for the door.
Damon grasped her arm and made her look at him. "I love you too." He replied back. He didn't really feel comfortable expressing his love for Elena in front of anyone, least of all Bonnie. But Damon wanted Elena to know that he was willing to bare the discomfort for her. He got a beaming smile for it. That's all he wanted…she was so sad these last few days he just wanted to see her smile. Who knew all it took was for him to say he loved her?
Elena got out of the car, and wrapped her arms around herself as she walked up to the doorsteps. She didn't bother knocking; she just turned the knob and took in a shaky breath before entering. The halls were dark, but Elena followed the soft glow that came from the living room.
"Elena…it's such a pleasure to see you." Icarus greeted smoothly from the couch. He had one leg crossed over the other and his hands sat laced in his lap. "How is Damon doing? Did he receive my message?"
Elena tried not to let her voice waver. "You wanted me…I'm here. Let's get this over with."
Icarus frowned disappointedly, before gracefully standing. "But what's the fun in that? I wanted to play more." He faked a pout sardonically.
Elena's eyes narrowed into slits. "Playtime's over, weren't you the one who said that?" she questioned callously. She kept her distance; she didn't want to be any closer to him than she had to.
He quirked his mouth to the side thoughtfully. "Not exactly." He stepped forward, but stopped when Elena took a step back. "Being in Damon's body for as long as I was has influenced my decision of killing you." He stated with casual confidence.
Elena's brow furrowed in confusion. "So now you don't want to kill me?"
The shapeshifter smirked. "Oh…I do, but I have other plans first." His shoes tapped on the hardwood floor as he wandered closer. "You affect him in a way I've never felt before…it intrigues me, I'd like to study it further." Elena didn't need him to elaborate to know what he was talking about. He stopped once he was towering over her. Elena couldn't keep her breathing from coming out in sharp pants. "You're scared, that's good." He reached out to touch her face but she pulled back. "You know…you're being awfully quiet, even your thoughts are blank." He mentioned in interest.
"No they aren't…" she replied standing straighter and looking him dead in the eyes. "You just can't read them."
He laughed. "That's preposterous! It's impossible." He digressed. There was no way that he couldn't get into her mind; he had already touched and connected with her.
Elena grinned haughtily. "It's really great to have a witch on your side in times like these." Icarus looked a little perturbed. "They have all those fancy tricks; very efficient." She continued to taunt. It felt good to have the upper hand.
A heavy feeling fell over Icarus and it slowed his movement as he tried to reach out to her. "What's happening? What did you do?" he demanded angrily. The heaviness molded itself into a translucent yellow band around his arms and midsection, pinning his limbs from freedom.
Elena lifted her finger and pointed at him. "Ah, now you're asking too many questions." She unknowingly reiterated his previous words to Katherine. She saw the hard concentration etched on his face. "If you're trying to shift, it's pointless. You might wanna save your energy for the fight."
"What fight?" he bit out struggling relentlessly.
Damon, Stefan and Katherine burst in the door first, fists and fangs ready. "The one where we kill you." Damon chimed in cheerfully. Bonnie stalked in chanting and focusing all her energy on Icarus. She raised her hands and tensed them, causing the band to tighten and strangle Icarus more. He fought it hard; twisting and turning in the constricting force field. The vampires attacked; Stefan throwing punches, Katherine biting viciously on his neck, and Damon kicked him in the knee, snapping it backwards. Icarus hollered and dropped to the ground. Isobel entered with Alaric; she jumped into the fray draining his blood and energy from him, while Alaric shot arrows at him.
Bonnie focused harder, and the band turned from yellow to green. Icarus sent out bursts of energy from within himself in an effort to free the band from around his body. The more energy he put out, the greener the force field around him got, and the stronger it got, squeezing around him like a boa constrictor throttling its prey. He was unknowingly strangling himself with the force of his own energy.
Icarus howled loudly, putting out the last of his energy. The band melted into a vibrant green before the force field and Icarus exploded, resulting in body parts and matter splattering everywhere.
Everyone stepped back in surprise looking at the room and the bloody mess on the floor.
Caroline flicked a chunk of flesh off her shirt. "Eww…" she shook in revulsion.
Katherine looked at Icarus' head spilt open at her feet. "That was disgusting…and I've seen a lot of disgusting things in my time." Her eyes roamed the room spattered with pink and red.
Damon nudged Icarus' head away from them with his bloody boot. "That was so much easier than I thought it would be." He commented to himself before looking up to see if Elena was okay. She was rushing to Bonnie.
"Bonnie? Bonnie!" Elena exclaimed. Her friend was standing there staring blankly in front of her. "Bonnie…are you okay?" Elena placed her hands on Bonnie's shoulders to grab her attention.
Bonnie snapped out of it and looked at Elena like a deer in headlights. "Huh? Yeah…I'm good." She nodded shakily. She spotted the mess before her and her lip curled up. "Gross."
Stefan wiped his bloody hands on his jeans. "What was that?"
Bonnie shook her head in amazement. "I think I was channeling Emily."
Katherine sighed loudly getting everyone's attention. "That's great, can we go now, I'd like to wash his brains off my boots." She lifted one foot and cocked her head to the side with a small pout. Both Damon and Elena rolled their eyes.
Isobel glanced at Alaric who swallowed uneasily and pulled on his collar. She knew that was the sign he was feeling nauseous. "Ric, are you okay?"
He nodded. "Yeah, it's just…that's not something you see everyday." He nodded to the walls but he didn't dare let his eyes wander.
Damon wrapped Elena in a tight hug and she sighed contently in his embrace. They were safe. "Elena are you alright?" he asked, worry laced in his tone.
She nodded against his chest. "I'm fine, you?" he nodded against her head before she pulled away to look up at him. "I'm worried about Bonnie though…she doesn't look good." They both glanced at the witch, who was looking more than a little pale. She was standing there, swaying slightly before collapsing. Damon rushed over and caught her before she hit the ground.
Jeremy ran over and wiped the blood that dripped from her nose. "Bonnie!" he called out but she had already lost consciousness.
"Let's get her to the car." Damon carried her out to the car, easing her into the backseat of Elena's car, with her head resting in Jeremy's lap. Caroline and Tyler got went back with Alaric, and Katherine, Isobel and Stefan ran back to the boarding house.
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Her eyes were blurring when they opened for the first time. Light was shining into the room and her head was pounding. "Oh…ow." She mumbled, bringing her hand to her forehead.
Jeremy smiled in relief. "Hey, you okay?" he asked handing her a glass of water.
Bonnie took it graciously and gulped half of it down. "I think so…what happened?"
"You passed out…again." He told her shooting her a mock glare. "You had us all worried."
She pushed herself into a sitting position on the bed, leaning against the headboard. "It was a big spell, I'm fine." She lied to appease him. Truth was, she was feeling very worn out.
Jer shook his head and frowned. "Bonnie, I can't keep on watching you do this to yourself." He knew that practicing as much magic as she had been lately wasn't good for her body and he thought back to a conversation he had with her at the masquerade ball; about how it doesn't end well for people like her.
Bonnie smiled. "I'm okay, I promise." She put her hand over his in reassurance, and hid the shock of the tremor that shot threw her.
Jeremy was looking at her in a way that she wasn't familiar with. "I care about you Bonnie. I don't need another person I care about dying on me." He declared honestly.
She swallowed and gazed at him with slight fear in her eyes. "Then maybe you shouldn't care about me." She whispered her voice not able to come out any louder than that.
Jer chuckled dryly. "It's a little late for that." His eyes searched her face for any sign of resistant, but couldn't find any. He leaned in slowly, in anticipation of her rejection. Only she didn't move at all. His lips grazed her tentatively, bringing a hand up to her face when she kissed him back.
"Jeremy why don't you-" Elena's voice sounded around the corner, she stopped when she entered the room. She caught Jeremy pulling away and Bonnie ducking her head, her curtain if dark hair covering her face. "Oh…um- I'm sorry." She stuttered shocked. "I'm gonna…yeah." She turned and rushed out of the room.
Bonnie sighed and jumped off the bed, leaving Jeremy behind. "Elena! Elena wait, what you saw-" she tried to explain.
Elena spun around. "Bonnie, I'm not judging you. I was just…surprised." Elena's eyes wandered, a little uncomfortably. She just caught her best friend and little brother kissing…it was a little weird.
"It was nothing really." She argued with a roll of her eyes and a wave of her hand.
Elena caught her friend's eyes. "You don't have to lie to me. If you like Jeremy, I'm fine with it." She pushed out with a little trouble. "Just don't hurt him…that's all I ask." With that said, Elena walked back to Damon's room.
Bonnie stood in the hallway thinking about what she said. Was it just nothing? Was she really having feelings for Elena's younger brother? But Jeremy wasn't a kid anymore, was he?