Disclaimer: As you know by now, I don't TVD. If I did, a great many things would be different. Any recognizable characters, plots and dialogue belong to L.J. Smith and the CW.
As always, much love to those of you reviewing this. (A special shoutout to elejahalwaysandforever for reviewing every chapter of this story. You're amazing!) Every review makes me smile, but just knowing that I'm not the only person interested in this story is incredible!
Anyway, here's some more Bonnie/Kol/Jeremy interaction. Gosh they're fun to write!
Bonnie
Caroline came into the living room after Stefan left, carrying the bulging bag of supplies. She handed the bag to Bonnie as she settled on the arm of the couch.
"What are we doing first?" she asked.
"Unlinking Elena and the Originals," Bonnie said. "She's in danger every second she's still connected to them."
"True," Kol said. "You know, five immortals, innumerable enemies. One doppelgänger doesn't come out of that very well."
"Hey," Jeremy said, "is the link only physical?" Kol quirked an eyebrow, so Jeremy explained the rest of his thought, "It's just, what if your minds were connected too…"
Bonnie frowned. "Do you think that's possible? That could actually be pretty helpful."
Kol shrugged. "I don't know. I've never heard of that being the case, but hold on." He closed his eyes, and his brow furrowed in concentration.
Bonnie looked over at her friends as they watched Kol. Then, she checked her phone. Elena still hadn't texted any of them back. "It would be nice to know she's okay. I mean, with the link we know she's not hurt, but it's like she fell off the face of the earth."
"That reminds me," Caroline said. "Stefan said Elijah put him and Damon in charge of finding Elena. Apparently, Finn left her in the care of Rebekah."
"What?!" Jeremy exclaimed. "How did that slip your mind? She just tried to kill Elena two nights ago!"
"There's a lot happening, Jeremy," Caroline said. "It's hard to remember what the current disaster is.
"Let's just be grateful only my hand has bled," Kol said. He opened his eyes slowly. "I can sense all of my siblings, and Elena's there too, but I can't hear thoughts. I can feel strong emotions, and with how heightened mine and my siblings' emotions are, Elena's are barely a blip. But, if it helps, fear doesn't seem to be one of them."
The trio let out a sigh of relief, making Kol chuckle.
"Guess it helps," he said. "Is it enough to show you I'm fully on your side and can be untied?"
"Thought you could free yourself?" Caroline asked.
"Oh, I absolutely can," Kol said. "But I was thinking that if we're all on the same team, we should all be free. And it would be a good gesture if you untied me rather than me just shredding the rest of the rope."
Jeremy shared a look with the girls. Bonnie gave a slightly hesitant nod, but it was enough, and he reached over to untie the last bonds keeping Kol to the chair. Once the ropes hit the ground, Kol stood and shook out his limbs.
"Oh, that's better. Thanks, mate. Alright, so let's get down to it. For the unlinking, do you think harnessing the full moon will be enough power for you?"
Bonnie frowned. "I don't know. If I had someone to channel, maybe. But, won't your mom be casting her spell then? How can I unlink you while she's making you all human? What if she kills you before I can finish my spell?"
"Leave Esther to me," Kol said. The veins on his cheeks darkened and his fangs lengthened, Bonnie stepped back instinctively. "If I can't get to her, rest assured, my brothers will handle it." He shook his head and his vampire visage faded away. "Sorry. Let's just focus on getting you the power you need."
Bonnie nodded, but she stayed back where had wound up.
"Maybe…" Bonnie hesitated. "Esther's channeling my family's magic. Maybe I could redirect it or something."
"The entirety of Ayana's line?" Kol asked. "Yeah, that would probably be sufficient. If you can get them to your side."
"They're family," Bonnie said. "I've done spells with some of them before. It can't hurt to ask."
"What are you thinking?" Jeremy asked.
Bonnie glanced at Caroline, who gasped. "A seance? Bonnie, are you sure? Remember what happened last time?"
"Do I remember Emily possessing my body, marching me into the woods, destroying Damon's talisman, and nearly getting me killed because of it?" Bonnie asked, her tone harsh and her eyebrows high on her forehead. "Vaguely. But this is for Elena."
"Jeez, sounds like someone didn't ground themselves before talking to the spirits," Kol said. "Didn't anyone teach you better than that?"
Bonnie turned her glare on him. "No. We weren't do any magic. It was just a girls night thing."
Kol rolled his eyes. "You're magical. Your ancestors are magical. You really think contacting them requires a spell to be magic?"
Bonnie continued to glare.
"Alright, so… Grounding." Kol moved to the bag Stefan had brought. He tipped it over and poured out the contents. "Hmm, no crystals, so that methods out. We can't go outside, so barefoot on earth's not gonna do anything. Ah, sage! That'll help, but it'd be better with sandalwood. No salt? Who brings a witch supplies but doesn't bring salt? Young vampires…."
"Dude," Jeremy said, "we have salt." He went to the kitchen and grabbed the salt from the pantry.
"That's cute," Kol said. "But there needs to be enough for her to lie on for it to work as a grounding agent."
"I think there's rock salt in the basement," Jeremy said.
"That'll work."
Before either guy could move, Caroline flashed away and back. She was carrying a bag over her shoulder. Back in the living room, she tore open the bag and spread the salt out into an oval large enough for Bonnie to lie on.
Kol looked over at Jeremy. "Hope you don't mind we're making a mess of your house, mate."
"If it helps Elena, I'd trash the whole thing," Jeremy said with a shrug.
"If it keeps my ancestors from possessing me," Bonnie said as she moved to the salt, "I will try anything."
Kol's smirk turned lascivious. "Well then, there's one final method for grounding."
"I'm not going to like it, am I?" Bonnie asked.
"Dunno. How do you feel about nudity?"
"Hell no!" Bonnie and Jeremy both exclaimed, and it was hard to tell which was louder. Caroline looked back and forth between the two and had to hide a smile behind her hand. Kol felt no such compunction, and he grinned at them.
"You two really need to find some closure. But, fine, if you're too shy to take that step, the sage and salt should be enough. Unless there's anything else you think ties you to this plane."
"My friends," Bonnie said without hesitation.
Kol nodded. "Hand holding it is. You two," he pointed to Jeremy and Caroline, "while she's communing with the spirits, you're to hold her hands, and you don't let go until she's back and we're sure it's her that came back. Got it?"
They nodded, and the trio moved to take their places on or near the salt.
"You don't need to lie back just yet, BonBon," Kol said.
Bonnie glared up at him. "That's no better than darling," she said.
"Fine, fine. I'll think of something," he said. "You said you've done this part before, right?" She nodded. "Good. Focus on who you want to talk to most. Maybe you don't need to talk to every generation - I'm not sure we have time for that."
Bonnie closed her eyes. Grams was the first to come to mind, and Bonnie called out with all her heart to her. However, she also thought of Ayana. She'd never met the woman, and had only heard stories, but if Ayana's power was even a fraction of what she'd heard, she'd be the perfect place to start getting the ancestors on her side.
As she focused, her body went rigid. Her fingers twitched and tried to pull away, but Jeremy and Caroline held tight. After a moment, she went limp and fell back on the salt. Her friends' hold on her hands never wavered though as Bonnie's spirit traveled away from them.
Bonnie opened her eyes, but found herself in completely unfamiliar surroundings. She was in a one-room house. A fire burned within a small stone hearth on one wall. Nearby, a primitive bed was made up neatly. The opposite wall housed a tidy altar, where candles sat, half of them lit. Above the altar, bundles of drying herbs hung from the ceiling. Beside the altar, shelves were buried in leather-bound books. The few spines Bonnie could make out were decorated with symbols she didn't recognize.
"Welcome, Bonnie."
The voice made her jump, and when she turned, she met the eyes of a woman with waist-length dark hair, and features that Bonnie had seen in her family photo album. Her eyes exuded wisdom that far outstripped the age on her face.
"Who are you?" Bonnie asked. "I was hoping to see my grams."
"I am Ayana," the woman said. "This is my home, or the memory of it at least. I know you were looking for Sheila, but I felt it was time we meet and talk. What is it you require of us, Bonnie? As you know, another already draws upon our familial power."
"Uh-" Bonnie started, but she didn't know how to ask. Ayana was somehow mythical to her. What she had wanted to say was lost.
"Come, child, tell me what it is you seek," Ayana said. "You mustn't linger long here. Whatever it is, the worst I can do is tell you that I cannot aid you."
She led Bonnie to a pair of cushions near the fire, and they sat, though Bonnie's legs were stiff. It felt like she was wading through peanut butter. It was a relief to sit.
"I'm here because of Esther," she said after taking a deep breath.
"Yes, my former student has awoken at last," Ayana said. She nodded slowly. "Has she decided, at last, to rectify the mistake she made in turning her children into those perversions of nature?"
Bonnie frowned. "Yes," she said slowly. This wasn't looking good for her cause, but maybe she would be able to persuade Ayana.
"Do you wish to help her?"
"Um, no," Bonnie said. "I'm trying to find a way to undo one of her spells, and hopefully stop her."
Ayana cocked her head to the side as she regarded Bonnie. "But they are abominations. Their existence threw nature, which we serve, out of balance. I tried to stop Esther before she could create them, but failing that, why should I not aid her now?"
"I mean, I don't like them," Bonnie said. "And I want the Originals as far away from my friends as possible, but-"
"But?"
"But, Esther's planning to use their deaths to end all vampires, and… some of them are my friends. Killing all of them without considering each individual…" She paused. "I don't want my friends to die."
"So, you are requesting this from me for purely selfish reasons?" Ayana asked. "All vampires should be allowed to continue living because a few have convinced you they are not monsters?"
"Well, yes," Bonnie said. "Not the selfish part. It started that way. My friend Caroline, I wanted to make sure she would be okay. But… there's more to it now. Wiping out thousands, maybe tens of thousands or more, lives - even vampire lives - is genocide, and I can't- I can't do that. That would through nature off balance in its own way, wouldn't it?"
Ayana's lips quirked into a small smile, but she said nothing more as Bonnie continued to reflect.
She thought of Kol, and reluctantly Damon, as well as many of the vampires she had met since she had been made aware of them. She didn't trust Kol or Damon, nor did she particularly like either of them. But she didn't think either deserved to die. There might yet be redemption. Kol had been helpful. Snarky and at times disgusting, but overall, nothing like what she had been expecting.
"I don't think they're irredeemable," Bonnie said in a low voice. "I think that killing them all robs them of a chance to be less monstrous. I don't want to take that from people I've never had a chance to meet."
Ayana's small smile transformed into a grin. "Very good, Bonnie."
"Wait, what?" Bonnie sat upright. "Was this a test?"
Another form materialized beside Ayana, and as Bonnie began to make out the woman's features, she took a shaky breath before throwing herself at her.
"Grams?" she asked, incredulous. "You're here?"
"Of course I am, Bonnie. You wanted to see me, and you went to great lengths to do so. You can't stay for much longer, but I need to tell you how proud of you I am."
Bonnie clung to her grandmother and choked back a sob as she asked, "E-even when I-I-I keep getting involved in v-vamp-pire business?"
Sheila Bennett stroked her granddaughter's hair as she answered the shaky question. "Even then," she said. "You are right where you are supposed to be. It's not what I would've chosen for you, child, but I've seen you grow. And today you've proven that you can see the balance, even when you don't necessarily like the choice."
"You have the ability to turn the tide before Esther causes more irreparable damage," Ayana said. "We will be behind you when you act against Esther."
"You will?" Bonnie asked.
"We will," Grams said. "But now, it's time for you to go. To remain here any longer would risk your life."
"No! I don't want to leave you!" Bonnie exclaimed.
"Oh, honey," Grams said while stroking Bonnie's hair. She wiped away a stray tear. "We are always with you. I haven't left your side, and you'll never be without me."
Bonnie wrapped her arms around Grams again and held her as close as she could. "Promise?"
"Yes, Bonnie," she said.
The feeling of her grandmother's hand on her back faded away until Bonnie found herself lying on the floor in the Gilbert living room. As she slowly blinked and sat up, she looked down to see her hands still in Jeremy and Caroline's. Both were holding on so tight she was surprised to see she still had her fingers. They were watching her with worried eyes.
"Bonnie?" Caroline asked.
"It's me," Bonnie said. When Caroline raised a silent eyebrow, Bonnie offered proof, "You tell people your favorite color is yellow because it's happy, but you don't have a favorite color."
"Oh, thank GOD!" Caroline said, pulling Bonnie into a hug. Bonnie clung to her best friend and held back the sobs that wanted to break free. It had been wonderful to see Grams again, but once more, they were separated. But she held onto Grams' words. She wasn't alone, and she could do this.
Jeremy rested a hand on her back, rubbing in soothing circles. When she had calmed somewhat, Kol leaned in closer.
"Well?"
Bonnie wiped her cheeks and set her face into a determined expression.
"They'll help."
"Perfect."
A/N: A few chapters back, I mentioned an idea for a new story (The Doppelganger Kerfuffle). I wrote out the first chapter, and I'm wondering if anyone would be interested in reading it, even though I likely won't update it until I've finished Cursed. But, if there's interest, I would love to start sharing with you my next project!