Chapter 16

When Bonnie woke she was once again on Kol's bed. An unconscious Kol was beside her. It had been the worst kind of day. She thought she was going to visit with her mother only to wind up dead and a vampire. At least she still had her magic. She had to thank Kol for that. It was a good thing he had gotten his memory back in time to show her that spell.

He had his memories back…

For the second time today she quietly opened the French doors to his balcony and closed them just as quietly before she vaulted off. She would never get over the fact that she could do that so effortlessly now. She sped off the grounds trying her hardest to remain hidden and then walked back to her house. Once she was there she waltzed inside and realized that with her now dead anyone could enter.

She had just the spell for that though and she grabbed a keychain and spelled it before placing it over the front door. Now the supernatural was once more blocked from her house without an invitation. She smiled; grateful that she could still perform magic. She still couldn't deal with the fact that she was now a vampire and Kol Mikaelson's blood coursed through her veins.

She climbed to her room and collapsed on the bed. She wasn't really tired; in fact she'd woken up so many times today she was starting to have déjà vu. She sat there for a moment; taking shaky breaths until she realized that she didn't actually have to breathe at all. Then she curled into a ball and she wept.

Kol came awake in his bed with a smile glad that his memories were still intact. Even better were the memories of the past week or so. They had been completely oblivious but instead of taking advantage of them Elena, Caroline, Bonnie and even Stefan Salvatore had helped them through life; looking out for them until they could do so themselves.

He thought about kissing Bonnie, talking to her while she was in the shower and making out with her. He hadn't had this much fun in a long time. His little witch was amazing. He could still smell her lingering scent in his room so he knew she had been here. She must have gotten up before him. He walked downstairs and found the others in the living room; everyone except Bonnie.

"Has anyone seen Bonnie?"

"She was upstairs on your bed last time we saw her," Elijah said.

"I don't hear a human heartbeat so I'm guessing she gave you the slip," Klaus smirked.

"Well you wouldn't," Kol growled angrily, "because she died earlier today when mother slit her wrists."

"She died?" Elena and Caroline cried out and everyone had the good grace to look concerned.

"But she did magic at the quarry…" Caroline frowned.

"She's a hybrid then," Elijah pronounced, "there are only a couple in existence but every once in a while it happens." Only when Kol is involved… Elijah looked at his brother and Kol knew the secret was safe.

"Bonnie!" Caroline called loudly and everyone looked at her.

"She's not here," Kol pronounced. He walked out and hopped in his 458 Italia to make the short trip to her house. As soon as he got out of the car he knew she was there. He knocked on the door. He waited and when there was no response he knocked louder.

"Bonnie I will knock down this door and there is no threshold to stop me," Kol called. A moment later the door swung wide open despite the fact that no one was on the other side. "Very cute little witch." He tried to walk through and was promptly stopped by a threshold. He frowned; the house had always been in her name.

"Bonnie?" With no answer Kol bounded onto the roof and walked to her window. He reached for the sill prepared to force it open but it lifted easily. He tried to lean in the window and was still blocked by a threshold.

"What are you doing Bonnie?" Kol frowned.

"I am reading my grimmoires," she replied evenly but she didn't look at him.

"That's not what I mean and you know it!" Kol growled.

"You have your memories back Kol. I'm sure you're fine," Bonnie said. Suddenly Kol began to put it all together.

"I got my memories back; I didn't lose them you know," he said. "I remember everything that happened with us this week BonBon."

"Kol don't" Bonnie sighed.

"You can be in denial about that until you're ready but you need to come back to the mansion. You're a vampire now and I want to show you the ropes," Kol said.

"Go away Kol"

"Bonnie I am going to try and exercise some patience because it is you but do you remember what I told you about opening that door? I told you that once you opened it we weren't going back. I remember everything that has happened between us Bonnie; right up to this morning when you nearly kissed me senseless before I was fully awake."

She didn't respond and so he sat there. He watched the sun set and the moon rise and still she didn't come out. He watched videos on his iPhone and sent some rather annoying texts to Bekah and Elijah. When another showed up on the lawn in the early hours of the morning Kol's interest was piqued.

"Get out here witch!" Klaus yelled up at her window. Bonnie gave him no more answer than she had given Kol. "I will set fire to the house and turn it to ashes!" A few moments passed before Bonnie appeared on the lawn. She thrust Klaus off the lawn and into the street.

"You don't get to come to my house and threaten me!" Klaus flashed over to her and she let him get too close before she tried to use magic on him again. Klaus grabbed her and held her aloft.

"I think it's best you remember that I am the original hybrid and you became a vampire today," Klaus growled. Suddenly Klaus growled as he dropped to his knees. He released her and she turned for the house only to be scooped up by Kol.

"Thanks brother, see you at home," Kol said and he took off for the mansion.

Klaus was driving at breakneck speed as all of his memories came back as he had been driving to Bonnie's house but now as he parked his car in the driveway, he tried to shift into a wolf again-something that always came easy to him since becoming a Hybrid-but this time, it didn't work.

Damn you Esther! He seethed as he realized that while she was trying to kill them, she had found a way to rebind Klaus' wolf side again.

"Nik?" he turned to see Rebekah was there, waiting for him as were his siblings, Caroline and Elena-it looked like Stefan was still out of it. "Is everything okay?"

"No it isn't Bekah." He sighed and as he got into the mansion, he spoke. "I regained my memories while on the way to the Bennett witch's house." Everyone took a deep breath but he continued on as though if he didn't say this, the words would never come out. "I tried to shift back into a wolf while I was here and it turns out that Esther rebound me to the curse again."

Shock and fear fluttered through each person. As much as he wanted to spend every little bit of time with Caroline, he couldn't as he was too wound up in his anger and he was afraid of hurting her.

"So we just need to find a witch to help break the curse with the moonstone," Rebekah trailed off as Damon stormed in and Stefan took the steps, hearing that Klaus was rebound. "A vampire-hopefully it'll be that wench Sage or even that horrid Mary Porter, we have the doppelganger and a werewolf girl."

"We can't break his curse!" Damon was adamant about it. "The last time, everyone that we tried to protect died and both Klaus and Elijah are at fault for it."

Elijah bristled but Elena held Elijah back as she spoke to Damon. "Why can't we break it? Yes, the last time you and Stefan believed that you were better at fighting the Originals when you only had little glimpses of their power and you," she glared at Damon coldly, "force fed me your blood when Elijah's elixir could have saved me but you didn't believe that it would work. In the end, it was John's sacrifice that saved me. Not you, not the Elixir that I wanted to take but John!"

Hearing what Damon did during the first time, it wasn't just Elijah who was furious but it was Rebekah, Bonnie, Kol, Klaus-which was new-and Caroline who were giving the elder Salvatore brother a death glare. "So excuse me if I want to help him break that curse again."

"You can't be serious." Bonnie got out as she stared at her. "You want to help him break the curse again?"

Elena nodded and to everyone's surprise, Rebekah was nodding along with Elena.

"If she wants to do it, don't stop her." Rebekah was looking at all of them. "I spent some time with just her and realized that yes, she does love all of you but you all always seem to coddle her and it annoys her. None of you wanted her to sacrifice herself to save anyone and always lay blame on her but all of you do it for her and it's alright." Rebekah ended up walking from them but continued to talk. "I'm on Elena's side and want this curse gone. I want the old Nik back."

Elijah looked at Elena questioningly. "You really want to do this?"

"I do." She looked him in the eye. "You can call me foolish or something but in the end, this is what I want to do so please don't stop me."

Her words seem to echo through all of them as Elijah, Caroline, Kol, Bonnie, Klaus and the Salvatores watched as the brunette left, each one having wondered about why she wanted to help Klaus.

The man at the center of the whole debate decided to follow her out, unaware that he was being shadowed by his older brother.

Klaus saw Elena sitting in the garden, surrounding herself with the roses when he asked, "why did you choose my side? This time you could die."

She looked up at him with a small smile. "The part of you that's locked is your father's side and believing that you're the son of a psychopathic monster like Mikael for god knows how long, the second you discovered what you were you wanted it badly."

She was right, he realized. Ever since he could remember, he had always wondered why Mikael hated him when he was supposed to be his father until his mother's dirty little secret came to light and he wanted to be a wolf more than a vampire.

He wanted something about that side of him.

"When I found out that my parents were really my aunt and uncle and the guy who I thought was my absentee uncle turned out to be my father, I was angry." She gave a bitter laugh. "I hated him and after he sacrificed himself for me-his only daughter-I read his letter and I still read it to this day." Pulling out the worn out envelope from her pocket, she passed it along to him as she tried to dry her eyes.

Opening it and unfolding the letter, he knew that she must have just read it and that was the reason for her tears.

Elena,

It's no easy task being an ordinary parent to an extraordinary child. I failed in that task. And because of my prejudices, I failed you. I am haunted by how things might have turned out differently if I had been more willing to hear your side of things. For me it's the end. For you, a chance to grow old and someday do better with your own child than I did with mine. It's for that child that I give you my ring. I don't ask for your forgiveness or for you to forget. I ask only that you believe this: whether you are now reading this as a human or as a vampire, I love you all the same, as I've always loved you and always will.

John

"I gave Ric back the ring as I knew that one day, either I'd turn or I would have asked someone to compel me to forget about the supernatural."

His eyes were filled with confusion and he whispered, "why would you have asked to be compelled?"

"It's no secret that I like Elijah," she ended up shaking her head. "Okay-I'm in love with him-but at that time, I didn't think that he liked me in such a way and in one of my dreams, I'd tell him but he wouldn't say it back and my heart was crushed." She looked at him finally. "Remember those two mornings I woke up with tears in my eyes?" He nodded. "It was because of that dream."

"He does-" she cut him off.

"I know that now but before I didn't." She stood up and smiled as she hugged him. "I just want you to have something that belonged to that side of you."

They didn't notice that Elijah had watched and heard every exchange between them. As Klaus handed Elena back her letter after folding it and placing it back in the envelope, she walked over to the back doors where Elijah was and he flashed her up to his room.

"I do love you and I always have." She caressed his cheek and laid her forehead on his.

"That's why I want to do this but I want it to be your blood that changes me."

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