Chapter 2

A week went by and Damon hadn't heard from or seen Bonnie or Kai. He went by Bonnie's house every day, only to find it abandoned like she had never even been there. He called her phone, which went straight to voicemail. He even called Kai's phone but Kai never answered. Every day that went by, Damon got more and more concerned about what kind of trouble Bonnie was getting herself into. When Liz called him over to the house, he was happy for the distraction. He thought she just wanted him to sit with her while she rested, so he was surprised when she handed him a manila envelope with the Sheriff's stamp on the front.

"What's this?" he asked.

"New case," she said tiredly. "I need you to work on it for me. Kind of like our final act as a team."

She smiled softly, but he frowned.

"Don't say that," he said. "You're gonna live for a long time. Who else would put up with me?"

"Open the file," she directed through a yawn.

He propped his feet up on the coffee table and opened the envelope, which contained a few pictures of what appeared to be a dead old woman. Damon turned the pictures around a couple of times, trying to figure out what was so special that Liz needed his help.

"It's a dead old lady," he shrugged. "What's the big deal?"

"Her name is Lisa Waters," Liz responded. "She was found dead a couple of days ago right outside of Mystic Falls."

"Okay..."

"She was eighteen."

Damon's eyebrows hiked up to his forehead.

"Eighteen? She looks like she's a hundred years old!"

"And hence, why I called you. She was completely drained."

"I've never seen someone look like this after being drained of blood," he said.

"They didn't take her blood," Liz said mysteriously. "Someone drained her of life."

Damon closed the envelope and sat up straighter.

"I'm not sure I follow."

"The only way I can explain it is that whoever attacked her didn't drain her of blood, but basically stole her life force until she died. Hers is the first body found near Mystic Falls, but I did some checking and apparently some of the bordering towns have had bodies found in similar condition. Any ideas?"

"Well, I only know one person who's capable of siphoning energy from other people."

They said in unison, "Kai."

"I'll look into it," he said as he stood. He patted her hand. "Get some rest."

As soon as he was outside of the house, he whipped out his phone and Stefan.

"Looks like the search for Bonnie just got a little more crucial," he said. "Kai may be dragging her along on a killing spree. Get the Scooby Doo gang together and let's meet at the house."

He hopped into his car and drove by Bonnie's house again, just to be sure that she wasn't there. When he found it empty, he drove to his own house and by the time he got there, so had everyone else. Stefan, Caroline, Elena and Jeremy were crowded around the living room, and Damon rolled his eyes when he saw that the youngest Gilbert armed with a crossbow.

"Really? What the hell are you going to do with that?" Damon asked.

"I'm gonna shoot Kai the second I lay eyes on him," Jeremy said, puffing out his chest.

"No, you're not," Stefan told him. "We don't know what kind of hold he's got on Bonnie or how they're connected. No shooting, killing or maiming until we get a better idea of the situation."

"I can't believe this," Caroline said with wide eyes. "I can't believe that Bonnie's been back for a week and hasn't even said a word to any of us."

"She said some words to me," Damon said with a smirk. "Shortly before she tried to explode my brain, but I guess that's beside the point."

"What are we going to do?" Elena asked. "We need a plan. We just need to talk to Bonnie and I'm sure we can get through to her."

"That would require finding her first. And even if and when we do that, I'm afraid it won't be as simple as just talking to her," Damon said. "She's pissed and using Expression and probably not in her right mind."

"So what are you suggesting?" Stefan asked.

"Yes," a voice said that made all of them snap their heads in the direction of the door. "What are you suggesting?"

Bonnie strutted into the room, seemingly out of nowhere, followed by a smirking Kai. She was once again in a short dress that looked like it was painted on. Her hands were stuffed into the pockets of his leather jacket, and her hair was sort of wind-blown and wild. She wore high-heeled black boots and she smiled as she stood right in the middle of the room.

"Please, don't stop on my account," she said.

"Oh my God, Bonnie, we've been so worried about you," Caroline said as she started to walk towards her.

"Sit down, Caroline," Bonnie ordered.

She flicked her hand in Caroline's general direction and the blonde went flying across the room, landing harshly in a chair. She tried to get up but was magically bound to the seat.

"What are you doing, Bonnie?" Elena screamed. "She's your friend!"

"Shut up," she said, and Elena's mouth suddenly closed and wouldn't open again. Elena's eyes widened in panic and she started to charge at Bonnie, only to be thrown against the wall and pinned there.

"Didn't you learn the last time I was using Expression that it's not in your best interest to screw with me?" Bonnie stood in front of her former friend and shook her head. "Elena, Elena. We used to be such great friends. What happened? Oh, that's right. You became a selfish slut that fucked two brothers and turned them against each other. I've kind of hated you for a long time."

Bonnie heard Caroline gasp in the background but she continued to stare at Elena, whose nostrils flared in anger.

"You know you're worse than Katherine?" Bonnie asked. "At least Katherine owned her messiness. She let her bitch flag fly and she didn't care what anyone thought of her. But you...you still try to hide behind those big brown eyes and act like you just don't understand why all these shitty things happen to you. Has it occurred to you that you brought it all on yourself by being a backstabbing whore?"

"That's enough," Stefan said.

Bonnie calmly turned to look at Stefan, who held up his hands in surrender and slowly backed away.

"You don't mean that stuff, Bonnie. You're not yourself right now. We're not trying to upset you, okay? We just want to help."

"Help?" she asked, with a raised eyebrow. "The time for help has come and gone. I needed help when I was stuck in a different dimension all by myself." She stalked towards him as he continued to back away. She ran her hands along the back of a chair, then broke it in half and tore off one of the wooden legs. Stefan's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"Bonnie..." he said, shaking his head.

"Stefan," she taunted with a smile. "Are you scared?"

"Kind of, yeah."

"Only kind of?" she asked, pouting. "Then I'm not doing a good enough job."

Without warning, she threw him against the wall and stabbed the broken-off wood into his abdomen. He grunted, Caroline screamed and Elena thrashed about.

"I was scared," Bonnie said casually. "When I was alone." She twisted the wood and shoved it in deeper, making him groan loudly in pain. "I was hurt, too. It sucks being afraid and alone, you know?"

His eyes bulged as he tried and failed to remove the stake lodged into his stomach.

"Please," he begged.

She ignored him, then turned to Jeremy and Damon, who were standing statue-still with their hands out in self-defense.

"Bonnie, calm down," Jeremy said. "The Expression has a hold on you right now and you're not being yourself. You're gonna regret this."

"Oh, no, I don't think I will," she said with a big smile. "See, the Expression has freed me, Jer-Bear. I'm so powerful right now that I could crush all of your skulls without even blinking. But I'll be honest with you guys; I do have a little help. I've drained about five witches of their life force and I'm high as a kite on magic right now."

"That was you?" Damon asked. "You're the one who killed all those people?"

"Killed is such a strong word," she said, turning on her heels to walk to him. "I just borrowed some of their energy and took a little too much. I meant to stop, but it felt so good. All that magic. And power. It makes me not feel the pain of abandonment and rejection. You know what that feels like, don't you, Damon?" she asked innocently.

He started to back up but she held up her hand and said, "don't move." He tried to move again but his legs were rooted to the ground and he was at her mercy. He stood up straight and watched as she circled him, running her hand down his chest, then around his waist.

"I thought you of all people would understand," Bonnie said. "I mean, Katherine rejected you. Elena rejected you. Hell, everyone prefers Stefan to you."

He gritted his teeth and didn't respond. He tried not to look at her at all when she was in front of him again, but he didn't have much of a choice when she grabbed his chin and forced him to meet her eyes.

"But not me," she said in what he could only describe as a sultry whisper. She titled her head to the side and smiled. "As much as you hated being stuck in 1994 with me, as much as you wanted so desperately to get back to Elena, there was a part of me that thought maybe you enjoyed our time together. I just knew you would come back and save me. But you didn't."

"I tried to," he said. "I did everything I could."

"Well, it wasn't enough. I thought we connected."

"We did. Stop hanging out with this psycho and let me help you."

"Help me what? Help me go back to being your magical little negress that you call to fix all your problems? Who do I call when I have problems? Who's there for me, Damon?" When he didn't answer, she shook her head and the smile slipped off her face. "That's what I thought." She grabbed his shirt and pulled him so close that their lips were almost touching. "And to think, I was starting to have feelings for you."

His blue eyes widened and there was a gasp from someone, but Bonnie didn't turn around or break her stare at all. Instead, she opened her mouth like she might kiss him. Damon had no idea how to react and he braced himself to feel her lips on his, but instead, all he felt was a strange compulsion to open his own mouth. As soon as he did so, he felt a stream of energy flow directly out of his mouth and into hers. There was no way to describe it other than a creeping feeling of emptiness, and he realized too late that Bonnie was draining his life force.

"Bonnie, stop!" Jeremy said as he ran to her. Kai moved a finger and tossed Jeremy into a table.

Bonnie held on to Damon and continued stealing his life, even as his knees gave way and his body went slack.

"Bonnie, please, stop," Caroline said, as the situation became too much and she broke into tears. "You're killing him! You'll never forgive yourself if you kill him."

Damon wanted to beg for her to stop but he didn't have the strength to put together a string of words. He was helpless against her attack and Bonnie sucked him dry and he began to desiccate right in front of her. Caroline cried, Jeremy yelled and tried to physically restrain her, only to be constantly tossed around by Kai. Stefan muttered some nonsense as he kept trying to dig the stake out of his stomach, and Elena flailed around like a mad woman, mute and pinned to the wall. Bonnie kept going, gripping him tighter and tighter until there was only a drop left. She finally relinquished him and his body fell into a heap at her feet.

She threw her head back and nearly fell down as the vampire life force overcame her. The power pulsated through her body and she had to grab onto a chair to keep herself steady. When she opened her eyes again, Jeremy, Caroline, Stefan and Elena were looking at her in terrified awe.

"Bonnie," Jeremy said, "you have too much power. And your eyes..." He shook his head like he couldn't believe it. "They're glowing."

"Tell Damon not to come looking for me," she said. "I don't want to be found." She turned to Kai and nodded towards the door. "Let's go."

And just as quickly as they had appeared, they were gone. Bonnie snapped her fingers and everyone was released from their holds, and Elena immediately ran to Damon and bit into her wrist. She brought the blood to his mummified face and forced it down his throat while Caroline helped Stefan remove the stake from his stomach.

"Come on, Damon, wake up," Elena said, cradling his head in her lap. "Drink, damn it!"

After a few drops got into his mouth, he began to weakly suckle at her wrist. The more blood he ingested, the stronger he got. His skin returned to normal and he opened his eyes and grabbed her wrist to keep it at his mouth. When he finally had enough, he pulled away with a groan.

"Where's Bonnie?" he asked, struggling to sit up.

"Gone, where she needs to stay," Elena said. She tried to rub his head but he yanked away from her and frowned.

"She needs help, Elena."

"She needs a psychiatrist! She attacked all of us and nearly murdered you!"

"You weren't exactly a bed of roses when your humanity was off, either, but she didn't give up on you."

He pushed her off of him and got to his feet. He took a few steps and stumbled, but got up again and headed to the door. Stefan raced in front of him and held out his hand.

"She doesn't want us to go after her, Damon," he warned.

"I don't give a damn what she wants. She's in trouble and I'm not letting her down again."

"You need to rest. She was about three seconds away from killing you and we need a plan before we chase after her half-cocked. Not only is she incredibly powerful, but she's got Kai running around with her and the two of them are stronger than any of us."

Damon tried to push past him but Stefan grabbed him by the shoulders and stopped him.

"Hey," Stefan said seriously.

"She needs me!" Damon yelled.

"I know."

The brothers stared at each other, silently communicating in the way they had perfected over more than a hundred and fifty years. Neither of them said anything about the giant elephant in the room, the bomb that Bonnie dropped when she said she had feelings for Damon, but they were both thinking about it. Stefan squeezed Damon's shoulders, affirming that they would address it when nobody else was around.

"Call Alaric," Damon finally said. "And tell him to bring Jo. We're gonna need some backup."