Chapter 3

Within two hours, the Salvatore living room was transformed into a witchy science lab. Jo and Liv were chanting in a circle of candles, trying to locate Bonnie and Kai via locator spells, while the rest of the gang split up and read through books and grimoires to find a way to turn Bonnie back to herself. Damon had perched himself on a recliner, sucking down a glass of AB positive. He tried to look indifferent but the fact was that he was still shaken up from Bonnie's dismantling of him and everyone else, physically and mentally. His legs were wobbly and even after four bags of blood, he didn't feel like himself.

"This isn't working," Jo said with a sigh. She dropped her hands from Liv's and shook her head at Damon. "Bonnie and Kai are blocking our attempts to locate them. We're not strong enough to overcome them."

"I don't even understand why she's with him," Jeremy said. "I mean, he tried to kill her. He tried to kill everyone."

"Well, he obviously taught her how to siphon magic," Jo said.

"And she needs a running buddy," Damon said after a gulp of blood. "What's Bonnie without Clyde?"

"But why is he with her?" Stefan asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "What's he getting out of it?"

"My guess is that he's pumping Bonnie full of magic in the hopes that she'll be powerful enough to make his powers permanent," Jo said.

"She can do that?" Damon asked.

"She's a Bennett witch," Liv said in her normal 'duh' tone. "She's the Bennett witch, actually: the last descendant of Qetsiyah. Not only that but she's using Expression, draining supernaturals of magic, and oh yeah, if she keeps siphoning from vampires, she'll be invincible. She's the strongest witch on Earth and not even Kai can stop her. Making his powers permanent would be like child's play to her."

"Not exactly good news," Damon grumbled.

"So how the hell are we going to get her home and convince her to stop using Expression?" Jeremy asked.

"The last time we tried, it was going to take an entire coven of witches," Caroline spoke up. "Of course, I ended up killing all of them..."

"That's a good idea, actually," Jo said. "The more magic, the better."

"Great, you work on that," Damon said, as he stood up, "while I go find Bonnie."

"I'm coming with you," Caroline said.

"Me too," said Jeremy.

"Yeah, I should probably tag along, too," Stefan said.

"Hold on, hold on," Damon groaned. "This isn't a road trip where we all tell campfire stories and eat s'mores. I'm going to find Bonnie and it's better if I do it myself."

"She's my best friend," Caroline said.

"And my girlfriend," Jeremy piped up.

"Pretty sure she stopped being your girlfriend when you started banging everyone in town," Damon said dryly. He turned to Caroline and said, "and until you've watched 'The Bodyguard' every night with her for three months, I think the best friend title actually goes to me."

"Whoa, should I be jealous?" Ric asked with a smirk.

"Look, we can fight over who loves Bonnie more some other time," Stefan said. "The more people on the trail, the more likely we are to find her. Ric, Jo and Liv can stay here and work the coven angle."

Everyone else seemed to be in agreement so Damon groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Fine. But the second one of you gets in my way, I'm kicking you out on the street." He started up the steps before turning to say, "we leave in an hour."

He marched up to his room and started throwing clothes in a duffel bag. He was still digging through his drawers when he heard a tentative knock on his door.

"Yeah," he called.

"It's me," Elena said as she walked inside and shut the door. She tucked some hair behind her ears and rocked on her heels. "I'm thinking I may not go on the trip with you guys."

Damon stopped to look at her, then shrugged. "Fine."

"Are you mad at me?" she asked. "I'm sorry about the stuff I said about Bonnie if that's what made you upset."

He sighed and shut the drawers to give her his full attention. "Look, Elena, I'm not mad at you. I'm disappointed. I wouldn't think that someone would have to tell you to help the girl you've called your best friend for your whole life. I get that she was out of control and said some things you didn't like, but you were pretty bitchy yourself when your humanity was turned off and Bonnie didn't bail on you. If you don't want to come, then don't. But if Bonnie does return to her old self, I think she'd be pretty hurt to know that you couldn't get past your own ego to help her."

He brushed past her and tossed some underwear into the bag, and Elena stood where she was.

"I know I don't remember our relationship," she said, "but have you and Bonnie always been this close? I thought you hated her."

"We were together for four months. We're friends now."

"But she has feelings for you."

He gritted his teeth in irritation and turned to her again. "Is there a point to any of this?"

"I'm sorry, Damon, I just want to know where we stand."

"This isn't about you!" he shouted. "This is about Bonnie! I realize that I've been guilty of letting you think that the sun rises and falls out of your ass, but today it doesn't. So either you're coming on this trip because you want to save Bonnie, or you're staying here. I'm not talking about you or us anymore."

Elena visibly winced at his words but he couldn't bring himself to care. He had let Bonnie down before by getting sidetracked with Elena, and he wasn't going to do it again. She quickly wiped her eyes and then left the room without telling him her decision. He rolled his eyes and grabbed a few more things, then went downstairs and put his bag in the trunk of his car. He waited impatiently for Stefan and Jeremy to pack, then for Caroline to return from her house. He took a few more shots of blood and rounded everyone one up and he was surprised when he saw Elena leaning against his car, looking apologetic.

Damon didn't address her other than to direct everyone to get inside and not put their feet on his seats. He took the driver's side, Stefan rode shotgun and the other three crammed into the back. He checked his rearview, put his sunglasses on and said, "let's go find us a little witch."

...

The five friends had been on the road for two days, headed towards New York, when they got a call from Liv that bodies were piling up along the southeast coastline. Damon turned the car around and headed south, sure that the witches and vampires that had been drained of life were Bonnie's victims. Every time they got a call about a dead supernatural, they pulled over and showed Bonnie's picture around the town. Nobody had seen her. They hit up every dive bar, club, and restaurant in sight to no avail. Even under compulsion, nobody admitted to seeing her.

"This sucks," Caroline said as she pressed her head to the back window. "We have no idea where Bonnie is."

"We do have an idea," Damon told her. "We're just too slow. We'll catch her eventually."

"What are we even going to do if we find her?" Elena asked. "She made it pretty clear that she doesn't want to be around us and she definitely won't listen."

"What Bonnie is going through is similar to when a vampire turns off the switch," Stefan said. "We just have to appeal to her humanity, give her a reason to come back home and be herself again."

"I'll get through to her," Jeremy said confidently.

Damon glanced at the young Gilbert through his rearview mirror and something about the smug look on his face made Damon want to smack him in the mouth.

"Can we stop and stay in a hotel for the night?" Caroline asked. "My butt hurts from sitting in this uncomfortable seat and I definitely need a shower."

"Ditto," Stefan echoed.

Damon agreed to stop, but only after he crossed the Atlanta city limit and drove downtown to the swanky hotel where he always stayed. The rooms were nice and there was a nightclub that offered easy pickings for a fresh meal. He valet parked his Camaro and compelled two suites for them: one for the guys and one for the girls. Once they were in their room, Damon dropped his bag on the ground and took in the panoramic view of downtown Atlanta, a place where he'd had many fun nights.

"I saw a restaurant downstairs," Jeremy said. "I'm gonna grab something to eat. I'm gonna see if the girls want to join. You guys in?"

"Thanks, but I think I need that shower," Stefan said.

"Damon?" Jeremy asked.

"Nah. I don't really have a taste for human food."

Jeremy shrugged and left, and Stefan went to his own bedroom and shut the door. Damon grabbed his bag and headed to his room, leaving the couch for Jeremy. He flopped on his back onto the bed and looked up the ceiling. "Where are you, Bon-Bon?" he asked quietly. He shut his eyes and almost immediately fell asleep. He hadn't realized how tired he was but after a few days on the road and still recovering from Bonnie's soul-suck, he was exhausted. He only woke up when he felt his phone buzz with a message from Ric.

jo made contact w/ a witch. will keep u updated.

Damon typed back a response and almost put his phone away, when he went to Bonnie's contact information and dialed. He held the phone between his ear and shoulder and closed his eyes again, smiling just a little bit when the sound of her voicemail penetrated his ears.

"You know, you really should change your voicemail greeting," he said on his message. "Something a little jazzier, maybe. Something with more than six words would be nice. Anyway, I know you're never going to hear this message but I'm just calling to say that we're looking for you, whether you want us to or not. I'm not gonna give up on you. Especially not when you're this out of control. Liv tells me that you're the most powerful witch on the planet. I don't know whether to be proud or pissed off. I guess I'm proud. Who knew my little Bon-Bon could be such a badass?"

He smiled and hung up, content to drift back off to sleep.

"Who knew your little Bon-Bon could be such a badass?" Stefan asked, which caused Damon to jolt awake. He saw his younger brother's smiling face and his nostrils flared. "Jesus, Stefan, eavesdrop much?"

"I'm sorry, but your door was open so I assumed it was safe to come in. Had I known that you were going to call Bonnie and leave her a love note, I would have given you some privacy."

"It wasn't a love note," he said with a frown.

"Right. So are we ever going to talk about what Bonnie said? About having feelings for you?"

"She said she was starting to have feelings for me. Judging from the way she attacked me twice, I think it's safe to assume she also stopped having feelings for me."

"Maybe," Stefan said with a shrug. "But maybe not. You know what I think?"

"No, and I don't care but I'm sure you're going to tell me anyway."

"I think that if anyone can get through to her, it's you. You guys have a bond now. You care about her."

"Yeah, whatever," Damon grumbled.

"You're grumpy," Stefan said with a smile. "How about we hit up that club so you can get some blood into your system?"

"That's the not shittiest idea you've had all day. Let me get pretty and then we'll go."

Damon sped through a shower and freshened up. He put on a fresh black oxford-style shirt and some jeans and boots, and then the brothers were out the door. They met up with Caroline, Elena and Jeremy and the five of them took the elevators to the 30th floor, where a hip club was nestled with an incredible view of the city. The place was packed with bodies and the thumping bass of hip-hop music filled the air. The large club area was dark, illuminated only by strobe and neon lights that flickered sporadically. People were dancing and drinking and it was the perfect place to tap some blood straight from the vein. Damon smiled as he separated from the group and immersed herself in the crush of people. He snagged a girl that was walking in front of him.

"Don't scream," he compelled her. "I'm going to bite you but you're going to stand there and take it. Understand?"

"I understand," she said robotically.

He didn't waste any time as he sank his teeth into her sweaty skin and her blood burst into his mouth. He groaned and gripped her closer, taking mouthfuls of the blood. He was so hungry that he kept going past the time he knew he should have stopped. The girl started to get weak and then Damon felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder.

"That's enough," Stefan said.

Damon reluctantly disengaged his teeth and Stefan discreetly fed her some of his blood, then compelled her to forget it ever happened and have a good time. She smiled and bounced away like nothing had happened and Damon sighed.

"Thanks," he said.

"That's what brothers are for."

They headed for the bar and ordered drinks, then leaned against the counter and watched people having fun. Even Caroline and Elena had let loose a little and were on the dance floor with their hands in the air. Damon smirked and allowed his eyes to roam the crowd. He was contemplating his next move to find Bonnie when his gaze landed on a girl dancing on a table near the DJ. She had gathered quite a crowd of admirers, including a man that was dancing behind her and a woman dancing in front. The girl was wearing a dress that barely covered her butt cheeks and the front of it was cut in a diamond shape that did very little to hide her breasts. It was hard to tell exactly what she looked like because the club was so dark, but Damon could see the flickering lights reflect off the beads of sweat on her neck. Her long hair had been pulled up into a messy ponytail and as she ground her body on the guy behind her, she wrapped her arms around the woman and whispered something to her that made the other girl nod like she was entranced.

Damon wasn't sure what it was about the girl that drew his attention but he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Something about the way she moved seemed familiar, but he didn't know why. She finally turned her head enough for him to see her face, but he didn't recognize her. He didn't know her playful eyes, bone straight nose or full lips. But that didn't stop him from walking towards her.

"Where are you going?" Stefan asked, but Damon didn't answer.

He kept walking until he was close enough to get a whiff of her over all the scents and odors in the room. She smelled like sweet honeysuckle and oranges, with a hint of roses. It was a scent he would know anywhere, and the smile that overtook him was uncontrollable. He nearly ran back to Stefan and said to his brother, "that's Bonnie."

"What?" Stefan asked with a frown. "That girl up there? That's not Bonnie."

"Yes, it is. I smell her."

"But how..."

"She's using a glamour spell," Damon said. "That's how she's gotten away from us at every stop. Nobody recognized her because she's been hiding her face." He looked at her again and smirked. "Clever little witch."

Stefan still looked skeptical, so they kept watching until the dancing girl grabbed the woman's face and got close like she would kiss her. Instead, she whispered something and a grey stream flowed from the woman's mouth into hers. Damon shook his head.

"She's siphoning. Still don't believe me?"

"You've convinced me. What do we do?"

"I need to talk to her," Damon said as he began to approach. Stefan pulled him back and shook his head.

"She's volatile. Let's just observe right now."

Damon had to use every ounce of self-restraint not to go after her, but he stayed next to Stefan and kept a watchful eye on Bonnie. He wasn't sure how he felt about the way she was dancing so provocatively, or the way her body was on display for everyone in the club. But he definitely knew how he felt when she leaned her head back and kissed the guy dancing with her: furious. As her tongue swept around her partner's mouth, Damon's lips formed a hard line and he felt the heavy weight of jealous anger sitting in the pit of his stomach like a rock. He wanted to rush in and break them up, but he didn't. He waited until she finally stopped making out with the guy and all three of the dancers got off the table.

Damon watched as they made their way to the exit, and he knew it was time to leave. He squeezed his way through the crowd and just missed them as the elevator doors closed. He watched the number on the top of the elevator go up to "PH" and he went down to the front desk and compelled himself a key to the penthouse suite. He tapped his foot anxiously on the long way to the top floor, and he had to swipe his stolen key before the doors opened to the ridiculously opulent penthouse suite. He let himself in and was relieved when he found the unknown man and woman alone in the living room and he heard Bonnie moving around upstairs.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

Instead of answering, Damon grabbed both of them and compelled them at the same time.

"Go screw each other somewhere else and forget everything that happened tonight."

They nodded their obedience and he put them on the elevator downstairs. Once he was alone, he settled himself on the leather couch in the living room and waited for Bonnie to appear. He couldn't ignore the anxious feeling that crept over his body when he heard her soft feet padding down the spiral staircase. He had a smart remark all prepared for her, but his comment died on his lips when she came into the room, looking very different than he'd ever seen her.

She had dropped the glamour spell, so she appeared as her real self. Her slender body was covered in a pewter silk robe that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Even though the robe was closed, her perky breasts and nipples were completely visible. The slit up the middle showed every inch of her smooth legs and if she made one wrong move, he was going to see everything her mother gave her.

"Like what you see?" she asked, putting a hand on her hips.

He jerked his eyes up and met her annoyed gaze.

"I've seen better," he said.

She scoffed. "What the hell are you doing here? I thought I told you not to follow me."

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure you said that after you'd drained the life out of me, so you'll understand if I didn't get the memo."

"What do you want, Damon?"

"To bring you home."

"I don't have a home. So you're wasting your time."

"You do have a home and it's in Mystic Falls with me and the rest of the people who care about you."

"The people who care about me?" she asked with a laugh. "There are no such people."

Damon stood up and walked towards her. "You think I'd be following you up and down the east coast if I didn't care about you?"

"Feeling guilt isn't the same as caring," she said dryly.

She turned and walked towards the bar and Damon's eyes very briefly fell to her butt, which was silhouetted perfectly in the robe. When he saw that was not wearing underwear, he cursed himself and stared up at the ceiling.

"You're not safe with Kai," he said. "He's using you. He only wants to pump you full of magic so you'll make his powers permanent."

"I know that."

He frowned and looked down again, to see her standing in front of him with two glasses of bourbon. She offered him one and he reluctantly accepted.

"What do you mean you know?"

"Kai told me that he wants me to make his magic permanent. I know what he's after."

"And you're going to do it?"

"Maybe," she said with a shrug. She sipped some bourbon and sighed. "This smells like you."

Damon put his glass down and then took her glass as well.

"I'm not letting you give Kai permanent powers and I'm sure as hell not going to let you stay here, slutting it up in some club. Put on some clothes and let's go."

Bonnie laughed and folded her arms.

"I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Yes the hell you are."

He grabbed her arm and tried to move her but she held up a hand and threw him down on the couch, where she made him stay. She sauntered towards him, her robe threatening to fall open at any moment, and Damon once again looked up at the ceiling. He inhaled deeply when she sat down on top of him, straddling him.

"Look at me," she directed.

"No."

"Look at me," she said in a firmer tone.

"No. This isn't you. The old Bonnie would never do this and I won't take advantage of the situation."

"The old Bonnie is dead," she said, jerking his chin down and forcing him to look into her eyes. "She died in 1994 and she's never coming back. So I suggest you get used to the new me." She undid her robe but Damon stubbornly refused to look anywhere below her eyes. She smiled and ran her fingers through his hair.

"You know, I had plans for those two people that you ran off. Now that they're gone, I guess you'll have to substitute for them."

Damon screwed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth so hard that he thought they might crack. He sat stone-still when Bonnie nuzzled her nose against his neck and gently kissed his skin.

"I used to think about you," she whispered. "When I was in the shower. I would fantasize about you coming into the bathroom." She kissed his neck again. "You would wait until I had my eyes closed, and then you would slide in behind me. We'd argue, of course," she said with a chuckle against his ear. "But then we'd give in. You'd push me against the shower wall and fuck my brains out."

"Stop it," he said angrily.

The scent of her arousal wafted into his nose and he couldn't stop his fangs from bursting through his gums. He felt Bonnie trace the veins around his eyes and she kissed his chin.

"There's so much sexual tension between us, Damon," she whispered. She grabbed his hands and placed them on her thighs and when he didn't move them, she forced them up slowly. "Nobody has to know."

"Stop it!" he said forcefully, glaring at her even as his vamp face took over.

"You can act like you don't want me but your dick says otherwise," she said, rotating herself on the bulge that had grown in his pants.

"A hot girl is sitting naked on my lap. What do you expect to happen? It doesn't mean I want you, because I don't. I hate you like this. I would never want you," he spat.

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he knew he had made a mistake. He'd succeeded in stopping Bonnie's sexual advances, but he could tell from the fiery look in her eyes that he had hurt her feelings. Remorse and a touch of fear overcame him and he started to shake his head.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that," he said.

She stared at him with a hard look that he had never seen from her before.

"You've made me upset, Damon," she said in an eerily calm voice. "And when I get upset, people die. Starting with you."

Before he could register what she was saying, she snapped his neck. His head lolled lifelessly and she stood up and closed her robe. She casually poured herself another bourbon, then pulled out her phone and called Kai.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"At the movies. This 3D stuff is amazing!"

She rolled her eyes. "It's time to go. Damon is here. We need to keep moving."

"Yeah, okay, I'll be back soon."

She hung up and then looked at the couch, where Damon's phone was ringing. She picked it up and saw Stefan's name on the screen. She slid the bar across and answered the call.

"Where are you?" Stefan asked. "Did you find Bonnie?"

"Yeah, he found me," she said.

There was a long pause on Stefan's end.

"Where's Damon, Bonnie?"

"I killed him." She heard his sharp intake of breath and she rolled her eyes. "Not for real. I just snapped his neck. Now come get him before I throw his body out the window."

She hung up without offering any additional information and then sat down on the couch next to Damon's temporarily dead body. She didn't put on any more clothes, even after Stefan knocked on the door and she let him in. She saw his eyes bulge out of his head at her attire and he quickly averted his attention to Damon. He wordlessly picked his brother's body up and carried him towards the door. He turned around to say something to Bonnie, but she slammed the door in his face.

Stefan sighed and took Damon down to their suite, where the others were waiting.

"Oh my God, what did she do?" Elena shrieked as she helped Stefan deposit Damon on the bed.

"Nothing permanent," he said. "I think we need to come up with a different plan. Let's get some rest, okay?"

Stefan shooed Caroline and Elena away and left Jeremy to sleep on the couch. He sat in Damon's room until Damon moved a little and then woke up. He sat up and grimaced.

"Did Bonnie break my neck?" he asked.

"Yeah, and I'm starting to pick up on a disturbing trend here. It seems that you go to Bonnie, say something to piss her off, she kind of kills you and then you go back for more. Did you two get into S&M while you were stuck together?"

"I'm glad this amuses you," Damon said dryly. He sat up and sighed. "I hate to ruin your theory, brother, but it doesn't look like I'm the key to Bonnie's humanity. If anything, I'm the key to her rage."

"Rage is an emotion, so that's a good place to start." Stefan stood and gave Damon a reassuring head nod. "We'll get through to her. But I think we should go home, regroup and talk to this witch that Jo found. Try to sleep."

And Damon did try to sleep, but he couldn't. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Bonnie: getting hurt, hurting someone, or wearing that damn see-through robe. The images haunted him all night and when morning came, he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. He was so tired that he wordlessly offered his keys to Stefan and took the passenger seat, where he slept the whole way home. When they finally arrived at the boarding house, an unfamiliar car was in the driveway. Damon and the rest walked inside and found Jo, Liv and Ric sitting tensely in the company of three tall Black women who gave off very strong witch vibes.

"Who are you?" Damon asked, directing his question to the leader of the group.

"My name is Gwendolyn. I'm the leader of the Salem coven of witches."

"Oh, great, you're here to help us find Bonnie," he said.

"Not quite," Ric said uneasily.

Damon narrowed his eyes and looked from Ric to Gwendolyn.

"What exactly are you doing here?" he asked.

"We are here to find Bonnie Bennett," she said. "And when we do, we're going to kill her."