Chapter 5 : Chapter 5
Bonnie remained quiet the whole trip back to the Boarding house. Damon glanced at her from the review mirror as he sped home, but could not coax her eyes to meet his. Matt sat in the back with her, occasionally murmuring and coddling her like a frightened child. The complete stillness from the Bennett witch unnerved Damon, whether angry, elated, or even in depression, Bonnie had always remained animated. The lifeless doll in the back seat that had replaced his friend left a hollow ache in the vampire's chest.
They pulled into the circular driveway and up to the front door. Damon hopped out and reached into the back, helping Matt pull a seemingly catatonic Bonnie out. The moment his hand touched her, the witch recoiled swiftly away from him. Matt glanced between the two supernaturals, then placed a hand on the small of Bonnie's back, guiding her into the living room.
Damon growled and followed, he headed straight for the bar as the two settled on the couch. The vampire knew this trip had been a bad idea. Opening a brand new bottle, he didn't bother to dirty a glass as he proceeded to swallow down half it's contents.
The front door opened and in traipsed Elena, Ric, and Jo. The latter two paused at the sight that greeted them, but Elena rushed to her friend. She brushed the disheveled strands of hair from the other girl's face.
"What happened?" She whispered, turning to her boyfriend for answers. She continued to stroke the witch's hair as she looked expectantly at Damon.
"Hell if I know. One minute we were in the shop grabbing goodies to make my mom a Daylight ring, the next she's seeing things and running out to play in traffic." He growled defensively.
"Did she touch or inhale anything strange while the two of you were in there?" Jo asked as she stepped further into the room. She crouched in front of the trio, assessing Bonnie as well as she could without her equipment.
"You'll have to be a bit more specific, Dr. Quinn. It was a magic shop, what isn't weird and strange? You JuJu types think hanging shrunken heads makes for great decor, so how the hell would I know if something was off? He snarled.
Jo scoffed. "Oh please, shrunken heads are so last spring." The medic smirked at Damon as he rolled his eyes. She turned back to her patient.
"Well she's obviously in shock, but without knowing what brought this on, it's hard to say if this is magic related or not." She hemmed.
"We found this sticking out of her shoulder." Matt handed the letter opener over to Ric to peruse. "I saw her standing outside the store, it looked like she was in some sort of trance. Then she just bolted, I don't think she even knew where she was until we grabbed her. She blew out half the windows and transformers on Main street when she came out of it though. I text Charlie on the way here; he said The Grill still doesn't have power, looks like the generator got hit by lightening."
The others turned watchful eyes back to the little witch. Elena nervously glanced between her boyfriend and mentor.
"You said she used her ancestor's Expression magic to get back; I don't have a lot of personal experience with it, aside from hearing about the Covens dealings with the Travelers. Do you think it could be causing her to lash out like this?" Jo looked to the group hovering over Bonnie.
"Wouldn't be surprised. The last time she meddled in the stuff, she dropped the veil to the Spirit World and almost obliterated the whole town." Damon mused.
"She used it to raise Silas, and bring my brother Jeremy back from the dead." Elena explained. Jo's eyes widened at the name of the first immortal. "It killed her." The girl whispered. Elena looked fearfully to Damon.
"That's not gonna happen again." The vampire growled. He began pacing in front of the fire place. "I told her holding onto that crap was nothing but trouble. The moment she wakes up, she's getting rid of it. If I have to lock her in the damn basement until she does, I will."
"I'm afraid I'm out of my league here." Jo stood. She wrapped an arm around Alaric and looked to the others hesitantly. "Even if I had my powers, I'm no match for a witch of Bonnie's caliber, and since I left the coven, I don't have access to any of the archives. As much as I hate to admit this, we may have to call my brother for help. Kai's the only one who'd have access to all the research the Gemini have done on Expression, and if it came down to it, as Coven leader, he's the only one strong enough to stop Bonnie from self destructing."
Silence filled the room, but was soon shattered by a high peel of laughter. Five pairs of eyes turned to watch as Bonnie doubled over in hysterics. The girl clutched at her aching ribs, trying to stop and catch breath, but as soon as she managed, another bout hit her and left the witch wiping tears from her taut cheeks.
"Bon?' Matt asked warily. He put a cautious hand to her back. The girl immediately stopped and turned to stare at him. He glanced to the others in the room, then back to her. "You okay?"
Bonnie burst into another round of dark chuckles, then suddenly stood and made her way to the bar. She plucked the bourbon from Damon's hands, taking a healthy swallow. Sighing, she turned back to the stunned group. She stared at Damon.
"You wanna tell her or should I? I mean, it might be better if I do right? At least then we know Jo will get the truth, seeing as your so fond of keeping secrets these days, aren't you Damon?"
Damon eyed the petite girl in front of him warily, but said nothing. Bonnie smiled ruefully and turned to Jo.
"Your brother won't be much help to anybody." She sighed. "See Damon and I planned out this whole revenge thing, and I stabbed Kai in the back and left him to freeze in 1903." At this, Bonnie laughed again and walked closer to Damon. She stopped and stared him right in the eye. "But what Damon failed to mention, was that his mother wasn't alone in 1903. His mommy had some very thirsty friends with her, and they've been snacking on your brother like he's an all you can eat buffet."
There was a pause in the room. Jo's face paled and she clutched at Ric's arm, he wrapped it around her to steady his fiancee.
"You did what?" She whispered in horror. A hand flew unconsciously to her still flat stomach. "Please, please tell me you didn't. Tell me this is a joke." At the continued silence, she stared up at the two people in front of her. "Do you realize what you done?!"
Elena stood and touched the older women on the shoulder gently. "Jo what's wrong? We thought you'd be happy. With Kai gone, you're safe, he can't hurt you anymore."
Jo wrenched away from the girl. "I need some air, I'm going to be sick." She rushed from the room, slamming the door as she left.
"What the hell's wrong with her?! And you, for that matter, Judgey? I didn't see you complaining too hard when you were planning on disemboweling the little psycho, what the hell does it matter now if a couple vamps get a free meal out of him? He's still dead!" Damon snarled. Bonnie opened her mouth, but was cut off by a very quiet voice.
"The problem, you complete Dick, is that as the leader of the Gemini coven, if Kai dies, they all die. So you have not only sentenced him to death, but everyone in their family too. Including Liv, Jo," Ric paused and looked up to glare individually at the three people surrounding him. "And the baby Jo's carrying. You've just potentially killed my future wife and my kid, asshole." He raged. Alaric stalked up to the raven haired vampire before him, his eyes blazing. "So help me Damon, you better fix this shit, and now, or I'll come back and finish the job I originally came to this town to do." He hissed. The occult professor turned on his heel, leaving the stunned room with a final slam of the front door.
"I should probably be getting back, I'm sure there's still plenty of clean up to do at work, power or not." Matt stood awkwardly. As no one replied, he made a stealthy exit.
The remaining three continued to stand silently. Finally Bonnie turned, finished the remaining Bourbon in the bottle, and then headed for the stairway. She was halfway up when an icy grip wrapped around her wrist.
"Where do you think your going?"
Bonnie turned to meet Damon's exasperated and questing glare and sent a searing bolt of magic through the hand that held her. Damon sucked in a breath as he quickly drew his hand away, he looked up to glare at the witch standing before him.
"Anywhere the hell away from you." Bonnie snarled in disgust. She turned to leave but Damon grabbed her again. Immediately, Bonnie whipped around, her magic lashing out and throwing the vampire across the main hall. Elena cried out and rushed to her boyfriend, looking in dismay between the two as she crouched by his side. She tried to help him up but Damon brushed her aside and stalked towards Bonnie.
"You mind telling me just what the hell your problem is, Bon Bon?" He whispered as he looked up at her. Bonnie stepped down from the remaining stairs and glared back up at him.
"My problem, Damon? My problem is that it always seems like I'm cleaning up your messes. Why is that?" She arched a brow at him. "Why is it every time you come up with a plan to save us all, it always blows up in our faces and I have to risk my life to fix it?" Bonnie replied scathingly.
"Don't act like you didn't have a hand in this, Bennett. I wasn't the only one in that dorm room scheming." Damon sneered.
"No you weren't. But you were the only one with all the information, weren't you? Once again, you only give me the pieces of the story that suit you, the ones that will get me to jump through your hoops." Bonnie laughed sadly. "You'd think after six years I'd have learned not to trust anything you say."
Damon's jaw clenched, and he had to swallow down the sudden burning ache in his throat. " I didn't know about my mom's little groupies, Bon, and honestly, if it wasn't for Jo being with Ric, I could give a shit if they drained Kai dry and all those little Gemini freaks turned toes up. I admit, I might have screwed up, but it was an accident Bonnie. I didn't lie or hide anything from you!"
"How did I find the map on my birthday?" The soft whisper cut through Damon like a hot blade. "I remember that morning, kind of hard to forget the details of the last day you think you'll ever see alive." A soft gasp from the corner, had both turning to Elena. Bonnie smirked and shook her head ruefully.
"I know you know I tried to kill myself, it's not some big secret." She turned back to Damon, and he opened his mouth, but the witch cut him off.
"See, I remember that map laying closed on the kitchen table. I can still see it, up here." She pointed to her temple as her eyes began to water. Damon reached for her, but Bonnie staggered away from him. The windows around the house began to darken as the clouds drew in. Bonnie closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before staring at the vampire in front of her, limpid emerald pools brimming.
"Tell me Kai didn't cast the spell, Damon. Tell me he didn't send you all back for me, that Liv didn't stab him in the back and he still helped Jeremy open that garage door, so I wouldn't suffocate. Tell me he didn't do all of that, and that you didn't keep it from me." She whispered again as she stared him down.
Damon cleared his throat, trying to get the words to escape around the sudden lump he found forming. When nothing came, he shook his head and stared at his friend before him, pleading. Bonnie turned to leave, and in his desperation, Damon vamped ahead of her on the stairs, holding his arms out, careful to keep from touching her while completely blocking her exit. Bonnie narrowed her eyes at him, and in the distance he could hear thunder rumble. He swallowed again and looked at the witch.
"Kai did help us try to rescue you, and I did keep it from you." He said hoarsely. "Because I knew, if you knew what he had done, you'd go all noble and self sacrificing on me and let the little bastard live. He hurt you Bonnie, I thought he'd killed you when you saved me and the thought that he might get the chance to do it again damn near killed me! I couldn't take that chance, not with your fucking life on the line again, so I made a decision, and I'm not sorry I did!"
"It wasn't your decision to make, Damon!" Bonnie hurled back at him. "Whether I chose to forgive Kai or not, it was my choice to make, and on my own terms! You just condemned a man and a whole family full of innocent people to death, for some of the same things you yourself are guilty of! What makes you more deserving of my forgiveness?"
Damon flung a hand through his hair. "You said it yourself, I showed remorse, he doesn't have any!"
"Someone risking there own life to help save mine sounds pretty remorseful to me. You're not my father Damon, you don't get to dictate my life and my decisions!" She shouted, a vase down the hall exploded and lightning flashed dangerously close to the house. Elena squeaked.
Damon closed the remaining space between the two of them. He snarled, his vampire eyes flashing for a brief moment. "No but you are my friend, and it's my job to get the dirty work done when you've clearly gone completely crazy pants!"
Bonnie through up a hand and Damon toppled over the railing, crashing through the side table in the hall. He groaned and reached behind him to remove a rather large splinter from his back. He looked up to find the little witch towering over him, her eyes glowing. From the corner of his eye, he could see Elena shifting nervously, unsure how to intervene or whose side to take. He turned back as Bonnie crouched over him. Damon tried to sit up, but found himself immobilized.
"You're going to listen to me, Damon, and for once, you're going to keep that smart mouth of yours shut. If you don't, I'm at the point where I may just burn it shut for you." Bonnie seethed. After a moment of silence from him, she continued. "I'm going to clean up this mess; not for you, but for Jo and Ric and their baby, they shouldn't have to suffer just because you can't seem to stop screwing up. I want the Ascendant, you will go get it. Then after this is over, I don't want to hear from you. I don't want to hear you breathe, I don't want to hear you speak, until if or when I decide I'm ready to forgive you. If I so much as hear your name mentioned from across a bar somewhere, you will regret it. Nod if I'm making myself clear."
Damon looked into the face that had been his only solace for four months, he found nothing of the warm hopeful girl she had been before. He looked down and ruefully nodded his head once.
Bonnie stood and stepped back from him, she raised her hand expectantly. "Give me the Ascendant."
Damon stood and brushed at his clothes, trying to delay another bout of unpleasant news. When he looked up, Bonnie raised an eyebrow at him. He sighed and rolled his eyes heavenward.
"I don't have it. I gave it to Lilly as a bargaining chip so she would help me get Stefan back."
Bonnie narrowed her eyes at him, and for a moment, Damon expected her to make good on her promise. She stepped up to him again.
"Get it. Give it to Jo or Ric and have them contact me once they're ready."
With that, Bonnie turned on her heel and stormed through the front door, heading out into the quickly arriving night.
Damon sighed and rubbed a palm over his very tired eyes. He felt Elena near him and he looked up to smile ruefully at her, desperate to hide the sudden empty feeling he felt in his chest.
"You okay?" She whispered as she rubbed a hand up and down his arm.
"I'm fine." He shrugged and smirked. "And I'll be even better when this whole mess is taken care of, so," Damon stood straight and rubbed his hands together. "First, we grab my mom, force her to make good on her promise. We get Blondie and Clyde back to normal, and then we play rescue for Charlie Manson and his cult of twins." Damon grabbed Elena's hand and headed for his mother's room. He was tired of playing nice, the sooner he got things back to normal, the better.
Kai watched the softly drifting snow pile up outside the door. The sun was just starting to set, painting the landscape in burnt orange and soft indigo hues. He sighed and rubbed at his arms, trying to diffuse the chill that never seemed to leave his bones.
"Are you well Malachai?"
Kai turned to see Gabriel and the others all seated at the table that had been empty moments ago. They moved like wraiths, never more than a whisper announcing their presence. He admitted, while creepy, their reverence for silence seemed appropriate in this vintage wasteland. Two of the women, Constance and Temperance, sat close together, their heads bowed towards one another as they conversed quietly. The third, a dark skinned woman named Tituba sat straight and still, eying Kai and Gabriel. Kai kept wondering if she might be the very same Tituba mentioned during the Salem witch trials, but thought better than to ask. He wasn't here to make friends. Although the power they possessed did prove tempting, Kai had no wish to spend anymore time than necessary with this odd group in order to ensure his freedom. Something in their collective aura left him queasy and on edge.
He joined Gabriel as the vampire sat in one of the chairs next to the hearth. The final three of the group leaned casually against the fireplace. Eli, a tall silver haired man that reminded Kai of his father, stood closest to Gabriel. The stocky one, Ephraim, with the handle bar mustache stooped over the fire,prodding it to life, while the youngest appearing, a blonde boy of about seventeen, by the name of Jacob sat on an old barrel to the left of Kai. The boy grinned when he noticed him looking, his teeth almost luminescent they were so white. What would have been charming and friendly on a normal teenager, looked sinister and menacing coming from the eternally youthful vampire. Kai wondered if his eyes had looked that dead as he had grinned down on his sister the night he slaughtered their siblings.
"I know that you doubt our sincerity to do you no harm. But I promise you Malachi, my people and I have no quarrel with you. You have been our savior; if not for your blood, we would still be desiccated, forever trapped in this eternal winter now that Lilly has abandoned us. We only want freedom as you do." Gabriel reasoned. He folded his hands and watched Kai expectantly.
"But that's not all you want. You want to obliterate my Coven for locking you up in the first place." Gabriel made to interject, but Kai held up his hand. "While I want the same thing you do, I want it on my terms. Plus, who's to say you won't just kill me as soon as you get out of here? I mean, I am the new Coven leader and all, killing me would be the quickest way to ensure genocide."
"The enemy of mine enemy is my friend." Jacob spoke up from beside him. Kai turned and the child grinned gleefully at him.
"You can read, good for you kid." Kai smiled back. Jacob glowered and made to stand, but a warning look from Gabriel stilled him.
"You must forgive Jacob, he is, impetuous, as most youth are. However, He is not wrong. The very coven you lead, Malachi, is the very same coven that incarcerated you. The same coven that incarcerated us. I see no reason why we cannot work together to rid ourselves of those who would judge us merely for being born different from them. Nature gave us our siphoning abilities, just as it gave witches their magic, why should we be made to suffer simply because they fear those more powerful than themselves?" Gabriel leaned forward, the light from the fire casting him in an eery orange glow. "I know you feel the same. Deep down, a part of you knew your family feared you; not for the harm you could cause, but for the power you could have over them."
Kai's mind flashed back to the moment when he was five. He watched his sister gleefully jump up and down as she made the goose feathers dance around the room. He had been in awe of his sweet Josette, she practically shimmered as the magic floated in tendrils from her to the white fluff in the air. His father had stood to the side, smiling at the early talent his child had shown. Kai remembered seeing that smile on his father's face, a rare occurrence in the Parker household. He had wanted to own it for himself, wanted to feel the same pride bestowed upon him like a desert plant wants to feel the rain. His five year old self had rushed to his sisters' side, pushing her out of the way to make room. As his hand had come in contact with her bare arm, a burning rush had filled his whole body. He felt lightning skate through his veins, filling him till there was no room left. The burning soon was replaced by a euphoria he had never known before. His body felt weightless, Kai had sworn he would have floated forever had he not been retained by the walls of the Parker living room. This all came to a crashing halt when he felt himself jerked across the room. Kai's shoulder had slammed into the wall and he looked up to see his sister crying in their mother's arms, while their father stared at him in horror and disgust. There had also been something else in his father's eyes that day, something he had not recognized because he himself had been too full of it: fear.
"As I explained before, we ourselves were all Gemini, before we were cast out as abominations. We seek only to exact the justice denied us by the Counsel and their fear mongers."
"Not all of you were Gemini." Kai quipped as he glanced back to the table. One of the two women conversing looked up. Temperance's' skin was a soft light brown, with warm undertones. Kai's teeth grit together in annoyance. She looked so much like Bonnie, but the eyes were wrong. Bonnie's eyes were the forest floor after a spring rain, Temperance's were the clouds above, dark gray and filled with turmoil. The similarities scraped at his nerves like nails on a chalk board.
Gabriel glanced as well. "Yes, technically all females born to a Bennett witch remain Bennett's. But Temperance's father was a Parker, and through him she inherited the gift we all share."
"Why not use her blood to activate the Ascendant? You could've been out of hear the next day, killed the Coven, and been back in New York in time for your next boatload of victims." Kai quipped. He leaned back, eyeing the lot of them.
"Because, her blood is tainted by our vampirism." Tituba stood and made her way to the fire. Her russet skirts swayed softly around her curves whispering as they glided across the cold floor. "Despite the fact that we retain our powers, the vampire blood in our systems still changes what we are." Kai looked up as the woman smiled cattily down on him. "Besides, even as a Bennett, Temperance was never the strongest of the group. Pity really." Tituba looked across the room smiling as Temperance ducked her head.
"Tituba please." Gabriel cautioned. She looked at him for a moment before retreating back to her seat. Kai watched her warily, and she smirked at him as she sat down, returning to her silent watchfulness. Gabriel cleared his throat and smiled wearily at Kai. "We did try, but our attempts with Temperance's blood proved to be fruitless. We were hoping, given that you yourself had escaped your prison, you may have knowledge as to how we may finally be freed."
Kai thought for a moment, his mind filling with the image of Bonnie's stunned face as he pressed the knife deep into her abdomen. He grimaced inwardly, as much as he would enjoy enacting his revenge on his sweet little Bennett, he was not keen to offer her up to these unknown individuals. He looked up and smiled at Gabriel.
"Oh I have a way out, the question is, what will you all be giving me in return?"
Gabriel smiled and glanced around to the others. He reached into his left breast pocket, and pulled out an aged piece of paper and a vial. The paper was scattered with runes while the vial flashed quicksilver in the light. " I believe you'll find this a very handy spell." He said as he passed it to Kai.
Kai perused the runes, a childlike grin coming to his face as a plan began to develop in his mind. Oh this would work very nicely indeed. He looked back up to Gabriel.
"Wouldn't happen to have a map of Canada lying around would you?"
Gabriel stared ponderously into the fire, his fingers steeped before his chin. The others had left awhile ago; Kai taking the men to give them directions based on the atlas in the study.
"I know that look, what are you worried about?"
A pair of dark hands ran though his silvery blonde hair, scratching lightly at his scalp. Gabriel sighed then pulled on one of the hands to bring it's owner around to sit on the side of the armchair. He looked up into the deep brown eyes gazing at him curiously.
"A hundred years we have rotted here, frozen and decayed. To think it all may soon be over is surreal."
Tituba snorted and brought her hand up, running a finger across the bridge of his brow, soothing at the worry lines that converged there.
"How such a trivial thing has made an old man of my immortal." She hemmed. "I knew him once when we was great, and the world trembled at his feet. That he should dangle by the strings of one petulant boy seems so sad to me."
Gabriel pulled her hand from his brow, kissing her fingers lightly. "The boy holds no sway over me, Malachi is easily manipulated, and will soon come to heel at his new master's feet."
"Then what troubles my forlorn king? Why do you dwell in these shadows alone when we should be preparing?"
Gabriel thoughts drifted to the storeroom and the strange girl who had vanished from his grasp, eyes as green as moss burning into his mind. He shook his head.
"The time approaches when we must honor our debts. I was merely reflecting upon what must be done."
Tituba's eyes narrowed and her lip curled. "I will gladly play my part to be rid of that Bennett nuisance. But if she should fail in this as she has before, what is to become of us?"
Gabriel pulled the smaller woman closer, his hands running along her back. He thought again of the girl in the store room, of her vibrant green eyes and familiar face. "Even if Temperance fails us, I have no doubts that all will be well." He smiled.