** Dropping to chappies tonight. Happy reading!*
There were no 'avoiding' attempts between them but at no time did they allow themselves to be alone, together. There was none of the standard late night binge Netflix watching or the common casual evenings where Bonnie parked herself on the Boarding House couch to read while Damon sipped bourbon and strategically and exasperatingly interrupted her with conversation. There were still instances when their paths crossed and lingered.
First Stefan mysteriously attained a unique antique grimoir that Bonnie could only study in his presence. That was strange even for him but having invested in systematically learning her magic she complied without complaint.
Damon made himself a permanent fixture in her studding session – sighting he knew quite a bit about witches, even slept with some!
"One in particular was most memorable. She was amazing in the…"
"I don't want to hear about your disgusting exploits of yester year conquests." She cast a circumspect glace at Stefan then shot a censoring tight lipped grimace back at Damon.
"But it's still so fresh in my mind, like it was just days ago." His voice dripped with insinuation and he batted mocking blue eyes at her. "Mmmmm this one was so good I can still hear her screaming my name during round six. She was thi.. Euhhh!" The glib comment ended on a pained cry as Bonnie stood up from the library love seat and slammed shut the delicate front cover barring an intricate carving of roaring bonfire displayed on the grimoire. She scooted past the vampire bent over clutching his head and slapped the velum leather bound book hard against Stefan's sternum.
"I'll come back some other time."
The intense pain left Damon's temple at the extreme closing of the door. Stefan's chest rumbled with laughter.
"You shouldn't have talked to her like that. You kissed her then talked about some other girl warming your bed."
Damon sounded a non-committal humph.
Stefan grew somber. "It's been three days since we got the lead on Elena. You haven't told her yet have you?"
"One ancient grimoire and some shady guy talking about some secret coven with roots in Ireland doesn't impress me much. How did you even fid this guy anyway?" Damon stomped to Bonnie vacated spot on the sofa. He could smell her in the air, he lounged back soaking up her remaining heat.
"It's not a coven, they're druids."
"Whatever Stefan."
"Bonnie actually gave me the idea. Just like the rest of us she hasn't stop thinking about how to bring back Elena. I guess she had been doing some reflecting on her life, thought about Expression being a different form of magic. She wondered if opposing magic would have an effect or not on the spell so I have a few contacts from my past and I asked them to check into other magics. It took a few months and one of the druids got back to me. This magic conundrum piqued some interest among their ranks. Apparently Bennett witches are semi famous in Druidry. As a show of respect and to ingrate himself he offered to let us borrow some of the knowledge they have compiled. Some of his sect is specialized in in preserving any form of spells or magic."
Silence permeated the room.
"I thought you'd be happier." Stefan continued.
"Yeh well forgive me if I don't hold my breath. I'm sure if there were a way to bring her back outside of… We'll we'd have found it by now."
"So this is about Bonnie." Stefan pressed.
Quick flips of the writs belied Damon's agitation. "I don't like you psychoanalyzing me. This discussion is over. Somewhere in this town is a bottle with my name on it."
"I'm sure you have plenty here."
Damon gave his brother an almost unfriendly thump on the back and a pinched lip smile. "That's that problem. It's too here."
A few minutes after Damon stomped out of the boarding house Bonnie received a text.
Damon: Didn't anyone teach you foreplay doesn't have to hurt?
Although she smiled, she didn't respond.
Days later there was a meeting of the Scooby gang. Apparently Matt had been finding signs of a rogue ripper dipping into the Mystic Falls walking blood supply. Crazy psycho had a preference for dark haired pint sized beauties. Matt had done his best to keep the three deaths out of the ears of the public but he was seeking help on a solution to the baddie problem.
"It's a perfect plan. I'll walk down the next road he's probably going to frequent. I'm hardly a helpless damsel. My tracking spell isn't working. I don't have enough of a connection with the murderer. Something needs to be done." Bonnie touted from her set in a recliner.
"No." Damon denied adamantly from his perch on the arm rest of her chair.
"I donno Bon the thought of you out there makes me really uncomfortable." Caroline cuddled closer to Stefan for comfort.
"If she wants to do it I think I think she should. She meets the criteria." Stefan offered.
"Stefan!" Caroline wacked him abruptly in the chest before settling back against him.
Stefan winced. "What? It's not like we are going to leave her to do it all alone. We will camp out a few miles away. Besides she is a very capable witch."
"But she is also human." Matt argued from his stance in the middle of the room.
"Don't talk about me like I'm not here." Bonnie grumbled.
"We're just a little worried. We can't be very close to you or he'll know by smell or sound." Caroline bat pleading puppy eyes at her. "Let's come up with another way."
"There is no other way. You heard Matt, this guy strikes at night each time on a deserted road. It's never a house or a building and it's always close to a wooded area. He nabs hikers or lures woman out of their cars and if he's keeping to his every other day pattern he's going to kill someone again tonight. It's going to be one of the country roads and if they set up patrols we are going to miss our chance. The other two county roads that he hasn't hit will have undercover officers driving them but from what Matt has been saying we should take the most likely of the three. We are better equipped to deal with this." Bonnie insisted.
"How are you going to explain being easy prey? You aren't the hiker type and no woman in her right mind would walk down a wooded road at night. Hmm maybe it's because if you go a long with this you will prove what I have always suspected – that you aren't in your right mind?" There was the Damon snark as he peered snidely down at her.
"I've thought about that." Stefan interrupted Damon's mini tirade.
"Savior Salvatore to the rescue. Enlighten us Saint Stefan on how we are going to place Bonnie in danger. Again." His leather jacket pulled tight as Damon crossed his arms over his chest.
"She is going to be traveling the road with her 'boyfriend' amidst an argument one of them demands for her to get out and walk home."
"I'll play the boyfriend." Matt volunteered.
"Like hell." Damon jumped from the couch and closed the distance to Matt. Despite the words there was little malice imbedded in them. "No one would believe you could land a girl like Bonnie and you can barely fight your way out of a paper bag." He gave a quick glance back at the girl in question before sending a sarcastic glare back at the All-American boy. "Bonnie would take a verbal bite out of you and you would cry and apologize to her for whatever she did wrong. Look I'm not saying you haven't become a little bit tougher than you use to be but your bullets even dipped in vervain won't benefit you much."
"Fine." Matt fired back. "Why don't you do it?"
"Like it would be anyone else!"
Fighting back a smile Stefan offered. "I'm sure Caroline wouldn't mind. I could do it." Before Stefan could finish his sentence Damon cut him off with an "As if."
Not understanding all the tension in the room Bonnie did her best to defuse the situation. "Matt, you need to be there with your people. They can only benefit in having you be there."
"Now that that's settled I'll pick you up at six-thirty. We'll go to the movies. We'll be heading back for dinner when we get into our fight so none of your normal Bonnie wear. Remember you're on a date with Damon Salvatore, eternal stud, so dress appropriately." Before Bonnie could snipe back at him he added "You never know who's watching." He shot her a wink.
Feeling like he just won something precious without having to struggle to get it for once, he strutted from the room.
Damon arrived at the Bennett household at six-fifteen. He wasn't normally so punctual but daydreaming about what the little witch was going to wear brought on an anticipation that nearly choked him. He wouldn't put it past her to be defiant enough to go on their 'date' in jeans, a t-shirt and tennis shoes. Not that she didn't look adorable in that but considering the dire situation he figured she would do her best to look the part. His parting shot earlier that day was intended to steer her that way. He was liable to be over dressed. He had traded in his jeans for ebony slacks, t-shirt for a slate hued dress shirt that was gapped at the collar, leather jacket for a black blazer and his old trusty boots changed places with a pair of grey wrinkled swayed ones. The effect was, of course, very GQ.
The door swung open at his knock to reveal… Caroline.
"I'm here to crash your party." She offered with a devious smile. "You need to drop me off at the 'Auto-Shoppe' I had to take my car in to get it fixed." Damon's brows drew up and she offered him a cheeky shrug before letting him in.
"Bonnie, Damon's here!" The blond chimed out.
"It's ok, I'm ready." She began her decent down the stairs clad in a maxi dress with vertical stripes in alternating silver and black. She gave Damon a speedy appraising glance. "It looks like we planned this."
"Maybe you guys can pose for me and we can do a version of 'Who wore it best?' I have to warn you tho, my vote goes to Bonnie."
"Hey the deck is stacked against me but it's alright. I concede."
Uncomfortable with how Damon was looking Bonnie over Caroline stepped between them.
"Alright people chop chop you have movies and bickering to do and I need to get on the other side of town."
Bonnie had been relieved when Caroline had volunteered to take up post on the opposite side of town. It gave her an excuse to put some space between her and her faux date. The girl talk monopolized the conversation but she kept sneaking covert glances at the sharply dressed vampire. She was allowed. She knew every inch of his sculpted body underneath all the finery. It had only been a little over a week since their frenzied night of sweaty, clawing, cussing, exquisite body joining and she had dreamt about it every night since. She wasn't scared of Damon; she was scared of what she would do to Damon if she were alone with him.
They dropped Caroline off at the Auto-Plex and she whispered to Bonnie that she would be there to have her back. The friendship between them had become sweeter and more cherished, deeper. It's amazing how relationships can be nurtured when you don't spend every waking hour bending over backwards risking life and limb for one person.
Arriving ten minutes early gave them enough time to hit up the concessions stand for Bonnie. Damon was content to swipe popcorn from her and nab sips from her soda.
Once the movie had ended Bonnie couldn't remember anything about what they had watched. She had been too hyper sensitive to the raven haired bad boy sitting beside her. She had tramped down the desire to rub her knee against his leg. To make it an innocent brush between them.
Damon was just as guilty. He had found himself scooting as near her as his seat would allow, he had even slung an arm behind her head. He'd wanted to wrap himself up in her heat. The theater had been freezing so the perfumed feminine warmth of her slight form had seemed even more tempting. It had sent a shock of contentment through him when she had laid her head back to rest her neck on his arm.
The walk to the car was pensive. The drive conversation stilted with aborted attempts to make small talk. It was time for Damon to do what he did best, strike a match and light the judgy little witch's fury up.
"Would it kill you to put on something like other normal women? Every time we go out you're wrapped up like a grandma. This dress is… nice but really Bon Bon, can't you show a little leg. Some of the decent rack I know you have under there. No one will believe I'm dating such a prude."
It took a moment for the confused shock to register into clarity.
"It goes both ways Damon. Who would believe I was having a tryst with someone so unrepentantly unethically reprehensible."
"I'm done Bonnie. I can't handle. Can't deal with this anymore." There was a crazy gleam behind his eyes to let her know he was having a lot of fun verbally sparing with her for no reason.
"No, I'm done. Let me out right now."
"Are you out of your mind? I'm not letting you out in the middle of nowhere no matter how mad I am at you." There was a stubborn tilt to his chin and Bonnie suspected he meant what he said, that he wasn't going to follow through with the plan.
"Damon." She issued warningly.
"Don't make me do this." It was spoken too soft, almost pleadingly.
"If you don't stop the car I'm going to jump out." There was a backbone in her words. Both knew she wasn't crazy enough to actually jump from a moving car but it was a reminder that she had a job to do and one way or another she was going to do it.
The breaks silently slowed the blue Camaro and she hopped out of the car with a slam of the door.
"Damnit Bonnie!" Unlike the other words that were said during the car ride, that sentence had a full wealth of meaning behind it.
Bonnie watched the red break lights of the car ripping down the road in front of her. Keeping up appearances she cussed the car as it haphazardly drove away and she trudgingly stomped behind it. She lamented out load over the fact that she had to wear heals on a night where she would be hoofing it three miles to town. While walking she took the time to call Caroline and get no answer (as planed) and left a long voice mail begging her friend to get the message and come pick her up. She followed with two more calls one to Matt who also didn't answer and one to Stefan where he stated he would be happy to come get her except he was half way to New Orleans and she would be able to walk home quicker than he could get to her.
Thirty-two minutes later she called Caroline's number again to leave a message. Toward the end of her pleading Bonnie caught a whiff of a delightful scent. The more she walked down the road, the more potent the smell. The potpourri was implacable, unlike anything she had inhaled before, it even smelled better than the expensive stuff worn by Damon. The heady odor made walking in her heals even harder as it made her head swim. Her legs felt weighted down, each step was slumberous.
"The gods must have smiled on me." The voice was lovely, soothing beguiling. Bonnie knew she should have felt fear but she couldn't drum up any alarm. She pivoted to greet the owner of the angel like voice.
"You're perfect. I've never seen a more perfect creature." The man before her was stunning. His halo of blond hair easily picked up the faded light of the crescent moon in the sky. Caroline would be envious of the silvery blond locks. His aquiline nose fit perfectly above sensual lips, smoky grey eyes peered deep in her soul as he insouciantly closed the distance between them.
"You don't happen to have a car do you? It's been a really bad night and I could use a ride." Bonnie was proud that she kept the shiver out of her voice. Actually, each word she spoke cleared her mind a little more. Her voice had come out firm and matter of fact. This guy might look like a golden fallen angel but she had spent years dealing with the dark haired variety.
The mystery man cocked his head to the side surprised that she'd spoken to him. His lips curled up in the corner. "You are a delight. Such will power. I can feel you breaking free of my hold. I'm afraid I can't allow that." The cloying sent thickened, turned soupy as it clung to her lungs.
"What are you?" She gasped out.
"What I am doesn't matter as much as what I was or who I will be. Which thanks to you, will be you. You are so very close. You have to be the answer. Imagine my luck to find you abandoned on the side of the road. That boyfriend of yours is hot but a bit of a dick. I guess you stay with him for his looks?" Bonnie didn't answer. The Adonis was just out of arm's length now. "No matter. Maybe I can find out what hidden layers he has when I become you." He blinked down at Bonnie in a captivated manor much like a child would stare at a unicorn. "After all this time you do exist. 'Go forth to Falls of Sorcery eighty years hence and seek a near reflection of by gone day. She of shorten stature and dark of looks will be the key to break your curse.' I can recite it in my sleep. Can you believe that non-sense? I hate witches. Get on the bad side of one guy, who wasn't even great in bed and your doomed to try and find a needle in a hay stack to find a cure. You're a very pretty needle at least. Almost as pretty as I use to be."
The man-thing was obviously insane, he was scary gorgeous. But even if his story made sense and he hadn't come off as a demented escapee from a mental hospital, she would have known something was off due to his potent intoxicating smell. It was time to put an end to this before he got over his mystification of her and decided to carve her up like his other victims. Speaking through the aromatic fluid clogging her chest she chanted some quick Latin under her breath. Her gurgling words froze his body in place.
"Witch." He gritted out through clinched teeth; little bits of spittle showering the air from his frustration.
The frightening part was when he smiled. The air became sickeningly sweet before turning wretchedly putrid, strangling Bonnie. The siphoning started next. This feeling was familiar thanks to Kai but also different. It wasn't just her magic. She could feel her power but also her strength and the connection to nature funneling out of her, leaving an aching void where it used to be. Her knees gave out, her limb strength having been pulled away too. She crumbled to the ground at the psycho supernatural's feet.
Adonis bent down over her, cracking his neck back and forth as the vitality swelled within him. "That was quite a rush." The voice was feminine now and giddy with happiness. The contradiction of woman voice with man body made Bonnie's situation even more disconcerting.
"I'm buzzing pretty good and feeling a little more like myself again. Thank you for that, Bonnie was it? No wonder you are the one to break the curse, tapping into you was like putting my lips on a powder keg. I think your blood is going to be just as electric."
Bonnie's vision blurred, became pale grey around the edges. The grey turned to white and little by little the white swallowed her entire vision.