Author's note: I bet you weren't expecting another update quite so fast! I meant it when I said that I aim to finish this story ASAP, yay! :D
Thanks for the joy and love, awesome humans. :)
The four walked to the sheriff's office at a leisurely pace, but for Elena, it couldn't be slow enough. She tried to connect to Damon's humanity subtly, tracing gentle circles over the back of his hand with her thumb, in a manner that she knew calmed him. The way he would do it with her. Maybe if she could remind him of how he felt – how she felt – it would serve as a catalyst to get his switch pointing in the direction of his empathy.
He let her do it, feeling some comfort in her presence – a warmth spreading throughout his entire body, originating in his very soul. He closed his eyes, a ghost of a smile teasing his lips, lighting his face. A memory, unbidden. A roadside motel in Colorado, the tension palpable, the feelings threatening to overwhelm him, when –
"We're here!" Stefan called out cheerfully.
Elena looked around, squeezing Damon's hand, but now suddenly more for her own reassurance than his. She was starting to doubt this plan of hers more and more. Based on the positively malicious gleam in Stefan's eye, she had a feeling a sort of test of character was in store for her.
And she had no clue, whatsoever, how she could possibly pass. She'd have to improvise. She was good at that, right? Right. She hoped.
The way in was practically blocked; there were so many people waiting on a veritable line to get in – like it was the town's hottest club.
Perhaps tonight it was.
Some petty criminals were slow dancing in the street while waiting to be taken in, not nearly enough employees on duty to keep them in line. Others just ran off, holding hands and laughing wildly into the night. Music was blasting from seemingly everywhere and nowhere all at once – presumably all mobile phones, surprisingly playing the same song.
On their way over, they heard several of the playlist, and each had to do with love and magic. Currently, collective speakers were playing Queen's It's a Kind of Magic.
"Uh-oh," Caroline cackled. "Looks like this line-up got taken in by the fashion police! Is that guy wearing Crocs? And socks? Oh, I'm almost afraid to eat him, or I'll start dressing like an extra on Hoarders."
"Why don't I take him, then?" Elena volunteered, hoping her scheme works.
"No offense, honey," Caroline mocked condescendingly, her delivery indicating that the opposite was true, "but I don't think you should be taking any undue risks in that department. You and all your colorful Henleys."
"Watch me," Elena sneered, narrowing her eyes as she strolled up to the fashion-challenged gentleman - who honestly seemed to be quite nice - with considerably more confidence than she felt. Hoping that her compulsion works despite barely uttering a sound, she mouthed, "this won't hurt" in a faint whisper. She then cleared her throat, projecting for her vampiric audience. "Don't move," she said, and quickly and gently pierced his neck with her fangs, taking slow, measured sips, to ensure that she didn't cause any lasting damage.
"Bo-ring!" Stefan sing-songed. "Don't move? Where's your finesse? Where's your sense of style? Your art? Your passion? Your décor using his rearranged entrails?"
Alarmed, Elena retracted her fangs and pulled back, facing Stefan with wide, terrified eyes. "I don't think that's a good idea," Elena said. "Just – practically speaking –"
"Because you've always been so practical," Stefan mocked, interrupting her.
"Practically speaking," Elena continued through gritted teeth, "it's careless. We're trying to hide our presence here – keep a low profile. This is pretty much the exact opposite."
Damon wrapped an arm around Elena's shoulders, drawing her closer with what he must have thought was a reassuring grin, but his words left her feeling anything but. "Nothing to worry about. We can just compel them to believe that they saw a bunch of humans kill each other," he said, then lifted his other hand dramatically, to pantomime a headline, adjusting his voice accordingly. "Killing spree in Mystic Falls. Locals seemingly go insane overnight. Bloodbath at the local sheriff's office," he grinned.
Elena laughed nervously, a poorly-pasted smile frozen on her face.
Bonnie and Enzo settled in the parlor, taking a sitting across from each other on the loveseat. Normally, Bonnie would have headed straight for an armchair, or at least for the couch to give herself more space, but her subconscious beeline for this very piece of furniture left no doubt in her mind.
The Twin Flame spell certainly had a hold on her, as well.
"What did you want to know?" Bonnie asked, anxiety adding a pronounced squeak to her voice. She cleared her throat self-consciously. Oh boy.
"I wanted to do some preliminary research on the Mikaelson family. As you know, we've been hired to write an original play –" Enzo began.
"I know," Bonnie waved him off, grinning from ear to ear. Her intuition – which she'd come to realize was quite powerful – told her that hiring Enzo's troupe wouldn't come without consequences. They were certainly not as innocent as they were pretending to be. The fact that nearly the entire team consisted of previously sired hybrids whom she'd recognized was also quite suspicious, but something deep inside her told her that this would be a success.
And at least Klaus and Elijah were away for the time being, searching for a way to finally keep Mikael and Esther off their tails for good. Given the notorious temper of the Original Hybrid, she doubted that he would let any slight on his family name slide without significant effects.
"Great!" Enzo beamed, evidently pleased with the way the day was going. "My castmates tell me that Klaus Mikaelson's wolf side was once bound, and there was a ritual involved…" Enzo began, allowing the sentence to trail off in hopes that Bonnie picked up his meaning.
"Oh, yes," Bonnie grinned, her suspicions growing even more. "His mother, Esther, the Original Witch, bound his wolf side with a spell that used Petrova doppelgänger blood as a binding agent, and that's why they needed another one to break it. In this case, my friend, Elena."
Enzo's smile grew, if possible. "I heard something about this – a young woman named Tatia was used for the spell. Something about a love triangle between two brothers – Klaus and Elijah?"
Bonnie couldn't help her uproarious laugh. "Oh, God no. No, Tatia made her choice for Elijah very clear, while flirting with him on front of the pigsty while contemplating the fate and freedom of Loki, the pig."
Enzo's grin nearly exploded with the possibilities. "Oh, how romantic," he remarked drolly. "How do you know this?"
"I've been practicing with the scrying fires when attempting ancestral magic," Bonnie explained, somewhat evasively, hoping he would drop the subject.
"Spying on the past. My kind of girl," he complimented cheekily, to her own answering smirk. "So, about this spell?"
"Oh, right!" Bonnie exclaimed. "Well, she bound his werewolf side, and the only way to break it was to sacrifice another Petrova doppelgänger – Tatia's direct descendant. This is where Katherine Pierce came in. But then she got herself turned to avoid being killed, and Klaus, in typical Klaus fashion, acted out by killing her entire family and hunting her for over five-hundred years," she explained almost too casually, gauging Enzo's reaction to Klaus' famous temper. Not disappointed, she saw him visibly tense with fear. If he was planning some kind of underhanded prank or otherwise unsightly endeavor, he should at least know precisely the level of dragon he was poking.
Enzo swallowed thickly, trying to calm his trembling hands. "I see. So how did he find these doppelgängers?"
"He spread a lie about a Sun and Moon Curse," Bonnie explained. "He and his brother, Elijah, created several convincing documents in various cultures to lead vampires and werewolves to believe that breaking this curse would free one of their species from vulnerability to the Sun or the Moon. Obviously, this was a falsehood, as it would only free Klaus' hybrid nature, but it allowed him to get countless vampires and werewolves to look for the doppelgänger for him."
"And then he sacrificed your friend?" Enzo asked sympathetically.
Bonnie nodded sadly. "It was a …tumultuous time. Her birth father sacrificed his life for hers so that she wouldn't die, but then Esther bound her life to our friend, whom she turned into an Original Vampire Hunter – one who wouldn't stop killing until all vampires were dead – so that's why Rebekah killed her. And now she's a vampire, too."
"But you're all …friends now?" Enzo asked with pronounced confusion. "I mean, you're clearly working with her sister – and everyone's prepping for Rebekah's wedding."
Bonnie laughed bitterly, unsure why she was being so open. "We've all learned to be very forgiving. We've had to be, especially when the next adversary around the corner forced us to work together. If Freya hadn't been around to help defeat Silas, I shudder to think of what would have happened," Bonnie explained, visibly distressed. "She saved us all, and for that, we let her give the Cure for vampirism to her brother, Kol, whom we'd killed previously to stop him from killing us, because he wanted to be a witch again more than anything. God, it sounds like such a mess when I explain it this way."
Enzo placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, clearly at war with himself about whether or not it was appropriate to draw her in for a hug. "But now Kol is back?"
"Esther brought him back, believe it or not, but only to mess with her other children," she laughed humorlessly. "But we've learned to let bygones be bygones, eventually. We're stronger together," Bonnie said emphatically, surprised by how much she meant it.
Enzo smiled, genuinely, perhaps for the first time since she'd met him. "Thank you, Bonnie Bennett," he said, taking her hand to press a gentle kiss against her knuckles. "I believe I have all I need."
Bonnie nodded. Stronger together. Isn't that what they all used to say? That they're so much better together than apart. Perhaps that's what she would need to focus on for her little clandestine project.
After all, love is the greatest and most powerful magic in all the cosmos.
Interrupting her reverie, Enzo turned back and queried, "in case I need any additional information, would you mind if we exchanged contact information?"
Bonnie nodded in the affirmative, taking out her cell phone with an understanding grin. She knew an excuse when she saw one, and Enzo was a lot more transparent than he realized – at least to an intuitive witch.
"So, the spell draws Twin Flames together, clearing all obstacles –" Davina began, trying to understand.
"Often in the most chaotic ways possible!" Kol interrupted excitedly, positively beaming.
"Is this why there's such an influx of traffic?" she asked.
"Also why you were suddenly able to find me, since you're my Twin Flame," he added, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Everywhere you look, people are out and about trying to connect to their soulmate, like they're driven by some otherworldly force – mostly because they are. We have this massive influx of visitors, because these people have a Twin Flame here in Mystic Falls, and something compelled them to suddenly drop everything to come here and meet them."
"That 'something' being the Twin Flame spell," Davina finished, getting the idea.
"Exactly! You have people committing petty crimes to meet them in the jail house, getting sprained ankles and such to meet them in the hospital. Others are just wandering to the exact right bar, or finding the perfect street corner," Kol continued. "I've been helping out however I could," he grinned mischievously, a look of mock-innocence widening his eyes. "Started a fire at the high school just minutes before you arrived, and now the entire Fire Department is there. But hey! They're out and about, so I count it a good deed," he winked.
"And if it gives Freya trouble, even better," Davina grinned, still annoyed at having her husband unceremoniously teleported away during their honeymoon.
They continued their slow walk through Mystic Falls when they came across four familiar vampires standing outside the positively overstuffed police station. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Kol smirked, his mind brimming with possibilities.
So, this is obviously very AU with Freya being awake in time to join the hunt for the Cure in S4, and helping them quickly dispel Silas. And we'll say Qetsiyah and the Other Side, too, because the Other Side is a terrible place that essentially forces all non-witch supernatural beings to live in perpetual solitary confinement – in some cases, just for being born different. Down with human/supernatural segregation, boo! :D Although Bonnie's trying to contact Qetsiyah for help with something, let's be clear that she sucks for cursing every supernatural being this way. And creating generations of brainwashed Hunters to do her bidding, thus robbing them of agency.
Kol and Davina have now seen our favorite quartet, and will absolutely find a fun way to insert themselves. :D Perhaps that will save the day? Or maybe just create more chaos. Maybe both!
I'll try to get the next update soon, everyone!
Much love and hugs to all, beautiful souls. :D
Please make sure to leave a review, since I love to hear all your joys and wild speculations. :D