Author's note: Thank you for your delightful reactions to the previous chapter, everyone!
On with the show. :)
Several whole seconds passed before anyone dared breathe in the presence of Damon's very clear fury and devastation about the defilement of his precious bourbon. One by one, several eyes in the room surreptitiously gazed at Katherine of their own accord, who continued leaning against a wall in the parlor, her arms carelessly crossed over her chest. All outward appearances had her looking nonchalant, but Damon remembered a similar look from a few days ago – when he cornered her, and she lashed out vigorously against his deepest wounds. He narrowed his eyes, tilting his head to the side in a familiar gesture to study her. Katherine pointedly ignored his stare, though it was obvious to him that she could feel it and was growing uncomfortable under his scrutiny. "What's the matter, Kitty-Kat?" he taunted in his best attempt to sound casual, though there was a slight catch to his voice – the words used to tear into him still clearly embedded in the deepest parts of himself. "Couldn't claw your way out of your own misery, so you had knock all my bourbon off the table and turn my parlor into your personal litter box?"
"Don't flatter yourself, Damon," Katherine growled. "This isn't about you."
"And please stop insulting cats by comparing them to her," Elena pouted, then added softly. "I want one."
"A lot's happened since you two left. Even before that. I'm afraid I haven't been very honest with everyone," Bonnie admitted reluctantly, then looked at Elena, mouthing, "me, too" to her earlier comment about a cat.
Caroline suddenly perked up, whispering to her friends, "and a puppy."
"You know that we can hear you, right?" Damon asked with a raised eyebrow. "And what my brother will do if we fill this house with Steffie Snacks?"
"Is that expression trademarked?" Elena grinned, then her expression quickly dropped in genuine fear. "Emma..."
"Can we please focus?" Katherine roared.
"We," Jeremy corrected Bonnie, getting back to the point. "I helped," he added sheepishly.
"But I made you," Bonnie insisted, tilting her chin up. "This is my mistake."
"But I could have said no," Jeremy argued.
"Will you two please get to the point?" Katherine exclaimed. "Stefan's in danger – and your bickering isn't worth prolonging his suffering."
"What?" Damon asked, blanching.
"The reason I was trying to get out of here hard that day, Damon," Katherine retorted hotly, spitting his name as though it were vile. "Is that there's an impostor walking around with Stefan's face. The second you and my bitchy double left after locking me away, you might as well have signed my death warrant. He came into my cell, took the Cure from me, and left me for dead – until the extended witch fam came to finish the job," she sneered.
"And yet, somehow you're still here," Damon snarked. "Scourge of bourbon, sanity, and working eardrums everywhere."
"Does this look 'alive' to you?" Katherine barked, passing her hand through the quite solid wall against which she leaned.
"You're a poltergeist…" Damon breathed, scarcely knowing how to feel. It had been decades since his last run-in with that particular variety of undead, and he remembered just how nasty they could get. Of course, there was the other side of the matter. In order for a poltergeist to exist, there had to be a resurrected human to whom she was tethered.
"Like from your story –?" Elena asked curiously.
"You know what a poltergeist is –?" Bonnie queried, bewildered.
"A what –!?" Caroline demanded.
Jeremy just tried to look anywhere but the room's occupants, fully aware of the maelstrom that awaited them as the three girls spoke over each other.
"Who are you tethered to?" Damon followed up as he approached her slowly, becoming distinctly worried that the situation was considerably more tenuous than he anticipated.
The room got quiet for a second, as Elena's eyes widened in recognition, recalling the finer details of Damon's story of his time in Oregon in the 1910s.
Caroline narrowed her eyes as she gazed about the room, fiercely trying to drum up those journalistic instincts to prove to herself – once and for all – that she would be suitable for her chosen major. From what she observed, Damon looked at Katherine with undisguised suspicion, his gaze occasionally shifting to Bonnie; Elena looked like she just had an epiphany, as well, her lips slightly parted in an expression of shock; Jeremy looked uncomfortable, trying to disappear into the couch and make himself look smaller; and Bonnie – Bonnie looked guilty. She'd known that look before, had seen it on the Bennett witch's face every time she purposely – and Caroline knew it was on purpose – missed yet another preparation Founder's or other community event. She and Elena both never had any real respect for the town's rich culture or traditions – constantly shirking responsibility, with everything falling on her shoulders, Caroline scoffed. She didn't buy their excuses for a second.
"What's a tether?" Caroline asked with faux calmness, though her voice was laced with just the barest hint of an angry tremor, on the verge of a seismic shift.
"Me," Bonnie said quietly. "Katherine is tethered to me," she added with more assurance, gazing around the room, finally letting herself truly look into everyone's eyes.
It was time to stop lying. It was time to stop hiding.
"Bonnie," Elena breathed, her hands coming to cover her mouth of their own volition as she struggled to keep her tears at bay. "You died?"
Bonnie just nodded, her features twisting in shame. "I'm sorry I kept it from you – I just –"
"I knew it!" Caroline announced triumphantly, then suddenly sobered at the shocked expressions of everyone in the room, "which I say with complete sensitivity," she said contritely, then furrowed her brows in an attempt at anger to redirect the attention. "And admonition! Why did you lie to us? What happened?"
Bonnie opened her mouth to answer but was immediately interrupted by Elena's firm squeeze around the middle after she vamp-sped to her best friend. Instead, her response was a relieved giggle, especially when she felt Caroline wrap her from behind.
"We were so worried about you, Bonnie," Elena soothed. "Caroline and I spent weeks trying to puzzle out what happened, once we became suspicious."
"I'm so sorry, everyone," Bonnie sobbed, no longer able to control the tight rein she had over her emotions as she returned the embrace. All the pressure of the last few months, weeks, and especially the handful of tumultuous recent days, finally caught up to her and unleashed in a whirlwind of emotion – manifesting, in tears, hugs, and long overdue reunion affection.
"Does anti-nausea medication exist for poltergeists?" Katherine scoffed with a well-executed eyeroll, then tapped her chin as she pretended to muse. "If I can turn corporeal for a few seconds, can I still vomit? Are you still pathologically attached to your rugs, Damon?"
"Just hearing you speak is like vomit in my soul, Katherine," Damon smirked.
"You should be a poet," Katherine deadpanned in response.
"This is really touching and all," Damon said after the Boarding House found itself enveloped with sounds of laughter, tears, and words of affection for several whole minutes. He almost felt guilty breaking up their happy reunion, but his growing unease ever since he heard Katherine's bombshell couldn't be ignored any longer. "But what about Stef? You said someone's running around wearing his face?"
Bonnie suddenly grew stiff and removed herself from Elena and Caroline, taking a step toward Damon with a somber nod. "It's Silas."
Damon paled. "Stef was supposed to throw him in the quarry. That means –"
"I'm working on a locator spell right now. The first few attempts were blocked – Silas must have either had help, or he blocked it himself after he drank the Cure and became a witch again, but I think the latest one is getting through," Bonnie interrupted, a sense of urgency filling her being. "We'll get your brother back. I promise."
"You'd better, Witchy," Damon growled, though it didn't have quite the same ire in it that was once present. Instead, what was most noticeable in Damon's tone was fear – and perhaps a bit of desperation.
Bonnie just smirked, having seen much more of Damon's softer qualities during her tenure as a ghost than would probably make him comfortable if he knew. "I missed you, too," she said, and went to check on the spell in the corner of the room.
"We can start by looking in the quarry," Damon suggested. "Silas could have switched places with him."
"We'll know for sure in about half an hour," Bonnie said. "We'll make our moves then, because at least we'll have the correct location. In the meantime, we need to figure out what to do about our resident poltergeist."
"What do you mean 'figure out?' I'm coming, too!" Katherine shot back. "I'm the only one in this whole walking delusion of a house that actually has her priorities straight. I've been championing 'look for Stefan' this whole time!"
"Our bond is erratic right now, Katherine," Bonnie seethed, at her absolute wit's end with her undead tethered partner. "We have no idea what'll happen. From what I can see, we have to work together."
"It's more than that," Damon smirked. "So much more."
"What do you know?" Bonnie asked, her eyes narrowing.
"I had a run-in with some poltergeists in Oregon about a century ago –" Damon began his tale.
"Damon helped save a town," Elena interrupted eagerly, grabbing his arm between both of hers and pressing herself into his side, letting her cheek nuzzle his shoulder.
"I learned a valuable skill in exchange for some services," Damon replied with an affectionate roll of his eyes, though a secret, deep, hidden part of him made his heart swell at her words - at her faith in him.
"The tether is about more than cooperation," Damon continued, though his voice now held a measure more calmness. "The poltergeist has to fight any natural instinct to do harm. The witch who told me about them said that the only way to do that is by actively practicing what she called 'Good' – by which she meant virtuous acts."
At this point, the hitherto silent Jeremy erupted in a guffaw of laughter. "Katherine!? Committed to virtue?"
"Oh, has Little Gilbert finally awoken from his beauty sleep to grace us with what I'm sure is genius-level insight?" Damon inquired drolly.
Wes Maxfield walked into the Board of Executives meeting at Whitmore Medical Center with all the manufactured aplomb he could summon while he desperately hoped that Nathaniel would be successful. As is, it appeared another graduate student of his, Jesse, would be in attendance as well – and given the latter's annoyingly bleeding heart, Wes feared that the plan might go awry. He tried his best to give Jesse enough tasks that evening that he'd be entirely too preoccupied to attend the event that where he and Nathaniel hoped to acquire new subjects, but it appeared that his plucky graduate student handled them all a little too well. Every exam had been graded and he even managed to draft some lesson plans for forthcoming labs.
No matter. If Jesse happened to be caught in the crossfire, there was no shortage of graduate students eager to take his place. After all, he was no Nathaniel – he'd hardly the stomach or the will for their vital line of work – Wes could see that almost immediately.
Jesse would never be able to do what it took to see humanity take is rightful place in the world plagued by the scourge of the supernatural.
With hours left to prepare, Wes spent the remaining minutes before the meeting overlooking a memo that the Nevada office had sent him. They were able to capture a witch and a werewolf.
Fascinating. He had no idea that manner of creature even existed.
Through their usual methods of interrogation, they learned that werewolf venom was fatal to vampires, which could prove to be very useful.
But better still – the witch.
Now the witch provided some real opportunity. She could not only make them nearly impervious to locator spells – which Wes had come to learn also existed – but create barrier enchantments to keep the subjects in, and intruders out.
Now this had potential, indeed.
"And what happens if Katherine does the most Katherine thing we expect and just acts like Katherine?" Jeremy asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Sorry, but after she sacrificed me on the altar of Silas back on the island, I have a really hard time believing that she'll behave."
"Not to mention, actually killed me," Caroline huffed.
"Have you met you before?" Katherine scoffed. "You were Elle Woods' whiny cousin, with none of the brains or charm. I made you …tolerable," she shrugged, stopping herself just in time from giving Caroline the compliment that was on the tip of her tongue.
"Well, if Haunty and Haughty continues to act naughty, the tether will continue to bind her and Bonnie closer together – limiting her capacity to move on her own – while making her increasingly ethereal. Eventually, she won't even have ghost privilege, where she can stay in a room, or even on Earth. She'll just fall through the planet and float through the vacuum of space – forever – or until the Second Law of Thermodynamics kicks in the Heat Death of the Universe in a ooh, a few –" Damon began with sardonic glee, increasing the growing terror on Katherine's face that she had very little success in hiding.
"Which is just a very sad hypothesis," Elena interrupted, making full use of that college tuition and nudging him. "The Heat Death, not Katherine's fate," she quickly corrected herself. "That's still very much in the table, because she's a mega-bitch. Why are we concerned about this? Will Bonnie be adversely affected, or just free?" she asked, still inwardly – and outwardly – seething at Katherine for a variety of reasons, not the least of which include Jeremy's murder on the island and her recent verbal assault on Damon.
"That's a good question," Bonnie mumbled to herself. "We have to ask the witches."
"Hey!" Katherine announced, scandalized. "I'm still here."
"Unfortunately," Elena groaned, side-eyeing Katherine with distinct scorn.
"We have to try," Bonnie said resolutely, feeling somewhat guilty for her role in Katherine's death, despite not being given any choice in the matter. If not for the blood magic performed, Katherine would have healed just like any other victim of a vampire bite. While Silas may not have used his own teeth to create the wound on her neck, an immortal's saliva was still had enough healing properties to keep her alive – which was the only reason vampires were able to sustainably feed on the same human without killing them – having them bleed out after drinking from the carotid artery.
The room devolved into a cacophonous mess as its occupants continued to argue about whether or not they should actually try to work with Katherine, when they were suddenly interrupted by a loud whistle.
"Okay, everyone needs to calm down right now!" Caroline screamed, by far the least calm person in the room, and therefore acting quite hypocritically at the moment. Remarkably, her method actually seemed to work, so when she picked up the nearest object – an open, but miraculously unbroken bourbon bottle, she announced importantly, "only the person holding the speaking … bottle … is allowed to talk."
The room's occupants only looked at her strangely.
Next chapter: Group Therapy Session with Caroline! Who's feeling optimistic about this endeavor? :D Will the Boarding House be filled with pets? Will Stefan try to eat them when he's finally rescued? (Okay, so maybe the latter two questions won't be for next chapter, but at some point! :D)
Soooo, regarding Wes Maxfield and his comparison to canon. Let's all remember that he turned sweet Jesse – his graduate student – after learning that he ingested vampire blood, so he'd be able to get another subject. So definitely not above hurting humans. This is just a Wes Maxfield with more resources and a bigger budget (and a graduate student who's just as ruthless as he is).
Thank you all for being utterly delightful and for the happiness and smiles. :D