AN (1): Hey guys. I know it's been three years since I've updated this story and for that, I am truly sorry. I know I have mentioned losing friends and my in laws, but when I lost my mom, I really went into shut down mode. I went into self-isolation, I stopped writing, I basically checked out of life. I still have a lot of healing to do, but writing fanfiction has always been something that I have been passionate about, so when I felt a tiny spark of inspiration, I decided that I would finish the projects that I truly loved. I don't blame you guys if you completely washed your hands of me and my stories. I hate that I ghosted y'all, but for those who are still on this journey with me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for sticking with me. I love you guys.
AN (2): My second apology is about the confusion with the update. I didn't like how Chapter 30 turned out, so I decided to rewrite it. The last time I updated this story with a new chapter was 12/27/2001. Unfortunately, I mixed things up and it didn't happen the way I wanted to. To make matters worse, something happened with the site Friday, so it killed my plans once again. With the luck I have been having, I feel like I cut off a voodoo priest in traffic lol. Anyways, I am working full time on this story, and I feel refreshed and motivated so I should be updating frequently. Sorry for any mistakes.
Shout out to DancesWithButterflies 3
Trigger warning. There is a bit of violence in this chapter.
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"Sister of the earth, daughter of fire, coming to claim her heart's desire. Sister of the earth, warrior of light, coming to claim her promised birth right. Come forth, sister. Come forth."
As Bonnie made her way inside of the entrance of the eerie cave, the first thing that she noticed was that the interior of the structure was something out of a wonderous dream. Ducking beneath a low hanging vine, Bonnie strained her eyes to get a better look at her surroundings. There were multiple underground pools that reflected the gentle light that poured through the opening of the cave's ceilings. The rock formations on the walls were crystalized and fascinating and the space appeared to be large and endless. The cave's stalactites resembled diamond encrusted daggers that left her feeling a mixture of fear and awe at the sight of them. There were strange sounds that echoed around the palatial cave reminding Bonnie of a hauntingly beautiful echo chamber.
The second thing that she noticed was the mysterious but enchanting energy that hung in the air like a heavy, cheap perfume. She could sense that there was magic present, but the magic radiating throughout the cave felt strange. The power made her feel anxious and slightly nauseous. The only way she could began to describe it was if Expression and Spirit magic were to manifest into a physical form, consummate their union, and had a baby, they would have given birth to the mystical energy that was currently surrounding her.
As Bonnie continued her trek deeper into the cave, she found herself in an internal battle against her fight or flight instinct. The side of her, the witch side, that survived such things as facing down an original hybrid, supernatural purgatory and death was encouraging her to continue on the path that she was on and fight whatever obstacle that she would stumble across. The human side of her that had spent too many Saturday nights as a teenager watching horror movies with Elena and Caroline was telling her that the pretty girls and the black people always died in the scary movies and given the fact that she was a pretty black girl, that meant her chances of dying doubled and every fiber of her being screamed that she needed sprout wings and fly the hell out of dodge.
It was times like this that Bonnie really wished that she was capable of being normal and boring. A normal boring girl would be out shopping at an outlet mall, having coffee with a friend, reading some trashy romance novel or catching up with the latest Instagram influencer. A boring girl's biggest threat of danger would be walking to her car alone at night or forgetting to replace the batteries in her smoke alarm. A normal and boring girl would not be doing what she was doing at the moment. Unfortunately, Bonnie had been born a witch from a very powerful bloodline, so being normal was something that was never going to be within her reach.
Taking a deep breath, she was preparing to continue on her mission when she was suddenly grabbed from behind.
"Careful."
An undignified squeak escaped Bonnie's lips as she jumped at the sensation of Stefan's mouth inches away from her ear. She had been so focused on following the voice that was summoning her that she hadn't notice the small pool of water that was currently in her path.
"It would help if I could see," Bonnie sighed as she looked around at the cave walls to see if there was anything flammable to assist her with her eyesight.
"Allow me to assist you, little witch." Kol smiled snapping his fingers. Seconds later a ball of light formed on his fingertips causing Bonnie to gasp.
"Whoa," Bonnie breathed excitedly, "Can you teach me how to do that?"
Kol smiled brightly showing all of his teeth.
"Sure. Hold your hand out like this," he murmured extending his right hand with his palm facing upward.
Bonnie mirrored his action.
"Close your eyes."
She did.
"Repeat after me," he instructed, "Post tenebras spero lucem."
"Post tenebras spero lucem," she echoed softly.
"Open your eyes," he murmured dropping his hands from her shoulders.
Bonnie obeyed and a slow smile formed across her lips as she found a small fireball form inches above her palm. The heat radiated from the tips of her fingertips providing her with light and warmth.
She stared up at him with a delighted look on her face.
"I did it!"
"Yes," he gazed down at her with such gentleness in his voice that nearly made the Bennett witch melt, "You did."
She felt the back of her neck burn hot as Kol's knuckles lightly grazed her right cheek as he continued to pin her down with his smoldering gaze.
"I hate to interrupt whatever this is, but we need to keep moving," Stefan snapped before extending his hand motioning for Bonnie and Kol to move forward, "Shall we?"
Kol took up the lead, Bonnie walked in the middle while Stefan took up the rear.
As the trio continued on their journey, Stefan observed Bonnie and Kol closely.
He couldn't help but feel annoyed as he noticed the heat building between Bonnie and Kol slowly evolve into an inferno. It was obvious that Kol and Bonnie were attracted to each other, but Stefan couldn't believe that Bonnie was actually entertaining Kol's attempts at seducing her. The Bonnie he had come to know over the past couple of years had always had a strong moral fiber where she would rather play blind folded in traffic before she ever gave someone of Kol's caliber the time of day. Now, she was standing a little too close to the Original looking a little too comfortable and Stefan felt that it was in her best interest if he intervened before Bonnie went down a road that there was no coming back from. Making out with him when he was in Ripper mode was one thing, but flirting with Kol was showing a pattern of bad judgement and while Bonnie was determined to save his soul from eternal damnation, Stefan was determined to save Bonnie from being another notch on the Original's belt.
"It's a shame you know," the Original sighed shaking his head as they took turns squeezing through a narrow pathway that led deeper into the cavern.
"What is?" Bonnie asked smiling as she toyed with the ball of light experimentally by juggling it from one hand to the other.
"That someone as powerful as you know so little about your craft," he said managing to sound both disappointed and judgmental.
"Well, it's kind of hard to get any practice in when your life, your town and everything that you love is always being threatened by psychotic immortals," she said defensively.
"If your life is so burdened by danger and evil doers, why go back?" Kol asked confused.
"They are my family. I would give my life for them. I wouldn't expect for you to understand that kind of loyalty and devotion," she mumbled lifting her hand to wipe the film of sweat that had formed on her brow.
"Do you honestly believe that these dysfunctional excuses for vampires are your family?" Kol asked incredulously, "You really do have a poor definition of loyalty."
Something about his statement rubbed her the wrong way and suddenly Bonnie found herself feeling irritated.
"At least my family doesn't stake me in the chest and throw me inside of a coffin whenever I do anything that displeases them," she sneered.
Kol stopped walking abruptly causing Bonnie to nearly slam into his back. The brown-haired vampire whirled around and stared down at Bonnie with a smile that was anything but friendly.
"True, but riddle me this, darling. What kind of family allows your grandmother to die just so they can free some trollop from an empty tomb? What kind of family makes the decision to turn your mother into a vampire by flipping a coin?" he asked boldly, "What kind of family would prioritize your best friend while you continue to get the short end of the stick? If that is your definition of family, you are better off being an orphan. My brothers and sister may not be saints, but at least we know the meaning of what is to be loyal to each other and to put family first. Always and forever. Poor little witch. You will never know that kind of connection."
Bonnnie stared at him wondering how he knew such personal information about her life, but she quickly remembered that Kol had manipulated her into thinking he was Stefan the day before which meant that he had time to access some of the younger vampire's memories and emotions. The fact that she used those events against her made the tips of her ears burn hot as anger began to burn hot beneath her skin.
"You're an ass," she spat.
"I'm an Original, darling. Being an ass comes with the territory. I'm also selfish, calculating and I would use any and everybody to serve my own agenda. I wasn't born to be a hero. I was born to be exactly what and who I am. I'm not a good guy and I'm not going to apologize for that. You may see that as being a terrible thing. You may see me as being a monster, but here is what you don't seem to get. I can be your monster," he said softly as he reached out to touch her cheek.
She jerked away from him, and he leveled her with a stare that would have struck fear in most women's heart.
"You know what your problem is?" Kol chuckled humorlessly as he backed away from her, "You are too self-righteous for your own good. You think that the world would eventually be a better place as long as you keep playing the role of the good, selfless moral witch. Let me ask you something. How do you think your ancestors would feel about some of the choices that you have made thus far?"
"You don't know anything about my ancestors or how they would feel!" she thundered angrily.
Kol's hardened expression softened noticeably. It was apparent that his comment had left Bonnie feeling some kind of way.
"Anyone who knows a thing about magic knows the history of every single blood line that has produced powerful witches, and the Bennett bloodline is about as close as you can get to magical royalty. Your blood line is superior to most and witches who carry the last name should be worshiped, respected and fear, yet here you are. You aren't being worshipped, respected or feared. You are being used to further the agenda of creatures who aren't fit to lick your boot, much less demand that you save their souls from eternal damnation."
"Why do you even care?" she asked exasperated.
"Because you, love, are worth caring about," he exclaimed throwing his hands in the air in frustration. "You deserve better than this. Why are you so desperate to be their mule? The magical slave, the token negro meant to serve at their pleasure?" he inquired frowning deeply, "Where is your sense of self-worth? Where is your sense of self respect?"
Kol immediately regretted the words that came out of his mouth when he saw the look of hurt flash across Bonnie's face.
"I can see that I upset you. That wasn't my intention," he tried weakly.
"This conversation is over," Stefan informed coldly. "Let her go."
Bonnie felt Stefan's chest pressed against her back as he and Kol locked eyes over her head. While she didn't feel comfortable being trapped in between two temperamental vampires, a part of her was relieved that Stefan had decided to intervene on her behalf.
While Kol wanted to compel Stefan to remove his daylight ring and go outside the cave and stand in the sun, he knew that Bonnie would hate him more than she already did. Inhaling deeply, he curbed his murderous appetite and reluctantly removed his hand from Bonnie's arm.
"I'm just trying to make you realize that they aren't worthy. They are not worthy of your sacrifice. They are not worthy of your loyalty. They are not worthy of you."
When Bonnie didn't respond, he moved closer with a look of contrite on his face.
"Bonnie, I'm sorry," Kol whispered somberly.
The green-eyed witch was about to tell Kol where he could shove his apology when something caught her attention.
Pushing past the pair of vampires, she made her way over to the edge of the cave where she saw a strange symbol lodged in the dirt wall of the cave. Lifting her free hand absent of the fireball, she grazed the marking with her fingertips and gasped loudly when it started to glow. Once she got passed the initial shock, she felt excitement wash over her. Her gut told her that she was in the right spot, and she was about to get getting everything that she had been hoping and looking for.
She was preparing to explore the symbol more thoroughly when she felt a part of large fingers wrap around her wrist firmly.
She looked up to see Stefan starring down at her with a mixture of concern and suspicion on his brooding face.
"Don't touch it. It could be booby trapped," Stefan warned.
"Or hexed," the Original said gravelly.
Stefan rolled his eyes and glared at Kol. "That's kind of the same thing."
"Hexed and booby trap is not the same thing, simpleton," Kol sniffed haughtily. One involves magic and the other involves some wannabe MacGyver."
Their debate came to an abrupt end when a loud booming voice shook the cave.
SISTER OF THE EARTH, DAUGHTER OF FIRE, COMING TO CLAIM HER HEART'S DESIRE. SISTER OF THE EARTH, WARRIOR OF LIGHT, COMING TO CLAIM HER PROMISED BIRTH RIGHT! COME FORTH, SISTER! COME FORTH!
Before they had a chance to react, the ground beneath their feet trembled slightly causing some debris to fall from the cave ceiling and rain down on her temporarily clouding their vision. Unable to brace herself, Bonnie was knocked off balance. As she fell against the cave wall, her ankle connected with an invisible trip wire causing the ceiling of the cave to explode releasing a huge concrete bolder with several sharp spikes hurling her way.
"Bonnie, look out!" Stefan shouted frantically.
Bonnie stood frozen in place as her eyes widen in horror at the terrifying bobby trap heading her way.
Seeing that she wasn't going to move out of the way in time, Kol immediately sprang into action.
"Ventus!"
The brown eyed vampire summoned a torrid gust of wind to fling Bonnie out of danger and she landed unceremoniously in Stefan's arms. While Kol had saved her from being impaled by the metal spikes, Stefan hadn't been so fortunate. As they collided to the ground, Bonnie grunted as she felt the air being knocked out of her lungs as Stefan landed awkwardly on top of her.
"Shit," he groaned weakly as he rolled off of her and collapsed on his side.
"Are you okay?" Bonnie wheezed.
"Hell no! I feel like I was jumped by a gang of porcupines," he croaked hoarsely.
It took moment for Bonnie to catch her breath, but when she was able to breathe normally again, she sat up to check on Stefan and was horrified to find three spikes lodged in his back.
"Hold still," she ordered gently as she quickly, "This might hurt a little."
Bonnie quickly yanked out the offending objects and was aghast to find that they were coated in some type of poison.
She was preparing to give him some blood to heal when the cave began to vibrate once more causing Bonnie to cover Stefan's body with her own in order to keep dirt from falling into his wounds. Once the miniature earthquake had ended, Bonnie eyes found their way to the wall with the symbol, and she gasped at what she discovered. A corpse was hanging out of the wall and in the skeleton's, hand was a wicked looking blade. Bonnie felt her heart leap in her throat as she realized that there was a good chance that she may have just found what she had been searching for. The bone dagger.
"Kol, I need you to help Stefan," Bonnie said not taking her eyes off the prize as she slowly made her way to her feet.
"Stefan isn't my priority, love. You are," he said stiffly.
Bonnie managed to pull her focus away from the dagger and turned her piercing glare onto the Original vampire who appeared to be indifferent to Stefan's plight.
"You told me that your priority was to keep me safe, and me worrying about Stefan will be a dangerous distraction, so I'm asking you...please. Help him," she insisted with urgency in her voice.
Kol stared at her for a long moment before relenting. "As you wish, darling."
Satisfied with Kol's compliance, Bonnie returned her focus back to the dagger. Stepping over Stefan's prone body, Bonnie made her way over to the corpse and tried prying the dagger out of the skeleton's hand, but it was lodged stubbornly between the ancient metacarpal bones that had formed into a fist clutching the weapon in a secure grip. As she continued to try to free the dagger from the creepy skeleton iron clutches, her hand slipped, and she cried out in pain as the blade left a deep cut across her palm. As the blood began to trickle down from the tip of the blade, it began to pool around the corpse feet and suddenly the skeleton began to move, and the cave began to collapse on itself.
"Bonnie, you need to get out of here," Kol shouted as he tried dodging falling debris.
"I can't leave without the dagger," she yelled over the chaos as she dodged large clumps of rocks raining from the ceiling.
Kol rushed over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders forcing her to look up at him.
"If you stay here any longer, you will die. I'm not asking you; I'm telling you to get the hell out of here," he growled sternly.
Bonnie knew it was pointless to argue so she exhaled deeply before nodding her compliance.
The Original vampire grabbed Stefan who could barely stand on his own and slung him clumsily over his shoulder. "I got him. We are going to be right behind you. Now move it!"
The trio made it out of the cave seconds before it collapsed on itself.
As Bonnie fell to her hands and knees in the sand, she realized how Aladdin must have felt when he narrowly managed to escape the cave of wonders. The fact that she was thinking about a Disney cartoon just seconds after she narrowly escaped death was so absurd that she almost giggled, but she knew that if she started laughing, she would never stop.
`Making her way to her feet, Bonnie was attempting to process what had just happened when a soft groan of pain caught her attention.
Whirling around, she watched as Kol dropped Stefan beneath a palm tree before he walked off mumbling what Bonnie recognized as healing spell. She wanted to be annoyed that Kol couldn't be bothered to give Stefan his blood so that the younger vampire could heal, but she knew that Kol's sense of self-preservation came before anything else which meant it was in Bonnie's hands to help Stefan. Inhaling deeply, she marched over to Stefan who managed to prop his back up against the tree. His face was very pale, and he looked as if he was seconds away from falling over into a heap and desiccating. Rushing to his side, she dropped to her knees and silently took inventory of his injuries.
Sighing softly, she straightened her spine and began to roll her neck in preparation for what was about to happen.
Almost as if he could see her intentions in her eyes, Stefan shook his head feebly.
"Bonnie...you can't," he warned weakly.
"You are in really bad shape, Stefan," she said gently as she brushed strands of hair off his damp forehead, "You need to feed."
Before Stefan could react, Kol reached down and snatched her away from him.
"What are you doing?" she demanded wide eyed.
"You were about to feed him your blood? Are you out of your bloody mind?" he bellowed.
"The only reason why Stefan is hurt is because he saved me back there. I need to help him," Bonnie said determination in her brilliant green eyes, "Move. Now."
Pushing past him, she returned to Stefan's side fully prepared what she needed to do.
"Here," she lifted her wrist to his mouth, "Drink."
"You should be worried about helping yourself. You're bleeding," he said gruffly.
Bonnie blinked confused as he lifted a trembling hand to the side of her face and brushed his fingers across her earlobe. Her eyes widened when he withdrew his hands and revealed a coat of blood over three of his fingers. She had been bleeding from her right ear and hadn't even noticed.
"You're hurt, and I'm not going to let you hurt yourself any further by helping me. It's not worth it," he said stubbornly.
Bonnie tried to protest but he silenced her with a look.
"It's not worth it," he repeated weakly, "I know I may not have shown it in the past or even during the duration of this trip, but you matter, Bonnie. Your life matters to me, and I have to pay for the sins of my past and spend eternity in hell in order for you to get out of here alive and live out the rest of your life being happy and free from all of this chaos and insanity, so be it. Just say the word, and we can get back on that boat and head back to the island, pack up our things and go home."
Bonnie felt her breath hitch and her eyes burn with tears as she stared down at Stefan who had a look of vulnerability on his face that she hadn't witnessed in a long time. This wasn't the Ripper speaking to her, nor was it the Stefan who treated her with mild indifference. This was Stefan. The noble vampire who had come looking for her when she had fell into a hole in the ground all of those years ago. This was the vampire who kept her secret when she had nearly lit a car on fire when she had lost control of her magic. This was the vampire who had held her when she had cried after witnessing the ghost of her grams in pain after Bonnie had foolishly defied the spirits. This was the Stefan that genuinely cared for her. This is the Stefan that she had been missing.
"Why the sudden change of heart?" she asked her voice barely above a whisper.
"As much as I hate to admit it, Kol was right about what he said earlier. You consider us to be your family, but we haven't exactly treated you with the same respect and loyalty that you have shown us," he confessed as he struggled to stay conscious, "You deserve to live. You deserve to be happy."
Feeling moved by his words, Bonnie leaned over and pressed her lips against his forehead.
While the act was meant to show comfort and affection, it was also a way for Bonnie to use her magic to heal Stefan's injuries.
Once he was completely healed, Bonnie removed her lips from his skin and pulled away.
"Thank you," he sighed his voice filled with sincerity and appreciation.
Bonnie studied his face closely for a moment.
"Did you really mean what you said? Would you really be okay with me just walking away from this quest and returning home without the bone dagger?" she inquired as they both slowly rose to their feet.
"I say what I mean, and I mean what I say," he reassured her with a crooked smile, "Just say the word and we can leave all this bullshit behind and go home."
"I second that motion."
Bonnie looked over to see Kol making his way over to them looking good as new.
"Come on, little witch. Let's get the hell off this cursed island. I know a quaint little cafe on the mainland that has incredible red wine," Kol informed cheerfully.
Bonnie was about to respond when the energy in the air shifted.
Bonnie frowned as she watched the sun disappear behind wicked looking gray clouds. Moments ago, the sun had been shining and now it looked as if the mother of all storms was about to rain down on them.
"Something's wrong," Kol started but was interrupted by the sound of thunder rolling so loudly that it caused all three supernatural creatures to flinch.
"Oh my god."
Bonnie barely got the words out before a lightning bolt came flying in her direction.
Acting purely off instinct, she closed her eyes and stretched out her hand and familiar words of a spell flowed from her lip causing the bolt of lightning to deflect where it struck a tree causing it to go up in flames.
"Run," Kol shouted.
The trio wasted no time in bolting towards the side of the beach that was canopied by trees. As they attempted to find sanctuary, green thorny vines suddenly appeared like tentacles and lashed out. Kol and Stefan tried to go on the defense, but the vines grabbed them swiftly tying them to two separate trees and immobilizing them. Stefan tried to use his vampire strength to break free but failed miserably. Kol tried to use his magic to escape, but his attempts to get loose failed as well.
As Bonnie attempted to free them, the sound of dark laughter made her to go completely still.
Turning around slowly, she watched in horror as a dark figure limped over to her. The scene was something straight out of a horror movie. The figure had strands of red hair hanging from her scalped skull, her skin was scaley and gray, and her eyes were sunken into her skull and a pure onyx black.
Bonnie swallowed with great difficulty as sweat peppered her hairline and formed on her upper lip.
"This was bad. This was really, really bad.
"Be not afraid, young one," the mysterious woman murmured as she locked eyes with Bonnie, "Today you will take your first step towards the Great Reckoning."
When Matt Donovan had gotten the call that his presence was needed at the Salvatore Boarding House, a part of him had secretly hoped that the place had done the town a favor and burned to the ground. Ever since Stefan and Damon Salvatore had moved back to Mystic Falls, that house served as the epicenter for all the terrible and horrific things that had happened to not only innocent people, but his friends as well. That was the house Caroline had been used, abused at the hands of Damon. It was the house where his sister Vicky's death had occurred; it was the place that they had all gathered to say goodbye to Elena as the doppelganger had been lying in a coffin placed under a creepy sleeping spell. Overall, it was just a stain on the community and Matt couldn't wait for the day when that stain would be permanently removed.
Unfortunately, his fantasy came crashing down as he pulled up to the location and found that the Boarding House was still standing. The place was surrounded by cops going in and out of the house which left Matt feeling on edge and very uneasy. As he climbed out of the squad car and made his way up the driveway, his mind began to race a million miles a minute. When he had talked to Brody, he didn't indicate that he knew that his daughter was a vampire which begged the question of why was Tiffany keeping her transition to the undead a secret? Was she hiding her identity out of fear that her vampire hating father would persecute her or was there another dark agenda being played out that Matt wasn't privy to?
Breezing through the entrance of the house, he found the mayor barking orders to everyone sending every uniformed officer scrambling in different directions. Judging from the way the newly elected politician was swearing and foaming at the mouth, Matt knew it was safe to say that Damon's cover had been blown.
When the mayor caught sight of Matt, his face grew another shade of red and he immediately made a beeline towards him.
"Where the hell have you been? I called you over an hour ago."
The truth was that Matt had spent the past couple hours at the Gilbert Lakehouse. He had just finished securing Elena and an unconscious Damon when he had received the urgent call from the mayor demanding that he meet up with him.
"I was working on another case," Matt lied through his teeth, "What's going on here?"
Mayor Brody scowled at Matt before turning his attention to the rookie looming near them nervously.
"I want this entire place searched from top to bottom!" he ordered loudly.
"Sir, shouldn't we wait for Judge Richards to sign off on the search warrant?"
The poor rookie, Diane Harper, who made the mistake of speaking out of turn shrank nervously as Mayor Brody glared at him murderously. "The man who kidnapped my daughter is out there probably abducting other innocent girls. Do you really think a stupid piece of paper is going to stop me from doing everything in my power to get that son of a bitch of the streets?!" he shouted. "I want you to put out an APB out for Damon Salvatore. I want his face posted everywhere! I don't want a single stone unturned, and I don't want a single officer resting until this son of a bitch is found! Am I understood?"
"Y-yes sir," the rookie stammered practically shaking in her boots.
As Brody continued to berate Diane, Matt could see that the rookie was about to burst into tears, and he decided to intervene before things could go from bad to worse.
"Why don't you go help Eddie go search for evidence in the back yard," he suggested gently, "I'll deal with the mayor."
Diane flashed him an appreciative smile before she quickly disappeared from the house.
"I don't know why I expect more from these people. Most of them probably got their criminal law degree out of a cereal box," Brody grumbled irritated.
Matt realized that the mayor was angry and frustrated, but he wasn't going to stand there and let him demonize the men and women who worked for him.
"I know that you want to find Damon and bring him to justice, but in order for my people to do their job to the best of their ability, they need for you to work with them and not against them. Insults will only make them feel like you don't have faith in them and that isn't good for anyone going forward," Matt said respectfully but in a firm tone.
Brody glared at Matt and was contemplating whether or not to call the sheriff out on his insubordinate tone but decided to reprimand him at a later date. His main focus was on finding Damon Salvatore.
"If you want, I can personally head over to your home and take your daughter's statement," Matt offered as he scanned the living room briefly.
"That won't be necessary," Brody said curtly as he hovered over the wet bar, "Tiffany isn't in any condition to speak to anyone. She has been traumatized so badly that she refused to leave her room. When she wasn't hysterical, she managed to tell me that Damon Salvatore had abducted her and that she had been held here for the past few days. Beyond that, she refuses to say anything else."
"Do you have any clue as to why Damon may have targeted your daughter?" he inquired trying to gauge what the other man knew. From everything that he observed, Brody knew that Damon was some predator who kidnapped his daughter, but it didn't seem that he knew that Damon was a creature of the night.
"No," he exhaled deeply as he massaged the back of his neck tight with tension. "When he first came to me offering to serve on the counsel, I thought he was just being a good citizen and was completely harmless. I mean I checked his background and saw that he worked with that one Sheriff who was taken out by cancer."
Matt bristled as he felt his teeth grind from the anger he felt at the politician's blatant disrespect over someone that Matt had loved and respected.
"Her name was Elizabeth Forbes, and she fought a very brave fight," he said stiffly.
"Be that as it may, she couldn't have been a very bright detective if she spent years working with that degenerated without ever suspecting what he was capable of. I wonder how many other innocent girls Damon abducted under her nose," he scoffed rudely.
Matt was two seconds away from saying something that would have probably cost him his job and landed him with an assault charge, when his phone range.
"Excuse me. I have to take this," he said tersely.
As Matt made his way out of the Boarding House, he was so distracted that he didn't notice a man coming out of the basement and heading to the living room.
"Mayor Brody?"
The man in question turned around and stared at the plain clothes detective warily.
"Who are you?" he asked gruffly.
"My name is Detective Jason Benton. I'm working the case involving your daughter," he informed, "I need to come down to the basement. There is something that I think that you should see."
As Brody Sharp followed the skinny detective down into the basement, he could feel his stomach churn and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He couldn't place his finger on it but as he descended down the stairs something felt off...and cold. As he arrived in the room, he felt his stomach lurch as he realized that this was the horrific place that his daughter had been kept prisoner. It was dirty and rank and he could see that there was a bucket in the corner where she had been forced to relieve herself. The fact that his child had been subjected to such undignified and disgusting acts just to survive was enough to make him want to go hunt Damon down and put a bullet between his eyes.
Forcing himself to control his emotions, he followed the detective over to a large deep freezer in the corner of the room. When Jason pried the top open, Brody felt his knees buckle as he discovered the medium size appliance was filled with blood bags.
As the pieces of the puzzle began to slowly click inside of his head his shock quickly morphed into anger.
"I'm judging by your reaction that you were not aware that you are working side by side with a vampire when you revived the Counsel?"
Brody narrowed his eyes as his frown deepened. It was bad enough that Damon had tricked him and left him looking like an idiot, but for some random detective to know about his business rubbed him the wrong way.
"How do you know about the Counsel?" he demanded hotly, "That information is known to a very exclusive group of people."
"With all due respect I wouldn't be a very good detective if I didn't know what was taking place right under my nose," he said dryly as he reached into the deep freezer and retrieved one of the blood bags to examine it closely. "I know that Sheriff Donovan is leading this investigation, but I think that you should strongly reconsider and put somebody else in charge."
"If this is about you trying to maneuver your way into a better position, now is not the time," Brody warned evenly.
"No, it's not that at all," he reassured him quickly as he placed the blood bag back into the freezer before closing the door, "I just think that you should know that Donovan's history with Salvatore might jeopardize his ability to bring your daughter's abductor to justice."
"What kind of history?" Brody asked feeling his curiosity peak.
"Let's just say I went to high school with Matt and he use to run in circles that included Stefan Salvatore who happens to be Damon's younger brother," Jason revealed, "Matt and Stefan both dated this girl named Elena and it makes you wonder that if he shared an ex with the brother of a vampire, what else could Donovan being sharing with them? Do you want to know what I think? I think Matt is aware of who and what Damon is and is actively working against you to keep their secret under wraps."
"So, if Donovan knows that Damon Salvatore is a blood sucking murderer why would he bring in, Jeremy Gilbert, a vampire hunter to help stop him?" Brody asked baffled.
The detective stared at the mayor wondering if the politician was naïve or just plain dumb.
"Jeremy Gilbert is not just a vampire hunter, he is the brother of Elena Gilbert. I assume they bought him here to make sure that Damon's cover isn't blown," he explained slowly.
The detective moved closer to Brody Sharp so that he wouldn't risked being overheard.
"I'm going to need you to listen to me and listen to me closely," he warned darkly, "If you want to find Damon Salvatore, you need to keep your eye on Donovan and Gilbert because I can guarantee you that they will be the ones to lead you straight to him."
At the mention of the Great Reckoning, Bonnie felt her blood run cold. The night that she had met Cade in the woods, Bonnie had an intense dream that had warned of the coming of the Great Reckoning. She had been visited by the spirits of Tyler Lockwood, Jeremy's ex Anna, and Pastor Young. They had all told her that something dark and terrible was coming and that she needed to be ready to face it head on when the time had arrived. The dream had taken a dark turn when Elena had appeared in her dream with Stefan and Damon at her side serving as agents of death and destruction. The dream had shown her the corpses of people that she cared about, and Caroline, Alaric, Ric, and Enzo had been among the dead bodies that she had mourned in her dream. Standing face to face with this strange woman, Bonnie felt an aurora of danger and wickedness surrounding the woman and she silently promised that she would do everything in her power to keep this person from hurting anyone that she cared about.
"Who are you?" Bonnie asked trying not to let the fear that was coursing through her seep into her voice.
"My name is Celeste. I am the Guardian of this land," the hideously disfigured woman murmured as she slowly strolled towards them. "I was the corpse trapped inside of that wall and if it wasn't for your blood granting my freedom, I would still be imprisoned. I owe you my undying gratitude, Bonnie."
Bonnie blinked surprised. "You know who I am?"
"Of course. I know all of you. You are Stefan Salvatore. The shadow copy of the powerful immortal Silas," she revealed giving Stefan, who was struggling to remain upright, an intrigued glance before turning her attention towards Kol, "You are Kol Michaelson; an Original vampire and warlock." Kol simply sneered and glared as Celeste finally stopped in front of the younger witch. "You are the daughter of Abagail and the descendant of Qetsiyah."
"Is this what you were looking for?" she asked softly.
Bonnie felt goosebumps crawl across her entire body as the older witch revealed the dagger in the palm of her hand.
Her fingers itched to remove the weapon from the other woman's possession, but she wasn't foolish enough to think that she could do so without forcing the other woman to protect it, so she squeezed her fingers into a fist and forced herself to remain calm and patient.
"Yes. I need it to save my friends," she breathed as her gaze fixated on the ancient cutting tool. "I need it to defeat Cade."
Celeste smiled gently and tucked the blade into a holster on her hip.
"You have a lot of heart, but you are sadly mistaken if you think that you have what it takes to destroy Cade. He is far too powerful, and he knows every move you will make before you even think it into existence. You are very courageous and brave, but unfortunately, you were already destined to lose this battle before you even decided to engage in a war with him."
"Not to be rude, but you really have no clue of what I am capable of doing," Bonnie growled evenly with steel determination in her mint green eyes. "I define my destiny, and I will not admit defeat no matter what you believe has been written in the stars," Bonnie said hotly.
Celeste chuckled darkly and shook her head almost sympathetically. "That's a pretty speech that could be wrapped up in a lovely little bow, but you really are a naïve little girl. This isn't just about your fate and the fate of those demon spawns that you call allies. There are other people who will suffer if you lay claim to the bone dagger. I know how this end. It isn't pretty and I'm telling you that if you don't give up this suicidal mission and turn back now...you will die!"
Suddenly alarm bells went off in Bonnie's head as she stared at the red head witch suspiciously.
"It was you," she said as if a light bulb had suddenly gone over her head, "It was your voice that I heard in my head when I was nearly snuffed out by quicksand on the beach last night!"
"Yes, and I tried to warn you to turn back but you refused to listen," she huffed annoyed.
"How were you able to attack me when you were imprisoned in the cave?" Bonnie inquired confused.
Celeste's smile was both affectionate and smug.
"Cade may have drained the life from my body, but my spirit remained very much alive," she boasted.
"Why would he condemn you such a cruel fate?" Bonnie asked feeling a pang of sympathy for Celeste who seemed somber and defeated, "Why would he kill you but let your spirit roam free and restless?"
"Because you were meant to find your way to me and I was meant to help you guide you towards your destiny," she replied ominously. Bonnie watched as the other woman reached up and removed a necklace with a tiny bird skull from around her neck and held it in the palms of her hand as if it was the most delicate and fragile thing in the world. "Believe it or not, we are kindred spirits. You and I are two different pieces of a puzzle that was destined to come together to create something incredibly powerful."
Bonnie watched as the other woman reached up and removed a necklace with a tiny bird skull from around her neck and held in the palms of her hand as if it was the most delicate and fragile thing in the world.
"What's that?" Bonnie asked curiously.
Celeste's eyes light up with excitement as she moved closer to Bonnie clutching the necklace tightly.
"This necklace is an heirloom that has been passed down by the women in my family from generation to generation. This necklace is the reason why you are here."
"What does that necklace have to do with the bone dagger?" Bonnie asked not able to hide her mounting frustration.
Celeste smiled conspiratorially. "The ashes incased inside of this bird's skull belonged to him."
The revelation left Stefan and Kol completely speechless and Bonnie in a state of shock.
"When Cade created the dimension that we know as Hell, nature created a way to destroy him. Nature created a weapon. One part was entrusted with the descendant of the most powerful bloodline of witches, and the other part of the weapon were placed with a descendant of my bloodline." She paused before looking at Bonnie intensely, "It was placed with me. My ancestors were there the day that Cade was burned at the stake. They preserved the one thing that would bind to the bone that would make the dagger complete." A beat. "My ancestors was responsible in securing the ashes and your ancestors was responsible in securing the other part of the weapon. If you are the key, then I'm the master lock."
Bonnie felt her mouth grow dry as realization dawned on her.
"Are you saying what I think you are saying?" she whispered stunned.
Celeste nodded.
"The weapon has been protected all this time because the dagger resided with me and the bone was spelled to reside inside of Quetisyah's blessed descendant. That descendant is you. The ash combined with the dagger makes the weapon that will destroy Cade," she confirmed softly.
"And the man said: "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for out of man she was taken," Stefan quoted softly with a look of horror and realization on his face.
Bonnie's green eyes widen as she recalled Dorian quoting that very same scripture right before she had ventured off on her current excursion.
"Genesis chapter two and verse twenty-three," Bonnie whispered thickly.
Celeste nodded in confirmation as a sad smile graced her lips.
"The person who possess the dagger will be the most powerful being on this planet. This is why I was meant to have it, and you were destined to die."
Bonnie tensed as she heard the underlining threat in the witch's voice.
Before she could brace herself, Celeste mumbled an incantation and Bonnie found herself being flung several feet in the air before slammed against a tree causing her back to scream in protest and her vision to blur as conifers fell loose from branches and bounced across the top of her head.
Watching Bonnie being attacked triggered something inside of Kol, and releasing a terrifying growl, and a burst of magic exploded through the air destroying the restraints that had previously held him and Stefan in captivity.
Bonnie watched wide eyed as Kol bum rushed Celeste and grabbed her by the hair before flashing his fangs murderously. Before he had the chance to sink his teeth into Celeste, the red head witch lifted her hand and made a fist causing Kol to drop to his knees holding his head as he screamed in pain. Bonnie was paralyzed as she watched in horror as his face began to twist in agony and pain and his skin color to turn into a ghoulish gray color. Seconds later, she punched her fist through his chest and removed his heart.
"I may not be able to kill an Original, but I can keep him immobilized long enough until I get what I want," she smirked tossing the bloody organ over her shoulder before turning her attention towards Stefan.
Bonnie knew she had to act fast. Kol was capable of coming back from having his heart removed, but Stefan wouldn't be so lucky. Stefan clearly was on her same wavelength of thinking because he decided to spring in action by grabbing a nearby piece of dead wood and launched it towards Celeste's head only for her to snap her fingers causing the dead wood to turn into a poisonous viper. Before Stefan could go into defense mode, Bonnie threw a wave of magic in Stefan's direction causing a strong barrier of protection to wrap around him. With him safe, she could focus on the task at hand and that was staying alive long enough to put down her current adversary.
Taking a deep breath, Bonnie squared her shoulders and faced Celeste head on. If this witch was going to end her life, she wasn't going to make it easy for her.
You are a Bennett witch, a voice inside of her head reminded her sternly, And Bennett witches never run from a fight.
Celeste could see the stubborn and defiant look in Bonnie's eyes, and she couldn't help but feel impressed.
"You are a brave girl. Foolish, but brave," she tsked shaking her head condescendingly, "When I told you that you had to die in order for the dagger to be complete, I meant it. Submit to me and I promise to make your death as painless as possible."
"Surrender was never a word in my vocabulary," Bonnie said with more bravado than she actually felt, "If you want whatever it is that is inside of me, you are going to have to come and take it and I will be damn if I make it easy for you."
"Very well. Have it your way," the red headed witch sighed closing her eyes before slowly stretching out her hand.
Bonnie knew it would take a few seconds before the other woman could chant an incantation to attack her, so acting quickly, she grabbed a hand full of sand before bolting to her feet and rushing towards Celeste with her fist clenched. Before Celeste could get out the full spell, Bonnie used her free hand to punch the older witch in the face before she used her other hand to fling the dirt in her eyes.
"Aaaaagh," Celeste cried in agony as she was temporarily blinded by Bonnie's attack.
Not waiting for her to recover, Bonnie threw a round house kick and knocked the red head on her ass before she mounted her and wrapped her hands around her pale throat. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she made a mental note to thank Alaric's for teaching her and training her in the art of hand-to-hand combat a few months back.
"I didn't want to hurt you, but you left me no choice," Bonnie growled.
She was lifting her right fist in the process of knocking Celeste's lights out when suddenly a vine descended from one of the trees wrapping her neck in a vice grip before yanking her upwards causing her feet to dangle a couple of feet above the ground. As a vine tightened around her neck, the thorns pricked dug deep into her flesh causing her breathing to grow shallow and labored.
"Stop it," she whimpered. As she clawed at the contraption causing interference to bringing oxygen to her lungs, she was so overwhelmed with fear and dread that she didn't feel the hint of her spirit magic swirling around in the pit of her stomach.
"You put up a good fight, but your fate is inevitable, child," Celeste grunted as she made her way to her feet and took out her dagger before approaching Bonnie.
One minute Celeste was several feet away from her and the next, she was standing inches away from her. Before Bonnie could recover from how fast she had moved, she found her hands being gripped by the older witch.
"What are you doing? Let go of me!" she cried trying to snatch away from her vice like grip.
"I must. It is my destiny to claim the bone dagger and protect it and it is your destiny to give it to me." Her words caused Bonnie to feel as if ice had suddenly flooded her veins.
Bonnie screamed as she felt every single bone inside of her hands shatter and become twisted and deformed.
What the hell was going on? What happened to her magic?
Bonnie stared down at her mangled hands feeling a mixture of terror and confusion.
"I don't get it. I don't understand," she stammered softly.
"I think you may have lost something when I mangled those pretty little hands of yours," she said with an odd smile, "Looking for this?" Bonnie eyes widened in horror as Celeste produced the ring that Cade had given her to restore her magic.
As Bonnie hung from the tree barely conscious, her mind was racing a million miles a minute trying to process what was happening. She had died once at the hands of Expression, and then she had died when the Prison World collapsed. Both deaths were due to the fact she had been involved in supernatural battles, but this death, her hanging from a tree as the other witch watched quietly felt like a lynching and the cruelty in that particular type of death made her heart shatter in her chest and she began to sob uncontrollably.
"I wish that I didn't have to do this, young one." With a simple wave of her free hand, a wooden bowl, a dead serpent, sage and stone and candles appeared at her feet. "Ending the blood line of a witch as powerful yours is a great tragedy, but your fate has been decided long before you were even born. Just know that your death will not be in vain, and your legacy will live on long after you are gone."
Blessed be thy feet, which have bought thee in these ways
Blessed be thy knees, that shall kneel at the sacred alter
Blessed be thy womb, without which we would not be
Blessed be thy breasts, formed in beauty
Blessed be thy lips, that shall utter the Sacred Names of the gods
Blessed be, daughter of Abigail, descendant of Qetsiyah."
After chanting the quiet prayer, Celeste plunged the ceremonial dagger into Bonnie's chest causing her to scream out in agony. Mumbling in coherently, she drew the blade down between Bonnie's breast and didn't stop until she reached her navel. Her vision blurred her pulse began to race and her body began to tremble as her skin became covered with sweat. Her mouth was dry, and her insides felt like each and every single one of her organs was melting down. The sand beneath her body was wet and dark with her spilled blood and her white ribs were exposed. Her face was stained with salt and tears and her eyes were rolled in the back of her head.
When Bonnie had been successfully sliced open the witch tossed the blade aside and stuck her hand inside of Bonnie's body cavity and broke off one off the first of the series of "true ribs" causing her to shriek weakly.
"BONNIE!" A raw and violent scream escaped Stefan's mouth as he watched helplessly as Celeste snatch a rib from Bonnie's rib cage before holding in the air triumphantly.
"Silence demon!" Celeste thundered before snapping her fingers causing Stefan to fall mute. Satisfied by his inability to speak or interrupt her, the scarlet haired witch turned her attention away from Bonnie who was slowly losing her grip on her life force.
"The pain will be over soon," she promised softly. "Your sacrifice will not be in vain. I promise."
Chanting softly, she performed the spell that morphed the dagger and Cade's ashes with the bone she had just removed from the Bennett witch's body.
As the fusion took place, a bright light emerges as Bonnie's rib bone made contact with the ash dagger forever sealing the two pieces of the weapon together forever.
While this was happening, Kol stumbled over to Bonnie and used his magic to cut her down from her restraints. As he gingerly held her limp body into his arms, he felt a lump of tears form in his throat. Her body was torn apart so savagely that it made him want to throw up.
As he rocked her inside of his arms, he couldn't help but think back on the last time when he had viewed her body in such an undignified manner. Bonnie had been so lovesick and foolish that she had died in her attempt to bring back her ex-boyfriend from the other side, and while her friends celebrated and graduated with hopes to going to college, Bonnie had been making peace with the fact that she was no longer residing among the living.
Biting into his wrist, he attempted to feed her his blood, but her throat was closing not allowing his blood to heal her. He tried every healing spell that he could think of, but no matter how much magic he tried pouring into her, nothing was working. He growled frustrated and could only hold her as her skin grew clammy and cold while he watched her life drain from her dull moss green eyes.
"What the fuck did you do to her?" Kol whispered emotionally.
"I simply guided her to her destiny," Celeste said happily as she stroked the weapon with a loving smile on her lips.
"You butchered her," the vampire hissed as he stared down at Bonnie's flayed body feeling sick to his stomach.
"I liberated her," the witch insisted as she fixated on the dagger that was covered with Bonnie's blood.
"I will see that you die for this," Kol promised glaring at Celeste hatefully before turning his attention back on to the Bennett witch that was fading fast.
Asinta Mulaf Hinto, Sho Bala," he whispered cupping her cheek lightly as he tried one final pain reducing spell desperately, "Open your eyes for me."
"Let her pass on peace. She was merely the vessel carrying the weapon that I was meant to control," Celeste said clutching the bone dagger with a demented smile on her face.
"I'm so sorry that I couldn't save you, little witch," he whispered holding her against his chest as he felt a lump of tears form inside of his throat.
For the first time in centuries, Kol hung his head and wept.
End Note: Stay tune for the next Chapter!