"Matt doesn't wanna leave," Caroline said as she got off the phone with him and Stefan walked into the parlor with two blood packs in hand. Caroline smiled, taking one, and watched him settle next to her on the couch. "Tyler's still a mess, but Matt says he'll ask him to maybe join Jeremy at Whitmore."
"Could do them both some good," Stefan commented.
Caroline didn't look too certain. "It could remind him of Liv too much, but… well, maybe he and Jeremy could help each other with it all… or get in more trouble."
She heaved a sigh and hid her face in her hands, trying to do deep breaths. She shook her head tiredly, and took her blood pack, taking a hearty swallow.
"This place feels so empty," she murmured. So dead, she wanted to add but didn't; the thought gave her the creeps and another bunch of depressive vibes.
Stefan shifted closer, rubbing a hand against her back in support. She smiled, leaning into him. They drank in silence for a bit.
"I keep thinking of Bonnie," she said when she finished her meal, and directed her worried gaze to Stefan. "Those things Ric said, like, Kai trying to control her or something, that he had that revenge plan to hit her when she wouldn't expect… and remember what he said to Lily? He said 'my witch', did he?"
"Yeah, I heard it," Stefan confirmed grimly.
"What do you think it means?" she asked, her eyes searching him with some kind of hopeful despair. "You think she… he… um… I dunno. Are they what… what are they now? Maybe he got her fully brainwashed? Is that possible?"
Stefan thought about it. "If it's true and Kai wanted to pull her to his side or at least convince her that he's better than us, Damon and all his stupid stunts certainly delivered her to him on silver platter. All Kai had to do was really waltz in here and rescue her from the very people who were supposed to keep her safe. And now she probably loathes to even think of Damon or coming back here and facing the place she actually got tortured, thanks to Damon's dumb ideas, and Lily…"
Caroline's expression reflected suffering and remorse, then anger came through, and her fingers tightened on the empty pack, crumpling it on her lap. "He just threw her in Kai's arms! It's so… twisted! How do we ever fix it now?" Before Stefan could muster a response, her eyes widened, locked at his. "What if the whole Heretics story is a lie, Stefan? What if he told her that so she felt she needed to protect us, to get away from here and be with him and… What if he just separated her from us, and now she's in his power? Oh, and what if they are alive, and then he will deliver her to them like a sacrificial lamb? And they rip her apart in front of us?" Her panicking, wide stare filled with tears of terror as though she knew for a fact that was the very truth she had just figured out.
Stefan frowned, and had to admit to himself that didn't sound all that farfetched to him. For the sake of Caroline who already began to panic, he decided not to jump on that conclusion just yet. He hugged her closer as if to reassure, but of what, he wasn't all so sure. "Have you tried talking to her about it when she called?"
"No!" she all but screamed to emphasize how silly his suggestion was, and at the same time how sorry she was that she couldn't. "There was no time, and she was in a hurry to warn me about those Heretics, and then she told me we won't speak again, and we cried, and I… there was not enough time." She hid her face in her hands, rubbed it, swiped the hair away, unable to contain how quickly her worries were skyrocketing out of control.
"I think we need to talk to Damon and Enzo, try to find out more," Stefan reasoned.
"You mean what happened with their nineteen-o-three trip? Yeah, I know so little, and Elena… she can't tell us, anymore. And we can't even call Bonnie." After a second, her eyes widened with another realization, and she pulled out her phone. "Kai! He called us! His number should still be here…" Frowning, she kept scrolling through her list of calls over and over, and Stefan began to scowl, feeling something amiss. "It's not here," she concluded, raising her confused eyes to him. "Nor is Bonnie's number…"
"You said Bonnie asked to delete it?"
"She did, but I haven't yet… I was, well, stalling, and now… it's all gone. Texts, numbers…" She scrolled her contacts, and more worry washed over her. "Abby's number's gone, too!"
Stefan quickly checked his own phone. "Same."
"What is it? Is it… Is this Kai?!" Caroline jumped to her feet, the empty plastic pack falling to the floor off her lap. "He's been here?"
Stefan stood up, picked up her pack, and strained his senses. "If he's been here, he's not here anymore. Unless cloaked, and then I don't really see any point on spying on us if his main objective is Bonnie."
"Think he keeps her somewhere? In Mystic Falls, maybe?"
"Hardly he'd want to stick around — keep her so close to us if he wants the opposite. He probably took her away someplace. He might've messed with our phones right after the rescue."
Caroline rubbed her forehead and wrecked her fingers through her hair in frustration. "I'm so… I don't know anymore. I'm scared for her, Stefan. I'm so scared for Bonnie. And I'm so mad at feeling helpless! I can't do anything! We had our chance to save her and we missed it! All because of Damon."
"I know," Stefan murmured. "I know."
"Are we going straight to Venetian when we land?" Bonnie asked. Now that she was a bit tipsy, she was beginning to think a lot more than she supposed she should. She wanted to get a jumpstart on their magic training or whatever he thought they'd be able to do in Vegas, and yet she also knew that she was rendering herself useless. There was no way to do magic when drunk. At least, it wasn't a good idea. She could barely do it sober without getting a nosebleed, what would a drunk bout of magic get her? The idea made her laugh. What if she turned someone into a frog? Or herself. What she wouldn't give to do it to Lily. To even break a few of her bones. She thought of the day before, of the unending pain, and downed the drink she'd been busy with, licking her lips slowly. "Do you think that this plane has a bar? I've heard that from some dude. Like… first class kind of bars…"
It took Kai some willpower to refrain from laughing. Bonnie was getting off the rails, her thoughts racing faster the more alcohol she added. He didn't mind at all; she was fun that way and deserved some distraction. "You'll get served whatever you want," he shrugged. "If you want an actual bar, you'll have to wait for us to get there."
"Anything I want?" Bonnie asked, mulling it over. "I want to try something alcoholic with ice-cream. Or maybe I can try to spell something—" Her voice took on a gentle tone, and then she started trying to focus magic. She could, couldn't she? Then again, did she want to test herself with something so stupid? It was not often that she did fun stuff with her magic. She had to be careful. "Never mind." She raised a hand to get the attention of the stewardess. "Do you want anything? Are you drinking with me?"
"I guess I'll rely on your choices," he smiled, his eyes dancing with wily curiosity.
The woman hurried over with a big smile and eager expression to please. Bonnie wondered how much she was being paid and if she'd ever been tortured. She smelled kind of good. Bonnie took a deep sniff of whatever perfume she was wearing and found herself flushing slightly. She wasn't even aware she was doing it. Or why. She pushed it aside, pretending she wasn't dumb, and flashed a smile of her own. "Could I have another scotch bottle? Oh, and is it possible to perhaps have some ice-cream?"
"Of course! Would you like a Polaris sundae?"
"Yes!" Bonnie all but chirped, her eyes shining with sudden excitement and alcohol. "I didn't think it was possible— I don't suppose you have chocolate—"
Bonnie had barely even finished what she was saying before the woman nodded again. "We have chocolate syrup. Caramel, too."
"Could I have them mixed?" The stewardess nodded again, still smiling. "I'll take it, then! He'll have the same. Or well… not… do you want the same?" Bonnie turned her attention on Kai.
"Let it be two ice-creams and one bottle," Kai specified for the flight attendant.
Bonnie held up two fingers to indicate two bottles. They were pocket-size, anyway. Ridiculously small. The stewardess smiled in her direction, and went off to take care of their order. "With a gun to your head, if you had to choose… what would it be: chocolate or caramel?"
Kai arranged his amused face into a delighted surprise, "You have a gun? That's hot. I mean, it's not like you're not hot without a gun — 'cause you are — but a gun to my head… It's kinky, you got me there. Although, I do have a soft spot for knives myself…"
"You didn't seem all that into my knife play the last time I had one," Bonnie said, her drunk brain alluding to 1903 before she could even think to have tact. She thought about him driving the knife into her own gut. He had seemed comfortable with it. She supposed it made sense. Joke or not.
"One should be prepared for it," he gave her a Captain Obvious look. "Safe words and all… Although, I think safe words are for cowards."
"Mango," Bonnie said, thinking it over for a minute. "Mango would be my safe word."
She offered him a smile, letting him know that she didn't mind being a coward. She wore that hat proudly. She had to. She definitely had a threshold. The stewardess appeared with their ice-cream and the two little bottles of scotch. She set a bowl in front of each of them and the two bottles in front of Bonnie with a wink. Bonnie winked back and reached for them.
"You're going to have some, right?"
"I'm not Damon," Kai reminded, picking up his ice-cream. "Scotch is not the go-to drink for me."
"More for me then, I guess," Bonnie said, picking up one of the bottles. She screwed off the cap, pouring the scotch on top of her ice-cream, using her spoon to stir it until it had a good mix. "What would you have preferred with your ice-cream? Do they even sell what you like anymore?"
"Well, let's start with the fact that I'm not a big drinker. It never favored my affliction, rather emphasized the urges somehow. So, it didn't become a habit like we see with the elder Salvatore you like so much." He tasted the ice-cream and licked the spoon.
"How'd you kill the boredom in the prison world then, if you didn't have alcohol to numb days?" Bonnie asked. She and Damon played a zillion drinking games and some days were a literal black out. For Damon especially.
"Oh, prison world is another beast altogether. There was no magic to stir me, just endless stillness and numbness, so yeah, I've indulged a few dozen times. But getting shitfaced alone is not as fun, either, so it's kind of a broken pleasure that's not even a pleasure but just trying to pass out. Then hangover… ugh."
"And you don't have those moments anymore? Are you actually happy now? Is the world what you expected when you got out?" Bonnie asked, throwing questions at him. She also realized she was asking a lot. She'd gotten to know him a little over the last few days and she felt like she deserved to know more. He knew more about her than she could ever dream to know about him anyway. He had a head start. She added the second bottle of scotch to the ice-cream.
He side-eyed her, taking note of her tipsy scurrying brain that fluttered over things and couldn't linger. She asked questions she didn't really care about, just for the sake of talking.
He sighed, scooping more ice-cream. "The world is different. It's not what I remember nor could expect. I'm out of habit."
"What was the thing you missed most about the world?" Bonnie asked, spooning more ice-cream into her mouth, savoring the way that scotch intermingled with the sweetness. "What couldn't you wait to get back to?"
He donned a little smile that hid a ghost of sadness. "I think you know the answer since you've been there."
"Your home?" Bonnie asked. And she had to ask it in a question form because so much had happened there. She'd have imagined it was the last place he wanted to be.
He laughed. "You're really drunk, Bonster."
"Your fault. I'm pretty sure you encouraged me to let loose and get a little… shitfaced," Bonnie said, flashing him a mischievous smile. She winked, set aside her spoon and brought her ice-cream bowl to her lips, sipping at it slowly. Might have been better if she'd just asked for it in a glass. Next round.
"I'm encouraging you to enjoy yourself, whatever that might mean. After being so royally uptight, it's long overdue. So go ahead, go crazy."
"Royally?" Bonnie asked. "I haven't been that bad." She would continue to do what she wanted, though. She was on a slippery slope and headed straight down. She didn't even mind. She deserved the buzz and moment to shut off her head, didn't she?
He squinted at her, "Yeah, it was that bad."
"I had reason to be uptight," Bonnie defended, pouting only slightly.
"Which was?"
"Okay. Um… which time are we talking? Before the prison world or after? Because I will have you know I had reason both times to be uptight," Bonnie said, clearly a little more defensive, wagging a finger. She set down the bowl, wiping her mouth with the other hand.
He half turned to her, displaying his utmost attention. "I crave to hear about both."
"Okay, prison world. You killed people," Bonnie said, adding the killed in a whisper. Too much of a whisper. Almost childlike. "Bad news. Here. You— you had done things that scared me. I was worried for your coven and…" It seemed depressing to argue something that had happened anyway. "I need more alcohol."
Kai flashed a mock shocked expression, then leaned to her. "Don't tell me you never realized that Damon killed people before. I mean, a whole lot of people, so many innocents-turned-corpses I probably wouldn't be able to pull off in my lifetime."
"Maybe, but he wasn't rubbing his desire to do so again in my face. Forgive me for feeling appalled by your having killed children. Six children?" Bonnie offered as an explanation. She raised another finger as if she'd remembered another point. "And then you said you wanted to escape to do more damage!" Realizing she'd raised her voice, she lowered it. Perhaps she shouldn't have another drink. "All I'm saying is, I had reason to do what I did. I was trying to help. I'm always trying to help."
"Aha," he frowned, faking deep thought. "So, you wanted to help some creepy coven you never heard of before but not the person you saw in front of you? You were readily justifying a consciously homicidal vampire who kills for pleasure and demeans you and your skills every chance he gets, but not a sociopath who was pushed to violence by his family's betrayal? Oookay..."
"That's not fair," Bonnie said, wagging yet another finger as if she had no control over her limbs. They wanted to move. Man, she wanted to dance, too. "First impressions matter. Damon and I, we go through the motions. He isn't perfect. Not even a little. He infuriates me. He makes the worst decisions. Yet he kept me sane. I didn't know any of that shit about your family and why would I have believed it knowing what you did to your siblings? You can't hold my judgment against me when it's all I had to go on. Let's not forget, that the first thing you did—when you came out of hiding—was try to kill Damon."
Kai rolled his eyes. "I explained my reason and it worked. And if you felt you lacked information — I was there! You could ask! I had no reason to lie to you."
That was clear. He didn't even try to lie about his want to escape the prison world to murder his coven. Was he venting at the time? Had he meant it? Was Luke the only thing that stopped him? From what she understood or heard, it's not as if his coven was the first people he sought out once he was free. Well, not entirely. She had so many questions she still wanted to ask. She didn't want to upset him, or ruin her mood. What did it even matter now? Nothing could be changed. "Not everyone is as honest about their intentions as you are, Kai. Some hide. Most pretend. It's easy to lie."
"You mean, it's how you picked your friends?" he teased. "They lie, elude and pretend, and then they're sorry, but it's too late and you're already in trouble. Sound familiar?"
"Too familiar," Bonnie added and smiled grimly, raising a hand to summon the stewardess again.
"At least I'm honest about not being sorry."
"You're not even sorry a little bit?"
He squinted, pretending to debate. "Well, I think I could've handled you differently. Back in Oregon. You just pissed me off with your I'll never like you stuff, and I believed you." He made a voila gesture.
"I believed it too," Bonnie said and took a hold of his hand.
He looked down at their fingers entwining. She was too drunk for it, and it was wrong, but he couldn't resist as he met her eyes. "What do you believe now?"
She met his gaze dead-on. She wanted to say that she'd been wrong. But she hadn't been, had she? To say that now would be to diminish those that died. As bad as his coven was, not everyone deserved to pay for his father's cruelty. They were as much Joshua's victims as much as they'd been Kai's.
"I believe… that I was too quick to judge. That I can't always trust myself."
Kai nodded in acknowledgement, and patted her hands with a sardonic little smile. "That's a problem, Bonnie-boo. Because your judgment is the only thing you can trust. And if it's skewed — it will kill you."
Caroline sat on the top of the landing, one arm folded across her knees, staring at her phone, wishing she could call Bonnie. She was desperate to talk to her.
She didn't know what to do anymore, with Alaric removing himself from the picture, she'd found herself at a loss regarding the Heretics and any possible research she personally was able to pull off. The additional pressure was how little time they seemed to have. At least if they were to believe what Kai had told Bonnie.
The Internet was a no-go, of course — it would be stupid to expect to find something two ancient covens did their utmost to keep secret from the world. Caroline thought the best bet would be some books or notes left from Bonnie's Grams or anything there could possibly be left from Gemini's journals, but she had access to none of it. She was continuously wondering whether there was anything worthy left in the Parkers' old family home. Now that the coven was dead, it might be open and ready to be looted. Perhaps, she and Stefan could take that trip. It was worth trying, given how desperate the situation seemed.
There were also their three prisoners to consider. Each in their own guest room. Caroline had wanted to dump Damon in his room, to let him stew in the glory that reminded of every one of his bad decisions, but Stefan had been against it. When he wasn't helping her research, he was redecorating, getting rid of the stuff that had burnt in Damon's room, revamping it much like he'd done his car when he'd thought he'd died. Caroline could hear him now ripping apart the bed with a hammer. Better to let him work it out of his system.
She left her books where they were and got to her feet, slowly walking past Lily's room, past Damon's and into Enzo's. His eyes were open and he was aware. As he always was. It was as if he just knew her intention.
"Still comfy?" Caroline asked.
He'd been dumped in the middle of the bed, propped against two pillows, still decked out in the vervain laced ropes and chains.
"I wouldn't state that," he muttered, eyeing her with either apprehension or weariness. "What do you want?"
"Thought you might be lonely and that you'd want some company," Caroline said, putting on her best and most hospitable smile.
His mouth creased in a fleeting lopsided smirk. "Yeah, no, your acting skills could use some work, love. What do you really want?"
"Good. You know I'm not a fan of playing pretend." She moved to sit on the edge of the bed, facing him, one of her legs curled under her. "What I want is a little information. You and Lily, what's the deal?"
"That's somewhat personal, don't you think."
"You'd think so," Caroline said in agreement. "Thing is, I don't have anything against you, Enzo. I never have. You're just there. You've always just been in the background. A friend. But a shitty friend. And now a shitty friend that tried to murder my best friend. That's when things get a little gray, when things no longer stay just being between the two of you. What's your deal, anyway?"
He kept peering at her with a deadpan expression. "For your information, Blondie, I was trying to help your friend. All she had to do was tell us where that bloody siphoner is."
"All you had to do was take Lily away and leave Bonnie alone. You know Lily took it too far. You saw that. The woman is unhinged," Caroline said, the disgust and sympathy evident in her tone.
"I wonder how unhinged would you be if it were your blond hero-boy trapped in some limbo unable to get out. I bet you haven't thought about that before judging."
"Let's not start throwing stones about what-ifs. You know Bonnie. Do you think she deserved what Lily was doing to her? How many bones did she snap? Four? Five? I myself lost count."
"She should've just told us what we asked about. And it should've been easy enough had they been enemies like Kai told Lily. But apparently," he donned a slow suggestive smirk, "that has since changed."
"What are you trying to say?" Caroline asked, not liking what he was suggesting or trying to hint at.
He perked an eyebrow, watching her with a sort of sardonic amusement. "I'm not trying to say — I'm fairly certain they're not enemies anymore. You should've seen that terror in her eyes when we caught up on them and I vervained the bastard. She's protecting him, and not just from Lily, but from you, her friends, as well. Why you think that is?"
"She's not protecting him. She's protecting herself," Caroline said defensively. Deep in her heart she had sensed it herself. Saw it in the relief in Bonnie's eyes when Kai appeared to save her. "She has to. Damon messed up."
Enzo chortled, his gaze turned either mocking or sympathetic to her denial. "She would have sold him out to save herself and all of you sorry lot. After the first snapped bone she should've called him in for us. But she endured all that torture and terror just to keep him away from all of us. Why?"
"Or maybe she didn't know anything. She left him to meet Damon," Caroline said, but even as she said it she had to wonder why Kai came back to save her. Even after he'd called to warn Caroline and Stefan. Maybe, something had happened between them. And so, what if it did? Caroline thought back to Klaus, to their stolen moment in the forest. Maybe it was the same issue? Was Bonnie repulsed with herself? Ashamed? "Regardless of what is happening or what you think is happening, you can't validate your crazy woman."
"She's not crazy — she's desperate. She's a ripper and she's horrified by things she does when she can't control herself. Those people helped her learn control. They became her family, and she feels she can't live without them. I'm sure deep down you can understand at least some of that sentiment. Kai tricked her, and Bonnie protects him because she's on his side, whatever that bloody side is. They're like two against the world now, the bloody Bonnie and Clyde." He smirked and leered at Caroline. "That sort of predicament is a hell of a turn-on, especially for someone tired to be a righteous nun surrounded by all of you indulging in your bad boys."
Caroline stared at him, stunned for a moment, hating the way he put it and how suddenly plausible it sounded, even if for just a second. But then it felt outrageous and wrong. Bonnie and Kai? Bonnie would never. Not after Jo. Not after dropping Elena in the snooze-land. There was too much at stake, to many people that had been hurt and more that would be hurt. Another image of Klaus popped into her mind, making her shudder, making her insides twist sickeningly. Stefan knew. As did Tyler. What would Matt think? He'd be disgusted. She was disgusted. More so with herself than anything else.
But Bonnie… It was an impossible thought, something too twisted and perverted too even look at. And yet that scene in the cellar came to mind, Kai holding Bonnie and sinking his teeth in her neck, Bonnie's moans, and that scent…
She drew in a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment to compose herself, and gave Enzo a judging look. "And here I thought you paid attention when you were bugging her. If you did, you'd know how impossible all this is. She's not you, getting turned on by blood and violence. She's nothing like that. She was trying to help him—" She cut herself off, thinking suddenly that she probably shouldn't have said it. Not to Enzo — he wouldn't understand.
Enzo barked a laugh. "Sure. Or it's rather Kai helping her feel things she's never allowed herself to feel, do what she's never let herself do. Do you have any idea how explosively liberating and addicting it is, to finally let yourself go with the right person?"
Caroline opened her mouth in a perfect O of astonished dismay. "He'd never be right for her! And she knows it! She'd never—"
"Oh but she did," he gave her a slow, torturously knowing smile, peering at her hungrily, enjoying the effect. "She did. And I'd wager on more than once."
Caroline frowned, getting angrier. "The hell you're talking about?"
"We almost caught up on them in that hotel, but police was there first, gathering evidence. I looked around and… well, they haven't used that bed for mere snoozing, I can tell you as much."
"You're lying!" she snarled.
"My nose never lied to me, dove."
Caroline rubbed her forehead, trying to calm her racing nerves and thoughts. Whatever Bonnie was doing with Kai was obviously being used by Enzo against her right now. The bastard was enjoying her reaction, and she couldn't quite help it. The whole concept was something outlandish, given everything that had happened. But she would think about it later. With Stefan. Not now.
She set her stern eyes on him once again, intent on pulling through this interrogation without a breakdown. "Why are you on Lily's side?" she asked, trying to soften her tone to inspire confiding. "You've seen how far she takes things, how she wanted to kill everyone in sight. You tried to pacify her in the end — I saw it. You know how she is, and you're still working with her instead of helping us contain her?"
"Contain her…" he chortled, shaking his head. "You people just wanna lock up everyone who's not falling in line. You don't care to help her, you don't care about her ties to those Heretics as you call them. You don't care to ask her about her history with them, but are so quick to condemn and to blame. Who are you all to blame her for violence she can't control when you and your blondie-boy went on your ripper spree just some week ago? Who are you to judge that group when you know nothing of them except for rumors? Lily knows them best, and you're here asking me? I have never seen them. But I'll get to know them for her."
The reminder of their switched-off fun with Stefan made her cringe, especially the aftertaste with her mother's letter, but she hastily pushed it away. She studied him, her eyes narrowing with careful suspicion. "You love her?"
Enzo kept her eyes with his for a long moment, his face deadpan, then shrugged, releasing a sigh. "She was like an angel when I met her, coughing up my bloody lungs on the street. She helped me, got me to a doctor on that ship. All futile, of course. But she tried. And then she offered me a family. She was the one who turned me. Only when I woke up, she was gone. All this time I thought she abandoned me with my newly acquired hunger and confusion. But it turned out she was captured that night, along with her family. She's been imprisoned all this time. She'd never leave me had that not happened. Now that I know, I believe it. I see how fiercely she fights for her family. No one ever fought that way for me."
Ten more mini-bottles of bourbon and two ice-creams later, Bonnie felt a sudden urge for a bathroom timeout where she couldn't quite get on her own. Kai led her there, waited at the door listening to her retching and panting, then helped her back to her seat and ordered mineral water. Bonnie however felt fit enough to refuse water in favor of four more little bottles but this time with rum. Fascinated, Kai watched her rock and jerk in her seat to her own accompanying humming as the urge to dance attacked her. A few minutes later, she grew tired of the song and couldn't remember another, and what came to her mind instead was one of her prison world days with Damon and all thirty-three things he did wrong that day and never apologized. She ranted and vented, snacking on salty peanuts, until her speech became slurrier the less charge her battery held. Eventually her eyelids drooped, her tongue stumbled over itself, her head leaned back against the seat, and Kai enjoyed about fifteen minutes of peace with his eyes closed until the stewardess stopped by to warn they were going to land in ten.
"You might wanna wake her up," she suggested.
"It's fine, let her sleep through that. She's a nervous flyer, but you figured it out by now…" he glanced at her name tag and flashed her a smile, "Kelly."
The stewardess named Kelly returned the smile, her cheeks gaining just a tad of color. "She's lucky to have you."
"Nah, I'm the lucky one."
Her smile brightened with a shade of admiration, and she moved on down the aisle, warning other passengers.
The hotel had sent the driver as promised, and there was no surprise on the seasoned man's face when Kai brought Bonnie, still fast asleep, in his arms. It was past five PM and the sun was still pouring its splendor over the desert city, and it looked like a Disney Land for grownups. It would look even more alluring after sunset with all its lights out, and that was something to look forward to.
The Venetian welcomed them with as little questions as their driver. Many young women arrived here to marry and therefore were apt to get overzealous with their drinks on their way. Kai with his sleeping beauty in his arms was led to their luxurious penthouse suite and presented with all the perks and advantages, including a theater room with a stack of all-time favorites and classics, as well as a modest selection of new releases on the side.
Kai delivered Bonnie to the bedroom on the right, and set a glass of lemonade with a dozen drops of his blood to battle hangover on her bedstand for when she woke up. He watched her sleep for a bit, reflecting on their morning, her distress over leaving her friends, and the flight, on how she jumped through questions but couldn't quite care for the answers as though skipping over pebbles to cross a brook before her shoes slipped and got wet.
She had said nice things, like wishing to see Rome with him, but even though she had looked genuine at the time, Kai knew it was more complicated. Bonnie tended to pick her morals over anything at all, even if it actually promised pleasure or gratification or joy. It was an absolutely infuriating trait. Nearly impossible to beat. And yet…
This, here, was that delicate moment when he would sit with his rod and wait for that telltale ripple on the water surface; and if it came, he thought he knew how to reel it in correctly. He had only one try to do this right.
Kai sighed, approaching the window to cast an appreciating gander over the city spread beneath, then quietly left her bedroom, leaving the door slightly ajar.
A not so delicate ache hummed through Bonnie's head as her eyelids began to flutter, pulling her from the deep sleep she'd been in, her eyes opening and closing as she fought consciousness. She sat up abruptly realizing she wasn't on the plane anymore, scared and confused, her eyes darting left and right in search of something familiar. A task that was a lot of work.
She pressed two fingers to her temples, trying to will away the dizziness and swung her legs off the bed, her tongue sitting on the roof of her mouth like dry sandpaper.
Seeing the glass of what looked like water beside her bed, she picked it up, taking a long sip, feeling what remained of her headache begin to dissolve.
Bonnie got to her feet and walked over to the windows, pulling aside the curtains, half expecting to find that she was still on the plane, but instead was gifted a beautiful view that looked like a sea of lights. She'd never been there but it was exactly as she'd imagined.
Las Vegas.
Her hand moved to her throat, to where only seconds ago she could feel all the scotch and rum she'd been drinking worm its way back up her throat. Only now it had begun to settle. She couldn't believe they'd made it and that she'd missed getting off the plane.
She turned back to the bedroom, seeing no one else on the bed beside her and no signs of Kai anywhere nearby. Seeing the light peeking through the crack in the door she slowly headed toward it, using her index to open the space a little wider, peering out into what appeared to be the living room. When she didn't hear anything or anyone talking, she made her way out of the bedroom, peering in at all the doors she came across, taking her time to explore what felt like an apartment but she knew was an overpriced penthouse.
Bonnie found him in the theater room watching a movie. She crept inside as not to disturb him, sliding onto the couch beside him, her eyes fixated on the screen.
Kai had heard her the moment she stirred on her bed, and her attempt at sneaking in here amused him. He kept his eyes on the huge screen, absorbed by the finishing line of Gone with the Wind.
He clucked his tongue, frowning wistfully. "Living all your life thinking you love that man only to realize in the end it was an illusion and, in fact, you love the one who's been with you all along but now is done with you because of that stubborn fixation on your illusion. Does that suck or what?"
"Big time suck," Bonnie agreed. She thought about Jeremy first and then Damon. She'd watched the movie many times but never really equated it to her life. Bonnie's had never been that exciting. Caroline loved it, and had gone so far as to host an event around it in the park. One of the few events they'd all attended together before their worlds got thrown into supernatural chaos.
A small smile curved her lips as she began to watch, speaking only once there was a bit of a pause. "They didn't have anything updated for you to watch?"
He side-eyed her with an entertained smile. "You know any updated stuff that surpasses this? I don't think so."
"Ten things I hate about you, the bodyguard, two weeks' notice, pretty woman. They can't beat a classic, but they're… they're good. They stand their ground."
Kai groaned, "You and Damon ruined the Bodyguard for me for years to come."
"Why? Because we watched it too many times? It's a classic!"
"Tell me you're not sick of it, I dare you."
"I'm not. I could never be sick of Whitney Houston. Her singing is amazing."
"Don't have to watch the movie for that."
"But her acting wasn't bad. It's a classic," Bonnie repeated as if he just didn't get it. "It's like… Glitter. Or… Moulin Rouge."
"What's Glitter? No, wait, don't wanna know."
"Mariah Carey," Bonnie said anyway. "Also good. Not on the bodyguard level."
His fleeting expression said he had some reasonable doubts. "You hungry?" he gestured towards the coffee table where a pizza box sat waiting.
Bonnie's stomach growled in response, as if it had temporarily forgotten she was hungry and was only now being reminded. She'd eaten a lot on the plane. At least she felt like she had. But after being sick, after fleetingly remember Kai comforting her or something, she knew she needed something now. She was just grateful she wasn't feeling nauseas anymore and that her headache had gone too. She sat forward, flipped open the pizza box lid and helped herself to a slice. "When'd we arrive at the hotel? Have I— How much of a fool did I make myself on the plane?"
Kai grinned, "You were awesome. Everyone loved you."
"Was I?" Bonnie asked. She couldn't remember being awesome as much as she could remember that she drank a helluvalot. Too much. "Well, if you say so, I guess I have to take your word for it."
"Feeling better now?"
"Actually yeah," Bonnie said, taking a bite of her pizza. "I felt like shit waking up, drank some lemonade and I think I'm ready to go again. Not that I plan on drinking anymore. I think I've had my fill."
"You're welcome. Just don't die."
"I can't make any promises," Bonnie said, chuckling softly. She'd come close the day before. If that was what Lily even wanted. "I don't think I can drink myself to death though."
"At some point on the plane I had to wonder."
"If I was going to die of alcohol poisoning, it would have happened in the prison world."
"You're saying that now because I fixed you. Otherwise you'd be dying right now." He gave her a wink, grinning. "So, you like the room? Your wish finally granted — you got your very own bed."
Bonnie offered him a smile of her own. She had to admit he had taken good care of her. She'd give him that. "My wish was to have my own bed? Since when? Is that what I said last night?"
"You kept demanding it since our trip started."
"Oh," Bonnie retorted. "Right. Yeah. My room's nice. Really nice. This place must cost a fortune. Not that you paid for this, right? Not with real money anyway. When did we arrive?"
"A few hours ago, sometime before six. Now it's what, nine-something? You've slept a lot. I wonder what you're gonna do with your night."
"Depends on you. I thought you brought me here to teach me magic," Bonnie said, wiggling her free hand. The other was still gripping her pizza. "When does that start?"
"When you feel you're ready. You got your books, so dig in. You need everything that would allow to survive when attacked by six powerful fanged witches — just so you know what to look for." He eyed her with a wily mirth.
Bonnie fixed him with a look that said she'd gotten her wires crossed somewhere. She looked back to the screen where the credits had ended and the screen was waiting for another choice in movie or show. "You're going to let me test it on you?"
He grinned. "I'll even insist on it. After all, I'm just like them. In a way. So, one almost unkillable vampire-witch — check. One quite fragile but mighty fierce Bennett witch — check. A wide hot desert where no one will see that massacre. What could go wrong, right?"
"Everything and anything," Bonnie replied, flashing him another smile. She was going to be a realist. She was also going to do the very best that she could. "What do you mean you're like them in a way? Are they also siphoners? What's their deal?"
He raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. "Have you not been paying attention? Yes! They're like me. My coven's been consistent in how they treated my kind. Those six siphoners were banished from the coven for what they were. Then somewhere along the way they met Lily, they bonded, helped her get a grip of her ripper urges, and she turned them. And then Gemini and some Bennett decided to lock them all up for good. And then Damon enters the picture because he wants his mommy. Aaand here we are."
"Wait… so that's what you meant by they're your family now? They're— they were Gemini? Wouldn't they... how come they didn't die because of the link between everyone? Were they removed when banished?" Bonnie had so many questions and thoughts that she didn't know which one to tackle first.
"They stopped being a part of Gemini coven when they died and turned."
"Oh," Bonnie said, nodding lightly. She hadn't thought about the vampire death. She wondered if her deaths were the same and if she'd been severed from her own magical ties. Could they reclaim it? Where did Kai get most his magic from now? Just his vampirism? "I guess that makes sense. Also, why you coming back as a vampire didn't help your coven. Not that— understand what I mean."
"I'm not a normal witch anymore, and hello — I did die." He spread his arms to emphasize how obvious it was.
"I know you did die," Bonnie said. "I've died too. Many times. More than one should be allowed. But it's magic. It's tricky. There's always some kind of loophole. You'd think your coven would have wanted to make sure there was one in case something happened. I couldn't imagine all that responsibility."
"That's why they went out of their way to make sure the succession was in order, and why my dad tried to merge the twins before he got older and all that jazz — not much more you can do to ensure your survival. He also spent most his life in hiding, with cloaking spells and all that."
"Why didn't you do the same?" Bonnie asked, arching a brow. If he'd disappeared, gone on his merry way and disappear into the ether to take care of his Coven, they wouldn't be where they were today. "Hide—cloak. Why did you even stick around Mystic Falls?"
He rolled his eyes. "Awh, come on, it's obvious. My coven was hiding every whichway from me, thinking my life goal was to kill them all off — like, that's even logical, I mean, who wants to be a leader of nothing. And, well, I was bored! After I helped that nasty duo pull you out of the prison world, I kinda stuck around because I had nothing better to do with my life."
Bonnie hadn't liked Damon and Elena together in the beginning either. She still didn't. She thought that they brought out the worst in one another. How to say that to your best friend, though? How to make either of them understand? The fact that Elena had such a power over Damon, that she was the sole thing to keep him from spiraling into his murderous ways, was almost as bad as the Gemini coven having one leader tethered to all of their lives. Nothing good came from it. Not then, not now.
She reached for another pizza slice, still thinking about it, wondering for a second if he'd started looking for her again. How long before Stefan and Caroline let her go?
"Why did you help them pull me out? You could have left me there and nineteen-o-three wouldn't have happened. Lily wouldn't be here. You wouldn't have become a vampire."
He squinted at her, "They didn't tell you about this whole birthday mission?"
"Sure they did," Bonnie said as she chewed her pizza, pausing before taking the next bite so she could remember. "They said you'd come by unexpectedly and that they manipulated you into helping me."
"Manipulated. Okay." He clucked his tongue. "Well, when I came by, they were setting up a celebration of your birthday without you — 'cause that's totally normal — and I wanted them to pass a letter to Jo who disappeared from radars, for obvious reasons. I've been dealing with all that new nasty stuff Luke put in me, and they were like, hey, help us get Bonnie out. And that ascendant was trashed. Literally. Not a whole part in it, because, hello, I made sure it wouldn't' work anymore when I first met them. And your Elenor's like: 'You're all powerful. Get Bonnie out with that piece of crap.' And while I was trying to mend that stupid thing — to no avail, by the way — I kept wondering, why didn't they try to find me earlier… right? I mean, if they were so desperate to get you out, they could've gotten to Jo, she would've located me… You know how it goes. But they just… didn't. They moved on with their lives, prepared that cake and cupcakes to celebrate your ruined life. I mean, it's a bit on the creepy side even for me."
Bonnie had to agree that what he said was disturbing. Why hadn't they followed up on him before? Perhaps they'd been scared of him, too? Worried he wouldn't help them. Why would he? She supposed she'd have felt the same in their position, but at the same time, hadn't they worked with worse? How many times had they dealt with and been betrayed by the Originals? By Damon. Enzo. The list of bad ideas they had in the name of saving their friends and family was great. Why did it suddenly matter now? Because she was Bonnie. Because she was meant to be dead? Why hadn't they come for her a second time? Why hadn't they made sure in all their glory that she'd be able to get out? What if the stone hadn't been there? There was so many what-ifs and could-have-beens that she didn't know what to think anymore or how to feel. The only thing that she was sure of, is although she was terrified of him, although being in his presence before made her anxiety hit the roof, at least she'd have been able to believe his sorry and the almost apologetic look in his eyes that night at the club.
"They were coping in the best and only way they knew how," Bonnie said, not liking that she was automatically defending them when knowing that they could move on without her hurt so much.
Not that Caroline had it easy.
"What did you get in return for helping me? Did they give Jo your letter?"
He emitted a soft hem of a laugh, noting her immediate urge to justify her buddies. "In return? Let's see… hell knows what they did with that letter, and after I nearly died during that whole ordeal, I forgot to care about it."
"You almost died?" Bonnie asked, raising a brow.
He watched her with pensively narrowed eyes, then held out his hands. "I can show you. Wanna see how you got to get out?"
That day had been quite incredible, quite dark for her, and her want to revisit it not very high. She sucked in a breath and gently placed her hands in his.
He closed his eyes and flashed back to that day, starting with entering the kitchen to find Elena and Damon kissing. The world outside ceased to exist, pulling Bonnie in like an invisible witness as Kai played the memory for her. It lasted for less than a minute in the real time, but for Bonnie it went on as though she had been there for each minute ending with Damon waking Kai up in their kitchen while Elena tended to Jeremy.
Bonnie's heart broke for Liv. She could understand the revenge, the hatred she'd had for her older brother. However, seeing it all in Technicolor, it didn't diminish what Kai had done for her and how hard he'd fought—even while bleeding to death—to try and get a message to her. Would someone who was genuinely horrible do that? It made her realize even more how wrong she'd been and how badly she'd fucked up. If she hadn't listened to Damon, hadn't let him manipulate her, then everything would have been different. Kai would have been ruling his coven, Jo and Alaric would be in Maui happily drinking one another in and planning for the future.
Tears were in her eyes as she pulled her hands from his. She wished desperately to be able to go back and change the past. "I had no idea you'd—I mean, if it wasn't for you, then I wouldn't have made it that day. I… I don't even know what to say. Does a thank you even suffice?"
A small somewhat sad smile touched his mouth. "It's in the past. Done's done, there's no adding anything to it. But I do appreciate the sentiment albeit belated."
She wondered if he'd have saved her if he knew what she'd do to him in the end. The shit show their lives would have become. It was already sticky, but it was ridiculous now. "How did Damon find out about the prison world? About his mother?"
"From your camera, remember? You showed it to him, and he recognized her." He reached for his unfinished glass of lemonade sitting next to the pizza box and downed it. "I was sorta dying while you were trying to get out, and the worlds were flickering — kinda merging a bit. That's how you were able to see her. You peeked into the nineteen-o-three prison world."
"Ohhh right," Bonnie murmured. She'd been so excited to see Damon and so anxious to be back in the land of the living that most days had passed by her in dark patches. She hardly knew which day was what. She still didn't know. "Yeah, I—that was my fault. Guess all of it is."
"No, actually, the base of it was Luke's fault," Kai stated in a matter-of-fact way, fishing a leaf of mint from his glass. "He stopped Jo and me, forced himself into the equation, and it went wrong. Well, first it went all right. I felt great. Whole. And then those feelings seeped in, and I was like, what… and then that birthday thing happened where I had to do it all without a working ascendant and bleeding all the way through… In retrospect, had I been fine, I'd have pulled it off no problem. But I was already… defected, and my power was all whacky. And it only wend downhill from there. I began to cough up my lungs, vomit blood and feel like I was dying, and I had to seek out Jo so our whole coven wouldn't die with me. That was exactly the time, I reckon, when you were trying to get out of the prison world, and those worlds went whacky on you because of my rapidly declining health. You got lucky you got out in time and I didn't actually die."
She thought back to her running in the forest to reach the cave, to the prison world going from light to dark on all turns until she wasn't sure what was happening anymore. Instinctually she had known that her time had run out, that she had to do something to get herself out, and thank God it had worked. She didn't blame Luke. She didn't blame anyone but herself. If she'd have been stronger, more mindful of her own feelings and stopped relying on the Damons of the worlds to know better or trust that they wanted to save her, then she'd have been okay. Not immediately, but in time.
"So wait," Bonnie said, thinking of something else entirely. "You did die. Does that mean that there is no more prison world? No more nineteen-ninety-four or nineteen-o-three? Were there other prison worlds?"
"No, there were just those two, and they're gone." He sent another mint leaf in his mouth, chewing.
"What would have happened if it went down and I didn't manage to get out? Would I have blinked out of existence?"
"Well…" he pondered, hunting for another mint stem, "it never happened before, so… I guess you'd die along with me. I've no idea what would have happened with your body. Maybe you'd be thrown out of there, dead, or maybe just disappeared…"
"I wouldn't simply have returned to the present?" What was keeping Bonnie alive there? She'd been the anchor, shot through to the prison world by her Grams, and what was she now? Sometimes she wondered if she could even die anymore. Not that she wanted to test the theory. She reached for the pizza box, bringing it onto her lap, stretching her legs out before her so her feet could rest on the edge of the coffee table. "I guess it doesn't matter. It's done and dusted." She took a bite on the pizza, her eyes fixing on the screen in front of them, looking around for a remote or something. "How'd you get a movie on here? Oh! Maybe we could watch some Love Island. I've probably missed half a season."
He shot her a skeptical look, chewing on the last mint leaf.
"Okay then," Bonnie began, assuming he didn't like that idea. Not that he even knew what it was about. "Maybe we should explore. Spent a little time in the casino. I can't remember the last time I gambled something other than my life."
He composed an exaggeratedly suspicious mien, even though a smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth, "Is that the mythical fun part of the Bennett witch finally showing? Like, an actual inclination to try and have fun? You sure? Are you not gonna bust in flames while trying to enjoy yourself out there?"
"Ha. Ha. Ha." She grabbed the pizza box with one hand, got to her feet and started out the door. "I'm going to use the bathroom, find something to brush my hair with, and then we can go." She stopped at the door, nudging it open with her foot, starting to chew again. "Oh, and you might want to make sure you have an extinguisher with you. You never know what'll happen."
Stefan walked into the bedroom he'd dumped Damon in, his brother's blue eyes burning into him with hate fueled annoyance. The curtains were drawn, his arms at his sides, his ropes still tight around his body. Stefan double-checked to make sure. Damon stopped trying to get free ages ago and Stefan assumed it had to do with the fact that he hadn't eaten decently in almost twenty-four hours.
"I brought you supper," Stefan declared, raising the glass with squirrel blood.
"I'm not drinking that shit," Damon countered, making a face. He wanted to reach across and strangle his brother.
"Your choice," Stefan said, setting it down beside him on the bedside table. Damon's eyes immediately followed the movement. Despite his protest, he was hungry. Very hungry.
"How long's this going to go on for?" Damon asked, his voice softening, pushing away the edge that wanted to crawl its way in. "Haven't I been punished enough? I told Blondie I was sorry about what happened to Bonnie, and I am."
"I know you are," Stefan said, seeing his brother's eyes harden at the unspoken but that hovered in the air between them.
"This is ridiculous," Damon muttered, gritting his teeth. "I never would have let it get as far as it did had I known that was going to happen."
"That's the point. Things got out of control. They always do when you let your impulses rule you," Stefan said.
"That's—"
"—exactly true!" Stefan interjected, cutting short his protest. "It doesn't matter anyway. It's done."
"Then why am I still locked up? I'm not the enemy here!"
"You could have fooled me," Stefan murmured.
"I said I was sorry," Damon snapped, his eyes drifting to the blood beside him, his tongue darting out to wet his lips.
Stefan reached for the glass, shifting the straw around twice before offering it to Damon. His blue eyes shifted to his brother's face, wishing him to drop dead, and then leaned forward slightly to signal his surrender. Stefan met him halfway, letting him take a long sip of the blood. Damon's face said everything about his disgust, his throat working as he struggled to swallow.
"That's enough," he hissed, throwing himself away from the glass.
"You're being dramatic," Stefan said.
"I don't know how you lived on that crap for years. It doesn't give you any real benefits. It doesn't satisfy the craving."
Stefan shrugged. He'd explained it to Damon many times over the years and Damon never seemed to be able to grasp the idea or care to listen. "It sustains what needs sustaining."
"Your martyrdom is sickening," Damon uttered.
Stefan let him vent it out and walked over to the window, peering into the night, looking at the garden that Zach used to tend to and now they hired someone else to do. Stefan folded his arms across his chest, sighing softly.
"I thought things were different," he murmured. "That you'd changed. That you were better."
"I am better," Damon said indignantly.
"Do you really believe that? You think Elena would have appreciated the trouble you got Bonnie into? The fact that you got her tortured."
"I didn't mean for that to happen," Damon retorted. "If I had known—"
"Then what? What would you have done differently?" Damon's lips thinned and his face took on a dark undertone. There wasn't much that would have been different except for the fact that he'd have tried to take his mother and Enzo out. "That's what I thought," Stefan said, walking away from the window, peering down at Damon with an exhausted expression. "What can you tell me about nineteen-o-three?"
Damon looked as if he wanted to tell Stefan to go fuck himself. "Just that it's a supernatural prison that housed our mother," he said instead.
"Do you know anything useful? Something that might actually help us when the Heretics are free?" Stefan asked.
"What do you mean free? You know where they are?" Damon asked.
"I only know what I've been told by Caroline," Stefan added.
"What does Caroline know then?"
"Just that we have to be on guard. That the Heretics could show up on our door at any moment—"
"Our door? Why our door?"
"Kai I assume—"
"That weasel!" Damon spat, his face turning red. "That psycho is a waste of air. You should have helped me kill him!"
"Too late for that now" Stefan stated.
"You're spineless," Damon continued, unleashing every curse word he could, going on and on until eventually he ran out of steam.
"You done?" Stefan asked, giving a yawn. "I'm tired, brother. It's been a long couple decades and it's getting even longer."
"I don't know much," Damon said at long last. "Nothing that could be of use anyway. All I know is what the psycho told me. That Lily had been eating her way through thousands of people. That she stumbled upon those misfits, decided to turn them and that the lot of them got dumped into the prison world by the Gemini Coven. Then Elena, Bonnie and I went and got her, and that's the end."
Stefan's gaze flicked to the ceiling and then back to the window. He believed Damon, too. What would be the point of keeping secrets now?
"Any useful information we could get would have been from Jo or Liv. Or anyone else that might have been part of that coven. Not that it's an option anymore since they're all dead."
"You can thank yourself for that one," Stefan said.
Damon arched a brow and pinched his lips. "I was trying to help you turn your humanity back on. I didn't have a choice," he insisted, once again diving into the defensive.
"You shouldn't have involved Bonnie. Or Kai."
"Who else would have taken me then?" Damon asked, shrugging what he could of his shoulders. "Blame me all you want, but how was I supposed to know that our mother was off her rocker? I saw her—I went to get her. It certainly pleased you since your humanity snapped back on. You can't tell me it didn't help."
Stefan couldn't say that, but at the same time, he hated to think that he'd even been part of that scenario. Lily wasn't who she used to be, and when he saw her hurting Bonnie, it was as if he'd allowed it, as if he'd been the one to do it. He hadn't been able to do anything for her then.
"It helped," Stefan muttered, reaching for the glass of blood again, raising the straw to his brother's mouth. Damon resisted for a second and then finished it as quickly as he could. When it was done, Stefan slowly started his way out of the bedroom.
"Stefan!" Damon called. Stefan twisted around to face him, the glass held at his side against his leg. "Stefan, let me go. Let me help you."
"Another time, brother," Stefan answered, offering him the smallest of sad smiles. "For now, just take the time to rest. To reflect."
Stefan left, going in search of Caroline, his brother's contempt following in his wake.
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