Chapter Text
DAMON
I huff in frustration as I guide the crow through the streets. I'm annoyed because of the energy I'm expending just to go after a teenager. It would be so much easier to just go look around town myself. This is Mystic Falls, after all. I wouldn't even need to compel anyone, all I would have to do is ask the first person I saw on the street "hey, do you know Bonnie Bennett?" and they would tell me everything they know about the girl. But of course my little brother wouldn't make things easy for me.
I'm well fed, at least. The couple I muderer on the road made me strong. At first, I was going to hide the bodies. The last thing I need is to draw the town's attention to vampires again. But I couldn't resist the urge to piss off my brother because he got in my way, even tho he didn't mean to. I am amused by the image that comes to my mind of a worried and confused Stefan watching the news and a furious Zach thinking it was his vampire guest who committed the attacks. Little he knows that my little brother is an avid vegetarian.
Stefan Salvatore is the reason why I can't just show up in town. My brother has spent the last 145 years completely oblivious to the fact that Katherine Pierce is still alive and of all the times he could choose to come back to town, of course, he would come back just when my plan starts to develop. It's just like him to do something like that. If I wasn't sure he has no idea what I'm up to, I'd be inclined to think he came back just to stop me.
Yesterday, I went to pay a little visit to Zach to announce that I was going to spend some time at the old boarding house. He was supposed to be my alibi so I wouldn’t raise suspicions. Mystic Falls was a small town, which meant the locals noticed when visitors arrived. I needed a story. So I decided to say that I was just a distant nephew who had come to spend some time with his uncle. Zach wouldn’t really like my company, but it wasn’t like he had a choice.
Anyway, I was about to enter the house when I heard the movement of two people inside. As a precaution, I sharpened my hearing to try to identify who it was and—surprise, surprise—it was none other than Stefan Salvatore, ladies and gentlemen. What the hell was he still doing there? It had been fucking months.
I felt a shiver run down my spine as I realized the answer.
Elena.
Four months earlier, I had come to town to check on the Bennett clan. The thing was that part of my deal with Emily had been to keep her bloodline safe. After humans stopped with the annoying habit of burning witches at the stake, my help became more and more unnecessary—and less wanted, too. So, those days, I usually gave a few years between visits. I would come in and keep an eye on them as a crow for a few weeks to make sure there weren’t any imminent threats, and then I would leave without anyone even knowing I had been in town. However, my last surveillance never happened because I met her.
Before going after Emily’s descendants, I had decided to stop on a deserted road in the middle of the forest, waiting for my next meal. I lay down in the middle of the street and waited. There had been a party going on nearby, and I knew it would only be a matter of time before some prey showed up. I sharpened my hearing to see if anyone was approaching until I heard her voice.
This is impossible, I thought. She had been trapped in a tomb for 145 years. But contrary to all existing logic, when I looked in the direction of the voice, there she was—right in front of me. With the same face from 1864. There was no way it wasn’t her. It was…
“Katherine,” I said in disbelief at what my eyes were seeing.
“No... um... I... I’m Elena,” she answered fearfully.
Suddenly, my senses kicked in, and I noticed her skin flushing. The blood running through her veins. Her heart beating. Human.
She was human.
She wasn’t Katherine.
And yet... I couldn’t help but feel attracted to her.
I composed my surprised expression and turned it into a seductive smile as I started talking to the girl to disarm her and ease her fear. What she looked physically like Katherine made up for the difference in their personalities. The two of them were of completely opposite natures. While the vampire had been sassy, seductive, always with an answer on the tip of her tongue, and never took no for an answer; the human was withdrawn, shy, and innocent. Even knowing that this wasn’t the same woman I had loved for over a century, I couldn’t contain my interest and curiosity about the fragile figure in front of me.
She told me that she had fought with her boyfriend because she wanted more than the quiet small-town life. I smiled at the statement. Perhaps there was a certain rebelliousness in her after all. As we talked, my chest grew heavy with what I knew I would have to do next. As soon as her parents’ car came into view, I compelled her to forget about me and to get everything she wanted in life.
I hid in the woods and fought with every cell in my body that just wanted to turn around and follow her. The comet was about to pass through the town—I needed to stay fucking focused. So, no more wasting time going after some Katherine’s twin. Soon I would have the original again and would forget about her replica, I told myself.
But still, I had to admit I hadn’t been in a position to stay in the city at that moment. I was the obsessed type. If I had stayed, I wouldn’t have been able to stay away from Elena. So I left without checking on the Bennetts and with a single thought in my head.
Elena. Elena. Elena.
It was very naive of me to think that Stefan wouldn't find out about her, because he was also in town four months ago. It's obvious he must have bumped into her too because Stefan doesn't usually spend more than a few days visiting Zach. If he's still here after months, it has to be because of Elena.
It just has.
I feel my stomach turn at the thought of Stefan next to her. Is it possible that I need to share Katherine in all of her versions? I thought at least this one was just mine.
I dismiss those thoughts with a shake of a head. I need to focus. Katherine's cheap copy has distracted me enough. Because that's all she was, I kept telling myself. A cheap copy of Katherine.
I focus on the crow again as he flies over Mystic Falls. Since I didn't do my rounds months ago, I have to do now. I need to be one hundred percent sure that the Bennetts are perfectly safe so Emily doesn't take one step behind in our deal. I already found grandma, mom left so it's none of my business anymore and now all that's left is the youngest Sabrina to check. I've already looked at her house, at school and the next place is the Grill. I land on a traffic sign in front of the restaurant to see if I can find her when a pale blue vehicle passes on the road and catches my eye.
“So Grams is telling me I'm psychic,” says a girl inside the car, “Our ancestors were from Salem, witches and all that.”
Bingo.
With that family history, it could only be a Bennett. I spread my wings and follow the car as the girl continues talking.
“I know, crazy,” she says, “but she's going on and on about it, and I'm like, put this woman in a home already! But then I started thinking, I predicted Obama and I predicted Heath Ledger, and I still think Florida will break off and turn into little resort islands...Elena! Back in the car.”
I freeze in complete shock. There's no way that the person I've been trying to completely ignore for months is just with the person I need to keep an eye on until the tomb opens.
On second thought, I vaguely remember Elena talking to a Bonnie on the phone before I intercepted her.
It just can’t be. I almost laugh at my total lack of luck. It can only be a joke in the universe's bad taste. I mean, how many Elenas and Bonnies must live in the city? Maybe they aren't close and this is just a one-time ride. Maybe I'm not even that unlucky and that's just a big coincidence. Maybe...
“I did it again, didn't I? I--I'm sorry, Bonnie. You were telling me that...”
Shit.
I would recognize that voice anywhere.
Katherine's voice.
Elena’s voice, i mean.
I'm drawn to the sound and I'm so stunned and confused that I don't realize what I'm doing until I bump into the windshield of the car they're in. They are startled by the collision and for a second that seems too long, I watch helplessly as the car comes to a screeching halt near the sidewalk. I sharpen my hearing in anticipation of detecting any sign of life when I hear:
“What was that?! Oh, my god! Elena, are you okay?”
“It's okay. I'm fine.”
I let out the breath I hadn't even realized I was holding, as I continue to listen to the conversation.
“It was like a bird or something. It came out of nowhere,” says Bonnie apprehensively.
“Really, I can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of my life,” Elena responds.
There's silence in the car and I'm already spreading my wings to go there myself because I'm convinced they passed out or something when I hear:
“I predict this year is going to be kick ass. And I predict all the sad and dark times are over and you are going to be beyond happy,” Bonnie speaks in a comforting tone.
What the hell? What kind of interaction was that? What is this darkness that ended up in Elena's life? Is this all because of the boyfriend? Maybe she's finally broken up with him. Teenagers are so dramatic.
I shake my head again to banish the thought. It's none of my business. Nothing involving Elena matters to me. Yeah. I keep repeating the phrase the entire way I follow them to school.
Yeah, because I still had to do it.
To make sure they were okay.
I mean, to make sure Bonnie was okay.
Because it was just her I needed to protect.
No Elena.
I land the crow on a tree in the parking lot as I watch them enter the school when a figure grabs my attention.
Not just mine, by the way.
The entire school stops and watches as my brother makes his way into the building. If there was still any doubt as to why my brother decided to come back, now they have been completely annihilated. Only a girl could convince a man to go through the hell that was high school again. Spatially one that is over 160 years old.
My brother can be a problem in my way. I'm going to have to plan my next steps carefully because it's a fact that things are about to get very ugly.
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DAMON
“Just admit it, Elena.”
“Oh, okay, so he's a little pretty.”
“He has that romance novel stare.”
I roll my eyes at the conversation I'm overhearing between the witch and Katherine's doppelganger. Teenagers. Should be extinct. Since they got here, the only thing they've talked about is Stefan. I don't know what my brother has that all the girls fall for him. It feels like 1864 all over again.
After following them to school and recovering from the surprise of having my brother and a duplicate of Katherine in town, I've come to the conclusion that I need to check two things before taking any action.
The first is to see how strong Stefan is. My guess is, with his kind of diet, it should be as strong as my little toe, but I can't risk it because I'm sure he'll try to get in my way once he finds out I'm in town. I followed him for a while after he left school only to find out he was already following someone else too. Elena. I know I have to try to keep as much distance from her as possible, but just knowing that my brother was about to find her made me cringe in pure rage. I couldn't help but scare her in the cemetery hoping to make her go away, but all I could do was make her run straight into my brother's arms. Typical.
And the second is to get a witch to open the tomb. I have two options: grandma and granddaughter. Despite knowing that Sheila is certainly the strongest, this also makes her more difficult to persuade. She would never agree to help a vampire and I couldn't force her, she would finish me in two seconds. But Bonnie is different. She is younger, which means she is more naive and easier to manipulate, whether by force or not. She would be perfect if it weren't for the conversation I overheard between her and Elena in the car. Bonnie was talking in a mocking tone about the witchcraft things her grandmother had told her about. It could be that she was just joking because she keeps her powers in secret, but there's a possibility that she has no idea what she really is. That would be a problem.
The more inexperienced a witch is, the weaker she is. That's why, normally, spells start to be taught in childhood. A 16 year old girl who has never thrown an abracadabra is useless to me. As much as I don't want her to be strong enough to defeat me, she can't be so weak and be unable to open the tomb. The spell that saved Katherine's life is very specific and complicated, not everyone can undo it. That's why I didn't bother to bring other sorcerers. The Bennett bloodline has always been strong, and spells undone by familiars of the person who cast them are more effective. I need to find out how much Bonnie really knows. Which brings me to my current situation. Up in a tree in the woods near a party watching the witch and the doppelganger don't stop gossip about my brother.
“So where is he?” Bonnie asks still talking about Stefan.
“I don't know,” Elena answers, shrugging her shoulders, “You tell me, you're the psychic one.”
“Right, I forgot,” Bonnie says with a smile and closes her eyes, “Okay, so give me a sec. Grams says I have to concentrate.”
“Wait, you need a crystal ball,” says Elena bending down and picking up an empty beer bottle from the floor.
She makes a "tanam" as she delivers the content to her friend who laughs, but gets scared as soon as their hands touch. This catches my attention and makes me totally focused on the unfolding scene in front of me.
“What?” asks Elena, worried.
“That was weird. When I touched you, I saw a crow.”
I open a smile with satisfaction at the witch's response and a even bigger one when I see Elena's frightened face. Perhaps the little witch is not so useless after all.
“What?” Elena repeats, stunned.
“A crow. There was fog, a man...” Bonnie stops talking as soon as she notices her friend's expression and shakes her head as if pushing the vision out of her mind, “I'm drunk. It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it. Yeah?”
She stares at Elena as if waiting for confirmation that what she just said is madness made up of her imagination and when she doesn't get one she picks up the empty beer bottle again and just says before hurriedly leaving:
“Ok, I'm gonna get a refill.”
“Okay?” responds the other one still in a trance and it is already too late when she recovers because the witch is already out reach, “Bonnie!” she calls, uselessly.
She lets out a frustrated sigh and turns in the opposite direction her friend went only to run into Stefan.
“Hi,” he says with a shy smile.
“Hi,” she returns the same way.
I'm taken by pure rage. Does the bastard really think it's going to be that easy? That he was going to get here, win another Katherine and live happily ever after? There is no way in hell. It's time for my little brother to get a reality check and find out he's not the only vampire in town.
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DAMON
I go back to the party satisfied. My reunion with Stefan couldn't have been better. He's so weak it's humiliating. I will be able to continue with my plan normally. Of course, he's still going to try to get in my way, but that will only make things more fun. After all, I'm going to love making him believe I'm just here to make his life a living hell. My only problem now is the witch. I still need to find out if Bonnie knows how to use her powers. Having a lapse of clairvoyance is an indication that she has powers, not that she knows how to use them.
After they rescued the girl I attacked in the forest, people started to disperse, so it was easy to spot the little witch in the center of the clearing. She's on her way to talk to Elena and I sharpen my hearing so I can hear them.
“Hey. We're gonna go to Mainline Coffee, wait for news,” Bonnie reports dejectedly.
“I gotta take Jeremy home,” the other responds with the same humor.
The witch's green eyes fix on her friend's face for a second and as if she had just resolved an internal debate, she begins to speak slowly and carefully.
“Elena, there's no way I'm psychic. I know that. But whatever I saw, or I think I saw,” she sighs as she shakes her head from side to side, “I have this feeling...”
“Bonnie, what?” Elena asks in a thin voice.
The witch stares at her friend with a hard face and I bet she's having an internal conflict again, but unlike the first time, she takes longer to decide whether or not to speak and when I'm almost convinced she won't respond, I hear her voice saying:
“That it's just the beginning.”
You bet it is, little witch.
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DAMON
I follow Bonnie and the blonde one to the Grill. Partly because I'm curious to know how much the witch knows and understands about her powers to know how to approach her, and partly because I have yet to fulfill my end of the bargain. I can't risk pissing off Emily right now. That's all there was left: waiting 145 years to get what I want and everything being ruined because of a teenager who died in a car accident because she decided to drive drunk at night after a party. I sit at a table next to them and start listening to their conversation.
“Are you sober yet?” Bonnie asks her friend sitting across from her.
The blonde raises her head and seems to be thinking about the matter. But as soon as her body is straight, she grimaces and returns to her starting position, sprawled across the table and uttering a defeated “no”.
“Keep drinking,” Bonnie says pointing to the tea, “I gotta get you home. I gotta get me home,” she ends with a friendly smile.
The blonde doesn't show any reaction that she heard her friend and seems lost in thoughts when, after a while, she shoots:
“Why didn't he go for me? You know, how come the guys that I want...” she pauses and ends the sentence in a low tone, “never want me?”
“I'm not touching that,” the witch cuts quickly.
“I'm inappropriate,” the blonde continues anyway, “I always say the wrong thing. And...” a little spark of anger appears in her blue eyes, “Elena always says the right thing. She doesn't even try!” says indignantly, “ And he just picks her. And she's always the one that everyone picks, for everything. And I try so hard, and...I'm never the one.”
Bonnie shakes her head and speaks softly.
“It's not a competition, Caroline.”
And as if she had taken a sober bath, the blonde stiffens and stares at her friend with a hard face and just says:
“Yeah, it is.”
An idea begins to form in my mind. I can't approach Bonnie directly without being sure of how much she knows. And what better way to piss off my brother than by rounding Elena? The solution to both problems is right there. The blonde is friends with both. All I need to do is seduce her. Which won't be so hard seeing how bitter and needy she is.
I would go there right now, but I can't risk the witch sensing my presence. So far, she hasn't given any hints that she knows anything, but her magic is clearly sending signals to her. Alerting her about the danger, i notice, alerting her about me.
If I go there, I'm sure her powers will put her on high alert and I don't want that. Not yet, at least.
So I force myself to remain seated in place and when Bonnie gets up to pay the bill, leaving me completely exposed for the blonde to see me, I flash a seductive smile and face the blue-eyed girl who promptly notices and reciprocates my look.
This will be so much easier than I imagined.