Splitting Our Odds Into Evens

Us

When she arrived at the compound, Bonnie was shocked to see buff men patrolling the property at every corner of the perimeter. She had to speak with a man who controlled the security to get in.

Bonnie was led into the clearing, where Klaus and Elijah waited patiently. Her eyes wandered and stared at all the men - vampires - who were staring back. "I'm not new here, by the way."

"Starting now, you are. Extra precautions must be taken with everything going on," Klaus grinned. His eyes fell on Bonnie. "Welcome back, friend. We've missed you."

Bonnie tried not to let her disorientation show and nodded in gratitude. "I've missed you guys, too, and the constant craziness within this premises."

Elijah chuckled at that, taking a step forward to hug her. "Where is Kol?"

"I don't know, and I'll try not to care," Bonnie replied, squeezing the original before pulling away.

Elijah and Klaus looked at each other, confused.

"I do hope you've been taking a little breather with your magic," Elijah said.

"Why? Do you need something? Is that why I'm here?" Bonnie questioned as if she was on a time limit to speak.

Suddenly, footsteps surfaced out into the yard, and there she was; Hayley. She looked the same, but not. Her features were sharper, more strict, and more developed. Her hair was cut shorter, shoulder-length, and she looked packed with more muscle. Had she been training? Bonnie wondered, and with one glance at Elijah, she knew. The wolf looked healthy.

"Bonnie!" Hayley smiled upon seeing the witch. She reached in to hug her. "Why haven't you called me? With Rebekah gone, I thought you ghosted too. These idiots only talk about killing people 24/7, driving me nuts."

Bonnie laughed as Klaus rolled his eyes. "I'm really sorry for not checking in, Hayley. I've just been extremely busy with work," she said. "I feel like it's been forever." Meanwhile, it had only been three weeks since she's seen or spoken to any of them.

"Hey, Bonnie," stammered Freya as she and Keelin entered the room. Keelin kept Freya vertical as she could not walk without stumbling. Freya's hair was an absolute mess. She had dark eye circles, indicating she had barely been getting sleep, and her lips were pale; she looked awfully dehydrated.

Elijah cleared his throat. "This is exactly why we've called you. We were hoping you could fix Freya."

Bonnie's stomach seemed to want to empty out, but she held her ground. "What's going on?"

"We have no clue. Freya's been like this all morning, and she's only getting worse," said Keelin. She sat Freya down on the couch.

"I don't understand. Is she sick? Has she been messing with dark magic?" Bonnie questioned.

"There's no question you've asked that we haven't already," Klaus said. "We were anticipating that a witch like yourself could decipher this, but it seems you are just as clueless as we are."

"Yeah, I am very clueless about this whole thing," Bonnie said. She walked to the couch and sat next to Freya, placing the back of her palm on her forehead. "You are burning up." She closed her eyes, chanting lowly. Bonnie dropped her hand, narrowing her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Keelin asked.

"She's poisoned," Bonnie said.

"Poisoned?" Keelin's brows furrowed. "Poisoned with what?"

"Dark magic," Bonnie said. "But instead of poisoning her mind, it's poisoning her heart. If we don't find a cure soon, Freya will die."

Freya mustered a hard swallow. "The spirits must've done this."