What Lies Beneath

Chapter 62: Heart To Heart

Mystic Falls was silent and cold with no children playing in the park and no cars on the road. There weren't even any birds flying overhead; it was a ghost town. So quiet and bleak, the sky heavy with gray clouds that threatened sheets of rain. Bonnie could smell blood in the air and taste it thick on her tongue as if it were staining her lips ruby red. It probably was. The bench she was sitting on was harder than usual, the wood digging into her back sharply like tiny pointed stones. She wasn't sure but she thought she could feel a bruise blooming on the side of her cheek and for a moment she couldn't remember why, but then everything came flooding back to her in a rush so heady it made her head spin.

She shuddered out a pained breath and forced herself to remain calm or her tenuous link would snap like brittle bone, and that was the last thing she wanted. If she just exhaled slowly and made no sudden movements everything would be alright at least for a little while. For one minute, for one second—that was all she asked for before the darkness claimed her once again.

She could see it lingering in the corner of her eye, swirling behind the Grille and swaying idly within the leaves of the trees. It would take her. It would rip her away from all that she cared about but unfortunately she did not have anyone to really blame except herself. And Shane of course but by the time she realized she was in too deep it was too late to fully react. Too late to use her exceptional—if dangerous—power to blow everything in her way to kingdom come.

The decisions she had made to bring her to this point played behind her eyes like a movie as she tried to pinpoint the moment she had went wrong. Was it trying to help Elena become human again or not listening to her parents when they tried to wean her off all of the magic? Was it thinking she had a hold on expression only to learn it was no better than having the spirits funnel her power? Perhaps it was her own selfish pride that she could succeed where others failed. Maybe the better question would be was it too late to set things right?

Would she even be able to? By then…would she care?

Bonnie loved the people in her life to a terrifying degree but none more so than two. It felt horrible not to include her mother on that very short list but she hardly knew Abby, and a part of her didn't want to know her. A part of her would forever resent her for leaving even though she'd wanted the cure for her as well. So the two spots on her list were basically her father and Damon Salvatore. And one of them was currently tucked away safe probably worrying about her.

There were times in the past when she'd idly daydreamed what it would have been like if Emily had never connected her to Damon. What twists and turns their relationship would have taken had there been no passion or desire, just hatred and a begrudging respect that crumbled and rebuilt itself like beach shores after the tide. If he had never gotten over his infatuation for Elena and instead sunk deeper until she was all he saw. All he lived for. It seemed odd and impossible but it was of course one of many infinite futures that another Bonnie Bennett was currently living. She felt bad for that Bonnie because having Damon would always be better than not having him, warts and all. He was impetuous, brash, selfish and impatient but he loved her so completely that she was able to see past his bad qualities. She never forgot them or let the terrible ones go, but she also couldn't pretend that it made her love him any less.

Less wouldn't have been easier so it didn't matter. Besides having Damon gave her clarity. It gave her a sharp peace of mind when the world howled around her like a banshee out of control. With Damon she was never alone no matter what happened and as time went on she thanked Emily more and more instead of cursing her as she'd done in the beginning.

Damon Salvatore was her safe place.

She knew before he sat down that he'd finally found her; it never took long. She liked to think that Damon would and could find her anywhere in the world, and that for some reason if he couldn't he'd never stop looking.