I CAN'T SAVE US ↠ KAI PARKER

16. ghosts of the past

"It was behind the pickup" Bonnie said heading to the back of the car to check.

"No, it was at the front" Damon corrected her.

"It was at the side" I told them rushing to the side of the pickup, a little confused.

"That side at the front" Damon added walking towards my side and Bonnie followed us.

"Are you guys sure?" she asked us and we nodded, standing in front of the side of the car.

"Yes, it was right there" Damon said and just as he was about to point at the right spot where he had claimed to have seen the human-like figure, a tarp flapped against the back of the front of the pickup and Damon's hopeful-eyes began to drain out the emotion immediately as he stared at the tarp in disappointment "It was a tarp. We saw a tarp"

The carousel instantly activated itself, as the carnival-like music began to come out of it, sending Damon into further despair, "And that–– that is on a timer. That turned on by itself" he concluded, his voice slowly turning hollow at the heartbreaking truth he was starting to believe.

"What about your car?" I added hoping it helped him stop spiralling back to his hopeless self.

"I left it here in '94" he seethed, his eyes still glued to the carousel.

"And the crossword?" Bonnie asked with the same amount of hope as before, completely unbothered by the fact that some of the 'proof' she had was crumbling down.

"You filled it out, Bonnie" he snapped at her annoyed, shutting the tailgate of the pickup angrily  "which means we're alone, in my own hell... with no Grams escape hatch. So you can stop handing us your fake hope because we're never getting out" he concluded dreadfully as he looked at us.

"Give me your ring" Bonnie said in a more serious tone and he looked at her confused.

"What?" he asked and Bonnie took his hand, trying to take off his ring and he fought back to stop her.

"Guys, stop" I said worried, bickering was one thing but them actually fighting was another, things had never escalated to this point.

"No, not until he gives me his ring. All we've heard him say is that he has no hope and that this is your hell" she said as she kept struggling to get the ring from Damon's finger and he grabbed her arm to stop her "If it's so bad why don't you just end it?" she snapped at him and he pushed her back almost making her loose her balance but I rushed to her side to help her "Hope is the only thing keeping me going Damon. So, if you're really done, if you have none, then be done" Bonnie spat at him, hitting his shoulder as she became more upset "Because this isn't helping"

I tried to calm her down but she refused, storming out of the parking lot "Nice one, Damon" I told him harshly, as I followed Bonnie down the street "Bonnie, wait" I called out for her but she looked back at me, shaking her head and then she turned around quickening her pace, so I stopped. I knew it wasn't the right time to come after her, specially not if I was going to act as the devil's advocate. Part of me understood Damon's sense of hopelessness but I also knew that Bonnie's hopefulness was her way of coping, and maybe my impartialness towards both was mine.

I headed back to the parking lot, expecting to find Damon by his car but the place was empty, which meant he was probably long gone by now. Back to hiding in whatever place he spent his afternoons in, so I decided to finish our shopping trip for us or he wouldn't have anything to make his daily blueberry pancakes in the morning and that would only get him in a much worse mood, any chance of a truce between them straining further away.