Red Passion

Chapter 3

Elena plops herself down on her bed quite unceremoniously, sighing.

"Where do you think she's gone?" she asks Bonnie, worry seeping into her usually calm tone. "It's not like Caroline to skip classes, she's the one who cares the most about all this out of the three of us."

Bonnie slightly rolls her eyes as she rummages through her clothes in search of an appropriate top.

"You mean she's the only one who cares about all this."

Elena frowns at that. "To be honest, I don't think she's so wrong in wanting some normality in her life after all the craziness that we've been going through these past few years."

"Maybe," Bonnie concedes after a moment, closing one of the drawers with more force than necessary as she straightens back up on her feet and shrugs off the purple blouse she's wearing to replace it with a sparkly black vest top. "But I've died, Elena, college isn't really top on my list of priorities right now. I've been given a second chance at life and I intend to fully enjoy it."

Elena nods, smiling softly. "I understand," she says—but no, she doesn't, not really. Her and Caroline are vampires, immortal, something that Bonnie will never be.

The witch finally turns to her friend, a huge grin plastered on her face as she opens her arms at her sides and shows off her new outfit.

"So, what do you think?"

"I think that you look smoking hot, Bon," the brunette laughs, simply happy to finally have her best friend back after having been so sure that she had lost her forever.

"I know, right?" the other girl joins in the laughter. "Just let me go to the bathroom real quick and then we can leave, okay?"

"Sure. I'll text Damon to meet us there and try to call Caroline again."

"It's a frat party, Elena," Bonnie rolls her eyes again. "You shouldn't bring your boyfriend along," she quips before disappearing into the bathroom just as Elena throws her a somewhat dumbfounded look and busies herself with her phone nonetheless.

Bonnie carefully locks the bathroom door behind her, moving towards the big, square mirror propped just above the washbasin.

She turns the cold water knob and lets the fresh liquid flow down on her hands. It feels nice. Every material, tangible sensation has felt nice for her in these past few couples of days since she has come back to the 'land of the living'. It still feels surreal to think about the fact that she had actually been dead—like dead, dead—for over four months.

Her life was never supposed to be like this.

Sighing, she shuts her eyes tight and bows down a bit, splashing some water on her face.

She takes a moment before exhaling forcefully through her mouth and then lifting herself up again.

Her heart jumps in her throat and she's barely able to stifle a gasp at the sight that greets her on the mirror.

"Esther..." she whispers—Elena is gifted with enhanced vampire hearing and she's only on the other side of the door.

"Don't worry, Bonnie, your friend can't hear us," the original witch reassures her with a kind smile that only makes her blood freeze even more in her veins.

"What do you want?"

"You know what I want."

"It's too soon," Bonnie stutters, her hands gripping the edge of the sink as she feels her legs shaking and barely sustaining her.

"I made the spell. I know it will take you quite some time to get everything together. I just felt it appropriate to remind you of our deal," her cold, stony eyes focus into Bonnie's. "I would hate, dear child, for you to have to rejoin me here, were anything to go wrong."