"Who wants to die?" I asked as Caroline reached my side, eyes red from crying and looking absolutely devastated. We'd come to Tyler's party with Stefan, who — after learning about Caroline's new vampiric reality — wanted to teach her how to be a bunny‑eater. Caroline had amused him because she genuinely wanted to try hunting animals, if only to be Cullen for a day.
"I almost ate Matt, got attacked by a wolf, and I really want to go home right now," Caroline blurted, already speed‑walking toward my car. I followed silently, thinking. This had happened in canon, but it shouldn't have — at least not the part where she munches on Mattie Blue‑Blue. I gave her that enchanted bracelet for that exact reason.
I drove us back into town, but I could only hold my questions in for so long.
"Explain," I said, turning down the radio.
"I didn't bite him, but I wanted to," Caroline said, almost sighing. "That's the worst part. I didn't feel bloodlust — not like at the hospital — but we were making out and I wanted to bite him."
"You're a vampire, hon. Of course you want to bite him," I said, glancing at her. She'd read my grimoires; she knew this. Fangs weren't just for feeding — they were part of the species. Feeding or pleasure, same difference.
"I know, but I almost forgot it's not like that for him," she said. "I'm a vampire and I like it kinky like that now, but he's human and it would just hurt him."
"Maybe he also has a biting kink," I mused. "You never know. The quiet ones are always the crazy ones."
She rolled her eyes. "Thankfully Stefan intervened before anything happened, but then a freaking wolf jumped on me out of nowhere. Matt almost had a heart attack."
"How did Mattie take Stefan interrupting sexy time?" I asked, then shook my head. "Forget that — you weren't bitten, right?"
"He didn't take it well," Caroline deadpanned. "But it's fine. Stefan and I weren't bitten because Tyler popped out of nowhere and scared it off. Stefan said he talked to Elena, and apparently she and Damon found out werewolf bites kill vampires. There's no cure, right?"
"Not at the moment," I said, thinking of Klaus. The cure only existed after his curse was broken. "So stay away from werewolves for now, would you?"
"Obviously," she said with a duh expression. "What do I do about Matt? I like him, but I feel like I'm not the girl he was dating anymore."
"You're still you — just with a few new quirks," I said with a smile. "I would know. I've put up with you for years. I'm not saying show him your teeth, but if you feel that way, introduce him to the new you. If he can't deal, he loses his appeal."
She laughed at my rhyme and turned the radio back up.
2 March 2010
I was sitting on a bench at Whitmore College with my eyes closed, practicing projection. The good thing about projection was that you didn't need directions if you knew where you wanted to go. Right now, I wanted to project myself into one Lorenzo St. John — and it didn't take long before I was in a disinfected torture room.
Enzo was strapped to a table while the dick known as Dr. Maxfield played with his insides.
"That tickles, doc," Enzo grunted.
"The prisoner continues to make jokes as usual," Maxfield said, speaking for the camera recording him.
I sneered and walked closer. The blood didn't faze me — nor did seeing someone's insides. What bothered me was the human doing it. Humans loved to pretend they were morally superior, but when it came to cruelty? They were worse than the so‑called monsters.
Vampires needed blood to survive. Humans needed animals to survive. Humans raised animals in cages, tortured them, fattened them, slaughtered them. Cosmetics, testing, pointless cruelty — humans excelled at it.
Vampires were simple. They fed. Sometimes they killed. Sometimes they tortured. But it was their nature. They were predators — just like humans once were.
This world was different from my previous one, and one of the biggest divergences was population. A few billion fewer people. Hunger rates lower in certain regions. Why? Vampires. They'd been here for millennia. Ancestors got eaten. Bloodlines disappeared. Fewer mouths to feed meant better quality of life in some places. Less pollution. Mother Nature got a break.
Would you look at that — the abominations were helping the planet.
Some part of me knew I should care about the billions who died, but I'd been dead before. Death was part of nature. Reincarnation was real — I was proof. So yes, they died, but they moved on.
Which was why humans like Wes Maxfield triggered my urge to kill. Idiots who couldn't see past their own noses.
"Today's procedure will be the removal of both lungs to observe regeneration," Maxfield droned.
I still didn't know if rescuing Enzo early was a good idea, but I could at least give him some revenge.
I shifted my projection into astral form. I didn't need to be tangible to hex someone — just enough to brush against them.
I touched Enzo's arm gently. His eyes snapped open. He couldn't see me yet, but he felt me. His eyes were wet — probably the first gentle touch he'd had in years.
"Ostendere," I whispered, maintaining contact.
His eyes widened as he saw me. I pressed a finger to my lips. He nodded slightly, wincing as Maxfield dug around inside him.
"My name's Maze," I said — my ancestor's name. Maze could do things Bonnie Bennett couldn't. Maze wasn't tied to Mystic Falls. Maze wasn't responsible for anyone.
"I'm projecting. I'm not actually here. Doctor Douche can't see me."
He blinked in understanding.
"I can't free you. Not yet. But I wanted you to know I'm hexing the guy playing with your lungs like they're stress balls."
Enzo let out a strangled laugh.
Maxfield glared. "The subject is laughing to ignore the pain."
I brushed the doctor's hand and whispered, "Vident oculi laesos."
He hissed and ripped off his glove. A circle was carved into his skin.
Perfect.
"What did you do, love?" Enzo whispered.
"Every time he closes his eyes, he'll know what it's like to be you," I said. "He'll dream of turning. Of the thirst. Of the guilt. Then everything done to you will be done to him. He'll go mad until his brain breaks."
"Quite the wicked witch you are," he murmured, eyes shining.
"It'll take months," I said. "I could kill him, but he's not working alone. This way you get a front‑row seat."
"Much appreciated," he said as Maxfield returned.
"What did you do?" the doctor growled.
"What could I do, doc?" Enzo shrugged. "If I could do anything, your head would already be off."
Maxfield scowled. "Someone needs his vervain dose."
Before he knocked Enzo out, I whispered, "I'll get you out of here. Just wait a—"
Someone shook me.
I snapped back into my body on the bench. Reid was shaking my shoulder.
"Bonnie, hey — you okay?" he asked.
I shrugged him off. "I was meditating. What do you want, Ken?"
"Well, Barbie," he said with a grin, "I heard you're quitting Aikido?"
"Yeah. Today was my last class. I'm busy."
"I wanted to talk to you about something," he said, suddenly serious. "I didn't have the balls before."
"Yes, I'm single, and no, I don't want to date you," I said.
"I'm a werewolf," he said bluntly.
"…Okay?" I said. "Sucks to be you. What do you want?"
He explained everything — the accidental kill, Grams helping him, the boundary spell breaking when she died.
"You want me to juice it up," I said.
"Please," he begged.
"I'll do it," I said. "But magic comes with a price."
"Anything."
"Speaking of full moons — you weren't near Mystic Falls two days ago, were you?"
"I drugged myself with wolfsbane and chained myself up," he said. "I don't think I got free."
"Give me your phone," I said. I added my number. "Text me next week. We'll fix your cabin."
"Thank you, Bonnie," he said, hugging me before I could dodge. "I owe you."
"Damn right you do, pretty boy."
I was driving back into town when my phone rang — Caroline.
"Sup, Buffy," I said.
"Buffy needs Willow ASAP," she said, voice tight. "My mom invited the evil doppelganger into my house thinking she was Elena, and the doppel‑bitch wants me to run interference with Stefan and Elena. She threatened my mom."
"Meet me at my house," I said, gripping the wheel. "I'll take care of it."
"No," Caroline snapped. "We'll take care of it. I'm a vampire now, Bonnie. She's older, but I'm not defenseless. I'm bitch‑slapping her. She threatened my mom."
I grinned like a proud mother.
"Either way," I said, "the bitch is going down."