“So, you clearly weren’t lying when you said you’re a witch.”
Bonnie grimaced, she just knew Caroline was going to talk her ear off about the subject. Alas, it was a long time coming.
“Nope.”
“Well, you have some serious explaining to do Miss Bennett.” Caroline plopped onto the bed, a white bandage on her neck plainly visible. “You had me help you carry Mr. Bad Man into your basement but only after we wiped the security cameras from the grill and prep said basement into some kind of creepy torture chamber. What is all this for?”
“As I told you before, I’m a witch. But more importantly, I’m a seer. It’s the main reason I knew you were going to be in danger tonight.” Bonnie sighed. “This is all a ploy to get information. That idiot downstairs has no say in what’s coming to him now that we clearly saw his true nature.”
“Okay, let’s circle back to the information part later.” Caroline propped an arm up to rest her head on her non injured side. “You knew I was in danger?”
“Yes, although the specifics were not clear. I become aware of a great many things before they happen,” she said. “The only difference being, there are things I can and cannot change…”
“I see, so like Elena’s parents for example?” Caroline asked.
“Exactly like that, there are certain fixed points in time that will happen no matter what. Whether we want them to or not,” Bonnie explained. “Other things are… malleable.”
“So what was supposed to happened to me could be changed?” Caroline asked, her voice took a on hopeful timbre.
“Absolutely,” Bonnie nodded emphatically. “I don’t even want to think about what more he could have done to you. But because of what did happen tonight, you know that vampires are in fact very real.”
“Okay, fine.” Caroline sat up. “Magic is real. Witches are real. Vampires are real, I was just attacked by one. So what are we going to do about it?”
“Oh no, missy.” Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest. “I didn’t forget about that sonic scream you did. I spilled, so you spill.”
Caroline rolled her eyes before taking a breath.
“It’s called the voice,” she said. “My mom never used it, but my grandmother did.”
Crossing her legs, she continued.
“I first used it when I was a kid,” she said. “There was this party at a cousin’s house and one of the partygoers had a kid about my age. The little girl took my toy so, of course, I yelled at her and told her to give it back. She immediately gave me my toy as if she was in a trance. I doubt the girl even remembers what happened. A fickle thing the voice is. Anyway, Nanna saw the entire thing. She’s been teaching me about where we come from, how to use the voice, and anything else I want to know about the old world ever since. Well, right up until she died.”
“I’m sorry,” Bonnie said placing a hand over Caroline’s.
“Don’t be,” she said. “I’ve come to terms with it. Now that I know a little bit more about the world we live in, I’m glad she went peacefully.”
Bonnie nodded before her gaze snapped back to her friend.
“Wait, so are you a witch too?” She asked.
“Nanna never called us that,” Caroline said with a hand caressing her chin in thought. “I had always assumed we were but Nanna was very specific. She called herself a darach, but I never got a chance to ask her what that meant. She always evaded the question. You already know I went on the internet to find out but I fell down a rabbit hole.”
“What did it say?”
“A darach is a dark druid, or a druid that has ‘gone down the wrong path’.” Caroline grimaced. “The Celts used the term to describe what happens to a wise oak tree that had been poisoned or corrupted at it's core.”
Before Bonnie could let this information send her into a frenzy, she took a moment to calm herself down.
“And does that resonate with you?” She asked the blonde.
“Well…” Caroline trailed off. “In a way, it does and doesn’t.”
Bonnie didn’t say anything, but nodded encouragingly.
“Nanna’s teachings,” Caroline began. “It seemed more of a path to follow, a way of life. A lot of it was ritualistic and felt normal to participate in. Some of it rubbed me the wrong way in the beginning, but now I’m so used to it… it’s a vital part of me. One of the many things that makes me Caroline Ariadne Forbes.”
“What’s something that rubbed you the wrong way?”
“Well, Nanna acted like she was the only person who mattered. Her and those she cared about of course,” Caroline said. “She was very focused on self, preserving her path forward. She wasn’t one to freely give of her talents unless it served her. Lately, I find myself following in that same vein.”
“What do you mean?” Bonnie asked, even though she already knew. If Caroline came to these conclusions all by herself, she would have zero problems convincing her to be a co-conspirator in the great game.
“I manipulated my way into cheer captain,” Caroline said looking down at her hands. “I treated those girls like my pawns, instigated smear campaigns against my competitors, all to get the top spot. Don’t get me started on what I had to do to secure my place as the ‘queen of this bloody town’, as you so eloquently put it. It didn't matter who I hurt in the process. I still did it, all because it served my own agenda.”
“And there’s nothing wrong with that,” Bonnie said going in for the kill. “Because that is exactly what I’m looking for.”
Caroline paused.
“Does this really have something to do with the guy we’ve got locked up downstairs?” She asked. “And what was that bit about causing chaos and wreaking havoc? Does it have anything to do with vampires and witches?”
“Does it ever,” Bonnie said. “And so much more.”
“Well how do we do it?” Caroline asked.
“In order to play the game,” Bonnie said. “You’ve got to get to know all the players.”
A look of understanding graced Caroline’s features. “So we’ve gotta sus out our… competition?”
“Something like that,” Bonnie said with a gleam in her eyes that Caroline came to associate with danger. “We take to the streets, we learn things, starting with the vampire downstairs. There’s a reason he came to Mystic Falls…”
“And once we figure out his purpose for being here, we determine if he can be of use to us.”
“Now, you’re catching on!” Bonnie exclaimed. “There’s a chess piece that needs to be broken in. Shall we dance in the dark?”
“We shall.”
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