I knew this witch camp would suck — and guess what? I was absolutely right.
Emily's brilliant idea of the day was levitating dust. Not, like, a broom or a rug. No. She wanted me to levitate grains of dust out the window. Thousands — no, billions — of microscopic particles I had to focus on at the same time. Let's just say it wasn't fun, and it took way too long.
Then she made me create water out of thin air. Also not fun. I managed it, but doing both spells in one day? One more and I'd have been bleeding from my nose. Meanwhile Emily just stood there saying these were "easy spells" she used to do every day when she was alive. I'm pretty sure she was just rubbing it in.
Obviously I didn't clean the whole house — the place was huge. Even a few rooms took me days. I cleaned the room I slept in, the old bathroom because the bathtub was awesome, and the kitchen because the table and one chair were still intact. Honestly, for an old haunted house, it wasn't bad. If I extort a few more ancient vampires, I might even buy the place and renovate it.
"Today we're going to learn healing," Emily said, eyes glinting in a way that should've warned me.
"Who am I supposed to heal?" I frowned. "Unless you've forgotten, I'm the only living person here."
"Exactly. You're going to heal yourself," she said, glancing at an old knife.
I groaned. Emily was a sadistic little witch bitch. Well, I had to get my genes from somewhere.
I spent the next few days stabbing myself in the leg and healing it. Thankfully, after the fourth stab wound, Emily taught me a spell to numb the pain — otherwise I would've gone insane. Then again, there's nothing sane about stabbing yourself repeatedly just to learn healing magic.
Healing magic sucked. It required insane concentration and a deep understanding of how the body heals naturally. So while I whimpered through the first few stabs, Emily was hammering anatomy lessons into my skull. Of course she didn't think to teach me that before I stabbed myself. As I said — sadistic bitch.
I only learned the basics. Anything more required worse wounds, and I wasn't that much of a masochist.
Healing wasn't the only thing I did. Since it drained so much power, I only practiced it for a few hours a day. The rest of the time Emily taught me concentration tricks so I wouldn't pass out bleeding everywhere, and how to control the elements better.
"What do you want to learn?" Emily asked five days before I left. My food was almost gone, I desperately wanted a warm shower, and my phone battery was dying. Caroline would have a stroke if I didn't text her daily proof of life.
"Teleportation," I said with a straight face. I knew it would take months — years even — but I wanted to start somewhere.
"You mean projection, granddaughter," Emily corrected, raising a brow.
"I want to start somewhere," I shrugged. Dahlia was badass, and teleporting before vampires could super‑speed at you was way too cool not to try. Plus, projection was a great spying tool.
"Let's get to it," Emily said.
"Before that, explain it properly," I said, eyeing her. Her teaching methods were questionable at best. If I didn't know how to swim, she'd throw me in a lake and say "good luck."
"The most basic form is Spirit Projection," Emily explained. "It allows the witch to walk freely in spirit form. Like ghosts — intangible and invisible."
"What about Astral Projection?" I asked, thinking of Prue Halliwell's iconic power.
"Astral Projection is an advanced form. The astral body can be visible, though tangibility is optional."
"And teleportation?"
"Teleportation is an advanced variation of projection that allows full displacement of the witch's body and consciousness from one location to another. To a lesser extent, objects can be transported as well," she said, frowning.
"Neat," I smirked.
"Bonnie, not many witches can do such spells," Emily warned. "Teleportation is so difficult that witches must create their own spell. It's not something you read in a grimoire."
I nodded. Still, canon Bonnie teleported a message to Elena once — and she was a newbie then. If canon Bonnie could do it, I could do it better.
"It's still a good skill to have. I want to learn it even if I never manage to teleport," I said firmly.
"Very well. Who do you want to visit first as a spirit? Distance matters."
"Hmmm… maybe I'll haunt the Salvatores," I mused. "Or Elena."
Emily just burst out laughing.
The next five days were… interesting. First I learned to spirit project around the house — it was weird seeing myself from another angle. Then I tried projecting farther. The woods were fine, but projecting into town exhausted me.
I kept practicing until it got easier. Magic was a muscle — repetition made perfect. Once I got the distance down, I decided to haunt the Salvatores. Stalking Stefan while he wrote in his diary was boring, but catching Damon drunk and watching soap operas? Excellent blackmail material.
By the time witchy boot camp ended, I'd tried astral projection once — though only in the same room as my body — and I still hadn't figured out the visibility part.
All in all, my days with Emily, the Spartan teacher, paid off. I learned new skills and got premium blackmail on Damon Salvatore.
Life was good.
24 December, 2009
I left the Witch House in the afternoon and went home to shower, eat something warm, and get clean clothes. Living in an old house with no electricity or plumbing for days made me appreciate modern comforts.
Dad wasn't home — not that I expected him to be. Rudy's life was work, and honestly, I didn't mind. Everyone saw me as a teenager, but I wasn't one, and not having parents breathing down my neck was a relief. I knew that in a few years Rudy would hit his "I'm your dad" phase, so I was enjoying the freedom while it lasted.
After getting ready, I grabbed my bag and keys and drove to Care's house. If I didn't show up for her Christmas dinner, she'd kill me slowly.
I remembered I hadn't bought presents for anyone right as I parked in front of the Forbes house.