29 March 2010
I twirled my pen between my fingers, staring down at the blank page in front of me. Alaric was droning on about World War II, half the class was pretending to take notes, and the other half was pretending he didn't exist. Caroline sat beside me looking like she wanted to fling herself out the window, while Elena sat behind her texting with a frown like the world owed her an apology.
To everyone else, it looked like Bonnie Bennett had finally decided to show up to class and pay attention.
In reality, I was writing backup plans for dealing with Kol the Ghost — if he was real.
I already had a plan to get on Klaus's good side, or at least on his "not immediately murder" list. I was still debating whether to tell him he needed Elena alive. That depended entirely on how big of a douche he turned out to be.
Elijah? I'd planned on ignoring him. Teaming up with him against Klaus was stupid, and the guy was going to spend most of his future with a dagger in his heart anyway. I wanted to stay on his good side, but I needed a strategy.
Rebekah was daggered. Finn was irrelevant until Mommy Dearest crawled out of her coffin. Kol — pirate ghost Kol — was the problem.
I was curious. And he'd basically told me my god‑witch ancestor was keeping a secret from me. Did I want to pry? Absolutely. Did I want to steal from Klaus and possibly die? Not particularly. Could I pull it off without dying?
…Maybe.
A normal witch would tell the vampire ghost to go die again and trust the ancestors' judgment. I, however, firmly believe that if there's a secret about me, I have every right to know it.
Unfortunately, I couldn't force Tessa to talk. I wasn't poking that dragon. Emily answered to Tessa, and if Tessa was a dragon, Emily was a bear. I wasn't poking that either.
That left Kol.
Could I find his body, steal it, and not get caught by Klaus? Call me arrogant, but yes — somehow.
Would the secret be worth it?
Probably not.
But… if I did this… oh, that was genius. Two birds, one stone. Like a boss.
A smirk tugged at my lips. If this worked, it would be worth every ounce of trouble.
Now I just needed to talk to Emily to confirm Kol the Ghost was real and not my subconscious giving me a sexy pirate dream.
My phone buzzed.
why do you have your evil scheming face on? and do i want to know? – C
I sent her a wink emoji. She knew me too well.
Later — The Attic
"While I was helping Elena interrogate Katherine, you were having hot realistic pirate dreams with Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp?" Caroline demanded as she followed me into the attic.
"Did you not hear the part about being haunted by an Original ghost?" I asked.
"Yes, sure, whatever. Orlando Bloom. Details. Did he have a captain hat? And you were dressed as a naughty sea wench, right?" Caroline asked dreamily. "Bet you looked super hot. I hope you're ready for next Halloween."
I ignored her and grabbed my Grimoire, flipping to the Originals section.
"Woah — magic invisible book. Cool," Caroline breathed. Right. Invisible to everyone but me. I forgot.
I turned to Kol's page and showed her. "Meet vampire ghost."
"So… Orlando Bloom, Johnny Depp, and a sexy vampire? Is there a spell to share dreams?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
"Someone seriously needs to get laid," I said.
"Yes, you do," she shot back.
"Whatever. What do you think I should do?"
"Well, you said he's been daggered forever," she said, studying the drawing. "He does look cute. And remember when you said if anyone but the Salvatores asked for help, you'd do it?"
I did remember saying that. I also remembered saying I'd do it for free — yeah, that wasn't happening.
"Fine," I sighed. "I'll check with Emily later. No rush. I need to wait for Klaus to show up anyway."
"Great. By the way, since when do you have such a witchy Grimoire?"
"Well…"
Salvatore Boarding House
"Why am I here?" I snapped as I kicked open the door. The constant "come to the boarding house" texts were getting old.
Damon sat beside Rose, while Stefan cleaned up what looked like the aftermath of a werewolf rave.
"Bonnie, we need your help," Stefan said.
"Yeah, I figured." I turned to my favorite Salvatore. "Well?"
"Hello, wicked witch. Let's make a deal," Damon said.
"At least one of you has manners. You should've taught Peaches better." I glanced at Rose. She was already bitten. Dead girl walking — well, more dead than usual.
"Werewolf bite. Is there a cure?" Damon asked, worry in his eyes.
"Not now," I said. I gave him that for free — manners deserved something. "By the time there is a cure, it'll be too late. She has about twelve hours before hallucinations start. Twelve more before the venom hits her heart."
"You mean there's nothing we can do?" Damon growled.
"You can find a stake and shove it in her heart," I said flatly. "It'd be a mercy."
"I feel fine," Rose said weakly.
"Maybe it's just a rumor," Stefan said.
"I know what I'm talking about," I said. "If I were you, I'd say my goodbyes, get drunk, and stake myself before the hallucinations start. It won't be a nice way to go."
"Well, we've heard your opinion. If you can't help, you can leave," Damon snapped.
"I'm sorry it's not what you wanted to hear, but no need to be a bitch about it," I said. Stefan gave me an apologetic look.
Maybe I could've been gentler, but lying would've been crueler.
Sometimes I hated living in a TV show. Death was as common as rain.
Caroline Forbes — POV
Caroline Forbes had known Bonnie Bennett since diapers. They'd always been opposites — the bubbly blonde, the cold genius, and Elena, the shy one. A weird trio, but theirs.
Bonnie had always been different. She never cried. Never threw tantrums. Never cared about Barbies unless Caroline forced her. She looked at people like she was watching a movie — observing characters, not humans.
Caroline once told her that. Bonnie stared at her and said, "For a blonde, you're a genius."
Bonnie didn't care about people, but she cared in her own way. Caroline remembered when a girl shoved Elena and broke her tooth — Bonnie calmly walked over, punched the girl in the nose, then told Elena to stop crying.
Actions spoke louder than words.
Bonnie claimed she hated Elena, but she cared enough to punch someone for her. Or maybe Elena's crying annoyed her and she punched the source. With Bonnie, you never knew.
Bonnie was always bored. School was too easy. Sports too mundane. Even Aikido got boring. Books, shows, movies — distractions, not passions. She sang along to songs she'd never heard before.
Then one summer she came back with shining eyes — alive for the first time. Magic.
Caroline wasn't surprised. Bonnie was never normal.
But even with magic, Bonnie still got bored. Especially with Elena. Caroline noticed it more as they grew older — Bonnie already knew what Elena would say or do, and she was disappointed every time.
When Bonnie admitted she knew the future, Caroline realized it wasn't the whole truth — but it explained the boredom. Living on spoilers must be hell.
Then the supernatural hit Mystic Falls. Caroline died. Bonnie killed her. And Caroline didn't care — not even death could break them.
Being a vampire was everything she imagined — especially with Bonnie's spells helping her. She broke up with Matt, but immortality made her curious about the world.
But Bonnie? Still bored.
Until today.
In History class, Bonnie had her scheming face on — and her eyes were shining. Not magic‑shining. Interest‑shining.
Caroline found out why: Bonnie was being haunted by an Original ghost.
At first, Caroline didn't get it — until she saw Kol's page in the Grimoire.
Kol Mikaelson. Wildest Original. Menacing. Dangerous. Cheeky. Unpredictable. Cocky.
A bad boy. But nothing Bonnie couldn't handle.
And Bonnie didn't know much about him — which meant Bonnie was intrigued.
Bonnie, who knew everything, didn't know.
No wonder she wasn't bored.
And she'd had sexy pirate dreams with him.
Caroline wanted to meet this Kol guy. She'd been trying to get Bonnie laid for years, and this was the most interested she'd ever seen her friend.
Even if it was because he was a ghost. Or part of a scheme.
Either way, this was the closest Caroline had ever come to getting Bonnie a love interest.
Time to scheme.
Caroline drove home after lunch, wondering which ship name sounded better:
Konnie or Kennett?