Tear the World Down - Chapter 27
Title: Tear the World Down
Author: isisizabel
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries (tv show)
Pairing(s): Bonnie/Damon; Elena/Stefan; Matt/Caroline
Rating: R
Author's Note: Spoilers through 1.22 (Founder's Day); Bonnie and Damon must put aside their differences to stop a greater threat. This fic will definitely have NC-17 chapters later. Please join evening_ground if you'd like to be able to read them as those posts will be Member's Only locked.
Previous Chapters
Tear the World Down
By: IsisIzabel
Chapter 27
Rage and fear battled for dominance as Damon raced across town at an inhuman pace. Branches from trees tore at his clothes, slicing small cuts through his skin that immediately healed while he ran through the woods. He had felt the first wave of panic-really more like a hammer to the skull-as he was leaving Caroline’s hospital room. It had nearly knocked him over, as had the realization that Bonnie had lied to him. Again.
He was going to kill her if she hadn’t already beaten him to it.
The front yard came into view as he broke through the tree line across the street, and Damon could see Stefan was back, pulling the car into the driveway. The tires screeched in protest as the car was thrown abruptly into park. The light emanating from inside the house was blinding. Like staring directly into the sun. The light pulsed and throbbed with Power that only seemed to be growing in size.
“What happened?” Stefan demanded, his green eyes flashing with disbelief as he tracked Damon’s approach.
“Bonnie,” Damon spat. He hit the house at a flat run, slamming into the front door with enough force to rip it from its hinges and crack it in three places. He turned the corner with Stefan on his heels and they both came to a grinding halt.
A searing pain flared across Damon’s arm and for a moment he wasn’t sure if it was his pain or Bonnie’s until Stefan dragged him back into the shadow of the hall. Damon glanced down at his arm and saw it was smoking. The light pulsating off of Bonnie had burned him.
“She did it,” he whispered, dumbstruck with horror and awe at the scene before him.
Bonnie and Katherine were locked together in the center of the room, Bonnie’s hands holding tight to Katherine’s shoulders. Bonnie was on her knees and Katherine was crumbling to ash before their eyes. The light was coming from where Bonnie’s hands held fast to Katherine.
Damon felt another wave of heat wash over him and he forced himself to step forward and not backwards to press himself deeper into the shadows his body craved. The smell of burning flesh and scorched hair wrinkled his nose as he shook off Stefan’s hand.
“Damon-don’t,” Stefan ordered, reaching for his brother again only to find empty air.
“It’s going to kill her,” Damon retorted, keeping close to the walls and as far out of the direct light as he could.
“It already has,” Stefan insisted gently.
Damon’s gaze swung back to Stefan. His eyes hardened into identical chips of blue ice. “Would you leave Elena?”
Stefan looked away, his jaw tight. “You need to sever the connection,” he said finally, glancing back at Damon. “Pull her away from Katherine. That might break it.”
Damon swallowed the ache that was beginning to fill his chest-Bonnie’s chest. He could feel her Power beginning to flicker and fade. He forced himself to take a deep, albeit unnecessary, breath and then pushed off the wall.
He made it four steps before the pain nearly knocked him to his knees. It was like standing in a bonfire. Heat swelled around him as he forced himself forward. Gritting his teeth, he could feel his skin starting to smoke and smolder under the heat, and he knew it was only a matter of seconds before he was burned just like Katherine. Like Bonnie.
His hand closed around Bonnie’s shoulder and he forced himself into their bond, past the walls she had constructed earlier that day to keep him out.
“Bonnie.” The word came out a choked rasp as he tried to pull her back.
There was a faint flicker of awareness, but she didn’t glance at him. Not even when the flames began to lick the back of his hand.
“Bon-” He didn’t have enough air to finish. He choked on the heated air as his hand tightened against hers. He tried pulling her away.
You shouldn’t be here.
Bonnie voice in his head nearly stunned him into stopping. While he had been able to feel her moods, almost to the point of being able to read her mind, he had never actually been able to hear her thoughts. Now they were coming through loud and clear.
You shouldn’t be here. I did this so you wouldn’t be here. So you would be safe.
He touched her face with his other hand and she finally looked at him, her green eyes dull and exhausted. A slow leak of blood dripped from her nose. The light flickered briefly before flaring back into brilliance.
Let go, he urged silently.
Something dark and primal flashed behind her eyes. I have to stop her.
She’s gone, he promised. Let go, Bonnie. Just let it go.
But-
He forced her to feel what he was feeling; see what he was seeing. Trust me, he pleaded.
Bonnie’s head dropped and her hand fell away. The light faded and the fire seeped away. What was left of Katherine’s body fell against the floor and shattered into a flurry of dust and ash.
“It worked,” Bonnie murmured. She glanced up at Damon.
He nodded slowly, looking at her. His body was already beginning to heal itself, but he could hear the staggered rhythm of her heart. He could feel the empty pit left behind from the Power her body had used up. The Power had punched through her chest, leaving nothing now but a bottomless vacuum that sucked out her life. She was too human for that much Power. Her body wasn’t built as a conduit for that much energy.
“Bonnie-”
She smiled and reached up, silencing him with a finger to his mouth. “It worked,” she said again, a smile ghosting across her lips a second before she collapsed.
***
She was floating.
Her body was light, weightless, in the unknown. She drifted in and out, sometimes understanding the voices but mostly not.
Sometimes she dreamed, but she hated those the most.
The dreams left her with an aching, hollow feeling that nothing sated. His eyes haunted her. Pale blue and cold, hardened with fresh betrayal. The pale, pink lips pressed into a thin line, his jaw set and unyielding.
She hated the dreams the most.
***
“Bonnie?”
The voice was there, under the layers she struggled to break through. Like being buried under a mountain of blankets.
“I think she’s waking up-her eyes moved.”
I’m here! She wanted to shout as she peeled back another layer, fighting to get to the top.
She could feel her hands now, forced one finger to twitch.
“Bonnie? Sweetheart?”
She knew that voice. She could feel her lips tremble as they struggled to smile. She knew that voice. She wanted to see the face that went with it, but her eyes refused to open.
“Come on, Bonnie! Open your eyes!”
The light cut into her eyes harshly as her eyes opened. She squeezed them shut again on reflex, cursing the light and her sensitive sight. She slowly tried again, the movements painstakingly slow.
A hand lifted hers, pressed it to warm lips.
“Hi, baby.”
Bonnie blinked once, her eyes settling on the face looming above hers.
“Daddy,” she whispered, the word hoarse and thick with emotion. She moved her eyes around the room, sucking in a sharp breath. “What-”
“You’re in the hospital,” Caroline announced, her head suddenly peering around Mr. Bennett’s shoulder. Her eyes blue eyes sparkled with relief. “How do you feel?”
“I don’t … What happened?” Bonnie muttered, trying to push herself up, but she found her arms had no strength. She sagged back against the lumpy, hospital-issue pillows.
“You don’t remember the fire?” Elena asked carefully, coming around to the other side of the bed. Stefan hovered beside her, his gaze dark and unreadable.
“Fire?” Bonnie repeated numbly, thinking back. She remembered burning and then being so cold. And empty. And-
“Katherine,” Bonnie hissed, her eyes snapping to Elena’s. “Is she-”
“Who’s Katherine, sweetheart?” Mr. Bennett asked, smoothing her hair back from her face.
Bonnie stared hard at Elena. “Where is-”
“You don’t remember the fire?” Stefan asked, his voice smooth as satin. He touched Elena’s hip, a subtle gesture that made her sidestep so he could lean in closer to Bonnie. His green eyes swirled with unreadable emotion.
Bonnie hesitated, her gaze flickering to her father and Caroline. Both smiled encouragingly at her. She looked back at Stefan. “It’s a little fuzzy.”
He smiled kindly, but she could see the gratitude behind it. He was thankful she was letting him lie for her.
“You, me, and Elena went to the cabin by the quarry, remember? We started a fire, but the wind kicked up and the cabin caught on fire, too. You passed out from smoke inhalation.”
“You’ve been out for almost three days,” Mr. Bennett added with a frown. Worry lines creased his forehead and aged his eyes. “The doctors didn’t know what was wrong.”
Bonnie frowned and then glanced around the room again. She warily eyed Elena and Stefan. “Where’s Damon?”
“Who’s Damon?” Mr. Bennett asked.
Caroline grimaced. “Seriously, Bonnie? You’re still hanging out with Damon?”
Elena shifted, uneasy, and cleared her throat. She looked at Mr. Bennett. “Maybe one of us should call the doctor? Tell him she’s awake?”
Mr. Bennett nodded and backed away from the bed. He squeezed Bonnie’s hand once more. “I’m glad you’re awake, sweetheart. I’ll be back with the doctor in a minute.” He headed out the door.
Caroline grinned down at Bonnie, arching her brows. “You look like shit, Bennett.”
“Caroline!” Elena gasped, shooting her friend a reproving glare.
Bonnie forced a laugh, but felt grateful that even if everything else was a shattered mess, at least Caroline was normal. “Thanks, Forbes.”
Caroline winked at her. “I’m gonna call Matt and tell him you’re awake.” She turned and scampered out the door, her blond hair trailing behind her.
A cold feeling of dread snaked through her muscles and coiled low in her belly. “Where is he?” she whispered, already knowing the answer. She felt it in her bones, but she needed to hear it anyway.
“He’s … gone, Bonnie,” Elena said softly, taking Bonnie’s hand in hers.
Stefan looked away. “He left right after we got you to the hospital. The doctors said you’d be OK, and he…” Stefan shrugged and shook his head. “I’m sorry.”
“How … how am I OK?” she asked hesitantly.
Stefan met her gaze and didn’t look away this time. “Damon. He gave you all his Power. Gave you some of his blood, too, so you could … heal.”
Bonnie felt the heat building behind her eyes as the tears welled. She closed her eyes and let turned her face away as the tears slid hot down her cheeks.
She knew he was gone. She could feel him missing from the bond. It was like a raw, gaping hole. His presence had been torn out of her leaving nothing but a shredded mess behind. If she couldn’t even feel him in the bond then he was either very far away or he figured out how to sever their connection. That realization crippled her more than the fire that burned her alive as she killed Katherine.
Her shoulders shook as a strangled sob clawed its way from her throat. She felt the bed shift as Elena got in behind her, hold her as she cried.
Damon was gone, and it was entirely her fault.