The hum of the tires against the pavement was the only sound for miles as Bonnie's car sped toward Monroe, North Carolina. According to the records Damon had scrounged up, this was where Abby Bennett had been hiding for the last fifteen years.
Bonnie gripped the steering wheel, her knuckles white. Beside her, Elena kept shifting in her seat, glancing at Bonnie, then at the GPS, then back at Bonnie again.
"So," Elena started, her voice sounding forced. "What exactly is going on between you two?"
Bonnie didn't take her eyes off the road. "What?"
"You and Damon," Elena said, her tone carrying a sharp edge of suspicion. "You guys are... What now? Friends?"
Bonnie's brow furrowed, and she shot Elena a quick, incredulous look. "What? Why would you even say that? He's literally tried to kill me more than once, Elena. He's done terrible things to Caroline. He's... Damon."
"I get that, Bonnie. I do," Elena replied, leaning closer. "But you told him about your dreams. You told him about the coffins before you even mentioned them to me."
Bonnie sighed, a puff of frustrated air hitting the windshield. "He asked, Elena! He was there, he asked how I was sleeping, and I didn't see any reason to bother you with it. We were all dealing with Klaus and the fallout of the bridge incident. I didn't think it was a big deal."
"Yeah, I know, but—"
"Elena, it's nothing, alright?" Bonnie interrupted, her voice rising slightly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you first. I told him because he was standing right there and he wouldn't stop poking at me. It's not a big deal. Really."
Bonnie glanced sideways. Elena was acting weird, defensive and almost territorial. The silence stretched for a moment before Elena spoke again.
"And you came to the homecoming dance with him."
Bonnie let out a harsh, dry laugh, shaking her head. "Oh my god, Elena. That was a last-minute decision. We needed a plan to get Mikael, and I needed a ride. I couldn't exactly ask your brother, now could I? Seeing as Jeremy chose someone else over me."
The words hit the air like a cold splash of water. Elena flinched, the realization of her brother's betrayal again and her own insensitivity finally sinking in.
"I'm sorry," Elena whispered, her face softening. "I didn't mean... I wasn't thinking."
"No, Elena," Bonnie said, her voice dropping back to a tired, neutral tone. "It's fine. Don't worry about it. Let's just focus on finding my mother and figuring out what's in that coffin."
—————-
The scenery shifted from the highway to the winding, rural roads of Monroe. Elena stared out at the passing trees, the tension of their earlier argument still simmering beneath the surface.
"Why now, though?" Elena asked softly. "After all these years, why is this the moment she pops up in your dreams?"
Bonnie didn't look away from the road. "Magic has its own timing, Elena. Witch dreams are all about necessity."
Elena looked at her friend, seeing the way her fingers flexed on the wheel. "Are you going to be alright? Meeting her, I mean."
Bonnie's grip tightened. "I don't know. She abandoned me and Grams when I was a kid. She wasn't there to help me when my magic first manifested. She didn't teach me anything. And when Grams died..." A shimmer of moisture appeared in Bonnie's eyes, but she blinked it back with practiced iron will. She let out a hollow, bitter chuckle. "I doubt she even knows her own mother is dead."
She shook her head as if to physically toss the thoughts away. "But that's not important anymore. What's important is getting this over with quickly. If Klaus figures out what we're planning before we get that coffin open, he'll rip us all apart. I'm not letting anyone else die for his family drama."
They rounded a bend, and the GPS chirped, signaling their arrival. Before them sat a modest residential home, weathered but well-kept, with a large barn nearby. A young man was working in the yard, rhythmically pulling a rake through a pile of dry leaves.
"Well," Bonnie said, her voice sounding thin as she pulled the car to a stop. "Here we are."
As they stepped out of the car, the crunch of gravel beneath their feet drew the young man's attention. He leaned his rake against the wall and walked toward the front of the car, wiping sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
"Can I help you?" he asked, looking between the two girls with mild curiosity.
"Uhh, yeah," Elena stepped forward, acting as the buffer. "We're, um... we're looking for Abby." She glanced at Bonnie, then back at the guy. "Abby Bennett."
The guy's expression shifted, his eyes lingering on Bonnie with a look of dawning realization. "And you are?"
"I'm Elena, and this is..."
"Bonnie," Bonnie finished for her, her voice barely a whisper.
The guy's eyes widened slightly. "Bonnie?" He took a step closer, a small, surprised smile tugging at his lips. "I'm Jamie. I've heard... well, I've heard about you."
Before Jamie could say another word, the screen door to the house creaked open. A woman stepped out onto the porch, wiping her hands on a dish towel. She froze the moment she saw the newcomers standing in her driveway.
Her gaze swept over Elena and landed squarely on Bonnie. The world seemed to go silent for a moment as the two women stared at each other.
Abby's face went pale, her eyes searching Bonnie's features for the little girl she had left behind.
"Bonnie?" she breathed, her voice cracking under the weight of the name.
———
Outside Warehouse 14, the area was filled with the unnatural movement of Klaus's personal guard. Five hybrids moved around as they prepped a massive, unmarked cargo truck.
Tony stood by the loading dock, a phone pressed to his ear, his voice sharp with irritation as he addressed the hybrids. "I don't care if the manifest isn't finished! Klaus wants his family relocated to the estate now. Load them up and move them!"
He hung up, spitting on the asphalt. "Hurry up! We're on the clock!"
The heavy grinding of gears and the hum of an approaching engine cut through the silence. Headlights swept across the corrugated metal walls, blinding the hybrids for a split second. A beat-up SUV rolled to a stop directly in front of the warehouse doors, blocking the truck's exit path.
Tony's hand went to the small of his back, his brow furrowing. "What the fuck?"
He stepped toward the vehicle. He reached the driver's side window and slammed his palm against the door. "Hey! This is private property. Get this piece of junk out of here now."
The window rolled down slowly, revealing Alaric. He leaned an arm on the door, looking remarkably unimpressed. "Private property? Last I checked, this was a public shipping lane, and I'm looking for a lost shipment of... history books."
One of the hybrids behind Tony stepped into the light, a mocking grin on his face. "Hey, Tony... isn't that the history professor Klaus used as a meat-suit? The one he called his 'favorite little vessel for a bloody face-change'?"
Tony's eyes narrowed, his posture shifting from annoyed to lethal. "Yeah. That's him." He leaned into Alaric's space, his voice dropping to a gravelly threat. "You aren't here for books, Saltzman. You aren't here for no reason at all. Which means you're looking for a grave."
Simultaneously, the four other hybrids moved, their faces contorting as their fangs bared and veins branched under their eyes. They began to circle the car like a pack of wolves.
"Hey!"
The shout came from the shadows behind the loading dock. The hybrids spun around, their senses on high alert. Standing on top of a stack of shipping crates was Tyler Lockwood. He looked down at them, his hands in his pockets, a casual but dangerous smirk playing on his lips.
Tony scoffed, relaxing his stance just a fraction. "And what in the hell are you doing here, runt? Nobody called for the puppy to come out and play."
The other hybrids let out a chorus of mocking laughter.
Tyler didn't flinch. He jumped down from the crates, landing silently on the pavement. He began to walk toward them, "Actually, I'm just here to play my role."
Tony tilted his head, his hand twitching. "And what role is that, Lockwood?"
Tyler stopped ten feet away. Slowly, his head tilted back, a low, guttural growl emanating from deep within his chest and when he looked back at Tony, his eyes were glowing with a fierce, incandescent golden yellow that made the other hybrids' eyes look dim by comparison.
"Distracting," Tyler growled.
As the word left his lips, Alaric slammed the SUV into reverse, tires screeching, and the back hatch flew open to reveal Caroline. The air was suddenly filled with the metallic clink of rolling metal canisters. They skipped across the asphalt and detonated in a synchronized hiss, venting a pressurized cloud of aerosolized vervain and wolfsbane.
The hybrids screamed. The vapor hit their skin like liquid acid, sizzling on contact.
A heavy thwack echoed as a thick wooden bolt from Alaric's crossbow took the first hybrid through the center of his chest. He didn't even have time to gasp before the grey veins of desiccation raced across his face. Simultaneously, a blur of blonde cut through the air after the fog cleared as Caroline appeared behind a second hybrid, she punched through his ribs and tore his heart free in one fluid, sickening motion.
Tyler blurred into the fray with his claws extending. He caught a third hybrid by the throat, snapping it like a dry twig before the man could even register the threat he then tore out his heart.
leaving only Tony and one other survivor standing, their skin raw and bubbling as their hybrid healing struggled against the toxins.
"You have no idea what you've just done," Tony spat, his voice a ragged growl. He looked at the bodies of his pack, then at Tyler. "Klaus is going to peel the skin from your bones. You're all dead."
Tony gestured to the other hybrid to take Caroline, while he launched himself at Tyler.
Tony vamp sped and attempted to use his hybrid strength to bulldoze Tyler. He landed a stinging combination of blows, a hook to the ribs and a knee to the sternum that sent Tyler skidding backward across the gravel.
"You're just a puppy playing at being a wolf, Lockwood!" Tony mocked, blurring in for a finishing blow.
But Tyler didn't stay down. As Tony swung a haymaker, Tyler's body shifted, he ducked under the punch and delivered a massive, bone-shattering uppercut that lifted Tony off his feet.
Tony hit the ground, his eyes wide with shock. He scrambled up and blurred, trying to flank Tyler but Tyler was matching his pace.
They collided in mid-air, and the two slamming into the side of a parked sedan. The metal groaned and buckled, the windows shattering inward as the force of their impact created a massive dent in the passenger door.
Tony pinned Tyler against the wreckage, his forearm pressed against Tyler's throat. "You think Michael made you special? You're a mistake. A toy. I'm going to enjoy watching the light go out of those pretty yellow eyes of yours."
Tony pulled back a fist, his fangs fully extended for the kill.
In that heartbeat, Tyler's snarl turned into a grin. His muscles coiled like steel springs as he exploded upward. His hand fully clawed and punched straight through Tony's sternum.
Tony's breath hitched. He looked down at the hand buried in his chest, then up into Tyler's eyes. Tyler leaned in close, his voice a low, vibrating rumble that shook Tony's very soul.
"The difference between us, Tony? You serve a King. I serve a force of nature itself, a god."
With a violent wrench, Tyler tore his hand backward. Tony's heart came with it, still pulsing with a few final, weak beats.
Tyler stood over him as Tony's body hit the pavement with a heavy thud, the life fading from the hybrid's eyes. Tyler let the heart drop from his bloodied fingers, the organ rolling into the gutter.
He wiped a smear of blood from his jaw, "Who's the weakling now... runt?"
Tyler shook out his bloodied hands, the golden glow in his eyes slowly receding as he walked back toward the loading dock. He expected to find Alaric and Caroline ready to move the cargo, but instead, he found a standoff.
Alaric was looking livid while he stared down Jeremy?. Jeremy stood there with a heavy-duty crossbow of his own in hand, looking remarkably unfazed by the carnage. Beside him Anna stood protectively.
"What the hell are you doing here, Jeremy?" Alaric barked, his voice hushed but lethal.
"The same thing you're doing," Jeremy countered. He gestured to two bodies nearby, the last hybrid that had tried to escape, and a sixth one they hadn't even realized was flanking them from the roof. Both had bolts through their chests.
"You were told to stay home!" Alaric stepped toward him. "This isn't a game for kids to play hero—"
"Will you both shut up!" Caroline hissed, blurring between them. She looked frantically at the warehouse doors. "This isn't helping. We have a truck to move and four very heavy coffins of an original to kidnap. Can we please do the 'parenting' lecture later?"
Alaric pointed a finger at Jeremy, his eyes flashing. "This isn't over. Not by a long shot."
Anna didn't look at Alaric. She tried to listen and see if there were more hiding but couldn't hear a thing, "We need to leave. Now. Before more of them get here."
"That would be a pretty good idea," a melodic, chilling voice drifted from the darkness above the warehouse entrance. "But unfortunately for you all, you will not be leaving here with all those coffins."
Everyone spun around. Standing on the edge of the roof was a woman dressed in dark, flowing clothes, her hair whipping in the wind.
Tyler's stomach dropped as he recognized her immediately. He felt the air pressure change, a literal weight pressing down on his eardrums. "Oh, shit," he whispered, his eyes widening. He realized what was coming a second before she moved. "COVER YOUR EARS!"
The woman opened her mouth.
The sound that erupted was a physical force, a high-frequency banshee wail that shattered every window in the warehouse and sent the group to their knees. It felt like hot needles being driven into their brains. Tyler, even with his enhanced physiology, felt his vision swim. His equilibrium vanished, the world tilting at a violent angle as blood began to trickle from his nose.
One by one, they collapsed. Alaric slumped over his crossbow; Caroline curled into a ball, clutching her head; Jeremy and Anna hit the pavement hard.
Tyler fought it, his claws digging into the asphalt as he tried to stay conscious. Through the hazy, vibrating blur of his vision, he saw movement near the back of the cargo truck.
Something emerged from the shadows. It was tall, unnaturally so with limbs that were far too long and gaunt, looking like grey, weathered parchment stretched over jagged bone. It moved with jerky, twitching movements, Its fingers were elongated claws, and though its face was obscured by the gloom, Tyler caught the glint of a mask that almost looked like the top of a deer and with antlers on its head.
The creature didn't make a sound. It grabbed one specific coffin and slung it over its shoulder, Tyler's hand reached out, a final, weak attempt to stop the theft, but the wail reached a crescendo. Darkness claimed him, and the last thing he saw was the flick of a grey flick as the creature vanished.