07. Ghost World

Bonnie was on top of the ladder, hanging the lanterns on the tree when Aria and Caroline walked over to her.

"Bonnie!" Aria called out.

"Aria, Caroline, hey" Bonnie said, confused seeing the two girls talking to her, as far as she knew, they wanted nothing to do with her.

"Um, can we talk?" Aria asked.

"Uh, yeah, sure, what about?" Bonnie asked confused, coming down.

"I wanted to thank you" Aria replied.

"Thank me?" Bonnie asked.

"Caroline told me how you sent Vicki back, you saved my life, so thank you" Aria replied, giving Bonnie a small smile.

"I've been a very bad friend to you Aria, it's the least I could have done" Bonnie said.

Aria sighed, "Bonnie, you need to know, I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at Elena, and since you are always near her, it's hard for me to talk to you".

Bonnie nodded, "I get that, and I'm sorry I've been around Elena so much, I wanted to come talk to you, but I was scared Aria, I wanted to tell you how sorry I am, make up for all my mistakes, but I didn't know if you would want me back as your friend".

"Bonnie, of course I want you as my friend, but I can't be Elena's friend and it would be wrong of me to make you choose between me and Elena, that's not right, specially when I know how close you and Elena are" Aria said.

"Look Bonnie, maybe we can't be bestest friends anymore, but we can still be friends" Caroline suggested.

"Only if you would like that" Aria clarified, causing Bonnie to smile.

"Of course I would like that" Bonnie said, "I would love that actually".

"Great, so you need our help with the lanterns?" Aria asked, gesturing to the pile of lanterns Bonnie still had to put up.

"Yes, please" Bonnie said.

Bonnie stood on top of the ladder hanging the lanterns, while Caroline held the ladder and Aria handed the lanterns to Bonnie, they weren't back to normal, but they were a step closer.

"So Bonnie, when you did the spell to send Vicki away, did that get rid of Anna too?" Caroline asked suddenly.

Apparently, after Aria and Stefan had left, Bonnie and Jeremy started dating, which Aria didn't mind, as long as they were happy, Aria really didn't care. But what Aria missed was that, one of Liz's deputy had accidently shot Jeremy, he meant to shot a criminal he was chasing, but Jeremy accidentally got in the way, which caused him to die, but Bonnie had bought him back with the help of the dead witches in the witches house, but by doing that, she enabled Jeremy to see dead people, like his dead ex girlfriends Vicki and Anna.

Bonnie sighed, she wasn't surprised Caroline knew that, even if Caroline and her weren't talking, Caroline made sure she knew all the gossip, "I wish, all I did was block the magic that was helping Vicki get a physical foothold here, Jeremy's still got a direct line to the other side, and as long as he wants to see Anna and she wants to see him, she's still here".

"Okay, you don't think I can actually resist commenting on that" Caroline said.

"There, you commented" Bonnie said.

"Bon--".

"What do you want me to say, Aria?" Bonnie interrupted, "I went against the balance of nature when I brought Jeremy back to life, and now I'm paying the consequences".

"You did it cause you love him" Aria defended, "And Jeremy needs to realise what his losing by still holding on to his past".

"Yeah, go tell him that you're not okay with it" Caroline said.

"I'm a thousand times not okay with it, I just don't know what to do about it" Bonnie snapped, just as Damon pulled up in his car.

"Damon?" Aria asked confused, "What are you doing here?".

"Greetings Ria, blondie, judgy" Damon said, "I think you got your voodoo wires crossed when you got rid of Vicki Donovan".

"What do you mean? Why?" Bonnie asked.

"Because I'm pretty sure, I just got spit roasted by Mason Lockwood's ghost" Damon replied.

"What?" Aria asked shocked, "When? After I left?".

Damon nodded at Aria, "And why would you think that?" Caroline asked confused.

"Maybe because he chained me to a chair and shoved a hot poker in my chest" Damon replied.

"That's what you did to him" Aria realised.

Damon nodded, "Let's just say I'm having deja vu".

"Aria, you once told me that ghost couldn't physically interact with people" Caroline remembered.

"They can't Care" Aria said, "Bonnie, I think something went wrong with your spell".

"Yeah well, I don't have time for vengeful Lockwood" Damon snapped, "When I kill someone they're supposed to stay dead, whatever you screwed up, fix it".

"Specially considering his the reason most people in Mystic Falls are dead" Caroline taunted, making Damon give her a mock smile.

"Relax guys, we have to first figure out what went wrong with the spell Bonnie did" Aria said.

"Wait, you're going to help me?" Bonnie asked shocked.

"Considering you sent Vicki back to save my life, I kind of owe you one" Aria replied.

"If anything happens to my girlfriend judgy, let's just say Mason Lockwood won't be the only spirit" Damon threatened, making Aria roll her eyes.

"Relax Demon, I'm here with Aria, I won't let anything happen to her" Caroline assured.

After getting a reassuring nod from Aria, Damon finally drove away, leaving behind the three girls to fix the ghost problem.

***

"I haven't seen Vicki, I swear" Matt told the three girls, "I sent her back like you told me to".

"Are you sure?" Bonnie asked, not believing Matt. "Because she has just as much reason to haunt Damon as Mason Lockwood does".

"She's gone Bonnie, if she was here, I'd know" Matt snapped.

"Well why do you think it's Vicki and not Mason?" Caroline asked.

"Because Care, if any other ghosts other then Vicki have a physical foothold on our world, that means something seriously went wrong with Bonnie's spell" Aria explained.

"I've had enough of this ghost stuff to last forever" Matt said, "So you guys can leave me out of this one".

"God, I feel like a horrible person" Aria said, as Matt walked away, "He lost his sister twice, and instead of helping him grieve, we are accusing him of still being in contact with her".

"Yeah, took a lot for him to send his sister away" Caroline said.

Bonnie sighed, "Yeah".

"So much strength is a man" Caroline said, giving Bonnie a pointed look.

"Care" Aria warned.

"I've got a ghost problem to deal with Caroline" Bonnie said, "Save the Jeremy lecture for later".

Bonnie went to grab her bag from the ground, not realising it was open, which caused all her stuff to fall to the ground, including her grimoire, she went to pick it up, but her grimoire suddenly opened, shocking the three girls.

"Okay, did your grimoire just--?" Caroline asked.

"I think so" Bonnie replied.

Aria bent down and grabbed the grimoire and started reading what it said.

"Oh my god" Aria whispered.

"What?" Caroline asked, "Please tell me that is a recipe for witch cookies".

"No, this is a manifestation spell" Aria informed, "It's used to reveal veiled matter".

"What's veiled matter?" Caroline asked confused.

"Ghosts" Bonnie realised, making Aria nod.

***

"Bonnie, are you hundred percent sure the witches are gone?" Aria asked, entering the witches house with Caroline and Bonnie, "Because last time I was here, I nearly died and Grams had to save me".

"Wait, what?" Bonnie asked shocked, "What do you mean Grams saved you?".

Aria sighed, "It was when Damon was bit by Tyler, I needed answers so I came here, but the witches attacked me and Grams's ghost ended up saving me, I didn't tell you, well for one we weren't talking, and two, I kind of left town".

"I get it, but I still can't believe Grams saved you" Bonnie said, tears welling in her eyes.

"I know, I couldn't believe it either" Aria said, giving Bonnie a sympathetic smile.

"Bonnie, why did you bring us here?" Caroline asked confused.

"We needed a private place around here to do the spell" Bonnie replied, "And don't worry Aria, the witches aren't here anymore, after I brought Jeremy back to life, they made it clear they are never returning".

"You sure?" Aria asked, looking around in uncertainty, though she didn't feel the same bad vibe she got last time she came here, the banshee part of her could sense that she was surrounded by death.

"I'm sure" Bonnie said, "Now you helping?".

Aria nodded and sat infront of Bonnie, the grimoire in between the two girls.

***

Caroline lit all the candles around the house, while Bonnie and Aria prepared for the spell.

"You guys ready?" Caroline asked, "Do you need me to do anything else?".

"We are fine Care, thanks" Aria said, giving Caroline a smile, "You ready Bon?".

Bonnie nodded, both girls held hands and started chanting, and suddenly the wind around them got harsher and the candles lit brighter.

***

The further Aria and Bonnie got into the spell, the more harsher the wind got, and the more brighter the candles lit.

"Guys, I don't like this" Caroline said, looking around slightly scared, but the girls kept going, "Aria?".

Aria and Bonnie stopped chanting when they felt a hand on top of theirs, opening their eyes they were shocked seeing Sheila Bennett infront of them.

"Oh, my god" Caroline said shocked, "Is that your--?".

"Grams?" Bonnie whispered shocked.

***

Stefan walked in the streets of Mystic Fall, he passed a car, he froze when he saw Lexi in the reflection of the car.

Stefan quickly turned around and was shocked seeing his dead best friend in front of him, "Lexi".

***

Alaric and Damon sat at Mystic Grill, drinking away, when Mason Lockwood came and sat next to them and stole Damon's drink.

"Mason" Alaric said shocked, Damon did tell him about him getting tortured by Mason's ghost, but Alaric didn't believe him until now.

"God, I miss whiskey" Mason said, downing Damon's drink, and then smashing the glass on his head.

"Now, now boys, that's no way to treat each other".

Damon froze hearing the familiar voice, he slowly turned around and there she was, standing infront of Damon, with a small smile on her face.

"Who are you?" Alaric asked confused.

"Natalie" Damon whispered shocked.

"Hello, Damon" Natalie said, giving Damon a small smile.

*** 

"Hi" Lexi greeted.

"You're dead" A shocked Stefan said.

"Technically, so are you" Lexi retorted.

"I mean, how the hell can I--?".

"See me? Yeah I have no idea" Lexi replied, "And I have no idea how long it's gonna last, let's get right to the point, you're off the rails bigtime, hurting Aria, what the hell were you thinking Stefan? The Stefan I knew would never hurt someone who stuck with him through thick and thin, did you not feel even a tiny bit of guilt for choosing a doppelganger over Aria?".

"Look I don't know how you're here, but you don't get to come here and judge me" Stefan snapped.

"Now what kind of friend would I be if I didn't tell my friend when his in the wrong?" Lexi asked.

"I don't want your opinion" Stefan replied.

"But you do" Lexi said, "Look around you Stefan, your losing everyone, your even losing your brother, you need to get back on track before you get left all alone".

"Maybe I'm tired of having a brother like Damon" Stefan said, "Maybe it's for the best if I lose him".

Lexi just shook her head at Stefan and before he could realise it, she grabbed his head and smashed it in the car's window, rendering him unconscious.

"That's for hurting my favourite human" Lexi said.

***

"I can't believe you're here" Bonnie cried.

Sheila simply nodded, "Now, stop your crying, we don't have time for tears", Sheila turned to Aria, "Hello my child".

"I'm so happy you're here" Aria cried.

"I had to come, my favorite student was in grave danger, and I couldn't just leave her alone" Sheila said, smiling at Aria.

"What do you mean?" Bonnie asked confused.

"I'll tell you later" Sheila replied, "But you've made a fine mess honey, the witches told you there'd be consequences to bringing Jeremy back, and you did it anyway".

"I didn't have a choice" Bonnie defended, "I love him and I couldn't just let him go".

"I understand" Sheila said, "But you cracked open the door to the other side, you made it easy for her to kill Aria".

"Kill Aria?" Caroline asked confused.

"There's an old witch over here" Sheila explained, "She wants Aria dead, she wants her powers, Bonnie, by trying to save the guy you love, you basically handed Aria over to her death".

"No" Bonnie cried, "Grams, I didn't know, I would never do that".

Sheila sighed, "Bonnie listen to me loud and clear, Aria needs you, she won't say it but she's going through a lot right now, and she needs you to be there for her, don't turn your back on her when she never did that to you, do you both remember when I first told you about you two being witches, what did I say the most important rule was?".

"Witches protect witches" Aria whispered.

"Exactly" Grams said, "And Aria has always protected you Bonnie, your alive today because of her otherwise that night at school Klaus would have killed you, she protected you and now you need to do the same, protect her, be her friend, and stop living under Elena Gilbert's shadow".

"Elena's my best friend" Bonnie said, "I can't just turn my back on her".

"But you will turn you back towards Aria?" Sheila asked, "The girl who you owe your life to?".

Bonnie looked towards Aria who was looking down at the floor, she was seriously conflicted now.

"Now that's out of the way, let's get down to business shall we?" Sheila said, "I'm here because you upset the balance of nature".

"How do I set it right?" Bonnie asked.

"You can't do it Bonnie, only Aria can" Sheila replied.

"Me?" Aria asked confused.

"Only you can close the door Aria" Sheila revealed, "Only you have the power to fight against her magic".

***

"Something's bothering you" Sheila observed.

Currently Bonnie, Sheila and Aria were standing to the side, while Caroline was on the phone with Elena, trying to find out where her necklace was, turns out that was the thing that was allowing the old witch to crack a door open to their world, and Aria was the only one who could destroy it.

"Every ghost is here, everyone except my Mom" Aria whispered, "When I saw you I had this small hope that I will see her to, but she's not coming is she?".

"That's cause your mother isn't on the other side, my child" Sheila replied.

"What?" Aria asked shocked, "Then where is she?".

"She's gotten peace" Sheila revealed, "All your mother ever wanted was to see her daughter one last time, and she did, so when the witches tried to destroy her, instead of her spirt getting destroyed, she finally found peace with your father".

"She's with my Dad, now?" Aria asked, tears welling in her eyes.

"Your parents love was special Aria, they were soulmates, they were the first Petrova and Connor who didn't betray each other, instead they fell in love and had a beautiful princess" Sheila revealed.

"Does that mean there's a chance the prophecy about me and Elena, won't come true?" Aria asked.

Sheila sighed, "I wish I could give you the answer you want, but I can't Aria, Elena and you can never go back to being friends, she's not just a ordinary Petrova, she's a Petrova doppelganger, she won't be able to help herself, her rage and jealously will blind her, you must always watch your back when it comes to her, understood?".

Aria nodded, "I understand Grams".

***

"Your not real" Damon said, "Natalie is dead, you're not real".

"I am dead, but your girlfriend did a spell which is allowing people to see ghosts, which is why you can see me right now" Natalie informed, "Walk with me, Damon?".

"I don't think so" Mason said, "Damon's coming with me".

Natalie turned to Mason and with her magic, snapped his neck, shocking Alaric and Damon.

"Oh don't worry, until Aria fixes everything he will keep coming back, Alaric, can you take care of him while I talk to Damon about something very important?" Natalie asked.

"Uh yeah, sure" Alaric replied, not knowing how she knew his name.

"Great" Natalie said, "You coming Damon?".

After a little bit of hesitation, Damon followed Natalie out of the Grill.

***

"So are we going to talk?" Damon asked, after five minutes of silence.

Natalie sighed, "I'm trying to think how I can word this nicely".

"Word what nicely?" Damon asked confused.

"Aria's going to die" Natalie revealed.

"What?" Damon asked confused.

Natalie sighed, "You already know that their is a old witch who wants to kill Aria, but what you don't know is that Aria's is fated to die, just not in the hands of that witch".

"What?" Damon asked confused.

"Aria is the most strongest witch right now, even stronger then she was in her pervious life, and even stronger then her doppelganger Adriana, so a lot of people want her dead, it's written in her fate that she will die, but it will either be in the hands of someone she cared about, or her biggest enemy, or--".

"Or what Natalie?" Damon asked.

"Or in the hands of the person she loves the most".

"I will never kill her" Damon snapped, realising what why Natalie stopped.

"And I'm not saying you will Damon, I'm just letting you know what's written" Natalie snapped.

"How do you even know all this?" Damon asked.

"Because this was also Adriana's fate, you know Gloria told Aria that Silas killed Adriana, but the truth is no one knows who really killed Adriana, some say Silas, some say Amara, others even say Damien" Natalie replied, "And since Aria is her doppelganger, her shadow self, she has the same fate as her".

"Wait, whose Amara, I know about Silas and Damien, Aria told me, but she never mentioned Amara" Damon said confused.

"That's cause Aria doesn't know about Amara, she's the girl who Tatia, Katherine and Elena descend from, she was Adriana's best friend, like Tatia was Ariana's, Katherine was mine and Elena was Aria's" Natalie revealed, shocking Damon, "Look Damon, I'm telling you all this because I know much you love Aria, you love her even more then you loved me, and I'm so happy that after so many years your letting yourself be happy again, you deserve the worlds happiness, and I know if you lose Aria, you will lose yourself, so go save her, get the happy ending you both deserve".

"I promised to never let anything happen to you, yet you died, so how can I save Aria?" Damon asked.

"Damon, you were human then, you were alone, but now your a vampire, you have the oldest family of vampires by your side who will die themselves before they let anything happen to Aria, you can do this, believe in yourself, times are going to be tough, trust in your love, trust that you both can do this, because true love always conquers all".

 ***

"First of all, why the hell did you put the necklace in my boyfriend's room?" Aria asked Elena, as Bonnie and Caroline searched Damon's room, "Second of all, it's not where you said you put it".

"I had gone to talk to Damon and forget it there" Elena replied, "Also Aria, you need to hold off on sending the ghosts back".

"Did you miss the part in which Caroline told you that the longer the ghosts stay here, the more likelier it is that I die?" Aria snapped.

"Aria, Lexi's here and she's helping with Stefan" Elena revealed.

"Wait, your with Lexi?" Aria asked shocked.

"Yes she is" Lexi said, taking the phone from Aria.

"Lexi" Aria whispered, "Is it really you?".

"Of course it's me my favourite human" Lexi replied, "And ignore what Elena said, find the necklace and send the ghosts back".

"But what about getting Stefan's humanity back?" Aria asked confused, while Elena looked at Lexi in shock.

"Aria, forget Stefan, focus on yourself, be selfish and save your own life for once, I'll work with Stefan as much as I can but you need to forget about him and focus on destroying the necklace, am I clear?" Lexi asked.

"Okay, thanks Lexi" Aria said.

"Anything for my favorite human" Lexi replied, hanging up.

"What happened?" Bonnie asked.

"Lexi's back so Elena wants me to wait a bit as she's helping Stefan, but Lexi told me to ignore her" Aria explained.

"Elena caught Jeremy kissing Anna" Caroline blurted out, Elena having told her that when she called her in the witches house.

"Caroline!" Aria yelled, Caroline having told her immediately after.

"I'm sorry okay, I can't hide this from her anymore" Caroline said, while Bonnie stood there shocked, "She deserves someone better then a guy who cheats on her with a ghost".

Aria sighed, she knew Caroline was right, and Bonnie had a right to know.

"Bon, you okay?" Aria asked worried.

"He kissed her?" Bonnie asked shocked, Caroline nodded.

"She's got a foothold now, so she probably thinks that she's here to stay" Caroline said, "But you, me and Aria, Bonnie? We're gonna find that necklace, okay?".

"She's right, let's keep searching and send that bitch back, never liked her in the first place" Aria said.

***

Caroline groaned in frustration, "Ugh, I give up, it's not anywhere in this room".

Before Bonnie or Aria could say anything, Bonnie's phone started ringing, realising it was Jeremy, Bonnie handed the phone to Aria.

"You talk to him" Bonnie said.

"What do you want Jeremy?" Aria asked, answering the phone.

"Aria?" Jeremy asked confused, "Did you find that necklace?".

"No, why?" Aria asked.

"The ghosts of the tomb vampires killed Tobias Fell" Jeremy informed, "You might wanna find that necklace before they start going alphabetically through the founding families".

"Jeremy, we have searched every corner of Damon's room, it's not here" Aria said, realising something, "And I'm going to go on a limb here and say your little ghost friend has something to do with that, maybe after your little make out session in the bathroom she doesn't want to leave".

"She said she didn't take it" Jeremy said, realising that Aria knew, which meant Bonnie also knew.

"You seriously believe her?" Aria asked shocked.

"You know what? Yeah, I do believe her" Jeremy snapped.

"God Jer, you are such an idiot" Aria snapped, "You have an amazing girlfriend, who literally went against everything to bring you back from the dead because she loves you, and how did you repay her love, by kissing Anna, the girl who only showed interest in you because she wanted to feed you to her dead mother, wake the hell up Jeremy, otherwise your going to lose everything and everyone".

Aria hanged up and slammed the phone back on to the table, while Bonnie looked at her with a grateful look, even after everything she did, Aria was still taking her side.

***

"Alright, Jeremy's got the necklace, his waiting for us at the witches house" Aria informed, sitting in the car with Caroline and Bonnie.

"Okay" Bonnie said, as she drove past a car crash, "What's going on up there?".

"That's Mrs. Lockwood's car" Caroline realised, and suddenly the three girls saw tomb vampires walk up to her car, "Guys, I'm gonna get out of the car".

"What?" Bonnie asked confused.

"And you're gonna drive the hell away from here" Caroline replied, "Take Aria to the witches house".

"I'm not leaving without you Care" Aria snapped.

"Aria, the mother of our friend is about to be ghost bait" Caroline said, "So go send them all to the other side, okay?".

"Not without you" Aria said, refusing to leave her best friend behind.

"Drive away" Caroline ordered Bonnie, getting out of the car and ignoring Aria.

"Caroline, no!" Aria yelled, as Bonnie drove off, the last thing both the girls saw was Fedrick, the tomb vampire who tortured Aria, charge towards Caroline.

***

"I'm sorry" Damon whispered, as him and Natalie sat on a bench and looked up at the stars, "I'm sorry I couldn't kill your murderer".

Natalie smiled, "It's okay Damon, I'm not mad, truth be told I never wanted you to dedicate your life to revenge, I watched you from the other side you know, I wanted you to stop, I used to yell at you to stop, that so much anger isn't healthy, that getting revenge from Katherine is going to bring me back, but you never heard me".

Damon sighed, "I did love you, you know".

"What?" Natalie asked.

"You said I love Aria more then I ever loved you, and maybe that's true, but I did love you, a part of me will always love you, you were my first love Natalie, I could never forget you" Damon confessed, "Aria never replaced you in my heart, she made her own place, your place is still there".

"I never said you didn't love me" Natalie said, "If you didn't love me, you would have never spent a hundred and forty five years trying to get revenge from Katherine, but we both know, we were each other's first love, but we weren't each other's true love".

"I'm sorry you never got to find your true love" Damon whispered.

"But I'm glad you did" Natalie replied, giving Damon a small smile.

***

"Aria? Bonnie?" Jeremy called out, running into the witches house.

"In here!" Aria yelled.

Jeremy came over to Aria and Bonnie, he handed Aria the necklace while avoiding eye contact with Bonnie.

Grabbing the necklace from Jeremy, Aria walked over to the fire she created and threw the necklace in it, she then started chanting, but before she could destroy the necklace, a searing pain shot through her head, causing her to fall to the floor.

"Aria!" Jeremy and Bonnie yelled, running over to Aria, as blood started pouring out of her nose.

"Aria, what's happening?" Bonnie asked.

"She's here" Sheila said, entering the room, "The witch is here and she knows what Aria's doing, Aria you have to finish the spell, now!".

"I can't Grams" Aria cried, holding on to her head, "It hurts, it hurts too much".

"Bonnie, me and you are going to preform a protection spell around Aria, don't stop chanting until Aria destroys the necklace, understood?" Sheila asked, Bonnie nodded.

Bonnie and Sheila held hands and started doing a protection spell on Aria.

The pain in Aria's head wasn't gone, but it had definitely gotten less, allowing Aria to get up again and finish the spell.

After a while the necklace went up into sparks, and Grams disappeared.

***

"Hey" Aria said, entering Damon's room to see him sitting on his bed, looking down at a photo of Natalie.

"Hey" Damon said.

"Ric told me you saw Natalie today, I wanted to see if you were okay" Aria said.

"Caroline told me about the dead witch's attack, are you okay?" Damon asked.

Aria sighed, and went and sat next to Damon, "Honestly Damon, I don't know what okay is anymore".

"I feel you on that" Damon said.

"So, how was seeing Natalie again?" Aria asked.

A small smile came over Damon's face, "It felt good, we never got to say goodbye so it felt nice to finally get closure and she made me realise something".

"What?" Aria asked.

"That she was my first love, but you are my true love" Damon replied.

Aria smiled at Damon, "I had a shitty day, and hearing that just made everything better".

Damon chuckled, "Stay?".

"Always".

***

Is it bad that each chapter I need at least one scene with Daria being their cute and adorable self?

So Bonnie and Aria are working on being friends again, will it work?

Grams and Lexi came back and gave a lecture to Bonnie and Stefan, thoughts?

Thoughts on Natalie and Damon?

Thoughts on Aria's fate?

Thoughts on who killed Adriana?

I know there was no Rebekah in this chapter, but I'll make it up to you guys next chapter, I promise.

Next chapter: More secrets shall be revealed!

words: 4837

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