CHAPTER FIFTEEN | THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL

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ONCE ELENA HAD INFORMED EVELYN THAT CAROLINE HAD FLIPPED HER SWITCH AND DISAPPEARED, SHE, STEFAN, AND ELENA HEADED TO FIND HER. Whilst Evelyn was assisting Elena in checking the Whitmore Campus, Stefan headed back to Caroline's house for yet another look. But, it was clear that wherever the Forbes vampire was, she didn't want to be found.

"When I say this dorm room looks like she's never even attended classes here, I mean it," Evelyn explained to Stefan, who was on the receiving end of the phone, whilst Elena went through Caroline's drawers which were all empty. "What about her house?"

"Totally empty. Caroline took everything but the damn doors off their hinges." A heavy and exasperated sigh left the Salvatore vampire's lips.

"So, what? She just flips her humanity switch, came back to the dorm, took all of her clothes—" Elena opened yet another drawer to notice the thank-you notes had also disappeared. "And thank-you notes, and just left town? That makes no sense."

"This coming from the girl who burned her house down. Oh, and the girl who left a roadmap of bodies up and down Virginia." Stefan scolded the brunettes with a scoff.

"Do you think she's trying to cut off all ties to her past?" The doppelganger almost whispered toward the phone.

"I certainly don't think she's having a yard sale, Elena." Stefan snapped.

"Uh, excuse you, don't get mad at us. We weren't the ones that did this, Stefan." Evelyn's voice was a little harsher as she earned an appreciative smile from Elena. "Look, we'll check around campus, hopefully, someone will have seen her. Just call us with updates." The brunette vampire ended the call and slid her phone back into her pocket. "Hey, so, I've got something to tell you, it's about—" As the door swung open, both sets of eyes fell to the girl at the door. "Bonnie."

"Oh, my God." Elena froze at the sight of her best friend, who was finally back from the Prison World. "Bonnie? How are you—"

"—Alive?" A small chuckle left the Bennett witch's lips. "You'd think I'd be used to this part by now." She hurried over to Elena and pulled her into her embrace, whilst Evelyn smiled at the exchange.

"It's so good to have you back, Bon." A small chuckle escaped Evelyn's lips as the Bennett girl peeled herself from Elena's hold and headed straight over to her dresser full of clothes.

"My not-flannel blouse. My not-flannel t-shirts. And, oh! I really missed my not-flannel V-necks."

Elena pulled a bottle of champagne out from the small mini-fridge in the corner of the room and attempted to pop the top off. "Suck it, 1994! "So, I bought this bottle of champagne the same day that Evelyn and Damon thought they were gonna rescue you, but obviously, they didn't. So, we couldn't drink it." The doppelganger poured out one glass and handed it to Bonnie whilst she did the same for herself and Evelyn. "So, this is to you. You were stuck there all by yourself while we were back here, living our lives. And, this is the worst toast, ever."

"I'm back home, that's all that matters." Bonnie appreciatively smiled toward the two vampires. "Cheers." They clinked their glasses together and immediately downed the contents. "Can we talk about the fact that I drove Jeremy away to art school?"

Elena cringed as she began to pour more champagne into Bonnie's glass. "So, does that make you his muse? Because—ew."

"Do me a favor, don't tell him I'm back yet. I just wanna give him a chance at normalcy before we just drag him back into all of this. You know?"

"Wait, Bon, if that were me I'd want to know that you were okay." Evelyn tilted her head as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I know it must've been awful for you over there, but being stuck here thinking the people that you love are dead is no picnic either, trust me."

"And I will, I'll tell him. Coming back to life is complicated, trust me, I've done it before." Bonnie sighed. "Besides, we have a roommate without her humanity in a severe need of an intervention."

At the mention of the humanity-free-Forbes vampire, the dorm room door swung open to reveal Caroline with dozens of shopping bags in her hand. She swiftly wandered past the girls and dropped the bags onto her bed. "I'm starting over. New everything. New sheets. New clothes. Hey, I even got us a blow dryer." The minute she glanced to Elena to show her the appliance, she noticed that Bonnie was stood beside the two vampires. "Oh, my God. Bonnie's back. Hi. I thought you were trapped in 1994?"

"I got out," Bonnie answered back with a smile, though Caroline shrugged it off and turned back around.

Evelyn glanced at Elena and Bonnie, then cleared her throat. "Caroline, where have you been? Uh— we've been really worried about you."

"You mean, you were worried about those around me. Like if I killed then? Okay, funny story. You remember Liam?" Caroline's eyes narrowed toward Elena, but it was clear that Bonnie had no idea what she was talking about. "Oh, Elena dated this pre-med hottie, but that didn't work out, so she compelled him to forget that they ever had a thing."

Elena's eyes narrowed toward the blonde vampire at the mention of her ex-boyfriend. "What did you do to Liam?"

"I ate him. And he was delicious. You know how cute guys just naturally taste better."

A look of disgust immediately swept across Bonnie's face. "You killed Elena's ex?"

"Okay, can I tell my story, please?" The Forbes girl grunted. "Remind me why we're glad she's back again? So, I was feeding and then that little voice inside my head that tells me when to stop? He never piped up. But, he got too weak and I got blood on my necklace. Honestly, I wasn't in the mood to drag his corpse through the forest so I just compelled him to forget what happened."

"Okay, right. So, you didn't kill Liam because you couldn't be bothered?" A small chuckle of admiration left Evelyn's lips. "Damn. I wish I had your restraint."

"Evelyn, I shut off my humanity. I didn't turn into an idiot. The last thing I want to do is give you a reason to ruin my life."

"Huh, it's so weird. It's like she's Caroline, and she's not." The Bennett girl hummed whilst Bonnie perched at the end of her bed and took a large swig from the champagne bottle.

"Oh, Bonnie, how we've all just missed your commentary." She stood upright and moved in front of the three girls. "Anyway, in return for my good behavior, I want a year where I don't have to feel pain, or grief, or remorse. You're not gonna lock me in a cell and dry me out. And you're definitely not gonna try to trigger so latent emotion, hoping to snap my humanity back on."

"So, all you want is for us to leave you alone and you promise not to kill anyone?" Elena raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"That's all I want. Now, granted, if anyone tries anything to flip my switch back on—and I mean, anything. I'll become your worst nightmare." Caroline's face turned to stone, and her three best friends knew how deadly serious she was. "Great. I'm gonna get a latte. See ya."

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Since the crisis of Caroline's whereabouts was over, Evelyn headed back home to check on Damon. He was not in the best form and hadn't been since he found out that his mother, who had thought had died when he was a teenager, was actually alive in trapped in a prison world.

"Hey, you. How're you—" As Evelyn wandered in with a smile on her face once she saw Damon, her face immediately hardened when she saw Kai Parker standing at the liquor. "Uh, what the hell is he doing here?"

"Hm. Good afternoon to you, too, Evelyn." Kai sarcastically waved. "Hey, you know Damon hasn't told his brother that his mother's still alive? But, I get it. Mom's in a prison world and therefore an evil psychopath." The Parker witch clasped his eyes on Damon and pouted. "Don't wanna ruin little bro's perfect Mommy memory."

"I'll tell him, as soon as I know the truth," Damon stated coldly whilst he carefully stepped forward. "Which is why you're still here. Your sister sent me and Evelyn back to 1994. You can send me back to 1903."

"What?" Evelyn's eyes widened.

"Technically, yes, I am able to do that. But, I'll need to Ascendant from the 1903 prison world."

The Salvatore chuckled softly and then rolled his eyes. "Well, as the newly elected president of the Gemini freaks, I assume you know where to get it. So, get it."

"It's my pleasure." Kai simply shot the two vampires a smile before he took a sip of the bourbon he had poured himself.

"Right, you want something, of course." The Austin vampire folded her arms across her chest and tilted her head. "What'd you want, hm?"

Kai cleared her throat and leaned forward, whilst his gaze flickered between Evelyn and Damon. "Well, ever since you told me Bonnie was back, I can't stop thinking about her. What I did. How she is. It's annoying, really. Look, I need to see her. I need to apologize. And, you two are gonna make that happen."

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The terms of Kai's agreement were very clear, the only way Damon could get what he wanted, was to let Kai see Bonnie. Evelyn knew that if she were in Damon's position, she would move the Earth just to see her Mother again. As they wandered into the rave, where Elena told Evelyn they'd be, the first thing they heard was the loud thumping of the bass.

The Austin vampire cringed at the atmosphere and how many people were crammed into the small space. "God. I hate this."

"Really? Cause I hear raves is where you spent most of your time in your no-humanity days." Damon sarcastically wriggled his eyebrows toward his fiancé, who narrowed her eyes toward him.

The minute that Bonnie saw Evelyn and Damon approach her, she looked as if all her problems had completely faded away. "Hey, what're you guys doing here?" She seemed as if in the midst of dozens of people she didn't recognize, she craved the presence of someone she knew.

"Bon, just please stay calm okay?" Evelyn coaxed the girl who looked utterly confused. "It's important you stay calm. Please."

Kai appeared behind Evelyn and Damon, and they watched Bonnie's eyes immediately widen as if she had seen a ghost. The Parker witch awkwardly cleared his throat. "Hi." He greeted her awkwardly the moment he noticed she was alarmed by him being stood in front of her.

"Just get this over with." Damon snarled through gritted teeth.

"Spit it out!" Evelyn yelled impatiently as Kai continued to stutter when he spoke to Bonnie.

"I wanted to apologize for anything I did that hurt you." Kai began to talk and Bonnie stared at him with wide eyes and an overwhelmed expression on her face. She was consumed with memories and PTSD from the prison world that she didn't even hear what he was saying, she just saw his mouth moving until she finally snapped out of it. "Bon, did you hear what I said?"

"If I see your face again, I will melt it off." Bonnie spat coldly spat toward Kai as she stormed past the two vampires and used her magic to angrily open one of the back doors to exit the rave.

"I imagined that going a little differently." Kai watched her go with a sigh.

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After Damon and Evelyn went after Bonnie, the three had a violent exchange. Bonnie wanted the vampires to feel just a fraction of what she went through, and they felt horrific for letting Kai anywhere near the witch, who was already not over what had happened to her. So, after Bonnie yelled at them, they headed back home.

"I'm not in the mood for the preamble," Damon mumbled the minute Kai wandered into the Salvatore house, whilst his body was intertwined with Evelyn's on the couch just in front of the fireplace. "Just tell me why my mom's stuck in 1903."

"You're not bringing your mom back." Kai sighed finally after a moment of silence.

"Excuse me?" Evelyn lifted herself from Damon's lap and positioned herself threateningly in front of the leader of the Gemini coven. "That sounds a lot like, Evelyn I want you to kill me."

"You requested a truncated version, so I respectfully jumped to the end." The witch explained while Evelyn raised her perfectly shaped eyebrow.

"Do you wanna explain to me why you're now refusing to bring his mother after we did what you asked?" Evelyn spat viciously as she stepped towards him. "Or, would you like me to respectfully jump to the end and rip your throat out?"

"Because there are only two prison worlds in existence. Mine, created in 1994. And, the one created in 1903 for the sole purpose of locking up your mom and her crazy-pants."

Damon snapped. He viciously sped straight toward Kai, grabbed him by the throat, and pinned him against the wall. "You said we'd get her back."

"I'm telling you, as a semi-sane person, you really don't want that," Kai answered back fearfully from Damon's hold.

"And I'm telling you, as a vampire who eats people, you really don't want to piss me off," Damon advised dully.

"I'm trying to save your life!"

"I swear to God, Kai, if you don't tell us how to get her back I will rip your tongue from your mouth as well as other parts you might like to keep, and then I'll force-feed them to you." She spoke in a slow and dangerous tone whilst she stepped behind Damon.

"Your mom's a Ripper, okay?" He suddenly admitted and suddenly Damon's eyes widened. "She's a Ripper." He dropped the Parker witch from his hold and suddenly froze. "She turned in 1858. Faked her death, went to Europe where she went a little nuts."

"No," Damon mumbled as quiet as a whisper while Evelyn's eyes still remained widened.

"Bodies piled up. She moved, killed some more until she had to move again." Kai continued to explain the history of Damon's mother. "They think three-thousand in total."

"That's enough," Damon growled under his breath once more.

"And for some reason, my coven made it their duty to stop her. So, they cut her off at New York Harbor before she could tear through Manhattan. Granted, by the time they got to the ship, they found everybody dead. It was so gruesome that they had to burn it there at the harbor."

"I said that's enough!" Damon bellowed out finally with a distraught look in his eyes.

"Kai, You need to leave, now," Evelyn ordered as she watched the witch quietly excuse himself from the premises.

The minute that Kai had hurried out of the door, Damon fell onto the floor in a heap, he was hysterical. Physically and emotionally drained from the revelation of this evening that he couldn't even stand, or speak. Evelyn took her place by his side, she held him as he mumbled quietly in her hold. She knew that she couldn't make anything better for him, but she was going to be by his side through it all.

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