CHAPTER NINE | I ALONE

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ONCE DAMON HAD CALLED EVELYN AND TOLD HER THAT ALARIC HAD FOUND THE ASCENDANT, SHE ARRANGED TO MEET HIM. The pair were planning to go to the 1994 prison world to find Bonnie, and bring her home with them and, Evelyn couldn't believe it. They were finally so close to bringing Bonnie back, and everything would fall into place.

"God. You have no idea how excited I am to finally see her again." Evelyn gleefully spoke as the couple walked hand-in-hand through the forest. They were meeting with Liv, who had agreed to do the spell which would transport them back to the prison world.

"Hm. Believe me, I know." Damon hummed softly, then raised an eyebrow toward Evelyn. "So, I've gotta ask. Did you know about Caroline's feelings for Stefan, or?"

"I—uh, I was kinda busy with the whole no-humanity-ripping-necks-open thing. She never really made it known, until she and Enzo forced me to have dinner with him and pretend-girlfriend." Evelyn chuckled softly as she remembered back to how Caroline acted once she found out Stefan was living in Savannah and had gotten a new girlfriend. "But, to be honest, they both deserve to be happy."

"Even if she loses her mind at the thought of him not being with her, and turns off her humanity?" Damon asked with a playful smirk pointed in her direction.

"Harsh." Evelyn glared at him, then she knocked him lightly with her shoulder. Finally, they approached Liv, who was sitting on the floor with several items around her for the spell. "Liv, thank you for doing this. I mean, let's hope at least one of you can manage to keep the spell going long enough for us to come back, right?"

"Right." The witch trailed off slowly. She knew that it was a dig at the fact that she let Luke overpower her, which resulted in Damon and Bonnie's death. "I needed an excuse to get out of that frat house. Way too much boy. Gross." She rolled her eyes. "You got everything?"

"Yup. Blood from a Bennett. Lucy, to be exact. And, an Ascendant from whatever the hell your last name is." Damon handed over the components while a confused look appeared on Liv's face the minute she examined the Ascendant.

"So, this is the famous Ascendant? I'm surprised that Jo gave it up." The blonde spoke up. "It's the only thing keeping Kai locked in his prison. If he gets out, he's coming after Jo. Whatever. So, I'm gonna need the moon to activate the Ascendant. It will be viable for about eight-hours, so once I send you over the clock's ticking."

Evelyn nodded, then glanced up at the sky then she set her eyes back onto the blonde witch in front of her. "That's all well and good, but how the hell are we gonna get back?"

"Drink these." Liv handed them three small vials of blood. "It's my blood. It'll link you to me so I can find you, and bring you back. Give one to Bonnie, too." She watched the two vampires exchange pointed looks. "Are you waiting for a toast? Drink."

After Liv ordered the vampires to drink the blood, they clinked their vials together and downed the blood like a shot of alcohol. Damon pulled a disgusted face after he tasted the blood. "Hm, bitter. I wonder why." He then turned his attention to his fiancé beside him and held out his hand. "Shall we?"

Evelyn grabbed his hand without hesitation and a smile on her face, "We most definitely shall."

Liv poured the Bennett witch blood that Damon had supplied her with onto the Ascendant and began to chant. The world around the vampires began to change and fade away. After a while, the environment fixed itself and everything looked the same apart from the fact that Liv was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, that was weird." Evelyn looked around. The first thing she noticed was the sudden lack of graves in the cemetery. "The spell definitely worked, I could've sworn there were more graves here before. Guess this really is 1994."

"Which means Bonnie is here," Damon added. "So, let's go get her. Just keep your eyes peeled. There's a pork rind munching freak somewhere around here. Okay?"

"Brilliant, can't wait to kill him."

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The couple decided their first place to check would be the Salvatore House, considering when Damon and Bonnie were trapped together, it was the place they spent most of their time. So, the couple figured that the Salvatore House would be their best bet. Once they entered, the couple split off and immediately began to check through every single room in the house, but to no avail.

"Is she here?" Evelyn's eyes widened as she joined Damon back in the parlor after the house-wide search. "Damon, did you find anything?

The Salvatore vampire shook his head with a defeatist look on his face. "Nope. What about you?"

"Nothing. I checked literally every single room. Every cupboard, every basement, every cellar." She sighed, then she dropped herself back onto the couch. The scent of blood filled her nostrils, and she grabbed a pillow from beside her. "Oh, my God. Do you see this?"

"What are you—" Damon was cut off when Evelyn grabbed hold of the pillow and launched it at him. As soon as he caught it, the scent of blood filled his nostrils, just as it did Evelyn's."Oh."

"What if Kai—"

"—Let's not jump to any depressing conclusions, okay?" Damon frowned, then he grabbed a pager from the table behind him. "If Kai has Bonnie, we need to talk. So, I'm gonna page him."

"And, you think a pork-rind munching psychopath that's hell-bent on trying to break out of this prison world is gonna answer you? I hate to have the defeatist attitude but, I don't think that's gonna work." Evelyn muttered as he watched her with amusement. "What are you smirking at?"

"You, and your very little faith in my plan." He smirked. "Let's dial Jackass's number— 555-HIYA KAI." Damon said, then rolled his eyes, "We leave our number, then we hang up. Now we sit by the phone like a 13-year old girl, and wait."

"I'm led to believe that you're familiar with that concept?" Evelyn smirked at her fiancé. "Wait by the phone for all your girlfriends to call you back, do you?"

"Only the ones that are as pretty as you," Damon chuckled softly just as the phone began to ring. "Kai, if you so much as hurt one hair on her annoying little witchy head, I will kill you and—"

"That was so sweet." Bonnie's voice echoed through the phone as Damon and Evelyn's eyes both lit up at the sound of her voice. "Why'd you have to ruin it by calling me annoying?"

"Bon?" Evelyn asked almost like she needed clarification. "Bonnie?"

"Evelyn, is that really you?"

"Yes! Oh, my God. Yes, it's me, Bonnie." Evelyn cried out as Damon couldn't help but smile at how happy she had instantly become just by hearing her friend's voice.

A chuckle of amazement left Bonnie's lips."I can't believe I'm hearing your voice right now. How are you here?"

"We don't need to bore you with those kinda details. But, listen to me, we're here to bring you home." Evelyn spoke with such reassurance that she herself couldn't stop smiling when she heard the relief come from Bonnie's end of the phone. "Where exactly are you?" Evelyn asked the girl as she and Damon looked over the map, that Damon had pushed across the table.

"Muncie."

"Muncie?" Evelyn looked around the room thinking of the distance, then she placed her index finger on the location. "That's not too far from here."

"Muncie is six and a half hours away, give or take a knuckle." The Salvatore explained to the two females as he stared down at the map on the table. "Liv's pulling us out in seven. So, If you don't stop to use the little witch's room anymore—" Damon's voice trailed off with a grin on his face.

"—I can make it... I'm going home." The Bennett girl spoke as the possibility of finally leaving the prison world began to skin in.

"Damn right! I'll see you soon, love you!" Evelyn yelled out in excitement. She ended the call, then turned to Damon who's smile began to falter and his mind began to spin, "You're worried about Kai, aren't you?"

"If he's got Bonnie's blood, and the Ascendant, he has everything he needs to get out." He frowned. "What if he's already out?"

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Evelyn laid on her back on the front lawn of the Salvatore Estate, her gaze fixed up at the sun with a pair of shades covering her eyes. They had a while to kill until Bonnie finally got back to Mystic Falls, so Evelyn spent some time outside. "What are you doing?" Damon asked with a light scoff as he folded his arms across his chest.

"The question is, why aren't you doing it with me?" Evelyn lowered her shades down her nose and smirked toward Damon. "I'm killing time, sitting in the sun. Ironic that all the myths say vampires are prisoners to the sun. The sun is my favorite thing in the world."

Damon let out a light groan, then he sat down on the patch of grass next to her. "I don't understand what you find fun about any of this though. It's just so boring."

"It's not boring. It's calming." Evelyn corrected him while he scoffed again. "Our lives are crazy, dramatic, hectic, and dangerous. The sun is innocent, pure, and vibrant. I don't know, to be honest. I guess I just like the stillness of it all."

A small chuckle escaped Damon's lips as he leaned on his arms. "What you're really saying is that you'd prefer a quieter life."

"A quieter life? No. Maybe sometimes I'd enjoy a little less drama and a little bit more stillness, but that doesn't mean I'd change any of this for the world." She breathed out as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I love you."

Damon rested his head on hers while they intertwined their hands. "I love you, too."

The atmosphere around them began to feel distorted. They gave each other confused looks as the scene around them began to fade away, and they found themselves back in the Mystic Falls cemetery, where Tyler and Liz stood opposite them looking concerned.

"Are you kidding me?" Evelyn looked around with an angry look on her face before she narrowed her eyes in Liv's direction. "We had another hour. What the hell did you do?"

"Kai's here." Tyler stepped in front of Liv, almost like he was protecting her from Evelyn. "We have to get back to Mystic Falls before he takes more of her magic." The pair slowly stepped over the anti-magic border.

"No," Evelyn spat with anger. "Send us back! Bonnie was on her way. She's going to think we abandoned her. Send us back!" Evelyn charged toward Liv, but because of her anger, she didn't realize she stepped over the border. Her skin suddenly began to sizzle and burn.

"Evelyn, you're over the border," Damon spoke as he dragged her back behind the line.

"I'm sorry, Evelyn." Tyler apologized before grabbing the blonde witch's hand and headed off toward the small town they once called home.

"I don't believe this." Evelyn let out a sigh as she ran into Damon's arms. "Bonnie's gonna get into the house, and we'll be gone."

"Until the next comet, or full moon, or eclipse." Damon began to list with his arms wrapped around her. "As long as we have that, we can go back as many times as we need until we get her back."

"Wait, are you guys talking about Bonnie Bennett?" A voice spoke from their left, which caused them to turn their heads. "Because honestly, I didn't think she was all that great."

"Kai Parker?" Evelyn turned on her heels and locked eyes with the man who stood leaning against a nearby tree. "The pork-rind-munching psychopath?

"Evelyn Austin? The love of Damon Salvatore's life. Wow, you are pretty. Huh, guess Damon was right about something." Kai chuckled lowly before he flicked his wrist which caused the Ascendant to be thrown against the tree and break into dozens of pieces.

Damon's eyes widened as he watched Evelyn attempt to gather up all the pieces of the Ascendant. Then, he turned back to Kai. "I am gonna enjoy the hell outta' this."

"Oh, hey, me too." He smirked before he lifted his hand and made both of the vampires drop to their knees while holding their heads. "I stole some of Liv's magic when I tried to kill her. I think some of it might still be in my system, so pardon me." He used his magic to separate Damon from Evelyn. Kai then stared at her and used his magic to make her whole body burst into flames.

Damon grabbed a shovel from the ground and smashed it against Kai, which sent him flying over the border and the spell on Evelyn had immediately lifted. "You okay?" Damon asked with concern in his voice.

The Austin vampire took a few deep breaths before she nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine."

"Huh. I guess this is that, uh—anti-magic border." Kai smirked. "Which means now there's a psycho loose in Mystic Falls, and no vampire's around to stop him. Whoops."

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