[𝐈] 𝕽𝖊𝖘𝖘𝖚𝖗𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 | 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕱𝖔𝖚𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓: 𝗦𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁

Chapter Fourteen
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Sacrificing Oneself Seems Moronic After The Fact

February 6th, 2010
Bonnie rested her head against the window of the truck, staring into the nothingness that was the constant forests surrounding the infinite highways. The funeral had been a few weeks ago now, Bonnie and I had been staying with her father's sister in Washington DC, although now we were de-touring on our trip home to Mystic Falls to take in the scenery, she wasn't entirely ready to return to the vampire infested town she called her home. We had been studying more spells, she had been desperately avoiding the lingering thoughts about Sheila, focusing on witchcraft instead. We had become extremely close over the last seven weeks in Washington, upgrading to nicknames, emergency contacts and even sharing some of my oldest literature with her whilst on my travels. I'd also told her about my curse, my past lives, etcetera. We had taken a pit stop in Richmond not far from the boundaries of Mystic Falls, meeting with another rogue witch about protection against vampires.
  "We don't have to visit if you don't want to. It's been a long couple of weeks, Bon." I reassure, pulling into a parking spot at a fast-food joint in town.
  "I want to be prepared for coming back home, you've helped me learn so much, the least we can do is finish here before returning home." her voice is slightly monotone, she's become lighter than she had been a few weeks ago, writing a eulogy for Sheila was difficult for her.
  "Ok, Bon. She's meeting us at six o'clock, it's half-five now, she lives just up the street." I note, peeling the sticky note up from the dashboard, sticking it into my pocket for later use.

We vacate the car after finishing an overly greasy meal, trailing up towards the woman's house, to which Bonnie rings the doorbell, eager to get this meeting over with.
  "My god, Marielle! It's been so long since I've seen you, this must be your friend Miss Bennett, welcome." she bubbled, the tone of her voice as high-pitched as a nightingale. Lauren Saint-Juniper was a descendant of the Soleil-Juniper coven and an old friend of mine, she would be the perfect person to teach Bonnie about the weakness of vampires.
  "So, Miss Bennett, you seek to learn more about the vampire species?" Lauren inquires as we step into her home, following her through the hallway to the dining area.
  "Were both looking into protection against vampires, there have been some unsavoury incidents and I wish that Bonnie knows more on how to protect herself," I replied for her, not entirely sure if we could still trust Lauren after all these years. Witches became fickle when the line of contact grew bare.
  "So, what are their weaknesses?" Bonnie questions, flipping through a book that Lauren had handed us.

  "Mainly fire, sun, decapitation, removal of the heart, these kinds of trivial things. Although, we are witches. Our powers can desiccate vampires sending them into a mummified state. We can also use our witchcraft to harm them, pain infliction spells, telekinesis which can aid in the extraction of a vampire's heart. The possibilities are almost endless." she chattered, sifting through the pages of the book. Bonnie looked to me for suggestions, an unspoken rule we had created when learning about witchcraft; 'if you aren't sure, I'm always here to help.'
  "I say we begin with a pain infliction spell, intermediate at best, effective for her power range until she becomes better-versed with her abilities. Powerful enough to keep older vampires at bay." I state, filtering through the book to the 'Soleil Affliction Spell', tapping the title of the page to gain Lauren's attention.
  "Of course! A positive idea, we can use certain objects to test this. Dolls, plants or domestic objects. This will have the same implication of a brain aneurysm spell." Lauren bursts, a wide smile etching onto her features as we follow her into the garden.