The bonds of family

32

He soon found himself walking down a random street. He pulled out his phone, and went to his contacts. He hovered over Alexis's name before deciding not to and moving on. He found Bonnie and clicked on her number. He was surprised when someone answered.
"Oh my god. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to answer." He heard Caroline. "I'll hang up now."
"Wait, Caroline. It's okay." He said.
"I swear there is a perfectly fine reason for me having her phone." She said.
"She was your best friend. Plus, I'm sure it's a lot healthier than what I do."
"I just empty her mailbox every once in a while. Well sometimes I save random ones, but just so that her voicemail box isn't full, I delete some. That way you can still kind of talk to her." She explained. "I don't listen to them, I promise."
"Thanks." He said. "How are you?"
"Sucky. You?"
"I bet my life's suckier." He replied. She laughed dryly.
"I doubt it. My mom has cancer, I jumpstarted it and almost killed her a lot quicker than she was supposed to."
"Wow, I'm sorry." He said. "That's pretty sucky."
"Your turn."
"Well, Kol's back. He's been back eight months, but I only found out a couple days ago. And he's in a mortal body, and I was supposed to protect him but then Finn hexed him and there's no way to save him. He's going to die. Again."
"Oh, god. That's pretty sucky too."
"Call it a tie?" Arkyn said.
"Tie." She agreed.
"What's the drama like in Mystic Falls?"
"Dramatic. What about in New Orleans?"
"Dramatic. Kol put Rebekah in an insane asylum for two days, so she's pissed. Finn's really lost his mind. Don't get me started on Nik. And Elijah's kind of lost it too. Esther put him through torture and he's trying to wrap his head around it."
"Wait wait, that's a lot of information. Your mom's back too?"
"She manipulated the collapse of the other side to bring herself and Finn and Kol back. Mikael is back too. He manipulated a young but powerful witch."
"You have a lot of suckiness going on for you. I remember enough about your mom to know she's bad news."
"Yeah."
"Did you say Rebekah was in an insane asylum?"
"She came back last night."
"I'm trying not to laugh, but I keep imagining her in a padded room."
"Laugh all you want. I did. But it wasn't that kind of asylum. It's an asylum for insane witches."
"I like my version."
"Well, it is funny."
"There's something I should tell you. I didn't want to before because I didn't want to just get your hopes up unless I knew we could definitely do something about it but you could really do with some hope. Bonnie isn't really dead dead."
"What?"
"She's in this other dimension."
"How?"
"It was her grandmother's last action. She sent Bonnie and Damon to this prison world with this psychopath. Bonnie managed to send Damon back. Sacrificed herself to make sure the psychopath didn't get out. But then he did. He did a lot to her, hurt her, but Bonnie's still alive." Arkyn leaned against a building, silent. "Ark?"
"I'm still here." He said.
"I didn't want to say anything, because I know how much Bonnie meant to you. I didn't want to say anything until I knew we could get her back for sure. But maybe it's better that you know. We're going to do what we can to bring her back."
"Thank you." He said.
"I know you loved her, Ark, and I know she loved you."
"I never stopped."
"No?"
"Bonnie was one of the best things to ever happen to me." He admitted. "I think I'll always love her."
"Do you wonder what things would be like? If you guys never broke up?"
"Every day. If I hadn't given up... maybe she'd still be alive."
"It wasn't your fault." Caroline said. "You had Alexis and Xavier to think of. Bonnie messed up and she knew it. It wasn't your fault."
"It's her birthday in a couple days."
"I know. We're planning on celebrating it in her honour. You're welcome to come along."
"I don't know how long Kol has left. I'm not sure if I can make it."
"Yeah, of course."
"I should probably go back, but don't be a stranger, Caroline."
"I'll keep you updated."
"Not just on Bonnie. I like to think you and I are friends too."
"We are." She agreed. "And if you need anything too, Ark, you can always call me."
"Thanks."
"Okay, and, uh sorry again. I know you were calling for Bon."
"Believe it or not, you give better advice than her voicemail." She laughed.
"High praise. I'm honoured."
"Oh yeah, you definitely should be." He grinned. "Goodbye, Caroline."
"Bye." She hung up. He smiled before turning away to head back to his family.