Isolation [BOOK THREE]

broken promise

chapter twelve
" broken promise "

I woke up in the tunnels, not sure of how long had passed. My chest still stung from earlier, but I was able to breathe properly now. "Finally," Damon sighed, grabbing my arm to pull me to my feet. "Let's go, Bonbon."

Damon held my wrist in place, stacking both our hands below Bonnie's. "Wait," I tried, my voice weak. I wanted to at least bury Kai's body. It wasn't right for him to be left to rot here. The least we could do was give him a funeral. "Is he just," I started, scared for the answer. "up there, still?"

Damon scoffed, "what is wrong with you?" Bonnie's eyes snapped over to match his, both looking my way now. I looked back at him through eyelashes, somehow having enough courage to hold eye contact with him. I didn't have enough courage, however, to speak. "Why are you worried about him right now? When we're literally seconds away from going home?"

"We're going to miss our chance if we don't go soon." Bonnie spoke, seemingly having no guilt after killing Kai. "You two can argue when we get home."

I forced my arm out of Damon's grip, away from the stack of hands under the ascendant. "I'm going to bury him." I barely took two steps away from them before Damon's grasp returned around my wrist. "If I'm not back before the eclipse ends, leave without me."

I pulled away again, but he only grabbed me again. This time holding strong enough that I couldn't get away without breaking my wrist. "We're not going back without you. Enzo probably told everyone he was with you, if you're not with us when we go back, Elena would never forgive us."

Damon's voice sounded caring, despite saying he only needed me to go to keep up his good guy act with Elena. It shattered my heart, any hope of him loving me deep down washing away. If I wasn't Elena's sister, he'd probably have left me up there with Kai to begin with.

I started fighting him again, using all my strength to get away from him as I could. "Let me go," I choked out. "I want to stay! I don't want to go back." Tears welled up in my eyes. Everything was too much. Damon's words, Kai's dead body being not even 50 feet away, realizing I broke the promise I made with Kai.

"Blair, please." Bonnie tried, sighing as she watched Damon's arms wrap around me in attempts of holding me still. For years, I had yearned to be hugged by Damon, but I'm only feeling sick now, wanting nothing more than to be far away from him. "We need to go now."

"Go," I sobbed, my head falling back against Damon's shoulder as I stopped fighting. "Please, go. Just leave me here. I want to stay with Kai."

For two seconds I was comforted by the hand that rested atop mine, but it ended when I realized the touch wasn't meant to be comforting. "Let's go." Damon muttered, holding me close with one arm while the other holds my hand under Bonnie's and the ascendant.

"No!" I tried fighting again, as Bonnie started the spell. "Please, please, please. I don't want to leave him. Let me go!"

A snapping sound stopped Bonnie's chant, a yelp in pain replacing it as she fell back. My vision was blurred from the tears, but I could see the arrow in her stomach. Damon let go of me as we both turned around to see Kai, aiming a crossbow at Damon. "Forgetting someone?"

I shouldn't be smiling, given the situation, but I was incredibly happy to see Kai. "Did you really think I hadn't tried to kill myself before?" Kai asked, shooting me a wink when Damon glanced back at Bonnie. "Because I had, lots of times, lots of ways."

Kai reloaded the crossbow, aiming it at Bonnie now. He flicked his head gently, and I immediately found his side. I knew he wouldn't kill Bonnie, now that it was known he needed her to leave. Damon glared at me before his eyes trailed down to the ascendant that sat on the ground. "Grab that, and the next arrow goes in her heart. Your choice."

"Okay," Damon whispered, Ignoring the ascendant, he rushes to Bonnie instead. Pulling the arrow from her stomach quickly, biting into his wrist to give her his blood. "I got ya."

I wondered for a second if he was helping her because they'd become friends, or if maybe he was just saving her to keep Elena happy, like he was doing with me. "I'm flattered," Kai spoke to me as he inched toward the ascendant. "It's nice that you'd stay back with me, but I think it'd be more fun if we get out together instead."

"Damon!" Bonnie yelled out, missing her chance to drink his blood. In a snap, Damon was rushing towards Kai, pushing him up against the wall. The two guys tussled, Kai dropping the ascendant as he holds his ground. I wanted to step him, help Kai, but I noticed Bonnie crawling towards the ascendant.

I beat her to it, holding it tightly to my chest as I caught her eye. "Bonnie," I whispered. "Let's just all go together, please."

Damon and Kai were still fighting, and judging by Damon's groans, it seemed like Kai had the upper hand at the moment. "I'm sorry," Bonnie whispered back, "that we weren't there for you as much as we could've been. If we were, you probably wouldn't have fallen for Kai's manipulation."

"I didn't.. He didn't." I started, but, Kai did manipulate me. I knew it all along, and I went with it because it felt nice to feel appreciated. Maybe Bonnie was right, if they had acknowledged me more, we'd all be in a different situation right now. But, I still made a promise with Kai. And, I intended to keep it.

The eclipse was directly over us now. We all knew this was the last chance today, "Bonnie! Get out of here!" Damon yelled out between groans, Kai stabbing him with an arrow. My question had been answered, Damon had grown to care for Bonnie while we were in here. He was willing to stay back, keep Kai here, if Bonnie got out. He didn't mention my name.

"I'm not going to make it," Bonnie whispered, but I knew Damon heard it. She smiled up at me tearfully from the ground. "You guys will."

"Motus," Bonnie muttered. In a flash, Kai was flying away from Damon, all while Damon and I were pushed towards the center of the hole. Damon's chest was against my back, the ascendant still tight in my grasp even though I so badly wanted to throw it down.

"DON'T!" Kai yelled from the opposite side of the tunnel, getting to his feet, but not able to move. Damon and I both yelled out No's, for different reasons. The ascendant was clicking, moving against my fingers as I locked eyes with Kai. I had no control over my body, as much as I wanted to stay, I had no choice.

Damon and I begged once more before a bright light flashed, and suddenly we weren't together. I wasn't in the tunnels with Bonnie and Kai, or with Damon. Instead, I was at the quarry where I originally died. Now drenched by the rainfall that wasn't in the prison world. My tears got hidden by the rain as I screamed. I don't know if it was out of anger, or sadness. It was definitely from officially breaking the promise with Kai, stuck in what appeared to be the real world without him.

My plan of going to find Maggie was pushed to the back burner. I was going to find Damon, because I knew he would likely be doing whatever he could to get Bonnie back, and I could use that drive of his to get Kai back, too.

a u t h o r s n o t e
another chapter because I was feeling inspired, im excited to finally get to writing the spoilers I've been posting about on tiktok. i know a few of you thought kai had linked his life with blair in the last chapter, but she just had a panic attack at the thought of losing someone else! once again going to remind y'all to check my tiktok ( @ nectophiliac ) because I edit a lot more than I do write haha