Nothing Dark Can Stay, Either

Chapter 11

By the time Beatrix came to, Damon was gone.

Not that she had been expecting him to stay. That'd be asking him for too much. Especially after Bonnie sacrificed herself to stay with Kai to ensure the two of them got out.

Beatrix no longer wanted to kill her. She just hoped that if Bonnie died in the prison world, she would regenerate too. If not...

She straightened up, smoothing down her sweater. This was it. She was out, and now, all she had to do was get to New Orleans. She glanced down at her hand, seeing the daylight ring was still there. Good. Now, to get to Louisiana.

Beatrix sped out of the woods immediately, heading out as far as she could onto a nearby street. Hopefully, a car would pass by and give her a lift somewhere near an airport. She considered using some sort of magic to facilitate her transport, but she rather liked the idea of doing things the normal way. Pretending to be human.

A red suburban drove up in the moments she was thinking. She extended her hand into the road and held her thumb up.

It drove faster. She frowned, at first, but when she listened in, she heard the voices of several children inside. Busy parent with what sounded like toddlers. She supposed she couldn't be mad about that.

She remained standing there, awkwardly shifting her weight on her heels. Another car came by in the opposite direction, and this time, it stopped. The man inside the silver truck looked over at her and nodded. "Where you headed?" he asked her.

"The nearest airport," she said. He gave her an apologetic smile. "That's back the way I came, hon, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," she said awkwardly. "Thanks for letting me know. How um, how far is it?"

"Several miles, but I'm sure that someone will stop soon. Sorry I couldn't help you."

She nodded and took a step back, allowing him to drive past. Several miles. She supposed hitching a ride wouldn't be worth it. When the truck disappeared from view, she began to speed in the direction of the red suburban, passing it and continuing in a blur down the road, stopping abruptly in an alleyway when she reached a more populated area. She panted and held her knees. It had been a long time since she'd moved that fast for that long. When she saw Klaus again, he'd make fun of her for being out of shape.

She walked out of the alley casually once she caught her breath, and walked into the street. It seemed more complicated here— she'd need to hail a taxi, or something.

"Excuse me," she said to a woman who was on her phone at the bus stop. "Does this go near the airport?"

The woman paused, and opened up an app on her phone. She said nothing, zooming in on a few images of what appeared to be a digitalized map. "Not directly, but it stops somewhat near it, from what I can tell."

"That's good enough," she said. "Thank you."

She dug into her pockets, glad that she could still feel a few quarters. The same pants had been carrying them on the day she and Kai approached Bonnie and Damon at the grocery store.

Another pang in her heart as she thought of Bonnie. Trapped in there with Kai. It was different that Kai and Beatrix were both fairly sadistic or just plain apathetic sometimes. Bonnie was a sweetheart, really, and Kai was going to make her life a living hell.

Perhaps if she heard of the day Bonnie got out, she'd send her chocolates and flowers as a 'thank you.'

The bus arrived, and Beatrix slowly got inside. She deposited four quarters into the box at the front and went to take a seat. At least buses looked a lot nicer, now. As the ride began, she saw several people with cell phones, typing away. Some made phone calls and took notes, speaking very quietly. She just kept her arms crossed on her lap.