#lcstwxlf

When: The Time of Davina’s Death Where: The Bayou With: Hayley @lcstwxlf

Loitering around the Bayou was fast becoming one of Kol’s favourite pastimes because every evening he was almost guaranteed to have someone come about sooner or later and he would be treated to a little company that he could proceed to irritate until they ran away. He so enjoyed providing everyone and anyone with his particular brand of wit; it was also much safer not to look too much deeper into why he sought out people this way as often as he did. But given the chaos of the city his little proclivities were pushing already stressed people right up to the edge and that was wonderfully entertaining.

Speaking of, it seemed there was a wolf in the swamp, how delightful. Guessing he’d be noticed soon enough Kol remained seated on the thick tree branch quite high up like a darker version of Peter Pan and once the wolf came into view and her eyes met his a slow smirk crept onto his face. “A little wolf came wondering into the glade where Mr. Bat sat watching with care.” his voice taking on the rhythm of a storyteller before trailing off to a chuckle. “Hello there Darling; what’s a little cub like you doing in a big bad place like this?” 

@lcstwxlf

While her job certainly wasn’t the reason she was here, it was more of a lucky happenstance really, that didn’t mean she couldn’t take it seriously. That meant ensuring she had lectures prepped and essay’s marked. Sometimes even she needed to double check a reference and that meant looking through the literature section of the library at 8am. She rather liked it this way though, too early for all but the most dedicated (or desperate) students to be about and the sun hadn’t been hitting the glass windows long enough to make some rooms into sweat boxes. A good balance.

Balance. The word only brought to the forefront of her mind the real reason she was here. Derek, Marcel, a wayward sacrifice and one very unbalanced Nemeton out for chaos. She sighed and put the book she’d come for down on a wooden table, her gaze drifting to the side and seeing a young woman looking at her between the shelves of books. Brushing her thick hair back she smiled slightly, “I’m sorry, do you need the table?” she asked, assuming the woman was just another student. 

There were too many voices in her head, whispers stacked on top of each other, murmuring too faintly and distantly for her to make out the words. It was strangely deafening. None of the voices were yelling, but the combination of so many hushed whispers filled her ears like rushing water, a faint, nonsensical roar she couldn’t decipher into language. Bonnie would have better luck using a colander to stem the flow than picking a voice from the otherworldly chorus and interpreting its intention. 

Seated cross-legged in a random Bayou clearing, Bonnie was surrounded by a circle of burning candles, flames stretched tall as she channeled their power. Her lips moved with silent incantation. Fingers buried in the moist soil beneath a layer of twigs and dry leaves, she kept herself grounded as she delved into that river of hushed tones. The Spirits were restless and she wanted to know why, she wanted to understand this feeling of foreboding she hadn’t been able to shake since first stepping foot into the Bayou. A feeling that was spreading every day, a hungry shadow searching for something she couldn’t name. 

Was the disturbance in nature bad? Well… weren’t they always? Trouble was that Bonnie wasn’t a New Orleans native. Though similar, the magic she practiced was different from what the local coven observed. She was guessing that was why the ancestors were hovering just out of her reach, speaking just out of earshot. 

Bonnie had no idea how long she’d been at it. Her butt was numb and her back was tight, but she was too determined to figure out what was going on to give up now. Or had been until she heard a twig snap behind her. Already put on edge by whatever ominous force was spreading dark tendrils throughout the Bayou’s ley lines, all it took was an instant, and with a few words,  for her magic to switch from passive to offensive. She lashed out at whoever was behind her, her magic grabbing hold of their life force and forcing the capillaries in their brain to burst over and over, and over. 

Scrambling onto her feet, she turned to find Hayley bent over, head in her hands, teeth gnashed as she groaned against the pain. 

“Hayley!” Bonnie immediately released her magic’s hold on the alpha’s brain. She rushed over to the hunched over female and grabbed her by the shoulders. “What did I tell you about sneaking up on me?”

Rubbing at her temples and wincing a bit, Hayley aimed a displeased look at her and grumbled, “So that’s how you react to a near death experience?”

Once the she-wolf was upright and shrugging off the residual pain of her assault, Bonnie let go of her shoulders and let go of the breath she’d been holding. If she’d done any actual harm to the female… oh man, the thought of how angry Derek would be with her –not to mention how pissed Hayley herself would have been– had her giving Hayley another once over just to be sure she was okay.

Confident that the female alpha would survive, Bonnie forced herself to relax. She shrugged in answer to Hayley’s question, muttering, “I’m a lot of things, Hayls. One thing I am not is helpless.” Not anymore. Never again.