It had been a very long time since Beatrix had done magic with a normal witch.

For one, she was pleased that Bonnie trusted her enough. It felt nice to not have her wrists held down so violently.

But when they had prepared the map and the candles, Bonnie had taken her hands without much warning, and Beatrix flinched. Whenever Kai had done that, he had usually siphoned, which hurt.

"Sorry," Bonnie said quickly, looking away, a bit embarrassed. Outside, Damon was throwing around paper airplanes made of newspaper. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's alright," said Beatrix gently. "I haven't— um— done this in a really long time."

She was aware of Kai's gaze boring holes into her skull. He was somewhere behind her, watching and waiting. Not wanting her to say the wrong thing and reveal too much.

"You um, look young," Bonnie noticed, looking down to make sure everything was ready. Kai's blood was neatly dropped over the state of Oregon. "Where did you grow up?"

"Are you going to do the spell or grill her on her childhood?" said Kai a bit sharply. He wasn't wanting them to find out about he or Beatrix's real identities yet.

The two women shared an exasperated look. "Let's just start," sighed Beatrix. In unison, they chanted. "Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem."

Bonnie peeked down at the map and frowned. "It doesn't feel right. Maybe we need a bigger map?"

"Maybe you're just out of practice and you suck at magic now," taunted Damon, coming back in and dropping a newspaper on the table.

Kai stood and came closer. "Ignore him, Bonnie," he urged. "Pretend he's a white-noise machine. That's how I used to tune out my siblings. I grew up with a ton of little sisters and brothers. You know, all of them constantly yammering." He moved closer to body, letting his body lean in. "But it taught me how to focus..."

"Easy there, big brother!" Damon said sharply, since it looked like Kai was about to kiss Bonnie. "She doesn't know you. At least buy her a drink."

"Not every woman requires a drink before giving in," Kai said, smirking in amusement. "Why ruin someone's sobriety for entertainment? Beatrix didn't need a drink."

Bonnie's eyes widened. "Wait... you two—?"

"Not a thing, no," hissed Beatrix, shooting Kai a murderous glare.

"Define, 'thing,'" Kai prompted. "Cause it happened... several times."

"I'm going to burn this revelation out of my memory," Bonnie blurted out, covering her ears as she left, seemingly to retrieve a bigger map.

"Thanks a lot, Kai," Beatrix snapped as Damon made a weird face.

When Bonnie returned with a bigger map, she refrained from looking at Beatrix when they linked hands. "Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem. Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem."

"The spell's moving towards Virginia," Kai said, looking over Beatrix's shoulder. "That can't be right..."

"Mhm, the spell's working," confirmed Bonnie. "It's showing me Mystic Falls. It feels so... close." She came closer to Kai and held up her hand. The flames on the candles shot up, and she narrowed her eyes at him. "It's right here." She let her hand press onto his chest, and the flames extinguished. With a devilish smirk, Kai extracted the ascendant from his jacket pocket. "Very good."

"That's the Ascendant?" Bonnie asked.

Kai nodded, with a smug grin. "The one and only."

Damon let out a soft growl. "Thanks for the mind games, jackass." He turned to Beatrix. "You are really starting to get on my nerves..."

"It was just another little test," Kai said. "To make sure Bonnie's magic was precise enough for the spell. I do believe you're ready. Pack your bags— we're going home."

The instant Damon and Bonnie left, Kai turned to Beatrix. "I expect I'm never going to see you again once we get out, huh?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I would like to at least gather information in a lowkey place to figure out where I'm meant to go. I can't waltz back into New Orleans. I need to first know if Marcel is still there."

"Give Elijah my regards," Kai said, winking.

"Asshole," she grumbled as she went to sit on the couch.

There was nothing to pack. Bonnie and Damon had each just taken one object each, it seemed— carry size. No bags required. Kai led the group out to the yard and looked at the sky through the small hole in the Ascendant. Pretending like he didn't know what to do with it, of course.

"You're wandering around like a crazy man, why?" asked Damon after about two minutes of Kai moving around the yard.

"Looking for the exact right spot," he mused. "We need to found where the power of the eclipse is focused."

"You know you could have just shown us the Ascendant to begin with," said Bonnie tiredly.

Kai smirked back at her. "Yeah, but I wanted to feel your hand on my chest."

Beatrix rolled her eyes, and heard Bonnie mutter: "There's something not right about him."

"You're just not used to guys hitting on you," Damon whispered back.

"You know, I can't wait to get out of here and talk to somebody else," Bonnie added.

"Can we just have a few lasting seconds of peace while this idiot uses that thing to get the stars to align?"

Beatrix fought back a laugh. She walked behind Kai, hands tucked in her pockets as he started walking out onto the street.

"Hey, what's up with the nature walk?" Damon asked.

"I used the Ascendant to figure out where we need to be standing during the eclipse," Kai answered.

"Great. Let's do some magic and get the hell out of here."

Beatrix thought this was it. They were getting out. No more isolation— she was going to get to see people, real people again. She could find the Mikaelsons. Reunite with her family. Go back to Medical School, if she wished. She wondered what they were like now.

"Oregon," she heard Bonnie whisper behind her. "I read this paper like a thousand times, and there's something in it about Oregon."

Kai looked over at Beatrix through his peripheral vision, smirking. They were onto him, and he didn't seem to care.

"What about it?" Damon asked.

"You know, Kai said he had all these brothers and sisters," Bonnie said quietly. "Listen— Family massacred in Portland. The only one missing was the oldest boy, a twenty-two-year-old named Malachai."

"Who names a kid Malachai?" Kai said loudly. "It's like they expected me to be evil."

Bonnie looked confused. "All these kids were murdered!"

Kai turned on his heel to face him, and Beatrix awkwardly followed suit. "Hello! Not everyone died. I had a soft spot for one of my sisters. 'Cause otherwise, I would've cut her lungs out, and not just her spleen."

Bonnie choked. "What?"

"You can survive without a spleen," Kai said. "Right, Beatrix? You're the doctor here."

"Right," she said awkwardly. Damon grimaced. "Something tells me you're not speaking hypothetically."

Kai trotted forward to look at the newspaper. "Look, well, these two, I, uh, hung off a stairwell railing. Then I put a hunting knife in her abdomen, and him, I drowned in the pool. But, he kept fighting me. I was like, 'I saved you for last, you ungrateful little...' Anyway, that was that."

Bonnie looked absolutely revolted. "You just killed your whole family?"

"Coven, to be precise," Kai clarified. "Oh, you know, family of witches. Beatrix isn't a part of that. That'd be weird."

"You're making us jump through hoops, and you're a witch?" Damon snapped. "Are you and Beatrix the most useless witches in the world, or what?"

"Sort of, yeah," he answered smugly. "I have no powers, obviously. Beatrix is just not a Bennett. Oh, of course, the Gemini Coven did not take it too well when they heard what I did in Portland. It's why they banished me here."

A look of realization passed over Bonnie's face. "This place is a prison. They created it for you."

Kai clapped slightly, as if mocking her. "Yup. This place isn't your hell, Damon. It's mine."

Damon glared at Beatrix. "So where do you factor into this equation?"

"I'm a Heretic, darling," Beatrix said, not caring if she had Kai's approval to speak yet. "A witch and a vampire rolled into one."

Bonnie took a step back. "What? But how— how is that possible?"

"Relax, darling, I'm not going to slaughter you," Beatrix said, tucking her hands behind her back. "I was born like him. No powers. Got turned into a vampire, and it left me able to do magic."

"Let me guess, you're a murderer too, that's why they sent you here," Damon said, gritting his teeth.

"As are you," she said with a shrug. "You talk about killing so freely. As a fellow vampire, I think it safe to assume that both you and I have a lot of blood on our hands. This is his prison, but I was put into it because the Gemini Coven wanted me gone."

Bonnie scoffed, and turned around, heading back to the house. This seemed to be too much for her to internalize. She stormed back inside, Damon following closely behind. "We're not letting them out of here, okay?" Beatrix heard her say. "Especially not Kai— he just said he's a serial killer. And Beatrix has been helping him."

"I don't care about that!" Damon retorted. "I want to get out of here."

"How can you not care? Maybe because of the horrible things you have done? Maybe 'cause killing a bunch of kids is not a big deal to someone who's murdered a pregnant woman? Do you relate to them?" There was a pause. Beatrix assumed maybe Damon had a hurt look on his face.

She heard receding footsteps. When she stepped inside, she saw Bonnie sitting on the couch, holding her head in her hands.

Beatrix slowly sat down across from her. "I'm a terrible person," she said simply. "That I won't deny. But it was in self-defense. To keep myself alive. It's hard not to kill when everyone around you puts you in danger. Vampires— we have to feed, and sometimes we get carried away. I was at risk because of what I was. If I were caught, I would have been killed. And I got myself involved with a family who has a lot of enemies."

The woman across from her looked up. "Distract me," she said. "Tell me about you." She looked sideways and saw Kai wasn't there. "I want... I want to at least hear you out. Not him."

Beatrix sighed. "It's a long story. But the short version... is this."

She told her the briefest version she could about her upbringing and travels without extending it too much. They didn't have the time. However, at the name 'Klaus Mikaelson,' Bonnie flinched.

"You know Klaus?" she said.

It was Beatrix's turn to flinch. "Yes. He's my sire. Do... do you?"

"He tormented us for almost a year," she said, smiling as if the aftermath of the memory wasn't all that bad, but a frown soon followed. "He and his family brought a lot of trouble. Hurt a lot of people we knew."

"His family?" she breathed. "Like— like Elijah, Kol, Rebekah—"

Bonnie nodded. "Yeah... Elijah wasn't the worst. Kol was a pain in the ass and Rebekah was trying to kill my best friends, but eventually... they left. Why? Are they— are they the family with a lot of enemies that you mentioned?"

The Heretic gave a slow assent of her head. "They're my family, basically. Klaus sired me— made me the Original Heretic. Kol and Rebekah are my best friends. Elijah... well, he thinks I'm dead, but he was my lover."

Bonnie suddenly gulped. "Oh... Beatrix... you're not going to like what I have to say."

Her blood ran cold. "What do you mean?"

"Kol... he was trying to kill someone very close to me. My best friend's brother. He... he had this task to kill a lot of vampires. Finn Mikaelson was killed before, and we found out that when an Original dies, their sireline dies with them. So... Kol... Kol is dead."

"No," Beatrix said immediately. "No— you'd have needed a White Oak Stake— Mikael had that. There— there was no way— Finn and Kol can't be dead!"

"Mikael is dead too," Bonnie said. "Klaus killed him. There were more stakes— Kol had one on him when he died. Beatrix, I—"

"Where are they now?" she demanded, trying not to let herself get emotional. But she felt furious. It was one thing for Kol to have been daggered. But to find out he was dead?

"I-I don't have all the details but last I heard, they were in New Orleans."

"New Orleans? You're sure? Why— why would they go back?"

"My friend Caroline... she told me that Klaus and a werewolf had conceived a baby. I think by now, it was born."

Her eyes welled up with tears, and she covered her mouth, gasping for air. Klaus was a father now. Kol was dead. They were back in New Orleans— Rebekah and Marcel must have rekindled. And Elijah...

Her hands were shaking. She forced herself to inhale, and shivered when it pained her. "I'm so sorry, Beatrix," Bonnie said in a small voice. "I—"

"Stop talking," Beatrix snapped, her voice unsteady. "Don't— don't offer me your condolences. You all— you killed Kol on purpose."

"H-He was going to kill Jeremy, I—"

"I don't care who Jeremy is! Kol is dead! I-I've waited— I've waited nearly a century to see him again! I thought— I thought he'd be safe right where I last saw him, daggered—"

Damon came back in the room, and Bonnie tried to beckon him to leave. "Why are we talking about Kol Mikaelson?" he said, grimacing. "Good riddance, I'd say, he was a psychotic little—"

"Damon, no!" Bonnie cried.

Too late. Beatrix growled and slashed her hand in the air, sending Damon flying back. When he landed, she coiled her hand inward, and he let out a pained yell, holding his head. "Bon—" Another wave of her hand and she broke the bones in his hands, making him let go of his head.

"Beatrix, stop!" screamed Bonnie, terrified. "It's not— it's not his fault—"

Beatrix wasn't listening. She twisted her hand further, and Damon thrashed on the floor, howling as she broke the bones in his legs. Next, she'd make his eyes bleed...

"Jeremy died!" Bonnie screamed. "He died after he killed Kol! They're even!"

"You act like I care about a mortal boy's life," Beatrix snarled, facing her. She could see Kai watching the scene with interest at the end of the hallway, munching on pork rinds as usual. "He killed my best friend and I'm supposed to be satisfied with the death of a mortal? They're expendable!"

Before she could turn back to Damon, Kai came forward, and moved her hand down, forcing her to release the spell. "How about, as punishment, you admit all the gorey details about how you killed that pregnant woman, huh, Damon?" he announced. "I'll keep Trixter here in line."

He yanked her to the couch, making her spout out curses. He was siphoning off of her, and she was having to resist the urge to scream. All she felt was anger, and pain, and a need for revenge...

Kai forced her to sit down, and left her so drained that all she could do was slump back. He hadn't taken so much from her in awhile, as they hadn't had time to practice their dark magic. Damon slowly sat across from Bonnie one he was healed, refraining from looking at Beatrix.

She wasn't listening to him anyway.

"Ouch, poor nephew-uncle Zach," Kai said afterward, still holding her down to keep her from leaving.

Damon kept his gaze down. "Stefan compelled Uncle Zach to forget about the girlfriend and the baby. But, he couldn't cover up all those murders. Founder's Council was restarted, and Stefan took off. Left Mystic Falls for about fifteen years. We both did. And when I saw Uncle Zach again, I couldn't look at him without remembering that I ruined everything. So it was a nice relief when I got to kill him. Okay, can we go back now?"

Bonnie shook her head slightly, apparently still stuck on the fact that she didn't think they should help Kai and Beatrix get out. Beatrix knew why. After her outburst, after the dark tendencies Bonnie had seen in her, there was no way she'd want to let her out into the world.

"Oh, come on, Bonnie," said Kai, standing up. "You wanna go home to your friends, I wanna go back and give the rest of the Gemini Coven an excruciating death, and Beatrix isn't even planning on staying in Mystic Falls— she just wants to see her family. Win-win."

Damon tried to argue in Kai and Beatrix's favor. "Look, Bonnie, I know this guy's not a model citizen and I know that witchy over there just tried to fry my face off, but I gotta get back. Not just for Elena, but for my brother."

Bonnie had not changed her mind. "I'm sorry, Damon."

"Sorry doesn't work for me," Kai sneered, lunging forward to grab Bonnie. Damon stopped him, slamming him back into a wall.

"We may be having a bit of a disagreement, but don't ever lay a hand on her," Damon snarled.

Kai glared back without much emotion. "Kind of a non-issue now. We missed the day's eclipse. Rain check for tomorrow?"

"No," Bonnie answered, storming away to her room.

After Damon left, Kai turned to Beatrix. "We still need them to cooperate, at least until we're almost at the end," he said lowly. "But they've pissed both of us off. So now, I think it's time we made sure they stay in line, don't you think?"

A sadistic smile appeared on Beatrix's face. "Yes, I do think."

In the evening, they had refrained from coming close to Damon or Bonnie, who were in the kitchen. They were nearby though, listening.

"...you make pancakes every day," Bonnie was saying, referencing the woman Damon had killed. "'Cause I'm bored," Damon retorted. "No," Bonnie said. "'Cause you're punishing yourself. You call this place your hell, and it means you feel remorse. That makes you different from Kai. Maybe there is hope for you."

Kai leaned in at the mention of his name.

"Look, we can still get outta here, Bonnie," Damon whispered. "We can steal that 'Descendant' contraption, find out what Kai and Beatrix know and we'll ditch them. Kai doesn't have powers anyway and we can take on Beatrix together."

Kai chose to walk out of the doorway into their view. "Actually, it's not that simple."

Bonnie and Damon looked up. "You gotta stop doing that," the vampire muttered. "It's creepy."

"Here's the thing," Kai began, "I have a killer effect on magic. I can't generate it myself. But, I can consume it from others temporarily. My family called me an abomination. That hurt my feelings." He lunged forward and seized Bonnie's wrist, siphoning and making her scream. He waved his hand and the stove caught on fire. Damon started to moan in pain, holding his head again.

"Okay, we get it!" he yelled.

Kai smirked in satisfaction and ceased siphoning, putting the fire out and allowing Damon to be rid of his headache. "You can see why my coven and I didn't get along. Why they don't like witches that are born the way Beatrix and I were."

"I smell an ultimatum," Damon growled.

Kai shrugged. "If I consume all of Bonnie's magic I'm just gonna end up killing her. But, if we work together, we can all go home as friends. Or I can devour her magic, let Trixter kill you both so she can get her revenge, and she and I will go home alone. What's it gonna be?"

Damon and Bonnie shared a concern look. Submission. Wordlessly, their agreement was out in the open. They'd conceded.

"Perfect," Kai said. "Now, don't worry. I'll keep Trixter in line. As long as you cooperate, you won't need to worry. Sound good to you?"

"Whatever," Damon growled. Pleased, Beatrix and Kai both returned to their still shared room.

"It's only been eighteen years," Kai said gleefully. "I can't wait to look those same Coven members in the eye when we slaughter them..." He threw off his jacket and shirt. "I am in a very good mood now."

"I'm in a terrible mood," grumbled Beatrix. "All this fucking waiting to get out and my best friend won't be there. And Klaus... I can't believe he's a dad now. I should have been there to see that. To help him. All of them."

"At least now you know where they are and you can find them easily," said Kai, coming over to her and pinning her on the bed. "Now come on, let's celebrate."

"But I feel murderous," she grumbled.

"Foreplay comes in many different forms. What're you thinking?"

"I'm thinking... that if you ever, at any point, seek to kill Bonnie and Damon once we get out... I'd like for you to call me so that I can come and make them suffer."

Kai's eyes flashed darkly, and he dipped down to kiss her hungrily. "I will definitely hold you to that. You know I always deliver..."

She missed Elijah most of all that night. After she and Kai finished and lay exhausted beside each other, she wanted more than anything for the reality to change. For her to wake up in Elijah's bed. She couldn't imagine what the siblings had gone through, losing two brothers. Even if they hadn't gotten along most centuries, it must have been absolutely terrible to lose them permanently.

Darkness was invading her mind. Her birthright, flooding into her conscience and devouring it. It had been a long time since she let it take over her.

Now, Elijah wasn't there to stop it.