An Elemental Difference - AIR - Book 1 (Stefan Salvatore)

Chapter 9 - I think I'd rather go against Damon

MYSTIC FALLS HOSPITAL

"Our family name, Bennett, has the meaning of 'blessed' or 'one who is blessed,' or so that's what Grams and Google said," Aella shrugged, starting off small and working her way up.

She and Bonnie were sitting in the hospital car park discussing their witch ancestry as they waited for Jeremy while he quickly visited Vicki.

"Our family originally settled in Salem, but after the witch trials began, we relocated to Mystic Falls late 1600s. That's where we remained until 2009."

Aella grinned and quickly turned to Bonnie, "But the coolest thing is our family has one of the strongest witches line, dominated by women."

"Girl power at its best!" Bonnie laughed and fist-pumped the air.

"Hell yeah!" Aella agreed as she smiled softly. "There has only been a select number of men born in the Bennett family, the first was Emily Bennett's brother in the 1800s, and the second was my Dad."

Bonnie grabbed Aella's hand and squeezed it in comfort, Aella quickly squeezed back as she thought about her Dad, "The men, warlocks, can be very powerful, which my dad was."

"And your mom was a witch, too, right?" Bonnie asked, wanting to know more and more. "Grams said she was different to us, which is how your magic is different, right?"

"Yeah," she nodded and explained further. "My mother, me, and her family have a tradition of male and female witches. Their power comes from the elements around us. Without those elements, no magic. While the Bennett witches magic is linked to Traveller magic, a magic that forms inside a person and can be used with belief and spells."

Bonnie took it in, glad it was her cousin explaining this and not Grams who started telling her after half a bottle of brandy. "So my magic needs to be believed in and can be used with spells, but as you are part Elemental and part Traveller, your magic is different?"

"Straight forward, right?" Aella laughed sarcastically, "But yeah, my magic is more Elemental as the elements are a part of life, but it's my Bennett magic that allows me to complete spells." She shrugged her shoulder, spinning the ring on her finger, "To be honest, since my mom worked locally compared to my Dad, who traveled, my elemental magic was more practiced. Then, after she died, it called out to me - it's in my blood." Aella laughed humorlessly, "It's hard to explain-"

"-no, it's not," Bonnie smiled, taking her hand once more. "I think it's beautiful that you can be connected with your parents, even now."

Aella smiled at her cousin, squeezing her hand back.

..............................................

..............................................

Jeremy navigated to Vicki's room and leaned against the doorway, watching her, even though her back was towards him.

"You can't be in here, hon." A nurse told him as she squeezed past him to go into Vicki's room, "Visiting hours don't start till 9am."

Jeremy nodded, taking a step back, "Okay, I just... how is she?"

The nurse smiled sadly at him, "She's lost a lot of blood."

"Yeah," Jeremy shrugged but wanted to know a little more. "But she's gonna be okay, right?"

"She needs her rest," The nurse told him before squeezing his shoulder, leading him away from the room. "So, you come back later."

Jeremy followed her, and just as she let him go so he could leave, he quickly turned and tapped the nurse on her shoulder, "Excuse me, nurse?" She turned to look at him smiling. "Vicki has had some issues with drugs in the past... I just thought you'd like to know."