Book Two: Aquiver (A. Saltzman)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Diana and Alaric walk into the boarding house together, Damon having called them over to meet with Bonnie, and to discuss what is going on with Diana. Bonnie and Damon are already waiting for them. Damon nods to Alaric, he's already been briefed on their little plan, and they all know Diana's not going to like it. Bonnie holds out two sets of handcuffs, different from regular handcuffs, these are covered in enchanted etchings, meant to restrain Diana.

"Hmmm, kinky" Diana teases but takes a step back. "But...not one for being tied down" Alaric grabs her arms from behind, she tilts her head back to look up at him.

"I'm sorry" he whispers and then shoves her down into a chair, Damon and Bonnie snapping the handcuffs around her wrists and the chair arms. The markings on the handcuffs light up when they are snapped closed. Diana growls a little and tugs on them but there is no give.

"Alright, witchy" Damon starts. "What was your hunch?"

"It's not a 'darkness' inside of her...I mean it's dark but it's not so simple as just a dark part of her soul" Bonnie offers. "It's a demon" Diana flashes her black eyes.

"A demon?" Damon asks, Bonnie nods. "Like...from hell?"

"Yes," She answers.

"Get out of here" Damon counters. "There's no such thing" Bonnie points at Diana.

"Look at her....you got a better explanation"

"Yeah, she's just crazy now" Damon argues. Bonnie shakes her head and then looks around.

"Is this iron?" Bonnie asks as she picks up the iron poker, Damon nods, Bonnie turns and presses the poker to Diana's arm. Alaric flinches as Diana screams in pain. Her skin boiling and bubbling under the metal.

"Stop" Alaric begs. "Stop it..." Bonnie pulls the poker back and gives Alaric an apologetic look.

"Iron is a weakness to demons, like vervain to vampires" She explains. Damon moves to stand in front of Diana.

"Talk" Damon tells Diana, she raises an eyebrow and then lets out a breath.

"Fine" She nods. "Great Grandfather was a demon" Diana admits. "Artie's one-time lover...Crowley....so I was born with it inside of me" She glances between them. "Didn't do anything until puberty...." She offers. "When my powers started, it started spreading...Artemis saw what it was doing to me...to Eva...how was it was changing us" She rolls her eyes and sighs. "Took it out, locked it up...Blah, blah, blah...." she shoots them a look. "I'm bored of this now...release me"

"Yeah, sure, I'll get right on that" Damon snorts and then turns to Bonnie. "So what do we do here?" he asks. "How do we fix this?" Bonnie sighs and looks at the book in her hand.

"There is nothing we can do to fix it" She counters.

"Artemis locked it away once before" Alaric reminds them. "Can't we do that?"

"There is nothing in here about that" Bonnie admits and holds up her book. "I wouldn't even know where to begin..."

"Where did you get that book?" Alaric asks, she offers it to him.

"My grandmother" Bonnie answers. "She left a note in the front" Alaric opens the book to read the note.

"Keep this, it will be important one day" Alaric reads and raises an eyebrow. "She knew what Diana was"

"She knew what Diana could become" Bonnie defends. "My grandmother told me that I could trust no one as much as I could trust Diana..." Bonnie whispers and shrugs a little. "I don't think she meant this version of her"