Kai could hear them murmuring a floor above him. He wondered when they'd quit their yammering and, in light of the roaring fire he'd passed on the way down, contemplated setting the house aflame with them in it just to get a little peace and quiet.

The Salvatore household was a busy one in the real world and Kai, despite his time in the present and then locked away with the heretics, hadn't yet gotten used to the constant sound of voices in use that didn't sound like his own. Truth be told, for all of his spying on Bonnie and Damon in 1994, he tried to stay away when the arguments began, preferring to instead play spectator to their quiet moments, as if watching an ever-changing silent movie. Their silence was golden when they could muster to be in the same room together without bickering; and after so long alone, their interactions were fascinating

But at this moment in time, he could have done without the presence of others in the house. He sighed, turning to Lily, and filling her in on the rest of his plan. The details were simple and with the help of the heretics, who, in their old age, he'd found were sticklers about being incredibly precise, all was set. They'd helped with the spell and alternative scenarios, and they'd described, at length, the extent to which Lily would go to save them. They had complete, steadfast confidence in her abilities, and it was finally time to find out if their trust had been well placed.

Their conversation was terse and short, made a hectic whisper due to the unexpected closing of the door above, and the soft steps making their way down the stairs. With a nod, Kai disappeared in front of wide, blue eyes. "What is it that you want, Lily, dear?" he softly questioned, watching her hide in the shadows.

"I want my family back. That's all I ever wanted. To have my family back with me, where they belong."

Kai watched Bonnie move closer to the cell in which Lily was kept. Breath quiet, he held it in the back of his throat, enthralled by what would take place. He froze at the sound of her voice as she examined the scene, looking into the cell and releasing a light, "What?"

He wanted this, and waited, as silent as he'd told Lily to be. And as Bonnie turned, fast as lightning shot Lily's hand, grasping her throat. Bonnie's gasp made a thud against his skull and he slid back against the room wall, quivering as he slid to the floor. It was almost too much for him… so much so that he'd have watched the very life leave her body right then and there if Lily could manage it.

Even so, the moment was over too quickly for his liking.

A silent snarl crossed his face when she escaped and turned to stare in horror at a gaunt, famished Lily. He wanted to catch her and make his presence known. He wanted to feel the cold sweat of her fear make her skin clammy against his palm. He wanted the feeling of her hair against the skin of his cheek again. But if being locked in 1994 had taught him anything, it was that patience is most definitely a virtue. So he kept his seat, eyes narrowing as they followed Bonnie up the stairs.

One of the many traps had been sprung but the mouse escaped.

He vowed it wouldn't happen again.

Hand over the door, Kai's words made its lock unhinge.

Arm moved to the side, and the door swung open.

By then, Kai could already feel the blood dripping from his chin.

Lily had both freedom and an address in exchange for her blood, and wasted no time leaving the premises. Kai watched her depart, but a mere blur, once there and then gone, and let his finger follow the trail of blood on his face upward. It was sucked clean before he reached down, dipping to the floor to pick up the camcorder and press REC.

Video made, the camcorder was in place in the kitchen, note attached. Kai was in the large, Salvatore pantry, filled to the hilt with the butcher knife that nestled deep into his abdomen, just below his ribs. Only needing the rest of his family alive for a few hours more, he'd said his incantations and drank his witch's brew, beforehand, having successfully separated his family line from his body using the grimoire he'd found in Sheila Bennett's house in 1994. Those Bennetts, he mused appreciatively, have far more trump cards up their sleeves than people give them credit for.

Kai grinned. "Though not for much longer." He pulled the knife from his body slowly, hissing at the pain, which invaded his senses almost as strongly as the hunger of transition did. Parched and swallowing, he exited the space, moving into the kitchen's openness and steadying himself against the counter, trying to ease his eyes into their new abilities.

And once again, he heard the steps before he saw the feet making them. To his surprise, however, this time, more than one person was making their way into the house. Shifting his hands, he whispered, making himself silent and invisible as he moved toward the noise. He recognized Bonnie, but hadn't a clue who the guy was. Peering closer, he didn't look as if he resembled the Damon. On the contrary, Kai thought he looked closer to the dumb jocks in old after-school specials, and had to hold back a laugh to keep from losing focus.

"She's going to kill us…." Bonnie exclaimed.

"I thought the whole point was so that we're in control of her," he responded.

"Not Lily. Caroline…"

Kai tuned the two out, spying the weapon firmly grasped in the male's hand. Equipped with a stake, it was clearly intended for use to either kill or incapacitate Lily. Kai figured he'd do them one better and circled around the two once they made it down the stairs. Their surprise was as he expected.

"Bonnie…." the joke of a jock called. And moving forward to take in the scene, Bonnie responded worriedly.

"Enzo must have let her out. We have to warn everyone…"

With her back to the two, Bonnie took out her phone as Kai wrapped his fingers around Matt's neck. Squeezing tightly, in that moment, he didn't care who he was. All he cared about was the feeling of his pulse against his skin, the rush of blood through his veins and the way it made Kai's stomach lurch, screaming at him in hunger. Kai growled, letting the irritability of a long overdue meal make him squeeze harder, until the weapon dropped and the sound of his breathlessness attracted Bonnie's attention.

She turned, looking for the source of his affliction but seeing nothing. She was only capable of calling for him. "Matt," Kai acknowledged silently. So that was was his name. He liked him better without one. A nameless face, suffocating beneath the pressure of Kai's newfound power, and unable to do anything about it to stop him. He reveled in his position, letting the breathless body drop before turning to Bonnie.

The method was the same but the anger behind it much more profound than it had been before. He could only see her for the pain she'd caused him with her stupid tears and her insufferable need to do the right thing, even in the face of a sociopath hellbent on her destruction. Or a reformed one intent on apologizing, for that matter. She grasped at invisible hands, trying to undo the vice-like grip around her neck before sinking to her knees and curling over, fingers twitching in their desire to press upon something to stop the assault but finding themselves unsuccessful.

Kai released her in time, lowering closer to her. Sitting down, he played the same game he'd played in 1994 and most recently, via camcorder – he was the cat and she, his mouse. And he'd do with her what he pleased. "Now I kinda just want to make you suffer in new and, if I may say so myself, totally inspiring ways," he remembered saying, as he moved even closer to her, running his nose against her own. Her breath was soft against his lips; barely there, but there nonetheless. She wasn't dead yet. But she could be… would be if he willed it.

Kai was no stranger to torture. He'd fantasized about doing it to family members for years. He'd even tried out a few things on Elena – boiled her blood, snapped her neck a few times, scribbled his K on her ever-healing cheek. He'd enjoyed it, but she was no prize and her healing abilities made her matter even less.

But Bonnie was human, and dare he acknowledge it, the fact that she'd heal slowly excited him all the more. He gently wrote his name into her wrist, all three letters marring her skin with small pools of blood instead of the one letter he knew would remove itself from Elena's skin as if he were never there. He wanted to keep Bonnie, he realized; to fully make her his. And with her, he'd take his time. Conscience be damned.

He'd sip her slowly and savor her like expensive wine, he decided, catching her hand, and pressing his lips against her wrist. Breaking the skin against the vein and above his name, the thickness of her blood made his stomach release a deep, grinding growl in response, causing wide eyes as his view was set aglow.

He sat back a bit, blinking at the sight before looking down to see Bonnie's pulse highlighted against the skin of her neck to the point that he could have sworn he could see the shimmering ribbons of veins settled throughout the length of her. He drank slowly, focusing on her in a way he'd never done previously and stared, his ears tuning in to the specific frequency of her skin and heartbeat.

Slowly, Kai's gaze glazed over as her body called out to him, lulling him to and fro within the waves of its tone and tempo, rocking him as gently as a newborn until it filled the very inside of his body to the brim with the vibration of its cadence.

By the time Kai came to, it felt as if hours had passed; although glancing at his watch, he found it'd only been a few minutes, if that. He could barely remember the hunger, and was now preoccupied, realizing that his mind had been the clearest he'd ever remembered it being. As if he'd been incapable of breathing a full breath of air for years, only to suddenly, finally have the ability to do so.

And looking down at Bonnie, he gasped softly to see that she was still glowing, but this time, as a full body. Separate from anything else in the room, she alone glowed and, his spirit sang, she glowed for him alone, the brightest of stars in his sky. He could feel it whisper to him, humming against his very being, that she was there to give him direction and lead him home. She would die no death on this day, nor any other day if he could help it; such was the thought that, to his surprise, he found he couldn't help.

Shivering at the depth of feeling coursing through him, Kai could only cradle her, stroking her cheek, before slowly, gently, resting her head against the floor. Trailing behind, his thumb feathered across her forehead and down against the length of her jaw. When at her chin, he had to stop himself, bitten lip and all, from pressing the tips of his fingers against the curve of her mouth.

Instead, he left quickly, eventually walking down the streets of Mystic Falls, headed for the nearest store. He planned to dress to impress tonight, as it was time to finally play the hand he'd been dealt. But even amidst the thirst for bloodshed and vengeance, Bonnie was still there, in the back of his thoughts and throbbing against his consciousness. He swallowed back the emotions he'd scarcely ever felt while human and could barely handle heightened as a newborn vampire.

Kai tried to overcome them by forcing his thoughts elsewhere, but doing so took him back to that morning –

After visiting Lily to give her word of the group's arrival to the present time, he'd tracked down Bonnie, happy to have found her exactly where he imagined she'd be – not home or at her grandmother's but back at the college dormitory. For the moment, he was glad he'd spent so much time learning about her during his remorseful phase, when she was still stuck in 1994. Quickly catching himself, however, he'd shuddered, shrugging off those memories like a tattered jacket. He didn't want to feel that way again. Didn't like the fact that even after trying to make things up to Josette and Olivia, their acceptance of his words didn't stop the pain; that Bonnie's unlawful and long-term imprisonment in that hellhole of a bizarro world used to keep him up at night in heart-tugging agony. No, the last thing he'd wanted was to feel that way again. Not when he was so close to accomplishing his goals.

He'd chosen then to whisper into her ear, hands motionless against her temples. His words, laced with malice, weaved into her thoughts a dream he wanted to leave her breathless and awake, gasping for relief. He teased her with words detailing his anger and warning her that, with his help, she'd no longer continue screwing over others and thinking she could get away with it.

But weightless and invisible, he purposely ignored the fact that he'd slipped into bed with her despite not having to do so; ignored the way his nose nestled against her skin and his lips pressed against her earlobe, even as his skin tingled and he reminisced about the time he'd caught her and they'd shared a moment in quite a similar position in the past. He could even recall the scent of her hair then and noted how it'd changed, amazingly more irresistible than before. He'd closed his eyes, remembering the feeling his breath on her cheek in an effort to ignore the very real fact that this early morning warning was unnecessary. After all, she'd be dead by nightfall like the rest of them.

Yet he couldn't decide at the time if he'd done it to frighten her or warn her.
But now he knew, realizing his body and heart had known long before his mind would let him admit it.

Despite his newly acquired physical status, Kai thought he could feel his heart beat, thumping to the rhythm of the butterfly's wings fluttering around in his stomach. He felt that remorse again, having also felt it that morning as he left the warmth of her bed and again in the cellar. Apologetically, he'd whispered a spell over the two, taking care to include the blonde, in hopes of giving Bonnie less to be upset at him over.

He made sure they'd sleep in peace and out of the danger to come, as he had a part to play and he intended to do it well. In the quiet darkness of that room, he promised he'd fool them all at the wedding and would return to hear the song her heart played for him again; the one he couldn't begin to figure out how to get out of his head. The one he couldn't figure out how to begin wanting to get out of his head.

The plan would change. It'd have to change. Because although he wanted no more than to watch the world burn, and drip with blood, he now wanted nothing more than for her to be there with him, watching it all happen.

She was his north star – his highest of standards.
And in time, he imagined, she'd be his moral compass.

...But not tonight.
Tonight, he had a wedding to crash.

Author's Note: Hi guys :) Didn't get a chance to do a thorough edit; will do so later today, so bear with me. (Edit, all done... I think!)

This is a bit of a companion piece or prequel to "Heartbeat Song" (HS) as it describes what happened before Matt and Bonnie are attacked. Kai's a bit more demented in this – conflicting emotions and all as a human, before the Kai we see in HS. Enjoy! And thanks so much for all the kind favs, follows and reviews of HS. I'm considering continuing it so the reviews are very much appreciated!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. No copyright infringement intended.