chapter eight,

She'd been asked to stay behind by their history teacher, Mr. Saltzman. Marian's mind was busy. She'd barely been able to focus in any of her classes, the anticipation of her uncle's arrival making her feel sick.

She'd been trying for the past two days to avoid Jeremy. After their argument at the Grill, she'd been too afraid to speak to him. On Thursday, Bonnie had gone over to Marian's and finally told her about Jeremy. The girl was heartbroken and hurt, but she felt better knowing that Bonnie had told her—but she still couldn't believe that her two best friends had gotten together behind her back and not told her about it.

"You know," Mr. Saltzman began, closing the door after Jeremy had finally left the classroom and turning on his heels, hands in his pockets. "It's taken a long time to find you, Marian." She frowned. "You've been in a lot of places since I last saw you; France, Norway, Australia." He smirked.

"I'm sorry?" she said. She was confused; she hadn't left the United States once in this lifetime ...

"You see, love," he continued. A twinge of fear ran down her spine. She had only ever been called 'love' by one person. "I'm rather anxious to break this curse, but I seem to recall that only a witch of Mikaelson blood can do the spell." He stepped towards her. She immediately shot out of her seat, stepping backwards. She hadn't expected to see him so soon. "Seeing as my mother is dead, I guess you'll have to do." Her eyes went wide, her face paling. It couldn't be.

"This isn't real," she muttered, squeezing her eyes shut. "This isn't real."

"I can assure you that this is very real." She wanted to scream. Scream for Jeremy. For Bonnie. Anyone. She didn't want to be alone with this ... beast. He hurriedly placed a hand on her mouth. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, love. Wouldn't want to be the witch who cried wolf." He chuckled. "Or soon-to-be wolf."

"I won't do it," she said firmly. "I won't help you. Not after you killed me." Klaus had daggered his brother in 1914 after discovering that he was making a dagger that would subdue him. She'd died of a heart attack as a result; she always had heart problems when her father was daggered.

He smiled. "Still so stubborn." Marian glared at him. "He was a threat. Think of yourself as collateral damage."

"You're scared of him, aren't you?" she said. "Because he's crazier and more unpredictable than the great Niklaus Mikaelson."

"He was trying to destroy our family," he argued.

"You're not his family," she scoffed. "You three made a pact and excluded him and Uncle Finn. You pretend that you care about him, but we both know you prefer it when you've stuffed him in a box."

"I see your confidence has grown," he observed.

"And I see you're still the man who thinks that making hybrids will make up for the fact that your own one hates you," she seethed.

He stepped closer, leaning forward. "If I were you, I wouldn't be making threats to the only person who knows the exact whereabouts of your uncles and aunt." He smiled, walking over to the desk to pack away Alaric's things. "I'd be quite happy to keep them where they are, rotting away at the bottom of the Atlantic."

"You bastard," she growled. He stopped, looking up at her dangerously at the insult his father had called him for most of his life.

"If that isn't enough incentive to leave me to go about my business and be of use when I require you to be, then consider your mother's life at stake."

"You wouldn't," she whispered in disbelief.

"On the contrary, I already have my men watching her every move."

"You're lying," she said firmly. He was, but she didn't need to know that. He only smirked wider. "I'll die if I help you. I don't have that much power."

"And you'll come back to life like you always do, love," he said, smiling. "Consider it a small price to pay for the pain you've been over the past thousand years. Now I best be off." He walked to the door. "I look forward to seeing you at the dance tonight."

...

Marian hadn't liked the sixties too much. She'd much preferred the seventies: the music, the Beatles, the parties, the high—though she'd never admit it to Jeremy who would use it as a reason to start smoking again. Yet there she stood, looking at herself in the bathroom mirror dressed in a white cotton turtleneck tank top with a black and white checked skirt.

"You look hot," Penny told her, reapplying her makeup. Her brother, Stan, had taken them both to the dance; Marian refused to go with Jeremy. The two stood together in the nearest bathroom at their school. Marian gave her a tight-lipped smile.

She couldn't help but feel anxious about tonight. Her uncle had possessed the body of her history teacher, someone in Elena's inner circle. She wanted to tell someone, anyone, that he was there, but the price was too great. Carrie Whitman didn't deserve to die, and she was kidding herself if she was going to let her own mother—blood or not—be killed by her uncle.

He was there at the dance. She'd seen him, and he'd seen her. The cruel smirk he'd sent her told her that he was planning something, but she couldn't bear to think of what it was. She just hoped it wouldn't hurt any of her friends.

Marian's eyes darted to Penny's as they heard yelling from outside, travelling through the window close to the ceiling of the bathroom.

"Elena!" It was him.

"What is it?" Elena called back.

"He has Jeremy," Alaric exclaimed.

"What?" This time, it sounded like Bonnie.

"Yeah, Klaus has Jeremy. Come on."

Without uttering a word to her friend, Marian ran off into the hallway to find Stefan and Damon. It was a trap. She pushed through the doors that lead to the gym and searched through the crowd of teenagers to find one of them. Either of them. She didn't care.

"Damon!" she yelled over the music. She gripped tightly onto his arm. "Damon, he's here! He's got Bonnie and Elena!" She didn't give him a chance to reply, instead pulling his arm and taking back the way she'd come.

They found Elena and Bonnie in the hallway.

"What happened?" Damon asked finally.

"Klaus is in Alaric's body," Elena rushed.

"What?"

"He's possessing it or something," Bonnie said. Damon nodded, turning to look at Elena.

"Go find Stefan. Now," he demanded.

"Okay," she said, not moving.

"Now." The doppelgänger left, leaving the three of them alone. Damon looked directly at the older witch. "Can you kill him?"

"What? No. Damon—" Marian tried.

"—He's got some kind of protection spell on him," Bonnie interrupted, ignoring her friend.

"You have the power of a hundred witches. Break it!" he demanded.

"I'm trying!" she argued. "If I kill Alaric, he'll just possess someone else. He knows I have my power, Damon. He's trying to kill me," Bonnie told him.

"No. Klaus does not get to win tonight. No way. You still willing to do whatever it takes to kill him?" He didn't wait for a response as she walked determinedly through the hallway, moving towards the cafeteria.

"Damon, that kind of power will kill her!" Marian exclaimed. "And if it doesn't, he will! Trust me on this."

"Because you know him so well?" Damon challenged, pushing her into the wall behind her.

"He's my uncle, Damon!" She could feel Damon's grip on her shoulders tighten.

"You've chosen now to reveal that you're related to Klaus?" he asked, perplexed.

"You wouldn't trust me if I told you," she explained. "And I can't lose the only people I love to him. Not again."

"Well guess what," Damon said sarcastically. "You're in big trouble when this is over."

"You're not my dad!" she exclaimed.

"No, but as someone who cares about you, I have a duty to keep you safe. I need you to stay out of trouble, okay? Don't make this any harder than it needs to be. We'll talk about your familial relations later."

"No, Damon. Come on," she whined as he walked away. "Let me help."

He turned sharply, pushing her into the wall behind her. "You. Stay here," he said firmly. "Do not move. I'm going to find Stefan."

But she refused to listen. She'd never been one for doing what she was told, something she'd inherited from her father. As soon as Damon had disappeared around the corner, she ran in the direction of the gym, finding Bonnie fighting her uncle with her magic. She'd be damned if she let anything happen to her friend.

Her nose was bleeding furiously, Marian noted. His leg and foot were broken, lying stiffly on the floor.

"Bonnie!" she yelled. "You'll die!" She didn't want Bonnie of all people to die. She'd never felt such a connection with anyone she'd met before. Bonnie wasn't just her friend. She was her sister, and the only person she trusted with her life, aside from Elijah and her father. "Please," she whimpered. She couldn't stand to see the pain Bonnie was going through.

"I have to do this," Bonnie growled. "I have to save Elena." Marian hardly noticed as she locked the gym doors behind the girl, blocking Elena and Stefan from entering.

"Emily, Grams, Ayana, please give her the strength," she muttered. "Don't let her die. Please. I need her. Please!" She hated that she couldn't help Bonnie. And she hated more that it was her uncle they were fighting against.

She looked down, seeing Alaric's body crawling on the floor. She could hear Stefan struggling to open the doors as Bonnie's magic burst the lights. Marian jumped as sparks fell down from the ceiling, burning her exposed arms and legs.

She watched as Bonnie smiled at Elena and her uncle stood to face her. She was scared. She didn't know what was going to happen, and she couldn't do anything.

Suddenly, Bonnie's body jerked backwards before she fell to the floor. "Bonnie!" she screamed. Marian paid no attention to her uncle as she collapsed to the floor, Elena and Stefan, who had managed to open the door, running towards the fallen witch. She sobbed loudly, unable to lift herself.

Bonnie was dead. She was horrified. She couldn't think clearly. She couldn't push herself away as she felt a tight grip on her shoulders before her vision left her and her body fell limp.

"Sweet dreams, love."

part i:

tvd s2, e18 ""

wc: