chapter thirteen,

As part of her rehabilitation, she was required to walk around with her mother, increasing the distance as she got better. She'd been released from hospital two weeks ago and could now walk up and down her street.

The girl stood with her arms out, Carrie slipping each one into her jacket's sleeves. "Okay, you ready?" she asked. Marian nodded, slowly walking towards the door. In all truth, she was fine. She could run if she really wanted to—although she'd have to stop to take a breath and bite her lip from her abdominal pain—but she quite liked having her mother worry about her.

Her phone buzzed in her hand as the two left their home, beginning their walk to the end of the street and back. She angled it upwards, keeping it from Carrie's view. Marian had begun talking to Jeremy again after he'd visited her in the hospital. They'd had a long discussion, and she'd finally confessed why she was so upset.

"Jer, you know you can tell me anything, right?" she'd prompted, seeing his sad face looking down as he held her hand. It was then that he'd revealed that Bonnie had told him about her crush on him. She'd been horrified at first, but they'd quickly moved past it and gotten back to their usual banter. The idea of her two best friends—her sister and her crush—being a couple still upset her, but she felt better about it.

It was Elena's birthday today, and Jeremy had told her that there was going to be a party for her at the Salvatore Boarding House. His text message was to remind her that he needed her there or he wouldn't last.

"Hey, Mom?" Marian said, looking up from her phone. Carrie hummed. "Do you think I could go to a party tonight?" She saw her mother tense. "It's Elena's birthday, and I want to be there to celebrate with her."

"I don't know," Carrie said. "You only just got out of hospital, and I don't—"

"I'll sit the entire time, and I'm underage so I won't drink. Please?" she rushed.

"Annie..."

"I'll be home by ten," she promised.

"Who'll drive you?" Carrie asked.

"I'm sure Damon will be fine to." She and Damon had become quite close after their conversation in the dream he'd given her while she was still unconscious. He'd spent most of the last week at the Whitman residence, making sure she was okay while Carrie resumed her work.

The woman nodded her head hesitantly. "Okay," she agreed. "As long as he picks you up and brings you home."

Marian smiled brightly. "Thanks Mom, I'll let him know." She lifted her phone, sending a quick message to Jeremy before texting Damon.

Pick me up at 6

Why?

You're my ticket out of house arrest

Do I care?

You shouldn't be going out anyway

She groaned inwardly.

Come on dude

I can't be holed up here forever

It's Elena's birthday let me celebrate with her

They had made it to the end of the street when Damon finally responded. She grinned.

Don't make me regret this

...

Two young teens smiled lazily as Jeremy rolled a joint in his fingers. She'd been under so much stress from everything that'd been happening—her uncles, her friends, her near-death experience—that she needed to let off some steam, and Jeremy had just the thing to help her relax.

"You're such a bad influence on me," she teased as someone sat beside them.

"Where did you get that?" asked Matt.

"Henry from the kitchen sold me a dime," Jeremy said simply as he finished rolling the joint. Matt took it from him and lit it.

Marian snatched it from him, bringing it to her lips and inhaling deeply. She hadn't smoked since the 1970s and it scared her to admit just how much she'd missed it. She'd never tell Jeremy though, or she'd be an even worse influence on him.

"So, what's got you guys on your spiral downward?" Matt asked "Sure it's a lot more interesting than mine."

"I almost died and have abandonment issues," Marian answered, handing the joint to Matt.

"You do not wanna know," said Jeremy at the same time.

Matt took a blow. "How bad can it be? I already know everything else." He offered the joint to Jeremy. "Go for it."

Marian nodded, intrigued. She could tell that something had been bothering Jeremy, but he hadn't seemed to want to talk about it. He leant forward, the others following. "You know I died right? And Bonnie used magic to bring me back to life?"

"Yeah, Elena told me," said Matt.

"The thing is, ever since I came back I've been seeing ... things." He could feel his heart racing; he hadn't told anyone of the ghosts he'd been seeing yet—or at least didn't remember telling them the one time he did.

Marian raised her eyebrow, blowing a puff of smoke into the boy's face. "What kind of things?" she pressed. Jeremy thought for a moment, a shred of doubt flashing through his mind.

"Just, things I shouldn't be seeing."

"Don't be so vague," she complained. "Tell us."

"What's Bonnie say about it?"

Jeremy leant back in his chair, the girl passing him the joint. "Nah, I haven't told her. I haven't told anybody. Just messing with my head is all. I just need to chill out, so this." He held it up to Matt who stood up as Elena and Caroline entered the room.

"Oh ... the stoner den. Buzzkill," Caroline said.

"Hey guys," Matt greeted.

"Matt, hey!" Elena said. Matt moved forward and kissed her on the cheek. "Oh," she let out, surprised.

"Happy Birthday," Matt said.

"Thank you." Jeremy didn't care to look up, instead taking another drag of the joint.

"He hates me," Caroline said as he left. "His hatred of me has driven him to drugs!"

"He doesn't hate you; he hates that he's not with you," Elena tried, looking over to the couch where he'd been sitting. "Is that my brother?" she asked, spotting Jeremy sitting in the chair. Caroline said nothing as Elena handed her her drink and walked over to him, muttering a thank you.

She snatched the joint from Jeremy's hand. "Hey! What the hell?" he groaned.

"What is wrong with you, Jer?" she asked. "You're into drugs again, now?"

"So what if I am?" he defended. "I figured it's no better than you sleeping with Damon Salvatore," he said, taking the joint back from her and taking a long drag.

The doppelgänger looked to Marian, perplexed to see her brother handing the joint to the girl. "You too?"

"I've got issues. Leave me alone," she grumbled.

"Unbelievable," she breathed, walking off.

Jeremy went to steal it from Marian who quickly moved it out of his reach. "Hey!"

"She's right, Jer-bear. Weed is bad for you," Marian teased, poking his nose.

"You're doing it too, Annie," he said pointedly.

She shrugged. "And I'll die and come back to life." She pressed a finger to his chest. "But you? Baby, you'll die and never come back."

...

Damon grumbled endlessly as he drove Marian to Jeremy's house. It had taken him twenty minutes to convince Carrie to let her stay over at his place—he'd told her that Jeremy wasn't in a good place and Marian wanted to look after him—knowing well that she couldn't return home stoned.

"You call me if you need anything, okay?" he stressed as he pulled up in front of the house. "Not your mom, or she'll kill me."

Marian laughed. "You're scared of a thirty-seven-year-old human?" she teased.

"Call me crazy, but I don't particularly like being chastised by someone who's considered one of the nicest people in town." Marian swatted an arm at him, pulling the handle and opening the door.

"Whatever. Come and pick me up in the morning, okay?" he nodded, watching as she made her way to Jeremy's front door and waiting for the boy to answer the door. He was shocked to see Matt there, too.

"Don't stay up too late," he called through the window.

"I won't, Dad," she mocked back as he drove off. "God, he can be so annoying sometimes."

"Don't we know it," Matt agreed. They walked towards the kitchen, where Marian saw a large tub of ice cream and two used spoons sitting on the table.

"Wow, looks like I've missed a lot," she mused.

"We were just talking about how crazy everything's been with this whole vampire stuff," Matt explained. "Don't you wish it could all just go back to normal?"

Marian laughed. "Honey, if things were normal, I wouldn't be as cool as I actually am." She thought for a moment. "Hell, I'd have died a long time ago."

Jeremy frowned. "Does that have something to do with what you said earlier? About you coming back to life?"

"They didn't tell you?" The two boys stared at her blankly. She thought the Salvatore brothers would've told everyone by now. "I can't permanently die."

"Like the ring?" Jeremy asked.

"Kind of," she said, wrinkling her nose. "But when I die, my life cycle starts again."

"You come back as a baby?" Matt asked.

"Got it in one," Marian smiled, lying down on the couch. She was beyond tired; her eyes had been getting heavier and heavier. She remembered this—the sleepiness—from when she used to smoke in the 70s.

"So how old does that make you?" asked Jeremy.

"A thousand years old, give or take a few," she said.

"But that's as old as—"

"Klaus, yeah. We're from the same village." Her eyes slowly closed as the two boys gawked at her. She'd known Klaus all this time and they didn't notice.

"That's ... that's crazy!" said Matt.

"Yeah, well." She yawned. "That's what you get for ... being related to the oldest vampires," she mumbled. "In the world."

Jeremy and Matt looked at each other. "Wait, what?" Jeremy asked, rushing after her. "What did you say?" It was too late; the girl had already fallen asleep.

They stood in silence for a moment. "Alright, I should probably go before Elena and Mr. Saltzman comes home and sees what a bad example I am," Matt laughed, trying to ignore what Marian had just said.

"You sure you can walk?" Jeremy asked him.

"We'll see. Can I take the ice cream with me?" The boy did nothing to stop him as he took the ice cream and started to leave. Then, he stopped, turning back to the younger boy. "What happened in the car, man?"

"Nothing," Jeremy answered.

"Come on, man," he pleaded. "You said, 'Vicki' alright? You said my sister's name. Why? You said you were seeing things?"

"I've been seeing her," the boy revealed.

"I mean, I think I see her all the time, too. It's 'cause I miss her so much, though. You know, like, I want to see her so I do. Look, I know we've got our hands full with all the supernatural stuff in this town, but ... ghosts?"

"Like I said, my head's all messed up." Both smiled at each other before Matt left, leaving Jeremy alone with his thoughts and a sleeping girl who's just told him she was related to the original vampires.

part ii:

tvd s3, e1, ""

wc: