chapter seventeen,

Penny asked excitedly as she, Hannah and Marian walked into the Mystic Falls high school. She'd picked them both up on her way to school, picking Marian up first.

"I can hardly wait," Hannah grumbled. She'd never really been one for schools. According to Penny—who'd made sure to tell Marian before they picked up Hannah—their friend had enjoyed sleeping in until midday almost every day during the holidays.

"Come on, it's our first day back. Have a little excitement," Penny said pointedly. "Besides, I'm sure that this year is going to be totally kick-ass."

Marian leant towards Hannah, whispering into her ear. "That's what she said last year, and look at what happened." The two laughed.

"What?" Penny asked.

"Hm?" Marian hummed.

"Nothing," said Hannah.

They walked together down the main hallway of the school. Carrie had told the girls not to let Marian out of their sight—which was easy given she had every class with at least one of them—meaning they had decided to get to school earlier than usual so that they could all go to each other's lockers together.

As they neared Penny's locker, Marian saw Bonnie and Jeremy. She tensed. Sure, she'd seen them separately and gotten used to the idea of them being together, but that didn't mean that she had grown accustomed to seeing it.

"You think I want any of this?" Jeremy asked. She could hear the agitation in his voice.

Bonnie frowned, looking disappointed. "I, um...I think you have the power to decide whether or not you see them." She sounded hurt. "Remember that. Okay?" Bonnie left them.

"Trouble in paradise," Hannah muttered to the two girls beside her.

"Annie, now's your chance!" Penny urged.

"Shut up," Marian hissed. "He'll hear you." Jeremy's head quickly turned towards them, a small smile covering his sadness.

"Hey," he greeted them, looking more at Marian. "I see your mom let you out of the house for once," he observed.

She laughed. "Yeah, thank God! I thought I'd be stuck there forever." she said. "I'm only here because the doctor said I'm doing really well. I'm just glad he didn't tell Mom about ripping my stitches."

"What!" Penny and Hannah exclaimed.

"Annie and I went to the park yesterday and she fainted," Jeremy lied coolly. She supposed that Damon had told him, otherwise he'd be much more shocked.

"Oh, that reminds me," Marian said. "I found that thing you were looking for on that psycho dude, Mikael." Saying the name sent chills down her spine. Last night, she'd done as much research she could on him, trying to find something that would convince him not to help the others wake him. She reached into her bag, pulling out a small bundle of pages. "1486 Midnight Massacre."

Marian and her family had been in England in 1486 when one night, Mikael had attacked them with no warning. He'd killed countless people that night and been caught the next day, only to escape and disappear for the next two hundred years.

Jeremy took it. "Thanks," he said. "But I already found what I was looking for."

She gulped; Jeremy had found where she'd put Mikael. Penny turned to Hannah and Marian. "Okay, well this is awkward." She stepped forward, beckoning the others to do the same. "Come on, we need to go before the bell rings."

"Actually," a voice said, walking towards them. "I'll take it from here." The two girls and Jeremy frowned.

"No, we need to—" Penny tried.

"I've got her. Go," said Rebekah, looking into Penny's eyes. Then, she turned to Hannah. "Goodbye." She grabbed Marian's arm as her friends left her, pushing past Jeremy.

"Annie—" he called after her.

"Please tell me that's not the boy you like," Rebekah said. "You can do so much better than him."

"Who are you? Uncle Nik?" Marian teased.

"No, but I've been told I'm a fairly good judge when it comes to boys." Marian cursed herself for outwardly admitting that her aunt had a good taste in men. "I need help. I don't know anyone and this place is like a maze."

Marian laughed. "What do you have first?" she asked.

"A.P. History," Rebekah replied. "With Mr. Saltzman."

"Oo," Marian said, pursing her lips. "Most of the gang's in that class."

"Perfect. I'll have a chance to teach them not to mess with me," said Rebekah.

Marian stopped walking. They'd made it to Alaric's classroom. Inside she could see Elena and the others chatting amongst themselves. The bell rang overhead, causing the girl to jump.

"Bekah," she said softly. She was worried for her aunt for a number of reasons: Rebekah had never lived in this century, nor had she ever been to high school; she was hugely outnumbered by Elena and her group, meaning she was almost defenceless if something were to happen; and she had no idea that Jeremy had led them right to Mikael. "I really don't think you should be here."

Rebekah scoffed. "It's a little late for that, Marian." She smiled, turning to enter the classroom when Marian pushed her shoulder back.

"Mikael knows where we are," she whispered, feeling her aunt tense under her grip. Stefan's head tilted upwards, his eyes watching as the two spoke.

"I know," she said. "Nik told me right after he left me alone in this pathetic excuse of a town."

"Then why don't we leave?" Marian suggested. "I've planned it all out. All we need to do is convince my Mom and—"

"Marian," Rebekah said, cutting her off. "He won't come for us. It's Nik he wants, and he's disappeared. We'll be alright, I promise." She hugged her niece tightly.

Marian nodded stiffly, taking a deep breath. "You're right. We'll be okay," she said, though mostly to convince herself that they indeed would be alright. "Um, if you need anything, send me a message and I'll come get you." She stepped away. "You remember how to text, right?"

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Yes, Marian. Now go. You're late," she said, shooing the girl away. "I'll come find you at lunch like we agreed."

...

Rebekah Mikaelson had never met someone as flamboyant as Penny Miller in her thousand years of living. The girl had hardly stopped talking since their lunch hour had begun, asking Rebekah about life in England—where she'd told them she'd recently moved from to live with her father—and telling her all about life in Mystic Falls. In all truth, her gasbagging was quite helpful to the Original, who was learning a lot of new and useful information.

"Oh, and there's a bonfire tonight," Penny added. "You totally have to come. It's, like, tradition."

Rebekah looked over to Marian, utterly confused. Why would they be burning things? "It's just a party where we all get drunk around a bonfire," she explained.

"Yeah, and totally dumb. Remember last year?" Hannah said.

"Oh yeah. I forgot about Vicki Donovan," Jack said. Last year's bonfire night had been terrible due to the feud between Jeremy and Tyler over Vicki. Marian had hated it, calling her mother to pick her up early.

"That won't happen this year," Penny dismissed. "Come on, Rebekah. What do you say?"

The vampire looked at her niece, who nodded. "Yeah, alright."

"Great!" Penny exclaimed.

"Why don't you get ready at mine?" Marian suggested.

"Are you even allowed to go?" asked Jack.

"Mom won't be at home to stop me," she said with a smirk. Rebekah shook her head at how similar it was to her father's. "Besides, the worst she could do is ground me."

"Aren't you the rebel," her aunt mused. "You sound so much like my brother." Marian grinned.

"Since when did you break the rules?" Hannah asked.

"I've always been a rule-breaker," Marian said. "I've just never been caught before."

...

Marian swayed to the music, a bottle of beer Matt had discreetly handed her in her right hand which was high in the air. Her eyes were closed, enjoying the feeling of freedom she felt after four bottles of beer, listening to the loud music that played.

"You shouldn't be here," said a voice in her ear. She groaned, frowning as she opened her eyes.

"Go away, Damon," she said.

"But you know how much I like to party," he responded.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah but here, you look like a creep. You don't even go here," she told him.

"Everyone's too drunk to notice. I could kiss you right now, and I doubt anyone would care."

"But you wouldn't kiss me, right?" Marian asked. Damon frowned at the flirty tone in her voice. She hadn't been like this with him since they'd been engaged. "Because that would be completely and utterly wrong."

"How many drinks have you had?" he asked, trying to pry the cold beer bottle from her hand.

"Not nearly enough to forget all about Mikael," she said, pulling him towards her until they were slowly dancing together.

"You're really scared of him, huh," said Damon.

She nodded. "But Rebekah will protect me." She smiled lazily. "And you will. I know you will."

"And why would I do that?" he mused. He knew he would protect her; he always would, 'till true death did them part.

"Because you still love me as much as I love you."

He shook his head, looking around for her friends. She needed to get home before she passed out and her mother got home. It was close to nine, and Carrie usually would usually be home in half an hour.

"Hannah!" he called, seeing the familiar girl dancing with one of Marian's guy friends. The girl looked up, rushing over after seeing the uncomfortable look on his face. "She needs to get home," he told her.

"Shoot, her mom's going to kill me!" Hannah cursed, transferring Marian's weight from Damon to her. "Jack!" The boy winced at her loud voice; she hadn't realised that he was standing right beside her. "Oh, sorry. You still good to drive?" she asked him.

"Yeah, sure," he said, pulling out his car keys from his back pocket.

"Thanks Damon," Hannah said. "If you see Pen, will you tell her we took Annie home?"

He nodded as the girl smiled at him, starting to move away from the party. "Yep." He felt shocked, Marian's stuck in his head. He didn't still love her, did he?

part ii:

tvd s3, e6, ""

wc: