chapter thirty-three,

said Marian to her phone. She had taught her father how to make video calls before he'd left for Denver as a favour to Klaus. She had no idea what made Klaus think he could ask Kol for favours, after all, Klaus had hardly done anything to help Kol over the years. "Something's not adding up."

Marian had dreamt for the past four nights of the same things: a necklace, a witch, a baby, and her mother. This had surprised both the girl and her father, as she'd never met her mother, nor had she met the boy she'd birthed just before Marian herself. It troubled Kol to no end; if his daughter was right, then his wife's death was not because of blood loss at all. She had been killed, and so had his son. Of course, he didn't tell Marian this. He didn't want her to worry any more than she already did.

"Maybe it's best if you just stopped thinking about it for a while," said Kol. "At least until I get back."

Marian shook her head. "I can't wait that long," she told him. "I haven't slept in days. It's driving me insane!" She groaned. "Why did you have to leave? You don't owe him anything. He has no right to tell you what to do."

"Darling, we've been over this," Kol sighed, not wanting to have this conversation again. They'd argued over this almost every night since he'd announced that he'd be leaving for Denver. She made him promise to not hurt Jeremy if he saw him, which she knew he would since she'd been eavesdropping on Klaus and Rebekah's conversations.

"Then why didn't you take me with you?" she pleaded. "There's still time. Ambrose could drive me up."

"You were still healing when I left, Marian," he said calmly. "I wasn't going to risk you getting hurt because I was feeling selfish. Besides, it can't be so bad living with Nik and Bex."

"They're rarely here, though. I'd rather be with you." Rebekah had been far too busy trying to find the remaining white oak, which Marian would have known nothing about if she hadn't been sneaking around the house. She'd almost been caught several times, but had quickly dodged her questions by complaining about her pain.

It had been one week since Esther had tried to sacrifice Marian and destroy her family, and one week since she'd been reunited with her family.

"Come on, now, Darling," Kol said. "I'd rather be with you, too, believe me. But I have to do this for the sake of our family." Marian sighed with defeat. There was no way that he was going to come back to her until his job was done.

"Promise you'll come straight back when you're done," she said firmly. "And then you'll help me."

"I promise. And you promise not to do anything shupid until I get back."

"I promise."

...

Marian sat beside Ambrose in the small town's church in the middle of the night, eating a punnet of strawberries she'd taken from the fridge before they left. She hadn't been eating much, he'd noticed, nor had she been sleeping properly.

"Remind me why we're here, again," said the boy. He didn't like the thought of being alone in a church so late.

"We're meeting someone," Marian said vaguely, staring at the altar. "A witch. Andrea." She turned to him. "She thinks she knows how to help me with these dreams." She looked up at the statue of Jesus crucified on the cross at the front of the church. "God knows I can't take it anymore."

The dreams, Ambrose thought. He'd never believed that they'd had any true meaning, mostly because he forgot the majority of them before he woke up each morning. He'd heard of recurring dreams and how, if they're bad, they can haunt a person for weeks. And after watching how Marian reacted to her own dream—the one where she watched her mother and brother die—he'd begun to believe that dreams were much more than he'd originally thought.

He wondered if she'd continued to tell Klaus about them, or if she'd kept it quiet. Maybe she'd told Rebekah. After all, from what he'd gathered, Rebekah and Marian told each other most things.

"You know her? This ... Andrea?" Ambrose asked sceptically.

"I haven't seen her in a very long time," she answered distantly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Marian shook her head. "Nothing," she dismissed. "She'll give me what I need."

"And what will she get in return?" he asked.

Marian took a bite from the strawberry in her hands. "Believe it or not, Brody, but I'm kind of a big deal in the supernatural world," she said sassily. "Witches have literally died trying to meet me."

"Meet you or kill you?" Ambrose teased, trying to hide the slight tinge of pink that arose on his cheeks when he realised what she'd called him.

Marian rolled her eyes. "What difference does it make? People are born to be loved and hated. It's what makes things interesting."

Ambrose frowned as he heard the wind chimes that hung from the porch of the pastor's house begin to ring, the sound of the wind getting faster and louder. The candles that lit the inside of the church which Marian had kindled with the flick of her wrist when they'd arrived twenty minutes ago, now flickered, and Ambrose was kidding himself if he didn't make him gulp when one of them blew out completely.

"She's here," Marian whispered, turning to look at him with a worried look on her face. Maybe this was a bad idea, she thought. Maybe she should've done what Klaus had suggested and ask Bonnie for help, which Marian had refused because she still hadn't—and wasn't sure if she could ever—forgiven Bonnie for her part in Esther's sacrifice. No. She couldn't ask Bonnie for help.

Maybe she should've done what Rebekah had told her and wait for Kol to get back from Denver. Her father would know what to do; he'd been running with witches—and fooling around with them too—for a thousand years. Hell, he'd probably even know what the dream meant.

"What's wrong?" Ambrose asked.

"This was a stupid mistake," she muttered. "I can't do this." She was nervous. What if Andrea hated her? "There's still time. We can leave. I can tell her I forgot."

Ambrose shook his head. "You know you can't do that," he told her. "It'll be okay. I'll be here the whole time. If anything goes wrong, I'll be here to protect you."

Marian jumped as she heard the church doors creak open.

"Marian?" A shiver went down her spine as she slowly stood from the pew and turned around.

"Andrea?"

Ambrose stood too as Marian made her way down the isle and towards the woman with greying shoulder-length hair. The two stood still for a moment as they met in the middle, both staring at each other with disbelief as their minds soared with questions. Marian let out a breath of content as she moved forward and hugged the girl.

"Look at you, all grown up," she said happily. Ambrose heard her sniffle softly and he was sure that she was crying. He wondered why she'd suddenly become so worried about meeting this woman if now she seemed so overjoyed.

"I can't believe you're actually here," said the woman. "And you're so... young! Dad told me about how your life works, but I really didn't believe the being-totally-reborn bit."

Marian laughed. "He would never lie, Andrea." She cleared her throat, turning around and walking Andrea towards where she and Ambrose had been sitting before. "This is Ambrose," she introduced him.

"Hi," he said with a small smile and a wave of his hand.

"Hey," said the girl. "I'm Andy."

Marian took a deep breath. "She's my granddaughter," she told him. Ambrose almost choked. He'd heard from Klaus that she'd had many children before, but he'd never really processed it.

"Oh," he said as he scooted beside Marian in the pew.

She turned to the girl who sat on the other side of her, placing her hands energetically on her lap. "So you think that you have something that might help with these dreams," she prompted.

Andy nodded. "One of my friends," she began. "His son's a vet; deals with a lot of supernatural stuff. I overheard them talking about a method to open the subconscious. I did some reading, and this might allow you to see this dream of yours in full." She hesitated. "But you have to be in the in-between."

"You mean she has to pass out?" Ambrose asked.

"No," said Andy. "No, you have to go deeper than that."

"In a state between life and death," Marian said, slowly beginning to understand. She'd have to put herself in such a position that her subconscious is free for her to roam. In life, it was closed off. In death, it was open.

The hybrid shook his head. "Nope. That's not happening," he said quickly, reaching for his phone. It was something Marian had noticed he'd done when she'd done something that could put herself in danger. He was going to tell Klaus.

Instantly, she reached out her hand and flicked it against his phone, sending it flying out of his hand.

"What the hell!" he gasped.

"Nik can't know about this," she told him firmly. "I know he's telling my father whatever I tell him about these dreams, and I can't have him worrying about me any more than he already is. Rebekah too."

"So you threw my phone across the aisle?" he asked incredulously.

"You can either swear to secrecy, or you can leave now. Andy and I can do this without your help."

"Fine," Ambrose said stubbornly.

"Good," Marian said. She turned back around to Andrea who had sat quietly, not wanting to interrupt the two.

It was strange to see her grandmother so lively and—immature, she supposed. The last time she'd seen her grandmother, she'd been nine years old and Marian had been in her sixties. Now, Andrea was in her late sixties and Marian was in her teens. It was unsettling.

"Now, how do you propose we half-kill me?"

They each stiffened as she said it. Marian wasn't too keen on spending weeks bedridden and weak again. She wasn't sure if Kol would be able to handle it either.

Gulping, Andrea spoke up. "They used an ice bath for induced hypothermia," she answered. "Your heart stops for a few minutes, you live through this dream, we pull you out."

"And this vet, he's done it before?"

Andy nodded. "Four times: two wolves, two humans."

"And they all survived? They're okay?"

"They got over it after a while."

Marian looked back at Ambrose, as if she was asking for his approval. He shook his head slightly, trying to plead with her not to do this. Kol would be back from Denver soon, and he was sure to know exactly what these dreams meant, and, if necessary, how to access them. It was far safer than what Andrea was proposing.

"Who wants to go swimming in the lake?"

...

Marian, Andrea, and Ambrose made their way from the church to the lake in the dark. The hybrid stayed behind them as the two caught up, Andy telling Marian all about what she'd done with her life: she was a chemistry teacher at the high school in her town, and she lived peacefully with her husband. Her son, a boy they'd adopted a year into their marriage, had now moved out and was pursuing his own love.

When they made it to the lake, Marian shivered. It had gotten much colder in the recent weeks: winter was on the verge of being here.

"Okay, so what now?" she asked, looking at her granddaughter.

Andrea took a deep breath before she spoke. "Deaton used an ice bath to do it. Are you sure the water's cold enough?"

Marian laughed. "I've died in this lake before. It's cold enough." Ambrose's jaw slackened with shock. How could she be so blunt about her own death?

"Okay." Andy nodded her head. "So you'll lie down in the water, and," she looked up at the hybrid, "if you'll hold her down, that'd be ideal. Once you're in the in-between, I'll guide you through the dream enough to hopefully give you full access to it. You'll only have a couple of minutes before we pull you out again."

"How are you okay with this?" asked Ambrose, staring at Marian with wide eyes. This was insane.

"I haven't slept in almost four days," the girl replied. "I'm desperate." She stepped forward, slipping off the slippers she had on.

Ambrose reached out and took her arm. "And if we don't pull you out in time?"

Marian smiled weakly. "Then you'll be involved in the biggest game of hide-and-seek this world's ever seen." She pulled her arm away, the boy hesitantly following.

"Wait!" Andrea called, rushing forward just as Marian's toes touched the water. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a green crystal, putting it into her grandmother's hands. "Hold onto this. It'll glow when your heart rate is slow enough for us to start."

Marian quickly wrapped her arms around the woman. "I promise—because this is going to work—that I will come and visit you in California soon."

"I'd like that." Andy smiled. "I think Dad would like that too. He talks about you constantly. He used to tell me about all of your adventures when I was a little girl."

"That's my Henri," said Marian. "Loves telling stories. He's just like his father." She looked back at Ambrose. "You ready?"

"No," he admitted.

She nodded stiffly. "Neither am I." Taking a very deep breath, she walked straight into the water, her body tense and left fist clenched around the crystal. "God, it's cold!" she shrieked.

"Okay, Ambrose, I need you to lay her flat for me," instructed Andrea, "and hold her still." The boy did as he was told. "All we have to do now is wait."

okay, don't hate me for taking so long to get this chapter out!! and i know it's not the best, but i've been having the worst writers block and i may have accidentally started a few more new tvd fics whoops. stay safe. keep smiling. don't stop dreaming :)