chapter thirty-five

Rebekah said frustratedly as she stood in front of her niece. "What are you doing out here? It's three in the bloody morning!"

Marian looked up at her aunt with a frightened look on her face, gagging as her eyes glanced at the heart that sat in her right hand. "When did you get here?" Marian asked. She hadn't seen her there before, nor had she heard her.

"I followed you here," Rebekah said, as if it was obvious. "Didn't you hear me calling you?"

"There was this blue light," Marian spluttered. "Right..." She turned and pointed to the ground it had sunk beneath. "There."

Rebekah sighed. "How many times have I told you that you don't have to follow something just because something's pretty," she said pointedly.

"I swear, Bekah," Marian stressed. "I couldn't look away from it. It was like I...it was like some sort of spell."

"And you didn't think to tell someone that you were leaving, hours after you almost drowned yourself and got us all killed?"

Marian looked down. She'd forgotten that they were all still linked. "I'm sorry."

"You could've died," she continued.

"I know."

"And we would've had to have spent the next hundred years finding you." She nodded, closing her eyes.

"I just wanted the nightmares to stop," the girl whispered.

Rebekah moved forward, Marian wincing as she dropped Finn's heart on the ground, and used her left hand to hug her tightly. "I'm just trying to look out for you, Marian," she said softly. "You're not safe out here by yourself. Especially with my mother and stupid bloody bastard of a brother are running loose."

The girl felt tears well in her eyes. She was so overwhelmed with everything that had happened in the last week: Kol had left, she hadn't slept in days, she'd seen her granddaughter for the first time in fifty years, she'd almost died—twice, now—she'd watched as her mother and brother had been killed by her uncle, and she'd discovered that her grandmother had taken her magic from her.

She knew she should've waited for Kol to get back to figure out what her nightmares meant, but she couldn't help herself. The thought of a peaceful sleep was too desirable to her, and if she hadn't asked Andrea for help and waited for Kol, she was sure she would've gone insane.

"I can't take it anymore, Bekah," she cried, her bottom lip curling as she squeezed her eyes shut. "It's all too much. I didn't choose for things to be like this. Why can't I just have a normal life?"

Rebekah held her niece tighter and kissed the top of her head. "You're going to be okay, Marian, I promise."

"You can't promise that," Marian argued. "No one can."

"Why do you think that?" Rebekah asked.

"Because everyone I love ends up trying to kill me," Marian answered, making her aunt frown. "Nik's killed me a dozen times, Elijah too," she continued. "Mikael just loved hunting me down and using me as a warning." She gulped. "Bonnie helped Esther and Finn. Damon kept me distracted to use as a sacrifice."

"What about your friends? Penny, Hannah, Jack... they'd never hurt you," Rebekah tried.

"They don't count. They're not supernatural."

"What about Kol? What about me?"

"Kol's my father, and you're like my mother," the girl told her aunt. Rebekah froze. Marian had never told her that before.

"My parents have been trying to kill me for a thousand years," Rebekah pointed out.

There was a pregnant pause. Rebekah worried that she'd said something wrong. "Did you know that Finn killed them?" she asked. "My real mother, and my brother?"

The vampire went rigid. "What do you mean?"

"When I was in the lake," Marian began. "I watched as she gave birth. Runa. You were there, holding her." Marian gupled; it was the first time she'd ever said her mother's name. Kol had never spoken much about her mother. In fact, it was Rebekah and Elijah who told her the most things, like what she looked like. One time, Elijah had even told her about how both Niklaus and Kol were in love with her, and their brotherhood was severed when she made a decision between the two.

"She had..." she struggled to say his name. "Aldrick... first." Rebekah tensed hearing the name of her nephew. Kol had forbidden his siblings from saying his name for a thousand years. It broke him to know that his firstborn and only son had died.

"And then he... he killed them." She could feel herself begin to cry again. This was all far too much for her. "I thought it was Esther, but it was him." Her eyes darted down to Finn's dead body. His skin was grey, veins protruding and pushing against the surface. The cruel part of her wished he'd never wake up. "He... he suffocated them. With his magic."

Rebekah closed her eyes tightly, a weighty tear falling down her cheek at the thought of Kol's wife and child dying. Placing a hand firmly on the back of her head, she willed herself to see inside of her mind. She understood, in that moment, why Marian had done what she'd done, seeing images of Esther holding the baby Marian's hands up to Runa's necklace. Rebekah was immediately angry.

"She took my magic," Marian continued softly. Her body began to shake as she cried. "They said I was dangerous. How am I dangerous?"

Rebekah inhaled sharply before responding, trying to clear his head to speak clearly and softly. She wondered if she should wait for Kol to tell her himself, but she could see that Marian's desperation for the truth was eating her alive. "Runa practiced a type of magic that my mother didn't approve of. A dark kind of magic."

"You mean she was a witch?" asked the girl.

"I suppose Mother and Finn believed that you would inherit her bad habits." She wondered too, just as Marian did, why they didn't kill Marian as well. "I promise you, Marian, that I will do whatever I can to get your magic back."

"I don't want to be weak anymore," she whispered.

"Oh my darling, you're so much stronger than you think." Rebekah held tightly onto Marian. The girl had been through an unthinkable amount of pain and torture in her thousand years of living. "Do you think Kol knows where the necklace is?" she asked. She'd seen, when she went into Marian's mind, that the necklace was the key to getting her magic back.

"We can't tell him," Marian rushed, "He won't understand. He'll just worry that I won't be able to handle it, but I can. I know I can." Besides, she thought, even if I die, I'll come back to life with my magic returned. "Nik will know where it is," she said with surety.

"Okay," the vampire nodded. "I'll deal with Nik, but it'll take some time. I suggest you get some sleep."

"But—"

"Marian, it's three in the morning," Rebekah told her pointedly. "Even the almighty Original Hybrid is asleep. And I know you haven't slept in four days." Klaus had relayed everything that Ambrose had told him to Kol and herself.

"I can't," Marian whispered forcefully. She couldn't let herself go to sleep, not when she was this close to getting her magic back.

"Then you leave me no choice," Rebakah said sadly. She placed a firm grip on her niece's shoulders to keep her from moving away.

"No," Marian breathed. "Please."

"Sleep." Rebekah held on tightly as Marian's body fell limp in her arms. The vampire sighed heavily, planting another kiss on her niece's head, before she sped them both back home where Klaus waited anxiously for their return.

"What happened?" he demanded, his eyes darting from his sister to the sleeping girl in her arms. In an instant, she'd sped up the stairs and laid Marian on her bed, and sped back in front of Klaus.

"You were with Kol when he buried Runa's things?" Rebekah asked bluntly, catching him off guard. He nodded silently. "Did he bury the necklace?" He nodded again. "I need you to get it. Her grimoire too."

Klaus frowned. "Why?"

"Because our mother's finding new ways of luring our mortal niece to her death." She explained what Marian had told her about the blue light and how she'd been confronted by Finn who by now was no doubt regaining consciousness.

"I'll kill her," Klaus growled.

"You've already killed her once. She'll expect that," Rebekah told him.

"Fine. You kill her, then," he continued. Truthfully, the possibility that he could be killed by his own mother at any time irked him. He was anxious to be rid of her.

Rebekah shook her head. "Marian will."

"Marian? That's why you want the necklace?" asked Klaus, thinking back to what Marian had told him she'd seen in the lake.

"She'll be as strong as Mother," said Rebekah as she reached for her phone and held it in her hand. "Get the necklace and bring it back here."

"Where are you going?"

"To blackmail a witch and torture a lover."

...

Bonnie Bennett had never expected to see Rebekah Mikaelson standing on her front porch in the late afternoon. She'd only been home for a couple of minutes, sitting in silence as she realised that Abby had left her again, when the doorbell had rung.

"What are you doing here?" she asked after a moment of shock.

"I need a witch," the vampire told her.

The Bennett girl scoffed. "If I had a dollar—"

"Please," Rebekah interrupted, sighing. "For Marian's sake."

Bonnie frowned. "What's wrong with Marian?"

"She thinks she's found a way to get her magic back," the vampire told her.

The witch blinked. "I thought her magic was just weak."

"So did we until about twelve hours ago."

"Why do you need me?" asked Bonnie.

"We need a witch to break the spell."

"It doesn't work like that," she told Rebekah. "Only the witch who cast the spell can—"

"Not this one," the vampire interrupted. "It's old and flawed, there's bound to be a loophole." She smiled. "Why don't we talk about this inside, hm?"

"I'm not going to let you inside," Bonnie said sternly.

Rebekah scoffed. "It's funny how you refuse to let me into your little home when you had no problem letting my psychopathic brother in."

"I don't know what you're talking about," the witch denied.

"Kol's always fancied witches. It doesn't surprise me that he's added you to the list."

Bonnie huffed and moved back to close the door. "If you're just going to insult me—"

Rebekah sighed. "Look," she said. "If you do this for us—for Marian—I'll tell Nik to keep his distance from you."

Bonnie opened her door again. "Fine," she said after a moment. "But I'm only doing this for Annie." She watched as the corners of Rebekah's lips curled slightly upwards.

"The spell will be in the witch Ayanna's grimoire somewhere. She used to document everything. It'll probably be a tattered old thing."

Bonnie knew exactly which grimoire it was. In their few interactions, Kol had found it and told Bonnie stories about her ancestor who, just as Bonnie did now, tried her best to keep Marian safe from vampires.

The witch left Rebekah standing on her front porch as she went to find it. "Where are you going?" the vampire called out. Bonnie didn't reply, grabbing the book and slowly returning to the front door. Rebekah was surprised to see that she already had her phone in her hand.

"Let's go," said the witch.

Rebekah raised her eyebrows. "You actually want to do this?"

"I hurt her. This is the least I can do for her."

Bonnie took the keys from the wall beside the door and stepped outside, cautiously looking at the Original before she locked her front door and followed her to her car. She sat in the passenger seat.

"Esther told me that the sacrifice wouldn't hurt her," Bonnie said suddenly, surprising Rebekah. "I thought she was going to be okay."

Rebekah looked up at her, pausing before she spoke. "She told me all about your friendship when I was undaggered, Bonnie. She'll forgive you."

"I almost killed you. I almost killed her. My best friend," the witch continued. "She was like a sister to me."

"Funny thing, that. Family," said the vampire. "My brother has killed his own niece a dozen times—apparently, he's the reason she died in 1994—and yet I've never seen them closer than they are now."

"You really think she'll forgive me?"

"I think she'd do anything for you, Bonnie Bennett," Rebekah told her, starting the car and driving away from Bonnie's house.

The two stayed quiet until they reached the Mikaelson mansion, where Rebekah told Bonnie to go inside and wait for her. The vampire claimed she had some business she had to tend to, and Bonnie had a sneaking suspicion that it had to do with the occasional banging sound that came from the boot of the car.

"Bonnie!" The witch looked up and gulped. Klaus stalked towards her. "How nice of you to stop by."

"I'm here for Annie," she said clearly.

"Ah, yes." The Hybrid clasped his hands together as he grinned. "But, you see, you'll have to unlink us before you do anything. Can't have Marian's lack of luck kill us all."

"Her magic won't kill her," Bonnie told him.

"I like to exercise caution when it comes to my niece," Klaus said. He was right, bad luck seemed to follow her wherever she went.

Bonnie thought for a moment, before saying strongly, "Give me the necklace and I'll do it."

Klaus scoffed. "You're in no position to make demands, love."

"Where is it?" She asked firmly, holding her hand out to him.

"How do I know you won't destroy it as soon as I give it to you?" he questioned.

"I wouldn't do that to her," Bonnie said.

Klaus smirked. "Now that does surprise me, since you tried to kill her a week ago."

"Esther told me she would be safe."

"And you trusted the mother of a family that has done nothing but hurt you." He shook his head tauntingly, pulling out his phone. "I thought you were smarter than that." Klaus brought the phone up to his ear. "Kol. How's the weather up there in Mile High City?"

Bonnie's ears perked up when she heard the name of the Original. "And how's our friend? May I see him?" Klaus walked up to her and held his phone in front of her.

She gulped.

"There's Jeremy, playing fetch with his new puppy. Oh, isn't that just the most adorable thing you've ever seen?" He put his phone back to his ear. "Thank you Kol, we'll be in touch."

He grinned at the witch. "So, Bonnie, how 'bout that spell?

Bonnie huffed frustratedly, but before she could answer him, she heard a pained cry. It sounded similar to what she'd heard in Rebekah's car. "What was that?"

"I wouldn't let it bother you, love," Klaus told her.

"Well, it does bother me," she said strongly. "You bother me. Well, you use people to get what you want, it's not right."

"You're being emotional, Bonnie. I understand that things have been rough for you. You know, with your mother leaving. Again." She tensed. "It's very sad. I can help you find her, if you want. I have people who can find people who can bring her back to you. Or, if you choose I can just bring parts of her back.

Bonnie pushed the Hybrid away from her. "Isn't it obvious that I'm just gonna continue to hurt the people you love until you do the spell? Now, I know it's in the grimoire and I know it requires the blood of my siblings, so here we are."

Opening a case he'd brought into the room, he pointed to the four bottles of blood inside of it. "Elijah. Rebekah. Kol. Finn." He bit his hand and clenched it into a fist, blood dripping from it. "Where do you want this?"

"What about Marian's blood?" she asked. Maybe if she could unlink her friend from Kol, they could finally be rid of the Originals once and for all.

"The curse placed on Marian is not one that can be reversed without great consequences." His voice sounded distant, as if they'd tried it before.

Bonnie looked away and grabbed a glass, holding it under Klaus' hand. Without a word, she poured each of the vials into the cup, mixing them until they were combined. Klaus tried not to grimace as she poured the blood onto his expensive table.

She began to mumble, chanting the spell to unlink them quietly. The flames beside them flared up. Klaus watched as the pool of blood began to split in five directions.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" he taunted.

"I can just as easily reverse it," she threatened.

"There's no need to be hostile."

"Where's the necklace," Bonnie asked again.

"Rebekah!" Klaus called, not taking his eyes away from the witch. She appeared next to him.

"What?" the vampire demanded.

"Bonnie's unlinked us," her brother said. "And now it's time to return the magic that our mother stole."

...

Bonnie had never been to the Mikaelsons' home, and as she looked around Marian's room, she was left in awe. She sat on the edge of her friend's, smiling at how peaceful her best friend looked, despite everything that had happened to her. Bonnie wished she could give Marian her innocence back, and take her back to what her life was like before the Salvatores had arrived in Mystic Falls. They'd both been happy then.

She watched as Klaus pulled a box from his back pocket and opened it, lifting a beautiful necklace with an orange crystal inside from it. He explained that he and Kol had kept it away in a box that only they could open; it was the last remaining piece of the woman they both had loved. Klaus went to hand it to the witch when Rebekah spoke up.

"We should tell Kol. He'll hate us if he finds out"

"You say that like he doesn't already hate us, little sister," Klaus told her.

"He only acts out because it's the only way we pay attention to him," she told the Hybrid. "He's our brother!"

"Bonnie?" The room fell silent as the three of them looked at Marian.

Bonnie smiled awkwardly. "Hey."

"What are you doing here?"

Bonnie reached beside her and took the necklace from Klaus' outstretched hand. "I'm here to help."

"So now you want to help me?" The bitterness in her voice shocked all of them, the girl included. Bonnie—her chosen sister—had betrayed her trust, and she was kidding herself if she didn't believe at first that she'd tried to kill her knowingly. But, as time progressed, Marian had realised that Bonnie would never intentionally do anything to hurt her, and, if Marian were in her position, she'd probably have done the same thing.

"Look, Annie," Bonnie began, looking down. "I'm so sorry about what I did," she apologised. "But Klaus and Rebekah and Elijah have hurt me and my friends so much, and... Esther, she... she told me that it wouldn't affect you. She told me you wouldn't die—"

"You betrayed my trust, and that's gonna take some time to heal," Marian told her. "But if it does, I'd really like to be your friend again."

Bonnie smiled. "I'd like that, too."

Klaus and Rebekah looked at each other. They knew how much Bonnie's actions had hurt their niece.

"Are you ready?"

Marian looked up at her uncle and aunt. She wondered for a moment whether she should call her father—he'd be so angry at her for. "Don't you dare let me die, Bonnie Bennett."