chapter three,

She looked down at their joined hands as they made their way out of the school together feeling nothing but glee. She knew, of course, that this meant nothing to him; they'd made a silent pact that required them to never be anything but platonically engaged. Still, she couldn't stop the intoxicating dream of them being more than just friends playing in her head.

Looking to her right, she saw Bonnie and Luka—a new student who Bonnie claimed to be a warlock—sitting on a bench, leaves flying around them. She saw Jeremy look there too, feeling his hand tighten slightly around hers as he caught a glimpse of the two together. He pulled her hand forward as he veered to the right, headed straight for them.

"Jeremy—" Marian yelped.

"What's with that weather, huh?" Jeremy asked as he reached them. Luka looked up at him, a smile on his face.

"It's global warming, man. I don't know," he answered. Marian laughed.

"Amen to that," she said. "Climate change is fucked up." Jeremy's head snapped to face her. She blushed, realising she'd never sworn in front of her friends before. She was too young according to her uncle, and it was improper for a lady to swear.

Luka only laughed. "You're Marian, right?" She frowned, unsure of how he knew who she was. She'd never met him before. "Bonnie talks about you all the time," he explained. She smiled with embarrassment. He suddenly stood up from the bench. "I got to go. See you later, Bonnie. It was nice meeting you, Marian," he said.

"Bye, Luka," said Bonnie, smiling as he picked up his backpack from the ground.

"Bye."

"The guy is weird, huh?" Jeremy said as the boy left. Marian nudged him, giving him a displeased look..

"No, he's not," Bonnie argued.

"Hey, what's that?" Marian asked, pointing to something in Bonnie's hands. She looked down, noticing that Luka's dog tags were still in them. She looked up to call after him but stopped when her phone went off. Taking it out of her pocket, she read the message that had come through.

"What is it?" Jeremy asked as Bonnie frowned.

"It's Damon," she said.

Marian frowned. "What does he want?" she said. Bonnie looked up at her, hearing a slight hiss in her words. She ignored it.

"It's about Katherine." A shiver ran down Marian's spine. "She had the moonstone." The girl's heart stopped beating, dread making her tense. Katherine always had an ulterior motive, and if she'd come to find Elena with the moonstone in her possession, she was going to try and break the mythical sun and moon curse.

If Elijah was trying to take Elena away—or so she'd been told by Bonnie; the man was stubborn when it came to revealing plans—it wouldn't be for the hell of it. She gulped, realising that this surely had something to do with her uncle. Niklaus.

...

Marian looked around in awe at the new Salvatore Boarding House. It had been built long after she'd died in Mystic Falls in 1864. She and her brother—of that lifetime—had been travelling throughout the towns of Virginia, selling fabric to those who could afford it. That was how she'd met the Salvatore brothers; they were regular buyers of the fine materials she sold. She hadn't been to Mystic Falls since.

She froze upon seeing Damon who looked at her with a fake smile. The girl could see that he felt just as annoyed to see her there as she was.

"Marian," Stefan said, surprised to see her there. She smiled faintly at him, sitting down on the couch as he continued speaking. "Katherine has the moonstone."

"What's that for?" Jeremy asked.

"Klaus needs it to break the sun and moon curse," Damon said.

"Who?" Marian gasped, hoping she hadn't heard him correctly. Surely Elijah would've told her about this.

"The oldest vampire. Keep up, pretty girl," he said, rolling his eyes. Marian glared at him, hating how her old nickname rolled off his tongue so easily.

"So?" Bonnie asked. "If it's with Katherine, no one can get to it. It's safe; there's a barrier spell around it. No vampire can get out if they go in."

"If we de-spell it, Elena's safe," said Stefan.

Bonnie thought for a moment. "I might be able to lower the tomb spell long enough for you to get in there and grab the moonstone from Katherine," she said.

Marian shook her head. "No."

"How?" Jeremy scoffed. "It took both you and your Grams last time, and look what happened to her."

Bonnie huffed. "I'm well aware of what happened. I've learned a few new things."

"Bonnie..." Jeremy tried. She ignored him.

"How will you get it?" she asked, looking at Stefan.

"She hasn't been feeding. She's weaker. We're not," he answered. Damon raised a glass of blood to her.

"You wouldn't be underestimating her, would you?" Marian asked skeptically. Katherine had a reputation of doing whatever she needed to survive.

"It's a plan. Is it perfect?" Damon scoffed. "What plan is?"

Jeremy piped up. "Let me do it," he said. "I've got my ring. I can get in, get out, no spells necessary."

"Gee, thanks, you sixteen-year-old child. Why didn't we think about that?" Damon quipped. "Why are you even here?"

"You haven't changed one bit," Marian muttered under her breath angrily. His eyes snapped to her.

"Maybe I can help better the plan," Bonnie suggested. "Do you have anything that belongs to Katherine?"

Damon looked to Stefan expectantly. "Brother?"

He sighed, turning and walking towards the staircase. "I'll be right back."

"Yes, do hurry," Damon called after him. "I don't want to be stuck here with a moody witch, a useless kid and a whore."

"What did you say?" Marian growled.

Damon stepped towards her. "I called you a—"

"Hey!" Stefan interrupted, standing between them as he returned, a picture of Katherine in his hands. "Knock it off." He looked at Bonnie, handing it to her. "This belonged to Katherine. Found it with her things after I thought she was dead, but it was hers."

The Bennett witch placed the portrait in a ceramic bowl, dipping her fingers in a glass of water and letting it drip from her fingertips into the bowl. Marian jumped as flames erupted from it. Bonnie began to chant, closing her eyes to concentrate.

"What will this do?" Damon asked her. Bonnie opened her eyes, watching as the picture burned.

"I can turn the metal into ash," she explained. "Blow the ashes on her, and it'll incapacitate her for a minute or two. Long enough for you to get the stone and get out." Marian kept her eyes on her friend as the other looked down at the ashes that burned, watching as blood dripped from her nose. Bonnie quickly wiped it away, silently pleading for Marian not to say anything.

...

Bonnie poured the ashes onto the table as the brothers left, going to find supplies to go and visit Katherine. Marian hated that they were going to try and de-spell the stone, and from what she'd heard, Elena was too. Her uncle would still come to Mystic Falls regardless of its existence, and he would still kill the doppelgänger. The only difference would be that he would kill everyone else if the stone was ruined. He'd been hell-bent on breaking his curse since it had been placed on him a thousand years ago.

"What's up with you and Damon?" Jeremy asked curiously from beside Marian's seat on the couch. Bonnie stopped to listen too.

"Is it not enough to not like him because he's a dick?" the girl asked.

Bonnie huffed out a laugh. "Not when you look like you're going to murder him," she said. "But Jeremy's right, why did he call you a whore? He doesn't even know you."

"He's just trying to get on my nerves," Marian said shortly. "It's a mutual hate-at-first-sight," she lied. She'd much liked Damon when she'd first met him. Of course, he was still human then.

"Agreed," Damon said as the brothers re-entered the room with supplies.

"Still got to get the torches," said Stefan.

"Alaric's stake gun's in my trunk. Bonnie?" said Damon, looking at the witch.

She nodded. "Go ahead. I'm almost done."

Stefan left, Damon following after packing a few more items in a bag. Marian followed. "What is your problem?" she asked the older brother. Both stopped.

"What ever do you mean?" Damon asked with a cruel smirk.

"Last time I checked, I did nothing to you," she said angrily.

"She's got a point, Damon," Stefan said. "You did just call her a whore."

Damon refused to look at him, his eyes staying firmly on the girl before him. "She knows exactly what my problem is," he said.

"I'm afraid I don't," she said, the same amount of challenge in her voice as his.

"You were dead. I watched you die," said Damon.

"Well news flash, buddy." She took a step forward, poking her finger into his chest. "I'm alive now, and I'm ready to make you suffer for what you did to me all those years ago."

Stefan groaned. "You know what? That's enough. Have a fight for all I care, but can you please just wait until we deal with this Klaus stuff?"

Damon's smirk deepened when he said her face pale. "What's the matter? You're not really scared of an old wives-tale are you?" he teased.

"I am," she admitted. "And you should be too, because when he finds out you've de-spelled that moonstone, you're the first person he'll go after."

part i:

tvd s2, e10, ""

wc: