chapter eleven,

"Marian, love. It's time." She sat up slowly, frowning as she realised she was in a car.

"I won't help you." He huffed with slight annoyance. He knew that her stubbornness would have been an obstacle, yet he had hoped that just once she'd want to help him. He supposed that daggering her father had ruined all faith she had in him, and as a consequence she wouldn't help him achieve the one thing he desired; a loyal family he could trust to love him.

"They're not in the ocean," he said.

Marian looked up at him. "What?" she whispered. She knew that she couldn't trust him; Niklaus loved nothing more than to skew words and create subtle loopholes in it to keep him out of trouble.

"I didn't put them in the ocean. If you do it, I'll—" he didn't want to say it. "I'll undagger Kol and leave you be."

She frowned. "But the spell will kill me. I won't be here when you do it," she said. It was a repercussion of her rebirth; she cannot be reborn in the place she died.

"Then I will scour the earth for you," Klaus said. "I will find you, and I will reunite you with your father. That is a promise."

She gulped. Surely he was lying; he had to be. He'd never once in his life willingly undaggered Kol, it had always been Elijah or Rebekah or her. He'd been the one to dagger him in the first place. Yet as she replayed his words in her head, she could find nothing that could be interpreted another way. Niklaus would undagger Kol—her father—if she performed the ritual.

Then she heard it. Will. "When?"

Klaus groaned. He'd always hated how she analysed everything he said. "When Mikael is dead." A shiver ran down her back.

"And when will that be?"

"My hybrids will hunt him down," he said darkly.

She scoffed. "Your hybrids. You wouldn't need them if you stopped terrorising your family."

"I will undagger them all when Mikael is dead," Klaus growled. She tensed; she'd pushed him too far. "Until then, they will remain exactly where they are. It's not safe."

Marian gulped. "You swear it on my mother's grave?"

Klaus paused. It had been no secret that he had loved her mother, and just like Elijah had won over Tatia, her father had won over her mother. At times, Marian felt bad for her uncle; he'd never had the love he'd so longed for.

"I swear it." Marian nodded sharply.

"Let's go then," she said softly, not ready for what was to come. She didn't want to play a part in the sacrifice of Elena; not only had she been anything other than kind to her, but she was Jeremy's sister. He'd hate her.

"My duty is to Klaus!" she heard as she entered the quarry. She saw Elena, Jenna and another woman entrapped in individual rings of fire, Greta standing before them. "The new order."

"Glad to know I still have a dance partner," her uncle quipped, looking from his witch to the other three. "Hello, my lovelies. Are we ready?" he asked, pulling the moonstone from his pocket. "I've got the moonstone. I spent five hundred years looking for this. I hate to part with it."

"The moon has passed its apex," Greta observed, taking the moonstone from Klaus. "Remember everything you need to do?"

"I remember." He looked over to his niece who nodded softly, her eyes transfixed on Elena. She could see the fear in the doppelgänger's eyes.

Greta dropped the moonstone into a stone bowl filled with flames which slowly destroyed the stone. Marian began to chant, holding Greta's hands in her own. The witch had offered for the girl to channel her magic, knowing that Marian was weak. They could hear the others talking.

"Shall we?" Klaus asked. With a small nod towards Marian, the ring of fire around the unknown woman disappeared. Before anything else, she rushed forward to attack him, only to be pinned to the ground. Marian closed her eyes as he pushed his hand into her chest, holding her heart in his hands.

She continued to chant as he squeezed the blood from her heart into the ceremonial bowl, refusing to look down.

"Does that mean it's working?"

"It's working," Greta confirmed. Klaus' eyes flickered to Marian. "She's doing fine." He nodded, approaching the ring encasing Elena's aunt. Marian felt her breathing become staggered, not wanting to continue. Jenna had never done an ill-intended thing in her life.

"Hello, Jenna," he said.

"Let her go. I understand that I have to die, but she doesn't!" Elena whined, stepping closer to the flames. As they flared up, she stepped back in shock.

"Careful," taunted Klaus.

"Elena, don't," Jenna warned.

"No, Jenna! We can't leave Jeremy without a family. I followed your rules; I did everything that you asked. I didn't run. Please," Elena pleaded. Marian gulped.

"Well, well." The young witch looked up at Klaus. "I don't recall you being on the guest list."

"I'm here to talk," she heard. Looking towards the cliff, she saw Stefan standing on the edge. Her eyes widened; he was going to sacrifice himself in Jenna's place.

"Very well then," he replied, looking at them briefly before speeding to the top of the cliff.

"Keep going," Greta muttered. "This won't take long."

Marian scoffed. "You know I'm not going to make it, right?"

"No. I won't," Greta revealed. "You will."

"What do you mean?"

"I told you earlier, I've dedicated my life to this," she said as Klaus and Stefan descended from the cliff. "I'll do whatever it takes."

"Quite the predicament," Klaus said as he returned. "You know, it's funny, all this talk about preserving family, and here's Stefan, granting your wish."

"Why?" Marian asked Greta, ignoring the strained sensation she felt throughout her body. The voices of the others dimmed out as she focussed solely on the other witch.

"It's wrong to have a part of you taken away," she explained. "I wouldn't wish that on anyone." Elena suddenly screamed as Klaus staked Stefan in the back.

"I have other plans for your boyfriend. I want him alive. But for now..." He snapped Stefan's neck, allowing him to fall to the ground before turning to look at Marian once more. "Whenever you're ready, love."

The girl hesitated before chanting the next part of the spell, opening up the ring of fire around the frightened Jenna.

"No," Elena cried.

"Your turn," he taunted.

"No, Jenna, no!" She moved towards her aunt, only to be stopped by the flames again.

"It's alright, Elena. I know what I have to do," she said calmly. Without warning, Jenna sped towards Marian, biting her neck and causing the girl to scream. Klaus quickly sped towards them, pulling Jenna off his niece and staking her in the back.

"Jenna, no!" Elena sobbed. "Just turn it off. Jenna. Turn it off. You won't be scared anymore." Marian couldn't watch as he staked her in the heart, her body lying lifeless on the stone beneath her. "No! Jenna! No! Jenna!"

Klaus retreated back to Marian's side, watching as her shaking hands poured Jenna's blood into the ceremonial bowl.

"It's time."

The last circle around Elena disappeared as he extended his hand towards her. She walked past it and to the altar, ignoring him. Marian shook her head slightly; the girl had some nerve.

"Thank you, Elena," he said sincerely.

"Go to hell," she seethed. Elena stared blankly as Klaus began to drain her of her blood. Soon enough, her eyelids began to flutter and roll back as the last drops of life left her body. He let her fall to the ground as the flame in the bowl extinguished, but Marian continued to chant. The ritual wouldn't be complete until he fully turned.

"I can feel it," he said, looking up at the full moon. "It's happening." His bones began to crack and refigure themselves, his eyes turning yellow like a werewolf despite the deep veins under them that remained from his vampire nature. "Yes, yes!"

Then suddenly, he was thrown into the air. The flames reignited, startling the two witches. Quickly, they searched the area, spotting Bonnie coming down the hillside, chanting. Marian gasped in shock—Bonnie was dead, she'd been there when she'd died. Without warning, a loud crack came from beside the girl. Looking over, she saw Damon's hands around Greta's neck which was stuck in an unnatural angle, before he sped off and lifted Elena from the ground.

She screamed, not only in fear but in pain. She felt as if she had been stabbed a thousand times through her stomach, a sensation she'd felt only once before while practicing complex magic. Her body was beginning to weaken.

Damon looked up at her with slight worry, the high pitch of her cries reminding him of when he'd witnessed her death all those years ago while she'd burned at the stake with Emily Bennett.

"No! You were dead!" Klaus exclaimed as he saw Bonnie. Suddenly, his body convulsed, causing him to scream in pain. Marian gasped. They were there to kill him.

She tried to do something, anything, but she could feel her body becoming increasingly weak. Slumping against the stone, she watched, still chanting, as Elijah approached his brother. Her eyes fluttered, feeling heavy.

"Elijah?" Klaus asked, bewildered.

"Hello, brother." Elijah punched his arm into Klaus' chest, wrapping his hand around his heart. "In the name of our family, Niklaus ..." He twisted his heart.

"I didn't bury them at sea!" Klaus yelled.

Elijah stopped. "What?"

"Their bodies are safe. If you kill me, you'll never find them. She'll never be with him again." Elijah turned his head slightly to see his niece who struggled to stay upright, Stefan voice filling his ears.

"Elijah! Don't listen to him."

Klaus ignored him. "Elijah. I can take you to them. I give you my word ... brother."

"Do it and I'll take you both out," Bonnie warned.

"You'll die," Elijah stated.

"I don't care." Their heads turned sharply at the sound of a thud. Marian had collapsed to the ground, her eyes barely able to see her uncles.

Elijah looked from Klaus to Marian, his eyes pleading. She nodded slowly, slowly slipping into darkness. "I'm sorry." Before anyone could reach them, Elijah had sped off with his brother.

part i:

tvd s2, e21, ""

wc: