"So what exactly are they fighting about?" Caroline asked.
I was walking through the school hallways with her. We were heading to the Founders Court dance lessons. Mrs Lockwood had decided to have it at the school. I was currently talking about Stefan and Damon fighting.
Apparently they had decided to not take my advice and get over it. God they frustrated me sometimes.
"Well, at first it was about Elena," I said. "Stefan came up to me yesterday and asked me about Damon having feelings for her, then I told him to go talk Damon rationally, but as it turns out, that didn't go so well. It ended up being about everything that had happened in the past. You had to be there all those hundred and something years to get it. And now I'm stuck in the middle, and they aren't talking to each other."
"Why don't you just stick them in a room and wait for them to sort it out?" she asked.
I laughed.
"The only thing that would achieve is one of them ending up dead," I said.
Most likely, Damon would kill Stefan out of boredom.
"Speak of the devil," Caroline muttered.
I looked up to see Stefan and Elena standing together outside of the room we were going to be practicing in.
"Hey guys," Stefan greeted us.
I half waved. I was still annoyed at him, and he knew it,
"So, you guys excited about this Saturday?" Elena asked, obviously sensing the tention.
"Eh," I said. I wasn't really. I don't even know why I agreed to participating.
"Oh my God, yes!" Caroline said. "I've picked out the cutest dress. Aw, Matt going to look adorable in a suit!"
I laughed. Even as a vampire, Caroline was still... Caroline.
I already knew the dance off by heart. It was very popular back in 1864. But I had decided to drag myself along to the rehersals for Tyler's sake. That and it was custom for each girl competing to come. But at least we got to miss out on the first two lessons of school.
"Oh, look, here he is," Caroline said.
I looked down the hall and saw Tyler and Matt heading towards us. At first I thought Caroline had read my mind or something, but then I realised she was talking about Matt.
"Hey," I said when they reached us.
"Are you ready for this?" Tyler asked.
"Let the horror begin," I said, rolling my eyes.
Mrs. Lockwood complimented Tyler and I a fair bit more than the others. I wasn't sure if it was because I had already perfected the dance, or that my escort was her son.
"Make sure you use expression," Mrs. Lockwood was saying. "Flirt with your eyes."
When she said that, I tried imitating the flirty eye thing Damon does sometimes when he's around girls.
"Very good Marni," Mrs. Lockwood said. "Just like that."
Apparently she had noticed me doing it.
Well what do you know. I'd have to thank Damon for that later.
"So, what's Marni annoyed at you for?" I over heard Elena ask Stefan. Well it wasn't really over hearing, considering I could hear everything that made a noise in the room.
I noticed that Stefan glanced at me.
"Go on Stefan," I muttered under my breath, knowing Stefan could hear me. "Why don't you tell Elena why I'm annoyed at you?"
I knew Elena wouldn't be too happy if she knew the truth.
Stefan shot me a look.
"Damon and I aren't speaking," he said. "And Marni doesn't like being stuck in the middle of it all."
Well, I guess that was part of the truth.
"No," I muttered bitterly. "I don't, so why don't you two get over it already?"
"Guys," Caroline joined in. "Enough with the fighting, people are going to get suspicious when they notice you two glaring at one another."
I gave her a betrayed look. I thought she was on my side with this.
She shrugged.
"Is everything okay?" Tyler asked me, snapping my attention back to him.
"Oh, yeah," I said. "I was just having a converstaion with the voices in my head. One of the voices what being a very stuborn idiot that can't get over something very petty."
I shot a pointed look at Stefan. He rolled his eyes.
"Okay then..." Tyler said.
I was sitting in history, not really paying attention to what Alaric was teaching the class.
Jeremy sat beside me, drawing sketches in the back of his book.
I stared out the window, watching the rain drop slide down the glass. Today was my kind of day. Cold and stormy. I started day dreaming, as I usually did when I was bored. I thought back to the huge fight that happened between the tomb vampires and us. Yeah, I was pretty bad ass. Then there was the show down with Klaus. I'd been bad ass there too. I wondered how many near death experiences I'd had. Hell I had died once.
A buzz in my pocket made me jump back into focus.
I pulled my phone out and saw that it was from Damon.
Damon: torturing the vamp who bit you, care to join?
Me: be there as quick as i can
I glanced around the classroom. All the students were copying down something from the text books they had next to them.
I got up and walked to the front of the class.
"What's up?" Ric asked when he noticed me standing infront of his desk.
"I have to go," I said. "I just got a text from Damon, he found the girl who tried to eat me."
Of course Alaric knew about Natalie. Him and Damon were like vampire-hunter buddies now.
"Okay," he said. "Let me know how it goes."
I nodded.
"Oh, and if anyone asks, I got sick and went home," I said.
"Got it," Ric said.
I waved goodbye to Jeremy before I walked out.
The scene that I came home to was very similar to the one that had happened when Damon had chained Mason Lockwood to a chair, only in this case, it was Natalie.
I was a little surprised when I saw who I was assuming was Katherine, since Elena was at school, leaning against the wall. I wondered what she was doing here.
Elijah was standing next to the fireplace, and Damon was infront of Natalie.
He looked up when I walked in.
"Finally," he said. "I thought you'd never get here."
"It's raining," I said. "I didn't want to get my hair wet."
I walked around to where Damon was standing.
"Oh, hi Natalie," I said sweetly. "Remember me? I'm the one you tried to eat the other day. Ooh, not a good way to get into my good books."
She glared at me, but didn't say anything.
"Oh!" I said. "Before I forget. Damon, do we have any bricks laying around the house?"
I wasn't kidding when I said I wanted to throw a brick at her face.
"Um, no, I don't think we do," he said.
"Damn," I said. "I guess we'll just have to stick to vervain then."
I saw her eyes widen slightly when I said that.
I walked over to one of the many bookcases in the room, and pulled out a book. In the middle of it, a sprig of vervain had been placed there. It was all dried up now, but it would still have the same effect.
"I have some questions I need you to answer," I said, moving back to Natalie. "Now. I've been in a very similar position to where you are now. I was tortured with a plant very similar to vervain, but in my case I wasn't tortured so someone could get answers out of me. I was tortured for fun and for leverage. See Katherine? The one leaning against the wall?" I pointed at her. "She was the one who tortured me. It wasn't very pleasant, let me tell you. But you have it slightly easier than I did. First of all, you're not actually nailed to the chair, which I still have scars from by the way." I shot a pointed look at Katherine. She shrugged. "And second of all, you have a choice whether or not you go through searing pain. All you have to do is answer a few questions, and nobody has to get hurt."
"Why should I answer anything you ask me? You're just going to kill me anyway," she said, speaking for the first time. She flipped her dark brown hair out of her hazel eyes.
"Natalie, you are lucky that I happened to show up today," I said. "Damon here would've killed you even if you had have given him answers. But I, unlike Damon, am a nice person, so if you tell me what I want you to, you get to live. Isn't that great?"
"I'd take her offer if I were you," Damon added in.
"It depends what your questions are," Natalie said.
"Well, first of all," I said. "How in the hell are you still alive?"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Don't play stupid with me," I said. "I killed you. Usually vampires stay dead when a stake is shoved through their heart. But, you some how came back to life, and I would like to know how."
She didn't respond. She just glared at the floor.
"Look," Damon said. "It'll save you a lot of pain if you just talk."
Again, she didn't respond.
"If that's how you want to be," I muttered.
I walked up to her and crouched down.
I gently stroked her cheek with the vervain and she shouted out in pain. Her flesh burned, and I was reminded of how this had happened to me. I know what you're thinking. If you went through that horrible pain, then why are you inflicting it on someone else?
And for a moment I almost considered backing off and letting her go. It's what I wanted when I was in that position.
No! I thought sternly. I need answers, and this is how I was going to get them.
"Okay!" she screamed. "I'll tell you!"
I stepped back and waited.
"I'm not like other vampires," she said.
"Clearly," Damon said.
"I wasn't turned by a regular vampire," she said. "I was turned by one of the first ever vampires."
""Oh, well, lucky for you, one of them happens to be standing in this room," I said. I turned to Elijah. "So... you know any vampires that you turned that came back to life when they died?"
He shook his head.
"So what your saying, is that you got turned by an Original?" Katherine asked.
"Not just any Original," Natalie said. "Klaus."
"Oh, well that explains it then," Damon said. "You got turned by Klaus, his blood gave you special powers and bada bing bada boom, you can't die."
"Pretty much," she said.
"So, has this happened before?" Elijah asked. "Or is it just a one time thing?"
"Hmm, let's kill her and find out," Damon said.
"No," Natalie said, ignoring Damon's suggestion. "It's not a one time thing. Klaus only turned me for his own pleasure, after a couple of years he got bored of me and decided to kill me. I woke up in a ditch a few days later. Before I was trapped in that God awful hole of a tomb, I had been staked, by your father by the way," she added to Damon. "I opened my eyes to find myself in a tomb, with twenty-five other vampires that were starved of blood."
"I still say we kill her, just in case," Damon said.
"Damon," I warned, even though I wanted to go with his suggestion.
"Just saying!" he said, putting up his hands in an act of innocence.
"As for my other quest-" I paused, feeling my phone vibrte in my pocket. "Hang on, hold that thought."
I walked out of the room and answered.
"Yes Stefan?"
"Where are you?"
"At home," I said.
Damon walked in and mouthed, what's going on?
It's Stefan, I mouthed back.
Damon rolled his eyes.
"Why are you at home?"
"Give me the phone," Damon whispered.
"Why?" I asked.
"Just give me the phone!" he whispered.
He reached over and took the phone out of my hand. I tried grabbing it back but he held it out of my reach.
"Sorry Stefan," he said into the phone. "Marni's got something very important she has to do right now, so if you don't mind..."
And with that, Damon hung up.
"Smooth," I said sarcastically. "Real smooth."
"I thought so," he said.
I rolled my eyes and walked back out to the others.
"Anyway," I said." Back to where we were before."
"Why are you still in Mystic Falls?" Damon asked Natalie. "Anybody with any common sense what so ever would have left, in the chance that one of us would find you."
She stared at the floor again.
"Come on," Damon said. "Do you really want to go through all of this pain, just so you don't have to talk?"
"I stayed because of the moonstone," she said.
Katherine let out a laugh, and Elijah smirked.
"Oh boy," I muttered.
"Here we go," Damon sighed.
"What?" Natalie asked.
"Been there, done that," I said.
"What have you been doing since you woke up form the dead, living in a hole?" Katherine asked.
"What are going on about?" Natalie asked, confusion filling her expression.
"Cliff notes version, we found the moonstone, turns out the sun and the moon curse isn't real, Klaus came into town, looking for it, but we hid it and Klaus couldn't lift the actual curse off it, and all is right in the world," Damon said.
"Klaus is here?" she asked, fear filling her eyes. "If he finds out I'm alive-"
"Oh relax!" Damon said. "He's dead, she killed him,"
"With his help," I said, gesturing to Elijah.
"He's dead?" she asked. "How did you kill him?"
"Ah, you know, just used a little magic," I said.
"Elijah," she said. "You helped kill your own brother. I thought you had more honor,"
"How did you know they were brothers?" Katherine asked.
"Klaus told me a lot of things, considering he was planning on killing me," she said. "He and Elijah were a little closer back then."
"I had my own reasons for doing what I did," Elijah said.
"There was a time when the loyalty between family was stronger than anything," she said.
My eyes flickered over to Damon. He glanced at me and looked away. I knew what he was thinking about- Stefan.
"Klaus had to be stopped," Elijah said. "He was a threat to everyone, humans and supernatural creatures alike."
"Still, I didn't think it would be by your hand," she said
"Okay, we're getting off track here," I said. "So, now that you know the moonstone's useless to you, you should, you know, get out of town while you can."
"So I'm guessing you have the doppleganger," she said. I nodded. "And the moonstone, and you guys are the only ones that know Klaus is dead. And that means..."
What was she going on about? And then it hit me.
I think Damon figured it out the same time I did.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," he muttered.
"And that means what exactly?" Katherine asked.
"It means that there is going to be a hell of a lot of vampires and werewolves coming here," I said.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because as far as the rest of the world knows, the Sun and the Moon Curse is real, and Klaus is still alive," Elijah said.
"So they're going to come searching for the doppleganger and the moonstone," Katherine guessed.
"Exactly," Natalie said.
"And people in Klaus's debt are going to come here, hoping to repay it by bringing him Elena and the moonstone," Elijah added.
"Well this is just dandy," I said.
"But the only people who know where they are are us and the others," Katherine said. "So therefore we have nothing to worry about."
"Unless someone told someone else about it," Damon said.
"I'd doubt it," Katherine said.
I groaned and smacked my forehead. "Dammit!"
"What?" Damon asked.
"Mason Lockwood knows," I said.
"And of course he would've gone and told all of his wolfy friends," Damon said. He turned to me. "You still have the moonstone, right?"
"Yep," I said. "Still where I hid it."
"And where did you hide it?" Katherine asked.
"I'm not telling," I said. "This information stays between me and Damon. We can't risk anyone finding out where it is."
"The next full moon is in a month," Elijah said. "They wouldn't risk coming to a town full of vampires until they were at their most powerful,"
"So we have a month then," Damon said.
"I have a question," Natalie said.
"So do I," I said. "Why did you try and kill me?"
"Revenge," she said. "I was a little pissed at you."
"I guess that's fair," I said. "Considering I killed you and all. By why wait until now?"
"Because at first I didn't want to be discovered. But then I changed my mind and decided to let you know I was here."
"By leaving dead bodies everywhere," Damon said.
"Took you long enough to notice," she said. "I was in the Grill when I over heard you guys were planning on finding me. I followed Marni through the woods and took my chance. And then you showed up and ruined it," she added, looking at Elijah.
He shrugged.
"Anyway," she said. "What happens to me now?"
"You run as far away from Mystic Falls and pray we never see you again," Damon said.
"Damon," I said.
"What? She tried to kill you," he said.
"So did they!" I said, gesturing to Katherine and Eliajh. Well, Elijah had intended to at one point.
"So we're just meant to let her go?" he asked. "What if she tries to kill you again?"
"I won't," Natalie said. "I don't hold grudges for very long."
"Then why did you try to kill us after a hundred and forty-six years, with the rest of the vampires out for revenge?" Damon asked.
"I was forced into it," she said. "Frederick, the leader, said I was either one of them or one of you."
"So basically they were going to kill you if you went against them," I said.
"Yes," she said.
"How do we know you won't go running around telling everyone where the moontone is?" I asked.
"What's the point?" she asked. "The curse isn't real."
"And how do we know that you won't go telling people just so they come after us?" Damon asked.
"I told you, I don't keep grudges very long," she said. "And I'd like to stay in Mystic Falls, and it would be annoying if I had to put up with you coming after me."
"Good," I said. "I'm just warning you, but if I find out someone has told other vampires about the moonstone being here, I will automatically asume it was you... and let's just say things are going to get ugly."
"I'm not going to tell anyone," she said.
"Very well," I said.
I walked over and broke the chains that were binding her.
She got up and rubbed here arms.
In the blink of an eye, Damon was across the room, pinning Natalie against the wall by her neck.
"Just letting you know. If you try anything at all, I will rip your heart out and shove it down your throat," he threatened. "Something I'm very good at by the way. Understood?"
She nodded.
He let go of her and walked over to the alcohol cabinent and poured himself a drink.
"If I hear anything about vampires making their way here, I'll let you know," Natalie said, looking at me.
I nodded and she disappeared.
"Someone should probably tell Elena and Stefan about this," I said.
Nobody responded.
"And I'm guessing that somebody would be me," I said. "Damon, car keys,"
"What?" he asked.
"I'm taking your car," I said. "I don't feel like walking in the rain, so give me the car keys."
"Fine," he said.
He tossed them to me and I walked out into the garage.
Highlight of the day: I get to drive Damon's car.
I hopped in and pulled out my phone. School had just ended.
I texted Stefan.
Me: get elena and meet me at the grill asap
I put my phone down and started the car.
The drive to the Grill was short, and Stefan's car was there when I pulled up.
I spotted Stefan and Elena sitting at a booth. I walked over to them and sat down infront of Stefan.
"Marni, what's going on?" he asked.
"Long story short, we found Natalie, turns out Klaus turned her, that's why she came back to life, I'm assuming that his blood gave her the ability to only be killed the way you kill an Original, unless you rip her heart out of course, and the reason why she's still in Mystic Falls is because she was after the moonstone," I said.
"Does she know that-" Elena began, but I cut her off, already knowing what she was going to say.
"She does now," I said. "But none of this is important. What is, is that we have a very big problem. We failed to notice something very important."
"What?" Elena asked.
"We're the only ones who know that the curse is fake and Klaus is dead," I said. "As far as the rest of the supernatural world knows, the curse is real."
"Your point?" Stefan asked.
"My point is that if they think it's real, they're going to try and break it," I said. "Meaning they're going to come after the moonstone and Elena. The only person besides us who know about where they are is Mason Lockwood. He's a werewolf, so he would've only told his werewolf friends, and werewolves are only powerfull when the full moon comes out, and that's in a month, so there's nothing to worry about until then."
"What do we do in the mean time?" Elena asked.
"Look out for anyone new to town who's strange, find out if they're a vampire, if they are, kill them," I said. I turned to Stefan. "Stay with her. If a vampire does find out, they'll be coming for her."
I got up and turned to leave.
"Where are you going?" Stefan asked.
"To enjoy my afternoon," I said.
I can do it, I told myself. I will do it. He's going to find out sooner or later, and I'm sure he'll understand. I hope he'll understand.
Oh my God! You're being ridiculous! You took on the most powerful vampire in the world. You should be able to tell your boyfriend your going the the Founders Court with another guy!
Another guy who he happens to hate, I argued back with myself.
Oh come on! It's Jeremy, I'm sure he'll understand.
I was sitting on a couch in my living room with my legs stretched out across it, enjoying the warmth of the fire.
I'd been arguing with myself for about ten minutes now. Jeremy was supposed to be coming over soon, and I was going to tell him about Tyler.
I heard laughter and looked up to find Damon leaning against the wall.
"Frown anymore and you'll have more frown lines than Stefan," he said.
I sighed.
He walked over to the couch, lifted my feet up, sat down, and put them in his lap.
"What's up?" he asked.
"I have to tell Jeremy that Tyler's my escort," I said.
"Ooh, so this is the big moment is it?" he asked, smirking. "Can I stay and watch?"
I glared at him.
"Not helping," I said.
"I could just compel him," Damon said.
"No," I said. "And besides, he's wearing vervain. It won't work."
Damon looked like he was about to say something, but he was cut off by the sound of a door being knocked.
I sighed.
"And that's my cue to leave," Damon said.
I got up and answered the door.
"Hey Jer," I smiled.
"Hey," he said.
"Come take a walk with me," I said.
That way Damon won't over hear us.
"Sure," Jeremy said.
I turned around to close the door and saw Damon roll his eyes at me. I shrugged and swung the door shut.
Our walk led us to the woods, and this time I stayed alert, picking up on any sound other than us walking, just incase someone decides to come along and munch on me again.
About ten minutes into our walk, I got enough guts to tell Jeremy. He didn't seem to happy when I told him I was going with Tyler.
"Why Tyler Lockwood?" Jeremy asked.
"Well, I don't really know anyone else that age that's not going as an escort," I said. "And me and Tyler are friends."
"I know, but what if he tries something?" Jeremy asked.
"He won't," I said. "Tyler doesn't like me in that way anymor. I'm the only person he can talk to about his situation, considering Mason Lockwood isn't around anymore. Finding out your a mythical creature is hard."
He was quiet for a moment.
"Are you sure he won't try anything?" Jeremy asked.
"Yes," I said.
"I'm being over dramatic aren't I?" he asked.
"No," I said. "Not at all. I'd feel the same way if you were going as an escort with someone I didn't like."
"You're cute when you're jealous," Jeremy said, wrapping his arm around my waist.
"And when have you seen me jealous?" I asked.
"I've seen some of the looks you give Stacey Millar when she tries talking to me," he said. "And there was that time Damon ate the last of the cookies and cream ice-cream. You were so jealous. And he kept teasing you with it, so you got really mad."
"He knows I love that ice-cream," I said.
I was furious when I saw Damon eating it. I would've thrown a brick at him if I had one in my hand.
"So you're not mad at me?" I asked Jeremy.
"Of course not," he said.
"Thank God," I said.
Well, thankfully this had turned out beter than I expected.