"I was thinking," Lillian began, her hands clasped together and under her chin. "That instead of continuing your little tour, that we end it where it is. We only inform the school two days before hand anyway. Today's was obviously cancelled due to the situation last night, the rest can be taken care of easily enough."

Mara was relieved to hear Lillian didn't have some crazy absurd idea in mind, like to drain the blood of every person that refused to listen to her. 

"You could then resume your classes as usual, be a normal teenager again if only for a little while." The way Lillian said it was so matter-of-fact but something about it rubbed Mara the wrong way. Normal teenager Mara hadn't thought of herself as a normal teenager for quite some time, especially not since she discovered these powers. What classified as normal anyways? And how could she ever be normal when she was placed in such a powerful position. 

Mara wasn't normal, and there was no use pretending that she was. However, after the long week she had, there was no way she was going to turn down the opportunity to go back to her regular schedule. 

Torlak and Lillian discussed the next steps with Mara for those she had managed to sign on, and she had even been asked if she would like to go for the same training the others would have. Mara thought learning to fight would do more good for herself than harm, so she agreed to sit in and learn a few things herself. 

Torlak had said the werewolves would be taking over the combat training, and even though she had some doubts about taking lessons from Makortax's people, Mara kept her decision. 

 Mara left, going back up to her room feeling mentally and physically exhausted. When she walked in, she found Trixle already asleep, Sasha curled up at the back of Trixle's knee. Mara smiled and closed the door quietly before curling into her bed. 

The feeling was amazing, the soft mattress giving under her, welcoming her back after so long, the sheets with their warm, cozy embrace. Mara's entire body relaxed, her muscles that had been complaining just hours before now sighed with relief as she made her way into subconscious mind, and for once, it was dream free. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Mara finally started to wake up, she felt worlds better. She no longer felt tired or weighted down by stress, a full night's sleep was exactly what she needed. Her eyes fluttered open slightly and that's when she realized something was off. 

There was a nagging feeling at the back of her mind telling her something just wasn't quite right, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. 

When she rolled over and looked out the window it finally clicked. 

The sun shining in through the window was different. Not the color, but where it was shining, or more of where it wasn't shining. It normally filtered straight into the room, acting as a natural light, but now it was barely making its way in. 

Mara balked when she grabbed the clock to check the time, and saw that it was nearly noon. She sat up quickly and from the corner of her eye, saw a piece of paper flutter to the ground. 

               Turned your alarm off, you have the day to yourself. Enjoy it. 
                                                                                         Torlak and Lillian

Mara relaxed slightly as she looked at the words. They had given her another day off. She assumed that not many people at the school, at least her teachers even knew she was back yet. She was still supposed to be gone for a few days. They must have told Cecilia Varkov that she would be returning sooner than expected. 

She wondered if that were the case, how they were able to get her to agree to Mara missing another day of classes while she was on the grounds. 

Mara just shrugged, not letting the details bother her too much. She finally felt better than she had in days and she had the rest of the day to herself. 

Mara's stomach started to rumble and she looked at the time again. Just after noon. She had time to go down and get something to eat. She would probably be able to sit down with her friends for a little bit before they went back to class if she wanted to also. 

Who was she kidding? Of course she wanted to! The time she had spent away from everyone had been horrible. There hadn't been a single person for her to talk to and she had been completely out of touch with their lives. For all she knew, Trixle and Emmett could be engaged now! 

The thought, no matter how ludicrous made Mara smile. It would be just like her friend to rush into something like that, though she gave Trixle enough credit to not actually believe she would do something like that. 

Mara made her way through the food line, which was relatively short since the lunch hour was nearly half up, and she worked over towards the table where her friends sat. None of them had noticed her enter the room, and unless Trixle told the others, she was the only one who knew Mara was even back. 

She silently set her tray of food down and stood behind Marx, bending over and covering his eyes. Mara used a spell that slightly shifted the tone of her voice before whispering just loud enough for the table to hear. 

"Guess who." 

"Is it Monique? Because if it is, you should know you are incredibly ho-"

Mara gasped and slapped his arm as Marx turned around. He pulled Mara into him and kissed her roughly. He put the full weight of how much he had missed her into that one kiss and it made Mara melt. Mixed up in the intensity and passion of the kiss the entire lunch hall slipped away, in that moment it was just Mara and Marx and she was happy about that. The events of the previous week flew away and she welcomed their retreat just as she welcomed the feeling stirring inside of her. 

When Marx pulled away, Mara was slightly disappointed. She hadn't wanted the moment to end, and she wondered when her feelings had become that strong. 

Maybe I was just ignoring them before. She thought to herself as she sat down next to Marx picking at her chicken. 

"You're back sooner than you were supposed to be, how was it?" Marx asked nudging her shoulder. 

Mara wondered if they didn't know about her late night rescue on the train. She decided that if they didn't know already, they didn't need to hear it right now. 

"It was alright. I missed you guys though."

Trixle who had been unusually quite minus her giggles at the earlier show that had been Marx and Mara jumped up and down in her seat. 

"I missed you too!" She squealed. "Not that it wasn't nice to have my own room again for a little while, and not that your cat isn't awesome company, but there is just no replacement for my awesome best friend." 

At that, Mara couldn't help but laugh. She couldn't help herself; she stood up and bounded over to Trixle, pulling her friend in for a tight hug. It had only felt like a week, but to the two girls, it felt like an eternity since they had been together. 

Mara pulled away giggling slightly as she turned to Emmett. 

"I wouldn't want you to feel left out there buddy come here." Mara said as she walked his way. 

The look on Emmett's face had been priceless. Even though the two got along much better than they had last year when they first met, they had never been close. Emmett looked like a dog in a cage, like he had nowhere to run. As Mara hugged him, Emmett's muscles tightened, unsure of how to respond. 

"Come on big guy, I hope you hug Trixle better than this!" Mara teased him, and Marx's roaring laugh filled the room. 

Emmett relaxed slightly, chuckling to himself as he hugged Mara back. Feeling satisfied that all the greetings were done; she sat back down digging into her food. 

"It took every ounce of strength I had not to wake you up today!" Trixle started rambling. "But you just looked so peaceful all curled up in your blankets. Like a precious little baby sleeping." 

"That's my girl," Marx said with a grin as if he knew. The only times Marx had seen her unconscious had been in the midst of severe mishaps, and she really doubted he had taken any time to just stare at her unconscious figure. The thought made Mara feel slightly uncomfortable. 

Mara rolled her eyes at Marx as she responded to Trixle. "Yeah, apparently I have been given the day off from all duties. Including school I guess." 

"I wouldn't complain about that." Emmett chuckled. 

"After about day four, I was ready to come back here." Mara said with a sigh. "That was an interesting experience, but I wouldn't be disappointed if I never did it again."

Marx grabbed Mara's hand under the table, intertwining their fingers. The warmth of the touch soothed Mara, making her feel at peace. 

"So Em, you're hanging out with Trix tonight after classes, right?" The way Marx asked sounded more like an order and it made Mara smile. 

"Yeah." Emmett stammered as he turned to Trixle. "We had plans to do something didn't we?" 

"Oh, right yes! Those plans."

Mara smiled at how blatantly bad her friends were at lying, though she appreciated the gesture. She was excited to get the chance to spend some time with Marx.

Just then the bell chimed signaling the end of lunch. Mara went with her friends as they made their way to the wash station to get rid of their trays. When her three friends went to class however, she went the opposite way, going to sit out in the courtyard. 

Mara slowly made her way through the grass, feeling it tickle her toes through the sandals she was wearing, and went to the gazebo. She walked towards the large white structure that she hadn't visited since last year. 

She could remember the scene like it was yesterday, as she made her way to meet Zander, seeing another girl there talking to him. The slight feeling of jealousy she had gotten even though she tried to tell herself it was absurd to feel something like that for a guy she had just met. 

And when she had introduced herself and Zeldra had just referred to her as a project. Mara was glad she hadn't had the powers she now possessed when her emotions had been as out of control as they had back then. She dreaded to think what could have happened to Zeldra that day. 

Mara sat down on the bench in the same exact spot she had been in just one year ago. The different spells Zander had taught her under the very same roof she sat under once more. Mara's eyes drifted closed as she thought of a time much simpler than her life in the present. 

"You were thinking of me weren’t you, Mara?" Zander asked, tsking her. "I could feel it." The wicked smile lit up his face. 

"I won't deny it, though I was thinking of a past you. Not this monster you have become."

"Oh Mara, this has always been inside of me. It just took you to bring it out."

That stung. Mara had always secretly wondered if she had been the reason Zander had turned into a Nightshade. She had tried to tell herself it was impossible, that there was no way she could have done something like that. All she had done was love him, and she thought he had loved her too. She was still convinced that he had at least for a while. It couldn't have all been an act; he had saved her from herself that one day on the roof after all. 

"After I put you in that situation to begin with." Zander's voice whispered through her mind. 

"Get out of my head!" 

"I'm always in your head Mara. How do you think I am able to get to you so easily? You don't even put up a fight, it's like you want me here." Zander fiddled with something in his hand, his eyes drawn down to the object. "And I have to say, I quite enjoy it myself."

Zander flicked his wrist in a motion so small that Mara barely saw it. The pain seized Mara immediately and she collapsed to the ground convulsing. Not even four inches in front of her face lay a small black pebble. 

Mara couldn't believe that such a small object could bring about what she was feeling in that moment. It felt like every muscle in her body was being torn to shreds, like some creature was mauling her. 

A scream escaped from Mara's throat as Zander stood over her, smiling down at the weak, pathetic girl she was. 

Zander nudged the pebble with the toe of his shoe before bending down to pick it up. "It really is a pleasure every time my love." 

Mara jumped to her feet, gasping for air. The lingering feeling of what the pebble had done in the dream slowly fading away. Mara's knees shook, forcing her to sit back down when all she wanted to do was run away. 

She should have known going to the gazebo was a bad idea, but she couldn't stand the thought of being cooped up inside the school alone the whole day either. As Mara's brain began to relax again, a realization hit her from the Zander induced dream. 

She no longer had the potion Zeldra had given her, or the pouch she had made the night before she left. 

Both items had been in her travel back, which had been left on the train. She no longer had her protection from his dreams, or the one thing that could help her in finding out his plans. Mara's breathing quickened with the realization. She could most likely make another pouch; she would just need to ask the Headmistress this time. 

The potion Zeldra had made on the other hand would be a little trickier. Mara thought she could possibly ask for permission to get back in and talk to Zeldra again. But what happened if in the time it took her to make the potion it was time to move? 

She decided it was at least worth a shot. She hoped it would take longer than a couple days for Zander to be ready for his master plan, Mara wasn't sure that she was ready to face him in person yet. Though she wasn't entirely sure she would be able to face him in person any time under these circumstances. Mara was afraid of what she might have to do when she went up against him. 

Mara absentmindedly made her way back towards the door knowing that classes were about to let out, but her mind was totally consumed with the dark thoughts of a possible future. Would she have to kill Zander? It was entirely possible, especially if it came down to him or her. And she had a duty to this world now, she swore to protect it to her last breath, and she would do just that. 

Mara was entering the stairwell when she felt someone's arms wrap around her waist from behind. She jumped and looked over her shoulder, staring into the deep brown of Marx's eyes. She smiled and relaxed into him, letting his touch wash away any traces of darkness left by Zander Delcole. 

The two made their way up to Marx's empty room, barely getting through the threshold and getting the door closed before Marx turned on her. There was something there in his dark eyes that excited Mara. 

He backed her up against the door, placing a hand on either side of her face, and leaning down. Their lips made contact and a spark of heat shot through Mara's body. She pushed her body into his, hearing a growl of pleasure from Marx in return. The low rumble sent shivers down Mara's spine and she found her hands wrapping instinctively around his neck, pulling him closer. 

His lips moved against hers before they began to roam further down, leaving small kisses from the corner of her mouth and traveling to her neck. 

The memory of the night at the dance forced its way to the surface. The night she had taken Zander into the hallway during the dance to get back at her aunt. She had pushed him up against the wall that night.

Mara gasped, the memory all but gone as Marx nipped gently at the soft skin of her neck and he responded accordingly trailing more kisses along her skin, her fingers tangling in his short brown hair. He finally worked his way back up to her mouth, pressing his hard against hers. His tongue exploring her mouth, and playing with her own.

When Marx pulled back, Mara could see that darkness there in his eyes again, this time mixed with the slight glowing of his wolf, barely contained. It stirred something inside of her, that gaze spoke what words couldn't. It was raw, it was animalistic, and Mara wanted to see more of it.

*********************

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