Chapter 12

Nerves were on edge, that was easy for anyone to tell. Marion had decided to make a small trip away from the house that she felt was evil at least in the moment. Keeping her shawl on her shoulders it was like a comforting part of her attire. Looking around at all the people of the town she couldn't help but wonder what would happen when Henry tried to execute his plan. She could see through the windows into the houses, mothers tucking their children in bed. Her heart felt pain at the sight, not sure if they would end up in the rubble no thanks to Henry.

Turning away and wiping a tear from her eye, she stopped in front of the window of the saloon if that was what it was called. She could see Jasper and Jake celebrating the wedding that would happen the next day, but off to the side she saw Will was nursing his drink alone and in silence. She hated to see him lonely. So, she decided to walk inside and go right up to him.

"Not one for parties?" Marion asked Will who looked up at her in surprise.

"Not the best at them, what are you doing here though?" Will answered her question as well as asked his own.

"Just had to get away for a bit, that place is radiating from whatever Henry is up to. Why don't we go for a walk? Maybe that will tire me out?" Marion asked offering Will her hand.

He didn't hesitate, he took her hand in his and stood up. He would see the others were far too busy entertaining themselves with the celebration to notice that he would be gone. So instead, he led Marion out of the saloon. Walking down the path, Will gently held her hand as they made their way.

"You nervous?" Marion asked Will as they stopped right on a bridge that was over a small river.

"I think I am more nervous for you and Jasper. If something doesn't go right tomorrow, you both might disappear." Will replied as he rested his arms on the frame of the bridge.

Marion nodded, she knew this was a significant risk, but a worthwhile one none the less. Will could see her overthinking in her head, something he had noticed the moment he met her. He had seen the way that Jasper looked at her and could tell he was smitten with her, just like he was, and it had happened unexpected. He would never admit anything to her, but he would make sure she would show up in the future where she belonged.

"What have we got here?" Todd one of the local bar patrons had wondered up to them.

Will stood before Marion as Todd and a few of his friends came closer and closer to them. It wasn't hard to guess they wanted Marion, they had tried this before, but Will and Jake had managed to take them down the last time. Jake wasn't there are the moment though.

"You've had too many to drink Todd, I think you better be headin home." Will suggests in a kind but firm manner.

"Shut it Hightower, we let you win the last round. Your brother isn't here to help you now." Todd said he grabbed Will and pushed him onto the railing of the bridge.

Marion yelped as the two other men looked her way. She wanted to run, every instinct she had was telling her to run. Yet she saw that Will was in trouble and couldn't leave him there. Standing tall, she carefully bent down and began to unlace her old-fashioned boot.

"Uh Todd, what she is doing?'' one of the two men called out to Todd.

Todd and Will looked over confused as to what they were talking about. Marion took the boot off her foot and held in her hand like a weapon.

"Heels can be a weapon too. Who's first?" she asked completely serious.

The men laughed as the skinner of the two sidekicks came at her, just as if she were using her boot as a knife, she hit him upside the head with the heel of the boot knocking him out onto the ground behind her.

"What is wrong with that girl?" the fatter one questioned.

"Kill her while I end Hightower, then we can have miss Ravenswood to ourselves." Todd smiled.

Todd pulled Will up by his hair and began to lead him to the end of the bridge. Marion wasn't about to let anything happen to Will though. Turning to the man before her she began to weight her options.

"You wanna end up like your friend there?" she asked the man before her.

He shook his head no.

"Fake it, just fall onto the bridge now and your boss will think I knocked you out." Marion explained and he did exactly that.

Marion rushed forward tossing her boot aside and beginning to untie the other one. Will was being shoved underwater headfirst as Todd laughed claiming her would go after Melanie now. Will felt his body giving in and his air supply was becoming less and less. Then suddenly he heard a splash and the weight from his body was gone. Pushing himself up out of the water with what little strength he had left, he was shocked as he sucked oxygen back into his lungs as his eyes adjusted to the sight before him. Had he not seen it himself, he wouldn't have believed it.

Marion was on Todd's back and punching him repeatedly. She had to have jumped on Todd's back when he was underwater. Saying Will was impressed was an understatement. The feelings he had for this woman had just doubled. Todd was reaching around trying to grab her, but he kept missing. Marion was landing every hit though; Todd was bruised and bloodied thanks to her when he began to fall forward onto the riverbank. Will rushed over as fast as he could as Marion jumped onto the side of the riverbank, she quickly turned back and saw Will making his way over to her. Without a second thought for herself, she jumped into the river and ran right to him. Putting her hand on his face, she gently caressed the bruise under his right eye. Will leaned down as he pulled Marion close to him, closing the distance between them as their lips met right there in the river.

Melanie was getting ready in her room, due to her father wanting not to run late. Henry knew that Jake and Will were up to something, but he didn't know what. Instead, he kept with his original plan, hang Jake from the rafters. The idiot would believe he would want to give the man his daughter would marry a wonderful wedding gift, when all he would get is one swift death.

Marion smiled from the corner as she winked to the side at Jasper who pushed Jake into another room right when Henry went to talk to him. Instead, Arthur came forward leading Henry off in a different direction.

"Of course, we are keeping the wedding a Halloween mascaraed just as you wanted, masks all around dear brother." Arthur calls out to the rest with a haughty laugh.

Marion walked into Melanie's room and Melanie is now in a different dress, quickly handing Marion her wedding dress and helping her to put it on. Jasper is in the other room putting on Jake's suit with the help of Jake. To finish off the last touch, Marion and Jasper both put on masks, Marion's white with lace and Jasper's black with red trim. Melanie and Jake wear duplicates of Jasper and Marion's and before the switch can be noticed, Jasper is already leaving the room.

Melanie and Marion watch him leave the room with Jake close behind him. Jake winks at the girls as he passes by the room, it would be up to Melanie and Jake to bring out the truth about her father. That is when the rouse would be up. Smiling, Marion looks to Melanie who nods and hand's her the wedding bouquet. Gripping the flowers in hand, Marion walks down to where the wedding will be and sees Henry trying to convince Jasper to follow him, of course thinking he is Jake.

Jasper shakes his head, not interested in being hung from the rafters. Henry holds up something and Jake then acts acting as Jasper.

"Mr. Ravenswood, this is your daughter's wedding day, let's not do something you will regret." Jake says trying to sound like Jasper.

Henry pulls away from them as Jasper walks inside with Jake right behind him acting as the best man. Will is already waiting ahead at the altar. Jasper and Jake turn to face Melanie as she walks down the aisle in Marion's place. Having the vail down, helped Marion to relax a little as she walked down the aisle again. Once there a dark hackling can be heard from all around the room.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here..." the priest started.

"I object to this union!" Henry called out from the balcony above. "He is not fit to marry my daughter. If I can't have her with me forever, I will take you all with me!"

Martha, Henry's wife and Melanie's mother looked up at her husband completely shocked. Everyone was silent as Henry pulled out what looked to be a detonator. That was something from the future! Son of a bitch had truly planned this the best he could.

"Killing all of us won't help you keep your precious money!" Melanie called out with her mask still on so everyone thought it was Marion talking.

"Keep quiet niece! You know nothing!" Henry yelled back at her.

"You are a horrible, wicked old man." Melanie continued.

"Shut up or I will kill us all!" Henry threatened again.

Will had snuck off and carefully Marion was keeping an eye on him, he had snuck up behind Henry and was about to push him over the edge when Henry turned and grabbed Will. Marion gasped as she turned away from the alter and took off running. Everyone was in shock as she began to pull off the vail, the gloves and the mask when she reached the top. Instead of seeing Will she saw Jasper, she knew they had switched roles last minute.

"Let him go." Marion spoke in a cold and deadly tone.

"Little child, don't you see what you have done? I could have corrected everything, but you just had to mess everything up!" Henry yelled at Marion.

"You are a mad man, obsessed with his daughter and money! You are sick and disgusting." Marion replied in the same tone she used before. "Give me back my husband."

Henry finally looked up and realized it was Marion and not Melanie. Instead of doing anything he just laughed and pushed Jasper into her arms. He stood up and spun around a few times before touching the detonator again.

"Then we all die together." he laughed as he pressed the button.

The ground below started to shake, Marion went to the edge and saw the crowd panicking. Instead of running she yelled at them and told them to make a run for it. Melanie shook her head and began to run to Marion, Jake and Will following right behind her.

"No one will have what is mine." Henry laughed.

Marion having enough with him, found a spare chair and hit him from behind with it as hard as she could. She then helped Jasper to stand up. Jasper quickly went to Melanie and Jake, and they carried him out. Marion went to go to them as the floor fell from under her, she was afraid she would die as she held onto the edge. Then she felt a hand around her arm, looking up she saw Will smiling down at her.

"Not today darlin." he smiled as he pulled her up into his arms.

"Will?" Marion questioned as he smiled and began to lead her through the rubble of the house that was falling before their eyes.

Dodging left and right, they made their way through like a weird and graceful dance Melanie, Jake who were still holding onto the passed-out Jasper looked back. They saw Will struggling to lift Marion who held onto his hand for dear life. Another rumbled erupted from the floors below and Will went tumbling down into the opening with Marion.

"Oh no, Jake what will happen to them?" Marion asked in shock.

"Will figure out something, I am sure of it." Jake said trying to not only convince Melanie but himself as well.

Groaning, Will opened his eyes and was surprised to see he was still alive. He began to move each part of his body to find that none of his bones had been broken or sprained, that was a miracle. Squinting trying to see, he saw a dim light from up above, this was deep. He followed the light down and saw Marion was lying flat beside him. In a rush he quickly moved over to her. He gently touched her face, but she didn't move.

"Marion? Come on now you can't leave me like this darlin, you've awoken something in me I thought was lost forever. Come on darlin wake up." Will said pulling her into his arms and rocking with her, remarkably like what Jasper had once done before.

He then heard her take in a shallow breath, he pulled back for a moment and saw her eyes blink open and look up to him. She was alive, somehow, they had both managed to survive such a terrible fall into the abyss.

"Will? Is that you?" Marion whispered as she tried to keep her eyes open.

"It's me darlin, just stay with me. We got to figure a way out of here." he answered as he looked around to assess their situation.

"Why did you save me?" Marion asked and he looked down at her.

"I've saved you before, haven't I? What makes you think I would stop now?" he replied as he gently pushed a stray hair that was on her face, to the side of her head.

"Seeing you like this, makes me look at you different, like you remind me of someone." she mumbles as she leans her head against his chest. "I'm so tired Will, I can barely keep my eyes open."

"You rest, I'll stay here with you and make sure nothing bothers us, as soon as you've rested, we will find a way out of here and make sure that old bastard is dead for good." Will told her assuring.

Marion didn't argue as Will lifted her and walked to the side of the hole they were in and sat down. He kept her close to him as she closed her eyes and rested. Will didn't know how tired he was either, the moment he felt Marion relax, he too drifted off to sleep.

Melanie and Jake watched as Arthur checked Jake for any injuries only to find nothing. They were in the hotel now, since the manor was practically all rubble now, this was the only shelter to be used.

"Nothing, not a thing to explain his state, not even that odd purple powder." Arthur says as he stands and looks to Melanie and Jake. "Perhaps it was all too much, some rest will do him some good. Forgive me but I am joining the search party looking for Will and Marion. Send for me if anything changes."

Arthur then put on his hat and took his leave. Melanie looked out the window to the rubble that was once her family home and sighed. How could she not have seen that her father was willing to go this far just to make sure his precious money was safe? It made her angry and sad all at the same time.

"I'm sure they are fine; Will can find a way out of anything. Marion is smart too; you know that just as well as I do." Jake told Melanie trying to give her some happy scenarios to think of.

"What if they are dead? What if their lifeless bodies are laying there at the bottom of that hole? It's all my fault, I could never forgive myself if they died." Melanie teared up as she looked at Jasper. "I shouldn't have let her do it, I should have faced my father as the bride not her. Now I may never see her again."

Jake took Melanie in his arms and tried to consul her. He could tell how heartbroken she was, and he tried anything he could to take her mind off the matter. He said a silent prayer in hope that Will and Marion were alive and well, just looking around for a way out of the hole they were in.

Will opened his eyes as Marion moved and adjusted herself on his chest. It was getting colder, and she was getting as close to him as she could for warmth. They were running out of time, they had no food, water or fire down there.

"Marion, come on, we have to get out of here." Will said gently lifting Marion's face to his own.

Her eyes opened and for a moment he was caught in the ocean like color of her eyes. Gulping he was about to look away when Marion stood up on her own and looked around. It appeared she was not injured as well. He stood beside her and began to try to figure out where to go.

"Could we climb out using the rocks and rubble?" Marion asked looking up.

"In that dress? I doubt it, even so, it isn't the most stable way to get out, but I could start and let you know when to head up." Will said about it started climbing when Marion stops him.

"You have a knife on you?" she asked.

"Always." he chuckled as he took the knife out.

He watched amazed as Marion began to cut the layers of wedding dress off her, to where there was only a thigh length dress left, easy for her to climb in. She found a way, he had to give her credit for that. Handing Will back the knife, Marion caught a familiar flash in Will's eyes as he moved to look up again.

"Will, be careful." Marion told him as she leaned in and kissed his cheek.

Will tried to his blush though he knew it would not work. He began to make his way to the top with Marion follow ten steps behind him. Pushing his foot through, he felt the piece under said foot start to give in, so he moved to the side as it crumbled, and a dead henry popped out of the rubble. The look of pain and fear permanently damage his face.

"Everyone gets their karma." Marion sighed.

Nodding in agreement, Will continued up avoiding Henry. Marion followed behind until they came to the top part where they were separated from the world by a large think piece of carpet. They could hear people above them, even calling out their names.

"We're down here!" Will called out as loud as he could.

Marion quickly joined in with him yelling as loud as she could that they were down below. They heard someone to yell stand back to which eye rolled at the comment but moved aside the best they could. Will went behind Marion to hold her as close as he could to the rubble to try to prevent her from falling. Finally, a large sludge hammer broke through, the dust settled, and Arthur stuck his head down.

"Thank god, there you two are. What about Henry is he down here too?" Arthur asked skeptical.

"He's here but he isn't going nowhere, he's dead." Will said pushing Marion forward as Arthur helped her up.

"Ah, well that was expected." Arthur said as he pulled Marion up and she moved to the side as he aided Will up to the surface.

Marion went to Will and hugged him. Arthur smiled and seemed to sense a connection. He brought them back to the hotel and while Marion checked on Jasper who was still fast asleep before getting washed up in the bath.

Will walked into the room Jasper laid in sleep and sighed, he was connected to that man in more way than one and he finally put it together. Sitting down in the chair beside the bed, Will ran his fingers through his hair.

"I didn't believe in reincarnation till now, when you are well, I first saw her through your eyes, I admit, I was drawn to her. She was stubborn, headstrong but not perfect know it all. She was lost just as much as we were. I was able to be you while my old self for a while in the future, but I think I'll just stick to being you now. Pulling off two at once isn't easy after all, all I can say is when we get to the future, I promise to love her, marry her and take care of her. If she wants me that is, maybe even had children one day. I truly look forward to that." Will told the sleeping Jasper.

Arthur had heard the whole thing and quickly went to the library in town. Sneaking into the occult section, he found what Will was talking about. It was referred to as a split when a reincarnated spirit could be in a new body as well as resemble the soul of its past self. It was exceedingly rare and almost unheard of.

"Another reason for a switch could be an act of fate, true love found in a new time and not in a past time." Arthur nodded as he read.

It all seemed to make sense, Will had met Marion as his reincarnated self or Jasper as he is called in the future and fell in love with her. Even as Will he couldn't deny his attraction towards her and would favor her.

Later that night, Will sat outside the hotel on the porch looking at the pile of rubble in the distance it would take a lot of rebuilding to bring the manor back to life. Melanie and Jake quickly joined him with Arthur too taking a seat in a rocking chair.

"There is no way in hell he lived through that." Jake commented with a low whistle.

"I can't believe it; I don't know what my mother will do now." Melanie sighed as she sat down on the ground before the hotel.

"Well, I think we can start again, rebuild that is. Bring Edward back and have him help rebuild this town in an image we would be proud of, not your father." Martha says as she comes forward.

Melanie smiles and nods as she runs up to her mother and hugs her. Jake comes to their side and joins them. Marion comes down with a confused and tired Jasper on her arm as Will walks up to Marion and nudges her playfully as they look at the mess before them.

"Guess this means you'll be going back, under much different circumstances." Will points out.

Martha wants Adam to return, and she can even see Arthur handing Martha the note about the woman who was having Adam's baby. She smiles and begins to tell Arthur about bringing the girl and child to the family and if the woman and Adam wanted to be married, they would. It was what looked to be a happy conclusion for Melanie, no longer the doomed bride forever searching for her betrothed.

"Maybe it won't be so bad this time." Marion shrugged.

"Well thank you, for everything miss Marion." Will said as he leaned in a kissed her cheek. "I won't be forgetting Ya."

Will smiles and then walks off as Jasper comes up.

"What was that all about?" Jasper questions.

"I don't know." Marion says as she puts her hand on the cheek where Will kissed.

She looked down and saw her hands were becoming translucent. Confused she looked to see Melanie ad Jake running their way with Arthur and Martha close behind them.

"Your time to go back has come, you have done what was needed. Thank you." Melanie smiles as she blows them a kiss.

"Farewell my friends.'' Arthur calls to them.

"Safe travels!" Jake yells.

Marion sees that Will doesn't say anything, he just tips his hat and takes off on his horse. Then once again, everything goes black.  

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