Chapter 1
Remembering
Stefan sniffed and wiped a tear from his eye. Elena walked up the stairs to his room, paused to knock until she heard him crying. She walked straight in and found Stefan sat at his desk, an aged photograph between his fingers, a rosewood box engraved with holly leaves and the initials 'MHS' on the lid, between his elbows.
"Stefan?"
"Elena. What's up?" Stefan said composing himself quickly and putting the photograph back on the box as he saw Elena walking towards him.
"Are you okay?"
Stefan contemplated saying yes that he was fine, but he knew Elena well enough to know she'd see through that. "No. I'm remembering."
"Remembering what?" She asked kindly, for whatever it was, it had caused him great upset. Only then did she see the photograph, an aged sepia photograph of him, Damon and a young woman- the young woman had her arms around both of the boys and all were smiling, jovially. It must have been winter, for there was snow on the ground.
"My sister." Stefan said and handed her the photograph of him and his siblings. Elena smiled at the sight of a younger Stefan. The photograph was dated, on the reverse, 1861. Stefan would have been 13 or so.
"She's pretty. What was her name?"
"Her name was Marina Holly. She was born on Christmas Eve 1843, 5 years before I was born. In 1861, when that photograph was taken she was 18, it was the evening of her majority ball, our father hosted."
"She's very beautiful, Stefan."
"Damon said she looked a lot like our mother. My mother died when I was small, I don't really remember her. Marina had long auburn hair which curled a little at the ends as it got longer. Her eyes were green like mine but she had a navy blue ring around her irises, a similar shade to Damon's. She was about Damon's height too. She was so kind, with an honest and loyal heart. She was a writer, Elena, she encouraged me to keep my journals." Stefan smiled, remembering the young woman who had doted on him as a child, the woman who had very much been a mother to him after their own died when Stefan was no older than 10. He was rummaging through the box again, the box of her belongings, those he had kept.
From the bottom of the box he produced a thin journal no bigger than modern A5 sized paper. It was curling and the pages were stained with age. It had obviously been well thumbed. "She wrote this., for me when I was small. She used to make stories and write them down for me when I couldn't sleep."
Stefan opened it and showed Elena his sisters cursive script. On the inside cover she had written: November 1st 1856' for the best little brother I could not have wished for. Happy 10th birthday, Stefan, sweetheart. With love, your sister, Marina x"
Elena smiled, as she took the book off Stefan admiring the handwriting as Stefan moved to his book shelf and pulled a large book off the top shelf. "I wonder..." Stefan whispered and Elena looked at him.
"Stefan?"
"We need to see Bonnie. I want to know if she can do this spell." Stefan said.
"What spell?"
"A spell my sister created, which means I might be able to show you my memories of her, Elena." Stefan looked sad, but took her hand when she offered it.
"She was a witch?"
"In secret, our father would have... killed... her if he'd known," Stefan sniffed again, fighting tears.
"Stefan, what happened to her?"
"She sacrificed herself to save me, when my father tried to kill me, when I was transitioning." Stefan broke down then and all Elena could do was hug him.
Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, Marina Holly Salvatore climbed down from a train and waved for a taxi in Chicago.