I woke up to the sound of my alarm blaring some wild pop song I'd never heard before—except I "had" heard it before, many times at that. It was my alarm tone. Had been for months.
Except this wasn't my phone.
My head felt like someone had taken two different puzzles, dumped them in the same box, and expected me to make sense of the resulting mess. I sat up in bed, pressing my palms against my head as memories crashed into one another like 2 mentally challenged children.
"My name is—no was" The thought fractured. "I'm Marcus, Marcus Bennett."
But I was also someone else. Someone who'd lived an entirely different life, in an entirely different world. Someone who'd binged The Vampire Diaries during a particularly boring summer and thought Bonnie Bennett deserved so much better than what the writers gave her.
Oh, shit.
Bonnie Bennett.
Is my twin sister.
I stumbled out of bed, nearly tripping over a pair of sneakers I somehow knew I'd left there last night after practice. Basketball practice. I was on the basketball team. I knew this the same way I knew my locker combination, my class schedule, and the fact that Caroline Forbe. Caroline freaking Forbes, was my girlfriend.
My girlfriend.
I caught sight of myself in the mirror above my dresser and froze. Dark skin, green eyes, athletic build, curly hair, with a nine inch dong. I gasped at the sight of that monster. "I see why Caroline is dating me now."
I was also sixteen and a junior at Mystic Falls High School. And today was the first day of school.
Today was the day everything started.
The very same day that Elena Gilbert would meet Stefan Salvatore.
"Marcus! Bonnie! Breakfast!" Grams's voice carried up the stairs, warm and commanding in that way that only she could manage.
I opened my mouth to respond, but something else caught my attention. A sensation in the back of my mind, like a door I'd never noticed before. Instinctively, I reached for it, not with my hands, but with my mind. And suddenly I was looking at a space that didn't exist.
A mental storage space or an inventory. It was empty except for the single golden coin floating in the center, glinting with an otherworldly light.
Coin of Chance
The knowledge flooded into me, not as a memory but as an understanding. One coin per day. I could trade them for almost anything like powers, knowledge, items, skills, even changes to beings like race, appearance, or gender. The only limits were: no omnipotence, no omniscience, no omnipresence, no godhood, and I couldn't world-hop to other realities.
And there was one more catch, one that explained something that had bothered the Marcus who had grown up here for years.
I couldn't use magic, like the magic that's apart of this universe.
Grams had tried to teach both Bonnie and me when we were younger. She'd been so excited to have two grandchildren to pass her knowledge to. But while Bonnie had shown promise, even if she was in denial about it, nothing we tried had ever worked for me. No matter how hard I concentrated, no matter how perfectly I followed the instructions, the magic just... didn't respond.
It had disappointed Grams, even though she'd never said so. It had made me feel broken, like I was missing some essential part of what made our family special.
Now I knew why. The Coins of Chance had replaced my access to ancestral magic. A trade-off I'd apparently made before I even knew I was making it.
"Marcus Bennett, don't make me come up there!"
"Coming, Grams!" I called back, my voice automatic.
I grabbed a t-shirt from my closet, a blue one that I knew Caroline liked, and pulled it on.
Then my phone buzzed on the nightstand. A text from Caroline.
'Morning babe ❤️ Pick me up at 7:45? Want to get there early.
Of course she did. Caroline Forbes was nothing if not punctual and prepared. I felt a strange double-vision as I looked at the text. Part of me remembered our first kiss at a party last spring, the way she'd laughed at my terrible jokes, the comfortable rhythm we'd fallen into over the summer. The other part of me knew her as a character on a TV show, knew everything she'd go through this year—the insecurity, the manipulation, the transformation.
I couldn't let that happen, not to her, who was the most caring and innocent even after everything she went through.
'Of course. See you soon, Love you.'
(A/N: Previous Marcus said I love you first. Roast the simp here.)
I hit send before I started to overthink because Marcus Bennett loved Caroline Forbes, even if the person I used to be was still wrapping his head around that fact. Don't get me wrong now even in my past life I'd smash no questions asked. It just feels wrong to manipulate the feelings of someone your supposed to care for.
Downstairs, Bonnie was already at the table, picking at a plate of eggs while scrolling through her phone. She looked up when I entered, and I felt a surge of protective affection that came from both sets of memories.
"You look weird," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Did you have another nightmare?"
I had nightmares sometimes. Marcus's memories supplied that information readily. Usually about our parents, who'd abandon us or weren't there when we were young. Grams had raised us ever since.
"I was 10, Bonnie" I said, sliding into my seat. "But just a weird dream."
"Well, shake it off." She kicked my shin lightly under the table. "It's our junior year. We're supposed to be excited."
"Oh, I'm excited," I said, and I meant it. Excited but terrified at the same time.
Because I knew what was coming. I knew about the vampires, the doppelgängers, the ancient curses and endless supernatural drama that was about to descend on this town. And unlike everyone else, I had a chance to change things.
One coin at a time, that is if nature doesn't butt fuck me before I can even use them properly.
Grams set a plate in front of me, her hand briefly touching my shoulder. "Eat up, baby. Big day ahead."
She had no idea how right she was.
As I ate breakfast with my sister and grandmother, I felt the weight of that single coin in my inventory. My first coin! Tomorrow I'd have another, and another the day after that. I'd need to be smart about how I used them, strategic.
But first, I had to get through today. I had to pick up my girlfriend, go to school, and watch as Elena Gilbert locked eyes awkwardly with Stefan Salvatore for the first time.
The story was beginning.
And this time, I was in it.
A/N
Vote here if I should kill off Damon Salvator for sexual assaulting Caroline. If no… you're fucked up.
Yes
No