Hey! I'm SO sorry this took forever. I really left you guys hanging on that last cliffhanger. I've been really busy with writing a book of my own and with other stuff like school and friends and life and I just completely forgot about fanfiction for a while. I'm gonna try and change that! I hope you enjoy the new chapter!
Charlotte sat completely still for a few brief moments. She blinked a few times, trying to process what Katherine had just said.
She tilted her head and laughed breathily. "Um. Come again? I think I just heard you wrong, did you say..."
"Vampire."
She frowned. "As in… like… fangs, and burning in the sun, and 'I vant to suck your blood' type of crap? Katherine… Are you high? You got high before I came here, didn't you?"
Katherine turned away slightly, closing her eyes. "I told you you wouldn't believe me."
"Katherine-"
"You think I'm crazy. I get it," Katherine muttered. "Maybe you should just go."
Charlotte looked hurt, shocked, confused, and so many other things at once, like an orgy of emotions had just hit her like an oncoming train. "W-what?" she stuttered. "Okay, wait a minute. Back up. Katherine. Look at me." Charlotte put her hands on Katherine's shoulders and turned her body towards her. "Are… do you promise that you are being a hundred percent serious right now?"
Katherine nodded, hope sparking somewhere deep inside of her. "Yes," she replied. Wow. This is already going a lot better than I thought it was going to.
Charlotte bit her lip. "Well… If you want me to believe something like this… you're going to have to prove it. I… well, I guess I have a pretty open mind."
Katherine sat and stared at the red-haired girl for a few moments, blinking dumbly. She almost wanted to pinch herself to see if she was dreaming. Charlotte's reaction was too good to be true. "...Really?" Katherine asked.
Charlotte gave a curt nod. "I'm willing to give you a chance to show me that you're…"
Katherine didn't even give her time to finish. She opened up her mouth, tilting her head upwards, and felt her fangs sliding out quickly. She had honestly been suppressing the urge to slide her fangs out for days now and it felt so good to do it.
Charlotte's eyes widened, moving backwards a few inches in shock. Katherine guessed that her now blood-shot eyes and the dark blood coursing through the veins below them was adding to the overall scariness of her new appearance. Charlotte looked frightened for a moment, causing Katherine's heart to sink. What if she screams and runs away? What if she tells me I'm a monster and never talks to me ever again? After all, that is the usual reaction.
But Charlotte wasn't moving. In fact, her shocked expression was beginning to soften and was being replaced with sheer curiosity.
Katherine ran her tongue along her sharp incisors. "You're not running away in fear. That's… a first for me."
Charlotte slowly shook her head. She moved towards the vampire, practically straddling her, which surprised Katherine immensely. She's being so trustworthy of me. How is she so trusting?
Charlotte took Katherine's face in her hands and ran one of her thumbs along her fangs.
"You're so beautiful…" she sighed, touching her nose to the vampires. "Why didn't you show me this before? Why hide who you truly are?"
Before she could respond, Charlotte leaned down and kissed Katherine slowly on her opened mouth. She could feel Charlotte's warm tongue run across her fangs lightly. When she pulled away, she smiled, backing up a little off of her lap and blushing. The flickering light danced on her face and in her eyes, and in all of Katherine's time on earth she'd never seen something so beautiful.
Katherine couldn't help but smile and blush herself. She wasn't running away. She isn't running away...!
Katherine sighed, looking down. "There's something else I should tell you. This may sound strange but...it's about your mother's death."
Charlotte's face visibly paled. "Wh-what about it?"
Katherine closed her eyes and paused. "Vampires killed her. And... I'm pretty sure it was one in particular. I think Rachel killed your mother."
Charlotte backed up a little, her hazel eyes wide. "Woah, woah, slow down. How would you know this?"
"Because it just… I don't know, it makes sense, why she was so interested in you that day," Katherine said. "But I at least know for sure that vampires had to do with your mother's death."
"How?" Charlotte asked forcefully.
"Because Rachel is a Petrova doppelganger and there's dozens of vampires in this town; I heard your dad, Principal Ferris, and that history teacher talking about it in your living room last night. The vampires are up to something. Something bad, probably. And that's why I left your house- because they know I'm a vampire, too."
Charlotte scrunched up her face. "Katherine, slow down! First of all, what the hell was Principal Ferris and Mr. Pickett doing in my house?!"
"Your dad and them are teaming up to stop the vampires. And because I'm a vampire they think I'm evil too, even though I have nothing to do with them. Also, Principal Ferris is a witch, and had premonitions of me coming to this town. That's why I was 'on the directory' at your school. She was expecting my arrival."
Charlotte sat in silence for a moment. She looked down and shut her eyes. "I think my brain in exploding. Principal Ferris is a witch?"
Katherine nodded. "I'm sorry. I know this is a lot to take in."
"Okay, second question," Charlotte said. "What the hell is a… er… betrothal… dopple... something?"
Katherine chuckled a bit. "Petrova doppelganger. Doppelganger means a double, or an identical copy of someone. Petrova is my family line, dating back to over a thousand years ago. For unknown reasons the Petrova doppelgangers were created. I've already met one of my doppelgangers: her name is Elena Gilbert, and she lives in Mystic Falls, where I came from, but that's a long story for another time. And now, Rachel is the second I know of."
Charlotte looked beyond confused. "But if Rachel looks exactly like you, why wouldn't I have recognized you and thought you were Rachel?"
"Because she compelled you to forget what she looked like so you wouldn't go looking for her," Katherine sighed. "We vampires have a special skill called compulsion. We can make humans do or think whatever we want them to, as long as they're not wearing or have digested a specific herb called vervain."
To say the least, Charlotte appeared to be a bit overwhelmed. She put a hand to her head. "T-this is a lot to take in. I mean, I thought it was weird that I strangely felt like I knew your face from somewhere, but I had no idea that this would be the answer."
Katherine looked down, her heart sinking a bit. "I understand if you don't trust me anymore."
Charlotte shook her head, tipping Katherine's head up with her fingertips. "Katherine, look. Vampires may have killed my mom, but that doesn't mean they're all bad. It's okay. I've learned in my life not to judge." Charlotte gets a jokingly mischievous look in her eyes. "Besides, you're way too cute for me not to trust…" Her fingers started tracing patterns on her jaw.
Katherine chuckled, leaning in and kissing her deeply. This is going to be a fun night.
Hope you enjoyed! New chapter soon, hopefully. xo
