Sorry for such the long wait, I've just moved house this so been busy unpacking and decorating etc. and I haven't had internet for over 2 weeks! Finally have it back so here is the next chapter :D

And for the first time I am introducing The Originals and the curse. Hope you like my twist on things.

Last chapter was mainly a flash back to Charlie's human life and her relationship with Brice. But in present day Elena posed as Katherine and her and Charlie went to see Brice. Let's see how things went…

Chapter 13

Present Day

Brice had left them alone, Charlie could hear him opening and closing heavy glass doors in the next room. She presumed it was some sort of cabinet. No doubt grand and expensive like everything else in his extravagant home. From the heavily polished wooden floors to the large French windows and stunning Victorian furnishings, this house screamed Brice. And Charlie knew he hadn't changed. He was just as arrogant, conceited and pompous as he had been all those years ago.

Elena and Charlie stood awkwardly in the doorway unsure what they should do.

"This was a bad idea, Elena, something is going to go wrong, I can just feel it," Charlie whispered.

"It'll be okay, we just need to get answers to your questions and leave as soon as we can," Elena replied.

"Simpler said than done, Brice is very crafty with his words. He knows how to trick you."

"I may be human but I've dealt with people like him before, I..." Charlie cut her off.

"Shush, he's coming back," Charlie said as she heard footsteps approaching on the wooden floor.

Brice entered the room with a bottle of scotch and three glasses. As he came towards them Charlie's eyes automatically took in his twenty-first century appearance again. His black hair, which had been shoulder length the last time she saw him, was now cut short and styled in a messy way. His shorter hair seemed to emphasise his masculine carved features and yet, his dark eyes and full lips were still as beautiful. After 250 years he still made her hormones rage and her body want him. His square jaw and dark eyes made him one of the most stunning men she'd ever known.

He sat on a patterned arm chair. "Please, sit, join me," he said, gesturing to the large couch in front of him. His voice was smooth, silky, and full of authority and still held a hint of his European accent.

They sat down on a dark green couch that faced his chair. He poured the scotch into the three glasses and handed one to each of them.

Elena nodded and flashed Katherine's signature smirk as she took the glass.

"Thank you," Charlie said with the barest glimmer of a smile.

He drank his down in one gulp and instantly poured another. "So, how are my two beautiful ladies? I guess you both couldn't stay away from me," he smiled smugly.

"I don't have time for your cockiness or stupidity, Brice, just tell me everything," Charlie commanded.

He smiled darkly. "Give me a moment, Charlotta, you've just arrived. I have some questions of my own first," he said.

She looked directly at him. "Are you being serious, what do you need to ask me? I know nothing! And don't play your silly little games with me, distracting me with your stupid remarks and comments. I'm not some pathetic human anymore, you can't mess me around. Just tell me the truth. You wanted to talk to me now talk," Charlie said not breaking eye contact with him.

He laughed. "Where has my innocent Charlotta gone? You're definitely a lot more feisty than I remember."

Charlie sneered. "Charlotta died in a house fire in 1764, Brice, along with her parents, family, friends and every single one of her staff. However, Charlie is alive; she's vengeful, sardonic and slightly bitter but trying to live her life in the 21st century. Nonetheless, she wants the truth now, Brice."

Brice smiled widely. "You really have changed, Charlotta, I've been told you don't live like a vampire should, but your darkness it's there. You can never truly hide from what you really are." He turned to Elena. "You did well with her, Katerina."

"I tried, but the silly girl ran after barely 100 years and she could never let go of her humanity," Elena said with a wicked smile. Charlie was proud of Elena's composure. She was doing a good job as Katherine but... for how long would Brice buy it?

"Speaking of humanity, where is that American human of yours, Charlotta? Oh sorry, my bad, I mean vampire boyfriend of yours? Didn't you turn him, Katerina?" he laughed darkly. "Aren't you with him again, Charlotta? I would have bet anything he'd be here protecting you," Brice said with a smirk.

"What? How do you know about him? That was years after you," Charlie asked, yet she knew fine well Katherine had told him.

"I know a lot of things about you, Charlotta. And oh yes, Damon Salvatore, he's one of them. I've heard about him, then again, who hasn't? The reckless, immature, irresponsible vampire, always making mistakes... but he'd do anything for the girls he loves. And you, stupid child, fell in love with him as a human, our greatest weakness... love."

"Love is not a weakness, Brice, the deepness of our love... it's a gift, the one good thing about being a vampire, the one emotion that's so beautifully intensified," Charlie shouted, standing up.

Brice was suddenly on his feet and within a second in front of Charlie. "I made that mistake..." he said barely audible, "you, I fell in love with you, and if I'd had any sense I would have handed you over to him, not given you a way out. Because of you, I've spent the last 250 years in fear."

"What do you mean? A way out? Do you mean by turning me? You were working with Katherine, weren't you? Who wanted me, Brice?" Charlie said raising her voice, and all her questions tumbling out at once.

Brice sat back down and closed his eyes. He leaned his head back onto the chair. He laughed lightly. "Maybe, I should start from the beginning, Charlotta. Katerina why don't you start us off. Indeed the story involves you too."

Charlie cautiously looked at Elena willing her to say something, anything.

"Katerina? Answer me?"

Elena's face was suddenly white with panic, her heart began to race, her blood speeding around her body. And her fear instantly intensified the scent of her blood. Charlie knew if she could smell Elena's blood, no doubt Brice could too. This was not good; he was going to kill them both. She just knew it. This was the end.

Brice's eyes immediately shot open. "Do you smell blood? Human blood?" He gripped the armrests in anger, his eyes moving directly to Elena. "Hello, my precious doppelganger. I've been wanting to meet you for a long time now. And to make things easy for me here you are." He was instantly on his feet and in front of Elena.

"Please don't hurt her," Charlie whispered.

Brice snorted. "How stupid do you think I am? I smelt her the second she entered my house. I'm over 1000 years old, I know all about the Petrova doppelgangers, and of course I know about you Elena Gilbert from Mystic Falls." He grabbed Elena by her hair and pulled her to her feet. "I need some time alone with Miss Charlotta; I'll deal with you later."

He pushed Elena across the room and through a heavy wooden door. Slamming it with too much force and locking it with a thick metal padlock.

He turned back to a frightened Charlie. "So, now we have some privacy, let me start from the beginning."

He grabbed Charlie's small hand in his own holding it tightly and sat her on the couch beside him. He never removed his eyes from her face. "You always were so beautiful, those blue eyes and perfect pale skin, you're kind, smart, funny, one tiny little redheaded girl... how can you have so much effect on so many people?" he said lightly.

"No more distractions, Brice, I want answers," she demanded.

"Fine, what do you want to know?"

Charlie tried to avoid his gaze as she spoke. "Who are you... really? You said you're 1000 years old."

A dark smile appeared on his lips. "Surely, you've heard of The Originals, Charlotta."

She nodded once in acknowledgment, but she stared down at the hardwood floor. She couldn't respond. Not yet. She knew exactly who The Originals were; the first vampires in existence, she knew they were strong, powerful and dangerous. Over the years, Katherine had warned her of their existence countless times. She knew about the curse and the reason why Katherine hated them so much. Was he honestly telling her he was one of them?

Brice continued to speak despite Charlie's silence. "The story of how we became vampires is a long one, and I will tell you sometime but all you need to know for now is, from us all vampires were created. My family were from Eastern Europe, my father was a wealthy landowner. And we were once human. There were nine of us, my parents, myself and my six other siblings. Now, they are only me and two of my brothers, none of us talk. I don't trust them and haven't seen either of them for centuries. Yet, I believe Katerina may have told you about them."

"Klaus and Elijah," Charlie whispered. "I never saw Katherine show fear until she mentioned their names."

"Did she ever tell you why she feared them?"

Charlie finally looked at him. "A curse. She never told me the details, only that they needed to sacrifice her in order to break it. That's the reason she became a vampire, they needed her to be human."

"Correct," he said with a snarky smile.

"Oh, my God, Elena, it all makes sense now. She's the next doppelganger, they want her don't they."

"Correct again."

"And me... Katherine turned me... she thought she was saving me didn't she? How do I fit into all of this? Do Elijah and Klaus want me too?"

"So many questions, Charlotta, always so demanding aren't you." he looked directly at her, his eyes staring intently into her own. "My brothers both want you for very different reasons, Charlotta. And that night, the night you were turned... I was behind all of it, I didn't want them to have you," he said so lightly, no human could have heard him.

She had to look away again. She couldn't stand his dark eyes appraising her. "Why do they want me? What is this curse?" she said trying to hide her fear.

He took a deep breath. "There was a time when my family was very close, yet, my father and Klaus still never seemed to get along. Upon us becoming vampires, we discovered that my mother had been unfaithful and Klaus was not his son. Furious my father hunted down and killed my mother's lover and his family. However, at this point... he did not know that they were in fact from a werewolf bloodline. This began the war between vampires and werewolves."

"Oh, my God," Charlie whispered. "Are you saying Klaus... Klaus is both? A vampire and a werewolf? How can this be?"

"Yes. He is a hybrid, a mix of the species. However, the witches believed that Klaus's werewolf part would be too dangerous if released. They imprisoned Klaus's werewolf side and bound it to a moonstone. This is his curse."

"And how do you break this curse?"

"For years Elijah aided Klaus in his search for the moonstone and the Petrova Doppelganger, whose blood as you know was used to bind the curse."

"Katherine said a werewolf and a vampire are also needed but how do I come into this?"

"Elijah did everything Klaus wanted, yet, I knew Elijah had a secret. The witches had given Elijah his own curse or more like a gift, and he could choose to use it if he felt the need to. The Petrova doppelganger is the key to breaking my brother's curse, you Charlotta... you are the key to destroying the curse completely. And this would severely weaken Klaus, make him almost human."

"Destroy?" she asked confused. "You mean the curse will be gone forever? Klaus would never become a werewolf? I don't understand, what was Elijah's curse?"

"You." he said simply. "The witches gave Elijah the ability to father one child with a human woman, he chose your mother. His curse... deciding whether to kill his own child or not. You are this child; you're Elijah's daughter, Charlotta."

Charlie was suddenly on her feet. "What? You are joking! He is a 1000 year old vampire; I am only 250 years old. He cannot be my father. It's impossible. And anyway, Eugene Dubois is my father."

In seconds he was beside her and spun her around to face him. "Charlotta, you are a vampire, and we live in a world of witches, magic and werewolves, think about it, nothing is impossible. Eugene Dubois was compelled into believing he was your father, to protect you. We needed to keep you safe until you were sixteen. Then on the first full moon after your birthday you could be sacrificed in order to destroy the curse and render Klaus useless."

Charlie laughed nervously.

"Listen," he said lightly. "Like Elijah, I loved Klaus, he was my younger brother but I didn't want to help him break his curse. Klaus was already bad-tempered and as a vampire he lost all his humanity. I didn't want to give him the power to destroy us all and... I left. I spent a good 500 years on the run from him."

"When did you find out about me?"

"Running from my brothers I travelled the world, hiding in many places. And eventually in the 1759 I found myself in France. This is where Elijah found me and I'd never seen him so hurt and vengeful. He told me Katerina Petrova had escaped, she became a vampire and therefore, breaking the curse had been unsuccessful. Klaus angry had hunted down all of our siblings and our parents and scattered them across the seas so they couldn't be found. Elijah now wanted him to pay and I was more than willing to help him. The witches always want balance. Yes the moonstone bound the curse, but Elijah had the way to destroy it forever."

"Me," she breathed.

He barely nodded. "Elijah told me a young French woman had given birth to his child in 1748; a healthy beautiful girl and you were now eleven years old. He'd given you a human life, chosen a rich professor to be your father but now so close to sixteen he wanted me to keep you safe, to watch over you until the time was right, but as I watched you grow into an incredible young woman, I couldn't just hand you over to be killed."

Charlie paced the room confused and frightened. "So you turned me. Made me a vampire."

He held her hand tightly in his, urging her to look at him. "I'm sorry; it's the only way I could think of to safe you. Katerina and I met in France, as soon as I saw her I knew who she was, she hated my brothers and she agreed to help me safe you. You were useless to Elijah as a vampire, you needed to be human."

"So, what? You're my uncle? And you went against Elijah... he... my real dad was going to sacrifice me? He was really going to kill me?" she said irately.

"Yes, and I risked everything by doing so. Katerina wasn't really behind anything that has happened these last 250 years, I compelled her but I had to make it look that way. And yes, before you ask, Originals can compel vampires."

"What really happened the night you turned me?"

"Elijah never hid from me his feelings for your mother. I knew he loved her and if I turned her too I knew that would annoy him. But stupidly blinded by his love he never compelled her and she lived in fear that one day he would come for you. That night, when people were found drained of blood; your mother thought it was him coming for you. And I had to kill Eugene to make your mother think so."

"But you killed my father, Eugene he will always be my real dad. That man loved me treated me no different than my brothers... my mom, did you compel Katherine to kill her too," she sobbed.

He suddenly looked away from her. "I'm sorry, I really am... I needed you, I needed you alone... With Klaus gearing to break the curse again, the witches told Elijah some new information about you, about what you are..."

"What am I really? Was I really human? What am I now? My father is not only a vampire but an original vampire, so what am I?" she shouted.

"You are part original vampire and part human, yes. We know you can't be compelled and you may not have realised but you can sustain a long time on very little blood, much less than a normal vampire. You live on animal blood and you didn't feed for weeks after your mother was killed and you could still beat Damon. You have many traits of an Original but not only that, recently the witches told us something very interesting. You are a vampire now but Mother Nature always has a way around that."

"What are you talking about?" she asked scared and confused.

He suddenly disappeared and less than a second later he grabbed Charlie from behind. She couldn't move in his iron grip. He dragged her across the room and into the same room he had put Elena earlier.

Elena was sitting on the floor in the corner and Charlie instantly went to comfort her. She wrapped her arms around her. "You okay?" Charlie whispered.

Elena nodded. "You?"

"Yeah," she said rubbing Elena's arm soothingly.

Brice spoke and they both looked up at him. "Elijah is coming for you, Charlotta, and I'm sorry but I'm not dying for you. I'm not making that mistake again." He grabbed Charlie's wrist pulling her from Elena's arms and to her feet. "Now I have you Elena, I might as well hand you over too. But first, Elijah wants me to test the witches' theory."

Before Charlie could react Brice stabbed a stake through her heart. Elena gasped as Charlie's skin turned gray and covered in veins and she fell lifeless to the ground.

Bet you can't believe that! Brice is a bit twisted. But what is the witches' theory? What part will her Original side play in this? Damon and Stefan have to get here soon, right?