A/N: I post the second chapter too because the first is very short. BTW, it's not important to the story but I kind of picture Claire like Kathryn Newton (Claire Novak in Supernatural), it's her in the cover of the story.
Chapter 2: Claire Forbes.
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2000
I stared at the blank page of my notebook, ready to fill it with as much information as I have.
After almost a week of psychological battle with myself, I finally reached the dooming conclusion that, yes, I was reborn in Ann's favorite show. As Claire Forbes, Caroline Forbes' fraternal twin sister. In the middle of a world probably -and I would stick to that little hope until I was proven wrong- filled with vampires. And werewolves, witches, doppelgängers, and other lovely creatures.
And my priority number one was to protect my family. Hence the notebook. I have to write down everything I could remember from the show, in the hope to prevent it.
Okay... Let's start by the season one. Or what I can remember at least, this is the one I have fewer memories about. Ann was more Originals-Family-oriented in her fangirling. She was obsessed with those shows. One time, she made us go all the way to New Orleans because she wanted to watch the first episode of the new season of 'The Originals' there. Yes, that much.
I have to be honest now, I regret listening to her rambling with only half of my attention…
#1. Damon tries to open a tomb under some church to release Katherine, but she is not in there, never has been.
"Wait. Did this guy just hypnotize that poor girl into being his sex toy/girlfriend just to get back that ugly necklace?" I ask, my concentration on the screen when it should have been on the books in front of me.
Ann turned on the couch to face me, happy that I finally manifest some interest in her TV show. A show that she was watching for the millionth time, now.
"This is called compulsion, actually. And, yes, Damon is still a dick right now. The poor guy thinks that Katherine —the woman he loves— is trapped in a tomb under some ruins, a church I think, or something. Anyway, he needs that amulet to free her. But..." Ann moves her hand excitedly, and I smile fondly in front of her energy. "Because she is Katerina Petrova, of course, she's not in there. Katherine is a bitch. But, like, not Grandma Susan kind of bitch, more like Aunt Sally kind of bitch: you kind of hate her but, without her, you know that the family dinner will be way duller. Less Drama. And, with Katherine, the 'D' in drama is gigantic'."
#2. Katherine turning Caroline after her car accident, just before some high school carnival. The accident was probably caused by Tyler Lockwood.
"Wait, I didn't even realize that she was a vampire. Wasn't she was compelled by Damon? Vampires can compel other vampires?" I ask, curiously, as Caroline launches herself at a guy's throat with her teeth out.
"Nah, they can't... Well, an Original can, but that's not the subject. Caroline just turned. She had a car crash when Tyler was affected by Jonathan Gilbert's anti-vampire device. Elena asked Damon to give her his blood because she wasn't going to make it. And Katherine killed her when she still had the blood in her system." She looked thoughtful, her eyes scanning the screen as Bonnie tried to set her blonde friend on fire. "But I think that she is great as a vampire. That suits her, and she seems happier since her turning."
#3. Mikael Mikaelson's tomb: Pickett Mausoleum, Charlotte, North Carolina.
"Remind me, again, why we're scouting a cemetery at midnight?" I did nothing to hide the exasperated fondness in my voice.
Her grin just widened, and she curled her arm around mine, the other one extending in front of her with her flashlight. "Come on, don't you feel like the Winchester brothers? You're the tallest so, of course, you're Sam. I'm the hottest, I'll be Dean."
"Don't bring another one of your bloody TV shows in here. Seriously Ann, even if you want to search a cemetery for God knows what, why in the middle of the night?"
"Well. You don't see the Winchesters or Buffy Summers in a cemetery in the middle of the day!"
"Ann, for one: you have to understand that they are fucking fictional characters. And two: one is hunting vampires and the others dig graves to burn the remains of dead people. That's pretty illegal and probably why they go at night."
"Oh... Yeah, you made a point there. But I like the vibe anyway. Keep your eyes open girl!"
"I don't even remember what I'm looking for... Or why we're looking for it."
"We're looking for Mikael's tomb! Remember what I told you about yesterday? In the show, he is desiccated and hidden in the Pickett Mausoleum, in a cemetery of Charlotte, NC. We're in Charlotte, let see if we can find a Pickett Mausoleum!"
"That was probably just some decors. I don't think they used a Mausoleum from a real Pickett family. Wait..." I stared at her with narrowed eyes. "You didn't choose your college only to be in Charlotte, did you?"
She looked at me with big, innocents brown eyes. "What? No, of course not, you know me..." I've known her for less than six months now, but I also know that she was more than capable of it. I quirked an eyebrow.
She just turned her attention toward the tombs and mausoleums, mumbling. "It was that or Duke, but Isobel was a bitch." She seemed to think for a second before adding, "And Virginia was a no-go, It's way too boring."
#4. The Curse. The Moonstone. Jenna's death. Doppelgänger sacrifice. John's death.
I was half-lying across an armchair in the living room while Ann and Frank, her boyfriend, were cuddled on the couch. Ann going through Netflix to choose what we're watching tonight.
"You know what? I'm feeling like watching Klaus breaking his curse. He and Elijah are so hot." Ann suddenly says as she finally chooses.
"Shouldn't you be more preoccupied with your girlfriend, Frank?" I ask, teasingly.
"Naah, she loves me." He kissed her and she responded almost instantly.
"Of course I do, honey. But the Mikaelson's are hot, there's no denying that." She then turns toward me, squeezing her eyes. "You remember everything you have to know before we watch that, don't you?"
"Yeah, yeah, no worries here. Moonstone, Lockwood, werewolves, doppelgängers and all that."
She looks at me for one more second, almost menacingly. "Good."
#5. Augustine. Enzo. Whitmore.
"My poor baby! Look at what they are doing to my baby !" I looked at the screen, trying to ignore Ann's excessive movements.
My eyes widened when I saw a dark-haired man chained at a medical table while another one was... I don't really know what he was doing... Torture? Surgery? "What's that shit? Who's that guy ?"
"It's Enzo, my new baby. He's held prisoner for seventy years or so —almost since he turned into a vampire— by a fucking secret organization, Augustine. They hide their labs in the university Elena goes to, Whitmore." She moved to the left on the couch to let me sit. "Real bitch those ones, let me tell you."
#6. Silas is very bad. The Cure (one dose only).
"God, she is such a bitch!" Was the first thing I heard when I entered our apartment with my arms full of groceries. "How dare she..." She pauses mid-sentence when she saw me, standing to help me.
"Go ahead, Ann, talk as much as you want," I said, an indulgent smile on my lips, ready to listen to her rant about how much of a bitch Elena was. That was something of an occurrence since she and her brother killed Kol. Ann cried a lot when Kol died.
"But he told her! Kol told her all about Silas, one hell of a bitch that guy, but did she listen?" She threw her hands over her head, my eyes glued to the flour bag in them. "No, she didn't! And now, Kol is dead. And Jeremy was dead, but Bonnie died to bring him back. Meaning she is dead! And that bitch dares to give... God, she forced the cure in Katherine's throat!"
I frowned, not understanding. "But I thought she wanted to take the cure... Isn't that what it's all about?"
"My point!" She nodded at my words. "All that whining when she knew there was only one dose, but she doesn't even take it! And now Silas is here, that was just a freaking waste of time! When I think that Kol is dead for that!"
#7. Wickery Bridge made of White Oak. The sign. The bloodline bonds.
"Arrggh!" I heard Ann scream from her room and rush to her room, worried. She looks up from her screen when I push her door open. "Oh… I'm sorry, I worried you? It's just TVD's most recent episode…"
"Not a problem." I look at her eyes, red and watering. She was way too invested in those shows. "Why don't you tell me what brings you to such a state of misery?"
"Elena!" She spits almost instantly. "They wanted to protect her, again, and they tried to kill Klaus by killing Finn because they're all linked. You know about Wickery Bridge? It's made of White Oak —the only thing that can kill an Original, you know— and Rebekah burned it, but she forgot the sign! And Damon found it, and they used it. And, now, Finn is dead! He just found Sage, the love of his life, and they killed him! But they weren't linked anymore, so Finn is the only one who died. And you know what ?!" She looked at me with big eyes, her hands moving in front of her. "They are fucking lucky about that! Because it seems that when an Original died, so did his —or her— bloodline. Meaning all the fucking vampires they created. And the Salvatore's don't know who they're from!" She then turned to look at her laptop's screen, paused on an image of Elena, and stuck out her tongue at her. "Take that, Liar!"
#8. Vervain against vampires. Don't invite anyone in your house verbally.
"She's so wrong. She thinks that keeping someone in the dark will protect them but, well look at the fact..."
"Who thinks that?" I ask, putting back the box of herbal tea I was reading in its place.
"Elena." She says, in an 'it's obvious!' manners, showing me the box of vervain tea she was holding. She didn't say to Jenna vampires were real, and could compel you if you didn't eat or wear vervain. Guess who was compelled by Katherine to stab herself?"
"Huh, Jenna?" I answer-ask, not sure she wanted an answer.
"Ding-ding! We have a winner! And that doesn't convince her to talk! You know how a vampire can't come in if you don't tell them verbally?" I nod, looking between one apple-cinnamon tea and one strawberry-rhubarb. "Well, Jenna doesn't! And guess who invites an Original vampire in? One who could have killed her without even scrambling his suit?"
"Jenna," I answer, putting both tea's boxes in my cart, because why not.
"Bingo! I mean… Come on, she, like, literally killed Jenna by keeping her in the dark and, now, she wants to do it again with Jeremy !"
Her death. Cancer.
"I thought they couldn't make me cry more than when Alaric chose death back in season three but maaaan." Ann was clenching her mug of hot chocolate against her chest. "Liz's death was so saaad. Cancer! Could you imagine that? After all she- they had gotten through in this bloody supernatural town, she died from the most ordinary thing possible. That's... That's oddly suited..."
I stared at the page as the memories of Ann talking about Liz's -my mother's- death fade-away. It took me some time to finally close the notebook, I was not going to remember anything else right now, and that's when I noticed that I was crying.
My tiny-eight-years-old hands grabbed the notebook with force, almost hurting myself. I couldn't let my family be hurt. I needed to protect them.
That day, the summer of my eighth year as Claire Forbes, I swore to protect my family. As much as I can against supernatural beings or mundane disease.
2008.
"You can come with me, you know." I look at Caroline with concern. "Or I can postpone the departure a little."
She looks at me from above the suitcase she was inspecting on my bed. "What?!" She sighs when she noticed my concern. "You're not my mother, Claire, you're my twin sister."
"Older twin sister." I correct, almost mechanically, with a little laugh.
She just rolled her eyes. "This is not your fault if our parents had announced their divorce the day before your trip." She grabbed one of the tops in my closet with a little too much force. "The trip that you've been organizing for two years now. You don't have to sacrifice yourself for me, Claire. And I'm not going to miss the Tree Lighting Ceremony, Elena and Bonnie would kill me."
I laughed at her antics, but I knew she was only putting a facade. I would have canceled my trip if I didn't know how important it was for the future well-being of my loved ones. I stared at Caroline until she turned her attention to me. "I will be back before Christmas, I promise, but I want you to call me every day. And if you need me to come back, or if anything happens. Understood?"
"I promise." She hugged me and I returned it with force.
The next day, it took me a little over five hours to reach my destination. I drove through the city, looking around my surroundings with nostalgia. I hadn't been in Charlotte for over sixteen years.
Not much longer, I was pulling my car in the motel's parking and got out to rent a room. Twenty minutes later, I entered my room with my suitcase and my sports bag.
I was tired of the road but I knew I won't be able to sleep now. I was buzzing from impatience. This is it. I was in Charlotte. I'll finally be able to make something for my family security.
Closing the door, I put my stuff on the bed and opened my bag first, quickly pulling out the electrical wood saw I stole from my dad's tools. He wouldn't be missing it, he never uses it. Then, I opened my suitcase, looking at the piece of wood I had put there hastily after I had stolen it.
The Wickery Bridge sign.
I was in town for six days now and had visited twenty-eight cemeteries before I finally found it.
The Pickett Mausoleum.
I found it that morning because I'm not as dumb as Ann and I'll not be scouting cemeteries at night if I don't have to.
Unfortunately, for what I have in mind, I have to scout a cemetery at night. This is why I'm here now, at 10 pm, in front of the Pickett Mausoleum armed with a sports bag full of tools and ready to do something slightly illegal. And macabre, too.
Looking around me one last time, I stepped into the creepy place. Like in my blurred memory of the show, there was only one big tomb in the middle of the mausoleum. The big stone seemed heavy, I'll have so much work. Sighing, I left my bag on the floor and opened it to take out my crowbar. Let's begin.
Honestly, that took me so much more time than I liked, but I finally managed to completely open the tomb by 2 am.
Mikael was... creepy. I feel like it's the only word in my mouth today, but I don't see any other ones to describe it. Seeing him here, gray and chained, it was weird. That made me realize, really realize, that I wasn't crazy. Vampires were real. I was in 'The Vampire Diaries', Ann's favorite TV show.
I was maybe going to regret that, I don't know. I was more than probably seriously fucking the timeline here, changing some big events. But I couldn't bring myself to care.
Mikael was the only thing that Niklaus Mikaelson fears, along with his siblings leaving him. And if I wanted to be on his good side, I don't see anything better other than killing his father to do that.
I screamed suddenly when he opened his eyes. "Okay, no! This, this is creepy! Like fucking creepy! You don't open your eyes when you look like you're dead !" His -creepy!- eyes moved to look at me. "Oh, God. What I'm even doing..."
I kneel to search through my bag and pull out my stake. My White Oak stake. Hiding it in my jacket, I stand beside the tomb again.
"Euh... Hi, Mr. Mikaelson." His eyes widened a little, and he looked at me curiously. "I... was wondering, would you mind telling me where you have hidden your White Oak stake ?" His eyes narrowed and my heart missed a beat at the anger in his gaze. "Yeah. I suspected as much. No big deal, I was asking for a friend, you know."
I took out my stake and my smartphone (I can't wait until the phones were more developed, really.)
"Look, your children will probably not believe me if I don't give them proof of your death. Nothing personal. Well... you're pretty fucked as a father. I don't love people who try to kill their kids for a millennium. Like, literally." I took a picture first, before switching to video and pressing the button to record. "So, this is White Oak." I put my stake in front of the camera and Mikael's eyesight. I could see disbelief and a little panic fill his eyes. "And you're an Original so... you know what I mean. So... bye, I guess."
Paying attention to always keep Mikael in the video, I placed my stake between the chains on Mikael's chest, above his heart. "Damn. That's so fucking creepy." I pushed.
Mikael's eyes lit up with panic before his body literally lit up with fire.
"Oh, God."
I did it.
For the best or the worst, it was too late to back off now.
Edit 03/15/20: Beta'ed by WinchesterGurl1967. Thank You, again, you save me from all those errors!