Episode 10: Career Fair

There is freedom waiting for you on the breezes of the sky, and you ask "What if I fall?"

Oh, but my darling what if you fly?

-Erin Hanson

Bulgaria, 1490

The sound of new born baby screams pierced the air. My sister, my sweet baby sister had just given birth. The baby, a little girl, was given to our aunt immediately out of the womb.

"Can I hold her?" Katerina asked. Our father, stern and disapproving, said no. Kat begged and begged to hold her baby girl just once.

"Please, father. Allow her this one comfort before you rip away mother and daughter forever." I pleaded, tears for my sister trailed down my face.

But our father was an uncompromising man.

"No. She disgraced this family! I can not let it stand." Our father huffed. My heart broke more and it must have shown on my face because my fathers cold features softened just a little, "This way will be easier for them both, trust me."

Father and our Aunt left us then, taking my sisters baby with them.

I swooped to my sisters side.

"I'm sorry Kat, I tried my best." I swiped away the tears on her cheeks and brushed back her sweat drenched hair.

"I know Tori. I should have listened to you. You warned me." I did. I told her not to fool around with that boy, that he would only end up breaking her heart. But he was charming and handsome and full of false promises. And Katerina Petrova had fallen for all of it. Now that arrogant boy was nowhere to be found as my sister had to face the consequences.

"We'll go somewhere. Far away from father. Together." I whispered, holding onto my sisters hand.

"No. Father is angry with me, not you. I'll go into banishment alone."

"Don't be silly. You're my sister, I love you. I'd do anything for you, even face the fires of hell."

Mystic Falls, 2009

I woke up early that morning feeling conflicted, both about Damon and Katherine. The kiss last night had been surprising, but it only confirmed what I'd been thinking since we met again: despite our past, Damon and I were different people now. I couldn't let myself be distracted by old memories that had no place in the now. It seemed that was advice I had to take concerning Kat too.

"Good morning, mom." I yawned as I poured myself some coffee.

"Morning sweetie." She kissed my temple as she handed the creamer she knew I wanted.

Mom was already dressed in uniform. The news was going on in the living room, something about another animal attack.

"There's been another attack? I thought the, uh, mountain lion was caught?" And Damon was over killing random people, it must be another vampire.

"So did we." The worry must have showed on my face. "But I've got my best deputies on it. You kids are too young to be worrying about this."

"Don't forget about the Career Fair at school." I called as the sheriff left for work.

"Hey Caroline, hey Charlie." Matt greeted as we entered the school grounds. He smiled brightly at Caroline and walked with us down the hallway.

The other night I had come home to Caroline and Matt close together on the couch with a bunch of snacks watching TV. Matt had offered for me to join them, but I knew Care wanted some alone time with him and politely declined. Besides I was feeling guilty about the kiss with Damon.

Those feelings hadn't gone away by the time Caroline came down for her morning coffee and it kept bubbling up in the pit of my stomach the entire drive to school. We didn't keep secrets like this from each other and it was eating away at me.

"So, Care I found the perfect movie to watch next time." Matt handed over a DVD case of the movie Die Hard.

"This isn't a Christmas movie." Caroline said, handing the DVD back. I'm assuming she suggested holiday movies since it is December now.

"What are you talking about, it totally is." Matt playfully argued.

"It is set at Christmas Eve." I added.

"Next thing you know she'll say Lethal Weapon isn't a Christmas movie either." Matt said, looking to me.

Caroline rolled her eyes, a wide smile on her face.

"I've never seen it, but by the title I can confidently say it's not," she said.

"What? You've never seen Lethal Weapon? Ok, now I definitely know what we're watching next." Matt and Caroline walked into our first period class making plans for their next hang out. I caught sight of Bonnie and Elena across the hall and decided to check on them.

"Did I miss something?" Elena commented as I walked up, indicating where Matt and Caroline were, "Isn't it a little weird?"

"I think it's cute." I said, "they just started hanging out a couple days ago."

Bonnie nodded. "She needs someone nice like him, as opposed to a homicidal vampire like Damon."

"Yeah…" I said awkwardly, the kiss I shared with said homicidal vampire still fresh in my mind. "How are you doing with all that? You were still getting used to the idea of being a witch."

"Honestly, I'm freaked out. Damon attacked me. I could be dead right now." Bonnie replied, "But I'm also grateful." At the questioning looks Elena and I shot at her, Bonnie answered, "To Stefan. He saved my life."

While Bonnie asked about Stefan (the Salvatore boys had been a little too quiet the past couple days) I got a text from Damon asking for my help after school.

What kind of help? I replied.

He answered: The vampire hunting kind

That afternoon I stood outside an abandoned warehouse, my phone in one hand and in the other I clutched the vampire compass, which was pointing toward the ominous building.

"So what now?" I asked into my phone, Damon was on the other end.

"Just wait. I'll be there in a minute." Damon replied. Suddenly, Damon appeared behind me, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Don't do that!" I snapped, my back to him. I still found it difficult to look him in the eye. Unfazed, Damon wrapped his arms around me. I stuttered our nervously, "What are you doing?"

"You can give me that." Damon plucked the compass from my hands. I stepped out of his radius and turned around.

"So, why couldn't you do this yourself?" I asked.

"Vampire compass," Damon pointed to the compass and then to himself, "Vampire. I interfere with the signal."

I rolled my eyes, pushing down a smile at his smart-ass response. I glanced back at the closed doors of the warehouse.

"Alright, so what's the game plan?"

"The plan is you go back home and I stake a vampire." Damon showed me the stake he brought, a long piece of sharp dark wood.

"I can help." I offered, "You don't have to do this alone."

"If I didn't know any better," Damon started, that annoyingly charming smirk on his face, "I might actually think you cared about me."

"Maybe I do." I said honestly, staring him in the eyes. Damon starred back just as intensely, he took a step closer and reached his arms out to my sides. I told myself we weren't going to kiss again. Luckily, Damon wasn't thinking about that.

"Charlotte," Damon said surprisingly stern, "Go home. I got this."

"Fine. Stay safe."

That night I returned to school for the Career fair with Caroline and Bonnie. We roamed the booths together, collecting all the free pens and stress balls while trying on different professions like hats at the mall.

"Come on Bonnie, you're the psychic, what does our future hold for us?" Caroline asked after a lackluster presentation on the world of accounting.

"I wish it was that easy." Bonnie said, shuffling the various pamphlets and flyers we've picked up in her hands.

"Don't worry Care, I know exactly what our future look likes," I jested, "You're going to be a world famous actress, Bon-bon's you're celebrity psychic, and I'm going to compose all the music for your movies and be the next Hans Zimmer."

Caroline was laughing until she spotted Matt and Elena talking, her mood changed drastically and she quickly left the room.

"Caroline!" I called, rushing after her. I found her leaning against the school wall by the restrooms. "Care, you know nothing is going on between them right? They're still friends, they're gonna talk. Elena made her choice and it wasn't Matt."

"I know that!" Caroline cried, "But what about Matt's choice? He's not over her."

"Well, he's gonna have to."

"So, what? I'm just the rebound?"

"Maybe that's what you both need." I suggested. She scoffed and looked away from me. "Hear me out. Isn't Matt technically your rebound from… you-know." It was hard talking about my sister's past relationship with Damon. Reconciling my anger about how he treated her and Maggie's residue feelings was near impossible.

"You only need a rebound if you still have feelings for the person you broke up with. Which I have none."

"Hey, Caroline, Charlotte." Our Mom called as she walked up the hallway, still in her uniform.

"Hi, mom." I hugged her quickly, while Caroline straightened herself out on the wall.

"So what does the future hold for my girls?" Mom asked the same question we'd been asking all night.

I shrugged unsure, "I was considering composing or teaching…"

Mom smiled brightly at me. "You'd be a wonderful music teacher."

"I was thinking more Occult studies, like Sheila Bennet." I clarified. Her eyes widened and her smile lowered a little.

"Oh. Okay." She took a deep breath as it processed. I'm sure it really wasn't something she wanted me to say, then she turned to Caroline, "And what about you honey?"

"I'll show you." Caroline perked up and grabbed our mom by the arm, leading her away.

"What are you doing?" Mom asked as she was dragged along by Caroline.

"Following my future." Caroline took our mom to a booth and pointed toward the banner. "There it is."

"Broadcast journalism?" Mom asked, her eyebrows knit together.

"Yes. Broadcast journalism." Caroline repeated.

"That'd be perfect for you!" I said supportively.

But our mom was looking at her skeptically.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You don't even read the paper." Mom said seriously.

Caroline scoffed and walked out without a word. I sent an apologetic look to our mom and followed my sister outside the school.

"I can't believe her!" Caroline exploded, "How come she can never be supportive of me? She didn't say anything when you said you wanted to study magic."

"I don't know if that qualifies as supportive," I mumbled.

"Well at least she didn't brush it off."

"I don't think she meant to be dismissive," I said, "she kinda had a point."

"Which was?"

"You haven't really shown an interest in journalism before."

"It's not about the news!" Caroline burst, "it's the presentation, the ratings, the scoop."

"If it's any consolation, I think you'd do great in TV." But it didn't matter, I wasn't mom.

Caroline crossed her arms stubbornly and got out her phone, "I'm calling Bonnie, I'm ready to go home." After a beat and no answer she left a message, "Bonnie, where are you? Charlie and I are ready to go. We'll be outside."

"Stay here, I'll go find Bonnie," I offered knowing Caroline didn't want to run into our mom just yet, "let her know we're ready to go."

I searched around for Bonnie and eventually found her at the booth for Whitmore College talking to Sheila. She said she'd be out in a moment so I walked back towards Caroline.

"Hey Charlie, you have a ride home?" Matt asked as we passed each other in the entrance hall.

"Uh, yeah, Care and I rode here with Bonnie," I answered.

"Just making sure, I just saw Logan Fell give Caroline a ride home." My blood went cold, Vicki had killed Logan. That wasn't good.

I rushed back outside, clumsily trying to call Damon as I went.

"Not a great time Charlotte," Damon snarled from the other end of the phone. He sounded like he was in pain.

"Your vampire has Caroline." I said, ignoring him.

"Don't worry Charlotte, I'll take care of it." He groaned.

"For some reason that makes me worry more. Just hurry."

"I'm going after her too, Charlie." Stefan said from behind. I hadn't even noticed he was there. Then with his vamp-speed Stefan was gone.

There I stood in the school parking lot: alone, angry, and worried. My thoughts ran rampant. I should be out there rescuing my sister.

"I can do something," I said to myself, frustrated, "I can help."

I wasn't as helpless as Damon seemed to think I was.

All the rage and anxiety I had bottled inside of me ignited and once again I felt that comforting warmth encompass me. I closed my eyes as the feeling grew more intense. I could feel the fire whip around me burning hot, but not harmful. The flames licked up from my legs, my arms, it became my hair as it licked the sides of my face. Suddenly the energy released and I felt weightless, free. When I opened my eyes I was staring at the ground as it rushed past, from about thirty feet high. I was flying.

Soon enough I could see the channel 9 news van at an intersection. Stefan and Damon were both there already, with Logan thrown to the ground and a bullet wound in his gut.

To the surprise of both Salvatore brothers, I landed by the van in a flash of light. The fire that surrounded me dispersed harmlessly into the air.

"Okay. Maybe she's not a witch." I heard Damon mumble.

I ignored the shocked looks as I opened the passenger side of the van where Caroline sat unconscious. I checked her over to make sure she was still alive and okay and once I was satisfied I called Stefan over to take her home.

Damon was on the phone with the Sheriff, my mom, and when he hung up he vamped over to the van and rummaged around the trunk.

"All right Charlotte, you showed off your new power and checked on your sister. Now it's time to go back home." Damon said, a tire iron in his hand.

"No." I stood my ground, facing Logan, "This creep hurt Caroline, and he's not getting away with it." Flames ignited in my palms.

Logan's eyes widened in fear. He stammered, "I used to babysit you, Charlie. You don't want to hurt me."

"Yeah, and then you kidnapped my sister and threatened her life. I don't take that lightly. " I raised my hands threateningly, but Damon stopped me.

"Hold on Firestarter, not yet." Damon pointed to Logan with the tire iron, "Who turned you?"

"I told you I don't know."

Damon darted his eyes between me and Logan, "protip: Fire kills vampires. Is that your final answer?"

"I don't know who turned me!" He yelled.

"Oh, well," Damon gestures for me to go, "have at it, Ghost Rider."

As I advanced on him and the flames in my hands grew larger and brighter, Logan became more nervous. Logan screamed and raised his hands in surrender just as I readied to throw balls of fire at him.

"Wait, wait! I do know." He admitted. I paused, lowering my hands only slightly, and looked to Damon. He was the one with the questions.

"You're lying." Damon said.

"You think you're the only one who wants to get in that tomb underneath the old church?" Logan said.

"Damon, no." I warned. I could see the flash of vengeance in his eyes. It didn't matter what I had to say on the matter, he was stubborn.

"If you're lying to me, I will end you myself." Damon said, shaking the tire iron.

Logan shook his head and continued on in desperation.

"I am not lying. There is another way to break the spell. We can help you. Meet me at the old church."

Sirens were going off in the distance, the telltale sign my mother would be there soon.

"We're not doing that." I said and then before Damon or myself could stop me I lit Logan Fell on fire. The flames engulfed him just as quickly as they had Vicki.

"No!" Damon yelled.

There was a strange numbness in my gut as I looked at Logan burning. He was screaming, but the sound didn't quite reach my ears.

The sirens were getting closer. I ran off before the cop cars were in sight, taking a shortcut down an alley. The last thing I needed was my mom seeing me there with a burnt vampire corpse. I walked to the grill and ended up calling Bonnie for a ride home. I didn't know how, or if I even could, fly on demand. I'd only ever done it on accident.

Caroline was asleep in her bed when I got home. I sat down next to her and stroked her hair. Tears escaped my eyes as I looked down at my sister's peaceful face. I'd almost lost her, and then I killed someone. But I didn't care that Logan was dead and I think that scared me most.

"How is she?" Mom asked quietly from the doorway.

"Okay, I think. She's just sleeping now. I haven't been able to talk to her. I don't know what she remembers…" I broke off, a sob escaping my lips.

Mom sat down too, her arm encircling me. We both sat in silence for a moment, Mom hugging me, my head on her shoulder as we both looked at Caroline, thankful she wasn't more hurt.

Mom kissed my temple. "You get some rest, sweetie. I'll take care of it from here."

I walked into my bedroom expecting to sleep not to find Damon Salvatore standing in it. I closed my door behind me.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered.

"Get changed. We're going on a road trip," he said.

"Um… no we're not."

"Sure we are. Pick something that sits well in a car, maybe bring some extra panties just in case." I ignored the suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

"I can't just go on a spur of the moment road trip, Damon." I crossed my arms, keeping a stern stance, "Caroline was just taken hostage and I've got school. Plus, my mom would freak."

"Come on, Caroline is safe now. The vamp that took her is dead, thanks to you." I looked away at the reminder. "You deserve a break, it'll be fun."

"Are you forgetting the other vampire that turned Logan? There's still trouble out there."

Damon sighed.

"There's always trouble," he uncrossed my arms and held my hands, his thumbs stroked their backs soothingly. "But it's not attacking right now, and even if it did Saint Stefan and his hero complex are here to tackle it. Besides I want to take you to a witch that might be able to enlighten us about what brand of supernatural you are."

"You want to go on a road trip to help... me?" I looked at Damon skeptically, "Why do I find that so hard to believe."

"Because it's entirely out of character." Damon smiled that deviously charming smile, "Come on Charlie, I want to prove to you I haven't changed too much."

I think I could get whiplash from talking to Damon. First he's the villain, then he's sweet and he just wants to help. He vehemently denies that I'm Maggie, or at least a version of her, but now he wants me to believe he can still be the same guy she fell in love with? I didn't have the time to unpack Damon's motivations.

"Okay…" I relented, "But only if Bonnie will cover for me. I can't just disappear, my mom would have every cop in the state looking for me."

A/N: Thank you so much everyone for the follows, favorites, and reviews! They really energize me to write more! Feel free to leave a review for any comments, questions, or concerns.

Liv: I loved reading all the comments, I'm so glad you're enjoying my story. And yes, Charlie will have a past with the Originals too.