"I'm happy for you," Charlotte remarked with a worried, snarky attitude as she attempted to slam the door. Unfortunately, Jenna stopped her, pushing her out of the way and opening the door. Her heart started to race with an anxiety, an issue that she'd had chronically and that had been acting up since all of the supernatural business had started to go down. But now she was worried about Jenna.
"Hello, Elena. It's nice to see you again."
Again? Charlotte never knew that Elena had met her mother.
And then Isobel looked at Jenna. "So you're the woman that's dating my husband. I need to speak with Elena. May I come in?"
"No way in hell. All you're going to do is stir up trouble. You walked out of Elena's life years ago; I suggest you do the same now," Charlotte remarked from the back.
"I need to talk to you, Elena." She looked into her eyes with a manipulative, pleading expression.
"No!" She slammed the door to find a crying Jenna.
"You knew she was alive, Elena? Alaric, John, did they know?" She sobbed, yelling at Elena. "What about you, Charlotte. Is this something else you were aware of before me?"
"I had no idea, Jenna." Charlotte put her hands up in surrender.
"I can explain everything, Jenna," Elena insisted.
"No."
"Jenna, please!" Elena begged.
But Jenna ran upstairs, Elena shouting and chasing after her.
Lottie sighed and pulled out her cell phone, scrolling to find Stefan's number. "Charlotte? What's up?"
"One more problem after another. We just received a friendly visit from Isobel. You might want to get over here. Jenna is in hysterics and Elena is trying to do everything she can to fix it, but it isn't exactly working."
"Right, I'll be over soon. We'll call Ric and take care of it. Nobody let her in, right?"
"Hell no."
"Good. Thanks, Charlotte."
So anyway, the next morning was, for lack of a better word, a clusterfuck. Alaric showed up, Jenna got into hysterics again and actually life. And Charlotte was just standing there, too ignorant to do anything. Sure, she was a little pissed, but not as much as Jenna. Not that she didn't have a right to be. And here Charlotte finds out that Matt is out in about knowing that Caroline is a vampire. To top it all off, just when it looked like things couldn't get worse, Lottie walked down to find Isobel in her house. Elena and Stefan were down there as well, dealing with the same unfortunate development.
"John!" Charlotte shouted at him. "I loathe you. Have fun dealing with the consequences of this, because there will be some. I swear it." She swore at him. "Why in God's name did you invite her in?" It only could have been John. Elena sure as hell wouldn't have.
"She has information, Charlotte!" John insisted.
"I don't care what she has! She hurt several people that mean the most to me-so screw you. This could have been handled much better, and you know it. So help me I'll change the deed to this God Forsaken house," she mumbled to herself as she shuffled around for her keys and bags. "John, just a basic etiquette tip-you know you've stayed your welcome when actual inhabitants start leaving. I'm taking a page from Jenna's book. Don't expect to see me around anytime soon."
So while she was in her car, she did what she always did when she was pissed at John Gilbert. She called Damon.
"Damon Salvatore! My favorite person right now. Please tell me that you are on some sort of expedition I can join!"
"Luckily for you, Gilbert, I am. Meet me and Bonnie and your brother at Jonas's apartment. I'm sending you the address now." Damon had finally just accepted her companionship on such adventures.
She drove to the apartment that Bonnie, Jeremy, and Damon were standing outside of.
"Lock and load." She said as she slipped her keys into her pocket. The quartet entered the apartment, Damon walking right through the door.
"Yep. Everyone's dead." Is assumption was confirmed by the Doctor's corpse on the living room floor. Charlotte was still not completely comfortable with dead bodies.
"We should pack up the grimoires. They spent years collecting them. I wanna make sure they're safe." Bonnie looked around as Charlotte tried to mask her horror.
"We could just grab another match and cremate him." Damon joked, earning scolding slap on the shoulder from Lottie and retort from Bonnie.
"Don't be disrespectful. Not to him."
"So what are we looking for, exactly?" Jeremy asked.
"According to Luka's dad, one of these contains a spell that'll let me harness the energy that's left behind when a witch dies violently."
"I didn't know you were so close," Damon had no idea of respect, did he?
"We weren't but when he gave me my powers back, he gave me a message. If I can find the spot in town, where the old Salem witches were burned, I can harness their energy to use when I need it."
"Great," Damon sighed, "We'll have to put that on our list of things to do today. Harness ancient dead-witch power."
"Do you know where the witches are?" Charlotte asked Damon.
"Did I forget to mention that?" He grinned as Jeremy went through one of the books.
"Are we gonna have to read through every one of these books till we find the right spell?" Jeremy groaned. Charlotte was sure that searching every book was the last thing he wanted to do. Luckily, Bonnie performed a spell to find the correct book and enchantment, and everybody grabbed the books and left.
Later in the day, after Damon had a chat with Elena and Stefan, they went to an old, abandoned house.
"Is this where Emily Bennet was killed, too?" Jeremy asked. Questions of the dead made Charlotte very uncomfortable. She found such reverence in people passed, and loathed the idea of disrespecting them.
"Founders thought it was poetic burning her where the other witches burned," Damon remarked in response.
Charlotte wondered, "How do you know where the witches were burned?"
"'Cause I tried to save her. Emily was just my key to getting Katherine back before I knew what a nasty little bitch Katherine was." It earned a laugh from Jeremy, at least.
They stopped in front of the door.
"You sure this is it?"
Damon nodded and they entered. They all walked around for a bit until suddenly, Damon was unable to move. "Whatever witchy prank you're pulling, cut it out."
"I'm not doing anything."
"I can't move." HIs words triggered the burning of his skin.
"My ring isn't working! Do something!"
Bonnie closes her eyes, trying to complete a spell.
"They don't want you here."
"I guess this is the place," Jeremy remarked.
"I guess you're keeping watch then, Damon." Charlotte murmured then looked at Jeremy and Bonnie. "You know, I don't want to play third wheel to my little brother. I'll wait with you." She and Damon left the house.
The two wait with a bit of light conversation until Damon gets impatient. "Can you two hurry it up in there?"
However, the door closed.
"Screw you, too, Emily! You two are on your own! We're out of here!" He turned to Charlotte. "Leave your car for Jeremy. Let's go."
Charlotte placed her keys on the front step and followed Damon out.
Charlotte had been in the Salvatore library, patiently reading, as Damon returned from a task to which he'd been called. John had somehow managed to get himself killed at the Lockwoods, at an event Charlotte had zero desire to attend. Damon allowed Charlotte to stay and wait for her. When she heard the door she moved from her spot in the Library, reading an age old book on Greek Mythology, to the living room, where Damon had dumped John's dead body.
"He's not actually dead, right? He's got one of those Gilbert rings, yeah?"
"Yeah." He groaned. "Although it wouldn't be too much of a loss. I'll be back. Gotta wash up."
Only minutes later Charlotte heard the crashing of a bowl from the bathroom.
"Let's go." He commanded when he returned. "You got a vendetta against Isobel? Because I sure as hell do. Get ready for your first real adventure."
She followed without question as he drove to an old foreclosed house where they met Stefan.
"Think this is the house?" Stefan asked.
"It better be. It's the nicest foreclosure in town," answered Damon.
"I swear, if it's not-"
"Don't be such a pessimist. Come along, ladies." Damon motioned for them to enter.
"Is now the time to ask what's going on?"
"Not quite," replied Stefan. "I got upstairs."
Damon and Charlotte looked around the rest of the house until they found luggage, only luggage. "Stefan!"
He rejoined them. "This is definitely her stuff. Where are they?"
"Not here."
Damon finally explained to Charlotte the situation, that Elena had sort of been kidnapped by Isobel, but her anxiety was short termed, as he soon received a phone call ensuring her safety. They returned to the house, one the Elena had returned to as well in a matter of minutes, holding a necklace that belonged to her mother. Then Damon, aroused by the excitement and hell bent on Elena's safety, formulated a plan, dropping a paper on Elena's lap.
"What's this?"
"It's the deed to our house. It's in Zach's name. As soon as you sign it, it'll be in your name," explained Stefan.
"You're giving me your house?"
"Isobel had the right idea with the safe house. You'll just stay here till it's all over. That way, you can control who gets invited and who doesn't."
"Although I'd be super pissed if you locked me out," remarked Damon.
Like clockwork, John woke up. Damon rushed towards him and grabbed his shirt. "I swear I had no idea what she was gonna do. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
"Let him go." Elena decided.
Anyway, Elena had a heart to heart, Stefan and Damon talked strategy, and Charlotte just kind of stood there. As usual. Another normal day for Lottie Gilbert, she supposed.
School was back in session, thank the Lord, because it was the only thing that remained constant. She had Mara at her side in History, a class for which they would later compare notes so that they can take the AP exam-curse the school for not providing AP History.
Alaric arrived late-which wasn't too unusual since he'd been having some turmoil with Jenna, but then things sort of started getting weirder.
"Hello, class. What are we learning today?"
It was like he was s substitute teacher, but not.
"The sixties. We've got the decade dance tonight." Mara filled in for him.
"Right. The sixties." And then he gave this very long, strange look at Elena.
Then he started writing sweet nothings on the board.
"The sixties. I wish there was something good I could say about the sixties, but... Actually, they kind of sucked. Except for the Beatles, of course. They made it bearable. Uh, what else was there? The Cuban missile thing, the... we walked on the moon. There was Watergate."
"Seventies, Mr. Saltzman!"
"Right. They sort of all just blur together."
All right, now Charlotte was getting pissed. She and Mara were the only ones in the class who gave a damn what they were learning, and she understood that Ric had had a hard time, but it was affecting his job, and his students.
It was almost like we was drunk-
Oh.
He had been drinking.
Charlotte knew he was sober enough, but now?
He continued to teach hardly anything with low drawls and odd mannerisms. When class finally finished, Lottie waved Mara off and approached him.
"Ric, you all right?" She started slow.
"Of course. . ." He looked to the left, as if trying to remember, "Charlotte! Yes, everything is fine."
"You've been drinking." It was blunt. "Look, I get alcoholism is a problem, but this was unacceptable. If you want a chance back with Jenna again, drinking is probably not the best solution. It's your fault, remember. So get your act together Ric, because now it's starting to affect me."
Luckily, the rest of the day went by with ease, and that night was the decade dance. Charlotte had gone straight home to Mara's to get ready, and luckily she missed a ton of supernatural drama that she heard about later.
Charlotte's outfit was simple-she hated the fashion of the sixties. It was gaudy, in her opinion. It was a pastel pink dress, long sleeve, square fit. And a matching headband. That was all. She added a pair of pearls, but that was it.
Mara, on the other hand, looked marvelous, in a bright orange dress her grandmother had owned, hair curled to perfection. Mara scored a point on Charlotte, that was for sure. The two found their dates-Charlotte with Collin and Mara with Chase Fell, and went to the dance.
Charlotte had to admit-she was having one hell of a time.
Collin was just, in short, a really fun guy to be around. Pair that with the fact that he was super cute and incredibly smart, from her favorite family in the world, and he was her perfect man. She wasn't sure if he saw her that way, though.
And all was well until, as usual, something had to go and spoil Charlotte's night.
"This is a song for Elena. From Klaus."
Collin looked to Charlotte. "Why is some Klaus kid dedicating a song to your sister?"
"Because he's an ass. Please forgive me. I need to talk to my sister."
She hated leaving Collin, but duty called. "I give you a free pass to dance with another girl."
She spotted Damon.
"Is Klaus here?"
"No. I don't think so. Even if he is, it's not your problem. It's a dance. Blend. Be my partner?"
"I have a date."
"Who?" He asked, and Charlotte pointed. "Tall kid with the glasses."
"He's all right, I guess." Damon shrugged.
"He's a babe."
"There's Ric." He pointed at Alaric. "Let's go."
Charlotte didn't exactly want to face him again, but if it mean getting to the bottom of things, so be it.
"Special dedication. They guys twisted, right?" Ric leaned against the wall.
"I'm not impressed." Damon replied.
"I am. He managed to ruin my night in a few words." Charlotte rolled her eyes.
Damon shook his head. "Let me know if you see anything weird." And Damon walked away, just leaving Charlotte with Ric. She just shrugged and walked back to her date, deciding that acting natural was the only solution. However she knew her heart was racing.
And she danced, until she saw a ruckus of argument with everyone on the Kill-Klaus-Committee and once more had to excuse herself.
"What in God's name is going on over here?"
"Bonnie is trying to kill herself." Elena insisted.
"No-"
"She said that killing Klaus tonight might drain her-"
And then they argued, causing Lottie to grow more and more uncomfortable until she decided it was time for her just to leave.
She went to the bathroom, splashed water on her face, and thought one thing.
She had to get out.
Her hands were shaking, heart racing, palms sweating. She needed out.
She walked the halls, which were slowly closing in on her. She was drowning. She might not have been in the water, but the oxygen was poisoning her. She knew it. She had no choice but to lean up against the wall of the hall and slide down, trying her best to breathe.
She needed out she needed out she needed out.
She was alone until she heard footsteps coming towards her. "Charlotte!"
They leaned next to her. "Charlotte. What's wrong?"
"I need to get out of here. I'm drowning."
"You're having a panic attack. Okay. Concentrate on me. Concentrate on my voice. What's one times two?"
"Two."
"Two times three?"
"Six."
"Six times seven."
"I can't breathe."
"Yes you can. Breathe. You're okay."
Suddenly her heart rate decreased and she could breathe, and she looked up to find Alaric by her side.
"You all right?"
She nodded.
"Okay. Bad news. Klaus has Jeremy?"
"What?"
"Yeah."
"Klaus has Jeremy and you are wasting your time here? Let's get the hell to him, then!" Charlotte stumbled up. "Where's Elena? Bonnie?"
"I was just on my way to fetch them. Come on."
And they did find them. So Alaric then lead them to where Klaus had Jeremy. But something wasn't exactly right. Charlotte could sense it.
"Where's Jeremy?"
And then Alaric laughed.
"I just had to get away from that dance. The sixties, ugh. Not my decade."
What the hell was he talking about?
"I mean, whose call was that, anyway? I much prefer the twenties. The style, the parties, the jazz."
"Are you on Vervain?" asked Elena.
"Now, Elena, why would you ask that?"
"He's being compelled," She told me and Bonnie.
"No." Charlotte shook her head, deducing the situation in front of her. "That doesn't make sense. Ric would never be off vervain, and if he were, his words don't coincide with the priorities of someone being compelled. Something is off. Very off." She whispered, as if it made a difference.
"Very clever, Charlotte."
"What's going on?" Elena asked.
"I'll give you a hint. I'm not Alaric."
"Klaus," Elena breathed out.
"Surprise."
"No. It's not possible-you can't be-"
"Relax, Elena. You're not on my hit list tonight." He saw Elena stand protectively in front of Charlotte, instinctually, and rolled his eyes. "Neither is your pathetic sister. You, on the other hand," He looked at Bonnie.
Bonnie used her powers and threw him against a wall, which only caused him to laugh. Charlotte pushed Elena back and held her there, making sure she didn't get hurt.
"Did I mention I knew a witch? You're going to have to try much harder than that."
He rushed towards Bonnie, but she threw him at a display case.
"By all means, fire away!" He mocked her as he stood up. She tried another move, but he only continued to laugh. "If you kill this body, I'll just get a new one. Maybe Jeremy?"
"Don't you dare." Charlotte tried to move towards him, to pull out the stake from her high, white boot, but Elena held her back and Bonnie rushed towards them.
"Go! Run! Run!" The trio escaped, Bonnie closing the doors with her powers. Damon joined them.
"What's going on?"
"Ric's not Ric. Klaus is Ric." Charlotte hyperventilated.
"He's possessing Alaric or something," Bonnie tried to explain. Damon sighed and looked at Elena.
"Go find Stefan. Now."
"But-"
"Now."
She ran off. Charlotte and Damon looked at Bonnie.
"Can you kill him?" Charlotte asked.
"He's got some kind of protection spell on him."
"You have the power of a hundred witches. Break it," begged Damon.
"I'm trying! If I kill Alaric, he'll just possess someone else. He knows I have my power, Damon. He's trying to kill me."
"No. Klaus does not get to win tonight, no way. You still willing to do whatever it takes to kill him?"
Charlotte was sitting with Jeremy, trying to distract him from the goings on inside. Charlotte was in on the entire thing- a plan only she, Damon, and Bonnie knew about. Bonnie was going to die, inevitably. Whether it was real or not. Klaus, no matter what, had to believe she was dead. And that meant everyone had to believe she was dead.
She looked at her phone. It was almost time. Jeremy was searching left and right for everyone, Charlotte purposely leading him astray. But it was time now. She led him to Damon's car, suddenly having an epiphany of where they might be.
It hurt her to lie to Jeremy, but she was glad that Bonnie's death was a lie, as opposed to a reality.
"Damon! Hey, I got your message, I can't find anyone. Where's Elena, where's Bonnie?"
"We need to have a little talk."
So Jeremy was to awaken Bonnie, at the abandoned house. Charlotte was to go with Damon to talk to Elena. Everything was in play. When they arrived at the Salvatore house, Elena was less than happy to see Damon.
"What did you do with her?" SHe shouted at Damon, crying hysterically. Charlotte could barely see her sister like that.
"Will you calm her down?" Damon condescendingly looked to Stefan. He earned a harsh look from Charlotte, not that it mattered.
"Don't talk like I'm not standing right in front of you."
"Elena, please listen. Please calm down." Charlotte begged her sister.
She directed her anger to Damon. "You knew! Didn't you? You knew that if she harnessed all that power, that she would die, didn't you?"
"Yes. I knew."
And she slapped him. Charlotte gasped, worried for her hand.
"You need to listen to me, and prepare for what I'm about to say. Bonnie had to die. Klaus using Alaric's body was a total surprise. She wasn't prepared for that. And he wasn't going to stop, and we weren't going to be able to stop him until he knew she was dead. He had to believe it."
"She cast a spell, Elena. Bonnie's okay." Charlotte whispered.
A few heart to hearts happened, then. Not Charlotte's specialty. Stefan and Damon talked. Elena talked to Bonnie via webcam. All the while, Charlotte wandered down to the cellar to stare at Elijah's body. Rather morbid, sure. But it allowed her to reflect on what her life had become. She had expected to be alone in her morbidity, but she was soon joined. By Elena.
"Charlotte? What are you doing down here?"
Charlotte looked to her sister. "Your surprise to see me allows me to believe you didn't come here to talk to me. Which means. . ." Her eyes lead to Elijah.
Elena sighed, trying to formulate a lie, but submitted to Charlotte, telling her the truth. "I'm going to wake him up."
Charlotte said nothing, pondering the idea.
"You trust him?"
Elena nodded.
"Fine. I trust you."
Charlotte opened the door, waltzed in, and ripped the dagger from Elijah's heart.
"Shall we wait?"
Elena stared at her in shock.
"I was so not expecting this to be so easy."
Charlotte shrugged and leaned against the wall, sitting down. Elena sat cross legged next to Elijah.
"I've been thinking, Elena."
"That's never a good sign when coming from a Gilbert."
Charlotte laughed.
"Who are the two smartest people we know?"
"You and. . .Stefan?"
"No."
"Stefan and Elijah?"
"Try again."
"Elijah and Katherine?"
"No, Elena. You and me. We are the power twins, and you know it." Charlotte grinned amidst her exhaustion. "If anyone can save your life, stop Klaus, it's us. What do you say we take things into our own hands? It's your life, Elena. You should be the one to save it. You don't need your vampire white nights to do it for you."
Elena nodded. "I like that idea. You and me. Gilbert power duo."
They formulated the skeleton of a plan together, and then Charlotte groaned. "Okay. I have to get out of these clothes. You've got to have some of my clothes around here, right? Half the time you spend the night after stealing my clothes."
Elena nodded with a grin. "Go ask Stefan where my stash is."
And she did, returning to the cellar. After what seemed like a century, Elijah woke up, causing both Elena and Charlotte to jump in shock.
"Elijah," Elena whispered.
"Katerina."
"No, Elijah. It's me. Katherine."
"Oh, My God."
He closed his eyes, obvious delirious and in pain. He starts to spasm.
"I can't breathe."
Charlotte pushed Elena out of the way, getting closer to Elijah.
"Elijah? Talk to me."
"What's happening to me?"
He tries to rush towards the door, but crashes into a wall.
"I can't be in this house." He stammered.
"You're not invited in."
"So get me out of here!"
He crashes into a wall, but then disappeared. Charlotte nodded at Elena and they sprinted upstairs. Elijah was standing at the front door.
"What happened?" He demanded.
Charlotte immediately hushed him as Elena motioned that Damon and Stefan could very well hear.
"We'll tell you. But not here. Can we trust you?"
Charlotte felt good when she heard Elena use the word 'we.' She liked this plan already.
Elijah leaned closer and whispered.
"Can I trust you?"
"Ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
The twins got out and slammed their doors simultaneously. Elijah appeared, drinking blood from a blood bag. Classy, Charlotte thought sarcastically, although she didn't show it.
"You look better." Elena remarked. Charlotte smirked a bit at how Elena didn't even realize when she was being snarky. Ah, the Gilbert sass.
"Where did you get the dagger?" Elijah was demanding as ever.
"I'll tell you everything. But we have to work together, Elijah. I need your word."
Charlotte crossed her arms, remaining silent, and allowed Elena to handle the negotiation. That was her territory.
"Your ability to make demands has long passed." He said it as if he'd been so betrayed, as if he hadn't betrayed anyone. Charlotte was still livid.
"No demands. I'm offering you our help. And in return, we want yours."
Then Elijah acknowledged Charlotte for the first time, only to look between her an Elena, analyzing his options. He looked right into Charlotte's eyes.
"And why should I even consider this?"
Charlotte smiled. "Because there's a new team in the game. Me and Elena. You need her help to kill Klaus, and we need you."
Then Elena's phone rang. It was Stefan. Charlotte watched her impatiently as Elijah watched her warningly.
They exchanged the usual words, none of which was of interest to Charlotte, until her last words.
"I'm not doing anything alone, Stefan. I've got my sister on my side. We're going to take care of this together."
And then she hung up. Elijah put his hand out. Elena gave him her phone and he pocketed it. Before they could continue, Charlotte received a call as well. Impatiently, she answered it.
"Listen, Stefan. We've tried it your way. It's not working. Elena and I are going to do things our way, now. Like it or not. I'd love to keep talking, but I've got some increasingly significant priorities." And then she hung up, tossing the phone to Elijah, who caught it and slid it in his pocket. "So, shall we begin?"
Elena nodded.
"He's here."
"Klaus is here?"
"He's taken over Alaric's body," Charlotte explained, disgusted at Klaus as a whole, furious, even.
"Of course he has. It's is favorite trick." The casualty of it made Charlotte sick.
"Well, what are his other tricks? What is he going to do next? You're the only one who knows him," Elena insisted.
"Yes, I do."
And then the group took an unexpected field trip, to the Lockwoods.
"Charlotte, Elijah, Elena! What are you doing here? What happened?" Carol was the one who opened the door.
"I've had a bit of an incident, Carol. I'm hoping you could help."
"Well, I was on my way to a meeting-"
Before she could finish, Elijah compeled her. "It'll only take a minute of your time."
She nodded. "Of course. Anything you need."
So they entered.
"First thing is first. I'm going to need a change of clothing."
"Well, we can try one of my husband's suits. I haven't boxed them up yet."
"Wonderful, Thank You," he told her as she went upstairs.
"She's not on vervain anymore. How did you know?" Charlotte asked him.
"Because I'm the one who got her off it. Right before your friends killed me. Twice." He looked at the stairs. "If you'll excuse me, I'll be down in a moment."
As he went up the stairs, Charlotte gave Elena a look. It told her a few things: one, that everything was okay, two, that she was full of impatience and disdain for Elijah, and three, that she was exhausted.
When he returned, Elijah, Charlotte, and Elena took a seat in the parlor.
"So I assume the Martin witches are no more?"
"No, I'm sorry." Elena's answer relayed sympathy and fear. Charlotte took this into account, sure to answer his next inquiry with more confidence.
"And Katerina?"
Ah, Elijah cared about Katherine. Why else would he ask?
"She would have been released from my compulsion when I died."
"Nobody as seen or heard from her," Charlotte answered. "Klaus took her, presumably. She could very well be dead."
"I doubt that. It's not exactly Klaus's style. Death would be too easy for her."
Charlotte analyzed his voice. It was lacking the confidence it usually held. It was quiet, unsure, doubtful.
"I don't understand. You say that you want Klaus dead, but you still made Katherine pay for betraying him." Elena was confused.
"I have my own reasons for wanting Katerina to pay. There was a time... I'd have done anything for Klaus."
And then he told us a story of one of his first interactions with Katerina, his anecdote ending with the revelation to Elena that Klaus was, in fact, his brother. A fact Charlotte assumed was basic knowledge.
"Yes, Klaus is my brother."
"Yeah, I heard that. I'm just still. . ." Elena trailed off, "processing."
"Yes, I'm a little behind on the times, but I believe the term you're searching for is 'OMG.'"
This only caused Charlotte to roll her eyes as Elijah took a drink of his tea.
"So word is that there is an entire family of Originals." Charlotte put the topic on the table as she crossed her legs.
Elijah sighed, stood up, and loked in the mirror. Yes, the position of your collar is of the utmost importance, presently. It seemed as though every individual thing he did drove Charlotte on edge. "My father was a wealthy land owner in a village in Eastern Europe. Our mother bore seven children."
"And your parents were human," Charlotte continued. Both she and Elena stood up, subconsciously trying to level the playing field.
"Our whole family was. Our origin as vampires is a very long story, Charlotte. Just know...We're the oldest vampires in the world. We are the Original family, and from us all vampires were created."
"Right, but Klaus is your brother. And you want him dead?" Elena asked. Charlotte had already covered this topic with him at an earlier encounter.
The question obviously made him uncomfortable. "I need some air. I'm still feeling a tad... dead. Come." He motioned for Charlotte and Elena to follow him as they left the room. Again, he managed to completely annoy Charlotte.
Her problem was that, in her head, she was the master of the game. She was calling the shots. This was her plan and Elena's plan, yet Elijah was behaving as if it were he who was in charge. Her control issues, and the feeling of betrayal she still felt, haunted her through the entire encounter. As they walked down the grand staircase of the mansion, Elijah began to speak again.
"So as you've seen, nothing can kill an Original. Not Sun, not fire, not even a werewolf bite. Only the wood from one tree. A tree my family made sure burned."
"That's where the white ash for the dagger comes from," Elena deduced.
"Yes. The witches won't allow anything truly immortal to walk the earth. Every creature needs to have a weakness in order to maintain the balance." They stopped walking when the reached Elena's car.
"So the Sun can't kill an Original. Why is Klaus so obsessed with breaking the Sun and Moon curse?" Elena asked the question, and it caused Elijah to give sort of a condescending grin.
"Right. The curse of the Sun and the Moon. It's all so... Biblical-sounding, don't you think?" He began to laugh, frustrating Charlotte even more.
"Why is that so funny?"
But she had her theories.
And then Elijah drawled another anecdote, revealing information he very well could have just told the pair.
"So Klaus drew the Aztec scrolls about the curse."
"Roman scrolls, African tribal etchings, and any other culture or continent we felt like planting in it."
"Yes, but why?" Charlotte asked.
"Easiest way to discover the existence of a doppelgänger or to get your hands on some long, lost moon stone is to have every single member of two warring species on the lookout."
"So it's not Aztec at all?" Elena asked.
"No." Charlotte shook her head. "Of course not. It's fake."
"In don't understand," said Elena.
"The sun and the moon curse, as Charlotte to cleverly guessed, does not exist." He confirmed her suspicions.
"What?"
"Klaus and I faked the Sun and Moon curse dating back over a thousand years."
"But if there's no curse. . ."
Elijah interrupted Elena. "There's a curse. Just not that one. The real one's much worse. It's a curse placed on Klaus."
"Stop being so cryptic. Just tell us." Charlotte was growing exceedingly impatient.
"Klaus has been trying to break it for the last thousand years. And Elena is his only hope."
And then Elena's phone began buzzing in Elijah's pocket. "What's the curse?" she asked.
But in continued buzzing. Elijah pulled it out.
"Your phone will not stop its incessant buzzing. Answer it, please." He gave it to Elena, who answered it.
"Stefan… what's wrong? No. No, no, no, no. Ok, I'll be right there." As she talked, Charlotte's heart began racing, faster and faster, in fear. Something was wrong. Her anxiety was growing. Elena hung up the phone and looked at Elijah. "Klaus went after Jenna."
"Elena, let's go." Charlotte commanded.
"I'm afraid that wasn't part of today's arrangement."
If Elijah actually thought he would stop Charlotte and Elena from going to Jenna, who was nearly attacked by his brother, he was horribly wrong.
"I don't care about your god forsaken arrangement!" Charlotte snapped, no longer holding out on courtesy. "Jenna is our family, who Klaus, your brother, mind you, went after!"
Elena gave her a disapproving look and tried to appease Elijah.
"She's our family, Elijah. We have to. We'll be back. You have my word." She tried to smooth things over and make up for Charlotte's hostility.
"That doesn't mean anything to me until you live up to it." Yet somehow, this was his permission.
"Thank you." Elena whispered as Charlotte got in the car, urging Elena to speed hom as quickly as possible.
The pair drove to the Salvatore house, where Jenna was sitting on the couch, crying. Charlotte could barely take it. She wasn't good with emotions, per say, but she did feel things stronger than anybody else. And it hurt her to see Jenna like this. It hurt her so, so much. She couldn't help but collapse on the couch next to her and cry as well as Elena tried to explain things to her. She tried and tried, as did Charlotte, but it could only work so much.
Charlotte wiped her tears and walked with Elena to Stefan.
"Is she gonna be okay?"
"She's in shock. I tried to tell her as much as I could, but I barely scratched the surface," explained Elena.
"I'm so sorry, guys. I hate this." Stefan's voice was full of regret.
"It's not your fault, Stefan. It's mine. Anyway... we have to go back to Elijah."
Stefan was not expecting that. "Wait, what? No, no!"
"Stefan, I promised him that Charlotte and I would return. We have to."
"He's not the kind of guy you want to stand up." Charlotte said, still recovering from the tears she'd just shed.
"Okay." He nodded.
"I'll be fine." Elena assured him. Charlotte and Elena walked to the front door, Stefan trailing behind them, when Damon and Andie walked in.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Back to Elijah," Elena answered. With this response, Damon appeared before her.
"No."
"That's not your decision anymore, Damon." Charlotte told him.
"Get out of my way, Damon." Elena tried to move past him, but he caught her arm.
"If you so much as try and take a step out of this house..." His voice had the threatening tone of a possessive, toxic, boyfriend. It was not a tone Charlotte could accept. It enraged her.
"Damon, take it easy." Andie tried to pacify him, bless her heart, but it didn't work.
"Stay out of this!" He yelled at her.
His grip tightened on Elena, enraging Lottie. She stepped forward.
"Get your hands off of my sister. Now." She thought she was assertive, convincing, authoritative, but her words were nothing. His other hand gripped Charlotte's arm as well. "Now get your hands off of me." Her words were slow, commanding.
"Face it, Charlotte. You aren't going anywhere, either. Neither of you are leaving this house."
"That isn't your decision, Damon!" Charlotte shouted at him, grabbing the stake from her boot. He simply grabbed it in a flash and tossed it away, rolling his eyes and then tightening his grip to the point where she felt actually afraid. That was when Stefan stepped in.
"Let them go."
"No! We just got Elena back-"
He rushed towards them, gripping Damon threateningly.
"Let them go."
Damon looked at him with eyes of malice and begrudgingly let the twins go. "That's twice today you've stood in my way. I wouldn't try a third."
And then he walked away, leaving Charlotte full of rage and fear.
"Welcome back." Elijah greeted Elena and Charlotte on their return as he took a sip from his glass of wine. Elena was now in the same mood as Charlotte, exhausted and ready for business.
"Tell me." She demanded, taking off her coat. She dropped it dramatically on the table. "What's Klaus's curse?"
"Please. . ." He motioned for the girls to sit. They complied as Elijah took a seat as well, uncomfortable close to Charlotte and Elena both.
"My family was quite close, but Klaus and my father did not get on too well. When we became vampires, we discovered the truth. Klaus was not my father's son. My mother had been unfaithful many years before. This was her darkest secret. Klaus is from a different bloodline. Of course, when my father discovered this, he hunted down and he killed my mother's lover and his entire family. Not realizing, of course, that he was igniting a war between species that rages until this day."
"A war between the species?"
"The vampires and the werewolves."
"So Klaus' real father was from a werewolf bloodline? What does that make Klaus? A werewolf? Or a vampire?" asked Elena.
"He's both. A hybrid would be deadlier than any werewolf or vampire. Nature would not stand for such an imbalance of power. Therefore the witches, the servants of nature, saw to it that my brother's werewolf side would become dormant."
"That's the cruse he wants to break?"
"He wants to trigger that part of him that's a werewolf. If allowed, Klaus would sire his own bloodline. He'd build his own race. Endangering not just vampires, but everyone."
"But you helped him," remarked Charlotte.
"I helped him because I loved him. But that's changed, and now he must die."
Charlotte didn't understand, but she didn't question it.
"We have the dagger now," suggested Elena, "we can stop him."
"When a werewolf is wounded by silver, it heals. An Original can't be killed by anything but white oak ash on a silver dagger. So you see the conundrum. The dagger does not work."
"So are you saying that he can't be killed?" Charlotte asked.
"There's one way to kill any supernatural species… at the hands of the servants of nature themselves," Elijah answered.
"A witch that could channel that much power. . ." Charlotte though aloud. "It would kill them."
"The curse must be broken during the full moon. When Klaus is in transition. That's when he'll be at his most vulnerable. A witch with enough power can kill Klaus."
Elena perked up, just in the slightest. "What if I told you I knew a witch with that much power?"
"Then I'd tell you that there's one more thing you should know."
And then he told them: the witches found a way to save the doppelganger. It was true. Elena would live. Klaus would die. Things would be okay.
"You actually can save Elena's life."
"Yes, Charlotte, I can. Unfortunately, Katerina took matters into her own hands first. I believe you already know how that played out."
"You care about her." Charlotte concluded.
"I common mistake, I'm told. One I'm sure I won't make again." He then handed Elena her coat and left the room. Elena and Charlotte followed after him.
Their arrangement concluded at the Salvatore house, where Elena walked in on the two brothers fighting, most likely over Elena.
"Stop!" Elena shouted. Elijah looked at them, and they at Elijah. Damon was astonished.
"You invited him in?"
"Elijah and I have renewed the terms of our deal," insisted Elena.
"Oh, really?" Damon masked his worry with sarcasm and anger, as usual.
"The two of you will come to no harm at my hands. I only ask for one thing in return."
"And what's that?"
"An apology." Oh, Elijah, as noble as ever.
"A what?" Damon was dumbfounded, and definitely not going to apologize.
Stefan stepped forward. "I'm sorry for the part that I played in your death. I was protecting Elena. I will always protect Elena."
"I understand." Elijah nodded.
Perfect. One brother down, another to go.
Elena looked to Damon. "The sacrifice is going to happen, Damon. Bonnie will be able to kill Klaus without hurting herself and Elijah knows how to save my life. I told you I'd find another way. And I did." Charlotte sarcastically coughed, earning a bit of a laugh from Elena. "Okay, we did."
"Is that true?"
"Yes."
"And you're trusting him?"
"I am," she answered confidently.
Damon looked at her, as if about to apologize. "You can all go to hell."
And then he left the room.
"Damnit, Damon!" Charlotte shouts. She contemplated going after him, but she needed to stay, make sure Elijah understood.
"He's angry with me right now. But he'll come around," pleaded Stefan.
"Perhaps," murmured Elijah.
Charlotte spent a few more minutes pacifying the situation before Elijah left. She then walked angrily to Damon's bedroom, out of which she saw Andie running, lingerie clad.
"Damon Salvatore, you and I need to have a chat." Lottie waltzed into the room without a care or fear.
"Not now, Charlotte." His voice was strained, full of rage, as if trying to control himself. He was afraid. He was angry.
Charlotte's demeanor softened as she shut the door behind her.
"Damon, come on." Her words were more quiet, now, less demanding. She slowly walked in and watched Damon as he sat on his bed. "I know you're upset. Let's talk this out."
"I don't want her to die, Charlotte." Damon sighed. "She wants to go and kill herself! And you're all just letting her!"
"Elijah found an actual way to save her, Damon. Really. You know I would never let her die." Charlotte told him. "I love her more than you and Stefan combined. You need to realize that you aren't calling the shots anymore."
"I'm sure as hell not letting Elijah call the shots!" He snapped.
Charlotte let out a laugh. "Hell, no, he isn't calling anything."
"Then who is? You?" He mocked her bitterly.
"No. Elena is. And do you want to know why?" She didn't give him a chance to respond. "Because it's her life. And trust be when I tell you that Elena is the wisest person that you will ever have the pleasure of knowing. Have a bit of faith in her."
She stood up.
"Just fucking apologize to Elijah, all right? It's not like you're selling your soul."
"I'm not making any agreements here."
"Sure." Charlotte smirked at him. "Oh, yeah, and Damon? What you did today. Never to it again. Never touch my sister like that. Never speak to her like that."
And then she walked out of his room, slamming the door behind her.
One good day.
That's all she wanted.