Short chapter today. But it was only so I could leave you with a massive cliff hanger. Sorry about that.

Long story short? The sacrifice happens tonight.

Right. Context.

Right. It started in the morning. Elijah was at the Salvatore house, discussing details with what Charlotte liked to call the CORE team. Like in a club, the group of members that makes the plans, does the work. The CORE team consisted of Elena, Charlotte, Stefan, and Elijah. Damon was still in the dog house. He was completely against Elijah, unbelieving of his witch's elixir But Elijah had been alive for hundreds and hundreds of years; he seemed like a pretty valid source.

Anyway, Damon, displeased with Elena's chances, stormed out with a snappy comment. And as Stefan went after him, Elijah revealed to Charlotte and Elena his disclaimer.

He wasn't one hundred percent sure about Elena's saving grace.

As shocked and disappointed as Charlotte was, she had no choice to accept his chances. It was formulated by witches, after all.

And then Alaric showed up. And he sure did scare the hell out of Jenna. He swore up and down that he was Ric again, that Klaus let him go. Turned out he was telling the truth. And we was to deliver a message.

That message?

"The sacrifice happens tonight."

As discussion takes place with Alaric, who maintained zero memory, Charlotte heard a commotion upstairs. She passed a look to Elijah before following the shouting to see Elena on the floor, mouth full of blood, and Stefan having Damon pinned to the wall.

He released him, going to Elena.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Charlotte shouted amid the chaos.

"I saved her life."

It didn't take Charlotte long to deduce what happened.

"You didn't."

Damon looked at Elena. "You're so bent on dying, at least this way I know you'll come back!"

"How dare you." Charlotte muttered to herself, unbelieving what was going on as she helped Elena up.

"As a vampire! She'll come back as a vampire!" Stefan shouted at him.

"It's better than nothing else!"

"How could you of all people take that choice away from her?"

Damon looked at Elena. "Go ahead; wish me an eternity of misery. Believe me, you'll get over it."

Stefan then pinned Damon against a wall. Charlotte put her arm around Elena.

"Stefan!" Elena called.

Then, Damon takes a wooden stake and pushes it against Stefan.

"Admit it. You just wish you had the balls to do it yourself."

And then he pushed the stake through Stefan's abdomen. Elena rushed over then, before Charlotte could hold her back, and pushed Damon, screaming at him to get out. And then Alaric and Jenna arrive, seeing the scene. Eventually Damon was bullied enough to leave the room. Charlotte did what Charlotte did best. As Elena gently pulled the stake from Stefan, Charlotte grabbed it right from her, wiping the blood on her jeans and tucking the stake into her boot. She followed Damon into the library.

"Not you, Charlotte. Not now." He was furious, but not as furious as Charlotte.

"I cannot believe how selfish you are."

"I saved your sister's life!"

"Elijah very well could have, Damon!" Charlotte screamed at him, no longer holding back for him. "But you couldn't accept it! Because you wanted to be the one to save her. Because you couldn't accept the fact that someone centuries older than you are could do something you could not. You didn't save Elena's life-you saved her existence." Every word she let out was full of venom.

"You're full of shit if you actually think what I did was wrong. You were the one willing to do anything to save Elena."

"Not this." Charlotte whispered. "This was not your decision!" She screamed it, hysterical. "She's my sister, Damon. She didn't want this. She'll be different."

Damon narrowed his eyes at her. "So that's what you were afraid of." And he laughed. "You weren't upset that it wasn't Elena's choice. You don't want a sister who is a monster like me, do you?" As he said it, he rushed toward her, pinning her against the wall, transforming into his monstrous face. "Admit it." He hissed, tilting his head and getting closer to her. "You're afraid dear old Elena won't be good enough for pure Charlotte. You're afraid of me. You're afraid she'll become me. You'd be disgusted by her!"

Charlotte was able to perform he first successful maneuver, ripping the bloody stake from her boot and plunging it into Damon's stomach.

"Don't you dare speak of Elena that way." She seethed as she pushed it harder, and then ripped it out mercilessly "And I told you-you have no right to lay a hand on me. What you did was idiotic, Damon."

"Why you little-"

"Ahem." Elijah finally made his presence known, although he had been watching since Charlotte plunged the stake into him. He walked over to the wooden box and closed it. "Well, it sounds like you won't be needing this anymore. Feeding her vampire blood rendered it useless. Tell Elena I'll be back before nightfall. We'll proceed as planned."

"We both know that elixir wouldn't have worked anyway."

"The problem, Damon, you talk a good game but you don't actually know anything. She'll never forgive you. And never for a vampire... It's a very long time."

And he left.

"He's right, you know." Charlotte remarked. "What are you going to do when she finally transforms? Force her to feed? What if she'd rather die than hurt others, like she would rather do now? Are you going to force blood down her throat, like Stefan did to you?" She walked towards the door. "Food for though, you bastard."

She walked downstairs and out the door.

"I need a drink." She mumbled to herself, hoping she could find a way to manipulate one out of a Grille server.

She sat alone at a booth, drinking sprite, having been unable to coerce Matt Donovan into giving her a real drink. Her blissful solitude was ruined when Damon waltzed in, not having seen her, and went to the bar. She sat alone, thinking things over, staring blankly ahead. And then Alaric walked in, joining him. After a few minutes, Charlotte sighed and sat next to Alaric at the bar.

"Do you want to buy me a drink?" She muttered sarcastically. He laughed, shaking his head. "Your aunt would kill me."

"Come on, so much death is going to happen tonight, anyway." She said lightly. "What's one murder by Aunt Jenna going to do?"

He laughed, still refusing. She groaned.

"I'll get you that drink, Charlotte." Damon chimed in, solemnly, ordering her what she usually drank at the Salvatores. This small gesture she took as an apology. Charlotte moved places from next to Alaric to next to Damon.

"I'm pissed at you. But you're still one of my best friends." She said slowly.

"I messed up."

"I know. I informed you of that with a stake to the stomach." Charlotte replied, taking a swig of her drink, not even caring to shudder at the burning going down her throat.

"She's going to hate me."

"Yeah." Charlotte said. "She will."

"Why so glum?" An English accent, one sounding very similar to that of Elijah, chimed in beside him. There, next to Charlotte, stood a blonde man. He looked at Alaric. "Thanks for the loaner, mate."

Klaus. Charlotte's heart started racing as she unconsciously shrank closer to Damon, whom she hoped could protect her.

"Ugh. Klaus, I presume." Damon remarked. Please, Damon, please don't push it.

"In the flesh!" He lifted his arms with a grin, placing one on Charlotte's shoulder. She jumped in fear, gripping Damon. Klaus laughed. "No need to be afraid, love, not now at least." He removed his hand. Damon coughed.

"Any reason you stopped by to say hi?" He asked.

"I'm told you and your brother fancy my doppelgänger. Just thought I'd remind you to not do anything you'll regret."

"Ha. Thanks for the advice. I don't suppose I could talk you into a postponement, by any chance, huh?"

"You are kidding." He looked at Alaric. "He is kidding, right?"

"No. Not really."

"I mean, come on, what's one month in the whole grand scheme of things?"

"Let me be clear... I have my vampire. I have my werewolf. I have everything I need. The ritual will happen tonight. So if you want to live to see tomorrow, don't screw it up." His voice was full of warning, creating fear only in Charlotte. When he left, Charlotte left out a sigh of relief. Damon turned to her, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"You all right, kid?"

She shook her head.

"You're all right, okay? He should be gone by now. Why don't you-"

"I'm leaving."

And she left.

And she drove. And drove. And drove.

Until she realized how far she had driven. She was almost two hours out of town. It was dark out. She was going to miss it.

And in a daze she drove back to Mystic Falls, where she was sure the sacrifice was going to happen. She didn't know how she knew, but she did. In a world of vampires, werewolves, and witches, she didn't question it. She slammed her car door shut, staring at the rungs of fire in front of her. And she saw Jenna.

"Jenna!" She screamed and ran towards her, but someone stopped her. It was Stefan.

"Charlotte? Where did you come from? How did you get here?"

"Jenna. What's she doing? What's she doing in there?" She cried, face read, hysterical.

"Listen, Charlotte. You need to listen to me. Klaus is going to use her as the vampire. I tried to offer myself, but he wouldn't accept it."

"No."

"Charlotte-"

"No!"

Full of adrenaline that could only be brought on by trauma induced hysteria, she sprinted towards Klaus, barely avoiding the Stefan's protests.

He looked down on her with a predatory, yet amused, gaze.

"What silly thing are you going to do to save your sister?"

"I know there's no hope for her. I'll admit that," Charlotte lied. "Jenna. She doesn't deserve it. You want to punish Elena? Turn me. It won't take long. Turn be and kill me, damn it!" She begged.

"Do you really wish to die?"

"Anything to save her."

"Hm," Klaus pretended to consider her offer. "This could be fun."

He quickly bit into his wrist, put it to her mouth, and then snapped her neck.