"Oh, don't leave so soon, love. Sit down. Have a drink with me."

Charlotte's summer of victory was coming to a close, now, with Klaus sitting across from her in her hotel room.

"Tell me exactly what happened. Why are you here?"

And so she had to tell the truth; however, she cleverly avoided saying anything about Elena. She was able to let that one slide. It turned out that as a vampire Charlotte had the incredibly skill of manipulating compulsion.

"Right." Charlotte began her tale to the man that not only killed her, but everyone she cared about. "So after you so graciously snapped my neck, I woke up in Damon's house. Sad heart to heart, and all that, and it was revealed that the little traitor Tyler Lockwood bit him. So he was going to die-"

"Charlotte," Klaus stopped her and looked into her eyes again. "Don't be so sarcastic. I want your real story."

Right.

"My aunt Jenna's funeral." She replied softly, compelled to be so vulnerable and fragile in front of her worst enemy. "And John's too, I guess. Everyone I cared about was dead. Damon was going to die. I don't handle death well. So I left, and I drove until I found a restaurant in Richmond. The waitress's name was Jenna, and it set me over the edge. The next thing I knew everybody in the restaurant was dead, all because of me. I couldn't go back to Mystic Falls. I've been travelling the country ever all, having sick, hot sex and then draining my partners every night. I secretly loathe myself for it, and that's why I continue. Because I want to be in control of my monstrosity." The words spilled out of her mouth as Klaus sat across from her, small smile playing on his lips, arms crossed. She needed to get back on vervain. She knew that much.

"I did hear about your little mental break." He stood up and walked to the door, opening it. "Thought you might want to see an old friend."

Stefan walked through the door. Charlotte, in a flash, pinned him to the wall. "What the hell are you doing with him?"

Stefan in turn flipped her around, hands at her throat. "Someone had to clean up the mess you left behind," he growled in response.

Klaus began clapping. "Ladies, ladies." Stefan loosened his grip. "No need to fight. To answer your question, dear Charlotte, Stefan made a deal with me. I give him a phial of my blood, the cure for a werewolf bite, and he gives me his servitude. Camaraderie. My summer has been quite busy as well, Charlotte. I've been trying to make my hybrids, but they aren't quite working."

"I apologize for not having sympathy, since you sort of killed everyone I've cared about."

Klaus ignored it. "But I finally do believe I've found the missing piece. Stefan has been holding out a slim piece of information that my dear sister Rebekah was able to uncover. Oh, right! Rebekah! How could I forget her! You really should meet her. Sister, come on in!"

It was turning into some sort of party, Charlotte thought sarcastically. She knew that this wouldn't end well.

A gorgeous blonde walked in thought the doors in heals and the kind of clothes Charlotte had been compelling for herself. Stylish, sexy, that's what Rebekah emulated.

"I'm Rebekah. Charmed, I'm sure. Nik, can we hurry this up? I'm in no mood for your dramatics."

Charlotte looked over to Stefan who was becoming nervous as well.

"Right, well, Stefan's been acting strange. Bekah has wonderful instincts. And I heard from a little bird that you were in Chicago. So I thought I visit was in order." He went over and snapped Stefan's neck. Charlotte gasped, trying to run from the room, but was caught by Rebekah. "Not so fast. It's time for you to go home, Charlotte."

And Klaus snapped her neck as well.

Stefan and Charlotte woke up in the back of a truck, Klaus standing in front of them. Charlotte remained silent while Stefan tried to make defense.

"Just give me a chance to explain myself, ok?"

"No need. I'm not mad, I'm just curious. Rebekah seems to think you're holding onto something. A piece of your old life. The thing is, she's got flawless instincts, borderline supernatural. So I thought I would check it out. See for myself what it is you've been hiding."

Klaus opened the door to the truck. They were in Mystic Falls.

"Welcome Home."

"Okay. I get it. Stefan betrayed you. He deserves this. But why the hell am I here?"

"There's power in numbers, Charlotte." Klaus pulled her by the wrist.

"If you expect to make me do anything to hurt my sister-"

"Please, I'm not a savage. That's Stefan's job." Klaus gave Charlotte that grin. You know, the one to show how little he actually cared about anyone but himself. Stefan was still in the truck with Rebekah. Apparently his time had not come yet for Klaus's plan. "Trust me, darling. I'm only doing you a favor. Tonight is your senior prank night, and I am sure that that is not a festivity you'd like to miss." Klaus looked into her eyes. "When we enter this school, you will not leave my side. You will obey every order I give you."

Another open ended compulsion tactic, Charlotte sighed. At this point, she was no longer afraid. Simply exhausted.

"Now come along. We have eggs to throw, toilets to clog. . ."

Charlotte followed Klaus to the double doors, where she could hear Elena. As she saw Elena about to open the doors, she let out a warning scream. But it was of no matter. Soon Elena was face to face with both Klaus and the older sister that had abandoned her.

"There's my girl." Klaus grinned menacingly at her.

"Klaus!" and then she looked to her sister, "Charlotte!"

"You're supposed to be dead. What are we going to do about that?"

Klaus grabbed her ferociously by the arm and started pulling her. Charlotte tried to protest, becoming incredibly defensive, but Klaus told her not to say another word. So she couldn't.

"You put a rather large kink in my plans, sweetheart. The whole point of breaking the curse and becoming a hybrid was to make more hybrids. I haven't been able to do that. Now my bet is, it has something to do with the fact that you're still breathing."

"If you're going to kill me, just do it!"

"Not until I know I'm right. But I do have ways of making you suffer."

Charlotte wished so much she could speak, but she couldn't.

They entered the gym where they found a few seniors that Charlotte recognized. They sparked Charlotte's memory of the world she left behind. She missed Collin's graduation, her own sister's birthday, and Mara's as well. Mara was a senior. Was she here?

Probably not. Mara literally loathes ninety percent of their class. For that Charlotte was thankful.

Klaus began speaking in an American accent. "Attention seniors! Prank night is over. You have officially been busted."

And then he spotted Dana. He walked over to her and began to speak in his normal voice. "I remember you."

"I'm sorry?"

"Don't worry. I wasn't in my right mind when we met last." And then he compelled her to lift her foot. He then compelled Chad. "When she drops her foot, I want you to beat her to death."

"Don't, Klaus. You don't have to hurt anybody." Elena insisted. She still had barely mentioned Charlotte. She felt betrayed, Lottie could tell.

"Oh, come on, love. Of course I do." Klaus then looked over to Charlotte. "I'm growing quite bored of you being here." He rushed over to Charlotte, whispering something to her. "Wait outside until you get a phone call from me."

And so she did. About an hour later, completely helpless, she received a phone call from Klaus. "I solved the mystery, Charlotte! It turns out I need your sister's blood! I want you to go to the hospital. Compel everyone you see."

And Charlotte didn't have a choice.

She decided that this had to be God's way of punishing her, of telling her that everything she had done was wrong. She went to the hospital compelling those she saw. She watched helplessly as Elena's blood was drawn.

Her solace came when she heard a voice of saving grace stepping through the halls. Damon Salvatore.

"Damon!" She shouted. "Damon!"

Damon rushed over to her in a second, pinning her against a wall. "What are you doing?"

"Klaus compelled me. He's taking Elena's blood. She's in room 123. Go save her. Now."

And so he did.

The night ended with an update from Klaus. Tyler was now his first hybrid. He forces Stefan to turn it all off. Stefan was now under Klaus's command. He was tasked with protecting Elena.

And he released Charlotte from following his every order. So she took a page from Isobel's book and found the nicest foreclosure in town. She called her hotel in Chicago, talked to the woman she had compelled to become her personal maid, and had her things sent over night.

A war was starting, and Charlotte needed to prepare for battle.

School was sort of the last thing Charlotte wanted to do.

Yes, she had to leave her glamorous life behind and reenter her pitiful, mundane one. All the parties, the glamor, all of it was gone now. Replaced by calculus and literature.

She had picked up a copy of her schedule from the office, looking over the classes she had registered for before everything changed. For a moment it felt good, the nostalgia. But that faded.

"Charlotte! Where in the hell have you been?" She felt someone leap onto her back. As the petite figure got down, Charlotte whipped around to see the blonde she used to call her best friend.

"You know, living the dream." Charlotte kept her answers as vague as possible.

"Yeah, that's what I've heard! Elena told me you were studying in France and couldn't keep your cell phone. ALthough, it wouldn't have hurt to give me a call every now and then." Charlotte glared at her, sick of the back and forth. When Mara gave her a peculiar look, Charlotte smiled, looking at the ring that Mara had worn since they were kids.

"Can I see your ring? I've never actually gotten a good look at it."

Mara gave her an odd look and slipped it off, giving it to Lottie. Mara then rolled her eyes and looked into Mara's.

"Leave me alone. Things have changed. They're different now. I'm different now. Over the summer we've slowly drifted apart, and while we're stil cordial, we're nothing like we were before. And we never will be." Charlotte's heart broke as she gave Mara back her ring. She walked away without another word to her history class with none other than Alaric Saltzman, the man responsible, in a roundabout way, for her Aunt's death.

Strutting into the room, she tucked away in the back of the room next to some football player she'd probably have sex with later. She winked at him. He winked back. She knew the look.

Alaric was sitting at his desk, eyeing her with suspicion. It seemed she hadn't gained anybody's trust back yet. She was Stefan Salvatore now. The only difference? She had a shred dignity left over. And she held on to her emotions. And she wasn't following Klaus's every beck and call.

Alaric left the room. Class had yet to begin completely. Even as a vampire, Charlotte made sure to arrive on time. This seemed like the proper time to get an idea of the battleground.

Stalking the halls, she cam across a commotion. Stefan held a tight grip on Elena Gilbert. Alaric was there as well, trying to diffuse the situation, yet not doing a very good job. When Charlotte finally approached them, Stefan and Ric pinned to the lockers.

"Threatening a teacher can be punished with expulsion, Stefan." Charlotte's voice, shrouded with sarcasm, held a deep malice. "In other words, lay off." She growled at him. He only smiled back.

"I'm just finishing off." He told her as he pressed harder against Alaric. "You're not gonna want to get in my way. Okay Ric? I will see you both in history."

"Not so fast." Charlotte grabbed him, digging her nails into his skin. "Threaten Elena again, slave of Klaus or not, and I will rip your heart out and feed it to the wolves on the full moon, got it?" She threw him against the wall, gave her hair a flip, and walked back to history class. Stefan was going to be an issue.

Alaric started the class and then Rebekah waltzed in five minutes after it started, preaching about the vikings.

School droned on without interest, Charlotte keeping surveillance on Elena, Jeremy, and Stefan. Jeremy was talking to himself consistently. Elena was terrified, on edge. Stefan was a pain in the ass.

And Charlotte couldn't do a thing about it. She was too far down the rabbit hole.

After school she did what she tended to do nowadays: shop. She had a bonfire to go to tonight! She couldn't go looking like some savage! Her retail therapy went as planned until she received a phone call she didn't expect to.

Elena.

"He-hello? Elena? Is everything all right?"

"Charlotte. I need to talk to you."

"Are you all right?" She repeated.

"Yeah. I'm fine. There's just something I think you'd like to help with."

Elena sent her an address and Charlotte drove there, half thinking it would be a trap. But Elena wouldn't do that. Elena was too good to do that.

Damon was there as well.

"Is this some sort of trap? Because I've had such a long day. . ."

"Not a trap. Not yet, Blondie." Damon replied. He was standing protectively next to Elena, who was wearing work out clothes and sitting at a bench press.

"So what's the plan?"

"We're going to lock Stefan up." Elena replied.

"I like this plan all ready. I'm in." Charlotte agreed. "Let me guess. Bonfire?"

"You got it, Gilbert."

It felt good being called GIlbert again.

"Klaus's father. Mikael. He's the only one that can kill them."

"Say no more. What do you need me to do?"

The team meeting was held in Alaric's classroom. The committee was full of guests, such as Alaric, Damon, Elena, and Caroline.

"I'll lure Stefan away from the bonfire. Then when he's distracted. . ."

"I'll shoot him." Alaric finished.

Charlotte didn't exactly like the risk. And apparently neither did Damon.

"Can't Bonnie just ju-ju him or something?" he suggested.

"I'm trying to keep Bonnie out of this. I don't trust that Stefan won't hurt her. Caroline, are you covered?" Elena answered.

"Yes! I will make sure the Forbes cellar is all prepped and ready."

"There's a Forbes cellar now, too?" Charlotte asked quietly. Caroline frowned, but ignore the question.

"We're forgetting a key player here. Rebekah? Wherever Stefan goes, the blond ponytail tends to follow." Damon made clear what everyone had been forgetting. Well, everyone but Elena.

"Which is why it's your job to keep her away."

"How?! She's an original. Last time I checked, we're out of daggers," Damon protested.

"So preoccupy her with your charm."

Charlotte laughed.

"It might be easier to find a dagger." Alaric chuckled.

"Are you ever not gonna be mad at me?" Damon asked.

"Not for a moment." He replied.

It was nice seeing them bantering.

And then Tyler walked in. Charlotte loathed him. She stood up to challenge him, but Caroline put her arm on hers, keeping her down.

"Sorry I'm late. What's going on?"

"We need you to raid your mom's vervain supply. Enough to keep Stefan down for a while."

"We can't do that to Stefan," Tyler protested.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Charlotte protested.

"Trust me, Tyler. It's in his best interest." Elena reasoned.

"Yeah, but not in Klaus's."

That pushed Charlotte over the edge. Charlotte rushed towards him, pushing him against the wall.

"Listen here, you mutt-"

But she was cut off as he threw her to the ground, standing over her. "Charlotte, I get it. You're a vampire now, you think you're hot shit. I know the feeling." He got closer to her, putting his foot on her chest. "But I'm a hybrid now. I'm a thousand times more powerful than you'll ever be."

Charlotte spun him around, reflexes quick. Suddenly she pinned him to the ground. "Klaus is a horrible, horrible guy." Charlotte growled at him. "You're an idiot if you can't see it."

And she was up against the wall. "You're pushing your luck, Gilbert."

Caroline protested. "Tyler. You know, why are you acting like some freaky, hybrid, slave minion?"

Tyler pushed harder against Charlotte, his teeth bared. If he were to bite her, she would die. He's still a werewolf. He shouted back at Caroline. "Klaus made me who I am, Caroline! I owe him everything!" And then he looked back at Charlotte. "And I think I owe him the extermination of one last pest."

In a second Damon had stabbed Tyler Lockwood with a vervain syringe. "He's sired to Klaus."

"What?" Charlotte asked.

"Sire. He feels grateful to Klaus, so now he's following is every beck and command."

"How do I fix him?" Caroline asked.

"Get a new boyfriend." He spat.

Charlotte sighed, stepping over Tyler's body.

"It looks like Tyler's useless. Looks like I just got my job. Is everything in my room still normal, Elena?"

"We haven't touched anything."

Charlotte nodded. "That may or may not be good. In my closet, you know the secret compartment like the ones Mom and Dad kept everywhere, I had a vervain plant. It might still be alive. Probably not if it hadn't been watered. But I had a nice stash."

"You haven't been invited in." Elena responded.

Right.

"Okay. That leaves us with a few options. Either I tell you the location or someone invites me in. I understand you might not feel comfortable with it, and you have a right to, but I don't think you'll have time to grab it. I can be there and back in a second. Is-is Jeremy home?"

Elena nodded. "He should be for another hour."

Damon made the final decision. "Let's go, Charlotte."

Damon and Charlotte sped over to the house, separately. Damon was only attending, Charlotte knew, to keep an eye on her. Jeremy opened the door.

"Lottie." He breathed in disbelief.

"Not now, kid. Invite her in so that we can get along with it."

"You can come in." He said without hesitation. Charlotte nodded at him and rushed up the stairs to her old bedroom. Walking in was like entering a ghost town. Everything was the same, yet she was so different. When she entered her closet, she moved her stash of shoes and opened the compartment underneath pulling out a paper bag filled with smalled bags of vervain. Like she expected, her plant was dead, dried out, but it would still be functional. She grabbed them both and walked downstairs. "Here." She tossed them to Damon and walked out of the house, terrified of what would happen if she remained. She got into her car and screamed. Her screams turned into tears as she punched the steering wheel. She was breaking. She couldn't break. Not again. Not at the night of the bonfire. Not tonight.

Within a moment, Damon was sitting in the passenger seat next to her.

"So I'm pretty sure the Rebekah is vaguely lesbian." Damon remarked quietly, causing Charlotte to laugh in the middle of her tears. "So, if you wanted to help charm her, I'm pretty sure it would work. It would be a pretty hot three way, I must say."

"You're disgusting."

"Not as disgusting as you are." He replied. "Look at your make up now. Hasn't Elena ever taught you not to cry in make up? Hopefully Rebekah is into the whole sad thing."

"Damon. What do you want?"

"I want you to know that it's okay." He said softly. Charlotte looked up at him, wiping her eyes. "Whatever you've done, it's okay. Because we all do it. We all break. It's an occupational hazard."

"Elena hates me."

Damon looked puzzled. "You can't actually believe that." He laughed. "Elena doesn't hate anybody. She accepted me, beyond better judgement. She's even giving Stefan a chance. She loves you, kid. She's just sad; she missed you. And she's giving you your space, because you've been shutting her out since you go here."

Charlotte shook her head. "I've killed so many people, Damon."

"Do you really think that your petty number lives up to the Ripper of Monterrey, or even me? Your murder game is weak, Lottie. Trust me when I tell you tha

t when you're ready, you'll be welcomes back with open arms. Stop loathing yourself."

Charlotte had trouble believing him.

"And do me a favor. No matter how guilty you feel, never, ever turn off your switch."

Right, so, the night started off with Damon's attempts to charm Rebekah. Seeing as Damon was EXACTLY the most charming person, Charlotte had to play him up, as he'd expected. Charlotte, as Damon attempted to teach Rebekah to eat a freaking marshmallow, strutted over, passing them beth bottles of beer.

"Who needs marshmallows when you have this?"

She tipped her head back and took a swig of the bitter liquid.

"I don't know, Charlotte. I think you're missing out on some of the finer things in life." He grinned as he looked at Rebekah. Oh boy.

Charlotte carefully watched Elena, only partially listening to their conversation, but inserting either the snappy comment or the profound remark about society when needed.

And then things went south when she caught on. She was smarter than everyone gave her credit for. She snapped at Damon and shoved a wooden stick into him.

"Well that's what you get for playing with a girl's heart." Charlotte smirked.

"Hey, Damon, you said you had something of mine that-" Charlotte walked in the room not to see Damon, but Elena. "Oh, hey."

She still felt awkward around Elena.

"You're hurt. What happened? Was that the fire? God, I should have been there-"

"Charlotte, it's fine. Really." Elena told her. "Actually, Damon didn't text you at all. I did."

"What, why?"

"Because he told me what you said." She said softly. "I hate the way it is between us now. You're my sister, and you're walking on egg shells as if we're sworn enemies. I'm not upset with you, okay? I understand. It's hard when you turn. I know-I know you did it for Aunt Jenna. And I know what you did to those people-"

"Please stop, Elena." Lottie whispered softly, hurt by every word.

"I was hurt that you didn't think you could come back, that you left us when we needed you most, but I understand."

"I'm so sorry, Elena." Charlotte all but whispered, holding back any emotion destined to come out. "I couldn't come back. It would have been so different. I didn't want you to see your sister as a monster."

Elena shook her head, and stepped towards Charlotte.

"Please, stop. I could hurt you. Like I did them," she protested, near hysterics.

"No. You couldn't." Elena shook her head. "You'd never hurt me. I know that. I've seen the way you protect me, Jer. Lottie, I've accepted Damon and Stefan, and I will forever accept you. You'll always be my sister."

And then Charlotte erupted into tears. Elena wrapped her arms around her.

"Please come home, Lottie."