𝟎𝟖

☆═━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ━═☆

Charlotte always thought that when death comes she will welcome it with open arms as her father did. That she would have done everything in her life and it would have been her time.

She never thought that one could cheat death, resulting in a never-ending life... But she did cheat.

People who die are supposed to stay that way, yet she was still in some way grateful for Pearl, becoming a vampire was a curse, but it felt so euphoric to have that metallic liquid run down her throat and give her a new beginning.

Unfortunately, her beginning wasn't a ray of blooming sunshine, full of roses. Charlotte's so-called new beginning was desiccating in a tomb for a century and a half till the next comet would pass by Mystic Falls.

She would bravely admit that in the few hours she had spent longer than the vampires to desiccate, she had changed. Her vision was one of a hawk, her ears could hear the loud heartbeats from the distances as Emily Bennett sealed the tomb shut.

Charlotte could feel Stefan's betrayal deeper, and instead of the tears. She had anger, so much buried anger.

Not hatred but anger, vampirism is all about magnifying one's true self and Charlotte's true self couldn't hate to save her life, but she could unleash the anger she kept subduing.

Decades had passed and passed, till the next comet passed by Mystic Falls, and a new generation of Bennett witches were forced to reopen the tomb, so Damon Salvatore could get back what he addressed as his one true love.

The voice of the eldest Salvatore woke her from her deep slumber as he shouted, "Katherine! Katherine!"

He received no response, as though all of the vampires were desiccated, unable to move like some status they were.

Charlotte heard another voice, one she would recognize in whatever state was she put in, Stefan's.

"Damon, please! She is not here!"

Damon, realizing that she who he was looking for, betrayed him, threw the blood bag he had prepared into the stone wall, toward the place where Charlotte laid like some statue, just a small drop of blood on her tongue was enough to get the girl to mutter his name.

"Damon...," Charlotte groaned, muttering. Her voice was barely audible but both vampires heard her loud and clear.

Damon, having a glimmer of hope, headed to the voice as she muttered again, a bit louder, "Damon..."

The eldest Salvatore stood in front of her, and as his flashlight made contact with her face, she squeezed her eyes shut and he instantly recognized her, "Charlotte?"

How could he have not recognized her? It was the girl he had always considered as a younger sister, his brother's first love and the one who would always get him flowers and cookies, baked by Paulina, whenever his father went too far.

"It's Charlotte," Damon turned to Stefan before the both of them, held either arm to help her stand.

"How could she of all people be here?" Stefan questioned, seeing the state she was in. It was clear, she was quite the hungry vampire.

"Does it look like I know?" Damon snarked, as they reached the door where Elena awaited.

Elena raised an eyebrow, unsure how to react this wasn't Katherine and it was obvious but it seemed like someone both Stefan and Damon knew very well.

"We are gonna have to seal it back," Sheila, Bonnie's grandmother, stated as the two Bennetts held on to one another's hands, channeling the elements and each other's magic.

"I can't," Bonnie muttered.

"Yes, you can!" Grams encouraged her, the two continuing to chant as the vampires and the doppelganger left.

Damon was left holding up Charlotte who's face gained some colour after the small drops of blood reached her but she was still very much solidified.

"Who is she?" Elena questioned, curiously.

Either of the brothers stared at her but none gave up any answer, she looked to Stefan and he sighed, before answering, "A friend of ours... Charlotte."

✵ ✵ ✵

After reaching the Salvatore Boarding House, Damon had retrieved a blood bag for Charlotte, forcing a straw between her lips and as the warm blood reached her throat, she was instantly awake.

"Rise and shine, little Char," Damon muttered softly as the blood reached her veins, sending a warm feeling down her arms and legs, allowing her to move again.

When she had had enough, Damon pulled the now empty blood bag away as Charlotte sat up, her eyes scanning the room before landing back on Damon.

"Deep breaths, I will explain," Damon held her small hands in his, noticing the mortified and equally confused look in her doe eyes.

"I know that I am a vampire... and that Katherine killed me... to turn me? Then I was stuck in that tomb for what seemed like forever...," Charlotte sighed, concluding what she understood so that Damon would know the things he needed to explain or reveal.

Like how long she had been rotting underground, or how she now had to kill to survive, or how the past love of her life was dating a carbon copy of her nemesis.

"I will explain everything, I promise... But for now, you need to rest, shower, and get a warm welcome to the new modern times...," Damon had a tight smile on his lips as he said so.

Charlotte wasn't buying it, she needed answers and she needed them quickly, "How long was I asleep in that tomb, Damon."

"Look, Char, you don't have to worry-"

She cut him off, "I can handle it, just tell me how much of life had passed while I was just decaying..."

Damon sighed, tightening his hold on her hands before he revealed, "For 145 years."

He expected her eyes to widen, but she just stared at him silently before nodding.

Then she asked, "Do you have any explanation why I am so sure that I heard Katherine's voice when I got of the tomb?"

Damon shook his head, lying through his teeth, "Hallucinations?" He suggested falsely, it was too much to say in one day, knowing the amount of time she had been asleep was quite enough for her.

"And what's a shower supposed to be, exactly?"

✵ ✵ ✵