𝟔𝟕

a/n: Lottie's outfit for the chapter is above!

this is like really long but I enjoyed every bit of it.

☆═━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍━═☆

"Wait...so you just went along with it?"

Serena took in Charlotte's question, sitting down, "I didn't go along with it but...I want this...I want to know more about what I am meant to be."

"So you could go off and be a hunter? A vampire hunter?" Charlotte scoffed out, folding her arms together, "I mean...have you lost your mind?"

"I know it might seem offending or—"

The brunette vampire chuckled humorlessly, shaking her head, "No, no, that's not offending," She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, stating, "What's really offending is you thinking that I am going to allow this."

Serena looked up at her ancestor, claiming, "Charlotte, this is my choice. You can't take that away for me, no matter how much you care about me."

"I am not going to watch you destroy your life and lose this—this opportunity to have a wonderful future, go to college, find love, and be an amazing mother...grow old," She listed out, taking in a deep breath, "If I have to be the controlling friend for a while so I could protect your real valuable choices...then so be it."

"Don't do this—"

"Becoming a vampire, losing all of my chances at the life I have always wanted wasn't my choice," Charlotte pursed her lips together, interrupting, "What led to that point? That...yeah, that was my choice and I have lived to regret it every day."

"What you have always wanted in life," Serena emphasized, rising to her feet, "I don't want that. I don't need a new family because you know what? One day, they are all going to die and they are going to leave me alone...I need a distraction. I need this."

"This is not safe, I am just trying to protect you! Why can't you see that?"

She ran her hand over her forehead, yelling back, "Because it always seems like someone wants to control my life! First, it was Dad then Nana Izzie, Mom... and now you! Everybody acts like they understand and you know what? Maybe you really want to understand but you don't get it!"

"I don't get it? You are kidding...Me?" Charlotte raised an eyebrow, asking, "You think I don't understand how it feels like to lose your whole life and just have a place you come back to...to try and feel whole again?"

"You don't understand what I am going through...I have no one."

"No, I understand what you are going through. You have no one because you don't want to have anyone. All I try to do is be there for you and what is your reaction? You push me away, every single time."

Serena sighed, shaking her head, "I don't push you away...Not intentionally...I am just preparing myself that at any given second I am gonna turn around and look back but you won't be there," She held her breath, refusing to cry, "Because you have yourself and your life and...I have me which is not really a good company. Hell, even I hate me."

"I am not going anywhere, ever," Charlotte shook her head, walking up to her, "Whether you need me here, don't want me...Or both. I will always be here for you. We are family, whether you accept that or not."

"Of course I accept that, you idiot," Serena sniffled back, using the back of her hand to rub off a stray tear.

"Because I am your...short cousin?"

"The shortest of them all."

"No vampire hunter things? At least not without me knowing because I almost had a heart attack when Jeremy fessed up."

"That snitch," The Bernard human rolled her eyes.

"Promise me you will tell me if there's something wrong?" Charlotte asked, raising an eyebrow. Deep down she felt like she needed that reassurance.

"I promise," Serena sighed, raising her pinky finger, "You know how to do this, or are you like...too old?"

"Please," The older of them rolled her eyes, "I invented this."

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte folded her arms over her chest, questioning as Damon walked in with boxes, "So what is all this luggage?"

"Some personal items that I snaked from the vampire hunter's RV. May he rest in peace," Damon answered, placing the box down and looking through it.

"That's just sick..."

"I'm searching for a supernatural handbook."

Stefan raised an eyebrow, "And you know for a fact that he was supernatural?"

"Definitely wasn't natural. The guy magically appeared just as someone blows up the entire Founders Council. He's covered in a tattoo that only Jeremy Gilbert and Serena, of all people in the world, seem to be able to see," Damon listed out, rolling his eyes before adding, "Klaus mentioned something about him being one of The Five."

"Then he kamikazes himself with explosives. Sound natural to you?"

"What's The Five?" Stefan furrowed his eyebrows together.

"Special vampire hunters," Charlotte was quick to answer as both Salvatores turned to her, "And I am not guessing. This is real."

"How special?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know details but according to Serena, our family had that passed down like some deal with the witch who made them special...or something. I don't really know for fact but this is pretty much it."

"The amount of details is satisfying," Damon commented sarcastically as the brunette rolled her eyes at him.

"I am just trying to help, as much as I can."

He sighed before his phone rang and he picked it up, "Liz Forbes, my favorite sheriff," Damon furrowed his eyebrows together, taking in the news, "What? That's...concerning. Keep me posted."

Damon hung up as Charlotte questioned, "So...what is concerning?" He made no move to respond as the Bernard raised her eyebrows, "You are not going to tell us?"

"Can't tell you. Private. We're in a fight."

"I punched you because you were being a dick and a total asshole to my best friend, there is no fight," Charlotte claimed, shrugging her shoulders.

"Not still mad at me about Elena?"

She folded her arms together, "If you continue being an asshole then I will always be mad but we are not in a fight."

"Very well, then. They didn't find any remains at the explosion site."

"So Connor's still out there?" Stefan concluded, raising his eyebrows.

Damon nodded, shrugging, "Apparently so. I'm gonna need you two to get on this today. I have to take Elena to college."

"Wait, what?"

Charlotte's lips parted in surprise as Damon elaborated, "I'm teaching her how to feed. She needs to learn snatch, eat, erase now more than ever," She moved to comment about the nonsense before he reminded her, "Ah, ah, we're not in a fight, remember?"

✵ ✵ ✵

"I know it's crazy but I almost killed Matt last night. Damon had to rip me off of him and then compel him to forget. Call it Doppelgänger curse or whatever, but I can't drink animal blood," Elena sighed, turning to Charlotte who folded her arms together, "I can't drink from a blood bag, I can only drink from the vein."

"Okay."

"Charlotte, c'mon."

"What? I didn't say anything..."

"Look, I know you don't like this but—"

Charlotte interjected, "I don't exactly have a right to not like it."

Elena rolled her eyes, correcting, "Of course you have a right to not like it and tell me that's not the right way and I will listen but...point out another way?"

"What about Caroline? She's the best at self-control?"

"Because you taught her and you taught her at a time that you were doing well in...," She trailed off, exhaling sharply, "I know that you are not 100% in control now and I don't want to risk it."

"So I guess that leaves Damon, huh? Because he is just the master of control."

"I am not going to harm anyone, Charlotte."

"I hope...for your own good," Charlotte sighed, adding, "I just don't want him attempting to turn you into him...you wouldn't know how to go on."

Elena sighed, noticing that Charlotte had calmed down a bit before the Bernard girl spoke up, "By the way, Caroline is not good at self-control because of me...She believes in herself and that's why she did it. She is her own anchor."

The Gilbert vampire furrowed her eyebrows together, "What...what's an anchor?"

"An emotional tether...something or someone that just makes you want to do better, be better."

"Who's yours?"

Charlotte took in the question, running her tongue over her bottom lip. She hadn't asked herself that question in a while. Maybe she thought she didn't have one but everyone holds onto something, don't they. After Cassie...it was just hard.

"Maybe it's me? Maybe I am working on that..."

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte had her arms folded together over her chest as she looked up at Stefan after he admitted that he went to see Klaus without her like they had originally planned.

"It's not like I got anything important out of him," He rubbed the back of his head, starting.

She inhaled sharply, claiming, "It's not what he said or if you discovered something new. It's the fact that you went without me and you said that we are going together. I literally turned around and you weren't there, Stefan."

"I am sorry, I am," He started, apologizing as she scoffed out, "What now?"

"You are not really sorry," Charlotte stated, shaking her head at him.

"I am."

"Well, maybe you are sorry that you had to do it but you are not sorry that you did it," She shrugged her shoulders, rising to her feet before proceeding to explain, "You didn't want me around him...But you couldn't say it out loud because...God forbid you ever say what you actually feel."

"That's not...that's not it," Stefan shook his head, brushing it off as Charlotte raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

She pursed her lips together, contemplating her words, "I know we are not like...together and there's still a lot of things to work on but saying what you actually feel is part of that. Okay, the wall is gone."

"What wall?"

"You like me, I like you. We didn't admit that it was still there before so there was always this—talking in codes; where none of us could say what they really want to say but the wall is gone so...no codes. Just straight up what you want to say."

Stefan took in a deep breath, processing her words, "Alright, okay."

"So on...three, two, one. Just say what you have in your head about this...conversation, honestly," She asked him and proceeded when he gave her a nod, "Three, two, one. Go."

"I hate the way he looks at you."

"I think that I feel something very very little for him," Charlotte blurted out, squeezing her eyes shut. She wasn't exactly planning on saying that on any occasion but it would make things easier. The fact that the 'wall' dropped just made it way easier.

"What?"

Charlotte inhaled sharply, nodding, "We are being honest so...I have to be completely 100% honest even if I don't ever plan on acting on whatever I could be feeling towards him. You need to know it's there because that's just the right thing."

"So you have just always felt something towards him?" Stefan asked, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Not always, no...it's recent but it's there and it's so little but honesty is honesty," She pursed her lips together, looking up at him, "I know that this is a little...hard—"

"Just a little?"

She rubbed the back of her neck, sighing, "It's better than you not knowing that I am not 100% ready to be with you...I mean you couldn't have expected me to just wait for you to come back, did you? I think that I am worth more than being that kind of girl...I feel that I deserve better than to wait around."

"I know that and I didn't mean it that way," Stefan shook his head, claiming, "You are making a big deal out of this."

"No, I am not," Charlotte scoffed out, "This is a big deal. You, thinking that you have any right to dislike or comment about my choices...That is a big deal."

"I don't like Klaus because he is...Klaus. I like him a little because he cares and you know what, not everyone does. He cares in a misunderstood way. It's frustrating but at least it's there."

"So what? I don't care?"

Charlotte rolled her eyes, replying, "You just had to make it about you..."

Stefan took in a deep breath, parting his lips to state before Charlotte ran a hand over her forehead, "So, what did he say? About the Five?"

"Charlotte, we were having a very important conversation right now—"

She nodded, folding her arms over her chest, "Were, past tense. It's over. This conversation is officially over so can we move on to deal with the problem at hand?"

Charlotte looked up at him, tapping her heels on the ground in anticipation but he had yet to answer her, "If you don't tell me, I will just go over to his house and ask him myself. It's really that easy."

"No, wait."

✵ ✵ ✵

Klaus was apparently having a few troubles with Rebekah and Paulina, for him to speak, both of them had to show up with Stefan and Charlotte. It was supposed to be easy but Charlotte couldn't ask Rebekah considering the last time she talked to her...things weren't so nice.

That left her with Paulina whom she hadn't spoken to in weeks.

She rubbed the back of her neck. Charlotte found her former friend at the bar, talking with Tim Willows. He was one of the nicest employees at the Mystic Grill, it seemed that he was enjoying Paulina's company. Tim was socially awkward, he didn't know how to make a friend and hated it.

Seeing him speak so comfortably with Lina brought an unintentional smile on Charlotte's face before she made her way up to the two.

"Hey, Tim...How are you?"

"Char! I am doing great!" He smiled, turning to face the petite brunette, "Do you want your usual?"

"I am doing amazing, I am not feeling like drinking milkshake today but maybe some other time?"

"Sure, what about a cheeseburger?"

Charlotte shook her head, chuckling, "Ah, you know my weakness...I will have one, extra—"

"—fries, coming right up!"

Charlotte sat down on one of the barstools beside Paulina, awaiting her order. The Gilbert vampire turned to her, "You hate me but you need something so just spit it out."

"I don't need something," Charlotte huffed out, shaking her head, "And for your information, even if I hated you, I wouldn't use or manipulate anyone for something I want. Klaus wants me to fake peace with you, so you'll get Rebekah to talk about the Five."

"I have no idea what Rebekah knows and I honestly don't care if she wants to tell him anything or not," Paulina shrugged her shoulders, taking a sip of her coffee, "So, just move on with your day."

She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, asking, "Are you okay? Like...seriously okay?"

The brunette older vampire replied, "Yeah...I just don't want to deal with everybody's problems and leave mine in the back."

"Look, Klaus won't tell us what he knows unless you and Rebekah are there...so just, for the love of God, remember that he is—or used to be your friend and come with us," Charlotte ran a hand over her forehead, asking.

"Oh, he is still my friend. We are just having a bit of a...disagreement. I wouldn't call it the end of a good friendship."

"You never know, far better has ended over far less."

Paulina furrowed her eyebrows together, taking in her comment, "What are you trying to say?"

Charlotte inhaled sharply, shaking her head at herself, "It's...it's whatever. Are you coming with us or not?"

✵ ✵ ✵

She shoved her hands in her dress pockets, standing next to Stefan as Rebekah and Paulina barged in on Klaus'....torture room? Charlotte didn't know what to call it but it obviously had a torture device with Connor chained to it.

He turned his head, looking at the new visitors as Rebekah rolled her eyes, "Is this a trick? How do you know he's one of the Five? Where's his bloody tattoo?"

"Oh, the tattoos aren't visible on this lot like they were on the last. Let's eat."

Klaus said, moving past Charlotte and out of the room. A while had passed as the five vampires were seated around the dining table just as a pretty girl served them food.

"Thank you, my lovely," He thanked just as the girl walked off, commenting, "I could kiss the Council for burning up all the vervain in town. They made my life so much easier."

No one bothered to comment on that as Charlotte used her knife to cut the steak and started eating which made Klaus address his sister, "Rebekah, love, eat your veggies."

Rebekah folded her arms over her chest, "I'm not eating until you apologize."

"For which indiscretion?" He raised his eyebrow, feigning confusion, "There have been so many."

"You broke my neck!"

The Original hybrid shrugged his shoulders, retorting, "You threw away Elena's blood so I can't make any more hybrids."

Rebekah scoffed out, claiming, "Because you took me for granted."

"That's what big brothers do, sweetheart!"

Paulina sighed, cutting in, "I imagined my night going way better than this dinner."

"Yeah...," Stefan nodded, adding, "Let me just name the million other people I'd rather be having dinner with right now."

"Well, Charlotte seems to be enjoying herself."

Charlotte looked up as soon as her name was mentioned, swallowing the bit of food she had in her mouth, "Well...uh, dinner is dinner, no matter the company."

"In other words," Paulina chuckled to herself, stating, "She is just that good when it comes to looking over family issues...like the Salvatores' for example."

"Let's not stray away from the purpose of this dinner, yeah?" Stefan raised his eyebrow, looking ahead at the Gilbert vampire who just shrugged her shoulders.

"Alright, fine," Klaus sighed before addressing his little sister, "I'm sorry. I often forget how delicate you are. Forgive me?"

"I'll take it under consideration."

"Okay, good. Now, why don't you tell us about Rebekah's hunter?"

"Right, Alexander. Nice chap foregoing the obvious issues," Klaus rested his clasped hands under his chin, starting, "He was looking for creatures of the night which is why we felt quite safe around him wearing our daylight rings."

He told them all about Alexander's plan to destroy all vampires and how they had the ultimate weapon that no vampire can survive.

"So, that's what this is about? A weapon."

Rebekah shook her head, "Not just any weapon."

Klaus turned to the blonde Original, shaking his head, "Rebekah, love, don't get ahead of the story."

Stefan exhaled sharply, questioning, "How is a weapon the answer to all my prayers?"

Rebekah and Klaus exchanged a look without saying a word just as Paulina raised her eyebrow, beginning to realize that was not some joke or game.

"Okay. Why don't we just skip with the theatrics and get right to the point?" The Salvatore scoffed, raising an eyebrow as he looked between the two siblings.

"Not quite yet, because in order to find this weapon, we need to solve the puzzle. Which seems to have disappeared."

"What puzzle?"

Klaus raised his eyebrows just as Charlotte realized, "Disappeared? So the tattoo...What is it?"

"A map. Leading us to its treasure."

Rebekah rolled her eyes, pointing out its uselessness, "Fat lot of good a tattoo's gonna do if we can't see it."

"We can't, but someone else can," Klaus shrugged his shoulders, turning to the girl that once served them the food, "Why don't you tell the hybrid to bring him in, love?"

The girl walked out of the room just as quick as a frown took over Charlotte's face, knowing that there were only two teenagers in Mystic Falls that could see the tattoo, "You see, the hunter was so eager to get to the bottom of his mystery tattoos that he mentioned there were only two others that can see them."

The hybrid walked back into the room. He had Jeremy in his grasp. Charlotte vamp-sped out of her chair towards Jeremy but Klaus, being much older and faster than her, rushed past her and stood between her and Jeremy.

"I wouldn't—"

She interjected, shaking her head, "No, I wouldn't do that if I were you. Let him go."

"You know you should be grateful your niece isn't in his place."

Charlotte scoffed out, shaking her head, "Let him go," She tried to move past him and before he could attempt to stop her, Paulina was standing between the two in a couple of seconds.

"Why don't we all just calm down, huh? Nobody has to be tortured or—"

"Tortured?"

Lina turned to Jeremy, rubbing the back of her neck, "No, no, no torturing. It's just kind of an instinct to say it but don't worry."

"He is just a kid, why are you involving him in this? Are you really just that heartless?!"

"Charlotte, he is going to be okay," Paulina took in a deep breath, turning to her, "He will just draw the freaking tattoo and leave."

"And...and I am supposed to believe you because you are all such honest people?" Charlotte raised her eyebrows, asking just as Paulina shook her head at her.

"I am on your side here! He is going to be okay as soon as he helps us."

Charlotte took in a deep breath, attempting to calm down before Jeremy called out, "I'm not helping you with anything!"

The hybrid grabbed Jeremy's hand and took his ring off before tossing it to Klaus just as Charlotte turned to the hybrid holding Jeremy, going to attack him before Paulina held her back, "Touch him again and you are dead!"

"I touch him again and he is dead."

Paulina scoffed, shaking her head at the hybrid, "Shut the fuck up, Nate."

✵ ✵ ✵

Jeremy was with Connor in the other room, painting his tattoo as the five vampires stayed in the room, talking about the Five, "So, tell me more about this tattoo."

Charlotte was still on her feet, tapping the tip of her heel on the ground in anticipation as Klaus claimed, "My sister's suitor was unwilling to tell us anything," He turned to his sister, raising an eyebrow, "Rebekah, however, was more than willing to investigate. Isn't that right?"

The brunette Bernard vampire took a look at Rebekah who seemed somewhat ashamed as the memory replayed in the back of her mind. A memory of how her loved one had daggered her after spilling out all of his secrets.

"My sister's boyfriend threw a slumber party that night. He and his brothers put us all down in our sleep. Elijah, Kol, Finn, and me," He revealed, taking a glance at his sister.

Rebekah exhaled sharply, "How was I supposed to know?"

Her brother raised his glass, "Cheers, to my sister's uncanny ability to choose men."

Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows together, "But...Elijah told us that the daggers don't work on you because you are half-werewolf."

"Oh, love," He had a sinful smirk on his lips, replying, "They don't."

He proceeded to tell them about how he slaughtered the hunters after his wake before turning to Rebekah, "Go ahead, Rebekah. Tell them. Tell them what the hunter told you the tattoo leads to."

"What is this great weapon that could bring about the end of the vampire species?"

"A cure," Rebekah exhaled sharply, "He said there was a cure."

Klaus got up just as Charlotte gasped out, "What? There can't be a cure...if there...if there was a cure, why didn't anybody search for it? Why didn't you search for it and destroy it, for example?"

"Because when the hunters drew their final breath that night, the marks disappeared from their body, the map was gone, the brotherhood of the Five extinct," Klaus turned to the Bernard girl, answering, "For nine hundred years, there was not a whisper of another hunter, until our friend in there showed up in town."

Lina sighed, faking a yawn just as Rebekah asked, "Well, now we have the map, what do we do next?"

"We don't do anything. You can't be trusted, little sister," He shook his head at her, claiming, "You'll be blabbing this secret to the first boy who calls you pretty. I mean, it's pathetic, really, isn't it?"

"How she continues to hand her heart to any man who shows her a hint of affection. You'd think she would have learned by now from the endless cycle of disappointment and deception."

Charlotte rubbed the back of her neck in discomfort just as Lina took a look at the Original hybrid before Rebekah turned to her brother angrily, "But, I haven't, instead I stayed with you and let you leech every moment of happiness from my life." She looked at the other vampires in the room, claiming, "You know, at least I fared better than Finn, Klaus left him daggered because he was tired of his judgment."

"No, Finn was a dullard. He was more interesting lying in a box."

"You want the cure for Elena, don't you? So you can go back to mass producing your hybrids. That's why you brought Stefan and Charlotte here, because you knew that they would help you even though both of them hate your guts!"

"You know what? You can shove your cure."

Rebekah walked out of the house, Paulina let out a scoff before picking up her purse and following the Original blonde.

"Well...that was helpful," Charlotte crossed over her arms, commenting.

"She never would have told me what I needed to know."

"Isn't that why Lina was here in the first place?" Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows.

Klaus shook his head, "Rebekah wouldn't have made it here without Lina. She won't tell me and she knows Lina won't tell me either. But she'll tell you."

"Me?" She scoffed out.

Charlotte was still processing what he asked just as Stefan questioned, "What do you need her to find out?"

"The map is useless without the tool to decipher it."

"The sword?"

"She knows where it is," Klaus claimed before turning to the Bernard vampire, "And you're gonna get her to tell you. You have a chance to save Elena from the very thing that is going to destroy her."

"You can call it a deal with the devil, if you like. But you know you won't walk away from it."

Charlotte almost finding herself saying yes before she scoffed out. In what world would Charlotte Bernard agree to manipulate someone to get the thing she wants the most? If it would change her that it can't be worth it. It shouldn't cost her herself.

"Yes, I will. I will walk away from it."

She stated before walking past and into the room where Connor was held up. Jeremy was still talking with the hunter. Charlotte picked him up from his chair, taking the sketch from his hand, "We are done here."

She shoved the sketchpad in Klaus' hand, "He is done."

"What is this?"

Jeremy answered, "It's the tattoo."

Klaus turned around, moving to grab Jeremy before Charlotte pulled him behind her, standing chest to chest in front of Klaus, "Back off."

"I've seen the tattoo. There's more to it!"

"That's all of it. He says every time he kills a vampire it spreads," Jeremy claimed, trying to step forward but Charlotte tightened her hold on his wrist, indirectly telling him it's a bad idea.

Klaus took that information in as Charlotte sighed, "Now we can leave, excuse us."

✵ ✵ ✵