𝟕𝟒

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

☆═━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑━═☆

It was past midnight when Charlotte arrived at the Gilberts' lakehouse and realized no one was in there. The brunette vampire was not invited in so she dropped her bag at the foyer and pulled out her phone, dialing Damon's number.

"Damon, I am standing in front of the lakehouse—"

His voice cut her off mid-sentence, "What? I can't hear you?"

She rolled her eyes, "Where the hell are you? I am—"

"Sorry...hold on?"

Charlotte was about to continue before mentally facepalming herself and squeezing her eyes shut, "That stupid voicemail."

"Nope, still can't hear you. You want to know why? Because I'm not here right now. So leave a message at the beep!"

"Idiot," She breathed out, running a hand over her forehead. She was moving to sit on one of the steps before hearing footsteps from afar. The brunette blinked, focusing her hearing on the sound as it became clearer that it was Matt.

Her eyes widened before vamp-speeding into the woods, it didn't take her long to find him as a vampire was about to bite into his neck. Charlotte snapped the vampire's neck and threw him off of Matt.

She pulled the Donovan off of the ground, asking "Are you okay?" He nodded as Charlotte shook her head, checking his neck, "No, no, you are not okay. You are bleeding."

Matt inhaled, shaking his head, "I am fine, we need to keep moving—"

His words were cut off as Jeremy ran past the two accompanied by Elena, "Get to the house! Hurry!"

Charlotte pushed Matt and Jeremy ahead of her, "Go, move!"

The four of them made it there before Jeremy invited Charlotte in, "Someone needs to explain what the hell is going on!"

"They are coming," Jeremy said as she and Elena looked outside to see a group of what could be roughly seven vampires outside.

✵ ✵ ✵

"Klaus turned them? All of the vampires that were standing there?" Charlotte asked, folding her arms together. Later at night, Damon made it back with Serena who had been staying at the Lakehouse for the past few days as well.

"And more," Jeremy answered, "An entire bar for me to kill them."

Charlotte shook her head, turning to Damon, "You had one job!"

Serena rose to her feet, "Actually while we are on the bad news' train, I have something to add," All eyes turned to her as she cleared her throat, "I might have killed a vampire last night...and might have grown the start of the map's tattoo...," Charlotte's eyes widened as the human Bernard finished, "By might, I mean that's exactly what happened."

The Bernard vampire ran a hand over her forehead, pacing the room before asking, "Jeremy, how many vampires did you...uh, take down...by the time the desire to kill any walking vampire kicked in?"

"Two."

"Two," Charlotte repeated, turning to her niece, "Which means we are one vampire away from you going after the three vampires in this room accompanied by a barely conscious Jeremy—"

Jeremy rolled his eyes, "I am fine."

She turned to him, "You were eyeing your stake the entire I was helping Matt clean his wound. I am not dumb, Jeremy," She took a deep breath, "It's going to be tough to keep it at bay so we need to be prepared and I also don't wanna die in my sleep so..."

Elena shook her head, looking up at Damon, "All I asked you to do was to teach him how to fight."

"He's not the best student in the world."

"Wait. Now, this is my fault?" The hunter scoffed out.

"Stop talking," Damon addressed Jeremy before turning back to Elena, "Look, I know you're angry, but my way was the easiest, fastest, and safest way to complete his mark to get you the cure."

"I don't care about the cure, Damon. Not if it means putting the people that I love in danger."

"Then we agree that this has to stop," Charlotte stepped in, adding.

"Hey, there would have been no danger if he hadn't gone all bleeding heart," The Salvatore shook his head, dismissing it.

"He killed someone! These were innocent people."

"The mark grew, didn't it?"

The oldest Bernard crossed her arms together, "Stop justifying this, will you? We have a serious problem. The sun is going down in hours, those vampires will come after Matt, we need to keep him safe while keeping Serena away from this—"

"Charlotte—"

She turned to her, finishing, "No discussion, you are staying out of this. Professor Shane is dead, if you go all killer mode on us, there is no coming back, Serena."

Damon walked over to Jeremy, slinging an arm over his shoulders, "There will be no problem when big Jer and I here go on a hunting expedition."

"No way in hell," Charlotte shook her head.

Damon paid her no mind, focusing on Elena, "Elena, I know, it's tragic. I get it. But we also agree that he had to kill them. Now, we have added incentive. So you take Serena, Charlotte, and the least most valuable player home; Jeremy and I will finish this."

The Bernard vampire scoffed out, murmuring under her breath, "Over my dead body, yeah."

"I'm sorry? Are you saying I should leave him here with you?"

"Trust me. I will keep him safe. Okay?"

Charlotte looked between the two, her eyebrows almost reaching her hairline as she realized what he was doing, "You little..." She ran her hands over her face, repeating to herself, "This is not happening, no."

✵ ✵ ✵

Damon parked in the woods around the bar as Charlotte gave him her distasteful stare, getting out of the back seat, "You need to stop looking at me like that, the Earth won't open up and swallow me whole."

"No? It's worth a couple of hundred tries," Charlotte replied.

Jeremy got out of the passenger seat, asking, "Do you really think they went back to the bar?"

"Where else are they gonna go?" The Salvatore opened the trunk, adding, "It's all cabins and vacation homes; they can't get in anywhere," He handed Jeremy a gun. Jeremy put it behind his back as Damon handed him the compound bow, "All right. There you go."

"Fine. Let's get this over with." Jeremy pulled back the compound bow.

"Listen, just go one at a time, only shoot for the heart, don't hesitate, and don't miss," Damon gave Jeremy an arrow, finishing.

The Gilbert rolled his eyes, "Save the teaching moment. Elena's not here. You don't have to pretend like you give a damn about me."

Charlotte exhaled sharply as Jeremy turned to look at her, "Char, it's fine."

"It's really not," She shook her head, "I am sorry that you have to do this."

"I know what I am doing it for."

Charlotte wanted to drive him back home, take all those guns, and tell him that whatever motive out there is, it wasn't worth losing his childhood and all the moments that matter. Nothing was worth this, the risk. But she knew, she knew that she would never be able to make his choices for him, no matter how much she wanted to at that moment.

She nodded, patting his back, "Alright, let's go."

The trio entered the bar, music can still be heard as they walked in cautiously, and Jeremy held up the bow in front of him. A giant blood smear can be seen on the ground as Charlotte asked, "Was it this...messy before?"

Damon walked around the giant smear, "No, something's not right."

Charlotte followed the trail of blood into the back cold storage room, spotting a pile of vampire corpses, "Guys," She called out, "You should see this."

Damon came in with Jeremy, his eyes widened for a few seconds before commenting, "Looks like we're gonna have to find some new vampires. What a waste."

"What the hell happened?"

"I confess," The three of them looked up as Kol walked into the room, raising his hands up in a mocking manner, "I did it."

"Kol?"

"Uh, darling, two days in a row, I am starting to think you enjoy those little run-ins we have," He shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry about the mess. Ugh, it was a little crowded when I arrived, and I prefer more intimate gatherings. We four need to have a little chat," He took a sip of bourbon from the bottle.

"Care for a drink?"

"They are underage, and I don't like you, so let's just cut to it," Damon stated.

"I think she is just the right age," The Mikaelson said before sighing, "You know, my brother bragged about his plan to complete Jeremy's hunter's mark. It was easy enough to track this lot down."

"They were all hiding in the shadows. Now, killing young vampires is easy or old ones, for that matter."

"Why? If it's not for Klaus or Rebekah...What's your agenda?" Charlotte questioned, furrowing her eyebrows together.

"Because, your foolish friends, in their zeal to find the cure, they risk waking someone very dangerous."

Damon's mouth formed an 'o', commenting, "Oh...You must be talking about Silas."

The Original demanded, "What do you know of him?"

"Nothing. Don't want to. Not our problem."

"Isn't it?"

"Nope," Charlotte answered, popping the 'p'.

"A few hundred years back, I came across a group that worshipped Silas. His followers told me that he would rise again, and when he did, he would trigger the end of all time," Kol shared, adding, "You know, being an immortal, you can see why I'm opposed to time's ending."

Charlotte didn't seem to buy into it, dismissing it, "We have heard close enough tales about your brother and yet...here we are."

"I murdered all of his worshippers," Kol continued either way, "And now, here you are willing to risk raising him in your search for the cure. I can't exactly sit back and let that happen, can I?"

The Salvatore vampire scoffed out, "We're not going to back off the cure 'cause you were told one too many scary bedtime stories, you idiot."

Kol shook his head, turning to the petite brunette, "Charlotte, I know you, you are smart. You know I can't be fooling with something like this. Call it off."

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders, "I have been trying for Jeremy's sake and it didn't work out so...I guess this is it."

"Well, if your nice way didn't work out, I might as well go for the fun ways," Kol took a step backward, addressing Jeremy, "I could kill you. But then, I'd have to deal with the hunter's curse. And I, I don't particularly feel like being haunted for the next century. Better idea. I'll just rip off your arms."

Charlotte moved in front of Jeremy when Kol tried to rush at him and Damon rammed the Mikaelson into the wall, "Get him out of here!"

The Bernard didn't need to hear it twice before shoving Jeremy in front of her and running out of the bar.

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte dialed Elena's number as she drove herself and Jeremy out of the woods, "Charlotte? Is everything okay back there?"

"No, everything is far from okay, we are in a huge mess," Charlotte answered, taking a turn, finally on the road, "Listen—"

"Are Jeremy and Damon with you?"

The brunette sighed, about to respond before Jeremy beat her to it, knowing Elena could hear him, "Listen to me. Kol attacked us. We barely got away, but he has Damon."

✵ ✵ ✵

Elena made a stop at Klaus', practically begging him to call off his brother which he did right in front of her on the phone before she went back home to find Charlotte dropping off Jeremy.

"You know...you don't have to leave," Elena walked out of her kitchen and after Charlotte, "I know we need to talk."

Charlotte turned back, shrugging her shoulders, "Okay, talk. I am all ears."

"I knew then that you would always love Stefan and the scenario where I get to be the mad best friend who despises you for moving on with her ex, doesn't exist. You knew Stefan first, you loved him first and he loved you...loves you," Elena stated, sighing exsaperatedly, "I wanted you to be happy...if hiding a little bit of the truth was the cost of that, I am okay with it—"

She interjected, "Elena, I—"

The Gilbert vampire shook her head, continuing, "You wouldn't have let it happen. If even a little part of you thought that I might not be completely over Stefan, you wouldn't have let it happen, you wouldn't have given him or yourself a chance."

"You are right, I wouldn't have," Charlotte scoffed out, "Because that's what a real friend would do."

"I lied so you wouldn't feel bad for me when there is no reason to."

The Bernard took that in before raising an eyebrow, "And Damon?"

"The sire bond is derived from the feelings I had for him as a human...the feelings I wasn't ready to admit," She answered, folding her arms together, "I mean, you were there when Tyler told us. The sire bond doesn't change how you feel about someone."

"Well...," Charlotte rubbed her hands together, starting, "Elena, I don't like being lied to, in fact, I hate it...Even it's for my own good. I can't even begin to list the amount of people I have lost because of a white little lie. I don't do well with lies."

"I understand and I promise it will never happen again," Elena claimed, taking a deep breath, "Your trust means the world to me...This, our friendship...," She pointed between herself and Charlotte, "It's everything to me. I can't lose you."

She inhaled sharply, looking from Elena to her sneakers, "I have...gossip?"

"Yeah, that's not gonna work," The Gilbert vampire shook her head before moving over to pull her in a hug. Charlotte hugged her back right away, squeezing her eyes shut as she added, "Yeah, I was hoping you would do that."

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte carefully placed the marshmallows into hers and Elena's mugs, "Voila, perfection."

She handed the Gilbert her mug as Elena commented, "I am still amazed by the joy you get from things like this, it's cute, really."

The Bernard took in the smell of her hot chocolate, replying, "It's those little things that make it worthwhile," Charlotte took in a sip, "And I am a sucker for comfort foods and drinks."

"I can see why," She chuckled, taking a sip of her mug, "So...Angelina is back? How are you feeling?"

"Ecstatic would be an understatement...," Charlotte pursed her lips together in a small smile, "With her and Lina around...It feels like everything is just the way it used to be...I feel like me."

"The you we all know and love?"

"The me that made silly mistakes, the me that had a life that consisted of family, friends, and warm moments...The me that imagined her big crisis as what style would her wedding dress be and what would she name her kids," The petite brunette smiled, sinking in the nostalgia the warm thoughts brought her, "But I like that me and me now, just the same."

"Oh, while we are on the weird news," Charlotte spoke up, standing straighter, "I had my first sip of alcohol. Very rebellious of me, no?"

Elena smiled, raising her eyebrows, "Very unexpected, yes."

"With the infamous Klaus Mikaelson...," She trailed off before shrugging her shoulders, "Which then led to very hot sex in a public bathroom. Oh God, I have gone rogue."

The Gilbert laughed, "About time."

"About time?"

"With all the sexual tension and the weird favors."

"Wait, you are not mad at me?"

Elena huffed out, "No, plus, haven't you heard? I don't have judging privileges anymore."

Charlotte parted her lips, gasping dramatically, "Oh, that's so sad. You poor thing."

A knock on the door interrupted them as Charlotte moved to open it, "Stay, I will get it," She walked out of the kitchen and past the living room, swinging the door open to be met with Damon on the porch, "Well, hello there, Kol was generous?"

"You wish," He rolled his eyes, walking past her as Elena came over to them.

"What happened? Are you okay?" She put her hands on his shoulders, attempting to check on him.

"Psycho Original happened."

"Thank God you both got away. If Kol had taken Jeremy—"

Damon interjected, questioning, "Is he here?" He continued, a hint of desperation in his tone, "'Cause I just want to talk to him really fast."

Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows together as Elena answered, "He's at the Grill. He wanted to check on Matt."

"Well, I should go apologize to him," Damon stated, justifying, "I was...I was pretty tough on him today."

He finished and walked out the door as Charlotte voiced her thoughts, "Did he just say he is going to apologize? Willingly?"

"I mean...I guess he was tough with him."

"Damon could barely apologize for killing Jeremy."

✵ ✵ ✵

Matt was clearing a table at the Grill when Damon approached him, followed by Elena and Charlotte, "Don't you ever take a night off?"

"I took two days off to help you out at the lake house, remember?" The Donovan rolled his eyes, recalling, "I almost got killed?"

"Where's Jeremy?"

Charlotte's suspicion rose. Why was he so desperate? He would never apologize willingly or actively seek someone he wronged. Matt answered with a shrug, "He's in the back, I think."

"Hmm," Damon walked around Matt to the back room's direction as Charlotte followed him but Elena stayed behind to check on the blond boy.

Damon spotted Jeremy across the restaurant. They made eye contact. Damon's eyes started to vamp out as Charlotte caught up to what was happening and grabbed his arm, "Damon."

He turned around to look at her, the distraction allowed Jeremy to exit because when the Salvatore looked back, he was gone, "What exactly happened with Kol?"

"Uh, nothing. Nothing. He let me go. I told you."

The brunette shook her head, "I find that hard to believe."

"Well, I don't care," Damon rolled his eyes at her, trying to move before she tightened her hold on his arm, "Move."

"I don't think so."

"What are you trying to do here, Charlotte?"

She titled her head slightly, suggesting, "See my outrageous theory states that Kol got you to do his dirty work because he wouldn't have to live with the hunter's curse like that," She paused, shaking her head, "But judging by your reaction, my theory doesn't sound so outrageous now." She leaned on the table behind her, her hand moving to grab anything within reach.

"He compelled me. If I find Jeremy...I am gonna kill him," He finished, his face vamping out before Charlotte stabbed his chest with a metal fork, "Ugh, seriously."

She pushed him away, "Gotta get creative, no?"

Charlotte ran to the back room, opening the door on Jeremy holding out his gun, and pointing to the door. She gasped, "Oh, my God...well, at least you are prepared."

She shut the door behind her, pulling one of the storing shelves behind the door, "I am slowing him down, we are taking the tunnels."

"Wait..what is happening? Is this some sort of stupid test Damon put together?"

"Can't give him that much credit," She commented, pushing the metal panel on the wall and exposing the entrance to the underground tunnels, "Kol compelled him so if he finds you...he is going to kill you. Now, fewer questions, more moving, please?"

✵ ✵ ✵

They moved through the tunnels with Jeremy running ahead with his flashlight as Charlotte looked back, awaiting the moment he steps into the tunnels. Then she heard him, yelling out from a reasonable distance, "Jeremy! Get out of here! Do you hear me? Don't stop. Kol compelled me. There's nothing I can do!"

"You can't hide in here, Jer. If I find you, you're dead!" They kept moving ahead with a faster pace as Damon called out, "Jeremy, are you listening to me? You better run! I am coming to kill you. You need to go now!"

Charlotte could hear him vamp-speeding down a passage. She stopped Jeremy, pulling him away to type on her phone, This isn't going to work. I have a plan.

She had him pull out a knife and cut his hand. The blood dripped down on his clothes as Damon yelled out in frustration, "Seriously? You're being hunted by a vampire, and now you're bleeding?"

Charlotte ripped out a piece of her blouse, wrapping it around the Gilbert's hand. She sprayed his wrapped-up hand with her perfume along with a few sprays over him. The hunter rolled his eyes as she practically soaked him from head to toe with her feminine scent before letting go. She pointed over to the end of the passage and tilted her head to the right, hinting at an exit before he ran ahead.

Damon vamp-sped after the smell of blood, letting it lead him down another end of the tunnels before catching up to it, "Dumb move, Jer. You can't outrun me."

He turned him around as Charlotte pulled down the hood of the jacket that had the smell of blood soaking it, "I can but I am not trying to."

"Seriously—"

She placed her hands quickly on each side of his face before snapping his neck. Releasing a deep breath when his body dropped to the floor. Charlotte pulled the gun out of Jeremy's jacket, shooting twice in the head.

"You are going to hate me for this...but I was just double-checking...and you kind of deserve it."

She sighed, bending down to drag his body out of the tunnels.

✵ ✵ ✵

"Can someone explain why he smells like Charlotte and why my brother and Charlotte are nowhere to be found?" Stefan questioned the Gilbert siblings, stopping in front of the tunnels' entrance as Charlotte walked out, pulling a body up the stairs.

"Hi, yes, I can explain."

She stopped, leaning down to check his pulse when she found none, she grabbed a branch stabbing it into his abdomen, "Just to be sure."

"So," Charlotte turned to them, "I had a plan. I executed it. And as you can see, it went very well."

Elena raised her eyebrows, looking at his lifeless body, "Is he okay?"

Charlotte brushed it off, slipping her hands into the jacket's pockets, "Oh, he will live. I didn't go anywhere near the heart."

"Hi," She greeted Stefan once again, questioning, "Why are you here?"

"I was told you guys needed my help."

She rubbed the back of her head, shrugging, "We would need help with the heavy lifting...yeah."

✵ ✵ ✵

Downstairs in the Salvatore Boarding House and inside the cellar, Stefan was leaning against the dirt mound where the vervain used to grow, handling a wooden stake. Damon stirred on the ground, groaning as he woke up.

"Easy there, buddy. You lost a lot of blood."

Damon groaned out, "So you bled me out?"

"Yeah. I didn't really have much of a choice. Kol's compulsion is still in effect, so you need to stay locked up. We don't have any vervain, so...," Stefan shrugged his shoulders, "This was the only way I could weaken you."

He moved over to pluck out a bullet out of his head, "Shot twice in the head. Real class, brother. Or was that little Gilbert."

"Actually, funny story..."

Charlotte walked into the cellar as Stefan trailed off, "Neither."

The brunette claimed, "Hello, that would be me. Twice in the head, fork in the chest and a stake in the gut," She leaned against the wall, "In other cases, you would be proud of me."

"I am starting to see a pattern in all of my teachings reflected back at me," He pointed out, gritting his teeth.

She chuckled, shrugging her shoulders, "Ironic, isn't it?"

"You sound real torn up about it," Damon coughed out, questioning, "Shouldn't we be going after Kol, make him decompel me?"

Stefan nodded, replying with sarcasm dripping from his every word, "Yeah, yeah, sure. That sounds easy enough, Damon. I'll get right on that."

The older Salvatore groaned out, failing to sit up, "At least let me see Elena."

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "Right, so you would ask her to free you. Super funny, Damon."

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Given the fact that I had to see your inconsiderate ass boss her around for the past few days, yeah," She nodded, smiling back at his unwavering scowl, "I guess I really am enjoying this."

"It's better for Elena if you stay in here for now, at least until we find the cure, and then once she's no longer sired and you're no longer compelled, you can both do whatever the hell you want," Stefan finished, leaving the cell and closing the cell door after Charlotte stepped out.

"Stefan, wait. Charlotte!" The door was closed shut after Damon locked it, "Guys, c'mon!"

Damon's voice slowly faded away as they walked upstairs. Finding Elena at the end of the hall, Charlotte shook her head, "Go home, Elena, there's no way you are going to see him."

"Charlotte, I need to talk to him."

The brunette shook her head before Stefan cut in, stating, "Well, you can't. He'll just ask you to let him out."

Offended that he thinks she would do something that could get her brother killed, she scoffed out, "I won't let him out."

"You won't have a choice. You're sired," He stated as she shifted uncomfortably, taking that in. Stefan raised an eyebrow, "That all?"

Elena exchanged a look with Charlotte who raised both of her eyebrows, signaling that there was nothing she could do, "Yes, that's all." She walked away, leaving them both in the hall.

She stopped by the door, calling out sarcastically, "Tell Rebekah thanks for trying to call her brother off."

The door slammed shut after the Gilbert as Charlotte took that in, furrowing her eyebrows together. She slipped her hands in her pockets, moving past Stefan.

"No comment? Nothing?"

Charlotte turned back, raising an eyebrow, "I am sorry, are you talking to me?" He gave her a look that signified it was no time for this before she shrugged her shoulders, "Why would do you want me to comment on this? Are you doing it to get some sort of a reaction out of me?"

She folded her arms together, stating, "I mean, as flattering as that would be, I am not the kind of person who would call you off one day and question your relationships the next. That's not my business."

The petite brunette was about to walk upstairs before shaking her head, "Although if you are using her as some sort of rebound or replacement, she doesn't deserve that."

She waved her hands in front of her in a mocking manner, "There, I commented."

✵ ✵ ✵