a/n: Lottie's outfit for the chapter is above!
☆═━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑━═☆
Paulina and Stefan stood by the car a few meters back as he asked, "Why didn't you go with him?"
The Gilbert munched on the gummy bears, responding, "Mhm...I am not the off-the-rails bitch who insisted. Plus...I think they won't exactly be pretending that they are a couple."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Stefan narrowed his eyes, turning to her.
Paulina shrugged, opening the car door, "You know, she and Klaus have been getting along pretty well. It's only 'cause her humanity is off, hmm?"
He folded his arms together before Paulina huffed out, "Oh, who am I kidding? Klaus has a type; sweet, short, and smothering...so, if she does turn it back on then I think there won't be much difference."
A woman walked outside the house from the kitchen door, "Rudy!" She whistled, "Rudy. Come on! It's too hot to make me come looking for you."
She bent down and picked up a toy. When she turned around Klaus and Charlotte suddenly appeared in front of her. The hybrid's arm was wrapped around the brunette's waist as he said, "I'm so sorry. We didn't mean to scare you."
"Can I help you?"
"Yeah, our, car hmm, our car ran out of gas a couple of miles back. Eh, we feel like we've been walking forever yours is the first house we come to so I was just hoping we could use your phone?" Klaus asked, faking an American accent.
"Don't you have a cell phone?" She asked before Charlotte pulled out hers.
"Yeah, battery died. The worst thing to happen on the road."
"Look, I promise I'm not a serial killer. I just wanna use your phone," Klaus chuckled before stating simply.
She sighed, walking inside her house, "Sure."
Klaus asked, standing at the door, "So, can we come in?"
She shook her head, replying bitterly, "No, I'll get the phone and I'll bring it out to you."
His face grew dark, dropping the fake accent, "I thought you country folks were supposed to be more trusting."
"I'm from Florida."
Charlotte tilted her head back, pursing her lips together, "Well, that explains it." Klaus pulled his arm away from her and moved to the other woman.
He grabbed her throat, squeezing it and lifting her up so he could look into her eyes, compelling, "Now show us a little southern hospitality, sweet pea."
Compelled to do so, she invited them in.
In the kitchen, another woman was frying food and walked over to the counter with the frying pan, joking, "I bet you a hundred dollars that dog ran off to a house with air conditioning."
"Aww...but your house isn't that bad," Charlotte commented as the woman turned around, seeing Klaus holding the nape of her friend's neck with one hand, "Minus the swamp smell and all."
"What's going on?"
"Please don't be alarmed," Klaus asked, stating, "I was told Ray Sutton lives here."
She shook her head, answering, "He's almost never here. He's on the road mostly."
"But I expect he makes it home, once a month," He raised his eyebrows, a smirk taking over his face when he noticed her eyes widen, "That's what I thought. Where is he now?"
She didn't answer as Charlotte rolled her eyes, "You do realize you are cornered?" The other woman ran out of the kitchen, opening the door to find Stefan outside the door, blocking her way.
The first woman ran out as well as Charlotte rubbed her hands together, "Looks like we are going to have a good chase."
"He will," Klaus nodded before pulling her to the door, "You, wait in the car with Lina."
"What?" She scoffed, raising her eyebrows, "I thought this was supposed to be fun. I want to kill people, too! Why is Stefan allowed and I am not?"
"Stay in the car."
She rolled her eyes, retreating back where Paulina sat in the passenger seat, "Guys always get the fun...Ah, life."
✵ ✵ ✵
Three Months Ago.
Klaus parked the car in front of some Motel, the four vampires left the car. He compelled their rooms and Paulina chose to stay with Charlotte, hoping to comfort her after the...incident.
Charlotte walked into the room and sat down, taking a look at it, "Hm....it's not bad for a motel."
Paulina nodded, exhaled sharply, "Char...I know how hard it is to talk about this," She sat down beside her, taking her hands in hers, "But I am here for you. It feels like you won't get through this but you will."
The brunette rolled her eyes, rising to her feet, "I am getting through this," She put her hands on her hips, "Hell, I am over this." Paulina furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at the change of tone in her best friend's voice.
"Although I am hungry, like...starving," Charlotte emphasized before suggesting, "Think we could go grab a bite? That boy at the reception looked like a snack. What do you think?"
"Charlotte...did you?"
"Did I turn it off?" Charlotte continued her question, raising an eyebrow, "Yes, I did. Let me tell you, it feels like...nothing. Human emotions are such a grounding thing, to be honest."
Paulina shook her head at that, "No, Charlotte, that's not how you deal with emotions—"
She huffed out, interjecting, "Spare me the good people talk. I killed my niece, you killed yours. You are used to being a monster," Charlotte shrugged her shoulders, "It's practically part of who you are now. Don't worry, I am just warming up to be this version of me."
"Trust me, this isn't how it will feel better."
Charlotte chuckled, crossing her arms together, "I don't want it to feel better. I just don't want to feel anything...but that receptionist's blood on my tongue. That would be fun."
She gave Paulina a small smile before walking out of the room.
"Like I didn't have enough on my mind— Charlotte, get back here!"
✵ ✵ ✵
Back in Mystic Falls. It happened been a rough couple of months for Serena, learning to live in an empty home that housed all of the memories she had with her sister, grandmother, and father. She received many calls from her mother after the burial of her sister.
The first few weeks were not that bad, everyone kept coming to comfort her and sometimes they stayed. It was when everyone left that she truly hated it. The silence.
Serena didn't think there could be a day to say that out loud but if it weren't for Damon Salvatore being there for her, as surprising as it sounded, then she probably wouldn't have been smiling at that moment.
"How would you know it's not dessert? It's sugary."
Damon rolled his eyes at her, putting his shirt on, "This is stupid. Pancakes are breakfast, I would know."
"Just think of the possibility that—"
He cut her off, shaking, "Shh, it's breakfast. End of discussion."
"It's too sweet to be for breakfast," She got off his bed, following him outside, "Like cupcake, you know? Cupcakes can never be breakfast."
Elena walked in from the front door, joining the two in the kitchen, "Hey, what are you two arguing about?"
Serena smiled, turning to the brunette, "Elena, my absolute favorite best friend in the whole world, are pancakes breakfast or dessert?"
The Gilbert shook her head, laughing, "Sorry but pancakes are for breakfast, definitely."
Damon turned to her, "Thank you for making her shut up!"
"What, Elena?"
She shrugged her shoulders, rubbing the back of her neck, "Yeah, Charlotte and I used to have it for breakfast like every day. She really does them well."
Serena pursed her lips together, folding her arms over her chest as Elena shook her head, "Oh, my God...Serena, I am sorry. I didn't mean to."
"It's fine. I am not going to let hearing her name ruin my morning or your birthday!"
"Sheriff Forbes gave us another location to check," Elena pulled a note out of her back pocket, "Memphis."
"There you go, ruining my mood."
Elena sighed, stating, "You do not know what made Charlotte lose control or how that accident happened and I am sure that wherever she is right now, she is blaming herself so much for this."
"My sister is dead and it's Charlotte's fault and I would rather go contact my mom and travel all the way to Canada to live with her and her toyboy of a husband than see Charlotte ever again."
✵ ✵ ✵
They stopped in front of a bar where Ray Sutton was in before Klaus looked between the two female vampires, "Do we throw a coin or what?"
Charlotte shrugged her shoulders, "I don't have a problem with seducing the werewolf."
She moved to get inside the bar before Paulina pushed her back, "That's enough cooperation for you, don't you think?" She didn't wait for Charlotte's answer before taking off her jacket and throwing it to Stefan, "Hold this. If something happens to it, you are dead."
Paulina flipped her hair before walking over to the werewolf at the bar as Charlotte commented, "Well...I had to do it because I am single."
She crossed her arms together, watching at the back as Paulina leaned over the bar, purposefully showing her cleavage, "Aww...you think I am pretty? That's cute. I think you are stupid."
Paulina smiled as he gave her a confused glance before Klaus took that as his chance to intervene, "Ray? Ray Sutton?" He patted his shoulder, asking.
"Who wants to know?"
"We've been looking everywhere for you. We started in Florida, Pensacola. I met a young chap there who you used to work with before you moved to Memphis, now he directed me to two lovely young women," Klaus said before finishing with a sinful smirk on his lips, "And they led me here, to you."
"I think I'll be going," He tried to get up before Charlotte patted his back harsh enough for him to cough and sit back down.
"Not so fast mate. You only just got here, now your type are very hard to come by," Klaus stated as Ray tried to walk the other way but he bumped into Stefan who was standing there and stopped him.
"I wouldn't do that," He pushed him back to the counter.
"Vampires."
"You're swifty swift Ray! Yes! My friends here are vampires," The blond Mikaelson agreed, nodding, "They compelled everybody in the bar so don't look to them for any help."
"I, however, I'm something else, a different kind of monster. I've got some vampire, I've got some wolf."
"You what?"
"A narcissistic asshole," Paulina commented, pursing her lips together as she grabbed her jacket from Stefan and wrapped it around her waist, "That's what he is, Ray."
"At times," He contemplated over it before turning to Ray, "A hybrid, Ray. I am both."
"You see I want to create more of me. Now you being the first werewolf that I've come across in many a moon, pun intended Ray! I need you to direct me to your pack," He smiled at his own joke before asking, "So, where can I find them, Ray?"
"You can't compel me, it won't work."
"And it's not fun," Charlotte added, supporting his statement.
Stefan started scratching his head, Klaus looked at him, nodding before Stefan turned around and took something out of his back pocket. He turned to the bar man, "Can you bring out the darts please?"
"Tell you what, Ray, We're gonna play a little drinking game, something I like to call truth or wolfsbane," Stefan said, pulling out a pouch of wolfsbane and pouring it into his hand.
He crushed it with his fingers as Charlotte jumped up, questioning, "Oh, oh! Can I shoot first?"
"The fact that we are talking about torture and I am not interested makes me mildly suspicious of my mental health these days," Paulina sighed, downing her drink.
✵ ✵ ✵
Ray was chained to the wall and had darts all over his body as Charlotte said, reassuring them, "Okay! Okay! Just one more time. I need to hit the bullseye."
"Where even is the bullseye in his body?" Stefan raised his eyebrow, turning to her in confusion.
Charlotte huffed out, pulling a marker off of the counter before she walked over to Ray, asking, "What do you think? The heart or in the middle?"
He grunted before she shrugged her shoulders and drew an actual eye with eyelids and eyelashes before Stefan commented, "Charlotte, the bullseye is not an actual eye."
"Is that a fact or your opinion?" She asked, backing away from Ray to dip her dart in whiskey mixed with wolfsbane.
"Is there a difference?"
"No," Charlotte replied before throwing her dart at Ray, landing it a few inches from her drawing, "They both belong in the trashcan."
Stefan shook his head at her response before turning to the werewolf, "Ray, you can end this right now. Just tell me where your pack gathers for the full moon."
"I can't," He gritted his teeth, grunting out as Charlotte threw another dart, missing the bullseye.
"Guys, I think I got his kidney? Is that progress?"
"Yes, love, of course," Klaus replied, nodding as Paulina munched on her french fries.
"How can she be cute and murderous at the same time," Paulina's head rested in her chin as she wondered aloud, "It's like she is Charlotte...but she is not."
"Shutting her humanity off doesn't make her another person," Klaus shrugged his shoulders, claiming, "It just makes her fun. You should be happy, you always said she is too serious."
"Now she is not Charlotte at all," Paulina claimed, shaking her head, "Like...imagine Elijah not scolding you when you take the wrong path or make a tiny mistake. That's my exact dilemma with her. It feels weird to be the moral compass."
"Then just don't be it," He shrugged it off simply, rolling his eyes before a woman walked up to them, greeting.
"Hello, mister Klaus. I have some more information for you," She smiled, starting, "You told me to tell you if I saw anything. I saw the guys spotted Damon at the farmhouse."
"The most persistent, for real."
"Well, thank you, Claudine," He nodded, compelling her, "You'll just tell your friends to keep up the good work or they're gonna watch her."
"My brother still on our trail?" Stefan asked, raising his eyebrows.
Klaus said, rising to his feet, "He's getting closer, I'm gonna have to deal with that."
Stefan grabbed Klaus' arm, insisting, "No, no, no! Let me handle it."
"Why should I let you leave?"
"Cause, you'll know I'll come back," Stefan replied, exhaling sharply.
Paulina raised an eyebrow, "And how do we know you will come back? If you haven't noticed. His company sucks," She pointed at Charlotte, "She is annoying and you are the sanest here. If you leave I am going to have to gouge my eyes out of boredom."
The hybrid ignored her, turning to Stefan, "Do I?"
"You saved my brother's life; I'm at your service."
"Ah, you sound so tedious and indentured," Klaus shook his head, huffing out, "Aren't you even having the least bit of fun?" He pointed to Ray and Charlotte with a big smile, "I know she is."
"I'll make sure that my brother doesn't bother us anymore," Stefan stated before walking out.
"I hit the bullseye!" Charlotte jumped up, cheering as Ray coughed out blood.
"Charlotte, you made the bullseye his heart?"
"It's the most vital organ of the body," She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.
✵ ✵ ✵
In time, Klaus managed to convince Charlotte to leave Ray before she moved on to feed on one of the waiters. Paulina cut in, pulling her away, "Yeah, that's enough. You are full."
"How would you know?" Charlotte asked, using the waiter's sleeve to get the blood off of her face, "I may not be hungry but I am enjoying myself. You should try it sometimes."
Paulina exhaled, shaking her head, "I gave you a pass for a couple of months but that's enough, okay?"
Charlotte took notice of Paulina's hand curled around her wrist before she smiled, "Is your life really that pathetic that for one hundred and forty-five years I was your main priority and even now I still am? I mean...are you just really that unlovable you don't have other friends to annoy?"
She sucked in a deep breath, knowing that this wasn't her Charlotte talking. It was the impulsive, careless, and bloodthirsty vampire. "I will get you back, you hear me? I will not stop until you turn it back on because this is not you and it never will be."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes."
Charlotte smiled before shoving her back so hard that Paulina fell down, taking the table with her, "I would like to see you try."
✵ ✵ ✵
Klaus had turned Ray or was in the process of doing so but all in all, they were all ready to drive back to a Motel before Paulina pulled Stefan aside. "I need a favor."
"What favor?"
"It's not exactly for me and it's more of a theory but still," She sighed exasperatedly before starting, "I need you to get Charlotte to turn it back on."
Stefan raised his eyebrows, "How? She hates me."
"I wish, I really do," Paulina spoke back, ever so bitterly before stating, "Every vampire has an anchor...An emotional tether and I think you are hers which means that you are the only one who can make her want to turn it back on."
"Why can't you be the one doing this, again?"
She rolled her eyes at him, "I have been trying for months, Stefan," Paulina slumped her shoulder back, admitting, "But I am not. I am not her anchor."
"I just need you to make her feel an emotion, any emotion," She asked desperately, "Pain, anger, hatred. Just anything."
"Okay, okay, I will try."
✵ ✵ ✵