a/n: charlotte's outfit for the day on the left and dress for the masquerade on the right!
☆═━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓━═☆
Charlotte walked downstairs, accompanied by Stefan, whom she had just woken up to hear what Caroline had already told her and Damon, just as Damon handed the blonde vampire a glass of blood, "Here."
"I am still shaking," She sighed before drinking.
Stefan asked, having just stopped in the living room with Charlotte, "What happened?"
"Go ahead, tell him," Damon motioned for Caroline to start, turning to Stefan with his usual smirk on display, "You're gonna love this."
"I saw Katherine today."
"Where?"
Caroline answered, lowering her voice at the end in embarrassment, "At the Grill. I just stopped by to gawk and...quasi-stalk Matt."
Charlotte contained a small smile from escaping as Caroline told them, with too many details, about what happened and how she had to use the bathroom, "Skip the teen drama and get to it," Damon rolled his eyes, urging her to get the interesting part of the story.
She nodded, shaking her head at herself, "Then I had to pretend to use the bathroom even though I didn't really have to go because I'm a doofus."
She told them how Katherine showed up, pretending to be Elena when she was in the bathroom and how she had her figured out quickly before stopping at the part where Katherine wanted her to deliver a message.
"What was the message?" Stefan inquired, raising his eyebrows.
Caroline continued, quoting her words, Tell Damon and Stefan that I want the moonstone, or I will rip this town apart until it rains blood.
"Tell him the rest of it," Charlotte spoke up, turning to Caroline.
"She wants it tonight, at the masquerade ball."
Stefan nodded, dictating, "She wants to do it in public," He paused, revealing, "Killing Mason threw her off guard."
Damon nodded, adding, "She's running scared. What she did to Jenna was desperate," He finished with a clear as day proud smirk, "She's out of tricks."
"I agree but we can't underestimate her," Charlotte chimed in, rising to her feet, "She is unpredictable, we need to be at least five steps ahead of her thinking."
Caroline questioned with raised eyebrows, "Can we just give her the moonstone so she'll leave?"
"No, Katherine's not getting dick. I've had it," Damon shook his head, sternly dismissing the mere thought, "I'm gonna go to the masquerade ball and I'm gonna kill her, tonight."
"You're not gonna kill her," Stefan retorted.
"Don't give me that goody-goody crap."
"You're not gonna kill her."
"Really? Why?"
"Because we are the good guys and good guys don't kill?" Charlotte spoke up, assuming with a glimmer of hope in her brown doe eyes, just as Stefan said, "Because I am."
✵ ✵ ✵
Currently, the Salvatore Boarding House was crowded with people all moving around and working on the clock to make sure that Katherine Pierce dies tonight. Caroline opened the front door for Bonnie, "Hey, come on in."
"I got Stefan's message," She walked in, stating.
"Hey, you brought the grimoire, thank you," Stefan greeted her, just as Charlotte came up to greet her, smiling with a wave.
Bonnie glanced around, finding Damon and Alaric talking before her eyes fell on the table that had a lot of weapons, "What's going on?"
Jeremy walked by, answering simply, "We're gonna kill Katherine."
"We can explain!" Charlotte spoke as Bonnie's eyes widened.
"Please."
"We're...," Stefan started, turning to Charlotte for a better rephrase before she shrugged, "...gonna kill Katherine," He sighed, finishing.
Alaric showed the weapon to everybody, explaining, "This works with compressed air. The trigger mechanism is up here," He pointed, continuing, "I have two of these in a different size."
"For you, I recommend this. It fits nicely under the jacket sleeve," He turned to Damon, stating, "You use the trigger when you're ready," Alaric faked killing a vampire as the three eldest vampires in the room looked at each other.
He shrugged his shoulders, "You wanted me to show you how to kill a vampire."
✵ ✵ ✵
Charlotte left the group with glasses of water, to stay hydrated as they worked out their plan before answering the door, she frowned, finding Serena on the door, "Hey...I didn't know you were coming?"
"Yeah, I am sorry...I forgot to call," Serena shook her head, apologizing, "I wanted to take Ginger back. My mom left town so he doesn't have to stay here anymore."
Charlotte smiled sadly, nodding. Not about Coralie leaving town, that was probably the best news she had heard in a while but surprisingly enough, she got used to Ginger. "Sure, I will go get him and his things."
Serena nodded, about to step inside before Charlotte held the door, "Uh, I will be right back, why don't you wait here...yeah?" She asked and Serena awkwardly, standing outside.
Serena tapped her feet on the wooden foyer, scratching the back of her head as she waited for Charlotte to get back with her cat. Truth be told, she thought her apology was enough for her and Charlotte to be back as friends but currently, she wasn't so sure.
What was she supposed to say that she needed someone to talk to and all of her friends are going through so much to hear her out? Or that she thought Charlotte could stay with her and Cassie a little longer than that? Probably but Serena Bernard didn't know how to come to someone with that. She can think it but she wasn't ready to say it out loud.
"Here he is!" Charlotte swung the door open, handing her niece Ginger in his brown box with a plastic bag, containing his food and water plates, and litter box.
"Thanks," Serena nodded, taking everything from her.
"Anything else?"
"Actually yeah," She sighed, asking, "Could you pass by ours today? I need to talk to you."
"Sure," Charlotte nodded, smiling comfortingly, "After the Masquerade? I will pass by, get snacks, maybe even sleepover? I mean, if you are okay with me doing that."
"Yeah, of course. Thanks, again."
✵ ✵ ✵
Everyone was in the living room, reviewing the plan when Alaric asked, "Are you sure you guys don't want me there tonight?"
"No, I need you to stay with Elena," Stefan shook his head, stating, "I don't want her to know about this."
"Okay. Well, I'll make sure she doesn't leave my sight."
The youngest Salvatore nodded before turning to the rest of the group, "Alright, if anybody wants to back out, I'll understand."
"Yeah. Cold feet speak now. I don't want this going wrong if someone chicken's out," Damon added before turning to the blonde recently turned vampire, "Caroline."
Caroline shook her head, "I won't," She insisted sternly, "Look, she killed me. Fair's fair," She paused, adding, "As long as there's no werewolf running around."
"Oh, I took care of Mason," The raven-haired vampire claimed smugly.
Jeremy added, "As long as Tyler doesn't kill anyone, he won't turn."
"Char? Bonnie? Are you with us?" He asked, turning to the two brunettes at the end of the room.
"Well, you see...I—"
"None of that super nice shit," Damon shook his head, cutting her off, "She killed you and she is the main reason you spent 145 years in a tomb, desiccating. Not killing her is not something to discuss."
Charlotte rolled her eyes, crossing her arms before Bonnie spoke up, "I am in, but no one gets hurt."
"Except Katherine," Damon corrected, smiling pridefully, "Tonight Katherine gets a stake through her heart."
✵ ✵ ✵
Charlotte descended the stairs in the yellow dress she had borrowed from Caroline. It was too flashy, in her humble opinion. The freckles that went all the way around her waist were sparkling under the light, and it was just better than any dress she ever wore in the 1800s.
A gold mask was held in Charlotte's hands, covering half of her face. She stopped at the bottom, making her way to Stefan and Damon to inform them that the room was ready for them. Stopping in her tracks once she found Katherine taking a bite of a strawberry, about a few meters away from her.
The brunette vampire changed her direction, going outside. She pulled her phone out of her purse, texting Stefan, The room is ready.
Charlotte placed her cellular device back into her purse and turned around, gasping once she came face to face with Katherine, "Hello there."
"Katherine, how are you? Looking fine."
"Mhm, I thought so too," She smirked, agreeing, "Thought about what I said?"
Charlotte raised an eyebrow, failing to remember anything of importance that Katherine said the last time they talked, "No, what did you say?"
The doppelganger raised an impressed eyebrow, "You haven't changed one bit."
"That's what sleeping for a century and a half does to you," Charlotte shrugged her shoulders, faking a smile, "You, too, haven't changed. Maybe a little bolder but still you."
"You know who really did change?"
The Bernard vampire raised a challenging eyebrow, almost daring her to continue that sentence, "Stefan."
"I mean at least at that time you can blame me for your heartbreak because I compelled him but now...is Elena Gilbert really that charming?" Katherine mock asked, turning to Charlotte with crossed arms, "Truth be told, I find her a dull, boring, and weaker version of me."
"Elena is a great person and friend."
She chuckled ironically, "Leave it to you to befriend your haters, wasn't that what you tried to do to me? Be my friend?"
Charlotte shrugged nonchalantly, "You said it. I tried, some people we just can't be friends with."
"Impressive, development. Personally, I thought you would stay naive till you die," Katherine retorted, picking a glass of champagne from a passing busboy, "But then you actually died. So maybe that left room for change."
"What do you want, Katherine?"
She pretended to think for a moment before answering, "The moonstone and currently, just you."
"Currently? Why? Just why all of this?"
"Don't get me wrong, I would love to kill you," She replied, sipping on her champagne, "But I made a deal with someone that you are of importance to. So, you get the idea, yeah?"
Charlotte raised an eyebrow, questioning, "And who is that someone?"
"Wouldn't you love to know," Katherine had a sinful smirk on her lips before she shrugged, "Let's not spoil it, what about that?"
She looked ahead of her, finding Stefan on the dance floor, alone, she commented, "He looks lonely, why don't I go and change that while you stay here and be miserable with your life."
Katherine finished with a smile, descending the stairs. Charlotte watched her talk to Stefan before quite literally forcing him to dance with her. The brunette rolled her eyes and walked away from the scene.
✵ ✵ ✵
"She killed someone?"
Charlotte shook her head, breathing out in frustration before turning to Damon, "This is exactly why we shouldn't be doing this!"
"It's collateral damage, Charlotte," Damon sighed, shrugging his shoulders.
"No! Aimee Bradley was my classmate and I might have not known her well but she didn't deserve to die and be labeled as collateral damage! No one deserves that," Charlotte shook her head sternly, facing Damon, "We need to call this off, now!"
"I agree," Stefan nodded, running a hand over his face.
"What? Who's hesitating now?" Damon screeched, looking between the two of them.
Charlotte shouted out, "Don't act so surprised! You already knew how I felt about that; we are not killers. We are not her—"
"I told you I won't kill her."
"Yeah, but you said you would do much worse which, if you haven't noticed, isn't any better," She retorted, looking up at Damon, "She killed an innocent girl—"
"If we stop now, it won't be just your classmate," Damon cut her off, stating, "That woman ruined our lives, she destroyed us! Tonight it ends. We can do it together!" He addressed both of them that once, ending any ounce of doubt they had.
✵ ✵ ✵
Serena had a silver mask tied from the back with her hair curled and held up with a silver hair clip as she stood by Caroline, watching Matt and Sarah with Tyler before she commented, straightening out her grey, sparkly dress, "They are lame. I mean Matt's okay but Tyler is lame."
She stopped a busboy to grab a treat before continuing, "And this party sucks."
"You are just not in the mood to party," Caroline rolled her eyes, stating.
"Rightfully so, my mom confirmed that I am fucked and ruined beyond repair," Serena shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, "Which didn't make me as relieved as I thought it would."
"You do know she is a liar, right?" The blonde vampire shook her head, asking, "And you shouldn't care about the bullshit she says."
Serena pursed her pink lips in a straight line, stating, "But she is my only parental figure...who else should I look up to? Or be responsible for me? I just didn't want to grow up that fast."
"Just screw her. Coralie is the last person fit to be your role model," Caroline rolled her eyes, dismissing her friend's statement, "Be your own role model. Be Cassie's role model."
✵ ✵ ✵
Charlotte bit her bottom lip, sighing as Elena practically interrogated her, Bonnie, and Jeremy, "You guys are trying to kill her here?"
Jeremy shrugged, answering, "We saw an opportunity and we knew we had to take it."
"Okay, stop with the we, are you guys crazy?" Elena scoffed, asking them, "You're gonna get yourselves killed."
"No, we are not," Charlotte shook her head. If anything, the attendants of the Masquerade were but that was off-topic, "We know what we are doing, I promise."
Elena questioned, crossing her arms, "And how am I supposed to feel if one of you guys gets hurt because of me?"
Her brother shook his head, claiming, "It's not just you anymore, Elena. She's messed with all of us, she has to be stopped."
"But—" Elena's reasoning was cut off as a piercing pain cut through her back and she screamed out in pain. She didn't get to comprehend what just happened before her arm started bleeding and she screamed out, again.
Charlotte turned to the witch, questioning as she held Elena up, attempting to ease her pain, "Bonnie...what the hell is happening?"
"It's Katherine," She realized, shaking her head, "She's linked to Katherine, get them to stop! Now!"
Charlotte handed Elena over to Jeremy before vamp-speeding to the Lockwood Mansion and running upstairs. She arrived in time as Damon was about to stake Katherine, she shouted out, "Stop! You're hurting Elena! Everything you're doing to her is happening to Elena!"
She sighed in relief, taking in a deep breath as soon as Damon stopped, he was shocked, to say the very least.
Katherine smiled as Stefan released her and she rose to her feet, "You think you two are the only ones with a witch on your side?" She shook her head, "Wrong and something tells me that my witch is better than your witch."
She took the stake from Damon's hands as Charlotte stated, "I am going to go check on Elena."
The brunette Bernard sprinted down the stairs, hurrying out the door and to the yard where Elena was still with Bonnie and Jeremy, "Did the pain stop?"
"No," Elena groaned out, holding back her tears, "Are they okay?"
"They're stuck in there with her," Charlotte answered before turning to Bonnie, "You're right. Katherine had a witch link Elena to her."
"The girl I saw, the one inside!" Bonnie remembered, turning to Jeremy as he was there with her at the time, "Stay with her, keep the pressure on her shoulder!" She instructed, taking Jeremy with her.
Charlotte blinked, uttering, "I don't understand, what's going on?"
"There's another witch here, we are gonna find her!"
Charlotte turned to Elena as soon as they left, biting her wrist, "Come on, drink up."
"No, look—"
She interjected, shaking her head, "Elena, this is not the time to be stubborn. Drink up."
✵ ✵ ✵
Serena rolled her eyes, shoving off another drunk flirt before walking away from the dance floor and onto a quieter corridor, in hopes of finding the bathroom before she heard a loud argument from what used to be Richard Lockwood's office.
She walked in, finding Tyler and Matt fighting, "What the hell?" She put herself in the middle of the two, pushing Matt away from Tyler, "Stop!"
Matt got up again, rushing over to Tyler as Serena attempted to hold him back, "I can't! Let me go, I have to finish!"
"Matt?" Caroline called out, walking inside after hearing Serena's loud voice from outside, "What's going on?"
Tyler shook his head, stepping back, "What the hell is wrong with you?"
Caroline helped Serena, holding Matt back as he yelled out, "Let me go!"
Serena scoffed, elbowing him in the face. She hit his nose, hard enough for him to fall unconscious before Caroline bent down, checking on him. No one in the room questioned it, knowing her past with Kung Fu and Judo.
Serena sighed, turning to check on Tyler before finding Sarah clutching a paper-knife, "Matt failed. If Matt fails, I can't."
"Tyler, look out!"
Sarah drove the paper-knife in Tyler's chest before he pushed her, she hit her head hard on the desk and fell to the floor, dead. He looked at his wound and rushed over to her, "No, no, no! Come on, wake up!" He shook her, trying to wake her up.
"Sarah, open your eyes, wake up! This can't happen, oh no, this can't happen. This can't be happening! Sarah! Sarah, get up! Sarah! Open your eyes! This can't be happening! Not like this!"
Serena's lips parted, turning to Caroline, knowing what this could mean. The blonde vampire shook her head before Serena went over to Sarah and bent down, checking her pulse by putting two fingers on her neck.
The brunette pulled her fingers back, gasping when she felt no pulse but before she could speak up, Tyler grabbed his head, screaming out, "Tyler! What's happening?"
She attempted to get closer to him before Caroline pulled her off the floor and behind her, just as Tyler yelled out, "Get away!"
"What's happening?!" Serena shouted back, worry seeping through her luminous green eyes that turned to fear and utter horror as soon as Tyler looked up, putting his amber eyes on display.
✵ ✵ ✵
Caroline, being the only rational one at the time, explained to Carol Lockwood what happened to Sarah, twisting the truth, "Matt and I were fighting, we broke up you know, and Sarah was drunk and dancing and she just tripped," She shook her head, sighing exasperatedly, "And then she wasn't breathing."
Carol Lockwood nodded in understanding, "Okay, your mom's on her way and we called Sarah's parents," She sighed, the sadness evident in her eyes as she shook her head, "It was an accident. It was a terrible, tragic accident."
Serena looked up after running a hand over her face as Tyler walked in, "Mom, the sheriff's here."
"I'll go prepare her, just don't leave," Carol turned to the Forbes and Bernard, asking, "Just stay here okay? She's going to want to hear the story from you."
Tyler's mom left the room before Caroline said, sighing, "Matt's in the car, sleeping it off. I'll deal with him; I don't want him involved in any of this."
"What are you two doing?"
"We are fixing a very bad situation," Caroline crossed her arms, answering for herself and Serena.
"Why? I did this. I killed her."
"For God's sake Tyler! That was an accident!" Serena whisper-yelled, looking up at him, "And it's best for everyone if—"
"But she's dead! You don't know what that means!"
Caroline shook her head, "I will go talk to my mom and leave you two some privacy," She didn't wait for Serena's obvious disapproval before leaving the room.
After a long pause, Serena sighed, stating, "I do know what this means."
Tyler shook his head, "No you don't, Serena and I am glad that you don't so please—"
She interjected, questioning, "Has your wound healed?"
He furrowed his eyebrows, looking down at his chest to found that the wound was no longer there, "How did you...?"
✵ ✵ ✵
It was over. They were too lucky in Charlotte's opinion, the witch Katherine procured was a relative of Bonnie's and backed off as soon as she realized the involvement of another Bennett. Damon stated that he would handle Katherine, promising not to kill her and while the Bernard vampire was thankful he respected her decision, she wasn't sure about what he would do.
"Sure you don't need a drive?"
"No, Elena, I am fine, don't worry, you don't have to drive me home," Charlotte said over the phone, tightening her white coat around herself as she got on the Lockwoods' parking lot, "I will walk to the Bernards' house."
"I promised Serena I would pass by hers, she doesn't seem alright lately," She revealed, sighing in exhaustion.
Elena said over the phone, "I know, she is going through a lot. I wish I could be there for her but the thing about Serena is she usually picks whom she wants to talk to... it doesn't matter how long she had known you," She paused hesitantly before adding, "I know you would never do it but I just hope you never let her down. It happened too many times and yes, she looks tough but she can't handle depending on someone and that someone disappearing like that again...It breaks her."
"I promise I would never do something like that to anyone but above all, my niece," Charlotte insisted, reassuring Elena, "So, uh, see you?"
"Yeah, I will see you tomorrow."
Charlotte smiled, nodding before she hung up. The brunette was just about to step out of the Lockwood property when someone patted her shoulder, "Excuse me, do you know where I could find Charlotte Bernard?"
"Uh...that's me. Do you need help with something?"
"No, but you will."
"Excuse me—"
She was cut off as he sprayed something in her face. Charlotte screamed out, feeling her skin burn up as the vervain interacted with it but before she could react, hands were placed on her cheeks, snap, and everything went dark.
✵ ✵ ✵
Serena sighed, picking her sister up from the couch and carrying her upstairs. She left Tyler after the party with so many questions, whether that was intentional or she didn't want to see him at the time. The brunette needed to be home early for Charlotte but she waited, hours and hours with Cassie.
Then nothing.
She went downstairs, turning off all of the lights as she sighed exasperatedly, looking at the colorful fridge notes Charlotte left so Serena won't forget Cassie's events at the school.
"This is stupid."
✵ ✵ ✵