❝taken❞
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"SO, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?"

"Make lunch,"

"No, about Katherine,"

Charlotte looks up from the bouquet of flowers she was getting new water for, her eyes drifting from Elena to Jeremy, watching her little brother lean in and whisper to Elena as her twin's face distorted unhappily.

"We're not gonna do anything, Jeremy."

Surprise gleams on his face for a moment before annoyance drowns it out. "She tried to kill Jenna. We can't let her get away with that,"

"Yes, we can," Elena and Charlotte say in unison, earning an eye roll from Jeremy.

"If it will keep us all safe, that's exactly what we're going to do," Elena continues, moving around the kitchen quietly, her eyes occasionally darting towards where Jenna's situated on the couch a few feet away.

Jeremy lays his hands on the island, clenching his jaw. "And what if she tries something else?"

"She won't. Katherine hurt Jenna because I didn't do what she said. I'm not doing it now, me and Stefan are over. She wins, the end."

The youngest Gilbert shakes his head, scoffing at his sister. "You're being naive, and you know it."

He turns on his heel, heading for the front door, and Elena frowns at his hasty retreat. "Where are you going?"

"I'll be back!"

The front door slams and all three girls in the house wince at the noise, Jenna immediately groaning to herself at the ache in her stomach from the movement, careful to let it pass before she settles back on the couch.

Elena's hands falter in their movements and Charlotte pushes the vase of flowers near the window before she makes her way over to her sister.

"Do you really think I'm being naive about this?"

Charlotte scans her sister's face for a moment before shaking her head. "No. Jeremy's upset, he wants revenge. You just want peace. You're just different sides of the same coin."

"She's gonna leave us alone now," Elena says, more to herself than to Charlotte. "I... I'll never get back with Stefan, if it keeps you guys safe."

Charlotte hums, glancing over her shoulder at their aunt, and then to the front door Jeremy had disappeared behind a moment ago. "It won't come to that, Elena. Everything's going to be fine."

Elena offers her a small, barely-there smile at the reassurance, nodding as she points towards the living room. "You gonna hang out with us?"

"No, I think I'm gonna go to Cory's for a little bit," Charlotte shrugs. "I just need to breathe, you know?"

"Of course. Drive safe, Charlie,"

Charlotte's fingers tap mindlessly on the counter as Elena walks over to Jenna, taking a seat in the chair beside the couch. "I will."

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Elena texted me something about Stefan coming tonight," Charlotte said, eyes darting from her phone screen to the quickly growing crowd walking into the Lockwood mansion. "She seems upset about it."

"Well, they did just break up," Cory hums, tying the black ribbon of his mask behind his head. "I'm shocked Stefan's coming, this doesn't seem like something he'd enjoy."

"It's not, unless he's jacked up on blood and bourbon, or with my sister," Charlotte grumbles, turning in the passenger seat to let Cory tie the matching mask around her head and arrange her hair neatly around it.

Cory scoffs, releasing her hair and moving to pocket his car keys and phone as Charlotte opened the car door and stepped out carefully on her heels. "Well, maybe we aren't the only ones looking to get revenge."

Charlotte bites the inside of her cheek, looking at the house as she pulls her dress down, mindlessly making sure the layers of black fabric are staying in their place and not exposing her anywhere.

Cory meets her near the sidewalk, offering his elbow, and she wraps her hand around it, fingers clenching in the fabric of his suit jacket in the same shade as her dress. "Let's just focus on ourselves tonight. We'll mingle for a bit, keep an eye out for your evil twin, and then we'll corner her. We're both armed as much as possible, and we've got the element of surprise on our side. It's gonna be fine, Charlie,"

She lets out a long breath, nodding as they walk up the stairs to the front door. "You're right. It's gonna go entirely to plan, and we'll be out of here before anyone even notices we were here in the first place."

"Charlotte, is that you?"

Charlotte freezes, looking at Cory with wide eyes as he looks over her shoulder. "Please tell me that's not a vampire we know,"

Cory shakes his head, pursing his lips to hide his growing smile. "Nope. Just Dylan from school. Dylan who stares longingly at you instead of doing his calculus homework. Dylan who–"

"Shut up," Charlotte hits his arm before she turns around, grinning at the approaching boy. "Hey, Dylan! I didn't expect to see you here,"

"I could say the same about you, I didn't really think it was your scene,"

Charlotte nodded, shrugging her shoulders. "You're not wrong, but where Cory goes, I go, so," She gestures to her best friend standing beside her, watching the interaction with a smirk. "Have you been here long? I know these Lockwood parties tend to get crazy later on in the night,"

"No, no, me and my buddy Scott got here like twenty minutes ago. I'm pretty sure I saw Elena running around in here, but I didn't stop and say hey since can hardly tell the two of you apart, especially when you're not standing still."

"Well, when you've known them for so long, it's not that hard," Cory says nonchalantly, stifling a grunt at the elbow Charlotte digs into his ribs in response as she focuses on the fact that he'd seen Elena– who Charlotte, for once, hopes is actually Katherine.

"I get it," Charlotte nods, laughing quietly. "Look, I have to go find my sister, actually, but maybe I'll see you again later. If not I'll definitely see you in calc,"

Dylan nods, stepping back slightly so she can tunnel her way out, dragging Cory past him by the wrist, pushing through throngs of people with uncharacteristic rudeness.

"He totally likes you, Charlie,"

"That is so not the point of tonight,"

"That's my point of tonight,"

Charlotte shoots him a quick glare over her shoulder before she finally drops his wrist, the two of them coming to a stop in a secluded hallway of the mansion. "Forget about Dylan– he said he saw Elena here, and there's no way it's actually Elena."

Cory sighs, dropping the subject in favor of focusing on their main goal. "Right. We should split up and see if we can find her."

Charlotte nods, adjusting her mask on her nose. "If I run into her, I'm going to pretend that she's Elena as long as I can. I'll try to get her to follow me somewhere, probably upstairs, it's way more secluded tonight because it's off limits."

"I'll just pretend like she's you," Cory offers, shrugging slightly. "And if I get her alone, I'll put a stake in her heart. No worries."

Charlotte bites the tip of her tongue, nodding reassuringly. "This is going to work,"

"Yes, it is." Cory claps a hand on her shoulder before he turns the other way, and Charlotte walks into the dining room, dimly lit with candles and chandeliers. Her black heels click on the hardwood before they become silent on the rug and she steps around a waiter with a tray full of food before making her way into the other room.

For all of her nerves, it doesn't take her long to find Katherine. Charlotte thinks, looking at her from a short distance, that there's no way she'd ever think this was Elena. Katherine moves with an air of danger about her, and there's something refined in everything she does, down to the way she breathes. It takes her off guard to see the woman so close and not be staring her own death in the face, and she quickly pushes that panic away and lets out a long breath, plastering a small smile on her face as she squeezes between a few people and steps up to Katherine.

"Elena, thank God I found you," She grabs Katherine's wrist, feeling the woman tense beneath her grip before she forcibly relaxes. "I ran into Dylan, and I need your help doing touch-ups in the bathroom, ASAP! I don't wanna look stupid in front of him,"

Katherine recovers well, Charlotte will admit, but she can see the anger in her dark eyes that looks so out of place in the reflection of her own face staring back at her. "Yeah, sure," She says, taking Charlotte's hands fully in hers. "Let's go,"

Charlotte gives her a relieved smile and the doppelgängers walk hand in hand through hallways, looking every bit like the Gilbert twins to everyone else.

In the cramped living room, Charlotte feels the grip on her hand tighten and she turns to look back at Katherine before it goes slack completely and her arm falls back at her side.

She snaps her head around, eyes wide when she sees the blur of Katherine disappear upstairs.

She turns on her heel, hurrying to the stairs as best as she can with the amount of people all suddenly standing directly in her path.

In her haste, she nearly stumbles up the stairs, but she's stopped by two hands grabbing her and she gasps right as Cory says her name.

"I had her," Charlotte says, grabbing his arm roughly as she pulls him with her upstairs. "I had my hand around her wrist, Cory,"

"It's okay, Charlie," Cory breathes, eyes wide. "We'll get her. Let's go,"

He hurries to match her pace, and they rush down the hallway, the runner rug slipping beneath their feet as they go.

Just as they turn the corner towards the small study, a blinding pain radiates from Charlotte's chest and she cries out in pain, falling into Cory's side.

"Charlie?! Charlotte, what's wrong?!"

Charlotte gasps, clutching at her chest as blood warms her dress, the stain not visible among the dark fabric and embellishments on it. She stutters out words through gasps of pain, her nails digging into Cory's arm through his suit jacket. "Stabbed," She spits out. "F–Feels like– feels like I got–"

"Charlotte?"

Jeremy's voice carries down the hallway and she gasps around the throbbing pain in her chest at the sight of him.

Jeremy looks at Cory, eyes wide. "It's Katherine. It's happening to Elena, too, come on,"

He pushes Cory's shoulder lightly, stepping around him and Charlotte down the hall to the open French doors that reveal Stefan and Damon going toe to toe with Katherine, who's got a stake sticking out of her chest.

"Stop!" Jeremy's yell echoes over the commotion from inside the study, stopping Stefan where he stands above Katherine, Damon holding a stake above her heart as he approaches.

Damon snaps his head to the three standing in the doorway, his eyes instantly falling to Charlotte where she's slumped against Cory, eyes filled with unshed tears as the pain ebbs and flows through her.

"Everything you're doing is hurting Charlotte and Elena," Jeremy breathes out, eyes frantic as he watches Katherine's face twist with a smirk.

Stefan looks down at Katherine, his eyes wide in surprise.

"You think you two are the only ones with a witch on your side? Wrong," She grins, eyes drifting to Charlotte. "And something tells me my witch is better than your witch."

She moves, snatching the stake from Damon's hand and the brothers look at Jeremy.

"Jeremy, go check on Elena. Make sure she's okay,"

Damon points at Cory as Jeremy disappears back down the hallway and down the stairs. "You keep her right there. Don't come in here, you won't be able to get back out,"

"Oh, sure, let's all make sure poor Elena is okay," Katherine huffs, rolling her eyes. "You know, it was only supposed to be Elena in the linking spell, but I guess I got two doppelgängers with one stone, considering twins share DNA. How convenient for me,"

She smirks as she digs the tip of the stake into her palm, and Charlotte cries out as the line appears on her hand, blood bubbling up to the surface right after it.

Stefan smacks the stake out of her hand, sending it clattering to the floor.

Katherine rushes over to it, grabbing it once more, grinning as she raises it above her stomach. "This is really gonna hurt,"

"Wait!"

"No!" Charlotte yells above Damon's voice, and her vampiric doppelgänger sits down on the couch with a satisfied smile.

"Okay. So, how about that moonstone?"

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Katherine lets out a wistful sigh that earns her a glare from everyone in the surrounding area, including where Charlotte sits on the floor just outside the room, propped up against the wall as her body aches.

"The three of us together, just like old times," The vampire grins, looking between the Salvatores. "The brother who loved me too much, and the one that didn't love me enough."

"And the evil slut vampire, who only loved herself," Damon smiled passive aggressively, tilting his head as he looked away from Katherine to Charlotte, eyes roaming over her concernedly.

"What happened to you, Damon? You used to be so sweet and polite,"

Damon rolled his eyes, scoffing. "Oh, that Damon died a long time ago."

"Good. He was a bore."

"Oh, why don't you two stop antagonizing each other," Stefan gave Damon a pointed look, knowing they would just egg each other on until the end of time.

"Where is the moonstone?"

"What do you want with it?"

Katherine narrows her eyes, her gaze shifting to meet the identical one of the girl outside the door. "Tell me, do those girls enjoy having both of you worship at their altar?"

Stefan looks at Damon, and then looks back to Katherine entirely unamused. "That was really desperate, Katherine. Don't you think that we can see right through you?"

"So, it doesn't bother you that you're in the exact same position you were in in 1864, except there's two of me now?" She smirks, eyes roaming over him pointedly.

"They are nothing like you," Damon grits out, clenching his jaw when she disregards his words.

She stands up, eyes still on Stefan as she closes the distance between them. "Come on, Stefan. Everything that I feel, Elena and Charlotte feel, so go ahead."

She looks at Damon. "Or better yet, kiss me, Damon," She jerks her head towards Charlotte. "She'll feel that, too."

Stefan hums, ignoring her taunts. "You know, this whole Mason thing has me a bit confused. Why a werewolf? The moonstone can break a curse that would help them destroy all vampires so what's in that for you?"

Damon fakes a wince. "Sorry about your pet wolf. Probably should've kept him on a tighter leash,"

"I'll have to remember that for next time. He's not the only wolf in town."

The older Salvatore rolls his eyes, looking around. "Damn it! Where is that witch?"

"We could play charades,"

Cory scoffs from the hallway. "Jesus, you're ridiculous."

Katherine's eyes light up with fire and she shoots him a sharp smile. "Cory, isn't it? The loyal best friend. I'd be careful if I were you, you're painfully human."

"And you're painfully cliché," He shoots back quickly, making her smile drop. "When this spell is broken and Charlie's safe, I'm putting a wooden bullet in your head."

"I think you're overestimating your witch's talent. She can't overpower mine."

"I think you're overestimating how much people like you. Who would show a rat any loyalty if he left them behind at the first sign of something better?"

Katherine points a finger at Cory, chuckling lowly. "I like you. You're good,"

"When you struck a deal with George Lockwood to fake your death, you told method you gave George something he needed. It was the moonstone, wasn't it?" Stefan cuts into their bickering with his question, his eyes dark with thought, giving way to how far back he had to search for those memories.

"Good for you, Stefan. Two plus two," She turns to face him with a sigh. "And it would've worked, except that people found out that I wasn't in the tomb."

Her dark eyes shift to Damon at that. "Thanks to you, by the way. Have I mentioned how inconvenient your obsession with me has been?"

"You and me both, honey,"

"Why do you need it back?" Stefan is quick to cut in again, brows furrowing as he questions Katherine.

The vampire is quick to deflect, not bothering to make it subtle. "I love you in a suit. So dashing."

"What were you doing with it in the first place?"

Damon rolls his eyes at his brother's never-ending questions. "You're wasting your breath, Stefan."

He holds up a finger in Damon's direction, realization dawning on him. "Unless it wasn't yours to begin with. In 1864, you faked your death. Who were you running from, Katherine?"

"In 1987 you were in Chicago, at a concert of all places with that wench, Lexi," Katherine scoffs at the look of surprise on Stefan's face. "Come on, Stefan, don't look so surprised. Of course I checked in on you over the years. You were standing in the front row, dancing all night. You were watching Bon Jovi, and I was watching you."

Stefan shakes his head, disregarding her attempt at a distraction. "Who were you running from?"

Katherine doesn't answer him, instead smirking as she mouths an "I love you," to him. He simply clenches his jaw, and Damon throws him a silent I told you so as he walks over to the bar cart.

"We're missing the party," Katherine says, watching him. "I'll have one of those."

Damon smiles wide and entirely fake. "Right away Miss Katherine!"

"Thank you," She says smugly, taking the glass from him.

She lifts it to her mouth to take a drink and he grabs her wrist, pushing her against the wall, sending the glass of bourbon to the floor. He picks up a stake and raises it above her heart, but Stefan grabs his wrist before he can bring it back down into her chest.

"No, no! Damon, don't!"

"Yes, Damon, please," Katherine eggs him on, smirking.

"The second the spell is lifted, I'm gonna drive a stake right through your heart," He glares down at her with all the hate he can manage to convey in a single look, resentment burning through him like flame.

"God, you're hot. When did you get so hot?"

Damon pushes away from her, wiping a hand over his mouth as he walks towards the open doors, looking at Charlotte who's been carefully silent this whole time. He doesn't know what look is on his face when she meets his gaze, but something desperate flashes through her eyes and he has to look away from her before he loses what little composure he has left.

Footsteps thud down the hall and they all watch as the woman approaches, her eyes on Katherine inside the room. "Katherine, the spell on this room has been broken. You're free to leave."

"Thank God,"

The witch holds up the moonstone, and everyone's eyes fall to it. "When I hand this over, my debt to you is over."

Katherine's greedy gaze locks on the stone, Lucy's words barely registering. "Done."

"I owe you nothing,"

"I said done," Katherine gives her a short glare, holding her hand out. "Give it."

Damon clenches his fists at his sides. "I wouldn't do that."

The witch ignores him, dropping the stone into Katherine's palm. There's a brief, tense second where everyone expects Katherine to lash out on one of them, or all of them, but she doesn't even take a step before she starts to choke on her breaths, her eyes widening at her sudden lack of air.

"You should have told me another witch was involved," The witch's face is set in a firm glare as she watches Katherine struggle. "She's a Bennett witch, Katherine, but I'm sure you knew that."

"Wait, the twins!"

"They're fine," The woman waves Stefan off, gesturing to Charlotte who's standing back up with the help of Cory, clearly not suffocating on nothing like Katherine.

The vampire falls to the floor, the moonstone clutched in her palm as she grabs at her throat with her hand, her eyes rolling back in her head as no relief comes and she finally falls unconscious.

"I apologize for my involvement," The woman ducks her head in a nod and turns on her heel, disappearing as fast as she'd come, and the four stand in a silent stalemate, all sharing looks of vague disbelief.

"That..." Cory starts, shaking his head as he trails off quietly, unable to find the right words.

Damon leans down, ripping the moonstone from Katherine's hand and stuffing it into his pocket.

"I need to go find Elena," Stefan breathes out, looking at his brother who just dismisses him with a nod.

Damon points at Cory, gesturing to Katherine's unconscious body. "You're gonna help me get her out of here."

Cory nods, hurrying to bend down and sling Katherine's deadweight over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. "I can take the staff stairs out of the kitchen, go straight to the parking lot,"

Damon nods, tossing his car keys towards the boy who catches them with one hand and heads off down the hall, Katherine hanging limply over his shoulder.

As soon as he's out of earshot, Damon closes the distance between he and Charlotte, his hands coming up to untie the ribbon of her mask. He pulls it off her face, taking in the features that had been hidden by it like he's never seen them before. "Are you alright?"

She shakes her head, holding up her scar-free palm. "No, I think I'm fine now. Just exhausted,"

"You should go home with your sister. I'm going to handle Katherine."

"What are you going to do with her?"

Damon clenches his jaw. "I'm gonna put her exactly where she said she'd be in 1864,"

Realization colors her and she nods quietly, pushing her frizzy curls off her face. "Be safe, please. And don't– don't take any risks. I know that you're going to do it, but just... don't risk anything."

Damon nods and they're silent for a moment, looking into each other's eyes as they regain their breath, as they realign themselves, together. Damon finally breaks it, shaking his head slightly to clear his head of the Charlotte-induced fog. "I should go. Don't want to risk her waking up. Go home, Charlotte. Get some rest."

She nods and he steps past her, following the direction Cory had taken for the staff exit, and Charlotte sighs quietly to herself before walking in the opposite direction, ducking through the crowd of people unaware of what's been happening right above them all this time.

She makes her way outside with little fanfare, taking a deep breath when the thick, night air sets in her lungs.

Immediately, her eyes land on her sister a few feet away, holding her phone to her ear and relief floods her at the sight. "Elena!"

Confusion flutters on her face before it dissipates and a similar relief coats her features, the twins sharing the moment. "I– I gotta go, Jeremy, but I'm fine, okay? I've got Charlie here now, and we're gonna go home and go straight to bed. I'll see you later, okay? Okay, bye,"

She hangs up and steps forward, wrapping her arms around Charlotte, pressing up on her tip toes to close the distance made by Charlotte's heels. Charlotte happily hugs her sister, sighing as they part sharing twin looks of exhaustion.

"I'm so glad you're alright," Charlotte breathes out, shaking her head. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was coming tonight, but I– I didn't know all of this would happen."

"It's okay," Elena shakes her head. "You were just trying to protect us from Katherine. And everything's okay now, anyways,"

Charlotte smiles, nodding. "Yeah, you're right,"

Just as Elena goes to say something else, two cloaked figures appear behind each girl, wrapping their hands around their mouths to stifle the screams they let out.

Charlotte struggles against the hold on her, a cold fear icing through her veins at the sight of Elena being wrangled towards a vehicle. Before she can fight against her attacker, her head is wrenched back and then shoved forward, and she squeezes her eyes shut on instinct just as her face makes contact with the side of the car.

Her body goes limp in her attacker's arms, and Elena's scream is muffled behind a hand at the sight of her sister. Her panic overtakes her so suddenly that she's not aware the same thing is happening to her until it's too late.

The girls are stuffed haphazardly into a trunk, shut into darkness, and the car drives off into the night.

No one sees or hears a thing as the twins are taken.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

author's note; I am soooo excited to finally be at the originals plot guys I have so many things planned

edited and published; 6.26.24. 

- liz