❝blood secrets.❞
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"SO, HOW WAS YOUR NIGHT?"

Charlotte looked up into the mirror at her twin, and at Jeremy, silently scrubbing her toothbrush along her teeth.

Jeremy spared a glance at Elena. "Good. Yours?"

"Great... it was great." Elena's eyes flickered to Charlotte, who immediately looked away. "Did you– did you have fun last night, Charlotte? I heard you and Cory leave."

Charlotte bent over and spit her mouth full of toothpaste into the sink, rinsing the toothbrush off and dropping it back into the cup on the counter. "Night, Jer-Bear." She nudged Jeremy's arm and stepped away, not sparing Elena a single look.  

"Night, Lottie-Bear..." Jeremy trailed off, watching Elena's face fall at her twin's obvious rejection, and he sighed, shaking his head as he finished brushing his teeth.

Charlotte closed the door to her room firmly and grabbed her book as she sat down on the seat of her window, shifting the pillows behind her back. Thunder boomed outside and she flinched, finger twitching against the corner of the page she'd been reading. Sighing, Charlotte quickly finished the line and flipped the page, eyes roaming as she fell into the fantasy world and drowned out the storm brewing outside.

It had only been maybe an hour before Charlotte was abruptly torn from her book again, this time in the form of a knock on her door. Startling again, and then instantly berating her jumpy nature, she turned to look at her bedroom door. "Come in."

Her sister's head poked in hesitantly, eyes falling to Charlotte's bed, and then confusedly around the room until they landed on her in the window. A frown twisted on Elena's face and Charlotte tapped her fingers impatiently against her book. "What?"

"Oh, I," Elena's hand clenched nervously where it wrapped around her door. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright. The storm is getting pretty bad, and I know you don't like thunder."

Charlotte blinks in slight surprise, her face falling out of the glare she'd set when Elena first appeared. "Oh."

"I'm– sorry. Sorry for bothering you, you're obviously," She waves a hand vaguely at Charlotte's book. "Distracted. So, you're fine. Uh– night, Charlie. Goodnight."

Elena turns to leave, and Charlotte watches her go, feeling the tiniest bit of guilt pinprick at her heart at her sister's tiptoeing. It made her feel bad, that she had freaked out so bad that Elena couldn't hardly look her in the eyes right now, but she tried to combat the guilt because she knew she wasn't the bad guy. Even if logic pointed in that direction, she couldn't help but let her heart ache at the sight of her dejected twin.

By the time Charlotte thinks to say anything, Elena's long gone. With a heavy sigh, she stands from the seat, abandoning her book as she shuts off her lamp and climbs into bed. Her window rattles from the thunderstorm, and Charlotte pulls her blankets up over her shoulders, tucking them beneath her neck.

A booming strike of thunder makes the house tremble, and a blinding bolt of lightning follows shortly after. Charlotte flinches, tucking her knees into her chest as she tries to fall asleep, no longer comforted by the distraction her book caused.

She regrets not asking Elena to stay with her.

That night, the Gilbert siblings all fall asleep carrying secrets.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Charlotte halted in her trek back up the stairs as a knock came from the front door, her teeth biting down on the spoonful of cereal she'd just shoved in her mouth. Spinning on her heel, she stepped off the bottom stair and reached for the front door, barely opening it before Damon pushed it the rest of the way.

"Where's Elena? Is Stefan here?"

Charlotte blinked slowly in confusion, shaking her head as she quickly swallowed the cereal and put the spoon back in the bowl in her hands. "Uh, Elena's upstairs taking a nap and Stefan isn't here. I figured he'd be with you, or doing whatever about the tomb vampires."

"Yeah, well, he went out in the woods to feed and never came back,"

Charlotte's stomach dropped and she fixed him with a somewhat pleading look. "So, what are you saying?"

Damon's jaw clenched. "Come with me. Before Elena finds out, yeah?"

Charlotte rapidly nods her head, abandoning her snack on the hall table and grabbing Elena's shoes from by the front door, mentally apologizing to her sister. Damon quickly headed for the front door again and she followed after him, barely remembering to grab an umbrella before she was on the porch, flinching as the smell of rain hit her nose.

"What's the plan here?"

Damon glanced at her over his shoulder as they walked to his car. "I don't know yet!"

Charlotte nodded, swallowing roughly. "Awesome!"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── 

Charlotte hurries out of the car when she sees Damon coming back down the hill. She hurries to meet him, pushing the umbrella open and holding it over both of them despite already being soaked. "What happened? Do they have Stefan?"

"They have him, I can't get him."

Charlotte's brows furrowed confusedly. "Why not?"

Damon sighed. "Because the woman who owns the house is compelled to not let me in."

Charlotte's frown deepens before she lets out a shaky sigh, moving to step past him. "I can get in."

The vampire stops her immediately, hands wrapping firmly around her arms and halting her in her place. "You're not going in there,"

"Damon–"

"You're not going in there!"

Charlotte's jaw clenches in frustration as she looks up into Damon's eyes. "Why are they doing this? What do they want with him?"

"Revenge," Damon shakes his head, his hair soaked against his skin as they linger in the weather. "They want revenge."

"We've gotta do something, Damon," Charlotte huffs, glancing past his shoulder where the house would be if not for the fog of the heavy downpour.

The man nods, looking around helplessly. "I know."

"We have to get him out of there," She sighs, stomach twisting uncomfortably. "Elena will be a mess if something happens to him, I can't let her find out about–"

"I know, Charlotte," Damon lifts his hands from her arms, cupping her cheeks in between his rain-soaked palms. "I know. But I don't know how to get him out."

Damon looks helplessly into her doe eyes, feeling the panic of Stefan being killed, Elena finding out, and Charlotte's stress. His hands soak into the curls that fell in her face, and they stick to her skin in dark, wiry strands.

"Damon,"

"I know,"

"No, Damon," Charlotte shakes her head, sniffling as the rain drips down her nose. "What about Mr. Saltzman? Isn't he a vampire hunter?"

Damon's eyes widen and his grip briefly tightens on her cheeks before he drops his hands. "Shit,"

"Yeah,"

"Shit– let's go," He turns her around, nudging her back towards the car. "Let's go."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── 

"Stefan's in the house and Damon's a vampire, he can't get in. We need you," Charlotte shakes her head as she looks at her history teacher. "I would go, but–"

"But your life is valuable," Damon says, entirely unhelpfully. "Yours, on the other hand."

Charlotte clenches her jaw, shooting Damon a scolding look over her shoulder that he ignores. Turning back to look at Mr. Saltzman, Charlotte props her hands on the desk, leaning down slightly. "Stefan and Elena told me about that ring."

Alaric's hands twitch slightly, said ring glinting on his finger. "What about it?"

"Let me recap," Damon cuts in again, sarcastic lilt to his voice like it was all he knew how to do. "You tried to kill me, I defended myself, you died. Then, according to my brother, your ring brought you back to life. Am I, uh, am I leaving anything out?"

"Yeah," Alaric sighed, turning in his chair to look at Damon. "The part where I try to kill you again, only this time I don't miss."

Charlotte stumbled to follow as Alaric got up, and she held her hands up, stepping between the two and their pissing contest. "Mr. Saltzman, please. It's Stefan."

Alaric looked down at her for a moment before looking away, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Charlotte. It's not my problem."

"That's a shame, because the woman in charge of the crowd can help you find your wife."

Charlotte stiffened at the thought of Isobel, but she steeled her chin and looked up at Mr. Saltzman as Damon came to stand behind her, hoping that she put off the vibe that she knew this all along. She wasn't sure how Pearl would know how to find Isobel, but after her offer to help Damon find Katherine, it wasn't exactly surprising. 

"You're lying."

"Am I?" Damon shrugged. "Why don't you ask her for yourself? Coward."

Alaric is silent for another moment, and Damon shakes his head, resting a hand on Charlotte's back. "Come on, sunshine. We'll figure something else out."

They turn to leave the classroom, but just as they reach the door, Alaric calls out to them.

"Alright, wait."

Charlotte spins around to look at him, her eyes wide.

"I'll go."

Charlotte let out a sigh of relief and looked up at Damon just in time for him to give her a sly wink.

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"Teacher by day, vampire hunter by night," Damon couldn't help but comment as Alaric unrolled the pouch on his desk, revealing the various stakes and daggers he had.

"I have you to thank for that,"

Charlotte ignored their bickering, running her fingers along the handle of a needle-like thing. "What are these?"

Alaric crossed his arms over his chest, sighing as he looked at his array of weaponry. "Those are tranquilizer darts filled with vervain."

"Just get me in, I'll get Stefan out."

Charlotte paused briefly, turning her head up to look at Damon. "That's your plan? You're just going to... take them all out by yourself?"

Damon turned to meet her gaze, raising a brow at her uncharacteristic glare. "Well, I'll be a little stealthier than that, hopefully."

Charlotte sighed, hiding the roll of her eyes as she slid one of the tranquilizer darts out of the sleeve it was tucked in.

"What are you doing?"

Charlotte looked up at Alaric, brows twitching. "I'm going with you guys. Emergency backup."

Both Damon and Alaric made noises of denial and Charlotte fixed them both with a glare.

"No, no, no, no– no way." Damon shook his head, smirking slightly like he couldn't believe that she'd even thought about it.

"I am perfectly capable of helping you guys," She looked between them both incredulously. "I get in, you two distract the vampires, I can get Stefan out."

"You'll get yourself killed. You're not going in there."

"Might I remind you that I've already fought a vampire before, and it didn't necessarily go bad, considering he's dead now?" She huffs. "I'm going."

Damon pointedly ignores her, turning to look at Alaric. "So, when you get me in, get out as quickly as you can, cause I know how to sneak around where they can't hear me. You'll basically just be in the way."

Charlotte rolled her eyes, letting out a frustrated sigh. "Damon, now isn't the time to be The Lone Ranger."

"Fine," He mirrors her glare, looking down at her irritatedly. "Charlotte, you can be the getaway driver."

"Okay, so I'll drive us there and then go inside with you guys. Perfect plan, let's go."

"That is not–"

"You don't understand, Damon–"

"I do understand." They talk over each other, unaware of the way Alaric's eyes bounce between them in utter confusion. "You're the brave big sister who always has to protect everyone else, and Elena is your gentle little lamb of a sister, who would flounder without you there to cushion her fall. You have to save Stefan so you can make sure Elena's happy and in love, but you're not getting it. I can't protect you if you go in there, I don't know how many vampires there are in there."

He lifts his fingers up, snapping them near her face, making her flinch. "That's how long it takes you to get your head ripped off. I have to be able to get in, and get out. I can't be distracted with your safety, or this will end up a bloodbath that none of us walk away from. Including Stefan."

Charlotte bites her tongue harshly, tasting copper as she forces her angry tears away.

"I know. I get it." Damon shakes his head, giving her a pitying look that she immediately resents. "I understand."

There's a brief pause between the three of them before Mr. Saltzman breaks it. "If we're gonna go, let's go."

Damon turns to follow after the man, but he pauses, raising a hand to give Charlotte's arm a brief squeeze.

Charlotte ducks her head and shrugs his hand off, stepping past him to follow Alaric. She misses the frown that crosses his face in her haste to put distance between them.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── 

Charlotte lets out another sigh of frustration that falls flat in the empty car.

She's back where they were an hour ago, parked at the bottom of the hill with the house holding the group of vampires and Stefan just out of sight. Alaric and Damon had left nearly ten minutes ago, and she was getting antsy.

She didn't expect it to be a quick task, but she felt utterly useless just sitting in the car. She knew why Damon didn't want her to go inside– she wasn't stupid. But she also knew that if she just stayed in the car the whole time, she wouldn't be able to help even if something did go wrong. For all she knew, they'd been found out instantly and both Damon and Mr. Saltzman were dead.

The thought makes her let out another sigh, and she reaches into the duffelbag on the seat beside her, grabbing the syringe full of vervain out of it.

For a moment, she just adjusts her grip on it and looks at it, a thousand thoughts running through her head. And then she's startled from her mind when a tree branch cracks, falling onto the windshield of the car.

Charlotte lets out a yelp, her grip tightening on the vervain dart for a second until she shakes it off, forcing her heart to calm.

With a slight scoff, Charlotte pushes the door open and steps out, heading up the hill and through the trees towards the house.

The trek is hard to make with the slippery ground beneath her feet, and she silently laments the fact that she owes Elena a pair of shoes because there's no way these will ever be clean again.

Coming up on the backside of the house, she throws her leg over the white railing that wraps around the back porch, immediately ducking beneath a window, pressing herself against the brick wall as she catches her breath.

She peers over the corner to look at the back door, flinching when a male voice echoes out.

"Billy, Jacob, get back in here!"

Charlotte hides herself behind the wall again, her eyes flicking to a set of stairs that went down underground, towards the basement. Eyes widening, she spared another glance at the still-closed door before she ran for the stairs, staying low to the ground and keeping her steps as light as possible.

She pushes through the gate, trying to move it as little as possible to stop it from creaking, and she lets out a slightly relieved sigh as she stops in front of the door to the basement. Trying the handle, she mutters a curse under her breath, but makes the quick decision to slam her elbow through the dusty glass, and open the door from the inside.

She's careful to avoid the broken glass as she steps inside, and she walks slowly through the dark, letting her eyes adjust as much as possible.

When the hallway turns to the left, she stops, peering around the corner to find a lone man acting as security for the closed door he was guarding. Her eyes fell on the wired headphones sitting in his ears and her eyes fluttered with relief just as the man stood from his chair.

She moved a split second too slow, just as the light above him flickered, giving way to the slightest edge of her face before she could pull back around the corner.

Just as he takes a step towards her, a hand shoots out and stabs a needle into his neck, and the vampire falls down. Damon steps out after him, immediately turning to look at her with a glare. "Are you insane?"

"Yeah, and you can totally yell at me for it later," She sighs, stepping over the vampire on the ground and pushing past Damon to shove the door open. Her eyes immediately fall on Stefan where his wrists are tied with a rope hanging in the ceiling, and she swallows roughly at the drying blood decorating his chest.

"C–Charlotte? You shouldn't be here," Stefan's voice is full of confusion as she approaches him, and she shakes her head as Damon comes up behind her.

"She was supposed to stay in the car," Damon informs his brother as he picks up a stake, brandishing it towards the vampire tied to the chair.

"No, no– not him,"

Damon rolls his eyes at Stefan's defense. "Whatever. Let's get you down."

"There's– there's vervain, on the ropes,"

Damon quickly pulls away, walking over to Stefan as he gestures to the rope. "Charlotte, pull that."

Charlotte does as told, undoing the knot with a slight grunt as she yanks the last bit of it apart, turning to see Stefan's arms come down as he stumbles forward.

"Alright, let's go. Clothes on."

"Wait,"

"What?" Damon turns around in the doorway, glaring at his brother and Charlotte. "Guys, come on, we have to get out of here."

Stefan pulls the stake out of Harper's thigh, making him groan out in pain. He gestures to the other one, sparing a glance at Charlotte. "Get the other one,"

Charlotte quickly yanks the stake out of his leg, giving him a short nod as she helps Stefan over to his jacket, wrapping him up in it before helping him limp out of the room.

"Can you get him to the car?"

"Yeah," She pants, nodding at Damon as they hurry down the hall.

"Alright, go,"

She looks at him as he ducks off, heading for the door upstairs. "What about you?"

"You rescue, I'll distract. Go."

Charlotte nods again, hurrying towards the door she'd broken in through, helping Stefan along as he grunted in pain. "It's alright, let's go, let's go," She's practically talking to herself with how quiet her voice is, but she knows Stefan can probably hear the nervous ramblings.

They make it off the porch into the dark of the night, and Charlotte's muddy feet slide through the mud as Stefan's do. "Shit– it's fine, it's fine, we're fine,"

"Charlotte,"

"Can you make it?" She cuts him off before he says something ridiculous, like 'leave me here', but before he can answer her question, they both hit a rough patch and stumble to the ground.

Charlotte grimaces when a rock lodges itself into her palm, and she brushes it off, frown twisting on her face when she sees the blood bubble up to the surface. Her eyes snap over to Stefan as he groans, and they widen when she realizes that his eyes are on the blood on her hand.

"Shit," She quickly wipes her hand on her jeans, ignoring the burn as she pushes to her feet again, helping Stefan a moment after. "It's okay, let's keep going."

Stefan nods, limping alongside her again. "Yeah,"

"Okay, it's right here, we're here," Her eyes fall on Damon's car and she can't help the slight pool of relief she feels in her stomach as she wrenches the passenger door open and practically drops Stefan into the seat.

Rounding the front of the car, she quickly shuts the door and wrangles for the keys she'd left in the ignition.

What little relief she had been feeling immediately dissipates, bubbling into familiar, freezing fear as she feels no keys, and exposed wires from beneath the steering wheel. "Stefan,"

Charlotte lets out a strangled scream when the window shatters and Stefan is pulled through it, and she scrambles in the car, patting herself down to look for the tranquilizer dart she'd stashed away in the haste to get Stefan out of the basement.

"No, no, no," She shoves the door open, kicking out of the car as she finally feels the metal in her palm, and she quickly yanks the syringe out of the liner pocket of her jacket just as she sees the vampire raise a branch of wood above Stefan. "No!"

She slams the syringe into the vampire's back, hearing him grunt in pain before he falls to the ground. Falling to her knees beside Stefan, she bites back her panicked tears as she wraps her hands around the branch sticking out of his stomach, and she pulls it out with a low grunt that ends up as a choked off whimper around the lump in her throat.

"Stefan? Stefan, come on," She pushes at his face, looking over her shoulder at the vampire that's starting to wake again. "Stefan, you can't die, okay? Elena needs you, Damon needs you– come on, wake up, please, please, please,"

She pushes at his cheek, wincing when she presses against the drying blood on her hand and she pulls away, realization hitting her.

"Stefan," She mutters his name and wipes the smear of blood across his mouth, watching as he instantly stirs when it slips onto his taste buds.

"Charlotte," His eyes barely open and she lets out a slightly hysterical laugh. "Charlotte, run. Please, run,"

"No, no, it's– you have to feed. You have to heal, because he's waking up and I can't fight him, so just do it. Do it, it's okay. We won't tell anyone, I promise, just do it–"

"I can't–"

"Stefan," Charlotte cuts him off, her pleading tone gone in favor of a stern, demanding one. "I have continued to let you and Damon be around my family despite both of you being vampires with hundreds, if not thousands of bodies under your names. I let you date my little sister, okay? Elena loves you– she trusts you with every inch of her being. So I am telling you, for her sake and mine, you need to feed on me. I don't care if you kill me, just do it so you can make it back to her and Damon, okay? Just do it."

She shoves her wrist against his mouth and he looks up at her apologetically as he sinks his teeth into the skin there, and she grimaces, turning her head away from the bloody scene. She feels the pull of the blood leaving her body, and she does her best to ignore the nausea it induces in her.

She looks over her shoulder as the man begins to stir more vigilantly, and she breaks out of Stefan's grip, stumbling back when he reaches to pull her wrist back towards him. "No! No– stop!"

He gives her an apologetic look that's overtaken by the obvious bloodlust behind his eyes, and she quickly scrambles to her feet, running off to hide behind a tree as he catches his breath.

She stays hidden for a minute before a pained groan sounds out, and she peers around the thick tree, finding Stefan lifting a branch to stab into the vampire again and again.

Hurrying over to him, she pulls on the branch forcibly. "Stefan, stop it!"

Stuck in the haze of anger and bloodlust, Stefan snaps around to face her, fangs bared threateningly. Charlotte doesn't flinch, instead doubling down on her firm grip as she yanks Stefan away from the now-dead vampire.

The stumbling step he takes seems to snap him out of the daze and he immediately puts distance between them again, face shifting back to normal before it becomes a look of horror. "Charlotte, I– I–"

"We're done here," She cuts him off, clenching her jaw firmly. "Alright? This stays here. We're done. It's over."

Slowly, Stefan nods, wiping his sleeve over his mouth to rid himself of the taste of her blood. "We're done."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── 

"What happened to your wrist?"

Charlotte startles at Damon's words, immediately pulling her sleeve down to cover the bandage she'd wrapped around the wound. "I cut myself carrying Stefan back to the car. We fell in the mud, and a rock got me."

She turns her hand, showing him the small scrape there that she'd cleaned up. "Got my hand, too,"

Damon looks at her arm for a moment, eyes roaming along the new bandage that covered part of the vertical scar that went up most of her forearm. He seems satisfied with the answer though, and Charlotte feels a wave of relief wash over her. "Do you– do you want me to heal you?"

She shakes her head, and he nods, having already predicted the answer.

"I'm still mad at you for not staying in the car."

"I know."

"But... the backup was appreciated."

She nods slowly, tearing her eyes away from him. "I think I'm gonna– I should go find Elena. Make sure she and Stefan are alright."

Damon seems hesitant to let her go, but she's gone before he can stop her, hurrying up the stairs towards Stefan's room.

She knocks on the closed door softly, and barely has time to lower her hand before it opens, revealing Stefan standing before her. "Is Elena in here?"

He gestures behind her vaguely. "She... went to the bathroom."

"Right. I, uh– I was just gonna ask Elena if she wanted to stay here with you or go home with me."

"She should be back in a minute," He steps out of the way, gesturing for her to come into his room, and she does so hesitantly, looking around at anything but him. "Look, Charlotte, I– I need to thank you."

"No," She huffs out a humorless laugh. "No, you don't. Please don't."

"You... risked a lot doing what you did. And I– I could've killed you."

"But you didn't," She looks at him finally, shaking her head. "You didn't kill me. You actually saved my life by killing Frederick."

Stefan nods slowly. "And you saved mine. So– thank you. I, uh, I know I can't tell you what to do, but I... I don't– don't do it again. Not for me. I barely controlled myself this time, and I could never–"

"Stefan," She cuts him off, stepping towards him with a firm look. "The reason I let you feed on me is because I knew even if you killed me, or if Frederick did, there would still be somebody to come home to Elena. So if we are ever in a situation like that again, I won't hesitate to do exactly what I did tonight."

Shock crosses over his face, but something grateful seems to follow it, and he says nothing in return, simply nods his head in silent thanks.

Charlotte echoes the action just as Elena walks back in the room, immediately walking over to Charlotte.

"Oh, Charlie, thank God you're all alright," Elena wraps her up into a hug, squeezing her tight. Charlotte can't help but do the same, resting her chin on Elena's shoulder in relief. "I'm so sorry, Charlotte. For everything. I never– I don't want to fight like that anymore, especially not when things like this happen, okay?"

"Alright, Lena. All is forgiven." Charlotte pulls away from Elena, nodding softly with a smile. "I was just going to ask if you wanted to stay–"

She's cut off by the sound of her phone ringing, and she frowns, pulling the device out of her pocket. "Hello?"

"Charlie," Jeremy's broken voice comes through the speaker, and she finds herself filled with dread yet again. "Charlie, it's Vicki. They found Vicki– she's dead."

"Jeremy..." Charlotte trails off, her eyes raising to meet Stefan and Elena's worried gazes.

"Will you– will you please come to Matt's? I just–"

"Yes– yeah– yeah, of course, Jer. Elena and I are on the way, okay? Just stay there, we'll be there soon, I promise."

She quickly hangs up, looking at her brief call time with her brother before she looks at the couple before her again. "That was Jeremy... they found– they found Vicki Donovan's body."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

author's note; this chapter is SO long but there was literally no place that i felt comfortable stopping so i just wrote the whole episode...

edited and published; 2.7.23.

- liz