(CHAPTER TWENTY :
CHOICES)

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ONCE AGAIN, THE SKY ascended into light and banished the newly turned vampires into hiding without the magical aid of the lapis lazuli stone. Under the rays of the breaking sun, I slumped as I walked with Damon to the Gilbert family cabin. In spite of our efforts, most of the vampires escaped before sunlight broke — mainly because they were smart enough to run and survive rather than to fight and die. Even when the vampires were more vicious than us, Damon and I still came out on top because we could be merciless when needed. However, disappointment weighed me down as we entered the cabin with the knowledge there were compelled vampires awaiting for nightfall to attack Jeremy Gilbert and Matt Donovan.

After being invited in, neither of us had even crossed the threshold before an enraged Elena stormed towards the both of us. "What the hell were you thinking?" With a hand on her hip, her squinting eyes flickered between Damon Salvatore and I. "All I asked you to do was to teach him how to fight." She spat, jabbing a finger into the elder vampire's chest. Then, she moved an accusing finger over to me. "And Lottie, he probably wants to kill you more than anybody after what happened between the two of you. I—I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt because you were trying to get the cure for me." The brunette scolded lightly. In fact, she was more frustrated by herself than me, the vampire wasn't fond of everybody chasing their tails and risking her lives for her to be a human.

"Elena, I didn't come here to provoke Jeremy. In fact, the only reason I came was to help him. Regardless of you think he feels about the relationship we had, I'm a much safer bet for him to be around than Klaus or even Damon." I was brutally honest with my intentions. "After today, I don't want to be involved with the cure or anything related to it. But, know that Damon had good intentions in his own misguided way. He wanted to help Jeremy and I came for Damon's sake, to assist him or to reign him when things got out of hand." I reiterated what I had told Damon about being excluded from the cure from this point onwards. Despite being roped into the hunting weekend with the boys, this was my limit now.

Damon jumped to our defence. "And he's not the best student in the world." He drawled, swinging a lazy arm over my shoulders.

Automatically, Jeremy's face sagged. "Wait. Now this is my fault?" He questioned in shock.

"Stop talking." Damon ordered, his stern expression sweetening as he rotated his body to face 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." He explained.

Elena put her head in her hands — he wasn't listening to her. "I don't care about the cure, Damon." She claimed. "Not if it means putting the people that I love in danger." In deep thought, she pulled her eyebrows together. Between us all, we knew that the cure would have a price and in this case, the price was too much for the doppelgänger. Elena Gilbert has already lost too many people and the cure would mean excess loved ones becoming casualties.

"Then we can end this here." I suggested, my happiness breaking through. "Neither of us want the cure, that was the only reason Jeremy needed to grow his mark. I think the cure is more trouble than it's worth, it's strained relationships already and if what Kol said is true then — —" Heated, I started to elaborate, but was hastily interrupted.

"This isn't about what Kol said, it's about what's best for Elena." Damon snapped. "You're blind to it, but take it from your best friend, he manipulates you, uses you and has a bad habit of stealing the best parts of you until you're left a shell of a woman. And it isn't fair on me to watch in you in that lovesick cycle anymore — it's us or him." Emptiness lurked behind the vampire's eyes as he gave me an ultimatum. "A few months ago this wouldn't even be a choice." He mentioned, noticing my hesitation.

"It still isn't a choice because I won't make it." I refused, not backing down to him. Both men were important to me, they had shaped me into who I was today. "You only know what I told you when my memories started to come back, things are different now. Whether you believe that or not, I will fight to keep both of you in my life." I declared, staring into his soul with ablaze eyes. "Walk away, I dare you." I challenged, calling his bluff.

Damon's hand twitched, but he didn't make a move other than that. He stayed.

"Good." I said, my voice saccharine sweet as we reached an understanding. "As I was trying to say earlier, if what Kol said about Silas bringing Hell on Earth is true then dropping this chase for the cure is dodging a bullet. Personal feelings aside, Kol knows more than us because he's been alive longer. We didn't even know werewolves existed until two years ago whilst he knew for a thousand." I ranted to the group. "Maybe if you got your dick out of Elena's pants for long enough, you'd realise that he is trying to help us." I sneered as an afterthought. Although I was proven correct in Damon's ultimatum being a bluff, it was the first time I felt like his sarcasm was meant more plainly — he wanted to hurt me.

Gently, Elena squeezed my hand in comfort, but hardened thereafter. "You're both acting like children!" She exclaimed in a huff. "This isn't you two, the cure is ruining your friendship. Damon, you told me you would never leave Lottie behind again and Lottie, I know you would chase after him if he walked away. Don't lose sight of what you mean to each other." My friend begged, desperate to ease the palpable tension. "Whatever we choose to do, whatever lies ahead is bigger than any petty argument, bigger than us even." She appealed for us to the return to the topic at hand.

I dropped my annoyed glare in exchange for a disinterest gaze. "Of course I'd chase after him, I'd do anything for him and I stand by that." I confirmed. "But, I can want violently murder him at the same time."

Giving me a satirical thumbs up, Damon focused on Jeremy once again. "Hey, there would have been no danger if he hadn't gone all bleeding heart." He informed Elena, staring pointedly at her brother.

In realisation, the brunette's eyes widened. "He killed someone." She apprehended, her voice meek. "These were innocent people." Her voice was barely above a whisper as she croaked out the horrified statement.

Tentatively, I squeezed her hand, mimicking her gesture from minutes prior. "Innocent is subjective. I'd argue nobody is ever completely innocent and for all we know, these people could have lied, stolen or murdered. As cruel as it, maybe — just maybe — we were doing somebody a favour by taking them out of the world." I lied in a failed effort to console her. Between the two of us, we knew that it wasn't down to us to put in place a supernatural justice system, but I needed to validate the murders for my friend's own sanity. To this day, I wasn't fully adjusted to the amount of blood I spilled, but I learnt to never look back in regret or the guilt would eat me alive.

"And the ones that didn't do any of those things? They didn't deserve to die for a cause like — —" Elena stammered, searching for the correct word to describe the cruelty we were inducing. "— — like this." Finally, she spluttered it out, unable to pinpoint a name for the unique circumstances were we in. Sometimes it was easy to forget not all teenagers were spending their weekends killing vampires because it was ordinary routine for us.

"The mark grew, didn't it?" Damon asked rhetorically, his cockiness prevailing.

Elena looked stumped, simply nodding. "Okay. Look. We need a plan." She declared, beginning to pace. "There's a group of compelled vampires out there, and as soon as the sun goes down, they're gonna come after Matt, so we have to find a way to protect him." She averred, stress waves radiating off her as she tried to conjure up a plan that would save all those involved.

"Yes, I know." Damon endorsed her concerns, waking towards Jeremy to give the boy a tight shoulder squeeze — a little too tight in my opinion.  "But there will be no problem when big Jer and I here go on a hunting expedition." He waited for Elena's approval, but received a blank stare in return whilst I shot him a look I had to refine over the years, a 'your plan is reckless and will get you killed' look. "Elena, Lottie, I know, it's tragic. I get it. But we also agree that he had to kill them." He chided, noting the wariness of our gazes. However, mine was stemmed from my fear for the boys rather than the vampires. Even if we didn't kill them, most wouldn't last half a decade without mentorship — that's why I was grateful to have met Damon. "Now, we have added incentive. So you take the least most valuable player home; Jeremy and I will finish this." The Salvatore continued slowly as if he was waiting for one of us to object.

Excruciating silence passed, then it shattered when I asked an important question. "What about me? Am I only helpful when you need a distraction and someone to manipulate Kol or can I actually help?" I wondered, my tone absent of spite. It was lighthearted and a joke, but the meaning behind my words was crucial to where I stood in the Scooby Gang.

Damon chuckled. "I'm not taking you with me." He rejected me, shrivelling under my hot stare. "You can help by taking Matt home with Elena. They may be baby vampires but they will rip you to pieces if you get in the way of their target, I'm not putting you at risk." He elaborated on his denial, serious this time.

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

Damon grunted, a sigh following. "Trust me. I will keep him safe. Okay?" He reassured her, Elena holding reasonable doubt. After all, this was the same vampire that had killed Jeremy once, so it was predictable his girlfriend had some minor trust issues over leaving the two alone.

"And I'm not putting either of you at risk. I'm going Damon and it's not up for debate." I decided. "If you can't trust him, trust me, Lena. I'll protect both of those boys with my life." I vowed, using her nickname to soften her exterior.

"Okay." She whispered. "It's time for you to prove where your loyalties lie."

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"Do you really think they went back to the bar?" Jeremy queried, his tone dubious of Damon Salvatore's deduction skills.

Opening the trunk of the car, Damon grabbed a selection of weapons. "Where else are they gonna go? It's all cabins and vacation homes; they can't get in anywhere." He noted, bringing a valid point to the hunter's attention as he handed him what I merely viewed to be a glamorised version of a gun.

Damon offered me a compound bow, much of the car ride being him trying to convince me to return to the Gilbert cabin. "Uh, I have these." I flashed my red eyes and fangs at the older vampire. "You have them too." I reminded him with heavy sarcasm, passing the bow along to Jeremy instead. Despite being impressive with a bow and arrow, I knew I could rip out a heart quicker than I could shoot.

He let out a harsh breath, but surrendered. "All right. There you go." His eyes were trained cooly on Jeremy.

"Fine. Let's get this over with." The Gilbert hung his head, adjusting his compound bow.

"Listen, just go one at a time, only shoot for the heart, don't hesitate, and don't miss." Damon drilled into the teenager, handing him an arrow. When he wasn't looking, Damon wildly jerked his head and urged for me to contribute something as well, thinking he'd be more inclined to listen to me.

I blew out my cheeks, remembering I promised to protect him. "You need to fix your stance." I instructed softly, resting my hands on his hips to adjust his position. "Perfect. Keep this position at all times and . . . Stay safe. I really hope your sister's sense of self-preservation isn't genetic because we — I — want you to survive this." I lectured, gulping when I registered how different he was from the first time we met. He wasn't my friend's little brother anymore, he was a supernatural killing machine. And I had to be cautious of that because if I helped him too much, I would be betraying Kol and responsible for Hell on Earth.

Jeremy puffed out his chest, laughing coldly. "Save the teaching moment. Elena's not here." He barked. "You both don't have to pretend like you give a damn about me." His brown eyes brimmed with a dull pain as they met mine. "Or like you ever could."

"We're trying to keep you alive, dumbass." Damon slammed the trunk shut. "Come on." He beckoned, tapping his foot as he waited for us to follow him.

Together, the three of us entered the bar with straight backs and frantic eyes. Music played faintly in the background, Damon taking the lead with Jeremy sandwiched between the two of us. From the moment I slinked in, I knew something was wrong. The air felt stale, an all too familiar coppery smell invading my nostrils along with a hint of . . . Armani cologne?

Damon froze, eyes landing on a smear of blood adorning the wall. "Something's not right." He voiced my own worries.

"Really, what gave it away?" I ridiculed, standing close to Jeremy as we followed a crimson trail into a supply room. I stumbled into Jeremy when he stopped, spotting what had made him halt — a heap of rotting vampires were piled like a centre piece in the middle of the room.

In character for Damon Salvatore, he used his knack for making comments at inappropriate times to intensify the tense atmosphere. "Looks like we're gonna have to find some new vampires. What a waste." He fumed.

"What the hell happened?" Jeremy Gilbert asked the one thing we all wanted to know.

"Or better yet, who . . . " I trailed off, unable to pinpoint why I recognised Armani cologne. Before I could chew on it longer, a sudden gust of wind knocked me into Jeremy as a body zoomed past.

"I confess." From the haphazard movement, my vision was a little blurred and I squinted to focus on the figure. "I did it." They raised their hands in acknowledgment.

I knew that voice anywhere. "Kol?" I called out. At the name, Jeremy moved in front of me and raised his compound bow and targeted the weapon at the Original's heart to protect me. Not that I needed protecting from Kol.

"Hello, darling." He greeted. "I must admit I'm not surprised that you ran off to help these two dullards because you're acting skills were bloody awful. But, I thought better of you than to be the backstabbing type." He criticised, wrinkling his nose in loathing.

"I can explain." I stated, pinching the bridge of my nose, which caused my shirtsleeve to ride up. Promptly, I pulled it back down and crossed my arms of my chest.

Kol cocked his head at me, intrigued by my reaction. "I'm sure you can, doesn't change the fact I've had enough knives in my back from my brother." He hissed. "You need to make a choice soon, Charlotte. If you don't choose where you stand soon, the universe will force your hand and that's when people get hurt." He warned, leaving our conversation on that vague note.

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A.N: This book is coming to an end soon (hopefully before new year) and we can see the pressure is on for her to 'choose a side.' There's four chapters left now and I'm very excited, I think I might make a trailer for the third book later! That is going to be heavily changed if you read that last time.

Do you have a goal or something to look forward to in 2019?