(CHAPTER FOUR :
HISTORY)

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FOR THREE DAYS, I had been condemned to the shadows and forced to chase down leads, lurking behind Davina Claire most of the time. Despite being cousins, Esther grew impatient with more conventional methods — i.e gaining the girl's trust by talking to her — and pushed for me to find out her darkest secrets through any means necessary. Although, I struggled to focus because my rational sense of thought had been corroded since I shared one rather long, personal conversation with a certain Kol Mikaelson. Despite how often I checked my cell for his name, it never appeared — the only calls I received lately were from his mother, Esther.

"I'm around the corner from the Lycée, I'll be there in a few minutes." I raced to spit the words out, in too much of a sour mood to deal with her shouting down the phone at me. In particular, it was uncomfortable when she did since the body she possessed was physically younger than mine. "Don't overreact, I can even see a little Finn shaped blob in the distance." I snickered, clicking the 'end call' button before she could even speak.

Sarcastically, I waved at Finn — or, Vincent. He stood with folded arms and a creased, folded expression that might as well have been tattooed on his face. To aggravate him, I deliberately slowed down my pace and his low grunt annoyance was satisfaction enough — regardless if I'd be scolded or not by his mother for my childish behaviour.

As predicted, Esther was less than impressed by my immaturity. "Charlotte, finally! Hurry up." She snapped her fingers like it would make me walk faster. "Unless your leisurely pace comes with news about Davina Claire that is . . ." She hinted, her voice rising an octave with a heavy implication.

Shaking my heads, I entered the Lycée. "She disappeared without as much as a trace. I thought finding her would be enough for now." I had to refrain from rolling my eyes, nothing I did was ever good enough for that woman.

"I expected more from you." She snapped, plucking some rose petals from a plant nearby in preparation for a spell. "But, I'm sure you wouldn't have dare disappointed on your secondary project. How is my son?" The witch's cat eyes thinned into slits, locking onto me and refusing to flicker away even as she released a delicate handful of rose petals into the marble bowl on the table in front of her.

"Things are . . . going." I answered stiffly. As it turned out, the multiple phone calls I ignored from Esther in preference of a peaceful day on the outskirts were a result of her wanting to assign me a new mission — to convince Kol to take on a witch body. After we had reunited against her wishes, she claimed it was best to make the most of a bad situation and utilise my unplanned acquaintance with the Original. "I would say there's been significant progress." I lied, my voice dipping. In reality, I hadn't saw Kol since he bolted near the lake a couple of days prior.

Tearing her eyes away, she pricked her finger on the tip of a knife to allow some of her blood to drip into the bowl. "Tell me the truth, dear." If I hadn't known her better, I would have mistaken the nurturing tone of her voice for kindness. Yet, I was smart enough to see beneath her gentle — and manipulative — approach.

"Kol is naturally guarded, he's experienced a lot of pain in his lifetime and isn't the type to trust with ease. Considering I'm not permitted to tell him about my true identity, that makes it all the harder for me to follow through on your plan. He won't listen to a stranger. As his mother, you should know that." I pointed out, noticing how her glare hardened at my attitude. "Death still impacts vampires, what happened to me hurt him — whether he'd want to admit that or not. Although his mourning wasn't the typical kind, I could tell he was in pain. Of course I can do the task, but it can't be rushed because I know Kol isn't someone who intentionally falls in love. If I flirt with him, he'll run for the hills." I reasoned, knowing that he was someone who didn't like love because it made him vulnerable. Even when we courted in secret, it was stemmed out of his desire to corrupt something innocent.

"How foolish of you." The Original witch cackled, causing a cold shiver to chill my bones. "I'm afraid you've mistaken being one of the more permanent fixtures in his life as meaning something to me. My son has a long a list of females I could revive, ones that wouldn't be as defiant or sarcastic as you. He's always loved female company. You're not special, Charlotte."  She grabbed the knife from its place on the table and held the blade against my neck, too fast for me to resist. "With the flick of my wrist, I can have you rotting in the depths of Hell. There's no Other Side anymore and it wouldn't take much for me to replace you with another lovesick girl. Do we understand each other?" Not only was there a knife pressed against my neck, it felt like that there was one dangling over my head. Her tone demanded respect and it was respect she would never receive from me. I had no respect for her or her plans to kill her children — I considered our partnership a stepping stone to my new life.

I could have fought back, but I didn't like to flaunt my abilities around Esther. Unbeknownst to the woman, the body she had gave me was one of a dark horse and that would be my advantage in the future. "We've met before, Esther. You knew what I was like and still revived me over all those other girls because he loves me." From the start, I knew my resurrection wasn't a good deed, I was chosen for a reason and that reason was because I was one of the few relationships Kol had been in where the love was requited. "Slit my throat here and now, see if I care. I'll die knowing you'll never find someone who can evoke the same emotion or passion I can from Kol." I dared, wondering if her threat was an empty one. Of course I wouldn't let her kill me, I wanted to test her bluff and see how detrimental I was to her plans.

Pursing her lips, the Mikaelson released a piteous laugh and lowered the knife to my collarbone, carving the letter 'R' into my exposed skin. "I suppose he never mentioned the name Rosalie then." Her lips curved in pleasure as blood seeped from the wound she made, a hiss escaping my mouth from the the sting of the wound. Sometimes I forgot I had a lower pain tolerance and human healing again. "She was an exquisite beauty and was intelligent beyond what was expected of a woman. Not only did she have the rare combination of beauty and brains, she was daring royal — one of the most powerful of the sixteenth century. Unfortunately, Rosalie Windsor was erased from history after her untimely death." Immersed in her words, I soon found my mind drifting to a past conversation with Kol where had mentioned such name. Rosalie was the person who made him swear off love whilst I was the one who made him love again. "Many desired her hand, but it was my son who had won her over. All the kingdom were impatient for the wedding and Rosalie's approaching coronation, this meant they didn't have a lot of time to plan the ceremony. It had been arranged they would be wed and Rosalie would be crowned a two short days following. Yet, times like that were the ideal times for tragedy." For dramatic effect, she paused, noting how she had me hook, line and sinker. Of course my interest was piqued, given he had sworn off marriage and she was likely why. "On her wedding day, Niklaus compelled rebel troops to attack the palace and she was murdered in cold blood. Her mangled and bloodied body was delivered to Kol at the altar, I don't think he ever quite moved on from that." She described, vivid images of a princess in a white dress smeared with blood ripping through my mind at a violent speed.

My mouth went dry. "What — why would he do that?" I managed to squeeze out, my voice hoarse. I shouldn't have been shocked considering this was the same man that murdered me, but what he forced me to do almost seemed kind in comparison to poor Rosalie.

"Indeed, it was twisted of him, but necessary in his mind. Kol was prepared to devote his life to Rosalie, his immortal life to one woman." Stressing each word, she hesitated before continuing. "I can never be certain of the reasons Niklaus did what he did for I was still in a casket at this point and a mere ghostly observer, but I believe he was envious. The kind of the love Rosalie and Kol shared was unconditional, the kind of the love that he knew he would never find. Nobody could love an abomination like him — a vampire or wolf? Perhaps. Both? Never." Without realising, I started to grimace, almost sympathising with Klaus. Esther had so much hatred directed towards her son, no wonder Klaus turned out to be such a monster.

"Some tragedies are even too tragic for history." I murmured, thoughts racing in my mind at a million miles a minute. Kol loved me, right? "Enough about her. Rosalie is very much dead and I am very much here." I scared myself with the disscontempt that oozed out of my voice in regards to someone I didn't even know. If she returned, I'd no doubt have a rival for Kol and there would be no reason to keep me alive — the witch's tactics had worked, I had to be more careful around her from now on.

Esther clicked her fingers in my face, grabbing my diverted attention. "Exactly, dear Rosalie won't be spared another thought as long as you do as I ask. Now, focus! I have a little job for you soon, conjure Davina Claire in your mind." She instructed. "I want you to say it with me, child, ma te ak san sou ki à lumière la fille — —" Esther chanted the incantation, her voice rising in volume as the spell progressed.

Unfamiliar with the words, I grumbled along with the strange incantation. Despite not having access to personal magic, Esther made it so that I could enhance her spells and help her when convenient, which was rather crafty of her. Although, my inability to experiment with magic hindered how useful I could be sometimes. I wished that was my excuse on this occasion but I found myself falling behind with the spell for a different reason. Kol Mikaelson. Whilst I initially had Davina pictured in my mind with her brunette waves and tan skin, the image soon contorted into Kol. He was talking, but it was like his voice was on mute, I couldn't understand him. Then, a shadow appeared behind him — no, not a shadow, a figure, a female figure, Rosalie. Instantly, the bowl in Esther's hands shattered and the spell was lost, the contents of the bowl spilling and staining the map we had laid out.

"This should have worked." The older witch claimed, rubbing her temple. "Perhaps she blocked the locator spell, but how would she know about it? Or, maybe we weren't both thinking of the same person . . . unless you hold that lustful look in your eye for the harvest girl." Falling into a deep darkness, her voice mutated to be wicked and accusatory. A curse of mine was how I regularly wore my emotions on my face. 

"Don't blame me! I don't even have magic, I'm only the boost, the extra oompth." I argued, not wanting to admit that her little tale about a British princess had rubbed me the wrong way. "Did you ever think it was your fault? You're the Original Witch, this should be simple." Once it left my mouth, I cringed. So far, I was not doing good on my plan to be careful around Esther. 

Finn — who had been wandering suspiciously around the area for a while now — rushed to defend his mother, my comment having struck a nerve. "You're not in a position where you can speak to my mother like that, Charlotte. If her warning wasn't clear enough before, allow me to reiterate — you're replaceable." He protected his mother's honour and managed to get under my skin. Our relationship often involved trading insults, but this time, it stung more than the rest to know this new lifetime had a countdown clock. I wanted to turn it off, but, no matter how hard I searched, there was no switch for me anymore, so I was stuck with my emotions on.

Grinding my teeth, I forced an artificial smile onto my features — something I had started to do far too often. "Funny, that almost offended me until I remembered that you're the man who was so unwanted his own siblings carted him around in a box. They didn't even want to replace such a dullard." I taunted, squaring my shoulders.

His demeanour shifted. "None of that matters anymore." Finn spat. "And at least I can complete tasks. Considering the one thing my mother asked of you was to track a teenage girl, you might want to draw a little less attention to your absolute failure to do so." Refusing to hold back, he growled his words, eager to get them off his tongue.

"Oh, at least I befriended her! You can call me a failure when you actually manage to get the blonde bartender to bare her soul to you." I held his intimidating gaze. "You're not fairing much better than I, Finn." Folding my arms, I snarled at him.

"Do you know what your problem is?" Whilst a red fury burned bright beneath the white of his eyes, Finn stepped forward to challenge me.

"Trust me, I have a lot of problems and your family are involved in more than half of them, but please, enlighten m——" Intending to provoke him, I matched his stance, but was cut off before I could press for a reaction.

Eventually, Esther had enough of the insult battle between us both. "Charlotte, Finn!" She reprehended in horror. Unbothered, I averted my eyes from her heated gaze whilst Finn's orbs were immediately pooling with guilt — he abhorred being chastised by his mother. "Now, if I'm right, Davina has the White Oak stake." With a sigh, she dropped the argument in favour of returning to our prior discussion. "Find the girl, Charlotte, retrieve the weapon." Placing her bony fingers on my shoulders, she gave my body a hard squeeze — a little too hard, in my opinion.

Wriggling out of the uncomfortable position, I took a step to the side. "Don't worry, I wi——" I began with a huff, the vibration of my phone calling for my attention. Speak of the devil. "Davina! Oh my God, are you okay? I know you've been off the grid and I can't blame you, what happened at the bar was a close call. Just make sure to keep your old cousin in the loop next time, I've been worried." I found my voice fluctuated an octave as I entered character as Adelina. Although, it was incredibly difficult to remain composed and in role with a frantic Esther mouthing commands to me as she strained her human hearing to listen in on the phone call.

"Stop!" Davina exploded, making me frown and the cup the phone's speaker with my hands to muffle what Esther and Finn could hear. "I—I know you aren't her, I called Alex and he said that they thought you — Lina, I don't know — died after she ran away. She wouldn't not call him like that, regardless of what happened between them. So, I want the truth and your help." My heartbeat accelerated, wondering where I had slipped up and what made her call the girl's brother. If Esther found out . . . I'd be a dead woman. "If you explain everything and help me, I'll keep your secret considering you haven't tried to kill me yet — which is a good sign in a city like this. But, Alex is on his way to New Orleans now and he won't be fooled by your act. I need you and you'll soon need me." For a moment, she didn't sound like a seventeen year old girl. Davina sounded authoritative and conniving, it didn't take long for me to realise this wasn't a deal, it was blackmail.

Knowing that I couldn't risk Esther interrogating me, I slipped out of the Lycée to prevent either of my 'partners' from eavesdropping. "Text me your address, I'll help." I surrendered, adamant that Davina knowing I wasn't Adelina had to be kept a secret from the other two.

"Good, I'll text my address and maybe a list of some things for you to get?" Davina requested, relived I agreed to her sneaky tactics — not that it was much of a choice for me.

"Sure, give me an hour and I'll be there." With that promise, I hung up on the witch and my phone vibrated seconds later to signal I received a text.

Tugging my coat closer to my body, I found my eyebrows pulling together as I scanned the list of items she sent me — I vaguely recognised them as ingredients for a spell. Some of the herbs I could find, but most were foreign to me and I didn't know if I would be welcome I poking around in a witch's store. Even if I was welcome, I didn't want to raise suspicions about who I was or be spotted if Adelina's family thought her to be dead. Dialling a number I knew off by heart, I was left with one option — I had to call Kol. Given I couldn't ask Esther or Finn, I relied on the one person who knew magic like the back of his hand and I knew like the back of mine.

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A.N: I feel there was a lot of information this chapter, so let me know what you thought. We heard about Rosalie and who she is to Kol, Davina knows Lottie isn't Adelina and Alex is on his way to New Orleans because they thought Adelina died.

Goal for this chapter is one hundred votes and three new comments from three different people