(CHAPTER TWELVE :
TAG TEAM TRIP)

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DENVER, COLORADO WAS A decent distance away from New Orleans, Louisiana to my relief. Definitely, the Big Easy had shaken me the wrong way because it seemed to be full of strange characters like that little brunette and the King. Or, maybe it was just the solemn vibe that I couldn't evade as I walked down Bourbon Street. Death lingered there, more so than Mystic Falls. As a supernatural beacon, to coin such a term, I decided that I wouldn't return to the city under less than extraordinary circumstances. I was in Denver now, that was all that mattered.

Thankfully, the drive was a reflective one. It gave me the opportunity to cool down and think over my life in Mystic Falls. When I set off, I told myself that Denver would be my final stop before returning home and I was no longer certain of that. During the drive, I was thinking about the places I visited and realised how little I truly seen. Mainly, I never explored out of America when I always wanted to. Zürich, Verona, Marseille — beautiful, rich places were available to me and yet I had been restricted for so long. Mystic Falls could never be permanent anyway, I had already been there two years and I only had another four or five before people would begin to wonder why I still appeared seventeen. Inevitably, I had begun to wonder if it was time, time to start a new life again.

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Unenthusiastically, a woman sat behind a desk and tapped her long fingers against the keyboard. "Here are your keys. Enjoy your stay." She droned, the monotone made me curious as to how many times she had to say that a day. In my opinion, it couldn't have been a lot because the motel was shabby — who would believe Denver was popular this time of year and most hotels were busy?

When I said the motel was shabby, I was sugarcoating the severity of the place. With wallpaper my grandma would have turned her nose at, I noted how the floral pattern was chipping off the wall and messy pen scrawl adorned the undersides. Beige furniture had long since tinted brown, the stench of cigarette smoke and vanilla embedded into the fabric and the air as a whole. To my misfortune, the strange combination was magnified by my special senses. Simply, it was dreadful. There was no plausible way anybody would actually choose to stay here unless it was their only option, as it was in my case. If it wasn't as late as it were, I would have marched out of the motel to compel better accommodation.

For the time being, I was exhausted and didn't have the energy to complain further, instead opting to collapse onto my bed. Of course, fate had another plan, one that involved an old friend and two new ones. Just as I forced the silver key into the lock of my designated room, I found myself doing a double take when I spotted the familiar faces of Elena, Damon and Jeremy. Instantly, I plotted to take refuge behind the nearest wall until they dispersed — not wanting to face the trio and be forced back to Mystic Falls — but the supernatural member had already heard my shuffling feet. Luck really was not on my side.

"Lottie." He cheered, swiftly rotating his body to face me. It was peculiar, he didn't need to see me to recognise me. "I didn't know you wanted to join our tag-team trip." He commented, making me curious as to what I might have missed.

"Mm, not exactly." I shook my head. "I only came to this quaint motel for a luxury break. Five star, or so I hear." I humoured him, missing him, missing this. We always did have a little back and forth, never causing harm by our remarks.

Elena folded her arms, not amused, but still had a faint smile dancing about. "I missed you, well, we all have." She broke the facade within seconds, bringing me into a hug. "There's a lot we should explain first. Maybe you should come into our room." She began to gossip. I didn't even have a moment to think about the proposition because I was dragged into their room anyway. Due to this, I released a loud and audible moan of refusal.

"Control yourself, Lottie." Damon teased, a wide smirk invading his features. "I'm not into threesomes usually, but..." And that one sentence left poor Jeremy Gilbert in an extremely awkward position.

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK [1911]

"I do love games." I called out, humming the tune a popular children's nursery rhyme under my breath. "Except, they're no fun when it is sooo easy to win." I drawled, the storm in my eyes raging on as I spotted my prey. Cowering behind a dumpster in fear, the teenage boy tried to muffle his whimpers. Why did he turn down an alleyway? It was a dead end.

"Please!" He yelped when I approached him, ensuring to be loud. "My fam——family have money." He tried to bribe and I stroked my chin, pretending his offer was enticing. A fond pastime of mine was playing with my food, a terrible habit really.

I nodded in agreement, a nervous grin falling onto his lips when I stalked off. However, I did this only to walk around the other side of the dumpster. "Boo!" I yelled, pouncing on the boy with a certain childlike wonder in my step. "Oh God, for that, you can even have a head start. You not only believed that I would leave, just like that, but your thought I give a damn about your family's money?" I bellowed, clutching my stomach as I attempted to catch my breath. "Enough of that, you got five...four..." I counted down, observing as he catapulted his body over the brick wall. Oh, humans.

Three years ago, I returned home. Three years ago, I moved to New York. Three years ago, I became a Ripper. Once I clawed my way through the layers of Earth — for I was buried alive — I went to my house, not realising I was meant to be dead. Upon my visit, Mother called a Priest to banish my spirit and that was when I set off. Through her hysterical pleas, I pieced together I was unwanted. It wasn't until I arrived in New York that I acknowledged that there was burning hunger in the back of my throat. When I realised it was for blood, I tested out other abilities — I could run fast, hear better, compel. Only then did I figure out I was a vampire, one that would burn in sunlight and couldn't be touched by the herb, Vervain. I knew all about the creatures from the stories my Grandma would tell and my experience with Kol. I wanted to find him, I wanted him to help me, but I meant nothing to him, so refused to dwell on the man. In that moment, I knew I had to make a choice — to disgrace myself to the shadows or freely flourish in my new lifestyle. I chose the latter.

"Damnit." I mumbled, noticing how the first rays of daylight were about to break through. I never did ask Kol how he was able to walk in the sun. As the news daunted on me, I opted to go in for the kill and have a lovely meal before retreating to my darkened suite. To my disappointment, I was pulled back by the collar of my overcoat.

Content, a laugh echoed through the alleyway as I snarled. "Creative, but obvious. That's the kind of stunt that gets baby vamps like you killed." The stranger dropped me to the floor, squatting down to match my height. On instinct, I bared my fangs.

Steadily, I rose to my feet. "Back off, or you're next." I advised, emotionless as ever. After my first kill, I felt this switch inside of me, it was the flickering, fragile line that separated the vampires from the monsters. Since that day, I had my switch off.

"Ooh, I am quaking in my boots." Stepping into a well-lit area, a startlingly handsome man came into view. "Now, if we're done with the theatrics, I have a proposition, Baby Vamp. If you let me teach you control, I'll fix that pesky sunlight problem of yours." He popped all the letters on his words, having too much of a spring in his step when he noticed the close approaching sun.

"Well, Blue-Eyes, that sounds like a deal that only benefits me, which I don't buy." I copied his tone. "What do you want in return?" I threw him a suspicious gaze, debating whether I should place my trust in the man.

"I want your help." He said sharply. "A girl, there's this girl that's trapped in a tomb and I want to free her. I need somebody that isn't known around here — little lost and innocent girl that wants the help of the witches, can you play that?" He questioned, to which I found myself agreeing to. "And, a part of me is human. You can be saved, I know a few people who I was too late for." He grumbled lowly.

I winked at him. "Deal, Blue-Eyes." Then, I flashed away before I became a pile of ash.

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"Lottie, are you alright?" I was forced back into the present by a frantic Gilbert boy waving his hand in front of my face. He seemed concerned.

In order to reassure him, I bobbed my head, perhaps a little too vigorously. "I'm fine, I was only reminiscing." I confirmed to him and all my friends knew what that meant. Most of them were supportive but it was hard to explain how — even with my memories back — I couldn't escape my past and all the despicable acts I committed. When I said I was 'reminiscing,' they knew well enough to drop the subject.

Hesitant, the boy opened his mouth before thinking better over it, moving on. "Good. We got a lead and are going to go now." He informed me briefly. "Someone called Mary Porter. The two of them did get you caught up with the latest, didn't they?" He checked, which was rather endearing of him.

I repressed a snort in response. For the short while I had been MIA, the gang found themselves involved in quite the mess. To put it lightly, Alaric had lost his mind. They hadn't figured out why yet, and it sounded like they wouldn't have a weight lifted when they did discover what was wrong. Then, the others found out about more White Oak — that could kill even an Original. This would proved when they murdered the old bore, Finn. Unfortunately, that killed his entire sire line and that lead to the mission of them finding out who they were descended from. Hopefully, none of us would be of Klaus' line. More to my shock, that was the compressed version of the latest in Mystic Falls.

Per usual, I was roped into their plans and was curious myself who I was sired to. When I was human, I had some of Kol's blood to heal me once, and I knew it was not enough to turn me. In my experience, a drop would do fine for a scratch, but not for a death. He couldn't have been my sire, we were always so careful, so adamant that it should be my choice whether I became to be like him or not. The unknown worried me more than I would like — would they kill Klaus if it meant I died too?

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Together, the four of us pulled up at an abandoned house. It screamed 'creepy' and could easily have been sold at a five thousand dollars for a twenty-first century horror film. I couldn't help but ask, "Is this the right address?" It came out ruder than desired, but I couldn't fathom why anybody would want to live there.

"This is the address." Jeremy assured me.

"Looks about right." Damon added, analysing the house with his critical eyes. I did well to hide my emotions, it was weird to think he knew this woman. Personally, I never encountered Mary Porter, but didn't wish to either. None of what I could see made me believe she could have offered much to Damon. Usually, hags lived in splintering houses, not attractive females.

Elena glanced at the house, looking at the old building with uncertainly. She was nervous, her hands were vibrating and her heartbeat was hammering. "Wait here." She instructed her brother, doing her best to be brave for him. I couldn't blame her for being fearful, but I felt oddly calm, knowing we had all faced that worse than an old fling of the Salvatore's.

"Why?" Jeremy dared. "So you guys can make out some more?" He retorted. I never knew he could be dry or quick, I almost would say I was impressed by his pace.

"Don't be a dick." Damon urged, to which I rolled my eyes at. "Listen to your sister." He demanded.

"All you ever do is talk, Day." I huffed, taking a step closer to the house. "It's time to do. And I hope Elena was good practice, I have a feeling you might have to do Mary if she isn't willing to be on the Original hit list." I mentioned, a smirk on my lips.

I didn't let him protest because I already strutted up to the door, not wanting to waste anymore time. Another second wasted was another advantage for the Mikaelsons. As cursed as I was in the sense my finger landed on Denver, I wouldn't have had it any other way. Damon Salvatore may have been a magnet for trouble, but I was a magnet for him and oh I did love trouble.

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A.N: This was such a filler chapter that I wanted to update and get it out of the way. At least we're finally heading back into the action after this. And, before anybody asks, that flashback is before she lost her memories of Kol. I know that might have confused some, I even had to read back to check the wording of compulsion.

What kind of flashbacks do you enjoy most?