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VAMPIRES

CAROLINE WAS RATHER HARD TO MISS IN HER PINK OUTFIT THAT WAS SO CLEARLY AN HOMAGE TO JACKIE O.

Charlotte was tugging on Elena's hand in the blonde girl's direction, dragging her over to where she was dancing amidst the crowd. "Care might know where he is," she said, knowing that Elena was meant to be in search of her boyfriend.

She had no choice but to follow the Henry girl, weaving in between the swarm of high schoolers who were dancing to whatever sixties song was playing over the chatter.

Caroline spotted them before they even had the chance to call out to her, and she must've seen the panic on their faces. "Hey, is everything okay?"

"I'm just—" Elena cut herself off when Matt Donovan emerged from the crowd right beside Caroline, the boy's eyebrows furrowing at their heaving chests. "I'm just looking for Stefan."

"Seriously, what's wrong?" Caroline pressed, her eyes scanning the crowd behind the two girls.

"Nothing, just uhm, stay with Matt, alright?" Elena's eyes travelled somewhere else, and Charlotte could see a brief flicker of relief in them before she turned to her. "I promise, I'll explain later."

Charlotte went to protest when Elena darted off into the crowd, and all they could do was what her jerky movements.

"What was that about?" Matt asked, evidently the most confused of them all based on the look on his face.

"Oh, just some old drama," Caroline brushed off with a rather convincing smile. She went to reach for Charlotte's elbow, squeezing it lightly to garner the girl's attention back. "Are you okay?"

There was a double-ended meaning behind her question, and it made the brunette have an inkling that her friend knew what was going on— that perhaps Caroline knew the long story. "Damon told me to find you," she responded, trying to swallow the fear that had been creeping up her throat since Elena uttered the word Klaus.

Matt glanced between them, and Caroline was quick to dispel any of the questions that were so obviously on his mind. "Normal, normal drama," she laughed. "I'm just gonna walk Charlie to her car."

Charlotte visibly faltered at that, at her friend's sudden insistence for getting her to her car. "What—" her words died on her tongue at the pointed, almost pleading look in Caroline's eye. "Josh is here."

"We'll find him," she reassured her, turning to give Matt one last smile before she was pulling Charlotte away. She waited until they were decently far from the Donovan boy to ask, "do you know what's going on?"

Charlotte shook her head. "Elena said Klaus is possessing Mr Saltzman," she offered weakly, "but I don't know what's actually going on. Do you?"

Based on the urgency in which Caroline was trying to find Joshua Henry in the crowd, Charlotte didn't even need to see her nod to know that she did. "It's a long story."

A long story; yeah, Charlotte had heard that one before.

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The last thing Charlotte expected was to find Stefan Salvatore at her doorstep that night, hands in the pockets of his pants and looking ever so serious.

"We need to talk."

Caroline had successfully gotten both Henry siblings to the car, the girls convincing Joshua to go along because their mother needed them at home. It had worked until they'd actually gotten home, not even finding their mother within.

Though, she at least expected Elena or Caroline or even Bonnie the damn Force-wielder herself to show up with an explanation. Stefan was at the bottom of that list, just above his brother

She nodded nonetheless, though turned her head when she heard feet pad their way into the foyer. Joshua emerged from the hallway that led to the living room, blanket around his shoulders and a questioning look on his face.

"Not in here," she responded, hastily shoving herself out the door and closing it behind her. With a gesture of her head, she beckoned him to follow. "Come with me."

The brunette led them around the house, disappearing through the back gate that led to the big expanse of their back yard. It wasn't nearly as big as the Lockwood grounds, but it still made a statement to their neighbours whose houses were further away.

Near the willow tree that had been there for generations was a picnic bench that had certainly seen better days, but it was better than sitting near the patio furniture where Joshua would likely spy on them. The last thing she needed was for him to get involved with... well, whatever was going on.

They sat opposite of one another at the picnic bench, Charlotte leaning her elbows on the table as she nodded for Stefan to go on. "Okay, let's hear it."

"What I'm about to tell you cannot be repeated to anyone— anyone who doesn't already know," he started out, as serious as ever. "Vampires are real."

A beat of silence passed before Charlotte's agitation flared. Without a second thought, she dove her foot into his calf beneath the table. "Are you serious?" she chastised, her lip curled back when he grunted at the sudden, yet admittedly strong, kick. "Tell me the truth, Stefan."

"I am telling you the truth," he responded easily, although she could tell that he tucked his legs towards himself more, most likely in fear of getting kicked once more. "Vampires are real. My brother and I ar—"

"You and Damon are vampires?" she scoffed out with a shake of her head. "That's a load of crap."

"I'm a vampire," he reiterated, unblinkingly, "and you'll believe me because I know about the Lockwoods. I know you know about them, too."

Charlotte's jaw slackened, her posture straightening on its own. She was under the impression that it was a family secret that no one knew about aside from Charlotte, given that Tyler all but thrusted the information her way. So, how the hell did Stefan Salvatore know about it?

"How do you know that I know?" she asked, arms crossing over her chest.

Stefan shrugged. "I didn't until just now," he said, and that alone made Charlotte level a flat look his way. "If werewolves exist, why can't vampires?"

The brunette swallowed around nothing, his words dawning on her ever so slowly. She glanced around the rather dark yard before she realized he was right; if her best friend was a werewolf, anything was possible.

"So, you're a..." her voice trailed off, and he didn't need her to finish her sentence for him to start nodding. Charlotte blew out a breath of air, "cool. That's cool. I'm sitting across from a vampire, so so cool." 

It was obvious that she thought it was anything but cool, but she had an apex predator that drank human blood sitting so nonchalantly right across from her. Though, Stefan seemed to see right through the collected facade she tried to convey.

"So, believe me now?" he asked.

"Sure," she haphazardly said, trying to calm her mind that was moving incredibly fast. "Next thing you know, Bonnie's some type of Jedi with the way she was closing doors with her mind. Shit."

"She's actually a witch."

"No," Charlotte groaned, her head dropping into her hands. "Why isn't anybody normal these days?"

Stefan bit back a laugh, leaning forward slightly before his face neutralized once more. "Elena's blood needs to be used for a sacrifice," he explained carefully. "It's a sacrifice that one of the very first original vampires needs to do, and he can't do it without killing her."

Her eyebrows furrowed, and suddenly she didn't like where this conversation was going. "What does that have to do with Klaus?"

"Klaus is the vampire that's after her."

Charlotte's stomach sank, her mouth fully agape at the revelation. Not only was the man from her dreams real, but he also happened to be one of the first vampires to ever roam this earth. "That must make him what, thousands of years old?" she asked, mentally ignoring the unsure wobble of her tone.

"Yes," he confirmed, "which is why it's confusing as to how you know Klaus."

There was that million dollar question on everyone else's mind: how did Charlotte Henry know the biggest, baddest vampire around?

"I don't have normal dreams... really, it's the same dream every night," she started after she cleared her throat. "Me and a man make small talk at a bar, he introduces himself as Klaus Mikaelson and I introduce myself as a Charlotte Saint–Jermaine from Chicago, and we talk about birthdays."

It was Stefan's turn to be confused, though she noticed his head tilted when she mentioned the Illinois city. "When did that start?"

"Ever since I was a kid," she supplied. "My parents took me to psychiatrist after psychiatrist... they eventually chalked it up as me having an imaginary friend, but I just learnt to stop talking about it. About him."

The cogs were shifting in Stefan's mind, that much was evident on his face. "And now, not only is Elena on his radar, you are too."

It was then that Charlotte realized he must've heard about the note Klaus had left her from Elena. "And I don't know why," she complained, her hands thrown in the air. "I mean, last time I checked, the Henry's have always lived here, not Chicago."

He reached across the table to grab her arm, and that pulled her attention away from the table and to his face. "We'll figure it out, alright?" Stefan tried reassuring her, "but for now, we all need to stay vigilant. I told Caroline the same thing, and—"

"Wait," she interjected uneasily, "Caroline knows, too?"

Stefan paused for a beat. "I think that's a conversation that the two of you need to have."

Charlotte closed her eyes and took a deep breath, because judging by the conversation they were actively having, his cryptic words could only mean one thing. Caroline, in all of her sudden dodginess towards the Henry girl, was a vampire.

She wanted to laugh, because there was no way in hell that one of her best friends was a vampire. She'd grown up with Caroline, she witnessed all the girl's broken bones and bloody noses throughout the years of cheerleading and dance that they did. Surely there was no way, surely she was a human like Elena who just happened to be in the know.

Right?

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[ wyn's note ]

revelations!!! my my my

intense stuff coming next chap!!! won't spill too much but stay ready lolol

thanks for 6k yall!! all my love xx