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THE DANCE

AS FAR AS CHARLOTTE WAS CONCERNED, EVERYTHING WAS JUST FINE.

She went home immediately after Dana approached her in the hallway, leaving the rather confused girl in the dust the minute she felt her hands begin their violent shake.

This had to have been some type of prank, or some type of auditory and visual hallucination. No, what Dana was saying couldn't be true, because the man in her dream was just that: a dream.

Charlotte needed to decompress, and she found no better way to do so than comb through her newest magazines while blasting music from her record player. It was a part of her usual Sunday night self care routine, but she felt it was more than necessary to do right now.

There was a knock at her bedroom door only two hours later, Joshua poking his head into her room to gain her attention. "There's a mailman at the door, says he needs you to sign for a package."

Charlotte put her magazine down. "I didn't order anything," she replied, lips downturned in confusion.

Joshua shrugged. "I dunno, he just needs your signature," the boy said before his face was gone from her doorway.

The brunette clamoured off her bed, leaving the pile of magazines behind as she made her way down the hall and down the flight of stairs. She could see the outline of a man just behind the glass door, and when she pulled it back, she was greeted with the sight of someone who wasn't their usual mailman.

The man wearing the brown uniform smiled at her, a large box just at his feet. "Hello, Miss Henry," he greeted, and only then did she notice the clipboard he was extending her way. "I just need you to sign for this at the bottom."

She nodded despite her confusion, taking the pen that was attached to the clipboard with a string and signing the dotted line at the bottom. Once it was satisfactory, she handed it back, the man putting it under his armpit before reaching down for the box.

He handed it to her, and she was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as heavy as she first thought it might be. "Have a nice day."

"You too," she said politely, before she stepped back and kicked the door close with her foot.

She trekked off in the direction of their kitchen, the curtains pulled back and revealing the setting sun's glow over the area, and set the box down on the marbled island. Charlotte wasted no time in getting a pair of box cutters from a nearby drawer, before she sliced into it.

Inside the box was a corduroy dress that looked like it had been plucked straight from the damn sixties. She took it out of the box to examine it, only to have a small card fall onto the floor by her feet.

Putting the dress down, she picked up the card and carefully read over the cursive writing that was on it.

CHARLOTTE,

YOU OWE ME A DANCE. COME, OR YOUR FAMILY WILL SUFFER. :)

— KLAUS

Charlotte's eyes widened, her stomach plummeting to the ground. The conversation she had with Dana earlier was one thing, but having the man from her reoccurring dream send a package to her fucking house was something different entirely.

If anything, the smiley face was even worse than the predatory message itself.

She called him Nik in her dreams, because that was what he told her was the most suitable, but she knew his real name was Klaus Mikaelson. It was no coincidence that a man with the exact name as him would appear out of thin air in Mystic Falls, and it was no coincidence that he knew who she was.

But she wasn't the Charlotte Saint–Jermaine that was in her dream, and that was what made this entire ordeal so confusing. It made her head ache terribly, especially as she reread the last bit of the note over again.

Charlotte had no plan to go to the dance, but to have her family threatened by this man specifically? She swallowed around nothing, looking at the dress he had sent her.

How did he know where she lived? How was any of this even possible?

"You okay?"

Charlotte yelped, spinning around with a hand on her chest only to find her brother lingering in the kitchen doorway. "You asshole!" she seethed, her nerves already fried. "How are you so quiet on your feet?!"

Joshua gave her a sheepish shrug. "Sorry," he apologized. "What's in the box?"

"A dress," she quickly covered up, putting the card and the lid back on. "I forgot I ordered it a while ago, y'know, for the dance."

Her brother frowned. "I thought you weren't going to that."

"Well, things change," she sighed, almost rushed, as she gathered the box into her arms. "I'll drive us down."

She had a reason to go now, and she would gladly put up with seeing Tyler if it meant her family was out of harms way.

Though, she was just hoping that the man didn't actually plan on making her dance.

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Charlotte did not want to be at the damn school right now, nor did she want to be dressed up in the green and orange corduroy dress that Klaus had sent to her home. It fit perfectly, almost as if he had known her measurements when selecting the dress, and she shivered at the thought.

But there was no way that could be, right?

The Henry girl made do, kept a perfectly crafted smile on her face as she pushed her brother in the direction of the gymnasium. "I'll meet you in there," she told him, gesturing with her thumb to the hall on their left, "I just need a bathroom break?"

Joshua nodded, his eyes already in search of his friends as he walked through the doors to the dance. They'd been more than fashionably late, and she could own that due to the amount of notice she was given to get ready. He didn't blame her, only wanting to get there as quick as possible.

That left Charlotte alone, the smile dropping as she started in the direction of the first floor bathrooms that were across the damn school.

She walked in pleasant silence until she reached one hallway, where she was faced with the backs of two people she recognized and the body of her history teacher rising from the floor across the hall.

"Elena? Bonnie?" she called out, confused as to why they looked so startled by her appearance when they turned. "...is everything okay?"

"Run, run!" Bonnie was instantly shouting, one hand surging for Elena beside her. Charlotte was shaking her head in confusion at the panic in her voice, only to have Bonnie's other hand grab onto her bicep and pull.

Suddenly, Charlotte found herself running through the halls with the two girls. Questions were running rampant on her mind as they dove into a small hallway, Bonnie letting go of them to flick her hand in the direction of the doors they'd ran through. They shut on her command, like something straight out of a Star Wars movie.

Her eyes bugged out of her head. "Did she just—"

Elena looked at her, her chests heaving. "We'll explain later," she rushed out, "but you need to—"

Footsteps were rushing toward them, and to Charlotte's surprise, Damon Salvatore was running their way. "What happened?" he asked.

"Klaus is in Alaric's body."

Charlotte's blood went cold, her mouth immediately opening before she could register the words flying out of her mouth. "What do you mean Klaus?"

The three of them turned to her with a mix of shock and confusion. "Wait... how do you know about Klaus?" was Elena's question, her head tilting to the side.

Charlotte Henry was not someone who was in the know about the supernatural problems of Mystic Falls despite being so close to Caroline. Though, the blonde had made it clear that she didn't want the Henry girl to know just yet, so how was it that she knew the name of their biggest enemy?

"It's a long story," Charlotte frowned as she tried to downplay her panic, but she couldn't stop it from rolling off of her in waves, "but what does he have to do with Mr Saltzman?"

"It's a long story," Bonnie parroted back with a grimace, "one we'll tell you later, but he's bad news, and he's possessing Alaric's body."

Charlotte's eyes widened. "Possessing his body?" She felt herself begin to freak out. "That's not possible."

"Go find Stefan. Now," Damon urged, watching as Elena nodded in confirmation. He turned to Charlotte, "and you. You go find Caroline, alright?"

She weakly nodded despite not knowing what her blonde friend had to do with any of this, before she was being pulled in the direction of the gym by Elena. The girl's warm hand clasped around her wrist this time around, and it would've been a comfort if she hadn't been so confused over what she had walked in on.

The man from her dreams was real, was actively possessing the body of their history teacher, and seemed to be public enemy number one right now.

"What the hell is going on Elena?" she seethed, her panic quickly turning into agitation over being left in the dark. She didn't get a response

"A really evil guy wants me dead," she explained, her voice raised when they approached the gymnasium doors, "but he's after Bonnie."

She didn't understand why Klaus was after the girls, though. She didn't understand how no one had called the police or why no one had just sought a normal solution.

It was so obvious she was missing something.

"He sent me this dress," Charlotte blurted out, trading in a piece of her long story, "and there was this card; he said I had to be here tonight. That I— that I owe him a dance."

Elena looked at her for a beat before she began shoving their way through the crowd in search of her boyfriend.

"Then that means he's after you, too."

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[ wyn's note ]

and here it goes!! as of rn charlie only knows about the werewolves (and tbh shes still in her denial phase, as per her ignoring tyler) but she's getting closer to finding out the tea on vampires !! EEEEEK

next part will be a continuation of this cliff hanger moment — thanks for 4K!! xx