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A SCREAM. A LIFE.

SENIOR PRANK NIGHT WAS A NIGHT CHARLOTTE HAD DREAMT OF SINCE FRESHMAN YEAR.

However, in light of recents events (ie. finding out she's adopted, finding out she was without a doubt Lottie Saint–Jermaine in her past life, and finding out her past self had died a horribly supernatural end), she wasn't feeling up for it.

Could you blame her?

"I did not get you pink, leopard print duct tape for you to sit on your butt and not help, Charlie."

Charlotte turned to Caroline from her perch atop their former math teacher's desk, giving her a flat look. "You know I love your never ending enthusiasm, Care," she started, "but four rolls of duct tape is a little on the extreme side, don't you think?"

"I would've gotten seven, but I knew you would've complain," her friend huffed, coming over to snatch the unopened roll of tape that the Henry girl had been mindlessly throwing up in the air.

Charlotte watched her open the packaging, thrusting it back into her hands. "I would've complained anyway," she deadpanned.

"Well you're in tough luck," Caroline replied with her head held high. "I'm going to check on Tyler, but I better see this desk in full leopard print in ten minutes."

As she turned to go, Charlotte's eyes widened. "The entire desk?" she parroted back.

Caroline's finger was pointed at her. "Including the stationary!"

Her hands went up in defence. "Fine."

The blonde girl gave her a wink before she was out the door, leaving it ajar as she went to search for the Lockwood boy.

Charlotte had to admit that they were the cutest pair, and it certainly helped that both of her best friends liked each other in that regard. She wouldn't think about the aftermath of a breakup, however, because she didn't want to put a thought like that into the universe.

Not that she'd ever want to choose between the two, but deep down, she knew who it would be. She knew who it had to be.

Ten minutes flashed by, and the surface of the desk was covered in pink, leopard print duct tape. Given that Caroline failed to come back in time, she merely taped the cabinet doors shut and tossed the roll of duct tap onto the desk.

Deciding to call it, because she was oh so over this whole thing, she sought after the Forbes girl. She assumed she'd be nestled away in the gym with the rest of their graduating class, given that was where she'd only just seen Tyler at the start of the night.

Charlotte traversed through the halls and eventually, pressed against the doors that led to the gym. Though, she had no idea why it was so quiet from within until she heard the door shut behind her— until she saw him standing beside a frantic looking Elena.

Klaus found out.

Klaus found out and he was here, at their goddamn senior prank night, and by the looks of it, he came to finish what he started.

The Original vampire was peering down at Bonnie when he noticed her arrival, and the slowed steps she took toward the Donovan boy who was the closest in reach. He flashed right up to her, his eyebrows shooting up in mock surprise. "Fancy seeing you here, Charlie."

There it was again, that emphasis on her name. Under any other circumstance would she have fired out a snarky little remark, but after Chicago, after learning about what happened to Lottie, her words died on her tongue.

"If you wanna blame someone, blame me," Bonnie interjected, and it had taken Klaus' eyes off of Charlotte entirely. She released a breath she hadn't known she was holding in.

"There's no need for blame. Just your witchy interference seems to have caused some undesirable side effects," he dismissed, "but since you caused the problem, I'm gonna have you find the fix."

The gym doors opened behind them, and when Charlotte turned to see who'd just walked into this utterly deadly situation, her stomach dropped to the ground. There Tyler was, being dragged in by the neck by some blonde girl she didn't recognize. He struggled, and she'd felt Matt's hand wrap around her bicep when she took a step forward.

"I'd like you all to meet my sister, Rebekah," Klaus introduced on the girl's behalf. "A word of warning, she can be quite mean."

"Don't be an ass," the blonde quipped with narrowed eyes, shoving Tyler toward her brother.

Charlotte felt herself begin to shake the minute Klaus' hand took hold of her best friend. This was all a big fucking mistake. They should've never been here—

"Leave him alone!" Elena demanded, her raised voice disrupting Charlotte's haywired brain. But it was of no use, clearly, when Klaus pulled the Lockwood boy along with him a few feet away.

"I'm gonna make this very simple," Klaus shouted, his voice echoing around the gym. "Every time I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire hybrid, they die during the transition. It's quite horrible, actually."

In a split second, Klaus was biting into his wrist and shoving it toward Tyler's mouth as the latter fought against the hold. She'd never seen anything like it, but she knew exactly what he was doing. She knew exactly what was going to happen.

And that, that was when Charlotte's unease turned into genuine fear.

"Don't!" she yelled out, all too aware of the way her voice wavered.

The sound of her voice garnered the attention of the sister though, whose face seemed to go slack at the mere sight of her. "What the h—"

And despite only sparing her the shortest of glances, Klaus' eyes were trained on the Bennett girl. "I need you to find a way to save my hybrids, Bonnie," he commanded, "and for Tyler's sake? You better hurry."

The sound of Tyler's neck snapping was a sound that Charlotte Henry never thought she would've ever heard. Her brain felt like it was filled with fuzz, the sound looping over and over in her brain. The smirk on the vampire's face.

Klaus had killed Tyler.

It felt like someone reached into her chest and just yanked as she watched the boy topple to the ground, unmoving.

Distantly, Charlotte thought she heard someone start to scream.

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She was the first one to reach him when the others crowded around Tyler and when the two vampires went to the bleachers, having a silent conversation between themselves.

His head felt too limp in her lap, her fingers raking through his hair as if he was just asleep. It was a juvenile assumption, not when her fingertips had only just been pressing against his neck. He was devoid of a pulse, there was no rise and fall of his chest.

In a split second, Klaus Mikaelson had taken her best friend's life. Like it was nothing.

"He killed him," Matt wobbled out, and just hearing those three words made Charlotte's eyes screw shut.

Elena shook her head as she paced. "He's not dead. Klaus' blood," she began with a breathy tone, "his blood will turn him into a vampire."

"Vampires are dead, Elena," Charlotte couldn't help but snap.

She knew it wasn't fair of her to take it all out on Elena, because really, she'd been the one cursed to be the Petrova doppleganger. But it now got to a point for Charlotte where her best friend, a boy she'd consider her brother, was dead because of her.

But the person she was feeling an infinite amount of rage towards was the man who piped up next. "And if Bonnie's successful, he'll live through his transition," Klaus added, migrating back toward the group of teenagers. "Go fetch your Grimoires and enchantments and whatnot. I'll hold onto Elena for safekeeping."

Elena gave a nod to a hesitant looking Bonnie, whose gaze then travelled to Charlotte's hunched over figure. She looked up, her lips mouthing just a single word when she realized what was going to happen to him if she didn't figure it out in time.

Please.

Bonnie nodded firmly, taking Matt by the wrist and dragging him away from the gymnasium.

"My apologies, sweetheart, but this was necessary." Klaus' voice was coming from right behind her, suddenly. "He'll be right as rain if Bonnie finds me my solution."

Her jaw ached from how hard she'd been clenching it. She tore her eyes away from where Bonnie had only just been and scoffed, because he sure as shit didn't sound sorry.

"Right. And then after, are you gonna kill the rest of us, too?" she challenged, her sadness fizzling into a deep sort of rage. "Like you did Ty? Like you did Lottie?"

That struck a nerve, as his features dissolved into something that made the base of her neck prickle. "What did you just say?"

"You killed her, didn't you?" she asked. Her shoulders squared back on their own, her grip on the pulseless boy tightening. "Or— or was it Alexander?"

In an instant, he was kneeling to her eye level in front of her, his eyes narrowing accusatorially. "How do you know that name?" he questioned, and although it wasn't the response she was looking for, she gave one of her own.

"You weren't the only one who took a trip to Chicago recently."

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[ wyn's note ]

my heart acc breaks for charlie cause ty is her BOYYYYYY :(( i'd have a crash out tbh

thanks for 52k my loves!! rlly couldn't be doing this without my shawty baes MWAHHHH

xx