"DAMON, I DON'T WANT TO COME TO YOUR fancy adult dinner party," Charlie told the Salvatore man on the phone with her as she cleaned her room. She had been doing a lot of tasks that she usually hated because ever since her brother left, she really needed something to distract herself from the fact that they were down another person in the house.

Her mother had been doing the same, deep cleaning every surface in the entire house multiple times a day. She was also lucky that she had to take over as mayor after her husband died because that gave her even more things to do so that she did not have to wonder why her son left them for some lady that he barely knew.

"You have to be there," Damon groaned. At that moment, the Salvatore man had the nerve to ask her to come to some random dinner party that he had invited Elijah too as well as a bunch of other adults. It was pretty obvious that he was planning something, and she really did not want to be apart of it. "We're trying to find stuff out about Elijah."

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, wondering why that would be a reason for her to be there. "What does that have anything to do with me?"

"Elijah likes you," he informed her, but that just confused her even more.

The only time that she had interacted with the man was when she showed him around her house, and she did not really take anything positive away from that conversation. She had low key kind of insulted him, he had said that she was not going to kidnap her, and then he had threatened her life if she ever thought about harming Elena. "I've talked to him once."

"And your experience with him was a lot more pleasant than mine was," he concluded, and she shook her head at his reasoning even though he could not see her.

"You know how weird it's gonna be for me to just be hanging out with a bunch of old people?" she quizzed because it was definitely going to be weird. Despite how much she liked Alaric, she really did not need to see him get all drunk with a bunch of other drunk adults.

He sighed, and she could practically feel him rolling his eyes at her. When he spoke, it sounded like a light bulb just turned on over his head. "May I remind you that you owe me one for when I saved Caroline from the werewolves?"

"May I remind you that you owe me a million for killing my uncle?" she scoffed because she could not believe that he was trying to use that for an excuse. He was lucky that she was even giving him the time of day. She was about to hang up on him right away until he started talking about Elijah.

He responded defensively, "I thought we agreed to let that go."

"When did we ever do that?" she asked. She had no recollection of that talk that she was 100% sure never happened. "Actually, when have I ever agreed with you on anything."

There was a pause on the other side of the phone, and then he decided that his best bet was to just start begging and hoping for the best. "Just, please. I won't bother you for...a whole week."

"Okay, fine, but there better be some kick-ass food or I'm leaving immediately."

☾❄☽

WHEN CHARLIE PULLED UP TO THE SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE, she noticed another very nice car pulling into the driveway as well. She furrowed her eyebrows as she parked because no one that she knew at that nice of a vehicle. She climbed out of her car, and when she saw who it belonged to, everything made a lot more sense.

Elijah.

"Oh, good evening, Miss Charlotte," the man greeted, and he seemed shocked to see her as they met up on the front porch thing and faced each other right in front of the stairs reading to the door. "I was not aware that you would be joining us."

"Oh, yeah. Damon invited me last minute," she informed him.

He nodded in response, a smile crossing his face as he gestured toward the door so that she could step up first. "Well, you look lovely, especially for such short notice. It's a pleasure to be dining with you. Shall we head inside?"
"Sure," she answered, and she reached out and used the knocker on the door to rap on the door three times. The door swung open a few seconds later to reveal Damon standing there.

Elijah told him in greeting, "Good evening."

"Thank you guys for coming. Please, come in," the Salvatore man said, stepping aside so that the two could come inside the Boarding House for the dinner.

"Just one moment," the Original stopped him, causing Charlie — who was about to walk inside — to pause to listen to the conversation between the men on either side of her. "Can I just say that if you have less than honorable intentions about how this evening is going to proceed, I suggest you reconsider."

Damon shook his head, glancing at the Lockwood girl as if she told the older vampire about the entire plan that she herself did not even know about. The Salvatore man was acting really weird, which just made her more suspicious. He assured him, "No, nothing, nothing dishonorable. Just getting to know you."

"Hmm. Well, that's good because, you know, although Elena and I have this deal, if you so much as make a move to cross me, I'll kill you and I'll kill everyone in this house. Are we clear?" Elijah questioned with raised eyebrows, directing the question toward the vampire as he stepped into the house and smiled at the Sommers woman when he saw her. "Jenna. Wonderful to see you again. How are you? You look incredible."

"Thank you." Jenna blushed slightly, looking down at her feet as Damon shut the door.

They all sat down at the table, all of the adults confused as to why there was a freshman crashing their dinner party. The Sommers woman poured Damon some wine before informing him. "I hate to break it to you, Damon, but according to Elijah, your family is so not a founder of this town."

"Do tell, Elijah," Charlie said, pretending to be interested. The younger vampire in the room shot her a proud smile at her attempt to get information out of the Original.

"Well, as I mentioned to Jenna earlier, a faction of settlers migrated from Salem after the witch trials in the 1690s," he explained, pretending like it was research for his 'book.' "Over the next hundred years they developed this community where they could feel safe from persecution."

Jenna nodded along, and she spoke up, "Hmm. Because they were witches."

"Yeah, but there's no tangible proof there were witches in Salem," Andie, Damon's new compelled news reporter girlfriend pointed out matter-of-factly.

The Salvatore man looked at Elijah and clarified why his girlfriend was being skeptical. "Andie's a journalist. Big on facts."

"Well, the lore says that there was this wave of anti-witch hysteria. It broke out in the neighboring settlement, so these witches were rounded up," the older vampire told them. "They were tied to stakes in a field together and, uh, burned. Some say you could hear the screams from miles around us. They were consumed by the fire." He then held out his arm and gestured toward the wine. "Could you pass the..."

"I wouldn't repeat this to the Historical Society," Jenna joked as she passed the wine down the table to the man. Charlie was really upset because she had to drink club soda, which meant that she had to go through all of this sober.

John Gilbert, who was not invited and just showed up at the door before Elijah and Charlie, furrowed his eyebrows, doubting the man's words. "It's starting to sound a little like a ghost story to me.'

"So, why do you want to know the location of these alleged massacres?" the werewolf cut in as everyone rolled their eyes at the Gilbert man. Not because of what he said but because of how much of a dick he sounded like when he said it.

Elijah smirked slightly, turning to Damon because he knew that even though the girl asked the question, he was behind all of it. He had just somehow roped the young girl in. "You know...a healthy historian's curiosity, of course."

"Of course."

"Would anyone care for some cognac?" Damon questioned, standing up from the table once they had finished dinner. Charlie had to admit — the food was really really good. Almost so good that she did not feel bummed that she was the only one there that could not have any alcohol. "I have a bottle that I've been saving for ages.

Alaric shook his head, leaning back in his seat and running a hand through his hair. "None for me thanks. Nine bottles of wine is my limit."

"The gentlemen should take their drinks in the study," Andie suggested, and it was pretty clear — to the Lockwood girl, at least — that she had been compelled to say that by Damon. That just made the teenager more curious about what his plan was.

Elijah nodded before looking to the women and complimenting, "I have to say the food was almost as wonderful as the company."

"I like you," Andie told him and smiled as she, Jenna, and Charlie started clearing the table. Alaric stood up to help as well so that he could speak with his girlfriend. The werewolf knew that it was polite to help out, but she also felt that it was really sexist that all of the women were clearing the table while the men, minus Alaric and John, went to the study to drink.

After the table was cleared, Andie went back outside to grab the men and let them know that desert was almost ready while Charlie hung out with Jenna in the kitchen as she cooked the pie. She checked on it once again before questioning, "Hey, Char, not that I don't love you, but can I ask why you're here?"

"Damon invited me," the teenager answered with a shrug. She knew that that was not what the woman meant, but she figured, the less details, the better.

The Sommers woman nodded slowly, muttering, "Interesting."

"Don't worry. It's weird for me too," the teenager informed her. It was really strange hanging out with adults when she was just barely fifteen years old. She quickly came up with some sort of reasoning, even if it did make Damon look like a hero or sorts."I think he was trying to take my mind off Tyler leaving."

"Oh, that's nice of him," Jenna responded, and it was kind of obvious that she did not believe the girl because why the hell would Damon Salvatore be nice if it did not benefit him in the slightest.

Charlie tried to keep a straight face. "Yep. He's a really nice guy." Neither of them could hold it in, and they both burst out laughing at the thought.

"All right, can you keep an eye on the pie while I go give the others an update?" Jenna questioned, clapping her hands together once they finally stopped giggling. She checked the desert one more time before putting her mitt on the counter.

The werewolf nodded in response, jumping off the counter that she had been sitting on so that she could stare at the oven with the light on. "Sure."

Jenna smiled gratefully before walking out the door. Charlie could hear faint talking, but she did not really care what they were saying because the pie smelt so freaking good. The strawberry blonde woman came back a minute later and took the job back over.

"Thanks," she said thankfully, and Charlie smiled, signaling that she was happy to do it.

About five minutes later, the werewolf got bored of just sitting there, so she drained her cup so that she had something to do. "I'm gonna go get another club soda." She walked out of the kitchen and back into the dining room, and she gasped at what she saw.

Elijah was sitting in his seat, and a dagger was in his chest. Black veins covered his face and his hands, letting them know that he was dead, at least for the time being. She groaned loudly.

"You have got to be kidding me."