Prince Charming & Viagra

~~~~~

"there goes the loudest woman this town has ever seen."
~~~~~

Tatum leaned against the wall in the bathroom. She has explained everything to her mom and was now staring face to face with her reflection.

She looked awful.

She looked as if she had been dragged through the mud. Her hair was a mess, no longer in the perfect curls they once had been. Her dress looked fine besides the rip that started at the hem and went up to her mid thigh. Her make up was definitely ruined and her eyes were vacant.

She looked like the dead walking.

Her pale complexion and the distant look in her eyes.

God.

She sighed and ran a hand through her knotted hair.

It wasn't like this in New York.

Tatum slipped out of her dress, her arm getting stuck in thr tight sleeve. She eventually just ripped the dress off, part of the sleeve remained on her arm. At least it did until she ripped it off too.

She held the two parts of the dress in her hands.

Her eyes watered.

It was her favorite dress.

"Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry," She muttered to herself before she angrily brushed away the tears that had betrayed her and fell. "You were fine just seconds ago...whatever..."

Tatum walked to the sink and turned it on. She ran her hands under the water before she splashed her face with it. She went to get more water, only to completely miss the water. She opened her eyes in confusion and watched as the water was suspended between her hands in waves.

"Wow."

That was new.

Tatum went to contain her powers again. She wanted to stop them before she lost control.

Again.

She took a deep breath and channeled her powers inwards. Red veins trailed up her arms as she grit her teeth together. There was a sharp stabbing in her left forearm, causing her whimper. The pain lingered in her arm, but she continued on with getting cleaned up and changed.

Once she was done, Tatum walked back into her room in a pair of sweats and an old sweatshirt. She collapsed on her bed, falling on her left arm, only to immediately sit back up in immense pain. She carefully pushed up the sleeve of her sweatshirt to reveal a large purplish bruise forming on her arm.

"Fuck," She hissed.

Normally it went away.

This time, the pain just kept getting worse.

"You need to heal. Why aren't you healing?"

Tatum shoved her sleeve back down her arm. She knew her healing was slower than most wolves. Maybe it was just going to take some time. Maybe it was going to be gone in the morning. So, Tatum, being Tatum, ignored the pain in her arm and tingly feeling that was bubbling beneath her skin and went to bed.

Sleep was definitely going to solve all her issues.

Well....maybe not all of them.

~~~~~

[the day tatum graduated]

Her brother wasn't going to be there.

Tatum stood nervously in the school hallway with that single thought in her mind. That she was going to graduate from high school as valedictorian and her brother wasn't going to be there. The only comfort that she found was that her mom and her boyfriend were going to be sitting front row as her number one supporters.

That was all she needed, right?

She was going to walk out of this hall, go up on stage, get her diploma, say her speech, and then she was going to be free of school. After all, she had never had the desire to go to college.

There were so many students around her, all standing in a line in alphabetical order.

Sommers.

She was near the middle to the end.

She wished she had a name that was near the beginning. Maybe like Brookes or Carson or Alfredson—wait, scratch that. If she had been named Alfredson, she would have jumped off the top of the school building by now.

That name was terrible.

Maybe she was content with being a Sommers.

So, she stood there waiting. Name after name was being called. She didn't realize there were this many people in her graduating class.

The salutatorian had been called ages ago.

Eliza Carnahan.

She had gotten accepted to Harvard and Princeton and Brown. She then proceeded to make fun of Tatum for not even bothering to apply to any colleges.

Tatum was considered wasted potential to Eliza.

But Tatum was content.

She didn't want to go to college.

She planned to stay at home, work at her coffee shop, and sell her art for work. Eventually, she planned to move to New York, where she would be welcomed by the big city and blend in with the masses.

Best of all, she would be away from Mystic Falls.

Jose Sanchez.

They were in her row.

They were on her set of last names.

The nerves were eating her alive.

But it was going to be fine, she kept telling herself. She was going to go out and she was going to see her mom, her aunt and uncle, her younger cousins, her best friend, and her boyfriend.

She would see them—she would see him, and everything was going to be okay.

Jason Sparks.

Tatum stood in the doorway with only two people ahead of her. Her palms were sweaty and she couldn't focus. She was about to have to say a speech in front of the huge crowd before her.

Maybe she should have just let Eliza be valedictorian.

Eliza loved hearing herself talk.

Tatum hated crowds.

It was going to be fine.

Matthew Spencer.

One more.

Tatum adjusted her robe, making sure she looked okay. She made sure her tassel was on the correct side.

Julie Spivit.

She was next.

She felt like she was going to throw up.

Tatum Sommers.

Now was her moment.

She carefully walked across the pathway and up the stairs of the stage. She was going to be fine. She was handed her diploma and she shook her hands with her principal. She was directed to stand on the side of the stage and wait until every other student was called.

More waiting.

Tatum couldn't stand it.

She looked out at the crowd, her eyes landing on her mom in the front row. Caroline was on one side, her cousins a row behind them, and Lucas was...

Nowhere to be found.

There was an empty seat next to Jenna where he was supposed to be.

Tatum tore her eyes away from it.

She was going to be fine.

"And now, a speech from the valedictorian."

Tatum walked back up onto the stage and stood in front of the podium. Her eyes once again landed on the empty chair.

He was supposed to have been there.

Where was he?

It didn't matter now. She was here and she was going to have to get her speech over with. Then she was going to be done with Mystic Falls High. She was going to be moving on to the next chapter of her life.

"Principal Weathers, faculty members, fellow students, families, welcome. We never thought this day was going to come. We prayed for its quick delivery, crossed days off our calendars, counted hours, counted minutes and seconds, and now it's here."

He was supposed to be here.

"I'm sorry that it is. What I wouldn't wish for another moment with my friends that I'm going to leave behind or another day being with the mentors who have taught me or the people that have shaped my life. So, today. I am standing up here, on this slightly intimidating stage, wanting to say thank you to all the people in my life and hoping that each of you will do the same."

"Although, I wanted to thank my biggest inspiration, my best friend, and the woman whom I have received everything from—Jenna Sommers. My mother never gave me any idea that I couldn't do whatever I wanted to do or whomever I wanted to be. She filled our house with love and fun, books and music, movie nights and coffee, unflagging in her efforts to give me the best life that she could. As she guided me through these incredible years, I don't know if she ever realized that the person I most wanted to most be was her. Thank you, Mom—you are my role model for everything."

Tatum stepped away from the podium, her eyes glassy as she looked at her mom, who was doing a terrible job of trying not to cry.

The principal then stepped back up to the stage. He spoke some words that Tatum didn't bother paying attention to, seeing as she never paid attention to what he said to begin with. However, she was able to hear the last few words that he said.

"To the next graduating class!!"

She was finally free.

~~~~~

Waking up in the morning was probably in the top ten list of things Tatum hated most in the world. In all honesty, her list was probably a hell of a lot longer than just ten things, but she didn't want to seem too pessimistic about the world.

She needed to be more positive.

That's what her therapist told her.

Tatum rolled her eyes whenever she was told that.

Tori could go fuck herself.

Whoa there, Tate.

The rays of sun were blaring through her windows, making her groan in annoyance as she scrunched her eyes shut. When that wasn't helping, she flipped over in her bed, facing away from the window. However, as soon as she landed on her arm, a searing pain shot through her arm. Again. She slowly sat up in her bed, clenching her jaw together with every movement she made.

Tatum pushed the sleeve of her sweatshirt up her arm.

The bruise from the prior night had spread up and down her forearm in a scattered pattern.

It should have healed.

Why didn't it heal?

Wanting to double check, Tatum pushed up the other sleeve to reveal a similar marking on her right arm.

"Fuck." She hissed.

The young woman slipped her sleeves back down. She got out of bed and stumbled down the hall and into the bathroom. She opened up the medicine cabinet and grabbed the bottle of painkillers as soon as she saw them. She popped open the lid and poured a few in her hand before she put them in her mouth and swallowed them dry.

Stupid fucking powers.

She never asked for them.

Having the pain slightly numbed, Tatum was able to sort of function. She had carefully changed into something new and tied her hair up in two loose braids. Checking the time on the clock, she saw that it was still early, meaning no one in her house was going to be up. Taking her brief opportunity. Tatum quickly slipped out of the house.

No one was going to know.

~~~~~

[the day tatum graduated]

Tatum loved parties.

Ever since she was a young girl, she had loved any type of celebration. She loved the decorations. The way they always fit into a theme. The colorful streamers that would be strung up around the house, the banners that were hung in the archway, and her favorite part—the balloons.

She loved balloons.

For her graduation party, Jenna had gone all out in colors of gold and white ( as had been requested ). She had bought helium balloons in all the colors that floated up from the floor and remained suspended near the top of the ceiling. Other balloons were scattered across the floor.

Then there was the food.

Another favorite thing of Tatum.

There was a plethora of food that had been catered for the party. All of Tatum's favorite foods and desserts. There was more than enough food for everyone there...and then some.

Tatum was excited.

She had graduated. She was going to celebrate. She was going to be able to move on.

However, she wanted to find her boyfriend. She wanted to make sure he was okay. After all, Tatum assumed that something had to be super wrong for Lucas not to show up to her graduation, right?

After being wrapped in a tight, teary hug from her mother, Tatum had separated from the group and made her way to Lucas' house, the house that was next door to hers. The close proximity had always made things easy for them.

His car was in the driveway.

That was a good sign.

Walking up the steps to his house in stupid high heels was not an easy task to do. She felt like she was going to trip and fall straight on her ass. That would be quite the way to end her day.

Tattum knocked on the door.

She waited anxiously for Lucas to open the door, fearing something bad had happened to him.

When the door finally opened, Tatum exhaled a sigh of relief when she saw that Lucas looked to be fine. He was wearing his usual attire for the house. He had on a pair of sweats and a black muscle shirt. His hair looked wet as if he had just gotten out of the shower. His bangs fell onto his forehead.

God, he looked so good.

"Tate? What are you doing here?"

"Did something happen, Lu? Are you okay?" Tatum questioned, ignoring what he said, worried only for his well being.

"Yeah," He cleared his throat, leaning against the doorframe of the house. "Why? What's up? Something happened?"

Tatum furrowed her brows with a frown.

Was he serious right now?

"Uh, do you want to come in?"

Lucas opened the door wider for her to come in.

Tatum nodded and stepped through the doorway and into the front room. As soon as she stepped in, she felt as if something was off. There was a tingling sensation within as if something was wrong. She could just feel her powers bubbling up within her–like they were trying to protect her.

Protect her from what?

What was going on?

"Do you know what today was?" Tatum questioned.

"Saturday?"

Tatum stared up at him in disbelief.

"You're fucking with me right now, right? You're not actually being serious?"

Lucas chuckled in confusion, "Am I missing something here, Tate?"

"I graduated today."

A look of realization crossed over his face.

"You were supposed to be there."

"Look," He sighed. "I just got caught up with something. I completely forgot."

Tatum scoffed, "You are unbelievable."

Lucas took a step towards her. He reached his hand out to grab her hand like he normally did, but as soon as she did, Tatum yanked her hand from his grasp. "Oh, c'mon, Tate. Don't be like that. I'll make it up to you."

Tatum glanced upwards.

Count to ten. Count to ten.

Everyone makes mistakes.

It's fine.

Kill him.

Whoa, baby.

Tatum picked up on the sounds of steps on the stairs. She assumed it was his parents. Although they were practically never home during the weekdays, they always made it home for the weekends. Today was Saturday. They were going to be home.

Obviously.

"Babe, what's up with all the noise?"

Babe?

Tatum's eyes snapped over to the voice.

A girl. A teenager from their school. A tall blonde with blue eyes. Wet blonde hair.

Lucas' hair was wet.

"I beg your fucking pardon? Babe?"

Her eyes met Lucas', her tone of voice low and cold that made both the others in the room slightly worried.

"Babe?" Tatum questioned again. Maybe if she said the word enough times it wouldn't sound so foreign coming from her mouth. Lucas had told her he hated being called that ( not that Tatum ever wanted to use such a horrendous pet name for him ).

'Cause gross.

Lucas was at a loss for words.

"Who the hell are you?"

Tatum looked back at the girl.

"Who the hell am I?" She questioned. "Who the hell are you?"

"His girlfriend, so get away from him, you ginger bitch."

"Girlfriend?" Tatum echoed. "Ginger bitch?"

"Look, Tate...." Lucas took a step towards her once more, trying to fix the situation.

"Just stop," Tatum raised a hand and stopped him from moving forward anymore. "You weren't busy with something. You were busy with someone. You missed something important to me so you could fuck another girl. Your girlfriend? Not that we've been dating since you were fourteen or anything."

"Dating him!?" The blonde shrieked.

Tatum winced at her pterodactyl-like sound. 

"Yeah," Tatum sighed. "If you could calm it with the dramatics and dinosaur-like shrieks, that'd be great. Thanks," She then flashed the girl a sarcastic smile.

This was supposed to be a good day.

She had graduated.

The blonde began speaking again.

Tatum ignored her.

"What the hell, Lucas!?'

"Look, Tate..."

"Tatum."

Lucas sighed.

"Look, Tatum, I care about you."

"What?" The blonde shrieked once more.

"Shut up!" Lucas snapped at her. "Go upstairs. Get your clothes. Grab your shit. Get the hell out."

"Luca..." She protested.

Tatum rolled her eyes.

"Now," Lucas raised his voice.

The blonde scurried off.

Lucas turned back to Tatum.

"I'm sorry I missed your graduation, but I can make it up to you, Tate. We can still make this work. I care about you—I love you. We've been together for almost three years."

Tatum scoffed, "You missed my graduation. You lied to me. You cheated on me. You made me look like a fool."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

This was supposed to be her day.

Her big break.

Instead, she was cheated on.

"Apologies can't fix this. You cheated on me. What don't you understand about that?" Tatum started getting even more worked up with the constant buzz beneath her skin, edging her on. "How long has it even been going on, huh? Days? Weeks?....Months?"

Tatum's lips parted in shock.

"Months?" Her voice broke, betraying her angry facade. "You've been cheating on me for months?"

"Tate..."

"Please, just, stop," Tatum interrupted what bullshit he was about to spew. "I don't want to hear any lame excuses you're about to come up with. I love—loved you. I loved you for three years. I gave you everything and you don't even seem to give a damn. So, just go back upstairs and join that bleach blonde bimbo because I don't care. You and me, we're finished. We're done."

Lucas scoffed, "You're breaking up with me?"

"I believe that's what I just said, isn't it?"

It was like a switch flipped inside Lucas.

"You're kidding, right?" He questioned. "You followed me around the entire time I was best friends with your brother, practically begging for my attention. You had it for three years and now you're just going to throw it away like that?"

"Don't you dare blame this on me!"

"Tate," He said the nickname just to piss her off even more. "You're not going to ever find anyone else that's going to care about you like I have. You're throwing a good life away for what? A miserable job at a coffee shop where you're going to sell your shitty art?"

Tatum blinked back the tears that were forming in her eyes.

She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of crying.

But, god, she wanted to.

She wanted to cry so bad.

She wanted to cry ever since the moment she saw that he didn't attend her graduation. She knew from that moment something was wrong, but she just didn't want to believe it. Why would she? Why would she want to ruin such an important day for her?

But it was ruined anyway.

"You know, my future may be shitty, but the only good thing you had going for yours was me. Without that, you're going to be stuck in Mystic Falls for the rest of your life with your mediocre grades, your empty house, your terrible personality, and your inability to care about anything other than yourself."

Red veins began creeping up on the windows of the house.

Lucas laughed.

He took a step towards her in a threatening manner.

Tatum didn't back down.

Her hands clenched into fists at her side.

"Can I be honest with you for a moment?" He questioned, brushing a piece of hair behind her ear. She swatted away his hand, causing him to grab onto her wrist tightly. "No one cares about you, Tatum. You're just a lost little girl who was fawning over her brother's best friend. Mind you, that brother didn't even care enough about you to stick around, much less keep in contact with you."

She could feel it.

Begging to be released.

Waiting.

"And you know what's even more pathetic? The fact that you call him every single day, thinking that one day he's going to pick. But news flash, Tatum! He doesn't care about you. He doesn't want to waste his time with something as sad and miserable as you."

"Shut up," Tatum snapped.

Red veins spread across the entirety of the windows, bouncing around.

Energetic.

Waiting.

"The only friend you have is your mother. A mother who probably didn't even want you. I mean, come on, Tate! She was sixteen years old when she had you. She threw away your life for you! Her future! Do you think she's honestly pleased with what she got out of giving up her future? I mean, you are definitely not worth it."

The grip he had on her wrist tightened.

"Shut up..."

All she felt was anger.

Pure unadulterated rage.

"I mean, you got your daddy killed, Tate! The love of her life! Do you honestly think she's happy about that? That she gave up the man she loved for you."

"I said shut the hell up!!!" Tatum exploded.

Red mist exploded from her, launching Lucas and the newly returned blonde that had just come down the stairs. Each one collided with a hard surface behind them, the blonde being registered unconscious. The red veins across the windows caused them to shatter. The glass shards  flew everywhere.

"I've done nothing to you!" She cried, the tears falling from her eyes no matter how hard she tried to keep them at bay. "I've given you everything!"

Her powers were billowing around the room, excitedly dancing through the air.

They wrapped themselves around Lucas' body. They wound around his legs, snaking up around his torso and arms before settling around his neck, picking him up off the floor and keeping him levitated in the air in front of her.

Tatum stared at him through teary, rage filled eyes.

He ruined her day.

He ruined everything.

"I've given you everything! I showed up to your games, to your competitions, to your family dinners that you couldn't bear to sit though alone. I helped you through rough times when no one else would. I did everything!"

Blood was running from his forehead from where he hit his head.

Fear was filling his eyes.

He looked terrified.

She was thriving off it, her powers taking control of her, feeding off of her anger. They tightened around his body, causing him to let out a choked sound.

God, she loved it.

"I've done nothing to deserve your cruelty! Nothing!"

His body was slammed against the cabinets in the kitchen, the glass breaking, falling all over the counter. He was slammed into another cabinet before she released him from her grasp and he fell to the floor, panting.

Tatum stalked toward him, in all her glory, with her eyes glowing red.

She crouched down in front of him and tilted her head. He looked so weak and defenseless. She felt almost proud that she had broken down his cocky demeanor.

But then she registered what she had done.

She had lost control.

This was bad. So very bad.

She had hurt people.

She never wanted to do that.

The blonde had woken up with a scream and tried to run for the door.

Tatum immediately shot her hand out, summoning her powers and wrapping them around her body. She used them to pull the blonde closer to her. With her other hand, she brought it up to her temple, summoning a small ball of scarlet energy between her fingers. She flicked her hand and the red energy flowed to the girl's temple, her eyes glowing a soft red color.

"You were at this house when someone broke in. You were terrified. Lucas tried to defend you, but the attacker overpowered him. You fled from the house as soon as you saw the opportunity."

The blonde was in a daze.

"Now, run," Tatum whispered.

She absorbed her energy back into her body and watched as the blonde took off running.

Tatum turned to Lucas. Her heart broke looking at him. He betrayed her, broke her heart, and then she almost killed him. She had almost killed him and she was pretty sure she had liked it.

That's what terrified her the most.

"Tate..." Lucas wheezed out.

"Shh," Tatum whispered. "You won't remember any of this."

She repeated what she did with the blonde. She wiped his memories and replaced them with a different story. A story where he cheated, his cruel words remained, and someone broke into his house, destroyed it, and beat him up as he tried to protect the blonde girl he adored.

Tatum then took one last look at the damage she had done—that her powers had done. A feeling of dread built up in her stomach as she stumbled out of his house into the night and back to her own.

She walked into the beautifully decorated house with red rimmed eyes and tear stained cheeks.

It's her party, she'll cry if she damn well pleases.

Jenna rushed to the door when she heard it open. She had been waiting for her daughter to come home, so she could help her get all dolled up in the outfit they had chosen. However, she was immediately concerned when she saw how Tatum looked.

"Sweetie, what happened?"

The young woman let out a shaky breath, "I did something really bad, mama."

Tatum never attended her graduation party.

She wasn't a bad person.

~~~~~

Tatum sat in a dingy hospital room with lighting that made her head hurt.

She was anxiously kicking her legs back and forth as she waited for the woman to return. There was a specific nurse that Caroline had compelled when she was turned. She had compelled her to deal with all things supernatural in case something bad ever happened.

Got to love Caroline Forbes.

Tatum glanced back down at her bruised arms. She had a hunch that it was her powers causing all of it. The power that she had was unmatchable to anything out there. Releasing it and using it was one thing, but channeling it all inwards meant that her body was having to withstand all the power that she all had.

No one could take that kind of power head on.

But she had to.

She didn't want to lose control. Not again.

There was a light knock on the door.

"Come in," She called.

The door opened and the nurse stepped in with a sympathetic look on her face.

"How are you feeling, honey?"

"Like I got hit by a bus."

The nurse let out an amused huff.

"Well, I got the results back from the screenings we took of your arms."

The feeling of pity and sadness was overwhelming—suffocating.

Tatum nervously bit her lip, "It's bad, isn't it?"

"You have multiple hairline fractures in both of your arms. Whatever is causing the damage seems to be internal based on how the bruising appears. If this keeps up, you're looking at permanent damage."

"Permanent?" Tatum questioned, her voice quiet.

"We can prescribe you some heavier pain meds to help dull the pain and give you a brace, but other than that, I need you to keep an eye on what's going on to make sure that the damage isn't progressing. If something happens, come back here immediately and we can take further measures from there."

Tatum nodded.

Fuck.

She hated Mystic Falls so fucking much.

~~~~~

"The eagle has descended," Damon whispered into Tatum's ear as he appeared behind her, making her jump in her seat, gritting her teeth in pain from the sudden movement.

After what had happened earlier in the morning, she had been so lost in her thoughts. Regardless of the call she had received from both Damon and her cousin, her mind was still stuck on the news she had gotten.

Permanent damage?

She had thought she had been controlling her powers, but instead she was just channeling all the power inwards—as she had expected. So, she either could keep doing that and risk sustaining permanent damage to her arms or she could figure out how to truly control them and use them correctly, ultimately fulfilling a prophecy that she never wanted to be a part of.

She didn't really want to do either.

But she figured she'd have to do the latter.

"Oh, joy," Tatum mused as she saw her cousin, Elena, walk into the room with a determined look on her face. That was never a good sign, especially when she saw who Elena was staring at.

Rose.

The vampire that had kidnapped them, tied her up, and drugged her with wolfsbane.

"Huh," She muttered to herself.

"You really need to pay more attention," Damon told her, startling her once more when he sat down on the arm of the chair she was sitting on.

"Jesus, shit! Can you stop doing that!?" Tatum exclaimed, smacking Damon in the chest with extra force, causing him to fall off the chair and onto the floor. Though, as much as she enjoyed hearing him collide with the floor, the searing pain that shot through her arms was definitely not.

God, she needed to be more careful.

"Could you two please focus?" Stefan questioned them.

Tatum frowned, confused once more. Before he spoke, she didn't even notice that the vampire had been in the room with them.

She was so out of it.

Damon rolled his eyes at his brother before ruffling, causing her to huff in annoyance.

"Okay, Rosebud. Tell us what you know."

"So, you have to understand that I only know what I've picked up over the years and I don't know if it's true. It's the problem with all this vampire crap, but Klaus, Klaus I know is real," Rose spoke to them though her eyes remained on the ginger, who had been drinking black coffee as if it was her lifeline.

Tatum's brows furrowed together at the name the vampire spoke before she snorted internally. But from the looks she was receiving from everyone in the room, she did it out loud apparently.

Lovely.

"Sorry," She mumbled out, trying to keep a straight face and faking as she began to laugh. "Sorry. Sorry," Her giggles increased as she shook her head. Her gaze was stuck on her lap before she finally looked up in pure amusement.

"Don't look at me like that. I mean, who in their right mind names their kid, Klaus. Like you have a baby and you're like, "Oh, you know what sounds like a good name...Klaus!" and then the poor kid is supposed to deal with that for the rest of their life. No wonder he's evil."

Noticing the looks she was getting, Tatum stopped what she was saying and let out a low whistle, "Okay...tough crowd."

Tatum carefully got up from the chair she was in.

"I'm going to get coffee," She announced before she began to leave the room, only to turn around and face them once more. "Does anybody else want coffee? Actually, never mind, I wouldn't get anybody any coffee even if they wanted it. Rambling, again. My bad. Sorry."

She cleared her throat at the intense stares she was receiving and shuffled on her feet, awkwardly. She swiftly excited the room.

"Exit stage right," She muttered to herself as she brewed another pot of coffee.

~~~~~

When Tatum returned to the room, only Damon and Rose remained. Stefan and Elena had left, probably to school.

"You missed it all."

Tatum shrugged, unbothered. She then glanced down at the mug of coffee in her hands. "I guess the other pot was too much then?"

One and a half pots were consumed in the kitchen.

Smiling to herself, she looked back to Damon, "Probably was."

"Yeah, probably," Damon remarked, sarcastically. However, he was quick to do a double take at her words. "The other pot?! How many have you had?! You had one before and then one in the kitchen..."

"Like two and a half pots since this morning," She shrugged. "No biggie. Normally, mom and I go through like eight or nine a day together."

"You what!?" Damon shrieked.

Tatum waved him off.

"Well, I gotta go. There are honorary siblings to attend to and issues to be worked out. And don't fret princess, I'm a caffeine addict by blood."

Speaking of honorary siblings...

Tatum was walking out of the house when she received a text message from her cousin, Elena.

annoying cousin #1

meet me at the tomb

tate the terror

fuck no

you're actually the stupidest person i've ever met

annoying cousin #1

you don't even know why

tate the terror

you want to talk to the vampire who you are a carbon copy of

annoying cousin #1

no

tate the terror

i've known you since you were a baby. and unlike you, I actually possess a brain

annoying cousin #1

I have a brain

tate the terror

you don't use it;)

annoying cousin

please🥺🥺

i'll buy you one of expensive lattes you like

tate the terror

why didn't you lead with that lol

i'll be there

and don't ever use that emoji again or i'll break your phone😝😝😘

annoying cousin #1

🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

tate the terror

I stg

annoying cousin #1

my phone is still intact 🫣🫣

also, bring caroline

tate the terror

not that she has to attend school or anything

annoying cousin #1

she's basically the top of our class. she'll be fine

tate the terror

don't be a bitch

xoxo

"Cățea," Tatum muttered, stuffing her phone back into her pocket. [Bitch.]

~~~~~

"Well, hello, stupid."

Elena rolled her eyes at her cousin.

"Don't you dare roll your eyes at me, Lena," Tatum pointed a finger at her. "I am only calling it like I see it, which means that you can't be annoyed at me about it. Also! Before you even think about arguing with me and saying some bullshit about this isn't stupid and how you "need" answers, don't even bother. Because you know what? This is stupid, talking to Katherine is stupid, and you most certainly are stupid," Tatum rushed out her little rant all in one breath as she waved her hands around dramatically.

Elena blinked.

She looked at Caroline.

"Don't look at me."

Elena looked back at Tatum.

"Don't look at me either."

"But—" Elena furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Look at the sky, the bushes, the trees—oh! You could also look at that little squirrel that is running across that tree branch," Tatum pointed to the furry little creature. "Going, going, going, and he's outta here. Just like your sanity," Tatum finished off and turned to Elena with a sickly sweet smile.

"You're so sweet."

"Oh, I know."

Caroline sighed, "You guys are insufferable."

The blonde looked at Elena.

"You say thank you to Tatum and to me that we even bothered to show up. After all, you quite literally had to like bribe Tatum to come here with coffee, and I was at school, you know, the place where we both should be instead of roaming around in the forest next to some creepy old ruins."

"And you," Caroline turned to Tatum, "don't be so upset. You're getting to annoy Stefan, a free meal, a free coffee, and the pleasure of having my company."

"Ah, yes. Annoying Stefan is a favorite pastime of mine."

"Don't be mean to him, Tate," Elena warned.

A grin spread across Tatum's face, "You don't have a choice. You want my help and Stefan has to pay the sacrifice for it."

"Fine," Elena sighed. "Just don't annoy him too much."

"No promises."

Caroline's eyes bounced back and forth between the two of them. Sometimes when she watched the two of them argue, she swore they were more like siblings rather than cousins.

"Uh, by the way, before you go off into the creepy old tomb guns blazing and demanding answers, can I borrow your phone?" Tatum questioned.

"What's wrong with yours?"

"Mine died because of all your incessant texting. So can I?" Tatum held her hand out.

"Sure."

Elena thought nothing of it as she placed her phone in Tatum's waiting hand.

"Thanks."

Tatum chucked the phone into the nearest tree.

It shattered and fell to the ground.

"What the hell!"

"I told you not to use that emoji."

Elena narrowed her eyes, "Bitch."

"Takes one to know one."

Caroline huffed in annoyance, "You guys are literally children.

~~~~~

Stefan Salvatore.

Tatum's current victim.

"Have you ever thought of what would happen if you stabbed something wooden through your eyeball like a, uh, a, uh," Tatum snapped her fingers excitedly when she remembered the word she was trying to din, "a toothpick! Or better yet a skewer or something?"

Stefan stared at her with a complete and utter look of disbelief as he watched her take a sip of pink lemonade she had ordered.

"Uh...it'd hurt?" He answered, hoping it was the last of her questions.

She had already asked him about what a bunny tasted like, if he had killed Bambi, and which would hurt worse: stepping on Legos or getting staked in the foot. She had promptly disagreed with his answer when he had replied with getting staked in the foot.

Legos were created by Satan.

Those tiny little–

"Do you think forest animals can talk to each other?" She then asked as she dipped a fry in ketchup and popped it into her mouth. "Like when you kill one of them, do you think they throw funerals for each other? Or are you ever worried that they are going to band together one day and attack you? Vampire attacked by a furry little band of creatures?"

Caroline stifled her laughter behind her hand.

As much as she was stressed about missing school, the blonde had to admit that distracting Stefan wasn't the worst thing in the world, especially since Tatum was the one doing it with her. With all the questions her friend was spewing out, she hardly even had time to stress about the work she was missing or the fact that Tyler was not a werewolf.

"As enlightening as this conversation has been, Tatum, Caroline, I thought you two had something actually important to talk about!?" Stefan exclaimed. "Because Elena hasn't been answering my calls all day and I am really worried about her."

Her phone was sort of broken.

It was smashed against a tree.

The thought made Tatum smile.

Good times.

Anyhoo, on to the next topic at hand.

A very important one this time.

"Do you view yourself as Prince Charming when it comes to my cousin?" Tatum tilted her head slightly as if she was thinking. "Or more of like a Flynn Ryder type deal? You know, 6'3'', floppy hair, dazzling smile, bad boy?"

She squinted her eyes and then changed her mind.

"Actually, that would be more a Damon type thing if we had to assign names to people...not that he entirely matches the profile either. But for you, Prince Charming is exactly what you are. Boring, straight to the point, bland...." She trailed off before she popped three fries into her mouth before downing it with a big bite of her burger that she had just received.

"No offense, hairspray," She added.

Stefan stared at her, unbothered.

He wondered what the hell went on inside her head.

"Are you going to talk about whatever you needed to talk about?" He asked, once again trying to steer the conversation back to something actually important.

"Oh right!" Caroline exclaimed. "Tyler is a werewolf. He triggered his curse the night of the masquerade ball."

"We already knew that Caroline."

"Oh! I also told him about me," Caroline added with a shrug before she looked back towards Tatum, who was drinking her lemonade after she had finished the burger she had ordered.

"You did what!? He could expose us all, Caroline! What were you thinking?"

"Quit yelling at her, Charming," Tatum interjected as she fiddled with her sweatshirt sleeves that kept getting caught on the braces on her arms. "You literally only hear what you want to hear. She said about herself, prost." [Dumbass.]

"Fine," Stefan sighed, glancing back at Caroline. "And you told me because you don't want Damon to do anything to him?"

Caroline shook her head, "We all know that Damon would probably listen to Tatum more than he would listen to you, so no, not really. Unless, it was like a two against one type of feal, but then again, Tate sort of hates Tyler....and his mom..."

Tatum nodded along with her words.

She did not like Tyler.

Or his mother.

She especially didn't like Mrs. Lockwood.

Stefan stared at the two girls, entirely confused as to why he was brought here. "Then why..." He trailed off his question when his gaze drifted towards Tatum, who was staring intently at him as if she were deep in thought. "What?"

He already knew he was going to regret asking.

"Vampires only function like humans when they have enough blood, right? So if you don't get enough blood, would you have performance issues? Like, would you not be able to get it up?"

Stefan groaned in annoyance. He definitely regretted asking what she was thinking.

"This is such a waste of my time. I'm going to find Elena," He announced, getting up from where he was sitting. He began walking away only to hear Tatum call out from behind him.

"Would Viagra help!?!!"

Stefan rolled his eyes as he exited the building.

Meanwhile, a few of the occupants that sat next to Tatum turned towards the ginger, giving her an odd look. Tatum merely shrugged them off as she began to order another round of fries and a second pink lemonade.

It wasn't like she had anywhere else to be that day.

~~~~~

[the day tatum graduated]

Jenna stepped back into the decoration filled house. Decorations for a party for a person that was not going to be in attendance. A house that was going to be a whole lot quieter now that Tatum was gone—now that both of her children were gone, really.

As soon as Tatum had told her what had happened, Jenna had helped her back and then dropped her off at the airport as fast as possible.

If Tatum said jump, Jenna would ask how high.

Vice versa.

While Jenna would do anything for Tatum, Tatum would do anything for mom.

"Hey, Jen. Where have you been?"

Jenna tossed her car keys to the side before she walked into the house and saw both Miranda and Grayson standing in the kitchen. She glanced up the ceiling, already knowing an argument was going to ensue. After all, Miranda never really approved of anything her younger sister did, especially when it came to Tatum and Sebastian.

"The airport."

"Doing what?"

God, it felt like she was a teenager being scolded again.

"Dropping Tatum off," Jenna shrugged. "She wanted to get a head start on her New York adventure before the flights got all crazy, you know."

"But what about the party, Jenna?" Miranda was getting frustrated. "We spent a fortune on this. All the decorations and catering and—"

"Correction," Jenna interrupted. "I spent a fortune on all of it. I bought all the decorations and hung them up. I planned all the catering and paid the company for it. You did nothing for it. So, please, stop trying to make me feel bad for the choices my kid and I have made."

"Jenna..."

"Spare me the judgment, Miranda. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Jenna turned around and made her way up the stairs. As she got to the bottom of the steps, she heard someone call her name out, stopping her.

"Jenna!"

"Grayson."

"It isn't like Tatum to skip out on a party. What happened?"

"Her, uh, she and her boyfriend broke up."

That was the polite way to put it.

"That's all?"

"Of course it is," Jenna replied. "She got her heart broken by a boy for the first time. She didn't feel as if she wanted to go to a party and celebrate after that."

"So she just skipped town?"

"Yes. We both agreed that leaving was the best thing for her.  She—Why do you even care?' Jenna questioned her brother-in-law.

Grayson watched her for a moment. He had never fully trusted Jenna or her husband, Aaron. Maybe that was because the two of them willingly associated with the supernatural—or that Jenna had chosen to marry someone who was part werewolf and part freak. His only hope had been that his niece and nephew had turned out differently.

He shrugged, "Just a concerned uncle, you know?"

Jenna stared at him with a blank look.

What complete and utter bullshit.

"Look, Jen, I didn't want to mention it in front of Miranda, but Tatum lost control, right? Something happened and she blew up? I mean, it was only a matter of time."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I didn't mean it in any way," Grayson sighed. "I'm just saying, maybe your parents were right, you know? Having two kids was a lot to take on, especially now that you're on your own. It makes sense that Tatum sometimes doesn't react correctly–"

"Excuse me?" Jenna whisper-shouted, trying not to involve her older sister. "Where the hell do you get off trying to–"

"I was just trying to help," He interrupted. "Instead of sending Tatum off into a world that she could hurt, she could have stayed here. The studies my team and I done could have helped—"

"Your studies?" Jenna questioned, incredulously. "You mean your creepy vampire basement experiments? The ones were you torture vampires yo get information?"

"It's not like that. Tatum's family. I would never—"

"Right," She interrupted once more. "Tatum's family and you, you are never going to touch her. She is never going to become one of your science experiments, understood? So help me god, for as long as I live, you are never going to touch my daughter, understand?"

Grayson chuckled, finding her amusing.

It only pissed Jenna off more.

The mother grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and roughly pushed him up against the front door of the house. "I really don't care that you married my sister. I don't have to respect you just because you have never shown me or my husband or my kids any respect either. So, let's try this again, you will never even think about touching my kids again, understood?"

Grayson weakly nodded.

"Glad we got that figured out, Gray. Now, you better freshen up because we have a party to attend."

Jenna gave him one final shove before she walked up the stairs.

~~~~~

Tatum had spent the remaining hours of the day at the Mystic Grill.

Plotting.

Planning.

Figuring her life out.

Her bubbly blonde had left soon after Stefan had because she wanted to attend the rest of the school day. Tatum, on the other hand, had decided that she would figure out how she was going to solve her little power problem.

And she had a plan.

During all of this, she had finished off her third basket of fries, her fourth pink lemonade, and a second burger.

The food helped her think.

Yeah, yeah.

Once she finally had a little plan created, she had decided that she had enough of the local townspeople, she grabbed her bag and made her way out of the establishment. However, as she was doing so, she bumped straight into someone. Her arms burned from the impact and her eyes flashed a brief red, her powers aching to come out.

"Unbelievable," She heard a man mutter, making her head whip towards him.

His appearance was rather put together. He was an older man with darker skin. He had little hair and a short beard. Both were dark with speckles of gray and silver spotted throughout them.  His eyes were a deep brown color.

He looked like should have been wearing glasses.

Shut up.

Just saying.

Everything about him seemed normal, like an average father; however, there was an unmistakable crazed look in his eyes as he looked down at her. She watched as his lips twitched up into a grin the more he looked at her.

Absolutely not.

"Sorry," Tatum quickly muttered as she walked around him and rushed out of the building.

The man inside stared after her.

~~~~~

In an apartment on the outskirts of Mystic Falls, two men and a teenage boy sat inside of it. One was the man from the Grill, the teenage boy was his son, and the other man was a thousand year old vampire dressed in an expensive suit.

"She's supposed to be a myth. A being of spontaneous creation," The crazed look was still in his eyes as he began speaking. "One that can create matter out of nothing. A witch not tied to the power of any coven. One that does not need spells or incantations nor have a restriction to the amount of magic they can possess..." The older man, Jonas, babbled on and on.

"What are you talking about, dad?"

"The Scarlet Witch. The Harbinger of Chaos. She's here, here in Mystic Falls."

Elijah's eyes widened considerably at the news. Throughout the whole course of his life, he had believed that the myth of the Scarlet Witch was simply that—a myth. His whole family had believed this. After all, none of them wanted to entertain the idea that there was a being in the world that could harness enough power to kill him and his family without the white oak stake.

"Do you know who she is?" Luka asked his dad.

Jonas sighed, "I asked around, not knowing who she was at first. Eventually, I figured out that the girl's name is Tatum Sommers."

Tatum Sommers.

The girl with the doppelganger.

The doppelganger's cousin.

Elijah's lips twitched up into a small smirk.

If his brother, Niklaus, needed the doppelganger to complete the ritual, then he was also going to have to deal with the doppelganger's cousin. Tatum Sommers. The Scarlet Witch. A being that was believed of being able to take down an Original. A being that Elijah wanted to have on his side. It seemed easy enough.

Oh, how wrong he was going to be.

~~~~~

a/n: hello lovelies:) i was wondering why this was taking so long to write and then when i finished, i realized it was almost 9k words. so have fun ig.

lucas and tatums break up was finally revealed cause i never did it in the last version.

jenna being the best mother>>>

shed be so hot as a vamp tbh

and im filling in plot holes from last version with the reason why tatum never used her powers despite the fact that she has had them since she was a child. and btw, she will deal with it in a chapter or two. then she shall be op but whateves

also my break is almost over and i may cry about it.

please dont be a silent reader. vote and comment.

stay safe and love you lots<33