CAPTURED MY HEART, BODY & SOUL [1]

41 : JUST LIVE

        Alaric Saltzman's funeral had been a small affair, held at the cemetery with only a few selective people present, the memorial at the school being attended by most of the student body, since many of the students remembered him fondly and had been saddened at hear about his death. Charlie was at least told that, by Lily, since she had chosen not to go to either one, not going to see her fallen friend's grave until after she knew everyone was gone. It became a common occurrence for her over the following week, as she tried to get back to normal. It didn't feel possible. Having no clue on what to do next and what to expect from what is apparently going to be a short life, Charlie found herself going to Alaric's grave every night, with a book or her laptop and phone, trying to find out how she could survive past age thirty.

It was strangely comforting, even if it was a constant reminder of how lonely she felt.

Her mother had all but confirmed Albus's words regarding the family curse, via Louis, and so she couldn't pretend that there was a possibility of it being real. If that was a case, then she needed to find a solution, or at least, anything she could about it, before she went searching outside of Mystic Falls. Her mother could have died for this, she went looking and she just never came home. Charlie couldn't just leave Mystic Falls, so as of right now, she was just trying to forget everything that had happened the last few weeks...or rather the last few years. If she thought too hard about all the people that wasn't with her anymore, she would feel her heart breaking too much, even if she knew she couldn't compare losing Elijah to losing Alaric and her parents. Maybe because they were gone forever, or because he chose to leave her.

The funeral for Pastor Young and those that died at the farm was being held that day, but Charlie didn't know if she wanted to go. She found out through Stefan that the whole farmhouse had exploded the same night that Damon, Matt, Lily and Louis had gone to save the others, and Liz apparently had suspected Damon at first. It wouldn't surprise Charlie if it genuinely was him, but she hadn't cared enough to question it. Pastor Young wasn't someone she was overly familiar with, and she decided not to get too involved with the circumstances that surrounded it because it was no doubt going to come and bite her in the ass. So while she got dressed in a simple black dress that morning, since she knew Lily was going with Louis and Jeremy, she found herself right back at Alaric Saltzman's grave, instead of heading to the church like she should have. She knew she should have gone with her sister, but for whatever reason, she dreaded the idea of sitting amongst those grieving people and pretending her life had changed at all with Pastor Young's death. It would be a lie.

"I figured you'd be here," she cursed Drew for making her jump as he held his hands out to her, as if to signify he had come in peace. "The funeral's starting soon."

"I'm not going," she returned her attention to the spell book she had been given by Sasha, who had been willing to help her in exchange for a future favor, should she still be alive by then. Those were the redhead woman's words, if she was still alive. The fact that Sasha wasn't a witch hadn't stopped her from having grimoires and books that contained knowledge that Charlie knew not even Bonnie knew about. Sasha's willingness to aid her stemmed from the condition that all contact happened over the phone, or through mail, and she was never allowed to bring a vampire near her. Charlie agreed to that.

"You got dressed," Drew sat opposite her, his brown eyes lingering over Alaric's gravestone for a moment before returning to her face. He was wearing a suit and tie, black, telling her his intention to go to the funeral. "You clearly wanted to go."

"Why are you going? You hardly knew Pastor Young either."

"Louis remembers his kid, so Maggie's taking him." He swallowed. "I promised to be there more, if I survived Klaus dying. I survived, and even if it's because Klaus didn't die, I want to keep to that."