Chapter Text
beep beep beep beeeeeeep.
At 1:57 on May 23rd, 2019, Charlie Haynes died at the age of 29 after having been in a car wreck. It was raining and she hydroplaned right off Flat Bridge trying to avoid a couple holding hands in the middle of the road. She hadn’t been able to release her seatbelt and unfortunately drowned.
She had lived in Covington for the past 5 years having moved around for most of her adult life. She was about to settle down and marry her Fiancé Jered. She had gotten a job as a writer at a local paper. They just adopted a black kitten named Katerina. They had plans to go house hunting the next day, because it was Saturday and Jer was off work. She had the rest of her life planned out. But fate had other plans.
Beeeeeeep beep beep beep beep.
At 1:57 on May 23rd, 2009, Charlie Gilbert’s heart picked back up again after having flatlined twice. Once in the ambulance and once on the table. It took her two days to wake up.
“Lena what if she doesn’t wake up.” Jeremy asked the middle Gilbert as they watched over their sister. It had been a long 48 hours, having lost his parents and having to watch both of his sisters laying in hospital beds, one still hadn’t woken up yet. He was tired, the only sleep he’d had was a smattering of fifteen-minute naps in at least three different waiting rooms.
“Don’t think like that Jer, the doctors said that this is normal. We still have a week before we should be concerned.” Elena hugged her brother and did her best to comfort him.
As Charlie regained consciousness, she realized immediately that something was wrong. She was in a hospital bed by the sounds of the heart monitor, and the feel of the sheets. She heard a familiar voice say the name Jer, thank goodness. As long as Jered was here everything was gonna be ok.
Had she been in a coma? She kept getting flashes of what must be an intricate dream. She really shouldn’t have binged TVD but after her best friend Jessica, and her fiancé Jered tricked her, she couldn’t stop watching.
She realized she should probably give opening her eyes a try, to give Jered and Jess some reassurance that she’d be ok. When she finally got her eyes open, she saw a girl that looked exactly like a teenaged Nina Dobrev. No, she looked like Elena Gilbert. Charlie froze, there was no way. No fuckin way this was real. She must be still asleep because this can’t be real. She looked to the girl’s right and saw a boy who looked like Jeremy Gilbert. She kept getting flashes of a life before. All of Charlie Gilbert’s memories. And dreams? Dreams of Katherine and her sister Marie. Did that mean there was another doppelgänger? Nothing was making sense.
“What in the isakei?” were the first words out of her mouth, which earned her two very confused glances, and for one of the siblings to press the nurse call button. It took her about three hours and two panic attacks to accept she wasn’t dead, and not only did she have multiple lives worth of memories, but she was also in the Vampire Diaries universe.
She took a deep breath and tried not to freak out. Maybe this was a dream, a very vivid dream, or maybe she was in a coma, she had been in a very bad accident. Charlie pinched herself multiple times and it always hurt. Charlie realized, if this was real, she was pre-pilot, she didn’t have time to do the whole ‘This can’t be real’ thing, vampires are real here, ignoring that fact will not make things better. She only had three months until the pilot, which is not a lot of time to prepare. So, she did what she always did in order to calm herself down, she made a list. She was going to have to make multiple lists, lists of things she needed to change, to keep, and what’s different because of her presence. She has to write her memories of the show, and the dreams of Charlie Gilbert’s that involved the new doppelgänger. A list of things she has to do before the brothers come into town, and a therapist. She was definitely going to need one of those, and a vampire to compel them not to put her in an psych ward. How very Klaus of her.
Last thing she remembered from this world was Damon trying to compel them and her pretending it worked. He had looked at them both like they had been ghosts. (Which in hindsight makes sense.)
Charlie was worried that her existence would change the plot too much and she wouldn’t be able to see what was coming. Although now, the dreams OC (Original Charlie) used to have we’re starting to make sense. She had a feeling they were visions of how history here was different with two doppelgängers.
About an hour after waking up and thirty minutes of lists, she decided she should get a little bit more rest before she started in earnest. But the next day, the next day she began her planning.