Tiberius Salvatore: The eldest brother

8

The next day, Rio set out planning. Today would be his 144th Wedding anniversary with Charlotte. First, he began with a call to one of his human contacts Alex to reserve a table for two at Ensnared, one of Charlotte's pet projects. Then he proceeded down the stairs, to make eggs with sausages and pancakes. Pancakes with a lot of maple syrup, that is. He got a blood bag from the fridge downstairs, and poured some in the cup, then put all of the food on a tray, including the half empty blood bag in case Charlotte wanted more. He went back upstairs to their room to see she was still asleep. Setting the food down on the table, he gently walked over and tried to wake her up.

"Lottie. Lottie darling, wake up." She gently stirred before turning away. Rio chuckled to himself before starting again. "Lottie, wake up. I have food."
"Just leave me alone." She murmured, half asleep.
"I have blood." That was all it took to wake her up. She sat up straight.
"Have I mentioned that I love you?" She told him, as she eyed the food he moved in front of her. "What on earth is all this for?"
"Don't tell me you've forgotten again."
"Forgotten what?"
"Our anniversary?"
"That's next week." She replied, eyebrows furrowed
"No, Lottie. It's today."
"Crap. I'm so sorry, my love. I forgot. I'm the worst wife ever."
"Yes you are. You're utterly horrendous. I'm ashamed!" Rio joked.
"Shush Ty, I'm really sorry."
"Lottie, my darling. We've had so many anniversaries. This is our 144th one, you're allowed to forget once or, well, twice. It's okay."
"But you've never forgotten. And I have. Twice."
"How can I forget the day I was lucky enough to marry you?"
"Stop being so sweet. You should scold me at least."
"How about this? Enjoy today, and we can scold you later."
"If you insist, now help me eat this breakfast. I can't eat all this myself."
"I'm sure you can."
"Are you calling me fat?"
"Of course not, I would never!" Rio and Charlotte laughed together, and made jokes throughout breakfast. Once they finished, Charlotte went to have a shower and Rio set down a rose scented note. When she came out, she walked over to her bed only to see the note Rio left her, and no sign of said man. It read,

Dearest Lottie,

Happy Anniversary my love. This note will be the first of many, so you should probably wear a practical outfit. The next note lies in the tree house I showed you. I'll see you soon my love.

Charlotte got out a pair of black pants, with a black vest complete with a red belt hung by the waist-band of her trousers. She headed to the vanity table and began brushing out her unruly hair. She decided to just tie it up in a bun, not bothered to take the time to curl it. She was curious as to what Tiberius had in mind. She ran to the woods, to the place Ty had shown her, just yesterday and stood in front of the tree house. She'd be lying if she said she immediately found the note. It actually took a while. This one read,

Lottie. Well done for finding this note. You've always been bad at seeing what was right in front of your eyes. Now go to the Mystic Grill. And yes, this was a wild goose chase. Hope the rose makes up for it.

She realised then there was a simple white rose on the ground where the note lay. She gently picked it up, smiling. and started walking back out of the forest. Irritated with the slow walking she ran the way to the Mystic Grill. The boy with the blonde hair was behind the bar.

"Hey there, Charlie right?" He asked. When she nodded, he brought her a note and started making a drink. "Your husband left that for you as well as this drink."

Got you your favourite bourbon. Thought it might be sad to lead you to a bar and not buy you a drink. So, right now at the corner booth there's a woman. She'll drive you somewhere. See you, love

Charlotte looked around only to see a woman wearing a short green dress. She sat alone, with a drink in hand, whilst everyone else were in pairs or groups, making her easy to spot. Heading over, Charlotte wondered why Ty would send a witch for her. The woman looked up, and smiled. "Are you Charlie?"
"One and Only." She replied.
"You're lucky, your husband is really pulling out all the stops, now come on." The woman dragged her out to a blue Maserati that had a huge bow over it.
"No way!" Charlie said, excited.
"Yes way. Here are the keys. Since it's your brand new car, I'll tell you where to go and you can drive."
"I love that man." She said, feeling happy. There was a note on the driver's seat.

I had a feeling you'd probably drive. I promise I actually payed for it. Open the glove compartment, there's a little something in there. There's a false back behind the gifts, too.

Charlie did so, only to find the glove compartment was filled with sweets, chocolate, and a small box. Upon opening it, she saw a beautiful diamond bracelet. The witch offered to put it on her and it fit. She carefully opened the false back at the end of the compartment to see it stacked up with blood. She squealed, it felt like Christmas.

"How long have you two been married now?" The witch asked.
"144 years today."
"Cute, it's rare to find a love that lasts one lifetime never mind 2."
"Well when you truly love someone, it doesn't stop. Any love that fades is no real love. Have you ever loved anyone?"
"Once, I thought I did. He was a vampire and I was a witch, which meant that we shouldn't have ever lasted. But I thought we could overcome any barrier. I knew him when he was a human, but I was stupid to think he didn't change. That he was still the old him."

"I'm sorry. But let me tell you something. Anytime a human turns into a vampire, they change. No matter what. They have to deal with harsher realities because they no longer have the ignorance of supernatural to hide behind. But that doesn't mean they're a completely different person."
"It's just, vampires encourage killing. You guys were human once. Why is killing humans justified?"
"It's not. My husband and I don't live that way. I won't lie. I killed someone once, more than once, but as a vampire you can't control bloodlust unless you have someone to help you. I was there from the very start for Ty, and he's never killed a human. Every time he fed as a new vampire, I could see him trying to stop. And every time he couldn't I was there to stop him. Eventually he learned to stop. We drink from humans, I won't lie, but we do it as a form of sustenance. We always heal them and compel them to forget. Ty is the good thing in my life, the purest person I know. I've killed before, when I was a vampire. I didn't have anyone to help me but I chose to shun that life, and I'm not the only one."
"I can't argue with that."
"Maybe your vampire just needs help."
"True, thanks. Anyways, today's a reminder of your big day. Not me and my boy troubles. Now drive. Head out of mystic falls."
"Will do. I never caught your name."
"I'm Aurelie. Aurelie Willow."