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Happy Halloween! I hope I haven't scared everyone off already! There's a bunch of new characters this chapter which more will be revealed about them as we go. I did reference an actual yacht in this chapter, but I took artistic liberties in its description due to the limited information online about it. I hope everyone enjoys! Let me know who's your favorite new character so far.

"These creatures have very particular abilities. They're the best at what they do." – Kol Mikaelson

[Pitbull - Fireball]

Standing on the deck of the Equanimity, Charlotte got a lot more "boat" than he eluded to earlier. Truthfully, she had never even imagined being on such a ship in her lifetime. It was something of exotic and luxurious travel shows. She didn't even know there was such thing as a "superyacht" class until Charlotte saw the ship that Kol chartered for their journey at the dock. When she asked him about it, he simply shrugged his shoulders and smirked, "Why fly when you can yacht?"

The ship itself was over ninety meters long. It came with a dozen and a half human staff members. At first Charlotte thought it was too many, but knowing Kol, not that many would make it to Cuba. It had a three tiered deck, including room for a helipad. Kol pouted a bit that the trip was too short noticed to get the helicopter too, but Charlotte wasn't particularly upset.

It was from the top tier that Charlotte watched the departure preparations. It was easy to pack for Cuba, being another tropical environment. Stocking of the ship was another matter. She watched the servants moving food and equipment onboard. One particular piece included a gleaming black coffin for Elijah. Charlotte wasn't sure when exactly Kol planned on undaggering him, if ever.

Charlotte found out what Kol meant by bringing some friends when several black SUVs pulled up to the private tier. She didn't think it was any coincidence that the rest of the marina was empty during their departure preparation. She gripped the hand railing while watching six figures pile out of the vehicles, an assortment of individuals she would never have paired to be in the same group. There was some milling about the vehicles as some sought out their luggage from the trunks and others expected the ship crew to assist them.

Charlotte cocked her head at them. The first couple looked to be human and ordinary at first place. One was a man in his mid-forties with dark sunglasses and a heavy tan. He had a slick bald head and didn't seem to stand out much compared to the normal crowd of people in a white shirt and tan shorts. The man next to him however was very tall, well over six foot with lanky, long limbs. He had a curly mop of blond hair. He had a sloppy grin while he tucked several suit cases under each arm as if they were nothing.

"What do you think?" Kol's voice spoke up next to Charlotte as he came out on the deck. He had two Mimosas in hand to kick off the morning. He offered one out to Charlotte. She nodded appreciatively and noted the pink tinge before taking a sip.

"The ship is amazing," She admitted frankly, knowing that failed to describe it properly. She didn't even want to know how much it took to charter it, never mind buy it.

"Who are these people?" Charlotte nodded towards the arriving guests. The man she was staring at now had the blackest skin she ever seen. And she didn't mean that to be taken in any other way than the fact he was skin was unnaturally dark as the deepest shadows. Even more, his flesh appeared to have red cracks that ran like veins, especially from his hands. It reminded her of cooling lava.

"Gloria told me to bring friends," Kol shrugged. The hand that offered her the drink down fell casually on her lower back while he stood at the railing with her.

"These creatures have very particular abilities," He said and Charlotte noticed the way he called them creatures and not people. "They're the best at what they do in this hemisphere." His eyes were watching the only visible female among the crowd with had the train of a cyan dress trailing behind her with servants carrying her suitcases as she ascended the bridge to the ship with the others in toe. Charlotte eyed the remaining ones apprehensively.

"I suppose you could say they're my A-Team," Kol grinned.

Charlotte gave a faint chuckle and half smiled before shaking her head. She was wondering what exactly she was getting herself into. She felt his thumb moving lightly on her back, but she didn't move away from him.

"Relax, darling," Kol said aloud, seeing the worry in her expression from the corner of his eye.

"I'm going to talk to the captain about getting this ship moving while everyone is unpacking, okay?" He said to her.

Charlotte nodded, "Okay."

Instead of just leaving, Kol leant down and pressed a kiss against her temple. It was a fleeting gesture, but it left her staring after him when he left. She bit her lip in thought. She had her share of what she called normal days with him, but in the past, there were the inhumane ones too. Those days made it easier to emotionally distance herself from him when he acted that way. But she had been seeing less and less of those days since she got back. It was getting harder.

While everyone was getting settled, Charlotte took to exploring the ship and getting her bearings. It still amazed her that she was on a private yacht big enough that she could explore and avoid seeing the other guests entirely. Her mouth was hanging open most of the time as she wandered through the full dining room indoors that had a wall of windows with the Brazilian horizon in the distance. There were nine sleeping cabins and they wouldn't even fill all of them. Needless to say, Kol went overboard, but Charlotte suspected that was a trait that ran in the family.

It didn't long before she heard the humming of the engines come to life. She wondered if the humans could hear it as loudly as her. After which, the yacht began to move away from the dock. Charlotte went out to the second tier was there was an open seating area. She wasn't the first to get the idea. Slowly, one by one the guests were drawn to the noise of the others. Servants dressed in light blue polos opened several bottles of champagne.

Charlotte wasn't sure what they were celebrating, so she hung back from joining in. It gave her a chance to get a look at the two other guests. One was an African man with a suit on that she could only guess to be stifling in this weather, but it was cut with quite a bit of flare and a wide collar. He had an oversized top hat cooling his face and he constantly chewed on an unlit cigar.

The last guest Charlotte wasn't entirely sure if they were male or female. They had an angular jawline and a sharp nose. Their eyes were dark, but quite soft and skin delicate. They had narrow shoulders and a petite build. For the moment, they didn't seem overly intimidating and they were dressed simply in flip flops with a flower shirt. She guessed they were probably from out of town brought in last minute.

"Now, that everyone is here," Kol's voice came from the stairs leading up to the top deck, having stepped out from the helm. "And our course has been set for Cuba, I believe some introductions are in order." He took two champagne glasses from a servant's tray after noticing Charlotte lacking one.

"After all, some of you may know each other," He grinned, glancing around at his six guests, not counting Charlotte. "And others, it has been a long time."

"You all know who I am," Kol proceeded, looking at the half circle of people. His eyes settled on his left, the other woman. "But remind us who you are and what you're here for."

The woman raised her eyebrows. There was a cough and silent shifting at the introduction requests. "Okay then…" She clicked out. She had steely blue eyes that stood out against her dark complexion. Charlotte could tell if they were natural or maybe contacts. "I am Juliana and I'm a Seerer," She stated curtly.

"A Seerer?" The tall one spoke up, sounding like he could still be in college.

"Ela é uma bruxa," The bald man answered him.

"I said Seerer," Juliana corrected him with a hiss.

Charlotte's eyebrows rose at the glare Juliana shot the two men. Kol just smirked and nodded at the ambiguous leaning against the railing behind her to go next.

He cleared his throat and stood up, "Hey everyone… Good to see you again," He earned a few nods from the others, eying them up individually. "I'm Camden, well just Cam… and I'll be your board chameleon," He grinned.

"A chameleon?" Charlotte spoke up with skepticism.

"He's a shape shifter," Kol answered her frankly. "He can imitate the characteristics of other creatures."

Charlotte frowned at him uncertainly. She hadn't considered that there might be other creatures that go bump in the night besides vampires and werewolves. As if to prove his point, Cam flashed her a broad smile. In that smile, she saw his canines elongate before her eyes and his cheeks flare up with thick fur.

In a blink, they were gone and Charlotte had to bite back her first thoughts of it.

"Very funny," The tall guy snapped at Cam. The shape shifter stuck his tongue out at him, which Charlotte thought was spilt for a moment.

The tall one waved a hand dismissively at him before addressing the group. "I'm Victor… and I'm a werewolf," He shrugged as if it was that simply, but it left Charlotte wondering if there was more to it.

"I'm sure you've all missed me terribly," The lava skinned one spoke up. The whites of his eyes and his smiling teeth contrasted so brightly it gave his features an impish look to them. The pupils of his eyes were as red as his hands. "Except you, belo," He focused on Charlotte, he stood up.

"I would have remembered you," He approached her with a hand out politely. His eyes dropped down to her chest, but not in the typical sexual manner she would've expected.

Before he could get too close, Kol stepped forward and backed him up by the throat. "Hands off, Diego," He growled at him.

Despite the lethal glare he was receiving, Diego simply smiled with the crushing grip on his throat. There was a crackling in the air and a wisp of red smoke. He disappeared from Kol's grip and reappeared on the other side of Charlotte, causing the vampire to nearly jump out of her skin.

"The name's Diego," He tried to offer his hand out to her again.

Charlotte froze and put another step between them. "What are you?" She blurted out rudely before she could help it.

Kol growled out, "He's a foul -"

"Fiend!" Diego corrected over him, raising a finger like his tone in a singsong manner. "Truly, friend… Demon is so derogatory and implies such evil. We can be wicked, but evil is just offensive." He went on as if it was a crucial distinction.

It was lost on Charlotte as her mind started going into overdrive.

"Wicked nuisance is what you are!" The man in the top hat spoke up, rolling the cigar in his teeth with a yellowish smile.

Diego's eyes flickered down to the way Charlotte didn't move towards him. She figured there was a reason why Kol was looking like he would pounce if he tried to touch her again, so she didn't. The imp gave up, his eerie cheer undeterred and gave the cigar man a guilty as charged shrug.

"My name's Matheus, also a witch," He addressed everyone, receiving a roll of her eyes from Juliana and other nods. "With a specialization in necromancy."

Charlotte's eyes grew wide, but she held her tongue. She vaguely heard the term in fairytales and was worried about finding how much of those tales were true.

"My friend here is Felipe," He nodded to the bald one. "He's all human and doesn't speak a lick of English. But he knows Cuba, he knows the cartels and the people." After all, every good team needed an inside man.

"Eu não estou bêbado o suficiente para colocar-se com você extravagâncias," Felipe muttered so quickly. Charlotte didn't have a chance of understanding him, but it earned a round of chuckles from the rest of the group, including a small smirk from Kol.

"But the question is," Matheus pulled the cigar out of his mouth to point at Charlotte, "Who the hell are you?"

All eyes moved towards her and Charlotte could feel herself getting a little shorter from the pressure. "I'm Charlotte," She said simply and choked at what to say. What made her special enough to be amongst this group?

"Congratulations," Cam jeered, "And I'm Cyndi Lauper on the weekends."

That comment another round of laughs, except Kol. The amusement was quickly slipping off his expression.

Felipe nudged Matheus, speaking on the side even though everyone could hear him, "Quem convidou a garota branca?"

"Não faço ideia, ela é tímida como um Coelho," Matheus answered him, his eyes passing Charlotte up and down.

"We don't care what you're called. What can you do?" Juliana asked bluntly.

Charlotte felt herself getting flustered between all the eyes on her and trying to keep up with the voices she didn't quite understand.

"Aquelas mãos macias não são para a luta, mas eu posso pensar em alguma coisa que ela pode conter," Felipe jeered, eying Charlotte up.

"Enough!" Kol's voice bellowed over the group, fuming and itching to kill something. He had tried to hold back for her sake, but he couldn't let it go any further.

"Charlotte is an Original," He declared formidably and that silence the entourage immediately. For that moment, all she heard was the breaking of the water surface and the humming of the engines. "I suggest you show a little respect."

Cam and Victor looked like school boys who had just been put into detention. Diego seemed giddy from all the tension. Matheus just about swallowed his cigar. Felipe adverted his eyes immediately, muttering, "Oh merda…"

"You're an Original?" Juliana was the one to speak first, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.

Charlotte settled for a nod.

"Why haven't we heard of you before?" As far as any of them knew, there was only one female Original.

"I don't see why your ignorance concerns us," Kol replied to her in a condescending manner. He glanced around at the group, "I think we all know better to allow ignorance to govern our skepticism of legends. It's always been the legends we haven't heard of that have been the most dangerous, have they not?"

He didn't earn any objectives and Charlotte let out a relieved sigh.

"Now, that being said," Kol went on, taking command of the conversation once again. "I suggest you all to enjoy your stay on the Equanimity before we get to Cuba… And I'm sure some of you may have sensed the extra cargo on board."

Charlotte wondered what he meant by sensed and just how far some of the other's abilities went, but didn't dare to interrupt.

"And tomorrow it will be awakened. I'm sure some of you remember my dear brother, Elijah," Kol stated truthfully with a sneer of sarcasm. Diego continued smiling broadly while the Cheshire cat on Christmas. "So it will be no surprise to you that his attendance is not voluntary."

"But I want you to remember why we're here… how we have come together," As Kol continued to speak, Charlotte was drawn in. There was a respectful pride in the way he looked at them. It was different than the way he treated Lucy. "And remember that Elijah may be my brother."

Kol then raised his glass, looking around the group of unusual eccentric gathered on the yacht, "But… Estou com a minha família."

Even Charlotte understood the meaning behind his words as the tension eased up and they toasted to family.