Fic: Original Sin (Katherine/Klaus, Katherine/Elijah)
Title: Original Sin
Author: lit_chick08
Warnings: hints of dub-con
Word Count: 5755
Spoilers: speculation on 2x19 “Klaus”
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters. They belong to LJ Smith, Kevin Williamson, and Julie Plec
Rating: PG-13 for language and non-graphic sexuality
Pairing: Katherine/Elijah, Katherine/Klaus
Summary: The story of how Katerina Petrova became Katherine Pierce
A/N: inspired by my speculations based off of these recently released pictures from 2x19 “Klaus”, which will undoubtedly be proven wrong in 2 weeks
When she first arrived in England, Katerina had nothing to her name. Survival became the name of the game, and if there was anything the Petrovas were known for, it was their ability to make the best of the bad situation. She spoke no English, she had only the dress on her back, and she knew not a single person in the entire country. And so Katerina did what she did best: she flirted.
Men didn’t care what language you spoke. Men didn’t care what sort of dresses you wore. Men didn’t care who you did and didn’t know. Men only cared how pretty your face was and how far you were willing to bend your virtue to please them.
Katerina had left her virtue in Bulgaria and everyone had always said Katerina Petrova was the prettiest girl in the village.
The maroon gown was a gift from a lover, a man old enough to be her grandfather who always treated her with more respect than the other men who came to call on her. She only understood every other word of what he said but he presented it with such pride Katerina couldn’t help but appreciate it. Most of the men brought her bread or maybe a coin; Katerina knew what a gown like that cost, knew it was the kind of gown the ladies who wouldn’t even look at her wore.
It didn’t quite fit; she had lost so much weight since coming to England, painfully underfed without her family’s crops to subsist off of. But she had traded another girl in the inn a jeweled hair comb she had stolen from one of the ladies at the market if she would help make the necessary alternations. By the time she was done, the gown fit Katerina like a glove.
It took hours to apply the hot irons to her hair and pin it up in an imitation of the ladies Katerina watched with envy. By the time she was done, Katerina knew she could pass for a respectful English lady, no hint of the despoiled Bulgarian peasant she had been.
The man who gave her the gown escorted her to a dinner party at the grandest home Katerina had ever seen. When she had stepped out of the carriage to see servants, to see the women outfitted far more grandly than she, Katerina knew she was woefully out of her depth. Her escort ordered her to stay silent unless directly addressed, and Katerina felt a clutch of panic; her English was nowhere near strong enough to converse and, even when she managed a complete sentence, her accent was painfully thick.
He left her to engage in a conversation with men by the fireplace and Katerina stood awkwardly near the wall, unsure what to do. Her studies of the English ladies never extended to social situations; someone like Katerina was not privy to those. And, when she drifted too closely to the women gossiping in small groups, Katerina was able to discern one of the words the women used to describe her: whore.
That was one word Katerina did not need a translation of; she was called it often enough.
Katerina lowered her head, suddenly horribly embarrassed by her simple dress, wishing she was back home where the other girls in the village were jealous of her, wished to be Katerina Petrova.
These women couldn’t even pronounce her name correctly.
It took her a moment to realize a man was standing in front of her, a tall man with the same dark hair as her own, dressed far more elegantly than her escort. He was speaking to her but Katerina did not recognize the words; as was her habit since arriving in England, she smiled and nodded encouragingly.
A confused look flitted across his features before he took her hand and pressed a kiss to the top of it. Katerina felt herself blush; none of the men she was used to dealing with would ever dare to kiss her hand when they knew she would allow them to kiss far more exciting parts of her body.
“I am Elijah,” the stranger said, his brown eyes gazing deeply into hers. “And you are?”
“Katerina,” she replied, struggling to pronounce it the way the girls in the inn said it.
She could instantly tell he was not fooled by her poor attempts at mimicry. “Katerina?” he echoed, his pronunciation so perfect it made her heart skip a beat. “Are you from Bulgaria, Katerina?”
It had been months since Katerina heard her mother tongue, a year since someone had spoken to her and she understood every word they said, a year since she knew she could say something in reply and have it be exactly what she wanted it to be. She hadn’t even realized how desperately she had missed it until this man - Elijah - switched into her language with such ease.
“Yes but I live here now. I am sorry my English is not better.”
Elijah smiled. “Nonsense. It took me years to master it. I am sure you will be its mistress in no time at all.”
“I must admit I am not the best student. I have so little patience; my mother always said it was my fatal flaw.”
“Patience comes with age,” he said, gesturing towards a servant who brought over two goblets of wine. “You are, what, my dear…six-and-ten?”
“Seven,” she corrected, brushing a curl back from her face, “but I am not a child, sir, I assure you.”
“I doubt anyone would mistake you for such, Miss Katerina.”
She liked talking to Elijah, who was the calmest, most even tempered man Katerina had ever met. Even when she was disagreeing with him, he seemed almost amused by it, encouraging her to loosen her tongue. After passionately describing all of the reasons England was far superior to Bulgaria, Elijah smirked and teased, “You would turn your back on your country so quickly?”
“They turned their back first,” she defended, sipping from her wine. “Where is your country, Elijah? Where is your home?”
“Oh, my home is long gone as well, my dear. This is my home now.”
“Such a grand home,” Katerina complimented, blatant envy in her voice. “I have never seen anything like this. You much be quite important here.”
“No, this belongs to my…brother. He is the important one. I am merely helping him in his endeavors.”
Katerina shook her head. “I do believe you lie to me, sir. I see the way the servants react to you. You can tell a lot about people by the way the servants act.”
“Can you?” Elijah gestured to their surroundings. “Do tell.”
Katerina inclined her head as if she was sharing a secret with her sisters. “The servants do not like the woman in the blue dress; they deliberately avoid her and when she is rude to them, they take sips from her cup and spit it back in. And they man by the window, the female servants keep a wide berth; he must touch them when others are not looking.”
“You noticed all of that in such a short amount of time?”
“People think you need to look to the powerful to understand what’s happening, but the servants, the ones you think are less than you, they are the ones who know all of the secrets and can be the strongest of ally for their loyalty is fierce. Surely a man of your standing knows that.”
Elijah smiled. “I am observant as well, Katerina, and I have noticed any time you say something you think I may find disagreeable, you wrap it in a compliment. Do you know what that tells me?”
Katerina straightened her spine, prepared for the worst. “What does it tell you, sir?”
“It tells me you are quite uncomfortable here, and you’ve no reason to be.” Gently clasping her hand, he declared, “As long as I remain here, you are welcome, Katerina.”
Before she could reply, she heard a loud, male voice bark Elijah’s name. Jerking in surprise and irritation, she spun to see a man in a blue with unkempt hair stalking towards them. His face was twisted in anger, and Katerina knew this must be the brother Elijah mentioned for no other man would dare behave this way if he was not the most important man in the room.
Katerina did not like the way he looked at her. It reminded her of the wolves in the forests at home, the way they would approach before an attack.
Like a candle going out, the man’s face suddenly changed, a smile Katerina recognized from her own face; it was the smile she gave men in hopes of distraction.
“And who is this?” the stranger asked.
Elijah inhaled sharply through his nose before he replied in Bulgarian, “This is Katerina. Katerina, this is my brother Klaus.”
“It is an honor to meet you, Katerina,” Klaus declared as he kissed her hand. There was nothing sweet or respectful in the gesture; this was purely about seduction, something Katerina had learned to spot with ease since her ruination so many months ago.
She returned his smile, not bothering to hide the mocking in her eyes as she normally would. “Why, the honor is all mine, sir. I am ever so grateful to be a guest here. Please accept my most gracious thanks.”
Klaus smirked, clearly having understood the true meaning of her words. Keeping his eyes on her, he said something to Elijah in a language Katerina did not recognize. Whatever was said, Elijah immediately inclined his head before bidding her goodbye and disappearing through a doorway. Katerina watched him go, sad to lose the first actual connection she had forged with someone since arriving in England.
“He will not marry you,” Klaus murmured into her ear, his accent so perfect Katerina could almost imagine she was home. “Even if he did desire to marry below his station, Elijah would still never be a viable option for your trickery. I suggest you continue to work on the man who brought you.”
Katerina felt the rage burn in her stomach but she simply turned her head to face him full on. “If I were to be husband hunting, would it not be you who would be my intended target? After all, Elijah does tell me you are the master of the house.”
“I am the master of many things, including your destiny.”
With a flirtatious smile, she quipped, “Then I must be the luckiest girl in all of England.”
Klaus’s lips turned up in amusement. “Oh, Katerina, we shall have much fun together.”
* * *
Elijah appeared at the inn the next day.
“You will come and stay with us,” Elijah explained. “There will be no reason for you to bring anything. Klaus has seen to it you will have more than enough.”
“I hope you will forgive me for speaking so frankly but am I to be his mistress? Is that the reason for this?”
Elijah shook his head. “You are to be whatever you wish to be.”
“I do not understand.”
“We would like the company.”
Katerina carefully raised her eyes to meet his gaze. “Do you wish to have my company as well?”
Elijah said nothing; instead, he rose from his chair and extended his hand.
Katerina took it.
* * *
Her bedchamber was larger than her family’s entire home. There were enough dresses in her closet to outfit all of her sisters for the rest of their lives. The servants would not meet her gaze and spoke to her with such deference Katerina could not help but look around to see who was standing behind her.
“Why, you could almost pass as a lady,” Klaus declared as he entered her chamber unannounced, startling Katerina who was admiring her reflection in the purple gown she had decided was her favorite.
“You surprised me, sir.” Turning to face him, she dropped into a small curtsy. “I must thank you for inviting me into your home. It is incredibly generous and I do not know how I shall repay your kindness.”
Klaus arched an eyebrow. “And how would you plan on repaying me, Katerina?”
She knew this dance; it was how she had survived this long. Slipping easily into the character of seductress, she glided across the floor and purred, “However you would like it.”
Katerina forced herself not to flinch when he cupped her face, drawing her nearer to him. His lips hovering over hers, he breathed, “If I wanted a slut, I would not have bought you dresses.”
She pulled back, stung deeply, tears flooding her eyes. Klaus did not seem to care she was upset; men never did.
“While you are in this house, you will conduct yourself as a lady. I do not care for gossip and I will not have the town whispering about any indiscretions you have. Tomorrow you will start classes with Rosemarie. She shall teach you what is expected of a woman. You will learn how a woman is to behave and your English will be flawless. If you cannot abide these terms, you can return to your brothel.”
Despite the fact her tears were overpowering her, her entire body shaking in confusion and offense, Katerina managed to gasp in her barely incomprehensible English, “I shall be a lady.”
Klaus smiled, patting her cheek affectionately. “Good girl.”
Katerina did not see him again for four months.
* * *
By the time Klaus, Elijah, and their men returned in the fall, Katerina was a completely different person. Rosemarie often told her she was an idiot and, while she had certainly struggled with certain aspects of her education, Katerina understood Klaus perfectly. Failure was not an option; she would rather die than return to sleeping with men for subsistence.
She wore a champagne colored gown which generously exposed her décolletage; her maid had gathered all of her hair into tight curls, pinning it to expose the long line of her neck. When she curtsied to the men as they entered the parlor, Katerina could not help but feel the rush of pleasure at the pleased expression of Klaus’s face.
“Welcome back, milord,” she greeted, her accent carefully crafted in imitation of Rosemarie’s. “Your presence has been greatly missed.”
Klaus accepted her hand, pressing a kiss to her hand before turning it and doing the same to her wrist. “I barely recognized you, Katerina.”
“Katherine,” she corrected, forcing herself not to look towards Elijah. “It is a more fitting name for a lady, is it not?”
It was not until after dinner Katerina was able to speak to Elijah alone. He had offered to escort her to her chamber while Klaus spoke with a collection of visitors in a room which was always kept locked. Katerina could hardly contain all she wanted to say to Elijah, who had barely looked at her since his arrival.
“Sleep well, Katherine,” he sighed before turning to leave.
Katerina reached out, stilling him with a soft hand on his arm. “You may call me Katerina. I would not mind at all.”
“But you are Klaus’s Katherine now,” he replied. For the first time since meeting him, his voice betrayed irritation; whether it was directed towards Klaus or herself, Katerina did not know.
“I could be your Katerina.” Stepping closer to him, her voice bare with longing, she murmured, “I missed you. You did not even say goodbye.”
Elijah raised his hand, tenderly caressing the her cheek with the back of his hand. Katerina’s eyes closed, leaning into the touch, shivering when his fingers traced the line of her neck, the curve of her collarbone, and the slope of her shoulder.
“You cannot be mine,” he sighed.
“But would you want me to be?”
Elijah did not answer; instead, he politely kissed her hand and disappeared down the hallway.
* * *
“Are you in love with him?”
Katerina looked up from the book she was reading - well, trying to read - and blinked in confusion at Klaus. “Am I in love with whom?”
“Why, Elijah, of course.” Dropping into a chair, he confided, “The servants say you watch him, ask after him. They seem to believe you are quite fond of him.”
Suppressing the fission of fear startling to unfurl in her stomach, Katerina shrugged with feigned nonchalance. “Elijah is good company. The ladies do not like me and the men are afraid to speak to me. Who would you propose I spend my time with?”
“The women are jealous and the men know I would kill them if they touched you,” Klaus answered easily, brushing dirt from his sleeve. “I do not particularly care with whom you spend your time. I was merely inquiring as to why you seek out Elijah instead of me. And do not lie,” he quickly added as she opened her mouth, already prepared to spin a convincing tale.
Marking her place in the book, Katerina swallowed hard before admitting, “I do not care for you.”
“You do not? And why is that? Do you not like your dresses, the jewelry, the food?”
“I like and appreciate it greatly but, as you were so quick to emphasize before you took your leave, you could have had me for much less. You say you do not want the men to touch me but you make no move to do so; you insist I act like a lady and then you refer to me as a peasant at every possible moment.”
“And your point?”
Her anger finally bubbling over, she snapped, “I ask for Elijah because he is a gentleman and the only person to show me any kindness! I do not know how someone so good can be a brother of yours.”
Klaus smirked. “Do you hate me, Katherine?”
“I despise the sight of you,” she growled, clenching her fists tightly.
Getting to his feet, Klaus reached over and tugged her to her feet. Katerina felt every muscle in her body clench, prepared for a blow or to be drug to the door and thrown outside. Instead he slid his hand beneath the heavy weight of her hair, bringing her against him firmly. His mouth was demanding atop hers, his teeth catching her bottom lip brutally before jerking away.
Katerina tasted blood in her mouth; when she touched her lip, her fingers came back red.
“Hate is the beginning of a love story, not the end.”
* * *
Elijah found her in the gardens, seated on the bench facing the house. It was Katerina’s favorite place on the estate during the summer; she forced Rosemarie to teach her lessons amongst the flowers. Now the flowers were gone, and Katerina was starting to wonder what exactly she had done by agreeing to stay here.
“You look deep in thought,” Elijah commented, taking a place beside her.
“I was thinking of home.”
“What about it?”
Katerina gestured to the beautiful emerald gown she wore. “This cost more than what my family earned in a year. I have four sisters and they will never own a gown like this. They are good, honest girls, and they will toil in the same exhausting existence as our mother.”
“Then you are lucky to have escaped such a fate.”
“They sent me away in shame,” she divulged in a small voice, the first time she had ever spoken of what transpired last autumn. “I do not know how lucky that makes me.”
“Regret is a useless emotion.”
“All emotions are useless emotions,” she huffed.
Elijah leaned away, merriment on his face. “Why, Katerina, you are far too young to be so bitter. You simply must cease being so melancholy. I will not stand for it.”
Despite herself, Katherine chuckled. “This coming from the most melancholy man I have ever known.”
“I am not melancholy.”
“Yes, you are! You always have this look upon your face.” Folding her face into an exaggerated imitation, she intoned in a deeper voice, “I am Elijah. I never smile in public and I act as if my brother is not the bane of my existence while I serve him faithfully.”
“Klaus is not the bane of my existence. I serve him out of love.”
“You love him no more than I,” Katerina stated definitively. “I told you the first time we ever spoke I am good at understanding what people do not say, and you do not like Klaus. Which makes me wonder…why do you stay here?”
Elijah frowned, looking off in the distance before returning his gaze to her. “I believe in honor; in the end, it is all a man has. Klaus saved my life, and, as such, I owe him fealty. Enjoying his company is not something which is required.”
“Is that why you…I mean to say…Would our relationship be different if you did not owe Klaus so much?”
Elijah looked pained as he laid his hand atop hers, squeezing it with surprising strength. “I cannot - “
“Katherine!” Klaus shouted, startling the two apart as he strode across the lawn. “Where have you been?”
Immediately Elijah was on his feet, offering up his apologies for detaining her. Katerina rose, carefully gathering her skirts and arranging her long, loose hair over her shoulders in a way Klaus always complimented.
“We shall go for a walk,” Klaus declared, taking hold of the hand Elijah had been sweetly clasping only a moment earlier.
As he dragged her down the path, Katerina looked over her shoulder, casting a mournful look towards Elijah, who stoically watched their departure.
* * *
Katerina discovered what they were purely on accident.
She had been restless one night, her body humming with energy. Before coming to England, her life had been extraordinarily physical; everyone in the Petrova family had to work for the good of the family and, while she had detested the work when it was required, Katerina now longed for the chance to exert herself. It was the worst part of being a lady, the uselessness.
She intended to sit on the bench in the gardens and enjoy the full moon when she noticed a fast movement on the edge of the lawn. Scared, Katerina had immediately hurried back towards the house when the weight hit her solidly in the back, sending her tumbling to the ground, hands grasping at her.
The scream left her body at the same time teeth tore into her throat. Katerina was certain she was going to die, the stars the only witnesses to her death, when the weight was suddenly gone, loud voices and growls reverberating throughout the night.
“Do you know what you have done?!” Klaus roared as Katerina struggled to focus. She did not know who he was yelling at; she wasn’t sure it even mattered.
Elijah entered her clouded vision, carefully cradling her head as he pressed his bleeding wrist to her lips. Katerina attempted to move her head, the taste disgusting her, but he whispered in Bulgarian, his voice remarkably calm, “Just a little, Katerina, just a little to make you strong again.”
Katerina dutifully swallowed, suddenly exhausted as she looked into Elijah’s eyes. As the world faded around her, she heard Klaus screaming, “She is the doppelganger!”
* * *
Katerina awoke to find Klaus at her bedside, her hand clasped between both of his, tension blatant on his face.
“What happened?” she rasped, her throat feeling painfully raw.
“Do not worry, my dear. He will never touch you again, I made sure of that.”
She struggled to a sitting position, resting heavily against the headboard. “He was not human.”
“No.”
Katerina struggled not to shake as she ventured, “You’re not human.”
He shook his head. “No.”
“What are you?”
“I am a vampire. But this does not change anything. Does it?” he added, a subtle threat in his voice.
Katerina shook her head, more convinced than ever she was trapped.
* * *
One evening, as Katerina was about to enter her bedchamber, one of the servants stopped her, explaining it was no longer her room. Confused, Katerina demanded to be taken to her new room.
She wasn’t sure why she was surprised the servant brought her to Klaus’s rooms.
Katerina knew it was always going to come to this.
He was waiting on the bed, naked to the waist, a goblet of wine in his hand. Katerina recognized the predatory look in his eyes, the same one she had seen on the first night, and she hated the way it made her shiver.
“I have been very patient,” was all Klaus said.
Katerina nodded, dutifully turning so he could undo the stays of her dress. As his practiced hands undressed her, Katerina forced herself to keep the tears at bay, hating the betraying response her body was having to his nearness.
“I do not have to be your enemy, Katherine,” he murmured against her neck, slipping his hands around her body to cup her breasts.
She wondered if that was what passed for a declaration of love in Klaus’s world.
* * *
One night, as Katerina was spread nude across the bed, Klaus teasing her body until she begged when someone knocked on the chamber door. Klaus called out for the person to enter before she could grasp the blankets and, when she saw Elijah, Katerina wished she could die of shame.
Her hands were halfway to the bedclothes when Klaus grabbed her wrist in an iron grip. “No.”
Her eyes grew big as she glanced at Elijah, who was averting his gaze, his jaw clenched tightly.
“Do not cover yourself,” Klaus growled before releasing her, turning his attention towards his brother.
Katerina twisted and shivered as the two discussed something in a rapid fire language she did not recognize, that no one else in the household spoke other than the two of them. Elijah’s responses were short and clipped, Klaus making no motion to cover himself, and Katerina hated him more in that moment than she ever had before.
When Elijah left, Klaus was immediately upon her, pressing her to the mattress as he mauled her mouth. She jerked back, anger making her brave.
“Why did you do that?!” she demanded.
“He needed to remember his place,” Klaus said dismissively, sinking blunt teeth into her shoulder just deeply enough to bruise.
And you must not forget yours, the bite implied.
* **
Katerina hated Rosemarie but Trevor, Rosemarie’s best friend and Klaus’s minion, was nice enough. Ever since Klaus had moved her into his rooms, Elijah kept his distance, hardly sparing more than a passing glance in her direction, and Katerina was painfully lonely in his absence.
It was easier to pretend it was loneliness and not heartbreak which made her cling to Trevor’s companionship.
He was young compared to Elijah and Klaus, young like Rosemarie, and he still blushed when she smiled at him. It became a game for her, making the pink infuse Trevor’s cheeks, and Katerina begged Klaus to place Trevor on her protective detail.
Klaus had resisted at first, insisting Trevor was far too incompetent to protect her, but Katerina had made an argument as she writhed atop him, using what little leverage she had to get what she wanted.
Oldest vampire in the world or not, Klaus was still a man, and Katerina knew how to work men for what she needed.
“If that silly, useless boy is what my doppelganger wants, he is who you will get,” Klaus finally acquiesced as their bodies cooled amongst the sheets, his fingers tangling in her dark curls.
Katerina did not know what doppelganger meant but she assumed it was a pet name.
* * *
“I confess I am in love with you.”
Katerina spun so quickly she nearly tripped on the path. “You must not, Trevor.”
He smiled sweetly, stepping forward and taking her hands in his. “I cannot help it, Katherine. You are the brightest spot of my day. I long for you when we are apart. I cannot - “
“Klaus will kill you,” she cut in, glancing fearfully towards the estate, “and he will kill me if he thinks I have betrayed him.”
“Klaus would never hurt you; he needs you for the ritual.”
“What ritual?”
Lowering his voice, Trevor murmured, “You are the doppelganger, Katherine. Do you not know what that means?”
When he was done speaking, Katerina vomited everything but her soul into the bushes.
* * *
Katerina did not want to die. And because she did not want to die, Katerina knew she would have to run.
Trevor began to craft a plan for their escape, burdened by the delusion they were going to live happily ever after. Katerina did not love Trevor nor did she want to learn to; all she had wanted from Trevor was friendship and, she supposed, he had provided that by telling her what Klaus planned to do to her.
“We need to get the moonstone for collateral. If they catch us, if we have hidden it, they will not be able to kill us,” Trevor explained logically.
“Where does Klaus keep it?”
“Elijah has it.”
Immediately Katerina shook her head. “I will not betray Elijah.”
“Katherine, he knew of this plan as well. He and Klaus are closer than brothers, and he was not going to do a thing to stop Klaus from killing you.”
She shook her head, tears stinging at her eyes. It was this fact more than any others which hurt her. Elijah had been the only person in the world she trusted, and he had been willing to let her die, to be murdered.
“Elijah is my friend,” she weakly offered.
“Elijah is nobody’s friend.”
Katerina knew that was not true, but it was never a good idea to argue with the vampire who was going to help save your life.
* * *
Klaus left the estate and Katerina knew it was her chance. He was not due to return for a fortnight, plenty of time for Katerina to be long gone.
She undressed in his chamber, carefully positioning herself on his bed, the scent of him surrounding her. In the beginning, she had imagined being here, Elijah whispering promises against her skin as they made love; now, it was to be the scene of her greatest betrayal.
Elijah froze upon entering the room, actual surprise on his face. “What are you doing?”
Rising to her knees, her hair cascading around her body, she purred, “Waiting for you, my love.”
“Katerina - “
“I do not love Klaus. And I have loved you from the moment we first met,” she confessed, hating the fact she was not lying, wishing she could disconnect herself from this the way she used to be able to. “I think you feel the same way. I know you felt something.”
“Katerina - “
“Please know I did not go to Klaus on my own,” she continued, tears now tracking down her cheeks. “And I could not bear the thought of you hating me forever for doing what I had to in order to maintain my standing here. It is no excuse, I know - “
“Be quiet, Katerina!” he ordered, crossing to the bed.
When he raised his hand, Katerina wondered if he was going to strike her; instead he pushed her hair back from her face, cupping her face. “You are asking me to compromise my honor.”
She smiled through her tears, resting her forehead against his. “What better reason for compromising it than love?”
As Elijah tumbled her backwards, his mouth sealing over hers, Katerina wondered when winning started to feel so much like losing.
* * *
The night she ran, Katerina left Elijah a letter on his pillow. It was the last apology she would ever give anyone, and even she knew it was woefully inadequate.
She had never planned on being a vampire, but Trevor had explained a human doppelganger was needed and Katerina knew she could not possibly beat Klaus as a human. And when she heard Elijah in pursuit of her, Katerina knew it was the only choice. They would kill her and they would make it hurt; she did not doubt that.
Trevor and Rosemarie were damned; Katerina knew this as she fled their house, her body screaming in protest at the rapid changes occurring. She was starving and terrified, but Katerina would not allow herself to stop, especially once she saw what Klaus had done to her family. By the time she finally stopped, she was in Asia.
Katerina did not speak a word of Chinese. All she owned was the dress on her back. She did not know a single person. And now she was a vampire, forced to hide from the sunlight. Even her keen survival skills were not equipped for this.
She was draining a man one night when someone with considerable strength tore her away. Katerina snarled, her teeth on full display, prepared to battle Elijah and Klaus to the death only to see a beautiful woman with a matching set of fangs standing there.
“Are you out of your mind?” the woman snapped in English. “Killing in the open like this? Do you want to get us all killed?”
Katerina tried to force her fangs back but the smell of blood was too sharp, too overpowering. “I cannot help it.”
The woman’s face softened. “You’re new. Did your maker not teach you how to control yourself?”
“I have no one,” she admitted, wiping at the blood on her chin.
With a sigh, the vampire picked up the man, gesturing for Katerina to follow her. After dumping the man in the river, the vampire washed her hands in the river and, wetting a handkerchief, wiped at the mess on Katerina’s face.
“My name is Pearl,” the vampire said kindly, “and I will teach you if you want to learn. Would you like that?”
Katerina nodded.
“What is your name, child?”
“Katherine.”
If Klaus found her, she needed to be a far stronger person than Katerina.
When Elijah found her, she would not survive if she allowed a single piece of Katerina to remain.
Katerina Petrova died on the bank of the Yangtze River, half of the world away from the vampire she had loved and the vampire who had wanted her to love.
That was the night Katherine Pierce was born.
Author: lit_chick08
Warnings: hints of dub-con
Word Count: 5755
Spoilers: speculation on 2x19 “Klaus”
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters. They belong to LJ Smith, Kevin Williamson, and Julie Plec
Rating: PG-13 for language and non-graphic sexuality
Pairing: Katherine/Elijah, Katherine/Klaus
Summary: The story of how Katerina Petrova became Katherine Pierce
A/N: inspired by my speculations based off of these recently released pictures from 2x19 “Klaus”, which will undoubtedly be proven wrong in 2 weeks
When she first arrived in England, Katerina had nothing to her name. Survival became the name of the game, and if there was anything the Petrovas were known for, it was their ability to make the best of the bad situation. She spoke no English, she had only the dress on her back, and she knew not a single person in the entire country. And so Katerina did what she did best: she flirted.
Men didn’t care what language you spoke. Men didn’t care what sort of dresses you wore. Men didn’t care who you did and didn’t know. Men only cared how pretty your face was and how far you were willing to bend your virtue to please them.
Katerina had left her virtue in Bulgaria and everyone had always said Katerina Petrova was the prettiest girl in the village.
The maroon gown was a gift from a lover, a man old enough to be her grandfather who always treated her with more respect than the other men who came to call on her. She only understood every other word of what he said but he presented it with such pride Katerina couldn’t help but appreciate it. Most of the men brought her bread or maybe a coin; Katerina knew what a gown like that cost, knew it was the kind of gown the ladies who wouldn’t even look at her wore.
It didn’t quite fit; she had lost so much weight since coming to England, painfully underfed without her family’s crops to subsist off of. But she had traded another girl in the inn a jeweled hair comb she had stolen from one of the ladies at the market if she would help make the necessary alternations. By the time she was done, the gown fit Katerina like a glove.
It took hours to apply the hot irons to her hair and pin it up in an imitation of the ladies Katerina watched with envy. By the time she was done, Katerina knew she could pass for a respectful English lady, no hint of the despoiled Bulgarian peasant she had been.
The man who gave her the gown escorted her to a dinner party at the grandest home Katerina had ever seen. When she had stepped out of the carriage to see servants, to see the women outfitted far more grandly than she, Katerina knew she was woefully out of her depth. Her escort ordered her to stay silent unless directly addressed, and Katerina felt a clutch of panic; her English was nowhere near strong enough to converse and, even when she managed a complete sentence, her accent was painfully thick.
He left her to engage in a conversation with men by the fireplace and Katerina stood awkwardly near the wall, unsure what to do. Her studies of the English ladies never extended to social situations; someone like Katerina was not privy to those. And, when she drifted too closely to the women gossiping in small groups, Katerina was able to discern one of the words the women used to describe her: whore.
That was one word Katerina did not need a translation of; she was called it often enough.
Katerina lowered her head, suddenly horribly embarrassed by her simple dress, wishing she was back home where the other girls in the village were jealous of her, wished to be Katerina Petrova.
These women couldn’t even pronounce her name correctly.
It took her a moment to realize a man was standing in front of her, a tall man with the same dark hair as her own, dressed far more elegantly than her escort. He was speaking to her but Katerina did not recognize the words; as was her habit since arriving in England, she smiled and nodded encouragingly.
A confused look flitted across his features before he took her hand and pressed a kiss to the top of it. Katerina felt herself blush; none of the men she was used to dealing with would ever dare to kiss her hand when they knew she would allow them to kiss far more exciting parts of her body.
“I am Elijah,” the stranger said, his brown eyes gazing deeply into hers. “And you are?”
“Katerina,” she replied, struggling to pronounce it the way the girls in the inn said it.
She could instantly tell he was not fooled by her poor attempts at mimicry. “Katerina?” he echoed, his pronunciation so perfect it made her heart skip a beat. “Are you from Bulgaria, Katerina?”
It had been months since Katerina heard her mother tongue, a year since someone had spoken to her and she understood every word they said, a year since she knew she could say something in reply and have it be exactly what she wanted it to be. She hadn’t even realized how desperately she had missed it until this man - Elijah - switched into her language with such ease.
“Yes but I live here now. I am sorry my English is not better.”
Elijah smiled. “Nonsense. It took me years to master it. I am sure you will be its mistress in no time at all.”
“I must admit I am not the best student. I have so little patience; my mother always said it was my fatal flaw.”
“Patience comes with age,” he said, gesturing towards a servant who brought over two goblets of wine. “You are, what, my dear…six-and-ten?”
“Seven,” she corrected, brushing a curl back from her face, “but I am not a child, sir, I assure you.”
“I doubt anyone would mistake you for such, Miss Katerina.”
She liked talking to Elijah, who was the calmest, most even tempered man Katerina had ever met. Even when she was disagreeing with him, he seemed almost amused by it, encouraging her to loosen her tongue. After passionately describing all of the reasons England was far superior to Bulgaria, Elijah smirked and teased, “You would turn your back on your country so quickly?”
“They turned their back first,” she defended, sipping from her wine. “Where is your country, Elijah? Where is your home?”
“Oh, my home is long gone as well, my dear. This is my home now.”
“Such a grand home,” Katerina complimented, blatant envy in her voice. “I have never seen anything like this. You much be quite important here.”
“No, this belongs to my…brother. He is the important one. I am merely helping him in his endeavors.”
Katerina shook her head. “I do believe you lie to me, sir. I see the way the servants react to you. You can tell a lot about people by the way the servants act.”
“Can you?” Elijah gestured to their surroundings. “Do tell.”
Katerina inclined her head as if she was sharing a secret with her sisters. “The servants do not like the woman in the blue dress; they deliberately avoid her and when she is rude to them, they take sips from her cup and spit it back in. And they man by the window, the female servants keep a wide berth; he must touch them when others are not looking.”
“You noticed all of that in such a short amount of time?”
“People think you need to look to the powerful to understand what’s happening, but the servants, the ones you think are less than you, they are the ones who know all of the secrets and can be the strongest of ally for their loyalty is fierce. Surely a man of your standing knows that.”
Elijah smiled. “I am observant as well, Katerina, and I have noticed any time you say something you think I may find disagreeable, you wrap it in a compliment. Do you know what that tells me?”
Katerina straightened her spine, prepared for the worst. “What does it tell you, sir?”
“It tells me you are quite uncomfortable here, and you’ve no reason to be.” Gently clasping her hand, he declared, “As long as I remain here, you are welcome, Katerina.”
Before she could reply, she heard a loud, male voice bark Elijah’s name. Jerking in surprise and irritation, she spun to see a man in a blue with unkempt hair stalking towards them. His face was twisted in anger, and Katerina knew this must be the brother Elijah mentioned for no other man would dare behave this way if he was not the most important man in the room.
Katerina did not like the way he looked at her. It reminded her of the wolves in the forests at home, the way they would approach before an attack.
Like a candle going out, the man’s face suddenly changed, a smile Katerina recognized from her own face; it was the smile she gave men in hopes of distraction.
“And who is this?” the stranger asked.
Elijah inhaled sharply through his nose before he replied in Bulgarian, “This is Katerina. Katerina, this is my brother Klaus.”
“It is an honor to meet you, Katerina,” Klaus declared as he kissed her hand. There was nothing sweet or respectful in the gesture; this was purely about seduction, something Katerina had learned to spot with ease since her ruination so many months ago.
She returned his smile, not bothering to hide the mocking in her eyes as she normally would. “Why, the honor is all mine, sir. I am ever so grateful to be a guest here. Please accept my most gracious thanks.”
Klaus smirked, clearly having understood the true meaning of her words. Keeping his eyes on her, he said something to Elijah in a language Katerina did not recognize. Whatever was said, Elijah immediately inclined his head before bidding her goodbye and disappearing through a doorway. Katerina watched him go, sad to lose the first actual connection she had forged with someone since arriving in England.
“He will not marry you,” Klaus murmured into her ear, his accent so perfect Katerina could almost imagine she was home. “Even if he did desire to marry below his station, Elijah would still never be a viable option for your trickery. I suggest you continue to work on the man who brought you.”
Katerina felt the rage burn in her stomach but she simply turned her head to face him full on. “If I were to be husband hunting, would it not be you who would be my intended target? After all, Elijah does tell me you are the master of the house.”
“I am the master of many things, including your destiny.”
With a flirtatious smile, she quipped, “Then I must be the luckiest girl in all of England.”
Klaus’s lips turned up in amusement. “Oh, Katerina, we shall have much fun together.”
* * *
Elijah appeared at the inn the next day.
“You will come and stay with us,” Elijah explained. “There will be no reason for you to bring anything. Klaus has seen to it you will have more than enough.”
“I hope you will forgive me for speaking so frankly but am I to be his mistress? Is that the reason for this?”
Elijah shook his head. “You are to be whatever you wish to be.”
“I do not understand.”
“We would like the company.”
Katerina carefully raised her eyes to meet his gaze. “Do you wish to have my company as well?”
Elijah said nothing; instead, he rose from his chair and extended his hand.
Katerina took it.
* * *
Her bedchamber was larger than her family’s entire home. There were enough dresses in her closet to outfit all of her sisters for the rest of their lives. The servants would not meet her gaze and spoke to her with such deference Katerina could not help but look around to see who was standing behind her.
“Why, you could almost pass as a lady,” Klaus declared as he entered her chamber unannounced, startling Katerina who was admiring her reflection in the purple gown she had decided was her favorite.
“You surprised me, sir.” Turning to face him, she dropped into a small curtsy. “I must thank you for inviting me into your home. It is incredibly generous and I do not know how I shall repay your kindness.”
Klaus arched an eyebrow. “And how would you plan on repaying me, Katerina?”
She knew this dance; it was how she had survived this long. Slipping easily into the character of seductress, she glided across the floor and purred, “However you would like it.”
Katerina forced herself not to flinch when he cupped her face, drawing her nearer to him. His lips hovering over hers, he breathed, “If I wanted a slut, I would not have bought you dresses.”
She pulled back, stung deeply, tears flooding her eyes. Klaus did not seem to care she was upset; men never did.
“While you are in this house, you will conduct yourself as a lady. I do not care for gossip and I will not have the town whispering about any indiscretions you have. Tomorrow you will start classes with Rosemarie. She shall teach you what is expected of a woman. You will learn how a woman is to behave and your English will be flawless. If you cannot abide these terms, you can return to your brothel.”
Despite the fact her tears were overpowering her, her entire body shaking in confusion and offense, Katerina managed to gasp in her barely incomprehensible English, “I shall be a lady.”
Klaus smiled, patting her cheek affectionately. “Good girl.”
Katerina did not see him again for four months.
* * *
By the time Klaus, Elijah, and their men returned in the fall, Katerina was a completely different person. Rosemarie often told her she was an idiot and, while she had certainly struggled with certain aspects of her education, Katerina understood Klaus perfectly. Failure was not an option; she would rather die than return to sleeping with men for subsistence.
She wore a champagne colored gown which generously exposed her décolletage; her maid had gathered all of her hair into tight curls, pinning it to expose the long line of her neck. When she curtsied to the men as they entered the parlor, Katerina could not help but feel the rush of pleasure at the pleased expression of Klaus’s face.
“Welcome back, milord,” she greeted, her accent carefully crafted in imitation of Rosemarie’s. “Your presence has been greatly missed.”
Klaus accepted her hand, pressing a kiss to her hand before turning it and doing the same to her wrist. “I barely recognized you, Katerina.”
“Katherine,” she corrected, forcing herself not to look towards Elijah. “It is a more fitting name for a lady, is it not?”
It was not until after dinner Katerina was able to speak to Elijah alone. He had offered to escort her to her chamber while Klaus spoke with a collection of visitors in a room which was always kept locked. Katerina could hardly contain all she wanted to say to Elijah, who had barely looked at her since his arrival.
“Sleep well, Katherine,” he sighed before turning to leave.
Katerina reached out, stilling him with a soft hand on his arm. “You may call me Katerina. I would not mind at all.”
“But you are Klaus’s Katherine now,” he replied. For the first time since meeting him, his voice betrayed irritation; whether it was directed towards Klaus or herself, Katerina did not know.
“I could be your Katerina.” Stepping closer to him, her voice bare with longing, she murmured, “I missed you. You did not even say goodbye.”
Elijah raised his hand, tenderly caressing the her cheek with the back of his hand. Katerina’s eyes closed, leaning into the touch, shivering when his fingers traced the line of her neck, the curve of her collarbone, and the slope of her shoulder.
“You cannot be mine,” he sighed.
“But would you want me to be?”
Elijah did not answer; instead, he politely kissed her hand and disappeared down the hallway.
* * *
“Are you in love with him?”
Katerina looked up from the book she was reading - well, trying to read - and blinked in confusion at Klaus. “Am I in love with whom?”
“Why, Elijah, of course.” Dropping into a chair, he confided, “The servants say you watch him, ask after him. They seem to believe you are quite fond of him.”
Suppressing the fission of fear startling to unfurl in her stomach, Katerina shrugged with feigned nonchalance. “Elijah is good company. The ladies do not like me and the men are afraid to speak to me. Who would you propose I spend my time with?”
“The women are jealous and the men know I would kill them if they touched you,” Klaus answered easily, brushing dirt from his sleeve. “I do not particularly care with whom you spend your time. I was merely inquiring as to why you seek out Elijah instead of me. And do not lie,” he quickly added as she opened her mouth, already prepared to spin a convincing tale.
Marking her place in the book, Katerina swallowed hard before admitting, “I do not care for you.”
“You do not? And why is that? Do you not like your dresses, the jewelry, the food?”
“I like and appreciate it greatly but, as you were so quick to emphasize before you took your leave, you could have had me for much less. You say you do not want the men to touch me but you make no move to do so; you insist I act like a lady and then you refer to me as a peasant at every possible moment.”
“And your point?”
Her anger finally bubbling over, she snapped, “I ask for Elijah because he is a gentleman and the only person to show me any kindness! I do not know how someone so good can be a brother of yours.”
Klaus smirked. “Do you hate me, Katherine?”
“I despise the sight of you,” she growled, clenching her fists tightly.
Getting to his feet, Klaus reached over and tugged her to her feet. Katerina felt every muscle in her body clench, prepared for a blow or to be drug to the door and thrown outside. Instead he slid his hand beneath the heavy weight of her hair, bringing her against him firmly. His mouth was demanding atop hers, his teeth catching her bottom lip brutally before jerking away.
Katerina tasted blood in her mouth; when she touched her lip, her fingers came back red.
“Hate is the beginning of a love story, not the end.”
* * *
Elijah found her in the gardens, seated on the bench facing the house. It was Katerina’s favorite place on the estate during the summer; she forced Rosemarie to teach her lessons amongst the flowers. Now the flowers were gone, and Katerina was starting to wonder what exactly she had done by agreeing to stay here.
“You look deep in thought,” Elijah commented, taking a place beside her.
“I was thinking of home.”
“What about it?”
Katerina gestured to the beautiful emerald gown she wore. “This cost more than what my family earned in a year. I have four sisters and they will never own a gown like this. They are good, honest girls, and they will toil in the same exhausting existence as our mother.”
“Then you are lucky to have escaped such a fate.”
“They sent me away in shame,” she divulged in a small voice, the first time she had ever spoken of what transpired last autumn. “I do not know how lucky that makes me.”
“Regret is a useless emotion.”
“All emotions are useless emotions,” she huffed.
Elijah leaned away, merriment on his face. “Why, Katerina, you are far too young to be so bitter. You simply must cease being so melancholy. I will not stand for it.”
Despite herself, Katherine chuckled. “This coming from the most melancholy man I have ever known.”
“I am not melancholy.”
“Yes, you are! You always have this look upon your face.” Folding her face into an exaggerated imitation, she intoned in a deeper voice, “I am Elijah. I never smile in public and I act as if my brother is not the bane of my existence while I serve him faithfully.”
“Klaus is not the bane of my existence. I serve him out of love.”
“You love him no more than I,” Katerina stated definitively. “I told you the first time we ever spoke I am good at understanding what people do not say, and you do not like Klaus. Which makes me wonder…why do you stay here?”
Elijah frowned, looking off in the distance before returning his gaze to her. “I believe in honor; in the end, it is all a man has. Klaus saved my life, and, as such, I owe him fealty. Enjoying his company is not something which is required.”
“Is that why you…I mean to say…Would our relationship be different if you did not owe Klaus so much?”
Elijah looked pained as he laid his hand atop hers, squeezing it with surprising strength. “I cannot - “
“Katherine!” Klaus shouted, startling the two apart as he strode across the lawn. “Where have you been?”
Immediately Elijah was on his feet, offering up his apologies for detaining her. Katerina rose, carefully gathering her skirts and arranging her long, loose hair over her shoulders in a way Klaus always complimented.
“We shall go for a walk,” Klaus declared, taking hold of the hand Elijah had been sweetly clasping only a moment earlier.
As he dragged her down the path, Katerina looked over her shoulder, casting a mournful look towards Elijah, who stoically watched their departure.
* * *
Katerina discovered what they were purely on accident.
She had been restless one night, her body humming with energy. Before coming to England, her life had been extraordinarily physical; everyone in the Petrova family had to work for the good of the family and, while she had detested the work when it was required, Katerina now longed for the chance to exert herself. It was the worst part of being a lady, the uselessness.
She intended to sit on the bench in the gardens and enjoy the full moon when she noticed a fast movement on the edge of the lawn. Scared, Katerina had immediately hurried back towards the house when the weight hit her solidly in the back, sending her tumbling to the ground, hands grasping at her.
The scream left her body at the same time teeth tore into her throat. Katerina was certain she was going to die, the stars the only witnesses to her death, when the weight was suddenly gone, loud voices and growls reverberating throughout the night.
“Do you know what you have done?!” Klaus roared as Katerina struggled to focus. She did not know who he was yelling at; she wasn’t sure it even mattered.
Elijah entered her clouded vision, carefully cradling her head as he pressed his bleeding wrist to her lips. Katerina attempted to move her head, the taste disgusting her, but he whispered in Bulgarian, his voice remarkably calm, “Just a little, Katerina, just a little to make you strong again.”
Katerina dutifully swallowed, suddenly exhausted as she looked into Elijah’s eyes. As the world faded around her, she heard Klaus screaming, “She is the doppelganger!”
* * *
Katerina awoke to find Klaus at her bedside, her hand clasped between both of his, tension blatant on his face.
“What happened?” she rasped, her throat feeling painfully raw.
“Do not worry, my dear. He will never touch you again, I made sure of that.”
She struggled to a sitting position, resting heavily against the headboard. “He was not human.”
“No.”
Katerina struggled not to shake as she ventured, “You’re not human.”
He shook his head. “No.”
“What are you?”
“I am a vampire. But this does not change anything. Does it?” he added, a subtle threat in his voice.
Katerina shook her head, more convinced than ever she was trapped.
* * *
One evening, as Katerina was about to enter her bedchamber, one of the servants stopped her, explaining it was no longer her room. Confused, Katerina demanded to be taken to her new room.
She wasn’t sure why she was surprised the servant brought her to Klaus’s rooms.
Katerina knew it was always going to come to this.
He was waiting on the bed, naked to the waist, a goblet of wine in his hand. Katerina recognized the predatory look in his eyes, the same one she had seen on the first night, and she hated the way it made her shiver.
“I have been very patient,” was all Klaus said.
Katerina nodded, dutifully turning so he could undo the stays of her dress. As his practiced hands undressed her, Katerina forced herself to keep the tears at bay, hating the betraying response her body was having to his nearness.
“I do not have to be your enemy, Katherine,” he murmured against her neck, slipping his hands around her body to cup her breasts.
She wondered if that was what passed for a declaration of love in Klaus’s world.
* * *
One night, as Katerina was spread nude across the bed, Klaus teasing her body until she begged when someone knocked on the chamber door. Klaus called out for the person to enter before she could grasp the blankets and, when she saw Elijah, Katerina wished she could die of shame.
Her hands were halfway to the bedclothes when Klaus grabbed her wrist in an iron grip. “No.”
Her eyes grew big as she glanced at Elijah, who was averting his gaze, his jaw clenched tightly.
“Do not cover yourself,” Klaus growled before releasing her, turning his attention towards his brother.
Katerina twisted and shivered as the two discussed something in a rapid fire language she did not recognize, that no one else in the household spoke other than the two of them. Elijah’s responses were short and clipped, Klaus making no motion to cover himself, and Katerina hated him more in that moment than she ever had before.
When Elijah left, Klaus was immediately upon her, pressing her to the mattress as he mauled her mouth. She jerked back, anger making her brave.
“Why did you do that?!” she demanded.
“He needed to remember his place,” Klaus said dismissively, sinking blunt teeth into her shoulder just deeply enough to bruise.
And you must not forget yours, the bite implied.
* **
Katerina hated Rosemarie but Trevor, Rosemarie’s best friend and Klaus’s minion, was nice enough. Ever since Klaus had moved her into his rooms, Elijah kept his distance, hardly sparing more than a passing glance in her direction, and Katerina was painfully lonely in his absence.
It was easier to pretend it was loneliness and not heartbreak which made her cling to Trevor’s companionship.
He was young compared to Elijah and Klaus, young like Rosemarie, and he still blushed when she smiled at him. It became a game for her, making the pink infuse Trevor’s cheeks, and Katerina begged Klaus to place Trevor on her protective detail.
Klaus had resisted at first, insisting Trevor was far too incompetent to protect her, but Katerina had made an argument as she writhed atop him, using what little leverage she had to get what she wanted.
Oldest vampire in the world or not, Klaus was still a man, and Katerina knew how to work men for what she needed.
“If that silly, useless boy is what my doppelganger wants, he is who you will get,” Klaus finally acquiesced as their bodies cooled amongst the sheets, his fingers tangling in her dark curls.
Katerina did not know what doppelganger meant but she assumed it was a pet name.
* * *
“I confess I am in love with you.”
Katerina spun so quickly she nearly tripped on the path. “You must not, Trevor.”
He smiled sweetly, stepping forward and taking her hands in his. “I cannot help it, Katherine. You are the brightest spot of my day. I long for you when we are apart. I cannot - “
“Klaus will kill you,” she cut in, glancing fearfully towards the estate, “and he will kill me if he thinks I have betrayed him.”
“Klaus would never hurt you; he needs you for the ritual.”
“What ritual?”
Lowering his voice, Trevor murmured, “You are the doppelganger, Katherine. Do you not know what that means?”
When he was done speaking, Katerina vomited everything but her soul into the bushes.
* * *
Katerina did not want to die. And because she did not want to die, Katerina knew she would have to run.
Trevor began to craft a plan for their escape, burdened by the delusion they were going to live happily ever after. Katerina did not love Trevor nor did she want to learn to; all she had wanted from Trevor was friendship and, she supposed, he had provided that by telling her what Klaus planned to do to her.
“We need to get the moonstone for collateral. If they catch us, if we have hidden it, they will not be able to kill us,” Trevor explained logically.
“Where does Klaus keep it?”
“Elijah has it.”
Immediately Katerina shook her head. “I will not betray Elijah.”
“Katherine, he knew of this plan as well. He and Klaus are closer than brothers, and he was not going to do a thing to stop Klaus from killing you.”
She shook her head, tears stinging at her eyes. It was this fact more than any others which hurt her. Elijah had been the only person in the world she trusted, and he had been willing to let her die, to be murdered.
“Elijah is my friend,” she weakly offered.
“Elijah is nobody’s friend.”
Katerina knew that was not true, but it was never a good idea to argue with the vampire who was going to help save your life.
* * *
Klaus left the estate and Katerina knew it was her chance. He was not due to return for a fortnight, plenty of time for Katerina to be long gone.
She undressed in his chamber, carefully positioning herself on his bed, the scent of him surrounding her. In the beginning, she had imagined being here, Elijah whispering promises against her skin as they made love; now, it was to be the scene of her greatest betrayal.
Elijah froze upon entering the room, actual surprise on his face. “What are you doing?”
Rising to her knees, her hair cascading around her body, she purred, “Waiting for you, my love.”
“Katerina - “
“I do not love Klaus. And I have loved you from the moment we first met,” she confessed, hating the fact she was not lying, wishing she could disconnect herself from this the way she used to be able to. “I think you feel the same way. I know you felt something.”
“Katerina - “
“Please know I did not go to Klaus on my own,” she continued, tears now tracking down her cheeks. “And I could not bear the thought of you hating me forever for doing what I had to in order to maintain my standing here. It is no excuse, I know - “
“Be quiet, Katerina!” he ordered, crossing to the bed.
When he raised his hand, Katerina wondered if he was going to strike her; instead he pushed her hair back from her face, cupping her face. “You are asking me to compromise my honor.”
She smiled through her tears, resting her forehead against his. “What better reason for compromising it than love?”
As Elijah tumbled her backwards, his mouth sealing over hers, Katerina wondered when winning started to feel so much like losing.
* * *
The night she ran, Katerina left Elijah a letter on his pillow. It was the last apology she would ever give anyone, and even she knew it was woefully inadequate.
She had never planned on being a vampire, but Trevor had explained a human doppelganger was needed and Katerina knew she could not possibly beat Klaus as a human. And when she heard Elijah in pursuit of her, Katerina knew it was the only choice. They would kill her and they would make it hurt; she did not doubt that.
Trevor and Rosemarie were damned; Katerina knew this as she fled their house, her body screaming in protest at the rapid changes occurring. She was starving and terrified, but Katerina would not allow herself to stop, especially once she saw what Klaus had done to her family. By the time she finally stopped, she was in Asia.
Katerina did not speak a word of Chinese. All she owned was the dress on her back. She did not know a single person. And now she was a vampire, forced to hide from the sunlight. Even her keen survival skills were not equipped for this.
She was draining a man one night when someone with considerable strength tore her away. Katerina snarled, her teeth on full display, prepared to battle Elijah and Klaus to the death only to see a beautiful woman with a matching set of fangs standing there.
“Are you out of your mind?” the woman snapped in English. “Killing in the open like this? Do you want to get us all killed?”
Katerina tried to force her fangs back but the smell of blood was too sharp, too overpowering. “I cannot help it.”
The woman’s face softened. “You’re new. Did your maker not teach you how to control yourself?”
“I have no one,” she admitted, wiping at the blood on her chin.
With a sigh, the vampire picked up the man, gesturing for Katerina to follow her. After dumping the man in the river, the vampire washed her hands in the river and, wetting a handkerchief, wiped at the mess on Katerina’s face.
“My name is Pearl,” the vampire said kindly, “and I will teach you if you want to learn. Would you like that?”
Katerina nodded.
“What is your name, child?”
“Katherine.”
If Klaus found her, she needed to be a far stronger person than Katerina.
When Elijah found her, she would not survive if she allowed a single piece of Katerina to remain.
Katerina Petrova died on the bank of the Yangtze River, half of the world away from the vampire she had loved and the vampire who had wanted her to love.
That was the night Katherine Pierce was born.