i will only bring misery

Katherine watched as Stefan opened the door and quickly slumped into the seat. The car didn’t settle her anymore than being outside did but, she figured if she could hold out until they got back to the house, she’d be fine. After the door had been shut, Katherine pulled her knees up toward her chest, leaning against the car door. As her petite frame leaned against the door, she noticed her hands were shaking slightly. Katherine quickly shoved them underneath her knees, squeezing them softly. Her eyes roamed the window on the passenger side, searching for something outside that she wasn’t sure of. Finally she saw what her subconscious had been searching for within her hidden memories. The beginning of Katherine Pierce’s sad and tragic life. The scene played out in a small cottage, the window acting as a TV screen. The faces were a bit blurry but, it was plain enough to see that a newborn baby was being taken away from her mother. However, the mother proved to be someone Katherine wasn’t expecting. It was her. Her baby was being taken away by her father while her mother held her battered frame back. Suddenly, the memory stopped and Katherine was forced back into her reality. The nurse was right. Her baby wasn’t real. The truth of the matter was that, Katherine’s baby was gone and she wasn’t coming back. Her petite frame abruptly pulled back away from the window, a few tears surfacing in her eyes as she mumbled quietly. “— Stefan.. Wh — What was that? My — My baby.. Sh — She’s gone. My baby’s gone, Stefan. The nurses were right she — she wasn’t real.” Unfortunately, the nurses had been wrong about Katherine’s memories never coming back. They were slowly but surely working their way back but, unfortunately for Katherine, they’d play out in scenes such as this one. They’d be vague and hard for her to understand but sadly, they’d be the truth.

He walked around the car, glancing up briefly at the car beeping it's horn passing by before he got in. He slipped the key in the ignition and started the car, turning the radio even lower than it was, just to have something playing to help soothe her. He had just pushed the brake and shifted the car into reverse when she started mumbling to him. Her voice was pained, it seemed, and there were tears in her eyes. She was mentioning her baby again to him, but this time, she was saying her baby's gone. He thought briefly for a moment on how he should react. He could always lie to her, give her the baby she wanted to keep her quiet and happy. There was no telling, however, how long that would last. Her memories would come back. He could make her forget them, yes, but she'd probably run away from him as soon as she knew what he was doing. Stefan wouldn't do that to her. And he didn't want to waste time having to track her down. It'd be easy, yes, but still. There was another option, to pretend that the whole illusion he had given her had never happened. He gave her a sad look, green eyes holding hers for a moment before nodding slowly. "She's been gone for quite awhile, Katherine. Remember our conversation earlier?" He asked gently, as he began to back up out of the parking space. 

Katherine’s eyes moved from the ground to Stefan’s face as he moved in front of her. She stared at him for a short second before shaking her head. “I — I don’t know if I can do it, Stefan.” She shook her head again, trying to pull him back into the hospital. Katherine nodded her head subtly at his words, remembering that this was what she had wanted and now she was acting childish. She sighed lightly, looking back up at Stefan. Every nerve in her body was screaming no, don’t go forward but, Stefan was right. She couldn’t stay at the hospital forever. It just didn’t work that way. When he squeezed her arm, she gave him a soft smile, nodding her head. “Alright.” Katherine squeezed her eyes shut tightly, gripping his arm again tightly. “Let’s go then.” It took her a bit to get going but suddenly, she pushed her feet into motion.

If she hadn't moved, he would have forced her. He moved back when she agreed, and it seemed like minutes passed before she finally began to walk towards the car. Silas was patient, he had learned to wait albeit by force for two thousand years, but he wasn't in the mood to deal with the amount of stubbornness Katherine could give him. This new Katherine with her memories gone did act slightly better than the old Katherine though. Another perk of this accident. Maybe he should find whatever did this and thank it personally. And then maybe kill it because it almost killed his cure, and that was unforgivable. Once he got to the car, he opened the door for her. "You're doing great, Katherine." He said after a moment. "The house isn't far." 

"Yeah well you were kinda staring so I thought why not."

"Sorry. You just looked... sad.. Are you alright?"

Katherine kept her pace slow, being sure to keep each step even. As they approached the exit of the hospital, the same one that would bring her out into the real world, Katherine tensed up. She could feel her ligaments hardening up, as if they were screaming no. When they finally reached the door and made it outside, Katherine abruptly pulled back. She figured getting out of the hospital would be easy but, it happened to be anything but. She planted her feet firmly into the ground, squeezing her eyes shut. “I can’t do it, Stefan. I can’t do it.” Katherine shook her head, fighting back the tears. She didn’t understand why she was crying but, it was terrifying and she just wasn’t exactly sure she was ready for the real world yet. “I’m sorry. I just.. I can’t do it.” Katherine shook her head again, pulling back towards the hospital entrance. “We — We have to go back.”

When she didn't move, he slowly moved around her, turning to face her. One hand slipping from her back to her arm, as he looked carefully over at her. "Can't do it? Katherine... what's wrong?" He asked her, green eyes searching her face. He hadn't expected her to pull back from this. All he needed was her to be out of the stupid hospital and back at the house where he could keep a better eye on her. It was fine if she was scared to go out afterwards. "You wanted this, remember? Katherine, I know you're scared. As long as your memory stays away, you won't ever really be ready to step into the world. But you can't stay at the hospital forever. You're already checked out, remember?" He squeezed her arm lightly in what he hoped would be a reassuring way. "You're not alone."

Katherine’s eyes stayed locked on the floor, her heart racing. She took in a deep breath, attempting to steady herself. It had been days, weeks even, since she’d been outside of that hospital room. She felt as though she could easily topple over with every step out of the door she made. Her eyes finally left the floor when Stefan’s voice echoed throughout the hallway. A light smile quickly appeared on her lips but faded just as quickly as it had appeared. She nodded her head subtly, not sure if she believed his words or not. “Everything will be okay, right.” She repeated his words for her own sake, attempting to make herself believe them. Her eyes shifted slowly toward his arm as she hesitantly grabbed a hold of his arm, inching herself forward slowly. Each and every move scared her more than the last but she forced herself forward.

He didn't need to be able to read minds to tell she was scared. It was in every single movement of hers, and for a moment, Silas truly felt for her. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose your memory of who you were, what had happened to you, where all your years had gone, and most importantly, not knowing the love of your life. Granted, he still hated her, but if anything, he could feel bad for her. "I got you." He murmured with a nod. He kept his pace slow for her, wondering how far she had walked out of the bed while she was in the hospital. He supposed he could carry her if needed. His grip on her was firm, but gentle enough. Getting her out of the hospital was relatively easy, and one thing he did have to enjoy about this day and age, was the transportation. No more horses though he did miss riding horseback. Instead, there were cars. Stefan owned one which Silas had taken to play out the facade. It was rather nice to look at, and made lots of people fill with envy when they saw it. He didn't quite understand that, but it wasn't his concern. "There's the car right there."

Katherine giggled lightly, offering Stefan a soft smile. “Well, thank you.” Her eyes stayed locked on his frame as he maneuvered around toward the hospital room. She listened intently to what he had to say, nodding her head subtly. She had heard that the accident wasn’t particularly good so, she could only imagine how rough the clothing she had been wearing looked. Katherine smiled softly, wondering what the clothes looked like. A part of her wanted to see them yet, another part of her didn’t, worrying that it would bring back the memories of what had exactly happened that night. “Thanks, Stefan. For everything.” She mumbled before he exited the room. Quickly she got out of the bed, changing out of the horrid hospital robe, sliding into clothing that Stefan had brought for her. When she had finally gotten all of the needles and tubes pulled off, she quickly slid over toward the door, taking a deep breath. She wasn’t sure what the outside world would bring her but, she had to go out there at some point. Her fingers shook as she finally gripped the door knob, twisting it and pushing the door open.

Once he heard the door click shut, he turned his attention to the hospital staff around him. "Stop." He didn't even have to raise his voice because every single person on the floor stopped. "I'm going to take Katherine out of here, and not one of you are going to care. You're not going to say anything about a wheelchair or if we signed any papers. Don't even make eye contact. Everything is more important than Katherine Pierce when she walks out of that door." He said, glancing back at the shut door before back in to the hall. "As you were." With that, things were back in motion. He leaned against the opposite wall. He didn't have to wait long before he knew it, the door was opening. He pushed himself off the wall and opened the door the rest of the way for her. His other free arm was extended to her. "Everything will be okay, Katherine. I promise." 

"You didn’t expect me to stay gone forever, did you?"

"Um— no?" 

"Are you saying hey to me? Hi." 

Katherine nodded her head softly. “It’s weirder than you could ever possibly imagine.” She shrugged her shoulders. “But, everything happens for a reason, right?” Katherine laughed lightly at her lame use of an inspirational quote. Now wasn’t the time for inspiration quotes. She let her eyes fell to her hands, fidgeting with her fingers. “Well, the nurses sort of already said that I could go home but.. I didn’t exactly know where to go so, I kinda just stayed around here. So, going home wouldn’t be too bad.” She smiled softly, looking back toward Stefan. “Can we go? Please?”

Silas knew enough to know that was an inspirational quote. He didn't believe it one bit. It sounded like something people who couldn't try hard enough to better their situations said to make themselves feel better. Instead, he just gave her a smile. "Of course we can go. I'll even spare you the embarrassment of being wheeled out via wheelchair." He said lightly, moving from the chair and heading towards the place where they had put her things. "I brought some clothes from home since what you were wearing... it wasn't in good condition. And here's the rest of your things. I'm sure your memory will come back soon." He told her as he placed the things by the foot of the bed. Standing up, he lifted his hand and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll be right outside." With her approval, he exited the hospital room.

The monster around Bristol wasn't any of Silas's concern, but if Galen wanted to believe that was what Silas was talking about, he'd let him believe it. Besides, since it was this easy to manipulate the hunter, he could go farther with it. All minds were bendable to his will. Some required more mending and bending then others, but they all were. With the hunter on his side, he was one step closer to getting what he wanted. He gave the hunter a genuine smile. "I never thought I'd be teaming up with a hunter, either, but, stranger things have happened." He said with a chuckle. Slowly, he extended a hand towards him. 

"If I told you, I wouldn't be able to find you again. What's wrong?"

"I saw Elena a few days ago, but then she kinda disappeared and I haven’t heard from her. Oh, I thought Katherine was staying with you or something? How’s that working out? Ugh your brother. Seriously. How are you related to him? I just don’t see it."

"Around the time of the festival, right? That’s when I saw her too. You don’t think anything has happened to her, do you? She’s been in the hospital recently. Before the accident, it was… sufficiently awkward. Becoming human again and getting used to all the things, she wouldn’t have made it on her own I think." Silas trailed off, looking down and giving out a little laugh. 

There you are, Damon.