KATHARINA

his confusion must have been clear since katherine took his hands and pleaded yet again, and that was all he needed to ground himself. “ everything's fine, stef. i'm... indecent. ” he states, knowing stefan wouldn't barge into the room after hearing such. stefan had always been awfully respectful, so he knew his word would be trusted and respected by his younger sibling.

" nothing, she hides nothing from— " katherine had lifted her hand and gudren had stopped herself. the maid didn’t look pleased with the girl’s decision to tell her truth but she’d obeyed nonetheless. " a few months ago… " the blonde begins, helping him up with a strength that surprises even herself (she wasn’t used to feeding that much. she would subsist on the blood of a dove per day) before inviting him to sit onto the bed with her. " i fell ill to the point gudren knew i would not make it through the night. " she exchanges a look with her maid before she keeps going. " in her desperation to keep her promise to my fallen mother, she sought out a man people called the Devil. gudren would have been willing to sell her soul so i could prevail but—- it was not what the man was after. he did not care for souls. he wanted lives. that night he—- " her fingers were shaking as she hesitantly reached for damon’s neck where the puncture wounds of her fangs would’ve been if she hadn’t fed him her blood.

" he bit down my neck and tasted my life, then his sharp nail punctured his throat and he brought my lips to the wound as he stroke my hair and whispered for me to drink his own. to my surprise, it… it didn’t taste like damnation. it was… something i could have only describe as… nectarean. it was like nothing i had ever tasted before. i drank as much as i could before he gently pulled me away, then he kissed my forehead and wished me good night as he cupped by face and — i realized much too late — broke neck. when i woke up, he was at the edge of my bed but he was not alone. there was a—- a girl i recognized from my favorite bakery. " she stops herself for a moment, wondering if klaus had picked her for that reason, if he’d known she’d visited that bakery often just to lay eyes on the beauty of ingrid and see her pretty smile. if it was the case, it meant he’d been watching her since before that fateful night. a shiver runs down her spine at the thought.

thankfully, instead of an estate worker, it was gudren who happened to walk past and damon called her attention to the room to tend to a bleeding, unwell katherine. what more could he have done? the eldest salvatore watched, worried, as katherine's maid assisted her and even tried to whisk her away, only for katherine to come running right back to his arms. in any other circumstance, damon would have been pleased to see such take place — she wanted him, wanted to be near him. what he didn't expect was what came after such sudden approach.

there's no time for a groan or any other sound for that matter, damon, instead of pushing her away, instead held her close until his own limbs began to give out. the sound of his body hitting the ground was, most likely, audible on the lower floor. after all, damon was a rather built individual — and he had the army to thank for such stature. for a few moments, there was nothing but pitch black. damon salvatore was immobile in his bedroom floor, with his head atop katherine's lap as she desperately tried to bring him around to his senses.

Oh Katharina dear, I told you no one could survive you but me, have i not ? Klaus’ voice. Her Maker’s words always came to her when she would forsake her nature, speaking truths she’d wish weren’t such.

" Katharina, we need to go. " pleaded Gudren.

There was a knock on the door and a voice they all knew too well. " Brother ? "

Katherine stilled, jewel blue eyes falling onto the door. Stefan. Stefan was standing on the other side of that door and, if he walked in, we would see just how much of a monster she truly was.

Gudren rushed the blonde away from the Salvatore, pushing her towards the balcony and whispering for her to leave immediately.