petrova fire

"No." A beat passed and Katherine rolled her eyes. "Sort of, but not the way you think." Still, the admission burned like swallowing acid. She wasn't jealous of Elena for who she was, didn't wish to be like her, nor did she want to trade places. Obviously she didn't like being replaced with a dull copy, but Katherine was more or less envious of Elena's support system: all the people willing to die to protect her even if it was meaningless--even if there was no escaping Klaus.

But when she took her emotions out of it, Katherine had lived long enough to know loyalty was conditional. For as long as Elena was sweet, and docile, and willing to martyr herself like a good little lamb, everyone would try to save her. But let her choose herself, let her grow a set of sharp teeth and get a ring of blood under her nails, what then? Would Stefan still see Elena? Or would she slowly start to morph into another version of Katherine right in front of him? Damon might still be willing, sure, but Stefan? Moral, honorable, Stefan?

The thought was so tempting she could have turned Elena herself, but Katherine needed the girl human, and as much as she loved Stefan, she loved her freedom more. Though, with a little patience, Katherine would get both in the end, wouldn't she? Even if they weren't together and even if he never loved her again, at least she wouldn't have to watch him play house with an ill-fitted fantasy. Elena would be dead as a doornail and If Stefan wanted what they had in 1864--well, he would have to come to Katherine for it.

"Stefan, obviously."

"--although, Damon does have a certain something a girl just can't seem stay away from, doesn't he?"

If Katherine had ever been telling the truth about one thing: she really did love them both. Otherwise there would have been no point in risking Stefan to run around with Damon. She remembered finding them both so handsome, and then they were equally romantic but in very different ways. Damon was exciting, passionate, and he kept her on her toes. He saw her exactly as she was and he didn't care. It didn't matter that she was selfish and cruel, he even seemed to sort of like her that way. Stefan, on the other hand, was a true lover. He was soft and sweet, and he made her heart flutter like a girl. One that had long been dead and buried in a five hundred year old grave. Katherine hadn't even bothered to give her a funeral, and here this human boy was making her heart beat.

The problem was, Katherine was only that girl in pieces. It was her own doing, but it was also the result of a woman who had decided she would always choose herself. If she died now, she would have lost them all for nothing. It means he wins. She was young and naive once. That human girl would have never sacrificed her family if she had known Klaus was going to slaughter them, but hindsight always was a bitch. Katherine really thought she was outsmarting Klaus when she ran and turned herself. She figured as a vampire he would have no choice but to let her go. But in her weak innocence, she made the fatal mistake of underestimating the one thing Niklaus Mikaelson was loyal to, above even family: vengeance.

The truth was, it didn't matter how much Katherine loved either of them. For as long as she had Klaus in her shadow, she couldn't have anyone. But, yes, if she had to choose? It was Stefan. Even if they were just a dream. It had been one Katherine fought to make real, but her mask cracked and crumbled and when he saw past the girl she wanted to be, he hated her. Katherine had never really meant to sell him a fairytale. She hoped he would still love her once he knew the truth. And a little part of her had also hoped she could still be her. That's why Elena stung so badly. He had gone off and dug up the girl she buried and decided to love her instead. The thing Stefan hadn't learned is that the world isn't kind to girls like Elena and they don't last long. They're like blossoms left to shrivel beneath the desert sun. And, even in a meadow, all it takes is one greedy hand to come along and pluck them off their stem.

The Carnival, what a perfect setting for a bunch of clowns. Mystic Falls had barely changed, they were still up to the same small town routine and it bored her to death. Tonight was important though, and she wasn't about to leave with out getting what she wanted.

Katherine's hair was its natural dark brown and pin straight, not a look she enjoyed but she had to play the part. Elena this, Elena that--her face hurt from the fake smiles she had been giving out. She was ready to be done, but there was work to do. Stefan and Damon were smart, she needed to rile them up if she was going to pull anything off under her noses. If she had it her way, Elena would have been dead as a doorknob already, but she needed the little brat for Klaus' ceremony. And she would be damned if she wasted an opportunity like this. The idea of not having to look over her shoulder at every scratch on the walls...the freedom--she could practically taste it. Sweeter than any blood.

mystic falls, virginia. the tiny town just outside richmond was far from glamorous and much too steeped in supernatural history for katherine to ever consider it quaint. as far as she was concerned, this place was a steel trap waiting to sink into whichever naive soul walked through the meadow poised over its teeth. she never planned to come back once she set it ablaze, especially not while the salvatores were running around, but sometimes life has had the most annoying way of playing its hand. although this was the very place she fell in love with them, it wasn't damon or stefan that had brought her lurking at the border of town. katherine would have never believed it to be true, it was smarter to assume most rumors about a doppelganger were false or a trap set by klaus. but if stefan and damon were in orbit, she had to be real. after all, katherine pierce was the only thing they ever agreed upon--even as she consumed them. now that katherine had laid eyes on her, she had to admit--the similarities were...uncanny. she was still trying to swallow that. she just didn't expect it to get go down like needles in her throat. katherine didn't do jealous, not with anyone. maybe she was a little reckless to be out in broad daylight like this, but with her sunglasses on and her hair this blonde--no one had bat an eye. she just had to avoid three people up close: stefan, damon, and the bennett girl. everyone else could be compelled. besides, she had a five hundred year long debt to settle and she was sick of waiting.