Queen of the Damned
Chapter 1: Opening Gambit
The red sunset cast an ominous glow over the rooftops of Mystic Falls, tinting everything with a red haze. Some might call it beautiful, but Katherine Pierce was not one for admiring the scenery. Soon this quaint little town would be bathed in a very different sort of red all together. Niklaus Mikaelson was nothing if not thorough. And if she wasn't careful, she'd be part of the paint for the Original's latest piece of artwork.
She had considered simply leaving them all to their fates of course. After all, she owned the Salvatore brothers nothing. They seemed to have conveniently forgotten she had given them everything they could have ever hoped for. Without her, their bones would be buried deep in some forsaken crypt. But the thought of simply abandoning them to Klaus somehow gave her a slight sense of unease. Some might call it a 'conscience', but Katherine knew that hers died a long time ago. She had killed it herself. No, this was just a… lingering attachment. It would fade with time. All things faded with time when you lived long enough. But for now, she was willing to play this game one more time.
She slowly walked over to the door of the Salvatore mansion. It was a throwback to grander days, when people still had a sense of style. It wasn't exactly a palace, but it had a certain air of dignity. The towers of glass and steel that were so in vogue these days simply could not compare to the great works of the Renaissance. The grandeur of Versailles and its like would never be replicated. Within those walls, intrigue and deception had thrived; kings rose and fell, but she had endured and flourished. That world had been perfect for a woman of her disposition. Katherine shook her head to clear her thoughts and pushed open the door. It was so easy for a vampire to get lost in the past; one of the flaws of having nearly perfect recall.
She stepped into the hall nonchalantly; to her surprise, Damon wasn't there to greet her with his usual snarky comment. Katherine froze. Could Klaus already be here? After all these centuries, had he finally managed to catch up to her? Her senses were instantly alert, but she let her guard down as soon as she did so, she was a little on edge these days. But what girl wouldn't be if all your schemes fell apart within months of each other? Damon was upstairs making a few animalistic groans and, considering the amounts of bumps she heard, was probably ruining his best furniture at the same time. A soft feminine voice that sounded suspiciously like hers mingled with Damon's. It was smooth, and confidant, tinged with passion and lust. Maybe Elena did have a fun side to her after all. It was good to know that Damon was enjoying himself. It would make him a lot more pliable to her ideas. Although if Elena was here, this was going to be far more interesting than she planned. She did recently feed her brother to Silas after all, but considering that he came back from the dead, all should be forgiven right? Besides, she should be in a good mood right now.
It didn't take long for her to reach Damon's bedroom. She had become so familiar with this house during her stay that she could probably navigate it blind. She entered Damon's bedroom as quietly as she could. She smiled inwardly to herself when the two lovebirds didn't even notice her, as embroiled in passion as they were. Finding herself a drink of Damon's best whiskey, she poured herself a drink as she settled herself into Damon's favourite chair.
"You know Elena, you might want to take the lead," said Katherine as she swirled her drink. "Damon likes surrendering. I should know, I taught him."
Elena gave a surprised yelp and immediately pulled the blankets over herself, as if her life had depended on it. It was almost cute, the way she was so easily embarrassed. Damon however was much harder to tease. That in part was what made him so interesting. You never knew what reaction you'd get when you poked at his feelings.
"Oh relax, it's nothing I haven't seen before," said Katherine with a smile. "In fact, I wouldn't mind joining the two of you…"
"Alright Katherine, enough of your games," said Damon exasperatedly. "Say what you're going to say, then get out. Or just get out."
"You Americans can be such prudes," Katherine remarked. "But you will want to hear what my little birds in New Orleans had to say."
"Didn't I say that I didn't like games Katherine?" said Damon. "And you know what happens when I don't like something?"
Without another word, Damon became a blur, but his comment before made his reaction so very predictable. She immediately sidestepped, grabbing his wrist as he came for her. It was easy to use his momentum against him; she twisted his wrist as he sped past her, hearing the satisfying crack as she did so. Before he could recover, she grabbed him by the neck and threw him towards Elena, who had finally gotten over the fact that she was almost naked. She couldn't risk being attacked by two vampires, especially since one of them was still quite vengeful.
"Are we really going to do this again?" asked Katherine. "I mean, only an idiot keeps doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result."
"If at first you don't succeed…" said Damon with gritted teeth. Katherine sighed. She really was going to have to be blunt.
"Klaus has become the King of New Orleans," said Katherine, all trace of mirth gone from her voice. "He's removed his former protégé from power and practically has the whole city at his beck and call now."
"And I should care be-" began Damon.
"Do you know what happens to someone who made a king look like a fool?" asked Katherine, cutting off Damon as she did so.
"They die terrible deaths? Although I think that's a given, because dying is generally unpleasant from what I've gathered," said Damon.
"There are plenty of fates worse than death Damon," said Katherine coldly. "And one of those is being Klaus' pet for the rest of eternity. After he rips out Elena's heart obviously."
"He has no reason to do that," said Damon, narrowing his eyes as he did so. "He wants his hybrids."
"He has an army of vampires now, hybrids are officially irrelevant. His army might be less loyal, but they fear him more than they hate him," said Katherine exasperatedly. "Do you really think that Klaus would forget that Elena killed his brother? Or that you desiccated him and left him in a coffin?"
"Stop," said Elena, who had gotten dressed in the time that they had been arguing. Being a vampire suited her, made her less useless at the very least. She still preferred Elena with her humanity gone. At least that one hadn't been judgy. "Give us one good reason we should trust a word you say. And let's not forget that you killed my brother!"
"Technically, Silas killed him," said Katherine calmly, as if she was discussing dinner. "And considering that he came back to life, I'd say we can let bygones be bygones. I mean, didn't Damon do the exact same thing? And you seem perfectly happy with warming his bed now."
There was fury in Elena's eyes, but she couldn't really deny her logic. Katherine really did like winning against her doppelganger. Then again, beating Elena in a verbal spar was like winning an argument with a three year old. It really didn't prove anything. Still, that didn't stop her from getting a warm fuzzy feeling in her stomach.
"Don't let her get to you Elena," whispered Damon. "If she gets a single rise out of you, she wins. I don't like letting Kitty-Kat win."
"Oh you want me to win this time," said Katherine. "Because if I lose, then Klaus wins."
"Fine, what's your latest diabolical plan then?" demanded Damon.
"Even as we speak, Klaus is recruiting a few minions for his latest scheme. Once he gets here, he'll start by strangling your neighbors, then decapitating your schoolmates, and then… well you get the idea," said Katherine, ignoring Damon's question. She needed to give Elena some incentive to play after all, and if Elena joins in, then Damon joins in. It was that simple.
"Why would he do that?" said Elena; she was trying to hiding her feelings, but Katherine had five centuries of experience. Elena's muscles were tense, as if her flight or fight instinct was engaged, and her pupils had dilated. Katherine could practically smell her fear. "Even if he comes, he'd only want us."
"It's called making an example, Elena," said Katherine. "After today, no one in the supernatural world will dare cross Niklaus Michaelson for a very long time."
Katherine saw her doppelganger still, her face still impassive, but her eyes betrayed the truth. Well maybe Elena did have potential after all. There was silence in the room for a long time as both Damon and his latest lover pondered her words. Finally, it was Elena who spoke.
"What do you want us to do?" asked Elena with resignation.
"We need to get out of Mystic Falls. Klaus wants all of us, so we'd have a better chance if we all work together."
"Funny," said Damon. "I never took you for a team player. In fact, I remember perfectly well what happened when you claimed to be on our side the last time."
"I still saved you, didn't I?" retorted Katherine. "Back on topic; if we want to get out of Mystic Falls without being tracked by Klaus, we need a distraction. A very large one."
"What sort of distraction?" asked Elena suspiciously. Katherine sighed; this was why she didn't want Elena to be here. The worst thing that could happen to any vampire was to start caring about their food. Or portable drinks, whichever way you wanted to look at it.
"You're not going to have us fake our deaths, are you?" said Damon as he rolled his eyes. "And please tell me that this plan doesn't involve burning churches."
"Nothing quite so simple this time," said Katherine. "Nobody falls for the same trick twice. This time, we'll have to use more drastic methods."
"And those are…?" asked Damon carefully.
"Watch the news Damon," said Katherine calmly as she moved towards the exit. "I'll be in touch."
A/N: I recently got the inspiration to write this story after certain events. This is just an intro and I'm aware that it isn't as polished as it could be! The real chapters will be much longer. Also, the title is a work in progress.
If anyone found this after having read my previous story, please note that I probably won't go back to that story due to a lack of inspiration, and the fact that I'm also working on another story at the same time (it's a Game of Thrones and TVD crossover, if you want to check it out, search A Red Sun Rises by Tempest Rulz on Google) I'm really sorry about that.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading!