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A/N: I know I should be updating my other story but this idea came to me and I just couldn't resist.
September 24, 1864
Adara Petrova smoothed down the folds of her teal green evening gown with grey embroidery on the front for one last time and went to join her sister in front of the mirror.
She tilted her head as she ran a critical eye over her whole appearance while combing her hands through her wine red hair which was pulled back with a grey decorative hairnet and was then flowing onto her side.
"Stop touching your hair, sister. You will ruin Emily's hard work." Katerina drawled.
Katerina and Adara could have been identical twins if it weren't for their differences in hair and eye color.
"We wouldn't want that." Adara smirked and then remarked softly, "You look beautiful, Katerina."
"It's Katherine now. How many times have I told you to stop living in the past?" Katerina said sharply.
"It's not like I have ever slipped up in front of anybody." Adara defended herself. After some hesitation she pushed the words out, "Speaking of the past… I'd like to tell Damon everything about ours."
Katerina stopped admiring her reflection and rounded on Adara. "Have you completely taken leave of your senses? What, for even a second, made you think that such an action would be supported by me for a passing fancy?"
"That I have even decided to consult you on this should tell you that Damon is no passing fancy, though that should have clear to you even before this moment. Don't forget that I have been residing here with the Salvatore's since June, unlike you who came here this month."
Adara knew that Katerina was going to be difficult about this and wished that she could have gone ahead with her plans to tell Damon without her approval, but it wouldn't have been fair to her. Their past demons haunted both, but their main target was Katerina Petrova.
"And I have told you my opinion on that." Adara rolled her eyes on the understatement of Katerina's comment. "Yes, you have told me repeatedly how unworthy you find Damon."
"Don't roll your eyes. It's unladylike." Katerina sniffed.
Adara sighed and tried again to get through her sister, "Damon wants to turn and be with me forever. I just feel that he should know about the dangers being with me would bring before he makes such a life altering decision."
"Am I supposed to care about Damon's welfare? It is just one more reason why you shouldn't turn him." With that said, Katerina started walking towards the door.
Adara flashed forward and blocked her path. "If he doesn't take it well then I promise to compel him to forget everything about us."
Katerina's eyes widened before narrowing. "How are you going to compel him with that vervain watch that you gave him?"
Adara shot her a scornful look, "The same way that you have already done."
"By ripping it off him?" Katerina smirked at Adara and moved across her but Adara blocked her again. "What now?" Katerina asked and placed a gloved hand on her waist.
"I have been talking to some witches and there might just be a solution to our Nik prob- "But she was cut off with an uncharacteristic growl from Katerina.
"Don't you mean Klaus, sister?" Katerina whispered with a dangerous glint in her eyes.
"Yes, I meant Klaus. It was just a slip of a name because of habit. It doesn't mean that I hate him any less than you do. He killed our family. He was planning to kill you. You know that any fondness I held for him is long gone." Adara said fiercely and Katerina nodded, mollified.
"We shouldn't keep out escorts waiting any longer." Katerina finally opened the door and stepped out.
"But- "Adara was cut off by a wave of her sister's hand and a "Not now, Adriana."
Adara sighed in frustration as she gazed at the back of her sister walking down the stairs but didn't pursue it further. Katerina had always run on her tune.
"Everyone will you please join me in raising your glasses to my good friend George Lockwood. George, thank you for so bravely defending the south." Damon raised his glass towards George Lockwood.
"My honor Mr. Salvatore. After all, someone had to do it." George clinked his glass with Damon's and smiled smugly.
As Adriana stepped next to Damon and leaned into him, Katherine took a sip from her champagne glass and tuned her ear to the couple.
"I feel that there is much more bravery in following what is right even if the society deems it wrong." Adriana said and then clinked her flute to Damon's. Damon smiled softly down at her and they both took a sip of their champagne.
Katherine let out an inaudible scoff as she turned back towards Stefan and smiled demurely at him.
Damon himself admitted that he deserted the confederacy as he felt there was much fun to have with the three of them instead. Her sister must have warped it into something romantic in her mind. This was just further justification that Adriana had lost her mind in love.
"Can we have a word Miss Katherine?" Henry asked after he came out to Katherine.
"Grab a glass, Henry. It's a celebration." Katherine urged him.
"Please, Miss Katherine." Henry beseeched.
After her conversation with Henry about the recent unusual animal attacks, Katherine looked at George Lockwood and her mind churned with an idea to solve two of her nuisances with one strike.
"Thank you, Damon for such an incredible evening." Adara's eyes twinkled at Damon and she grabbed hold of both his hands.
"Thank you for granting me the pleasure of your company, Adara." Damon murmured as he pressed a kiss on the back of her left hand. "It would be an immense honor to escort you to all the balls in our future. If you would let me."
Adara cupped Damon's face and said, "Oh, Damon. It would fill me with tremendous joy to have you as my escort to all the balls in our shared eternity."
"Truly?" Damon asked, his voice low with self-doubt.
Adara's eyes blazed with determination as she proclaimed, "Yes."
It eased the pain in his heart to hear Adara so unfaltering about their future. But it also perplexed him because if that wasn't the reason then, "Why won't you change me, Adara?"
"There's so much you don't know about me, Damon." Adara said warily.
"Then tell me. Tell me what is stopping us from moving forwards our future. Haven't I shown you by now that I will accept all of you?" Damon traced his fingers beneath her eyes where there would be black veins when her vampire visage took over.
"Soon. I promise, Damon soon you will know everything. And… if you still want to be changed after that then I will be more than happy to turn you." Adara promised.
Damon's face lit up with a beam, but he tried to steady himself as he once again kissed her hand. "Goodnight Adara."
But Adara tugged at his hand as he stepped back. She looked at him with an impish smile and asked, "Would you like to come in, Mr. Salvatore?"
"It would be my pleasure." Damon professed with a smirk before Adara pulled him into her bedroom and shut the door.
"Come in" Katherine called out the next morning after the knocking subsided. She knew it was her sister.
"Good morning, sister. I came to continue yester- Oh!" Adriana turned around to give Stefan privacy after seeing him scrambling to cover himself but not before getting a look at his neck which had a large vampire bite.
"Good morning Stefan." Adriana greeted him chirpily without any awkwardness in her voice.
"Good morning Adriana. You can turn back now." Stefan said with embarrassment coating his voice.
"Don't worry Stefan, I've seen a man's chest before. You haven't compromised my virtue." Adriana winked playfully at him. "You certainly seem to have taken our… differences in diet in stride. Taken after your brother that way, then?"
"This doesn't change the way I feel about Katherine. We will go on exactly as we have." Stefan replied robotically to Adriana.
She narrowed her eyes at Stefan and transferred her gaze to Katherine. Katherine already felt annoyed and done with that particular conversation coming her way.
"I don't have to explain myself to you, little sister." Katherine said coldly as she sat down on the armchair.
Adriana crossed her hands on her chest and agreed, "No, you never do that. But I thought that you would at least restrain yourself with this one."
"Why, because he is your precious beloved's brother?" Katherine asked in dark amusement.
"No, because you claimed to love him and wished to turn him." Adara fired back.
Katherine sighed. "I only took away his fear." She continued bitterly, "Everybody is not blessed to have such accepting courters."
There, Katherine thought, that should stop her in her path with guilt, especially after her blunder yesterday with the devil's name.
"This will not do you any favors in the future." Adriana paused and seemed to change her mind and finished with a weary, "I hope you know what you are doing."
"I have a vision for our future, Adriana and all my chips are falling perfectly into place." Katherina said confidently and rose up from the armchair. "Now excuse us, sister, Mr. Salvatore is waiting for me in the garden to play a game of croquet." She turned towards Stefan and extended her hand towards him. "Stefan, will you escort me?"
Stefan got up from the bed and bowed to Katherine. "Of course, Miss Katherine."
"Katherine…" Adriana dragged out warningly, "If this goes on then I'll take yesterday's lack of protest as assent and move forward with my plans."
"I remember protesting" Katherine exclaimed.
"Not after my suggestion of compulsion if he doesn't take it well." Adriana pointed out.
"Don't be so impatient, sister. I'm sure we'll get a chance to talk this evening." Katherine smiled deviously at Adriana for a moment before walking out of her room with Stefan.
Adara walked around the garden and tried to calm her racing thoughts.
Damon and Stefan were best friends. She knew Damon would want to save him from Katherine, but she also knew that if she helped him then the rift that was growing between her and Katherine might be too large to cross.
Yet Stefan was her friend too. He didn't deserve to be compelled and become a chew toy for her sister. She had thought that Stefan was safe with Katherine as it had been centuries since she had seen her sister express positive emotions towards anyone but her. Lately not even her. Not since they had separated when they almost got caught by Klaus' vampires a few decades back.
Those decades apart had been both good and bad for her. She shook her head. She didn't want to get caught up in those memories right now.
But they had been productive in getting her in touch with a coven of witches that gave her hope that Nik's- Klaus, she scolded herself. That Klaus' reign of terror in their lives might finally end.
Adara knew why Katerina hadn't been paying her much attention when it came to this. There were not many witches that were willing to go against Klaus and they had had no luck in finding his weaknesses. Katerina probably found this as useless as their other endeav- "Ah!" She gasped.
She looked down to see blood spreading through her dress.
Adara had heard Giuseppe Salvatore come into the garden but she hadn't paid him any attention, too lost in her thoughts, an action that she was now severely regretting. He used her temporary incapacity to plunge a syringe in her that she realized, as she tried to blink the black spots away, was probably vervain.
Adara opened her eyes to see Damon's face hovering over hers.
"Damon?" She tried to say but it came out muffled. Her eyes widen when she realized her mouth was covered by a muzzle.
"Shh. Shh. I'll get you out of here." Damon tried to sooth her as he took off the muzzle and started untying her.
"We're going to get you both out of here. Damon, hurry. Hurry." Adara heard Stefan say to the side and turned her head to see him untying Katerina.
Adara let out a scream when she heard a gunshot and saw Damon fall. She tried to get up, but tears come to her eyes as she realized that the vervain in her system was still affecting her.
"No! No. Damon." Stefan cried out as he jumped up and grabbed a gun, but he was shot down too.
A few men came into her view as they tied both the sisters up again, put their muzzles back on and put them back in the carriage.
Adara tried to pacify herself with the thought that Damon had her blood in his system, but it only helped a little. This was not how she wanted him to turn. If she didn't get out of this mess, then Damon would have no one to help him in his new vampire lifestyle.
Her head snapped up when she recalled that Stefan had been shot too.
"Stefan?" She tried to convey her thoughts to her sister and saw her nodding. So, Stefan had also died with vampire blood in his veins.
If she didn't survive this, then at least Damon would have his brother.
In short time they reached the Fell's church and were promptly tossed into it.
After a little while their strength slowly returned, and they tore off their bindings. Adara had just started to pop the wooden bullets out of her chest when she saw Katerina being helped out of the church by one of the guards.
"Katherine?" She rasped out as a hopeful fire began to ignite in her.
Though that fire quickly turned into ice when Katerina looked at her with a hint of regret as she said, "I'm sorry Adriana."
Adara stared at her with incredulity and tried to get up but she was still weak from the vervain and slumped over the wall instead.
Katerina paused and threw out a, "Don't worry. You won't die. This is for your own good." over her shoulder and finally walked away.
A/N: To make it a bit clearer, Adara Petrova is her real name while she adopted the alias Adriana Pierce, just like Katherine.
I hope you guys liked the chapter. Please leave reviews for constructive criticism, ideas you'd like to see incorporated (it's always interesting to see what the readers want though I can't guarantee that I'll use them) and of course I would love to hear if I'm doing a good job