The Luxe
Disclaimer: This is a retelling of the story of The Luxe by Anna Gobberson, using the characters and locations of Vampire Diaries, that belongs to L.J Smith. In other words; I own NOTHING.
Prologue:
On the morning of October 4th, 1864, Katherine Petrova Bennett –the eldest daughter of the late Mr. Grayson Bennett- passed into the kingdom of heaven. Services will be held tomorrow, at 10 o'clock am at Fells' Church.
The Daily Gazette
In life, Katherine Petrova Bennett was known not only for her loveliness but also for her moral character, so it was fair to assume that in the afterlife she would occupy a lofty seat with an especially good view. If Katherine had looked down from the heavenly perch one particular October morning on the proceeding of her own funeral she would have been honored to see that all of Mystic Falls' best families had turned up to say good-bye.
They crowded Broadway with their black carriages proceeding toward the corner of East Tenth Street, where the Fell's Church stood. Even though there was currently no sun or rain their servants sheltered them with great black umbrellas, hiding their faces –etched with shock and sadness- from the public's peering eyes. Katherine would have approved of their somberness and also of their indifferent attitude of the curious workday people pressed up to the police barricades. The crowds had come to wonder at the passing of the perfect eighteen-year-old whose glittering evenings had been recounted in the morning papers to brighten their days.
A cold snap had greeted all of Mystic Falls that morning, rendering the sky above an unfathomable gray. Reverend Needlehouse murmured as his carriage pulled up to the church, as if God could no longer imagine beauty now that Katherine Bennett no longer walked his Earth. The pallbearers nodded in agreement as they followed the reverend onto the street and into the shadow of the gothic-style church.
They were Katherine's peers, the young men she danced with at countless balls. They had disappeared to St. Paul's and Exeter at some point then returned with adult ideas and a fierce will to flirt. And here they were now, in black frock coats and mourning bands, looking gave for perhaps the first time ever.
First, was Klaus Cutting, who was known for being so lighthearted and who had proposed marriage to Katherine twice without anyone taking him seriously. He looked as elegant as always, although Kat would have noticed the fair stubble on his chin –a telltale sign of deep sorrow- as Klaus shaved every morning and was never seen in public without a smooth face. After him, came the dashing James Hyde, who had just that May inherited a majority share of the Equitable Life Insurance Society. He'd once let his face linger near Katherine's strawberry-scented neck and told her that she smelled better than any woman in Mystic Falls. After James, came Brody Parker Fish, whose family's townhouse neighbored the Bennetts' on Grammery Park, and Fredrick Armstrong and Amos Vreewold, who had often competed to be Katherine's partner on the dance floor.
They stood still with downcast eyes, waiting for Damon Salvatore, who emerged last. The refined mourners could not help a little gasp of the sight of him, and not only because he was usually so wickedly bright-eyed and so regularly with a drink in hand. The tragic irony of Damon appearing as a pallbearer on the very day when he was to have wed Katherine seemed deeply unfair.
The horses drawing the hearse were shiny black, but the coffin was decorated with an enormous white satin bow, for Katherine had died a virgin. What a shame, they all whispered, blowing ghostly gusts of air into one another's ears, that an early death was visited on such a very good girl.
Damon, his thin lips set in a hard line, moved towards the hearse with the other pallbearers close behind. They lifted the unusually light coffin and stepped towards the church door. A few audible sobs were muffled into handkerchiefs as all of Mystic Falls realized they would never again look on Kat's beauty, on her porcelain skin, or sincere smile. There was, in fact, no Kat, for her body had not yet been recovered from the Hudson River, despite two days of dragging it, and despite the handsome reward offered Mayor Lockwood.
The whole ceremony had come on rather quickly, in fact although everyone seemed too shocked too shocked to consider this.
Next in the funeral cortege was Katherine's mother wearing a dress and a veil in her favorite color. Mrs. Grayson Bennett, nee Margret Peirce, had always seemed fearsome and remote –even to her own children- and she only became harder and more intractable since her husband's passing last winter. Grayson Bennett had been odd and his oddness had only grown in the years before his death. He had however, been the eldest son of an eldest son of a Bennett –a family that has been prospered on the little town of Mystic Falls since the beginning – and so society had always forgiven him of his quirks. But in the weeks before her own death, Katherine had noticed something new and pitiable in her mother, as well as Margret leaned a little to her left now, as though remembering her late husband's presence.
In her footsteps was Katherine's Aunt Lucy, the younger sister of her late father. Lucy Bennett was one of the first women to move prominently in society after a divorce; it was understood, though not very much discussed, that her early marriage to a titled Spaniard had exposed her to enough bad humor and drunken debauchery for a whole lifetime. She went by her maiden name now and looked as aggrieved by the loss of her niece as if Katherine had been her own child.
There followed an odd gap, which everyone was too polite to comment on, and then came Agnes Jones, who was sniffling loudly.
Agnes was not a tall girl, and though she appeared well dressed enough to the mourners still pressing up against the police line for a better look, the black dress she wore would have been sadly familiar to the deceased. Katherine had worn the dress only once –to her father's funeral- and then passed it down. It had since been let out at the waist and shortened at the hem. As Katherine knew too well, Agnes' father had met with financial ruin when she was only eleven and had subsequently thrown himself off a bridge. Agnes liked to tell people that Katherine was the only person who had offered her friendship in those dark times. Katherine had been her best friend, Agnes had often said and though Katherine would have been embarrassed by such exaggerated statements, she wouldn't have dreamed of correcting the poor girl.
After Agnes came Elena Gilbert, who was usually said to be Katherine's true best friend. Katherine would indeed have recognized the distance look of impatience she wore now. Elena never like waiting, especially outdoors. One of the lesser, Mrs. Vanderbilt standing nearby recognized the look as well, and made a virtually inaudible cluck. Elena, with her gleaming black feathers, Egyptian profile and wide heavily lashed eyes, was much admired but not very generally trusted.
And there was the fact –uncomfortable to all assembled- that Elena had been with Katherine when her body disappeared into the cold waters of the Hudson. She had, everyone knew by now, been the last person to see Katherine alive. Not that they suspected her of anything, of course. But then, she did not look nearly as haunted enough. She wore a cluster of diamonds at her throat and on her arm, the formidable Jeremy Buck.
Jeremy was a distance relation of the old Buck clan –so distant that lineage could not be proved or disproved- but he was still formidable in size, two heads taller than Elena and robust in the middle. Katherine had never cared for him; she had always harbored a secret preference for doing what was practical and right over what was clever and fine. Jeremy had never seemed to like her like anything more than a taste manger, and indeed the gold cap now on his left canine matched the watch chain that extended from under his coat to his pants pocket. If that lesser, Mrs. Vanderbilt had said aloud what she was thinking –that he appeared more flashy than aggrieved- he most likely would take that as a compliment.
Once Elena and Jeremy passed, the rest of the crowd followed them into the church, flooding the aisles with their black garbs on the way to their familiar pews. Reverend Needlehouse stood quietly at the pulpit as the best families of Mystic Falls –The Salvatore's and The Gilbert's, the Lockwood's and Cuttings- took their seats. Those who could no longer stop themselves, even after that lofty ceiling began to whisper about the shocking absence.
Finally, Mrs. Bennett gave the reverend a brusque nod.
"It is with heavy hearts," Reverend Needlehouse began. It was all he managed to say before the arched door to the church went flying. The ladies of Mystic Falls' polite class itched to turn around and look, but of course decorum forbade it. They kept their elaborately coiffured heads facing forward and their eyes on Reverend Needlehouse, whose expression was not making that effort any easier.
Hurrying down the aisle was Bonnie Bennett, the dearly departed's little sister, with a few shining curls coming loose from under her hat and her cheeks pink from exertion. Only Katherine, if indeed she could look down from the heavens would have known what to make of the smile disappearing from Katherine's face as she took a seat in the first pew.
A/N: There you go! As I said before, this is a retelling of the story The Luxe by Anna Gobberson but using the characters and locations of Vampire Diaries.
I would also like to point out a few things:
Bonnie and Katherine are sisters, even though one's white and the others black the mom is white and the dad is black.
There is NO slavery in this story, the sevents are both black and white and they're all poor.
So, tell me what you think! Stefan and Caroline are coming soon.