Prologue.
My story is not over, not by a long shot. In many ways it seems that it has only just begun. My entire existence has led up to this meeting with Damon Salvatore, and it was imperative that I make a good first impression. I would allow myself two hours with him, any longer and I feared that my heart would take over and I might start feeling something for him. Imagine that; having feelings for a man who'd had some kind of a dysfunctional relationship with my birth mother and who killed the one remaining person who meant anything to me in this world, my best friend Alexia Branson.
I knew that I was putting myself in a somewhat vulnerable place, trusting a man whom I'd never met and who was known to be something of a loose canon. If I was going to win him over and convince him of my virtue I would have to be sneaky about it. Even with that in mind there was no guarantee that he would agree to help me lure Katherine out. She was not only a threat to me, but also to Elena, Stefan and himself. There was no telling what his reaction would be to my request.
Katherine was still very much a mystery to me. I had no idea what she looked like, where she might be, or how she would react when she realized that I was seeking her out. I could only hope that some part of her, albeit a very small part, still cared about me and that she would display some form of compassion for my situation. I needed answers to questions that had dominated my thoughts for over five hundred years and she was the only one who knew the truth. Still something inside of me was urging me to turn back.
It was now or never. Damon Salvatore was mere inches away. If I was to jump ship now it would be unlikely that this opportunity would ever present itself again. I knew that this might be my only chance to find Katherine and hold her accountable for what she did to me; for what she stole from me. This was for my father and my mother, for my precious Maddie, my dear friend Lexi, and even for Thomas whom I had loved regardless of whether or not he ever felt anything real for me. I owed them all, but even more than that, I owed myself. Katherine may not deserve the chance to get to know me, but I deserved an opportunity to meet and confront her.
But first things first, I had to win over Damon. So far, so good, I'd just have to keep up this charade long enough that he couldn't resist my charm. That shouldn't be too hard, right? All that I had to do was to keep the whiskey coming.