Chapter 1

Hell wasn't quite what I'd expected it to be. Sure, while I was being dragged away from Bonnie Bennett and into an abyss by some mystical force, I'd fully expected to find myself in a fiery pit somewhere surrounded by demons or Kardashians or something. Instead, I was in a standing cell and staring down at least three random Travellers at any given time, and there was some bitch barking orders who called herself Sloan.

I didn't bother saying anything. She was the bragging kind. It takes one to know one. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, Katherine."

I only shrugged. "There are of course the standard ones... Why am I here? What do you want with me? What in the hell possessed you to pair those shoes with that outfit? I'm sure you have an answer for all of it so let's get to it."

She gave a cold smile I was very familiar with. "We brought you here. We have plans for you. Likely the same thing that possessed you to overdo it with your eye makeup." Okay, she was good. Maybe we could have been besties in another life. "Look, there's really only one thing you need to know, Katherine. There's no escaping that cell, and even if you did, you're still dead. Nobody can see or hear or otherwise interact with you except for fellow Travellers. With any luck, you won't have to be here long, so be a good girl and don't try anything stupid."

I didn't bother to answer, offering only a glower in response as she walked away and then seemed to vanish into thin air. My attention focused instead on the three keeping an eye on me. Like some cliche, I was given a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead who I mentally named Eenie, Meenie, and Miney, respectively. All three were well-built, but more importantly the preternatural vibes emanating from them made the air around them so thick that even I was able to almost touch it. It was a lot of metaphysical muscle for someone who was supposed to be in a helpless situation. That knowledge alone kept my mind working, but staring them down would only keep them on their feet.

I offered a smile and a much more pleasant demeanor. "Well, if you boys are going to keep me locked up in here, you could at least be gracious hosts. Any chance I could get some entertainment?" They looked at each other casting silent questions back and forth, and I knew they weren't allowed to talk to me. Good to know. I didn't need them to. "So... You boys can see and hear me, right? And you can't ignore me..." I focused my gaze on the brunette, Meenie. "In fact, I'm betting you can't take your eyes off me. So if I were to do something like this..." My smile quickly melted into a cool smirk as hands traveled upward along my inner thigh, disappearing from sight only to return dragging a pair of black lace panties into view. I pulled them down further, slowly, until I was able to step out, and I tossed them straight at my dark-haired target, who swallowed hard when he instinctively caught them.

I was corporeal here, and I could manipulate my environment. Also good to know.

I feigned a confused pout as I continued to stare down my guards. "So, can you boys also interact with me? I mean, I can't leave this place anyway, and I'm really no fun when I'm bored. I'm sure you could help me find a good way to pass the time?" Meenie was interested if the look on his face was anything to go by, but he still wasn't talking, and he wasn't moving. They were supposed to stay in that exact spot. Again, good to know. The formation suggested that they were guarding me, but I considered the other possibility. Something was being guarded from me, and I couldn't see around them to see what it was, but by the way they shifted when I'd mentioned my impossible escape I was guessing it was the way out.

My teeth grazed against my lower lip as I tilted my head and gave Meenie my best come hither look. "Tell you what.. Your two friends over there can stay put if they want. I really don't mind a couple of voyeurs. In fact, it's kind of hot. Don't you think that's kind of hot?" My fingers trailed upward and out of sight underneath my skirt again, and I sighed as I looked him in the eyes. My other hand crooked a finger to beckon him closer. "If you're really that scared I'll escape, you can just join me in here. It's a little tight, but I'm sure we can make do with what we've got."

Meenie smiled back with that look that only a man can get and only when he knows he's about to win. Gotcha. He looked at his companions, giving them a look that said they should stay put before he finally walked toward me, recovering his predatory expression. "I can definitely make do."

"I'll just bet you can."

Miney finally spoke up. "Sloan put us here to keep an eye on the doppelganger." Meenie wasn't paying attention. He swiped a hand over the bars, and three of them melted away as I pulled him in. My hands danced down the length of his torso before finding his waistband, and I tugged him against me. Miney was still fussing behind him. "Dude, if she gets the dagger..."

I already had it. Even as a human I was a hell of a pickpocket, and it was in Meenie's ribcage before he knew I'd taken it off him. As if thought became reality I stood before Eenie and Miney in a blink, the dagger burying itself first in Eenie's neck and then in Miney's stomach. I stood in disbelief as I looked at the bloodied dagger in my hand and realized what my situation was and how I'd crossed the room so quickly.

I'd died as a vampire, and I was a vampire in death.

The toppled guards revealed only a wall, and rage engulfed me. I'd been wrong, and now I'd have to find another way out. Fine by me. I'd level this place from the inside out. I was already dead. What was the worst that could happen? I mustered everything I had in me- the contempt I held for those who had hijacked my death, the injustice I'd felt when the so-called "good guys" of Mystic Falls kidnapped my dying daughter and used her against me, the pure survival instinct I'd gained from running from an immortal hybrid for five hundred years, the need for revenge I'd had when I found my mother's mangled corpse, the betrayal I'd experienced when my father ripped my baby from my arms and then banished me from my own home. All of it melted into pure rage and flowed just beneath my skin only to be channeled into my fist as it was sent into the wall.

I never made contact with anything. My hand passed through and struck nothing. It was enough of a surprise to stop me cold, and I tried the surface with the other hand to test the theory. Nothing. I squared my shoulders and breathed, stepping through into a dark void only to find myself seconds later alone within the church where I'd found Bonnie.

I wasn't taking any chances that whatever spell had snatched me from that church would take me again. I left, running at the speed I was most familiar with until I stood in front of the only place I knew to go. Yeah, they all loathed me and had just killed me, but like hell was I going down to the Travelers, and there was a good chance that Stefan and his merry band might consider whatever they were up to far more dire than ridding themselves of The Big Bad Katherine Pierce.

It was a stroke of good luck that Matt Donovan was the first face I saw. He'd always been someone I liked, and he was the least likely to try to kill me at first sight. Good ol' Matty Blue... I approached slowly. No need to scare the kid and potentially have him pass out on me. Then again, he should probably be used to it by now. He smiled when he finally saw me, and I guessed that he'd mistaken me for Elena. I corrected him. "Wrong one, Matty. You guys should have figured out by now I'm a lot harder to kill than all that."

There was no response. Instead, he walked right through me and toward the person he'd really been smiling at the whole time- Jeremy Gilbert.

"Hey!" I wasn't a fan of being ignored, even if the other person couldn't help themselves. I turned to Elena's baby brother. Even if Sloan had been right, Jeremy should have been an exception to that rule. "Aren't you supposed to see dead people?"

"Only if he's thinking about you, darling, which he clearly isn't."

The voice from behind me caught me off-guard, and I whirled around to see a face I'd only had the misfortune to see once in my very long life. "Kol."

He grinned, something that would unsettle even the strongest resolve when delivered by Klaus's little brother."Welcome to hell, Katerina."