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Chapter One – September 1950
Katerina stared at herself in the mirror and could hardly recognise her own face. Her mother's pearl earrings seemed just as strange to her as her long brown curls that flowed freely over her shoulder and down her back. The blouse felt too stiff, the grey woollen skirt too heavy, the shiny black shoes too rigid and the tights itched. She hated her school uniform.
Katerina was used to herself in a heavy white tutu, her long dark hair in a bun so tight it gave her a headache.
But tonight, they were not to look like ballerinas, Mrs Mikaelson had said. Tonight, they were to look like young ladies. They had been allowed jewellery, even make-up, but Katerina did not have any. Katerina did not feel like a lady. She just felt like someone who had been put into a stranger's clothes; it felt wrong and slightly scary.
But, if Katerina Petrova could do anything, then she could survive. She could fit in anywhere – even in a room full of so-called "young ladies".
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~ö~ö~ö~
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On the way to the dancing room, she almost sprained her ankle in these awful shoes. She hated them with a fierce passion. Caroline too looked sullen and pale, but truth be told, she was still gorgeous. She looked like an angel, flowing blonde waves and big cornflower eyes.
Rebekah did too, obviously. Well, that was not a surprise, she always looked perfect, and of course she did. She was the Mikaelson's only daughter, and the school's dancing champion. She looked perfectly happy and excited – of course she did, she was the only one who had nothing to fear.
"Who d'you think they'll choose?" Bonnie whispered in her ear.
Katerina threw a quick look over her shoulder; they weren't supposed to be talking. "Rebekah, of course. You know her brother's never danced with anyone else."
"That still leaves two others," Caroline replied, her voice tense. Those were the first words she'd spoken all day, which was more than unusual. She had been chosen last year.
"Well, we all know it won't be me, I danced like an elephant this term," Bonnie chattered away, completely oblivious to her friends' obvious turmoil. "And anyway, I look rubbish in this tie-" Suddenly Bonnie gasped and stared at Katerina. "Oh my God, Kat, where's your tie? Mrs Mikaelson will descend on you-"
Katerina's hand shot up to her collar, but it was no use – it wasn't there. She swallowed hard. "Maybe she won't notice," she said faintly.
"Are you insane, of course she will," Caroline hissed. "If you're quick, you can still get it, but for God's sake don't be late."
Katerina cursed, then nodded and spun round. After a metre or two, she stopped and jerked the shoes off her feet. Then she ran on, her lungs burning as she stumbled up the endless staircase back to her dormitory. There was the tie, obviously, right where she'd put it this morning, on her dresser. Katerina grabbed it and tied it in running. Her heart stuttered with fear – what if she'd be late, what if she'd be late, what if she'd be caught? Mrs Mikaelson would be furious, she would make her dance extra hours for months, she would only send her to bed when she collapsed in front of the mirror…
Suddenly, she heard voices. Her breath caught in her throat and she skidded to a sudden stop, pressing herself against the wall.
"Take someone else, Elijah," she could hear one of them whine, a man, rather young by the sound of it. She didn't recognise any of her teachers, and going by the posh accent and the fact he was talking to Elijah, the eldest Mikaelson son, she guessed it was one of his younger brothers.
"Why would I do that?" This voice was clipped and one-hundred percent composed, strict.
"Because your brother, who loves you dearly, implores you to take someone else to that stupid dance. It is just one night, you know, and God knows the company of a young woman would do you good," the other went on, practically begging.
"And who is this brother you speak of?"
The other one groaned. "Me, you bloody moron."
"Well, your choice of words really does underline your declaration of love, Niklaus."
Klaus, she thought with a shudder. He was, perhaps, the most handsome of the three brothers, but also the most intimidating one. There were dreadful rumours about that man, they said he had a terrible temper, and he did have something distinctly violent about him. His wolfish posture, his hungry eyes – the only one who apparently didn't shrink back at the sight of him was Caroline. It had been him who'd taken her to the dance last year, and though when she came back she made an awfully upset impression on the others girls, she had that fond, somewhat sad smile on her lips when she spoke of him.
Pressed against the wall, Katerina edged around the corner to see that they had disappeared down the corridor. She let out a shaky breath, put her cursed shoes back on and hurried into the dancing room, slipping through the door with the last of the other students. Her heart still pounding, she took her place between Bonnie and Caroline.
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The room was full of people, but eerily quiet. One could have heard a needle drop.
The entire ballet school stood there, all the girls lined up along the mirror that covered the entire long wall of the room with their backs straight, their heads raised, their feet, all clad in the exact same black patent-leather shoes, all in the third position. None of them stirred.
On the far side of the room, in front of the window, stood the three Mikaelson brothers. Kol, the youngest, was all boyish charm, with dark blonde hair and a mischievous grin. Then there was Klaus – handsome, surely, with his curly hair a little lighter than his younger brother's, the piercing blue eyes; but once again, Katerina felt uneasy at the sight of him. There was something aggressive in his sharp gaze. Next to him stood the oldest of the three. Elijah was the exact opposite of his brothers, both in looks and behaviour. His hair was dark and very neatly cut and underneath the obligatory Mikaelson arrogance, his brown eyes showed softness that his brothers' did not. He looked more comfortable in his suit than Kol and Klaus put together, and his demeanour was almost as stern as his mother's. He stood so very upright Katerina couldn't help wondering whether he'd swallowed a stick.
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Mrs Mikaelson entered the room, her heels loud on the polished wooden floor.
"Good evening, girls," she called nonchalantly without looking up from her black clipbook.
"Good evening, ma'am," they replied in unison, their voices ringing through the huge room.
"Elijah. Niklaus. Kol," she added, still staring at the clipboard.
"Mother," Elijah gave back curtly, his brothers said nothing.
"All of you know what this is about," Mrs Mikaelson said, coming to a halt in the middle of the room. "Those of you older than fifteen who have danced the best this term will accompany my sons to the mayor's annual prom. I believe it is unnecessary to say that this is a great honour and an even greater responsibility. Now, step forward, please…"
She turned a page on her clipboard and called, still without raising her eyes off the paper:
"Rebekah Mikaelson."
This came as no surprise. Yet still all eyes were on the young blonde girl as she took three measured, graceful steps forward and then stood before her mother, in the exact same position as before.
"Rebekah, you have performed extraordinarily this term. You shall accompany my son Kol."
The silence in the room suddenly felt very heavy. Katerina felt Caroline and Bonnie stiffen next to her, and if it hadn't been so strictly forbidden to talk the room would have been buzzing. Even Rebekah herself looked slightly confused.
This had never happened. Rebekah had alwaysaccompanied Elijah.
Kol didn't look entirely happy with the whole arrangement, either; his older brother looked his usual overly-composed self.
Mrs Mikaelson went on with the same blank expression.
"Caroline Forbes."
A panicked little spark lit up in Caroline's eyes. She stepped forward and stood still, clearly not as calm as Rebekah had been under Mrs Mikaelson's sharp eyes.
"Caroline, you too have danced excellently. You shall accompany my son Niklaus."
A faint, wolfish smile played around Klaus's lips. Bonnie and Katerina exchanged a worried glance. Again? Bonnie mouthed, Katerina just shrugged.
The atmosphere tensed even more as they waited for the last name. Annabelle Nguyen, they had supposed earlier, or Hayley Marshall.
"Katerina Petrova."
She froze, having quite forgotten how to breathe.
How could it be her? Surely the other girls had been better than her. She hadn't been that good, and anyway she didn't even want to go; she had no desire whatsoever to dance with any of the Mikaelsons at the ball.
Her head was spinning. Bonnie gave her a small shove and she staggered forward, lacking all the grace the other two had displayed.
Mrs Mikaelson raised a brow at her, and her voice seemed even cooler than usual when she said:
"Katerina, you too have performed admirably. You shall accompany my son Elijah."
Her head was starting to spin again. She took a deep breath.
"You understand, girls, that you shall represent this school at the dance as much as you shall represent my family. This is a great responsibility for you all and I expect perfect behaviour as well as extraordinary dancing, you are, after all, the best students of a dancing school."
Breathe in.
"Yes, ma'am," she, Caroline and Rebekah replied in unison.
Breathe out. She was fairly sure she was in shock.
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~ö~ö~ö~
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"Oh. My. God. I can't believe it." Bonnie shook her head and dropped on her bed. "I just can't believe it. Both of you, at the mayor's prom, I cannot believe it."
"Yeah, you said that quite a lot."
"Well, I can't believe it!"
Katerina sighed. Bonnie and Caroline had practically dragged her back to the dormitory; she had hardly been able to think straight, leave alone walk straight. Now her head was clear again, she wasn't feeling much better – spending an entire night in a huge ballroom crowded with rich, educated people in the company of Elijah Mikaelson was not exactly a thrilling prospect in her opinion. They had literally nothing in common; he was a Mikaelson, rich, educated and powerful, and she was just a girl from a Bulgarian family who could have never afforded this school without her scholarship. Besides, she was seventeen and he somewhere in his mid-twenties.
What were they even supposed to talk about?
"Me neither," she answered faintly, stretching out on her bed. "Me neither."
She rolled over on the bed, facing the girl on her right that had been suspiciously silent since the ceremony.
"What about you, Caroline?"
The blonde shrugged, and picked up a book from her bedside table. "Well, I tried very hard this term," she answered in a tone that fooled neither of the other two.
"But Klaus, and don't forget this is the second time he chose you," Bonnie said in an excited whisper.
"I know that, Bonnie," Caroline gave back irritably.
"There's something wrong with him," Katerina said quietly. "He scares me."
"He scares everyone."
"He was always nice to me," the blonde answered, more to herself than the others. Katerina was starting to think that she should not only worry about herself, and she wanted to find out what had happened on that ball the previous year more than ever. How could it be that Caroline was so fond of him while at the same time looking so scared whenever she set eyes on him?
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~ö~ö~ö~
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Katerina was tired, but she didn't care. She was used to it – this was how it went every single day, and she wouldn't have it any other way. She loved dancing, and by now she felt like she needed this as much as she needed to breathe. Nothing could clear her mind the way ballet could.
"Miss Petrova, raise your foot a little," Miss Fleming called. "More. More. That's it. Head up, Miss Young, there is nothing on the ground that needs staring at. Miss Forbes, the position of your hand, what is that supposed to be? Very good, Miss Mikaelson. Alright, and now I'd like to see your turn… Miss Nguyen, do that again, and this time keep straight." She frowned at Anna and sighed.
She clapped her hands. "Miss Nguyen, work on that turn. Miss Marshall, you were poorly stretched, I won't have that again. Dismissed."
Isobel Fleming tucked her thick dark hair behind her ear, pierced them all with a dissatisfied glance and strode out of the room. The moment the door fell shut behind her, the room was filled with chatter.
"Well, then, Katerina. Elijah Mikaelson, huh?" Hayley Marshall gracefully slid to the floor beside her and reached down to her feet.
"Believe me, I'm as shocked as you are," she muttered, beginning to stretch, too.
"I wonder why he chose to take someone else this year," Anna Nguyen quipped in.
Katerina sighed and stared at the wooden floorboards underneath her fingers. Like it always had during the last week, she felt like her heart was stuck in her throat at the thought of the dance that was only another three days ago.
"I'm gonna find out soon enough, I guess," she murmured and rose to her feet. "Care, we're supposed to meet Mrs Mikaelson in two hours about the dresses."
*Author's Note* These are probably going to get a little long sometimes, feel free to skip if you're not into it.
A few words to the characters – I wanted them to remain as close to their characters on the show as possible. If you find Katherine out of character, you're probably right – I chose the name with a lot of care. I want Katerina Petrova the way she was when she was still human, her personality in the sixteenth century. Don't worry, though, you'll catch a glimpse of good old Katherine Pierce later on :)
Caroline will be explored a little more in later chapters, but I really hope I got her alright – I love her to bits and pieces.
I'm, well… not very fond of Bonnie, as you can probably tell. I hope you don't find her too one-dimensional, but she's really just in this because she's part of the main cast on the show ^^
More about the Mikaelsons to come in chapter two.
I'm trying to include as many characters from the show as possible, let's see if you can spot them all ;)