Disclaimer: I don't owe anything except the characters that I've created
Successful Death Scene
Chapter 4
Slowly Drew climbed up the stairs and unlocked the front door. Inside he was greeted with complete silence and only when he used his demon hearing did he hear Katherine's heartbeat in the master bathroom. Passing the doorway to the completely white living room, Drew proceeded on his way to the stairs and climbed to the second floor quickly. He barely noticed the still full boxes of things lining the walls, or the empty walls, all he cared about was reaching his friend and informing her about his recent findings.
The door to the bathroom was slightly ajar and Drew didn't think twice before pushing it further open and entering the bright room. His eyes instantly found Katherine, leaning back in her bathtub, surrounded by bubbles and with her eyes closed. He allowed himself a moment to take in the view in front of him, slowly eyeing Katherine before looking back to her face and finding her smirking.
"Done creeping?" She murmured lightly, and Drew suppressed a laugh, moving closer to the bathtub and his blonde friend.
"I see you're comfortable. Shall I wait with my findings, or you want to hear it now?" He questioned, meeting Katherine's open icy blue eyes and leaning his back to the wall. Raising one of her hands from the water, Katherine motioned for Drew to proceed with his findings, then settled back in the water and closed her eyes again. Opening the envelope in his hands, Drew cast his eyes down to the words, instead of the blonde demon in front of him. "Your plan has worked, Northman now is hiring both dancers and bartenders." Katherine hummed to Drew's words and he proceeded. "I had fixed your documents like we have agreed. Eric Northman is going to hire Katherine Cataliades as his new…" Drew trailed off, lifting his eyes to Katherine and waiting for her response.
"Bartender." She murmured and Drew smirked. "And before you're going to offer me to become one of his dancers, don't. Being a bartender, I'm going to have more chances to interact with other vampires and to listen in to his conversations."
Nodding slightly, even if Katherine couldn't see it, Drew returned his attention to the file. "So, as I was saying, the hiring is happening tomorrow, you should be ready. I've dealt with Andre and he is not going to be of a threat to us. You were right, he is desperate to please and protect his Queen no matter what." With that both Drew and Katherine laughed lightly. "Another thing, I'm getting closer to figuring out why the she-wolf was killed."
That picked Katherine's interest and she opened her eyes once more, sitting up in the tub. "You mean you have some leads? Something to help us figure out why Victor Madden went after a random wolf?" Drew nodded courtly and Katherine smirked. "Do tell more."
Shaking his head lightly, Drew suppressed a smile. "Everything in due time. I don't have enough information at this moment to satisfy your curiosity. Not yet, Katherine. But I do have something." Drew smirked and watched how Katherine rolled her eyes, leaning back to the tub and pursing her lips. "Russell did indeed send someone here. He has been thorough and haven't had left any evidence until a few nights ago. One were has seen him interacting with a vampire on one of the nests and he saw the vampire being killed in the name of the only king Russell Edgington." Drew mocked the name of the king of Mississippi and flipped a page in his file. "We are on our way of identifying him."
"Anything else there that I need to know?" Katherine asked, staring at the soft bubbles instead of her friend. She was losing her interest in Drew's findings, it was nothing even remotely intriguing and mostly speculations. It wasn't good enough, not yet at least.
"Actually yes." Drew had picked up on his friend's wavering interest and decided to go all out with the information. Hearing Drew's insisting voice, Katherine looked at him and found him watching her closely. "The Magister is taking residence in Shreveport at the moment, watching everything closely and giving out the information to the AVL. So, Andre was right, the Authority does want to control all the Kings and Queens without the High Council noticing it."
"I swear, the vampire rules are so fucking annoying. AVL is higher than Kings and Queens, but not higher than that blind bitch that sits in the Council. And the Kings and Queens answer to the Council, but somehow they are expected to listen to the AVL too and then there is the Magister." Katherine sighed and rolled her eyes. "I honestly would just slaughter that pathetic excuse of AVL and go back to the complete Monarchy system. Stupid vampires."
Smirking to his friend's annoyance, Drew closed the file and moved closer to the tub again, meeting Katherine's eyes. "Did you read all the information that I gave you?" He inquired, and Katherine nodded, a smirk appearing on her face.
"Oh yes, I know all about the ancient Viking vampire, whose vampire daddy killed himself a couple of weeks ago. So tragic." Katherine sighed over dramatically and Drew chuckled lightly. "I also know about the bitch of a progeny and the annoying sister who sits in the AVL. Honestly, all the respect to Godric being ruthless and so on, and he kills himself because a church of religious freaks starts chanting that vampires are bad? Get over yourself." She rolled her eyes again and Drew nodded.
"I agree, but also suggest that you should keep this opinion to yourself. You don't want your fist meeting with Eric Northman to end up with his hands around your neck." Drew pointed out and Katherine laughed bitterly.
"Oh, don't worry, I have no intentions to have him touching me at all."
Katherine sat in her completely new sleek black convertible mustang, applying new layer of nude lipstick on her pursed lips, checking her appearance to make sure that she was not only presentable, but also desirable. The tight black crop top, high-waist ripped jeans and high heels were supposed to work just perfectly for her. Tousling her blonde curls one more time, Katherine threw her lipstick back in her bag and then got out of her car, locking it. Glancing around, she made sure that she remembered the layout of the building and all the exits in case of an emergency.
Straightening her posture, Katherine forced herself to appear relaxed and indifferent. She needed to be cold and with a clear mind to successfully play the Viking vampire. It was no joke and she knew just how important was this evening. Getting him to hire her and then getting closer to the whole mess was her ticket to success, and Katherine was damned if she wasn't going to succeed. That was her main goal, to get close, figure everything out, kill Victor and move on. The vampire problems were none of her concerns, she wasn't hired to deal with that, only Victor. The extra information and surveillance was only to be completely ready to deal with whatever was going to be thrown at her face.
Making her way inside the dimly lit bar, Katherine instantly had the attention of the whole room. It was filled with humans mostly, two werewolves there seemed a bit odd, but who was she to judge in that situation. The human population she did judge, dressed in offending, oversexualized or simply disgusting outfits. The only human worth of attention appeared to be a woman dressed in a fur coat, jeans and high boots. Her brown locks were styled to perfection and she was oozing confidence while shamelessly eyeing Katherine.
Ignoring the rest of the looks of the humans, Katherine moved to sit at the only free space that seemed to be right next to the fur woman. Dropping her bag on the ground next to the chair, Katherine settled down in the seat and crossed her legs, checking to make sure that her expensive heels were still perfect. She appeared completely oblivious to the looks others were giving her, but she did feel all the eyes on her. Probably making her as a competition for the attention of the vampires. Oh, the fucking pathetic fangbangers.
The silence lasted a couple moments more, but then people began talking once more, creating a buzz in the room. And even so, Katherine still felt someone's eyes on her, but before she had a chance to figure out who it was, the fur woman spoke out to her in a rich eastern European accent. "Name's Yvetta."
Looking over to the woman Katherine was met with a smirk and an extended hand. Taking Yvetta's hand in hers, Katherine offered her own smirk and a quick handshake. "Katherine."
Yvetta eyed the blonde demon, seeing her as the only real competition in the room and then leaned back to her chair, brushing her fur coat on Katherine's shoulder. "Came for a dancer's job too?" She questioned in a rich accent and Katherine shook her head, surprising Yvetta. "Why not?"
"Don't want to." Katherine shrugged and decided to try and move on with the conversation. "You're from Europe?" She asked and Yvetta nodded courtly.
"Estonia, was a cardiologist. Came here for a better life and now I'm an exotic dancer." The brunette explained, expecting something like judgement to cross Katherine's face, but was surprised to find the same indifference. "How about you? You do to have an accent. Where're you from?"
Looking away from Yvetta, Katherine once more surveyed the group of people waiting for the meeting with the owners of the bar. Crossing her hands on her chest, Katherine met the eyes of one of the wolves and eyed him slowly when she had his full attention. "I'm all over the place. No need to bother to spot my accent." She told her companion and heard Yvetta exhaling deeply. She knew that she was being vague and that was probably annoying to the other woman, but Katherine didn't care even the slightest bit. Why was she supposed to bother with the – ex-cardiologist – now turned to a – exotic dancer was beyond her. The fact was that due to the rest of the possible dancers, Yvetta stood out as the one that the vampires were going to choose. She was hot and seemed fit enough to be a dancer and possibly a blood bag.
Before Yvetta had a chance to say or ask anything else, two vampires walked into the room, instantly making everyone to shut up. Just like when Katherine had entered, and it made her smirk. Looking over to the vampires, Katherine identified them instantly. A tall Viking vampire and his progeny. Nothing that she wasn't expecting.
The two vampires eyed the crowd waiting for their appearance, instantly spotting a few attention worthy attractions and some that really made them consider a killing spree. While having everyone's attention, like they were used to, the two vampires informed the awaiting crowd that they were going to be called in by the list and that they were supposed to have their CV's and music if they were there for a dancer job. It all came from the female vampire's lips, while the Sheriff kept silent, constantly surveying the room. For a fleeting moment Katherine met his blue eyes and found there exactly what she was expecting to find. He was indifferent, slightly bored and it was all a mask.
The vampires walked away to the main area of the bar after calling out the first performer and Katherine followed their every move with her eyes. She was paying a real close attention to everything, what the vampires were saying, where they were looking, how they sat or stood. She needed to get a good read on their body language, to get an upper hand for their meeting and that was the only way how she could've done it.
"It's actually fascinating, isn't it?" Yvetta asked Katherine, leaning closer to the blonde. Before the demon had a chance to question Yvetta on what she meant, the dancer continued. "Vampires I mean. They're something else." She murmured, and Katherine found herself agreeing. Vampires were something else.
After an hour of excruciating performances, it was Yvetta's turn and Katherine found herself enjoying the performance of the ex-cardiologist. The brunette woman knew her moves, she knew exactly what to do to capture attention and seduce. It was endearing to watch her and when she was done, Katherine was sure that a job offer was securely in Yvetta's hands.
Yvetta was walking away from the stage with a satisfied smirk on her face when Katherine saw the female progeny, Pam, looking at the list to call out the next person, and Katherine instantly noticed when Pam had read her name and her face froze for a moment. It lasted only a second, but Katherine still caught the slight surprise on the female vampire's face before she motioned to her maker, showing him the list. Since from where she sat, Katherine couldn't see Eric's face, she had to watch his body language closely, how his shoulders tensed for a fleeting moment and he sat up in his seat. No longer was he relaxed and slightly bored, no, Pam had all his attention.
Katherine knew that she had to look away from them to not look suspicious, and it was her luck that Yvetta had reached her and offered the blonde demon a satisfied smile. "I have a feeling that we'll see each other at work soon." Yvetta said and Katherine raised one eyebrow to that, but before she had a chance to answer anything, Pam was calling out another person.
"Katherine Cataliades."
Her name only seemed to force all the tension into the room and it made Katherine excited. From the looks at the situation, she had the upper hand and it made her walk towards the two vampires with that extra confidence that she didn't need. Her high heels clicking on the ground was the only sound in the completely silent main area of the bar. Once in the clear sight, Katherine instantly had Pam's complete attention and she saw the female vampire eyeing her with curiosity and then appeal.
Katherine didn't say a word when she placed her CV right in front of Eric and only when she stood in front of both vampires did she meet first Pam's eyes and then Eric's. While Katherine didn't find anything suspicious in Pam's eyes, the story was different with Eric. He regarded her with a cold and emotionless look, like she was a mystery that he was trying to figure out right on the spot. She found his look predatory too and she knew that one wrong move and she might end up with his hands around her neck.
"Evening, Miss Cataliades." Pam smirked, grabbing her CV and reading it quickly. "I can see that you have some experience in working as a bartender." Pam mussed out loud and Katherine forced herself to nod to her words even if it was a complete lie. Never in her life had Katherine worked as a bartender, but she had been drinking for long enough to know how to mix drinks. While Pam continued checking out the facts on the CV, Katherine refused to look at Eric even if she was able to feel his eyes on her at all the times. It was slightly unnerving, not looking back at him and having a chance to get a read on him, to be forced to trust her other instincts in case he decided to attack her instantly.
She kept reminding herself to appear nice and polite, not knowing that Eric was listening to her heartbeat. He was expecting her to be at least slightly nervous, her heart was supposed to beat just a slightly quicker, but there was nothing. She was completely calm, unfazed and he worried that her being there was a play of his Queen. To have someone to keep watch over him so he wouldn't turn to Victor and Felipe's side. Eric already knew that Desmond worked for Sophie-Anne, who knew if Katherine Cataliades didn't too.
Even her name sounded suspicious.
"Why are you in Shreveport?" Eric leaned forward suddenly, cutting off Pam in the middle of her question and finally gaining the full attention of the blonde in front of him. Her eyes were icy blue, cold and emotionless. Her face a perfect mask of indifference, her heartbeat normal. Everything was suspicious, and Eric's hands twitched with a wish to slam her to the wall and force her to answer all his questions. The Queen and Desmond be damned, if the blonde woman was playing him, she was going to die quicker than she could say her own name.
"Missed my uncle." Katherine answered, not missing a beat. "You know, Desmond Cataliades? The Queen's lawyer?" She asked with a slight smirk and found neither of the vampires answering to that. Rolling her eyes, she sighed deeply and placed her hands on her hips. "I decided that I needed to be closer to him. Especially after the death of Gladiola, but living in New Orleans is too close. I still need my own space." It was a believable lie, Katherine knew it, but Eric's still stoic face was unnerving her.
"Why working here? You're his niece, I doubt that you're lacking money." Eric pushed forward, and Katherine understood. He was worrying that she was there to spy on him. She expected that, the suspicion, but not the interrogation. Katherine had hoped that he was going to watch her for a few days before attacking her with questions, but, apparently, she was wrong.
Glancing at Pam for a moment, Katherine found her watching everything with the same smirk that she had on her face when greeting Katherine. The female vampire was clearly enjoying this. Looking back to Eric, Katherine saw that he hadn't moved even an inch. His body was tense, and his eyes still trained on Katherine's face. "It's been a while since I had a job and the boredom started seeping in my life. Decided to change something and what is more exciting that working in a vampire bar." She offered them a sarcastic smile and kept the eye contact with Eric. Neither of them was willing to back away first, challenging the other and testing the limits. It lasted for a few long moments, but then Eric smirked at her and leaned back to his seat, grabbing her CV from Pam and scanning it quickly.
"Tomorrow come and hour before opening. Your contract will be ready and you're going to be free to begin your shift." He said, placing her CV back on the table and then giving her body a once over before meeting her eyes again. "Give my best to your uncle, Miss Cataliades."
"Will do, Mr Northman." Katherine nodded, not allowing herself to react in any way. "Have a good evening." She offered before turning around and walking away from the two vampires, feeling like she had missed something, and that the interrogation wasn't even close to being done. She needed to prepare for the next night and contact Drew.
After the last applicant left, Pam turned to Eric who had spent the rest of the time after meeting Katherine Cataliades deep in his thoughts. She watched her maker's stony face closely before getting up from her seat and walking to his office to place the applications of Katherine and Yvetta. Those two ended up being hired and Pam had a suspicion that it was for extremely different reasons.
"Will you finally speak?" Pam questioned once she got back into the main area of the bar, finding Eric still in the same position as when she had left him. "Or should I make my own conclusions?" She rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips. When Eric failed to answer her then, she sighed deeply and marched to stand right next to him. "Eric, what the fuck?"
Looking up to his progeny, Eric saw how annoyed she was, and it wasn't helping with his already bad mood. Standing up from his seat he walked away from Pam, trying to clear his mind and try and make sense of everything. He stayed quiet for a couple of more minutes before speaking up. "It's about Katherine Cataliades." He said, and Pam rolled her eyes again.
"Figured that much already. You went all moody after she left. Honestly, what is this about?" Pam's tone was completely bored, and it made Eric clench his fists in anger. His progeny didn't see it or didn't completely understand. Which wasn't surprising since he hadn't even told her the full story behind the Queen's arrival to Shreveport. She still believed that it was all about that V.
"It is about the fact that she is fucking Cataliades. You know perfectly that Desmond works for the Queen and that she trusts him. And now, when Victor is here to overthrow the Queen, another Cataliades just happens to appear out of nowhere and right at our bar." Eric growled and turned to look at his progeny, finding her looking at him with complete surprise.
"Victor Madden is here to overthrow the Queen and I'm only now hearing about this?" She hissed at him, taking a step closer. "What the actual fuck, Eric? Since when do you keep things like this from me?" she demanded, and Eric took in a deep unnecessary breath and raked his fingers through his hair.
"It's not the time for this temper tantrum, Pam. We have bigger problems."
"Yes we fucking do! And you didn't even tell me about it!" She shouted at him and it was the breaking point for Eric. Slamming his hands on the nearest table, he glared at his progeny, making Pam to take the slightest step back.
"Enough of this! Go home, Pamela, I need to think this through." He ordered, and Pam didn't bother to question him. She simply nodded and moved to walk away, but apparently changed her mind on the last moment.
"Maybe you should reconsider hiring Cataliades then. If you're fearing her to be sent by the Queen to spy on us." Pam said calmly, and Eric glanced at her before standing straight and making his way to his office without another word. Left alone in the main area of the bar, Pam sighed deeply and proceeded moving to the exit. There was a lot of mess waiting to be resolved and she wasn't sure if anyone was capable of doing it.
Sitting in his chair, Eric glared at the CV of Katherine Cataliades with dangerous anger. He had just called out one of his waitresses, waiting for her to get to his office so he could feed and take his mind off things, but that application on his desk was the only thing he saw. Eric couldn't help himself but see Katherine Cataliades as a threat, it was too much of a coincidence that she had appeared at exactly that time. And he didn't believe in coincidences. There was an ulterior motive for her to be in Shreveport and he was going to figure it out, so he could use her later. Whatever it was, he was going to figure it out, he always did.
The thought of using Katherine Cataliades for his own benefit was a pleasing one and Eric was confident that it wasn't going to take long to figure her out. And once he was going to be done, he was going to kill her. Lose ends was something he detested, and he felt like Katherine really soon was going to become one.
"What do you mean by saying that Eric Northman is suspicious of you?" Drew asked slowly, and Katherine rolled her eyes while pouring herself a second glass of wine.
Removing the cigarette from her lips, she blew out the smoke and only then answered. "It is exactly what I mean. Eric fucking Northman is suspicious of me. I don't know how much clearer I can make this." She spat out and turned around, making her way to her white couch with wine glass in one hand and cigarette in another.
Pacing in front of his friend, Drew was restless. He was continuously raking his fingers through his hair and mumbling something underneath his breath. Katherine watched him, noting his slight hysteria and it was quite amusing. She herself didn't feel like she was able to react like so anymore, so it was rather comforting, knowing that at least Drew could.
"Fuck!" Drew suddenly exclaimed and stopped pacing, looking at Katherine and only seeing her calmly smoking her cigarette and taking slow sips of her wine. "Tell me everything. I want to know everything that happened in that bar tonight." He demanded moving closer and Katherine gave with a sceptical look. "I'm serious." He hissed, and she rolled her eyes.
"Then you should've placed a camera on me." Katherine told him and took another sip of her wine. "Also, it isn't something that I can just describe to you. I just know that he is suspicious." And is probably planning my death, she added in her head.
"How are you so calm?" Drew questioned exasperated and Katherine's lips stretched to a smirk, making Drew even more confused. Leaning over to her friend, she placed the cigarette between her lips and with her free hand she patted his cheek.
"Trust me, Drew. I know what I'm doing, I know with who I'm playing." She mumbled and then leaned back, blowing out the smoke and closing her eyes.
Oh yes, she knew exactly with whom she was playing.
A/N: and here is chapter 4! And we got Eric! And Pam! And since AxidentlGoddess has figured out that it is Victor that Katherine was sent to kill, I decided that there was no point to hide it anymore.
I'd really like to thank everyone who reviewed, favourited or followed this story and want to encourage you to continue doing it. Because as I said at the end of the first chapter, I'll write this story as long as you're reading it and enjoying it. I'm open for suggestions and your opinions. And as you can see, reviews make chapters to appear quicker.
So back to this chapter, I really don't have much more to say. The last chapter's questions still stand, and I'll remind them:
1. Do you want to see Sookie in this story?
2. What other characters you'd like to see? And depending on your answers I'll see if they fit with my plot or not.
Once again, thank you for your reviews/favourites/follows, thank you for reading and I can't wait to hear what you've thought of this chapter!