YOU'LL BE THE DEATH OF ME

CHAPTER 7: DINNER FOR TWO

The only thing certain was that Katherine was full of surprises. Judging by the old grandfather clock, it was after ten o'clock at night when she came back to the house, bringing with her the unmistakable aroma of fresh, hot pizza. Shortly thereafter, Elena found herself sitting at the grand dining table with the orange crackle of the fireplace at her back and the moonlight from the windows at her side, enjoying her candlelit dinner.

It was a fascinating and surreal sight. The old world decor of the dining room with a touch of the bizarre in the form of the two doppelgangers, seated side by side at the end of the massive table. Their faces were identical. Their hair, which once defined them, were now both worn in Katherine's signature curls. Their accessories, which had once been a differentiating feature, were now jumbled. There was Katherine with her gray halter top and Elena's locket necklace; and then there was Elena, with her pastel blue long sleeved shirt, and Katherine's vintage cameo around her neck.

After living on dry foods for days, the hot meal was a very welcome change of pace. Welcome, but suspicious. Especially with the way the vampire perched herself in that high-backed wooden chair, just watching Elena eat, tapping her fingers against the table as if she were bored, or impatiently waiting for something.

"How's the pizza?" Katherine asked.

"Delicious," Elena said. "Don't you want some?"

Katherine shook her head; her cravings were of a different variety. "You like that wine?" she asked, indicating the green bottle on the table.

"Yes. Thank you."

"You're far too polite," Katherine snickered. As she leaned over the table to fill Elena's empty glass with the fruity red nectar, the black lace of her bra peeked out from under the edge of her tight gray halter top, contrasting against her creamy flesh. The layering of fabric along her curves was almost artistic. Elena envied how Katherine's every move seemed so effortlessly sexy. "Red wine is good for you. It builds the blood," the vampire said darkly.

"What about you? Why are you being so... hospitable?" Elena asked.

"Eat, drink, and be merry... for tomorrow, you die," Katherine fired back with dark wit.

"But that doesn't explain why you go to the trouble for me."

"Would you bite the hand that feeds?" Katherine challenged.

"You always have an ulterior motive, don't you?" Elena challenged right back.

Katherine squinted one eye and pointed in an admonishing fashion. "You're mistrusting."

"I'm cautious."

Katherine giggled like an amused child. "We have so much in common. But contrary to what you might think, I just want our time together to be... enjoyable."

Elena took a long drink of wine. Her face disappeared behind the glass goblet while she pondered that puzzling and seemingly contradictory statement. "Enjoyable?" she finally repeated. "I don't understand."

Katherine smiled. Not the usual cruel smile, but one that looked honest. "I've gone through five hundred years of hell to arrive at this moment," she said, holding out her five fingers. "I've waited five hundred years... for you." She raised her glass. "And now, here we both are. That's worth celebrating!" She shot up from her chair, raising her glass in the air. "To us! The first, and the last of the Petrova doppelgangers!" Katherine laughed and clinked her wineglass against Elena's, concluding the macabre toast without Elena's consent or participation.

Once again, Elena was rendered speechless.

"Come on. Let's go listen to some music!" Katherine's heeled boots clacked across the hardwood floor as she left the dining room.

Elena found it strange how every room in the house had a different "vibe" to it. While the dining room was "serious" and heavy, the game room was light-hearted and "fun." It couldn't have been a coincidence that the two doppelgangers chose to spend most of their time in the game room. It was a place where they both seemed to forget they were enemies for a while; where they could just be at ease with each other while they drank, listened to music, played cards, or threw darts. And it was also no coincidence that Katherine wanted to meet Elena in the game room on this particular night, with wine and song. She wanted Elena to loosen up. She wanted Elena to open up. She wanted Elena.

It was all part of the dance.

Katherine was convinced that hidden beneath Elena's plain Jane exterior was a treasure trove of repressed and unfulfilled desires that were just begging to be unleashed. The sultry vampire wondered if Elena had any experiences with another girl. Probably not. Actually, Katherine hoped not, because she wanted to claim that prize for herself. The idea of being Elena's first female lover turned Katherine on immensely, and just made the goal so much sweeter. Of course, Elena would resist and withdraw at first; that was to be expected, but Katherine would persist and find a way past the girl's inhibitions and into her innermost desires. She imagined Elena giving in to a kiss; passively at first, but then returning the kiss with a passionate hunger of her own. She would give Elena a small taste of the pleasures to come, and little by little, the girl would crave more, until the desire became too overpowering, and it would consume her and envelope all of her senses. Katherine imagined slipping her fingers beneath the waistband of Elena's jeans, slowly undressing her by the glow of candlelight, teasing kisses down her neck, running her hands over the smooth, cool flesh as the girl's body responded under her experienced touch. It wasn't merely about the pleasures of sex, but a deeper craving: Katherine wanted to possess the girl; to make Elena her own. She wanted Elena to want her; not casually, but madly. Katherine wanted to see fire and unbridled lust in the girl's eyes, and to see her own lust reflected back in those glassy brown pools. She imagined Elena's fingers tangled in her curls during the peaks of pleasure, begging for more as a throaty, half-whisper of a moan escaped her lips in the form of her dark mistress' name: "Katherine." What an incredible melody that would be. The very idea was such a turn-on that it made Katherine squirm in her jeans with hot anticipation.

When Elena had finally finished her dinner, she found her way back to her usual spot, seated on the game room sofa with her blue jean legs tucked up under herself. Katherine hefted a stack of dusty records from the bookshelves and set them down on the felt-topped card table, where she began quickly flipping through them one by one.

"Have you ever read Carmilla?" Katherine asked casually, never once looking up from the stack of records.

"No," Elena said. "What is that?"

Katherine smiled coyly. "You really should read it. You'd find it fascinating."

"Why would I find it 'fascinating?'" Elena asked.

"Because I do."

"After I get out of here, I'll be sure to check it out," Elena drolly remarked.

Katherine laughed dryly. "You're such an optimist. I like that about you."

"What are you looking for over there?" Elena asked.

"This," Katherine said happily as she pulled a black vinyl disc from its worn sleeve. Elena couldn't read the label. Katherine blew the dust off the record and set it spinning on the phonograph. The sound caught Elena's ear immediately. It was a classical piano waltz that sounded hauntingly familiar, but she couldn't remember where she recognized it from. It was at the tip of her mind. Elena could almost feel the cogs of her mind working to recall that memory, but her fragile concentration snapped when she noticed the way Katherine was staring at her. Elena had seen that look before. It was a look that seemed to say "I know something you don't, and it amuses me watching you try to figure it out." Typical Katherine.

"Okay, I give up," Elena said. "What's the song?"

Katherine coyly ignored the question. Instead, she sauntered over to where Elena was seated and extended an open hand. "Let's dance," she said nonchalantly.

Elena's eyes darted from side to side. "What did you say?" she asked, almost doubting her own hearing.

"Dance with me," Katherine said.

Elena swallowed hard as the memories all came flooding back. The waltz. The dance. The dream. That song was in her dream. But how could Katherine possibly know that? It was all beyond surreal. "Why would you want me to do that?" the girl asked nervously.

"Because I like to dance, and you're the only one here. Doesn't leave me with much of a choice now, does it?" Katherine cheekily offered.

Elena stared off languidly, no longer certain if her experience wasn't just one continual dream. Katherine grew tired of waiting and just pulled the girl to her feet, and before Elena fully snapped out of it, they were dancing; hand in hand, with Katherine pulling the girl closer by the waist.

"Come on; if I wanted to be around someone who's broody and boring, I would have gone to Stefan's," Katherine joked. That got a small laugh out of Elena who was otherwise shocked. Katherine took the lead, whisking her girl around the room with such dramatic whimsy that once Elena started giggling, she found it hard to stop.

"You're crazy!" Elena giggled.

"That's what everyone tells me," Katherine said.

"Well, maybe they're right!" Elena teased.

"You're my favorite doppelganger, Elena," Katherine joked. "Am I yours?"

Elena laughed. "That's cute! Excuse me while I die laughing," she joked.

"You like the dance, don't you?" Katherine asked.

Elena noticed the subtle, careful wording of that question. She didn't say "to dance," or "this dance." She said "the dance." A tiny difference, but one that completely changed the meaning of the question. It was deliberate. Katherine was always deliberate and careful with her words. Elena chose not to respond.

"Haven't you ever danced with another girl before?" Katherine pressed on.

"Only in my dreams," Elena remarked, as if baiting her. She suspected that Katherine was playing some strange mind games.

"What else have you done in your dreams?" Katherine teased, her lips curling into a playfully sexy smile. "Have you ever... kissed another girl before?"

Elena's cheeks reddened. "Why would you ask me something like that?" she asked, even though she had a pretty good idea why.

Katherine's smile persisted. "Just curious."

"I..."

"Does it surprise you that I... like women?" Katherine interjected.

Elena shook her head. "That's not surprising. It's only surprising that you would like me... in that way."

"Is it really?" Katherine challenged. "We have a certain draw to each other, Elena. You can't deny it. Let's have some fun with it."

Katherine waltzed the girl to the far end of the room. Aside from their modern clothes and the cozy setting, it all seemed a little bit too much like the dream. It felt suspicious and fun and frightening and taboo and electric and dangerous all at the same time. Elena thought it was like a perfectly executed horror film that scares the hell out of you, but also keeps you so entertained and intrigued that you can't possibly stop watching; you have to know what happens next, and you have to see it through to the very conclusion, even if it kills you. It was that combination of enticement and danger; that perfect storm of biological chemistry that made Elena's body tremble uncontrollably under Katherine's hands, and yet the girl didn't quite want to pull away.

Katherine wore a grin of satisfaction as she could feel the girl's hips quake and quiver. The sultry vampire was an artist; she knew how to move and when to do it. She knew that seduction was a dance, and there were times when you had to push, and others when you had to pull back. And this was clearly a time to push. With a brisk step, she whisked her girl across the room and blocked her in the shadowy corner between a bookcase and the wall. Once cornered, Elena looked adorably confused, like a rabbit caught in a cage. Katherine let out a small giggle as she took Elena in an embrace; their bodies pressed up against each other, their breasts separated only by a few thin layers of fabric; their faces close; the girl's breathing quick, and getting quicker; a mischievous smirk across the vampire's lips and a twinkle in her eye.

"What are you doing?" Elena spoke so quietly, as if it were a private concern; as if she worried that someone would overhear, even though that was an impossibility. Time felt like it slowed down as she anxiously awaited Katherine's justification; an answer that never came verbally, but rather, as a touch. Elena sucked in a quick breath as Katherine's open hand caressed her cheek, affectionately tucking the curls back behind her ear. The girl sensed immediately that it was not a friendly or innocent kind of touch. It was an amorous touch. It was a seductive touch. It was a declaration of intent. It was a promise of things to come. Elena shivered, her pulse quickening; a sound that Katherine absolutely adored. The river rapids of a delicate human bloodstream; that was the vampire's favorite kind of music. Elena's nerves tingled as she stood there, trapped, yet somehow hypnotically soothed by Katherine's hand stroking her face and hair. The girl's hushed voice quivered a little when she bravely asked: "What do you want?"

"You," Katherine whispered. The word was barely spoken before Elena felt Katherine's pursed lips alight on her cheek. It was so unexpectedly soft, so slow, such a tease, but full of promise. And if only it didn't feel so good, Elena might have been able to pull herself away from Katherine's embrace. Elena didn't know what was wrong with herself. She never had so much as a fantasy about being with a girl romantically, and yet, she found herself inexplicably drawn to her own doppelganger. Like a moth to the flame, her little wings were almost close enough to singe. Maybe she'd had too much wine, or maybe she was dreaming, but she knew exactly what was coming... and she wanted it.

"We both want this," Katherine whispered, echoing Elena's most secretive sentiments.

Any doubt as to where things were leading had been vanquished. Elena's eyes closed for a moment, no longer requiring her vision, but sensing and feeling it all as if it were happening in slow motion, feeling the air around her face so sharply as her lips engorged with blood; a sign of arousal that humans were mostly ignorant to, but Katherine certainly was not. Elena struggled in slow motion; not with Katherine, but with herself. And as Katherine's lips swept across her cheek, the girl turned her head ever so slightly, such that Katherine barely caught the very corner of her closed mouth. Like before, it felt enticingly wonderful, and it was a feat of willpower for Elena not to shift in the opposite direction and meet the kiss directly, in order to amplify those feelings and satisfy her own blossoming curiosity. Instead, the girl's lips remained sealed tightly in silent protest, until Katherine pulled back in defeat.

"I can't..." Elena moaned softly, watching for Katherine to either persist or withdraw. She watched for a look of disappointment, or anger, or hurt, or aggression; but Elena saw nothing of the sort, as all of the candles in the room were suddenly and inexplicably extinguished, leaving nothing but wisps of smoke in the darkness and the smell of burnt wicks.

"That's strange." Katherine's voice broke through the darkness. Such a distraction could not have come at a more perfect time, as it did much to relieve the awkwardness of the situation. "Must have been a draft," she reasoned. What else could it be? The old house was a drafty place, but neither of them had felt much of a draft in the game room; and certainly nothing with enough wind to blow out several candles at once.

"They've all burned down to stubs anyway," Elena said, regaining her composure as she calmly slipped away from Katherine's corner. "I'll get some new ones."

"There's a box in the kitchen," Katherine said.

Elena made herself scarce. She made her way into the dark kitchen and found the box of candles on the countertop. Emotionally conflicted, she was eager to extract herself from a confusing situation, and the excuse was an ideal one. Her relief was short lived, however, as Katherine appeared in the doorway right behind her, black on black, as invisible as a mere silhouette among the shadows, but undeniably there.

"Did you find them?" Katherine asked.

"Yeah," Elena said. "I just need to get this box open..."

"I left a razor blade up on the shelf there."

Elena's hand fumbled on top of the shelf until it made contact with the small steel blade. She went to cut into the box, but the room was so dark, she didn't realize she was holding the blade the wrong way, with the sharpened edge gripped between Elena's thumb and forefinger. Instead of cutting the cardboard, the blade sliced deep into her index finger. She yelped from the sting of it, and dropped the blade to the floor.

"What's the matter?" Katherine snapped.

"It's nothing."

But Katherine knew it wasn't nothing. She smelled the blood. "You've cut yourself."

"I'm fine. Just a little cut," Elena said.

But Katherine's concern was not about the cut, it was about the blood; or to be more specific, the smell of the blood. Katherine had smelled a lot of blood in her day; yet somehow, this blood didn't quite carry the typical scent. There was an unusual component to it; something out of the ordinary; something that made it... unique. "Let me see it," the perplexed vampire said coolly.

An innocent enough request, but Elena was anything but naive. She knew that waving a bloodly limb in front of a vampire was just as foolish as tempting a hungry shark. She held her wounded hand behind her back as if to hide it from Katherine, who stepped ever closer. "It... it's not that bad," Elena stammered nervously.

"I said let me see it," Katherine insisted, her tone demanding. Without warning, she lunged forward and forcefully grabbed Elena's wrist, holding it up to get a better look. In the moonlight that shone from the windows, the blood appeared almost black in color as it dripped down the length of the girl's slender finger.

Elena swallowed hard in anticipation of the inevitable. She shuddered and watched Katherine bring the bloody finger beneath her nose to breathe in that curious scent for a moment. There was nothing Elena could do, except turn her head and look away, but she couldn't even do that. She had to watch it all happen with a morbid curiosity. She watched in a hypnotic, horrified trance as Katherine's tongue flicked once at the cut, catching a tiny bit, and rolling it back along her taste buds like a wine connoisseur. The girl cringed and turned and tried in vain to pull away from the vampire's unyielding grasp, but it was too late. Elena felt her wounded flinger slide through the vampire's pursed lips, into the wetness of her warm mouth that sucked and pulled at the wound with a fervor that was as erotic as it was macabre, drawing out what little amount of blood was available. Through the darkness, the look on Katherine's face was unreadable, as if she were mesmerized with the whole experience, and she savored every drop of the uniquely sweet blood before finally letting go of the girl's hand. Elena jerked her hand back, her finger wet with the vampire's thick saliva, before she defiantly and bravely met Katherine's stare.

And then something shifted.

Something shifted and Katherine no longer resembled the playful flirt she was only moments ago. She stood still, and her eyes were vacant and cold. Elena watched that change happen in Katherine's eyes, her face aglow in pale moonlight. There was a flash of bloodshot red in her whites. It was a look Elena had seen before, elsewhere, and it was something she never wanted to see again. Especially not in a locked house with nowhere to...

"Run."

Elena's pulse screamed and she bolted. She ran like hell. She swore she even heard the command to "run" vocalized, though she couldn't tell if it was in her own mind, or if Katherine had said it. Either way, she ran. Her adrenaline pumped and her heart pounded as she crashed through the dark house, knocking over chairs, bumping into walls, and painfully smashing her shoulder against a doorway. She ran into the foyer and towards the staircase, but her journey ended abruptly when Katherine appeared at the base of the stairs, blocking her path. The two were the exact same height, yet in that moment, Katherine seemed to tower over Elena; dark and ominous, her vampiric visage cloaked in shadow.

Elena came to a grinding halt, panting and breathless. "Please..."

Katherine licked her lips. Indeed, she lusted after Elena. She wanted to enjoy Elena in more ways than one. The idea of making the girl squirm was a turn-on, but there were many different ways to go about it. Elena looked so lovely and scared in the pale moonlight that cascaded in from the windows and fell over the gray marble staircase. Katherine loomed over the girl that was so beautifully identical; the body that shook in fear and conveyed so much fragile mortality. Katherine adored that fragility, and she wanted to enjoy every last part of Elena. But in that particular moment, there was nothing more desirable or more erotic about the girl than the soft, smooth skin where her neck joined her shoulders. That place called out to Katherine; tempting her, and luring her with the sweetness that she had previously sampled.

For a vampire, there was lust, and then there was blood lust. Often, the thirst for blood got all tied up and confused with sexual excitement, but there was never any debate as to which lure was stronger. The blood always won.

This would be a kiss she couldn't resist.

"You're mine, Elena," Katherine said ominously. "I can have you any way I want, any time I want... and there's nothing you can do about it."

The girl's voice quivered. "Please..."

"It only hurts if you struggle," Katherine said firmly, coldly, finally; more as advice to cope with what was about to happen, rather than a threat.

And then the creature of the night lunged, wrapping her arms around the girl in a steely predator's embrace as they both collapsed and wrestled and rolled on the cold marble stairs. Elena screamed. Katherine could hear and feel the girl's fear, her little heart thumping as she writhed beneath. Katherine loved the foreplay; she loved the feeling of being on top, of dominating her prey before feeding. Elena's vision was shrouded by Katherine's curls draped over her eyes as she blindly kicked and fought against what no amount of weak, pathetic human flailing could stop. A huff of hot breath hit Elena's neck, and she shivered as moist lips grazed along her skin, almost kissing one tender spot as if it were all just a sensual tease. When the lips found their mark, Katherine actually did kiss the girl's neck once, hungrily, like a lover, such that Elena couldn't prevent the slight moan that escaped her own throat; a moan that conveyed pleasure in spite of the terror and in spite of her shame over having such a response. However, such pleasure was short lived.

Katherine bit.

Elena's vision flashed white and she screamed again as she felt the searing kiss of fangs pierce the skin of her neck, and Katherine's warm mouth relentlessly clamped over the wound, expertly controlling the blood flow with the pressure of her jaw, drawing out the vital liquid with her tongue, sapping Elena's life force and taking it as her own.

Elena did struggle. And it did hurt. A lot.

The flailing girl desperately pounded her fists into the vampire's back, at first with great vigor, but as the blood drained, her punches grew softer and slower, and she felt light headed, and she blinked repeatedly to try to keep her vision from going black.

It was a losing battle, and she soon succumbed to the darkness.

Upon feeling the girl go still, Katherine stopped herself, fearing that she had taken more than intended. And indeed, she had. She had been caught up in the thrill of the hunt, of lust for Elena and the thirst for blood, and of her hauntingly delicious taste. The sweet, light, syrupy taste was extraordinary, and irresistible.

But oh, the horror of it all.

Wiping the bloody corners of her mouth with the back of her hand, the vampire stood up. Elena laid on the stairs, unconscious and unmoving, her face a shade or two paler than normal. The blood still trickled from the girl's neck and dripped down, leaving splatters and trails of deep red over the cold gray marble stairs. Katherine looked down upon the bitter scene. She saw helpless Elena with her necklace and pretty brown curls, and she saw herself. She saw the fragile human form of herself that she had long forgotten, and it stirred something deep inside the otherwise unfeeling vampire.

Katherine never had any problems with feeding before. It was always just a meal to her.

But for the very first time in centuries, something felt different. And it wasn't only for fear of damaging the goods, because Elena was the sacrifice and had to be protected and kept alive for Klaus. No, there was some other factor at play that Katherine couldn't identify; something she wasn't ready to deal with. So she took Elena's limp body up into her arms and carried the girl to her bed, pulled off her black canvas shoes, and tucked her under the sheets before cleaning the remnants of dried blood from her neck with a damp cloth. And then Katherine sat in the shadows by Elena's bedside, waiting silently in the dark, waiting and watching until the girl eventually stirred and came back to consciousness.

Once Elena's eyelids began to open, Katherine was quick to vanish.