The older vampire stepped into the shower, her shoulders relaxing as the steaming water rolled off her back. Somehow her hunger still hadn't been sated, though it seemed impossible. She had killed over twenty victims the night before and drained every drop of blood from each body. Still she felt empty.

Katherine shivered, not from temperature, but her mind was unraveling. She quickly shut off the water and dressed herself in whatever was available at the moment. Her hair was still incredibly damp as she walked down the stairs.

She paced the foyer, an activity she found herself doing surprisingly regularly. Everything was too much. Her walls were crumbling but her mind was crumbling faster.

The humanity within her was shattering nearly beyond the point of repair. The pain she felt was an unknown pain, and completely new. Every moment she concealed her humanity was a crack in her mind.

Katherine collapsed to her knees. It was too much. The pain. The remorse. The sadness. She could no longer control her mind, no longer capable of restraining the memories that flooded her.

Every kill she'd ever made flashed through her mind, from last to first. The kills from the night before, the feel of their blood running down her throat, and every snapped neck brought a wave of unbearable grief.

She screamed out into the empty halls, knowing no one would hear her cries. She was alone, as she'd always been. She was alone and lost.

Elena walked into her blonde friend's bedroom. Bonnie called and had told her the blonde hadn't moved from her bed since the day before. She was mourning, and Elena saw the puffiness of her friend's eyes.

"Hey," Elena said softly as she sat next to Caroline on the blonde's bed. The blonde didn't speak.

She ran her fingers through Caroline's hair, attempting to comfort her in any way possible. Elena sighed as Caroline tensed. The blonde hadn't spoken to her since Tyler's death.

Elena continued to stroke Caroline's hair, waiting for the moment when her friend would talk. The moment never came, and when she saw her friend's mother in the doorway she knew it was time to leave.

She sighed as she sat up from the blonde's bed, nodding to her mother in assurance she was leaving.

"Thank you," she heard Caroline mumble.

Elena smiled. She'd gotten Caroline to at least talk once, and that was enough for her. She turned to leave but she felt slight pain in her head. She put a hand to her temple before collapsing to her knees.

Visions flashed through her mind. Murders. So many murders, but she saw herself committing them. She shook her head as she found herself in an alley in the middle of the night.

"I didn't do this!" she yelled at herself in the alley.

"Elena?" she heard in the distance, but it was too far away for her to care, she couldn't take her eyes off the scene.

She heard the snap of the man's neck and watched as he was thrown into the dumpster. I didn't do this, Elena thought to herself. She saw herself turn and stared into the vision's eyes. Brown curls cascaded down her shoulders and the veins below her eyes rushed with blood.

Katherine.

Elena gasped and bolted up as she opened her eyes, hands on her shoulders pushing her gently down. Elena's eyes met Caroline's and her breathing instantly became calmer.

"What happened?" Caroline asked, "You were leaving and then you collapsed, I thought you were dying or something!"

Elena shook her head, still in too much shock to speak. Caroline comfortingly rubbed her friend's shoulder, absolutely confused.

"I have to go," Elena said as she stood from the bed, walking to Caroline's door.

"Wait," Caroline said, "'Lena!"

Elena didn't hear, she sped from the house faster than she meant to. She didn't want to make Caroline think it was her fault but she had to figure out what was going on. She went back to her house as fast as she could.

Bursting through the door she called, "Katherine!" but received no reply. She panicked, something was wrong and she had no idea how much longer until another vision came.

Elena paced for fifteen minutes until she finally came up with another idea: Isobel's old house. It had to be where Katherine was. If Katherine wasn't there she was certain something bad was going to happen.

She ran through the woods as fast as her vampire speed would possibly take her, arriving at the house in a few minutes. Slamming the door open she looked around, her eyes frantically searching everything she could see.

"Katherine!" she called, speeding into the kitchen, worrying as she saw the broken bottles on the floor.

"Katherine!" she yelled out again, hoping for some answer.

Katherine had managed to crawl up the stairs after the visions started. Every vision was worse than the last. She had crumpled to the floor, unable to stand, unable to do anything. She whimpered as she scratched her nails into the wooden floor, wondering how much longer she would have to endure before death welcomed her with open arms.

Elena heard a whimper come from upstairs. She ran up, at human speed, too tired to use her supernatural gifts. She didn't have to turn before she smelled the blood. Running into the room on her right, she found who she was looking for. She knelt next to her twin, assessing the damage. Her doppelganger was barely moving, much less breathing. Elena sat and lifted Katherine gently into her lap. Katherine groaned in resistance, but was too weak to do anything about it.

Elena felt Katherine lying limp in her arms. There was no sign of life, even for the beautiful vampire. Though Katherine was still alive, Elena could clearly see she was fading. Her arm was covered in scratches that wouldn't heal and her opposite hand's fingernails were covered in blood.

"Katherine," Elena said softly, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible, though it was about to crack, "What's happening?"

"Memories," Katherine whispered, her shallow breath rattled in her throat.

"Are those the visions?" Elena asked, gently placing her hand behind Katherine's head, making sure it was supported while her other hand took Katherine's.

Katherine nodded, her eyes glimmered with unshed tears, but her eyebrow rose.

"You saw them?" Katherine asked. Her voice strained from the effort.

Elena nodded, and when her doppelganger's hand squeezed her own she didn't flinch. She returned the gesture affectionately.

"Turn on your humanity," Elena said after suddenly coming up with an idea.

"What?" Katherine asked, utterly confused.

"Turn it on," Elena repeated.

Katherine unconsciously nuzzled into Elena's embrace, resting her head against her twin's chest.

"No," Katherine said sternly.

"Katherine-"

"I can't," the elder vampire interrupted.

"Why not?"

"Too much," Katherine replied.

"I know how much you've lost, Katherine," Elena said, her voice brimful with sympathy. "I don't know how much you've taken from people but I know what it's like to feel guilt."

Katherine refused to show what she was feeling. She refused to turn on her humanity, even for Elena. Though her heart screamed to come alive for the girl the logic in Katherine refused.

"I told you, Elena," Katherine said, her voice quivering and her hand slightly shook in Elena's, "I can't."

"I'll help you," Elena said, holding Katherine's hand steady.

"Why?"

"Because," Elena paused, her voice catching in her throat, "I love you, Katherine."

Katherine shook her head, "Don't say that."

"Why not?"

"It's not true," Katherine whispered.

"What?" Elena asked, "Of course it's true."

"No," Katherine replied forcefully, "it's not."

Elena removed her hand from Katherine's and stroked the elder vampire's cheek. The warmth radiated from her hand to Katherine, and gave the vampire something she hadn't felt in a long time.

"I will help you, Katherine. I won't leave you to deal with this alone. I just need you to trust me and turn your humanity back on."

Katherine shook her head, "Elena, I-"

She was interrupted when Elena pressed her lips to hers. In one instant everything Katherine had built to keep her heart safe, everything she had done to make sure love didn't find it's way in, was destroyed. The emotions flooded back through her like a wave. The things she didn't dare to feel came back in an instant. All the guilt, pain, sadness, joy, sorrow, and other emotions came all at once. She tried to fight the wave down, to turn her humanity off again, but it was useless. Elena had dragged her under the wave.

It was drowning her. Tears flooded Katherine's eyes and ran down her cheeks, she never took her lips from Elena's. Elena had pulled her under the wave and fought to bring her back to the surface. Not once could Katherine remember anyone being so kind, so compassionate.

After five hundred years of simply existing and surviving Katherine found the one person who could give her what she needed: hope.