Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or the Originals… or any of the dialogue I used from the show

So Rebekah finally makes her appearance in this chapter! Yeah!

~TO~

Two Months Later…

Katherine sighed in frustration and closed Esther's grimoire. She had practically spent her entire summer studying different grimoires to learn how to control her magic. Once Katherine had deemed herself ready, she had begun to take a look at Esther's grimoire to see how to unlink herself from Sophie. However, so far… she wasn't having any luck. While Katherine was good at using her magic and performing spells, she didn't think she would be able to unlink herself from Sophie. She didn't even know where to begin.

Klaus better have some sort of plan to unlink us, Katherine thought in annoyance. For almost the entire duration of the summer, Klaus had spent it hanging out and becoming all buddy-buddy with Marcel. She didn't see how he was trying to 'reclaim' his throne, if he was too busy having guy-time with Marcel.

The door to the bedroom opened and Hayley stood there with a worried expression on her face. "Katherine." She said. "Come here… right now."

Katherine got off the bed and headed over to Hayley. "What's wrong?"

"I just heard a car pull up to the mansion... but it is not Klaus. That much I'm sure of." Hayley explained, grabbing the pregnant doppelgänger by the arm and pulling her down the hall. "Go hide. I –"

Katherine pulled her arm from Hayley's grip and turned around, walking the other way. "I'm not going to hide like a coward." She announced to Hayley before walking down the staircase. "I've been training my magic. I can probably deal with whoever it is."

"Wait for me." Hayley hissed, quickly hurrying down the staircase with a fire poker she had grabbed from Elijah's study. Katherine gestured for Hayley to go stand on the right side of the double doors, while she stood on the left.

If that mystery person opened the door and walked in – or attempted to, if they were a vampire – both Katherine and Hayley would be ready to take action and attack.

As soon as one of the doors opened, Katherine immediately jumped around from her hiding spot – before whoever it was could try to enter – and quickly used her spell, "Phesmatos superous em animi…"

"Bloody hell!"

The person outside the door was Rebekah; she was on her knees and clutching at her head in pain as blood dripped from her nose. Having realized that it was the Original blonde sister, Katherine immediately stopped the spell she was using. The moment the spell had stopped, Rebekah wiped away the blood from her nose and jumped to her feet, trying to speed through the open door. However, she was stopped by an invisible barrier.

"What the…" She snarled angrily, looking at Katherine. "Why can't I come in?"

Katherine smirked. "Your lovely brother Klaus transferred the deed to the house into my name. You have to be invited in by me."

"Well then, let me in." Rebekah snapped.

Sighing, Katherine said, "You may come in, Rebekah."

Rebekah sped into the mansion, grabbed Katherine and slammed her against the nearest wall, trapping her and not allowing her to move. "Explain to me, Katerina." Rebekah spoke her name with a mocking tone. "How the hell did you manage to get the cure?! I was the one who deserved it, not you."

A fire poker was suddenly shoved through Rebekah's lower back, coming out of the middle of her stomach. Rebekah released her grip on Katherine, pulled the fire poker out of her stomach, and threw it aside on a nearby table. She then slowly turned around to see Hayley, raising an eyebrow at her. "And who are you? The maid?"

Hayley smiled wryly. "Hello. Not the maid."

Rebekah looked down at her shirt, then back up at Hayley with a glare. "You ruined my shirt."

"You were attacking my pregnant friend." Hayley rebutted, crossing her arms.

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Little details." She dismissed and glanced at Katherine. "I was expecting to see some kind of supernatural, miracle baby bump. Guess you're not showing yet."

"You have your brother's manners." Hayley said dryly.

"And his temper." Rebekah stated simply. "Now where is Elijah?"

Katherine scowled at the mention of her former lover. "He made all these stupid, epic promises to protect me and then he up and left. Or at least that is what Klaus told me."

"And you believed Klaus?" Rebekah crossed her arms.

"Of course." Katherine practically snapped, gesturing around her. "Elijah hasn't been here all summer."

Rebekah narrowed her eyes at Katherine. "Clearly you didn't know Elijah as well as you thought you did. He doesn't just break his promises, which means Niklaus has done something dastardly and Klaus-like." She stormed into the nearest room while shouting, "Klaus! Get out here and tell me what you've done with our brother, you narcissistic, back-stabbing wanker!"

A set of doors leading into the room opened and Klaus entered through them. "Honestly, sister!" He exclaimed in annoyance. "Enough with all the shouting." He slowly approached Rebekah. "I assume you are responsible for the scatter of vampires around New Orleans with their hearts ripped out."

"Yes, yes. They were very rude and trying to victimize a poor girl trying to make her way into the Quarter." Rebekah waved it off. "That all aside… where the bloody hell is our brother?"

"He may be on holiday… or taking a long autumn nap upstairs." Klaus smirked as he spoke. "You may take a look around, but I have better things to do. I am going out with Marcel… I'm sure you remember him?"

"I remember everything." Rebekah sneered. "And since when does trying to steal your kingdom back from Marcel include going out for drinks with him and being his best friend."

Klaus simply smiled as he walked past Katherine and Hayley, heading towards the front door. "Good luck finding our brother,"

"Bastard!" Rebekah shouted after his retreating figure. She looked at Katherine and Hayley. "You two" – she was seething with rage – "are going to help me search this mansion and find my brother."

~TO~

"The Governor had lots of secret rooms… I'll show you his favourite." Rebekah explained as Katherine and Hayley followed her down a long, swirling staircase. When they reached the bottom, Rebekah pushed a door open and entered a large dark room filled with dust, cobwebs, and coffins.

Katherine coughed a little as she breathed in the dust and pointed the flashlight she was holding around the basement. "Oh great…" Katherine groaned, already beginning to feel bad. She had been angry with Elijah the entire summer for abandoning her, and Klaus may've simply daggered him.

"What?" Hayley's eyes were wide with shock. "Did Klaus kill his brother or something?"

"They can't be killed." Katherine explained to her wolf friend. "But Klaus does have these mystical daggers. He dips them in White Oak Ash and uses them to neutralize his siblings." She pointed her flashlight at the coffins. "Why would Klaus dagger Elijah?"

Rebekah chuckled. "You're an idiot if you don't know why, sweet Katerina. You're in-between two brothers at the moment. Pregnant with the baby of one and fancied by the other. You're exactly like that doppelganger you loathe so much."

Katherine scowled. She didn't want to be compared to her worthless, bitchy doppelganger.

"This one is mine," Rebekah pointed her flashlight at her coffin. "These ones belong to Kol and Finn… but Elijah's is missing, which means Klaus has stashed him somewhere else."

"Where the hell is Klaus hiding Elijah?" Katherine frowned. "We've checked this entire mansion and we haven't found him."

"I don't know, but I will find him." Rebekah stated. She glanced at Katherine. "Welcome to the family, Katerina. You should have left the moment you found out about being pregnant with Klaus' baby. He may be treating you nicely right now, but I can assure you that the moment you've had your baby, he is planning on killing you and sticking your body in a coffin down here."

Katherine glared at Rebekah. "You think that wasn't my first thought!" She shouted angrily. "I wanted to leave, but the witches here have hexed me. I can't leave New Orleans as long as I am carrying this baby!"

"You know how my brother is, Katerina. You better find a way to break that hex and run…"

~TO~

Maybe Rebekah is right… Katherine thought as she lay in bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling. The whole summer she had been cautiously stepping around Klaus, trying not to anger him. She didn't want to set him off and cause him to murder her and her baby. But none of that mattered because Katherine knew the truth...

Klaus would never change. It was that simple. He would forever be cruel, sadistic, and manipulative. And like Rebekah had said, he was probably already planning Katherine's death.

Katherine rolled onto her side, looking out the window into the night sky. Klaus wasn't the only danger to his baby. Both she and Klaus had acquired thousands of enemies in their many years of life. And now that Katherine was human – even if she had learned to control and use her magic – she wouldn't be able to protect herself and her precious baby.

And Katherine knew that no matter how far she ran to escape, Klaus and her enemies would always somehow manage to find her. There was simply nothing she could do to save herself and this baby.

I'm bringing an innocent child into a world where he or she won't have a chance to survive… Katherine thought miserably, clenching her fists around her blankets.

Katherine had wanted nothing more than to keep her baby alive for the first few months of this pregnancy, but now she was finally realizing that maybe she had been wrong. She couldn't doom her baby to an endlessly, miserable life of enemies from both her and Klaus.

Tomorrow, I will do the right thing…

~TO~

The Next Day…

Katherine tiptoed her way down the staircase and towards the front door.

"What are you doing?"

"Jeez!" Katherine shouted, whirling around to see Hayley standing behind her. "You scared me, wolf girl."

Hayley raised an eyebrow at Katherine, crossing her arms. "You didn't answer my question."

Katherine bit her lip before blurting out, "I'm going to do the right thing… I'm leaving New Orleans, something I should have done months ago."

Hayley's eyes widened as she realized what Katherine was planning on doing. "You can't do that!" She exclaimed. "This entire summer all you've wanted to do is protect that baby and now you're planning on killing it."

"And what would you do, huh?" Katherine snapped. "Klaus hates me. He'll kill me the moment I have this baby… and then I won't be around to protect the baby. When that happens… what good would all my efforts be for? It would have just meant I practically gave my baby up to the devil."

Hayley shook her head. "No. Terminating the pregnancy isn't protecting the baby. That is taking the coward's way out."

"Actually, in a way, I am protecting the baby. From me being a terrible mother, from Klaus being a terrible father, and from all our enemies which are sure to descend upon us once this baby is born."

"Katherine, please." Hayley pleaded. "Reconsider your choice. This isn't you."

Katherine glared at Hayley. "No. This is me. I manipulate, I thirst for power, I control, I punish, and I do what I need to survive."

"Kat –" Hayley began.

"Phasmatos Somnus." Katherine said softly, holding her hand up. Hayley's eyes slid shut and her body began to fall forward. Katherine caught her friend and gently lowered her to the ground, looking at her with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry…"

~TO~

That's it for the chapter! Please review and let me know what you think!