"Don't play dumb, brother. I had the pleasure of meeting your girlfriend yesterday."
"My... what? Sorry, for a moment I almost thought you said girlfriend. I still must be drunk."
"Your girlfriend, Katherine Pierce. I can remember her just fine." Choosing to ignore his borther's uncomprehending and empty stare, Elijah crossed his arms in front of the burgundy tie running down his chest, his unsmiling face never giving away any hidden thoughts or intentions. "Tall, brunette, arrogant, and desperately searching for your bed. Still not ringing any bell?"
Much later, when all the misunderstandings were be cleared, they would recall that exact moment and their biggest regret would be that none of them had the mind to randomly shoot a picture of them. Rebekah's reaction was undoubtedly priceless; the rest of them could almost hear her jaw hitting the floor. Kol didn't look bad either – like a particularly slow child trying hard to comprehend the essence of quadratic equations for the first time.
It was Sage who eventually broke the stunned silence by letting out an amused whistle.
"The Petrova girl, huh? You're a lucky one, kid." Her intense stare almost bored a hole into her still speechless brother in law, slightly tilting her head while trying to figure out his deal. "And you're pressing your luck by banging that Vicky chick on the side? Lucky, but not so smart, after all", she decided with a scoff.
Kol slowly looked around, taking in every one of his family members with slight hopelessness in his eyes, clearly thinking they had succumbed to some kind of madness or were high on drugs. He couldn't think of a more logical explanation for the scene unfolding before his unbelieving ears and eyes. Eventually settling his gaze on Elijah, he asked incredulously, "What the everloving fuck are you talking about?"
But now it was Elijah's turn to frown in confusion and stare at Sage. "The Petrova girl? Pierce, not Petrova."
"Katherine Pierce. Katerina Petrova. One and the same." She let out a small, almost sad breath. "It's a tragic tale, really", continued in an overly dramatic tone, but left the story unfinished, letting the last sentence hang myseriously in the air.
Although Rebekah didn't really know Katherine, neither particularly cared about her as they didn't run in the same circles, Sage's statement promised a scandal worthy of further investigation.
"Oh, come on, don't be such a tease", she almost pouted. "What's her story? Do tell!"
"I'm surprised you haven't heard yet. It's been years, but still... Don't you cheerleaders gossip nowadays? Please don't tell me your kind have learned how to grow a brain after all."
"Ha-ha. Very funny", Rebekah shot a dark, loathing look at the smirking redhead, but her eyes lit up. She was truly in her element when it came to a good spar with a competent opponent. "To think of it, I haven't heard anything scandalous just that it's better not to cross paths with her because she can be a straight up bitch. I figured something must be seriously messed up about Pierce because a girl like that normally wouldn't be pushed to the sidelines."
"A girl like that? What kind of girl she is?", Finn inquired and his wife immediately rolled her eyes jokingly at his lack of knowledge in high school psychology.
"Bekah means she's too hot to be unpopular. And she's right. Once Katerina Petrova was one of the most popular girls in Mystic Falls. Captain of the cheerleading team, too. She, along with her sisters, was the queen of the school, up until the accident."
"What accident?", they asked in chorus, their curiousity definitely piqued.
"The accident and the linvestigation that followed provided the scandal of the century for the town. No, not only for the town. As far as I remember, the story made national news."
"So that's why the name sounds so familiar", Elijah muttered.
"Must be. Anyway, it started about five years ago. The Petrovas – Igor and Cassandra – run a middle-sized company that secured them a good life and a respected status in the high-ish society. They were also known to be the parents of the beautiful Petrova triplets, Elena, Tatiana and Katerina." Sage calculated a pause, clearly enjoying the role of the dramatic storyteller. "If it wasn't for Igor's passion for gambling, they would've grown old as a happy and modestly wealthy family. But unfortunately there was nothing Igor enjoyed more than cards and roulette and all kinds of hazarding. Cassandra only made things worse as she lived for the luxury she couldn't really afford. By the time it became obvious how little control they had over the situation, they were on the brink of bankruptcy. Almost no cash left, mortgage on the house, business not generating enough income to cover the losses. Then he started to play dirty, got involved in funny business transactions, at that point allegedly just to stay afloat. He and Cassandra were this close to be charged with fraud and embezzlement when one night their house burned down to ashes while the whole family slept inside. None of them survived, except for Katerina."
"I remember this case know", Elijah broke the silence. "I remember following it closely. I've almost forgotten how fascinated I was by it as a law student."
"Why?" Finn asked. "I mean it's tragic, but accidents like this sometimes happen."
"That's the thing. There has been some not so subtle speculation that it was nothing more than an insurance fraud since no body has ever been found."
"That's not true. Remains of at least one body were found. Tatiana's or Elena's? Undetermined to this day. But it's still one of their girls. It's impossible to accuse them of faking their own death when at least one of their children has burned to death in that house. I think it's safe to say that their remains couldn't be found because they were burnt too badly. I think simply nothing remained of them in the fire."
The silence was heavy as the reality of what they've just heard sank in. Kol was the first to speak up.
"How did it become an insurance fraud?", he asked, turning to Sage curiously.
"That's when the story gets really interesting for Katerina. Turns out Igor and Cassandra had massive life insurances. And when I say massive, I mean massive", she made a gesture with her hand. "It's clear now how close they were to bankruptcy before the accident, thanks to the police investigation and the fact-finding articles having been published on them, but at that time it wasn't so well known. Somehow Igor had succesully kept the insurance company in complete darkness. So when they all died except for Katerina, she became heiress to a shit ton of money which the creditors couldn't touch. But she was 16, and she had almost no-one left, except for a young aunt freshly out of Bulgaria who was far from being a hundred percent right in the head."
"You mean... she was crazy?" Rebekah asked in amusement. This story just kept getting better and better.
"I wouldn't call Amara crazy. More like... impulsive. She made a lot of bad choices on impulse. And she was naive. On top of that, she was paranoid and irrational. Sometimes she was scared. Sometimes she scared everyone."
"So she was crazy."
"Maybe. Maybe not. But whatever she was, she wasn't an ideal guardian for an obscenely rich and instable 16 year old girl who just lost her whole family."
"Agreed. What happened to her?" Even Elijah was unable to keep his cool. The story was fascinating.
"Probably thanks to the free access to Katerina's inheritance, she became hooked on drugs and in the end she OD-d. It was about two weeks before Katerina's eighteenth birthday. Her body survived, but that's about it. Mentally she's gone. Amara is nothing more than an empty shell now, hidden away in an institution.
"Now that's one hell of a story", Rebekah whispered with wide eyes, to which Sage only chuckled darkly in response.
"And it doesn't end there. As soon as she hit 18, Katerina, then a high scool senior emptied her bank accounts, took a plane to only God knows where and hasn't come back for more than two years, practically without a penny. Where has she been? What has she done? Where has the money gone? No one knows. She never talks to anyone. She doesn't have friends except for the Forbes girl. All I know is that as soon as she got back, she legally changed her name to Katherine Pierce and went back to high school to finish her senior year."
"This was a touching and messed up story, but I still don't get one thing", Kol started, stretching out on the soft cushion like a lazy cat. "How exactly has this girl become my hypothethical girlfriend? Because I swear I've talked to her about twice in my entire life and one of them was like, Got it, ma'am, when she threatened to skin me if I tried to hit on her again."
Elijah couldn't help laughing out loud at the account of the memory. Even Rebekah acknowledged Katherine's fierceness with a sideways smile.
"Did she really try to get into my bed?", Kol pressed the question, an all too familiar burning forming in his eyes. For a moment Elijah wanted to kick him for it. Or himself, for telling his brother about his encounter with Katherine. Or for not believing her when she said there was nothing between them. But if there wasn't, then what did she just- "Because dark, crazy past or not, I would totally hit that. Even more so."
Elijah threw him a long, calculating look, contemplating what to say next. For a minute he seriously considered grabbing his own grinning, idiotic borther like a jealous boyfriend, look him in the eye and say someting like Don't you dare, you little shit. or I wouldn't, if I was you, Kol dearest. Unless you are too bored with your life., but he made those thoughts go away as fast as they came. When did they come from, anyway?
He broke into a lazy smile instead. "You know what, brother? Now that you ask, my memory is a bit foggy from last night. Why don't you ask her? Knowing the history of you two, I predict a positive outcome."
If his brother wants to have his ass kicked by Katherine Pierce, then so be it. Meanwhile he'll find out what the girl was looking for in his bedroom.
Because he was sure of one thing: she was up to no good. And she lied to him. Effortlessly.
Fool me once, Katerina.
Her real name echoed in his mind long after he stood up and left the room, curious eyes upon him.
A/N: Hey guys, I'm soooooo sorry for the long wait. I wasn't prepared for the hell I'd have to go through in my last semester, seriously, it was a shitshow and a nightmare and I had zero time for my hobbies. Good thing is that it's over now, I've finished law school a week ago and I'm still alive (barely). Obviously I have to work, but from now on I'll have more time to write, I promise. Not saying I'll update ever day or every two days, but you can expect at least one update per week (more if I have the time). I hope you are still interested in this story, after all. If not, I'm sorry I let you down.
About the story: I knew when I started to write Operation Rebekah where I was going with it and I still do; basically I just picked up the thread where I stopped in March. This is how I imagined this chapter from the beginning, I know it's a bit dark, but it's a crucial part of my story - hope you don't mind it turned out a little heavier than the previous chapters. Anyway, for those who asked for it: next chapter is Klaroline! (But I feel like I should emphasize at this point that this story is as much about Kalijah as it is about Klaroline. Please don't complain if you only read it for Klaroline and a chapter or two doesn't feature them. I'll not change or skip parts of my story just to please some of you.)
Also please keep in mind that I'm from Europe and this is not my native language so please be easy on me about the grammar and phrasing mistakes. I also wondered whether the story about Katherine and her family are legally realistic or not for you. It could be in my country, but the legal system here is very different from the US legal system, so idk. If it's a bunch of bullshit for you who live in the US, I'm sorry.
I see that this story now has some followers - if any of you are interested in beta-ing, feel free to PM me. It would save a lot of time for me and you'd have to wait less for the chapters.
Until next chapter, xxx Tanya