Katherine looked down at her outfit, ensuring that it would pass the awful 'Elena-standard'. The ribbed tank top covered by a long sleeved short matched with goddamn flare jeans and boots were excruciating to be trouncing around in. However, seeing as she was doing her best to take on the whole 'doppelgänger' thing, she had to make a few sacrifices.
Straightening her hair, for one. Good god the amount of damage she was probably accumulating was absurd. And considering she had to take very good care of her hair for the foreseeable forever, it was hard not to bodily recoil from the smell the straightener put off. Her enhanced senses picking up on burnt hair was the opposite of inspiring.
Katherine's clothing was, of course, properly saturated with blood around a very realistic looking wound in the rib area. She wasn't going to cornstarch-red her performance, she was nearly a professional at this point and slipping into other personalities had always been a personal favorite of hers.
With one last dramatic tear streaming down her face and causing a mascara smudge worthy of a Golden Globe, Katherine approached the somewhat-suburban looking house she'd found out about in Springfield.
Of course, hearing that Damon was living with another woman had been somewhat irritating - Katherine was supposed to be the one he fixated on and continued to adore, especially since to his prior knowledge she'd been locked away and out of reach. It was beyond insulting when she'd been informed. Learning that they were 'just friends' hadn't made her less annoyed, especially since Katherine was a master at using that beguiling phrase prior to securing the affections of whoever it took to meet her ends.
However, upon approaching the house she made sure to instantly slip into a terrified, utterly human expression. With an overall air of dramatics and devastation, she began banging on the door to the house. Immediately, she heard the barking and howling of multiple dogs.
Katherine was able to pick up on the sound of someone rushing down stairs, and then low shushing sound likely directed at the dogs, before the door was flung open.
"Oh my god, are you okay?"
Still wearing her 'Elena' mindset, Katherine immediately made sure to continue her look of desperation and helplessness, amping it up to the highest level.
"He's going to kill me. Please, please help me - your house was the closest."
With concern crossing her face, the woman - Suzanne, dark blonde, lanky, with awkward body language and a face uninteresting enough that Damon should not have been swayed - immediately ran into a room beyond the foyer, yelling "I'll grab the first aid kit, we're going to fix you up!"
Unfortunately, none of what she said counted as an invitation. Laying on her acting, Katherine slumped against one of the pillars that outlined the porch of the house, letting herself fall down until she was in a seated position that made it look as though she was propped up. In a thin voice she said just loud enough for the human to hear her "Please - he might come back."
Katherine could hear shuffling a room away, cabinets being opened and the clatter of things being pulled out of storage. The sound of strange rustling, clanking, and then pouring made her slowly sit up as she began to reassess the situation.
A minute later, Suzanne walked back into view, now holding nothing other than a bowl and spoon that were presumably being used for the cereal she'd poured.
"Okay, you don't think I'm actually that stupid, right? Come on, I know you've been around the block, but D texted me as soon as the teenagers figured out that you had to be around. Elena freaked, by the way, when the Scooby Gang collectively tried to figure out why she tried to mack on Damon. Also, we don't get along. She's self-righteous enough to literally pass out on a street while dialing her boy-toy before she'd meander on over to my place. "
Katherine was taken aback for a moment. Obviously if she was living with Damon this woman had to have vervain ingested, but there were a multitude of other ways that she could harm the woman while standing outside so she could gain entry into the house. Before she could speak, the blonde ambled towards the sprawling staircase in the front room and sat down, spooning what looked like Cheerios into her mouth.
"Also, fingers? That's full on Saw levels of gross. I was just messing with Uncle Gilbert, but Jesus fuck."
Knowing that she didn't need to keep up any kind of pretense anymore, Katherine stood up and made sure to immediately take on an attitude and air of superiority. This wasn't going according to plan, clearly, but having one of Damon's friends injured or dead would obviously be a great bargaining chip.
"You didn't appreciate my art? I understand, I'm a bit of a niche performer."
Instead of answering or even shifting her body in a way that would allude to what this clearly idiotic girl was thinking, Suzanne merely lifted another spoonful of cereal into her mouth and chewed quickly, speaking while she hadn't yet swallowed her food.
"I get it sort of, Gilbert's a pick and the worst, but chopping off the fingers was nasty. If you wanted to go for maiming, you shouldn't have done anything that can be easily reversed in a hospital and - oh, fuck. Shit. You look like one of the teenagers so I'm kind of talking to you like one? This is weird for me, Elena's annoying, but whatever."
Without speaking another word, Suzanne leaned over the edge of the stairs and pulled a handgun out of the vase that was sitting on an ornately carved wooden side table set up just before the staircase curved to the second floor.
"Yeah, didn't want to go full on John Wick on you, but. You know. Needs must and all that shit."
A slow smile began to cover Katherine's face before she was once again interrupted by this insipid -
"Wooden bullets. For vamps, but I mean, if I get twitchy and unload into a human it'll also do the trick."
The woman didn't lower her gun from where it was pointed at Katherine's heart, but she seemed to relax slightly before she continued.
"I'm going to be honest. I don't like you - in fact, I really, really incredibly dislike you for the shit you've put Damon through. He's my best friend and I love him. But I'm not involved in the Mystic Falls teen bullshit. Leave him out of whatever you've got cooking up. Because if you don't, I'll kill you, or people I know will make sure you're dead in less than twenty four hours after you go about killing me."
Evidently unconcerned with the ramifications of the threats that had just been issued, Katherine watched as Suzanne languidly approached the front door without wavering the point of her gun, shutting the front door to her incredibly affronted face.
As Katherine was about to speed away, she heard the woman yell from a tone that shifted as she clearly ascended the staircase.
"I have plans this weekend that you can't compete with, don't bother."
So. It's been years, but I basically became a grownup with my job/life/apartment/quarter life crisis/etc. Fell out of love with writing for a bit and recently found the notebook that I'd written 50+ pages of handwritten notes and scenes for this story from. I'm jumping back in and hope that the people who liked this story will enjoy the more regular updates now 3 as always, let me know what you think, lovelies xx