"I'm Katherine Pierce. I'm a survivor." — Katherine Pierce
ONE
Death had finally ensared Katherine Pierce, and yet the centuries of mulling over what came next couldn't have quite prepared her for...this.
Whatever the hell 'this' place was, it was not what everyone else said followed! It definitely wasn't the accursed 'other side', despite her status as a doppelganger and traveller, and Katherine was absolutely she was sure that was where she was going. Not that she was particularly complaining about not ending up there—oddly, she didn't exactly want to be trapped as a ghost in an everlasting and no doubt completely maddening, isolated on-earth purgatory; if she was going to be cursed to watch the Mystic Falls gang in all their stupidity, she at least wanted them to hear her snide remarks.
It didn't seem to be heaven or hell, either. There were no singing angels, golden gates or cherubs with harps (though Katherine in heaven was a laughable thought) nor the souls of sinners being tortured in the burning infernos of hell. (A shame, really. Katherine was sure the devil would've adored her, but perhaps that was her narcissism speaking.)
No, instead, Katherine stood in a plane of what could only be described as all consuming, white, nothingness. No matter where her eyes travelled, she was greeted with the same sight—white, white, and oh! More white! An obscure and suffocating silent emptiness.
And Katherine Pierce truly had no idea where she was. She simply stood amongst it, waiting, and bored.
That was, until a voice boomed around the empty white space.
"Katerina." It echoed. She jumped at the voice, and began to search frantically for a source, but was only met with the same barren surroundings of before. "Do not try search for me," the voice spoke again, "I have no physical form."
No physical form? Katherine thought. "So, are you God, or something? Surely you can just…manifest a physical form." She said, flailing her arms about. "What even is this place, anyway? Is this my 'judgement'—the whole reviewing my soul and deciding whether I go to heaven or hell thing?"
"It will be if you don't stop talking." The voice said in a sass that, under normal circumstances, Katherine would've found amusing. Katherine heeded her warning, something of a nervous sardonic laugh escaping her. If this really was some God-like entity that had control over something such as which afterlife she'd reside in, Katherine knew better than to piss it off or overstep her boundaries, so she kept her mouth shut.
"You were brought here, Katerina Petrova, so you could be given another chance."
Katherine raised her eyebrows, her attention caught once more. She couldn't help but smile a devilish grin at the thought of her, the ever-elusive Katherine Pierce, evading death yet again.
"But," The voice began again, and the Katherine let out a groan; 'buts' were never good, "there are some…conditions."
"Conditions?" She repeated back to herself. "Alright, lay 'em on me."
"The world you are being given another chance in isn't your own." And Katherine was bemused once again, but before even given the chance to interject, the Voice continued. "It's a parallel universe. An alternate version of earth, which there are many of."
That alone was enough to throw Katherine. She was used to the supernatural—she was used to witches and werewolves and vampires and doppelgangers and travellers—but she had no idea how to process that. She had no idea how to process that their earth, their universe, wasn't the only one. She simply thought it was a stupid theory that comic book nerds and weird scientists believed in. Yet, here she was, in some mystical realm, being told there are multiple. To say Katherine was rendered speechless would be an understatement.
"Though, I've chosen this one specifically. The universe I've chosen for you has no witches or vampires like you—" The Voice paused, "—At least, it's without any of the supernatural elements you are familiar with."
"So, in other words, it's boring?" The Petrova cringed at the idea. What a dull existence that would be. She'd rather just be dead than live some 'wholesome and meaningful' existence as a human. She had experienced more as a vampire, and she would never go back to that.
"Not quite."
"Then—"
"You'll figure it out once you arrive. However, as I said, there are conditions. You will not simply live this life as you wish. I will give you perks; you can have all the benefits of being a vampire—the strength, the speed, not aging, the blood, the healing, the compulsion and the arguable immortality—" the Voice seemed to mock such a word "—but you will be stripped of your ability to turn others into vampires, and those creepy eyes that you get when you feed." The Voice paused for a moment, unnerving Katherine. "But, I suggest you don't feed."
Katherine dryly swallowed any remaining saliva in her mouth, which she wasn't entirely sure how she did in this place, but she wasn't going to ponder. She took more than a moment to respond, trying to understand what the voice meant, but to no avail.
"Why?"
"You have the option to live as a human, to some extent. You can live on human food, and you won't burn in the sun. But, this will not be a selfish existence, Katerina Petrova. There is a greater good to fight for in this universe, one which you'll figure out on your own, and that is what you'll fight for. You can have all these benefits, Katerina, but under the condition you live this life for others—not just yourself. Think of this as your chance for redemption."
She wasn't quite sure exactly how to respond, or even if she would be capable of everything The Voice, which is what she had now decided to dub it, requested. Katherine was inherently selfish. She had to be; he was on the run from Klaus for 500 years, it was a means of survival. She didn't believe it to be a bad trait, but a necessity. Little selfless girls like Elena got hurt, and Katherine wasn't about to get hurt. She was the myth, the legend, the baddest bitch of all! She was conceited, and manipulative, and sassy, and insensitive, and oh-so selfish. She was Katherine Pierce. Self-preservation was kind of her thing. Yet, here she was, being told she couldn't be selfish: she had to "live for others"? Yawn.
"And if I don't?"
"You age." The voice almost interrupted. "You burn in the sun. You lose your ability to regenerate. You lose your ability to compel. You lose all the good things really, which will, inevitably, lead to your death. And, since you pride yourself with your ability to evade death given all odds, I'm sure you'll comply."
Well, it had her there.
Katherine, confused and anxious and excited, mulled over The Voices words.
"Do you accept?"
The answer was more than obvious to Katherine, and flowed out of her mouth like it was a joke The Voice had even asked her. "Of course."
"Oh, and, one last thing: you may choose to age as humans do, if you wish."
Before able to ask anymore questions, Katherine was engulfed by black.
Kind of a 'cringey' chapter in some ways, but hopefully the rest of the story will be better?
God, this is my fourth story where somebody gets reborn or put into another world. But, I had this concept, and I adore Katherine, so I simply had to write it. I actually don't know what happens to Katherine after she dies—I've hardly even watched her death scene, since I'm only on episode 10 of season 5. I know she comes back in Season 8 and all, but I really couldn't care less about that. I'm just going to write this story, rest of the TVD storyline be damned.