Disclaimer: I only own the Vampire Diaries in my dreams…

A/N: This is unbeta'd. Mistakes are all mine.

Previously on The Vampire Diaries:

"Don't! I'll tell you anything you want to know!" Damn. A splash of violence would've made me feel better... So much for that.

"That wasn't so difficult, now was it?" I sat down again, lounging back in the chair, "Start at the beginning; tell me everything."

After John Gilbert spun me a tale of witches and doppelgangers, I gently (in my opinion) cut off his air supply until he was unconscious. John had given me what I wanted, and there was not a reason for me to kill him…yet.

I went over the tale in my head as I walked down the hall. Katherine Pierce, born Katerina Petrova in fifteenth century Bulgaria; hunted by Klaus, an Original vampire so that he could break some witchdoctor hoo-doo; came to Mystic Falls in 1861 with a witch and returned again in 1864…blah, blah, blah.

"…a message for me…" Purred a sweet, feminine voice from the room to my left.

"What?" A somewhat younger female asked.

I froze one foot from the entrance to the room that the two women were in. It couldn't be. This was just too easy… "Game on." It was her, no doubt. Katherine.

I blurred into the room at full speed only to come upon Katherine holding a pillow to a blond young woman's face. Suffocation? Well, Katherine, you have changed…

The girl was struggling, and Katherine was so wrapped up in her kill that she hadn't even noticed me enter. What had been my goal for the last century and a half was literally within arm's reach and I couldn't move. I was completely still, unable to force myself to close the distance between me and Katherine… What would happen when I killed her? Would I feel better? What if nothing changed? So many questions were bouncing around in my head, clamoring to get out. I took a breath.

Suddenly, Katherine's head whipped around just as the girl's arms fell limply off of the bed. Surprise marred her beautiful face for a moment before she released the pillow and smirked, "Hello, Elizabeth." She purred, swaggering over to close the gap between us.

I couldn't speak. I hadn't wanted to admit it until then, and even then, I still didn't, but I was afraid. I was terrified of Katherine, of what she could do to me. She was older, and therefore stronger. Katherine could throw me around like a ragdoll, rip my spine out, and get a mani-pedi at the same time. What the hell had I been thinking?

"I mean, seriously?" She asked as she circled me, "I'm a little flattered that you hate me this much, but honey," Katherine patted my shoulder, "you've got to get a life."

That was it. Her voice was annoying and nasal, her shoes screamed 'screw me!' and her curly perfect hair was making me want to rip it out. This woman—no, this thing— had killed me. I was the predator here, not Katherine. I wanted my revenge, and I was going to get it. "Get your hand off of me." I growled; I wasn't going to take this crap from anyone, especially not her. I knew that my inability to keep my mouth shut would probably be the death of me one day, but that day would not be today. Summoning up all of my courage and strength, I grabbed ahold of her hand that was now clawing into my shoulder, yanked it off of me, throwing Katherine to the floor in the process, and grabbed her by the throat.

Just as I was lowering my teeth to her neck, she yanked my head back with a handful of my hair. I yelled in rage, striking out with my elbow; there was a satisfying crunch of cartilage as it smashed into her nose. Katherine stumbled back a few steps before blurring back toward me at full speed. I barred my teeth, growling as she got a gripped my throat with a strength that could rival an iron vice. At first, I was confused, wondering why she wasn't stopping to attack me… But that was before Katherine barreled the both of us straight out of the hospital window.

I landed hard, the shards of broken glass and the occasional splinters of wood bit into my back and arms in places I hadn't even known existed. Somehow, I managed to get the upper hand, grabbing onto one of the few pieces of wooden framing that remained from the smashed window and aiming straight for her heart. Unfortunately, Katherine was able to divert the piece of wood to her neck, but I still drew blood. I wasn't able to hold her down for long; Katherine grabbed onto me the first chance that she got and threw me into the trunk of the nearest tree. Luckily, I wasn't speared with any of the stray branches, but my lungs were only semi-functional at that point.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk…" I managed, barely able to speak as I scrambled to my feet, "I expected more from you, Katerina."

A stunned expression passed her strikingly beautiful features before she smiled, "Have you seen your husband, lately?" Katherine smiled again, almost absently swiping at the blood on her neck and putting her bloody fingers to her mouth. "He's yummy."

"Really?" I smirked, using the talking time to make sure that my ribs had healed, "Damon hasn't said the same thing about you…"

"Did he tell you what we did before I told him about you?" Katherine was baiting me. She was baiting me and it was working. Damn, I needed to pull it together.

"Aw…I'm sure that Klaus won't like that very much…" Her expression was priceless, turning from arrogant woman to frightened little girl in less than a second, "But, I know that he'd love to see you again." I smiled, "What would you say to a visit from your old buddy Klaus? Hmm?" This, I hadn't expected. My bluff was working.

"You're bluffing." She stammered. I used her surprise against her, blurring over to ram her into the same tree that she'd thrown me into. I squeezed tighter and tighter on her throat, waiting for her head to pop off. Of course, that wouldn't happen, but a girl can dream… I grabbed her jaw, securing her by her collar bone and made ready to rip her head off.

A scream ripped me from my rage induced haze. The scream came from the room that we'd made a mess of; the room where the dead girl was… Katherine used my distraction the same way that I'd used her surprise against her. She threw me into the side of the hospital. Let me tell you, bricks are unforgiving. Before I could pick myself up off of the cement, Katherine was gone.

R&R please.