AN 1: So, you see that nice little violence and gore warning up there in the summary? Yeah, it comes into play here. Just a head's up...

Previously on Taste: '…the questions […] plagued Elijah in the days that were to come. '

November 16, 2010

"Tell me…" Katherine paced the basement of her house, eyeing the hostages tied along the walls with disdain. "Where is the rest of your coven?" She tapped the glistening knife against her fingers as she spoke, the tip leaving little pinpricks which healed nearly as quickly as they were formed. Most of the vampires cowered against their chains, but there was one who managed to hold his ground; a younger man, most likely untouched by the scourge of life. Well, until she got to him, that is. It was a pity; the strong ones had always been her favorite. "Is no one going to speak up?"

Silence met her once again, and she smiled a deadly smirk. Now it was time for some fun.

She sauntered over to the brave one, her footsteps ringing on the stone floors, a death sentence thundering over the whimpers coming from the far end. Katherine tipped his chin up with her knife, meeting his hate-filled eyes with her mocking ones. "Hello, sweetie. I see someone has a bit of guts in this room." She shot a glare at the whimpering one, causing the girl to shut up. Finally, blessed silence.

"You're… You're Katherine Pierce. We haven't offended you… Not that we know of. Why are you doing this?" The young man rasped, his voice already becoming hoarse from the lack of blood. He grimaced as Katherine slowly drew the knife across his collarbone and down his arm.

"Your coven may not have offended me personally," She sighed, as if this were all a game. Which, technically, it was. "However, you have overstepped your boundaries with someone whom I need something from, therefore you and your coven are now of value to me."

"So now you're just a lackey for Elijah Mikaelson? The legends are a disappointment." He scoffed.

"If you're trying to manipulate me, cupcake, which you are, it's not going to work." Katherine rolled her eyes. "And I am not any man's lackey, thank you very much, much less Elijah's." She rewarded him for his impertinence with a stab to the abdomen, causing the young man to cry out. The girl in the corner restarted her crying again, before shutting up with a squeak after Katherine glared at her.

"I believe someone called for me?" A voice emerged from the shadows of the room, revealing Elijah, in his usual suit, paired with a tie that matched the blood on Katherine's hands. He surveyed the other occupants of the room. "It appears you all have the good sense to be frightened. All the better, considering none of you will be leaving this room alive."

"Hello, Elijah. I see you decided to join the party." Katherine turned on her heel, leaving the knife stuck in the young man. "As you can see, I have presents."

He gave her a wicked grin—one she matched as they faced the…"presents"—which sent chills running down the spines of their captives. "You hold up your end of a bargain very well indeed, Katerina."

"I'm nearly ashamed you doubted me." She tossed her hair over her shoulder, not wanting to touch it with her bloody hands. "I lie, I cheat, but I don't go back on my word."

"So I see." Elijah nodded. He stepped forward, inspecting the other vampires. "Michael LaHaye. You favor your rebellious father; I can see the same fire in your eyes." He addressed the one Katherine had been playing with.

"My father was a great vampire until you killed him. He wanted to be free of you," Michael LaHaye started, but was interrupted.

"Your father went back on the terms of our agreement, and betrayed my trust. He knew what would happen to his family, and yet when I found him, he was cowering like a child in what was essentially a hovel. He paid the price for his crimes," The Original stated calmly as Katherine watched on. "And his debt will be fulfilled." With his final words, Elijah ripped the heart out of the passionate young man, much to the screams of the young woman in the corner.

As he turned back around, the organ falling to the ground, Katherine clapped slowly. "Still dramatic, I see."

"Haven't you heard? I have no sense of humor." Elijah deadpanned, causing Katherine to roll her eyes.

"So, who's next?" She smirked, the torturous duo side-by-side as they singled out the next LaHaye to fall.

-0-0-0-0-0-

April 26, 1492

Katerina was running blind, and there was no other way to phrase it. It had been twenty days since she had escaped from Klaus's castle. Twenty days since she had discovered there was a plan in place to sacrifice her body and blood on an unholy altar of stone. Twenty days since she had become aware of the demons of the night that had posed as her friends. Twenty days since she had joined them in their pagan ranks.

Now, all she could feel was a hunger beyond any other. There was a craving within her soul: a desperate, primal yearning which could only be satiated by engorging upon human blood. After that first taste… Well, the blood called to Katerina from where she hid in the shadows, day after day, secluded from the scorching sun.

After learning quickly that reckless indulging was just a good way to get herself killed, Katerina had begun to train herself to only take small amounts from her victims, and use the unusual mind control that now appeared to be within her range of abilities to wipe their minds afterwards. It was difficult to find victims at night and stay hidden from the hunters that appeared to watch for her kind, but she was managing. More than once she had had to pose as an… Unreputable sort of woman, in order to gain access to places frequented at night. Any respectable young lady would not be wandering around after nightfall, after all.

Now, after twenty tormentous nights of traveling back to her homeland—to the very people who had loved and condemned her—Katerina was here. A few more steps and she would be nearing her childhood home, with the crackle of the fire, the smell of fresh bread, and her young siblings running about to and fro. Home was a place she had desperately missed. And now she wa—

No. That was the scent of blood. The scent of thousands upon thousands of drops of blood, pooling and damning the life she had once known. Katerina ran inside, forgetting her new speed, and the cries of anguish that subsequently followed rang throughout that calm Bulgarian night.

Elijah stood in the woods outside Katerina's childhood home, watching the young lady nearly crumble to the stained ground as the first bodies appeared in the front drive. He had not killed any of her family himself—he left that job to his brother—but he had been watching for her for the past few days. He was supposed to capture her, and bring her in. It was what he should do, in order to appease his brother and hopefully reunite their family. It was what needed to be done.

And yet… Katerina's screams tore something within him. Her cries, the tormented sobs that rippled from her former home, had shredded whatever amount of him had wished to take her back. He was powerless to anything but stand and listen to the great victory his family had accomplished: the destruction of the lovely girl known as Katerina Petrova.

-0-0-0-0-0-

November 20, 2010

"These are the files my semi-useless minion sent over." Katherine set the box on Elijah's dining room table, where they had set up shop, and began to unload. Her house was still unusable, as—though the first batch had been dealt with—more of those LaHayes had been brought in and spent their nights sniveling. Frankly, it annoyed the both of them, and disrupted their concentration to have to tell the vampires to shut up. Ergo, Elijah's house was employed as headquarters.

"The incessant wolf you keep whining about? Or have you not fallen so far as to only have one to do your bidding?" Elijah raised an eyebrow, entirely self-satisfied when she glared at him. Not many managed to visibly disturb the Great Katherine Pierce, after all.

"The wolf is good for no more than weaseling information about the Salvatore circle from Lockwood whilst in bed. No, these came from a few witches I still have in my employment. They're all the information out there about the cure." She shrugged, before separating the pile into two stacks. "Well, that's what that pile is, anyway. This pile, on the other hand, is a bit different."

"You have personal files on my family and those in our employment?" Elijah picked up Klaus's file, as it was the thickest of the bunch. "Impressive. Though, mine seems to be missing."

"Yes, I'm very good. And you didn't think I would let you have access to your own file, did you? Give a girl some credit." Katherine rolled her eyes, glad she left the other half of her collection back in the vault. She could not have Elijah knowing all of her secrets. "The important information is in Kol and Rebekah's files. Apparently your sister found her way into the bedchambers of one of The Five—"

Elijah cut her off. "Yes, some brute named Alexander, I believe. He was one of my sister's less savory companions."

"And here I was, thinking she just enjoyed my leftovers." The lady smirked, delighting in the irritated look Elijah gave her. "Kol, on the other hand, appears to be fairly involved with this cure. Seems he ran with more than a few witches over the years who were knowledgeable…"

"Kol never stuck especially close to the rest of us, and due to the amount of rows he and Niklaus have gotten into over the years, it was probably for the best." Elijah shed his suit jacket before picking up a few of the papers. "He would pop in every few years to wreak some havoc, but other than that, I do not know much of the specifics of his affairs. Do you have any definite information on who he ran with? I may be able to identify a few names."

"I have a small army digging for more. Though, you could just, I don't know, call your brother. I hear he's been un-daggered for quite some time now. Maybe he would be interested enough in pissing off Klaus to give us what we need." Katherine took a sip from her glass of wine.

Elijah flipped through his papers, before shaking his head. "If your information is correct,"

"Which it is."

"It would not be a good idea to approach my brother on this."

"And why?" Katherine crossed to the other side of the table to look over Elijah's shoulder.

"The cure apparently involves an immortal being by the name of Silas. If there is one name upon this earth which will turn my brother away, it is that one; he has briefly spoken to me of this immortal before, and though I do not know the particulars, I can assure you Kol will not react well." He stated grimly. "This just became infinitely more complicated."

AN 2: So if you can't tell, I really enjoy portraying Katherine and Elijah as like...actual, bloody, morally ambiguous, old vampires, and not a romantic hero and heroine. I mean, they sort of are, because this is their love story I'm trying to tell here, but they're not, at the same time. Anyways, I really thought hard and long over how to characterize these two sassy assholes, so...yeah. Enjoy them!

I actually went back and got a full moon calendar from 1492, and I think the April one was around April 6-8 or something along those lines, and then I figured if Katherine ran part of the way and compelled her way onto other methods of transportation, it would take her roughly about twenty nights to get back to Bulgaria from England, which is where I got the date from. This is actually my second favorite flashback in the entire story, simply because I love how it turned out, and my favorite is actually in the last chapter, so...that's something for you all to look forward to!

Anyways, thank you dearies all so much for the reviews, and for just reading in general! I love seeing the Kalijah fandom rally in all forms. :)

Thanks again!

-Abi