1741. Italy.
"Get me out of this country," Katherine said, her voice shaking.
She stood on the balcony of hers and Klaus's villa. Her rose velvet sack back gown was billowing in the breeze, her hair was pinned back in a subdued fashion. The neckline was modest with an ermine trim and a ribbon bow at her bodice. She was not dressed as the Katherine that Damon and Stefan would come to know. She was muted, unassuming.
Klaus's laugh was rich and full bodied.
His blond hair was darkened by the Italian sun and his face had a unique glow that wasn't found on many vampires. He walked behind Katherine and leaned forward, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"I humor you on many things, Katerina. Because you are mine and I am quite taken with you. I fear you have caught onto this and are beginning to use it to your advantage. I caught you acting like a coquette with that man who was to be your dinner a month ago. You've disappeared for a fortnight without my permission. You've dressed inappropriately and brought shame to our home."
His large hand came up and his hand came lightly to her throat, asserting enough pressure.
"Do as I say," he whispered.
"We are in the midst of Austria's succession and everyone including Italy, has a hand in it," she whispered passionately. "Will you have me in the middle of this conflict? To be injured, burned or tortured by the hands of barbaric imperialists?"
"There is no fighting in Italy, you foolish girl."
"Yet."
"You've been eavesdropping."
Katherine gave Klaus a sidelong glance and moved away.
"I cannot help my keen sense of hearing."
"No, I suppose not. And what would you have me do, Princess?"
Katherine fell onto their bed.
"Anywhere but here. France. Russia. America…somewhere I can be entertained! The Vatican has banned opera, for God's sake!"
"Is that all you care for? Opera? And there is nothing in American but thieves, charlatans and…and puritans!"
"Klaus," she chastised.
"The answer is no. Now I expect there to be a girl here when I return. I will be starving. Make sure she has been cleaned. Don't bringing me homeless filth like last time."
Klaus grabbed his belonging and left the room, closing the door behind him.
"Find your own damn meals, you controlling bastard," she yelled to no one. She dissolved into a mess of tears, her arm bent over her face.
She heard Emily enter and turned her back. Emily sat on the edge of the bed. She took Katherine's free hand.
"We can run away," Emily whispered.
Katherine lifted her head quickly.
"Madness," she responded. "There is no running from Klaus. We are connected, him and I. He would find me. Treachery is inexcusable. He'd kill me. Kill us."
"Then stay," Emily snapped. "And get used to this. This is your life. For eternity."
Katherine sat up. "Bite your tongue. I'm in pain as is. I don't need your mockery. Or you forgetting your place?"
"You're stronger than this," Emily relented.
"I'm not."
Emily cupped Katherine's face in her hands.
"Look at me."
Katherine looked towards Emily.
"You are strong. You are Katherine Pierce of the Pierce dynasty. You are one of the last of your family. You have overcome and conquered. You are over a century old, are you not? My Katherine fears no one. Does she?"
It was as if something has just slipped into place. As if a puzzle was finally placed into the right angle. She was Katherine. Who was Klaus? Her maker, yes. Not her owner. They could escape. They could go to America and begin anew. They could find others like themselves. Yes.
A smile formed on her lips.
"Yes. Tonight," she said, excited.
She leaned in and kissed Emily on the mouth with joy. She paused. In all of her life with Klaus, she had never been unfaithful. She never dreamed of touching another person. Part out of fear and part out of loyalty. And kissing Emily was thrilling, liberating. It wasn't about being attracted to one gender or the other. It was the power. She saw the vulnerability in Emily's eyes and she pounced on it like a hawk to prey. She thrived on it. She grabbed Emily's collar roughly and pulled her face back towards her. Emily dodged her lips, turning her face to the side.
"Katherine," she whispered.
"Say nothing," Katherine whispered back. "We are celebrating."
She grabbed Emily's face and pressed her lips to hers. She could feel Emily's tension and trepidation. Emily had no lover. Occasionally, Klaus would find her bed but usually when he was drunk or fighting with Katherine. Katherine, though, was never jealous. She owed everything to Emily. And she knew that Emily loathed those interactions with Klaus. And this? This was different. It was soft. It was passionate. She felt Emily's apprehension melting away. It was like drifting in a river of champagne. Katherine's mouth slanted over Emily's again and again. She grabbed a first full of Emily's dress and hiked it up her thigh. And then…
"You disloyal little harlot," Klaus's voice was fire.
Katherine bolted up right and stumbled out of the bed, smoothing her skirts.
"Klaus!"
Klaus's eyes were blazing with passionate jealousy. He advanced forward and like lightning, he had Emily by the hair, yanking her from the bed like a ragdoll. The girls screamed and Katherine rushed at them. She tried to pry Klaus's hand loose as he dragged Emily towards the door. Klaus hit her across the face with his back hand so forcefully that Katherine fell back into her mirror. The mirror crashed to the floor spilling glass along the ground like diamonds. Blood poured from Katherine's mouth as she ran at Klaus again, begging. She saw his hand come down her again with a vengeance. And then there was nothing…
It was water droplets falling into her mouth that awoke Katherine. Her face was throbbing as she opened her eyes. She was lying on her side, her hands bound behind her back. Emily was on her side as well, facing Katherine. They were in the back of a rack-wagon, covered in a large blanket. Katherine listened as the hooves of horses pounded against the earth. She could feel the nearness of Klaus and knew he had to be driving the carriage. The air smelled of earth, of rain. The blanket was slowly soaking in the water that sprinkled from the heavens. Katherine knew she was about to die. She didn't care call out to Emily because she knew Klaus would hear. Instead she stared at her; silently pleading for her to open her eyes. And as if she heard Katherine's thoughts, Emily's eye fluttered open. They laid there, saying nothing, staring at eachother. They willed the each other to read each others mind. And it was a bare whisper. It was startling to Katherine. She had never been able to communicate this way before. But this gave way to excitement and her thoughts projected louder. A plan was formulated. Emily shut her eyes, her mouth forming words with no sound. A thunderclap filled the air and lightning lit the sky so brightly that even they, under the blanket, were illuminated. Emily's eyes were black orbs and then veins on her neck bulged as she writhed, her head banging back against the wood of the cart…
Time had not cooled the anger in Klaus's heart as they he had driven the cart into the hills of Tuscany. He wanted to be far enough away from the city so that no one would hear them scream. While it pained him to kill Katherine, she had proven disloyal on many occasions and was not worthy of any affection. He didn't want it to be quick. No. He wanted to prolong it as long as possible. On the horizon, Klaus saw a small chapel. He had anticipated being alone and this was bothersome.
"It'll have to do," he said aloud.
He pulled on the reins of the horses, already skittish from the storm, and stopped them underneath in the middle of an olive grove. He tethered them to a branch and walked to the back to the wagon. He pulled the blanket off and revealed the emptiness of the wagon. Their ropes were all that was left behind. He roared and turned quickly, the lightning illuminating the hills. Just ahead of the grove, his eyes connected with Katherine. She had turned a cautionary look behind as she was being pulled ahead by Emily.
"Katherine," his screams filled the air, even at this distance—even above the thunder.
"He's seen us. For the love of Christ—run for your life!"
He was like a wild boar. He charged across the ground, unsheathing his sword as he ran. It was now that Katherine truly felt understanding why other vampire had cowered in the face of Klaus. He was the personification of Murder. This was why he was an old one. He was ruthless, dangerous, unrelenting.
"Faster," Emily begged.
Just then, a church came into view.
"Get inside, get inside!"
"But what if there are crosses?"
"I can survive a burn, I can't survive being staked," Katherine screamed. They flung open the doors into the chapel and shut them behind them.
Silence.
"Quick," Emily whispered desperately. "It's not safe. He'll corner us if we stay in here. Make haste out of the back. It'll buy us time."
They ran through the center of the pews as a monk shouted at them in Italian. Katherine bared her fangs as she ran and the monk shrank back in fear and made the sign of the cross. They flew through a kitchen and out of the back of the chapel. They ran across a field and found themselves in the middle of a vineyard.
Emily stopped suddenly and looked back at the chapel.
"Sit. Now."
"What?"
"Do it. I can stop him. I just—we have to stop. I have to concentrate."
They sat in the mud, hands clinging to one another. Emily's threw her head back as she chanted and beckoned the aid of the ancient pagan God, Buku.
"Buku, here my call…"
Klaus burst into the chapel.
"I bind thee, Klaus, vampire of the old world, to these lands. Do thy bidding. I bind thee…"
Klaus stumbled passed the pews passed a shaking monk that pointed towards the kitchen.
"Until virgin blood pours forth onto the earth…I bind thee to these land and these men…"
He burst out of the back, shaking, swinging his head towards the vineyard.
"Katherine!"
Katherine clutched Emily's fists tighter.
"He's coming…" She pitched forward, her knees digging into the mud.
Klaus fell to the ground. He lifted his head and saw Katherine down the row of grape vines. He was like a man possessed. It wasn't just that he had found her with Emily. It was that she was running from him, her maker. She was beneath him. She was a small pile of nothing dying in a fit of malaria when he came to her. He pulled himself up and barreled towards them. He lifted his sword, screaming.
Emily's voice was louder, stronger.
Katherine jumped up and stumbled back as Klaus came and swung his sword back, rage filled into his eyes. The sky went white for a fraction of a second. And before Klaus could direct the sword towards Katherine's neck, the white light enveloped him. He fell to his knees and crumbled into a heap, moaning pathetically until he was unconscious. The girls stood, hands clasped, staring down at him. Katherine looked up towards the heavens and back at Emily. Katherine collapsed beside Klaus, cradling his head in her lap.
"You would have never let me leave," she said sadly. "You would have never let me go…"
Emily placed her hand on Katherine's shoulder.
"We must move quickly."
They dragged him into the chapel by the heel of his boot, tracking a trail of mud and grass behind him.
The monks had gathered around them, clutching their crosses. She could feel the heat and burning of their relic but bit down on her tongue.
Katherine looked up, pushing the hair out of her eyes. She lifted her head.
"You'd do well to protect him," she said in Italian. "He is bound to you and these lands. Watch him. He is cunning. And should he ever spill virgin blood on these lands…"
She made a sign of the cross and felt it burn across her breast as she stared at the giant crucifix at the end of the pews.
Just then, Klaus moaned lightly, his eyes still closed.
"I'll find a way," he whispered.
Katherine looked down at him for a long moment.
"I know you will, my love. I'll be waiting."