Katherine POV

If you were to wonder why I came to save Elena, don't. Because I have no conception of the reason myself. Maybe it was because she is the descendant of my long-lost daughter; a daughter stripped away from me by a brutal father.

And due to the fact that Tatiana scared me for many reasons.

Sat side by side with my dishwasher doppelgänger, I listen to Tatiana tell Elena what she had told me many moons ago. How both Mikaelson brothers loved her, Elijah and Klaus, which caused a riff between the two. I can remember the story well for it has haunted me ever since I first embraced vampirism.

"Iif you happen to be on pleasant terms with my Elijah, as you seem to be, you should know how the Mikaelsons had a feud with the werewolf family in the village were we lived. Mikael wanted his family to be invincible, immune to all kinds of disease and horror from which they had feld to the paradise of the New World. And yet here they were, in the promise land, with death knocking on their doors. It was then that Ester decided to do Dark Magic, otherwise known as Expression, to turn her remaining family members into immortal beings. To live forever. Expression uses the death of a human or life force to do its dirty work as opposed to magic itself." Tatiana paused and eyed me with disappointment, "Katharina, aren't you going to offer your guests some beverages?"

"Um, yes. Yes of course." I get up and leave Tatiana to tell the story to Elena. Having heard it many times, I did not mind leaving her there. Better her than I, in any course. Sauntering to my kitchen, I retrieve the same blood-wine mixture I once drank with my friend Isobel. Elena's birth mother. Mother's of us doppelgangers seem to drop like flies. I missed Isobel, she had a lovely humour and she understood me. Not many people did. We both had to give up our daughters and live in hiding - yes, even I the murderous bitch needed friends.

My heel catches on a bag strap that shouldn't have been there. Tatiana's. I assume she is hoping to stay awhile - I cannot blame her at all. It's not everyday you get a chance to mould the personality and power of a doppelgänger vampire. She still scared me any due. She was powerful, even more exclusive than Klaus with her inner circle. And what's more she wants revenge on the Mikaelsons. And on me. She believes, so I think, that I stole Klaus and Elijah's love from her. It was not may fault that I looked like her nor that they had long since forgotten her.

Be cautious, I warned myself.

I poured out three glasses of the wine, being careful not to shake, as I lent against my kitchen counter. Personally, I prefered male athletes blood but this ballerina blood would do in a pinch.

Distraction. That's what I need.

This plan of mine was simple: revenge. Stefan Salvatore loved me whole heartedly, I knew, and yet he chose to be easy on himself and settle for the simpler version of me. Elena. She was like a match stick to my bonfire. Her kitten to my lioness. She was nothing. Still.. he rejects me. Me. Not even Damon, my replacement for Stefan when he was being too 'noble and gentlemanly', wanted me now. He had searched 145 years for me because of unforced love. Now he can barely look me in the eye. You can't play with puppies if they don't like you back.

Also, I need to kill Klaus; or his family. An eye for an eye - they say. Klaus wants Elena's blood and we both know of a cure. A cure which will save us all if I can jam it down Klaus' self-righteous throat. And who is the common denominator in all this... my! It's precious little 'Lena! What a surprise.

My hands are steady once more. A strange calmness that always accompanies a well-thought out plan fingered itself through my spindling veins. Power rushes through me and I pick up the three glasses with ease before returning to the lounge area. The fire has now began to tarnish along with my fear. The sight if a human were to walk in now would be.. euphoria. Three bronzed beauties deep in conversation drinking what seems to be red wine and all triplets. But we know better.

I hand Tatiana her drink first. She's stood by the fireplace: her sandal-shoed foot resting on my freshly painted walls, arm draped across the ivory mantlepiece, her hair pushed over one shoulder. My ancestor wears sandals, a white loose tigh-high skirt and a baggy grey jumper with the shoulders cut off. Admiring her outfit, I decide to go shopping once Elena is one of us and curtsey before sitting next to Elena once more.

I take a sip out of my glass, enjoy the feel of life flood over my tongue and place it on the coffee table before us. The remaining glass is still in my hand and I hold it in front of the eighteen year old. Thirstily, she makes a grab for it and once Elena comes into contact with her own bloody drink, her eyes become dark and veins protrude.

"My god, it's worse than I thought." I say - watching her chug down the drink in a matter of seconds. Tatiana locks identical eyes with me at the sight of our copy acting so ungraceful.

"We need to start with lesson one, obviously."she replied in her cold tone as though it were the most blatant thing since we all found out that Mikael Mikaelson was a crazed lunatic. Which it was.

"Snatch-Eat-Erase,"I honestly smile for the first time in a long time. This is my favourite part of being a vampire, you feel strength, power, influence. Like a siren in greek myths. Not that you want to meet a siren, Katherine had heard the stories. You answer their call and you are dead. At least us doppelgangers can have fun whilst -

"Damon tried to teach me that but it didn't go well."said a small voice. Elena looked up at Tatiana sheepishly before continuing. "We went to a Halloween frat party at Duke and... there was this really nasty guy there drugging girls' drinks so... I bit him. So did Damon. But then Bonnie came in and 'I realised how unlike me I was acting. I was..."

"You were?" Tatiana asked coldly once more. Jesus, you would think she was made of the coldest ice. Aloof, ice queen alert.

"..dirty dancing with Damon and acting like a blood slut." Elena's confession broke through my thought process.

"So, what are you then? If not a blood slut?" I demand, laughing involuntarily. There she was, this innocent girl talking about things that I do on a day-to-day basis as though it was the worst thing in the world.

"KATHARINA PETROVA. If you cannot talk like an adult, I want you to leave the room and sort out my bags." Tatiana shouted, eyes seemingly filled with fire of ice and flame as they blazed into my own. I shook my head. God, I hate it when she does that, "Now, continue child."

"It was exciting, yeh, but it didn't feel right." Elena's words became more confident towards the end of her outbreak as though she was glad to get it off her chest.

"It gets better don't you worry. Obviously Damon Salvatore has not taught you correctly. And who is this Bonnie of whom you speak?" Tatiana asked.

"A Bennet witch." I deadpan, "A descendant of Emily Bennet and Q -"

"- don't say her name. You may encourage her return. We need this witch on our side. Imagine the power we could have against Klaus."

"We could finally get our revenge." I smile at her, both of us ignoring Elena's furrowed brow. It was a need-to-know basis when it came to anything to do with the cure, "Anyway, where shall we go for dinner?"

"Oh, let's have a little fun first. How about you go and play with you and Elena's boys whilst I take Elena out for a bite to eat? You can pick up dinner on the way home." Tatiana picks up Elena by the arm and guides her out to the main entrance. I follow and watch her pick up her bag and open it. It's full of straws. Elena's eyes pop at the sight but I merely giggle. Tatiana: scary with a deadly sense of humor.

I righten some of Elena's clothes, they're a hot mess from all her self-pity sobbing, and pinch her cheeks before doing the same to me. It reddens your cheeks for a healthier glow; an old tradition for my vampiric 'sisters' to do back in my day, before they went out to prowl the night for their next victim. Tatiana smiles, which I note, before pulling the youngest doppelgänger out the door.

I shout after them, "Ciao! Have fun little 'Lena, watch out for werewolves and hunters."

Mentally, I try to remember where I left my straighteners from my last escapade. It's time to pay the Salvatore brothers a visit they will never forget.

A/N: Sorry it's taken so long for me to update. The usual excuses got in the way: school, illness, writer's block...the lot. Anyway hope you enjoyed this chapter! Drop me a review if you want, I'm open to suggestions on how to improve it.

-FoulkseyDarkRose