[2x09; Katerina]
Lucy knocked on the door of the Salvatore Boarding House and sighed, looking at her watch. They were already late for school when Stefan called Elena, asking for both of them to come over to talk about something important. Elena agreed but Lucy was hesitant—she just wanted to forget everything that happened the past few days and live her life as normally as possible.
Unfortunately, Elena overruled her.
It was Damon who opened the door and, for once, he didn't even smirk at them.
"Hello, Elena," he smiled pleasantly. "Hello, Lucy."
Lucy eyed him warily—was he possessed or something?
"Is Stefan here?" Elena asked. "He called, said it was important."
Damon pulled the door open all the way and stepped aside so they could walk into the house. "Right this way."
Lucy followed Elena into the Boarding House, both of them pausing when Stefan approached them.
"Hey," he nodded awkwardly to Elena, still unsure whether they were still broken up, and then smiled at Lucy—he knew where he stood with her, which meant that there was no awkwardness.
Lucy grinned back at him while Elena pursed her lips and adjusted her purse strap.
"What is this about?" she asked.
Stefan stepped aside, revealing Rose—the vampire who kidnapped them the day before. Rose gave them a hesitant smile, knowing that they would be weary of her. She didn't blame them at all.
"Rose," Lucy said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
Elena looked at Stefan, astounded that he would allow Rose to stand there, unharmed. Now they really needed to know what was going on.
"She's here to help," Stefan assured them, ushering Lucy and Elena into the living room. "She knows more information that could be helpful."
Lucy sat on one of the couches next to her reluctant sister and set her eyes on Rose, wondering what more the older vampire knew. "What information?"
"Okay, you have to understand I only know what I've picked up over the years," Rose stated, standing in front of the fireplace. "and I don't know what's true and what's not true. That's the problem with all this vampire shit. But Klaus? I know he's real."
Lucy raised her eyebrows at the new name while Elena asked, "Who is he?"
"One of the Originals," Damon answered. "He's a legend."
"From the first generation of vampires," Stefan added.
Lucy was intrigued. "Like Elijah?"
"No, Elijah was the Easter Bunny compared to Klaus," Rose corrected her. "He was a foot solider. Klaus is the real deal."
Elijah was a foot soldier? He beheaded a man right in front of them! Just how evil was this Klaus guy?
"Klaus is known to be the oldest," Stefan informed Lucy and Elena.
"Okay, so," Elena shook her head, trying to unscramble her thoughts. "You're saying that the oldest vampire in the history of time is coming after me and Lucy?"
"Yes," Rose said at the same time as Stefan said, "No."
Lucy cocked her head at Rose and Stefan, pursing her lips in amusement as they sent each other sharp looks.
None of this was particularly funny but she had to find something to laugh at, otherwise she'd cry all the damn time.
"What they're saying is," Damon spoke up, coming to stand next to Rose. "I mean, if what she's saying is true."
"Which it is," Rose interjected.
"And you're not just saying it so I won't kill you..." Damon glared at Rose.
Rose rolled her eyes. "Which I'm not."
Damon turned back to Lucy and Elena. "Then we're looking at a solid maybe."
Lucy looked down and twisted her bracelet around her wrist, nervously playing with it in order not to meet anyone's eyes. If this Klaus guy was so widely known throughout the vampire community, then some of what Rose was saying had to be true.
"Look, Elijah's dead, right?" Lucy looked at Stefan as he spoke, meeting his forest-green eyes that were looking right back at her. "So, no one else even knows that you guys exist."
"Not that you know of," Rose added unhelpfully.
Damon gave her a sharp look and commented, "That's not helping."
"Look, I've never even met anyone who's laid eyes on him," Stefan tried to assure Elena and Lucy. "I mean, we're talking centuries of truth mixed with fiction. We don't know what's real. For all we know, he could just be some sort of stupid bedtime story."
"He's real!" Rose insisted, growing aggravated. "And he doesn't give up. If he wants something, he gets it. If you're not afraid of Klaus, then you're an idiot."
"All right, we're shaking," Damon rolled his eyes. "You've made your point."
Lucy shook her head and glanced at Elena before getting up. Elena followed her lead, hiking her bag higher onto her shoulder.
"Where are you guys going?" Stefan asked, bewildered.
"School," Lucy stated the obvious. "We're late."
"Let me grab my stuff," Stefan stood too. He didn't want to let them out of his sight after everything that was going on. Lucy was stabbed by Jenna, Elena was injured after being linked to Katherine, and then both of them were kidnapped and almost taken by an original vampire. "I'll go with you."
"It's okay," Elena waved him off. "We know where it is."
Lucy gave Stefan an apologetic smile before walking out of the Boarding House after Elena. As they both got into Elena's car, they turned to each other, thinking the same thing.
"We have to talk to Katherine," they said in unison.
If Klaus was the person that Katherine was running from all these years, she would know plenty about him.
"But how?" Elena continued, starting up her car and pulling out of the Salvatore's driveway. "Stefan would never let us."
"We don't have to tell him," Lucy said thoughtfully. "Maybe Caroline can distract him for the day. What we really have to worry about is how we're gonna get Katherine to talk to us."
Elena was quiet for a few seconds before she lit up, thinking of an idea. "Does Joel still have those blood bags in his mini-fridge?"
"I think so. Why?"
"I have an idea."
Lucy, Caroline, and Elena walked through the woods, heading to the tomb to talk to Katherine. Elena carried a large bag filled with materials that they planned on using to convince Katherine to tell them anything they needed to know about Klaus. She had poured some of Joel's blood supply into an old water bottle, knowing that blood would be Katherine's largest incentive, while Lucy grabbed the Petrova Bible, a pillow, and some blankets for her comfort.
They had called Caroline as soon as they arrived at their house, asking her if she was willing to distract Stefan for the day while they sat with Katherine in the tomb. Caroline was reluctant at first, not wanting to lie to Stefan, but Elena quickly brought up the fact that she had spied on her for Katherine. Caroline caved immediately.
"Tell everyone that I wasn't feeling well so Lucy drove me home," Elena instructed Caroline, going over their cover.
"I can't believe that I'm agreeing to this," Caroline grumbled. "I'm a terrible liar."
Lucy nudged the blonde and added, "And keep Stefan busy. We don't want him to know what we're up to."
"I'm even worse at duplicity and you know this!" Caroline complained.
"You managed to keep me occupied when Katherine paid Stefan a visit," Elena commented snidely.
Lucy and Caroline both glared at her; she knew full well why Caroline did that and she also knew how sorry Caroline had been.
"Yeah, because she threatened me," Caroline reminded Elena, her voice somewhat sharp. They came upon the church ruins and walked over to the stone steps that led down to the tomb. "Not that I'm saying that you should use that as a tactic. It's—Stefan's gonna see right through me."
Elena sighed and faced Caroline, looking at her firmly. "Caroline, as my friend, do you promise or not?"
Lucy gave Caroline a pleading look, pouting her lower lip slightly to give Caroline the face she knew she couldn't resist.
Caroline sighed heavily. "You had to break out the girlfriend code and the puppy-eyed look," she shook her head. "Okay. I promise."
Elena nodded. "Okay."
They all started down the steps, making sure to be careful so they wouldn't injure themselves. Caroline had excellent control for a vampire her age but she wasn't invincible.
"Why don't you want Stefan to know?" Caroline asked as they stopped at the bottom of the steps.
"Because he's overprotective," Lucy said, rolling her eyes fondly. Her best pal could be an idiot sometimes. "And he thinks coddling us will be enough to make sure nothing ever hurts us."
"And because he would never be okay with us doing this," Elena added, giving Lucy a stern look.
The three of them stopped in front of the tomb door, shut firmly in place.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Caroline checked again.
Lucy and Elena nodded together.
"Yep."
"I'm sure," Elena confirmed. "She's the only one who knows the truth about Klaus. The only one who can tell us how to stop him."
"But you're asking for the truth from someone who's probably never given it," Caroline reminded them. "Are you sure about this?"
"Yes, Caroline," Lucy nodded. She now knew that Katherine was telling the truth about her being a reincarnation and that her other siblings would come for her. She couldn't trust Katherine but at least she knew that the vampire would tell the truth—for some things, at least.
"I can't just sit back and wait," Elena added. "I have to know, Caroline. Please."
Caroline reluctantly gave in, taking comfort in the fact that Katherine couldn't reach Lucy or Elena if she wanted to harm them. She stepped over to the tomb door and took a firm hold of it, using her vampire strength to heave it away from the tomb entrance.
Lucy and Elena stepped toward the tomb while Caroline backed away from it.
"Katherine?" Lucy called, hoping that Katherine wasn't desiccating already. It had only been two days.
Elena looked at Caroline. "We'll be okay from here."
Caroline gave her a doubtful look but was distracted by loud shuffling coming from the tomb. Katherine appeared, looking worse for wear and struggling to walk to them. She fell against the wall right by the entrance where the seal started.
"Hello, Elena," her voice was scratchy from misuse and thirst. "Hello, Lucy. Come to watch me wither away?"
Lucy pursed her lips. "Not exactly."
Katherine rolled her eyes and glared behind them at Caroline. "Goodbye, Caroline."
Lucy saw how reluctant Caroline was to leave them. "As long as we stay on this side of the seal, we'll be fine," she assured her. "She can't hurt us."
Caroline sighed and glared at Katherine before leaving them. Once she was gone, Elena placed the heavy bag of things onto a large stone and opened it up.
"Does Stefan know you're here?" Katherine asked.
"Nope," Lucy took the time to make herself comfortable on the uneven stone floor of the tomb, rearranging herself so her gray tunic wouldn't get dirty.
"We brought you some things," Elena told Katherine, pulling out the pillow and blanket Lucy packed.
"You came to bribe me," Katherine countered. "What is it that you want?"
Elena threw the pillow and blanket over to Katherine. "We want you to tell us about Klaus."
"Hmm," Katherine hummed, impressed. "You've been busy."
"Mmhm," Lucy confirmed. She looked up at Elena and nodded. "Show her."
Elena pulled out a lantern and the Petrova Bible. "We also brought you this," she showed Katherine the book. "It's your family history. It says in here that the family line ended with you."
"Obviously, that's not true," Lucy sighed.
"You think that if you brought me some family keepsake, that I'd open up?" Katherine sneered at them.
Elena handed Lucy the Petrova Bible and dug into the bag again, pulling out the bottle of blood. "I also brought you this."
As soon as she showed the blood to Katherine, Katherine lunged forward only to be stopped by the tomb seal. Her under-eye veins rippled underneath her skin, her whole body craving the bottle of blood.
"You don't look so good," Elena taunted her; she had Katherine right where she wanted her. "How long before your body shuts down? Ten, twenty years? It must be painful to desiccate and mummify. I can't even imagine."
Lucy bit her lip to hide her impressed smile.
Katherine stepped away from the seal and slid down the wall, giving in. Elena crouched next to Lucy and poured some of the blood into a plastic cup; she set it on the ground and used a long stick to push it past the seal and into the tomb.
Katherine weakly grabbed the blood. "You both have the Petrova fire."
She pressed the cup to her lips and hungrily drank the small amount of blood Elena had poured her.
Elena cocked her head mockingly. "More blood?"
Katherine nodded and set the cup back on the ground, allowing Elena to pull it back over to her.
"Spill, Katherine," Lucy demanded.
"It's a long story, Klaus and I," Katherine said tiredly. "It goes all the way back to England, 1492, after I left Bulgaria—or was thrown out."
"Thrown out?" Lucy pulled her knees to her chest.
"My family, your true ancestors," Katherine gave Lucy a pointed look. "They disowned me. My indiscretions were not tolerated at that time. I had a baby out of wedlock," she rolled her eyes. "The shame."
Elena sat next to Lucy. "It was kept secret?"
"Mm-hmm," Katherine nodded. "My baby was given away and I had to leave my little sister when I was banished to England. I had to learn to adjust so I quickly became English. It was there that I caught the eye of a nobleman named Klaus. I was taken with him at first, until I found out what he was and what he wanted from me and my sister...then I ran like hell."
Katherine told them about how she took the moonstone from Klaus and ran from him. It was Elijah who was tasked with bringing her back but luckily, Trevor—the same Trevor that Elijah had beheaded the day before—came to her rescue and covered for her.
"It was a bad time," Katherine admitted. "I found out what Klaus wanted from me and my sister and had been planning to run. The day before I ran, word came from Bulgaria that Lucia had been killed—" she spoke to Lucy. "—that you had been killed. I was a bit of a mess, I could have planned better."
Lucy frowned. "What happened?"
"Word got out that you were a siphon," Katherine's gaze hardened at the memory. "The village got antsy and they ambushed you when you were fetching water from the well. Our mother knew how close we were and she thought to write me."
Lucy was speechless; she hadn't known that her past lives were siphons, too. It horrified her that her nature brought upon one of her deaths. It brought back the fears she had when she had just learnt about being a siphon and had read that horribly biased book Grams had given her.
"Wait, so it's true?" Elena asked Lucy. "You're really a reincarnation?"
"Yes," Lucy confirmed. "Apparently I reappear every time a Petrova doppelganger is born."
Elena's eyes widened, though she was hurt that Lucy hadn't told her about this before then. "Wow," she shook her head and looked back at Katherine—she'd ask Lucy more questions later. "So, what did Klaus want?"
"The same thing that he wants from you two," Katherine leaned her head against the wall. "He wants to break the curse."
"By sacrificing the Petrova doppelganger and the reincarnation," Elena said, recalling what Rose said the day before.
"The reincarnation isn't sacrificed, but yes," Katherine nodded. "He wanted to drain every single drop of blood from my body.
Lucy couldn't help but feel relieved that she wasn't going to be sacrificed. She still felt horrified that her sister was going to be killed just to break some stupid curse. She sighed and fought back her anxiety, picking up the stick and dragging the empty blood cup back over to them. Elena filled the cup halfway and allowed Lucy to push it back to Katherine.
"Lucy doesn't have to be sacrificed?" Elena questioned, feeling slightly better that her little sister would survive all of this.
"Yep," Katherine sighed. "A few drops should work."
"What does the Petrova bloodline have to do with Klaus?" Lucy wondered, giving Elena a worried look.
Katherine picked up the cup, some of her energy coming back. "It's really tedious but—" she drank the blood. "—the curse was bound by the sacrifice of Petrova blood and the blood of the reincarnation. Witches are crafty with their spells."
Lucy tilted her head, curious.
"The doppelganger was created as a way to be able to undo the spell and since the reincarnation is needed, too, Lucy was spelled to be born again in the Petrova bloodline," Katherine explained. "Once the doppelganger and the reincarnation reappeared, the curse can be broken."
"So, you ran before he killed you," Elena assumed.
Katherine shrugged. "Something like that."
Lucy and Elena listened intently as Katherine explained that she followed Trevor's instructions and went to his cabin where he and Rose lived at the time with an old human woman. Rose reluctantly let her into the cabin but when she discovered who Katherine was and that she had the moonstone, Rose declared that she was going to bring her back to Klaus at nightfall."
"Rose never ended up taking you back to Klaus, did she?"
"No, but not because she had a change of heart," Katherine answered Elena.
She went on to tell them how she stabbed herself out of desperation, not wanting to give Klaus the satisfaction of sacrificing her. Rose discovered her injury and gave Katherine her blood, healing her. When Trevor came back at night and argued with Rose, Katherine took the opportunity to hang herself.
Lucy gaped at her. "You killed yourself?"
Katherine didn't see the big deal. "Klaus needed a human doppelganger. As a vampire, I was no longer any use to him."
"But it didn't work," Elena pointed out. "You didn't really escape, you've been running from Klaus ever since."
"I underestimated his spirit for vengeance but living out of a suitcase is better than dying so that you could have your blood spilled over some silly little rock."
Elena looked away from Katherine and Lucy, ashamed that she was actually agreeing with the vampire.
"What's wrong?" Katherine asked her. "Afraid I'm right? You don't want to die?"
Lucy narrowed her eyes at her, annoyed with the way she was mocking Elena's natural fear.
"There's another way out," Katherine stated. She pressed her thumbnail against her wrist, slicing through her skin, causing blood to rush to the surface. "Better hurry," she urged Elena, ultimately knowing that she wouldn't take her blood. "Your opportunity is going, going, going—" her wrist healed. "—and gone. I made the other choice."
She informed them that once she had woken up in transition, Rose planned on killing her, especially since she used Trevor's romantic affections for her for her selfish use. Katherine acted quickly and drank from the old lady they lived with, completing her transition. Rose, Trevor, and Katherine had been on the run from Klaus ever since then.
"Rose and Trevor spent the last five hundred years running because you used them," Elena looked at Katherine in disgust. "Trevor just got killed."
"Beheaded," Lucy added solemnly, shivering at the thought of Trevor's headless body and the puddle of blood surrounding him.
"Never thought he would have lasted that long," Katherine commented casually.
Lucy sadly pursed her lips while Elena shook her head. "You don't even care that you ruined their lives."
Katherine looked at Elena like she was crazy for judging her. "I was looking out for myself, Elena. I will always look out for myself. If you're smart, you'll do the same."
Katherine grabbed the Petrova Bible that Lucy scooted over to her and opened it, looking at her family history.
"So, how much of your little story is true?" Elena asked a little while later.
"I have no reason to lie, Elena," Katherine sighed heavily, flipping through the Petrova Bible. "I have no reason to do anything but sit here and read and rot."
Elena scoffed and stood up, starting to pace back and forth behind Lucy. "Okay, assuming it's even partially true, that's the reason why you came back, isn't it? Because you wanted to be the one to hand us over to Klaus."
Lucy's eyes flashed over to Katherine, irritated that she wanted to hand them over to Klaus. Even if she didn't have to be sacrificed, her sister had to die to break the curse. Lucy knew she wouldn't be able to survive her sister dying.
Katherine groaned and got to her feet, leaning against the wall for balance. "Five hundred years on the run, I figured maybe he'd be willing to strike a deal."
"So, you got Mason Lockwood to find you the moonstone," Elena stated.
"Right again."
Lucy pursed her lips, thoughtful. So far, the curse needed three ingredients to break it; her blood, Elena's blood, and the moonstone. It seemed fairly simple and with a curse that huge, she doubted that there were only those ingredients.
"What else is needed to break the curse?" Lucy spoke up, narrowing her eyes at Katherine.
Katherine grinned in approval. "Mmm, look who's smart."
"It's not just us and the moonstone, is it?" Lucy continued, her eyes widening in realization as she thought over everything that Katherine had done since arriving in Mystic Falls. "Otherwise, there would be no reason to trigger Tyler Lockwood's werewolf curse."
Katherine shook her head in disapproval. "Witches and their spells—so many ingredients, so many people to sacrifice."
Elena quickly caught on. "So, you need a werewolf."
"Believe it or not, they're hard to come by."
"What else?"
"A witch to do the spell," Katherine confessed. "Mine bailed but Bonnie will do just fine."
"What else?"
"A vampire."
Lucy angrily jumped to her feet. "Caroline?"
"It could have been anyone, I suppose, but I like the poetry of Caroline," Katherine mused.
Lucy glowered at her while Elena scoffed.
"So, you were just gonna hand us all over to be killed?"
Katherine straightened up. "Better you die than I."
Lucy shook her head in disgust and turned away from the tomb not wanting her temper to explode—she knew it would if she looked at Katherine for any longer. Katherine walked away from them, deeper into the tomb where she wouldn't be disturbed.
Lucy noticed Elena had picked up her pacing again and decided to comfort her, knowing that her learning about any of this couldn't be easy.
"It's not going to happen, Elena," she tried consoling her sister. "I'll make sure you're safe, okay? We'll all make sure."
"You don't know that it won't happen, Lucy," Elena replied, shaking her head in frustration. "Let's just go."
Lucy nodded, not wanting to upset her more, and grabbed the things they brought for Katherine, putting them back inside the bag.
"Elena! Lucy!" Stefan came running down the stone steps, looking around frantically for any signs of danger.
"Stefan, what are you doing here?" Elena asked.
"I could ask you two the same question," Stefan retorted, sounding relieved. He gave Lucy a quick look but she rolled her eyes at him.
Elena sighed, annoyed. "Caroline told you."
"No, she kept your secret but it didn't take long for me to figure out what was so important that you'd have to keep it from me."
Lucy turned away from them, knowing that this was supposed to be a private conversation that they should be having without her there.
"I knew that you'd stop us," Elena defended herself.
"Listen to me," Stefan's voice was stern. "Whatever she said to you guys is a lie. Do not listen to her. She's a liar, Elena."
"What if she isn't?" Elena disagreed. "You didn't hear what she said."
"You don't have to worry, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you," Stefan assured her. He raised his voice, getting Lucy's attention as he added, "Either of you."
Lucy turned around, frowning when Elena said, "That's the problem. You won't but you'll die trying. How's that any better?"
Lucy agreed with Elena, knowing the everything she said was the truth.
"There's nothing you can do, Stefan," Katherine spoke up, having walked back to the entrance when she heard Stefan and Elena arguing. "I haven't even told you the best part of the story."
Katherine bitterly recalled how she traveled back to Bulgaria after she transitioned into a vampire. When she returned, she found the rotting bodies of every servant, worker, and family member that lived at her home, each of them having been killed by Klaus.
"He killed them," she finished quietly. "My entire family just to get back at me for running. Whatever you do to escape Klaus, he will get his vengeance on your friends, your family, on anyone that you've ever loved."
"No, look at me," Stefan grabbed Elena's arms, forcing her to look away from Katherine. "No. Do not listen to her, okay?"
Katherine scoffed. "Always the protector," she shook her head. "But even you must realize that Elena's doomed. There's nothing you can do to stop it...Unless, of course, you have this—" she held up the moonstone for them to see.
"What?" Elena took a step toward Katherine.
"Oh, no, there it is," Stefan snapped at Katherine, pulling Elena and Lucy behind him. "That's the ultimate lie, isn't it? You spun this whole thing so that we would have to get the stone from you, didn't you?"
Katherine shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest, hiding the moonstone. "I didn't spin anything, Stefan. It's the truth."
"No," Stefan disagreed. "Let me guess...You wanna trade that stone for your freedom. Hmm? You manipulative, psychotic bitch."
Lucy gaped at Stefan; she would have never guessed that he would use those words against a woman, even if that woman was Katherine.
Katherine stiffened and scoffed. "My freedom?" she sneered. "That's where you're wrong, Stefan. I don't want my freedom because when Klaus shows up to kill us all—and he will—I'll be in the tomb where no vampire will enter because they can't get out. I'll be the safest psychotic bitch in town."
Katherine looked past Stefan and locked eyes with Lucy. Lucy swore she could see some sort of apology in Katherine's eyes but she couldn't know for sure. And Katherine turned around and walked deeper into the tomb before she could find out.
Lucy sighed and heaved the bag up higher on her shoulder. "Let's go," she said to Stefan and Elena. "There's nothing else to know."
As she, Stefan, and Elena left the tomb, Lucy grew determined. She wasn't going to let Elena be sacrificed by Klaus for a silly curse for the werewolves and vampires and whatever...She would do anything to protect her sister.