The heavy oak door slammed shut as the oldest Salvatore brother made his way inside the boarding house. He threw his jacket on the back of an antique chair, before he headed straight towards the table that held his many sets of bourbon, where he quickly poured the amber liquid into a small crystal glass. Damon went to exit the large room once he had his glass in hand, but he paused as he suddenly detected someone else was in the room. "Very brave of you to come here," Damon stated as he looked towards his right, where he saw his ex lover's brown eyes staring straight into his blue ones.
"I wanted to say goodbye," Katherine spoke simply as she sat on one of the comfy couches that littered the boarding house.
Damon stared at Katherine for a moment before he questioned, "leaving so soon?"
Katherine twitched her head to the side as she uttered, "I know where I'm not wanted."
Damon moved towards the couch that Katherine was occupying before he stated, "don't pout. It's not attractive on a woman your age."
Katherine scoffed, "ouch."
Damon didn't say another word to the vampire, but he did down the rest of the amber liquid before he placed the glass on the wooden table and went to walk away. But as he turned the corner, Katherine quickly sped in front of him and questioned teasingly, "what, no goodbye kiss?"
Damon stared into Katherine's brown eyes as he muttered, "why don't I kill you instead?" But when Katherine only chuckled, he looked down at her in confusion as he questioned, "what are you doing here?"
"Nostalgia, curiosity, etcetera," Katherine uttered simply.
Damon shook his head, "I'm better at the enigmatic one-liners, Katherine." He smirked as he asked, "what are you up to?"
"Come on, Damon, when I'm up to something, you'll know it," Katherine stated. She walked closer towards the blue eyed man as she taunted, "come on. Kiss me. Or kill me. Which will it be, Damon?" She moved her mouth a few inches from Damon's as she whispered, "we both know that you're only capable of one."
But as her lips were about to touch Damon's, he quickly turned around to walk away. However, Katherine anticipated his reaction, so before Damon could even think, his body was on the hard ground with Katherine hovering right above him. "My sweet, innocent Damon," Katherine uttered softly as she stroked his chest.
It didn't last very long with Katherine in charge, before Damon quickly flipped her over and held her down by her throat. But as he stared into her brown eyes, he realized that she was right, he couldn't kill her. Damon decided that there was only one choice left as he swiftly slammed his lips against hers.
"That's more like it," Katherine breathed out as she felt Damon's lips leave hers after the intense kiss.
The lust began to be too much for the vampires as they stared into each other's eyes, before their lips found each other once more. As the make out continued, Katherine suddenly jumped up and slammed the both of them against a wall with her hand tightly wrapped around Damon's throat. But it didn't last very long before Katherine moved her hands down Damon's chest and ripped his shirt in half, causing all the buttons to go flying across the room. She scratched her hands up and down Damon's pale skin before she pulled him back into a heated kiss.
Damon shoved a stack of books off of the small table that was beside them, before he lifted Katherine onto the wooden furniture. He trailed his lips down her neck as he quickly ripped her shirt open as she did with his. But as Damon's mind finally caught up to what they were doing, he breathlessly pulled away and mumbled, "okay, wait, brief pause."
However, that only caused Katherine to roll her eyes in annoyance before she pushed Damon away from her and stood up straight. She walked in front of him and stared pointedly as she waited for Damon to speak.
Damon held his hand up as he began, "I have a question." He took a deep breath before he continued, "answer it and it's back to fireworks and rockets red glare. Answer it right and I'll forget the last one hundred and forty five years that I've spent missing you. I'll forget how much I loved you, I'll forget everything and we can start over." Damon moved closer towards Katherine as he added, "this could be our defining moment because we have the time. That's the beauty of eternity." He softly held Katherine's face in his hands as he uttered, "I just need the truth, just once."
Katherine closed her eyes for a second before she breathed out, "stop." She looked into Damon's eyes as she spoke, "I already know the question and its answer." She confessed after a moment of silence, "the truth is... I've never loved you. It was always Stefan," before she slowly pulled Damon's hands away from her face and walked away from the heartbroken Salvatore.
Emily sighed as she finally made her way out of the bathroom once she was done with the hot shower. She was ready to go to sleep for the night. It had been a long day and she knew that there was more to come tomorrow. However, as Emily walked into her bedroom, she jumped in fright as she noticed Damon was sitting on the edge of her bed. "What are you doing here, Damon?" Emily questioned once her heartbeat had steadied.
Damon looked up from his hands he was gazing at and uttered, "oh, you know, being the friendly neighborhood spider-man."
Emily shook her head as she chuckled, "wow, you must definitely be drunk." She watched Damon closely and noticed he was swaying as he sat on her bed. "Do you want me to call Stefan to come take you home?" Emily questioned lightly.
Damon groaned loudly, "oh, my God. Why is it always about Stefan?" He swiftly stood up before he stomped directly in front of Emily. "Elena picks Stefan and of course Katherine only loved my brother. Stefan this, Stefan that," Damon mumbled as he thought everything out loud.
Emily was silent as she listened to Damon rant about everything that was on his mind. But once Damon grew quiet, she grabbed his arm softly. "Come on, let's go downstairs and wait for Stefan," she spoke gently.
Damon was too blind with anger and hurt to even listen to the oldest Gilbert as he pushed her harshly against the wall. He grabbed Emily's face in his hands as he pouted, "I want someone to pick me." He stared into Emily's green eyes with intensity in his own as he whispered, "maybe you could pick me."
Emily tried with all her might to push Damon away from her. She knew that he didn't mean what he was saying, that he was only hurt by whatever Katherine had said to him. She didn't take anything he was saying to heart. He was drunk, so she just wanted to help him get his head straight so he could head home. "Come on, Damon. Just take a deep breath," Emily spoke as she tried to get him to focus.
Damon either ignored her or he didn't hear a word she was saying, because the next thing Emily knew was that Damon moved his face closer towards hers as he tried to kiss her. Emily's eyes widened in shock as she realized what he was doing, so she quickly yelled out, "Damon! Stop! You don't want to do this!"
But before Damon's lips could touch the brunette's, a voice suddenly spoke from the doorway. "Emily, what's going on in here?" Jeremy questioned as he stared at his sister in confusion.
As Damon was distracted by the youngest Gilbert, Emily quickly pulled herself out of Damon's strong grip and moved towards her brother. She definitely didn't want Jeremy around the vampire when he could barely think straight. "It's nothing, Jer. Everything's fine, just head off to bed," Emily calming told her brother.
"No, everything is not fine, Emily," Damon muttered as he glanced over at Jeremy. He looked back at Emily as he stated, "he wants to be a vampire."
"No!" Emily quickly yelped as her eyes widened in shock once she realized that her brother was in danger. It only took Emily to blink once before Damon had her brother by his throat against the wall like she had feared. "Damon, no! Leave him alone!" She yelled out in panic.
Damon ignored Emily as he squeezed the scared boy's throat and whispered, "you want to shut out the pain? It's the easiest thing in the world. The part of you that cares just goes away, all you have to do is flip the switch and snap!"
"Dam -" Emily tried to warn the oldest Salvatore once again, but before she could finish saying his name, she saw Damon snap her brother's neck. Emily's voice got stuck in the back of her throat as everything happened in slow motion. It felt like hours passed by as she watched her brother's neck turn in away that it never should. But at the sound of her brother's body touching the ground, she was shaken out of her trance and gained her voice back. "No!" Emily yelled out as she quickly rushed towards her brother's side. She felt like her heart was just ripped out of her body as she tried to find Jeremy's heartbeat. Emily's hands shook as she moved her way around Jeremy's sweater. But when Emily couldn't find her brother's heartbeat, she looked up with tears running down her face as she glared at Damon. "Leave!" She yelled out in anger and in pain.
Damon stared at the crying girl for a moment with no emotion on his face, before slowly backed out of Emily's bedroom. Once the vampire was gone, Emily gasped in heartache and laid her head on her brother's chest. She grabbed Jeremy's hand off of the ground and brought it to her lips. However, Emily sat up once she felt something cold touch her skin. She gasped in relief as she noticed that Jeremy was wearing John's magical ring that would bring him back to life.
Emily shakily grabbed her cell phone from her desk once she had finally caught her breath and quickly texted Stefan about what had just happened only minutes ago. She sat her phone on the floor after she had seen that the message was sent before she pulled her brother's limp head into her lap.
Stefan arrived in Emily's bedroom a few seconds after he had received the message. He didn't make a single sound as he watched the sadden girl hold Jeremy close to her chest. Stefan didn't understand why his brother would kill Jeremy. He tried to think of an explanation as he spoke lightly, "he saw the ring, that's why he did. He knew."
Emily quickly shook her head as she kept her eyes on her brother, "he didn't see the ring."
Stefan sighed, "it's Katherine. She got under his skin. She undid everything that was good about him."
Emily scoffed, "there's nothing good about him, Stefan." She glared into the wall as she continued, "we were friends, but that is over. He can burn in hell for all I care." Emily felt tears in her eyes as she uttered repeatedly, "I hate him, I hate him, I hate him."
Stefan swiftly bent down to Emily's level as soon as she began to cry harder and rubbed her shoulder's gently. "I know. I know," he spoke softly before he kissed the top of her head.
Emily held her brother closely towards her chest as she cried, but she suddenly jumped in shock as Jeremy woke up with a deep gasp. "Oh, my God!" She yelped with her eyes widened. "Is he okay?" She quickly questioned the vampire.
Stefan grabbed Jeremy's face and stared into his eyes for a moment before he stated, "he's okay." As the youngest Gilbert continued to gasp as he looked around, Stefan quickly spoke to Jeremy softly, "shhh, you're okay."
"He killed me," Jeremy cried out as he searched around the room, "Damon killed me!"
Emily pulled her brother into her chest as a tiny smile grew on her lips with tears still streaming down her face. "It's okay, Jer. I'm right here. I got you," she tried to calm herself and her brother down. Emily couldn't be anymore grateful for John and that stupid ring as she held her very alive brother in her arms.
In the silent Mystic Falls Hospital, there was a tall brunette clicking her heels down the hallways as she headed towards a room with determination. She had a plan that she needed to follow and this was the first step to being finally free. Once the woman had made it to the hospital room, she stood with a smirk on her face at the edge of the bed as she waited for the right moment to strike.
The blonde girl on the hospital bed suddenly gasped as she was woken up and saw someone standing right in front of her. Caroline rubbed her eyes tiredly before she looked at the person closely. "Elena?" She questioned in confusion.
"Hey, Caroline," the brunette uttered as she twitched her head to the side with a smile on her face.
Caroline rubbed her temples sleepily as she mumbled, "why aren't you bed? It's late."
The brunette leaned over Caroline's bed as she began to speak, "my name is Katherine. I was hoping you could give the Salvatore brothers a message for me."
Caroline lifted her head from her hands as she looked at the girl in front of her in confusion. "What are you talking about? What message?" The blonde questioned.
"Game on," Katherine uttered simply.
"What?" Caroline began to question. But before she could think, Katherine was suddenly holding a pillow against her face. She fought with her might to get the pillow off her as she was beginning to lose her breath. But after a moment she lost as her body fell limp against the hospital bed.
Katherine slowly moved the pillow off of the blonde once she didn't feel any movement. She smirked as she realized that she was successful with killing the human. But Katherine knew that was only part of the plan as she threw the pillow onto the ground and strutted out of the hospital room and made her way to the next door, where she would face her annoying doppelganger.
Katherine slowly walked into the room and noticed that her doppelganger was asleep. But that was something she definitely didn't need, so she locked the door behind her and turned on the bright light. It didn't take very long for Elena to stir awake. Katherine sat in the small chair that was next to the bed and waited for the human to notice her carbon copy.
Elena slowly woke up as she felt the bright lights burning her eyes. She thought it was one the nurses bringing her some more medicine like they usually did, but she gasped as she turned towards her right. She couldn't believe her eyes as she stared at the brunette in front of her. It was like she was looking into a mirror. However, Elena suddenly remembered what her sister had told her about what had happened to John. Elena quickly looked for the emergency button on her hospital bed, but it was suddenly ripped from her hands.
Katherine tsked, "we don't need to bring anyone in here, now do we?" She smirked as she added, "unless it's a little snack of course."
Elena sat up straight in her bed as she quickly shook her head. She didn't want to be a reason for someone's death, even if she was scared out of her mind. "What do you want?" She questioned the vampire nervously.
Katherine stood up from the chair as she slowly walked around the room. "Well, there is a couple of things I want; you dead, Stefan in love with me again, world domination." She smirked, "you know, the usual." Katherine crossed her arms over her chest as she stared at her doppelganger, "but for now, you can help me with the first one."
Elena gasped in shock as she quickly jumped out of the hospital bed. She tried to make a run for the door, but Katherine swiftly grabbed her by her throat and slammed her against the wall. "Oh, Elena. You should know I always get what I want," she uttered teasingly.
"Please, you don't have to do this!" Elena cried out as she scratched at the vampire's hand that held her throat in place.
"You're right, I don't have to, but that is the fun part!" Katherine exclaimed. She patted Elena's head lightly as spoke, "sweet dreams," before she snapped her doppelganger's neck. Katherine caught her body before she fell to the ground and laid Elena on the hospital bed. She dusted off her hands with a smirk before she strutted out of the room and out of Mystic Falls Hospital as she was ready for the chaos to begin.
