PART FIVE: KATERINA

I'VE HAD the past hundred years to think long and hard about my life, wondering what the hell I'm doing with it. I've taken Lexi's words into consideration, and imagined what it would be like to actually live my life instead of just watching it pass by. It's something however I've only imagined and not actually achieved.

Elijah and I haven't spoken in almost a hundred years, as frankly we don't have much in common anymore. The moonstone is gone, thus meaning our leverage against Klaus is gone too. Mikael has gone off the rails, hunting the Originals down meaning I don't think I'll be able to sit down with him over a beer ever again.

Along with Finn, Kol has now gone missing. I can either assume it was Klaus's doing with those silly daggers he has, or Mikael with his secrete lethal weapon. As much as I hate to say it, I hope it was Klaus, as the daggers are not capable of permeant death.

I've laid low for the most part during the past hundred years, even picked up a new hobby of cooking. With all the new cultures moving into the small villages and towns, I've learned some new recipes to help pass the time.

I tried blending in with a community, but I couldn't do it. I've been running for so long, I can't seem to be able to sit still anymore. The thought of settling down has flew right over my head, not even sounding the slightest bit interesting. The way I see it, I have forever; time is meaningless, so if I have forever, than what's the point of only staying in one spot?

I've travelled to places I know I would have never travelled to if I were human. I've seen all the worst this world has to offer, although I am still yet to meet the best. Everything I've achieved is possible because of my immortality of being a vampire which is Klaus's doing. Without him I wouldn't be here today, but then again, without him I would be able to live my life the way I want.

If I were human, I would have had a wife, a few kids. I would grow old and feel my bones start to ache and watch my hair turn grey. I would have grandchildren and watch my family name be passed down. I dream of that fantasy at least once a night, and each time I keep wishing it were real. The fact that it will never be possible fuels my veins with anger, giving me all the more reason to go after Klaus. That is the exact reason I will never be able to let this go, to put my anger behind me. That will only be possible when Klaus's heart is in my hand. I promised Lexi I would find us justice, and I refuse to break my promise.

I haven't seen Lexi in a few years. Last I heard she was somewhere in the east coast, healing people. With the rising population and new people immigrating from across seas, the amount of conflicts has risen. Towns are getting larger, turning into cities. More groups are settling down, claiming their land. It's human nature to want to protect land, and with all these colonies built, a new war has broken out. To my understanding it's nothing big, but people are still getting hurt. I highly respect my sister for going out and healing people. I admire that she's chosen to do something good with her abilities unlike me who has swallowed the worst of it.

With no idea where Klaus is, nor the moonstone, I find myself growing bored sometimes. Just two years ago I flipped the switch again, wanting to try something new. I knew that if I didn't, there was a good chance I wasn't going to see the next day. Thankfully Lexi visited me a year later and forced me to turn it back on, ending my killing spree. Often I feel so consumed in this darkness that runs in my veins, that I can't see the light anymore; I don't see a point. Deep down I feel as if I'm not going to get anywhere in my life, like it's useless. The only thing that's stopping me from driving a stake into my chest is Lexi. As of right now, she's the only thing I see worth living for, maybe Elijah too. But as of right now, neither of them are here, and I'm all alone.

There's nothing worse than drowning yourself in a puddle you made, with nobody around to save you from yourself. With nothing else to do, I find myself wandering into an old town just outside Mystic Falls, to see an old friend.

The thing with this era is that the population is growing so fast, but there's no definite way to communicate with others efficiently. Before it was easy to find someone, because the villages were so small. Now, it was like finding a needle in a haystack.

I wander into the same bar I did more than two hundred years ago, breathing in the fresh scent of rum and beer. The place has changed a lot, the apartment upstairs Elijah and I once rented out now occupied by someone.

I sit myself in the corner of the bar by the window, so I can have a wide view of the whole building. I have no idea if this friend even lives here anymore, but at this point it's worth trying.

As I quietly sit in the corner, sipping my drink I scan the bar, taking in all its occupants. For the most part it's mostly filled with scruffy, alcoholic men, but there is one brave girl sitting alone at the bar.

She sits quietly, a small drink in hand to compliment her slim figure. Her brown hair is long and curly, her skin from what I can tell flawless. I don't know why but I become instantly suspicious of her. I find myself wanting to know her story, not because I want to but rather I feel as if I have to, like it's important.

"Excuse me." A man clear his throat, dropping a folded up piece of paper on the table in front of me. "A woman asked me to hand this to you," he says before walking away.

I abruptly reach out and grab his arm, preventing him from walking away any further. "Who's it from?" I ask intriguingly.

"I don't bloody know you wandought. Now you best let me go," he growls lowly, his eyes piercing furiously into mine.

I immediately let go, not realizing how strong I was grasping on. That's the thing with each century; I get stronger and stronger the more I age, and sometimes I don't realize how powerful I really am. "Sorry," I mutter under my breath, my attention turned solely on the piece of paper in front of me.

My hands fumble with the thin sheet, my eyes scanning the scribbled letters across the paper.

I gulp at the words, both surprised and worried at the same time. I'm surprised Rose managed to spot me even though I haven't spotted her. Mean while I'm also worried as to why she wants to meet outside.

What's so wrong with meeting in here?

I quickly shove the note into my pocket and sneak out the back door, entering the crisp cool night. The curiosity of what this all means is killing me, my mind begging for clarification. I have to remind myself not to get too worked up, as curiosity is known to kill the cat.

"Rose?" I call out into the ally, squinting my eyes as I use my senses to concentrate. The only thing my vamp hearing catches is the sound of the laugher coming from the bar behind me. "Rose?" I call out again, this time louder.

"Mind keeping it down?" she suddenly says, appearing behind me.

I jump, my heart skipping a beat. It's been a while since I've been scared. Usually people are scared of me.

"Sorry." She smiles faintly, but I can tell there's something concerning her. Perhaps the reason why she wanted to speak out here rather than inside.

"It's good to see you James." She leans in for a hug.

"You too. Nice to see a familiar face for once." I wrap my arms around her back, soaking in the comfort of human touch once again. I know it probably won't be a couple more centuries until I feel that again. The feeling of human contact is the only thing that makes me feel human, like I'm alive.

"How long has it been? That you've been alone I mean." She ponders with caring eyes.

"A couple years." I shrug like it's no big deal. I've gotten use to being alone.

"James, you could've always come back here you know." She sighs, her eyes glancing over my shoulder warily.

"What's wrong?" I ask, noticing her shift in mood.

"I wanted to talk to you, because I heard about the moonstone, about how it got stolen from you," Rose finally says, my breath catching in my throat. It's been a while since anybody's brought up that doltish little thing.

"Why couldn't you have told me in there?" I refer to the bar. It was full of lots of people, the conversations diverse making it easy to speak freely without having to worry about eavesdropping...unless there were vampires involved.

"Are we being watched?" I cut to the point, becoming more anxious as I glance around.

Rose purses her lips as she too looks around. "You remember when Klaus found another doppelgänger back in 1492? The Petrova one?" She raises a brow.

"Yeah, I remember. She's the one that asked you to turn her right?" I ask, the faint memory dawning on me.

"Yeah, Katerina, that's the one." She nods. "She is the one that stole the moonstone from you, James. Almost two hundred years ago she stood in that very bar and so sneakily snatched it from your pocket. I didn't see her steal it myself, but that's what I've been hearing," she explains in a hushed whisper.

"Why are you telling this to me now?"

"Because James, she's sitting in that bar right now as we speak, drinking away like she's not holding the single most wanted object on earth," Rose states, watching the disappointment flood into my eyes.

All this time of feeling guilty of loosing that stupid rock, and a doppelgänger had it the whole time. "We need to contact Elijah," I say without hesitation, already forming a plan.

"Okay," Rose agrees. "I have a witch friend just up the street. I can get her to do a locater spell on him, but I'm going to need something of his first. Something personal," she tells me.

"Ahhh," I say as I pat down my pockets, "that's going to be a problem. I haven't seen him in a very long time." I frown.

"I thought so," she says, although she doesn't appear distraught. "When I left that one morning, I stole one of the garments I found laying on the floor, do you think it's Elijah's?"

She pulls out some kind of silk garment from her bag. It looks like a doublet sleeve, but it's just the sleeve. "What happened to the rest of it?" I ask.

Rose shrugs. "Silk isn't something you come across often. I tore it apart and made a few things with it," she says casually.

"And you stole this from the apartment Elijah and I lived in?" I ask with a chuckle. "Where have you been keeping it this whole time?"

"I have a house in this village, but that's half the point James," she says with a sigh. "Do you think it's Elijah's?"

I can't help but smile. "Yes, that shade of green is definitely Elijah's."

"Good, I figured as much. Didn't really take you for a silk guy. I'll contact the witch, and you talk to Katerina," she orders, turning around to take off down the street.

"Wait, what?" I gulp. "Why am I talking to Katerina? What am I supposed to say?"

"You need to find out if she has the moonstone or not, otherwise this is a big waste of time," Rose says.

"And how do you suppose I do that?" I place my hands on my hips, watching as Rose continues to stroll down the street.

"You're handsome James, use your head!" she shouts back, causing me to chuckle. She wants me to bloody swoon the doppelgänger vampire.

"Bloody hell," I mutter to myself under my breath. I have absolutely no confidence that this is going to go well whatsoever.

With my hands clenched in tight fists at my sides, I re-enter the bar and search the heads of people, trying to place my eyes on that single woman I saw earlier. I have no doubt that was Katerina, as she would no doubt be wanting the centre of attention. I don't know her well, but anyone willing to trade their life for vampirism is out of their minds.

Finally I catch her brunette head sitting at the bar, this time near the end. She twirls on her stool to turn to the guy next to her, no doubt trying to manipulate him with her looks. I watch from afar as the man goes still, holding out his wrist in front of her.

I see what's coming, visualizing the fate this man is destined for- a fate that leads to a short, brutal death.

Before Katerina can follow through with her desires to satisfy her blood lust, I reach her side and hull the man off the stool. "Leave, and don't come back," I compel the man, watching with careful eyes as I watch him leave.

I have a better peace of mind knowing I just saved a mans life even though that will no way make up for all the ones I've taken.

Once he's out the door I take a seat at the stool he was previously on, not yet looking at Katerina. I allow her to study me first, add to the curiosity I can sense in her stare. "And who might you be?" she asks, inching closer to me.

"Did I not tell you earlier?" I raise a brow, finally making eye contact with her.

She keeps a smile on her lips, her head rested on her hand as she stares at me. "No." She smiles innocently.

"Then it must be none of your business," I remark with a mischievous smirk, glancing sideways at her before reaching across the bar and stealing someone else's drink.

She bites her lip seductively, twirling a strand of her curly hair with one finger. "That's quite the attitude you've got there mister? Where'd you learn it?" she asks.

"I was born with it." I shrug casually, gulping down the rest of the cup's contents.

"Naturally handsome and naturally funny?" She grins widely. "I think I've found a winner," she whispers into my ear, her hand suddenly gripping my thigh.

I take even breaths to keep my heartbeat steady, not wanting to give away my cover. So far she's going for it, but I'm dreading the direction she's taking. "Has anyone ever told you that you're cute?" She leans in even closer, fixing a stray piece of hair on my head.

"I've heard it once or twice." I play along. In all honesty I don't care, and I want to be anywhere but here right now. I despise this girl, want nothing to do with her except take the moonstone and go. The fact that she was able to snatch it from my pocket so long ago still confuses me.

"Why do I feel like I know you from somewhere?" she asks, leaning her head on her hand as she stares at me.

I down the rest of the drink before turning to her. "Probably because I'm the man you stole that pretty little white rock from so long ago," I say, staring at her dress, noticing the perfect oval shape sticking out as the rock is no doubt placed snugly in her corset, safe. "I guess that's the thing with womenswear; the lack of pockets makes it truly difficult to conceal valuable items."

She freezes, eyes wide as she realizes who I am. She begins to move but I reach out and grab her wrist, holding her in place.

"Careful love." I smirk. "I've got a few centuries on you." I hold her wrist with such ease, like holding a pebble in my hand. This is the first moment where I've appreciated my vampire strength.

"I'm not giving it to you." She refuses, hissing through her clenched jaw.

"You have no choice, you're overpowered," I tell her. "Now give it up."

"Who says I have it and not Elijah? He could have stolen it from you, ever thought of that? Speaking of Elijah, when's the last time you saw him? Is he still hanging in here?" she says deviously, provoking me.

"What do you mean?" I say lowly. "What did you do?"

"It's not so much what I did that you should be worried about," she says with a sly smile.

"Why do you want the stone?" I demand answers, trying to interrogate her as much as I can while she's in my grasp.

"Same reason as you: leverage," she simply states.

"Care to explain, sweetheart?" I sneer bitterly, still grasping onto her arm. My grip tightens as I become more angered, and I fear I may end up snapping her thin little arm. At least then she might be more willing to speak.

"You want to kill Klaus, and Klaus wants to kill me. Lucky me, I have exactly what you both want." She licks her lips provocatively.

"So why not hand over the rock and I'll take care of Klaus for you," I suggest, trying to reason with her. "I plan on killing him anyways, and as long as you have that rock you're an even bigger target."

"Because James." She puts emphasis on my name, drawing out the 's'. "You were once foolish enough to let me steal it, so what's not to say Klaus won't steal it from you too?" She points out. "Klaus wants to kill me anyways, and that stupid rock is the only thing keeping me alive at the moment."

"If that rock is the only thing keeping you alive, then that makes you weak," I hiss crudely.

She starts laughing historically, like I've just told the funniest joke on earth. "I'm weak?" She continues to laugh. "A man who spends his life attempting to achieve revenge is weak."

As much as I try to prevent myself from listening to her, I can't help but let her words seep under my skin. The more I hear those words, the more I'm starting to believe them. Everything inside me suddenly shifts, my focus not on interrogating Katerina anymore; I have other plans for her. I grip her wrist harder, feeling her bones start to shift under her skin.

"James!" I hear Rose shout from across the bar, snapping me out of my vivid thoughts.

As I glance over at Rose, Katerina takes that as an opportunity to pull her arm from my grasp, making her escape. I abruptly jump from the bar stool and reach my arm out as an attempt to grab her again, but there's so many people in this bar that I don't get a clear shot. A man steps in front of me to take Katerina's empty stool, and by the time he sits down she's already gone.

"Damn it!" I kick one of the bar stools, causing one of it's legs to snap. I swallow the anger down my throat as I start to cause a scene, several men looking my way. I give a small nod before following Rose out the bar, both of us out of breath.

"I had her right there, literally in my hand and she got away! How the hell is that possible?" I shake my head angrily. As I glance down the street I see the sidewalks filled with pedestrians, none of them resembling Katherine. I know that by now she's probably long gone.

"Because she's Katerina, James," Rose sighs, holding out a paper map. "Look," she points. "I had my witch do a location spell, and it says Elijah is in this bar."

"What?" I furrow my brows as I glance at the map, watching the streak of blood compile into a blob on top of this bar. "That can't be right, he wasn't in there." I shake my head.

"The map doesn't lie James!" Rose sighs in frustration. "When's the last time you saw him?" She tries to help.

"Ninety years ago? I don't know, it's been a while." I start pacing back and forth in front of the bar.

"So it's possible he could've came back here to this town during those hundred years?" Rose questions.

"I guess." I scratch the back of my neck. "I don't see why he would." I narrow my eyes at her, watching as the wheels spin inside her head. "Why? What are you thinking?" I beg the question.

"Klaus was here about ninety years ago- I remember it now," she speaks slowly, searching deep into her memory.

"Even if Klaus did something to Elijah, I didn't see him in the bar, and he's not upstairs-" I trail off.

"No, but we didn't check the cellar down below." She glances sideways at the ally leading behind the bar.

Before she says anything more I take off to the back of the building, ripping open the locked cellar with ease before jogging down the crooked, wooden stairs. Rose appears at my side after grabbing a torch from the bar to illuminate the dark passage, following behind me as we slowly search the musty room.

It reeks of mud and death, like something's rotting. I get the sense nobody has been down here in a very long time.

"Yikes!" Rose squeals, tripping over a dead rat.

A small smile creeps over my lips as I glance back at her. "You alright?" I ask.

"Yes," she laughs shyly. "Keep going," she encourages, nudging me forwards.

This place makes us feel extremely uncomfortable, like anything could jump out at any moment. It's in this moment that I forget I'm a vampire. I feel vulnerable in this moment, my heart racing and my forehead laced with a bead of sweat. I feel almost human.

"Wait, over there," I whisper, the orange glare of the torch outlining a silhouette on the ground in front of us.

"Oh my god," Rose gasps, her hand covering her mouth.

"Bloody hell," I mutter under my breath.

In front of us lies a daggered Elijah stuffed in the corner of the room. He's covered in dust and cobwebs, giving us the assumption he's been here for a long time. I immediately feel guilty, as all this time I thought Elijah was living his life, giving up the whole revenge scheme when in reality he was always here.

"Can you shine the light closer?"

Rose steps forwards and bends down with me in front of Elijah as I remove the dagger from his chest. It's a little hard to pull out, like the blade is lodged into stone. As it comes out of his chest, it sounds like metal scratching against metal, like two swords being used in a fight.

"You and I have a lot of catching up to do pal," I sigh, kneeling beside him as I wait for the grey veins to clear from his skin.

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[complete & edited: 08/21/17]