A/N: Warning - Multiple Character DEATHS. I think this pretty much spoils the whole chapter. It's been a real pleasure, folks.

?, Abandoned Hideout

As she rouses from a deep slumber, Katherine becomes first aware of the coolness in the air and its stank musty odor. Her hazy vision takes in the lumpy ground and her clothes feel as damp as a flower in the dew of the dawn. She half wonders how she'd gotten here. She briefly remembered leaving her doppelganger satisfied, exiting from the girl's bedroom window silently into the night. It's the slow dripping sound that sends her back straight up like a bold pitch in pitch darkness.

Blood.

Not just any human blood - pungent and velvety that makes her fangs elongate and salivate. Katherine takes another whiff and moves to investigate, only to jerk in surprise. She's restrained to a bolted down wooden chair while her wrists were trapped by steel chains doused in vervain.

But… it's not hers. It's somebody else. Vampiric.

She'd been careful. How did he-

"Ah, I see you're awake."

It's the feeling of tightness in her chest hammering so erratically. It's the way when her lips open but no sound makes it past or the way it robs her of all senses and replaces it with something that makes her muscles contract and eyes widen in dread.

She's suddenly glad she's already dead because if she had a heartbeat, it would be all-telling and he doesn't need to know she's very, very afraid. She snaps her lips, least she turns into an open-gaped goldfish, twisting them sardonically. "I gave you the doppelganger and yet you still don't trust me."

"How can I? When you ran off with the moonstone," Klaus berates, his footwork light as he strides into the room. Katherine strains fruitlessly against the chains whilst frantically trying to come up with a plan.

"Technicalities. You've everything you needed to break it now," Katherine counters sweetly.

His next words take her off guard though.

"I know what you offered to the doppelganger. You may pretend not to care about the nativity she brings, but I can see it. History always finds a way of repeating itself, Katerina. It's the Petrova Curse, love. Death always follows. You cannot break the loop. It is her destiny as it was yours."

Her eyes narrowed into slits as she snarks, "What are you talking about?"

He careens a mocking laugh at her confounded expression. "You'll see it soon enough. Remember that."

"Klaus," she all but growls when he takes his leave. He stops, turns around, and blurs right into her personal space. His hand holds her chin in place and Katherine feels all too familiar spell taking over her. He whispers darkly, "You missed the party once upon a time, dear Katerina. You will not leave my sight until the curse is broken. Watch sweet Elena Gilbert take your place…

"No. No no no no," she attempts to break the hold but Klaus doesn't let her.

"Yes, and when that's over, your freedom will be granted. But for now, you will stay here while I make my preparations."

He exits through the only door closing with a click. She settles into a wait until she can no longer hear him. With a burst of strength, she sends the chains scattering into little pieces, easily splitting the chair in half. There was a brief silence before she picks up a stream of muffled cursing coming from the next room and frowns.

Who else could have earned Klaus's ire?

Inside the dirty cramped storage-like space, it is none other than Damon Salvatore also restrained in a similar fashion. However, his forearms have been callously sliced open. A steady stream of blood slithers down his wrists and drips into a used PVC bag propped open by a metal clamp. Damon looks up and drops his head down. "Oh, it's you. Come to gloat, have you?"

She doesn't. Instead, she edges forward, noting the uniformed circle of salt around the near-delirious vampire. "What did you do to piss Klaus off?"

"Nothing! I was just minding my own damn business until your bestie showed up," Damon complains. He slowly blinks as though she was a hallucination. "What are you still doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be off planning stuff with Gilbert?!"

"I would be… if he hadn't kidnap and trap me here," Katherine grouchily replies.

Not one minute of silence goes by before Damon pouts, "Huh. I guess you're stuck with me then. Help me out?"

"Can't. That's a boundary spell right there. Get used to being stuck." she throws a quip before exiting.

"Bitch. Just kill the witch when he returns," Damon yells.

"And leave me to deal with Klaus's wrath when he returns? I don't fucking think so." Katherine mutters as she rummages the cabinets. She lets loose an exclamation, having found a half-bottle of tequila in her search. She untwists the cap with ease and tosses her head back while taking a large gulp.

"Forget it. Bonnie will come for me. I'm sure of it," Damon's triumphant smugness pokes Katherine out of her thoughts. Rolling her eyes, she resists a sigh and saunters back into the room.

"How pathetic you must be to continue channeling the parlor trick," she leans against the dithering door frame, remarking offhandedly. It earns a baleful glare.

"You're just jealous nobody's coming for you. I'm on the winning side of a thousand dead witches at her disposal. Klaus won't even have the power to take her on," Damon fires.

Her eyebrow quirks upward at the trickle of new information tumbling out of his lips.

Oh Damon, you poor fool…

"Did you know in order to break the hybrid curse, Klaus would require a tremendous amount of power that Bonnie has managed to surprisingly acquire in a short span of time, just hours before the sacrifice is to happen?" Katherine lets that sink in, before taking another step forward. "You're the bait set up for little Miss Bonfire."

Damon smirks, "Thanks for the tip. I'll make sure she doesn't come then."

"And how are you going to attempt that?" She doesn't let him interrupt though she does jerk the tequila bottle in his line of sight, towards the salt circle. "Your crow trick isn't going to work in that confinement spell," Katherine chuckles to his deepening frown.

"You just said it was a boundary spell!"

"Well… I lied," She mocks his struggle, takes a swig and exits with a contented hum.

Fell Mansion

It's well past midday. A quick glance at the clock confirms the time and Meredith returns back to her observation. The Martin warlocks have set up shop in Logan's study. Scattered across the sleek oak table are various used wooden bowls containing full of herbs, even she doesn't know the names of. She watches the elder Martin instructing his son while he crushes a bunch of pale yellowish-green herbs into the mortar with the pestle. Feeling a brush of draft air from behind, she turns to find Rose watching the duo impassively.

"They're almost done now. In a few hours, I'll return with the doppelganger and you will give their concoction to her. When the deed is done, you will have your reward as negotiated," Rose solemnly remarks.

"You're giving Elena Gilbert poison. Now I may not understand most of the herbs in there," Meredith hisses with her hand gesturing violently at the warlocks. "But I know my mystical herbs like vervain… and wolfsbane. That is aconite. She'll die within two to six hours tops."

"The warlocks will spell the potion inactive until the right time. Whence it's about to begin, the doppelganger's blood will have infused with the wolfsbane that Niklaus will soon ingest. Whence the spell has reached its peak as well as the moon, Elijah will deliver the final blow," Rose explains. She hands over a clear stout corked bottle to Meredith who accepts, curiosity shining in her eyes.

"What's inside?"

"That is Elijah's deal to Elena as already proposed. If she accepts, she will live to see another day."

She hands it back to the pixie-haired vampire and looks back to the smoke-filled room where the Martins have started chanting.

"I truly hope she takes it."

.

She couldn't keep still while her thoughts dance in infinite directions. Yet she still had a role to play. Meredith paces the empty foyer and rechecks her watch for the nth time. She should be arriving anytime now.

The front manor doors creak open and the silhouette of the younger Gilbert can be seen from the tinted reflection. Meredith stops her pacing and her fingers immediately reach towards the frilly laces of her blouse as dread has her stomach locked uptight. It sets her face in rigor mortis, her teeth clenched together. But unless… it can reverse time, drag the sun from the sky and inject poison into the innocence. Her time has come.

"Elena," Meredith greets cordially. "I wish we met under more favorable circumstances."

"Dr. Fell?" Elena cautiously smiles as she enters. "You have a lovely home. I was told… I wasn't aware you were working alongside Elijah."

"Thank you. Would you like some tea? I just brewed a fresh batch of chamomile." She gently guides Elena towards the kitchen, ignoring Rose's disapproving expression. Once inside, she lets Elena settle into one of the counter stools as Meredith busies herself with the whistling teapot.

"How did you know Elijah being… you know-?"

"An Original?" Meredith throws a smile at the younger brunette and returns back to pouring the hot tea into two porcelain teacups. "I didn't, but I've always enjoyed listening to my grandfather talked about the founding history and folklore that has surrounded the town. He kept a scrapbook filled with photos and little trinkets of his era and one day, I came upon an old wrinkled portrait of him as a child looking up to his stranger in a suit."

As she explains, she reaches into her pocket and retrieves the vial containing the spelled poison. As a doctor, she was sworn to protect the living. But this went past her moral code. She falters in her movements.

"Dr. Fell? Is everything okay?"

She glances back at Elena and musters up a friendly smile, normally reserved for dealing with unruly patients and colleagues. "Of course. Nothing to worry about. Just ole me reminiscing of the past." With a long soft sigh, she uncaps the vial and slips the contents into one of the teacups, before mixing it well.

She places them on a tray along with the teapot before setting it on the counter island. Without any hesitation, Meredith places the teacup in front of Elena, smiling encouragingly. "Here, it's good to drink whilst it's still hot."

Elena matches her smile, holds the teacup delicately by its handle, and takes a sip, carefully watched by Meredith herself.

.

Gilbert. Lockwood. Forbes. Fell.

These names have stood since the beginning of this town. These names have shaped history into what it is today. These names are important - are defining. Everyone knows that.

But what the rest of the town does not know are the secrets these names keep. These names hold skeletons buried in the deep thresholds of countless inked diaries hidden out of plain sight.

And Meredith has just added one more to the list.

Salvatore Boarding House

Night comes quickly to Mystic Falls. The sun hovers briefly on the horizon, then dips below. At once, the clouds roll in - first red, then mauve, silver, green, and black, as though all the colors in the world were sucked into a vast melting pot.

"I got it. I know where Damon is. Steven's Quarry. It's only like a quarter-mile away from here."

The sudden exclamation comes from none other than Bonnie who had spent the entire afternoon scrying for his missing brother. He discards his latest victim and watches amusedly as the witch hurries to wear her jacket and throw more things into her bag. In one second, he's swiping the car keys from the table before she does.

"What are you doing? Stefan, give me my keys now!"

"Don't you find it suspicious that you have this surge of power and it took you, I don't know, three hours to locate Damon?"

"What's your point!" Bonnie bats at his shoulders all the while fruitlessly attempting to snatch the keys from him.

"You could be walking into a trap, for all we know," he counters as he dangles the keys high above her reach.

"Ugh, I don't have time for this." Bonnie's impatience gets the better of her and exquisite pain rains down at his chest like a thousand needles stabbing furiously into his skin. The keys hit the floor first, then his knees give way. The sides of his temples throb and he dimly hears Bennett racing out of the front door and the squealing of tires peeling out of the driveway.

He groans as his back reclines against the back of the dining chair legs. His hand reaches into his pants pocket, pulling out a burner phone. He dials the only number in the contact list and waits.

"Hello?"

"The little witch is on her way. Anything else you want from me, Elijah?"

"Excellent. This concludes our deal as promised."

The line goes dead. Ripper heaves a heavy groan, using the sturdy table to pull himself up. He stumbles towards the open bar for a drink. Oh well, he did try to warn her. Predictable little Bennett.

Steven's Quarry

The comfortable silence stretches out enough for her ears to hone in on the crickets and the other buzzing of bugs in the foliage around. She stirs slightly but doesn't awake. A cool breeze brushes across her face, rustling the leaves and tall grass. Klaus's voice slides into the silence, tone smooth and enunciation clear.

Her eyes blink wide open and she jolts up to a startling realization that it's been the second time in a row she's been jumped again. Bennett's begging snaps her back to the present. It's evident Klaus has started the ritual without her interference if the indication of everyone showing up wasn't clear.

"I'll do anything. Just please don't kill Damon."

"And what if I happen to warrant some assistance in unlocking my curse? Would you be willing enough?" Klaus questions, his hands already soaked from wrenching the organ from the Mayor's body, has walked through the burning flames of Damon's containment circle.

"D-D-Don't give him… anything Bon," Damon rasps with a gasping breath. She watches the hybrid's hand plow into her sired's chest while he maniacally grins at the witchling's dilemma.

"Lend us your magick and they shall both live another day," Elijah interjects, stepping out of the shadows.

"Elijah, so good for you to join us." Klaus's exuberant enthusiasm has the psychopath grinning from ear to ear. He whirls Damon around like a rag doll towards Bonnie, hand still snug in his chest. "So what do you say?"

"Both?" Bennett whispers but Katherine hears it so clearly. Elijah's lips thin first and then he pointedly looks at her straight in the eyes for a second. He shifts his stance minutely, readjusting his attention to Bennett. "Your friend has wisely taken the deal proffered. Now, what say you?"

.

.

No.

No, no, no, no. She was supposed to take her blood. Hers. Not the damn deal. That was the plan.

The color drains from her face, paling as white as a sheet, Katherine stands rooted to the spot. She claps a hand over her mouth, wide-eyed as she bore holes at the younger doppelganger's hazy silhouette.

Elena… she promised.

She doesn't hear anything else but the roaring triumph of Klaus's voice drown the panicking thoughts muddling in the cesspool of broken promises. Of course Bonnie will say yes, and Klaus already has a vampire taking Damon's place. It's Isobel's ever-so-loyal fanatic, Vanessa Monroe, stepping into the parted fiery circle. It's been planned meticulously from start to finish. It has Elijah's involvement stamped all over it.

.

This spirit magic… It's an old acerbic lullaby… Chícho attempted fate a long time ago. He never woke.

She remembers… it was an ancient spell and not widely known to conventional traditional magic as the Bennetts did. It was also done in secret and passed down from generation to generation. Although she was once a member, she'd never grown to cultivate such talent.

Soft crunching footfalls slink gracefully behind Katherine who doesn't turn to meet the intruder. Isobel's hot breaths puff on the exterior walls of her neck trail upward to her cheek. "It'll be all over soon."

She twirls the black rose around her fingers as they both watch Greta Martin's hands shoot outward to grab tightly onto Bonnie Bennett's forearms, channeling the monstrous power into the spell. Damon moves forward to intercept, only to have his neck snap with a decisive move from Elijah. Meanwhile, Klaus has already removed both the werewolf and vampire shriveled organs from its origins, before placing them in the center of the altar.

The fiery circle surrounding her doppelganger extinguish in a ring of wispy smoke billowing across the semi-silent clearing. Isobel inches closer to Katherine's right, the perfume of the rose petals permeating her sense of smell, taking her back in time to a transitory evocation of summers past.

[-Begin Flashback-]

Elena's hair spread out like a fan on the bright colorful blanket placed on top of the picnic tarp, a few of the slightly wavy tips resting haphazardly in the space between their bodies. The sight is too tempting, and Katherine reaches out to idly play with the soft ends. Her eyelids flutter like the cherry blossoms that long for adventures. She paints sunsets with the same pink as her lips. Her whispers are like the gentle breeze wafting between them as they lie atop of the highest hill under the willow tree shading their eyes.

"How many countries have you visited?"

"Which countries have the best beaches?"

"What's it like… being a vampire?"

Elena would usually start, and she would be ready with a cheeky quip. Except for this time, this time the younger girl's tone sombers. "Does it hurt?"

Katherine quirked a brow. "Does what hurt?"

"Dying."

[-End Flashback-]

Klaus so very gently sweeps Elena's long straight locks from her delicate jugular, before fixing Katherine a triumphant snarl. He then sinks his fangs into Elena, milking every last drop of doppelganger blood. She can feel the border spell vanishing at her feet but her legs don't obey the commands in her brain. Just as the anger at this injustice of destiny passes as quickly as it comes, only to be replaced with a sense of emptiness that weakens her legs to the point she can no longer stand.

"Elena… She won't make it," Katherine chokes out. She tells herself every day that she's adapted to it. She made herself as cold as death, so it wouldn't hurt anymore. But now she can feel the absence of warmth, now that she's gotten a taste of it herself. It was comforting, a sweet lick of summer days, a dash of lime, and a pint of what she thinks must be love.

Isobel lowers herself to the same level as Katherine, effectively blocking the devastating sight. Her thumb brushes away the tears that even she herself was unaware of. She wraps both of her pale arms around Katherine as she whispers comfortingly. "We can travel to another country, turn it into our playground as always, and you can find another pretty fucktoy..."

Squelch

"This is for Elena," Katherine hisses with unshed tears pooling in her tear ducts, pushing Isobel away who falls backward, eyes opened in disbelief. Katherine shakily stands from her position, looking down at the once-dearly beloved companion whose chest now sports a gaping bloody hole. She tosses the blackened heart on the grass, before speeding towards danger.

To Elena.

Her fingers caress the younger girl's cheek reverently, taking note of Elena's clammy skin. There within range stands their tormentor, Niklaus, murmuring "I can feel it. It's happening." He screams in pain as he collapses to the ground on one bended knee; audible cracks slice through him as the bones move under his skin like mechanical snakes, transforming while his eyes glow yellow.

Katherine hovers protectively, one arm wrapped securely around Elena's prone body as an extra precaution. Klaus suddenly claws at his throat in desperation, gasping at the newfound pain bubbling. "Shh-S-Something's wrong. I-" His body violently convulses in front of her, before he rolls over to meet her frown. His lips pursue to voice his blame onto her undoubtedly. Instead, a torrent of blood forces its way out of his mouth and Katherine's stomach lurches at the sight of the hybrid choking on doppelganger blood. His skin is paler than a sheet of paper and lathered in sweat.

The tables turn swiftly and everything tumbles down like a sweep of dominoes. Greta Martin drops like a lump of sack and hits the ground without any forewarning. Rose appears in her spot but goes down within minutes when gunshots reverberate the clearing. Those sharp wooden projectiles cut through the smoke-filled air. Each one rips into something, be it inanimate or living, spilling tree sap or blood with equal unfeeling. Bennett falls to the ground and it's unknown to tell from her spot if she's been shot at or exhaustion has taken a toll. The Martin warlocks come blazing out from the woods, easily incarnating another one of Klaus's bodyguards, while splintering any incoming bullets out of their way.

Katherine ducks low when one whizzes past her ear. It's getting more and more dangerous to stay in the open. She looks hesitantly up to find Elijah kneeling over his brother murmuring something to him. Thunderous footsteps alert her to the tree side in the west and as she turns to see none other than John Gilbert and Jenna Sommers sprinting out of the shadows. Both are carrying rifles. There is a small gathering behind them, undoubtedly those must have been the shooters.

They still have about six hundred yards more. Katherine takes stock of the circumstances of the situation. Something went horribly wrong for Klaus, that is. She smells blood but it's too indiscernible to ascertain if it's human or vampire. She can hear the pair shouting for Elena and it causes her to look down at her reflection copy.

Klaus has finally granted her freedom after five hundred long years.

"I'm so sorry," she murmurs into Elena's neck and presses a chaste kiss on her forehead. Their yelling has increased a decibel which only means she only has a split-second decision to make. She doesn't want to be the sole target for the Gilberts' anger.

In a decisive moment, Katherine presses Elena's prone form closer, puts one arm under her back and the other one under the knees. She doesn't look back, doesn't need to know the shooting have restarted, that she has given them a target.

Her.

A bullet pierces her side, causing her to falter momentarily. It's not enough to slow her down despite feeling the vervain take effect. She has built an immune to vervain over the years. She switches to an evasive pattern, disappearing deeper into the shadowy woods, leaving the Salvatores and Mikaelsons behind.

There is nothing left in Mystic Falls.

.

.

.

My Genesis,

This is where it all begins.

tbc

A/N: Chico means Uncle in Bulgarian btw. Thank you for reading~ and I hope you'll continue to ride with me to the last installment titled "A Fine Mess." ^^ As usual, feedbacks and critiques are greatly appreciated. If you have any suggestions of pairings you'd like to see happening in the next installment, feel free to leave a review or if you just want to chat.