Chapter Eighteen

Hello, all of you beautiful people. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing and all of that wonderful jazz. I'm in a great mood because I get to go on holiday tomorrow! And I'm updating because . . . I felt like it :) PS – there is slightly changed timing within this chapter, but only minimally.

Disclaimer – I do not own the Vampire Diaries, but I do own Elisaveta Petrova/Lissa Pierce.

Katherine POV

There was a great sense of freedom that came from being released from the tomb – but the sunny brightness came with dark cloud cover: Klaus. John was back in town in order to fulfil Isobel's wishes and Katherine hoped her descendent could help because she would rather not die a slow, painful death. And she so enjoyed the potential of annoying Damon for eternity – her Salvatore boys all ready to be messed with. Her sister, apparently, had already been messed with.

"We have a problem," Damon growled as he stormed into the bedroom she'd claimed for herself. Out of sheer boredom, she was painting her toenails elaborately and she glanced up from her barely finished artwork to look at the brother she'd chosen not to save with a raised eyebrow. He was glowering darkly.

"And what would that be?" she asked uncaringly, screwing the cap back on her nail polish and tossing it into the open drawer of the bedside dresser. It made a loud thud in the awkward silence.

"Your sister is in seclusion. I don't think she's moved since last night." Katherine stared at him, smirking. It never ceased to amaze her how close those two were when Damon was human, but their connection had seemingly grown since Lissa's release from the tomb. It was almost entertaining.

"Aw, is she avoiding me?" Damon glared at her harder for the mocking in her tone but she ignored it easily. She honestly thought it was probable that Lissa had locked herself away solely to avoid her because their relationship really wasn't up to par. Sure, they had their moments but, in the grand scheme of things, Damon and Stefan probably had a healthier sibling relationship.

"You know why you got out of the tomb, right?" Damon asked as though she was missing something obvious. Katherine scoffed, as she'd orchestrated the events perfectly.

"Yes, Damon, because you lot managed to dagger Eli- oh." So she had been missing something glaringly obvious. Her sister was mourning Elijah.

"Yeah, 'oh'. And she helped with the daggering, so she's not in the best shape," Damon snapped. "She was willing to dagger him herself – would you have cared then?"

He was baiting her and she knew it, but he was also a little too close to home. They had already talked about how she had chosen to save Stefan over Damon, and now he was throwing it back at her. She decided not to dignify that with an answer.

"My baby sister helped dagger the big, bad Original? I'm so proud." Damon growled savagely and Katherine felt genuinely surprised at how defensive he was of Lissa.

"You chose to save Stefan – why? You love him. Think about how Lissa is feeling now. As much as I hate to say it, I can't help her – she needs her big sister for this one. So step of to bat, Katherine, you have to show you care."

With that, Damon left Katherine alone in the room. She stared at her midnight blue toenails decorated with white stars for a full five minutes before she decided she needed to 'step up to bat'. Lissa had been there for her, she had to be there for Lissa. With that in mind, she slipped off the bed and headed down the hall towards the bedroom that belonged to Damon, then turned left.

Pausing outside the door of Lissa's room, she listened for several moments. At first there was nothing, then her ears picked up the occasional drip on the smooth wooden floors and, knowing Damon didn't have any leaks, Katherine decided they were tears. Sighing, she shoved the door open and slammed it shut behind her. The dramatic entrance did not have the desired effect as Lissa didn't so much as twitch.

She was sitting on the edge of her bed, back hunched over as her arms rested against her legs. The dripping sound was indeed tears as they slid off the end of her nose and onto the floor. 'Not in the best shape' did not cover what Lissa looked like in those seconds.

She was wrecked, destroyed, over a guy. Katherine knew Elijah was Lissa's one and only – she had said it herself – but she had to knock her sister out of that stupor. There was no way it was acceptable for Elisaveta Petrova to be so pathetic – not on Katherine's watch. Then again, Katherine didn't want to break Lissa – again – anymore, so tried for compassion. It was not simple.

"Hey Lissy," she said softly. Aside from their most recent interactions, Katherine hadn't had much practice at being a big sister. She had thought Lissy hated her too much, but Lissa was too compassionate to hold a grudge for too long.

"Mm." At least she was making noise, but she hadn't moved even an inch. Her hair was knotted and her hands were shaking and Katherine had never been more concerned – unless Klaus was involved. Sometimes she really hated that Lissa brought out the sympathetic side to her. Sighing, she started to rifle through Lissa's things, particularly the art.

"I'm not going to say sorry or any of that rubbish, because I'm not. Elijah trapped me in that tomb and you know it was me that led to his daggering. What I am sorry about is that you're hurting and it's my fault . . . again. But it was for the best and I know for a fact you would never put Elena's life below your desires. This way, we can kill Klaus on our terms, keep precious Elena safe and, who knows? Elijah could be un-daggered at the end," she drawled, grimacing at a drawing of Elijah and smirking at a recent one of Damon.

"You bitch." Katherine put the drawings down and spun to face her sister, grinning gleefully at the words. Lissa hadn't so much as lifted her eyes from her hands but the two syllables held as much contempt as Katherine believed she was capable of in that moment.

"That's good. Hate me if you have to, loathe me if you must – just please don't wallow in self pity," she suggested. Lissa couldn't turn her emotions off, not if Katherine had anything to say about it, and if keeping her sister feeling meant her being hated, then she would be OK with that.

"Is it your sole purpose to make me miserable?" Lissa asked tiredly. Katherine rolled her eyes.

"No, it's not and you know it. But you need to stop being pouty and help the pathetic group of monkeys before they stake themselves by accident. They don't trust me – so I kind of need my baby sis around to help prove I'm not a liar."

"You are." Katherine snorted before stomping over and forcing Lissa's head up. Rich chocolate eyes gazed back at her, thankfully not completely lacking emotion. Most of the feeling was negative.

"I know but you can back me up when you know I'm not lying. Come on, Lissy, I'm not asking much."

"I'm allowed to be miserable. I finally understood everything about him and the compulsion, he was helping us. And then he went behind my back, again, and you had him killed. He may have endangered Elena and lied to us again but I feel the pain of his death . . . I feel abandoned."

Fresh tears appeared and Lissa's voice cracked from the pressure of building sobs. Katherine, hit with another jolt of sympathy, sat down by her sister.

"Lissy, I know, I know. You love him and he loved you and it's OK to mourn him and what you lost. It doesn't matter what he did, just know it's perfectly acceptable to miss him and be sad he's gone," she assured Lissa, placing a hand over her sister's and rubbing.

Damon was right: she was the only one able to fix Lissa, or at least provoke a reaction. And, as Lissy's heartbroken eyes connected with hers, Katherine knew her sister would be fixed. It would take time to get over the sadness and the guilt, but she would get there. And Katherine hoped to help.

XXX

Forty eight hours passed and Lissa gradually came out of her catatonic state, no thanks to her double crossing sister who had vanished, thanks to Klaus. Isobel had apparently returned then died and no one was quite sure why. According to Damon, Bonnie had gotten her powers back and was channelling a hundred dead witches – making her a lethal weapon. Lissa had had to briefly leave the hose that morning because the deed had been transferred to Elena's name, meaning she had to be invited in. She hadn't interacted with anyone, but that was finally about to change.

The mourning vampire eventually left her room, fully dressed in a denim skirt and black laced top. Her bare feet led her downstairs, where she lounged on the sofa. Her sister's absence was getting to her, no matter how much she denied it, and she was scared of Klaus' reaction. True, they used to have something that could be construed as friendship, but that didn't mean anything to someone as scared as she was.

"Klaus said what?" Damon snapped angrily and Lissa sat up, crossing her legs elegantly as she observed. Bonnie and Elena were standing near the archway entrance looking worried, whilst Stefan and Damon stood across from them.

"He compelled a girl to tell me to save him the last dance," Elena informed them and Lissa swallowed thickly in response. Klaus' mind games were always tricky and they did exactly what he wanted – instilled the beginnings of fear in the hearts of his targets. Judging from everyone's expressions, it was surely working.

"So we go to the dance, find him," Damon said, stepping forward confidently. Lissa scoffed whilst Bonnie adopted an incredulous look. Stefan was the first to protest.

"Really? We don't even know what he looks like," Stefan pointed out and Lissa's eyes widened as they all turned to look at her. She should have known it would eventually turn to her, due to her lack of compulsion and history of Original vampires.

"Yes, I know what he looks like but do you honestly think the oldest vampire in the world doesn't know what to do to keep himself hidden?" she argued rationally, but Damon walked over and stared directly at her. Knowing her message had not gotten across in the slightest, Lissa blurred upstairs and began rummaging through the many sketch books she'd filled. Some had been given to her by Damon, salvaged from her belongings in 1864. Downstairs, she heard Alaric arrive, but kept searching because she knew it had to be there somewhere.

"Would you hurry up?" Damon called from below and she sighed, almost giving up before she spotted a final book, not a modern pad. It was made of old paper, wrinkled around the edges and was clearly ancient. Victorious at her discovery, Lissa removed one of the slips and skipped downstairs with it.

"I'm not sure this will be helpful, but this is my best picture of him," she chimed, handing the paper over to Damon before she sat on the arm of the couch. "Hey Ric," she greeted and was surprised to find him staring openly at her. A second later, he was composed once more and she shrugged it off.

"Lissa, this is great," Stefan complimented and she smiled bashfully. She was certainly better at drawing people than she had been in 1492 and, with Klaus' pending arrival, she had chosen to draw him to the best of her ability, just in case.

"Yeah, Lissa, this is really good," Ric said in a strange tone. No one else seemed to notice but Lissa was confused by the strange behaviour. He sounded like a mixture of impressed and bewildered.

"Alright, enough flattery. Back to Bonnie. Just what are you going to do if Klaus does this?" Damon demanded before shooting forwards at Bonnie. In the blink of an eye, Bonnie's hand shot up and Damon was sent flying across the room, landing in a heap. Elena and Stefan both looked extremely impressed and Lissa laughed so hard she fell off the arm and onto the couch.

"Well, I was impressed," Stefan said as Lissa finally righted herself. Damon stood up looking hilariously surprised, which almost set Lissa off again. Bonnie began pacing.

"It doesn't matter if he's an Original, I can take down anyone who comes at me. I can kill him, Elena," she insisted as Damon lounged next to Lissa, idly massaging her feet. Neither noticed the mildly venomous look Ric was giving them. "I know I can."

"Celebrations all round then! I'm going to find an outfit for tonight," Lissa called and everyone slowly dispersed. Ric was the last one left besides Damon, who was still praising her feet. "Ric, are you OK?" she asked with concern but the history teacher just nodded stiffly and left. Damon and Lissa looked at each other, shrugged, then went their separate ways.

XXX

Through her boredom pushed research of the sixties, Lissa had decided she hated the fashion but was extremely pleased with her final product. Having discovered the singer Janis Joplin through her searching, Lissa had decided she was her girl. Her outfit consisted of a sparkling gold dress, the glitter in the fabric rather than outrageously obvious. It had thick straps, a look neck and a short skirt. Multiple necklaces hung around her neck and white go-go boots covered up to her knees.

Lissa had remodelled her hair with the use of a lot of hairspray, so her normally sleek waves were teased high and held a thick headband. To complete her make-up free look, she had massive, round glasses on that were rose tined and made the dancing lights in the gym turn strange colours.

They had not been there long when Klaus' dedication had been exclaimed to the school population and Lissa was dreading what further games Klaus would try to play with them. She decided to at least try to have fun, given her behaviour of the last few days, and hopped over to Ric when a fast song came on.

"Dance with me, Ric!" she called and barely registered the surprised look before it vanished and he led her to the dance floor. She giggled cheerfully as he spun her and danced with a little too much sixties knowledge.

"Janis Joplin, right?" he asked over the music and she managed to nod her head before squealing as he lifted her and spun her around. When he put her back on the ground, his head lowered so his lips brushed her ear and Lissa suddenly didn't feel so euphoric – she felt fear. "You look beautiful, Elisaveta," he whispered and she felt her blood freeze. Before she could say anything or even blink, he was gone and she was alone on the dance floor.

The terror did not last long and, abruptly remembering Elena, she started weaving her way through the dancing teenagers. There was no sign of anyone, they'd all vanished and she started to get nervous as her search expanded into the hallways. Certain that most students would be in the gym, Lissa started running until she heard familiar gasps of air.

"Klaus is in Alaric's body," she heard Elena breath as she skidded around the corner.

"What?" Damon replied bitterly. Lissa slid to a halt next to him, almost losing her glasses in the process.

"Like he's possessing it or something," Bonnie elaborated and Lissa nodded in agreement, fully reaching that conclusion after the events of that dance. Damon glared at her in accusation an she snarled defensively.

"I didn't know he could do that!" she growled and Damon held up his hands in surrender before getting Elena out of there. Lissa got lost in her thoughts, desperately trying not to think of what Klaus would do to her or if he would do anything to her. She'd already lost Elijah – she wasn't certain she could take much more.

"Lissa? Come on, we need to help Bonnie," Damon urged and she winced. "It's going to be alright. I won't let him hurt you," he promised and she nodded mutely before letting him drag her along. Klaus knew her compulsion was gone, had even seen her drawing and rallying up against him. If he hadn't wanted her dead before, it was likely he'd changed his mind.

"I'm not sure you can really stop him," she whispered shakily. Ever the confident one, Damon just scoffed and led her away to track down Bonnie.

No one was quite sure what had happened. It was all a big blur to Lissa, who had initially joined Elena in her fury over what had happened to Bonnie. But, in a way so similar to Katerina that Lissa didn't dare point it out, Damon had planned everything to the last detail and proved Bonnie was powerful enough to handle Klaus.

Elena was very set on finding an alternate way of killing Klaus and Lissa, wanting to protect everyone as much as possible, was inclined to agree. But everyone was tired, including Lissa, and she went to sleep praying that Klaus had no true desire to end her life.

There you have it :) I hope that was to your satisfaction – what do you think is going to happen? Tell me your ideas and cookies to those that guess. See you within a month, my darling readers. Love, Bianca :) x