[𝐈] 𝕽𝖊𝖘𝖘𝖚𝖗𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 | 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖜𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖞-𝕺𝖓𝖊: 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗮, 𝗛𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗜𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗜 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲

Chapter Twenty One
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Dear Katerina, Hate Is All I Have

Squirting a blood bag filled to the brim into a whiskey glass wasn't as easy as it sounded, however, to keep Katherine occupied was to keep her topped up, so whilst she was filtering about the house I was in the basement pouring blood into a whiskey glass. After discarding the half-empty bag back into the huge fridge Damon had bought, retreating back upstairs was all that was left for me. Once I rounded the corner, there she was, sat on a chair sifting through old journals I had stashed in my room. By the looks of it, it was decades old, surpassing this current century and the last, pre-dating my first reunion with Stefan.
  "You shouldn't read through people's journals." I chastise, handing her the glass full of blood.
  "I know, I'm sorry, it was just too tempting. All your inner thoughts and feelings, laying there on your desk for me to read." she fakely excused in a discouraged tone, as I lifted the book from her hands to replace it with her crimson delight.
  "Damon's private stock." I tempted, to which she accepted the offering as I passed her by.
  "I read about your brother's recent werewolf sighting, that must have come as a surprise." she hints, stoking the fire as I sit across from her with an actual glass of whiskey cradled in my hand.
  "What do you know about werewolves? Did you even know I was one before your return a few months ago?" I press, seeing how much I could get out of her whilst Stefan and Damon were away annoying Elena.
  "I know not to pet one. That your bite can kill so it's best to stay clear of them during a full moon. Plus, I had to know what I was dealing with, I was counting on your guilt-ridden ways of keeping secrets to lure Damon and Stefan out to your misdeeds, however, you beat me to it." she admits, standing from her previous position relaxed on an armchair.
  "And how do you know so much?" I interrogated, furthering my investigation into Katherine's half-a-millennia old Rolodex of knowledge.
  "Who do you think was responsible for ridding this town of vampires in 1864?" Katherine fired back, returning my question with another question that would hopefully lead to the answers.
  "The Founding Families," I confirm, playing along as she wanders about the room.
  "Spearheaded by...?" she leads again, waiting for me to answer my own questions.
  "The Lockwoods." I cited, leaning backwards as I finish the remains of the patterned glass in my hand. Receiving a call from Damon, which wasn't unusual, he had alerted me that I had been invited to Jenna Sommers' barbeque with Alaric, himself, Jenna, Elena, Caroline and the one and only, Mason Lockwood.
  "Do you know what I'm really curious about? Why did you keep this picture?" she questioned as she pulled out a yellowing portrait of both of us, drawn up by one of the local artists a few days before the Founder's Ball, I was adamant that she would become my sister one day so it was to guarantee I had memories of times before it for future offspring.
  "Why not burn it? Tear it up. You wanna know why I came back? Well, I have a better question. Why did you? For Stefan? For Elena? No. You came back here to fall in love with me all over again, didn't you?" she was digging, creating trenches to reach the truth, however she wasn't smart enough to evade my acting skills, to act as if I truly cared for her was one of my many talents. I silently approach, nearing her face as I feel her breath against my mortal skin.
  "What is it about you...that after all these years, makes me still care?" I whisper, nearing our faces as I readily execute my plan, bringing her just into my grasp before snapping my arm into her back, injecting her with a vial of vervain and Stefan, who'd been here for a few minutes now, per my request, plucked her up from the sofa and chained her, leaving me to join Damon at the barbeque.