FALLEN FROM GRACE-katherine pierce!

CHAPTER TWO: BITTERNESS

FRANCE, SOMETIME IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

Katerina does live, eventually.

Or not live, seeing as she's a vampire. Technicalities, Ingrid thinks.

It's such a morbid thought, Ingrid almost laughs. She had faith that once the doppelgänger had escaped, Niklaus would move on. Wrong. It's hilarious, really, how much faith she has in everyone. Katerina, Nik, her family. Everyone besides herself.

Ingrid glances down at the letter in her hands. It's a folded, crumpled up piece of parchment. No doubt read many times by the King's spies, but hopefully Nik hadn't gotten his grubby little hands on it.

Help. I need you.

Sincerely,
Katherine Pierce

Ingrid knows she shouldn't go seek out the doppelgänger; Nik was more paranoid than ever, and she shuddered to think what would happen if he knew she was conspiring with the enemy. His relentless search for the elusive girl had led them here, to France. Ingrid had scoffed, told him it was probably a false lead, and that they should all go to Italy because it was beautiful this time of year.

However, the real reason Ingrid had tried to redirect Nik was that she had a sneaking suspicion that Katerina was residing in France. Ingrid looked at the letter. Her suspicions had seemingly been proven correct. Katerina was here.

Ingrid's breath hitched at the thought of seeing the doppelgänger again. Those doe eyes and that soft smile had been engrained in her memory since the day Katerina had stepped out of that carriage.

Squaring her shoulders, Ingrid took a deep breath and marched out to meet the woman who had simultaneously repaired and broken her heart.

........

"Katerina."

"It's Katherine now, unfortunately. Courtesy of your brother, of course. He's had his little cronies on the hunt searching for Katerina Petrova for some time now."

Ingrid was stunned into silence. The woman-the vampire standing before her had no soft smiles or equally soft tones to offer. Katerina, no, Katherine Pierce is full of snide remarks and bitterness.

"You've changed, little doppelgänger." Ingrid says breathlessly, using the affectionate term of endearment she'd once referred to Katerina as. She remembers when Katerina had cocked her head to the side and said, "What does doppelgänger mean?"

Oh, how times had changed.

Katerin-Katherine shrugs with no small amount of bitterness. "That tends to happen when you spend three centuries running from a monster, " she spits out, contempt positively dripping from her every word. Ingrid stepped closer, placing the palm of her hand on Katherine's cheek. It's the same smooth, olive skin, but it's cold. Katherine jerks her head away, but the memory of her skin lingered on Ingrid's palm.

So cold.

"If Klaus finds me, I'm a dead woman. He condemned me to this fate. You might as well have placed my head on the chopping block. Ingrid, you owe me this. Help me."

You might as well have placed my head on the chopping block.

Ingrid flinches at Katherine's brash words. They resound in her head, and she knows that she cannot deny Katerina anything.

"What do you need me to do." It's not a question.

Katherine smiles, a wide, genuine one (much like the grin Ingrid wore when she had first met the doppelgänger) and places her lips on Ingrid's cheek.

And thus the undoing of Ingrid Mikaelson began.

a/n whOa two posts in two consecutive days!1!1! what??? don't get used to it, folks. i'm actually a master procrastinator!! also get ready for some Mikaelson sibling interaction next chapter ;))

+comment and vote and shjt it means a lOt 😘