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Stefan Salvatore liked to pretend things were simple.
“You called them your friends" he had said once vervain burning in her veins righteous and certain. “The tomb vampires were your friends and you left them to rot.” Katherine had laughed then soft almost indulgent. “I was looking out for myself.”
It was easier to let him believe that easier than explaining that everything always looked black and white to people who had never lived long enough to understand how many shades existed between loyalty and survival if Stefan had known what he was talking about, he would’ve understood that it didn’t start in 1864 it didn’t even start in Mystic Falls it started decades earlier.
In 1776 back when the vampires he would later lump together as the tomb vampires were not means to an end or prisoners or cautionary tale just vampires ordinary ones, for the most part Hungry, frightened, ambitious survivors or trying to be.
They followed her because it was safer, pearl was the oldest among them besides Katherine herself turned just over a century later than her a careful calculating woman who understood patience as a weapon ana, her daughter was younger still clever, observant and far more adaptable than most vampires her age Katherine had met them years before, in passing at first but pearl had resources and katherine had foresight It was an arrangement, not a friendship, and it worked because neither pretended otherwise.
The others came later some were two centuries old, give or take vampires who had survived long enough to believe they deserved more than scraps but not long enough to stop resenting those who had advantages they didn’t daylight rings, for instance as katherine had access to witches willing to barter such things, but she never gave them freely loyalty had to be proven discipline mattered those who stayed understood that traveling with her meant protection, strategy, and knowledge but also rules. katherine didn’t manipulate them into obedience she didn’t have to fear and benefit did the work well enough and then there were the younger ones turned only thirty, forty years before the turn of the century they were reckless loud and eager to prove themselves they fell in line when katherine spoke but their obedience was sharp-edged, brittle these were the ones who chafed at restraint who mistook cruelty for strength and subtlety for weakness katherine saw through them early she always did.
Still, for a time It worked they drifted into the town by design not because it was special but because it wasn’t a place small enough to disappear into, large enough to feed from without notice a muddy road split it down the middle wooden homes clustered close together smoke curling from chimneys at dusk they took rooms on the outskirts rented cottages and unused lofts. Katherine had intended to stay no longer than a month two at most long enough to rest to listen to let the scent of them fade before moving on again they settled in easily.
It was during one of those afternoons when the sun sat low and harmless behind cloud cover that Katherine found the apothecary the shop was unremarkable narrow shelves crowded with glass bottles dried herbs hanging from the beams the air thick with the scent of crushed leaves and alcohol normal things human things as katherine stepped inside expecting boredom, already half-deciding what excuse she’d use to leave.
The woman behind the counter looked up she was young early twenties perhaps sleeves rolled up fingers stained green from work no witch’s marks no sigils hidden in the walls just a woman who knew her trade.
“I don’t believe I’ve seen you before,” she said polite but curious as katherine smiled automatically the expression as familiar as breathing. “I'm new to town." “That much is obvious” the woman replied glancing at her clothes her accent then after a pause she smiled small genuine unguarded. “What can I help you with?”
Something about that caught Katherine off balance not the smile itself she’d seen thousands but the way it wasn’t offered as currency it wasn’t flirtation it wasn’t deference just interest.
They spoke longer than necessary about tinctures about aches that never quite went away about where Katherine claimed she was from a version of the truth edited for safety katherine noticed she wasn’t bored not amused just… engaged the sensation was unfamiliar enough that it unsettled her as another customer entered, breaking the moment with katherine stepping back instinctively as the spell if it could be called that snapping cleanly.
She paid for her purchase nodded once, and left outside the afternoon light felt sharper than before as katherine walked a few steps away, then stopped she glanced back at the apothecary window at the woman already turned away, hands busy again absorbed in her work interesting, Katherine thought as she climbed into the carriage and told herself truthfully that she would leave soon.
Two weeks had passed as they settled in the small town named Dane katherine she heard the name was boring name for a boring town katherine had stayed longer in worse places for less reason still she marked the time the way she always did, not by dates but by patterns by how quickly the town learned to accept unfamiliar faces by which streets grew quiet after dusk by how easily the others began to spread out, testing the limits of how much they could take without drawing notice.
They explored like predators learning new territory the younger ones took to the taverns and back rooms blending into noise and drink, feeding sloppily but not yet disastrously as the older vampires were subtler, choosing travelers, drifters, people who would not be missed until the road had already swallowed them. Pearl kept to herself mostly, watching as ana listened to the town to the people to the undercurrents katherine had long since learned to recognize and rarely bothered to explain the town had its offerings a daily market a modest church whose bells rang on schedule a handful of celebrations spread through the year meant to distract people from the monotony of survival nothing katherine had not seen before nothing worth staying for.
And yet she found herself noticing the apothecary more often than necessary margery, she had learned not because she had asked but because names had a way of drifting toward her whether she wanted them to or not the name suited her in an unremarkable way katherine had dismissed the thought as soon as it formed. They crossed paths once at the market early in the morning katherine had gone only to be seen to maintain the appearance of normalcy her basket deliberately light as margery stood near one of the stalls inspecting herbs with practiced focus.
“Good morning,” Margery said when she noticed her.
“Is it?” Katherine replied glancing at the sky. “It seems undecided.” margery smiled at that quick and distracted and agreed that the weather had been unreliable lately they spoke briefly mundane things prices, a rumor about a shipment delayed on the road as katherine told herself it was nothing still, the walk through the market felt marginally less tedious for having spoken to her.
Two days ago, Katherine returned to the apothecary she told herself it was practical supplies ran low faster when one traveled with others vials, salves, tinctures, all useful things she did not linger over the thought that she could have sent someone else as margery greeted her with recognition this time no surprise no curiosity sharpened into suspicion just familiarity.
Katherine noticed that too she could not have said what interested her about the woman margery was not extraordinary she did not carry hidden power she did not look at Katherine like she knew something she should not. If anything her interest was human in the most unremarkable sense grounded present unembellished it was disarming like wise katherine dismissed the thought as soon as it surfaced.
The town continued on as towns always did, filling time with rituals designed to make people forget how little control they had over there own lives notices went up for an upcoming gathering, a seasonal event nothing of consequence music, food, conversation enough to gather people together in one place which made it useful.
Katherine and all the other vampires had held meetings weekly katherine insisted on it they gathered in borrowed spaces, sometimes in the woods, sometimes in whatever shelter offered the most privacy. She listened as reports were given, minor disturbances, a traveler who had asked too many questions, a merchant who might prove useful later no immediate threats no cause for concern.
As the younger ones bristled at the restraint but kept their mouths shut they knew better katherine’s reputation preceded her and even those who resented her authority understood the cost of openly challenging it she watched them closely the way their eyes lingered, the way they spoke only when spoken to they fell in line easily enough but it was a brittle obedience she filed that away pearl said little but when she did Katherine listened and ana listened to everything.
The event came sooner than Katherine expected she went out of habit more than interest, accompanied by a handful of the others lanterns lined the streets as music drifted unevenly through the air fiddles perhaps or something similar katherine did not care enough to identify it she stood near one of the tables expression composed posture relaxed.
Margery was there not working this time just another person in the crowd when Katherine reached for a crate that had tipped near one of the stalls, she lifted it easily then checked herself adjusted her grip let her shoulders tense as if the weight mattered.
Margery noticed.
Her brow furrowed briefly then smoothed over.
“You’re stronger than you look,” she remarked lightly.
Katherine smiled. “Years of carrying my own luggage.”
Margery laughed at that, the sound brief but genuine as they spoke again about the event, about how the town had changed in recent weeks margery asked what Katherine had been doing since she arrived.
“Entertaining the town’s guests,” Katherine replied smoothly.
Not a lie just an edited truth.
She mentioned a musician passing through recently, a performance she had barely paid attention to but Margery’s interest sharpened at the mention she spoke animatedly then about sound, about rhythm, about how some things stayed with you even when you could not name why as katherine found herself listening.
For the rest of the evening they talked nothing remarkable nothing intimate just ordinary conversation stretched longer than it had any right to and Katherine was not bored that was the strange part she told herself it did not mean anything that it was simply novelty a momentary diversion in a place she would leave soon enough still, the thought lingered longer than it should have.
By the third month in town katherine could no longer pretend it was coincidence another week passed after the town gathering, and then another enough time that even she had to acknowledge it, not with concern not yet but with calculation. This was still within reason still defensible she had stayed longer in places that offered far less, and she told herself this town was no different I was quiet predictable useful and margery had simply become present.
They met from time to time not with intention not with planning sometimes near the edge of the lake in the afternoons where the breeze cut through the heat and the trees bent low enough to cast shade other times near the woods, where margery gathered what she needed for her bottles and tinctures. katherine followed at an easy distance listening more than she spoke content to let margery fill the silence with small unremarkable truths.
Their conversations deepened gradually, the way water darkens the farther out you go still mundane on the surface observations about the town about people who never quite said what they meant but threaded with something more honest than katherine was used to allowing.
One afternoon, while margery picking things for herbs near the trees her sleeves rolled up and hands already had some dirty on them as she glanced up and asked almost absently, “Why aren’t you married?” there was no judgment in the question no expectation just curiosity as katherine stilled.
For a fraction of a second the question unraveled her as she thought of Bulgaria1490 she had gotten close with a traveler from a coven who she herself was descendants from traveler although her father forbade them frmyever practicing it but this man who had spoken softly and taught her things he had no intention of protecting her from a traveler who had smiled while taking what he wanted, who vanished the moment responsibility became inconvenient she remembered telling her father believing foolishly that honor still meant something as she remembered how easily the blame had shifted on to her .
Then in england, 1492 Klaus Mikaelson wearing the face of nobility and the promise of security the belief that interest meant protection only to discover that she was nothing more than a means to an end a sacrifice centuries of consequence folded into a single breath.
Katherine blinked and forced herself back into the present.
“I’m not much of a follower,” she said lightly bushing dirt from her gloves then turning the question back where it belonged “What about you? It’s not as if there are royals or lords hiding in this town and it’s not as if you lack for attention.”
Margery glanced at her then really looked at her something thoughtful passing across her expression before she smiled faintly. “I suppose I haven’t met the right man.”
Katherine accepted that answer without comment she shouldn’t have thought about it again but she did.
The vampires noticed the passage of time as katherine remained sharp with them precise unyielding she led the way she always had, with authority earned through survival and power she tolerated no mistakes no sloppiness but the younger ones the same ones who bristled at restraint had begun to watch her more closely as they gathered in an abandoned barn on the outskirts of town, the roof half-collapsed the boards weathered gray with age it was a place that went unnoticed and that made it useful the meetings were still mostly held at night, though sometimes the clouds were thick enough to allow the younger ones without daylight rings to attend earlier.
“What about our plans,” one of them said eventually. Matthias, turned less than fifty years ago too eager too loud. “What are they?”
Katherine regarded him coolly. “The same as they were when we arrived.”
“To leave,” another added. Elias older than Matthias, but not by much smarter more careful with his tone. “Soon.”
Katherine’s gaze flicked between them measured and unimpressed. “This town is filled with people who don’t know what to look for,” she said calmly. “There’s been no word of hunters no whispers no danger worth reacting to.”
“That doesn’t mean we should linger,” Elias pressed.
Katherine’s expression hardened just enough to end the discussion. “For now we stay.” no one challenged her openly they never did still the tension lingered.
Weeks passed.
The more time katherine spent with margery, the more the town seemed to soften around the edges she dismissed the thought immediately told herself the others were right that familiarity bred complacency that sentiment was a liability. She didn’t take the carriage that afternoon she walked to margery’s house that sat closer to the woods than the others modest and well-kept It had once belonged to her parents, margery explained when katherine stepped inside for the first time taken by illness years earlier, something common enough to not warrant further explanation the space felt lived in warm the kind of place that held memory in its walls.
They talked for hours wine loosened margery’s tongue though not enough to dull her entirely at one point she admitted she didn’t think she would ever marry katherine seated near the hearth, tilted her head. “Why there are men in this town who would’ve demanded it by now.”
Margery looked down at her hands. “I don’t think I could ever love a man.”
She looked up directly at Katherine the moment felt heavy as katherine leaned in and kissed her it was instinctive immediate as she pulled back just as quickly, heart beating faster than she liked while this wasn’t unfamiliar territory she had been with tons of women before this felt different in a way she refused to name. She stood abruptly, the movement careless and bumped into the table behind her the edge caught her palm sharply blood welled instantly.
As katherine frowned, lifting her hand expecting the wound to close it didn’t not fast enough as margery noticed.
“your blood,” she said mildly reaching for a cloth. “It’s dripping on the rug my mother made that years ago you know.”
She wiped the floor with practiced efficiency unfazed then noticing quietness she looked up at Katherine curious. “I may only be a herbalist,” Margery said almost conversationally, “but some families know stories about the children of the night.”
katherine froze every instinct sharpening at once as margery waved a hand in front of her face gently. “ no need for concern I haven’t told anyone and I won’t.”
“How do you know?” Katherine asked quietly.
Margery smiled soft and knowing. “It’s not difficult from stories I have known since a kid and other stuff that's been happening in the town same time you arrived it wasn't hard to put it together.”
Katherine stared at her for a long moment.
Then in a rare moment of honesty she would later regret, she leaned in again this time without hesitation and for the first time in centuries, Katherine Pierce let herself stay.
By the fifth month katherine had stopped pretending nothing had changed she didn’t say it aloud, not to the others not even to herself but she knew too much had happened for this to still be considered temporary too many conversations too many nights that ended without urgency too many mornings where leaving felt like something she could do tomorrow.
Margery had known about vampires long before Katherine ever let the truth surface well not all of them margery was clear about that she hadn’t known about the group Katherine arrived with, hadn’t understood the scope of it but Pearl, yes pearl had been impossible to miss the way she moved through town always composed always distant always watched people noticed her even when they didn’t understand why.
Katherine told margery about the rest anyway not because she trusted her blindly katherine never trusted blindly but because secrets had begun to feel heavier than the risk of honesty she spoke of them plainly, without embellishment who they were how they fed what they did to survive as margery listened.
That alone intrigued katherine.
“You’re calm,” Katherine said eventually arms crossed tone sharp with suspicion. “Most people would be concerned to learn they live near things that kill them and drink there blood.”
Margery considered her words carefully. “I don’t like chaos,” she said. “I don’t like cruelty but I don’t pretend this world is gentle.” She met katherine’s gaze steadily. “As long as you don’t harm me and as long as you don’t slaughter everyone in sight… I can live with the rest.” it wasn’t forgiveness It wasn’t approval it was boundaries. Something in Katherine eased at that, not softened but steadied margery wasn’t trying to absolve her she wasn’t pretending vampires were noble creatures she simply accepted reality as it was without demanding Katherine become something else.
Katherine found herself opening in ways she hadn’t intended sharp remarks laced with humor so dark it bordered on cruelty, stories told half-truthfully always stopping just short of vulnerability though margery never pushed she laughed when it was appropriate went quiet when it wasn’t.
They started sleeping together not long after it wasn’t romantic in the way stories liked to pretend it was heat and familiarity and the relief of being wanted without being owned. Katherine didn’t call it love she wouldn’t but fondness crept in anyway unwelcome and persistent over the next month, margery crossed paths with others from the group, not because katherine paraded her but because it became impossible to avoid some were polite some indifferent a few openly disdainful as katherine made it clear margery wasn’t a threat and most accepted that without question.
A few did not as whispers started shortly after the members of the group gathered again this time during the day in the house katherine had taken for herself as the curtains were drawn tight, the light dim enough to soothe even the restless ones as pearl sat near the window ana close beside her observant as always.
“There’s talk,” someone said. “of rumors spreading around the Towns man.”
“With guns,” another added. “Not just guns but with wooden bullets meant for something way more scarier deadly at night.”
The room shifted instantly as fear rippled through them sharp and contagious katherine barely reacted outwardly though her thoughts moved quickly suspicion didn’t appear without cause rumors alone meant little but panic meant more.
One of the vampires Lenore, sharp-tongued and perpetually dissatisfied scoffed quietly. “This is what happens when you linger the human is in the way of your concern.”
Katherine’s veins surfaced for a heartbeat.
“Watch it,” she said coldly.
As silence followed she ordered a few of them to keep watch told the rest not to panic. “If we draw attention,” she warned, “we confirm suspicion we need to stay quiet.” and with that they obeyed reluctantly.
The town remained unchanged on the surface but the tension threaded through everything katherine spent more time with margery, walking the outskirts lingering longer than necessary
One night, margery brought her to the church there was a piano there rare expensive, slightly out of place as katherine stared at it longer than she meant to.
"What you said you had written pieces before I thought it would be lovely to her them" margery said."
“I used to play,” she admitted eventually. “I composed a few pieces once but never finished them.”
Margery urged her gently when Katherine’s fingers touched the keys, something long-buried stirred as the music came halting at first then stronger something melancholy and restrained shaped by centuries of memory as margery watched her utterly still katherine felt it then the look the weight of it the affection she refused to name the word rose unbidden in her chest terrifying in its simplicity....love.
She cut the piece short breath unsteady.
“It was beautiful,” Margery said softly. “What was it called?”
Katherine hesitated. “It doesn’t have a name,” she said. “It never mattered enough to give it one.”
Two weeks later nearly six months since she’d arrived, the fractures became undeniable some of the vampires met without her.
They spoke openly then, about how Katherine had once promised they’d leave within a month about how now the town felt like a trap about the human who has softened Katherine's judgment bout whispers of hunters growing louder.
“She’s slipping and she's gonna take us down with her.” Lenore said flatly. “And we’ll pay for it.”
They decided to call a meeting without her and Katherine unaware stayed where she was believing she still had time.
Six months and a week that was how long Katherine had stayed, and for the first time, the length time hadn't unsettled her as the group met just after dusk, the familiar faces gathered in a loose half-circle. The barn felt smaller than it had months ago too many eyes too much tension humming beneath the surface as she noticed it immediately the worry she hadn’t seen before even the ones who usually smirked or scoffed stood rigid arms crossed gazes darting pearl’s expression was the worst of it thoughtful measured and concerned as pearl spoke first.
“We’ve lingered too long,” she said calmly. “You know that.”
Katherine sighed, already tired of the conversation. “We’ve handled worse.”
“This isn’t worse,” Pearl replied. “This is careless men are talking they’re preparing and soon will be hunting.”
“A handful of frightened men with stories,” Katherine dismissed. “That happens everywhere we don’t draw attention and we stick to the plan unless it escalates.”
Pearl studied her. “And if it already has?”
Katherine didn’t answer she ended the meeting shortly after, sharp and final the way she always did when she refused to bend.
She went straight to the apothecary margery was behind the counter sleeves rolled hair pinned back as a man browsed near watching them both look a little too close as katherine leaned in voice low teasing. “You’re distracted.”
Margery shot her a warning look glancing pointedly toward the customer. “Behave.”
Katherine smirked. “If I wanted to I could kiss you right here and make him forget or better yet make him accept it.”
Margery stiffened. “Don’t.”
After a beat, she softened. “I don’t like the idea of you taking someone’s memory.”
“I know,” Katherine said quietly. “But I like knowing I could protect you no matter how little the situation.”margery met her gaze then something fragile passing between them she knew the cost of rumor of two women that didn’t get whispered about that could possibly get you killed or worse.
“I hate the thought of you being hurt,” Katherine admitted the words slipping out before she could stop them that terrified her more than anything else.
Later Pearl was waiting when Katherine returned home katherine almost turned away she always told herself pearl was just an ally, pragmatic, useful, nothing more but pearl saw her too clearly for comfort.
“We’ve never stayed this long,” Pearl said gently. “Not when suspicion starts the others are really starting to question your decisions.”
Katherine poured herself a drink. “They need me more than I need them.”
“That may be true,” Pearl said. “But even leaders can be replaced.”
Katherine’s temper snapped. “If anyone wants to leave they’re free to go I don’t force there loyalty.”
Pearl hesitated, then said quietly, “They’re questioning you Lenore Marcus. Elinor they think you’re distracted.”
Katherine laughed coldly. “you mean by a human?”
Pearl didn’t smile. “yes a human a human you seem to have your priorities on.” when Pearl left, it felt like a door closing.
That night, katherine went to margery’s instead the house was warm lived-in familiar after a few intense hours of lovemaking they lay together long after the candles burned low, conversation drifting until Margery finally spoke the question she’d been circling for weeks.
“What happens next?”
Katherine stilled. “What do you mean?”
“You said you were only staying a short while.” Margery’s voice trembled, but she didn’t look away. “I know you’ll leave eventually.”
She swallowed. “ you know I didn’t think I could love anyone before you.”
The word landed between them, heavy and irreversible.
“I’m in love with you,” Margery said. “And if there’s a way to stay with you truly I want it and.....I want you to turn me.”
Katherine’s heart clenched she told her everything she hadn’t allowed herself to feel the running, Klaus, the exhaustion she’d always worn like armor. “If I turn you,” she said hoarsely, “you’ll never stop running and I can’t do that to you.”
Margery cupped her face. “I’ve been surviving my whole life. With you, I finally feel like I’m living.”
“this isn't about what you think I want I want to know what do you want?” Margery asked softly.
Katherine reluctantly answered the truth at last. “I want you.”
As the decision shattered something fragile inside her and sealed their fate.
Elsewhere, the others gathered without her about how this isn't the Katherine they've known for years how that human will be the death of them. “She killed a man for less,” Marcus spat. “Now she is staying in town for months with people already thinking vampires are in town.”
“exactly she has broken her own rule,” Elinor added. “We've stayed way too long the longer were here the closer we will die.”
Pearl spoke last. “And how would you do that I already suggested to Katherine we should leave but her attachment to Margery is too strong.”
Lenore smiled thinly. “good god if I have to hear that name again that dumb human has become a liability to all of us this needs to end.”
Silence followed.
They all understood what that mean and somewhere in the town, Katherine Pierce slept beside the only thing she’d ever truly chosen, unaware that the cost of staying had already been decided.
The week passed without incident that more than anything, reassured katherine margery laughed easily those days, her movements unguarded her touch warm and familiar as they shared mornings at the apothecary when the light crept in through the windows just right, shared evenings that blurred together in ways katherine pretended not to notice even though she remembered everything.
As katherine continued as she always had been giving margery small bottles of vervain a vial each morning watched her drink it, she tested it herself when she replaced it, a single drop on her skin the sharp burn flaring just enough to make certain it's the right bottle.
And yet margery still frowned when katherine spoke too casually about blood. Still flinched, not in fear, but in discomfort, when katherine joked about hunters or survival it wasn’t new. katherine noted and dismissed it she just had certain boundaries margery had always been honest about that katherine admired that honesty.
Two days later, the town prepared for another evening gathering lanterns strung between posts music carried poorly by amateur hands, laughter loud enough to feel convincing as katherine stood near the center of it all a glass untouched in her hand posture relaxed eyes always moving leadership was a performance she had perfected long ago.
Pearl lingered nearby as marcus and Lenore drifted just far enough away to look aimless the plan unfolded with ruthless simplicity. As lenore slipped away first, unnoticed in the press of bodies marcus followed minutes later a third vampire quiet unremarkable one katherine barely spared a thought vanished last.
Katherine didn’t notice she was busy as she was watching margery across the square as margery stood with a group of townsfolk, smiling politely as her hands folded in front of her she looked peaceful and content in a way that made katherine’s chest tighten with something dangerously close to relief when margery finally crossed the distance between them, katherine leaned in without thinking murmuring something soft meant only for her.
“You’re distracted,” Margery said lightly.
“Am I?” Katherine replied, a smirk playing at her lips. “I thought I was behaving.”
Margery’s smile faltered just a fraction. “You always say that.”
Katherine frowned. “well you should see me when I'm not behaving.”
Margery hesitated, then laugh and nodded. “yeah sure.”
It was nothing she thought as katherine let it go.
Elsewhere the house katherine occupied stood dark and undisturbed as marcus found the hiding place faster than expected and lenore worked methodically, her hands steady as she uncorked each vial the vervain poured out onto the window , soaking into the earth replaced with the witch’s concoction nearly identical they tested it once the burn was immediate and convincing to pass off like vervain.
When they finished, they left everything exactly as it had been no sign of intrusion no scent of fear no trace of haste by the time they returned to the square, katherine was laughing a real sound rare and unguarded at something margery said under her breath. As lenore caught marcus’s eye signaling it was done the vials were switched and soon margery protection will be gone the countdown had begun katherine noticed them rejoin the gathering and gave them nothing more than a brief glance satisfied unaware still in control for now.
Four days pass four days for the vervain to leave margery’s system six, if one counts the extra days the vampires insist upon just in case.
Katherine hates waiting...waiting has always meant danger or discovery, betrayal, a door closing just as she reaches it but this time dhe endures it she stays she doesn’t run she tells herself that this is different.
margery moves through those days carefully, like someone handling glass she smiles when katherine watches her, laughs at the right moments, kisses katherine goodnight and lingers just long enough to make katherine think everything is still steady but something has shifted katherine feels it in the pauses, in the way margery’s hand sometimes hesitates before reaching for hers, in the way she listens truly listens when katherine talks about what it will be like being a vampire like the hunger, about control, about what it means to survive and katherine tells herself she’s imagining it that these are just regular questions not any signs of doubt.
On the sixth night the group agrees it’s time but before that they need to distract Katherine by having a little snack they choose men no one will miss men whose names are spoken in low voices followed by excuses, men who drink too much and hit too hard, men whose wives won’t ask questions if they come home with gaps in their memory or don’t come home at all katherine doesn't question when she is the first one ready to go after the idea was suggested she goes with pearl and ana, and two others whose loyalty is functional,as ana watches quietly her thoughts unreadable her eyes sharper than she lets on pearl leads as she always does precise controlled ruthless in her practicality they led the men to an old barn at the edge of the woods, compelling them easily the men laugh stumble complain about their wives about work about nothing at all as the others feed and have there fun .
Margery is near her home when it happens she’s gathering herbs foxglove, yarrow, things she can dry and store for the apothecary when she senses movement behind her she turns too quickly, heart already racing as she sees lenore stepping out from the trees, two others flanking behind her, just visible enough to be threatening.
Margery’s first instinct isn’t fear. It’s concern.
“Has....has something happened to Katherine?” she asks, breathless. “Is she—”
Lenore smiles, thin and humorless. “You know when Katherine first started being around you...you were useful,” she says. “For a time kept her from costantly shouldering over us with those constant rules but now...now your nothing but a danger to us a problem.”
Margery stiffens. “I don’t want to be a problem I wouldn't want to be one that why I told Katherine that. That’s why I asked her to turn me so I wouldn’t be a liability that I could be strong like the rest of you.”
“That was your first mistake,” Lenore replies, stepping closer. “Thinking this was about weakness trust me vampire or not you still would be s problem to us.”
She circles Margery slowly studying her like a specimen looks her right in the eyes compelling her now that she isn't in vervain anymore. “Tell me,” she says softly, “what do you really think of me?”
Margery swallow she knows something is wrong not overt but pressure a tightening.
“I think,” Margery says carefully, “that you mistake control for intelligence that you think cruelty makes you clever.”
Lenore laughs coldly. "You really just made this even easier for me.”
As the compulsion that follows isn’t brute force it’s subtle, threaded through questions and expectations, leaving Margery aware, responsive, herself.
“What has Katherine told you about her regarding you?” Lenore asks.
Margery hesitates, then answers. “She wonders if part of me loving her is because she is my first romance with a woman, but also her being a vampire she worries I love the idea of her more than the reality.”
Lenore’s eyes gleam. “And do you?”
“No,” Margery says quickly. “I tried to tell her that but I don't know if she believes it herself."
“What else?”
Margery exhales. “She’s afraid to drag me into a life of running she knows it’s selfish to want me with her, even turned she thinks I’ll resent her one day.”
“And would you really?” "no" margery says .
Lenore ask what biggest issue do you think Katherine fears in your lives. Margery responding saying" she thinks I'm trying to back out of wanting to be turned."
Margery’s voice falters. “She was honest that one I turn I will crave blood she was also honest that there is a possibility that I could be the type to costantly want blood but she promised if that were too happen that she wouldn’t stop until I learned control or find a witch if she had to but…” She pauses briefly. “That wasn’t comforting but I didn't didn’t tell her that.”
Lenore steps back, satisfied.
These aren’t lies that’s what makes them useful as everything she will use will just be Katherine fears being thrown back in her face as she compelled Margrey to slowly drive apart from Katherine and eventually break up with her when the will be close to leaving .
Over the next few weeks, margery begins to change not suddenly not cruelly she questions things gently at first doesn’t everyone deserve agency, even terrible men, is it wise to stay so close, to draw attention, Is Klaus truly gone or merely distant.
She starts keeping space katherine and her in public mentions how dangerous it is for two women to be seen together points out, almost apologetically that they’ve only known each other a few months in one town, not a lifetime.
Katherine bristles then softens then listen because the doubts feel real because they echo the fears she already has she doesn’t know margery’s thoughts aren’t entirely her own anymore.
The danger becomes impossible to ignore when a body is found, not drained cleanly not hidden as a hunting party stumbles upon it in the woods wealthy men this time, men who know what a wolf attack looks like, which this is not as whispers spread eyes turn and katherine realizes, with a cold certainty settling in her bones, that danger is getting to close
and for the first time since she let herself believe in something fragile and impossible, Katherine feels the ground beginning to crack beneath her feet.
Seven months is long enough to forget who you were before something amazing began katherine realizes this one evening while watching Margery count tincture bottles by candlelight, lips moving silently as she keeps track there was a version of herself that would have dismissed this, the domesticity, the softness, the quiet she would have laughed at it she would have left. Instead she stays she tells herself it is temporary staying here but margery isn't temporary for her.
Although margery’s questions have changed about becoming a vampire at first, they were curious about bloodlust, about strength, about whether it will hurt to turn now they are practical, thoughtful heavy with consequence.
“How long do you usually stay in one place?” Margery asks one night tracing the rim of her cup. “Before you move on.”
Katherine shrugs casual. “A year if it's a big city or if the murder rate is high we would go unnoticed but towns like these 2 months at best 3 especially with less death tolls.”
“And when you leave, is it always like this?” Margery gestures vaguely toward the window, toward the town. “ready to leave at any given moment.”
Katherine hesitates. “Usually.”
Margery nods absorbing that. “I’ve never left this town you know not really i know the roads on a map, but that’s not the same, is it?”
“No,” Katherine says softly. “It isn’t.”
They talk about food too margery worrying about whether the constant pull of blood ever fades, whether wanting it even when she would not need it would change her katherine explains again that she could still eat still taste still enjoy normal things.
“But it wouldn’t be enough,” Margery says.
“No,” Katherine admits. “Not always.”
It hangs between them the honesty unsoftened for the first time katherine wonders if reassurance is not what margery wants.
The town has changed it is subtle, fewer smiles, more watching wealthy men linger too long outside the church as it's bells ring at odd hours a hunter asks too many questions about tracks near the woods and then there are the vampires katherine barely notices until she has to.
Elias and Rook, quiet, forgettable the kind who drift through rooms without leaving impressions they volunteer to keep watch to listen to move through taverns and estates alike as they bring back reports katherine does not like.
“They are definitely on too vampires being in the town,” Rook says. “People talk.”
“They are connecting the dots,” Elias adds.
Katherine’s jaw tightens. “Who left the body?” as no one answers that silence tells her everything the old Katherine would have punished someone made an example out of them fear was useful that way now, they just look at her measuring as she just gets angry proving even more how that human is changing her.
They gather in a candlelit cellar, Lenore, Pearl, Anna, Marcus, Elias, Rook, and two others whose names Katherine barely knows anymore too many voices too many opinions.
“We need to move,” Marcus says. “Soon.”
“But not all at once,” Pearl counters. “That will draw attention.”
Lenore watches Katherine carefully. “And what about Margery?”
Katherine’s response is immediate. “She’s coming.”
“With us,” Lenore says.
Katherine nods. “yes is there a problem ”
Lenore finally speaks. "No"
Katherine does not rise to it instead, she lays out routes borders crossed slowly, carriages staggered, feeding spread thin other countries wider space with less scrutiny they agree because the plan is good not because they trust her..
Margery is hardly seen with Katherine now not openly not often she moves carefully through town, alone or with purpose avoiding lingering touches avoiding eyes when Katherine notices margery says quietly, “It’s safer this way.”
Katherine tells herself it is temporary at night though margery still lets Katherine hold her still presses her forehead against katherine’s collarbone still breathes her in like somethin anchoring katherine has never been good at recognizing when she has already fallen.
Katherine had everything ready routes money potential housing for places she hasn't decided on which place to go as well as clothes packed small and practical arrangements made so departures do not look like vanishings.
All that is left is margery and margery keeps hesitating not refusing never that but questioning.
“What if I change?”
“What if I don’t recognize myself?”
“What if loving you isn’t enough to survive this?”
Katherine answers patiently gently with care she pretends is casual but doubt has started to bleed into her own thoughts not about Margery’s devotion katherine believes that more about whether devotion is enough and whether turning margery now would be love or fear of losing her.
As the town creaks under pressure whispers grow louder time tightens around katherine’s ribs seven months in, two weeks from the end she does not see coming, Katherine Pierce stands at the edge of a choice she has never made before and for once, running is not the answer she reaches for first.
The town is armed now ready and close to hunting them not openly not yet but katherine knows it could be any day now as she sees vervain tucked into pockets soaked into cloth hidden in prayer sachets blessed by men who suddenly believe God might listen if they ask loudly enough hunters don’t stalk the woods anymore they wait as wealthy men fund quiet shipments and the church doors stay open at night. In two days is when they'll leave katherine tells them just two days and they’re gone Which means tonight is when she needs to turn Margery .
When she dies visit Margery's that night margery is seated at the small table when katherine arrives fingers stained with ink and dried herbs she looks up and smiles polite distant careful in a way she never used to be the sight tightens something in Katherine’s chest. “They know half the people in town not about us but the truly do know there vampires in town,” Katherine says without preamble. “Not all of them but enough we need to leave in two days.” Margery nods once. “I figured.” “It has to be tonight,” Katherine continues. “Turning you with everything going on once we leave there won’t be time later.” Margery exhales slowly like she’s been holding her breath for weeks.
“Why does it always have to be now with you?” she asks. Katherine frowns. “What?” “Why is it always urgency,” Margery says voice soft but strained, “like if I don’t agree fast enough I’ll lose the chance altogether.” Katherine steps closer. “Because if we wait you might die in the aftermath.” Margery laughs quietly. “And if I don’t wait?” Katherine hesitates. “Because from where I’m standing,” Margery continues, “it sounds like you want me to trade one death for another.”
“You think I haven’t thought about it?” Margery asks suddenly. “About what happens after?” Katherine stays silent. “What kind of life do we have?” Margery presses. “Even if I’m turned even if I’m strong two women together already draws eyes you think we can just compel everyone we meet?” “We’d be careful,” Katherine says. “That means lying,” Margery replies. “Constantly changing faces changing names making people forget us or worse accept things that would get them killed if they said them out loud.” Katherine’s jaw tightens. “I’ve done it for centuries.” “That’s what terrifies me,” Margery says. The words land heavy. “You make it sound easy,” Margery continues. “Like survival is a trick you can teach me but I don’t want a life where love has to be erased from other people’s memories just so we can exist.” Katherine reaches for her stops herself halfway. “You told me you wanted to be with me,” Katherine says voice carefully controlled. “I wanted to believe I could be,” Margery replies. “But I don’t know if I can live the way you do.”
The tension snaps. “This doesn’t make sense,” Katherine says voice low now. “You don’t talk like this unless someone’s put these ideas in your head.” Margery stiffens. “Excuse me?” “You’ve been distant for weeks,” Katherine continues voice sharpening. “You pull away you hesitate like...... your compelled” “your first thought is that I’m broken,” Margery snaps, “or controlled?” Katherine grabs her wrist and bites the burn is instant as she recoils with a hiss vervain scorching her tongue. As margery stares at her shock bleeding into fury. “There,” Margery says voice shaking. “That’s what you do when things don’t go your way.” “I thought you were compelled,” Katherine says quickly. “I had to know.” “Did you?” Margery asks. “Or did you just need to remind me who has the power here?”
I’ve been trying to imagine my life outside this place,” Margery continues. “Town after town country after country running because someone always gets suspicious and you know what I see?” She shakes her head. “Nothing. I don’t see myself in it at all.” Katherine swallows. “You’re afraid.” “This is a fantasy,” Margery says voice trembling now. “Nothing but a fantasy.”
Katherine shakes her head. “You told me—” Margery cuts in. “I told you I loved you and maybe I did or maybe I loved what you were when it was just us when it was quiet.” Katherine’s tone stays even but desperation hums beneath it. “We can talk about this after once you’re safe.” “That’s the problem,” Margery snaps. “You think this fixes everything.” Katherine’s eyes flash. “It does.” “No,” Margery says. “It binds me to a life I don’t understand.”
“I love you,” Katherine says then raw unguarded. Margery flinches. “No,” she says softly. “You love what I let you be.” Katherine steps closer despite herself. “I would protect you.” “By erasing me?” Margery asks. “By turning me into something that has to run forever because you can’t stop running?” Katherine’s voice trembles despite her control. “You asked me to.” “I asked you because I was afraid to lose you,” Margery says. “Not because I wanted to become you.” Silence stretches thick and suffocating. “I don’t love you,” Margery says finally. “Not like this and I can’t believe I let myself think I did.
Katherine tries to give it one more chance clinging to what she spent centuries trying to deny love as she has a tear in her eyes she looks at margery as she says. "please" which Margery tells her to get out and run like she knows she always will and with that katherine couldn't dent it it anymore it was over as she walked out the door.
The tavern opens early now as the clouds hang thick and low dulling the morning into something gray and sour katherine chose it deliberately a place where even those without daylight rings could gather without drawing attention no music no laughter just the scrape of chairs and the smell of stale ale since they compelled the owner to not let anyone else in other than the rest of the group members.
She arrives first of course she does by the time the others filter in katherine is already seated posture composed expression unreadable."We leave tomorrow" Katherine says without preamble "Before sunrise." A pause as marcus is the first to speak. "So the humans—" "Are getting way too close" Katherine cuts in "Whispers have turned into preparation I won’t have us hunted." Lenore leans back eyes sharp "And the human?" The word is careful calculated as katherine doesn’t blink. "This town is a washed-up rotting thing" she says flatly "It has nothing left to offer us the sooner we’re gone the better." That’s it. No explanation no defense no acknowledgment of the question for a split second marcus looks like he might press it then he catches Lenore’s glance a slow satisfied smile creeps across her mouth. One by one the others relax as there plan worked. They nod they murmur agreement they disperse to finish preparations as katherine leaves without looking back.
Rain begins in earnest the next morning not a storm just enough to soak into cloaks and darken the earth to make departure feel muted and final as carriages leave in staggered intervals careful not to draw attention katherine rides with pearl and ana either speaks at first as the carriage rolls past the outskirts of town katherine’s gaze drifts unbidden to a familiar house modest ordinary lived-in pearl notices. "Katherine." She looks away instantly. "What?" Pearl studies her for a moment. "Problem?" Katherine’s jaw tightens. "No." And that’s the end of it she doesn’t linger doesn’t slow the carriage doesn’t allow herself the indulgence of one last look whatever she almost risked here whatever softness nearly cost her control is filed away labeled mistake and buried by the time the town disappears behind them Katherine Pierce is already gone or at least that’s what she tells herself.
Years later in the early 1800s the others recklessness began to draw attention in ways Katherine could no longer dismiss as impulsion as anna was the one who came to her saying “You need to control them” her voice low and careful followed by a pause and then quieter “They are getting careless and you know it” and then even softer “You just dont care anymore do you.” and Katherine did not respond because she already knew the pattern the feeding without restraint the risks taken for amusement rather than necessity but she had not known why until Anna told her everything as they moved through the outskirts of a village and Anna finally fell into step beside her saying “Katherine we need to talk” and Katherine did not slow her eyes already scanning posture gait who walked alone too confidently who would not be missed old habits survival habits and she answered flatly “If this is about Nora feeding in public again tell her to stop if it is Marcus gambling with locals tell him I will cut his hands off next time I hear about it” and Anna frowned “You are not listening” and Katherine replied “I am listening I just do not care” and Anna pressed.
“Nora is not just feeding she is toying with people leaving them shaken talking too much and Marcus has been meeting with men who already suspect something is wrong and Isaac is worse he has been sloppy bodies left where they can be found” and Katherine finally stopped only long enough to tilt her head and say coolly “And yet we are still alive” and Anna stepped in front of her “That is not the point” and Katherine smiled humorless “It is always the point” and moved again already zeroing in on a man lingering near the treeline drunk angry careless a meal and anna said sharper now “You used to care” just as Katherine closed her hand around the man’s collar dragging him into the shadows with ease her breath warm against his throat murmuring “This is what you wanted is it not quiet efficient no attention” and Anna followed her voice shaking knowing if Katherine didn't get everybody back on track everybody impulsiveness would get them caught so she said the one thing she knew would get her attention “Katherine they did this because of Margery” and everything stopped Katherine froze completely her fangs retracting her grip loosening the man sagging in her hold confused and breathing hard and she turned saying “What” and Anna swallowed
“They hated her from the beginning not because she was human because she mattered to you” and Katherine stared unreadable something tight behind her eyes “Go on” and Anna continued “They thought she made you reckless that staying in one place for months put all of us at risk they said you were becoming a liability” and Katherine laughed sharp and empty “So what they whispered they always whisper” and Anna corrected “They planned without you” and Katherine’s smile vanished as Anna forced herself to continue “They met in secret Nora Marcus Isaac others they decided if you had nothing tying you to that town you would leave like you always do” and Anna said “They knew you were giving Margery vervain daily that you checked it smelled it tested it” and Katherine jaw clenched “They contacted a witch not powerful just clever she sent them a concoction it burned like vervain smelled like it close enough that even you would not suspect” and Anna whispered slow and brutal “They switched the vials in the house you were staying in every one of them by the time Margery drank it there was no vervain left in her system” and Katherine said nothing “So they compelled her carefully not to forget you but to doubt to fixate on every fear you already shared , bloodlust, running being hunted, loving someone who could never stop” and the man Katherine had been holding slipped free and ran unnoticed and Anna finished “They made her believe leaving you was her idea that it was the only way she could survive” and silence stretched until Katherine spoke evenly “And the hunters” and Anna nodded “They let rumors spread left a body made sure the town noticed they wanted you scared enough to act” and Katherine looked away for one moment something flickered across her face not grief not rage calculation as she exhaled slowly “Thank you for telling me” and Anna stared “That is it” as Katherine turned back toward the path already walking “I will not kill them not yet” and Anna followed heart heavy “And Margery” but Katherine did not answer though her hand trembled once at her side before curling into a fist.
Katherine did not kill them that was the first decision and the hardest but she knew death was simple death was mercy it was the release they did not deserve she had spent nights considering it anyway lying awake beside hearths in borrowed homes listening to the steady breathing of humans who trusted her without knowing why she imagined Nora’s throat collapsing beneath her hands marcus begging isaac not even understanding why he was dying Lenore being set on fire and every time the image ended too quickly they would never know what they had taken from her killing them would have ended the anger but it would not have answered it. So katherine chose something else she began by tightening the leash it was subtle at first.
She stopped indulging their excesses stopped smoothing over mistakes when Isaac left a body where it could be found katherine made him clean it not just move it but stay with it until dawn and since he did t have a daylight ring risk burning if the sun hit him until the smell of rot soaked into him and the lesson stuck. When marcus gambled with locals again katherine compelled the man he had been meeting with to vanish quietly completely and then told marcus next time she will kill him soon they all fell back into line because they always had because katherine had built their safety on her instincts her foresight her willingness to run first and ask questions later they remembered what the world was like without her hunters , older vampires then them no hope for a daylight ring fear is a powerful teacher. But it was not enough at night when the others slept katherine replayed ana’s words over and over they hated her because she mattered to you that was the wound not margery’s loss though that still burned but the realization that caring had been used as a weapon against her she had protected them warned them kept them alive and in return they had decided she was something to be managed.
So Katherine did not strike she waited she watched patterns form learned who grew careless in comfort who grew cruel when they thought themselves untouchable. She corrected nothing unless it threatened her when ana came to her again weeks later uneasy and quiet katherine gave her what she asked for. “i promise you and your mother are free from my harm ” she said .” Anna searched her face. “What are you going to do?” Katherine’s expression did not change. “Make sure they never do this to anyone again.”
Years passed the world shifted towns grew superstitions sharpened into organized fear hunters learned to work together and the others complacent emboldened mistook Katherine’s usual behavior for back to normal and by the time Mystic Falls appeared on her horizon Katherine has had more than decades of hatred and things as to what she thought they deserved and no matter how long it been since ana told her the truth no matter how many ways she thought to torture them it was never going to be enough anf while that was always a thing in her mind another one was the town she was going to one where just by looking at it it looked like a town obsessed with purity and vampires convinced they were untouchable could be a perfect storm of arrogance and fear.
By the time Mystic Falls appeared on her horizon in 1864, Katherine had come to meet stefan and damon and for a while had been a constant of her decisions in her occupied stay there but even the dark twisted affection she felt for stefan something new something sharp in its own way and even damon’s grudging understanding, could not convince her that not even her affection for them would stop what she planned no one could not them, not anyone this was her justice her reckoning and it would be hers alone when the roundup came katherine did not warn any of them she had made a deal with George Lockwood though and as she left that town after the roundup she knew this would be a tale of Katherine Pierce selfishally solf out her friends but franky she didnt care what anybody thought because they could never understand.