Chapitre 24: Chapter 24
Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries / The Originals, or any of the characters, plot-lines, dialogues from the shows or books
However, I do own Catherine Matthews/ my very own Katherine Peirce, her backstory, the storyline, and any additional characters that do not belong to The Vampire Diaries or The Originals. Characters in this story may not have the same opinion as you. These characters are all fictional.
As soon as she left Mystic Falls, Katherine drove the car to New York. She stayed there for two days. Settled a few of canon Katherine's bank accounts. Did a few investments in companies she knew were going to be a success from her timeline. She then met with the private investigators she hired and settled their bills. Mostly because she was feeling generous, and was in a celebration mood. She took the phone number of Hayley Marshall from one investigator and then compelled him to forget about anything unusual he saw during his investigation.
The vampire also compelled the investigator on Nadia's case to forget about it. As she had a few other ideas on how to find the canon's daughter. The body hijacker went back to Richmond after finding info on Slater's house from Rose. Slater was a vampire who had contacts to find other vampires. Even if there wasn't much about Nadia in his data, he was bound to know someone who has. The doppelganger took a few contacts from Slater's computer and went on her way for the next destination.
Her next destination being, Hawaii. Catherine spent her first month of freedom in the warm sun of Maui beach, drinking margaritas, and taking golf courses. She enjoyed the late-night parties and the spas, burning the money of canon Katherine. However, after a month of learning how to mix the cocktails from the cute bartender, Sebastian, Katherine took a flight to Greece to complete some unfinished work.
"If it wasn't for your call, I would have honestly thought you died in some ditch," The white-haired Greek witch said, pouring a drink for both of us.
"I told you, I was kidnapped by an Original Hybrid," I muttered, rolling my eyes.
"Still can't believe the kid became a hybrid," the witch muttered.
"He is a thousand-year-old vampire, Melantha. Not your grandson," I reminded the drunk old woman.
"Still looks younger than me," the witch said, shrugging her shoulders. And I just threw my hands in the air at the answer.
"Okay, I think you had enough," I said, grabbing the bottle of wine from her.
"It was just two glasses," the old lady huffed.
"Yes," I said as a matter of fact. "Your point?"
"Fine," She said, taking the bottle from me and putting it in the racks. "You got it for me, so I am just gonna keep it and finish it some other day."
"Now, let's get you to bed," I muttered, looking at her. She honestly acted like my dead grams. So much that, it got real creepy, really quick.
"It's my house, young lady. I get to make the rules," She said.
"And, I am a 19-year-old girl, stuck in a 500-year-old vampire's body," I said, pushing her gently to her bedroom. "So, I don't care."
"Whatever," she huffed and slept, murmuring in Greece. I could make out a few words, and most of them were gibberish. She was probably cursing me, or herself, for inviting me inside. I covered her with a blanket and left the place, locking it behind me.
It's been two weeks since I came to Athens and the old hag still wouldn't let go of the fact that I didn't call her after leaving Greece. I mean, I was kidnapped. Give me some consideration that I at least called before showing up at your front door. But it felt really good to see Melantha. It truly felt like my own grams' is scolding me whenever she gave one of her lectures. The carefreeness I felt near my grams returned. Grams was the only one who saw the real me or the only one I could trust to show it. And Melantha's probably the only one that could come close to my grams, Helen Rivers, not that I would ever tell the witch.
Melantha did translate most of the book, and for the most part of the week, we discussed it. I told her I am a doppelganger of Amara, and that to destroy the other side, the travelers would either want me dead or will need buckets of my blood. So, after a week of trying and failing to find loopholes, we decided to take a break and drown our problems by getting drunk. I have been spending so much time with the old witch, that I have the keys to her shop and home. I don't know if I should say she was brave for giving keys to a vampire or just stupid. She can't even defend herself, as the witch stopped practicing magic ever since her husband's death. The only thing she does is create a few concoctions and translate the ancient books I brought. Melantha has zero sense of self-preservation. I sometimes wonder if she is just waiting to kick the bucket as she cant end her life for the promise she made to her vampire husband. Her story reminded me of canon Bonnie and Enzo. Living their life for the promise they made to the dead.
Huh. Now that I think about it, Enzo is still stuck with Augustine society. He would make a good ally if I were to help him get out of that hell hole. Even Kai Parker. But he too volatile and unpredictable. Hmm, I should have got a vile of Bonnie's blood with me while coming. It's a nice backup plan to have.
"You know, you should really pay more attention to your surroundings," a voice said, making me turn around and look.
I sighed softly when I saw who it was, "You are still here."
"So are you," he said with a charming smile. His gold watch glistening in the dark night.
"Actually, I came back two weeks ago," I said, walking ahead, and waited for Lucien Castle to follow my lead. "I went to Mystic Falls only to get kidnapped by Klaus. I then helped him in the ritual, and earned my freedom after showing him a way to create hybrids."
"Excuse me?" the first sired vampire in the history said, stopping in his tracks. He looked positively confused.
"Oh! I am sure every supernatural species will know that in a few days. Your friend, Niklaus Mikaelson, has successfully turned into a hybrid," I said flippantly. "Congratulations," I added with a sweet smile and was rewarded with a tight-lipped one in return.
Hmm, he really should learn to hide his emotions. To think people will be good at that after a thousand years.
"That's great," the french vampire said. His face somewhere between grimace and smile. "So, how did you manage to get your freedom in return?"
"Huh, you see, Klaus's mother, Esther, put a large kink in the ritual. She said the doppelganger has to die at the end of the ritual. But to create more hybrids, Klaus has to use the doppelgangers human blood. I offered a solution and earned my freedom as a reward," I explained to him.
It's not like he wouldn't know the story if he sends his people to investigate. Lucien is the oldest vampire next to The Originals and has contacts and resources to do or find anything. He even has the cure for a freaking werewolf bite. It's not like I want to kiss the vampire's arse or anything. I just don't want to be on the bad side of a fricking psychopath.
"And all this happened in what, 2 weeks?" The vampire in question asked.
"Yup," I answered. "And what are you doing here, Mr. Castle? Planning to establish a new branch."
"Yes, actually," the CEO nodded, shaking away his problems for a bit. "Athens is a beacon for a lot of supernatural species. A hub of sorts. And please, call me Lucien."
"Katherine, then," I said out of curtsy. "Are there any werewolf packs here?" I asked, after a moment thinking about his line of business.
"Yes," he said, looking me in the eye. "Why?"
Great! Now he is suspicious. Wonderful job, Cat.
"Nothing. I just wanted to stay away from the bunch, if there were any," I said nonchalantly.
"Afraid of wolves?" he asked.
"Not really," I said, shaking my head, "My ex-boyfriend's a werewolf. But I would like to stay away from their bites."
"A vampire and a werewolf. Strange," he said.
"What can I say. I would like to think myself as eccentric being," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "Anyway, that's me," I said, pointing at the hotel near us. "Thanks for walking me."
"My pleasure," Lucien said. "I would like to do this again. Maybe lunch, coffee, or a fresh bite."
"Well, I am staying here for a few weeks. So, let's see," I said, not making any promises. I would like to stop walking on eggshells around you for a while, went unsaid.
"You don't like me much, do you?" He said, stopping from taking another step. He was still giving me the same charming smile.
I released a sigh and turned around to face him. "Do you want me to be honest," I said, and when he nodded, I continued. Even though my brain tried to stop me from doing the stupid shit, I keep doing these days.
"From what I have heard. You are intelligent, charming, ambitious, ruthless, and lack empathy. Very good traits for an excellent CEO," I said to the older vampire, my head tilted to a side, "But, also of a true psychopath. Not to mention, you are also a vampire, the first one sired. And, I try my best to stay away from your kind. I learned my lesson from the original family."
I waited for an outburst from the man, or some kind of retaliation, instead, he laughed. Lucien laughed so hard that people walking on the pavement stared at us.
"You are as calculating as they say," Lucien said after his laughs subdued. "Clever as the devil and twice as pretty."
"With a few survival instincts," I added. "So, forgive me if I am skeptical about our encounters."
And with that, I left. And something told me, I will be seeing him again. And it was inevitable.
"Are you alright?" Melantha asked, making me aware of my surroundings.
"Yes," I said.
"No, you are not," she said with a scoff. And, the witch was correct. It's been a week, and the meeting with Lucien had me on edge, ever since.
"I'm fine," I said one more time. "It's just something stupid."
The Greek witch set her herbs on the tabletop and looked at me, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"There is nothing to talk about," I said, not looking at her, instead, reading the same page of the book, I had in front of me for hours.
"Look, Catherine," Melantha said with a sigh, "I don't even know if that's your real name. But from the time we have spent together, I know you have a lot of trust issues. It might be due to your past, or it just takes time for you to trust people. But, let me tell you something I would've told my daughter or granddaughter."
"Life has taught me that you can't control someone's loyalty. People will change...always. I also realized that the people that are closest to you will have the chance to hurt you the most. After David died, I thought I would never be the same. I didn't have anything to live for. The coven I used to call family betrayed me. I was a wreck...terrified of letting anyone in. But, let me tell you something, Honey. It's okay to trust again. It's okay to be scared of it. And being scared isn't going to make you weak. It makes you stronger if anything. Because you're doing something really, really, brave even after all the heartbreak you went through and survived."
It took me time to realize I had been crying, and am hugging Melantha with all my might. I realized from a young age that there's always more than that meets the eye. From then on, I have always been a person who looks 'too deep' into something or someone. I push away people and tell myself that it's a good thing. That; I need to learn to live without any attachments. Because people always leave, some way or other. My parents, grams, the life I thought would change my life for better.
I go to sleep, every day, thinking I could create a better future for myself in this fictional world, only to wake up in the night where my mind and heart are at a fight. A fight between what I knew, what I felt, and what I ought to do. But I couldn't share it with anyone. In my paranoid mind, I couldn't trust anyone but myself. It's fricking hunger games inside this world. And there is not a single soul that I would trust my secret with. Not a judgmental witch, nor a volatile vampire, and definitely not some vampire hating werewolves.
But during the chase to create an empire for myself, and trying to grasp a treasure that I can't see, I forgot I am just a damaged 19-year-old girl, who doesn't have a fucking clue on how to respond to someone, even if they tried to show me what true love is.
"My name really is Catherine Matthews," I whispered to the witch. "And I am not from this world."
How can I even expect trust from someone, when I am terrified of showing them the real me?
So, for everyone who thought the story ended, you can obviously see it's not. And I also know the chapter isn't much. But the next few episodes will mostly be the same way. Hayley Marshall is going to make an appearance somewhere in the next two chapters. And a few characters from originals as well. Let's not forget Lucien, who is still lurking on Athens roads. Oh, and I thought Meryl Streep from Mamma Mia! would be a wonderful faceclaim for Melantha. You know, with white hair and all that. What do you think?
Lots of hugs and kisses.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone