Who: Katherine Pierce; narrative Where: The Tomb under the old church When: A few nights after Pearl is rescued Why: Because the other 26 blame her for them being down here What: The other 26 vampires taking their anger out on Katherine
Katherine resigned herself to the spot she had been laying in for a century and a half. She wasn’t aware of the dribbles of blood that were dripping off the wall, the bits that still filled the plastic baggie Damon had brought for her. She had smelled the blood before but she thought it was remnants of the blood Annabelle fed to Pearl. She was sure Annabelle had fed the blood to Pearl, what young girl wouldn’t save their mother? Even Katherine would have, centuries ago.
It was surreal when rats started finding their way into the cavern; there hadn’t been rats for years, not since the vampires had last fought over them, trying to keep their strength as much as they could. But now, here they were again. Katherine could hear the scrapping of their nails, the movement of the small creatures. She watched the first few scurry past her, moving along the rocks as they explored. She felt one sniff her hand and take a nibble which irritated her. She worked up the energy and snatched the little rodent, “you do not bite me,” she spoke before bringing the struggling animal to her lips and sinking her teeth in. She hated the taste of animal blood, but right now, any blood tasted amazing to her. She could feel the warmth sliding down her throat, the life draining from the rat to her and she could feel her body changing. It wouldn’t be perfect, not yet, but her skin was returning to a natural feel.
It was a couple days before Katherine had enough strength to get up and move. She still felt weak, but her body had finally reformed completely. Her hair was soft, her skin was filled out. She ran her fingers along her face and smiled as she felt her cheeks full with life once more. She knew she needed human blood to be back to par, but this was better than she had been in a very, very long time. She just had to make sure she didn’t get injured she knew healing would be a long, slow process if she got hurt now. She pressed her hand to the stone wall and moved out from behind the boulders. She looked around, her eyes fully adjusted to the dark after so long. She tilted her head as she saw the other vampires, they were moving around. It seemed like a few were gone, but most were still here, and she was curious. If some where gone, did that mean they could all leave?
She didn’t mean to make any noise, but she wasn’t stable yet and accidently kicked a rock. She froze when the other vampires went quiet and turned to her. She looked at them, pulling her stern face, the face that before they would have listened to. The looks on their faces told her they might not this time. Katherine stood her ground, she watched as they turned to her and began to walk toward her. Beth-Ann looked angry, more angry than some of the men.
“It is your fault we were down here, Katherine,” she spoke evenly, “We were ready to leave when Honoria began having vervain distributed but you wished to stay, to play with the Salvatore Brothers .”
Defiantly Katherine shot back, “I did not force your hand, none of you had to stay. It was all a choice you made on your own. You and Fredrick could have left; all of you could have left. Do not blame me for what the humans did; it was not all my doing. You all fed as much as anyone. I fed from two, you fed from the town.”
“I, do not care if it was all your doing, or not. You were the reason we were caught, your dealings with the Salvatore brothers. And for that we were caught down here. We will leave, but you, Katherine, will not,” Fredrick spoke as he walked toward Katherine.
Katherine watched the man she had never held fear for walk toward her. She backed up ever so slightly, it was clear they had all been eating more than she had, it was clear in his face, his body and the way he walked. She knew he couldn’t kill her, or she was hoping he couldn’t. But she knew she could hurt and she had a feeling he’d make her hurt.
The pain wasn’t something she could describe, her clothing was torn to bits, her body was bloody and she felt every inch of the stone floor beneath her. She wished she was human in that moment to pass out, to no longer feel the pain and the tearing. Her limbs had been broken, some smashed as the vampires all came at her. As much as she swore she’d not scream, eventually they tore the screams from her throat, bending her arms and legs in directions she couldn’t have done on her own, rolling stones over her, smashing her hands and her forearms. She cried out each time they broke her, each time they spilled her blood.
She didn’t know how long passed before they stopped touching her, stopped hurting her. But she lay there, begging internally to lose consciousness, but the sweet black abyss never came. She felt every ache, every pain and she knew healing would be almost impossible. She’d heal but it would be so slow, she needed human blood but she had none. She lay there on the ground, watching as the vampires walked out of the tomb, leaving her in her own blood to feel the pain and the torment they wanted to pay her back for. In those moments, she vowed revenge. Katherine believed in revenge and she planned to see it out.