𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐒 | 𝐊𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐊𝐀𝐄𝐋𝐒𝐎𝐍

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

"Yeah, because she threatened me." The blonde vampire was quick to defend herself. "Not that I'm saying you should use that as a tactic. It's— Stefan's gonna see right through me."

Elena irritably grunted. "Caroline, as my friend, do you promise or not?"

"You had to break out the girlfriend code. Okay! I promise." She nodded. "Why don't you want Stefan to know?"

"Because he's super clingy and his history with Katherine will just screw this up. He thinks everything she says is a lie." The older of the two Gilberts explained as they reached the entrance of the tomb where Katherine was trapped. "She's the only person who knows about Klaus. We need to do this."

With a reluctant nod, Caroline moved over to the rock wall that covered the entrance of the tomb and pulled it out of the way. Caroline stepped back, whilst Elena edged closer. "Katherine?" She glanced over her shoulder to the blonde. "We'll be fine."

Shuffling footsteps echoed from the tomb until Katherine finally stepped into view. She looked horrendous— weak with hunger and dirty from the conditions of the tomb. "Elena. Eden. Have you come to watch me wither away?" Her voice was raspy, almost as if her throat had started to close in on itself. Katherine's gaze met Caroline. "Goodbye, Caroline."

"Trust me, it's okay." Eden smiled as she gripped Caroline's hand. "Look at her— she can't do anything." Caroline had finally left the tomb and Elena dropped the duffel bag to the ground. "We brought you some things."

A scoff left Katherine's lips. "You came to bribe me. What is it that you want?"

"I want you to tell us about Klaus."

At the mention of his name, Katherine's interest looked piqued. "Mm. You've been busy."

Elena pulled a bottle of blood from her bag, as well as the Petrova book they found amongst Isobel's research. "We also brought you this. It's your family history. It says in here that the family line ended with you."

"Clearly, that's a lie." Eden hummed.

"You think that if you brought me some family keepsake I'd open up?" 

"What about this?" As soon as Katherine locked eyes with a water bottle full of blood in Eden's hands, she sped to the edge of the tomb. She was stopped by the invisible barrier. "Oh! This gets a reaction outta' you."

Katherine sloped down to the floor of the tomb as Eden filled a small plastic cup with a few droplets of blood and slid it toward her. "You have the Petrova fire." Katherine told her, immediately taking the blood like a shot of tequila. "It's a long story— Klaus and I. Goes all the way back to England, 1492, after I left Bulgaria. Or, was thrown out."

 Elena shoved another cup of blood to Katherine. "Thrown out?"

"My family— your true ancestors— they disowned me. My indiscretions were not tolerated at that time. I had a baby out of wedlock. The shame." She sarcastically quipped. "My baby was kept secret and given away. I was banished to England and I had to learn to adjust. So, I quickly became English. It was there that I caught the eye of a nobleman named Klaus. I was taken with him at first, 'till I found out what he was and what he wanted from me. And, then I ran like Hell."

"So, what did Klaus want?"

"Same thing he'll want from one of you." Katherine sighed. "He wants to break the curse."

"The sacrifice of the Petrova doppelgänger." The older of the two siblings trailed off in understanding. "But, why this particular bloodline?"

"It's really tedious, but the curse was bound by the sacrifice of Petrova blood. Witches are crafty with their spells. The doppelgänger was created as a way to be able to undo the spell. Once the doppelgänger reappeared, the curse can be broken. I gained the help of Trevor, who sent me in the direction of a cottage. Rose-Marie released who I was, and said she would return me back to Klaus."