Katya woke up to a Thanksgiving meal.
"What the fuck—?" she was laid on Lucien's couch, wearing clothes that definitely didn't belong to her, with a plate of ham and salad waiting off to the side.
"Katya, you're awake," said Cami, rushing over to her. She, too, was wearing something different— a dress Katya had never even seen before.
"What is this?" she asked shakily as Cami helped her sit up. "Why are we wearing...?"
"The only clothes Lucien had available were the ones that belonged to that Alexis lady they told us about," muttered Cami, checking that Katya wasn't bleeding anywhere. "He says the vervain is out of your system. He might let you go."
"No, he can't do that!" said Katya. "If he does, he'll make me forget you're here, he'll make me forget everything! I have to warn Finn—"
"Can't let you do that, love," said Lucien as he entered the room, making Katya flinch. "Ooh, don't you two look lovely."
Katya's mouth felt dry, and Cami cast her a sad look. "Who the hell put these clothes on me?" she asked softly.
"I did, of course," said Lucien. "Camille refused to let me near you, and I thought, how rude, you're guests in my house. So, I knocked her out and dressed you both. Isn't that fun? It's as if we're playing house and you're the dolls."
"Klaus and Finn are going to kill you when they find out," said Katya.
"Oh, but they won't be finding out, will they?" said Lucien. "You see, they're a little preoccupied about something. Their darling sister Rebekah went missing yesterday. Apparently, she had a meeting with a witch who claimed to be able to revert Finn and Kol's bodies to that of their witch state, prior to being turned. She never came home."
"Did you kidnap her, too?" accused Katya.
"I'd be a fool to kidnap Rebekah. Now, why do you two look so glum?"
"Oh, I don't know," said Cami, trying to keep Lucien from getting any closer to Katya. "You tortured Katya, gave Detective Kinney a compulsion lobotomy, and you're holding us against our will. You're also using up all our minutes on our phones, you forced us to wear your dead witch's hand-me-downs and you're feeding us the smallest possible portions of food. Are we supposed to be thanking you for that?"
Lucien was unbothered. "Well, just think of all those poor people who are starving in... well, somewhere." He gestured to the plate in front of Katya. "I'd join you, but I've been called to dine with the Mikaelsons."
"Are they going to serve your head on a platter?" said Cami sarcastically.
Lucien smirked. "Doubtful. Niklaus and I are allies, now that the evil Tristan is in town." He held up their phones. "Um, let me ask— are you more likely to tell Vincent that you're drowning in a tub of bourbon or awash in a sea of chardonnay?"
"Go to hell," said Cami coldly.
Lucien shrugged. "Bourbon it is! There we go— and Katya's feeling a bit better, but still too ill to return home. 'Don't worry, Finn, I'm eating a lot of garlic, I'll be fine in no time.'"
Katya glared at him. "Finn isn't stupid enough to believe all this, Lucien. I've seen the guy almost every day for over a year already. I hardly text him, I call him."
"Oh, I covered that base, I said your throat is quite sore. Let his imagination roam wild, eh?" He winked, and Katya turned red.
"You can't trick our friends into thinking we're fine," said Cami. "Someone's gonna notice that we're gone, and when they do, they'll track us here."
Lucien checked the time on his watch. "Well, not within the next few hours, by which time you'll both be of vervain, and I'll be able to compel you both to forget everything. Including all manner of tortures and punishments I might yet employ, should you continue to prove disrespectful." There was a knock at the door, and his face lit up. "That'll be the nanny!"
He went over to the door, letting another vampire walk in. "This is Anton, a very loyal and very dangerous friend. Tread carefully." He patted Anton's shoulder. "Oh, and, uh, Anton? If you should not hear from me by nightfall, go on and kill them both. But, do it quickly. Oh, and for God's sake, don't ask if they have any final words— you'll be here through the weekend."
He left the apartment, closing the door behind him. Anton slowly walked toward the two women, and went to sit on the couch beside them, turning on the television to flipping through the different channels.
Katya forced herself to eat, giving Cami everything she didn't want. Which was a significant amount. She was too nervous to eat, and she feared she was going to throw up.
"Seriously? Football?" said Cami once Anton leaned back to watch the game between the University of Cincinnati and the University of Tennessee. "You're a vampire!"
Anton scoffed. "Shut up and get me a beer! And don't even think of hesitating because I know your friend here has no vervain in her, which means I can quench my thirst another way, if need be."
Katya tensed, and Cami got up immediately, and went to the kitchen, though she didn't return immediately. Anton noticed this, and sped to Cami, catching her hands before she could go into Lucien's bedroom, which had all the dark objects in it.
"I can't kill you," he growled, "but I can hurt you. Break bones, slice up your pretty face, heal you, then do it all over again. Next time, that's how this goes down, got it?"
Cami gulped. "Got it."
Katya figured they needed a distraction. Before Anton could turn around, she shoved her fingers as far down her throat as she could, and yanked her hair back just as she threw up all over the carpet.
"Damn it!" said Anton, rushing back and seeing the mess. He pointed at Cami. "Get her cleaned up, now!"
"I-I think I need to shower," said Katya, having let some of the vomit get on the exposed skin not covered by her pants. "I feel fucking sick..."
Cami knew what she was planning. She helped her up, and got her to the bathroom immediately. Unfortunately, Katya actually had to throw up again, and Cami shut the door, flipping the lock as Katya retched into the toilet.
"One of us has to escape," whispered Katya once Cami was helping her shower. The water pressure was strong enough to mask their conversation. "One of us has to get out and get help."
"I can get you out," said Cami. "You've suffered enough. I can take the fire if—"
"I think it should be you. You still have vervain in you, he can't feed on you if you try to run. And he can't kill us unless Lucien doesn't come back. All you need to do is get somewhere with a phone, call Klaus, and have him come get us."
"I can't leave you behind, Katya, he'll hurt you."
"I feel genuinely sick, Cami. Just thinking about what Lucien's already done... remembering the pain of being stabbed... I don't know if I can manage it. Besides, I can be compelled to stay."
"Unless..." Cami looked around before finding a razor. "Katya, I know this is probably really unhygienic, but my blood has vervain in it. If you drink some, you could have vervain in you, too. Even just a little bit."
Katya nodded slowly. "Okay... alright. And whoever finds an opening leaves first. Just see if you can find a clean one so you don't get infected."
Cami looked through the cabinets before finding a brand new pack of razors. She grabbed it, and handed it to Katya, who held her arm and slid the blade over her skin just enough to make some blood come out. Cami looked away as Katya squeezed her arm, and dipped down to drink. It tasted very strange— not at all like vampire blood. She forced herself to down as much as she could until the wound stopped bleeding, and then, she quickly wrapped Cami's arm with her old shirt.
"Keep some pressure on that, and it should be fine," she said, wiping her mouth quickly. "If Anton asks, you were trying to help me shave and just hurt yourself.
They exited the bathroom and found he was still watching the game. "Why don't you grab yourselves a beer, too?" he suggested before they could sit down. "You ain't going anywhere."
They did as they were told, bringing the entire carton of beer over to the coffee table. Anton suddenly sniffed, and sat up, looking around. "Which one of you is bleeding?" he said, before seeing the cut on Cami's arm. "Now, how'd that happen?"
"I cut myself when I was trying to help her shave," said Cami.
Anton's vampire face started to come out, and Katya covered Cami's arm. "You can't hurt her," she said firmly. "Nor can you hurt me."
He growled and sat back, trying to ignore the spell. The two women shared a look of relief, before forcing themselves to drink.
It was a very bad idea to have done that. Considering Katya had basically no food in her stomach and had thrown up, beer was not helping her case. She started to feel dizzy, and when she asked to go get water, Anton said she couldn't, because in the kitchen area, there would be an availability of knives that he didn't trust her with.
Cami chose to use that as a distraction. She started picking the beer bottles up, and wobbled to the kitchen.
"Hey," said Anton sharply. "I thought I told you to sit still."
"No, you told us to drink, so we drank, and now I'm cleaning up," Cami slurred purposely. She stopped at the table, slowly picking up one of the knives. "How much do you know about Klaus Mikaelson? Because the chances of Lucien coming back are, um... kind of slim."
"You better hope you're wrong, or you might not make it through the night," said Anton, slowly walking over to her.
Cami fake pouted. "Oh, I don't think you want to hurt me. See, Klaus is the most ruthless vampire in all of history, and guess what? He kind of likes me, so maybe you should be the one worrying about whether or not you make it through the night."
Anton knew something was up. "You're a bad drunk."
Cami smashed the beer bottle over his head, causing him to groan in pain. Trying to stabilize himself, he put his hand down on the table, and Cami used the broken piece of bottle to cut off the finger that had his daylight ring.
"I think I'm a pretty good drunk," she said as he yelled out, "I'm gonna kill you!"
He started to lunge at her, but the sun burned into his flesh, and he sped off to the darkest corner, furthest from the kitchen.
"Not while the sun's still out," said Cami.
She ran to Katya, helping her up and seating her right in front of the window, because she knew she was too weak to be running away. "Stay here," she said. "I'll be back with help as soon as I can."
She nodded, watching as Cami ran out into the hallway, closing the door behind her. Anton hissed, glaring at Katya. "I'll kill you both," he sneered.
"I don't think you're in any position to make threats," said Katya, blinking to try and keep her vision from blurring. "Fuck..." the kitchen was in the dark zone, and getting water would put her in a position to be hurt by Anton. She'd just have to wait.
Thankfully, that wait wasn't long.
The door opened, and Anton rushed forward, likely thinking it was Cami. Instead, he was met by Klaus, who threw him back, then yanked him up by the throat. "Where is Camille?" he snarled, not seeing her anywhere.
"She took my daylight ring and ran," blurted out Anton.
Klaus ripped his heart out, then tossed him down. Lucien made his way to Katya, who tried to get away, but was unable to. "That's a girl, you're alright," he said, looking into her eyes. "Everything was fine here, wasn't it? You just had to be leverage for Camille."
It looked like drinking Cami's blood worked, because Katya was able to muster up the last bit of her strength to slap him across the face. Klaus sped to her and pulled her away from Lucien before the other could retaliate.
"Please, get me out of here," Katya begged.
"KATYA!"
She looked up as Finn came up in the elevator, and ran in, taking her into his arms. She started to cry, holding onto him tightly. Behind them, Lucien blanched a bit.
"What the bloody hell did you do to them?" snarled Finn, lunging forward and grabbing Lucien by the collar of his shirt. "I'll kill you for—"
"Finn!" said Klaus, yanking his brother off. "You can't quite kill him yet, Camille is still missing!"
"Missing?" cried Katya. "No, she just— she went to get help!"
"To be fair," said Lucien, holding his hands up in surrender, "if Cami had done as she was told, she'd still be here, so technically, it's her fault." Klaus and Finn both made to lunge at Lucien this time, but he spoke quickly, "Now, you may hate me for involving your pretty friends, but I needed your full attention. You certainly don't listen to me, Nik, despite my nonstop efforts to keep you alive. Cami had to find the Serratura for me, and Katya was leverage to make sure it happened."
He picked up a small box, then pulled out the Serratura, offering it to Klaus.
The hybrid narrowed his eyes. "If that really is the weapon that can lock me away for eternity, why hand it over?"
"Proof of my loyalty," said Lucien. "Yes. I sided with Tristan, but it's quite clear his devotion to Aurora outweighs even the value he places on his own life. Take it. It's yours."
Klaus grabbed it, and shoved it into his pocket. "Don't kill him yet, Finn," he instructed. "I require him to remain alive just a bit longer."
"I ought to rip his limbs off," said Finn. Katya had never seen him so angry. "How dare you keep her here, against her will? If I find out you did anything else..."
Katya put her hand on his arm. "Finn, I really don't want to witness another murder. I'll tell you everything later. I just want to go home."
Finn picked her up, seeing that she still looked quite weak, and carried her to the elevator. Once they were out of it, he took her right to her apartment, laying her on her bed and giving her some of his blood without thinking. She surprisingly took it. He then rushed to get her some water and food, setting up a tray for her to eat.
"What did he do?" he said quietly.
She started to tear up, before offering him her hand. "I'd rather not put it into words."
He took her hand, entering her mind.
Being knocked out. Being shoved into the apartment. Lucien touching her, saying things to her that made her uncomfortable. Being stabbed and nearly forced to become a vampire. There was the memory of her finding out that Lucien had been the one to put the new clothes on her. The sadistic look on Lucien's face was enough to make Finn's anger flare up all over again. The way she'd had to drink Cami's blood to prevent herself from being compelled. How Lucien had tried to compel her before Finn arrived, knowing what he'd be finding out.
He unintentionally squeezed her hand a bit too tightly, causing her to whimper. She saw his jaw tighten, and she knew, when he turned away to rub his chin, that he was trying to keep himself from growing rageful in her presence.
"I'll kill him for what he's done to you," he said lowly.
She finished her food and turned to lay on her side, shaking her head. "Killing him isn't going to change what he did. As much as I'd like to see him dead... I want to see him suffer. I want him to feel even a fraction of the humiliation and the pain he made me feel. I almost bled to death. And he— he was going to turn me. He saw parts of me that I'm not comfortable showing to many people. And he was planning to just make me forget it all to save his own skin. I feel so angry... I hate being this powerless."
He opened his mouth to speak, but she held up her hand. "I... I really don't want to talk about it anymore, please. Tell me what happened on your end."
"Well... Davina was shunned by the witches. She was responsible for a witch massacre you might have heard about. Kol had offered to do it for her, but she had Hayley do it, likely thinking it wouldn't be traced back to her. But it was. And she's no longer Regent. It's beneficial, I suppose, because according to Marcel, The Strix were attempting to recruit her in order for her to activate the Serratura.
"My siblings thought to invite Lucien, Tristan, and his sister Aurora to dinner. Aurora is back in the city... and she seems to have reconnected an unfortunate amount with Niklaus. She is also the one responsible for Rebekah going missing. It seems she hid her in the ocean to keep herself from being killed if Rebekah were to die. Tristan is being held captive by Elijah, in order for him to be leverage. We will require the coordinates to find out Rebekah's exact location."
Katya nodded slowly. "Well, then... looks like you all have your work cut out for you. If you need to go and help—"
"I'm not going anywhere," he said, taking her food tray back to her kitchen before coming to sit beside her. "I should have known something was wrong. But I... I grew invested in helping my siblings, and I believed Lucien's lies. You almost died and I wasn't there to help you. Please, forgive me."
"You didn't do anything wrong," Katya whispered, taking his hand. "You didn't know. He tricked everyone. It's not your fault, Finn. You have nothing to apologize for."
"I almost lost you," he said, bringing himself to lay down beside her. "Because of my own foolishness."
"It wasn't foolishness to help your family. I'm proud of you. Your sister is missing after a prophecy foretold your family's downfall. You did what you had to do, and I'm not bitter about it. You're here now... and I'm not dead. Just... next time... ask to call me and verify the truth or something." She let out a light chuckle to let him know she was making a joke.
He didn't laugh, however, and simply wrapped his arms around her, kissing her forehead gently. She closed her eyes, and leaned into him, her head resting against his chest.
"Stay," she whispered. "Don't go anywhere."
"I'll stay," he promised, rocking her gently in his arms.
He did wish to stay. But he also wished to run out of there and kill Lucien. He'd never felt such a murderous desire. Knowing what Lucien had done to Katya ignited a rage in him that he found unfamiliar. All his morals were forgotten. He wished to decimate him, to make him pay for what he'd done. How much worse would it have been, had Katya not been involved with Finn? She would have been nothing but a regular human, and Lucien would have done more to hurt her.
Finn could feel Katya shivering in his arms, whimpering even when she was asleep. He started to stroke her hair, and slid his hand down her back, tracing circles over it. He hummed, allowing her to feel the vibrations as she tilted her head up a bit, her cheek now resting over his throat.
She calmed, and she lifted her arm, wrapping it around his body. This made him smile, but that smile quickly dropped when he heard her sniffle, and realized she was crying.
"Katya," he said gently, shaking her until she stopped. "It's alright. I'm here."
"Don't leave me," she pleaded, still half asleep. "Don't leave me like everyone else."
"I'm not going anywhere, darling, I promise you that."
A/N: Just cause I like to be ready... y'all remember my list of future TVDU stories, right? I'm thinking that I either want to publish my Elijah Mikaelson x femOC story after this (TO S1 - onward) OR my second Kai Parker x femOC story (TVD S6 - onward). There are also other stories on the list, if you look at it, but these are the two I'm considering. So, which one do y'all want first? I have the first chapter ready for my Elijah one + the title, summary, tags, and OC info. For my Kai one, I have just the idea and notes but I can bust out the other details pretty easily. Let me know!! I'm cool with either one tbh.