She was walking with Tatia through the village, hand in hand and giggling. They reached the field of flowers and were about to sit down when a girl came out from behind the tree. Tatia stopped a few feet behind Iliana, as the latter watched the girl in confusion. She had long curly and was wearing a gown with a tight-fitting bodice and a full skirt that ran to her ankles. When she looked at her face she saw Tatia's same features. She heard someone come out from behind the other side of the tree. It was another girl, but she was wearing pants and a shirt and had long straight hair. When she looked at her face she found the same face as Tatia and the other girl. She furrowed her brows and looked in between the three girls, not knowing who was who. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her head.
"What's happening?" She clutched her head. "Who are you?!" The girl with the dress stepped closer to her and looked into her eyes.
"Emiliya, don't you recognize your own sister? It is I, Katerina." She said smiling. She looked at her before recognition washed over her. Of course. Katerina. How could Emiliya forget her own sister? She stepped closer but was stopped by another voice.
"Nat? It's me, Elena." She turned and looked at her confused before remembering her.
"Lena." She was about to walk towards her but a voice came from behind her.
"Iliana? Sister, it is me, Tatia! Do not listen to them!" She looked between the three girls confused, her memory failing to recognize them once again. They all looked the same but they called her different names. She stepped back and tripped, falling down. The three of them started walking towards her, talking at the same time.
"Emiliya!"
"Nat!"
"Iliana!"
She closed her eyes, the frustration and anxiety eating her inside. When she opened them again they were gone. But before she could stand up a voice sounded far away.
"Nat!"
"Nat, wake up."
"Nat!" She opened her eyes and saw one of the girls again. She jumped back in fear, not knowing who she was. The girl looked hurt for a second before raising her hands. "I-It's me Nat, Elena. You're at home, in your room, in Mystic Falls." She looked at the girl suspiciously. "I'm Elena, your sister." She looked at her for a second before something clicked in her mind. Elena. She looked at her and sighed, putting her hand on her forehead.
"I remember." Elena looked relieved and sat down in her bed.
"Did it happen again?" Nat just nodded, having no energy to tell her about the dream. Elena squeezed her shoulder reassuringly and looked at her. "It's gonna be fine, Nat. I promise I won't let anything happen to you." Nat just nodded and swallowed the lump on her throat.
"What happened? Why did you wake me up so early?"
"Oh, uh, Stefan asked if we could drop by the Boarding House, he said it was important." Nat's heart stopped for a moment, remembering all about Damon's words the night before. But she then remembered her decision regarding her feelings for him.
"Oh, okay. I'll get ready then. See you down in a few." Elena nods and leaves Nat's room. As soon as the door is closed Nat exhales loudly. She couldn't hold on. The dreams were getting really bad, and her memory was failing her. She wouldn't feel sorry for herself, not now, not ever. She would find a solution to this problem, she had to if she wanted to live in peace. She shook her head before going to her wardrobe. She found a white long sleeved beige top and paired it with black jeans and black ankle boots. After getting ready she grabbed her bag and left the room.
"Hey, you ready?" Elena asked when she got to the bottom of the stairs. She nodded and they left the house, getting in the car quickly and driving away. The car ride was silent, each lost in their own thoughts. After a while they arrived and got out of the car. Elena knocked on the door and they waited. Soon enough the door opened, revealing Damon. He looked at the twins and smiled tightly.
"Hello Elena, Nat."
"Is Stefan here? He called. He said it was important." Elena said dryly.
"Right this way." He said, gesturing for them to come inside. Before Nat could keep walking Damon grabbed her arm. "Hey, are you okay? You know, after yesterday." He said quietly.
"I'm fine, Damon." She shrugged his arm off and followed Elena. They walked into the hallway and Stefan arrived.
"Hey."
"What is this about?" Elena asked. He steps aside and they see Rose behind him. She smiles and waves awkwardly at the girls.
"You." Nat says, narrowing her eyes at her.
"You'll want to hear what she has to say." Damon said from behind them before walking into the living room, Stefan and Rose following him. Nat and Elena looked at each other before following them too. Once the twins sat on the couch, Rose started pacing.
"Okay, you have to understand I only know what I've picked up over the years and I don't know what's true and what's not true. It's the problem with all this vampire crap but Klaus, I know he's real." At the mention of his name, Nat felt a shiver go through her spine. Thankfully, no one noticed this. She acted as if nothing had happened before looking at Rose.
"Who is he?" Nat asks.
"He's one of the Originals, he's a legend." Damon says.
"From the first generation of vampires." Stefan adds.
"Like Elijah?" Elena asked looking between the vampires.
"No, Elijah was the Easter bunny compared to Klaus. He's a foot soldier. Klaus is the real deal." Nat frowned at this. That didn't sound right. But then again, Elijah was dead, so maybe Rose's words held some truth to them.
"Klaus is known to be the oldest." Stefan continues.
"Okay, so you're saying that the oldest vampire in the history of time is coming after me?" Elena asked looking at Rose.
"Yes." "No." Stefan and Rose both said at the same time before looking at each other.
"What they're saying is, I mean, if what she's saying is true-"
"Which it is."
"And you're not saying it so I don't kill you."
"Which I'm not."
"Then we're looking at a solid maybe." Nat looked at Elena, now worried about this.
"Look, Elijah's dead, right? So no one else even knows that you exist." Stefan told her reassuringly.
"Not that you know of." Rose said from behind. Well, that was true. If Klaus was supposedly this big bad vampire, then it was almost certain that he had others working for him. Meaning it would only be a matter of time before they came for Elena.
"That's not helping." Damon muttered.
"Look, I've never even met anyone who's laid eyes on him. I mean, we're talking centuries of truth mixed with fiction. We don't know if he's real. For all we know he could just be some sort of stupid bedtime story." Stefan told Elena.
"He's real and he doesn't give up. If he wants something, he gets it. If you're not afraid of Klaus, then you're an idiot." Rose warned them.
"Alright, we're shaking. You made your point." Damon sarcastically said. Elena looks at Nat and nods at her. They both grab their things and stand up.
"Where are you going?" Stefan asked confused.
"School, we're late."
"Let me grab my stuff, I'll go with you guys." He said.
"It's okay, we know where it is." Nat said, and with that they leave the house. Once they're in the car Nat looks at Elena. "We are not going to school right?"
"Nope. We're going to get answers from the only person who has some." She said, already driving away. Nat furrowed her brows before she realized who Elena was talking about.
"Katherine." Elena looked at her before nodding.
"But first, we'll need to grab some things." Nat nodded. "And we'll need Caroline's help."
"Tell everyone I wasn't feeling well and that Elena went home to take care of me." Nat told Caroline as they were walking through the woods. She was carrying a bag which had a bottle of blood and the Petrova Family book.
"I can't believe I'm agreeing to this. I'm a terrible liar." Caroline whines.
"And keep Stefan busy. I don't want him to know what we're up to." Elena adds.
"I'm even worse at duplicity and you know this!" She exclaims. Elena just looks at her pointedly.
"You managed to keep me occupied when Katherine paid Stefan a visit."
"Yeah, because she threatened me!" She told her. "Not that I'm saying that you should use that as a tactic. It's- Stefan's gonna see right through me."
"Caroline, as our friend, do you promise or not?" Nat says stopping to look at her.
"You had to break out the girlfriend code." She sighs. "Okay, I promise." She tells them and they keep walking.
"Okay." Elena says. Caroline turns to her and frowns.
"Why don't you want Stefan to know?"
"Because, he would never be okay with me doing this." She said as they arrived to the church ruins. Nat goes in first, Elena and Caroline following her. They stop in front of the tomb's door.
"Are you sure you guys want to do this?" She asks them one last time.
"Yes, we're sure. She's the only one who knows the truth about Klaus. The only one that can tell us how to stop him." Elena says.
"But you're asking for the truth from someone who's probably never giving it. Are you sure about this?" She asks, turning to Nat at that last part.
"Yeah. We can't just sit back and wait. We have to know, Care. Please." She tells her and Caroline nods. She steps forward and opens the door.
"Katherine?" Elena calls out. She then turns to Caroline. "We'll be okay from here." Suddenly they hear a noise coming from the tomb. They turn their heads and look at the entrance. Katherine drags herself to the edge of the door and leans on it. She looked thinner and already grey from the lack of blood.
"Hello Elena, Natalia. You come to watch me wither away?" She rasps looking at them. She turns to Caroline and glares at her. "Goodbye Caroline."
"As long as we stay on this side of the door, she can't hurt us. Please." Nat tells the blonde. She looks uneasy but nods anyways and leaves them.
"Stefan and Damon know you're here?" Katherine asks. Nat walks towards a rock and places the bag there.
"We brought you some things." She tells her sister's doppelgänger.
"You came to bribe me? Is that what you want?" She asked.
"I want you to tell us about Klaus." Elena says. At that Katherine looks impressed.
"Hmm, you've been busy."
"We also brought you this." Nat says holding out the Petrova Family book. "It's your family history. It says in here that the family line ended with you. Obviously that's not true."
"You think that if you brought me some family keepsake that I'd open up?" Katherine told her, a scowl on her face. Elena reaches inside the bag before looking at her.
"We also brought you this." She holds the bottle of blood. Katherine rushes over to them but is stopped by the barrier spell. "You don't look so good. How long before your body shuts down? 10, 20 years?" She asks her.
"It must be painful to dessicate and mummify. I can't even imagine." Nat adds. Katherine glares at them before sliding down the floor. They sit down as well and Elena pours some blood on a plastic glass, pushing it towards her with a stick. Katherine takes the blood before looking at them.
"You have the Petrova fire." She drinks and her skin regains some of its color.
"More blood?" Nat asks. Katherine puts the glass on the door and Elena slides it back, pouring some more blood.
"It's a long story." Katherine sighs before looking at them. "Klaus and I. It goes all the way back to England, 1492, after I left Bulgaria. Or was thrown out."
"Thrown out?" Elena asks.
"My family, your true ancestors, they disowned me. My indiscretions were not tolerated at that time." Nat and Elena look at her in confusion. "I had a baby out of wedlock. The shame." She says mockingly.
"It was kept secret?" Nat asked.
"Mhm. My baby was 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, til I found out what he was and what he wanted from me. And then I ran like hell."
"So what did Klaus want?" Elena asked her.
"The same thing he'll want from you. He wants to break the curse.
"By sacrificing the Petrova doppelgänger."
"He wanted to drain every single drop of blood from my body." Nat and Elena look at each other, Katherine's words scaring them. Elena pushed the glass with blood towards Katherine again and she took it.
"But wait, what does the Petrova bloodline have to do with Klaus? Nat asked her. She didn't notice Elena's frown directed at her.
"It's really tedious but..." She sighs and drinks from the cup, regaining more color on her face. "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.
"So you ran before he killed you?" Elena asked.
"Something like that." She said shrugging. The twins looked at her expectantly. "Trevor helped me escape. He led me towards a cottage in the woods and told me to show the moonstone to Rose so I could prove I was who I said. When I got there, Rose was inside with an old woman. But she wasn't as willing to help me as Trevor." She said scowling. "She didn't want to risk her life so she decided to take me back to Klaus and beg for mercy." She snorted at the last part.
"But Rose never ended up taking you back to Klaus, did she?" Elena asked.
"No, but not because she had a change of heart." She looked at her doppelgänger before continuing. "I found a knife and stabbed myself, hoping I would bleed out by nightfall. But Rose came in later with a rope, planning to tie me up. She could see that I had hurt myself, so she gave me her blood. But Trevor arrived in that moment. I took advantage of the distraction and hung myself." Elena and Nat widened her eyes.
"You killed yourself?!" Elena asked her.
"Klaus needed a human doppelgänger. As a vampire, I was no longer any use to him."
"But it didn't work. You didn't really escape, you've been running from Klaus ever since." Nat realized.
"I underestimated his spirit for vengeance, but living in a suitcase is better than dying so you can have your blood spilled over some silly little rock." She said rolling her eyes. She sees Elena looking ill at ease. "What's wrong? Afraid I'm right? You don't want to die? There's another way out." She says before cutting her wrist with her nail, blood coming out. "Better hurry." Elena turned away uncomfortably. "Your opportunity is going, going, going and gone. I made the other choice."
"Rose and Trevor spent the last 500 years running because you used them. Trevor just got killed." Elena said glaring at her.
"I never thought he would last that long." Katherine says shrugging. Nat frowns at her reaction.
"You don't even care that you ruined their lives."
"I was looking out for myself, Elena. I will always look out for myself. If you're smart, you'll do the same." She says before turning around and opening the book, reading through it. Elena stands up and starts pacing, Nat standing up too and leaning against a wall.
"So how much of your little story is true?" Elena asks her.
"I have no reason to lie, Elena. I have no reason to do anything but sit here and read and rot." She said standing up too.
"Okay, assuming it's even partially true, that's the reason why you came back isn't it? Because you wanted to be the one to hand me over to Klaus."
"500 years on the run, I figured maybe he'd be willing to strike a deal." Katherine shrugged. Nat just glared at her lack of empathy.
"So you got Mason Lockwood to find you the moonstone."
"Right again."
"What else do you need to break the curse?"
"Hmm, look who is getting smarter." She said smirking.
"It's not just me or the stone, is it?" Elena starts pacing again. "Otherwise there would be no reason to trigger Tyler Lockwood's werewolf curse." She figures out.
"Witches and their spells, so many ingredients, so many people to sacrifice."
"So you need a werewolf?" Nat asks from the side.
"Believe or not, they're hard to come by."
"What else?" Elena asks.
"A witch to do the spell. Mine bailed, but little Bonnie will do just fine."
"What else?" Nat asks standing up right.
"A vampire."
"Caroline." Elena says quietly.
"It could have been anyone I suppose, but I like the poetry of Caroline." She said shrugging.
"So you were just gonna hand us all over to be killed?" Elena asked in disbelief.
"Better you die than I." She says before turning around. Before she could leave their sight, Nat called to her.
"Wait!" Katherine turned around and looked at her questioningly. "Time to answer my questions now."
"So now you want answers? What happened to I don't want any part in your games ?" She said mockingly. Elena furrowed her brows at that but let it go, wanting to hear what they had to say. Katherine leaned on the side of the door and looked at Nat expectantly.
"You know why I'm having these dreams don't you?"
"Maybe." Nat glared at her and she rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know. But not all of it."
"Tell me, I need to know, please." She said pleadingly.
"It'll break you Nat." Katherine told her with a knowing look.
"I don't care." She said. From the corner of her eye she could see Elena looking between the two, visibly confused by how comfortable they seemed around each other.
"When I arrived in England, Elijah and Klaus took me in. They wanted to know about my life, so they asked all sorts of questions. Among them was the topic of my family. I told them about my parents, but they only cared about my sister."
"Emiliya." Nat said.
"Mhm. They always seemed interested in her. How she was, what she liked, if she had any suitors, everything really. I always found it weird until one day I understood their obsession." Nat looked at her expectantly, wanting to know more. "One night, a month before I escaped, I was walking around the castle when I stumbled upon a long corridor I had never been in. When I walked further, I heard Klaus and Elijah talking amongst themselves." She paused and looked at Nat.
"Keep going."
"They were talking about this girl, they called her Iliana." At that Nat and Elena widened her eyes. "They said, and I quote Elijah, she was the most exquisite beauty he had ever laid eyes upon." She felt her face burn at those words. "They said all sorts of things about her. I couldn't stop listening. They suddenly said that it was better they hadn't met her in this life, that she saved herself from suffering."
"This life?" Elena asked from behind Nat.
"Yes. They also said she wouldn't have remembered them anyway. At that point I was confused, but I kept listening, hoping to learn more about this mysterious woman."
"What did you find out?" Nat asked, dreading the answer already.
"They said that they hoped Emiliya was in a better place." Nat scrunched her face up in confusion. "They were talking about my sister as if they knew her."
"But they didn't, you said she died before you left Bulgaria." Elena said matter of factly.
"That's right, she did." Katherine turned to Nat. "They talked some more about how lovely it would have been to meet Emiliya but that it was for the best. And then they said something that scared the hell out of me. They mentioned how the Petrova line would end with me and that Iliana wouldn't suffer anymore."
"You learned about the sacrifice." Nat realized.
"But I couldn't remember. They noticed I was eavesdropping and compelled me to forget I heard anything. It wasn't until I turned into a vampire that I remembered." She stared at Nat intensely. "After giving it some thought I realized what they meant." No, Nat refused to believe it was possible. Katherine stared at her. "You know what this means Nat. Deep down you know it, you've known it for a while." No, it was- it was beyond crazy!
"No, it's impossible." She shook her head furiously before turning around, pacing around the tomb.
"What? What does it mean?" Elena asked them.
"You are not a doppelgänger, Nat. Just as Emiliya wasn't one."
"Stop."
"They know you, they will be looking for you. He will be looking for you."
"Shut up."
"But he won't hurt you, he wouldn't dare. He has loved you for centuries and he will not rest until he finds you."
"Stop it, Katerina!"
"You're not Iliana or Emiliya's doppelgänger!"
"Shut up Katerina, just stop!" She cried out. Elena looked at her in surprise before she saw tears falling down her face.
"You know Nat, deep down you know it's true. Ask yourself about what's been happening and you'll have your answer." She looked at her one last time before going back inside the tomb. Natalia sobbed quietly, refusing to accept it. But Katherine was right. Deep down she knew what she said made sense, it explained her dreams and her being comfortable with Katherine. She felt Elena touch her shoulder and turn her around.
"What was that Nat? What did she mean?" She took a deep breath and looked at her sister.
"She was right." Nat said quietly. "I am not a doppelgänger like you and her, I have never been."
"Then what are you?" Elena asked afraid of the answer.
"I am Iliana, Emiliya and Natalia." She saw her confused stare and dreaded the next part. "I was reborn as Emiliya and now as Natalia. I am reincarnated." She said before crying again.
"Elena? Nat?" Stefan's voice came from behind them. They turned around and saw him walking down the stairs. After a while, Nat had calmed down and told Elena they would talk later in the house. They were already gathering their stuff when Stefan arrived.
"Stefan, what are you doing here?" Elena asked in surprise.
"I could ask you the same question." He said, looking in between the twins. But Nat just stared at the wall numbly.
"Caroline told you." Elena realized.
"No, she kept your secret. But it didn't take long for me to figure out what was so important that you'd have to keep it from me."
"I knew that you'd stop me." She sighed. Stefan took her hands and stepped closer.
"Listen to me, whatever she said to you is a lie. Do not listen to her. She's a liar, Elena."
"What if she isn't?! You didn't hear what she said." Elena told him exasperated.
"You don't have to worry, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you." He reassured her.
"That's the problem. You won't but you'll die trying. How's that any better?" They heard a noise coming from the tomb and saw Katherine come out.
"There's nothing you can do Stefan. I haven't even told you the best part of the story." She paused, looking at Nat before continuing. "He killed them, my entire family, just to get back at me for running. Whatever you do to escape Klaus, he will get his vengeance on your friends, your family and anyone that you've ever loved.
"No, look at me." He says to Elena. "No, do not listen to her, okay?"
"Always the protector, but even you must realize that she's doomed. There's nothing you can do to stop it. Unless of course, you have this." She said, showing them the moonstone.
"What?" Elena says stepping closer.
"Oh no, there it is. It's the ultimate lie, isn't it? You spun this whole thing so that we would have to get the stone from you, didn't you?" Stefan told her.
"I didn't spin anything, Stefan. It's the truth."
"No, let me guess. You want to trade that stone for your freedom, you manipulative, psychotic bitch."
"My freedom?" Katherine scoffed. "That's where you're wrong Stefan. I don't want my freedom. Because when Klaus shows up to kill us all, and he will, I'll be in the tomb, where no vampire will enter because they can't get out. I'll be the safest psychotic bitch in town." She then looked at Nat. "After Nat of course." She smirked one last time before going back inside. Nat glares at her and exhales. She looks up and sees that Stefan is already looking at her confused because of Katherine's words.
"I'm done here, let's go." She says, before climbing up the stairs.
They got out of the car and heard Stefan behind them. As they got closer to the door, Nat turned to Elena.
"I'll leave you two alone. Goodnight Stefan." She didn't wait for his answer before hurriedly going inside. Thankfully she didn't bump into Jenna or Jeremy, so she got to her room quickly. As soon as she closed the door the tears just fell. They didn't stop and Nat just threw herself on the bed. She didn't care how loud she was being, she felt awful.
So there she had the truth and Katherine was right. Of course she was. It broke her emotionally. She couldn't handle it. It was too much. She didn't just look like Iliana or Emiliya, she was them. Her dreams? They weren't dreams, they were memories. They were slowly coming back, making her doubt everything about her current life.
No .
She wouldn't give up. She would cry now, but tomorrow she was going to look for a way to stop her memory lapses and her drea- her memories.
She heard the door opening and immediately knew it was Elena. She sat down on the bed and stroked her hair softly.
"Do you really believe her?" Elena asked quietly. Nat turned her body and looked at Elena.
"I know it sounds crazy Lena, but it's true. How else can we explain my weird dreams? My memory lapses? My sudden knowledge of bulgarian?" Elena looked at her and sighed before nodding. "Today I'll cry, but tomorrow I'll find a way for this to stop. I can't live like this. I'm slowly losing my mind and I won't be able to handle it."
"Tomorrow." Elena nodded. She laid down next to Nat and after a few minutes, both girls had fallen asleep.