[ fic ] the latest in your art of war ; caroline/katherine, the vampire diaries
She likes the poetry of Caroline.
It could have been anyone, really, but she chooses the other friend, the hospital-bed-ridden blonde with the annoyingly perky demeanor practically begging to be spoiled. Tainted.
Katherine’s always had a knack for tainting, leaving toxic fingerprints on everything she touches.
But when she kills Caroline, she does so without ever once touching her.
This is poetic, remember?
It’s the face of her friend, a face she’s grown up with, on a woman that is most definitely not Elena Gilbert. The mixed friendship and jealousy that Elena inspires in her are bad enough - she doesn’t know what she’s supposed to think now, what to associate with this new person with the same face.
“We’re going to have so much fun together.”
Everyone seems to expect something different from her now; she shouldn’t be surprised that Katherine too has a plan in mind. She can’t help seeing Elena when she looks at her, the Elena who was always chosen over her, the Elena who was always everyone’s first choice, now smiling a smile that speaks of secrecy, wanting her to be in on whatever this is.
She really shouldn’t but she feels a little bit flattered - okay, a lot flattered. She should be terrified - and maybe a part of her is - but the way that Katherine says those words makes a clear that it was never her intention to kill Caroline, merely to turn her, make her into what she herself is: more than human, more than normal. Special. It’s like she’s been chosen for the most elite of all secret societies - pledged to the very best sorority. It’s ridiculous, but she’s always needed to be special and she can’t help the way her eyes light up at the thought of being ‘chosen’, nor the way she wets her lips slowly, tilts her head.
“What’s the plan?”
She can hear her own excitement.
There’s something so amusing about having a spy right under their noses - even more amusing that the spy would be this girl, who screams anything but ‘subtle’. Katherine, arms crossed by the window, listens to the day’s news from Caroline, sitting cross-legged on her bed. The blonde babbles about Elena saying this and Stefan saying that and even though none of it is all that useful, she makes sure to remember every word, just in case.
She can tell there’s a certain unease in Caroline - her flickering eyes and the way she licks her lips over and over betray her. It’s clear that a part of her is uncomfortable with lying to her friends, but she’s here anyway, making the smart choice by doing as Katherine says, and the vampire applauds her inwardly. She might not appear to be the brightest bulb but at least she’s got good instincts.
It’s funny how she looks up eagerly, as if for praise - like a puppy, Katherine thinks scornfully - as she finishes her stories. Needing to know that she’s doing the right thing, always needing approval.
She’s trying to win Caroline over here, so she gives the approval - in the form of a soft kiss on a very startled pair of lips, before she laughs and darts away so fast it’s as if she disappeared.
Seduction always was her favourite game when it came to affairs like these; why should lonely, little Caroline be any different?
“I tried!”
It’s almost a whine, and she has to fight to correct herself, spitting the words out again more assertively: “I tried.” It’s not her fault that Elena decided no force on heaven or earth was going to stop her from getting to Stefan’s house. Caroline listed off the many, many problems with her friend’s relationship in the hopes of souring the mood, and when that failed she even trashed their ride. She tried.
Katherine’s eyes are too narrowed for there to be any chance she might still see reason. There’s a hiss from the vampire, then she’s blurred across the bathroom, slamming Caroline up against the wall, her delicate fingers gripping the blonde around her throat.
“Well, I’m trying not to lose my patience,” she says in a low voice, lips spreading knowingly as she tilts her head, as if she could ever look innocent. “Are you saying I should just give up on that?”
Caroline swallows, fights down the mixture of anger and fear. “No,” she chokes out, shaking her head as much as she can. “N-no, I just-” She’s stammering, and Katherine releases her, watches her slump again the wall and shakes her head contemptuously.
It’s the perfect opportunity - Caroline throws herself forward, catching the older vampire completely by surprise as she flies into her, knocking them both to the ground across the room.
And Katherine thought she was so utterly cowed.
The brunette’s on her feet on an instant - quicker than Caroline. She crouches over the other girl, eyes darkening with a rush of anger, veins standing out around them. She can feel her fangs visible.
“Surprise, surprise,” she hisses. “The weakling’s not as terrified as I thought.” She leans in closer, wets her lips. “Not as terrified as she should be.”
How she’d love to teach this one just exactly how terrified she should be.
Caroline’s shivering, regretting her impulsive move even though the anger that prompted it is still burning just as painfully. But Katherine’s already killed her once; she could easily kill her again.
She should probably rule out ‘impulsive’ at this point but Katherine looks like she wants nothing more than to rip Caroline’s heart out right then and there, and the blonde doesn’t think, merely acts as desperately as she always does. Pushes her head up closer to Katherine’s, presses her lips to the other girls’ just like Katherine kissed her last night.
She can’t remember the last time she was caught so completely by surprise.
She hates it, of course, hates that Caroline is able to surprise her. A low growl against the other girl’s mouth, then she’s yanking her up to her feet by her pretty golden curls, lips curving into a smirk that remains pressed against Caroline’s lips. The other girl’s sharp cry of pain is muffled by her own mouth.
Her hands have moved up to grab at Katherine’s hair, plunging into the brown curls and pulling on them ever so slightly in retaliation. Bad move: her back suddenly slams against the door of a stall, the door swings open and she falls against the inner wall, somehow still attached to Katherine.
This isn’t how she was supposed to prove herself but she’s caught up in the dizzying rush of it, an honest-to-god moan escaping her. She pushes against Katherine experimentally, feeling weak as soon as she tries. Teeth bite down on her lip, iron hands grip her waist and push back. She all but crumples against the wall. Stupid, stupid impulse has her pushing right back again, determined to win some ground, and to her surprise she manages to turn them around, slamming Katherine into the wall with a savage little sound, but as soon as she does there’s a growl from the other vampire and she’s being thrown away. She hits the floor, slides into the base of the far wall.
She manages to pull herself into a sitting position, shoulders shaking as Katherine saunters over.
But all the other girl has for her is a weighted warning: “Don’t disappoint me again, Caroline.”
She only allows herself to swallow once Katherine’s left the bathroom, the door banging behind her. She swallows and raises a hand to her sore, swollen lips. There’s a smudge of blood on her finger when she lowers it.
It says what Katherine didn’t need to say: Or else.
It’s as if she can hear the adrenaline running through her veins. Is it morbid of her to wonder how it would taste? Katherine licks her lips, smiling wickedly to herself as she leaves Caroline without another glance. Odd, that she’s actually feeling pleased now that the other girl has managed to surprise her such. With the exception of today’s failure to keep Elena away from the boarding house, the little blonde’s been exceeding any expectations she ever had for her.
She almost wishes that other girl won’t be dead when this is all over.
She likes the poetry of Caroline.