Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries / The Originals, or any of the characters, plot-lines, dialogues from the shows or books

However, I do own Catherine Matthews/ my very own Katherine Peirce, her backstory, the storyline, and any additional characters that do not belong to The Vampire Diaries or The Originals. Characters in this story may not have the same opinion as you. These characters are all fictional.

"I go away for five minutes, and everything goes to shit," I bellowed into the phone.

"How would I know that Bonnie will screw up?" Stefan tried to push the blame. But, I am not going to let him off the hook that easily. How dare they ask for my help on the verge of doomsday? If they have told about it a little earlier, this might have not even happened.

"Well, it's Bonnie. She is a novice witch, without any guidance, or mentor," I couldn't help but scoff at the lame reasoning. "What do you think was going to happen?"

Stefan sighed, "Look, Damon said you may know a few things about the Other Side. So, can you just...help us?" and continued after a pause, "Please."

"Fine," I snapped, "Just give me some time," with that, I hung up the phone.

"What got you in the mood?" The Greek witch asked, sprinkling few extra chocolate chips in the cookie dough she is trying to prepare.

"They screwed up, again," I muttered, clenching my fists. "Bonnie Bennett brought the Baby Gilbert back from the dead when he died in a crossfire between the police and vampires."

"At what price?" Melantha asked knowingly, as she took a small amount of dough to check the taste. And then, added two more drops of vanilla essence when she decided it's not sweet enough.

"Well, Jeremy is seeing his dead girlfriends, for one," I said, and she nodded, asking me to continue, "And in doing so, Bonnie cracked the door open to Other Side."

"And..." Melantha drawled, as she placed small balls of dough on the cookie sheet.

"And, when Bonnie learned about it, she did a ritual to send the ex-dead-girlfriend back, only for it to backfire in her face. If I am correct, the original witch is using this to her advantage by opening the door wide open, and she is giving a free pass to all the ghosts to complete their unfinished business," I elaborated.

"And, what is this witch getting in return?" The former witch questioned, as she placed the tray in the preheated oven.

"Satisfaction. Balance in nature. Esther doesn't want Klaus to create more hybrids, and for him to not do that, Elena must die. No doppelganger blood; no more hybrids," I tried to explain it as much as possible.

"Do you know how to close the door, then?" Melantha asked calmly, setting the temperature.

"Yes. They have to destroy Esther's talisman. The Original witch is using it to draw power from this side. Or, that's what they say in the show," I said, shaking my head to clear my thoughts.

"Then what's the problem. Why do you seem so troubled?" the white-haired witch asked, confused at my irate behavior.

"Because, this is not supposed to happen for another two months, or so. And I don't know how many spirits came back from the other side. Nor do I know, if they are bad-mouthing about me...the real Katherine. I kinda worked hard for them to trust me, you know. I don't want some dead spirit screwing it up," I said. What if I slipped up about my true self when there was some spirit watching over me. Or, what if someone started bitching about the real Katherine Peirce by now. Let's not forget the tragic death of Lucy Bennett, which I had my hand in. Or, Emily Bennett, who died because of the canon Katherine Peirce. All the work I did to gain allies could go down the drain, in a snap.

"If someone talked bad about you, they wouldn't have called you for help. Also, didn't you say the hybrid wasn't supposed to create more of him, until, a little longer in the timeline? Maybe since you rushed things up, the opposite party did the same." Melantha said, shaking me out of my pessimistic thoughts.

"You are probably right," I said, releasing a sigh. "Maybe, I am reading too much into this."

It felt good to share my dilemmas. Not caring about what the other person thinks, or that they could betray you in the end.

"I know," sassed the old witch, as she washed her hands.

I rolled my eyes, choosing not to argue with her. I dialed back Stefan's number. Ready to give some advice to the noobs.

"You are fast," was the greeting I received.

"Well, desperate times call for desperate measures," I replied.

"So, what should we do?" Stefan asked hurriedly.

"Is Bonnie with you?" I asked, instead.

"Yeah. Just a second, I will put you on speaker," he murmured, and continued after a pause, "Yep. She can hear you."

"Alright, Bon Bon. Follow my instructions," I said aloud, "The Other Side is created by your distant ancestors. There must be some kind of spell in your grimoire that's written about the manifestation spell that's used to reveal the veiled matter."

"Oh! I saw it somewhere," the Bennett witch said, there was a commotion, "Just a second," sound of page-turnings, "Got it!" the witch exclaimed.

"What's the veiled matter?" I heard someone question.

"Ghosts," was Bonnie's short reply.

"Alright, now there must be a witch helping the ghosts. And since you said most of them are after Elena's life, my guess is that the Original witch is the one that's pulling the strings," I said.

"Original Witch," I heard Damon question, "Is this that Qetsiyah chick you were talking about?"

"No. Original witch, as in the mother of Original vampires," I corrected the older Salvatore brother.

"Klaus's mum wants Elena dead?" Another familiar voice questioned.

"Yes, Caroline. She hates him. Probably didn't want him to create more hybrids. Another reason why everyone seems to want Elena dead. No doppelganger means no more hybrids," I answered the blonde girl.

"Great! More, Original's business," I heard Damon's comment.

"So, how do I put an end to this?" Bonnie questioned over the noise in the boarding house.

"Right," I said, clearing my throat, "Normally, witches use the talisman to channel their power from, and if my guess is right, the talisman of the Original witch is probably hanging around Elena's neck."

There was silence for a while.

"But, Stefan gave me this necklace with vervain in it," Elena's voice was small. But still clear.

"And, where do you think he got it from?" was my sarcastic retort.

"Katherine," I heard Stefan sigh, "What aren't you saying?"

This time I stayed silent, not knowing what I have to say.

"Let Bonnie do the spell first, alright? I will answer your questions when there are no more ghosts to worry about," I said, dancing on my toes.

"Fine. But, you are not getting out of this easily," Silas doppelganger said, hanging up the call.

And Exactly, 18 minutes later, I received another phone call.

"How did it go?" I asked, my mind running wild with many possibilities.

"Great," Stefan replied. "The chains melted down. Ghosts are gone."

"Good," I said, "So, did you see Lexi again?"

"Yes, actually," Stefan said, surprised by the question. "She's been watching over me instead of finding peace. I am pretty sure she is around me even right now."

"Must be laughing her ass off whenever you guys muck up," I said with a smile and heard him chuckle. "Rose must be thrilled to see a familiar face."

"Yeah," Stefan said, "Woman, definitely, had a lot of things to say."

"Let me guess; How crazy are you to team up with the girl who ruined your life, Stefan?" I suggested. When I heard a laugh from the broody vampire, I continued, "Oh, wait! How dumb are you to believe whatever she says?"

"No," Stefan said with another chuckle.

"Well, something nastier then," I said, "I know how much she hates my guts."

"Actually, it was something entirely different," the younger Salvatore said. "Lexi said she would've loved to meet you in person."

"Oh!" I mumbled, shocked at the answer. I cleared my throat and asked, "Is that her way of wishing me dead?" I wondered aloud. I mean, that's probably the only way I can meet a ghost in person.

"No, Katherine," and I could literally see him, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, if we are done with dodging the real reason I called you for..."

"It's not that I don't want to say," I interrupted the Ripper of Monterey, "It's just, Klaus would be pissed at me for saying it."

"What's Klaus gotta do with a piece of jewelry," Stefan asked, "Other than the fact that it's his mum's. Actually, why do I have his mother's necklace?"

"You and Klaus were besties, Stefan," I spilled the news.

"Excuse me," Stefan sputtered out.

Well, it's not every day you hear news like that.

"You dated his sister, Stefan," I continued before he could choke to death.

"Oh, boy," I heard someone mutter on the other end. Probably, Damon.

"Sorry," Stefan came out of the stupor, and asked, "Did you say, I dated Klaus's sister, and was in cahoots with the psychotic hybrid?"

"Yup," I said, downing my daily dose of vervain, hissing at the acid sensation.

"No, Katherine," Stefan said, not believing a thing that came out of my mouth, "I mean, don't you think I would've remembered."

"Well, you are obviously compelled to forget about it," I stated in a solemn tone, gulping a small amount of blood. To try, and ease the pain vervain caused.

"And, you didn't think I have to know about this," Stefan exclaimed.

"Hey," I said, "It's Klaus. He obviously wanted you to forget about everything, who am I to object that."

"So, where did this necklace come in the middle of this?" Stefan asked.

I racked my brain, trying to remember why Klaus compelled Stefan to forget about them, but no matter how hard I tried, it's just blank. Just like a lot of memories, I tried to remember.

"Katherine, are you there?" Stefan's voice forced me out of the stupor.

"Yes," I said, clearing my thoughts. "It's just, some of my memories are blank, " I mumbled, "Klaus compelled some of my memories, I don't know of about what, or who."

Stefan, ever the saint, enquired softly, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I just need to find a witch to do the spell, so I can get back my memories," I said, throwing the blood bag in the trash can.

"There's a spell for that?" Stefan asked incredulously.

"Trust me, there's a spell for everything somewhere. You just have to find hard enough," I said. I turned around to see, Melantha finishing up her work, and getting ready to sleep. "Anyways, as I was saying, you were friends with Klaus in the '20s. Klaus's sister, Rebekah, was quite taken with you, or you know the Ripper you. But, something happened during that time, and he compelled you to forget everything about them. I think there was a fight. The Police came firing in, with wooden bullets. After the fight ended, you found Rebekah's necklace on the ground. The blonde must've lost it in the commotion. And, you kept it later, I guess...as a symbol of hope."

"Yeah. I found it during my darkest times, and the necklace represented hope when I made it through that. That's..."Stefan trailed off. "That's wow!"

"Yes. Wow, for the lack of a better word," I agreed with him. "But, I must tell you, Rebekah loves that necklace a lot. She had it for over a thousand years as a remembrance of her dead mother. You are lucky, Klaus daggered her otherwise, she would've come for Elena's head."

"Absolutely, I will be sure to not mention it if I ever see female Klaus," Stefan agreed.

"Have you told Klaus about today's event?" I asked.

"I am about to call him now," the youngest Salvatore said, and I nodded my head.

"Alright, It's getting late for me. I am going to bed," I said.

"Yeah. Thanks, Katherine, for all the help," Stefan said, but I cut him off.

"No problem. Just the next time there's something apocalyptic happening, be sure to give me a call as soon as possible," I said.

"You got it."

As soon as I cut the call, I turned towards Melantha.

"Hey, Oldie. I am stepping out now," I said, walking towards the hanger, and slipping on my coat, "Get a good night rest, alright? I will come in the morning."

"Yeah, yeah," the greek witch murmured. "And, you go straight to your hotel, alright?"

"I hear you," I said, placing a kiss on her cheek. With that, I stepped out of her house in the cold night.

Nevertheless, I didn't go straight to the hotel as I promised to Melantha. And, since sleep isn't my priority as a vampire, I decided to enjoy the nightlife of Athens. However, forty-five minutes into the night, I realized how terrible my idea was.

"Hello, love. Long time no see," an unfortunately similar voice said, sliding into the seat next to me.

"Lucien," I greeted, downing my drink in one go, praying for everything above, to provide me with some patience and strength to deal with the upcoming conversation.

Rivalry with Lucien Castle is something I don't want at the moment, nor do I desire it. I lack the resources and contacts. And information on a lot of things as the show focused on only a few of them.

"Came to grab a bite?" The charming psychopath asked, his eyes roaming about the club.

"To think over few things, actually," I said, gesturing for the bartender to refill my drink.

"Care to share?" the older vampire said. And, something told me, he is not going to leave anytime soon.

"Have you ever felt this itch in your mind, telling you that something is missing but the next second you feel like everything is okay," when I saw Lucien's blank look, I tried to explain in detail, "Klaus took something from me before giving me my freedom. There's this missing piece of memory, and I know I am missing it because a lot of connecting memories have holes in them. But, every time I try to think a little more about it, my thoughts start to wander to something meaningless, and I forget that my priority was to be finding the missing piece."

I couldn't contain the anger I was experiencing. It just gets frustrating over time, and all I could do was slam the glass in my hand on the bar countertop in retaliation. I know I am missing something vital about Klaus...like the information as to why Klaus erased Stefan's memory. I am sure they showed the reason behind it in the show, but no matter how much I rack my brains, I can't remember it.

"I get it," the voice next to my ear shook me out of my thoughts. I glanced at the older vampire next to me, "The feeling. I am very similar to that, actually. I lost a century to that wretched compulsion. And when I finally got free of it, it was as if someone peeled off my skin. I lost everything of who I was and what I would become in a single moment."

"You got it bad, huh," I said. Because I know how it felt. You don't know about it unless you feel and experience it first hand. And, Lucien experienced it for a hundred years, running from someone because Elijah compelled him to believe he is someone else. I can't think what Lucien underwent when he realized he wasted a century of his life believing he is a Mikaelson.

"I should be in New Orleans by now, trying to find a witch or siphoner to remove the compulsion. But yet, here I am drinking in a club far away from where I should be," I said, running my finger over the rim of glass I was holding.

"I can help you with that," Lucien said, looking at me, "There's a witch I know."

"Mhmm," I hummed. Lucien is a true Slytherin. Cunning, Ambitious. He won't help unless he gets something in return. "And, what is it that you want, if I were to accept your offer."

"Hmm, now why would you think that," he drawled, "You know, I am a philanthropist. I am quietly noted for my charity work."

When I didn't twitch a single muscle and stared blankly at him, he sighed, "Fine. I do want something in return - Information."

"Information; about what?" I asked, cocking my eyebrow.

"The information you were compelled to forget about," said Lucien, taking a sip from his glass. "I want to know whatever Klaus didn't want you to know."

"You want revenge for what they did to you," I concluded. Before the vampire could say anything, I continued, "Look. Your offer is tempting. But I just got my freedom after being on the run for 500 years, and I am in no mood for having an enraged Klaus on my back again. I just want the stupid memory, so I can spend my undead life without any void in the head. I want no part in your revenge," I stood up, and paid for my tab.

"I don't want revenge against Nik," said Lucien, "Time heals all the wounds, and the compulsion was Elijah's fault, anyway. Nonetheless, I only want information because I desire to be an all-knowing being."

"Well, that's good. Because, I think, killing originals will in return kill the entire sire line," when Lucien looked surprised at that, I continued. I wanted Lucien to first unlink the sire line before he can take any hasty decisions. Even though the Trinity waited until season 3 of The Originals tv show, I didn't want to take any chances. Not after experiencing the change in timeline today with the ghosts. And maybe this will put a little doubt in their heads.

"I don't know the accuracy behind this. I just came up with it, as daggering an Original will uncompel all the members he compelled before it. What's to say their lifeline is linked to every vampire they turned by their blood? From what I heard, Esther Mikaelson is a bitch. She must've created a loophole when she turned her children. Kill one of her children, and half the abominations will go down with them. I mean, today she gave a free will to every ghost on Other Side to kill my human doppelganger so Klaus can't create more hybrids."

"Ghosts?" Lucien asked incredulously.

"We are the undead blood vacuums, and you don't believe in ghosts?" I shot back. "But yes, Ghosts visited Mystic Falls just today. And I helped a novice Bennett witch put a stop to it. It wasn't pretty."

"But, as I said, it's all just a theory," I said, turning towards the vampire who is clenching his fists, mulling over the new information. I sighed, and said, "But for whatever it's worth, I am sorry for what you endured. I could say I know how it feels, but I don't. What I feel is like a drop in your ocean."

"It was nice meeting you, Lucien," I said, looking at the vampire in his formal outfit. "I have a feeling, I will be seeing you again," I gave him my card, "I thought since I have your number, you should have mine. But don't call me for therapist advice."

I grabbed him in a quick hug, not caring if he stiffened at the touch, and left the night club. My mind already preparing an itinerary for my trip to New Orleans.