There's something wrong about the house. Harry knows it already and he's not even to her street yet. Katerina's smart, but he made sure to get rid of anything she could use to shield herself from the sun while she was still partially dead. Katerina can't possibly have gotten out already unless...

Brief memories of their fight flood his eyes and immediately he starts running back to the house in a blur of motion that only a few neighborhood kids catch as they're finishing up a game of basketball.

Harry breaks the front door off its hinges and sends the wood flying into the living room wall. The curtains are all open and she's sending him a message. She's going to do what she wants and she doesn't care.

During their fight, she distracted him with her thoughts long enough to take the ring from his pocket without his notice.

He's pissed at himself for slipping up like that, but it's too late to do anything now. She's already gone and so is the moment he slipped up. Katerina could be anywhere by now. Only five minutes have passes since he left, but she knows she can move faster and that he'll be looking.

Warm rays of sunlight are gradually fading away into soft and silvery moonlight. The air has started to cool and the city is steadily falling into a rush of activity as the morning workers head in for the night and the evening workers ready themselves for a long night.

There are too many people out.

If he doesn't find her soon, there's going to be a massacre and it will be his fault because he wasn't careful enough after she turned.

Laughter and meaningless conversations fill his ears. Too many people are talking and there is too much noise. Finding Katerina is going to be a challenge he wasn't anticipating until much later.

A couple down the street is fighting and blocking nearly all other noise from his highly sensitive ears. Harry groans and flies out of the house in a panic. In his haste to get out, he runs into the mailbox and smashes it. The small metal box is a crumpled mess on the ground and splinters from the wood that held it up are scattered in his clothes and under his skin.

Someone screams. Harry immediately changes direction and pushes his legs to their maximum speed. Who knows how many people she's already killed and he hopes he can at least save this one.

Houses fade away in colorful blurs and trees that have withstood the strain of time and manmade devices take their place. More chatter and laughter fills his ears, blending with the sounds of cars and machinery as the city refuses to rest its head on the soft light of the moon for a night.

Now that he's made it to the forest, the farther he goes, the more natural sounds become prevalent. Birds are chirping everywhere, twigs snap with the slightest breeze, water gurgles and bubbles as if it's taking it's dying breath, and teenagers share excited conversation as they pass around illegal substances and alcohol they shouldn't be drinking.

Women's voices catch his attention and he pauses his sprint towards an unknown destination. He's still too far away to really make a distinction between vocal tones, but he strains his ears to listen anyway.

"I've got something you haven't tried before."

"Really? And what would that be?"

"Come with me and I'll show you. I keep a stash hidden over there."

"This better be good."

"Trust me, it will be."

Similarities with Katerina's voice pinch at his conscious and he still isn't close enough to be sure that it's her. She's changed tremendously and even her speech patterns have adjusted to the new personality.

Cautiously, he springs forward a few meters to definitively identify the voice as hers. If he's not right, he's going to cause a scene and have to catch and wipe a lot of memories. Voices rise and fall in volume like an orchestra piece as he draws closer, hiding himself between trees and heavy foliage.

Trained eyes focus carefully on each profile around the awfully small fire. He's been looking for far too long and the sun has already kissed the sky goodnight and there isn't enough light to see properly, even with heightened senses.

"Well, where is it?"

Silence follows before the unknown woman screams and starts begging her attacker to stop. Harry can hear the blood rushing out of veins and being swallowed greedily and he nearly smacks into a tree as he runs toward the sounds.

He's not concerned that she'll hear him because she doesn't know what it sounds like when vampires run. They're not like humans and don't make as much noise and it almost sounds as if there's a gentle breeze.

Katerina's far too consumed with the warm sensation flooding her veins to even notice anything else around her. She's already fed on three others and left them dead and without much blood in their systems at all, and this woman will be no different.

She's managed to pull the woman to an area that's littered with large, sharp rocks and Harry's not paying too much attention as he runs toward her. For a moment, he does pretty well avoiding them, but then his boot snags the edge of one and he tumbles toward two pairs of legs.

With limited options, he reaches his hands out and pulls both of them to the ground. The woman screams again and he mumbles an apology as he pushes Katerina off of her and into the rapidly darkening forest.

"Get off me!"

Katerina punches at him and tries to get a grip on any part of his clothing to give herself some leverage. She frees an arm and her fist kisses his jaw in a very unfriendly manner.

Bones crack and Harry grimaces, but he doesn't lose focus. She's going to be difficult, so he's going to have to be rough with her even though he really doesn't want to.

"God damn it, stop!"

He hasn't pinned her legs very much and she manages to wiggle one free and send him flying into a tree twenty feet away.

"Fuck off, Harry."

Katerina's pinned against a larger tree before she can blink. He's got her arms pinned behind her and enough pressure on her legs so she can't break free. Piercing green eyes tear into her and, despite her hard-ass demeanor, she's having trouble not squirming.

She's never seen him this enraged and, while it's incredibly hot, it's scary as hell. "Shut up and listen to me. This isn't who you are and I'm going to make damn sure that you realize that or I'll kill you myself. Fuck feelings, Katerina. If you want to be like this, then fine. I'll have to settle for another fucking eternity knowing that I let you die."

There's nothing she has to say in response and he adds more pressure as he adds, "Stay right fucking there or I'll kill you right where you stand."

The teenager she attacked is trying to limp away as quickly and quietly as possible. Anger that makes him want to return to tearing people limb from limb mixes with sympathy and he can't leave her with her injuries because he fucked up his lover.

He runs in front of her and places his hands on her shoulders as gently as he can to stop her. She screams again and he frowns. "I'm not going to hurt you. Let me help you."

Panic settles rapidly as she watches his pupils expand as he speaks, "Now, I'm going to give you something to heal you, and you're going to forget that any of this ever happened. You were with friends in the woods and you wandered off to get some drugs and the girl ditched you so you came back. That's it and nothing more, okay?"

She nods carefully and he removes his hand, bites his wrist and brings it to her lips. He instructs her gently while he glares over her shoulder to make sure Katerina hasn't tried to run away again.

"Be careful and go back to your friends, they're waiting on you."

Harry waits until she's made it rather far away to return to Katerina. His fingers curl around her arm with a nearly bone crushing pressure. "Don't make me hurt you, because I will."

Katerina's lips roll together and form a relatively straight line. He's treating her like a child, but she knows not to test him because he will hold his word. He's always kept his word.

Darkness falls upon them and covers them in a blanket of cool air. Harry's jaw throbs as it heals itself and his insistence to keep his jaw clenched in anger isn't helping. Katerina's staring at him and he knows that if he drops the anger, she'll just fight him again.

There's a place out of town that Alistair kept him in when he was murderous and unwilling to change any of his patterns, and he's taking Katerina there in a last-ditch attempt to keep her in one place and awaken her mind again.

Unfortunately, he has to walk in order to keep her in tow and they're making incredibly slow progress. She's not in a pleasant mood either and every now and again she'll make a snarky comment about how they're in the woods and how much she loves walking.

Hours pass with heavy silence and the sound of their footsteps are piercing. Katerina's pulling against his arm and he's seconds away from yelling at her again. He understands that she isn't the woman he fell in love with, but it's still hard to maintain a certain level of harshness with her.

Bias is killing him inside. Alistair said he would help and all he's done is provide him with a place to keep her and chains to restrain her like she's a savage. Katerina's going to hate him more than she already does.

Crunching leaves and brittle twigs are replaced by hollow rocks and Katerina's looking at him in disbelief before they even make it into the makeshift holding cell.

"Are you kidding me?"

Harry shakes his head and increases the grip on her wrist, "No. You're going to massacre the whole town if you're on your own."

Katerina stops walking and pulls her wrist back with as much force as she's capable of. "Fuck that. You're not keeping me chained up like an animal."

She's not as strong as he is and won't be for a long time, but he stops anyway and lets her believe she has some leverage.

"That's not what I'm doing."

"Then what the fuck are you doing?"

Green eyes search hers for a long moment, deciding on which answer to tell her to convince her that he's not treating her like an animal. That's the last thing he wants to do, but he has to chain her to a chair so she won't attack him and go on another killing spree.

Harry knows that she's already killed more than two people and he knows that she's locked her emotions ten thousand miles underground and thrown away the key.

"Psychology."

Katerina glares at him as he tugs her forward, "That's not going to work."

"Don't care. I'm still going to try."

She doesn't sit so easily once they're inside and he's trying to get her into the chair. Harry ends up throwing her into another wall and closing his hand around her throat. "Stop fighting me. You're always going to lose. Get in the chair."

Katerina does as she's told with a grimace. Heavy chains snap around her wrists and her ankles, the chains echoing against the bare, rock walls with each little movement.

"Why are you doing this?"

The last shackle closes and he tucks the key in his pocket carefully, "I made you a promise that I intend to keep."

"What promise?"

Harry's features soften tremendously as he looks up and lets the chains settle, "To bring you back to yourself before it's too late."

Silence consumes the air as Harry takes a few steps back and sits against the furthest wall. "Do you remember anything in a positive light? Anything at all?"

Katerina remembers lots of things, but half of them don't have the significance that they had while she was a different person. She remembers how he used to frighten her because he appeared in her dreams and then turned out to be a real person. She remembers the marks on her skin when she woke up and how they would fade and disappear by the next day. She remembers how he kissed her and how he loved her on her terms instead of his. And she remembers how he fought for her despite what it meant in the end.

Those memories don't mean much to her now. She's not the same person and it's glaringly obvious. Harry's just another face to her and he doesn't matter.

"I remember all of it, just not like you want me to. Feels like someone else's memories and none of them are important to me."

He nods and the anger in his face cracks and slowly dissolves the longer that he looks at her, "They are yours though and they're important to me. They're important to you too, you just have to come back to them."

Katerina doesn't answer and he pushes again, "Think harder. Go to a place inside yourself and find the switch. That's all you need to do."

"Fuck the switch. I'm not her anymore, Harry. She's not coming back."

Harry flies across the room, his hands placed over the metal shackles and his forest green eyes searing her darker ones, "Fuck your attitude. You will come back because I promised you would. This isn't a game, Kat."

"Don't call me that."

"Why not?"

Katerina springs forward in the chair but the chains hold her back and the bolts in the floor are stronger than she thought. "You know why not!"

A smile appears and he masks it quickly, "Of course I do, Kat."

She flings forward again and the chair shifts an inch as the chains rattle like gunfire in their ears. "You stupid son of a bitch! You won't even give me a fair fight! Fuck you!"

Eased features slide back to rage and polished granite, "If I gave you a fair fight I'd kill you!"

Voices rise like the tide, "Do it then! Kill me and get it over with!"

"No! God damn it!"

Katerina falls silent for a moment, contemplating her next move. Her volume dims significantly and the corners of her lips lift in a sinister smile, "She didn't really love you."

Harry's eyes harden like ice, "Then what did she love?"

Dark eyes roam slowly to the front of his jeans and her smile becomes a smirk, "Your dick, obviously."

Harry rolls his eyes, "Yeah, I'm sure that was it."

An owl hoots from a tree outside and Katerina's eyes roam. There's no way he's going to let her go until some miraculous change happens, so why not make him think that one has?

Soft lips tremble and dark eyes grow a shiny coating, "Harry, I'm scared."

He's hesitant for a moment and Katerina adds, "I don't want to be like that anymore. Those people...I..."

Warm fingertips skim over her cheeks and green eyes soften dramatically, "Oh, Kat.... No, that won't happen now that you're back. Only if you want it to."

The key emerges from his pocket and she slips a few tears out just to make it a little more believable. He's just unlocked her feet when she gets tired of acting and kicks him with enough force to send him into the rock wall on the other side of the room and create hairline fractures on his bones and the wall.

"Oh, I want it to. I want it bad."

Harry slumps down on the wall and doesn't bother to get back up. Fighting with her like this is exhausting and he's not sure if he can keep his promise anymore. "Fine, then have it. I'll leave instead. Breaking my promise isn't worth sticking around for anyway. Another eternity of poisoned love isn't worth it."

She can't tell if he's faking it or not.

"Oh, for Christ's sake, just fucking kill me."

"I can't."

"Why the fuck not?"

He's across the room and standing inches away from her face before she can decide what she wants to do next. "Because I can't live with myself, even in hell, if I take away the life of another of my lovers. I can't but you make me want to because you made me promise and you won't even try!"

Now's her chance. Katerina grips the right arm of the chair as hard as she can and pulls it with her as she springs forward and crashes into the empty side of the room with Harry beneath her.

"That's really too bad."

The chair was made out of wood and it split and splintered well enough for her to use it as a stake. Harry's eyes are calm as he watches her plunge the rough wood into his chest. Soft green irises widen slightly as pain rockets through every inch of his body.

Something snaps inside of Katerina and the anger and distaste in everything that involves Harry evaporates and blends with the air before her eyes. Her hands fall from the chair's severed arm and tremble as they find Harry's cheeks.

"Harry...I...oh my god. I didn't-Harry please. H-Harry..."

Tears roll down her cheeks like raindrops racing on car windows, "Please don't go. I didn't mean it...I didn't mean it."

Rough hands lay atop hers, "Baby..."

Green eyes fall shut before he can say anything else and she can't hear him breathing anymore. The heart in his chest has ceased to function and the blood circulating in his veins has dried. Katerina removes her hands from his face to hold his in her own as oceans leave her eyes.

"I meant it when I said I love you...I really did."

Hiccups and heavy sobs keep her company for hours. The moon has made it to the middle of the sky and the stars are taunting her. A wolf howls in the distance but she can't be bothered to acknowledge it because she killed the man that was always trying to save her from one thing or another.

Muttered apologies fall on silent ears as old tears dry and are replenished by new oceans that never seem to end.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

Covered by heavy boots, toes start to wiggle along with frozen fingertips. Katerina's too caught up in what she's done to notice. Beneath her, Harry's chest begins to rise and fall languidly, soft heartbeats follow with the gentle rush of blood.

Emerald irises peak out from under weak eyelids and a gentle smile works at tugging his lips into formation. A rattling cough sends his lungs sputtering and Katerina nearly jumps across the room.

Harry's hand sluggishly reaches for the stake protruding from his chest. Strong fingers wrap around the base and gradually remove the splintered wood. The stake drops to the floor, clattering and echoing off the stone walls surrounding them.

A pained groan escapes his lips, only to be followed with dampened laughter, "You forgot the second step. I don't think I've ever been this happy that someone didn't remember what I told them."

Katerina rushes to him and throws her arms around him. Her emotions are blending together and overwhelming joy is winning despite the tears still escaping her eyes. "Please, forgive me."

Every part of his body is still recovering from his slight death, but he hugs her tightly anyway. "Already did."

She pulls away and watches with wide and curious eyes as his skin slowly begins to stretch over the wound, healing itself without any prompting. "Will you be alright?"

A warm smile forms on his lips as he nods, "Yes, just need some time and some blood. When that's done, we're leaving."

"Where will we go?"

"Somewhere where Alistair won't ever find us. I'm tired of him and everyone else, for that matter."

Soft hands with gentle fingers coated in chipping blue nail polish mingle with the empty spaces between his own, "Wherever you go, I'll join you."

Chapped lips meet Katerina's cheek before twitching into a bright smile, "Let's join them at Roanoke."

Author's Note: Well, that was certainly a roller coaster. Unfortunately, as much as it pains me to say this, this is the FINAL chapter of DREAM. It's been an interesting journey so far and I'm glad that so many people have taken an interest in this (especially considering I've never really written anything like it before) and continued to support it! Thank you so much for all of the votes and comments, I wouldn't be here without you.

Flora