❝  malivore  ❞

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Maroon leather skirt, with a white top and bell sleeves, and heels. Katherine rules Salvatore's halls once again, like any other day. The change in her usual strut? Josie Saltzman, comes jogging from behind.

"Katy, hi." Josie chirps, smiling wide. "I wanted to ask you about something."

Katherine stops on her tracks. "Of course, JoJo." She chimes.

Josie giggles, "I was hoping that you could help me with my Spell Lab homework? I know you're not a witch anymore, but-"

"I'd love to." Josie's eyes glisten as Katherine replies. "Come sit with me at the assembly," Josie nods instantly, letting herself be pulled along by Katherine.

Lizzie stands in the hall, annoyed at the situation. "Don't you look happy," Hope mutters as she wanders by.

The blond scoffs. "Don't act like this isn't your fault," She snarks. "You're probably the one who told Katherine to be friends with Josie anyway."

Hope turns to look at Lizzie, confusion drawn on her face. "What? Why would I care about Katherine and Josie being friends?"

"Because I've been wanting to be Kat's friend forever, and you would so ruin that by making her friends with Jo." Lizzie rants. Hope scoffs, rolling her eyes with an annoyed grin on her face. Not wanting to deal with Lizzie's crazy theories, she walks away.

Meanwhile, at the assembly, Alaric Saltzman stands at the podium. "Given recent events, some students have expressed concern that I am not allowing you to have a say in the decisions that affect your future." Katherines hand rests in her lap, Josie and her side by side. "And I agree. If you are expected to abide by this school's policies, it's only fair that you have a voice in how those rules are made." Josie smiles in triumph, looking a few rows up to see Lizzie smirking at her. The two felt good about convincing their father to do this. "So, I am forming an honor council. One vampire, one witch and one werewolf, each elected by their peers. Along with our school counselor Emma, whose vote will represent the younger students."

Students begin to whisper, and Katherine uses her vampire hearing to listen in. "MG is such a narc." She hears one person say. Her eyes flash to MG, who looks away defeatedly, also hearing the statement. The vampire classmates had grown cold to MG ever since Kaleb was locked up. Some students were a little mad at Katherine, as shes the one who knocked him out, but she wasn't the one that spilled on who was feeding on humans.

If only they knew the deal Alaric, Matt Donovan, and Katherine have.

"Katherine is the perfect candidate." One classmate says. A smirk grows on the vampires face, sitting up straighter.

Alaric speaks up again. "Now, I have to go off-campus. In the meantime, I expect you to make good decisions and to vote wisely." He looks at Katherine one last time. "That's all. You're dismissed."

Students disperse, and Katherine walks away from Josie, no longer acknowledging her existence. Rafael comes jogging over, "Kat, hey,"

Katherine looks over, "Wolf boy, hi." She hums, the two now walking down the hall together.

"I, um, wanted to ask you about Landon."

"What about your curly haired emo friend?" She asks, agitated. The boy had not only almost gotten her killed, he was slowly becoming more annoying via his human self.

Rafael clears his throat, "Well, the Honor Council will be deciding if he should stay or go-"

Katherine cuts him off, sighing. "And if I win, you want me to vote for him to stay," She looks at the werewolf expectantly, and he shrugs as if saying yes. "Listen, Landon's a good kid. But if he fails Hopes tests, he's going to have to leave. He's brought gargoyles, evil spiders, dryads, and a dragon into our midst ever since he awakened that knife." She explains. "It's just too dangerous, Raf."

The werewolf stares at her as she walks away from him. He sighs, feeling defeated by the fact Landon screwed up his only chance being accepted by Katherine by stealing some random knife.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

"I feel like Lizzie isn't even taking this seriously, you know?" Josie Saltzman rants. Katherine and the Saltzman sit at a chair in the commons as a vampire puts up a poster of Katherine. It was a photo of her in the gardens, wearing a short skirt and blouse. She looked flawless. On the top of the poster, was KATHERINE A. VALENTINE ; straight A scholar, friend of all, and perfect hair!, and on the bottom VOTE FOR HONOR COUNCIL.

She didn't feel the need to try hard on her campaign. As long as all posters with her face looks good, she didn't mind. Some female vampires even decided to make a poster of her wearing a swimsuit. Of course, she looks amazing in that too.

Katherine listens to Josie closely. "I mean, she's going to be making decisions for all of the witches. But I'm worried she's going to do whatever's best for her." The girl pouts.

"Oh she definitely will." Says Katherine. Josie looks up, surprised Katherine agrees. "I know what Lizzie's like. I was Lizzie." The girl snaps her fingers, and a Vampire brings her a set of french fries. Josie frowns, wondering where she even got them. "Lizzie's selfish, manipulative, and doesn't care about anyone except her self and occasionally, you. She doesn't deserve to be in Honor Council, you do." The vampire chomps on her fries, not phased by what she just said.

Josie gulps awkwardly. "Thanks, Katherine."

The vampire groans. "Don't call me that." Josie frowns, confused. "We're friends now, right?"

The brunette smiles. "Yeah, we are." She replies.

"Well, Katherine is boring. Give me something new, and I'll give you something new."

"Like, a nickname?"

Katherine smirks. "Exactly." She hums.

Josie giggles, "Okay, let me think." She says, looking around for ideas.

"I was thinking Jo, but then I realized everyone already called you that." Katherine pouts. "And Penelope stole Jojo,"

"Yeah, she totally ruined that nickname." Josie mutters.

Katherine tilts her head. "Or did she?" Josie looks up, "I mean, we could reclaim the nickname." She offers.

"Really? Is that a good idea?" Josie asks. "Won't she get mad at you or something?"

Katherine rolls her eyes. "This isnt 5th grade. She doesn't owe you anything. And she doesn't own the nickname. But I do now!" Katherine and Josie burst into laughs. "Come on, let's go find some witches so you can campaign for Lizzie, even if you deserve it."

Josie walks down the hall with her new friend. "What about Katy?" She offers. "I know it's lame, but-"

"I love it." Katherine replies. "It's fun, innocent. Like you, my dear friend." Josie smiles again. She felt happy to have a new friend. Even if it was Katherine. In fact; she felt happier about that. Katherine was who you wanted to be friends with, you wanted to be in her circle. And suddenly, it seems like Josie is.

The two girls walk into the cafeteria/assembly area. "Lizzie Saltzman only cares about Lizzie Saltzman. If your interests don't line up with hers, you're witch non grata." They hear Penelope Park say. "I personally believe that you deserve a better candidate."

Josie speaks up before Katherine can hold her backs "So you're running for honor council just to spite her. That's low, Penelope, even for you." Katherine stands next to the witch.

Penelope stands up. "You used to like it when I went low." She remarks.

Katherine scoffs. "Watch it," She snarls. Penelope looks at Katherine, surprised. "First of all, why do you care?"

"You don't even like extracurricular activities, let alone anything that involves a moral compass." Snaps Josie.

"Oh, and your one-witch ethics committee is okay with double plagiarism?"

Josie snaps the poster back from Penelope. "It is not like "hope" was an option."

Penelope steps towards Josie, but Katherines in front of her. "Bow out now, or I will crush you." She growls. Josie's shocked by Katherines protectiveness. The girl had said she didn't like Lizzie running, but because it what Josie wanted, shes trying to help.

The Park witch giggles. "Oh, honey, that's cute." Katherine frowns. Penelope looks over at the Saltzman. "And deep down, you know I'm right. Your sister's unfit for office."

"You're going to regret that." Katherine sneers.

Penelope shrugs. "No. I don't think so." She walks away, and Katherine turns back to Josie.

"You and me are going to be working extra hard on that campaign."

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ 

Katherine didn't seem too worried about the election. She knew too well she'd be winning by a long shot, even if it meant disappointing MG.

She even got dressed for the event. A nice, designer, black dress with long mesh puffed sleeves. She looked ready to win, and everyone would know when they see her.

Penelope opens the door to the girls room, stepping inside. "Hey." She says nervously. She knew what she said earlier was going to get her in trouble with Katherine, but she hoped what she was about to explain would save her.

Katherine doesn't move to look at Penelope. "Did you drop out of the election?" She says coldly.

"I was never in the election, Kitty Kat." Penelope confesses. Katherine pauses, turning her head to look at the witch. "I wasn't campaigning for myself. I was campaigning for Josie." The vampire was now intrigued. She walks closer to her friend, who sits on the bed.

"What?"

Penelope shrugs. "Lizzie doesn't deserve to be in the Council. She won't think about the witches like Josie will."

"Agreed." Katherine replies.

"So, without Josie knowing, I put her in the election." Explains the Park witch.

Katherine smirks at her best friend. "Pen, that's genius!" She squeals. "I wish you told me sooner."

"The witches adore you, I need your help to gather the rest of them up." Penelope explains.

"Always." Smiles the vampire. The two girls share giggles as Katherine stands up again. "Now tell me, what shoes do I wear to the assembly?"

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

When the assembly came around, Josie and Lizzie sat in front row of the witches section. MG sat in front of the Vampire section. He wore his own button, and some witches and wolves did in order to support him too. He felt confident. He was well liked, and he was nice. He even talked about freeing Kaleb. However, as far as the vampires were concerned, he's the one that got Kaleb in there.

Katherine walks down the steps after Penelope sits down. Emma turns around to see the vampire. "Just in time, Miss Valentine." She says.

"Sorry." Katherine smugly replies. Josie smiles wide at Katherine, and the vampire sends her a wave. Lizzie sends a jealous glare at her sister, just as the assembly begins.

"Let's get started." Says Emma. "The werewolf representative will be," She opens up an envelope, reading off the name. "Rafael." Katherine watches as the pack erupts in excitement. The room fills with claps, and she herself claps slowly. Rafael sends her a side glance, and her face is stone cold.

Emma waves the students to quiet down. "All right, settle down. Thank you. Next up, the vampire representative will be," As she unfolds the paper, MG stands tall. Katherine straightens her posture, a knowing smirk on her face. "Katherine."

MG's face falls. The vampires shout and cheer for Katherine as she lets out a fake surprised gasp. "Me!?" She says to her vampire friends. "Thank you!" She grins as she shakes the hands of some of her classmates.

"All right, guys. Settle down!" Katherine and the others all sit down. "Thank you." Katherine glances at Penelope, who smirks at the vampire. The two had worked hard to campaign for Josie to win. "And the witch representative will be," Then brunette Saltzman helps fix Lizzie's outfit. "Josie."

The witches gasp, and begin to murmur rather than cheer. Josie looks around, surprised. Penelope winks, shooting a finger gun at the Saltzman. Josie turns her head to look at Katherine, who just waves. "Thank you all for voting. And congratulations to our newly elected representatives."

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

The vampire sat in the foyer with Penelope. "So, today was a win, I'd say." Says the witch.

Katherine purses her lips. "Not yet." She chimes.

Penelope frowns. "What do you mean? You and Josie won the elections. That's a win." Penelope says, confused.

"Yes. But, we're missing the part that tonight we are voting on Landon Kirby and if he stays, or if he goes." Hums Katherine. "That idiotic human killed me, Penelope. And his stupid mutt of a brother thinks I'm going to let that slide?"

"Kitty Kat, the kids not human. Shouldn't we figure out what he is?"

Katherine shrugs. "Not my problem." The girl chimes. "If ruining Landon's life means separating Landon from his dog, Ill do it again and again." She smirks. Penelope purses her lips, nodding awkwardly as Katherine looks down at her textbook.

Before the girl can properly focus, Emma walks over. "Katherine. Can you come to my office?" The vampire looks up, raising an annoyed brow. Sighing, she stands up, following the counselor to the office.

She sits down in the leather chair, Emma across from her. "So, what did I do now?"

"You didn't do anything," Emma says softly. "I wanted to talk about your condition."

"Right, that." Katherine sighs, crossing her legs.

Emma frowns. "Katherine, it's a very serious and sad topic. Your mother-"

"Cursed me to basically be immortal until the 20 year anniversary of my suicide. I know." Grumbles Katherine. "And now, no matter how many times you people kill me, I always come back. God, it's like I'm Kol or something." She turns to look out the window, observing the students in the courtyard.

Emma pities for the young girl, who really wasn't all that old. "Speaking of Kol, have you spoken to him recently?"

Katherine looks up. "I talked to Davina. The two were on a romantic trip in Bulgaria." Emma hums in understanding.

"Tell me about the time you killed Kol. Why did you do it?"

Katherine purses her lips, remembering the day she killed him. "He had tried to kill me. And he received no punishment. He was cursed anyway, what did it matter?" She shrugs. "So, after he said his goodbyes, and it was him and his siblings, Niklaus asked me to end his pain, as none of them could bring themselves to do it." Her eyes gloss over. "So I looked him in the eyes, and ripped his heart out."

Emma stares at the girl. "What about everyone else who killed you?"

"Jeremy Gilbert staked me to subdue me. And it worked." Katherine replies. "It was all so simple. I couldn't die."

"And now?"

"And now I'm going to die whether I like it or not." The girl whispers to her counselor. "Caroline tries to help. But I know there's nothing for me."

Emma speaks up. "What about the cure?" She asks.

Katherine scoffs. "Damon Salvatore has it, and then Rebekah will take it, and I'm sure she will give it to someone else, and someone after that. It'll be hundreds of years before it gets to me." She says, defeated. "But it's okay. I don't want it."

Emma nods slowly. "Let's go to the Council Meeting, alright?"

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

Katherine follows Emma into the council room, where Josie and Rafael sit. However, when her eyes land on Kaleb, she's taken aback. "What the hell is he doing here?" She snaps.

Emma purses her lips. "After much consideration and demand from the vampires, Dr. Saltzman decided we should have two vampire representatives."

"And, so there isn't all girls in the group." Kaleb adds coldly. Katherine sends him a glare, taking a seat next to Josie.

The doors suddenly open, Hope walking in. "Sorry I'm late." She ushers.

Kaleb frowns. "Hold up. Who voted for her?" He asks.

"Does it matter?" Katherine snaps.

Hope sits down. "I ran unopposed." She says nonchalant. Rafael looks at Katherine nervously. Her cold stare at Emma as she worked on a spell made him even more anxious. Landon nearly killed the girl.

Then, Rafael frowns.

How didn't she die?

She was on the bus when the dragon set the bus on fire. She had to have been set on fire too. And, from what he knew, vampires can die from burning to death.

At least, he thinks they can.

"We're here to discuss if Landon should be allowed to stay at the school." Says Emma. "My thoughts? We exist to help kids like him. Which is what I'm going to go do now." Emma places her pebble on the weight. "I have a search party out looking for Jed. As you've all seen, violence leads to more violence. If you'll excuse me."

The five students sit in silence. "All right, who wants to start?" Asks Kaleb.

"Landon has to go." Hope blurts. Josie looks over, and Rafael looks down in disappointment. Katherine is silent, more so thinking about what drink she will steal from Alaric's office after they get this over with.

"Never thought I'd be saying this, but Hope's right." Kaleb explains. "Humans refuse to make a place for us in their world. We start letting them in, it's only a matter of time before they take this place from us, too. Landon goes." Kaleb says before placing his pebble on the opposing side.

Rafael purses his lips. "Landon is my brother. He's the only reason I'm alive. He can't go back to human life knowing that magic and dragons exist." He says. "We took his whole crappy life from him. Be awful selfish of us not to give him one to replace it." Katherine watches as the werewolf places his pebble with Emma's.

"That's two-one." Katherine purrs.

"Doesn't matter how much we want him to stay. Look what one mad wolf did to him." Hope argues. "Earlier, I asked him if he felt safe here. He said yes. He was lying. This place is dangerous for him, and even he knows it."

Rafael speaks up. "I will protect him."

"And where were you an hour ago?" Rafael is silent. "That's the point. If he stays, it's on all of us. It is all of our responsibility to protect him. Can we honestly say we believe every one of us can handle that kind of responsibility?" The group is silent as Hope puts her pebble in.

Josie purses her lips. "Since Landon walked through those doors, my sister, my father and I have almost died. We don't really know what Landon is, so we can't really say if we know if he's dangerous or not." She looks at the wolf boy. "Raf, this isn't about who's friends with who or who you like. This school is family, and I am not putting my family in danger again." Josie puts her pebble on the weight.

Kaleb looks at the vampire next to him. "Looks like it's just you, Kitty Kat."

Rafael leans over to the girl. "Katherine, please." He begs, knowing if there's a tie, Landon can stay.

The vampire looks up at him. "I have watched person after person in my life die for family." She begins. "And I admire your loyalty to Landon." She purrs. "But your friend almost got me killed. More than once. Not to mention, I've protected him from all of these idiots." She growls. Josie visibly tenses up at Katherines cold tone. "Your friend, your brother, is a monster magnet. And as far as we know? He's not even one of us. He's nothing more than a stupid boy."

"Don't say that." Rafael warns.

Katherine laughs. "That's cute. You think I'm scared. I almost killed Landon the second he walked through the doors, and that was without knowing his first name. What do you think I, Jed, or anyone else will do now that he's almost gotten half of us killed?" Rafael swallows the frustrated lump in her throat. Katherine holds up her pebble, glaring at the werewolf. "I don't care about your feelings, Rafael. I care about my life." She places her pebble with the others, and Rafael stands up, slamming his chair to the ground. Katherine stands up, vamp speeding into his face.

"Get away from me." He growls in her face.

"No." She snaps back.

Kaleb stands up now, too. "Raf, stop." Says Josie. Katherine smirks up at him.

"Do something, Pup."

Rafael glares down at her, anger rushing through his blood stream. "I'm done with all of you." He snaps, walking away.

The four remaining classmates all sit in silence. Katherine sighs, "Well, I'm going to get a drink." She chirps before walking out.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

The young woman walks down the alley behind Mystic Grill. It's her usual route home from her job. The air is brisk and cold as she walks by the dumpster.

"Cute jacket, where'd you get it?" Turning around, the woman gasps when she sees a young teenage girl with black silky hair and dark eyes. Except, they aren't normal eyes. Around the girls, irises are blood red, and underneath her eyes are veins, blackish-purple veins that follow down almost to her cheeks. "What? I'm hungry." As the girl speaks, the woman sees fangs popping out. Letting out a shriek, she turns to run away.

However, the girls in front of her.

The girl pouts. "That's not very nice." She lets out a growl-like hiss before lunging at the woman, sinking her fangs in the woman's neck. Blood fills her mouth, and she drinks and drinks.

Sheriff Matt Donovan walks down the street, peeking down the alley to see the scene. Sighing, he walks down to her calmly. "Katherine, don't suck her dry." He says blandly.

The vampire girl pulls away, rolling her eyes. She looks at the woman. "You remember none of this." She compels before pushing the girl back down the street. Matt stands there impatiently as Katherine looks at him. "What? She's fine!"

"Why aren't you at school?"

Katherine scoffs. "Don't baby me." She retorts. "I'm going back now." She walks past him, heading in the opposite direction of the lady.

"Damon asked about you, you know."

Katherine pauses, turning to look at her former lover. "Did he? What, does he miss me?" She teases.

"He misses being your friend, Katherine."

Katherine purses her lips. "Yeah, maybe he should've thought about that before he dumped me to be with precious Elena."

"And now you're an immortal vampire that is going to school with the daughters of his friends." Matt chuckles. "Damon cares about you, even if it's not romantically like you wanted him to." Katherine frowns, unsure why Matt is talking to her about her love life. "I'm just saying, maybe it's time to make amends." He says.

Katherine stares at Matt for a moment. "Shouldn't you be, I don't know, arresting people?" She remarks before walking away.

NATALIA'S NOTES
━━━━༺❀༻━━━━

hey guys, long time no see!!

so i've been thinking about the book, and i was wondering if y'all had any characters you may want to see katherine slowly develop with (romantically and platonically). i've began to ship her with a handful of characters which makes me confused on where i wanna go with her story HAHAHA.

please tell me what YOU think should happen, any theories about PREVIOUS DETAILS IVE HAD, ETC

i hope to be able to update this more often soon!!