❝  hope is not the goal  ❞

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

The Valentine vampire sits in a chair in the foyer of the Salvatore School. Her short solid navy skirt high on her thighs as her legs hang over the arm of the chair. Milton Greasely walks by, "Hey, Katherine. Do you have a sec?"

The girl glances up from the book in her lap, before looking back down. "You have thirty seconds," She said.

MG cleared his throat, sitting on the chair next to her. "Well, uh, when we were picking up trash the other day, I walked onto the bus and I saw-"

"Don't tell me you saw Connor and Dana hooking up."

The younger vampire frowns. "Uh, no." MG hesitated. "I, um, I saw Kaleb, feeding on Dana." He whispers the last part, so only Katherine can hear.

Katherine looks up, slamming her book shut. "You're joking, right?" She hissed. MG shook his head, causing her to cuss under her breath. "One flaw at this school? You idiot's don't know how to handle yourselves." She retorts. Standing up, she begins to walk away, her black heels clicking on the wooden floors.

"Uh, where are we going?" Asks MG, tagging along close behind.

"Assembly time."

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

"Given our recent influx of monsters, Sheriff Donovan and I have decided we need to take drastic action. Please give him your full attention."

Alaric Saltzman pulls away from the podium, letting Matt Donovan step forward. "Like Dr. Saltzman was saying, local girls Dana Lilien and Sasha Stoteraux didn't come home last night." Katherine, who sat in front of Hope, turned her head to make eye contact with MG. MG gave Kaleb a side eye, and Katherine simply turned back to the front. "Dana sometimes skips town for a few days to party, but this is a first for Sasha." Matt follows. The Sheriff makes eye contact with the vampire, who squints her eyes at him.

"Thank you, Sheriff Donovan." Says Dr. Saltzman. Matt began to move to the side of the room, causing Katherine to stand up slowly, following him. "Now while the knife is away with Dorian and things are quiet on his end, it won't hurt to assume the worst. If Dana and Sasha..."

Katherine approached the sheriff. "Are you done looking at me like that or are we going to keep up the Sheriff-Student charade?" She spats.

Matt shifts his weight awkwardly. "Katherine, I'm asking this out of concerns for my town, did you-"

"Kill Dana and Sasha?" She cuts him off. Matt sighs. "No, you bonehead. You know better than anyone that I don't kill my food supply." She reaches her hand up, grazing his neck. Matt slaps her away, and she pouts. "What? I've kept my end of the deal, just like you've kept yours."

"Then what the hell happened? Nobody just disappears in this town, Katherine." He sneers.

"Don't you think I know that?" Katherine scolds. People send the two weird looks as she adjusts her weight. "I have a theory, but I have to find out I'm 100% correct before I take action." She tells him.

The Sheriff purses his lips. "Don't make me regret this." He says through gritted teeth.

Katherine smirks, cupping his cheek. "When have I ever?"

"Now, I'll need a few of you to volunteer to go to Mystic Falls High under the guise of an exchange program meant to improve relations between our schools, which, unfortunately, is necessary, given recent events." Katherine walks away from the Sheriff, sitting back down. Hope furrows her brows, wishing she knew what the sheriff and the vampire had discussed. "Now, I give you permission to compel them, to gather materials form locator spells, because any information we can get will make all the difference."

Lizzie Saltzman stands up, facing her classmates. "Well, I guess that I can set aside my differences with Dana for a day, because that is what heroes do. So, I volunteer as tribute."

"She battles one gargoyle, and suddenly, she's Mother Teresa." Hope mutters. Katherine snickers, a smirk on her face.

Suddenly, Kaleb stands up. "I'm in."

MG follows. "I'm in, too." Katherine looks over at them, before standing up.

"Getting out of this magical prison could be nice. Count me in."

Hope Mikaelson looks at the group. Standing up, "I'd like to help."

Katherine turns around. "Baby Mikaelson, fun times!" She hums before turning back to face Alaric. "Let's get this show on the road."

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

If fashion had a name; it would be Katherine Valentine. As she wore her expensive jewelry,  leopard print dress with a black shirt underneath, and heeled boots, all eyes were on her and her classmates as they walked off the bus. Lizzie tried to imitate the vampires confidence, but it was quickly ruined by Landon Kirbys clumsiness.

"I was making an entrance, mophead." Lizzie snaps at him.

Landon shrinks into his jacket. "Sorry. I just had a flashback to my freshman year here." He mumbles, observing the students he once knew.

"Girls are missing, so get your wedgie trauma in check or leave." Lizzie snaps.

Katherine crosses her arms, waiting along side Hope. "He's fine now. Let it go." Hope defends, glaring at Lizzie.

Katherine sends a warning glare at Lizzie, who instantly quiets down. "Okay, so here's the plan, bitches." She places her hands on her hips. "Landon, you talk to any of the people you know from when you went to this shit hole." She turns her head. "Hope, you try to not to alienate the entire student body while Bubbles and Kaleb go talk to some other losers. MG and I will-"

"Yeah. Screw that. I work alone." Kaleb retorts, walking my away.

Katherine sighs. "Well there goes our favorite man eating vamp." She mumbles so only MG will hear.

Lizzie turns to the other vampire. "MG, I need your compulsion skills. Would you like to be the Robin to my Batwoman?"

"Actually, Batwoman doesn't have a Robin. She-"

"Nobody cares." Katherine cuts him off. "Go with Lizzie, I can handle myself."

The blond grabs MG's wrist. "Metaphor, nerd. Let's go."

The two walk off, and Katherine turns to Hope and Landon. "So, anyone wanna show me who I should be talking to?" She asks.

Landon stutters. "Uh, Connor. He's, uh, Sashas boyfriend,"

Katherine smirks. "Let me guess, he's cheating on Sasha with Dana?" Landon shrugs, not disagreeing, when she turns to walk away.

However, she gets a phone call. "Matt Donovan, what a sexy surprise." She hums. "But, I'm in the middle of trying to find a teenage boy to seduce, so what is it?"

"We might have found Dana's car. I know you're at the school but you might be of some good use."

She looks at Hope and Landon, who are walking away. "I'll be there in a moment." She says. Hanging up, she scoffs. "Don't wait up!" She calls to the duo. Rolling her eyes, she vamp speeds off.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

"Jogger called it in." Matt says. He walks up to the tipped over vehicle. "Yeah, the plates match. It's Dana's car."

Katherine walks to the opposite side of the car. Blood all over the outside. "Well, its safe to say she's not a runaway." She says. Alaric begins to follow a trail of dried blood.

Matt stays by Katherine, though they aren't too far behind. "You said the creatures were after a knife that you had sent far away." The feeling of her stomach wrenching causing her to frown. She could smell blood, something had definitely happened.

"They are. And I did. This doesn't make any sense." Alaric mumbles. He stops in his tracks. "Ah, damn it."

Matt and Katherine approach what he sees. Dana's body, sprawled on the ground. Katherine walks over, leaning over it as Matt inspects it. "Actually, it's starting to make perfect sense." Says Matt, looking at Katherine.

"What is it?" Asks the headmaster.

Katherine looks up, "A vampire bite."

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

MG answers the school phone. "Hello?"

Alaric is on the other end. "I need to talk to everyone." He says. "I have Katherine with me."

"We split up." MG answers. Katherine face palms.

"Lizzie. I told you to work together." Alaric scolds.

"In order to conquer, we had to divide, Daddy. So looks like you're gonna have to trust your own gene pool for once." Lizzie replies. "Sorry to disappoint. And why is Katherine there?"

Katherine sighs. "I'm useful sometimes," She retorts.

Alaric ignores her. "Look, I'm about to tell you three things, all equally horrifying, so I need you to keep your cool. Can you both do that?" He asks.

"Of course, no problem."

"I'll do it." Katherine chirps, taking the phone. "Dana's dead. A vampire killed her." She says as if it's normal.

Alaric speaks up again. "And I just told the sheriff that we had nothing to do with it so I need to know right now that I am right." He explains to his daughter and MG.

"Have either of you heard anything about the vampires at our school feeding?" Pressing into MG.

The boys eyes widen. "Nah. We're not supposed to, everyone knows that." He says awkwardly.

"Okay. Good. I'll call you back when I know more. Katherine is on her way back now. And I expect you to be with Hope when I do." Katherine watches Alaric hang up. "Katherine,"

"You think I did this?" Katherine ask , lookimg at Alaric and Matt. "What's up with people blaming me!?"

"They're vampire bites, Ric." Matt says to Ric.

Alaric shakes his head. "If they said they didn't do it, they didn't do it. End of story."

"No, actually, it's just the beginning, because now I have to put a 17 year-old girl in this body bag, then lie to her parents about what actually killed her." Matt snaps as the two walk away from him. "Or maybe you forgot what it's like to be on this side of that conversation."

Katherine spins around, slamming Matt into a tree. "It's not about sides, Matt."

"Oh, yeah?" He breathes. "Tell that to Dana." When they look to see Dana's body, it's not there anymore.

Katherine releases the sheriff from her grip. "Now, I'm sure she tastes amazing, but I do not want to hear Blondie running her mouth until the end of time, so you know it wasn't me." Katherine thinks back to what MG told her. She looks up at the two men. "I have to go, I have a theory." And with that, she speeds off.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

Kaleb goes to bite into a blondes neck. Suddenly, a gust of wind rushes by jinx throwing him into the side. Katherine turns to look at the girl. "Date's over. It's not you, it's him. Now forget this ever happened and get back to class." She compels.

Hope and Landon rush over, Lizzie and MG close behind. "Great. Hope's already here." Lizzie groans.

Kaleb stands up, glaring at the other vampire. "Thought we were cool, bruh."

"Don't bruh him." Lizzie snaps. "Second place or not, we know you killed Dana."

Hope looks at the blond. "Wait. Dana's dead?"

MG nods. "Dr. Saltzman said they found her dead from a vampire bite." He explains.

Katherine smiles. "I helped!"

"I didn't kill her, so y'all need to get the hell outta my face." Kaleb begins to vamp speed away but Katherine, being older and stronger, speeds in front of him, slamming him into the ground.

Katherine stands over him, their group rushing over. "So, what did you do? You were so hungry that you couldn't control it?" She asks him.

"I told you, all I did was feed." He groans. "Torture me all you want to, but my answers gonna remain the same, because I didn't kill Dana."

Suddenly, Landon speaks up. "Uh, hes right."

Lizzie snaps her head at him. "What, so you're a mind reader now, Landon?" She asks.

"Call it a hunch."

When they all turn around they see a bloodied, pale Dana stumbling out of the woods. "That's...gross."

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

"We were on the way to graffiti that mill at your school. It was a harmless prank." Explains Dana. The group is gathered around the blond as she explains what happened the night before. "But then I got snatched. Next thing I remember, I woke up in a ditch." She glances up at the Saltzman. "So enjoy it while you can, Lizzie. I'm sure I look like crap." Dana reaches for her neck, feeling the large wound. "Oh, my God. What is that?"

"It's," Hope pauses. "Someone help me out here."

Lizzie speaks up. "It's the mother of all hickeys. You're fine, Dana. You're just a-a little slutty,"

Dana scoffs. "I don't even like any of you. I should be talking to the cops." She mutters, standing up.

Katherine vamp speeds in front of her. "Sorry, I can't let you do that." She head butts the blond, letting her fall to the ground unconscious. The vampire sighs. "So you didn't kill her." She turns to look at Kaleb.

"You freaking turned her?" Lizzie shouts.

Kaleb raises a brow. "Turned her? You think I want to sit and listen to that for all eternity?" He asks.

"Well, someone did, meaning that we have a transitioning vampire on our hands." Hope snaps. "So what are we gonna do with her?"

Katherine shrugs. "We could kill her."

Hope sends her an annoyed look as MG grabs her. "Who's gonna explain the vampire story with Landon?"

After a few minutes, Landon opens the back of the bus. "So let me get this straight. Dana died with vampire blood in her system so she came back to life and now she's in transition, and she needs to feed or die?"

"Nailed it, bro. Easy decision, right?" MG says sarcastically.

Kaleb speaks up. "All right, so, we give her human blood, it's that simple."

"Not everyone wants to be supernatural. Some people just want to be normal." Says Hope. Katherine sends her a look, as if the tribrid wants to be just that; normal.

"Dana's traumatized, you guys. This is a huge decision. Maybe we should give her a day or two."

Katherine sighs. "She has less than 24 hours to choose before she dies." She states. Landon's surprised by the girls stern voice.

Lizzie shrugs. "Oops. I suck at math."

"You should tell her the truth." Says Landon. "My guess is that she'd be psyched to be at a place like your school, I know I would."

Kaleb looks at the other vampire. "You're awful quiet over there, MG."

"I'm a feminist, bruh. I'm not gonna tell Dana what to do with her body. Landon's right."

Everyone shrugs, looking at Lizzie. "Ugh, fine. Okay, but to be clear, she is not joining drill team."

Hope rolls her eyes, "Surgere."

Dana lets out a groan as she sits up. "Did I pass out? I don't feel so well."

"We know how you feel. And it's okay, you're just hungry." Hope tells her.

Dana rolls her eyes. "Anorexia was sophomore year. This is something else."

"You'll feel better after you feed. I promise."

"Oh, shut up. For real." Snaps the human girl. "Even thinking about eating makes me want to-" Katherine frowns, knowing somethings wrong. Dana begins to cough, vomiting up black goo.

Everyone jumps back. "Oh, damn. What'd that girl eat?" Asks Kaleb.

"I think her soul just got on my shoes." Lizzie groans.

MG mumbles, "I think I'm-a be sick, too." He turns away, disturbed.

Landon looks to Katherine. "Is this normal?"

She shakes her head. "Definitely not."

"She's puking her guts out. Literally." Says Hope. "Dana. Dana!"

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

Mere minutes pass, and Dana is nothing but skin and goo.

"Should we call your dad?" Hope asks Lizzie.

"Why? So he can take another bullet for you?"

Katherine shakes her head. "I don't know how smart you are, Liz-Bear, but whatever did this is not a vampire." She explains.

"It's got to be another monster from the knife." Hope says. They all look at Landon, who looks at them guiltily.

"Well, maybe the monster's been right in front of us all along." Says Kaleb.

"What? Are you serious?" Asks the boy.

Kaleb steps in front of Landon's face. "Hey, none of this started happening until you showed up and stole that knife, which is exactly what the other monsters came here to do." He tilts his head. "You saying it's a coincidence?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Yes, I am." Everyone looks away from the curly haired boy. "You believe me, right?" He looks at Hope for reassurance, but she says nothing. "Got it. Say no more." Is the last thing he says before storming off.

Katherine sighs, "Good job, you vultures." She retorts. "If he is the monster, now we're all on his hit list!"

"You didn't stand up to him either." Hope points out.

Suddenly, Katherine is right in front of Hope. Inches away. "That's because I don't need to prove that I'm superior to some mop headed emo freak that you picked up from Georgia." She growls. "So why don't you and everyone else figure out why the hell Dana just melted like the wicked witch while I make sure your ex boyfriend isn't a monster like you claim." Her eyes flash their vampire form, Hope frowning at the sight while Katherine storms off.

"She's scary." MG says finally.

"That's why you don't piss her off." Lizzie remarks while walking past them. Kaleb and MG follow, and Hope sighs in defeat, knowing they're right.

Pissing off Katherine Valentine is never a smart choice.

 ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ 

Landon Kirby walks down the hall, Connor following him. "All right, come on. Let's get this over with. What's it gonna be?" He asks the Mystic Falls Asshole. "Toilet bowl? Trash can? Bloody nose?" Connor simply stares at him. "Say something, you dick." He turns away, annoyed, but with a surge of courage, he turns back. "No, you made my life miserable. You don't get to pretend I don't exist."

With that, Landon punches Connor right in the face. He looks down at his hand, a layer of skin now covering his knuckles. A sound of hissing causes him to look up. Connors face was now deformed, with what looked like a spider's mouth coming out of his own. Landon's eyes are wide, when a sudden gust of wind flies by, Connor being thrown to a wall.

Katherine stands there, looking back at Landon. "Since when was your friend a spider?" She asks him.

Landon shrugs. "He wasn't before." Katherine looks at the Spider-Connor, which takes a step towards her. She slams its face with another punch, before taking Landon's arm and running off.

Hope sighs, back at the bus. They had been trying to find a way to track the monster. MG being the one to realize it's an arachne. "If we had something from it, we could do a tracking spell."

Katherine and Landon run over. "Would its face work?" He asks, holding up Connors skin.

Katherine looks up. "Long story." Crossing her arms, "So, we track the spider, and I rip its head off, deal?"

"And what if it doesn't work?" Hope asks blandly,

The vampire sends the tribrid a quick smile. "What? You seriously don't think I have a Plan B?" Katherine tilts her head, and the teens share slightly concerned looks.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

Running through the forest, Katherine ignored Hope and Lizzie's requests to have the vampire talk to Alaric.

Landon runs into the Old Mill. Rafael Waithe and Josie Saltzman are screaming in horror. "Hey! Douchebag!" He yells, slamming a pipe onto the side.

Katherine vamp speeds in, "You couldn't have waited?" She asks him. Landon shrugs, and Katherine rolls her eyes. Grabbing the pipe, she throws it through the air. The spider screams in pain as Katherine vamp speeds up to the two trapped teens. "What do I do?"

"I, I need to siphon magic," Josie says, rambling in thought. Katherine nods and tries to find a way to help. Rafael grunts, leaning forward and kissing Josie. The brunette witch mumbles her spell, the two coming undone from the webs.

Rafael pants in relief. "Are you okay?" Katherine asks him, giving him a once over as Josie runs down to help Lizzie and Hope.

The wolf looks up at her. "Yeah, I'm okay." He breathes. Katherine grabs onto him, vamp speeding him out of there just before the spider explodes.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

Landon Kirby sits in his room alone, Rafael having run off to make amends with the wolves a while back. He felt nervous like something bad was gonna happen.

He was right.

"Hey," He turns around to see Katherine walking in. She wasn't protecting him anymore, which was a bad thing for him. His eyes widen in fear as Katherine vamp speeds right at him, shoving him into the wall. Her eyes change into red, the black veins tinting the veins underneath. "Oh, god, I'm gonna die."

She smirks, "That's way too easy." She tightens her grip. "You're lucky I keep my promises."

Landon's eyes are wide. "And that promise would be?" He asks, scared to know the answer.

Her dark eyes look him up and down. "I don't kill Mystic Falls Townies." She releases the boy from her grip, letting him fall to his knees. He breathes heavily as she kneels down. "You broke my trust, along with half of the schools. Do it again, and I will kill you before you even begin screaming for help." She stands up, brushing past him, and out the door.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

Kaleb walks down the hall, Katherine leaning against the wall. "Don't look at me like that." She snaps rather quickly.

"Like what?" He snarks.

Katherine looks up at him. "Like I just killed your goldfish." She stands up straight. "I know you're mad cause MG told Lizzie what you've been doing, but he did what was right." She tells him.

The teenage vampire scoffs. "You don't know anything, Kat." Kaleb snickers, trying to move past her. She steps in front of him, raising a brow.

"I don't?" I ask. "Vampires are dangerous, Kaleb. Especially the ones that are cocky, greedy." She looks him in the eye, causing him to grow uncomfortable. "You don't get to blame MG because you can't handle the fact that this school is trying to protect you and the people outside of these walls."

Kaleb merely stares down at the dark-haired girl, before moving right by. Matt Donovan walks in, his eyes landing on Katherine. She turns to see him, her hard stare softening slightly. "Evening, Officer. Let me guess, you're here to give me a medal." Kaleb jokes, smirking.

Matt looks away from the girl. "Actually, I'm here to ask you a few questions."

Katherine watches as Kaleb raises a brow. "About what?" He asks.

"About why half the Mystic Falls cheerleading squad's wearing scarves around their necks." Matt knew it wasn't Katherine. She was never that sloppy. She usually healed whoever she fed from. She never understood why someone wouldn't.

Alaric Saltzman wonders over from behind the two vampires. "Walk away, Matt. I'll handle this." He says.

Kaleb spins on his heel, walking towards the Headmaster. "Oh, don't pretend like you on my side when you the one who told him. The question is: who told you? Lizzie? MG?" He looks at Katherine, who had moved to beside Matt. "Or was it Kitty Kat?" He mocks.

"Actually, you just did." Alaric replies, nonchalantly "I've had my suspicions, but I could never confirm them." Kaleb licks his lips, knowing he screwed up, but not wanting to back down.

"So...what are you gonna do about it?" He asks the Sheriff, getting close to his face. "Cause I know you ain't locking me up." Kaleb opens his mouth, revealing his fangs and letting out a hissing-growl noise.

Katherine grabs him by the neck, slamming him to the ground, his eyes are wide as he watches Katherine stab him in the neck with a needle. Kaleb's vision blurs as he looks up at her. "Don't you dare touch him." She growls in his ear before he loses consciousness.

Matt stands there, looking at Dr. Saltzman, not phased. "I've been doing this too long, Ric. If your kids are a threat, I'll be coming for them." He says. Katherine stands back up, standing in between the two men

"If you threaten my kids, Sheriff, I'll be the one coming for you." Alaric follows. Matt looks at Katherine and the headmaster, nodding slowly before walking away. "Katherine, Caroline wanted me to tell you her new lead is promising."

Katherine looks over at him. "You said that last time." She states.

"Kat, we're trying." He says, causing the girl to grow agitated.

"Yeah, well, I've accepted it, Alaric. I'm going to die. And you know what? Maybe it's a good thing." The vampire snarls. "Cause dammit, Ric, I'm sick and tired of all of this." She says. "The medicine, the spells, the maybe there's a solution, the false hope." She shrugs, tossing her hands to her sides. "I'm over it." Katherine eyeballs the front doors, walking away from Alaric. He calls after her but knows where she's going.

Matt unlocks the door of his sheriff's car, when he hears the sound of what one would think is the wind behind him. "What do you want, Katherine?" He turns around slowly, seeing the vampire. She hadn't aged since they met years ago. He wondered what their lives would have been like if she was only a witch. If she would've ever come to Mystic Falls, or if she would've even tried to speak to him those years ago. It was obvious Matt had aged since their time together, but he had aged beautifully, in Katherine's eyes. He was still that sweet, innocent (as you can be in a town like Mystic Falls), pure young man to her.

She walks up to him, the two now chest to chest, the door of the car slowly shut as Matt leaned against it. Katherine leans closer, her lips centimeters from his. Matt's heart involuntarily races. He was completely in love with her. He also completely hated her. She was his epic love, and he couldn't deny that. Of course, the two had met after Rebekah had left to join her brothers in New Orleans, and before he ever met Penny, but Katherine meant more to him than anyone. The two had always found their ways back to each other before their official ending, and she moved back to New Orleans when Niklaus was imprisoned by Marcel. And out of every vampire he's met, despised, and killed, she was the one he could never hurt, no matter what.

In a moment of weakness, his heart aching at the thought of Katherine, he presses his lips to hers. Soft, gentle, and sweet. Katherine's eyes fluttered close as she cups his cheek.

Hope Mikaelson stands at the entrance of the Salvatore school, watching in confusion. Hope realizes she knows little about Katherine. If Katherine had a previous relationship with Matt, who else did she have a relationship with? She cringes at the thought, making her way back to her room.

Katherine pulls away from Matt, her hands resting on his face. Sadness floods her body as she looks down. "I'm sorry," She whispers, knowing this would be their final kiss. Sometimes, in moments like this, she wished she could be human again. She wished she had remained a witch, stayed alive, so she could spend her days with Matt. He cared for her much like she cared for him. But now, they could never live happily ever after together. Their love was now tarnished by time and the supernatural. If only he knew she'd be gone soon.

Math places a kiss on Katherine's forehead, before pulling away completely. Opening the door, he sits in his car, starting the engine. Katherine sucks in a heavy breath as he slowly pulls out of the Salvatore Schools driveway. His headlights disappear into the night.