❝ you remind me of
someone i used to know ❞

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

"As you are well aware it's time for the annual American football match with Mystic Falls High." Students groan at the news. Katherine Valentine stands next to Headmaster Vardemus's side, wearing a Stallions shirt tucked into a navy blue skirt. "Today, you will not be forced to lose a game so that humans can feel superior. Every one of you is special. Every one of you. And it's time you showed it." The room erupts in claps while Josie looks around, confused.

Josie stands up abruptly. "How?" Asks the brunette.

Vardemus glances at the siphoner, holding a football. "By using your powers in moderation, Ms. Saltzman. The goal is not exposure, merely to win." He explains. "Think of it as an exercise in control."

"Well, I am here for it." Kaleb chaos as he stands up "After last year, it'll feel really good to show those Timberwolves what we're all about."

Students rumble in agreement as Vardemus nods. He steps out of the way, letting Katherine approaches the podium. "And who better to lead you in this endeavor, as your quarterback, than our own Landon Kirby?" Josie looks back at Landon. Landon, confused, looks around shocked when he gets smacked by the football Vardemus was holding. Katherine giggles, sending a wink Landon's way.

When the assembly ended, Landon approached the girl quickly. "Are you playing today?" He asks, looking at her.

Katherine tilts her head in thought. "Actually, I'm going to be on the sidelines, cheering you on." Landon raises a confused brow. "I'm going to be a cheerleader, Landon."

"Oh!" He says, his face reddening as he thinks of Katherine in a cheer uniform.

"But, if I'm needed, I'll hop in as soon as possible." She says, kissing him quick. Landon chuckles lowly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Josie walks over, a shocked look on her face. "You're going to have to do really good today." She says to the Kirby. "Or Katherine will probably destroy you."

Landon sheepishly nods. "Yeah, I know." He mumbles.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

"Yellow 80. Yellow 80-" Landon grunts as Katherine tosses the ball, hitting him in the gut. "Sorry. Foster care didn't have a football team." Katherine raised a brow as Landon walked over to her. "What did I tell you? I'm a total fraud. Now the whole school's gonna see it, and this is a total disaster."

"And like I told you ten minutes ago, everything is going to be fine. We're gonna get through this." Katherine reassures him. At this moment, she wore sweatpants and a zip up over her cheer uniform, deciding to keep Landon wondering for the time being.

Landon scoffs, "How? I can't even throw."

"Yes, you can. You just need a little help." Katherine says, grabbing Landon's palms. "Viribus."

The phoenix looks at his girlfriend. "What'd you just do?" He asks her.

She only shrugs, "See for yourself." She says. Landon frowns as Katherine hands him the football. With a swift throw, the ball soaring across the field. Kaleb and Josie look up as they watch. A Mystic Falls High School bus comes into view, the ball smacking the door with such force, it cracks.

Kaleb looks over in amazement. "Damn! That's my quarterback." He shouts.

Landon looks at Katherine. "How am I going to keep that up the entire game? I don't have the confidence-" He is cut off by Katherine grabbing his face, turning him to look down at her.

"Maybe you just need a confidence boost." Katherine says. Landon raises a brow as Katherine walks to the cheer team, all of them already in their uniforms. As the Mystic Falls High School team comes out of their bus, many of them watch as Katherine Valentine slowly unzips her sweatshirt, revealing the form-fitting top of the Stallion uniform. Landon feels his throat run dry as Katherine slowly pulls down the sweatpants, revealing the short skirt. Hope looked to her side, seeing both Ethan and Maya shamelessly checking out Katherine. When Katherine looks back at Landon, his eyes were wide as saucers. She walks over, more like a strut. Landon is more confident than ever when he grabs Katherine's hips, pulling her into a heated kiss. Hope feels nauseous as she watches Katherine wrap her arms around the boy. Landon's hands lower, gripping Katherine's behind as their kiss progressively intensifies.

Ethan scoffs, "Damn, how did he get so lucky with that?" He inquired. Hope didn't answer, wanting to cry as she simply watched the couple.

Katherine pulled away from Landon, the both of them breathing heavily. Katherine turns her head, looking directly at Hope. Landon follows her gaze, making eye contact with the girl who he assumed was human. "Do you know her?" Katherine asks.

"Not really. We just shared a milkshake once." Landon explains, keeping his hands firmly at her waist. The Valentine hums in reply, turning his head so he kisses her again. Hope narrowed her eyes, knowing what Katherine was doing. She was claiming what was hers, which, in this case, was apparently Landon.

Dorian Williams walks over to Katherine, clearing his throat awkwardly to separate the two teens. "Kat, we need you." He says. Katherine frowns, following him quickly.

The two of them, along with Dr. Saltzman, head to the Stefan Salvatore Library. "We found him wandering the woods, half out of his mind." Explains Dorian. Katherine and Alaric walk in to see Dennis, a human student Alaric knew. "He didn't settle down until we compelled him."

Alaric sets his things down as Katherine pulls up a chair in front of the football player. "Does he remember anything?" Asks the Principal.

Dorian nods, and Katherine turns to the human boy. "Hi, Dennis. My name is Katherine, and I'm a counselor here at the Salvatore school." Alaric noticed how human Katherine sounded. "Can you tell us what you saw?" Alaric wondered if Katherine's new changes were because of her job, or because of Landon.

Dennis looks down slowly, remembering everything he went through. "It was some kind of animal. Like a hyena mixed with a wolf, with huge claws. It grabbed me. I thought it was gonna eat me, but then it spit me out." Katherine furrows a brow. She turns around in her chair.

"Does that ring any bells?" She inquired.

Dorian and Dr. Saltzman share a look. Dorian picks up a book. "The closest thing I could find was a Shunka Warakin. Until this morning, it was a Native American myth." He explains. "Roughly translated, it means carrying off dogs. Lucky for Dennis, according to Ioway legend, all it eats are werewolves." Dennis looks between them, confused.

"Raf isn't so lucky." Katherine mumbles. "I have to go find him."

Alaric stops her. "I will handle the Shunka. You, go back to the game." He explained. Katherine rose a brow, scoffing in annoyance.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

When she got back to the game, she saw the Stallions score in excitement. She cheered, swaying her pom poms as she approached Josie and Landon. "You're blitzing on first down." Josie explains.

"Cool." Landon nods. "Uh, what does that mean, exactly?"

Josie looks up. "It means the second she snaps the ball, you yell blitz and you bury Little Miss Milkshake."

Katherine frowns. "That's aggressive." She mumbles, looking back at Hope. Katherine could only assume Hope knew about the Shunka, and probably was going to find a way to help them.

"You have a problem hitting her or something?" Josie asks the Phoenix. "She has no problem hitting on you."

"Are you on drugs?" Katherine asks. "You seem awfully nasty, Jojo."

Landon purses his lips. "Consider her blitzed." He mumbled.

Maya tosses the ball behind her. Hope misses the catch, but turns around slowly to get it. "Landon!" Josie scolds.

"Uh, Blitz!" He yells before rushing at the girl. Hope tosses it in the air as Landon comes at her.

Katherine watches from the sideline as Maya makes a score. She hums, appreciating the girls athleticism. She turns back to Landon and Hope, Hope wincing in pain.

"Are you okay?" Asks Landon. Katherine drops her pom poms, approaching the girl. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay!" Hope says as Landon pulls her up. "I think it's just twisted." She mumbles, looking at Katherine for help.

Katherine catches on, nodding. "I'll take her to the medical wing!" She explained to her boyfriend. "You, keep scoring, I'll be back." She says softly. She helps the Marshall fake limp to Alaric.

"Looks like you need a new quarterback." Says Hope as she takes a bag from the Saltzman.

"Happy hunting." He says to them both. He now knew about Katherine and Hopes friendship from before young Hope fell into the pit. He also knew about Hope and Landon. He could only imagine the torment she was going through now, with Katherine and Landon together.

Despite that, Hope and Katherine walk into the Salvatore School. Hope looked around, touching pieces she had remembered from what felt like millennia's ago. "I'll show you Landon and Rafael's room." Katherine stated. Hope glanced up, nodding slowly as she awkwardly followed.

The room was the same as when Katherine last saw it, but completely different for Hope. The room was filled with boxes upon boxes, and Rafael's things were pretty much all gone. Hope studied Landon's side, noticing a familiar black suede jacket. It was originally Rebekah's, given to Katherine a few years back. Now, it hung over Landon's chair, signaling to Hope that Katherine had spent a lot of time here. The Valentine opened a box, picking up a sweatshirt of Rafael's.

"I could do this spell myself, you know." Katherine muttered.

Hope shrugged, "I just want to help." She says finally. Katherine hums, looking around the room as Hope began to do what she needed. "So, I didn't know you have a boyfriend."

"You never asked." Katherine winked, sitting on Landon's bed. "He's the werewolf's best friend, practically brothers."

"How did you two get together?" Hope asked, knowing it was wrong to pry. However, she needed to know. She needed to know how far gone Landon truly was. How Katherine felt.

The Valentine hummed, "Well, he and I met back in March, I threw him into a wall." Hope remembers that moment vividly, the teenage boy quickly growing unconscious because Katherine wanted her ice cream machine back. "And, you know, he and I never went farther than flirting. But something happened this summer, to both of us." Katherine looked down as she remembered dying, thinking she'd be gone forever. "We just, clicked."

Hope looked down in thought, unsure whether what she was going to say next was smart or not. "Do you love him?" She asked, pricking her finger with a knife. Katherine laughed, looking down.

"Love is a very strong word, Hope."

The forgotten Mikaelson pursed her lips. "But if you mean it, it's different." Hope followed. Katherine's eyes soften for a moment, and she says nothing. Hope looks down, focusing on the spell.

"What are you doing in my room?"

The two girls whirl around to the door. Landon stood there, confused. Hope stands up awkwardly. "Uh look, I know that this looks bad-" She began, but Landon cuts her off.

"No. It looks like magic." Landon says slowly. He looked at his girlfriend in confusion.

Katherine shrugged. "Honestly, I have nothing." She mumbled. Landon nodded, warily glancing at Hope before breaking into a run. Katherine vamp sped in front of hum, holding her hand up. "Corporis impetus." Landon suddenly comes to an abrupt stop, frozen in place. He looks around, standing in mid run. "Sorry, Darling, things happen."

Landon looks around awkwardly. "I'm starting to think you're not some ordinary girl." He says to the other witch.

"Look, my name is Hope, okay? I'm a witch. I'm working with Dr. Saltzman and Katherine. He asked me to do a locater spell to find Rafael."

"Why wouldn't he ask one of his own daughters? Or Katherine?" Landon asks.

Hope glances at Katherine, who shrugs, unsure. Hope sighs. "Because they don't know about the Crescent Wolf Clan. Not like I do." She explained. Katherine rose her brows, knowing about the pack because of Hayley.

"I've read about that. Does that mean you can turn Raf back?"

Katherine pursed her lips, glancing at Hope. The vampire-witch holds up her hand. "Saeclum."

Landon is suddenly unstuck, stumbling as he looks at his girlfriend. "Was any of that necessary?" He asked.

The Valentine shrugs. "Theres a monster in the woods, and it feeds on werewolves." She stated bluntly.

"You didn't need to tell him!" Hissed Hope.

Katherine merely shrugged, and Landon spoke up. "Then I'm coming with you." Landon declares.

Hope shakes her head. "Sorry, but I fly solo. And three's a crowd." Katherine crosses her arms, letting out a loud sigh.

"He's my best friend." Landon argued. Katherine turned to him, raising a brow.

"You do realize I could freeze you again, right?" She asked with a seductive smile.

Landon looks at her, blinking awkwardly. "Would that spell last forever?" He counters. Katherine gives a playful glare, before looking back at Hope.

"Sorry, little witch, looks like we're having a three-way." Katherine chimed, walking away confidently. Hope and Landon watched in horror, and shock that Katherine said that.

Hope blinks, looking over at Landon. "I'm just gonna go," She whispers, rushing away. Landon clears his throat, following close behind.

The three walk through the forest. Hope glances down at the map in her hands. "Yeah, Raf should be up ahead." She mumbled. Katherine looked around, feeling rather bored out of her mind.

"Cool." Landon said nervously.

Hope glanced over at him. "Meaning not cool?" She inquired. Katherine looked over, frowning at her boyfriend.

Landon stutters. "Sorry. It's just nothing."

"Meaning something." Hope continues.

Landon sighed, looking at Hope and Katherine. "It's stupid, but when Raf was first stuck as a wolf, he used to always hang out with me, but then he, like, he stopped." He explained. "Like, he forgot or he moved on." He slouched his shoulders, and Hope watched as Katherine linked her hands with his.

"And you're worried that it's gonna be the same when he's human again?" Katherine hums, looking up at him. Landon sheepishly nods.

"Told you it was stupid."

Hope shakes her head. "I don't think it's stupid." She says finally. Katherine looks at the witch girl, studying the unreadable look on her face. "It's painful to lose someone that you love."

Landon scoffed, "Oh, I know all about that." He mumbled. Katherine looked at him with pure admiration as he spoke. "I grew up in the foster system. Getting bounced around from family to family made me want to shut everybody out until I realized life's a lot harder without someone watching your back." He glanced at Katherine, giving her a gentle smile. "Which is how I met her." Hope felt like bursting out in tears, looking down awkwardly.

"Trust me, Landon, you don't have to worry about anyone forgetting you." She says softly. Landon doesn't seem to question Hope's statement, and continued to look at Katherine with so much love. Hope almost questioned if he ever looked at her that way before. The answer was no.

"Help! Help! Somebody, help!"

Landon's head snapped in the direction of the scream. He rushed by, running straight towards the noise. "Landon, wait, stay back." Hope yells. She looked at Katherine, who vamp sped after her boyfriend. "You don't know what's out there! Landon!"

Katherine vamp sped in front of Landon, looking up at the monster. "I have an educated guess." Saliva dripped down the monster's teeth as he snarled. To Katherine, it resembled a large rat, with red eyes.

"Incendia!" Katherine shouted. Magically, fire flew towards the Shunka, causing it to stumble.

Hope ran over, "I told you to stay back." She scolded.

The Valentine shrugged. "I'm not the type to listen to orders." The vampire stated, causing Hope to roll her eyes.

"Is there a plan B? Please tell me there's a plan B." Landon pleaded, looking at the girl he believed was human until twenty minutes ago.

"Turn around." Hope told them.

Landon frowns. "Why?"

"Because plan B involves me getting naked."  Hope explained. Katherine smirked, her and Landon spun around, facing away from Hope. "I have to draw it away from you two."

Landon's eyes are frantic. "Why does that require nudity?" He asked. He was flustered, to say the least. He glanced at Katherine, who appeared to be feeling the opposite. He worried for a moment she might get mad at another girl getting undressed in front of him, or more so behind him. However, Katherine seemed unbothered.

"Because this monster feeds on werewolves." Hope explained.

"But you're a witch." Landon adds on.

Katherine scoffed, "A lying witch." The couple look in between their feet to see a pile of Hope's clothes.

Landon's jaw drops. "A lying, very naked witch." He muttered, looking back in the opposite direction.

Hope scoffed. "Look, I'm more than that, and I wish I could stay and tell you all about it, but I can't." She rambled. "So when I draw this thing away from you, I need you two to go find Dr. Saltzman and Raf."

"Why would it after chase you-" Katherine snapped, turning around to see a wolf where the Hope girl once stood. "A were-witch, thats new." She hummed.

Landon's jaw dropped. "Holy smokes." He uttered out. Wolf Hope scurried off, trying to lure off the monster. Katherine looks behind her, seeing the Shunka growling at them.

"This doesn't look good." Katherine muttered.

Landon whirled around, "Not the droids you're looking for, so please move along." He pleaded. The Shunka growled more, "I don't think its leaving-"

"Mittent!"Katherine shouted, causing the monster to fly backwards. The monster roars as it crawls back to its feet. Katherine vamp sped over, grabbing a stick. Shunka roars, swinging its arm. Katherine flies across the clearing, hitting the trunk of a tree. Landon shouts as the Shunka grabs him, pulling him away.

A loud howling fills the woods around them. A werewolf. The Shunka growls, tossing Landon to the side. Katherine crawls to her feet, looking up. Suddenly, Wolf-Hope runs out, attacking the monster. Landon grabs a stick, watching as Hopes tossed to the ground. Katherine vamp speeds over, jumping onto the back of the Shunka. He roars, slamming the Valentine to the ground. An arrow flies into the monsters heart. She grudgingly looks behind the monster, seeing a human Rafael. "Raf!" Landon shouts, amazed.

"Lan, it's not done!" Rafael followed.

Landon runs towards the monster, pulling the arrow out of its chest. With whatever strength he can, he stabbed the Shunka. The arrow goes up through the monsters throat. With a loud thumb, the Shunka falls, dead. Rafael dropped Alaric's crossbow, rushing towards Landon. "I thought you were gone." Landon says, hugging his friend.

"You can stop thinking it, bro, 'cause I'm back. Thanks to you, man."

Landon shakes his head. "No, it was, it was her, she-" He turns to gesture towards Hope, but she's gone.

"What- Who was that girl?" He asked his friend. Landon shrugged, not so sure himself. He looked up, seeing Katherine slowly sitting up.

"Kat!" Landon yelled, rushing to the Valentine. Rafael and Landon ran over, helping Katherine to her feet. "Are you okay?"

"My head hurts." Katherine mumbled, laughing as she looked at Rafael. "Hey."

Rafael nodded, "Hey, Katherine." He said cooly. He remembered how he felt for her before she died, and now she was dating his friend. Did it hurt him? Yes. But, Katherine Valentine wasn't the type of girl to care what he thought.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

Katherine sat in front of the fire place, drinking hot chocolate from her favorite mug. Landon walked over, sitting next to the girl. "How's Raf?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Adjusting." Landon answered.

Katherine hummed in thought, "Good for him." She said softly. "I'm sorry, for not saving you." She said softly.

Landon looked down at her. "What are you talking about?" He asked, "Are you apologizing for trying to do the right thing?" He searched the girls brown eyes.

"Well-"

The Kirby cut her thoughts off, grabbing her face and kissing her sweetly. His soft lips pressed against hers, and the Valentine's eyes fluttered shut as she looped her fingers in his hair. His hands found their way to her waist. The two shared a long lingering moment, before he pulled away. He cupped her face with his hands, studying her eyes. "Katherine, I don't want you to think that just because you're my girlfriend you have to save me all the time." He told her.

Katherine smiled, "I just don't want you getting hurt because I couldn't save you." She confessed. This was one of the first times Katherine had ever opened up, and Landon knew that. Aside from perhaps Matt Donovan and Kai Parker, Katherine hadn't cared for someone enough to reveal her insecurities.

"And I don't want you getting hurt because of me." Landon followed, pushing a piece of her dark hair behind her ear. "The monsters are back, we know that now. I have no idea how or why, or if it's gonna stop." Katherine nods, looking down in thought. "All I know is that whatever I did to take down Malivore, it didn't work, and now I think the monsters are coming after me, or maybe us" Landon felt guilty, knowing a monsters could be coming after the one girl who has cared about him despite his human flaws. He chuckled, "But seeing you is the only thing that's making me feel a little bit better about any of this." She smiled, kissing him again.

When they pulled away from one another this time, Katherine glanced up into his eyes she loved staring at. "Landon," The boy paused, looking at her with concern. "Whatever monsters are coming for you, or us, from Malivore," She smiled as she brushed his cheek with her thumb, "They're gonna have to go through a very powerful and selfish vampire witch bitch who has anger issues and a murder streak bigger than most of her exes." Landon chuckled as she leaned her forehead on his. "Everything's going to be okay."

NATALIA'S NOTES
━━━━༺❀༻━━━━

heyyy

i just wrote a spicy chapter last night & i'm excited so i felt the need to get this chapter out so i can get that one out sooner.

i'm surprised by the amount of good feedback i've gotten since katherine and landon got together. i genuinely didn't know what would come of it, like maybe everyone would stop reading it (which maybe my views per chapter has decreased). but so far, people are still very active in this books story and everything else.

now, this is the end of 2x03, meaning only a handful of chapters until 2x06 (when everyone remembers hope) , & also 2x08 (landon officially chooses josie / hope, or now rather katherine / hope).

i don't know who landons going to choose, and i'm still debating on it. i really didn't plan on y'all liking them so much but i'm kinda glad you guys do.

however; just know, katherine's choices aren't limited. there's still SO many people katherine has potential with. annnd, she's going to be meeting a certain 500+ year old vampire ghost soon, who i'm excited to interact with (as always).

i wasn't gonna have her go to the prison world at first, because i've always sent my characters there, but now looking at it i think she should because of kai, HAHAHA.

anywho, now that thats out of the way, i hope you all enjoyed this chapter. i love you all, and i will see you soon, toodles!