ENGLAND, 1492

Her velvety hair cascaded behind her in waves, stray leaves occasionally becoming tangled within it. Whilst normally that would bother her, being the perfectionist that she is, she hadn't the time to even acknowledge it. For the moment she stopped running was the moment she got caught.

And lord knows she couldn't afford to get caught.

A cry of agony caught her ears as Katerina's legs gave way. In response she instantly came to a halt, almost tripping over her own feet as she rushed to her sister's side.

"Come now Katerina, we must make haste. Lest they catch us before daybreak."

"It's no use Natalia, I already feel faint and we've been on the run for but an hour."

A tired sigh escaped the girls lips and she went to respond only for her head to whip to the side as she heard the snapping of twigs.

With exceptional reflexes, she dropped to the ground, pushed up against a log. Her sister quickly following suit.

"What-," Katerina started, only to be cut off with a hand over her mouth. Using her free hand, Natalia put a finger over her lips before gesturing towards her ears, signalling to stay quiet and listen.

"My dear sweet Natalia, you are ours. Therefore it is pointless to run." A voice she recognised to be Elijah spoke, his tone laced with both confidence and compassion. "When we find you, which we will, you are to stay by our side forever. Where you belong."

He paused for a moment, swallowing lightly before continuing on "As for you Katerina, I can smell your blood. We both know that you have no chance of escape, you would do well to turn yourself in now before you cause more damage than you already have."

The comment made each of the sisters squirm uncomfortably, suddenly reminded of just how much power these vampires held. It was a power that neither of them could rival, try as they may.

Just as all hope was beginning to be lost, a saviour arose in the form of Trevor. The man's infatuation with Katerina once again proved useful as he purposefully gave Elijah false information.

"This way, there's more blood over there."

Not questioning his reliability, the original and his men made their way towards the area Trevor had pointed out.

Taking advantage of the distraction, the sisters made brief eye contact before helping each other up, stumbling over their dresses as they stood.

The moment they emerged from their hiding position, Trevor was in front of them. "Head east, I can't lead them astray much longer."

"We can't run anymore." Katerina responded, her breathing slightly laboured.

"Never mind, there is a cottage. You'll be safe there" he assured, though whether he was attempting to comfort them or himself was unclear.

"Go now." The girls nodded in sync. "Go!" He repeated, urgency apparent in his features.

»--•--«

Natalia reached the narrow, oak door first and frantically knocked. Each knock became louder and more desperate as she poured any remaining energy into it.

"Help! Please help us!" Came from beside her, Katerina joining her side.

The door opened to reveal a worn out looking, older woman looking down on them suspiciously.

"Please, help us." Katerina whispered this time, the adrenaline of the run quickly wearing off.

"I don't invite strangers into my home." The woman said, her tone dull and tired almost as though she were in a trance.

"No!" Natalia cried, finding herself increasingly worried that they would be turned away. "Trevor, he said that you'd help us."

"Well damn him, always making promises I don't want to keep." A unfamiliar voice piped in. It was accompanied by the face of a gorgeous, young woman, her appearance not much older than the sisters themselves. Though Natalia knew better, she had learned through her time here that looks could be deceiving.

The stranger seemed to contemplate her options for a few tense moments, eventually settling on "Let the girls in."

The girls in question exhaled in relief, making their way inside. It felt as though a massive weight had been lifted off of their shoulders.

Upon sitting down at a table, Natalia nervously grasped her sister's hand, desperate for some kind of comfort. Sensing her unease, the older girl squeezed her hand tightly allowing a somewhat strained smile to form on her face.

"You must be Rose, thank you" Katerina wheezed out, still suffering from a lack of oxygen.

"Trevor said to show you this, to prove that we are who we say," Natalia added, lifting up her spare hand to reveal a fluorescent moonstone, one that had caused the siblings so much pain.

"He said that you would help us to freedom?" Her sister finished, tilting her head uncertainly. The girls were no fools, they understood that what they were asking was a lot, they could only hope that Rose would take pity on them and assist them in their escape.

"You stole this from Klaus?" The vampire asked incredulously, now fretting for both her and Trevor's lives.

"It was to be brought to the sacrifice ritual, so I had Natalia grab it before we made our escape." She clarified, Natalia nodding in order to confirm her story.

"People do not escape from Klaus," Rose started, her voice raising slightly, a telltale sign of her fear. "Anyone who tries ends up back in his grasp, and anyone who helps them dies!"

"We know the risk you bring upon yourself by giving us us aid-," Natalia began, attempting to mediate the situation before it got out of hand.

"I am risking nothing." Rose stated a determined look on her face, one that made the two girls straighten up slightly. A wave of horror washing over them as they followed the woman's thought process.

"At nightfall I will bring you both back to Klaus and beg him to show us mercy." With that both girls were being dragged out of their seats and through the halls by their wrists, her grip on Natalia significantly more gentle than her's on Katerina.

"No!" Was repeated desperately in unison as Rose forced them into a cramped room, closing and locking the door behind her.

»--•--«

When Rose returned later that night, two ropes in hand, she hadn't expected to find the girls with fresh stab wounds. Especially not ones that had been so clearly self inflicted.

"When did this happen?" She questioned, striding towards them, praying to every god she knew that the Mikaelsons never discovered the injury Natalia had acquired under her care.

"In the woods," Katerina lied, "we tripped."

"That's a lie, I would've smelt it." Rose promptly denied, not believing them for a minute. During this time she scoured the floors, clearly searching for something in particular.

That something was revealed when she held up a blood-coated knife, a triumphant look apparent on her face.

"We would rather die than go back to klaus, please just let us die."

"If you die then Trevor dies with you." Rose said before hurriedly biting her wrist and and forcing it into each of the girls mouths, their pleas for mercy falling on death ears.

Natalia gagged slightly, creating the illusion of disgust. A small smile fighting to form on her lips, everything had gone according to plan.

She had always been a quick thinker, coming up with new strategies and ideas before you could even blink. It had gotten her and her older sister out of many scuffles in the past, and if she was lucky it would get them out of this one.

"Where are they?" An incredibly troubled Trevor burst into the room, distracting her from her thoughts.

In a flash the vampire was pinned up against the wall, Rose's hand tightly wrapped around his neck.

"You have set us both on a path to death, I only hope that Klaus will see the honour in returning the girls to him."

"He will sacrifice one of them and imprison the other-," Trevor began.

"Then so be it!"

"I love her Rose." A last, desperate attempt to rescue the woman he loved and her innocent sister.

Rose faltered, her humanity shining through as her expression softened.

"He'll kill you.. he will not stop until he has all of our heads."

"Then we shall run until we die." That was it, the final push needed to convince Rose to join their cause. She gave him a timid nod, willing to do whatever it took to protect the man she had come to see as family.

The pair pressed their foreheads against each others, relishing in the feeling of familiarity and safety that it brought.

Alas, their moment of tranquility was brought to an abrupt end by the sound of a falling chair echoing throughout the archaic cottage.

Fearing the worst, they rushed through the halls. Horror dawning upon their faces as the severity of the situation settled in.

There on the ceiling hung two  familiar corpses, lifeless eyes staring blankly at them.

»--•--«

Natalia and Katerina awoke with a gasp, coughing and spluttering as their bodies adjusted to the transition.

"What did you do Katerina?" Trevor questioned, appearing heartbroken. "I would've helped you live!"

"You would've helped me run," she shot back, "that was never going to be enough."

Natalia zoned out for the rest of the conversation, not particularly interested in her sister's love life.

Her thoughts were running a million miles per hour, the heightened senses driving her mad. She had obviously anticipated that things would be different as a vampire, but nothing could prepare her for the intensity with which she heard and saw everything. Not to mention the strange burning desire beginning to form in her gut which practically screamed at her to run back into her soulmate's loving arms.

Wait, loving?

She hadn't any time to ponder on that thought, as Katerina all but shoved the compelled lady from earlier into her arms, willing her to feed.

So feed she did.

It was euphoric momentarily, only a sharp pain erupted in her heart after her first gulp. Images of the Mikaelsons began flooding her mind, along with voices begging her to return. Fortunately, the strange occurrence was over as quick as it had began, allowing her to regain control over her mind.

"Please understand," Katerina started whilst Natalia fed, her eyes showing no remorse.

"You have just signed our death sentences!"

"Better you die than us." Natalia finished on her sister's behalf, pushing the now dead woman's remains towards Trevor and Rose.

Using the element of surprise to her advantage, Katerina sped away and Natalia prepared to follow, only to pause and turn to her captors.

"Oh, one last thing. If you wouldn't mind passing on a message to the Mikaelsons for me, that would be great." She requested, placing a folded piece of parchment onto the table before she too fled.

Once Trevor and Rose snapped out of their daze, Rose raced to catch the Petrova siblings.

Trevor opted to stay behind, his grief taking over the logical part of his brain.

Out of general curiosity, he wandered towards the note, nimble hands making quick work of unfolding it.

╔══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╗

Catch me if you can.

- lots of love but far more hate, Natalia Petrova
xxx

╚══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╝

A/N: thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed!

Words: 1903
Originally published: July 27th 2024