"Ok, you have to understand I only know what I've picked up over the years. And I don't know what's true and what's not true. That's the problem with all this vampire crap. But Klaus, i know is real." Rose tells me, Elena, Stefan, and Damon.

"Klaus?" I ask, not knowing who he is.

"One of the originals. He's a legend." Damon tells me and Elena.

"From the first generation of vampires." Stefan adds on to what Damon said.

"Like Elijah?" Elena asks.

"No." Rose immediately says. "Elijah was the Easter bunny compared to Klaus. He was a foot soldier. Klaus is the real deal."

"Klaus is known to be the oldest." Stefan tells me and Elena.

"Wait, so your telling us that this guy named Klaus, is the oldest vampire in the history of time wants to kill Elena and I?" I ask.

"No." Stefan says.

"Yes." Rose says after Stefan.

"What they're saying is— I mean, if what she's saying is true..." Damon says but gets interrupted by Rose.

"Which it is."

"And you're not just saying it so we don't kill you." Damon says.

"Which I'm not." Rose replies.

"Then we're looking at a solid maybe." Damon says which makes me sigh.

"Look, Elijah's dead, right? So one one else even knows that you two exist." Stefan says.

"Not that you know of. And Ashley is in more danger right now, the rumor started months ago." Rose states.

"That's not helping." Damon says, which is true.

"Look, I've never even met anyone who's laid eyes on him. I mean, we're talking centuries of truth mixed with fiction. I mean, we don't know what's real. For all we know, he could just be some sort of stupid bedtime story" Stefan tells me and Elena.

"He's real. And he doesn't give up. If he wants something, he gets it. If you're not afraid of Klaus, then you're an idiot."

"I have a question. If I'm terrified of Elijah. And you say he's the Easter bunny compared to Klaus, then what's going to happen if Klaus finds out about us?" I ask rose.

"He's not going to find out about you, if he's even real." Damon says and I get up. "Hey, where are you going?" Damon asks.

"School, you guys know I'm actually in the high school, right? I need a ride though." I say.

"I'm coming too." Elena says and we both leave, but we weren't planning on going to the school. We were going to find the truth to the one person who knows about this stuff... Katherine.

—

"Hello Elena and Ashley." Katherine says, which she sounds ill. "You come to watch me wither away? What do you want?" Katherine asks.

"I want you to tell us about Klaus."

"Mmm. You've been busy." Katherine says.

"We also brought you this." I pull out a book. "It's your family history. We've read it. It says in here that the family line ended with you. Obviously that's not true since Elena's standing right here."

"You think that if you brought me some family keepsake, that I'd open up?" Katherine asks.

"Nope. That's why we brought you this." Elena pulls out a bottle of blood. "You don't look so good. How long before your body shuts down? 10, 20, years? Just be painful to desiccate and mummify. I can't even imagine." Elena pours Katherine a cup of blood and Katherine takes it.

"It's a long story, Klaus and I, goes all the way back to England, 1492, after I left Bulgaria. Or was thrown out." Katherine says.

"Thrown out?" Elena asks, confused.

"My family, your true ancestors... they disowned me. My indiscretions were not tolerated at that time. I had a baby out of wedlock. The shame." Katherine explains.

"It was kept secret?" I ask and Katherine nods.

"Mm-hmm. My baby was given away. I was banished to England, and I had to learn to adjust. So I quickly became English. It was there that I caught the eye of a nobleman named Klaus. I was taken with him at first, until I found out what he was and what he wanted from me... and then I ran like hell."

"So what did Klaus want?" I ask.

"The same thing that hell want from you and Elena. He wants to break the curse." Katherine tells me and Elena.

"By sacrificing the Petrova doppelgänger and the huntress." Elena says.

"He wanted to drain every single drop of blood from my body." Katherine says, which makes me and Elena look at each other.

"What does the Petrova bloodline and the Sommers bloodline have to do with Klaus?" Elena ask Katherine.

"It's really tedious, but... the curse was bound by the sacrifice of Petrova and Sommers blood. Witches are crafty with their spells. The doppelgänger was created as a way to be able to undo the spell. Once the doppelgänger reappeared, the curse can be broken. The same thing for the huntress."

"Why is the huntress involved?" I ask.

"I wish I knew. When I arrived to England, a huntress approached me. I mean, I didn't know at the time that was a thing, but she became my best friend. She couldn't handle the pressure of being a huntress so she killed herself the day I ran."

"Did you know Ashley was the huntress?" Elena asks and Katherine nods.

"When the chopped off John's fingers and I saw her calling 911 I knew. I would've have killed you, but I've heard the rumor way before I arrived into town. The description was a modern version of the 1492 huntress."

"That's a good thing right?" I ask.

"Well the description, yes. The rumor, no. If I heard it way before i came to town, Klaus can find out any day now and he'll come rushing to this stupid town. Warning Ashley, Klaus has a thing of faking loving the huntresses to endlessly torture them till they crack. Klaus is bad, but he'll get to you."

"Why are you telling me this?" I ask.

"Because I knew the other huntress, and you're exactly like her. She let Klaus get to her which led to her death. And pathetically, I don't want you to die. So I'm warning you, no matter what Klaus does, he'll get under your skin. Like Elena's love triangle story." Katherine smirks which makes me and Elena roll her eyes. "And I'm not telling you everything." Katherine smirks.

"Well, tell me." I say and she mischievously smirks.

"That's not how this works. It's not for me to tell." Katherine smirks, like she's up to something with me, whatever she's not telling me.

"So you ran before he killed you?" Elena changes the subject, seeing how uncomfortable and stressed out I was getting.

"Something like that." Katherine starts talking about Rose and Trevor.

"Rose never ended up taking you back to Klaus, did she?" Elena asks.

"No." Katherine immediately responds. "But not because she had a change of heart." Katherine continues the story.

"You killed yourself?!" I say, surprised.

"Klaus needed a human doppelgänger. As a vampire, I was no longer any use to him. And before you ask why I did that since I've been running ever since, I underestimated his spirit for vengeance. But living out of a suitcase is better than dying so that you could have your blood spilled over some silly Little Rock." Katherine says and Elena gets more scared, but who blames her?

"What's wrong?" Katherine asks. "Afraid I'm right? You don't wanna die? There's another way out." Katherine makes a cut on her wrist, indicating that Elena turns into a vampire. "Sorry Ashley, Klaus can use you alive or dead-adjacent. Elena, better hurry. Your opportunity is going, going, going... and gone. I made the other choice." Katherine continues the story on how she became a vampire.

"Rose and Trevor spent the last 500 years running because you used them to survive. Trevor got killed, decapitated." I say, hating how she's so careless.

"Never thought he would have lasted that long." Katherine chuckles, which makes me cross my arms.

"How do you not care that you ruined their lives?" I ask in an annoyed tone.

"See, this is how I know you're the damn huntress. I will always look out for myself. If you're smart, you'll do the same." Katherine replies.

—

Katherine and Elena have been small talking about Stefan, which Katherine is obsessed with him. I have been sitting, but something came to me.

"You came here to ask for your freedom." I randomly say.

"What?" Elena asks.

"Katherine. You want to bring us to Klaus to get your freedom back. It makes total sense now." I say.

"Mm, 500 years on the run, I figured maybe he'd be willing to strike a deal." Katherine says, standing up.

"So you got Mason to find the stupid pink rock." I say, confident that I'm right.

"Right again." Katherine says.

"What else is needed to break the curse?" I ask.

"Mmm. Look who's getting smarter." Katherine smirks.

"Cause what would explain turning Caroline in a vampire?" I ask. "Both Stefan and Damon told me you don't do stuff without a meaning behind it."

"Witches and their spells— so many ingredients, so many people to sacrifice. You're on a roll, Ashley. What else?" Katherine ask and I shrug.

"You need a wolf. You made Tyler trigger his curse." Elena says.

"Believe it or not they are hard to come by. And a witch to do the spell. Mine bailed, but Bonnie will do just fine." Katherine replies.

"So you were gonna just hand us all over to be killed?" Elena asks.

"Better you die than I." Katherine says and I look at Elena.

"Elena! Ashley!" We hear Stefan shout minutes later.

"Stefan. What are you doing here?" Elena asks.

"I could ask you guys the same question." Stefan replies.

"Did Caroline tell you?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"No. She kept your secret, but it didn't take long for me to figure out what was so important that you'd have to keep it from me." Stefan explains.

"I knew that you'd stop us." Elena says.

"Listen to me. Whatever she said to you is a lie. Do not listen to her. She is a liar, Ash and Elena."Stefan says.

"Well I sure hope she's lying. Because I don't want to go through what the other one had to." I say in a scared tone.

"I'm not lying. There's nothing you can do, Stefan. I haven't even told you the best part of the story. I ran back to Bulgaria, after everything that happened in England. I went back to my house and everyone was slaughtered. He killed them. My entire family, just to get back at me for running. Whatever you do to escape Klaus, he will get his vengeance on your friends, your family, on anyone that you've ever loved." Katherine explains.

"So let's say I run like you did. Running doesn't even help in the end cause I'll be alone, like you." I say being brutally honest.

"Mm-hmm. Running doesn't set you free." Katherine says.

"Don't listen to her." Stefan says but I know Katherine's right.

"The protector. But even you must realize that they are doomed. There's nothing you can do to stop it. Unless of course you have this." Katherine pulls out the Moon stone.

"Oh, no. There it is. That's the ultimate lie, isn't it?" Stefan asks. "You spun this whole thing so that we would have to get the stone from you, didn't you?"

"I didn't spin anything, Stefan. It's the truth." Katherine honestly says.

"No. Let me guess. You wanna trade that stone for your freedom. Hmm? You manipulative, psychotic bitch." Stefan says.

"My freedom? That's where you're wrong, Stefan. I don't want my freedom, because when Klaus shows up to kill us all— and he will... I'll be in the tomb, where no vampire will enter because they can't get out. I'll be the safest psychotic bitch in town."

—

🎵

Stefan takes us home. I immediately go upstairs and take a shower hating how we were down there all day. I was so stressed out about everything Katherine told me about the 1492 huntress.

I finished drying my hair and I see Elena sitting on my bed. "Hey." I say.

"Are you okay?" Elena asks.

"Are you?" I ask. I know she's not okay and Elena knows I'm not either.

"You found out Klaus will be mostly after you when he comes." Elena says but i interrupt her.

"And he'll probably seduce me to torture me. Or if I can't deal with the pressure that comes with being the huntress I'll want to kill myself? I'm 15, it's too much." I start tearing but I wipe it quickly, but Elena saw.

Elena comes to me and hugs me and I start sobbing. I started to break. I've reach my breaking point.