𝙋𝙍𝙊𝙇𝙊𝙂𝙐𝙀
ミ★ ( perfect prey, act one ) ★彡

    Cordelia Rothchilde felt Katherine Pierce's piercing gaze on the side of her face. She was sat on her left and she hadn't relented her hawk-like stare the entire time they travelled. From the minute they sat next to each other in the stolen carriage on the way to their destination, she was watching her silently; waiting for her to snap. The silence was deafening and thick. Tension could've been cut with a knife and it made Katherine feel like she would've preferred to have throw herself out of their mode of transportation to be able to breathe once more. Her friend was seething beside her, they had been running too long, and she was over it.

Cordelia missed home. She hated running, all she ever did was run. "Enough with the staring." Cordelia snapped at the brunette, a harsh glare on her face after putting up with her constant staring for the last hour, just waiting for her to pounce at any second for a reaction.

"I just want to know how you're feeling." Katherine defended as she looked away before mumbling sarcastically, "Sorry."

     Cordelia checked her nails, scowling at the chip on her pointer finger's nail that had broken off when they scrambled to get out of their destination on a piece of furniture, "You mean you want to know if I could rip through an orphanage for lunch." She corrected her with an eye roll, "If you must know; I'm not feeling particularly murderous today."

     "You can't blame me for asking. You did lose control not too long ago." Katherine said with raised eyebrows as she stared out the window of the carriage. She couldn't blame her for slipping up. They had been starving themselves trying to get away from a bad situation and that person was in the wrong place at the wrong time, triggering a bad situation for Cordelia.

     Cordelia looked at the doppelgänger, who made eye contact with her, "Must I remind you, that you are the reason we are in this situation?"

     "It's your husband that we're running from." Katherine rolled her eyes this time before holding her hand up at her, "And when will you let that go?"

     "Considering we have eternity ahead of us—never." She smiled sweetly and Katherine chuckled. In reality, it was both of their faults as to why they were running.

     Cordelia's life was never like this. She was once happy and in love with her husband, living an eternal life together while trying to break his curse that his mother placed on him centuries ago. It wasn't until she had met the doppelgänger behind her that she realised what a monster she was truly married to. Most would classify it as her living in her honeymoon period with him, and it finally washing away. The way he killed mercilessly and for enjoyment made her sick; more so once she remembered she relished the feeling of the kill with him.

     Then it came to Katerina Petrova—or Katherine Pierce now—and her fate. She was the key to breaking her husband's curse. She was supposed to be sacrificed on an alter of fire—after he murdered another vampire and a werewolf with the help of a witch.

     At first, Cordelia wanted that for him. She was too in love with him to care about who was collateral damage in his quest for freedom from himself, but after snapping out of her daydream she knew that a lot of people were doing to die for his cause. The exact moment she gathered enough courage and strength, she ran away and followed after Katerina, helping her escape.

After that, they had split up and Katerina spent years running from him on her own. It took several of his followers and many kidnapping attempts for her to realise that she needed help, and she needed strength in numbers, so she finally tracked down Cordelia herself and joined her.

Now they were as thick as thieves—some would say.

     Emily and Agnes Bennett looked at each other with a deadpanned look in their eyes and they scoffed. They had witnessed several of their minor squabbles, and by that time they were used to it and they were more entertaining than frustrating. The Bennetts knew that they would never cause any physical harm to each other because they could see how much they loved each other to even think about that—even if they didn't want to admit it.

     The Bennett sisters were in fact saved by the two of them in the past, and they swore to return the favour and protect them because of it. They all grew close and seemed to be more like family than having a work relationship. Emily and Agnes posed as their handmaidens, but it seemed that Emily and Katherine were closer than Agnes and Cordelia would be.

     Cordelia could sense that Anges didn't like her any more than someone she just owed a favour to, and Cordelia was okay with that, she didn't really care if people liked her or not. Agnes was no exception to that. Most people wouldn't exactly enjoy feeling as if they owe something who was married to the most dangerous person in their world, even if she was running from them.

     Cordelia looked back out the window and stared at the trees, seeing the home they would be staying at in the distance. They were currently in Mystic Falls, Virginia—it was a new town that had been founded by the Americans, and Cordelia felt it would be the best place to hide in for the time being considering it would be the last place her husband would look for them.

     Katherine was posing as an orphan who's family died in a house fire—which would've been a lot better than the end her family actually suffered—while Cordelia was a friend to keep her company, a friend she had back in Georgia. Katherine had clearly compelled the family she was staying with to think it was a good idea to help her 'settle in'.

The carriage pulled into the estate. It was large and white, Cordelia stared out at it in wonder and amazement. It had been a long time on the run that they had managed to secure themselves a fancy home to stay in. Most places were supposed to be inconspicuous, made to hide in pain sight.

The coachman got off of his horse and placed down a stepping stool in front of the carriage before opening the door and helping Agnes and Emily our first. Katherine then left the carriage next, she always went first to check for any threats before she would let Cordelia out. Cordelia always felt it was overbearing as Emily and Agnes were there as well to do the same.

The two looked out and saw a man, he stood tall and proud with a kind smile on his face, he was a handsome man, but all Katherine could only focus on his eyes. His eyes were something that made her feel almost warm inside, they were something so striking, so beautiful.

Cordelia leaned over slightly. "Now I see why you're so attached to this place. You always did say you loved green eyes." She pointed out, an amused smirk on her face while she looked in between the man in front of them and her friend.

Katherine's eyes never left his as she responded. "How could you not? They're beautiful." She felt breathless just staring at them before she composed herself.

The man began to walk over towards them. "Are you talking about his eyes, or him in general?" Cordelia teased her once again, and the doppelgänger practically blushed beat-red.

"Both." She said slyly as the man walked towards them.

"You must Miss Rothchilde. Miss Katherine has spoken so much about you. I'm Stefan." He said. His voice was velvety and smooth, if Cordelia wasn't holding Katherine up, she might of fallen from how weak she felt at the knees. Everything this man did was overwhelming in all of the right ways.

The man locked eyes with Cordelia momentarily but he couldn't seem to pull them away from Katherine while he greeted her. The two stared at each of her, completely enthralled at one another and Cordelia couldn't help but realise that Katherine had left a lot out about her reasonings for wanting to stay in Mystic Falls. The man began to speak once more, "My father should be expecting you soon inside. Supper will also be served soon as a celebration for your arrival." He said.

"Well, we mustn't keep him waiting then." Katherine said eagerly and began to tug her friend along into the home. "After all, he is letting us take residence in his home."

     Cordelia had only rolled her eyes.

Later that night, Cordelia and Katherine sat across from Stefan and Damon Salvatore, each of them adjacent to the Salvatore brother's father, who sat at the head of the table. Damon Salvatore—the elder brother—had been telling his family and the twins stories of his travels and what he had experienced while at war.

"You must of been so frightened." Katherine commented sympathetically while taking a bite of her meal. Although her sincerity wasn't actually all that sincere—war was boring to her, it seemed fruitless compared to running from an original vampire.

Damon shrugged her comment off, "I did it for my country. It's what any man who wanted the best for their country would do." He said to her. "Unfortunately, I didn't believe in what I was fighting for."

Katherine smiled. "Well, I assure you that your country is proud of what you and your men accomplished on the battlefield. Even more so that you fought even when you did not agree with it." She flirted.

Giuseppe only seemed to hmph at her statement, he wasn't exactly happy with his eldest son after he had told him that he left the confederate army for that reason. He felt his son was cowardly and irresponsible. Tensions were high in the house, it had been so ever since Damon and Giuseppe had come in contact with each other since his return, the girls weren't too sure how to react to it. All Cordelia could think about was how similar their relationship was compared to the one that her husband had to his father.

When Giuseppe had first spoken to them about his eldest son returning home, he remained stoic about it, not showing any emotion regarding whether that piece of information of his son's return was was good or bad news.

Cordelia couldn't help but sneak a glance at Stefan, who shot a look of disappointment towards his father's reaction. She could tell that Stefan and Damon had a close relationship; she could tell that he was quite protective over his older brother, even when it came to their father.

She hissed quietly when the doppelgänger gave her a kick to the shin, maybe she might of been staring for too long than she had realised as she continued to eat her meal.

Stefan looked up and cleared his throat to try and distract everyone from the evident tension in the room and began to strike up small talk with the ladies in front of him by asking questions about themselves. They knew very little about Katherine and nothing about Cordelia besides how she was Katherine's closest friend back home—Stefan was intrigued. He wanted to know more.

While it did work to distract everyone from the Salvatore family drama, Cordelia couldn't help but struggle to swallow the tension. She was always too aware of her surroundings and the emotions that it carried with it. She could feel how much resentment Damon held towards Giuseppe, and she could feel the frustration Stefan held towards the relationship Damon and Giuseppe had.

When Giuseppe then stood up, bidding everyone a good night which meant that everyone else at the table was excused for the night also.

Cordelia and Katherine began to walk off together towards the garden, they needed to discuss how they would inconspicuously feed and not get caught. They couldn't draw any suspicion to themselves or have anyone point any fingers at the Salvatores. They planned to at least go out into the woods every few nights and feed off of the townspeople, making it as inconspicuous as possible and stretch it out as long as they could so no one could catch on to what was truly happening in their town.

"What was that all about?" Cordelia suddenly asked Katherine as she linked arms with her.

"What do you mean?" Katherine asked back, trying to seem as innocent and oblivious as possible. It was easy to do so with her doe eyes, but Cordelia knew her friend, and how much of a manipulative little bitch she could be—Katherine couldn't play Cordelia for a fool, even if she truly wanted to.

"At supper, you and Stefan couldn't keep your eyes off of each other." The older vampire teased, wiggling her eyebrows. "There was so much staring and so much blushing. I nearly had to fan myself there was so much tension in the room."

Katherine nudged her for teasing her. "He's pure, Delia—so pure... he honestly reminds me of me before you and him tore my life apart. I don't even know if I can resist against myself not to pursue him."

Guilt waved over Cordelia but she didn't argue. Katherine was right—she and her husband did ruin her life. It wasn't her fault that she was born with the face of someone else that existed five hundred years prior to her. But Cordelia was brainwashed and she wanted to make her husband happy, so she did what she thought was right.

Cordelia would never take Katherine's comments to heart, the past was the past, and the blonde apologised as much as she could with the promise that she would help her escape her husband for eternity. Cordelia knew him well enough to know where he wouldn't look for her.

Her eyebrow raised in amusement instead, "Uh huh. And you wanted me out here because you were lonely. We are not supposed to be together, remember? We could get caught."

"I am tired of running." Katherine snapped, "And we won't get caught. As long as everyone who knows about us keeps their mouth closed, we will be fine."

"Running keeps us from dying." Cordelia snapped also before her eyes closed and she sighed, "Don't worry, if anyone talks—" Before Cordelia could finish her thoughts, the two Salvatore brothers walked over towards them. She stopped what she was saying, so they couldn't hear anything they weren't supposed to and looked at them expectantly.

"My brother and I would like to escort you both to your quarters to make sure neither of you get lost." Stefan said with a smile, nodding his head gently as he kept eye contact with Petrova woman.

Katherine bit her lip as she walked over to Stefan, linking his arm with hers. "Don't mind if I do." She said, "Will you be okay?" She asked Cordelia before she and Stefan walked away.

Cordelia eyed Damon, "My brother will take care of Miss Cordelia." Stefan reassured Katherine. "She will be in good hands."

"Oh, I'm sure about that." Katherine giggled as they began to walk away, leaving Damon and Cordelia by themselves.

Damon held his elbow out and Cordelia smiled, taking it gladly. The two beginning to walk to her room in silence.

"Your friend has quite the personality." Damon spoke up after a few quiet moments as he looked down towards her. Cordelia chuckled at his statement, knowing he had no idea of how completely true he was.

"That is an understatement, Mr. Salvatore." Cordelia responded, "I do hope your poor brother can keep up with her. She's smitten but she can be a handful."

"They do have very fitting personalities. I hope Miss Katherine can bring him out of his shell." Damon stated as they walked closer towards the home.

"I guess we would just have to wait and see." Cordelia exhaled, "Anything could happen with her."

The two walked into the home and up the staircase towards the bedroom quarters, staying arm in arm until they reached her door. "My room is just across the hall if you need anything, your friend is next door also." Damon advised.

"Goodnight, Mr. Salvatore." Cordelia lowered her head.

Damon smiled, "Please, call me Damon."

Cordelia looked at him and smiled back. Damon truly was a handsome boy, while he had his rugged exterior and somewhat of a rebel nature, he was innocent—she honestly felt bad because it could go so wrong and she and Katherine were just placing him and his brother up for slaughter.

But there was something about his baby-blue eyes that compelled her to not care.

"Goodnight, Damon." Cordelia bid as she reached up and pressed a light and flirtatious kiss to his cheek before she walked into her room.

She closed the door and leant against it, hearing a faint 'goodnight' come from Damon on the other side of the door. She waited until she heard him go into his room before she let out an exhale. She was playing with fire and Damon was going to get burned because of her actions. It was going to catch up to her, but she couldn't help it. She needed to feel a connection, she needed to feel something other than fear and loneliness.

Damon was that light that was at the end of the tunnel, and she could feel it.

     And she couldn't tell if that meant trouble or if it gave her a sense of security.