You woke up on the floor, cold, trembling, and drowning in pain. The last thing you remembered was the attack—fangs, blood, darkness. When your eyes fluttered open again, Katherine Pierce was standing over you, arms crossed, smirking like this was all some kind of game.

“Welcome to eternity,” she said.

Your throat burned like fire. “What… what happened to me?”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Katherine cooed, kneeling beside you. “You died. And now you get to live forever—if you don’t screw it up.”

She handed you a blood bag. You hesitated. She rolled her eyes. “Drink it. Or don’t. I’ll just watch you writhe until the hunger wins.”

The first taste was chaos—hot, metallic, powerful. You gasped as the pain faded, replaced by something primal. Katherine smiled knowingly. “There it is. The rush. It never really goes away.”

Over the next few nights, she became your teacher—your guide through the cruel, intoxicating world of the undead. She showed you how to move unnoticed, how to feed without leaving a mess, how to compel, fight, run.

“Rule number one,” she said, circling you during a sparring session. “Never hesitate. Humanity slows you down. Kill or be killed.”

You blocked her attack, barely. “I don’t want to be like you.”

She laughed, sharp and beautiful. “Oh, you already are. You just haven’t accepted it yet.”