You have the Petrova-fire.

Deep down, Katherine is a very lonely, broken woman. Katerina Petrova is a woman who had her baby taken away from her, her family slaughtered, and her life turned into a game of cat and mouse. She’s a girl who really couldn’t get to know herself beyond what her parents thought was best for her. After having an illegitimate child, she’s disowned and banished. Right away, she’s disgraced her family. She’s rejected. She never asked for any of this. In England, she learns what she is, a doppelganger and what that means.

Katerina has always had a level of charm about her. Even back then, Trevor falls in love with her and that is how she’s able to escape Klaus the first time thus beginning her life on the run. What’s only apparent in hindsight, is that Katerina manipulates Trevor from the get-go. From there, Katerina – now Katherine Pierce has one priority. Katherine. Her life is what matters. She would like to stay alive. Being in the company of the Originals helped mold Katherine into the entitled woman who arrived in Mystic Falls. She’s accustomed to luxury. She loves attention. She encourages and instigates it.

If it will help her in the long-run, she’ll also save someone’s life. She loves having a witch in her back pocket that could owe her. So, she will go out of her way to help – if there’s something in it for her. Katherine is far from selfless.

She plays people against each other. When I say she’s manipulative, I mean that she completely manipulates a situation in her favor for the outcome she wants. She has contingency plans. She ensures the outcome that helps her most comes to pass. When the tomb vampires escape, she concocts a plan to get rid of them because if they’re out, they’ll know she’s alive, be able to track her and Klaus will find her. Katherine doesn’t want to be found.

She plays games with men’s hearts. She leads them on. She also zeroes in on just what can help her get ahead. She saves a witch, Emily, who is forever indebted to her from then on. And she gains a true friend in Pearl.

The Salvatore brothers are the most important men in her life. She legitimately loves both of them. She not only says this numerous times, but she also shows this. She delivers the cure to Damon when he’s dying of a werewolf bite. She wanted the three of them to go through life together but Stefan made that impossible. And Katherine also remembered her main goal: staying alive. That didn’t mean she didn’t keep track of them. She makes several references to stalking Stefan throughout his life. She followed him and Lexi to a concert. In this current season, she follows him and Klaus.

She purposefully pushes her humanity down and because of this, people mean nothing to her. She will compel a person without thinking twice. She uses people and disposes of them as she wishes – even people who are quite possibly friends. I think she had affection for Emily Bennett but she still used her. And she uses Mason. She changes Caroline. Her main goal in Mystic Falls the second time is to bring about ingredients for Klaus’ ritual without being involved. When her plans are foiled she immediately switches sides, playing at Damon’s love for Elena.

Elena is in the same boat Katherine is in. And she wouldn’t wish that fate on anyone. If she allowed herself, she could feel bad for her. But, she also sees herself in Elena – something Elena tries not to be.

Katherine helps the winning side. She will switch on a dime as long as she comes out on top. She’s been known to impersonate Elena when needed. At this point, she’s past the impersonation to fool everyone route. She only does it when asked. She feels she’s good at this. It’s not that difficult to give her voice a gravelly quality, to sadden her doe-eyes.

She gets bored easily. She’s always on the move and Klaus is to thank for that. But, lately, her new goal has been finding a way to get rid of Klaus.

Katherine does horrible things – but she feels they’re acceptable and she doesn’t care. Yes, she kidnaps Jeremy Gilbert. But in her eyes, he has the connection to a ghost she needs access to. It makes sense in her mind. She does the morally questionable thing without question. She’s ruthless.

Because she is a vampire, she’s amused when inflicting pain. She can be a sadistic person, revel in the movements of her chess pieces. She sends threats – and won’t hesitate to retaliate when she doesn’t get her way or when she’s wronged – see, Jenna’s stabbing.

A lot of what she does is with the eventual goal of being with Stefan Salvatore. I think a part of her could really see herself with him when all the running is done and Klaus isn’t a problem anymore. He’s blown it with Elena. She understands him. But, she also knows they may never be together. The stars may never “align.” She saves Damon’s life and Stefan’s in the process in “Homecoming” but she doesn’t miss a beat before turning Stefan around in Klaus’ direction.

Katherine has a lot of anger inside her. A lot of hate. She legitimately hates Klaus and will stop at nothing to ensure that he is gone forever, now. Even though she goes back on the run, she wants Klaus to feel all the pain she feels. She pushes this pain down and has for years. But, she has loss. She lost her family. Twice. Once when they disowned her and once when she discovered Klaus had slaughtered them. She lost her friend, Pearl to the tomb. She lost Stefan and Damon. She has great pain inside. And deep down, Katherine is a lonely person. Because, the life she leads is a very lonely one.

But, hell if she will ever show that side of her. She tears away her layers to eschew vulnerability only when it helps her and never for long periods of time. There’s a chance, Katherine Pierce will never be happy. It could be argued that she was happiest when with the Salvatore’s back in the late 1800’s. But, she may never be again. She always has one foot out the door, always looking around her shoulder.

But, none of this changes that Katherine is just a girl who lost her family young, had to grow up quickly and had to run for her life. Literally.

Perhaps now, Katherine could go on with her life. She glanced back at the old abandoned house in her rear view mirror before turning onto the dirt road. It would take fifteen minutes to hit highway and a few hours to make it out of the state. She knew she had to be as far away from Mystic Falls as possible. When the bomb went off, so-to-speak, she couldn't be there. In a way, this was perfect. Stefan was exactly where she wanted him. All she had to do was nudge him towards rage. It would make sense. Katherine had her own pent up rage. But, Klaus hadn't taken away her humanity, her choices - not like he had for Stefan. Klaus had taken everything from him - like her. Weren't they a pair?

Katherine pulled up to a traffic light and stopped, resting her arm against the window.

If Klaus couldn't be killed - and she believed if anyone could find out how to, it would be the Mystic Falls brigade - but if he couldn't be then he had to suffer. His family had to be taken away from him like he had done to Katherine - and now, Stefan.

Maybe she should've felt bad for Elena. She'd lost the supposed love of her life. But, Elena never wanted this life. Elena was a doppelganger and that would never change. She was envious in a way. Of course it had turned out that Elena's blood was the key to making hybrids. And of course she hadn't died. Yes, yes, she'd 'died.' But, not really. She had had John Gilbert - a useless, useless man who she probably should've killed when she had the chance. Hell, she thought she had. But, no, he had survived. Ring and all.

She rolled her eyes, remembering that.

But, Elena had had John and that -- spell. Elena had survived. Had Katherine been drained back in England... nobody would have been there to save her, to bring her back to life. No, Elena hadn't asked for any of this. She knew that. But, she couldn't help but hate Elena. Elena managed to have friends. A family. A brother. And a father - no matter how illegitimate - who gave his life for her. Katherine's father had disagreed with her lifestyle choice and she'd been banished.

Well, if there was one thing that was true, it was that she would never be Elena Gilbert. And maybe that was a good thing.

A tear escaped as she pulled onto the on-ramp but she wiped it away, one hand on the wheel. She didn't have to take the same advice she had given Stefan. No. She wasn't going to do this. She wasn't going to allow herself to feel this. She wasn't going to allow herself to acknowledge that maybe Stefan could never love her like he loved Elena. The pain subsided as she shifted in her seat, glanced back and switched lanes.

Perhaps, she would go to New York. New York was nice this time of year.