It isn't that Katherine doesn't like living in Elijah's house. She has a comfortable bed and the ability to run a hot bath to soak in without having to bother anyone. There's blood and people to take care of her again, and Elijah is kind and generous and just as she remembers him (mostly. Maybe more sad. She's still trying to figure that out).

But she's used to being on her own, so while it's nice to not be lonely, it's also a little jarring to have people always there, and to have rules. Klaus had rules and they were harsher, to be sure, but still. She ran away from those rules (and the cruelty) and she's not all that eager to return to life with them.

All right, some of them help her live in the human world. But some of them are just...petty. Elijah doesn't hunt nearly as viciously as Klaus, doesn't stalk, doesn't pounce and rip and drink until there's nothing left to drunk. She hasn't chased anyone since he took her in, hasn't felt that last breath, the last beat of a heart, the surge of power and thrill that comes from knowing she's pulled someone else's life into her.

So, one night when Elijah is out, she gives the servants a slip and finds herself back in the world, on busy streets. Drifting a little, she follows the scents on the air downtown, where people roam, enjoying the evening. Music and food and lights and couples strolling--there's part of her that just wants to blend in, but they all smell so good, and the hunter is harder to control sometimes.

She slips out of the shadows, wearing a little black dress (not the twirly one, because she doesn't want to risk getting blood on it, even if it is black) that helps her blend right in. Following the music and a crowd, she winds up in a club--dark with pulsing lights and music with a beat that does funny things to the inside of her head--with a lot of dark corners and a lot of people pressed close together.

Perfect.