A/N: Hi guys! How was your Christmas Eve? Have you been spoiled rotten? :D As always, thank you for the amazing reviews, favorites and follows! They make me all warm and fuzzy inside... So please, keep them coming! (:
Now on to the chapter! Are you all ready for the many secrets soon to be revealed? :D Happy reading and Happy New Year guys! Have fuuuuuun!
Disclaimer: I do not ownThe Vampire Diariesor any of its characters. This is a work of fiction written for entertainment purposes, but the original characters and original storylines present in "My Paper Heart" are my own work.
"Why do we have to get up so early again?" I grumbled, determined to stay in bed.
"Because I have to drop you off at Bonnie's house before going to school!" Elena popped her head out of the bathroom and smiled indulgently before disappearing into the bathroom again.
"You don't have to do anything!This is ridiculous. We should both go to school… I'm perfectly fine!" I shouted back loudly.
"Look," she started, popping her head out again. "It's the first time you've ever scared us this bad, okay?" Her expression was serious but her tone gentle. "One minute you're in class with us and the next you're disappearing for an entire day and night! We didn't even know where you were, or if you were okay… We need to be perfectly sure and reassured that everything is fine with you, so play along with this, please?" I put my hands over my face in frustration and groaned grumpily.
"You're killing me here…"
"I know. It's so annoying to have caring friends," she said, mock exasperation in her voice. She managed to get a chuckle out of me before I sighed in defeat.
"Fine."
"Now, get out of bed and go get some breakfast while I take a shower," she ordered me with a smile on her lips, and just like that, my mood turned grumpy again.
When I stepped into the kitchen, I caught a whiff of grass, dirt and trees. The room had the scent of my backyard. I automatically checked my door and windows. The windowpane right next to the door was broken. Are you kidding me? Again?! My blood pressure went right through the roof. I rushed toward the broken glass to assess the damage. I then noticed that there was a rectangular form wrapped in paper balanced on the counter, with a small envelope attached to it. Since she already had done it once before, I had a pretty good idea of who had broken my window, but I angrily snatched the envelope up to confirm my suspicions. I restrained myself from tearing it to shreds right away and opened it to find a note and some cash inside.
"For the windowS…
- K"
I felt the sudden urge to crumple up her fucking note, throw it across the room, and finally, burn it. Instead, I winced and tossed it disdainfully on the counter. I didn't want her money. What was she thinking, that a gift would make everything okay? That the cash would keep me from being furiously mad that she had broken yet another one of my freaking windows? I didn't want anything from her. I clenched my jaw so hard it hurt. Walking quickly, I made my way down to the basement to get everything I needed to clean up this mess- and temporarily fix the windowpane.
It took me ten minutes, during which I carefully avoided getting near her gift. The mere thought of it lying on my counter was making me furious, but I couldn't force myself to take it and dump it. I would have to touch it to do so.
I finally went next to the sink to grab two bowls and filled them with cereal and milk. I poured Elena and myself a cup of coffee as well and took the tray to the living room. Hopefully, she would stay there and not notice the broken window in the kitchen. When I heard her opening the bathroom door, I gulped down the rest of my coffee and rushed to the stairs.
"I put your breakfast in the living room," I told her while passing her on the stairs.
"Oh, okay. Thanks!" she replied from behind.
When I came back from my shower, I found the living room empty. I closed my eyes for a second before calling her reluctantly.
"Elena?"
"In the kitchen!" she spoke up. Crap.
"Come on, let's go! We're going to be late," I shouted, slipping on my jacket.
"What happened here?" She came into view with a shocked expression on her face and pointed to the window behind her with her thumb.
"Broken window. Come on, you don't want to be late for school." I grabbed her bag and handed it to her, hopping that she would drop the subject.
"There's a package on your counter."
"I'm aware of that."
"What is it?" she asked suspiciously.
"Still wrapped, Elena. So I would go with I don't know," I answered sarcastically. "Okay, let's go."
"Maya…"
"Elena," I shot back, mimicking her drawling tone.
"What's going on here?" she asked sternly. "It has something to do with Katherine, isn't it?"
"It feels like everything is about Katherine lately…" I mumbled in irritation under my breath.
"It looks like an apology gift," she declared suddenly with a confused expression on her face.
"What?" How could she figure that out?
"You obviously experienced an event that was traumatic enough to trigger your giant migraine, and I was really baffled about the fact that Katherine could take care of you out of kindness. Then, she paid you a visit, looking all concerned about your well-being, and now a gift! It sure looks a lot like she's trying to redeem herself for something that she did to you. And since apologies really don't sound like something Katherine would do, I'm starting to think that she may be responsible for what happened to you..." She looked deep into my eyes in hopes of finding confirmation inside them. She probably couldn't see the storm that was howling inside of me from the outside, but I was a complete mess. I stayed silent for a moment and finally sighed pathetically; using every facial muscle I had to plead with her to drop the subject.
"I meant what I said to you last night…" I whispered tiredly, referring to the conversation where I confided in her that there were things about me I couldn't possibly tell her just yet. She stared at me with an upset expression for a few seconds.
"OK… but I'm really worried about you right now! I mean… did she hurt you? Has she been cruel to you? What…" she trailed off and raised her hands to her sides, letting them drop quickly afterwards in frustration. "Are you even okay?"
"I am now. And you played a big part in it," I reassured her, a soothing smile on my lips. From the way she was scrutinizing me, I knew that she wasn't convinced. "I really am fine, Elena. And I promise that I'll tell you everything in time," I added sincerely. Worry didn't leave her eyes but she finally gave me a quick nod and reluctantly grabbed her bag.
She dropped me off at Bonnie's house, making me feel like a divorced parents' kid. Bonnie was on her doorstep and greeted me with a little too much enthusiasm before waving from afar at Elena. As soon as she closed the door behind me, she started the interrogation.
"How are you feeling today?" she asked cheerfully.
"Great."
"No more headaches?"
"Nope! No more fever and no concussion, obviously," I added, a bit sarcastic. "Does that mean I can go home, now, doctor?"
"Nice try." She flashed me a lop-sided grin. "That only means that we can talk now!"
"That sounded a little too intentional for my taste…" I mumbled suspiciously.
"Anything you want to talk to me about?" What was wrong with the two of them today? Was it let's-ambush-Maya day or something?
"Like what?" I shot back, narrowing my eyes.
"Like that." She grabbed my left hand to raise it in front of my eyes and twisted my wrist so my fingers were facing me. I gave her a puzzled glance, having no clues about what she was trying to get at.
"What do you see?"
"My hand," I deadpanned.
"Do you notice anything unusual?"
"No…" I replied hesitantly. She smiled proudly.
"Exactly."
"Okay, I'm beyond confused now. What's your point?"
"There isn't even the slightest scab on your finger. Sure, it was a tiny cut, but the human body still needs more than a few days to completely heal even the smallest wound." My blood turned to ice when I realized what she was talking about. I slowly opened my mouth while trying to think about something I could say, but she cut me off before a word came out.
"Don't even think of lying to me!" she warned. "Because if you do, I'm going to take off the bandage that's around your other wrist, and I'm pretty sure I will find a perfectly healthy hand underneath."
"Bonnie…" I tried soothingly.
"Don't Bonnie me! I didn't pay that much of attention to your weird reaction when you read the page about people's immunity to magic at first," she explained with furrowed brows. "But it came back to my mind after you left and I looked through it again, reading the second paragraph this time…"
"You did?" I mumbled awkwardly, stuck between keeping up the lie and telling the truth.
"Yes. And I have to say that what I've learned has become really handy to know, what with the things that have been going on with you the past few days… Not to mention that it also explains a lot about your miraculous ability to walk out of battles unharmed." All I was able to do at the moment was to give her a panicked and apologetic look.
"So are you going to cut the crap and tell me the truth now?" she asked me in a pleading voice. I nodded slowly.
"What do you want to know?"
"You didn't know what you were before reading it in my spell book, did you?" She narrowed her eyes at me.
"No," I admitted quietly. "Do you know what my kind is called? I didn't have time to read all of the text…"
"No. It's not mentioned, I'm sorry…" she answered with an unsatisfied expression on her face. "Did your parents never tell you?"
"Is it genetic?"
"How would I know?"
"Well I don't know either!" I shot back, half baffled and half irritated. She stared at me intensely, seeming to gather her thoughts.
"From your battle records and your migraine, I'm guessing you were at least aware of your special skills…?" she asked. I gave her a firm nod. "For how long did you know?"
"For as long as I can remember… but the more I grew up, the more they increased," I explained thoroughly.
"So when we told you about the supernatural world, you already knew."
"Yes. Well, no…" I frowned, trying to find a way to sum it up for her. "I just hadn't been surprised that this kind of world could exist, obviously, but I didn't know anything about it. Not about witches, or vampires, or werewolves… nothing."
"Your parents never noticed your abnormal abilities?" she asked incredulously.
"Of course they did. It's pretty hard to hide anything from your parents when you're four years old," I pointed out. "But they always settled for telling me that there was nothing wrong with me. That I was just... special. And they soon made me understand that it was only our precious little secret, so I learned to hide my abilities pretty young."
"I'm sorry you had to hide a part of who you really are…" She gave me a sad smile.
"Thanks. But you have to hide your powers too, so I guess it just comes with the supernatural stuff, huh?" I tried to joke to brush off my discomfort.
"Yes, but I discovered them pretty recently. I didn't have to hide them my entire life…"
"Hiding them allowed me to have a pretty normal life, so…" I trailed off and just shrugged. She looked at me with understanding.
"So what kind of special skills are we talking about?"
"I thought you had read the paragraph about whatever I am?"
"Yes, but it's not exactly well documented. Your healing ability wasn't mentioned, so I'm assuming the list is far from exhaustive…" She waved a hand as if to dismiss the spell book text. "From what you've said about your migraine, I'm guessing super hearing and vision?"
"Yes. Sense of smell and touch as well."
"Considering your skills on the battle field, I would say agility and speed too?"
"Nothing like vampires' displays, but definitely more advanced than… humans," I replied awkwardly.
"Anything else?" she continued, her eyes open wide with awe.
"Super strength. I can also jump and run faster," I said scrupulously. "I can… feel people without hearing or seeing them. With all the different kinds we had to fight against for the past two years, I also know now how to differentiate them."
"Wow… that's awesome," she whispered in amazement.
"Oh! And… I'm not only immune to magic."
"Compulsion?" she guessed with a shocked expression. I gave her a confirming nod. "So you don't need to drink vervain…"
"Nope, thank god! This thing is disgusting." I winced as I remembered its taste.
"Vervain is undetectable, except by vampires and werewolves," she remarked warily.
"Did I forget to mention super palate too?" I added quickly, a big exaggerated smile plastered on my face. She shot me an annoyed glance, but I could see a grin at the corner of her lips.
"So basically, you're a vampire, but less powerful and without compulsion power or the need to being invited in," she resumed, trying to assess all of the information I just gave her.
"Hmmm yes, but I think you're missing the obvious. I don't need to feed on blood to survive and they're not immune to your magic." I winked at her cheekily.
"Fair enough..." She laughed lightly before her amused expression slowly turned serious again. "So your migraine… I assume it was because your senses went all crazy?"
"Yes," I answered, feeling a bit guilty. "My senses became so heightened that it was too much for me to handle. Everything was just hurting so badly..."My jaw clenched at the painful reminder.
"Do you know why it happened?"
"I think that's how my body reacts when I'm overwhelmed by traumatic events..." I shrugged helplessly.
"The spell..." she murmured in understanding. Her reasoning was only partially true, but I didn't correct her.
"That was pretty terrifying. And discovering that I was immune to magic along with the revelation about my nature didn't really help either."
"I have a theory about why this happens to you..." Bonnie whispered suddenly.
"What do you mean?" I asked, frowning. "What kind of theory?"
"Well, when you're in transition to become a vampire, you experiment pretty much what you've gone through... and once you actually become one, you have to learn how to use your super senses."
"I know that." I was confused about what she was trying to get at.
"And when my powers first started to appear, I had a hard time to control them," she continued imperturbably. "I was triggering them every time my emotions went wild."
"Are you saying that my migraines happen because I don't know how to control my powers?" I was quite baffled by her argument. "But I've been using them since forever!"
"I know... but you said yourself that you always hid them. So it's possible that you don't know exactly how extended they are. Maybe what you're aware of right now is just the tip of the iceberg," she said uncertainly. "That would explain why they suddenly go wild when your emotions are all over the place..." My eyebrows knitted together in thought. What she had just said could really be accurate. And it would definitely explain my migraines.
"What do you suggest?"
"Training," she announced, a conniving smile on her lips.