A/N: Thank you lovelies for favoriting, following and especially reviewing! Your words totally cheered me up when I was shivering under three blankets.
Both my beta and I started this new year by being hella sick and it sucked...so much. But! We're here now, and with a new chapter! Who's ready to start this year with a lot of sass? :P
Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or 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.
Maya seemed to remember how to open a door and stepped out of the car at the same time as I did. I was waiting for her at the beginning of Saint Gilbert's walkway when I heard the front door being opened quickly.
"Oh my god, you're okay!" Elena cried in relief, rushing toward her friend.
"I'm so sorry, Maya! I had to tell them...you were nowhere to be found! I was so worried," Bonnie blurted out as fast as humanly possible.
"What the...? What happened to your eyes?!" Caroline exclaimed, stopping dead in her tracks and everybody else with her. As soon as the overwhelming welcome started, Maya had stepped backward and hid herself behind me, clutching the bottom of my jacket tightly. I could feel her panic, and I was pretty sure she would flee again if they kept acting like invasive drama queens. I shot a meaningful glare at the Bennett witch and luckily, she took the hint.
"Guys, why don't we give her some space and time to settle down?" Elena and Caroline seemed hesitant, but Bonnie gave them an encouraging nod.
"Good idea," Stefan said, always the accommodating one. His brother was in the back and remained surprisingly quiet. He was observing the scene from afar with a wary expression on his face.
I turned around slowly so Maya could let go of my clothes without being startled and stopped when I had both her and her Scooby gang in my field of vision.
"It's fine," I murmured softly, purposely making it hard for them to hear what I was telling her. "They were scared that something bad happened to you. Now they're just happy to see you. " I searched her face for any sign of her wild side coming back in full mode, but noticed that she was hanging onto my every word instead. "You know this house...you'll be safe inside. Come on."
I encouraged her to follow me with a little nod toward the house. She looked at me for a few seconds, unsure, before I felt slender fingers sneak their way between my knuckles. I tensed at the touch, taken aback by her gesture. It would be an understatement to say that I hadn't expected that kind of reaction at all. Was it possible that this Maya trusted me? She was looking at me like she would follow me wherever I would go, seemingly certain that I would not hurt her. That I would even protect her. I frowned, uncomfortable at the thought, until another one crossed my mind. She had taken my hand willingly and was displaying trust towards me, in front of her friends. I sure hoped that those obnoxious brats didn't miss one bit of it. I closed my fingers on hers and pulled her gently along as I started walking toward the house.
From the looks on every single one of their faces, our little show hadn't gone unnoticed. Their expressions were just so precious that it took everything in me not to flash them a very self-satisfied smirk. After all the damn effort I had put into bringing Maya back, I was not going to let them ruin my rescue by attacking me because I bruised their little egos by rubbing it in.
They stepped back into the house as we approached and gave us enough space that she eventually agreed to stand inside the lobby—even though she was glued to my side from behind. I led her to the living room without asking for permission and let go of her hand to grab the armchair next to the couch. But she didn't let go of mine. Her grip around my fingers didn't even loosen a little. It irritated me, but I put a warm smile on my lips before turning around to face her.
"Why don't you sit in that armchair for a while? I know you feel comfortable here." I was totally bluffing. Even though my shadow self was her best friend, it didn't necessarily mean that she liked being in her house. I didn't even know if Maya was currently aware of where she was, or if she knew Elena was supposed to be her "bestie."
She finally let go of my hand. I took this opportunity to turn the armchair around, making it face the windows from a safe distance, and patted the cushions playfully to convince her to sit. She complied, her butt barely touching the edge of the seat.
"Stefan, Caroline and Damon here are going to stay with you. You can trust them. They're your friends." I was tremendously enjoying having that kind of power over her. Because with one word to her, I could hit the entire goody-two-shoes crew where it hurt the most. I glanced up for a second to make sure they all got the message. "I need to freshen up, but I'll be back soon, okay?" I reassured her. I then stepped out of her sight and fetched Barbie's phone from her back pocket.
"Hey!" she screeched, flattening her hand instinctively on the now empty pocket. I ignored her and typed a text quickly.
"Keep a close eye on her. Use every possible way to keep her from going near the windows or trying to get out. Do not underestimate her. You have no idea what she's capable of."
I handed the phone to Stefan, an intent look on my face. He read the message and looked up before nodding gravely. He gave the phone to his brother, but Damon declined.
"Nuh uh, I'm keeping an eye on this one." He glared at me to remove any doubt of whom he was talking about. Always one for subtlety. Stefan passed on the phone to Caroline, and after reading the text, she quickly nodded too.
After silently making sure they understood that if they screwed up, I would chop their heads off, I looked at Bonnie and indicated her to come to the kitchen with a quick move of my chin. I walked toward the room, not waiting for her answer, knowing already that she would follow me whether she liked it or not.
I had expected the witch and the cheap knight in shining armor to tag along, but I was extremely annoyed to hear a third heartbeat joining the group. Couldn't she just stay with her dear, dear friend? I was sure she would love to kiss and make "it" better. So why did she feel the need to follow us? So much for friendship.
Once in the kitchen, I turned around to face them and shot a deadly glare to Elena before her open mouth could make a sound. It efficiently silenced her, and I grabbed the tap beside me to turn it on. I did the same with the microwave to make sure that Maya wouldn't be able to hear our conversation. I then leaned against the kitchen island, and it seemed to give them some kind of signal that they could all start asking questions at the same time.
"What the hell happened?"
"How did you find her?"
"What did you do to her?" Damon asked, coming closer to me with narrowed eyes. When he raised a hand toward my face, I gripped his wrist strongly, immobilizing him. He pretended I wasn't hurting him and stretched his fingers to catch something in my hair instead. I peeked at his blocked hand.
"Your hair is tangled with twigs and leaves, and you're covered with dirt. So is Maya," he pointed out, a demanding look in his eyes. I thought for a second to remind him that he was in no position to keep an eye on me or ask for anything by breaking his arm, but I didn't have time for this.
"Where was she? Why is she like that? And how did you know about her?" Elena suddenly blurted out. Her arms tightened nervously around her chest, and she fidgeted on her feet, impatience getting the best of her. I glanced at her with annoyance before ignoring her and turned my head toward the witch.
"Can you do an isolation spell on this house?"
She frowned in confusion at my sudden question.
"Yes...I already did it once before." They both looked quickly at my doppelganger, but I didn't dwell on what it could mean.
"Is your magic going to work on her?" I asked earnestly.
"So, you are indeed responsible for the witchy attack..." Damon murmured more for himself, putting two and two together. I flashed him a condescending smirk.
"I think we all know the answer to that question."
"Wait, what? What witch attack? What are you talking about? When did that happen? Why do the two of you know about this and I don't?!" Elena asked in one breath, upset and worried. She then looked at me expectantly.
"I don't have time to mother the whining baby here." I waved a finger up and down in front of her before turning my back on her. "We have more important things to do. Will it work?" I asked the Bennett witch again in a harsh tone. She seemed to hesitate answering my question, fully aware of the significant information her answer would give me. She exchanged a look with Damon and finally talked.
"Yes, it will work."
"Then do it. Now."
"What? Why?" she asked, a little puzzled.
"In her current state, I can guarantee you that she does not like to be inside. If her...wild side strikes again, she'll take every opportunity to flee, or actually make those opportunities. And I'm not sure we'll be able to stop her." I gave them a second to recover from the shock that Maya was a lot stronger than they obviously could have ever imagined. But since patience wasn't one of my virtues, I snapped them out of it.
"So! What do you need for your spell, Judgy?"
"What? Uh...yes. Candles," she said, finally focused.
"I'm on it," Damon declared, speeding out of the room.
"My herbs. They're in my bag."
"I'll go," Elena said absentmindedly, walking toward the lobby.
"What's next?" I asked with a bossy tone.
"I need space."
I raised a daunting eyebrow.
"No, that's not what I meant," she hastened to clarify. "We need to move the table so I can create a circle with the candles and sit down in the middle."
"Fine." I pushed the furniture out of the way effortlessly while Bonnie removed the chairs.
"Got it," Damon said, putting the candles on the floor.
"Here, your herbs Bonnie." Elena handed a small leather handbag to her friend. The witch settled everything down and finally sat cross-legged in the middle of the lighted circle.
"Hurry up, little witch, we don't have all day," I commanded, drumming my fingers impatiently on the counter. She shot me an annoyed glare before closing her eyes and starting to chant in her gibberish. Only a few seconds later, raised voices came from the living room. I immediately dashed to the room and passed a dumbstruck Caroline seated on her ass, on the floor. Stefan was trying to talk to Maya and to grab her arms to calm her down, but he was making things worse. She clearly didn't want to be touched. I sped between the two of them before it got messy and faced Maya.
"Hey there! Easy..." I said in a soothing voice, raising my hands in front of me as a peace offering. She stopped thrashing her arms around, but her eyes were locked on Stefan, the gold in them shimmering dangerously.
"What's going on here?" I drawled with a hint of exasperation aimed at the two incompetent idiots behind me.
"She suddenly stood up and went for the window," Stefan answered quietly, careful to remain still to not piss Maya off further.
"I tried to stop her. She threw me off! Across the entire room!" Caroline exclaimed in disbelief, hurt by her friend's reaction. I rolled my eyes at the empty-headed girl before focusing again on the agitated panther in front of me. Without averting my eyes from her, I raised my voice so I could be heard from the kitchen.
"How things are going in there? Because now would be a good time!"
"Not ready yet!" I heard Damon answer a second later. I growled inwardly, wondering how they had all survived the deadly events they had encountered so far with so much incompetence.
"It's okay, Maya...no one is going to touch you or make you do something you don't want to," I said gently, trying to buy time. "Why don't you tell me what's going on? You wanted to open the window so you could smell outside? Is that it?" She stared at me for a moment and finally gave me a small, hesitant nod. I stopped the surprise from appearing on my face. It was the first time since I found her in the middle of the road that she showed a tangible sign that she actually understood what was said to her.
"Okay then...I'm going to open that window for you." I heard Caroline gasp behind me, proving to me once more that the girl was useless. I had no intention of opening the window. I was just dragging the conversation out until that damn slacker of a witch finally cast her spell. "But I want you to sit down first," I continued, keeping my voice smooth but putting a hint of authority into it. "You'll be able to sniff the air all you want, but I want you to promise me that you won't budge from that armchair once the window is open." I waited for her answer and watched her sit back down on the seat. She nodded at me obediently once more and remained still, her arms crossed on her lap. Damn it. I didn't think she would comply so easily. I was beginning to miss wild, untamable Maya. I started to walk backward extremely slowly toward the window. Because as compliant as she seemed to be, I knew that her quiet behavior would disappear the second something appealing happened outside. Taming a lioness to remain still at your feet was possible until a gazelle ran in front her nose.
"Bonnie!" I called out urgently, my voice dripping with anger. Only silence answered me for a few seconds. Just as I didn't have any choice left but to grab the handle, she finally shouted, "Done!"
I restrained a sigh of relief from passing my lips and opened the window casually. Maya instantly wrapped her arms and legs around the armrest and stretched out her neck to get as close as possible to the window. She looked like a kid trying to get what she wanted without being scolded. She took deep breaths of fresh air and was clearly enjoying it. I chuckled at the sight.
During the next hour, they all harassed me with thousand of questions while pacing around the kitchen island. I gave them the outlines of what had happened. They didn't need to know everything. After a while, the interrogation ceased when they realized that they wouldn't draw any more information from me. I might have helped them realize that quicker by throwing in a few snarky and spot-on comments.
They then started to make hypotheses on what to do and what Maya was, and that was my cue to go away from the noisy and annoying group. Elena had sneaked out of the room as well and did the same thing as I had done. She went to check on Maya.
She walked slowly toward the armchair and talked to her friend. Since she was only occupying the armrest, Elena decided to cautiously sit down next to her despite her lack of answer. Surprisingly, Maya let her. I could also see that her body was more relaxed. Her posture more...human. I had my doubts, but bringing her back here might have been the right call after all. I didn't like that she was allowing someone other than me to approach her, though. Especially my shadow-self. But I was drawing satisfaction out of the fact that despite accepting Elena's presence next to her, she was completely ignoring her. I smirked and pushed away from the living room threshold.
Once I was outside the house, I pulled out my phone to call Lucy. The information she had given me about Maya had been valuable so far, but after what I had witnessed this afternoon, she was clearly clueless about what we were really dealing with. The Bennetts' reputation was irritatingly overrated.
When I came back inside, the daylight was already fading. Caroline was in the same room as Maya, slumped on the couch. Damon, Stefan, Elena and Bonnie were talking, sitting around the dining table. Maya was alone in her seat, still staring out the window. I walked nonchalantly toward her, and as soon as I came close enough to her armchair, she looked up straight into my eyes. I felt a smile growing on my lips as I found out that her eyes were back to their beautiful cerulean color. It faltered a second later though, when I remembered the last time those blue eyes were in place. If she was back to being herself completely, she was probably about to jump at my throat for the little stunt I had pulled in the morning using Damon. I dismissed the thought and put a casual mask on my face.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yes," she answered, smiling genuinely at me. "I'm feeling better, now. More...myself." I hadn't expected how nice it would be to hear her voice again. I pushed the realization to the back of my mind, annoyed, and focused on the fact that she didn't seem to be mad at me. Despite that it definitely suited me, I found it unexpected. She spoke again, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"I'm just tired. I want nothing more than to snuggle in my bed...I'm going to go home." I tensed and thought of a plan quickly.
"Wait." I flattened a hand in front of her to prevent her from getting up. "I believe you didn't eat anything today?"
"I..." she trailed off, frowning in confusion, obviously incapable of remembering. The background had become awfully silent. They were all listening to our conversation.
"Well, I suppose that since you're tired, you're not going to cook yourself anything once you get home..." I faked a disapproving eyebrow. "Let me fix you something real quick and when you've eaten, you'll be free to go."
"That threat sounds oddly familiar," she answered with a teasing undertone. I giggled at her reminder of the exact same deal I had offered her after she had collapsed in fever in front of me.
"What can I say? I'm a real mother hen." I coquettishly shrugged one of my shoulders, and she laughed at my antics. I walked past the dining room, earning wary looks from the Salvatore brothers, and went to the kitchen. I had barely reached the counter before Damon and Elena were on my heels.
"Make yourself useful for a change and give me some eggs and bacon," I ordered Elena. She frowned, perplexed. I sighed in annoyance and opened the fridge myself. "Find me a frying pan then, if it's not too much to ask of your limited skills," I sneered while rummaging through the shelves. I pulled out of the fridge what I was looking for and closed the door. She was still staring at me with the same expression on her face. I gave her a piercing look. She finally snapped out of it and bypassed me quickly to take a pan out of one of the cupboards. She handed it to me warily.
"What's going on here?" Bonnie asked when she entered the room. I grabbed the pan and started to cook the bacon.
"Katherine is making us dinner," Damon answered in a clearly amused tone.
"Sorry, dear Mr. Salvatore, but that's never going to happen."
"Then what are you doing?" Elena demanded in a tensed voice. I turned my head to look at her with sharp eyes.
"Cooking something for Maya to eat."
"But...why?" she mumbled, avoiding my gaze by looking at the pan.
"That's actually a good question," he interfered. "But more importantly, what are you still doing here, Katherine?"
"You know, you should all show me a lot more gratitude. If it wasn't for me, your little friend would still be running toward the opposite side of the country." They kept quiet for a moment, realizing how right I was.
"Thank you..." Elena murmured awkwardly. I was only half surprised that the goody-two-shoes would be the only one able to overcome her hate for me to actually thank me. I looked at her and gave her a disdainful smirk.
"That still doesn't explain why you're still here," Damon insisted annoyingly. Why was I still here? That was indeed a good question. Maya was with her friends now, safely locked inside, and she seemed to be on her way back to herself. I could have left hours ago. But those idiots hadn't witnessed what I had seen this afternoon. The mere sight of what she was capable of doing with her powers was a damn good reason in itself to stick around.
"Actually, for once, my beloved doppelganger asked the better question." I heard Elena huff in offense, and I couldn't help but smirk. It was so fun and easy to mess with her.
"Which was?" he asked impatiently. I stretched my arm to reopen the tap, adding more noise to the one the cooking bacon was making and faced them again.
"Why would I make Maya dinner?" They kept looking at me, but no one said a word. I rolled my eyes at their cluelessness.
"Seriously? She wants to go. And if she leaves...two plus two..."
"She's going to find out about the isolation spell," Elena answered, realization hitting her.
"Hmm…there may be hope for you, after all," I teased, earning myself an angry look.
"Well, I just have to remove it. There's no need for it anymore, anyway," Bonnie declared matter-of-factly.
"Not so fast, witch."
"What? Is there something you're not telling us?" Damon asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
"No. But wouldn't we like to be sure? I'm the one who ran after her, and I'm not doing that again," I answered coldly. They didn't need to know that if Maya was indeed herself, she wouldn't act all buddy-buddy with me. Knowing her, she would be insulting me or jumping at me with a stake instead. I was surprised that Damon didn't seem to make the connection, since he was there when it happened, but I was glad that his worry for her was apparently blinding him.
"And cooking her something to eat is going to help to do that...because?" he snapped dryly. I sighed and clucked my tongue in exasperation.
"For people who claim to be such close friends to her, I'm apparently the only one here who really knows her."
"Don't think that harassing her for two months makes you an expert about Maya," Elena hissed in jealousy.
"Oh, my dear Elena...we'll see about that," I purred, a provocative smile on my lips. She was trying to challenge me with her eyes when Bonnie cleared her throat.
"So? About cooking her dinner?"
"What's her favorite food?" I snapped harshly.
"Bacon," Damon answered instantly.
"Finally someone who's paying attention," I mocked wryly. I turned around and broke two eggs over the fried bacon.
"Katherine, stop being so cryptic!" Bonnie shouted, slamming her hand on the kitchen island. I gave her a deadly glare from above my shoulder. She crossed her arms defensively around her chest but held my gaze.
"This wild...eerie, whatever version of Maya doesn't seem to like bacon for some obscure reasons," I finally answered. Damon snorted dryly at my statement. Elena and Bonnie exchanged an incredulous look.
"You're kidding, right?" Elena asked tentatively.
"That's your big secret intel that's going to help us know if she's back to being herself? What a joke!" Damon exclaimed, half laughing and half condescending.
"Plate," I demanded, gesturing Elena to give me one without bothering looking at her. She frowned in silent disapproval of my manners but eventually complied. I slid the food onto the plate, grabbed some cutlery from the drainer and turned around.
"Oh you ignorant people..." I sing-songed arrogantly."Well, it doesn't matter that you don't believe me. If she eats her bacon, she'll have a full stomach to go home once you've lifted the spell, and everybody is happy, right?" I flashed them a fake friendly smile and walked toward the dining room. Stefan and Caroline were right behind the threshold and from the look on their faces, they had listened to the whole conversation. I ignored them and kept walking toward the living room. I lowered the plate for Maya to take and leaned against the wall in front of her. A second later, she was surrounded by the entire gang, like a prey circled by vultures.
"Thanks," Maya mumbled to me. She then looked around at her friends awkwardly. "Are you guys going to watch me eat?"
Elena chuckled nervously before answering.
"Sorry. It's just...we've been really worried about you, and I guess we just want to be sure you have everything you need." She gave Maya a warm smile while Bonnie, Caroline and Stefan sat down on the couch. Damon stayed behind the armchair, Elena in front of it.
"Okay..." Maya murmured, obviously confused by her friends' behavior. She looked down at her plate and hesitated for a few seconds. She finally grabbed the cutlery, cut a slice of one of the sunny-side-up eggs and started eating. We all waited for the fateful moment to come in a dreadful silence, making her even more uncomfortable. When she finally reached the part of the egg that had blended with the bacon, she cautiously cut around it and pushed the meat aside. They glanced up at each other, shocked and worried before all looking at me.