A/N: A new chapter, guys, finally! I'm not going to lie, it's only on here today because of all your numerous and wonderful reviews and messages. They made me smile, made me watery-eyed, made my little writer's heart swell and also made me blush because I'm not sure I deserve all those amazing words... Thank so so much for every single one of them. And thank you for the love and support you still show for this story! I love you, guys.

This chapter is very special to me and is going to answer some of your questions, so please, let me know what you think of it! And at last, a special thank you to FandomlyCroft who jumped on the train and agreed to beta this story. :)

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.

When I woke up, I immediately checked Katherine's phone. There was an unread email flashing on the screen. I pressed on it and felt excited; she had agreed to meet me. After memorizing the where and when, I erased the message, got out of the bed and suddenly became aware of Katherine's presence nearby. I could tell she wasn't in the building but she wasn't far. Focusing on my senses to track her down, I finally spotted her lurking behind the trees running along the bed and breakfast. She was keeping a close eye on me. If I wanted to go to the meeting alone, I would need to get rid of her. I thought of a way to slip through her fingers and had an idea. If she had spent the entire night watching me, she probably hadn't fed for a while now. And if she was certain that I wouldn't go anywhere, it would give her an opportunity to vanish for a moment to do whatever she needed to do. I grabbed my clothes and put them on, careful to be extremely quiet. I doubted that she could hear what I was doing from where she was, but since I was able to feel her, I didn't want to take any risks.

Considering the old comfy touch of this establishment, I was sure I would find a pen and some paper in the drawers somewhere, and after a little research, it turned out that I was right. I wrote down a note for Katherine, telling her that I was fine and just needed some air but that I would be back at the end of the day. Hopefully, it would give me enough time to go to the Duke University and come back without putting the entire gang on war footing.
I placed her phone on top of the note and then went in the bathroom. I flipped the nozzle on and forced myself to wait. If I was in Katherine's shoes, I would pick this window to get away for a moment, knowing that I would have a safe thirty minutes ahead.

After five minutes, I finally came out of the bathroom and sneaked out the bedroom door to rush downstairs and get out without being seen. I was half expecting to see Katherine magically appearing in front of me but since she didn't, I ran like crazy through the woods and the streets until I eventually reached Bonnie's house. My feet were hurting badly, scratched and burned by gravels and the tarmac. I was in desperate need for shoes.

I listened cautiously for any noise inside her house but everything was quiet. It was early, Bonnie was still probably sleeping. I was counting on her habit to leave the back door open, but most importantly, I was hoping that she was the one that kept my bag.

When the door turned on its hinges, I restrained a sigh of relief and sneaked in to search for my bag as discreetly as possible. When I spotted it in her lobby, I became sure that my plan was going to work. I grabbed it and got out quickly.

While rummaging through my bag to find my keys, I came back to the front of her house and stopped in front of my uncle's car that I had left there the day before. I opened it before finally driving to my house.

Once I had parked it in my driveway, I rushed inside to take the fastest shower of my life, put on some new clothes and stuff some more in my backpack. I then walked to my closet and looked at my shoes with adoration. I had never realized how practical shoes were until I had to run on tar barefoot. Considering my destination and the current state of the soles of my feet, I needed comfy and handy ones. I picked my favorite pair of snickers. I finally ran downstairs, grabbed some cookies on my way to the car and drove away to Durham.

When I finally arrived at the University, the visitors' parking lot was deserted. The entire campus looked ghostly on a Sunday morning. It was almost noon, and she was probably already waiting for me. I got around the imposing main building and finally found the annex building she had mentioned in her email. We were supposed to meet in the little park next to its entrance. I was already feeling a presence. A human presence.

I walked toward a small, dried-out fountain. There were old stone benches forming an arc around it. I could hear a heartbeat drumming really fast, the perfume in the air confirming me that its nervous owner was a woman. I was sure it was her, but she was hiding herself somewhere behind the trees surrounding the square. I stopped next to the fountain and pretended to look around absentmindedly, as if enjoying the view. I spotted her on my right. Or more accurately, I spotted the stake peeking out of a crossbow. I swallowed discreetly and made sure I remained completely relaxed.

After what had happened yesterday, I was certain that I could run toward her, snatch the weapon and knock her out before she could even pull the trigger. But considering her obvious distrust, it would just scare her to death and the goal of this meeting was to make her talk. Not to mention that I had no intention for her to discover that I was a supernatural being.

I waited for a couple of minutes to see how she would react eventually, but since she still seemed unconvinced that I wasn't a threat to her, I took things into my own hands.

"If you pull that trigger, you're going to kill me, whether or not the stake is made of wood," I spoke up casually, staring at the fountain on purpose. "I'm not a vampire."

"Then how do you know I'm here and what I'm doing?" she asked after a dreadful silence.

"I know that because Alaric taught me well." I turned around to look in her direction, a playful smile on my lips. "And no offense but you're not really discreet, nor good at handling that crossbow. I would venture a guess that hunting isn't really your thing." She stepped aside a little and I could see that my remark had amused her. Her features became serious again, hesitation visible in her eyes.

"You knew Alaric?"

"Yes. He was my...mentor," I answered, unable to keep the sadness from my voice. She moved away completely from behind the tree and gave me a sympathetic look, but her weapon was still pointed at me.

"How do I know if I can trust you?"

"You don't." We stared at each other in silence until I had an idea. "Unless you have some vervain with you."

"I do," she said as her eyes lowered to slits.

"Would you like me to touch it so you can see I'm not a vampire?" She was obviously unsettled by my proposition and took her time to ponder it before answering.

"Okay. I'm going to put a stem of it here..." She carefully placed some vervain on the stone bench next to her, never averting her eyes or her crossbow from me. She then stepped back and wedged the bottom of the crossbow stock into her shoulder, ready to shoot me. "Now, go and grab it."

"I sure hope you have another stem with you. It wouldn't be really clever to give up your vervain so easily if I was a vampire," I pointed out, trying to play the friendly card. I walked slowly toward the bench, acting more relaxed than I actually felt. I took the stalk and brushed the flower over my skin repeatedly.

"See? No burn." I raised my arm up to allow her to see it clearly. She lowered her crossbow and eventually walked closer to me.

"What if I am a werewolf or a witch?" I asked teasingly.

"We're in broad daylight and there's no full moon until a few days. As for witches, they have more knowledge that I could ever gather. I don't see what they would need me for."

"Well, sorry to disappoint but I'm very human...Miss Monroe, right?" I stretched a hand toward her. "I'm Maya Delacour. Thank you for meeting me."

"Call me Vanessa. It's nice to meet you," she said, shaking my hand. "I must admit, your email intrigued me to say the least. But we'll talk inside. Follow me. "

I followed her through many empty hallways until she finally stopped in front of an office and invited me inside. I wondered if it was in that same office that Elena, Damon and Alaric had found the Petrova family book. She sat on the edge of a massive desk while I was looking around, amazed by all the artifacts amassed around the room.

"How did you find me?" she asked, snapping me out of my snooping.

"The University website."

"No, I mean, why did you ask for my help specifically?"

"Oh. Well, you helped Damon and Elena with the Sun and Moon curse, so I figured you could help me too..."

"So, is it true? You're really doing a research on a supernatural species that would have lived amongst the Incans and Mayans?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Maybe because of my name?" I replied, raising a playful eyebrow. She gave me a fake annoyed look in response. "Okay. More seriously, I grew quite fascinated with the supernatural world over the last few years. And since you know that I know the Salvatore brothers and the Pierce family, I believe you understand why."

The expression on her face made it clear that she thought it was an understatement but nodded in agreement anyway.

"I'm in senior year and I'm seriously considering Occult teacher as a career choice. So I looked into the supernatural legends to find one that had rarely been dealt with. I want to write an essay that will impress university recruiters," I lied brazenly. "I stumbled upon this legend by complete accident, but barely found anything about it."

"And that's where I come into the picture..." She crossed her arms over her chest, an amused smile on her lips.

"Exactly."

"I'm actually surprised you found a document talking about this species...there's no answer when you search for it on the Internet, and no one ever published a book on the subject."

"So you did do some research about them!" I deduced with enthusiasm.

"You're dodging my question about your sources. " She looked at me expectantly, making me understand that I wasn't going to get away with it so easily. I quickly thought about something to say that would seem plausible.

"I don't exactly remember how, but while I was searching for supernatural legends, I ended up on a creepy website managed by a loony guy. He was into dark magic, creatures like succubi and aliens, but also mentioned those magical people living during the pre-Columbian era. There was even a ridiculous drawing supposed to represent them. Obviously a fake, but I don't know why, I got intrigued."

"There's a long way between a fanciful theory and a serious essay topic," she pointed out, clearly skeptical. I knew she wouldn't talk to me about what I wanted so badly if I didn't give her something tangible to chew on. I hesitated but finally decided to play my trump card.

"I have a friend. She's a witch. And she has a document confirming their existence," I declared carefully.

"Really? What kind of document?" She tried to keep her voice detached, but her eagerness was evident.

"A grimoire." She stared at me for a few seconds, obviously trying to decipher if I was playing her. Since it was the only part I hadn't been lying about so far, I held her gaze without blinking.

"A grimoire...do you think your friend would agree to let me take a look at it?"

"If you studied witches like you obviously did, you know that they're very possessive when it comes to family spell books."

"And yet, she showed it to you."

"Because we're best friends. We fought many battles together and saved each other's life more than once...she knows she can trust me with her family heritage." As I spoke the truth, I felt a pang of guilt in my chest. The words I had told Bonnie the day before had been harsh and undeserved. I didn't know what had gotten into me. Where that irrational fear and anger came from, driving scathing reproaches out of my mouth. But I knew that I had deeply hurt her feelings just the same. I swallowed the bitter taste in the back of my throat and focused on Vanessa again.

"Did you learn more about them in her book?" she asked.

"Yes." Her expression was displaying curiosity and mistrust. She stood up from the desk and got around it.

"Then I believe we both have information to share...take a seat," she offered while sitting herself behind the desk. "Tell me what you know."

I paused briefly, a lopsided smile on my lips. I walked toward one of the visitor chairs and sat down.

"What would you say about you tell me something you know, and I tell you something I know in return?"

"You don't trust me?" she asked a bit surprised, in that soft tone that never seemed to change.

"You're the one who welcomed me with a crossbow."

"Can you really blame me? An urgent meeting on a Sunday, alone, to talk about supernatural creatures..."

"I guess not." She turned around on her chair a few times unconsciously while trying to read me.

"Fine...you go first."

"Fair enough," I said, amused. "I know that they all disappeared along with the two pre-Columbian civilizations." She froze for a split second before recomposing herself, but I didn't miss the glint in her eyes. Was it possible that she had a different version of their story?

"That's all you've got?" she asked lightly.

"Your turn." She chuckled at my stubbornness.

"They have hyper senses. Vision, hearing, sense of smell..." I noticed that she had used the present tense to talk about them.

"They had super strength too, and could do impressive jumps," I said, continuing her list. I purposely left out the healing ability as well as the immunity against magic and compulsion. If she published an essay about this species, or had a powerful evil-minded visitor sticking their nose into her research, they wouldn't know the real extent of my powers. I had learned for a long time now that the most insignificant detail, the smallest advantage could make you win a losing battle.

"Really?" She leaned on her elbows in intense curiosity.

"Yes. Well, that's what was written in the grimoire anyway..." She paused for a moment, and I could see her picture such a creature in her head. From the pleased smile on her lips and the sparkle in her eyes, I guessed that she had some kind of admiration for them.

"Isobel was the one who started to study them, as you can imagine. But despite my researches since then, I've never been able to confirm if this kind was some sort of natural evolution, or if it had been magically created. What we found out though, was that they were fated to protect their tribes from supernatural creatures." I stared at her with wide-opened eyes, astounded by her revelation. Was it the reason why it had been so easy for me to hunt vampires with Alaric?

"Like...super warriors?" I asked to be sure.

"Yes. I guess you could say that. Your turn," she said in a playful tone.

"I'm afraid I don't know much...except that they had a distinguishing feature." I was playing my last card, not wanting to give up too much information.

"A distinguishing—what are you talking about? I never found anything mentioning that!" I could tell from the suspicion and excitement in her voice that I was about to rock her world.

"Well, it's mentioned in my friend's grimoire as a way to identify them."

"And what is it?" She bent over her desk, getting itchy feet.

"It's described as jaguar eyes." I never thought watching that documentary on wild animals in South America would come in handy in such a situation, but I was glad to remember it to make my lie even more credible. I had intentionally forgot to mention that those jaguar eyes weren't a permanent state. Not only this half-true information was clearing me from being one of them, but it was also protecting me. If potential enemies searched for a human being with feline eyes, they were going to look around for a very long time.

"You mean yellow-green eyes with ridiculously small pupils?" Her eyebrows disappeared in her hairline.

"I guess so...it's not like there was a picture attached."

"Wow. It must be quite a thing to see!" she murmured, amazed by my revelation.

"They must have looked creepy, for sure." I was uncomfortable talking about all of this like I wasn't one of them, but I was trying to act like any normal being would react. I knew they would find those eyes creepy because all of my friends did. Even I did.

She finally snapped out of her haze and looked at me.

"Thanks for sharing what you learned about this species with me," she said, with a grateful smile.

"Don't thank me and tell me what you know about them instead," I replied with humor, trying to hide my eagerness. "Do you know what they were called?" She leaned back into her seat, seeming deep in her thoughts.

"No. The only name we found to describe them was 'the man of the North'."

"Man? You mean men, right? And why North? I thought they were Incas and Mayans," I said, beyond confused.

"North is relative. If you look at it from the US, those civilizations lived in the South. But if you look at it from Argentina, on the other hand..." she pointed out wisely. "And I did mean man. For the simple reason that these Argentineans only met one of them."

"Argentineans...what? Okay, I'm completely lost here." I tapped my foot repeatedly on the floor out of nervousness and frustration. When I realized it, I froze my leg and chided myself mentally. I needed to stay calm and detached to get all the information I could get out of Vanessa, without being turned into a biological project. I had to keep her from finding out that I was one of the..."man of the North", whatever that meant.

"I'm not surprised since I didn't tell you yet how Isobel and I heard of them in the first place." She didn't seem to notice my restlessness, unless she mistook it for curiosity. "It was actually the only document I found that talked about them, until today and your mention of your friend's spells book. It's quite a story though. Would you like some tea while I tell you about it?" Her voice was soft and her expression very friendly, but since she had welcomed me with a crossbow and some vervain, I couldn't help but wonder what she would put in my tea.

"No, thank you," I declined politely. She stood up nonetheless and made some for herself. She sat back with a smoking cup in her hand and took a small sip of tea.

"We stumbled upon this story while studying the magical practice among the shamans in South America. One of them—an Argentinean—related a curious event that had happened in his village around the fifteenth century. The legend has it that a stranger, unarmed, arrived in this little village, carrying a woman in his arms. The villagers offered them food and shelter as well as medicinal care on their shaman's order. The woman was described as injured but being on the mend. When the shaman asked the man where they were coming from and why they were here, he answered that he had run for weeks through mountains and forests until he decided that they were far enough from their tribe. He was looking for a place to build their home when he found their village."

"This man ran away from his own tribe? Wait...he ran for weeks?" I asked, incredulous and confused about what she had just told me. I tried to muffle the tiny voice in the back of my head telling me that I had been running through the forest myself not so long ago. "That surely sounds like a bedtime story..."

"True. Just like vampires and werewolves sound like made-up legends to scare little brats."

"Good point." I gazed into space for a moment, wondering if this tale could be true. "So, why did he run away?" I asked hesitantly.

"Do you remember what I told you earlier? That these creatures were fated to defend their tribe?"

"Yes."

"Well, fated is apparently not a word to take lightly in their case. The need to protect their people was so deeply rooted inside them that it came before everything else. Their life, their death. There was no distinction for them between their family and the rest of the tribe. No matter that they had to face one enemy or a thousand at once, they would protect them," she explained, and for some reason it made me extremely uncomfortable.

"Okay, so they were fearless and brainless super soldiers," I summed up in irritation.

"That's one way to look at them, I suppose," she replied, a glint of amusement in her eyes. "But there was one exception. Maybe more but we found the story of only one of them, so..."

"He abandoned his tribe," I mumbled, realization hitting me.

"Well, it's not exactly how that man experienced it. He told the shaman that they had been attacked by nightwalkers. While he was defending his tribe with other people of his kind, some of the creatures managed to penetrate their village. What we assumed to be vampires hurt and slaughtered a few villagers before the 'super warriors'—as you call them—could overcome them and end the attack. When they had been sure that everything was back to normal, Tonatiuh searched for his wife and found out that half of her shoulder had been ripped off by a nightwalker." At the mere mention of Tonatiuh, my blood froze in my veins, my heart suddenly beating loudly into my ears.

"How...did you call him?" I stuttered, having trouble to catch my breath.

"Tonatiuh. Why? Does that name ring a bell?" she asked, narrowing her eyes slightly. That name was ringing a big fat bell. It was my grandma's last name. When I was a kid, she told me that it meant "sun", and that I was a real true sun myself. More than she could ever be. I never really understood what she had meant back then...until this very second. I swallowed the lump in my throat and took deep, discreet breathes. The thought crossed my mind that I was glad my father gave me his French Canadian family name.

"No. I'm just surprised. It's not exactly a common name to hear around here," I lied, hoping that she would believe me. "If that's even his name?"

"It is. It means 'sun'," she explained, searching my face discreetly. I could tell that she wasn't completely satisfied with my answer and decided to quickly distract her attention.

"So, what happened to her? I assume the woman he was carrying in his arms when he arrived to the Argentinean village was his wife. She didn't die, right?" Hopefully, she dived right back into the story.

"She nearly died but survived in the end. Tonatiuh was so shocked and infuriated that they hadn't protected his wife while he was defending the entire tribe at the risk of his own life, that he broke off all ties with his people," she related, only interrupting to sip on her tea. "It seems that the only thing that could eventually overtake the already impressive and urgent need of this species to protect their tribe no matter what, was to protect the love of their life. Tonatiuh was described as very dedicated to his wife to the point of being overly protective. Maybe his tremendous love for this woman overriding the inevitable urge to protect his tribe was just a remarkable exception, but if not..." She stared at her desk for a moment, deep in thoughts. "The members of this kind must have been amazing lovers, " she added more for herself, a mischievous smile on her lips.

I felt a wave of heat crashing over me. If I was the blushing type of girl, I would have been crimson in a second. Not only because of her last comment, but because of the relationship my species seemed to have with love. It was irrational but it made me want to scream and run like hell. I clenched the arms of the chair I was sitting in tightly to fight the overwhelming feeling. When she finally noticed my reaction, her eyes opened widely in realization.

"Oh my—I didn't mean it that way! I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I really meant 'lover' as in a romantic kind of way." She gave me an apologetic smile.

"It's fine, don't worry," I dodged, clearing my throat to close the subject. "So! Fate, epic battle...one true love. Again, I can't help but to think it's a nice little tale for mushy teenagers."

"Don't all the legends have those ingredients?" she asked, amused, before her features became serious again. "Nonetheless, I really hope this one is true." I frowned, my gut telling me that there was more to the story.

"Why?"

"Because it would mean that they still exist."

"What?" I was so shocked I didn't come to the obvious deduction myself that there could be others that nothing clever managed to pass my lips.

"The species disappeared along with the two civilizations, but this man and his wife were thousand miles away before it even happened—living their lives in a peaceful village in the middle of nowhere. Wouldn't it be wonderful if their progeny had survived until this day?" she asked enthusiastically. I wasn't sure that "wonderful" was the word I would have chosen.

"Yes, it would!" I pretended, trying to sound as excited as she was. "But considering there was only one representative of this kind left, his descendants must be pretty rare, if not completely inexistent."

"I know," she said, her face clouding over for a second. "But maybe the Quiyahuitl branch had managed to survive too."

"I'm sorry, the qui...what now?"

"Oh right! I didn't talk to you about that part yet."

"What part?" I didn't know why but I suddenly got a bad feeling about what was about to come.

"In his will to find out more about this intriguing species, the shaman learned that there were two main families—their members scattered in the many tribes of the two mythical civilizations. They were known to bring forth to the most powerful super warriors. These families were called the Tonatiuh and the Quiyahuitl. The Sun and the Rain."

The thought of potential other teenagers somewhere in this world struggling with the same powers as mine made me both excited and terrified. The feeling was somewhat nauseating. It was too unbelievable, too much to take in all at once. My voice was hoarse when I heard myself reacting to what she had told me.

"But it's said that they disappeared. The fact that there were many of them doesn't change that."

"You're right. It's just me being naively hopeful. The only member we can most certainly think survived was the man of the legend. But..." she trailed off, tilting her head to the side, a small smile on her lips. I couldn't tell if she was lost in her thoughts, or if she was just teasing me.

"But what?" I asked impatiently.

"This kind has apparently one more trick in its sleeve." I wanted to slap the mysterious expression off her face and grabbed her by her blouse to make her say it, but I took a calming breath instead.

"Another one? Their plate seemed pretty full to me already..."

"Well, this one may be the most surprising of their powers," she stated. "The shaman transcribed a few conversations he had with Tonatiuh. In one of them, the stranger explains that as long as a warrior like himself doesn't give the gift of life to another warrior, the earth doesn't claim its due on their physical form. Their bodies slowly age and finally return to the ground only once their line of descendent is assured." Her revelation felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. I was no longer able to breathe, black spots quickly filling my vision. The words were playing over and over inside my head but I couldn't comprehend them. I was dizzy.

"What does that mean?" I heard myself ask, not even recognizing my own voice.

"That they're immortal until they have a child," she translated, like she was talking about the most natural thing in the world.

"Yeah right." I sneered despite myself, trying to fight the idea itself, too scared of the impact it would have on my own life. All the things Vanessa had told me since the beginning of our meeting were too much to handle. There were so many things I didn't know about myself that the world was spinning around me, ready to suck me in its craziness. I didn't want to be a super warrior. I didn't want to be a dedicated lover. I couldn't even picture myself living thousands of years.

"What's so unbelievable? Vampires are immortals," she pointed out in a surprised tone, watching me carefully.

"Because they're dead! Accepting that Mother Nature presses pause just the time for these creatures to have kids as a possible truth is another ball of wax," I mumbled huskily.

"I know. But when you really think of it, immortality is a hard thing to believe in, no matter the way you look at it."

"True," I murmured after a moment, a small smile stretching my lips. I shook myself out of my numb state and cleared my throat. "Well, thank you so much for sharing these incredible information with me." I stood up and leaned a little over her desk to stretch a hand toward her. She mimicked me and took my hand over the desk.

"You're welcome. I hope I've been able to help." She looked at me straight in the eye with a warm expression.

"For sure. I'm going to write a killer essay about this species, thanks to you!" I forced the enthusiasm in my voice, trying somehow to cope with my own lie. I let go of her hand to walk toward the door but she didn't loosen her grip on mine.

"Yes, well..." she drawled, an unconvinced look on her face and a knowing smile on her lips. "If you happen to stumble upon one of these wonderful beings, tell them that I would love to meet them." She stared at me meaningfully and squeezed my hand before letting it go. I knew at this moment that she was having high doubts about me being a regular human being. I fought the sudden urge to tell her the truth and put a friendly smile on my face instead.

"I'm skeptical it'll happen but I'll make sure to spread the word..."