A/N: Okay, a couple of things I need to tell you guys before you get to the new chapter! If you haven't reread the story recently (or ever), you might want to read chapter 27 and chapter 48 again to have a clear memory of them in case…something…happens in the next few chapters *whistles innocently*
I also wanted to ask you guys if any of you gets notifications for private messages? Because I always try to answer your reviews as much as possible, and I've been told by some of you that they had no idea they had messages waiting for them on here! So, just in case, check your inbox ;)
And finally, I wanted to tell you how overwhelmed I am (in a very good way) by your response to these new chapters, guys... I can't believe all the love I'm getting. Your words give me wings \o/

Now, I know lockdown isn't a thing anymore, but keep staying safe and inside as much as you can for a little while longer, okay? Have fun reading instead ;D

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.

Maya's POV

I was surrounded by darkness. I couldn't remember falling asleep, but my body felt like it was floating. There were faint sounds I couldn't make out, and images flashing around that triggered fear deep inside me. Suddenly, I was in the woods trying to run away, but my feet were refusing to move, instead slowly sinking into the ground.
A voice echoed around me "...okay...hey... fine..." but it didn't make sense. I clang to everything I could grab within my reach as I struggled against the force keeping me in place. He was coming after me. My breathing came out short and shallow as terror started to overwhelm me. "...just a dream...Maya...wake up!"

I gasped sharply and opened my eyes. After a few blinks, I realized I wasn't in the forest but in an unfamiliar room. When I glanced up at the shadows hovering over me, I found two strikingly identical faces looking at me closely. One had hardened features and a hint of coldness in her eyes while the other exuded warmth and tenderness; both though were showing worry.

"How do you feel, Maya?" one of the girls asked, putting a hand on my shoulder gently. I looked between the two of them, confused.

"Who are you?"

Katherine's face instantly shut down, her brow creasing with wariness while Elena chocked a surprised "What?". Their perfect and completely opposite sync was too hilarious for me to keep up the act, and I couldn't help but let out a laugh. Their expressions immediately shifted to upset.

"Do you think this is funny?" Katherine snapped, getting up from the bed moodily.

Elena, on the other hand, chose to giggle but pointed a finger at me. "That was cruel."

"I'm sorry," I said, still chuckling, "but do you really think it's a good idea to put the identical twins number on someone who has two head injuries? That'd make anyone believe they've lost it."

"We're not identical. I'm much prettier than her."

I couldn't really see Katherine's face because her back was to me, but I managed to catch the little lop-sided smile at the corner of her lips in the window reflection. Elena rolled her eyes at her comment before focusing on me again.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I feel great actually!" I put my hands next to my sides and pushed on them to sit up.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Getting up. I'm fine."

"You're not." Elena flattened a hand on my shoulder and pushed me back toward the bed. I winced in pain at the pressure. "My point, exactly."

"I'm only sore! My broken bones are practically healed already, it's just the aftershock! Look," I said, pointing at my leg under the sheets. I folded and moved it repeatedly to prove that I was fine, biting the inside of my cheek to keep the pain from showing on my face. I rotated my shoulder as well and grinned.

"See? Perfectly fine!"

I heard Damon laugh at my antics.

"Do not urge her on, Salvatore!" Elena chided over her shoulder.

"What? The girl has been kidnapped, tortured and has been sleeping for a day and a half, and yet, the second she wakes up, she makes jokes and pretends to be ready for a marathon! If that's not funny, I don't know what is. Not my fault if you have no sense of humor."

"Wait, I've been sleeping for a day and a half?"

"Yep."

"Wow. I guess I was in a pretty bad shape, huh." I shuddered at the reminder of the pain and my attempt to escape. "By the way... You said I've been tortured. I haven't. He didn't torture me."

"What?" Three heads snapped toward me, looking at me in disbelief.

"I, hmm... I actually did this to myself," I explained, waving a finger over my body.

"Again, what?" Damon articulated in incredulity.

"Yeah, breaking news, I'm a masochist and you walked in on our little sexual role play..." I rolled my eyes and huffed. "What do you think, Damon?! I did it to escape!"

Elena looked horrified at what I had to endure, when he seemed impressed with my survival instinct. Katherine's eyes, on the other hand, were shining with amusement and pride. When the full extent of my revelation sank in though, their expressions darkened. I could see on their faces that they were picturing what I must have gone through and I hurried to change the subject; the role of victim making me utterly uncomfortable.

"Who changed me into these clothes, by the way?"

I gave a confused look down at myself for good measure, even though I had a pretty good idea already since Elena's scent was all around me.

"Evil twin number one undressed you -shocking, I know- and evil twin number two got you dressed again in some of her clothes," Damon answered suggestively.

Elena turned on her spot on the bed to stare at him. "Why am I an evil twin?"

"No reason, sweet Elena. I was just teasing you."

He flashed her one of his unreadable smirks but she had learned to recognize them a long time ago. She whipped her head around to look me straight in the eye. Her expression made it clear that she was silently asking if I had told Damon about what had happened between us. I panicked, trying to quickly think of something to get myself out of this mess, when Katherine chuckled at the whole situation from her spot by the window. I narrowed my eyes at her in irritation but was ultimately thankful for the diversion. I pretended not to notice Elena's piercing stare and took the opportunity to change the topic once again.

"So I suppose I should thank...everyone for seeing me half-naked, then?"

"Nothing I haven't seen before," they answered at the same time. All three of them.

My jaw hit the floor. "When did you see me half-naked?" I asked Damon in a strangled voice.

"I was joking." He glanced at the doppelgangers before looking at me, confusion and suspicion written all over his face. "Apparently, I'm the only one."

The air around the room became so heavy with innuendos that I could practically taste it. Katherine had her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her entire body language screaming displeasure. Elena was trying her best not to glare at her shadow-self while chewing on her bottom lip nervously. As if it wasn't dreadful enough already, Damon was staring at me expectantly, both hands on his hips. I wondered if it was too late to play the injured card and faint again.

Thankfully, that was the moment Stefan chose to barge in the room, and I could have kissed him for that. Caroline followed with a tray in her hands, and Bonnie closed the door behind her.

"See? Told you she was awake! That's why I insisted we made her breakfast now." Caroline shot a know-it-all side-glance at Bonnie before scampering cheerfully toward the bed.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Bonnie asked me warily.

I gave her and Stefan a reassuring smile. "Yes, I am."

"We made you breakfast!" Caroline chimed in, energetically pushing the tray in my face.

I couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Yeah, I think I caught on that earlier."

I sat up quickly before Elena could push me back against the mattress again, and Caroline automatically put the food in my lap. I was about to grab a cup of coffee when I felt a sickening feeling raced up my throat. I urgently pushed the tray to the side and flung my legs off the bed, rushing to get up even though I knew I was never going to reach the bathroom. I wrapped a hand around my stomach to try and ease up my need to throw up but I only had time to watch Elena's eyes widening and her hand grabbing a bowl from the nightstand before I puked my insides. As I heaved into the bowl, lean fingers threaded their way through my hair and held them out of my face from behind. After a couple rounds of nausea finally eased, I realized that Elena was rubbing circles on my back, and if her other hand was holding the bowl in front of my face, then I was pretty sure she couldn't be the one holding back my hair. The only other people who could have been quick enough to save me from dipping my hair into the bowl were the vampires in the room. Since Caroline was standing in my field of vision and those fingers were definitely not manly, only the possibility of Katherine being the one at my back remained. If I wasn't throwing up already, I was sure the idea itself would have made me choke in disbelief.

When the spasms finally stopped, I whipped my mouth self-consciously and took a deep breath in relief. "Oh my god, I feel so much better..."

"You might feel better but I highly doubt you are better," Katherine said over my shoulder, in a strangely ominous voice.

"What?" I tried to turn my head to look at her but her hands were still in my hair. I swallowed around the lump in my throat. "No, I'm fine...I feel light now, and like I have all my strength back... I really feel peachy, guys!"

"Maya... you just vomited blood," Elena muttered, her eyes fixed on the bowl.

"And a lot of it," Caroline added, her forehead creased in worry.

I followed their gazes and found out that the metallic scent in my mouth wasn't a weird coincidence. I stared at the bowl quizzically, unable to comprehend what had happened, considering that I didn't lie to them. I was indeed feeling alive and kicking.

"You need to go to the hospital." Elena's tone left no room for discussion, neither the anxious yet determined expression that was on her face.

"I'll get the car," Stefan said and went out of the bedroom before I could say anything.

Elena stood up and put down the bowl to instead grab my bag that someone had apparently thought to bring back to me.

"Where are her shoes?" Bonnie searched the floor around, before Katherine held them up in a teasing manner.

"Wow, wow, wow! Everybody, calm down!" I raised my hands and looked at them, one by one. "I told you, I'm fine! No need for that all-hands-on-deck reaction..."

"You just barfed blood, Pinocchio. That gives you a free ride to the hospital," Damon shot back with a condescending smirk. "If you're a good girl, I'll ask the doc to give you a lollipop."

Before I could blow him off, he grabbed me by my back, hooked his arm behind my knees and lifted me up. I shrieked and instinctively clutched his shoulders. The bastard was freaking tall.

"What do you think you're doing?" I gave him a pointed look and indicated the floor with my finger. "Put me down."

"And risking a) you fainting and worsening your internal bleeding, or b) you trying to flee? No way."

"For once, I agree with him, Maya. We can't be too careful."

"Not you too, Bonnie! Come on, guys! I'm telling you...I'm perfectly fine!"

"Oh my god, you're such a baby! Stop complaining already. You're injured, you go to the hospital. Period!"

"Seriously, Caroline? I can't believe you're the one telling me that!"

Before she could shot back a sharp comment, Damon decided to go out of the room and they all followed, quickly circling us when we reached the hallway leading to the stairs. I squirmed in his arms and tried to reach the floor with one of my feet.

"Damon, damn it, I can walk! News flash, I'm a lesbian. Knights in shining armors never turned me on! Put me the hell down!"

"I don't care about your pride, stubborn ass. As long as you haven't been cleared by a doctor, I'm going to carry you around. Suck it up."

I glanced around at my friends for support but they were all sporting a dramatic face, focused on getting me medical assistance. Only Katherine had an amused smirk on her lips. She was the only one who wasn't taking the whole situation so damn seriously and I liked it. When she glanced up at me, we exchanged a conniving smile. A slight movement on my left drew my attention away from her and made me realized that Elena had caught on our little moment. Damn it. My smile dropped instantly and I focused on the muscled arms around me again rather than on any of the doppelgangers.

"Damon-"

"You're not going anywhere. I'm carrying you to the hospital," he cut me off firmly. "Unless you want Katherine to be the one carrying you."

Blood left my face in a second. I shot daggers at him with my eyes before punching his chest in retaliation as discreetly as I could. He winced slightly in pain before a smirk crept back on his lips.

"Ugh, I want this day to be over already," I mumbled grumpily under my breath, doing my best to avoid my friends' questioning glances.

"So let me get this straight," Meredith began, looking at our entire group as we stood in a discreet corner of the hospital. "You're a supernatural creature nobody has heard of before, including me—and that would've been quite helpful to know, thanks for shutting me out—" she glared at Damon before continuing, "you've been kidnapped and injured. You've been hit twice over the head. You slept for almost two days and vomited blood, and you're only coming to the hospital now?!"

"That would be about right," I answered cheekily before my smile faltered under her disapproving eyes.

"What is wrong with you, people? She could've died ten times already! You should've brought her here two days ago!"

They all started to mumble excuses at the same time, accusing my stubbornness to be the reason why we didn't come sooner, but Dr. Fell wasn't having any of it. As for me, I was just glad not to be the target of her lecture.

"Stop talking. All of you." She sighed and shoved her hands inside her white coat pockets. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, considering everything I just found out about, but...what is she doing here?"

All heads turned toward Katherine.

"Did they talk to you about me oh so nicely, or every citizen of Mystic Falls is just that nice?" she shot back in a smarmy voice, but with a clearly displeased undertone.

"I've heard about you, but I was just pointing out that it doesn't seem really wise to walk around when you're both here." She gave a quick glance to Elena before settling her eyes on her mirror image again. "Also, this is a sanctuary. People come here to heal, recover or die as peacefully as possible, so I don't want you going around sucking dry my patients, am I clear?"

A red flag immediately raised in my head and I knew that if I didn't step in, this little medical journey was going to end in a blood bath.

"Well, what do you say about clearing me out then, Doc? We'd be out of your hair in no time! The best way to make sure she won't create havoc in your hospital."

I gave her my best convincing smile, but she glared at me in response.

"Nice try. Get your ass over here." She indicated a door and I walked toward it with slumped shoulders.

"Where do you think you're all going?" Meredith's question made me peek over my shoulder and I realized they were following me. "Only one of you can go with her..."

Both doppelgangers stepped forward at the same time, and I cursed inwardly. This day was looking more and more like a disaster of gigantic proportions.

"What do you think you're doing?" Elena crossed her arms tightly over her chest and glared at her shadow-self. "Just because you've been harassing her for months, and maybe...rescued her a couple of times, doesn't mean you know her or are even allowed to be in the inner circle!"

"Like you just mentioned it yourself, Saint Gilbert, I rescued her," Katherine sing-songed condescendingly."And I gave her my blood, so I'm not going anywhere until I get to the bottom of this."

"I'm her best friend. You're nothing to her! I'm the one going with her."

"Shut up!" I shouted in exasperation. I closed my eyes for a second and sighed. "Fine. Tweedledee and Tweedledum, you can go inside."

Damon snorted at my nicknames, but the twins only stopped glaring at me to shot him a nasty side-glance.

"What?! Why does she get to go inside?" Caroline asked, offended.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Bonnie added with a raised eyebrow.

"Like Dr. Fell said, it's not a good idea to let one of them being seen when the other one is around. And this is the best way to make them both shut up and finally get this over with, so..." I flashed them an exaggerated grin for theatrical effect and I heard them chuckle when I pushed open the door Meredith had pointed to me.

Once she had indicated Elena and Katherine two side-by-side chairs at the opposite corner of the room, she walked toward me.

"Lay down, please."

I turned around and eyed the bed. Reluctantly removing my shoes, I sat on its edge and lowered myself down.

"I'm going to do an ultrasound so I can see if there's any blood left in your stomach and if your digestive system is bleeding, okay?" she informed me in a calm professional voice while rolling the trolley toward the bed.

I gave her a panicked look and then glanced at the doppelgangers. When my gaze met hers again, I saw a glint of understanding in it. She discreetly changed the course of the trolley to place herself on my left, efficiently blocking the view from the chairs. I smiled at her in embarrassment as a thank you. She lifted up my shirt and I gasped when she applied the cold gel.

I was familiar with most medical procedures since a lot of us had ended up in the hospital during the past two years, but I hadn't been their target in a very long time and it was making me uncomfortable. I couldn't help but chew on my bottom lip nervously.

"Good news," Meredith finally announced. "You're not pregnant."

I blinked a few times at her impassive face still watching the monitor, and wondered if she had said that to ease my discomfort.

"Well... I'm gay, so..."

Her eyes snapped away from the screen to look down at me.

"Oh." The smallest of smile appeared on her lips. "That means at least one girl in Mystic Falls won't date the Salvatore brothers then."

I felt my eyes bulging out of my skull at her words and glanced quickly toward Elena and Katherine. They were wearing a matching expression of utter offense on their faces. If it hadn't been so awkward overall, I would have found it hilarious. I cleared my throat and focused on Dr. Fell again.

"Bonnie never dated any of them either..."

"Smart girl," she replied and winked at me.

"You know they can hear you, right?" I whispered in disbelief.

"Aren't you supposed to find out if she's bleeding, doc?" Katherine interrupted sharply.

"I already did, vamp. Not that it's any of your business."

While she wiped the remaining of the gel from my stomach and lowered my shirt, I pondered if she was being bold or just suicidal.

She let me sit up before continuing, "I'm going to take a sample of your blood to analyze it and-"

"Don't do that," Katherine cut her off, burning holes in my skull as if she was trying to convince me of something.

"And why wouldn't she?" Meredith asked in irritation. "I'm just trying to make sure she's healthy, and if not, to heal her."

"I believe you have a shady little business going on with Damon... Who knows what you're going to do with her blood?" She flashed the doctor a contempt smirk.

"What? What business?" Elena spoke up, confused.

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Oh, don't ask... Just trust me when I say she's a giant creeper."

Meredith stared at me with a raised eyebrow before accepting my words.

"I'm only doing it for the sake of my patients. I promise you I won't do anything with your blood, Maya."

I could decipher that she was being truthful, but Katherine had actually done me a favor by meddling. I was suspicious of all medical procedures in general, and even more when it involved samples, due to the fear I had my whole life to be discovered as a supernatural creature.

"You're not going to keep some of it for yourself, right?" I asked uneasily.

"I won't if you don't want me to. I'll throw it away as soon as I'm done analyzing it. You can even do it yourself if it helps."

I stared at her for a while, trying to read her eyes before nodding my consent. She retrieved a tourniquet and fastened it around my arm. When she unwrapped the needle, I clenched my teeth unconsciously and looked away. It pierced my skin easily, and Dr. Fell clamped an empty tube to it.

"What are you going to look at?" I asked to take my mind off things.

"If your red blood cells are low, indicating an internal bleeding, and if your immune system behaves normally. I'm also going to look for anything, well...out of the ordinary...that could explain the reaction of your body."

"Are you going to be able to tell why her blood smells different?" Katherine asked slowly, giving me a cautious glance.

I snapped my head up to look straight into her eyes. "What did you just say?"

"Caroline mentioned something about your blood having a particular scent, when they brought you back to the mansion the other day," Elena answered, seeming as confused and uneasy as I was. "Apparently, Damon and...Katherine...agree with her."

I opened my mouth to talk but closed it shortly after when I realized I couldn't find a thing to say. For lack of a better idea, I turned my head toward Dr. Fell and waited for her to jump in. Instead, she removed the tube to put it closer to her nose and breathed in. My jaw dropped open.

"Did you just sniff my blood?"

She blinked at me like she had no clue as to why I was so shocked.

"Skin, sweat and blood release scents that can reveal certain conditions or diseases... But I don't smell anything peculiar about your blood."

"What a shocker that your lack of palate and your pathetic little human sense of smell can't tell the difference."

"What does her blood smell like?" Elena asked hesitantly.

"Can we stop talking about what my blood smells or tastes like, please? It makes me feel like I'm on the menu."

"Oh, but you are..." Katherine murmured huskily, only for me to hear.

Unfortunately, Elena heard it too and glared at her with disgust plastered on her face, while Katherine kept staring at me through hooded eyelashes. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to steady my heart rate.

Elena whipped her head around to pierce holes in my skull. "You're not going to blow her off?"

Before I could have time to answer her, Katherine cut in with a suggestive smile. "Maybe she doesn't want to..."

"Seriously? You're disgusting, she's sick!"

"So what? It doesn't mean I have to act like we're mourning the dead." She leaned in the back of her chair and crossed her legs moodily. "You're such a drama queen... With all the bodies dropping like flies around you, you should be ecstatic that she's alive all together-not whining like a baby."

"What is this about?" Meredith mumbled to my benefit, giving a barely noticeable nod toward the doppelgangers. She hadn't heard Katherine's lewd input, but I bet that she would feel different about me dating the Salvatore brothers if she knew what all of this feud was really about.

"How dare you?! You're the one responsible for at least a few of those deaths!"

I glanced between Elena and Katherine, unimpressed, before shrugging at Dr. Fell.

"Who knows, really... Didn't you say you wanted me to run some other tests?"

"Yes. Let me just put your samples in the centrifuge before we go..."

She went to the opposite side of the room with my blood before inviting me to pass another door with a wave of her hand. I stood up from the bed and walked toward it while the bickering between Elena and Katherine continued behind me.

"Oh but it would be my pleasure to help you have a happy reunion with your lost ones, cupcake," I heard Katherine sing-song as she followed me. A sharp gasp was heard and I could feel Elena radiate murder as she fell into step with her.

"Huh...Maya?" Meredith put a hand on my arm and glanced toward the twins.

"Yes?"

"You're going to need to remove your clothes for the next exam." She gave me a pointed look.

"Oh." I peeked over my shoulder and cleared my throat. "Girls? Or vampire, or whatever... I'm going to need you two to stay here. Can you do that without killing each other?"

"Don't look at me, she's the one with the psychopathic instincts!"

"If you weren't so annoying, maybe I wouldn't have slaughtering thoughts every three seconds."

"Oh, just fucking shut up! Both of you!" I snapped and angrily turned around. "I'm the one injured here! And for people so worried about my condition, you don't seem to mind that your constant jealous taunting makes my blood pressure go through the roof! So you're going to put your asses on these chairs and wait for me to come back, and when I do, I want the two of you to look exactly like you look now, and not a hair out of place. If you have to go to separate rooms in order to do that, then be my guest!" I turned on my heels and stomped toward Dr. Fell.

"I'm not jealous," Katherine huffed behind my back.

Elena's petty mumble came shortly after. "Me neither."

I closed my eyes for a second in exasperation and stormed out of the room.

I was putting my clothes back on, buttoning up Elena's pants, when Meredith commented on my results from the little adjacent room crowed with medical equipment.

"I'm very pleased with what I'm looking at..."

"Yes?"

"Yes. You're officially cleared of any kind of internal bleeding."

My first thought was to picture all my friends and shove them a smug I told you so in their faces, but I focused instead on the fact that I could obviously trust my instinct. Good to know.

"Your healing ability is remarkable. Your bones look like they got broken over a month ago," she said, looking awed as she came into view.

"You've seen vampires heal before. How can you even be impressed by my ability?"

"Because yours behaves very humanly. It doesn't even remotely look magical." She put a delicate hand on my shoulder and winked at me before taking me to the door. "I wish all my patients had your gift, they'd be in much better shape! And so am I..."

I chuckled at her joke.

"Trust me, there's a downside to every single one of my powers."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Like lying about them constantly and scaring people away when they find out?"

"Hmm...good point. Although, it feels like Mystic Falls is to supernatural creatures what San Francisco is to queer people, don't you think?"

We both grinned at her statement.

"Kind of, huh... I guess I'm stuck here forever then."

My voice sounded a lot more gloomy that I had intended. For some reason, the mere thought of staying in this town for eternity was making a small part deep inside me panic furiously. I pushed it at the back of my mind as we passed the door leading to the room we had left Katherine and Elena into together. I held my breath, afraid of what we were going to find but sighed in relief when I saw that their heads were still attached to their respective bodies. Well at least, the clothes were matching the hairstyles and that was all that mattered.

"I'm going to check your blood results, but Maya..."

"Yes?"

"Even though your bones healed almost entirely, it would be reasonable of you not to do any kind of physical activities for, let's say...two days?"

I nodded, trying to hide the fact that her mention of physical activities made Katherine's earlier hint at me being on the menu pass through my mind. I bit my bottom lip to conceal a blush and avoided looking at her at all cost; though, I was almost convinced that she had deliberately used that term to mess with me and was probably having a lot of fun watching me pretend that I wasn't uncomfortable.

I snapped out of my fluster when Meredith hummed suspiciously at the results she had retrieved from the centrifuge.

"What is it?" Elena asked warily.

"Her blood results are impeccable."

"And that's a bad thing?" I deadpanned.

"There's not even a trace of vampire blood in your system..."

"And that's a bad thing?" I repeated in the same tone.

"I guess not. It's just...surprising, to say the least." Dr. Fell tossed the sheets aside pensively. "I wish you guys had brought a sample of the blood she vomited with you."

"Definitely my first thought when it happened, but my jeans don't have pockets, so..." Katherine quipped.

"I have an idea," Meredith said suddenly, ignoring the snarky comment.

She poured some of my blood on a microscope slide and retrieved a needle. She then looked up at Katherine.

"Can I have some of your blood, please?"

The answer came quick and harsh. "Dream on, Doc."

"I thought you wanted to get to the bottom of this?"

"Why would I trust you with my blood? A supposedly doctor who treats her patients with vampire blood. I honestly don't know why these idiots trust you with their friend's life."

"I just need a few drops. Asking you would give the most accurate result and well, it's also convenient since you're here, but I can go pick a bit of Damon's blood in one of the fridges. Or even better, just open the door and ask one of them... I'm sure they'd be more than happy to provide."

I was baffled that Meredith just went and blatantly baited Katherine. I should have known dating Alaric meant that she was bold, but I was impressed.

Katherine gave me a quick side-glance.

"Fine," she snapped, exaggerating her annoyance so we wouldn't miss it. She walked toward her and snatched the needle from her hand. "Where do you need my blood?"

"A couple of drops on the slide would be perfect."

Katherine complied reluctantly while shooting daggers with her eyes at the doctor. She then tossed the needle on the table and crossed her arms over her chest in defiance.
Meredith didn't pay much attention to her little show and started looking through the microscope. She drew back quickly, a stunned expression on her face, before looking into the lenses again with a frown.

"Wow... That's definitely something I've never seen before," she mumbled, still focused on the bloody slide.

I tensed unconsciously and restrained the urge of shoving her to the side to take a look myself.

"What? What is it?"

"Well, I can tell you what you vomited was most certainly vampire blood only. I'd bet my life on it."

"You shouldn't bet on something that easy to end, doc," Katherine drawled dryly.

"I'm usually a sucker for good suspense but I'm not really in the mood right now," I cut in, my voice betraying my nervousness.

"Oh. Yes, I'm sorry. Your blood rejects vampire blood...pure and simple."

"What do you mean...rejects?" Elena asked warily.

"You know how water just rolls over oil when you try to stir these two ingredients together?"

Elena and I both nodded diligently like we were being quizzed by our chem teacher. Katherine rolled her eyes at our reaction and huffed impatiently.

"Well, your blood acts the same way when in contact with her blood. They don't mix... They reject each other. That's probably why you threw up. Your body needed to eliminate the intruder."

"That's just perfect..." Katherine sighed and drew her eyebrow with the tip of her fingers. "Does it mean we can finally get the hell out of here?"

"Yes. I'm clearing you out, Maya." She gave me a warm smile before adding, "but remember what I said. You need to take it easy for a day or two."

"We'll make sure of it," Elena said in a determined tone, and I cringed at the idea of all the smothering waiting for me in the next few days.