The rain had only just stopped after pouring nonstop for what felt like a solid week. Although, there was only one person lurking in the streets of Harlem at that late night time to appreciate the refreshing change in the weather.
It was a tall man with the well-structured manly physique of somebody in his mid to late twenties, as anyone would easily assume by simply glancing at his dark figure, hidden in the shadows of the abandoned warehouse, located somewhere near East Harlem. However, if somebody brave enough would bother to step closer toward that threatening looking stranger, he would immediately come to notice that despite the intimidating posture, the lightly trimmed beard and the obvious attempts of the man to appear older, in reality the man was not a man at all.
The stranger was nothing more but a young boy, who barely crawled out of his teenage years. His age however, would be hard to determine if it wasn't for that pair of large brown eyes that despite all of life's doings, still burned with the innocence only a child was naïve enough to possess.
He pushed his hair back, breathed into his palms and quickly placed them inside the pockets of his black trench coat, in attempt to stay warm while waiting.
There was no agitation or concern in his movement, though one could suggest this night meant a great deal to him and a lot was at stake if luck was not on his side, including his life. Nonetheless, his early upbringing denied him the luxury of feelings such as nervousness or fear.
Fully aware of the environment surrounding him, though this was the first time he visited that specific area of the city, he strained his ears, listening to something only he could hear and with a slow but confident pace came out of his hiding spot.
The muffled sounds of an old car's engine followed by a blinding pair of bright lights came from the left side of the road the moment a yellow New York cab made its not-very-discreet entrance to the neighborhood.
The side door opened just as the car cut off speed and stopped with a loud creaking noise a couple meters away from the warehouse, splattering water all over the already wet sidewalk. An impressive woman in her early thirties came out of it and careful to avoid stepping on mud and spoiling her expensive looking shoes, quickly walked the distance between the cab and the warehouse.
Her appearance would immediately come across as peculiar and suspicious even to the less skeptical, for she was wearing a very expensive black dress combined with a small black jacket that came to her waist and a matching hat that strategically covered most of her face.
She stood by the side of the road, staring at the cab through her green, cat-like eyes until it turned a corner and went completely out of sight, only then she took a step back and gave a good look around.
There were no houses in the neighborhood, only abandoned buildings with broken windows and walls filled with unoriginal graffiti. The streets were dark and unwelcoming, dimply lit by several semi-working streetlamps. A location rarely visited by anybody other than adventurous children during the day and shady adults during the night, and it was definitely not the right place for a beautiful woman to be by herself at any time.
The woman knocked melodically the heel of her left boot three times against the sidewalk and without further ado entered the warehouse, not a hint of fear in her clever, full of purpose eyes.
The darkness of the warehouse didn't appear to bother her to the least and giving the immediate impression that she was very familiar with the setting, she calmly passed several large crates of unknown content the warehouse was filled with, until she reached a plastic chair.
Ignoring the crying of a cat that came from outside, she settled down, crossed her legs and began going through her tiny, red purse.
"Mr. Salvatore" she called in a demanding voice, once she found her cigarettes. "Or is it Gilbert now?"
The young man, who was now standing by the crates, stepped forward and announced his presence before the woman.
"Miss Branson" he bowed slightly, a smile twitching at the sides of his mouth. "How are you feeling this fine evening?"
The woman lit her cigarette and inhaled the first deep breath of smoke into her lungs.
"I don't think my feelings is the reason why you called me here tonight, Jeremy" said Lexi in a businesslike tone, though her eyes looked lovingly up at the boy, in a way only a mother would at her misbehaving child.
"No," Jeremy admitted half-heartedly and pulled his hands out of his pockets, a piece of crumbled paper inside his fist, "I expect you know what to do with this" he drew nearer and handed it over to Lexi.
The woman kept the lit cigarette trapped between her lips and took hold of the paper. It was a note addressed to Damon Salvatore.
"How did you get this?" she asked, the first sign of fear in her voice, "Did you read it?" she threw her cigarette on the ground and stood up, her legs shaking.
"Yes, I did" said Jeremy earnestly, "Father is preparing an army against me, I guess he is still pretty angry. All I have to do now is fight back"
Lexi gasped and clapped her hand over her mouth.
"You will not do such thing, you hear me?" with inhuman strength the woman seized his face and forced direct eye contact, "you will never return to Mystic Falls"
"Why? You think my dear old dad will kill me?" asked Jeremy almost mockingly, "and no Lexi, you can't compel me" he added after noticing the woman's tries to force compulsion.
"Your father loves you very much, he would never hurt you" she replied, uncertain about the truth of her words, "as long as you agree to put an end to this madness. Witches have been what they are for many years now and you cannot change that because you fell in love"
"Is that why you came? To try and change my mind?" Jeremy threw her hands off of him and stepped backwards.
"No" she admitted immediately, "you're too hard-headed to reason. I came to give you this"
Jeremy allowed her to come closer and once she did, the woman wrapped her arms around his shoulders and trapped him in a long, asphyxiating hug.
"I won't be able to come again in a while" she whispered in his ear and repeatedly kissed his neck and forehead, "your father suspects me, my presence can only bring you harm"
"Will you be ok?" the boy panted at the unexpected news. Lexi was the closest thing he ever had to a real mother after losing his own, she had been the one to care for him while growing up in Mystic Falls under his father's and uncle's suffocating control and she had been the only member of his family to help him after he ran away and went against his father.
"Don't you dare worry for me, boy" said Lexi strictly, "your safety is all that matters to me. No if's, and's or but's, you hear me? I want you to stay here and be safe!" she kissed him for a last time and stepped away. "Your father has unspeakable reach, you dare come near Mystic Falls and you'll get arrested right on the spot" she pointed a warning finger at him, very much like she did when he was five and caught stealing cookies before dinner, but all of the sudden something forced her to stop.
"What's hap—" Jeremy began to say when a finger hushed him.
"Somebody is coming" warned Lexi, indicating that the boy should hide.
Jeremy did no such thing; hiding wasn't really what he was trained to do. He pulled out a gun from underneath his coat and standing behind a crate, he made sure he was aiming for the door.
They didn't have to wait longer than five minutes, listening intently to every bit of noise coming from outside, when the entrance door creaked to the side and a man Jeremy had never seen before, made his way in.
Lexi had already jumped on top of a tall crate and was looking down at the man, once she recognized him; she winked at Jeremy and the boy pulled the trigger.
"Mercy is for the weak. Always go for the heart, always go for the kill" his father's voice echoed inside his head the moment the wooden bullet travelled through the silence and with extreme accuracy entered his enemy's heart.
The vampire didn't have time to react to the sudden attack, protect his life, fight back or even yell for help. He fell back and within a moment a soulless body was left as the only sad reminder of his existence.
Jeremy didn't dare come out from behind the crate, but Lexi was far more confident that the attacker was alone.
"That was Maximus, your uncle assigned him to keep an eye on me" she explained looking down at the dead man, "You must leave now, Stefan would never allow Maximus to come alone. If you wish to contact me again, from now on do it through Matt Donovan, you can trust him" she walked around Maximus and held the door open for Jeremy after making sure that the streets were empty.
"Leave" she seized Jeremy by the coat and almost threw him out of the warehouse.
The boy turned round and looked back at the woman waving at him, not sure when would be the next time to see her again.
Just as Lexi had predicted there were more vampires going after her than just poor Maximus. There was a group of three vampires stationed two streets down from the warehouse. They appeared to be confused and clearly unsure whether there was a real purpose for them being out at that time. So it came to him as no surprise when they didn't stop him when he walked right past them.
The second time he wasn't that lucky. Jeremy experienced the unpleasant surprise to run into Marco Davis, a vampire he remembered working for his father when he still lived at home. Jeremy didn't like most of his father's guards from back in the day. Not because they were bad people, but mostly because their job forced them to do bad things. Marco however, was different.
Jeremy hated him entirely for his personality. And if anyone would have to take a guess, the feelings were mutual.
"Young Salvatore" the vampire called after him, "I wished it was I to find you" he revealed a menacing smile and unable to control his excitement pushed back his dirty, blond hair.
"Careful what you wish for, Mr. Davis" advised Jeremy in a falsely sweet voice, "wishes can be granted in odd little ways that you personally wouldn't enjoy. Life is funny that way"
"I see you haven't changed one bit" said the man with a large, hungry grin.
"Oh, on the contrary, Sir, I have changed a lot" his voice was now sincere, almost promising.
The vampire saw the gun Jeremy held in his right hand and on that note let a hysterical laugh come out of his lungs.
More worried by the alarming noise his enemy made than the mockery of his laughter, Jeremy raised his gun. This vampire was distinctly faster than the one in the warehouse. His laughter still echoing around the empty buildings, he used his vampire speed and approached Jeremy from behind. A second later his right arm was holding the young man in a choke hold.
"Now you see, Mr. Salvatore? Dreams do come true" he tightened his grip around the boy's throat, turning every breath into a painful challenge.
"Mhm congratulations" Jeremy coughed, not losing his snarky tone for a second, "I'm sure my father will be very grateful"
The vampire laughed again.
"Stupid, spoiled little brat, who told you that I will be taking you to your father?" he used his free hand to swat Jeremy on the head a few times, "when Lord Mikaelson would be so much more appreciative with your return to the homeland and of course that little crystal you stole on your way out"
For a wild second Jeremy stopped fighting and stood very still. The Mikaelsons knew he had the crystal. They knew it was him who started the war and they knew it was him who could end it. It was him who could make them kings again above all other creatures. But how? His father must've told them.
Suddenly every inch of his body was filled rage. His father's anger and disappointment in his own son had reached the point to want him dead and to accomplish that he was willing to use everything he had. Then, so was Jeremy.
Taking advantage of the loosened grip, Jeremy used his elbow and struck a solid blow to the man's rib, a hit that would usually make minimum damage if used by a human to a vampire. But Jeremy was far from a typical human.
From the early age of three, Jeremy had been trained to inflict pain to the ones stronger than he was. He studied anatomy, was taught martial arts and was forced to create his own weapons in order to survive.
In fact he thought that if his father was watching his next move, he might've been even impressed, though he would never admit it since encouragement was the last thing his father would ever give him.
With extraordinary speed for a human boy, Jeremy ducked down to avoid an outraged punch from the vampire and with even bigger strength struck him in the heart with a perfectly carved wooden stake he always hid under his sleeve.
The vampire was about to scream, but the voice died in his throat as his whole body jerked into the color of a chalk and dropped down on the ground, still twitching.
In his nineteen years of existence, Jeremy had seen many vampires die right before his eyes, though he strongly believed it was impossible to ever get used to such a horrific sight, even when the deceased clearly deserved his fate. Unlike his father, Jeremy was weak; he could never enjoy the death of anybody even of an enemy that would gladly enjoy his.
Leaving the body at the side of the road, sure that his friends would find him soon, Jeremy ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He had to find Kol.