It starts with just one bite.
He recognizes the traces of a vampire at first glance. Whoever had done it had been careful—they had made it look like a deep cut and had even given her a little blood to heal, but there was no missing the puncture of the incisors in her pale, frail flesh and the still faint impressions of the vamp's other teeth.
"Tell me again what happened, Mrs. Harris."
Jeremy dabs at the wound with a cotton ball saturated with disinfectant. His stomach is churning slightly. The council still occasionally dealt with isolated incidents with vampires or even werewolves on their way through town or even in the outlying communities, but word had gotten around that Mystic Falls was off-limits. They hadn't had an actual infestation since Jeremy's youth. Why did this feel different?
A blank look comes over the old lady's face.
"I fell. So clumsy."
Jeremy forced himself to smile.
"Indeed," he says. "You need to be more careful, Mrs. Harris. You're not getting any younger." He pauses and gives her a considering look. "I can come by and check on you later if you like."
Mrs. Harris frowns and her mouth works for a moment like she's trying to say something, but then she appears to give up.
"Don't lecture me, Jeremy Gilbert. You might have gray hair on your temples, but I used to babysit your father. I can take care of myself."
Jeremy forces himself to smile, careful not to alarm Mrs. Harris. If his suspicions are correct, it won't do for the vampire who's controlling her to know that he's been found out. Especially since Jeremy will be going by later.
As she's leaving his office, Mrs. Harris turns and stops, peering at him intently for a moment.
"You look just like him now," she whispers, an odd kind of knowing in her eyes. "That's what she says."
"Like my father?" Jeremy asks, surprised. He hadn't looked much like Grayson when he was younger, and he hadn't seen Elena in years.
"No," Mrs. Harris says. "Like Johnathan."
Jeremy stares at her blankly. "Uncle John?" he says. "But I'm not blond."
Mrs. Harris smiles widely. "Oh, not that Johnathan," she said. "Goodbye, Dr. Gilbert."
A chill goes down Jeremy's spine as he closes the door of his practice behind her.
oOoOo
When his lunch hour arrives, Jeremy goes to the sheriff's department. The secretary waves him through to Matt's office.
Jeremy closes the door behind himself and leans against it. Matt holds up a finger and finishes typing something on his computer before looking up at Jeremy with a questioning look.
"There's a vamp in town," Jeremy says without preamble. "Mrs. Harris came to be with obvious bite wounds this morning. Maybe some tomb vamps that got away all those years ago. One of them claims to have known Johnathan Gilbert."
Matt sighs as he leans back in his chair. "So much for Mystic Falls being off limits to vampires."
"I know," Jeremy says. He pushes off the door and approaches the desk. "I took the afternoon off. We need to nip it in the bud."
Matt is already on his feet and pulling on his holster.
"I hear ya," he says. "I'll tell Bonnie to meet us there."
They meet up about an hour later about a half mile from the Harris house. It's obvious why the vampire has chosen it: it's set back from the road behind a thicket of trees, miles from the next neighbor, far enough that the vampire can come and go without being seen, not to mention feed and have fun with his victims without being heard.
Jeremy jumps when he hears tapping at the window, but relaxes when he sees that it's just Bonnie. He gets out of the car.
"Hey," he says. "No class today?"
Bonnie smiles and shakes her head. "Finals week."
Matt comes up next to her and slides his arm around her and she leans her head against his shoulder for a moment before stepping away.
"Let's get going," Matt says, shouldering his rifle. "It'll be dark soon. We don't know how many of them are in there."
oOoOo
It's dark when he gets home. He doesn't have to worry about the neighbors seeing his bloody hands or the weapons, though he suspects they wouldn't care if they did. Still, he goes in through the back and goes directly to the kitchen sink.
Their attack went like clockwork. Bonnie got them into the house, her magic protecting Mrs. Harris as he and Matt made short work of the vampires, a group of four or five young ones, recently turned and still weak. None of them were as old and powerful as the tomb vampires; none of them could have known Johnathan Gilbert. Someone is still out there, Jeremy realizes. Someone who knows him. Someone who's gone to the trouble of sending him a message.
He tosses the machete into the sink and runs soap and hot water over it. The water is almost too hot when he plunges his hands into it, but his hands are already itching where the blood has stained it. He's seen his share of blood as a doctor, but it's their blood that makes his stomach churn and his head swim once it's all over.
He scrubs the machete and sets it on the counter and then washes his hands. He bends down to get the jug of bleach out from under the sink and almost drops it when he sees a reflection in the window. Then he recognizes her and relaxes, snorting and shaking his head.
"Jesus, you scared the hell out of me, 'Lena," he says, putting down the jug on the counter and turning around. "I had no idea you were coming to visit."
Elena smiles and takes a step forward and he clenches his fist at his side as he's suddenly overcome by the urge to reach for the machete, all his instincts are screaming at him to defend himself. He'd never quite been able to reconcile himself with the idea that his sister was a vampire. Still, this is Elena. She'd never hurt him.
"Hey, Jer," she says. "Hard night?"
"Uh, yeah," he says, motioning towards the counter, where the machete was lying, just within reach. "There was a nest of vamps at the Harris's place. We took care of them, though."
"The town is lucky to have you, Jeremy."
Elena looks at him and her smile deepens. And then she cocks her head, just so, and Jeremy is diving for the machete. She beats him to it, though, grabbing him by the throat and holding him in place, the machete in her hand as she smirks at him.
"Katherine," he snarls.
"Thanks for killing all those vamps for me." Katherine's voice is coming from far away. He claws uselessly at her fingers for a moment, and then his hands drop. "They were making a little trouble for me back in Chicago, but I was able to trick them into coming here. I knew I could count on you to take care of the matter, especially after I compelled sweet old Mrs. Harris to go and have that bite wound checked out."
"What do you want?" Jeremy rasped. His throat was aching under her grip and he was starting to see black spots in front of his eyes.
"Your help." Katherine smiles, but her eyes are cold and a chill runs through him. "But I also need insurance."
He starts to struggle as she positions the machete over his hand like she's going to cut off his finger with the ring and then he screams as she drags the tip of the machete over the back of his hand, severing tendon and slicing through muscle and bone.
"Oops," Katherine says with exaggerated sweetness. "So clumsy of me. You'll never be able to use that hand again. So tragic for a doctor. Unless…"
Before he can refuse, her wrist is pressed against his mouth and he's already swallowed her blood in compulsive gulps before he can push her arm away. She releases him with a light laugh and steps back, looking at him expectantly.
He looks down at his hand, watching as it heals, flexing his fingers as the wound closes. It's then that he notices the missing ring. His head snaps up and Katherine is holding it in her hand.
"What the—"
"Insurance," Katherine says, sticking it into the pocket of her jeans. "Now come on, let's go to that little house on the lake of yours."
oOoOo
She makes him drive. It isn't far, but his hand still hurts, a phantom pain probably. He has a stake in the door compartment, but he doubts he can grab it out and kill her before she stops him. And with her blood in his veins… the last thing he wants is to become one of them.
He glances at Katherine, who's staring out the window of the car like she's looking for something—or someone—her shoulders tense.
"What do you want with the lake house?" he asks, curiosity finally getting the best of him.
Katherine starts at the sound of his voice and whirls around, her eyes wide and vulnerable. She looks just like Elena, and Jeremy's heart constricts. And, just like that, he knows he's going to help her.
"Pearl." Katherine looks down at her hands and then she takes a deep breath. "I'm looking for some of her things. She gave them to Johnathan for safekeeping. Especially a small Chinese tapestry, very old. Ever see anything like that?"
Jeremy thinks for a moment and then nods.
"I found a strongbox under the floorboards in the secret room," he says. "I think what you're looking for might be in there." He gave her a sidelong glance. "And I'm guessing that stuff is worth quite a lot of money."
"Of course." She gives him an impish smile and then it fades and she shrugs. "I know what you think of me. I wasn't the greatest of friends, but now… I miss her. Believe what you want, but I just want something that reminds me of her. You know?"
Her voice is raw and full of pain, and all Jeremy can see is his sister in trouble.
"Yeah," he says, swallowing hard as he turns his attention back to the road. "I know."
When they reach the house, he invites her inside and leads her up to the bedroom. She leans against the wall, studying her nails as he opens up the room and then grabs a crowbar off the wall. When he crouches down, however, she's suddenly right there.
"Let me," she says, grabbing the crowbar.
He sits back on his heels as she pulls up the floorboards and then watches for a moment as she shifts through the things, her gaze intent, but suspiciously bright. He suddenly feels like he's intruding.
"I'll wait outside," he says, getting to his feet as she murmurs an acknowledgment. As he's leaving the room, he's passing the window when something catches his eye. He stops, peering into the moonlit night, made even brighter by the reflection of the moon on the water, and he spies someone—someone familiar—standing on the dock.
He glances over towards the secret room, but Katherine, engrossed in the contents of the box, hasn't noticed his startled reaction. He heads out, walking quickly. The figure is still there when he reaches the dock, and Jeremy smiles. It had been a while since his old friend had shown himself.
"Alaric!" His smile falters when he sees Alaric's grim expression. "Hey. What's wrong?"
"You're in trouble," Alaric says. "You have to get out of here."
Jeremy rolls his eyes. "I'll be fine. Katherine just wants some stuff that belonged to Pearl."
"Just get in the car and drive. She's planning something."
"She always is." He smiles at Alaric. Every time it's the same. "Don't worry. I can take care of myself."
Alaric sighs and reaches up to pinch the bridge of his nose, and Jeremy wonders if ghosts can get headaches. "Look, I've been hearing some stuff in the other realm," he says finally, "and this whole thing stinks of a setup," he says. "You need to—" Just then he looks beyond Jeremy's shoulder and his eyes widen. "Jer, behind you!"
Before Jeremy can react, something grabs him from behind, pulling him up tightly against a hard chest. He starts to struggle and then goes still as a low, familiar laugh reverberates through his body. Kol.
"Talking to yourself, Jeremy?" Kol's voice sounds amused, but it makes Jeremy's gut clench in fear. "You're still a queer one, I see. Well, no matter!"
Jeremy struggles as Kol's fangs sink into his neck, but the arms holding him are strong. Kol drinks deeply, and Jeremy grows weaker and weaker until he can barely move. Alaric is gone now; Jeremy is vaguely surprised. Somehow he'd always thought Alaric would be there with him when his time came, to usher him to the next plane of existence as it were. But he didn't expect this… emptiness.
"Kol, stop! Let him go."
Kol rips his mouth away from Jeremy's throat, careless of the gaping wound and blood flowing thickly from the artery. He absently licks the blood from his lips as he turns to Katherine, who's standing at the end of the dock with the strongbox clutched in her hands.
"Katherine," Kol says, his voice somehow both tender and menacing at once. "I've been looking for you. Come here, darling, and show me that map you've found; that's my girl."
Katherine blanches and turns on her heel. Kol swears and releases Jeremy, letting him fall off the dock and into the dark water like a forgotten doll. As Jeremy falls, the last thing he sees are the two vampires blurring into the trees.
oOoOo
He sits up, coughing, gasping for air. Someone is crouched in front of him and he stares for a moment, the urges to both attack and run warring within, almost overwhelming him. Then the figure falls back with a relieved-sounding laugh, and Jeremy recognizes Matt. Beyond them, Matt's cruiser is in front of the lake house, its lights flashing.
"Whoa, dude, easy," Matt says, putting his hand on Jeremy's shoulder. "I thought you were a goner there for a minute."
Jeremy looks up at Matt, his gaze focusing on the other man's throat, and he imagines he can see the flicker of Matt's carotid artery through the skin.
"I was," he says.
Matt grins as he reaches out to help Jeremy stand. Jeremy hesitates for a moment and then takes Matt's hand.
"Your ring saves the day again."
Matt looks down at Jeremy's hand in his and freezes. Jeremy lunges.
It starts with just one bite.