Us, Servants to the Moon – Chapter 3

Author's Note: I'm so sorry for the long delay… I'm such a slow writer xD But here it is, finally, the third chapter! Please enjoy and get ready for some action in chapter 4!


It had been raining all afternoon. Tyler Lockwood was sitting at the desk in his room. It was a cold, foggy fall day. He had the lights on, even though it was merely 3.p.m.

From the gateway outside the house he could hear the sound of his mother's car arriving. A few minutes later her footsteps resounded from the hall. Tyler put the pencil down and stared at the sheet of paper lying in front of him for a moment.

"I'm home, Tyler," his mother called.

"Yeah, I heard the car," he replied before turning his attention back to the drawing. He didn't like it, even though he couldn't tell exactly what he didn't like about it. It was simply bad. Tyler sighed and stood up again. He felt discouraged. When he had gotten home from school today, this idea had been stuck on his mind to start drawing again. It had been like a need that had to be fulfilled or he would never find peace again. However, right now he regretted it. It had been such a waste of time.

The doorbell rang and, for a second, Tyler was even happy about it.

"I'll open," he shouted and went down the stairs. There was a tall, dark figure standing in front of the door, but Tyler couldn't tell who it was. So he opened – and froze.

He had finally managed to forget all about Jeremy Gilbert, to put those thoughts circling his mind over and over again at rest, and there he was, as real as he was in his memories.

"Hey," Jeremy said and there was this look on his face that Tyler couldn't read.

It took him a moment to regain his compose. "Gilbert," he said and there was annoyance in voice, "what do you want? I'd actually thought we had cleared this situation."

"We have," Jeremy agreed. "But that's not why I'm here. Can I come in?"

"No!" The reply came out harsher than Tyler had intended. He could see Jeremy backing away slightly. "I mean, what do you want?"

Jeremy pursed his lips, leaning in closer. "It's about the wolf thing," he said in a lower tone of voice. "I think I may know something that you should know, too."

Tyler threw a glance over his shoulder into the house as if to make sure his mother wasn't around, then he looked back at Jeremy. Uneasiness started to settle on his mind. He didn't want to invite Jeremy in, really, it was the last thing he wanted. This whole situation was just all too similar compared to the last time Jeremy had visited him, and that had resulted in probably the most confusing and painful weeks of his life. He had no intention of repeating that ever again.

Jeremy seemed to know the reason for Tyler's hesitation. "Look, I know the last time you invited me in had been a mess, but if we just ignore the way that evening had ended for a second, you have to admit that the rest wasn't all that bad. Maybe we should just forget about this tiny mistake already and start over again. You opened that door for me back then and now you're opening again. Let's just forget everything that had happened in between. Please."

Tyler was still reluctant, however, finally he gave in and took a step back so that Jeremy could enter.

He then led him into a room that was entirely different from the room they had been in the last time. It looked like some sort of dining room, with a table and a few chairs on a carpet in the middle. There was no fireplace in here, no couch, no warmth. It was rather cool and Jeremy decided to keep his jacket on.

Tyler offered him to sit down and went towards a cupboard taking out two glasses and a bottle. When he put it on the table, Jeremy noticed that it was a bottle of mineral water.

Tyler filled the glasses and sat down on the opposite side of the table.

Everything he did was so blatantly different from the last time that Jeremy couldn't help but be actually a little bit amused by it.

"So what is it that you want me to know?" Tyler asked and looked at Jeremy skeptically.

Jeremy didn't reply. Instead he took the ring from his finger and put it on the table.

"Weird," Tyler said, starting to feel even more uneasy than before.

"This is the solution to your problem," Jeremy explained and his eyes were starting to shine with excitement.

Tyler looked back at him. "A ring, Frodo?"

"With the help of this ring, you can become a werewolf." Jeremy leaned back, watching Tyler's reaction to that – in his opinion – revelation.

"I don't wanna become a werewolf." Tyler shook his head. "I want nothing to do with this curse."

"Yeah, because you think that it implies killing someone, I understand. But what if you could trigger it without having to kill someone?"

"That's not possible."

"It is." Jeremy put the ring back on his finger. "This ring protects me from any supernatural being. I can't die as long as I wear it."

Tyler's eyes became darker as he frowned with anger. Jeremy was making fun of him. "Go home, Jeremy."

"But it's true," Jeremy defended. "When you told me about that werewolf stuff, I believed you without asking any questions. You could at least try to put the same confidence in me."

"That has nothing to do with confidence. I mean, if a ring like that existed, why should you, of all people, have it?"

"My uncle gave it to me," Jeremy explained, "he used it to protect himself from supernatural creatures."

Tyler shook his head. "Even if it was true – and that is a big if – I'm not a supernatural being. If I kill you, the curse will be triggered. And you'll stay dead."

"Yeah, but that is where the full moon comes into play. If you kill me on a full moon, and I wear this ring, then killing me will make you a werewolf instantly. The ring however takes a few minutes until it revives its owner. That means, that by the time I'll be revived, you'll be werewolf, making you a supernatural being and bringing me back to life. Case closed." Jeremy looked at Tyler with pride. "So what do you say?"

"What do I say?" Tyler snorted. "I mean, this is insane."

"Tyler," Jeremy started once again, but Tyler cut him off.

"I'm not taking the risk that your uncle told you stories about that ring."

"I know it works," Jeremy insisted. "I've already used it."

"What?" Tyler started to laugh. "You were killed by a supernatural being? What was it? A goblin or a little fairy?"

"It was a vampire," Jeremy snapped back. "And I'm not making this up."

"There is no such thing as vampires," Tyler said with emphasis on his words.

Jeremy shrugged and turned his head. "There is no such thing as werewolves." He crossed his arms in front of his chest like a business man who was starting to get impatient. "So what do you say? Yes or no? It'll work, I guarantee it." As a matter of fact, Jeremy wasn't sure in the slightest. He had no proof that Tyler's transformation would trigger the ring's magic retroactively, but – if he was totally honest – he didn't care. He wanted to be special somehow, and if he couldn't manage to be, then he wouldn't mind being dead either.

"I still don't understand…" Tyler moved on his chair. "I mean why would you take such a risk just to help me trigger the curse?"

Jeremy shrugged. "Because I'm a nice guy?"

Tyler didn't seem convinced.

"There isn't really a risk, Tyler," Jeremy lied once again. "I already experienced what it feels like to die. I want to feel it again, the thrill."

"The thrill of dying?" Tyler shook his head. "Then again, you've always been kind of an emo kid."

"Leave my pleasures to me," Jeremy replied. He was alright with Tyler thinking that this kick was his reason for helping him. The truth was, however, the same reason he had started bonding with Tyler in the first place – his undying wish to be special, to be of worth to someone. He couldn't bear the thought of Elena being involved with vampires and immortality, while he was being left out. If Tyler turned into a werewolf – and moreover, by his hands – then he would be the link between Elena and the vampires and the werewolf. He would be of use, he would be needed. Finally. However, telling Tyler would be of little use for achieving this goal, so Jeremy crossed his arms in front of his chest and waited for Tyler's reaction.

Tyler stared back at Jeremy. There was something the other boy was not telling him, Tyler knew, but there was no way of finding out either. Triggering the curse had never been an option for him, but then again, it was as Jeremy had said, he had made that decision believing he would really have to end someone's life. Now, if what Jeremy had just told him was really true, then he could become a werewolf without losing his integrity, and there was no way denying that his curiosity lured him more than anything. It would make him special, it would make his life exciting and extraordinary. He could have that, now. He looked up and his eyes met Jeremy's. "If you promise that this ring of yours will work one-hundred percent?"

Jeremy lifted his eyebrows in relief. "One-hundred percent." He bent over the table conspiratorially, his fingers starting to play with the ring in his hands. "So here's the plan. The next full moon is on Saturday. My aunt and my sister are gone over the weekend, so I got the entire house to myself. That's when we'll do it. I hope you got a gun, because I'd rather not be stabbed with a knife. Nothing painful, nothing dirty."

"My father had a gun," Tyler said, even though he was still struggling to understand what he had gotten himself into. "Though I'm not sure if being shot is not painful."

"I'll tell you when I find out," Jeremy simply replied, struggling not to let his excitement show.


The full moon had risen high up in the sky when Tyler Lockwood climbed the stairs to Jeremy's house and rang the doorbell. For some reason he was shaking, and he was hoping it was because of the chilling fall night and not because he was afraid. It was only nine p.m., and he still had a lot of time to change his mind, if he felt he needed to.

Jeremy opened the door and offered him to enter. They didn't speak a word as Jeremy led him up the stairs.

Living in a house like Jeremy and his family's seemed to be so much more comfortable and cozy than living in a house like his own, that was rather a museum than a real home. Tyler followed the other boy up the stairs and along the corridor. It wasn't all tidy, definitely not. There was a notebook on the floor, next to it a blue pen. A small trunk in the corner was covered with several shirts and pants.

Among the photos on the wall there was one picture that caught Tyler's attention. He stopped and looked at it closely. It was a portrait of Elena Gilbert, Jeremy's sister. She was wearing a beautiful necklace and a ribbon in her hair. What made the picture special, however, was, that it was not a photo, but a detailed pencil drawing. Its precise lines and careful applied shadows made Tyler stop in admiration for a while.

"Ah, that one." Jeremy had obviously noticed that Tyler hadn't been following anymore and turned around.

"Did you draw that?" Tyler didn't take his eyes off the picture.

"Yeah, it was actually a present I gave my sister for her birthday, I guess three years ago."

Tyler waited a second. "It's brilliant." The words were hard for Tyler to admit. All drawings he had ever seen of Jeremy Gilbert were the werewolf ones, and they had been dark and blurred. Now he felt himself confronted with real skill and that made his own drawings seem like immature children's doodle.

"You think so? I dunno…" Jeremy came closer to look at the picture, as if he had already forgotten about its details.

"Yeah, I do, I mean, the shades, the expression on her face… You're so much better than me."

"I was actually using a real photo in order to get her expression and stuff right, so it wasn't that difficult. Look, over here, there are a few flaws at her hair and in the background…" Jeremy pointed at the drawing and by doing so, he moved his hand past Tyler's head.

The unexpected movement so close to his head made Tyler turn around instinctively and he startled as his eyes met Jeremy's and the world stopped for a second.

There was sudden warmth in the air around them, as emitted from a fireplace, and Jeremy stared back at Tyler. He was so close to him that he could hear the sound of his breath and almost feel the electricity of his presence, invisible to all eyes, like the force of a magnetic field, but definitely there.

The awkward moment seemed to last forever, both of them unsure what to do now, how to react, how to retreat. Only inches were keeping them from repeating what was to be forgotten, and Jeremy thought to read in Tyler's eyes that he was not the only one who could feel the temptation. Only one more time, to find out if the memory of what it had felt like was really true to what it had felt like. There was no one around, no one would ever find out…

"I guess," Tyler turned away and the moment was gone, "I'll have to try a realistic drawing someday, too."

"Yeah," Jeremy replied, still dizzy from what he had felt and thought not even a second ago, "you should."


Entering someone's room was always an intimate act, but Tyler wouldn't have minded at all, if it hadn't been for this awkward moment a few seconds ago. He had brought himself to think of Jeremy as an ordinary guy, a friend maybe, and they had agreed on forgetting that entire mess that had unfolded from a simple ringing at the Lockwoods' door.

"Nice room," Tyler said, because he decided that these were the words he always said on entering a friend's room. The furnishing was kind of ordinary, but he felt he liked it, and when Jeremy went over to open the window, Tyler suddenly found enough air to breathe again. It calmed him quickly and this whole incident in front of Elena's picture suddenly seemed almost ridiculous to him. That's why he found it easy to distract his mind and concentrate on their mission. "So this is the place, huh?"

"Yeah…" Jeremy seemed busy doing the same. He gesticulated over the bed. "We'll need something to protect the sheets and the mattress. I don't have enough time to do my laundry until Jenna and Elena return…" he murmured, as if he was just thinking aloud.

"We'll think of something," Tyler said and noticed the light of the moon falling through the window into Jeremy's room. "We still got more than plenty of time."


They eventually decided to cover Jeremy's bed with plastic wrap and about one hour later, they ordered pizza and spent the evening in the living room, playing videogames. It seemed so strange to pass away the time in front of the television, but then again, triggering the curse all too soon before sunrise would be nothing but irresponsible. After all, Tyler was only supposed to trigger the curse, not to stray around in animal shape for hours, unprepared.

The racing game filled the room with sounds of squealing tires and engines reving up.

"I always wanted to have a PlayStation, too," Tyler said all of a sudden after a while. "Never got one."

Jeremy looked at him, a little confused, but Tyler kept his eyes straight at the screen.

"Come to think of it, I never got anything I wanted, as soon as I said that I did. My father thought that it was his duty to teach me that you can't always get what you want instantly." The smile that curved his lips seemed in stark contrast to his words. It made Jeremy feel sad for him. "I remember it too well: at elementary school there was a time when all of my friends had a pet at home and I wanted one as well so badly… I kept begging my parents to get my a dog, then I went on from cat and rabbit to hamster, and in the end I would have been happy just to get a goldfish, but –" He shook his head and shrugged, "the goldfish bowl in my room is still empty." He threw a glance at Jeremy, who was staring back at him as if he had told a horror story, and seeing that expression on Jeremy's face, Tyler couldn't help but grin. "Hey, it's okay. Don't look at me like that. You're driving against a wall, by the way."

Jeremy blinked and took the controller back into his hands. "I'm sorry to hear that. Makes me realize how good our parents had been to me and Elena. It must have been hard for you with him all your life… I'm sorry, I can't imagine how you must have felt all this time."

Tyler pursed his lips. "Yeah, I'm still alive. I'm not some whiney girl, even if I just sounded like that."

"You're definitely not," Jeremy replied with an encouraging grin on his face, focusing his attention back to the screen.

Tyler, however, turned his head to look at Jeremy. There was something odd about this entire situation. When he thought about it, he didn't know why he had started talking about that stuff in the first place, as if Jeremy was a close friend or something. He wasn't, and still Tyler felt comfortable the way they were right now, even if there had been so many fights and even a kiss in the past, even if there would be a murder in the future, but right now, right here, they were just sitting on the couch, eating pizza and playing video games like any other ordinary friends would do, and he realized that he was feeling entirely relaxed right now. What was it about their crazy relationship that made him feel like that? Even with him struggling against it, his eyes suddenly started to wander up to Jeremy's eyes, then down again, across his skin and along his arms. They had agreed to start over again from zero, but fact was, they weren't…

Jeremy, who hadn't noticed that Tyler was looking at him, laughed, "Now you're driving against the wall."

Tyler, however, put the controller down and turned to Jeremy. "Why are you doing this, Jeremy?" he asked quietly, his expression all serious. "Why?"

Jeremy's face flinched for a second, subtle and almost unnoticeable, and then he replied with the same honesty, "Same reason as you, I guess. Because it'll make me feel special."


"Twenty-two minutes till sunrise." Jeremy looked at his watch. "Now or never, I guess."

Tyler kept staring at his father's gun in his hands. The metal felt unfamiliar, cool and heavy. It made him realize how unreal this entire plan felt to him, crazy, dangerous.

He heard the plastic wrap rustle and when he turned his head, Jeremy was lying on his bed with his eyes closed, as if he was meditating or praying before he'd take his final breath.

For one second the idea crossed Tyler's mind to just shoot the gun before Jeremy could realize what had happened, in order to spare him the anxiety, but then he realized he couldn't. He wasn't sure if he could do this at all. He didn't want to kill anyone – that was the fact that had brought him here in the first place! Now, not killing anyone implied killing Jeremy Gilbert of all people, that strange boy he had always considered as his worst nemesis. Still, even though there had been a time when he would have actually enjoyed if anything had happened to Jeremy, that wasn't the case anymore. No matter what Jeremy's reasons for this really were, he was doing it for Tyler and he knew he should be grateful for it.

Slowly he moved closer to the bed, until he was standing right next to it, and placed the gun barrel against Jeremy's forehead. "Hey," he said and he couldn't tell why he was whispering all of a sudden, "in case you don't wake up again…" His throat was dry. "To be honest, I really enjoyed that night at my house, the one we decided to forget. And I mean–," a pause, "all of it."

Jeremy opened his eyes and looked up at Tyler one last time, his eyes suddenly full of compassion and maybe even a tiny bit of regret. "Yeah," he replied to his own surprise without hesitation, as if these were the words he had waited for all along. "Me too. And I mean, all of it."

There was a gunshot – and silence returned to the room.


To be continued…