A/N: Sorry for the delay, everyone! Technical issues, and a little friendly blackmail between authors. Yes, I'm talking about my wonderful beta, Vesuvious. But without any further ado...

"Jeremy…"

The younger Gilbert heard his sister's voice, scratchy from coughing, and he went to her, helping her sit up. She latched on to him immediately, ignoring the blood and human debris that covered her brother to hug him tightly.

Elijah slammed the witch down onto the table with a resounding 'crack'. Jeremy's eyes were wide as the "witch" turned to solid wood in front of them and then crumbled into a pile of sawdust.

"What was that?" he asked as the real witch stepped out of hiding.

From the shattered stair, Damon groaned and stood slowly. "What the hell just happened?"

The echo of a memory resonated through him, and it took all he had to keep from shaking. "A shadow doll." Jeremy stated as he helped his sister stand so she could go to Stefan.

"Come again?"

It was like reaching through a fog and grabbing random pieces of a much bigger picture. "A witch puts magic into it, makes it look like whatever they want, and then they can control it without actually being near it." Jeremy looked over at the pile of clay dust. "This one looks like it's made out of clay."

"So…you're saying he didn't even have to be here to screw with us? And be that powerful?" Jeremy sighed and nodded. "Witchy and Grandma Witchy never did anything like this."

"I don't think Bonnie and her grandmother are anywhere near this witch's power level." Jeremy pointed out.

"Old magic," Elijah explained, crouching down to run his hand through the fine granules. "It draws on the elements, the primary source of their power—an ancient religion that few can still practice."

"Did you see the way he manipulated that fire? That's ancient magic. Extremely old. More-than-a-thousand-years old."

"And how exactly did you turn into a fountain of knowledge?" Damon asked sarcastically.

Jeremy hesitated, and then shook his head. "I don't know." He lied—because he did know. At least, he had an inkling.

"Well isn't that convenient."

"Damon…" came Elena's warning as she helped Stefan to a couch that hadn't been destroyed.

Damon held up his hands on his way to the liquor cabinet. "Just pointing out the obvious."

"Do you still think I'm lying?"

"The thought crossed my mind."

Jeremy was suddenly across the room and blocking Damon's path. "He almost killed my sister—just because he wanted to get to me. If I had information, don't you think I'd share it?"

"Don't waste your breath, Jeremy." Stefan said from the couch, a smile playing at his lips. "He knows that. His pride is hurt because you fared better than he did in a fight."

Damon's features steeled, and he rolled his eyes, pushing past Jeremy to pour himself a drink. "I think we both fared better than you, brother mine."

"Yeah, but I knew you were better than me in a fight. You had your ass kicked, and Jeremy doesn't have a scratch on him."

And it was true. Despite broken bones and third-degree burns, Jeremy's body had healed completely. If his clothes hadn't been singed and his hands covered in someone else's blood, no one would know he'd been in a fight.

"Probably because he was moving faster than the speed of light." Damon spat out, taking a swig of his bourbon. "How'd you do that, anyway?"

Jeremy frowned, looking between both brothers and his sister. "I just moved." He replied, eliciting silence from all. "How fast was I going?"

Elena hesitated before answering, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I couldn't even see you." She admitted. "I've only ever seen two vampires move like that. Klaus, and…" She trailed off. She didn't exactly have to say the other name, because they all knew it.

They were all silent for a few minutes before Jeremy finally said, "I don't think you can compel someone to forget what they learned."

Damon frowned at him mid-sip. "What?"

"Obviously I learned about witch stuff in the last five years, if I'm throwing around words like 'shadow dolls' and 'ancient magic'. I don't remember learning about it, but that doesn't change the fact that I did learn it. No amount of compulsion can make me forget something I've learned." Jeremy looked around. "Does that make any sense?"

"Yeah," Stefan replied, right as Damon said "No." Stefan and his brother shared a glare before he continued. "It actually makes sense. How else would he have known how to fight like that?"

"Exactly. And I knew that thing was a shadow doll before it turned to clay. I remember Elijah saying something about it."

"Great, so you don't forget what you learned. Tell me, Jeremy, did you learn Evil Pasty Witchy's name?" Damon asked, wearing a smug grin when Jeremy hesitated.

"I don't know." He admitted.

"Again, very convenient."

"Will you shut up about that, Damon?" Elena snapped. "Instead of interrogating my brother, could we please focus on who's actually after him?"

Damon's jaw tensed for a second, and then he shrugged his eyebrows like he did when he agreed to something.

Jeremy folded his arms. "Thank you." He muttered.

"Don't do that." Elena warned, fixing her brother with a glare. "Damon's right, Jeremy. There are a lot of holes in your story, and the only reason I believe you is because I'm your sister, and you can't lie to me." With that, she stood from the couch, walking to him with her arms crossed. "You told that witch that you talked to Elijah today. Was that the truth?"

Jeremy was quickly learning that the one thing that hadn't changed throughout his transformation from human to vampire was his complete inability to lie. So he didn't even try to lie to his sister, of all people. "He found me at the motel, after the aquarium." He said, nodding his head with a sigh.

Elena's gaze on him was intense, a sisterly glare that made him feel like a little kid again, despite being a vampire. "Did you mean it when you said you would come back with me?" she asked eventually. "Or were you just going to leave with him?"

Jeremy stared at her. As much as he wanted to be shocked, he knew Elena wasn't stupid. She'd figured out at least part of Jeremy's…relationship…with Elijah—whether it was past or present. He let out another soft sigh and reached for her hand, squeezing it gently when she shifted uncomfortably. "You are my sister. And when I said that I wanted to go with you to Georgetown—to Jenna and Patrick—I meant it." He blinked down nervously. "I wasn't completely honest with you about the reason…I just wanted to keep you safe. All three of you."

His sister's eyes softened slightly, and it was her turn to sigh. "You can't protect us all the time, Jer." She said, taking his other hand in hers. "I thought you would've learned that already. Just…tell me what you know."

Jeremy shook his head slightly. "All I knew was that someone was after Elijah, and they were trying to use me to get to him. At least now I know what's after him."

Elena's eyes flickered to the two dead bodies next to the fireplace. "What would they want with Elijah?"

"Probably nothing." Stefan interjected from the couch. "They didn't seem to be the ones in charge."

"Cannon fodder." Damon suggested, swirling his bourbon in the tumbler. "Extra bodies. Evil Pasty Witchy didn't seem to be too concerned for their well-being." He lifted the glass to his lips to take a drink—

Jeremy heard the rustle and metallic fumbling of a weapon, and he darted to Damon, catching the wooden stake before it could embed itself in the older vampire's back. All eyes darted up to the landing where one of Damon's former captors was trying to reload a crossbow.

The intruder didn't have any time to snap another stake in place before Damon crushed both the crossbow and the man's fingers beneath his foot. The man let out a scream and obviously tried to yank his hand away, but Damon just ground his foot harder onto flesh and steel.

"Well that wasn't nice." He growled, and moved into a crouch, his foot digging further into the shattered bones of the intruder's hand.

Jeremy was already on the other side of the man, opposite Damon, his eyes bleeding to black. Neither vampire made a move for the man's throat, but a glance of understanding passed between them.

"You need to answer a few questions for us." Damon purred in a sickly-sweet, yet venomous tone as he gripped the man's chin and forced their eyes to meet. "And you're going to cooperate."

But a slow, defiant laugh bubbled up from the goon's chest. "I'm on vervain, you idiot." He growled, gasping through the pain. "We all were."

Damon stood then, staring down at him. "One? Don't call me an idiot." He then picked up his foot and brought it down on the man's forearm. Again, he let out a piercing scream, but neither Damon nor Jeremy paid him any mind. Damon resumed his crouching position. "Two. You're still going to cooperate."

"Or…what…?" he challenged. "Gonna kill me? Gonna torture me? Break more bones? Here's a hint, fanger," he spat out with a snarl. "Nothing you do could be worse than what he'll do to me."

"I can think of a few things." Jeremy deadpanned, causing the intruder to turn his head.

"I wouldn't test him." Damon interjected. "You and your friends almost killed his sister. This family gets a little touchy if you kill a sibling."

"I don't give a f—" But the intruder didn't get to finish his sentence. He cut himself off with a blood-curdling scream as Jeremy ripped off the shell of his left ear with his bare hands.

If Jeremy were paying attention to his surroundings, he may have noticed Elena's jerk of utter shock and Stefan's subsequent attempts to lead her from the room. But he didn't notice those things, nor did he notice Damon's mocking warnings. Jeremy simply ignored them and leaned in to speak lowly into the mutilated ear, "I read in a science book that you don't really need the outer ear to hear. Nod if you can hear me." His answer was a shaky nod. "Why did you and your friends want to take me hostage?"

"We…we were just hired." the man ground out. "Look, a witch asks for six vamp hunters and pays a shit-ton, and we don't ask many questions, okay?"

"That, I can believe." Damon muttered, rolling his eyes. "Did you at least ask his name?"

The subsequent silence made Damon and Jeremy exchange a knowing glance. Without another thought, Jeremy gripped the vampire hunter's shoulder and dislocated it as easily as tearing a piece of paper.

"His name." Jeremy repeated, after the man's wet groans had subsided.

The man hesitated, and Jeremy dug his fingers into the abused bundle of connective tissue, grinding bone against bone as the man cried out in agony. He only stopped when the vampire hunter started to say "okay" over and over, his voice hoarse from screaming.

"Hig…Higurashi…" he gasped out, his entire body limp and sagging in defeat. "He didn't give a first name."

Jeremy looked up at Damon only to see him lost in thought. "What is it?"

Damon blinked his gaze to Jeremy and then looked away again, his lips pursed like he did when he was hiding something. "If that doll magic is as old as you say it is, a Higurashi is the witch that could make it. Son of a bitch." He cursed. "I thought they were all dead."

"Obviously not." The hunter spat, his breathing labored.

"What exactly did he tell you about the job?" Jeremy asked.

"He didn't tell us shit. Just told us to grab our gear and head to this location."

"And you just took the job, no questions asked?"

"Look, man…I told you. A witch walks in, gives us 10K a piece to bag a stupid little vamp, and he says we each get fifty more Gs if we stick around to torch an Original. This is what we do, man."

Jeremy's eyes widened slightly. "What did he say about an Original?"

"Not much, okay? Just that he was closing in on the Original, and he needed some backup. The…The guy's insane! I just need to pay the bills."

Jeremy's heart was pounding in his ears. "He couldn't know where Elijah is." He whispered harshly to Damon. "He said he needed me to find him."

"Unless you're leverage." Damon suggested, his jaw set. "Remember what I said?"

Attack his heart.

"Shit."

"How did he contact you?" Damon demanded of the vampire hunter.

"He used a phone like everyone else, with a blocked number."

There was that hesitation again, followed by a quickening pulse.

Damon's eyes narrowed. "What aren't you telling us?"

Again, the man was silent, but when Jeremy reached for his elbow, the vampire hunter relented. "Okay, okay!" he panted, looking down. "If we got separated, we established a…a rendezvous point. T-To get our money…" He frowned, panting harshly. "Is…is it hot in here…?"

Damon just rolled his eyes. "And that would be where, exactly?"

"Seriously, is it—"

"The rendezvous point."

"But…it…agh—guh!" The hunter's eyes rolled back, and his jaw slacked as he let out a wet gurgle and vomited blood all over his legs.

Jeremy leaned in slightly to check the man's pulse, but he snatched his hand away with a hiss. "His skin feels like it's on fire."

"What the hell did you do?"

"It wasn't me! What did you do?"

"I don't think either of you did anything." Elena said in a shaky voice, gesturing for them to look at the hunter's body.

His face had melted. Legitimately melted. The hunter's eyelids had melded with the rest of his face, and the skin of his lips was falling back to expose bare teeth. The skin of his forehead had parted and left the skull partially visible.

Damon and Jeremy stepped back to avoid the vervain-soaked blood as it leaked out of every orifice the man once had. In mere seconds, all that remained was a pile of flesh and a puddle of separated blood.

The boarding house was silent as everyone took in the sight and smell before them, and then the silence was broken as Elena ran to the bathroom.

"Well," Damon said. "I think I speak for all of us when I say, 'ew'."

About an hour later, after Damon and Jeremy had disposed of the rest of the bodies and Stefan had cleaned up the pile of goo on the landing, everyone gathered in the living room to regroup.

Stefan settled on the couch next to Elena, glass of blood in hand. "So…" he said as Damon took a seat on the coffee table, and Jeremy went to the liquor cabinet. "Why did the hunter melt?"

"It was the witch." Jeremy said, obviously convinced. "He knew the hunter was about to give up the rendezvous point, so he…"

"Melted him." Damon finished tightly, looking up at Jeremy. "Right after the guy puked his guts all over my carpet. I don't think we'll ever get the smell out."

Jeremy frowned at him. "A guy melted right in front of you, and you're pissed about the carpet?"

"No, Jeremy, you wanna know why I'm pissed? I'm pissed because after all this bullshit about protecting your sister, you still haven't been honest with us."

"Are you—"

"What do you know about the Higurashi coven?"

Jeremy blinked at him, confused. "Nothing."

"Bullshit."

"Damon, why are you still pushing this?" Elena asked tiredly.

"Because there's something he's not telling us, Elena." Damon snapped, his eyes still fixed on Jeremy.

There was a slight pause, and Elena looked over to her brother. "Jeremy?" she asked when she saw that his eyes were downcast and his grip on his glass was a little too tight.

The younger Gilbert looked up into his sister's eyes, and he shook his head. "I don't know anything about this Higurashi coven." Jeremy stated quietly.

Damon scoffed in disbelief, but Elena was beginning to understand.

"What about the things you said earlier?" she guessed, standing to approach her brother slowly. "That stuff about shadow dolls…ancient magic…?"

Again, Jeremy's gaze was downcast. "I remembered it." He said softly.

"You remembered…that you learned it, right?"

"No, I mean…" He sighed, setting down his drink. "I remember Elijah telling me about shadow dolls. He told me about ancient magic and how it's connected to the elements. And when the witch was messing with my head, I remembered Elijah teaching me how to lock him out."

"Wait, so," Stefan leaned forward on the couch. "You're breaking through the compulsion?"

"I don't know what I'm doing." Jeremy snapped, exasperated and frustrated beyond belief. "The memories come in pieces, none of them get us any closer to Elijah, and there's a psycho albino witch threatening my family because of something I can't remember."

"Jer, it isn't your fault—"

"But it is, Elena!" Jeremy finally shouted at his sister. "If I'd come back in the first place? If I hadn't chased answers? If I'd just gone back to you and Jenna, this would have never happened—you and Patrick and Jenna wouldn't be in danger.

"I don't know myself anymore, Elena. I-I keep telling myself that if I had a choice, I would go back to you and Jenna, that I must have been forced to stay away, but I don't know that anymore. You saw me torture that guy." Jeremy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm just…"

"Lost." Elena finished for him. "I know you want answers, Jer," she told her brother gently. "But we can't feel sorry for ourselves because of a few things we should have done. We need to think." But even as Jeremy nodded, Elena knew her brother was still completely confused about this entire ordeal—and she was, too. But they would have to work out their problems later.

"So what do we know about Elijah's location?" Elena asked, turning to head back to the couch.

"Well, he was in Atlanta yesterday…"

"Gloating doesn't help, Damon."

"What about Las Vegas?" Stefan cut in unexpectedly, making the bickering pause for an explanation. "Isobel said Elijah owns the hotel Jeremy stayed at. So…what hotel does he own?"

Three pairs of eyes shifted slowly to Jeremy, but the youngest Gilbert shook his head with a shrug. "I don't know."

They were all silent for another moment, but then Damon remembered something.

"Well," he started. "I saw you in a Vegas hotel. That year, after you died."

Jeremy's eyebrows went up slightly. "Do you think I would have stayed there?"

"Uncle John said you lived nearby."

"But you said you searched for a week."

Damon rolled his eyes. "I didn't search the hotel. I mean, come on! Who lives in a hotel?"

"You did, for a little while." Stefan pointed out, smiling at the glare he received from his brother.

"Damon." Elena snapped, warning him. "What was the hotel?"

Damon glanced at Jeremy. "Well, I've got to hand it to you. Pretty sweet deal, if you do live there." And before Elena could ask again, Damon turned back to her. "The MGM Grand."

A/N: Oooooo the plot thickens! Where are we headed next? You'll have to wait for the next chapter! But the good news is...it's already written :P Reviews make me write chapter 13 faster, which makes me post chapter 12 faster... :D Thank you for reading, lovelies!

~Jeannie