Chapter 14: To self-defense and self-discovery
After his shower, Jeremy was feeling worlds better. His body held less tension, his stomach had settled and the pounding in his head had died down to a mild headache. Turns out the hot shower had been the perfect idea. He would have to thank Ric for that.
Feeling strange about being naked in Ric's bed room he quickly pulled on the pair of pajama pants someone had left out for him. He didn't see a shirt and didn't feel comfortable enough to go through the man's dresser, so he went to leave the room.
But the door was cracked and he could hear Matt and Ric talking in the living room.
"You didn't see them Ric, when Kol and Jeremy looked at each. You could see the pull between them. I mean I believed Jeremy from the start. The way he talked about them, you could see it on his face that he really was in love." He heard Matt take a breath, "I went to their house. I had to see for myself, I figured if Jer was right then they wouldn't hurt me. And they didn't. In fact, the first thing they did was ask about him. They wanted to know if he was okay and if Elena was still being a jerk to him. Then when I asked for help Klaus." Matt almost shouted the name. "Klaus was the first to offer help. Then Elijah and Kol but started rambling about magic this or that and what could be going on." Matt stopped talking.
"So, you believe it all happened?" the teacher asked.
"Yeah, I mean they all spoke about it the same way he did. They each remembered it happening and their stories all matched. So, if there is a spell going on, it's not them after Jeremy. It's someone else against them. But I don't think there is any spell. I think Bonnie and Elena just want there to be. It would be easier to blame a spell then to except that Jeremy is in love with them."
Jeremy was quiet as he closed the bedroom door and crawled onto the bed. He had wanted to go out and ask more questions but he was too tired. He figured he could always ask later.
He was woken up some time later by his phone going off. He jumped up and off the bed, he looked around until he found his pants and pulled out his phone.
The screen flashed Tyler.
"Hello?" He answered.
"Jeremy!" Tyler sounded worried, "the witches have Caroline. I can see her but there are 5 witches surrounding her. I tried calling Matt and Elena but they aren't answering. Man, you have to get out here. It's the back end of my families' old property about a mile north of that old camp site." Jeremy froze.
He knew he was supposed to know how to fight, but what if he didn't remember and he messed up and Caroline or Tyler died because of it.
"Jeremy!" Tyler hissed his name.
"Yeah, I'm on my way." He said and Tyler hung-up.
He ran out of the room, hoping Matt and Ric where there and they would have an idea what to do. But the apartment was empty. There was note on the island saying the sheriff called them in for another body, Matt's car keys sitting on top of it. He grabbed them and ran back into Ric's bed room and tried to find a shirt.
When he opened the closet, he noticed a couple large trunks, images in his head told him these held weapons. He opened both of them and when he saw a crossbow sitting on top of one of them, it sent a feeling through him.
He remembered it. He remembered training with Damon and knew he knew how to use it. Feeling a little better about going into a fight, he grabbed the crossbow and several small knives and headed out of the apartment.
Matt's truck was still sitting in front he sent out a silent pray that his mind would remember the way.
He felt relieved when he remembered his way to the Lockwood property. He parked Matt's truck behind a black SUV that looked familiar, and grabbed his crossbow.
He tried to be quiet as he made his way towards where Tyler told him Caroline was. Every part of him wanted to call out for Tyler but he knew that the witches might hear him and that wouldn't be good.
He loaded the arrow and held the crossbow in front of him, his hands barley shaking as he walked. He heard a twig snap behind him and swung around ready to fire.
There in front of him was a large black wolf. His finger was on the trigger and his hand shock. Something stopping him from firing. Another snap behind him cause him to swing around. Finger pulling the trigger before he even saw anyone. The young man in front of him caught the air in the air.
"Really, Mate?" The voice caused his body to break out in goosebumps.
"I'm blaming the stupid wolf for that. Not telling you I was with him." The man glared over Jeremy's shoulder where behind him it sounded almost like the wolf huffed.
Jeremy heard the huff, but his eyes were locked on the man in front of him. There was something in his head screaming at him to move closer. Some part of him that knew whoever this was and knew he would be safe with him.
He opened his mouth to ask why but the wolf whined. Jeremy turned around, he had no fear about turning his back on this person. It made him realized he hadn't had any when turning his back on the wolf either.
Which was pretty fucking weird? Turning your back on a wolf should be terrifying instead it hadn't even registered as a bad idea.
The wolf seemed to wait for Jeremy to be looking at him because once he was it started walking away. When the it was a little bit away, it stopped and glared at him as if to tell him to hurry up.
As Jeremy took a step another memory slammed into his head. Tyler painstakingly turning into a wolf, a wolf that look just like the one in front of him, Jeremy looked back at the animal, "Tyler?" He mumbled.
The wolf huffed again and looked back at him. Its head was tilted to the side. Confused. 'Shit,' Jeremy thought, 'I can't let them know I don't remember. What if they don't trust me to back them or protect them?'
"Alright I'm coming." Jeremy said and speed up to keep up with the werewolf.
He didn't notice the strange look on the vampire behind him faces. Nor how the vampire moved closer and watched him worriedly.
It didn't take Tyler long to lead him to the clear where Caroline was being held. Jeremy could hear the witches yelling at her, but he couldn't make out the words. Tyler growled when Caroline let out a scream.
It caused Jeremy to take a step forward. But a hand on his arm stopped him.
"Not yet." The man said and again Jeremy had the feeling there was something more to this guy. Something important.
Jeremy wasn't the only one wanting to run to the rescue. Next to him Tyler let out a low growl and started to move forward. Without really thinking about it Jeremy reached down and wrapped his fingers in the fur around his friend's neck, "Easy, we need to take them by surprise." The wolf gave another small growl and then stopped.
The hand on his arm disappeared and Jeremy found he missed it. They all back a few feet away.
"Do you two have a plan?" Jeremy asked.
"Kill them." The man said calmly.
Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Not helping."
The guy smirked at him. At the smirk Jeremy felt a sharp pain between his eyes and had to bite his lip to stop any sound from coming out. There weren't any pictures or feelings, but it hurt. Like his head was trying to remember but something was stopping it.
"Jeremy?" He heard his name. It sounded a little distant over the pounding in his ears. But he pushed past the new headache and looked at his two friends.
"What if we split up? You know take them all at once from different sides?" He asked. Ignoring how both the man and the wolf where staring at him.
"If we can disrupt their chanting, it would cause the magic trapping Caroline. Then she would be free to join the fight. I think an original, a wolf, a hunter and a pissed off baby vampire can kill 5 witches." The man said and the wolf made a motion like a nod, apparently agree with whatever the hell an original was.
He wanted to ask about what an original was. But it was something he was supposed to know and he wasn't ready to tell anyone but Matt and Ric what happened to him.
So, he just agreed. "I'll take this side." He said and moved away from them.
He had moved close enough to hear the witches, and was loading his cross bow when a body collided with his and trapped him against a tree. He went to make a sound but a hand appeared over his mouth. There was a soft chuckle from behind him and it was like Jeremy's whole body lite up. It was as if small wave of something washed over him, somewhere between lust and trust. He had no idea what it meant.
"Just me, Mate." The man said and then Jeremy was released. Once he had his feet back on the ground he turned around and faced the other person. He opened his mouth but was unsure what to say. But luckily it seemed the guy wanted to talk not listen because his mouth was covered by the guys hand again, followed by a feeling of familiarity.
The man chuckled. "We seemed to repeat this a lot don't we." Jeremy had no idea what the guy thought was funny and worried about saying something wrong, so he just shrugged. But that seemed to confuse the guy more.
The man looked very lost. "Jer, what's going?"
"I…What do you mean? We are rescuing Caroline." He said.
The guy rolled his eyes. "I meant with you. Something is off. At first, I wasn't sure, but you aimed you bow at your friend and then actually shot at me. I know we had some issues before but you never shot first. Then it's the way your looking at me, Mate, something in your eyes." The guy moved closer and Jeremy took a step back.
He hit the tree another shot of familiarity hit him.
"Fear." The guy said backing away.
"I don't think I have ever seen you fear me." The guy said. "Not that day at the batting cages when I hurt Damon not any of are run ins after that. Not even when we were trapped in the past. Jeremy, you have never looked at me like this." The man's voice cracked. "Gilbert, I have seen you look at me with anger, determination, care, even hatred but I have never seen you look so afraid." The concern and worry in the man's tone made Jeremy feel nauseous. For some reason this guy was hurting because of Jeremy's own confusion and unease. Jeremy found he didn't like it. He didn't like that he was hurting him.
"I…" The vampire cut him off.
"Tyler is ready." And the man was gone. Which at least told Jeremy that the guy was a vampire.
"Fuck." He muttered as he took up his position.
Of course, that was when he realized they hadn't set a signal for him to know when they were all ready.
"Fuck." He cursed and tried to think of something fast.
Luckily, he had been watching the people attacking Caroline. Because when he cursed her head snapped up. Of course, she was smart enough not to look at him, but it was clear that she had heard him.
An idea formed in his head, "Hey Care, can you like nod or something with Tyler and…." He hesitated, "they are set up and ready?" He kept his voice low and watched her face. Even from this far he could see she looked unhappy about them putting themselves in danger. But she gave an almost unnoticeable nod.
Now it was time to wait.
He fiddled with one of his arrows as he watched the witches inflict pain on his sister's friend. Whatever they were doing didn't seem to put Caroline down but it was obviously taking its toll. She was starting to sway on her feet and she looked ready to fall over.
He watched as she doubled over and grabbed her stomach. A scream came out of her and she stumbled. He ached to shot the lady that looked to be leading the others.
He was so focused on the witch he almost missed the sudden smile that formed on Caroline's face.
The she gave a small nod. Without hesitations Jeremy tightened his finger and pulled the trigger. The arrow sailed straight through the air and hit one of the witches in the chest. As her body fell to the floor, Tyler's black wolf lunged out of the woods and slammed into a different witch's body. As both the wolf and the witch fell to the ground Jeremy her a crack. The witches' neck bone shattering under Tyler's strong jaws.
The next movement that caught Jeremy's attention was the vampires suddenly appearing behind a witch and snapping her neck, her body crumbling to the ground.
Jeremy took a breath and reached down to grab an arrow, he had just locked it in place when the air around him rippled and he flew through the air and slammed into a tree.