Chapter Seventeen:

I raced into the Salvatore boarding house, turning from the foyer and into the front pallor. I saw Jeremy's body lying on the couch.

"Jer?" I ran over, dropping to my knees and taking his hand in my own. I could feel a few tears roll down my cheeks.

"Hey Jordan." Bonnie's soft voice spoke.

I turned to her with a weak smile before turning back to Jeremy. I stroked his face gently, hating the stillness of him.

"Is everyone else ok?" I asked, not taking my eyes off Jeremy.

"Elena, Damon and Stefan are in the kitchen. Caroline is on her way with Matt and Alaric. And I'm here with you and Jer."

I remained on the floor as Bonnie sat down on the end of the couch. We waited for Jeremy to wake.

"How long has he been out?" I asked.

"Half an hour." Just as Bonnie finished telling me. Jeremy gasped, shooting up. I jumped back at his sudden violent awakening. His eyes darted around, then landed on me. He got onto the floor, wrapping me in a hug. I hugged him back, looking over at Bonnie. She gave me a gentle smile. I felt relieved. I kissed Jeremy's cheek as he pulled away, still on his knees on the floor.

"Jer?" I looked at him.

"Hey." He smiled at me.

"How are you feeling Jeremy?" Bonnie asked.

He looked back at her, he took my hand within his, lacing our fingers together. I shifted a little bit, feeling like I should give them some space. I untangled our fingers and got to my feet.

"Where are you going?" Jeremy jumped to his feet.

"I need some water; I will be right back." I cupped his cheek before pushing him onto the couch.

I looked at Bonnie who gave me a small nod. I walked through the hallway and into the kitchen. Elena was walking over, giving me a hug.

"Are you ok?" I asked her.

"I'm fine. How's Jeremy?" she asked.

I shrugged. She gave me a confused look. Stefan handed me a cup of water, a smile on his face. I took it with a nod of my head and sipped it. obviously, they were listening in. I scowled pointing a finger at both Salvatore brothers.

"Stop eavesdropping!"

"Like you have anything interesting to say Mini Gilbert." Damon snorted.

"Damon!" Elena hissed. He shrugged and I rolled my eyes. glad to see some things haven't changed. I looked at Damon, feeling guilt tearing into me but before I could say anything, Caroline, Matt and Alaric walked in.

"This kitchen isn't big enough for a meeting." Stefan commented.

"Well Duh! Bonnie and Jeremy are having a moment in the front parlour." Caroline rolled her eyes, her blonde hair flipping over her shoulder.

"What's going on?" Elena asked.

I looked down quickly, I don't think Bonnie and Jeremy are ready to say anything about their relationship just yet.

"Hey Alaric, are you coming home tonight?" I asked to quickly change the subject. I saw Elena look at me with a furrowed brow. She knew something was up and I knew she would grill me later about it. I mentally rolled my eyes at her. I wasn't saying anything to her, that was up to Bonnie and Jeremy.

"I guess so." Alaric sounded a little confused.

I hadn't spoke to him since the kidnapping and doing something to him, thing that went down.

I shifted a little, trying to hide behind Elena. She gave me a confused look, before offering me her hand. I clung to it quickly, feeling her strength and comfort when she squeezed my hand. I had no idea how to even express to anyone about Alaric. I looked at him, he seemed like Alaric to me but the memory of being my head smacking hard against the door was still fresh in my mind.

I felt strong hands on my shoulders and screamed. I had been so lost to my thoughts; I hadn't heard someone sneak up behind me. Elena whipped around so fast before she glared.

"Seriously, Jer. Stop sneaking up on her." she growled.

My hand flew over my mouth as I tried to calm myself before narrowing my eyes at Jeremy who looked at me in confusion. I always knew when it was him, but I felt, jittery almost, like I had TOO much inside me and needed to burn it off.

"Let's move this party to the living room, hopefully Jordan won't scream and blow my eardrums out." Damon smirked at me.

"I will sit next to you just so I can scream in your ear." I smiled at him.

We all walked into the living room; my eyes rolled when Jeremy dragged me to sit next to him. I made eye contact with Bonnie who mouthed 'later' at me. I gave a nod and sat next to him.

"I want to sit next to Damon." I whispered to Jeremy. I knew all the vampires could hear me perfectly.

"Why?"

"He said something about wanting his eardrum blown out."

Stefan shook his head with a laugh. Caroline snorted. Damon scowled.

"I did NOT say that." He pointed a finger my way. I gave my innocent face.

"I swear, that's what I heard."

"Me too!" Caroline jumped in with a smile at Damon.

"What now?" Elena asked, sitting on the armrest as she leaned closer to me.

"Wanting his eardrum blown out?" Jeremy sounded confused.

"I heard it as well." Elena nodded, raising a brow Damon's way.

Elena winked down at me as we heard Damon grumble about 'Gilberts'.

I walked with Bonnie to Jeremy's car. I turned to her.

"What's wrong?"

"He won't tell me. I tired; I was hoping maybe you could?" she asked.

I nodded. She went to walk, and I grabbed her hand. I let go a second later when I felt something inside me starting to pull.

"Can we talk quickly? About the Gilbert rings?"

"Yeah, sure. What's up?" Bonnie leaned closer to me. I took a deep breath.

"Can they turn someone….evil?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

I bit my lip before taking a massive breath.

"When I went missing, it was Alaric. But something off about him. It was like the lights were on but nobody was home. He said something about cleansing the town, getting rid of the vampires."

"Are you sure it was…" she trailed off.

I nodded.

"I will look into it."

"Please, I'm scared that it could happen to Jeremy."

Bonnie hugged me tightly.

"He would never hurt you."

"I didn't think Alaric would either." I pointed out.

"Let me see what I can do. We will talk more about it soon, ok?"

I nodded.

Driving home, I sighed and turned to Jeremy.

"We need to talk."

"I know." He answered. I frowned. Clearly, he needed to tell me something.

"Well, out with it. Don't make me pull the twin card."

"Something was different tonight….with the ring." He clarified. I nodded. He had been freaked and that wasn't normally like Jeremy. He was calm and collected.

"Yeah?" I encouraged him gently.

"I never noticed it before, but I could feel you. I mean like, really feel you Jordan. There was this darkness and somehow you took it away?" he frowned trying to find the words to explain it. I nodded.

"Yeah, I felt something." I agreed.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"Fine, I guess." I shrugged.

Then my eyes widened. Me exploding at Kol. That rage, that anger. It had come from somewhere. Was it the darkness he was telling me about? The Gilbert rings effect. Was that why Jeremy hadn't gone dark side? Was I going dark side instead? Fear crawled along my skin and I shivered.

"Something is wrong with me Jer."

"What do you mean?" his tone sharp. I knew he was worried, and he was angry because it meant it was happening for a while now.

I sighed and took a massive breath.

"Let's go to the lake."