Us, Servants to the Moon – Chapter 6

Author's Note: So sorry again that it took me so long to finish this! The next chapter will be up soon, too, I promise, and it will be a very cute and romantic one to make it up to you guys! :-)

Police lights were throwing bright flashes over the woods, making the tree trunks look as if they were pulsating with red and blue light.

"Excuse me, can I just…" Tyler tried to make his way through the crowd, until he reached a yellow tape that kept him from going any further. Horror filled Tyler's eyes, as he stared at a figure lying on the ground, covered by a gray blanket. Police officers were all around the place.

"Tyler!" Jeremy stopped next to him, the police lights reflected in his eyes. He looked at Tyler's petrified face and seeing him like this almost broke his heart.

"We did all this just to make sure I didn't have to kill anyone and now," Tyler whispered quietly, "…in the end all this just made me do it."

"But it wasn't you, Tyler!" Jeremy hissed helplessly, "it couldn't have been you! You don't remember doing this, right? And you told me you'd been conscious all the time!"

"I don't know…! I just remember bits and pieces…"

Jeremy grabbed Tyler's shoulders and turned him around to face him. "But I've seen you when you returned to my room! Just look at her! If you did this, then you should have been covered with blood that night! And you weren't! I swear it!"

"Dammit, Jeremy, that doesn't prove anything!" Tyler yelled, breaking free from Jeremy's grip. "That girl is dead and they said it was a wolf. I don't see another one around." He gave Jeremy one last glance before he ran back into the darkness of the woods.

"Tyler, wait!" Jeremy yelled, trying to follow the other boy into the forest, but the people standing around him were blocking the way. When he finally got out of the crowd, Tyler was already gone.

Jeremy was just about to run off into the darkness as well, when he suddenly noticed his sister Elena standing on the other side of the clearance together with her vampire friends Stefan and Damon. As usual, he noticed, they had secretive looks on their faces, watching the crime scene with wary glances.

For a second his eyes turned back to the forest and he stood there, hesitating. He probably wouldn't have a chance to find Tyler in the darkness anyway… Besides, this was his chance. It was what he had been waiting for all along. Even more, it was the actual reason why he had gotten into this whole mess in the first place: so that Elena and her friends would finally stop ignoring him, so that they would involve him in their vampire adventures and finally, he wouldn't be left out anymore.

He thought back to Sunday morning, the morning after Tyler's transformation, when he was standing there alone at the window of his room. Once again, he had been the one sitting merely among the audience, watching others become extraordinary, yet remaining ordinary himself. Now that Tyler was a werewolf, now that he had what he wanted, he was lost to Jeremy. He would never need his help ever again.

So if Jeremy really intended to finally be of importance to someone, he had no other chance than to stick to Elena and her friends.

He turned his head away from the forest and looked back to the crowd.

"No, they said it was a wolf attack," Stefan pointed at the policemen. "I mean, I couldn't…"

Damon gave his brother an ironic glance. "Have you ever seen a wolf doing such a thing, Stefan, honestly?" He shrugged. "No. The only thing that could have done… that – it must have been a werewolf."

Stefan rolled his eyes. "There is no such thing, Damon."

"Well, who knows." Elena seemed unsure the way she crossed her arms over her chest. "I mean, vampires are real. So why shouldn't-" She stopped as Stefan gave her a glance telling her to stop talking. Puzzled, she turned around.

"Hey, guys." Seemingly out of nowhere, Elena's little brother Jeremy walked up to them.

Damon immediately rolled his eyes. "What do you want?"

"Jeremy!" Elena grabbed Jeremy's jacket. "Thank God you're alright. When Matt returned from the treasure hunt without you-"

"I'm fine, Elena," Jeremy assured, then pointed at the crime scene. "Pretty ugly mess over there. Horrible. They say it had been a wolf."

"Ow, we're not here to gossip, Jeremy," Damon said, his eyes mockingly wide. "You better go home, kid."

"Damon's right." Elena turned to her brother while Stefan agreed with a nod. "It's not safe here."

"Yeah, I know," Jeremy replied with a meaningful tone of voice. "But I won't go home tonight. Not this time." He looked at the three people standing in front of him. He could see in their eyes that he had already caught their attention. This time, yes… this time he wouldn't be left out.

"What do you mean?" Stefan asked in his calm, soothing voice.

"Well," Jeremy hoped they wouldn't notice how unsure he was playing his ace card. "I think you'll need my help this time." It felt so good to say those words. It made him feel all grown-up and important. Crucial, even.

The look on Damon's face said that he didn't believe a thing Jeremy said. Elena, on the other hand, seemed shocked. What was her brother talking about?

"I wanna be part of the team," Jeremy said, "that is, if you're interested in werewolves."

He could still hear the siren of the police cars from afar. They were looking for a culprit. They were looking for him.

Tyler was all alone, and he'd never felt more alone in his life than right now.

The forest around him was dark and menacing, the trees merely dark shadows resisting against the bright, waning moon, that seemed like a giant, mocking face up in the sky.

He looked so miserable, the way he was sitting on the rough ground, his back against a tree trunk, his knees pulled close to his chest. He felt small and helpless.

For the first time he realized what he had done. He was like one of those reckless youths, who tend to do lots of irresponsible stuff just to be popular. There was no difference to him. He, as well, should have known better, he should have listened to his inner voice warning him not to play such a dangerous game, not to risk his young life for something that would only bring him pain. They didn't call it a curse for no reason.

Still, his greed to make his life special, to make it extraordinary, had mislead him to walk down a road he should have known would be the wrong one.

Now, he was paying the price for it. Staying innocent, not becoming a murderer, that had been his only condition, and now, even that had been taken away from him.

Mary Farlane, he'd known her. She had been a good girl, always smiling, always cheerful. And now, cold, dead. A victim that hadn't deserved to die. He had seen her so many times on the schoolyard, yet they had never even talked to each other and now their lives were entwined in a way none of them could ever have imagined. He had caused her death in a barbaric, senseless way and it gave him the chills just to think of his guilt.

His thoughts continued spinning around in circles like that, not taking him anywhere, when suddenly a noise came from the trees opposite him. Tyler lifted his head and he could see a dark figure standing there. How long that person had already been watching him he didn't know.

"Jeremy?" he asked, and even though he should be mad at the person who was actually the cause of all this, at that moment he was simply thankful. No, he had actually wished for Jeremy to be here with him. In the end, Jeremy was the only one who could understand him, the only one he could talk to. Jeremy was the only one who could comfort him.

"No," the shadow replied, however. "My name is Jules."

"Hello, Tyler," the woman said as she stepped into the moonlight. She had long, light brown hair that fell over her shoulders, the expression on her pretty face was confident. Tyler figured she had to be in her early thirties.

He narrowed his eyes so that he could see her face more clearly. "Who are you?" he hissed, warily.

"I'm a friend," the woman called Jules replied. "Actually," she came closer, "I'm even more than that. I think you could say, I'm family."

"I don't know you," Tyler replied. "Are you a relative of my mother's?"

Jules shook her head with a smile. "I'm a relative of yours." She was now standing right in front of him, when she turned around and sat down next to him. "I'm a wolf," she explained. "Like you."

Those words scared Tyler and he looked at her with his eyes wide open. "How do you know?"

"I've seen you," Jules said, "on Sunday morning. But your instincts are not as sensitive as mine, so didn't notice me."

Was she serious? Tyler couldn't believe his ears. So there really were others? Others like him? For one second he felt an almost blissful relief, but then another thought crossed his mind and he backed away from her: "You were there on Sunday morning? So it was you! You killed that girl!"

"Yes."

"Yes? That's all you have to say? Why did you attack her?" Tyler sounded furious. "She was just an innocent girl!" All the anger and the remorse that he had been targeting at himself suddenly shifted to Jules. "How could you?"

"You know why. And it could have very well happened to yourself", Jules replied. "When transformed, you lose control over your consciousness and your instincts take over. Your consciousness is reduced to nothing more than a passenger, a silent watcher." Jules pulled her legs closer to her chest. "I'm sorry for what happened to that girl, but, believe me, she is not the first and she won't be the last. That's part of the curse we have to bear. You'll experience that soon enough."

Tyler shook his head. "Never," he said with absolute determination. "All this pain, the guilt, the remorse – I've learned my lesson. I won't become a murderer, and now that I know I haven't already become one, I'll make sure it won't ever happen." He felt a sudden surge of power inside, a power that made him strong enough to dismiss everything Jules said. He felt so relieved, that he actually got away with no more than a fright, and it had been a hell of a fright.

"You can't live against your nature, Tyler," Jules said to him, her voice as calm as before. "What would you do? Lock yourself away once a month? Well, some of our kind try, your uncle did, for example. But they usually don't end well." She turned to him. "Tyler, this is for your own good. Come with me. We'll teach you everything you need to now and you'll get by."

"No, thanks," he replied. "I don't wanna know the things you could teach me."

"We're your family now, your pack. A wolf can't live on its own, believe me."

Tyler kept staring at the dark ground in front of him. That woman… Was she right? Was it the right choice for him to come with her? After all, what did he have left here?

And even though he couldn't say why, his thoughts suddenly turned to Jeremy. Yeah, it was definitely the right choice to leave. That way, he wouldn't have to deal with this weird way he was feeling for Jeremy. It would just end. Right now.

Yeah, it was obvious. Jeremy didn't feel anything for him in return after all. Or why else would he not have followed him into the woods at a time like this? Why wasn't he here, right now, to tell Tyler to stay? Tyler knew the answer. Because Jeremy didn't care.

Somehow, that realization made Tyler feel even sadder. Having feelings for another boy was bad enough, having unrequited feelings was even worse. And still…

"Tyler?" Jules was waiting for him to make up his mind. "What do you say?"

"You did… WHAT?" Damon was so furious Elena feared he would strangle Jeremy on the spot.

"I made him turn," Jeremy repeated, either oblivious to Damon's aggression, or simply brave enough to stand up to him. "It happened on Sunday, when Jenna and Elena were gone."

Damon hit his own forehead and turned around. "What is wrong with your brain?"

"Damon, calm down," Stefan said to conciliate.

"No, seriously. You turned Tyler Lockwood into a werewolf? As if we didn't have enough trouble already!"

"Jeremy, how could you?" Rather than furious, Elena seemed disappointed with her brother. Her voice was calm and strong. "What were you thinking? Taking such a risk for something so reckless… If the ring hadn't worked, then what? You would have died on us!"

"I didn't, okay?" Jeremy replied. He had known that they wouldn't be too happy with what he did at first, but what was with all those accusations? He was there to help now, wasn't he?

"Oh, and don't forget the girl your little werewolf friend had for dinner," Damon reminded. "I'd say you're even more responsible for her death than Tyler."

"Stop it, Damon," Stefan cut his brother off, "you're not helping. I hate to say this, but what's done is done. We gotta find a way to deal with this right now."

"I could tell you something about the werewolves," Jeremy suggested, but his words sounded like a weak attempt to turn the conversation back to the way Jeremy had intended.

"No," Stefan replied instantly. "Maybe later, Jeremy. First, we gotta find Tyler, before something even worse happens."

Damon and Elena agreed, and so Jeremy had no choice but to agree as well.

"Don't even bother," a voice suddenly said. "You won't find him."

Damon, Stefan, Elena and Jeremy turned around. A blonde woman was standing between the trees, a wary expression on her face as she looked over to them.

"Who are you?" Damon asked immediately.

"Tyler is not the one you're looking for. He didn't kill that girl." There was a sparkle in her eyes, but it could just as well have been the police lights reflected. "It was me."

Elena could feel Stefan and Damon tense immediately, Jeremy however seemed to calm down, even be relieved by her words. She didn't have the time to think about it though, instead she faced the woman's gaze when the others didn't and asked, "what do you mean?"

The woman came closer. "My name is Jules," she said, "and I know very well who you are, vampires. I can smell you from miles away."

"Are you a wolf?" Stefan found his voice again. "Are you a werewolf, like Tyler Lockwood?"

"I am," Jules admitted to their surprise. "But you shouldn't worry about it. I'm not here to harm you or to start some Twilight war against you, as you're probably thinking. Tyler will be gone soon and so will I be by morning. So stop bothering with the kid. He'll be with me from now on and neither of us will ever bother you again."

Jeremy tensed at her words. What was she talking about? Tyler was gone? He couldn't believe it… He lowered his head, looking to the ground. Unexpectedly, her words had made him feel strangely sad… Was it that he actually didn't want Tyler to be gone? But why? He finally had what he wanted, hadn't he? His future with Elena and the vampires didn't involve Tyler anyway! So why then? Why did it hurt him to hear Tyler would leave?

"Why should we trust you?" Stefan glared at the woman. "If you really are what you claim to be, then it doesn't really make you a trustworthy person."

A smile formed on Jules' face, and Elena was surprised by the way it made her suddenly look pacific. "Wait for the next full moon. You'll see for yourself: it'll be a peaceful night." As soon as he'd spoken those words, she vanished back into the dark forest.

Damon turned to Stefan and Elena. "I don't trust that woman. Do you trust her? You look as if you did."

Stefan sighed. "This is not about trusting her. It doesn't matter if she told the truth or not. We'll have to wait until the next full moon before we can be sure about it. But I think it's safe to say that werewolves are a real threat, and even if they leave, they can come back anytime. So," he turned to Jeremy, "tell us everything you know about them. We need to be prepared."

"Alright," Damon agreed. "Let the kid follow us into our secret hideout. Come on, let's go and get something to drink. You too, Jeremy. It's gonna be a long night."

Elena and Stefan nodded, following Damon out of the woods.

Jeremy, however, hesitated. "No," he finally replied. "Just go ahead without me," he said, more confident than ever before. "I got somewhere else to be."

Almost desperate, Jeremy stumbled through the woods. How? How could he have been so blind? He had turned Tyler into a werewolf, Tyler needed him right now, and no one else. This was the place where he was supposed to be. His alliances had already been set the moment he had allowed the other boy to shoot a bullet into his head. He saw that now, and he regretted having thought otherwise.

Still, it was probably too late right now. There was no way he and Jules would still be around. She had convinced him to follow her God knows where to, and sooner or later Tyler must have given in. After all, there hadn't been anyone around to point out the counter arguments, to remind Tyler that this was his place, the place where he belonged.

Wait, did he really? Jeremy realized that he wasn't so sure about it anymore. Maybe Jules was right. Maybe the only place for a werewolf was with his own kind. Maybe a werewolf couldn't make it being alone.

And still… even if going with Jules was objectively the best choice for Tyler, even so… Jeremy realized, he didn't want him to go. He didn't want him to leave. And this time, it wasn't because Jeremy feared he would be left out of all the action. No, he could have had that with Elena and the Salvatore brothers just a second ago. He had refused it. That wasn't the reason anymore. He wanted Tyler to stay because… he didn't want to lose him.

Breathlessly Jeremy stopped when he finally found a dark figure sitting at the foot of a tree.

"Tyler," Jeremy whispered, surprised, sweat running down his forehead.

"Jules' gone," Tyler said as soon as he noticed it was Jeremy. "I sent her away."

Jeremy looked at him, then he came closer.

"She told me, she'd talked to you. I told her I would stay."

"Why, Tyler?" Jeremy whispered, the moonlight only illuminating his forehead and his hair, leaving his eyes in darkness.

Tyler shrugged. "I was never much of a traveller, you know. I was one of the kids who hated school camp."

A slight smile curved Jeremy's lips. He came closer, sitting down next to Tyler.

The moonlight shone directly into Tyler's eyes when he turned his head to look at Jeremy. There was no sign of regret on his face. Quite the contrary, he almost looked… content. "No, seriously," he said, "she was trying really hard to convince me. But in the end, I just realized that this town is the place where I belong. It's my home. My family lives here, and my…" he paused, looking at Jeremy, "friends. I really don't know if I can be on my own, but the least thing I can do is give it a shot." He took in a deep breath. "Maybe it was the wrong decision to become a werewolf, but I'm just so glad it hadn't been me who harmed the girl. It's like I've been given a second chance." He smiled a tender smile. "It feels so good."

Jeremy smiled back at him. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt the urge to hug him. He was so happy that Tyler was still around. He didn't dare to touch him, though.

Tyler leaned back, looking up at the sky, the moon, now hidden behind a cloud. "But still, even though it didn't happen this time, I realized now what it would be like if something as horrible as Mary's death would happen to me for real. And it could happen any time."

Jeremy shifted and turned to him. "It doesn't have to. You can prevent it, I know it."

"I wish I could," Tyler said, "but I don't know how to. Jules said the blood thirst can't be suppressed."

Jeremy lifted his eyebrows. "Well, who knows. The next full moon is, what, like 26 days away. We've got enough time to figure something out."

"We?" Tyler looked at him.

"You," Jeremy corrected quickly. "You got enough time to figure something out."

"No," Tyler shook his head, and there was a hint of gratitude in his smile. "The we was fine."

To be continued…