Chapter Five
Damon had decided to spend the night in his own house in his own bed. Okay partly that was because Alexandra was doing something necromancer-ish and hadn't wanted him along for the ride this time. She promised she'd call if she needed him and as much as he wanted to hover, part of the bond between them was that when she wanted to she could make him do what she wanted. While it was fun when they were in bed playing games it wasn't so much fun when he thought she needed a body guard and she told him no.
Fortunately Stefan was off with Elena for the evening spending time with Caroline as suggested. He didn't want to explain why he was pacing the floor and looking at his cell phone every five minutes. He nearly ran to the door when the bell rang. "Oh, it's you." He said opening the door to find Matt standing there. He turned around to walk back to the mantle and his glass of bourbon.
"Is Elena here?" Matt asked. There was something in his tone that brought Damon's attention back to the here and now.
"No. She and Stefan are headed up to the lake house with Caroline and Bonnie. What's wrong?" He asked.
"I … I don't have anyone else to go to, so here it is. Jeremy is back at my place. He's drunk and talking non sense. " Matt said. "I'm worried about him."
"Don't worry. I'll take care of him. If anyone understands sloppy drunk it's me." He said "Honestly I'm surprised it took this long. Come on I'll give you a ride back to your place."
"Thanks." He said. "Jeremy hasn't been sleeping. I don't know maybe he's starting to hallucinate. I read somewhere that happens if you don't sleep enough."
Damon nodded "How long has that been going on?"
"I don't know. I sent him over to my place a few days ago to catch a nap in case you know it was all the crap that's happened at his place getting to him. He said he slept then but I don't know he's gone off the deep end. I know he sees dead people and all, but I don't know."
Damon swore and hit the steering wheel. "How did I forget about that?" he muttered. Alexandra was investigating an increase in spirit activity. Of course Jeremy would be going through hell right now.
"You think that's what this is? Some sort of ghost problem?" Matt asked.
"I won't know till I talk to him. Either way I'm going to put him to sleep. "Damon said, his features drawn. He should have been keeping a better eye on the kid. He parked his car in Matt's driveway and got out.
Jeremy was in the living room floor curled up in the fetal position covering his head with one of the sofa cushions. The room reeked of alcohol.
Damon went to Jeremy's side and moved the pillow, pulling the kid into an upright position. "Jeremy." He said "Jeremy look at me. I want you to focus on me. Ignore the ghosts right now. They don't exist. Just focus on me." He said, trying to draw the boy out of the sensory overload he was experiencing.
"I'm trying." Jeremy said, his face wet with tears. "But they won't shut up, Damon. They never shut up."
"I know. It's going to be okay. I need you to breathe. Just breathe. It'll be okay. Come on… In…. out… you can do it. In… out." Once Jeremy was keeping the long slow breathing rhythm on his own, Damon pulled out his cell phone and dialed Alexandra's number. "Hey babe, I have a problem. "
"What kind of problem is that?" She asked. She knew Damon wouldn't call her while she was working unless it was important.
"I have a kid here, Elena's brother. He's a medium. Still new at it. That increase in spirit activity you were sensing? A lot of them are apparently over here trying to drive him insane." He told her.
"Where are you?"
Damon reached over to the coffee table and shuffled through the papers until he found something with the address on it and read it to her.
"Okay. I'm on my way. Put him to sleep until I get there would you?"
"Yeah that was the plan. See you soon. "He told her then hung up and turned his attention back to Jeremy. "Okay, kid. I'm gonna put you to sleep. That's all. Not gonna rework anything in your head. Matt is standing here watching anyway. "
"Yeah, okay." Jeremy said, not caring in that moment if Damon did rewire his head so long as the voices stopped.
"I have a friend on the way that can help you. She specializes in this sort of thing. "
Jeremy nodded "Okay." He said taking off his vervain bracelet. He frowned. "What's a wealh?" he asked. "Cause that's what one of them is calling you."
"Someone is very rude and needs to be nicer or my girlfriend will kick their ass." He said laughing. The word meant slave. To spirits and necromancers it was a particular kind of slave. It was a derogatory word for a vampire bound to a necromancer, a thrall. Damon looked Jeremy in the eyes. *go to sleep until I wake you.* He caught the boy as he slumped then rose and scooped him up in his arms. "Is there a bed we can put him in?"
"Ahm yeah, you can put him in my mom's old room." Matt said leading the way. He'd cleared out all of her stuff and put it in the basement the day after he threw her out.
Damon followed Matt and tucked Jeremy in. "So I have a friend on the way. She's going to help him. Jeremy will be fine. But what happens here tonight has to stay with us and Alexandra."
"Wait, you were serious about your girlfriend kicking the ghost's ass?" Matt asked with a smirk. "The high school French teacher is coming here to do what? Exorcise whoever is tormenting Jeremy?"
"I don't know how she'll handle it. But she'll help him. I meant what I said; it's not for common knowledge. Not even your friends."
"Fine, whatever. If she can help Jeremy I'll keep any secret you want." Matt told him. Jeremy was fast becoming his best friend now that Tyler was gone. He'd do anything for him or Elena. Which more often than not meant dealing with that world they lived in; the one he only really skirted the edges of because he was human and normal.
Matt stayed in the room with Jeremy, while Damon paced the living room waiting for Alexandra to arrive. She looked tired when she got out of the car and that worried him. She was draining herself too much lately. There was something going on and she wasn't telling him as much as she should be. He'd have to have a talk with her about honesty going both ways. She was big on that whole no lying by omission thing and he had the feeling that was exactly what she was doing with him.
"Hey." She said and kissed him lightly before entering the house. "So fill me in on this kid." She said quietly.
"He died a while back. Not just a drowning and resuscitation sort of dead but shot in the chest dead. A local witch, his girlfriend at the time brought him back."
Alex closed her eyes slowly, "So much for maintaining the balance of nature. Hypocritical things witches are." She shook her head. The war between the two species (for lack of a better word) was legendary. But given that her mother and one sister were witches she tended to keep her mouth shut about her prejudices.
"Preaching to the choir, sister," Damon said, and then explained about Jeremy's new ability to see the dead, and all the details about ghost night in Mystic Falls, "Apparently though over the last couple weeks it's gotten worse. He's been overloaded with ghosts to the point of not being able to sleep or eat."
Alexandra nodded. "Is he asleep now?" She asked.
"Yeah he won't wake up until I wake him. Sorry that you're gonna get outed. I told them that it stayed with us. Matt agreed. Jeremy is a little too good at keeping secrets so we may be good. I wouldn't count on it though." Damon said.
"Let's see how things go tonight. He's Elena's brother. It will come out eventually. Besides I'm not sure this isn't tied in with your kind of business anyway. Most of the spirits out there have been ordered to find the hybrid whatever that means, if he is at all connected to it that could be why he's being overwhelmed. They all want free and they'll do whatever it takes to get that way. Including drive some poor kid mad. "
Damon swore. He should have known it couldn't have actually been over. "Hybrids are vampiric werewolves." Damon told her. "One of the originals, Klaus, well his mother the Witch from hell was stepping out on dad and getting it on with the local werewolves. Thus Klaus was born with the requisite lupine DNA."
"But transitioning should have prevented him from turning into a wolf." She'd heard of vampires dumb enough to try turning werewolves and other supernatural creatures into vampires. It never worked.
"So you'd think" Damon said "But apparently there are differences between us and the Originals. Klaus triggered the curse with his first kill. Dear old mom wanted to keep Dad happy so she put a spell on him to prevent him from shifting on the full moon. Which made Klaus an unhappy boy. We've spent the last eighteen months or so dealing with just how unhappy he is about it. Which sadly ties in to Katherine and Elena and you know it might be easier to explain if I just stole Stefan's diary and handed it to you."
She laughed a little. "It's okay you can sum up. We can talk in more detail later over a hot bath."
He smiled "I like the way you think." He told her, "Anyway he broke the spell killing Elena the first time. But she came back. Turns out part of the curse put on him is that once he can wolf out again, in order to create more hybrids, he needs to first find a werewolf, then turn them and the human blood they have to consume after waking up dead is Elena's or they melt down. "
"How nice for her," Alexandra said. "I'm actually starting to feel sorry for the girl."
"Her becoming a vampire solved that problem. Klaus is dead though, which should have taken his entire line with him, including the hybrids, "Damon said. "We know one of them died. A kid they went to school with named Tyler Lockwood."
"And that is the name I keep hearing. " Alex told him.
"Why the hell are they looking for Tyler?" He asked, not really expecting to get an answer. "So what do we do for Jeremy?"
"First he needs a place where no ghost can get to him." She said. "I can put up barriers that prevent spirits from crossing."
Matt spoke up, having been standing quietly listening for most of the conversation. "You can do that here if you want. I know he might want it at home but it's easier to get away from everyone here."
"Alright, Thank you, Matt isn't it?" She asked and when he nodded she smiled and offered her hand as she would to any adult. "You can call me Alex." She said "Why don't you show me where he is. Damon, can you go get my bag out of the trunk?" She asked handing over her keys.
"Yeah he's this way." Matt said as Damon did as requested.
Even in sleep Jeremy was restless. They were coming at him in his dreams. Pushy bastards, she thought. She was going to have to work with him to control the spirits around him. At least to keep them out of his head until this was dealt with.
"Thank you." She said sitting on the side of the bed and placing her hand on Jeremy's forehead, and he quieted.. "Alright boys and girls," She said looking around her at the crowd of spirits that only she could see. "You really don't want to piss me off now do you." She told them "you can leave the room or I can throw you out one at a time."
Damon brought the small duffle back into the bedroom and opened it for her.
She smiled at him. "Why don't you and Matt leave Jeremy and me to what we need to do?" She said and took out a small bag. "Meanwhile open the door, they need a way out. I want you to put one of these in every window sill, and every exit but the front door. We'll put one there after they have all left. "
"What are they?" Matt asked.
"Coffin nails." Damon answered for her, ushering Matt out of the room. "Where're your hammers."
"Now then, Jeremy, I know you are sleeping but I also know you can hear me. I want you to just relax. We'll have you taken care of in no time. "
She took a bottle of oil from her bag and smeared a little of it on his forehead and when Matt came in to hammer the nail into the bedroom window she anointed his brow as well. Neither of them needed to carry around a hitch hiker. They couldn't possess her, and by extension of the bond, they couldn't possess Damon either. "Things might get a little dicey. Sorry about that." She told Matt.
"It's alright. You do what you gotta do." Matt said "You want the door open or closed?"
"Open please."
Matt nodded and walked out into the main house. "So what is going on really?" He asked Damon. "Is she some sort of witch?"
"No." Damon said. "Not a witch."
"Then what?" Matt asked, "I already told you I'd keep your secret. I want to know what's going on in my house."
Damon looked at the kid, and had to reassess his thinking. Was Matt really a kid? He was supporting himself, carrying the responsibilities of a house, a vehicle (until it had been driven into the lake) school, and a job. He still managed to find the time to help Jeremy. No, Matt was no longer a kid. Too bad really.
"Alexandra is a necromancer. Which does not mean what it does in DnD or any other fantasy setting you might come up with. Even if it did, she's not like that."
"So what does it mean?" He asked, leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest.
"It means … She's better at explaining all of this than I am. " Damon said and sighed. "Okay so it kind of means what you would think. Necromancers can control the dead mostly just because they can. Spirits can be forced into service, kept from going over, bound for eternity to a given Necromancer. They can also help them cross over, or help them take care of unfinished business. Just like witches they have a lot of power and it all depends on their personalities how they use it. It's just focused on the dead."
"Does that mean she has power over vampires?" Matt asked. "Or is undead different than dead."
"Yes to both." Damon said honestly. "Only controlling the undead does take magic. No I'm not a mindless slave, no I'm not involved with her because of any spell she may or may not have cast. I'm in control of me, if that's your next question."
"There's a first." He said then grinned a little at the vampire. "How can you be sure?" Matt asked, having learned to be cautious over the last year.
"Because she was my friend before she was my girlfriend." Damon said. "She doesn't do anything to me that I don't ask her to."
Matt nodded. "Okay. I get why you want it kept secret. I don't know how Bonnie would take the idea of a necromancer."
Bonnie wasn't the only one Damon was worried about. But Sacha was right. It was going to come out, especially if she started to teach Jeremy how to control his abilities.
Alexandra set candles around the room, Black and White in equal number. In one corner of the room she lit cinnamon incense, continuing around with frankincense, Sandalwood, Dragon's blood. She then lit each of the candles again walking in order around the room. With each candle lit she said the incantation as she had learned from her father and he from his father and so forth back to the beginning of the line.
The spirits were resisting her, struggling against the force of her will. There was another necromancer involved and it was fueling the spirits fervor. They wanted at Jeremy Gilbert, seeking a connection to the hybrid through him.
She didn't wonder why the boy was going mad with it. There were so many of them clawing at him demanding that he help them. But it wasn't them that wanted the help. It was the other necromancer driving them. It was just Jeremy's unfortunate luck that he was able to hear and see them. Poor kid.
The barrier was set, all that was left was to drive the spirits from the house and seal the door. It was difficult to control spirits under another's control. She could only make the house unbearable for them and hope that it was enough.
Damon felt a chill go through him and he looked toward the bedroom. There was something not right. "Stay here." He said and ran toward the room barely making it inside before the door slammed shut, hard enough to shake the entire house.
Alex stood in the center of the room her voice was strident, loud, even though it couldn't be heard outside the room. Neither could the howling of the spirits that had risen to a deafening level. Things began to fly around the room and Damon shielded Jeremy, occasionally crying out at a well placed blow. He looked worriedly at Alexandra, wanting to be at her side shielding her, but he knew Jeremy needed him more.
Finally the room quieted and Alexandra stumbled forward to the door, "Now." She told Matt pointing to the front door as she braced herself with the bedroom door frame, watching as the boy ran to hammer in the last coffin nail.
She felt Damon's arms close around her just as she started to slump downward.
"It's alright, I've got you." He said scooping her up and carrying her to the sofa and easing her down "Do you have any juice or soda, anything with sugar in it?" Damon asked Matt, who nodded and went into the kitchen. "We're going to have to find another way to block the leeching." He told Alex as he brushed her hair away from her face. "You need energy. I have it to give. "
She shook her head. "No. "She said tiredly.
"I'm serious, Sacha." He said firmly. "I can't help you if you don't let me."
She shook her head. "There's another necromancer. I won't have you vulnerable. "
"I won't be vulnerable if we don't tell anyone what we're using. Add another enchantment to my ring or we'll come up with another one. "he told her "I'm not compromising on this. You're in danger."
She scowled at him, or at least attempted to. "You were much easier to control when you were younger."
"We get stronger as we age and you my dear are weak as a kitten at the moment. You were fighting the other necromancer as well as the ghosts weren't you?" He looked up as Matt came back with a glass of orange juice. "Thanks "He said and moved to prop Alexandra up and help her drink the juice. She had no way to recharge in this house now. They would have to do it the long and slow way. He wasn't going to let her out that door until she was strong enough to face what was likely waiting for them.
"So what do we do now?" Matt asked worriedly.
"We let them both rest. " Damon said. "It'll be alright."
"It's never alright," Matt said. "But maybe it will at least be quiet for a day or two. You want something to drink? I've got tequila."
Damon nodded, "Thanks." He said stroking Alexandra's hair as she drank the juice. "Is the necromancer the one that is looking for the hybrid?" He asked quietly.
Alex nodded. "They have the spirits worked up into a real frenzy about it too. They're looking for his body or his spirit or both."
"I don't think we can keep this under wraps." Damon said with a sigh.
"It's alright." She said. "Call them. If they get too uptight about it we'll deal with it then."
He nodded. "Alright," He eased out from behind her, and put one of the throw pillows behind her head. "You rest for now. "He said, taking out his cell phone and picking up the bottle of tequila Matt had brought out. He sighed as he went into the kitchen.
Damon pulled out a chair, and dropped into it. He stared at his phone, running his thumb across the surface like a worry stone. With a sigh he set it to dialing his brother's number and brought it to his ear.
"We've got a problem." He said, and an hour later Matt was inviting his four friends into his house.
"Where's Jeremy?" Elena asked with worried impatience.
"He's sleeping in one of the bedrooms." Matt said. "Damon put him to sleep. He needs it Elena. "
She nodded "okay. " Elena took a seat on in one of the chairs, Stefan sat on the arm. "Is she alright?" She asked about the woman curled up on Matt's sofa with her head in Damon's lap.
"She will be." Damon said.
"How could you bring a necromancer into this town?" Bonnie asked. "Don't we have enough trouble without you bringing more? And you let her near Jeremy?"
"Jeremy needed help. She helped." Damon said, tensing at the tone in Bonnie's voice.
"We have no way of knowing that she didn't stir all of this up to begin with." Bonnie countered. "The witches warned me there was a new danger in town. Something that could hurt us and them, they meant her didn't they."
"Bonnie, stop." Matt said. "If I've learned nothing else from all of this it's that nothing is black and white." He shook his head "I have vampires in my living room. People who drink blood to survive, they kill people and we accept them because they're our friends. There were witches that tried to kill us, that used us all. So who's to say that necromancers are all evil? She helped him. It took a lot out of her to do it too. So just stop."
Bonnie glared at him, and folded her arms across her chest before looking away.
"Thank you." Alexandra said stirring a little, her hand rubbing at her eyes. She was so tired. God she was in serious need of a meal. Maybe Damon was right… She sat up and smiled a little as Damon shifted position and pulled her back against his chest protectively. She felt sorry for the little witch if she pissed the vampire off at the moment. The herbs in his system protected him from so much more than just her feeding from him.
"I should be thanking you actually." Elena said "Jeremy is all the family I have left, Thank you for helping him."
"You're welcome." Alex said with a faint smile, she twined her fingers with Damon's and leaned her head over to lightly kiss the arm they were attached to. "No spirits will be able to enter the house now. I can do that for other people's homes as well when I get my strength back. "
"Is that really necessary?" Bonnie asked.
"There is another necromancer in the area. " Damon said. "Sacha believes that they're the one who's been riling up the dead around here. " He looked to Caroline then. "Apparently they have the ghosts looking for Tyler."
"What? Why?" Caroline asked horrified and angry. No one was going to pull Tyler back from whatever rest he was able to achieve. "How do we stop them? "
That's my girl, Damon thought.
"We don't. I do." Alexandra said.
"Or I do." Bonnie said, glaring daggers at Alex. Had she spoken to Tyler? Was this some grand hoax to reveal what she had done to save them all? She would not let that happen. It was far too easy to create a crisis in order to save people from it.
"No you don't." Alex said with a firmness that nearly took the last of her reserves. Why did they always want to fight? "Vampires do not fight necromancers and win. Witches rarely do. " She said. "Not a powerful one, and believe me this one is powerful and old. He would drain you at a distance. I still have to touch and I'm older than I look."
"What do you mean?" Stefan asked looking worriedly at his brother.
"Relax." Damon said. "There is an herb mix, just add it to your diet like the vervain and they can't absorb your energy. She made some up the first night she arrived. It's in the kitchen at home. A few drops a day will do." He wasn't going to need it anymore.
"Alright. Fine. We dose up and then we can help." Caroline said, looking at Alexandra challengingly.
Alex laughed softly."You were right. She is feisty." She told Damon. "Alright. But you don't take him on directly. You leave that to me. Tyler is important to you. Tell me about him." She asked the girl. "There has to be something they want from him even after death. Usually its information. Being incorporeal puts a damper on it being anything physically tangible."
Caroline came and sat down on the floor by the sofa. "You'll help him?" She asked, and looked into the other woman's eyes intently. "This isn't just something you want to get at the other necromancer?"
"If at all possible, I will help him." Alexandra promised.
"Okay, " Caroline said. "You draw strength from us by touch?" She asked and Alex nodded. "Okay." She reached for the woman's hand.
"You don't want to do that." Bonnie said.
"Yes, I do." Caroline answered and took Alex's hand in hers. She gasped a little as she felt the sudden pull. It wasn't unpleasant at all. In fact just the opposite. "ooh wow." She said and blinked.
"See, now I'm jealous." Damon said, but watched the younger vampire, preparing to separate them if the drain became too much. For now the only visual sign was that where their skin touched Caroline's looked ashen and dead.
Stefan watched closely as well. He wanted to see the effects of what was happening. He was still worried about his brother. This was something new and potentially dangerous. Damon sometimes forgot that he wasn't truly immortal.
Alexandra listened as Caroline filled her in about Tyler Lockwood. She listened to the young girl's stories about him, about their romance, about his death. She listened to the small details that only a lover would know. There was so much sorrow in her eyes. She was far too young to know that sort of pain.
Where Caroline left off Matt took over. He'd known and been friends with Tyler his entire life. It felt good to talk about him. There had been no one there to talk to about it even though it should have been natural for him to talk to Caroline because of their history it was hard.
Alexandra drew in a deep breath and sat up. "Thank you." She told Caroline. "I have enough now."
Damon knew that she didn't, but he said nothing.
"I've got a feeling this is all somehow connected to Klaus." Stefan said.
"God can't we even get rid of him when he's dead?" Elena asked getting up to pace.
"We don't know that it has to do with Klaus." Bonnie said. "We can't jump to any conclusions." They couldn't start investigating Klaus. She couldn't let that happen. "She said it was a necromancer not an Original Vampire behind things."
"True. I don't know what his motivations are. I won't until I find and confront him." Alexandra leaned back against Damon.
"You keep saying Him." Caroline said. "Do you know who it is?"
Alex shook her head. "No. As a general rule necromancers are male." She said. "It runs in families, much like Witchcraft. They don't tend to teach their daughters because they think we're too soft ." She laughed softly. "My father had no son's. So he taught us. "
"Soft… right." Damon said chuckling. "The all knowing 'They' have obviously never met your sister."
"So while we're sorting this out what do we do to help Jeremy. He can't stay here all the time he has school and other responsibilities. "Elena said.
"If he's willing I'll teach him to be able to control his abilities. Being a medium he'll be able to do some of what I do. He will be able to send them away or be able to call a spirit to him more efficiently which will allow him some peace."
Elena nodded. "Again thank you."
"Speaking of Jeremy we should go wake him up and have a chat about all of this so Elena can get her big sister groove on." Damon said kissing Alex's hair.
She nodded. "I don't think he should leave here for at least the next 24 hours. They'll be waiting to follow him tonight."
Elena nodded "okay." She said and watched the couple leave the room and go into what was temporarily her brother's bedroom. "Well, we knew there was something different about her, but I wasn't expecting that."
"Neither was I." Stefan said. "Still, she's been helpful and Damon is happy. How are you feeling, Caroline?" He asked watching the blonde as she settled onto the sofa.
"I'm okay. Tired, kinda hungry but fine. It didn't hurt or anything"
Stefan nodded.
"I don't trust her." Bonnie said firmly. "Necromancers can control vampires. For all we know she has Damon under some sort of spell."
"I asked him about that." Matt said. "He said she didn't do anything to him that he didn't ask her to, and that she'd been his friend before she was his girlfriend. I say give her the benefit of the doubt unless Damon starts acting weird."
"What, you mean like having more self control and thinking of others before himself?" Elena said, completely ignoring Stefan's expression.
"Are you kidding if that's what it means for him to be dominated by a necromancer I'm all for it. I kinda like the new Damon." Caroline said.
"He's not any different from the old Damon. He's just not hurting." Stefan said finally. "Which is a good thing. I agree with Matt. Unless there is something that is completely out of Damon's normal behavior, we give her the benefit of the doubt. She's helping Jeremy and hopefully can help Tyler if he's still around which I hope he isn't."
"Me too," Caroline said. She preferred to think of him as being at peace, not trapped in some limbo hell.
"I need some air. I'll be out front. Let me know when we can go see Jeremy." Bonnie said stepping outside. She paced along the sidewalk in front of the house. She had to stop this investigation. She couldn't let this woman, or for that matter Jeremy get hold of Tyler's spirit. Although there should be no spirit to be found. Tyler was possessed just as Alaric had been possessed. Tyler wouldn't be a ghost. Maybe there was nothing to worry about. No ghost meant nothing for them to find. Still someone was looking.
She took out her cell phone and called Klaus.