The rest of the day went by fine for everyone and by 6pm, Santana and Kol were back in the Boarding House, along with Caroline, Stefan, Klaus, Rebekah, Finn, Sage and Elijah. Everyone was wondering why Puck was coming and where the urgency Santana heard in his voice came from.
"Besides this morning, when was the last time you heard from him?" Rachel asked Santana curiously.
"Actually I'm not sure... I think last time was during the Nationals in Chicago... I mean when I talked with Brittany last week she told me that he was graduating and that she was repeating her year but that's it... What about you?" She replied.
"About the same... NO wait, we talked over the phone a couple of weeks ago...He was excited because one of his cougar got him into a club and he was about to score with some drunk hotties. He hung up because some other guy was hitting on the girl he wanted and she was going out back with him." Rachel explained.
"Do you think he's in trouble?" Damon asked.
"I don't see what trouble he could be in that would result in him not telling us anything until he got here... I mean he knows about us, what could be worst?" Rachel replied.
"Don't worry Love, we'll find out and help him, whatever it is." Klaus told her, hoping deep down that whatever it was would be fixed quickly and wouldn't delay his departure with Rachel.
About half an hour later, they all heard a motorcycle parking in front of the house and hurried steps to the door before they heard a knock on the front door. Rachel stood up and went to open it along with her father and Santana only to find Noah Puckerman on the other side of the door. He looked extremely tired and worried. He had a duffle bag on his right shoulder and looked like he could do with some food.
"Rachel, it's good to see you. You too Mister S, Santana." Puck greeted them as he hugged Rachel and Santana and shook Damon's hand.
"What's going on Noah? What's wrong?" Rachel asked him with a concerned voice as she guided him into the living room where everyone was waiting and had cleared a spot on the couch for him.
"Are you running from the cops?" Santana asked him.
"Of course not!" He protested before he was introduced to the ones he didn't know yet.
"I... I didn't know what to do so I came here...Something weird is happening to me... I didn't want to tell you at first because I figured you had enough problems but it's freaking me out..." Noah explained.
"Sit down and calm down a minute. Now, explain to us what's going on, you're getting us worried here, son." Damon told him while Rachel brought him something to eat and Santana something alcoholic to drink.
"Remember the last time we talked Rach?" He asked her.
"Yes, in the bar with the girl who left with the other guy. Why?" Rachel asked him.
"Well, after I hung up with you I followed the guy. I mean the chick was hot, she was definitely worth getting into a fight over. I followed them into the back street where he had her pined against the wall. He was looking her in the eyes and told her not to scream and to forget about what was about to happen and his face changed. I could see the side of his face. It was kind of like your father's. I figured that he was a vampire about to feed on her... I don't know what came over me but I looked around for a weapon and found a broomstick. I broke it in half, he turned to look my way. I think he hadn't sensed me there before that so he's probably new to this life. He growled at me to leave but I refused... I totally should have left but ever since Nationals things were tensed and I could have done with a fight... I guess I wasn't really thinking. I ran up to him and punched him. He let go of the chick, I told her to leave and I guess she was still compelled or something because she just left." Puck explained.
"You attacked a vampire on your own? Are you insane Noah?" Rachel scolded him, her eyes wide opened.
"Insane I don't know but I was half way drunk and not the right half, since I was ready to fight with this guy. But I don't think he was really a vampire because his face was kinda different and I swear his fangs were different too." Puck replied.
"Like this?" Klaus asked as his face shifted into his hybrid one.
"Yes, so I guess he was a hybrid then..." Noah nodded.
"Was?" Santana asked him.
"Yeah... So we fought a bit, he hit me, I hit him... At some point he even bit me and injected me with something... The werewolf venom that kills vampire I guess... I don't know where I found the strength but I managed to stab him in the heart with the broken broomstick. Then I dragged his body in the dumpsters and was about to go home when something even freakier happened...I...I swear a weird tattoo appeared on my hand and on the beginning of my arm... I wanted to call you but I figured you had others things to worry about so I waited... After that I just kept on dreaming of killing vampires and when I woke up I had carved wooden stakes in my sleep... My wardrobe door and desk chair were both turned into stakes over night..." He explained.
"You became a hunter...one of the five... But that should have disappeared now, the five have no more reasons to be since Silas was killed a few days ago..." Rachel exclaimed.
"Right, well, I'm coming to that. Anyway, a few days after the tattoo that nobody could see appeared, the guy, hybrid I guess, came back." Puck explained.
"Yes, you can't kill a hybrid with a stake through the heart. You need to cut his head off or rip his heart out." Klaus nodded.
"Yes, I did that. He came while my mom and sisters were out so I pushed the fight outside so we didn't break too much, I grabbed my mom's biggest cooking knife and I managed to end up killing him, cutting his head off. I buried him under Ma's rose bushes and by the time I was done, the moon rose and... It was a full moon..." Noah said, hesitating to say more.
"You can't be trying to say what I think you are..." Damon exclaimed.
"Can you even become a werewolf by being bitten? Isn't that part just legend?" Caroline asked.
"Well, maybe being a hybrid changes things because I changed. It was weird because Santana told me that when she changed for the first time she couldn't control anything and that she barely remembered what she did but I was in total control and I remember everything... I snuck back in the house and managed to lock myself in my bedroom... I don't know why everything is so different... I wanted to tell you then but graduation was coming for us both and since I was going to graduate, I figured I'd come after getting my diploma." He finished.
"You had your graduation ceremony one day before us. Why did you leave only this morning?" Damon asked him while Rachel, Santana and Klaus looked in shock.
"Because right before the ceremony the freaky tattoo disappeared... I didn't know why it was gone but I could feel that I still had the abilities I had when it came..." Puck replied.
"Rachel? Why do you think that was?" Stefan asked her.
"Well, Silas died and there was no need for the Order of the Five to find him so the tattoo, which existed for this purpose disappeared but the Hunters are still needed so the existing Hunters stayed Hunter and I guess that if Jeremy was to kill a vampire he'd become one too. The only thing that changed is that we can't tell them apart with the tattoos anymore." She explained.
"How do you know all of this?" Noah asked her.
"Ever since Qetsiyah left I feel like I know everything she knew about this." The vampire-witch explained.
"Well, listen, I don't know why I was changed into a werewolf but ever since that's happened I can control this urge I had to kill something supernatural. I was just in a hurry to get here because the tattoo was gone and I didn't know what it meant. It was just too much for me..." He explained.
"Of course, it would be too much for anyone..." Elijah nodded.
"Maybe the fact that you were a hunter when you became a werewolf is why you can control yourself." Klaus guessed.
"Probably, but will it stay this way?" Puck asked him.
"Listen, why don't you eat the food I got you and get to know everyone. While you do that I'm going to do a spell to try and get some kind of answer." Rachel said before she got up to her bedroom.
Puck ate and talked with the other person present for a while until, about 30 minutes later, Rachel came back down.
"So, I contacted the spirits from the other side. Apparently, hybrid venom can make you a werewolf but you still have to kill someone to trigger your curse, only the person you need to kill has to be supernatural. They confirmed that the fact that you were a hunter is why you can remember everything and can control yourself while in wolf form. With practice you should be able to change anytime you want. You will pass down that gene to your future children and just like you they'll have to kill something supernatural to trigger their curse. You can't be changed into a hybrid though." Rachel explained as soon as she came back in the room.
"So I have no reasons to be freaked out? I'm not going to lose control or anything like that?" He asked her.
"No, no problem at all. Don't worry about anything." Rachel smiled sweetly at him.
"Well, it's good to know that I don't have to be scared... I was worried for my mother and my sister." He replied.
"What did you tell them?" Damon asked him.
"That Rachel called and needed me to come for a few days. I guess I worried for nothing... That's a good thing because I've got lots of new Pools to clean back home and I'll make some sweet cash over the summer." Puck replied.
"Well, why don't you spend the night and a few days here so you can rest?" Damon suggested.
"You don't mind?" Noah asked.
"Of course not. I mean, Rachel and Klaus are leaving tomorrow morning and I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon with Rebekah but Santana is staying here a few more days before she goes to Lima to visit her parents and Stefan is staying for the summer. You could stay as long as you want." Damon suggested.
"Thank you." Noah nodded.
"Yes, and while you're here we can teach you to fight and defend yourself. Between, Elijah, Sage, Alaric, Tyler and me I think you'll be more than fine." Santana nodded.
"Great, Thank you." Noah said once more.
They spent a few more hours talking before everyone went back home and to bed. Damon showed Puck to the guest room, reminded him to call his mother to let her know that he was fine and showed him where he could put his motorcycle in the garage before he, too, went to bed.
Rachel went to bed happy for her friend and relieved. She was going to be living a great summer with Klaus starting tomorrow and she could feel that Puck was the last problem before a few months.
A special chapter to celebrate the 140th chapter. So, everything is fine with Puck...he might come back and find himself with some supernatural mission later on but first there's Rachel's summer!
Big news! I'm done writing this story! Chapter 150 will be the last. I still have a to proofread it and I might add a few more things but that's it! 150 chapters and it's over!
Review please?
Lorelei Candice Black