Hello, my lovely readers. It's time for the next installment. I hope you enjoy it. On with the show…

Chapter 2: Knock, Knock

All Hallow's Eve: Two minutes before midnight

Jeremy Gilbert had been bored out his mind. For some reason Elena's paranoia had made its way into his head. Ever since she had left, he had been working on ways to keep himself occupied. Watching horror movies had become boring since he'd seen them all, about ten times. Playing video games wasn't as fun by himself and no one was at home that he knew of. Kol was at the party with his brothers and Matt was working. Tyler, who knew what Ty was up to. Probably out with a girl.

This left Jeremy staring out the window, waiting for something to happen. So far. Nothing. But it wasn't midnight yet. No, it was like two minutes till. Maybe being chased around the house by a deranged person would be fun. Grinning, Jeremy propped his head up before looking at the kitchen. He wondered if there was anything to eat in there. Getting to his feet. He walked inside and found nothing but a Red Bull.

Hell, if he was supposed to be wake and aware he might as well, Jeremy thought, as he opened the can and took a swig. Walking by the phone, he thought that maybe he should call for a pizza when the doorbell rang. Checking the time, he noted that it was exactly midnight. "Happy Halloween," he said to himself.

Walking to the front door, he peeked through the window and saw a slight person with a hood over their head. Hesitating, he noticed them turn and look right at him before pushing the hood back and waving. Sighing with relief, Jeremy went over and answered the door. "Hey, I thought you wouldn't be home for another hour."

"Really? And leave you all alone with a crazy person on the loose?" Elena asked with a shake of her long curls. "No way. What kind of sister would that make me?" she laughed and Jeremy laughed with her. "I brought a pizza."

Looking down, Jeremy noted that she had brought a box and it smelled good. He had only had a bologna sandwich and a bag of chips for dinner.

Following Elena to the kitchen, Jeremy watched her pull off her jacket. When she turned around he got the full effect of her look and choked on the slice of pizza he had just begun to stuff in his mouth. He couldn't remember what Elena had been wearing when she left but he was sure she hadn't been wearing a tank cut all the way down so that the clasp of her bra was showing. She had always been fairly modest in her wardrobe choices.

"Ummm…" Jeremy tried to think of something to say when she caught him staring at her boobs.

"It's okay, Jeremy. You're human. I promise I won't tell anyone that you're a little pervy," she winked before strutting over to the fridge and bent over, shaking her hips slightly and Jeremy had to turn away. He wondered if Elena was high. Something was off and he wasn't sure about what it was but it was freaking him out.

"Mind if I?" Elena asked, nodding at the energy drink. Jeremy looked down at it wordlessly when Elena walked over to him and took it from his hand. She placed it to her lips and gulped the liquid down, never moving her eyes away from his. Yes, Elena was high. That was the only explanation for her being really freaky.

The phone rang and Jeremy looked at it. But so did Elena and something made him want to run for the phone. It could be instinct. He wasn't sure. But he just wanted to be talk to someone, anyone other than his sister right then. "Thanks for the drink," Elena said as she reached into her back pocket. Pulling out a cell phone that was not her own (Jeremy would know Elena's cell anywhere) she smiled as she spoke, "Hey. Good. I'm glad to hear that. Okay. I'll be there. You know I don't leave my friends in the lurch," she continued, eyeing Jeremy with a smile as her hand moved along the counter.

His eyes ticked over and Jeremy noticed that Elena's fingers were walking over to the butcher block when she suddenly yanked a knife out. His mouth dropped open when she began to wave it back in forth in an almost hypnotic motion. "You know," she said as she began to inch toward him still waving the weapon. "I hate the way that they slice these pizzas? What ever happened to delicate slices? Something a girl can really sink her teeth into?" she inquired lightly as she cut a slice into three and took one. Placing it to her mouth, she moaned. "That's better. A girl has to watch her figure. Mind if I borrow this? I have to go scare my boyfriend."

Elena laughed as if this were a joke and Jeremy did not argue with her as she shouldered her jacket back on and then grabbed her knife and pizza slice. "See you later, lil' brother," she called over her shoulder with a wave.

The minute that Elena was gone, Jeremy let out a sigh of relief. At some point the caller had hung up but now the phone began to ring, again, causing Jeremy to jump. Grabbing the cordless, he ran for the door, locking it before he answered. "Hello?" he called, hoping that he didn't sound as scared as he felt and not caring if he did.

"Jeremy!" Elena's voice yelled into the phone and Jeremy sucked in a deep breath. Was this some kind of prank, because it wasn't funny?

"Yeah," Jeremy moaned.

"Are you okay?" Elena asked, her words a jumble. He could barely hear her because there were people yelling in the background.

"'Lena. I can't hear you that well," Jeremy replied. He could ask her to just turn around and come home, but he didn't want to see her again that night.

"I know. Oliver Kenner was… He's dead, Jer. That's why I'm calling. To make sure that you're okay," Elena said in a rush.

"Killed where?" Jeremy replied, having no idea what else to say.

"At the party," Elena said, like that made sense.

"You're at the party?" Jeremy replied slowly.

"Yes. I'm with Damon, Caroline and Bonnie. Well, I was with Damon, but Stefan is missing and he went to look for him," Elena's voice became muffled. "Caroline, have you seen Damon?"

"No. And Elijah said that Klaus is missing, too. Oh, God! What if? I didn't even tell him I'm still mad at him. And that I will kill him myself if -" Caroline's voice was cut off by Elena returning to the phone.

"Jeremy, are you still there?" Elena asked. Her voice was rising again over the sound of sirens in the distance.

"I'm fine. I think," Jeremy hesitated, then added "But you were just here. You should know that," he told his sister.

"Jeremy. What are you talking about? I've been at the party for over an hour!" Elena replied as if Jeremy were an idiot.

Rubbing his eyes, Jeremy sat down on the couch and stared into space. "Yeah. Sure, Elena. Okay. I get it. You really wanted me to believe in this whole 'Halloween Serial Killer' thing so badly that you pretended to go out and then came back to scare me," he forced a laugh. Now that he said it aloud, he realized that he sounded like a crazy person. Hearing a ringing in his ear, he looked at the phone. "Hold on. I think that someone else is on the phone." He hit the hold button before answering. "Hello?"

"Hello, Jeremy, this is Esther Mikaelson," a woman's voice called into the phone. "I've been trying to get in touch with my son, Kol. His phone has been going straight to voicemail and I thought you might have heard from someone at the party he went to."

"Ummm…" Jeremy tried to think of what to say to her. Telling her that her son might be in mortal danger did not seem like the thing to do at the moment. "I'm on the other line with my sister," he told her after a pause. "I can ask if she's seen him."

"Thank you so much. It seems as if all my other children's lines are busy and Niklaus left his at home. My husband is driving out to give it to him but I just want to make sure they're okay because he's not answering his phone either," Mrs. Mikaelson sounded like she was about to lose it.

"Yeah. Okay. Let me ask Elena," Jeremy switched lines. "Elena, Kol's mom is on the other line trying to find out if he's okay." There was nothing on the other end of the line and Jeremy wondered if Elena had hung up. "Elena!" he called loudly.

After a pause he heard his sister shouting. "They're over here!" she cried out loudly. "Oh, God. Stefan, you're going to be okay. Just press down on the wound!"

"Elena, what's going on?" Jeremy yelled but all he heard was static. This was so not cool. If he found out that his sister and her friends were playing some kind of trick on him, he was going to be pissed.

"Jeremy," Bonnie's voice called into his sister's phone. "Oh, God. Jeremy, someone stabbed Stefan. Oh, God. He's bleeding. A lot. Okay. The paramedics found us. Are you okay?" she cried and Jeremy looked around the house, running his hand through his hair.

"I'm coming to The Falls," Jeremy said. He had made a decision. He was not going to just sit here like some kind of lame dunk, waiting to be picked off by whatever lunatic was out there. Besides, he just had to survive for… another twenty-three hours and thirty-two minutes. He could do that.

"Jeremy, no, as soon as Stefan is at the hospital, I'm going to come there. Okay? You just need to wait for me," Bonnie said stubbornly and Jeremy shook his head.

Before he could respond Bonnie had hung up, "Jeremy?" Mrs. Mikaelson called and Jeremy sighed heavily.

"Yes. Sorry. I don't know if Kol is okay…" he began when he heard a noise in the background of the Mikaelson home.

'"Rebekah, oh, dear, what's happened? Why are your clothes bloody? Rebekah, what happened? Oh, God, Rebekah? Rebekah!" and then all Jeremy could hear was the phone hitting the floor. Moments later he heard Rebekah Mikaelson let out a scream and then nothing at all. Someone must have hung up the phone.

Going into the kitchen, Jeremy replaced the phone in its holder. He started to pace the length of the kitchen floor. What was he supposed to do? His friends were obviously in danger. His sister was high on something. Or maybe the Red Bull was doing something to him. Had he gone to sleep and didn't remember?

The doorbell rang and Jeremy jumped as he turned to look at the door. He had no idea who could be at the door. It couldn't be Bonnie that quickly. Hopefully not Elena. Moving to the counter, he pulled open a drawer and grabbed a meat cleaver. Holding it up, he moved to the door and ticked the lock open. When it made a tiny sound, he groaned inwardly. For some reason he thought the killer would hear that but he was sick of acting like a scared kid.

Yanking the door open, Jeremy felt his heart squeeze when he saw a figure dressed in a dark hoodie like Elena had been wearing when the figure looked up and he blew out a breath. "Oh. What the hell are you doing with that?" the figure asked, elbowing her way past him with an irritated look.

"Liv, you scared the hell out of me," Jeremy snapped as he closed the door and flipped the lock.

"You're scared?" Liv pinned him with an irritable look. "First, Kai insists on going off with his buddies. Then Luke ditches me saying he's got a date and he's not going to allow some freak on the internet stop him from finding love. I told him years ago to stop watching The Bachelor."

Jeremy would have hugged Liv, he was so relieved to not be dealing with this by himself, if he wasn't holding a meat cleaver. "I'm going to put this away."

"Good idea," Liv replied, running a hand through her unruly curls. "You haven't heard from Tyler tonight, have you?" she asked. Placing the cleaver back in the drawer, Jeremy shook his head and he heard Liv let out a sigh. "Figures. There's a crazy person trying to remake a horror film and Ty's off being a dick."

Turning around to face the unhappy blonde, Jeremy tried to think of something to help his friend's case but he couldn't think of anything. Opening his mouth, he heard the doorbell ring. Reaching into the drawer, he withdrew the meat cleaver as Liv bounded up the stairs. Jeremy walked slowly back to the front door to answer it. By the time he got there, Liv was on her way down with his baseball bat.

"On the count of five," Jeremy whispered to Liv who nodded. She took the right of the door where she would not be seen while Jeremy took the left. "One."

"Two," Liv whispered back.

"Three," he said.

"Four."

"Five," a voice behind them added and Liv screamed while Jeremy came very close to burying the cleaver inside Tyler Lockwood's head.

"Damn, man. What has gotten into you?" Tyler asked as Liv dropped the bat and threw her arms around his neck.

"Thank God you're okay," Liv moaned as Tyler patted her back.

"How did you get in here?" Jeremy asked.

"The backdoor. It's unlocked," Tyler pointed to the door which was standing wide open.

"Oh!" Liv's eyes rounded and she scooped up the bat. "You two need to stay here. The killer said they were after guys. So I should be safe. Theoretically speaking," she added as an afterthought.

"Theoretically?" Tyler spat out with a frown. "Have you both been smoking something? And if you are, want to share?"

"Tyler, someone stabbed Oliver Kenner at The Falls. They also attacked Stefan Salvatore," Jeremy explained to his friend who looked confused.

"What? I was just there like about half an hour ago. Then my mom called and she was telling mr to leave the party. Weird. But she's crazy and pops sleeping pills. Speaking of which. I wonder if we took some with some Red Bull -"

"Shut up, Tyler!" Liv snarled at her boyfriend.

"Is it that time?" Tyler asked Liv who poked him with the end of the bat.

"Shut it or so help me I will offer you up to this freak," Liv threatened him. When Tyler closed his mouth, she turned her back on him and headed toward the back door.

"You know when you're trying to be all badass, it's kind of a turn on," Tyler was saying when Liv held up a hand to quiet him. Jeremy was right behind them as she popped her head outside. "Shit," she cried, dropping the bat.

"Kol!" Tyler's smile dropped into a deep frown as he helped Liv pull Kol to his feet. His shirt was covered in blood and he had a nasty scratch on his face.

"Help me," Kol hissed out as he clutched his chest wound. The couple dropped their friend onto the couch while Jeremy headed upstairs to find a first aid kit. When he looked up, he thought he saw someone in Elena's room. Turning around, he found that there was no one there. Shaking his head, he hurried down the stairs.

Liv was pulling off Kol's shirt when she let out a groan. "Kol, that is not funny," she snapped when Kol began to laugh.

"The party was lame. So we thought we'd come here and give you a good scare. Fortunately, it wasn't just Jeremy. And this is going on YouTube," Kol announced as he punched buttons on his phone.

"You're both a couple of assholes," Liv snarled as she got to her feet. "I'm going back home. I hope you three enjoy it when you're suffering from real stab wounds and no one does anything about it."

"Yeah. Sure," Tyler scoffed. "Now, what was it you were saying about Oliver being dead, 'cause, Jer, you really have to work on your sense of humor," he continued as he helped Kol clean the fake blood off.

"Elena said that Oliver Kenner was killed at The Falls," Jeremy repeated. He felt like he was going crazy. Or maybe it was that everyone else was crazy.

Kol rolled his eyes. "Yeah, mate. I think your sister was trying to play a prank on you. Hold on. My phone is ringing. Yes? Hello?" he called into the phone. He lifted the phone with a shrug before placing it to his ear again.

"Hello? Father? Dad?" Kol's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the others.

"Knock. Knock," a voice called and Jeremy felt his stomach drop as Kol pulled the phone away because the person was yelling. "I said knock, knock," the voice yelled and then laughed.

"Whose there?" Tyler answered.

"I killed your daddy and I'm coming for you," the voice sang.

Kol curled his fist. "Look, the joke is over. So, you can stop now." His voice was shaking as he spoke.

After a moment the voice replied. "Oh, wait. Not dead. So sad. Want to talk to Kol? Yes? Okay. I think I can honor a last request."

"Kol?" Mikael's voice called through the phone.

"Yes, dad?" Kol looked like he was going to cry now.

"Kol, I'm sorr-" Kol's father never got to finish because the end of his sentence came out as a choked gurgle.

"DAD!" Kol shouted into the phone.

"Sorry. I cut daddy's head off. Now, it's your turn," the voice cried out with another laugh that made Jeremy's stomach spin. The line went dead followed by the sound of someone knocking on the front door. Each pair of eyes went to it. Then they remembered the back door.

Running for the back door, Jeremy remembered that he didn't have his cleaver any more. He had set it beside Kol.

As he skidded in front of the door, he was met with Elena who was smiling widely. "I said I'd be back," she told him just before she leapt forward with a growl and butcher knife in hand…

Dum, dum, dum… And so one of the killers has been revealed. Sort of. Wonder who else could be out hunting this Halloween…

Thank you for reading, favoriting, following and reviewing.

Answers to guest reviews:

Guest: My sentiments exactly.

Lou: Thank you!

Guest: I am and hopefully with a lot more where this came from. We will see…

Peace,

Jessica