Wayward Hearts: Book 2

Part 15

Emma straightened her dress out as she looked herself over in the bathroom mirror, she had done her best to make Caroline proud with her hair and make up, but was no style expert compared to her.

"Hey Emma, you ready to..." Matt trailed off as he rounded the corner and caught sight of Emma, "Wow Em."

Emma rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, I clean up nice, I get it."

"I mean, you still look hot in your jeans and boots but-," Matt was stumbling to make a recovery, "I don't mean hot, but super pretty, and..."

Emma patted his shoulder, "Get your jaw up off the floor and let's get going Donovan."

"Yup," Matt followed behind Emma as she walked out to his truck.

He drove them over to the Gilbert's house first to pick up Jeremy. As soon as they walked in Jeremy grabbed Emma's hand and dragged her upstairs to his room, he put a stake in her hand.

Emma looked at him confused, "If you are trying to encourage me to get all stabby stabby on the local vampire population...consider that your sister is one of them."

"Look at the marking on the bottom," Jeremy flipped it over in her hand to show her, "I think I did that in my sleep."

"That's the symbol of the Five," Emma recognized it from Connor's bullets she had seen as well as the books and files she had read.

"How do you wake up with a knife in your hand and not remember how it got there? It's that hunter's mark, Jer. It's messing with you," Matt sat down and pulled out one of the files Emma had with her in her bag.

Jeremy shook his head, "What if I'm turning into Alaric? I've probably died too many times with this ring on my finger and I'm developing an alter ego like he did."

Matt read from a paragraph in the file, "'Newly awakened hunters may not be fully conscious of their actions. Their sub-conscious pushes through until the urge becomes a basic instinct.'"

"I've heard of other markings that do that, it isn't uncommon; a Mark of Cain, for example, unless the person continues to kill the Mark consumes them completely," Emma remembered a paper her father had written about it.

"You're not having a psychotic break, Jer. You either tell Elena or I will," Matt threatened.

"Fine, I'll tell her when I see her," Jeremy looked down at his phone.

Matt nodded, content with his answer, "We need to get going."

"You guys go ahead, I'll meet you there," Jeremy didn't look up from his phone as he dismissed them.

"Okay..." Emma said, suddenly uncertain about leaving Jeremy alone.

Matt walked past Jeremy and started out to his truck, Emma had to run down the stairs to catch up with him.

"Matt, are you sure we should just leave him?" Emma asked as she climbed into the truck.

"I'll check in on him later tonight," Matt reassured her.

Matt drove them to the Lockwood mansion, as they pulled up Emma saw Damon straighten his jacket before walking inside, she looked after him longingly. Black tie formal looked extraordinary on Damon, he carried himself with so much confidence that it fit him perfectly.

Emma put her head in her hands and took a deep breath.

"You got this Em," Matt smiled at her as she raised her head back up to look at him.