Jeremy's Unexpected Adventure To The Past

Chapter Ten

Elena immediately stood up from her spot on the couch to go hug her brother but was stopped by Bonnie before she could reach him.
"You can't enter the circle. If you do, the spell will cancel itself out and Jeremy will go back to the past."
Elena faltered in her steps and reluctantly nodded.
There was a moment of awkward silence before Rebekah spoke up.

"If you're here that must mean you're dead or really close to it. What happened?"

Everyone turned to her in confusion making Rebekah roll her eyes in annoyance.
"Oh come on, you don't actually think a witch can just summon human souls whenever they like do you?"
"What do you mean? Jeremy is right there so obviously they can."
Caroline asked in confusion as she gestured to him as if to prove her point.
Rebekah glared at Caroline in annoyance.

"No they can't. The person must be dead or very close to it to be summoned by a witch and even then it's practically impossible. That's why no one but bonnie could do it."

Bonnie bit her lip as everyone turned to her questionably.
"She's right you guys. A witch can't summon human souls unless they've moved on or they're really close to death and even it's tricky."

"What? You knew this entire time and you didn't think to tell us? Me?"

Elena felt betrayal clench at her heart as her best friend struggled to explain.
"I'm so sorry Elena! I knew it was a long shot but I had to try. We needed more information about what exactly happened and for that we needed to talk to Jeremy. This was the only way."

At Bonnie's words Elena quickly turned to Jeremy who was still standing in the middle of the circle of candles in alarm.

"Jeremy, are you dead?"
She asked barely above a whisper.
Jeremy who had been quiet the entire time turned his attention back to Elena.
"I... I don't think so. At least I don't remember dying."
He answered as he tried to search his memories. For some reason it was all kind of fuzzy at the end. The last thing he could remember was the feeling of being held to a solid chest in a tight grip and Kol's concerned filled eyes as he told him over and over that it'll be okay.
Then nothing.
It reminded him of the last time he found himself back in the present.
Elena sunk back into the couch in relief.
"Well that's something."
Caroline said trying to lighten the mood a little. Elena smiled weakly at her attempts.
"But that only means he's close to death."
Damon pointed out before taking a sip of his bourbon.
Everyone glared at him except for Elena who looked like she was going to break at any moment and Rebekah who only rolled her eyes at his tactlessness.
Stefan sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration while he asked what nobody wanted to ask.
"Why are you dying?"
Jeremy knew someone would ask this eventually and he had dreaded it. For some reason when he spoke about the binding spell he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. It was almost like he was speaking about something private that he didn't want anybody to know about except for himself and... Klaus.
But he knew it was important so he told them everything.
He told them everything losing the ring to the party where he met Katerina Petrova. When he was done everyone kind of just stared at him in disbelief. No one mentioned the bond knowing how Jeremy felt about it so Stefan ask the next best thing.
"Wait, so you mean to tell me you somehow got the power of the Gilbert Family ring? But that's impossible."
Stefan asked not quite believing Jeremy's story.
"I know it should be impossible. But how else can you explain surviving a werewolf bite and having my neck snapped? I think since the ring wasn't in existence in that time it gave me it's power in a way to keep protecting me. That's the only explanation that seemed logical."
Stefan remained silent.
Bonnie suddenly looked back at Jeremy with a perplexed expression on her face. Bonnie couldn't believe that this hadn't even crossed her mind yet.
"If that's the case then how are you in the past?"
"What do you mean?"
Jeremy asked carefully.
"Well you said that the ring gave you its power because it wasn't in existence in that time in the past. If that's true how could you, who's not even born in that time, end up in the past?"
Her thoughts were jumbled making her struggle to find the solution to this phenomenon.
Rebekah caught on to the logic in her words if what Jeremy said about the ring was true. Thinking about it, there was no way Bonnie should be able to send someone fully to the past. She was a powerful witch no doubt, but sending someone to the past, unintentional or not, was an impossible feat by herself.
"But his body's not in the past. It's still here in the present. So that would mean that only his soul went to the past."
Bonnie widened her eyes at Rebekah's words.
"That's right! I can't believe I haven't thought of it before."
Ignoring everyone's questions bonnie turned to Jeremy and asked,
"Jeremy have you seen your appearance at all in the past? Have you noticed anything different about your body at all?"
Jeremy thought about it and remembered looking into the distorted old mirror at the tailors when he was getting his dress clothes fitted for the party and found he did look a little different. His hair was longer and his body wasn't as muscular as it should've been. He also remembered thinking his eyes looked green but dismissed it for a trick of the light reflecting off the mirror.
"Yeah now that you mention it, my body was a little different and I think my eyes were green."
Bonnie closed her eyes and clenched her teeth.
"What does that mean bonnie?"
Elena asked nervously.
"If what I think is true, than Jeremy's soul somehow traveled to the past and put itself into one of his ancestor's body."