The Owl Gilbert

4:5: Hunter Hostage

I walk into the Grill before they open to see Matt stacking chairs. "Hi, Matt. Where's Jeremy? I brought you guys some coffee?" I say, holding a styrofoam tray of four coffees and take a sip of my Caramel Machiotto. "He's late. Again." He says and I look at him, confused. "No, he left the house already. Him leaving woke me up. Kol is doing something with Rebekah, I think." I say and we see April walk in. "Hi, April." I say, smiling at her. "Hey, April. Sorry, we don't open until eleven." He says and I offer her one of the coffees. "Caramel Machiotto?" I ask as she takes one, smiling. "Thanks." She says and sips on it. "I wasn't like trying to scare you guys or stalk you or whatever. I just.. I came to ask if you've seen Rebekah." April asks. "Why would I have seen Rebekah?" Matt asks, confused. "Oh, I just assumed.. I mean, aren't you guys kind of like a thing?" She asks and Matt chuckles, setting salt and pepper shakers on the table and she steps closer to him. "Well, I.. I mean I'm worried about her. She said she'd help me find stuff out about the fire that killed my dad and then she just.. disappeared." She says. "I think she's with Kol today; her brother and my boyfriend." I say, giving a small nod and see Connor push Jeremy in. "Trust me.." He says as April gasps as Connor grabs me and puts the knife to my throat while Matt steps protectively in front of April. "That's the least of your problems." Connor says.

"Sit down! Sit down!" Connor yells at Jeremy, Matt and April to sit down and they do as he walks forward with me and throws me into a chair. "Are you okay?" Jeremy asks and I give a small nod. "Jeremy, give me your cellphone." Connor says as Jeremy looks at April and back to him. "Look, at least let April go. She doesn't have anything to do with this." Jeremy says. "She has everything to do with this. Her and her father." Connor says as Jeremy hands him his cellphone. "Plus, she and I have history." He says, looking at her before looking through Jeremy's phone. "What are you talking about? I've never seen you before in my life!" April exclaims and he looks up at her. "Well, you kids need to get some vervain. And don't just wear it as a bracelet where anybody can just take it off." Connor says, pointing at Jeremy's vervain bracelet. "Maybe then you'd remember our conversation at the hybrid's yesterday." Connor says, walking a few feet away with his back turned to us. "Our conversation? Are you saying someone compelled me?!" Jeremy exclaims. "Would someone please tell me what he's talking about?!" April exclaims, looking around at all of us. "Compulsion. Secrets. Vampires." Connor says, looking at us. "Compulsion is a form of mind control." I say, looking at April. "If you know so much, then you know our friends are going to come for us." Matt says as we all look at him and back to Connor. "Oh, yeah, I'm counting on it. Every vampire that comes for you is another one I get to kill. Now, who should I text first? Hm?" He asks, scrolling through Jeremy's phone. "Kol Mikaelson, Damon Salvatore, his brother Stefan, Tyler Lockwood? Nah, all of the above." He says, sending out a group text then sets the phone on top of the counter, pulls a giant knife from his back pocket and smashes the phone.

We see Connor pouring werewolf venom into a glass jar filled with other stuff to make a bomb as April is crying. "He's clearly delusional. I mean, right? All this.. all this talk about vampires, but I mean, he mentioned my Dad." She says. "Hey, this guy's a nut job, okay? Don't let him get in your head." Matt says as Connor connects a tube to something I can't make out. "What if he knows something?" She asks and we all look at Jeremy. "Jeremy, did he say anything to you about why he's doing this?" She asks. "I don't know. Maybe. Maybe I just can't remember." Jeremy says, getting up and walks over to Connor. "Let it go. Jeremy!" Matt exclaims and I give a small sigh.

"Hey! We're gonna have visitors soon! You two get in the back. Get up! Move!" Connor yells to Matt and April as they quickly stand up and so do I but sit back down after hearing a beep; my chair rigged by a bomb as Connor walks over to us. "Before you think about any other exits, I got every door rigged. Got it?" Connor asks and Matt and April head to the back before he places his hands on my shoulders, and I let a few tears fall. "Don't cry, just get comfy." He says, patting them and walks back over to Jeremy.

We hear the Grill's phone ring and Jeremy reaches for it before Connor pulls his hand back, answering the phone. "We're closed. I'll free them. As soon as you give me what I want. You and everyone like you dead." He says and we hear him chuckle. "That's a weak move. You must be desperate." He says and soon has an angry look on his face, slamming the phone down and breaking the phone box entirely before storming off.

I see Connor finishing up his Werewolf Venom Bombs as Jeremy moves closer to his Wooden Stake Gun. "You may be a potential hunter, but if you make one move, I'll break all twenty seven bones in your hand." Connor says without looking up or at Jeremy. "They're not all bad, you know. Some of them, they're my friends." Jeremy says as Connor wraps a cord around the bombs. "Your friends, huh? Yeah, I had a friend like that once. She got turned by this vampire I was hunting. He thought it would be ironic." He says. "What happened to her?" I ask and Jeremy looks at me but Connor keeps his eyes on the bombs and loads a gun with wooden bullets. "I didn't want to hurt her. She promised that she would keep it under control, but.. a vampire's like a loaded gun. Eventually it's gonna go off." Connor says and shows Jeremy his arm, which has the tattoo on it I can't see. "That's why I got this." He says. "So you killed your own friend?!" Jeremy exclaims. "Listen! If you're gonna be like me, you need to understand. Vampires kill humans, Hunters kill vampires." Connor says and we hear a noise at the front entrance and all look towards it. "We have company." Connor says, grabbing a remote and that turns the light off and loud rock music starts playing and I can barely see Connor take Jeremy underneath the table with him and hear the door open before there's an explosion and I see fire coming from it and a man slowly starting to stand up with glass and nails all over him, cut up and bleeding while Connor has a gun pointed to him and shoots him in the heart, leaving a giant see through hole where the heart should be; the man instantly dropping dead and feel someone cover my mouth, a cool yet warm hand and I smile up at Kol. "Hang on, darling." He says, grabbing me by my waist and dashes off with me as I can hear an explosion in the distance. "There's another bomb. Connor probably has Jeremy on it by now. He's in danger." I say and he shushes me as we run into Matt and April. "You three get out of here. Follow the map and it'll lead you to the school. Go!" Kol exclaims before dashing off.

We soon meet up with Jeremy as he's playing with his bracelet in his hands, sitting on a bench outside of the Grill in town square after getting Caroline to compel April to forget everything; thinking that what happened today was a faulty gas leak. "Hey, Jeremy. Sorry we're so late, we had to take this crazy detour." April says. "There was a gas leak." Matt says. "Yeah, I heard about that." Jeremy says, looking up at us. "Yeah, and we had to stop by Tyler Lockwood's house because we had to see Caroline. We talked to her for a little bit, but now I was thinking maybe we could all go get some coffee." April says and looks at the closed Grill. "But the Grill is closed. That's.. weird." She says and Jeremy stands up. "You know what, it's okay, I, uh, I need to get home anyways. I'm feeling a little.. over it today." Jeremy says, looking at Matt and I and Matt rubs the back of his neck. "I should probably get home, too." Matt says as we all look at him and she smiles. "Oh. All right, then." She says and starts waking off and we see Jeremy purposely drop his bracelet on the ground before picking it up. "Hey, April." He says and she turns around. "Did you drop this?" He asks and she walks over to him. "No, that's not mine." She says, shaking her head. "You sure? Hey, let me see your wrist." He says and April extends her arm out for him and he ties it onto her wrist. "Thanks, but.." She says, getting interrupted by Matt and we all look at him. "I like it. It looks good on you. You should wear it." He says and she smiles. "It goes really great with those shoes." I say, nodding. "Okay." She says, smiling more and walks off. "Are you okay?" I ask, looking up at Jeremy as he sees her walk off and he glances at me. "Yeah." He says and we start walking off. "I'm just sick of all the secrets, you know?" Jeremy asks. "Yeah, tell me about it." Matt says. "What?" Jeremy asks, looking at his hand. "What's wrong?" Matt asks and Jeremy looks up at him. "Nothing." Jeremy says.