Book Four: Solitude (A. Saltzman)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Diana taps on the steering wheel as she waits for Jeremy. He throws his duffle into the back before climbing into the jeep. The two of them share a look, she raises an eyebrow at him.

"I staked him" Jeremy admits, she hums a little. "He's not dead, just...wounded" She looks at him and holds out her hand to him, he rolls up his sleeve and shows her the grown tattoo. She traces the new lines and nods. "That's a good sign, right?" he asks her. "That it's growing"

"Well, I was hoping for a little more...spread" She admits. "But it's a start..." He lets out a breath.

"We should get to the pageant, I'm already late" She nods and turns the key to start the engine.

............

At the Lockwood Mansion, Jeremy and Diana head into an empty room, as Diana moves to look out the window at the gathered townspeople below, she pulls a face, Jeremy takes out an arm cuff from his bag, one that can hold stakes, and then places it on his wrist. He grabs a few stakes and places them in his pants. He puts on his jacket and exits the room, Diana frowns and turns to follow him. Jeremy walks outside and through the maze of tables, clearly on a mission. April intercepts him as he is making his way through, giving Diana a chance to catch up with him.

"Hey, where have you been?" April asks Jeremy.

"Hey, sorry, I, um, I got stuck at work." He offers.

"Jeremy, if you were to chicken to do the dance thingie then you should have just told me." April points out.

"No, no, I knew the dance. I watched some lesson online like a hundred times." Jeremy admits.

"You did?" April asks surprised. Diana sees Professor Shane get up from a table.

"Hey, what's that Shane guy doing here?" Diana asks. April turns and looks at him. He waves at her and she waves back.

"He's a judge. I talked to him about my dad. I mean, he said that he had never seemed depressed or suicidal or anything, so..." Jeremy spots Elena across the lawn talking to a girl. He continues to stare at her.

"Your dad?" Jeremy asks.

"Yeah, um, you know, I figured I'd explore every possibility, even the bleak ones." April answers, Jeremy still hasn't taken his eyes off Elena. "What are you looking at?" April turns around to see what he's been staring at. Jeremy looks at her and she looks back at him.

"Your dad was doing the right thing for this town. The whole Council was. They died heroes." Jeremy walks past her. April watches him walk away with a shocked look on her face. Diana's eyes widen a little.

"Oh no" She whispers and looks around for Damon. Jeremy is about to do something stupid because she knows that mind set.

.............

Inside the house, Professor Shane is alone in a room. Damon walks in.

"Oh, you again" Shane greets as he laughs a little. "I must be the least intimidating mass-murderer ever."

"Well, you still never gave me a name. And it's kind of urgent." Damon points out.

"Listen, there is no other name. Look, at any given moment there are five Hunters in existence, all right. Most of them have no idea who they are or what their purpose is. It means finding more than one in a lifetime is next to impossible." Shane walks past Damon and starts to leave the room. Damon uses his superspeed and rushes in front of Shane. Shane looks at him and laughs. "Subtle."

"Like you didn't already know."

"Well."

"You have five seconds to give me another name or you die."

"You know, since it's generally unwise for a vampire to seek out a Hunter, it means you're interested in the mark. It's probably because of where it leads, but here's the thing, even if you complete the mark and you get the map, the thing that you're looking for is sealed with a spell only a certain kind of witch can perform."

"What kind of witch?" Damon asks him.

"Come on, Damon." Damon grabs Shane by the wrist and squeezes it.

"I love pressure points. What kind of witch?"

"Come on, you're a big boy, you can figure this one out." Shane pushes, Damon thinks for a moment.

"A Bennett witch." Damon realises.

"Aren't too many of those lying around as I'm sure you know. So, none of this matters until Bonnie's back in touch with her magic and between the two of us, who do you think she trusts to help her get there?" Shane asks. Damon releases Shane from his grasp. "Five seconds are up, unless you just realized you need me alive. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a scholarship to award." Shane walks past Damon as Diana walks into the room, she glares at Shane as he passes her.

"What are you doing talking to him?" Diana asks as she turns back to Damon.

"Seeing what he knew about your little story" He answers. "What's going on? You look a little more serious than usual"

"We have a problem with Jeremy" She admits.

"What kind of problem?"

"You remember what I was like just after Ric died....?" She asks him, he nods. "Yeah, he's...like that. I think he's going after Elena......" Damon moves to her and takes her arm pulling her along with him as they head off in search of Jeremy.