Book Four: Solitude (A. Saltzman)

Chapter Thirty

Damon and Diana work their way through the Lockwood Mansion, heading off to find Jeremy.

"You find Jeremy....I'm going to call Stefan" Damon tells Diana and walks off without waiting for an answer, Diana pulls a face and mocks him slightly before heading off in the other direction.

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

Outside, Carol Lockwood and Caroline are standing on the stage. Carol is speaking through the microphone and Caroline is holding an envelope.

"And now, the moment you've been waiting for. Caroline, would you do the honors?" Carol asks and then looks at Caroline. Caroline walks to the mic. Elena stands behind her with the tiara and sash.

"This year's Miss Mystic Falls is...." Caroline opens the envelope. "April Young." Everyone in the crowd applauds. April smiles and looks as if she's about to cry. Caroline takes the tiara off the cushion Elena is holding and walks over to April. Elena looks out into the crowd and sees Jeremy walking in between the people.

"Jeremy." Elena whispers. Caroline places the tiara on April's head. Jeremy walks off, away from the crowd. Elena hands Carol Lockwood the sash and cushion and quickly walks off the stage. Diana also notices Jeremy walking away and Elena going after him.

...........

Inside the house, Jeremy is sitting in an empty room. He places one of the stakes and pushes it in to the palm of his hand until it begins to bleed. Elena walks in the room. Jeremy takes the stake away and looks up at her.

"Hey, where have you been?" She asks him and then sees the stake in his hand. "What are you doing with that?" Jeremy stands up. "Put it down" She scolds him.

"Connor was right. All I can think about is killing vampires."

"You're nothing like Connor."

"I want to believe that. And I know I don't want to hurt you, but everything inside of me is telling me to drive this stake through your heart."

"Why would you say that? It's me, Jeremy."

"And you're a vampire."

"Yeah, but I'm also your sister." She gently grabs his wrist.

"Jer, I would never do anything to hurt you." Elena suddenly smells the blood on his hand. She turns it over and sees it. Veins start crawling towards her eyes. Jeremy looks at her.

"No." Jeremy states. She looks up at him and the veins start to go away. She backs up.

"Get – get it away from me." She turns around. Jeremy strides towards her with a stake in his hand. She turns around quickly, grabs his wrist, and throws him to the ground. Realizing what she has just done, she walks over to him and kneels down next to him. She starts to shake him. "Jer, Jer, hey, Jer, wake up. Jer, please wake up." Elena continues to panic and shake Jeremy. Suddenly, he opens his eyes and stakes Elena in the neck with the hidden arm cuff stake. Elena gasps and clutches her neck. Jeremy kneels down in front of her and raises the stake to finish her off. Diana hurries walks into the room.

"Jeremy!" She scolds.

"Get out of here, Diana"

"Jeremy, you don't want to do this, okay. That's our sister! It's that mark on your arm that's doing this."

"Shut up, Di!" Jeremy snaps.

"Jeremy, look at me!" Jeremy looks at Diana. "I'm a hunter of Artemis, I'm a hunter too, just like you....and I'm telling you not to hurt her." Jeremy hesitates for a moment, but looks as if he's still going to stake Elena. Suddenly, Stefan rushes into the room, grabs Jeremy, and holds him against the wall.

"Get him out of here, Diana!" Stefan pushes Jeremy towards Diana. Diana grabs him.

"Come on. Let's get out of here." Diana tells Jeremy and drags him out of the room. Stefan kneels down in front of Elena. Elena is trying to take the stake out of her neck.

"Let me do it, let me do it, let me do it." Stefan tells her. Elena continues to gasp for air. Stefan gently takes her hands off the stake and pulls it out. Elena breathes a sigh of relief and continues to gasp for air. She finally catches her breath. Stefan places his hand on her cheek and looks at her. She looks up at him and clutches his hand in hers. They continue to look at each other.

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

Back at the Gilbert Residence, Jeremy is in his room, packing a bag. Diana enters and looks at him.

"What are you doing?" She asks him.

"I can't keep living here if I want to kill our sister." He admits.

"Elena knows that. That's why she moved out and asked me to move back in." Jeremy looks up at Diana in surprise.

"What?" Jeremy asks her.

"Look, I'm not one of them, Jer. I'll keep an eye on you and we can keep this Hunter business in check." She assures him.

"You are going to be able to do this, with the twins, alone?" Jeremy asks Diana.

"She's not alone" Matt corrects from the doorway, beside him stands Derek. Jeremy glances between the three of them. Diana nods in agreement. 

"We'll do this together" Derek adds with a nod. Jeremy looks at Diana who smiles sadly at him. Jeremy suddenly hugs Diana tightly.