These last two chapters flowed really well but now I'm kind of stuck so don't get all excited about the quick update ;-) As ever, THANK YOU if you are reading this story. You're amazing. Truly.

A very special thank you to Lia and the Guest Reviewer – this one is dedicated to both of you for being awesome.

xoxo

Chapter 7

He whirled around to face her and then looked about to see who had said his name.

"Where you talking to me?" he asked as his dark eyes landed on her.

"Yep" she said and waited, her hands stuffed in her pockets.

"Do I know you?" he stepped closer to her "You look familiar"

"I'm a friend of Bonnie's" she pulled her phone from her pocket and navigated to her photos.

"Bonnie Bennett?" he sounded excited.

Excited was good. Excited was better than afraid.

"That's the one" she said and held up her phone so he could see the picture of them smiling together.

"She said she would find me. Why isn't she here?" he sounded disappointed.

"She…had something urgent to take care of. But she sent me to meet you and see if maybe you want to help us."

"Help you do what?"

"It's a really long story. Are you up for a road trip? Bonnie is at our house in Virginia. I can take you there now"

"My parents will freak out" he said uncertainly.

"I…I know your dad and you're right, he'll freak out but I can handle him. Trust me, he owes me one."

"How do you know my dad?"

"Another really long story and I swear I'll explain but you would have to come with us. You don't have to, though. I know this is completely weird and you don't even know me. You can go home and forget this ever happened. I would totally understand."

She was terrified he would turn her down. Really though, how could she expect him to just get in a car with a strange girl who claimed to know his father? It went against everything they drill into you when you're a little kid. Elena had all but convinced herself that he would definitely walk away and she would never know him when she saw the spark in his eyes. It was the same twinkle she got in her eyes when she was about to do something reckless. She tried not to smile.

"Who is 'us'? You said Bonnie was in Virginia"

"It's me and my boyfriend, Damon. He's across the street in the blue car."

"Is this…safe?" he asked but she could tell he'd already made up his mind to come with them.

"Honestly, no. But I promise I'll protect you"

Jeremy smiled at her "You'll protect me?" he said skeptically

"I'm stronger than I look" she said and smiled back.

"Ok, I'll go with you" he sounded like he was surprised at his own words.

Relief and anxiety flooded her at the same time. Uncle Grayson was going to be so mad but she swore to herself she wasn't going to let anything bad happen to him. Once they got Jeremy to the house, there wasn't anything her uncle could do about it anyway.

"That's your boyfriend?" Jeremy asked and inclined his head toward Damon, who was now leaning against the car with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Yes" she said, realizing how intimidating he looked with his leather jacket and his steely blue gaze.

"He's kind of scary looking"

"Damon is…well actually he is a little bit scary sometimes but his heart is in the right place"

When they got to the car Damon held out his hand "Damon Salvatore. You must be Jeremy"

"Yep, that's me" he shook Damon's hand and Elena saw Jeremy wince as Damon gripped his hand just a little too hard.

Damon smiled thinly and opened his door "Ready to go?"

Jeremy nodded and ducked into the back seat quickly as Elena went around to the other side and hopped into the passenger seat. Once they were a few miles up the road and about to get onto the highway, Damon broke the awkward silence.

"You look like a man with questions, Jeremy"

"Yeah but I can't decide what to ask first" he told them.

"How about I tell you how I know your dad?" she asked.

"Sure, that sounds like a good place to start"

"Has he ever mentioned a niece to you?"

"Uh-huh. Her name was Elena. She died in a fire. I didn't know her though"

"No she didn't and you know her now"

"What?" he said, his expression puzzled.

She turned to face him "I'm her. I'm Elena Gilbert"

"I don't understand. Why would he lie about you being dead?"

"Because that's what Grayson does best" Damon remarked.

Elena shot him a dirty look "Be nice"

"You don't like me when I'm nice" he told her with a lecherous grin.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head at him "Just ignore him. He thinks he's funny. Anyway…um…I'm trying to think of the best way to say this."

Damon opened his mouth but before he could say anything she covered it with her hand.

"Don't you dare" she hissed at him, knowing he was just going to blurt it out.

"Hey, it's cool. If it's a secret or something you can trust me"

Damon snickered and she threw him another angry look.

"He lied because the truth is…farfetched so just keep an open mind, ok?" she said, trying to soften the blow.

"Ok…"

"Um…shit…I'm just going to say this and you're just going to have to try not to freak out. Damon and I are vampires. So technically I am dead but not dead, dead."

"I'm sorry, did you say 'vampires'?" he asked with a laugh.

"Trust me. It's not a joke" Damon said seriously.

"I'm going to show you but I swear I'm not going to hurt you" she told him.

"Alrighty" he said, obviously still under the impression this was some kind of prank.

She sighed and let her face change. The blood rushed to her cheeks and swirled under her skin as her fangs dropped down. She bared her teeth at Jeremy as non-threateningly as she could and waited for his reaction.

"Holy shit! Holy shit!" he backed into the corner of the seat away from her, eyes wide with fear.

"It's ok, it's ok. I'm not going to hurt you" she soothed and tried to reach out to him.

"Get away from me! What the fuck is this? Let me out!"

Damon yanked the car off to the side of the road and turned around to meet Jeremy's eyes.

"Calm down. You're going to finish listening to what she has to say and if you still want to leave, then you can" Damon compelled him and Jeremy relaxed instantly.

Elena told him the story of their ancestor, the original John Gilbert, and about her parents, and finally how she came to be a vampire.

"And that's pretty much it" she said and watched his face anxiously.

"So, you want me to take you home or are you coming with us?" Damon demanded.

Jeremy looked at both of them for what felt like the longest second of her life before answering

"I'm going with you. As long as you promise no one will eat me"

"I promise no one is going to lay a finger on you" she told him earnestly.

"Did my dad really kill you by accident?" he asked.

"Yeah, weird right?"

"Weird doesn't even begin to cover it. And you said we're the first non-vampire hunting Gilberts?"

"Yep" she confirmed

"Which is why you're still alive" Damon added.

"You're right. He is a little scary" Jeremy gave Damon a wary look.

"Kid, you have no idea" he said, smirking to himself.

"Stop trying to scare him" she chastised.

"So what exactly do you need from me?" Jeremy asked.

"Actually we're not sure yet. Bonnie is working on that but we're pretty much going under the assumption that her Grams sent you to us and she had a good reason" Elena replied.

"She seemed trustworthy in my dream"

"You Gilbert kids trust way too easily. For future reference, don't trust supernatural creatures that kidnap you or appear randomly in dreams."

"It worked out ok for me" Elena told him.

"Yeah but you had to die to get to the ok part"

She knew it still bothered him that she'd ended up a vampire. No matter how much he loved her and was thrilled to be with her forever, she knew he still wished she'd been able to have that year of normalcy.

"Well I wouldn't change a thing and Jeremy is going to be fine, too" she said confidently.

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you're not dead and we get to know each other" Jeremy told her.

Elena beamed at him "So am I, Jeremy. I can't tell you how happy I am that you're here"

As she'd hoped, Damon drove in silence as the two of them recapped the many years that they had missed. They were only a few miles from the mansion when Jeremy's phone rang in his backpack.

He pulled it from its pocket and looked at the readout "It's my dad"

"Let me answer it" she told him.

"Are you sure, Elena?" Damon asked, sounding worried.

"No but he'll completely lose it if you answer"

"Fair enough" he agreed.

Jeremy handed her the phone and she let the vampire in her take over. She put a cold mask of indifference on and swiped the screen to answer.

"Hello, Uncle Grayson"

"Elena? Where's Jeremy?"

"He's with me."

"You took him? Elena, please don't hurt him. If you want revenge…"

"Really? Is that what you think of me now? No, I didn't take him. I need his help and he agreed to come with me of his own free will. I'm not interested in revenge and I have no intention of hurting him."

"What did you tell him?"

"The truth. About everything"

"How dare you! How could you bring him into this? He's just a boy. You know what happens to people when they find out about the supernatural world" he was using his reprimanding father tone and she clenched her fist angrily.

"Because you're lying to him just like you lied to me. He's a Gilbert, you know he's going to get dragged into it eventually. At least he gets to go into it with his eyes open. Unlike me who had to be kidnapped and killed before you finally told me the truth"

There was silence on the other end for several seconds.

"Hello?" she asked in a snarky tone Damon would be proud of.

"If anything happens to my son…"

"What? You'll kill me?" she said coldly, earning her a grin from Damon.

"Elena, please bring him home. His mother is going to be so worried"

"Then be honest with her. Tell her that he's with me and he's under the protection of a house full of non-people eating vampires and an absurdly powerful witch. He'll be home soon."

"I need to speak to Jeremy" he said desperately.

She looked over her shoulder at her cousin "He wants to talk to you"

"No way" Jeremy shook his head.

"He doesn't want to talk to you"

"Please don't be like this" he begged her.

"Don't be like what? A vampire?"

"This isn't you, Elena" her uncle said dejectedly.

"Yes, it is. This is what you made me. We'll return Jeremy safe and sound, ok? Just don't do anything stupid and get innocent people killed" she stabbed the end button and handed the device back to Jeremy.

Running her fingers through her hair she came back to herself and swallowed back the tears. Damon put his hand on her knee and she covered it with her own.

"You did great" he whispered.

"Not too cold?" she asked.

"Baby you were glacial but he deserved it"

"I'm sorry, Jeremy. I know he's your dad"

"Don't worry about it. He showed up on our doorstep a few weeks ago. I barely know the guy"

"He never even told me you existed" she said sadly.

"Seems like he's kind of a liar"

"That's putting it lightly" Damon said as they pulled into the driveway.

"This is where you live?" Jeremy asked in awe when the house came into view.

"Uh-huh. Pretty nice, huh?" she smiled, glad to have something good to show him.

"I've never even seen a house this big"

Damon got out of the car and moved the seat so Jeremy could get out and stare in wonder at the huge brick house. She looped her arm through his and pulled him to the door.

"C'mon. You can meet everyone else"

"Everyone else?"

"Yep. Bonnie, Caroline, Klaus, and Damon's brother Stefan. I think everyone is home" she told him happily, dragging him through the front door with Damon right behind them.

"Hello!" she called "We're home!"

"Kitchen!" Caroline's voice shouted back.

"Why do you have to shout? There's no reason to shout in this house." Damon complained.

"Oh I'm sorry Mr. I Have Ancient Vampire Super Hearing" she told him with a giggle.

"Did you just call me ancient?" he demanded and glowered at her.

"Maybe" she said coyly.

"You're lucky we have company" he told her darkly.

"Are you being a jerk, Damon?" Caroline asked absently as they walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, hi! I'm Caroline. You must be Elena's cousin Jeremy! It's so nice to meet you!"

The blonde blur jumped from her seat when she saw Jeremy and gave him her the welcoming smile she'd given Elena the first night she'd been here. She hoped it would have the same calming effect on Jeremy that it had her.

"It's nice to meet you, too" he said and returned her smile.

"Bonnie is in the backyard with Klaus. I have no idea what they're doing. Something about channeling. Stefan is downstairs getting us a…drink"

"It's ok Caroline, I already told him" Elena said.

"Oh good because it's pretty much impossible to hide it in this house" she said, sounding relieved "He's getting me some wine, too. You want?" she asked Elena.

"Definitely" she said and turned to Jeremy "Are you hungry? There are always leftovers in the fridge and you're welcome to them. Damon and Bonnie cook all the time"

"Um yeah sure" he said and Elena could see he felt out of place.

"Make yourself at home" Damon told him in an uncharacteristically soft tone that was usually reserved for her.

Jeremy sat down at the island in the spot next to hers. She grabbed him a Tupperware of ravioli and put it in the microwave. The poor kid still looked incredibly uneasy and she tried to think of something to settle his nerves. Her intuition told her this was a young man who wanted to be treated like an adult and though, or maybe because, she knew her uncle would disapprove, her first thought was to give him a drink.

"Damon, could Jeremy have a bourbon with you? Just a little bit? I know you were thinking about having one"

"Corrupting him already, 'Lena?" he grinned at her.

"He's in a strange house with a bunch of vampires and he's had a weird afternoon. If I were him, I would want a drink."

"Actually that would be kind of great" Jeremy agreed.

"You got it, kid" Damon said, disappearing and reappearing seconds later with two tumblers.

"That was fast" Jeremy's eyes were wide as he accepted the glass.

Elena remembered the first time she'd seen Damon use his super speed. It had been disconcerting, but then again he'd kidnapped her only a few hours earlier.

"We can do all kinds of cool stuff" Elena told him.

"Like what?" he asked, sounding intrigued.

"Like hear you from all the way downstairs" Stefan said from the doorway.

"Hello, Jeremy. I'm Stefan. Damon's brother. The nice brother" he gave Jeremy his winning smile and held out his hand.

Jeremy shook it tentatively but Elena knew Stefan wouldn't feel the need to show off strength like Damon did. One of her favorite things about Stefan was his gentle soul. It made him an amazing friend and confidant. Stefan handed a bottle of wine and a dark blue water bottle to Caroline. He sipped from an identical water bottle and held it out to Elena. She was tempted but she'd already had her quota of blood bags today.

"No, I'm good. Thanks, though"

He put the cap back on "I'll leave it in the fridge if you want it later"

She smiled gratefully at him and set the bowl of food in front of Jeremy.

"What are they doing out there?" Stefan asked worriedly, peeking out the window.

Elena stood next to him and peered out. Klaus was yelling at Bonnie and Bonnie was yelling back. Klaus said something and Bonnie's face went dark before Klaus grabbed his head and dropped to the ground. She and Stefan jerked back and looked at one another with mirrored 'yikes' expressions.

"We'll just let them work that out" he told her.

"I'm sure they'll be fine" she agreed and went back to sit next to Jeremy.

Jeremy forked a ravioli into his mouth and looked surprised "This is really good"

"Thanks" Damon said.

"Is cooking a vampire super power, too?" Jeremy joked.

"Elena wishes" Damon told him.

"Shut up" she said but a smile played at her lips.

The door opened and Bonnie stepped inside with Klaus close behind her.

"God, finally! I thought you were going to be out there all night" Caroline whined.

"Hello to you too, darling" Klaus said, sounding frustrated.

"Jeremy?" Bonnie said breathlessly.

He looked up from his food and a huge smile spread across his face "Bonnie!"

"It's so good to meet you!" she said and crossed the room to sit on the other side of him "I mean, the real you. Not the dream you."

"It's good to meet the real you, too" he said enthusiastically.

Elena thought she saw something there but she decided not to say anything. If it was there, they would figure it out. She accepted a glass of wine from Caroline and exchanged a knowing smile with her.

Klaus was looking at Jeremy strangely "Jeremy Gilbert, I presume?"

"Yeah"

"Klaus Mikaelson" he said, a tiny smile tugging at his lips.

Klaus picked up an apple from the bowl on the counter and tossed it in the air a couple of times before abruptly turning and throwing it full force at Jeremy. To her utter shock, Jeremy's hand shot up and caught the apple midair.

"Nice catch" Damon said, clearly as stunned as she was.

"Hey man! What the hell?" he said to Klaus and set the apple down.

"My apologies. That was rude but necessary. I think I know why you were sent to us"

"You do?" Elena asked, bewildered.

"He's a Hunter. A true Hunter. The kind that are born, not made. There are only five of them in existence at one time and most don't ever know what they are" he turned to Jeremy "I imagine this is all news to you?"

"Yeah, I have no idea what you're talking about"

"You're the last piece of our puzzle. The bit Bonnie and I have been trying to work out all day. The trouble is we have to wake you as a hunter which requires you to kill a vampire. And I'm guessing your cousin is not going to like that"

"No, I don't. He's not killing anyone" she said resolutely "We'll find another way"

Damon gave her a look and she narrowed her eyes at him defiantly. She was not going to sway on this. She'd promised to keep him safe and killing vampires was not what she, or her uncle, would call 'safe'. Jeremy seemed intent on his ravioli and said nothing.

"Let's not talk about killing" Bonnie said "I'm sure Jeremy still has questions and Klaus can tell us more about the Hunter thing"

"How do you know I'm a hunter?" Jeremy asked.

"The Hunter gene is passed down through the father and the last True Hunter I knew of was from the Gilbert bloodline. Hunters, once woken, are very adept at locating vampires and they are especially skilled at locating Original vampires. They were created to destroy us, you see. I imagine Sheila sent you to us because you are going to help us pin down the exact location of my sister"

"You got all that just from looking at me for two seconds?" Jeremy sounded skeptical.

"He's a thousand years old. Two seconds is plenty of time for him to size up pretty much anyone." Damon told him.

"A thousand years?" Jeremy asked wide eyed.

"Give or take a few years" Klaus said with a nod.

"Damn" Jeremy shook his head in wonder

"So what other 'super powers' do you have?" he directed the questions at Damon.

"The obvious ones; super hearing and speed you saw, strength, sight. Then there's the really fun stuff. We can compel people to do whatever we want and influence their thoughts. Our blood heals even fatal wounds so long as you're not already dead. And there's a thing I can do with the fog if I feel like scaring the shit out of someone before I kill them."

"I thought you didn't eat people" Jeremy said warily.

"I don't…anymore….well, not lately anyway"

Elena watched Jeremy gulp and take a deep sip of his drink. She shot Damon a warning glance and he shrugged unapologetically. She thought about what he'd said for a moment and realized he'd mentioned things she had no idea she could do.

"What did you mean by influence thoughts? How is that different than compulsion? And what about calling a fog? I've never heard you talk about that before" she asked him.

"You never asked" he told her "Influencing thoughts requires a mind that's open to manipulation but I can put images in your head. Make you see things that aren't there. Usually the person is either so terrified they can't think, they're asleep, or I catch them completely off guard. The fog is…honestly I'm not even sure I could do it now. I have to be in a particularly vindictive mood for it to work."

"I still don't really get the influencing. Can't you do that with compulsion?" she asked.

"Do you want me to show you?" he asked with an odd lopsided grin.

"Sure" she said and knew an instant later it was a mistake.

It only lasted for thirty seconds tops, but it was so real she felt her knees start to buckle. All of the sudden everyone disappeared and she was naked bent over the kitchen counter. Damon was behind her, inside her, driving into her fast and hard. He had a bruising grip on her hips and she was whimpering his name, begging him not to stop. Then it was over and she was fully clothed sitting in the kitchen with everyone else like she had been a half a minute before. She could feel the flush on her cheeks and she wasn't sure if she'd ever been so embarrassed in her life.

"I…you…I can't believe you just….don't ever do that again!" she sputtered at him.

The look on his face was positively devilish and she could see he was fighting laughter.

"That's what you get for calling me ancient" he told her, still smiling salaciously at her.

"What just….?" Jeremy started to ask but Stefan put up his hand to stop him.

"Don't ask. Whatever he just did, you don't want to know. Trust me" he told him.

Elena finished her wine and held it out to Caroline for more.

Later that night, after the girls had just enough wine to send them to their respective beds and Stefan begged off to write, Damon made sure he and Klaus ended up in the parlor with Jeremy. He poured three glasses of bourbon, handing one to Jeremy and one to Klaus.

"This has been a really weird day" Jeremy said and put down half the glass in one gulp "I don't know what I would have expected but you guys are not what I would have guessed vampires to be like"

"Will you be disappointed if I tell you we don't sleep in coffins?" Damon asked, trying to lighten his mood.

It worked.

"Relieved, actually" he said with a chuckle "Are any of the myths true?" he asked.

"Some. Crosses and garlic don't bother us. Sunlight is true unless you know the right witch. Which we obviously do. Stake to the heart is true" Damon told him.

"What exactly does it mean to be a Hunter?" Jeremy asked suddenly, like the question had been stewing in his mind since that afternoon.

Klaus gave him a long look before answering.

"Once you've woken as a Hunter, you'll find that you're quite a bit stronger and a great deal more agile than you are now. Even as you are now, you're probably stronger and faster than most of your peers, yes?" he asked and didn't wait for an answer "You aren't and won't be as strong as Damon or I but you'd be able to hold your own with a vampire. You can resist compulsion after you've killed more than one. You will also have a nearly irrepressible urge to kill vampires. That could pose a potential problem since you happen to be related to one. Though I'm certain I have a witch who could provide a potion that would help you control those impulses."

"It's also worth noting that you will officially be a supernatural creature. You'll bleed and grow old like a human but the afterlife for creatures like us is…different. I don't know what happens to normal people but when we die, we get stuck in an in-between kind of place. It's how Bonnie's Grams contacted you. She's dead but she's on what we call The Other Side." Damon told him, thinking it was only fair that he get the whole story.

"Is it weird that it all sounds kind of cool? I mean, I've had a pretty normal boring life until my dad showed up a few weeks ago and it's sort of scaring the shit out of me but it's…exciting, too."

Elena was going to be so unbelievably pissed at him. He knew the kid was going to do it. He just needed the right push. Killing someone, even if it's a vampire, wasn't something most 16 year old boys think about but he could see Jeremy considering it. There had to be some part of his nature as a Hunter that wanted to be woken, right? He was just helping him fulfill his destiny. Yeah, Elena is going to kill you his inner voice told him.

"So what do you think, Kid? We find you some piece of shit, scum of the earth, turn him, and you stake him. No harm no foul"

"I don't know. I've never killed anyone" he replied hesitantly.

"What do you think about people who hurt children?" Klaus asked him.

"Uh…they suck?" Jeremy said, clearly not understanding.

"What my friend is trying to say is, if you knew without a doubt that a person hurt little kids and didn't feel bad about it, would you kill them?"

"I would go to the police" Jeremy was looking at him like he was nuts and he supposed to a naïve 16 year old, he probably did seem a little nuts.

He tried for a patient smile "If that weren't an option. If it was them or the kid. Could you do it? Could you kill them?"

Jeremy stared into his drink and appeared to think for several long minutes. Christ, he hoped the kid was thinking. Otherwise he was just staring off into space and they were fucked.

"Yeah, I think I could do it. I could kill them" he said finally.

"And that's not just the bourbon talking?" Damon pushed.

He didn't want to go through all the trouble if Jeremy was going to chicken out when it came time to actually stake a vampire.

"No, it's not the bourbon" but he paused to take another sip "There was this girl at my old school, Anna. She was weird and people were mean to her. She was nice though and we were sort of friends. Once I found her cornered by this guy behind the school" another pause, another sip "he was grabbing at her and saying disgusting things. He was going to…hurt her. Anyway, I sort of beat him half to death. He was in the ICU for two weeks. They said if someone hadn't pulled me off him, I probably would have killed him. So yeah I think if I had to, I could kill someone if they really deserved it"

"Then we'll just have to find you someone who really deserves it" Damon said and tipped his glass toward the kid with a grim smile.

A/N - 12/17/2015: To the wonderful readers who have asked me to continue with this story, I promise you I have not given up on it and I will finish it...eventually. For whatever reason I have had a major case of writers block on this story and I will probably end up going back and doing A LOT of editing. That being said - I want to say THANK YOU for reading this story and taking the time to leave feedback. It means more to me than you will ever know and I am SO, SO sorry for leaving you hanging. In the meantime, if you like my writing style, you may want to check out The Parting Gift. Sadly for Do Not Go Gentle, that story had been monopolizing my muse so I will likely finish it before I get around to revising/continuing this story. Again, thank you for reading DNGG and for your encouragements - you're too kind! xoxo, ~P