#and it comes full circle back to 'ur a person trying to fix sun/moon'

[actual-cryptid-leshy]

They is my Family

Most who look at Jeremy see a timid boy. They see his hunched shoulders, his fidgeting hands, his nervous smiles, and listen to the stutter in his voice. And they draw their conclusions. To some degree they are true, but Jeremy is so much beyond that. He is surrounded by strong people, friends who are strong in all the ways that count. But he’s strong too.

AKA the Hunters AU I wrote instead of writing all the other things I'm supposed to be writing

Title is from the song They is my family by mother mother (t's a good song)

Word count: 5.7k

Read on AO3

‘’Run!’’ Rich yells, and Jake doesn’t see a point in not obeying that particular command. The two boys set off at a breakneck pace, dodging branches and roots alike as they barrel trough the dark forest. The only thing lighting their way is the full moon, unfortunately that’s also part of the reason why they have to run in the first place. ‘’Fucking werewolves!’’ Jake screams, listening to the large creature bounding after them, snarling and snapping its huge jaw. It’s fast. They’re always so fucking fast. ‘’Shouldn’t have loaded up with iron bullets!’’ Rich hollers back, too much glee in his voice, but Jake has known him long enough to know that the glee is a side effect of the adrenaline and the building panic. And so is the manic laughter and whooping as Rich deftly weaves between obstacles. There’s a clearing up ahead, seemingly empty, awash in silvery moonlight. ‘’Almost there almost there almost there.’’ Jake chants under his breath, panting and praying, feeling his heart beat in his throat and in his ears alike. The two of the burst trough the bushes surrounding the perimeter of the clearing, not even two seconds later the hulking beast comes crashing trough after them. It’s larger than it had looked amongst the trees. Dwarfed by the thick trunks and the heavy canopy, out in the open it could rival a moose. Jake has seen a moose up close. Never again. The werewolf is hot on their heels when a voice rings out across the clearing. ‘’Dive!’’ The boys do just that. Throwing themselves out of the concealed ring of mountain ash, a pervasively unnoticed figure quickly seals it, and the werewolf is trapped. ‘’Holy fuck.’’ Rich wheezes out, visibly deflating as he tried to catch his breath. The adrenaline is quickly having his system, same goes for Jake. ‘’You said it. I hate being bait.’’ he voices his complain, glancing at the hooded figure as she gets to her feet. ‘’That’s what you get for being the fastest people in the group.’’ Christine says with far too much cheer in her voice. ‘’That’s easy for you to say, you’re not werewolf chow on the reg.’’ Rich says as he gets to his feet. ‘’Stop your whining, you know we have back up plans.’’ Chloe says, stepping out of the forest, Brooke hot on her heels. ‘’Yeah, it’s not like we’d actually let it come near you.’’ she says from behind Chloes shoulder. Jake heaves a sigh as he struggles to his feet as well. His legs feel like jelly. ‘’Let’s just fix this mess and bounce already.’’ he pleads, examining a scrape on his arm. It’s not terribly deep, but it’s bleeding a little. Christine opens her book, stepping closer to the circle. ‘’ULFR, BROTT. GUMI, SITJA.’’ her voice echoes across the clearing, her outstretched hand radiates a light so bright it could rival the sun. The ring of mountain ash flares, a barrier rising and rising until it’s formed a dome around the wolf inside. The werewolf who is currently circling the perimeter, looking for any possible way out. Then the dome starts to shrink. The werewolf backs away, or tries to, it’s not a terribly large dome to begin with. The glowing forcefield shrinks and shrinks and shrinks until it fits itself snugly around the form of the creature. And then it keeps going, sinking beneath the surface. The hair starts receding, bones crack and reform as the human shape takes over from the wolf. Soon there is only a man laying prone in the clearing. A small glowing orb rises from his chest, a swirling black void inside, it floats gently as if on a breeze to the outstretched hand of Christine. She grabs it, the light dims. ‘’Let’s get out of here.’’ she says, and they’re all quick to comply.

The walk trough the forest is a quiet affair, aside from the odd twig snapping under a boot here and there. And the occasional rustle. It’s a forest at the dead of night during a full moon, it’s kinda creepy. Also they’ve far overstated their welcome. They make it to the road where the van is waiting, the side door sliding open to reveal Michael. ‘’I’m assuming it all went well, seeing as you’re all in one piece and not in a hurry.’’ he says, clambering back to sit shot gun as they all pile aboard. ‘’Shut your smart ass mouth.’’ Rich says. ‘’You sound tired.’’ Michael replies. ‘’It’s like 3am, what did you expect?’’ Jake argues, settling into his seat and fighting the siren call of sleep himself, now that he’s not on his feet, on something soft, and in a relatively warm car. ‘’Nothing less to be honest.’’ Michael says, glancing in the rear view mirror to make sure they’ve all put their seat belts on. ‘’Seatbelt, Christine.’’ he reminds her. ‘’Oh yeah, sorry.’’ She says quickly, buckling in with the hand not holding the orb of lycanthropy. ‘’We’re good to go.’’ Michael says, turning to his left, reaching out a hand and shaking Jeremy awake. Jeremy stretches in his seat, blinking his eyes against the light of the car interior. ‘’Everyone aboard?’’ he asks. ‘’Yes.’’ a chorus of six voices fill his ears. He yawns once, rubs his eyes and places his hands on the wheel. ‘’Let’s go.’’ he says, turning the key. As soon as the car roars to life the speakers begin emitting a soft melody. Michael hums along from his seat, laptop open and lighting up his face. The blue reflecting on his glasses. ‘’Could you text Jenna and tell her we’re on our way?’’ Jeremy asks him, and Michael nods, pulling out his phone.

To: Jen No missing limbs, headed back now.

From: Jen I’ve got food

To: Jen Ur a real live angel

From: Jen U know damn well i’m not, nerd

To: JenHey! I am a Geek n u kno it

He gets no further response. ‘’Jenna’s got food.’’ he says out loud. Rich lets out a rather impressive snore. ‘’Fucking bless.’’ Jake says, eyes closed and head resting against the window. Brooke is asleep on Chloes shoulder, and Christine is cradling the orb in her hands, focusing on draining it into a more stable container.

It’s closer to 5am as Jeremy pulls the van into the parking lot of the motel they’ve been crashing at for the past week. ‘’We’re here!’’ he says loudly enough to rouse the rest of the passengers from their slumber. All except Rich. Jake shakes his shoulder. ‘’I’m awake, fucking stop.’’ Rich mumbles after the third shake, and Jake chuckles. ‘’Food.’’ he says, and then Rich is up and trying to get out of his seat before he’s removed the seatbelt. Everyone practically falls out of the car. Jeremy is the last one to hop out, locking the car behind him and trying to herd the small group of half dead people into the building. It’s not the first time he’s had to do this, and won’t be the last. Michael is clutching his laptop to his chest, Christine now has a vice grip on a small metal vial. Jeremy snuggles further into the huge hoodie he’s wearing, hunching his shoulders against the morning chill. The person behind the desk doesn’t look surprised to see them stumble in at 5:16 am, but then again this is what they’re been doing for the past four days or so. The novelty probably wore off. He pats himself on the back for getting rooms on the first floor as he pulls out the key card to one, opening the door and finding Jenna sat at the small table by the window, takeout boxes stacked like the most inviting thing he’s ever seen. She looks up form her phone, smiles at them. ‘’Dig in.’’ is all she has to say. They each grab a random container, switching and sampling from each other as the contents of each are revealed. Jeremy has grabbed some sort of fried rice, and tucks in happily. He’s sitting on the floor, back against one of the slightly lumpy beds. Michael sits down next to him. His container is full of noodles and beef. Jeremy fiches out the first piece of carrot he spots, and Michael starts eating the pieces of bell pepper he sees in Jeremys dish. Brooke has taken the only other chair at the table, leaving Christine to also sit on the floor, while Chloe, Jake, and Rich sit on the beds. ‘’If you spill any in my bed I’m skinning you alive.’’ Jenna says to them, not even looking up from her phone as she eats her dumplings. Jake and Rich slow down a little, but what they’re currently doing can still be classified as inhaling their food. ‘’You leave the dude in the forest again?’’ Jenna asks Christine, who swallows her mouthful of soup before answering. ‘’Yeah, he’ll be safe inside the barrier until he wakes up, probably won’t have any memories of what happened either, he was turned recently so it let go of him pretty easily.’’ she says, then takes another huge gulp of soup. ‘’I think they’re headed further north, but I still can’t really pinpoint exactly where they’re going. If they’re going anywhere specific at all.’’ Jenna sighs, putting her phone down. ‘’If we keep following them we’ll catch up eventually, we’ve been getting closer and closer this past month or so.’’ Jeremy reasons, holding his container closer to Michael as he tries to find the rest of the bell pepper slices. ‘’The sooner we catch them the better. They’ve only been trouble from the start.’’ Chloe says from her perch on her bed, irritation clear in her voice. ‘’We still don’t know exactly who is in their group, they could have powerful witches on their side, or worse.’’ Brooke adds, gesturing with the wooden chopsticks. ‘’But we have you three.’’ Rich says, mouth stuffed with rice, gesturing to Brooke, Chloe, and Christine. ‘’We might be witches, and we might be powerful, but sometimes sheer number is enough to get the upper hand.’’ Christine tells him before throwing her head back and downing the rest of her soup. ‘’Still, I think our chances are pretty good, they haven’t been able to expand their group any further since we started following them.’’ Jeremy says, swallowing down the rest of his rice, grabbing his and Michaels empty containers to throw them out. He grabs Christines as he passes her as well. ‘’Not that we know of.’’ Jenna adds, ever the voice of reason. ‘’Yeah yeah, we’re gonna have to fight these guys eventually, and we can’t do that if we’re all sleep deprived. Bed time.’’ Michael says as he struggles to his feet. Jake and Rich get off of the bed they’re sitting on, throwing their containers in the trash as well as the boys head for the door. ‘’It’ll take us about five hours to get to the next town, and they’ve already got a head start, so we should leave not too long after noon.’’ Jenna tells Jeremy, who nods on his way out. ‘’Sleep well.’’ he tells the girls as he closes the door behind them. ‘’Have you got the keycard?’’ Jake asks him, and Jeremy nods, fishing around in the pocket of his hoodie. His hand closes around the smooth plastic surface, and he pulls it out and unlocked the door. ‘’Beeeeeeeed.’’ Rich sighs, pulling off items of clothing and dropping them on the floor as he beelines for his bed, falling face first into it in only his boxers. He shuffles around until he’s under the covers and is out cold before the others can scold him about his bad habits. Jake chuckles, heading for the bathroom himself. Jeremy takes the opportunity to pull off his hoodie and sports bra, slipping on an oversized t-shirt, ‘’I demand cuddles.’’ Michael says from behind him. He’s already gotten rid of his own hoodie and jeans, now wearing pajama pants with stars and a t-shirt with an alien head and the text ‘Humans Aren’t Real’. Jeremy cracks a smile. ‘’Sure.’’ he says. Michael takes off his glasses and climbs into the motel bed, clearly only meant for one person, and lifts the cover to indicate that Jeremy should climb in beside him. Jeremy quickly shucks his jeans, listening to the running water from the bathroom, and gets in. His legs tangle with Michaels immediately. Michaels arms pull him to his chest, and he snuggles in close. Michael kisses the top of his head, and murmurs into his hair, ‘’Love you Miah.’’ his breaths are coming slower, and Jeremy knows he’ll be asleep soon. He can feel that he won’t be awake for much longer himself. He feels warm and safe in Michaels embrace. ‘’Love you too Mikey.’’ he whispers, closes his eyes. The last thing he catches is the bathroom door opening, closing, the lights being turned off.

It’s ten past noon when the buzzing of a phone wakes him again. The sun is high in the sky, casting golden light in trough the grimy window of the motel. Jeremy is warm and cozy, wrapped up in the blanket and with his boyfriends limbs caging him in. The buzzing doesn’t stop. He sits up reluctantly, snatching the phone from the nightstand. Michael groans, burying his face in the pillow to get away from the light. Jeremy smiles down at him fondly.

From: Chrissy WAKEY WAKEY EGGS AND BAKEY

To: Chrissy It’s like noon breakfast time is long gone

From: Chrissy The sentiment still stands. R u guys awake?

To: Chrissy I am, I’ll wake the others Rendezvous in 30?

From: Chrissy Deal

He sighs, lamenting the fact that he won’t get any more sleep until they’re in the next shitty motel, and get out of bed. ‘’Jeremyyyyyyyyy.’’ Michael whines from the bed. ‘’Rise and shine, buttercup.’’ he replies, smirking as Michael just keeps groaning at the stupid nickname. ‘’Don’t wanna.’’ he says, once the groaning has run it’s course. ‘’We’ve got 30 minutes to pack and get to the front desk.’’ Jeremy informs him. That gets a reaction. ‘’Dibs on the shower!’’ Michael yells, already out of bed and running for the bathroom. ‘’Hey!’’ Jeremy yells, trying to beat him to it, but not making it that far. The door slams shut in his face, and he can hear Michael cackling behind the thin door. ‘’You ass.’’ Jeremy says, smiling. He heads back to the bed, lifting his duffle bag up from the floor so he can properly rifle trough it. ‘’Can you lovebirds keep it down?’’ Jake says from his bed, voice raspy from sleep. ‘’Nope.’’ Jeremy replies, with far too much cheer in his voice. Jake only grunts in reply, pulling th blanket over his head. ‘’We’ve gotta be out of here in 30, I suggest you get up.’’ Jeremy tells the Jake shaped lump under the blanket. He gets another groan, but Jake does get out of bed. Kinda. He sits up, puts his feet on the floor. Then just stares out into the empty room trough half lidded eyes. He kicks a leg out, knocking it into the bed next to his, coincidentally containing Rich. ‘’Dude. Wake up.’’ he says, and the Rich formed lump grumbles before lifting itself up. The blanket falls away to reveal a truly awful case of bedhead. Which is usually the case for Rich. ‘’Shower?’’ he asks. ‘’Michaels in the shower, I’ll wake you up once he gets out.’’ Jeremy says, and Rich collapses back down onto the mattress, burying his face as far into the pillow as it will go. He continues to pull out his toiletries and some clean clothes for the day. Jake finally stands up from the bed and starts collecting his own things from around the room. It’s impressively messy for only having been occupied for about 5 days. Jeremy notices the bandage on his arm. ‘’You okay?’’ he asks, and Jake glances down at where Jeremy is looking. ‘’Oh yeah, probably just a branch.’’ he says, shrugging. Jeremy raises an eyebrow at him. ‘’I’m fine! Seriously!’’ Jake insists, and Jeremy lets it go. ‘’Just let Brooke have a look at you later, okay?’’ he asks. Jake nods, lips quirking up into a smile. ‘’You worry too much.’’ Jake tells him. Jeremy scoffs. ‘’You worry too little. I have to balance it out.’’ he shoots back, causing Jake to laugh. ‘’Fair point.’’ he concedes. The sound of the shower stops. Jake heads over to Rich to nudge him awake again. ‘’Shower’s free.’’ he says, and Rich finally manages to drag himself out of bed. The bathroom door opens, revealing Michael in a towel, his pajamas under one arm. ‘’I forgot my glasses.’’ he says, and Jeremy snatches them from the bedside table. ‘’I’m holding them hostage!’’ he exclaims as Michael wanders over. Rich is quick to duck into the now vacant bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Jake goes back to packing his bag, ignoring them. ‘’Oh no, whatever shall I do?’’ Michael says, mock distress in his voice and a smile on his lips. Jeremys own eyes shine with mischief. ‘’Well I guess you’ll have to pay the price.’’ Jeremy says mater of factly, holding the glasses carefully behind his back. ‘’And that would be?’’ Michael asks, dragging the last word out slightly. ‘’Just kiss me already.’’ Jeremy says, laughter in his voice. ‘’I can do that.’’ Michael agrees, leaning in and planting a soft kiss on Jeremys lips. His skin is still slightly damp from the shower, and his hair is kinda wet, and getting Jeremys forehead wet. Not that he minds. Jeremy unfolds the glasses behind his back, and as Michael pulls back he brings them around and plants them gently on his boyfriends face. ‘’I have to admit I prefer seeing your pretty face.’’ Michael says, grinning. Jeremys entire face goes red. ‘’Shut the fuck up.’’ he replies, but can’t fight down his smile. He ruffles Michaels slightly wet hair, sending water droplets everywhere, before starting to pack his own belongings into his duffel bag.

It’s 28 minutes later as the guys make their way to the front desk with their luggage. The girls are already waiting for them. ‘’I already paid so we can just go.’’ Chloe informs them, and together they head out to the van. The various bags are thrown into the back, and then they all pile into the seats. Michael takes shot gun as per usual, and Jeremy situates himself behind the wheel. ‘’Can we listen to Les Mis?’’ Christine asks, and Michael is quick to find the album on the iPod permanently plugged into the car. ‘’We’ll listen trough it once, and then someone else gets to pick.’’ Michael decides, selecting ‘Look Down’. The dramatic opening music isn’t really appropriate for the sleepy mood in the car, but by the time ‘Red and Black’ rolls around they’re all singing along. ‘’If I ever get the chance to see it again I’d die of happiness.’’ Christine admits, looking out of the car window at the trees passing by. The road is quiet, surrounded by gorgeous nature. ‘’We should totally do that next time we’re in New York.’’ Jeremy agrees, glancing at Christine in the rearview mirror. ‘’That would be awesome.’’ Brooke chimes in from her seat. Jeremy smiles to himself as he watches the road. It’s nice, talking about doing normal stuff like this. Like they can be normal people in a normal world enjoying normal things. Something huge and dark leaps into the road and Jeremy swerves to the right, missing it by a hairs breadth. ‘’What the fuck was that?’’ he yells, trying to get a look at it in the mirror. Jake and Rich are staring out the back, trying to get a glimpse of it as well. ‘’I don’t know but it’s following us!’’ Jake shouts. Jeremy steps on the gas. The small road is full of curves and uneven terrain, and the van wasn’t exactly built for high speed chases, but he can make due. ‘’It’s a werewolf!’’ Rich shouts next. ‘’Is it an ambush?’’ Christine questions. ‘’It probably is.’’ Jenna answers. ‘’Whatever it is we have to loose this thing somehow.’’ Michael nearly yells, frantic and nearing panic. Jake pulls out his gun, the one loaded with silver bullets laced with wolfsbane. ‘’I’m gonna open the back, hold onto your hats.’’ he warns, and then he throws open the back door. The sonds of heavy paws on asphalt is like thunder. Jake takes aim. ‘’Turn!’’ Jeremy warns as a sharp turn comes up, Jake holds off on the shot until the van is stable again. This time, he aims and fires rapidly. The bullet catches the werewolf in the shoulder, but it doesn’t really slow down. He fires off another, and catches it in the leg. This definitely makes it slow down. But so does the van. He turns around, question on the tip of his tongue, and then he spots the roadblock. ‘’Shit.’’ he says instead. Jeremy stops the car completely. Jake slams the backdoor shut. There are four cars blocking the road, and about ten people standing around, some of them have guns, and they’re all aimed right at the van. One man steps away from the blockade, walking leisurely toward the van and coming to a halt only a couple of meters away. ‘’I just want to talk.’’ he says. His dark hair is slicked back, his smile is sharp like a knife, and his electric blue eyes strike Jeremy as nothing but untrustworthy. ‘’I’ll talk to him.’’ Jenna says, unbuckling her seatbelt. ‘’What? No, don’t go out there! It’s a trap!’’ Christine hisses. ‘’Of course it’s a trap, but what else are we supposed to do?’’ she hisses back. She opens the door, hops out and walks to the front of the van. She keeps a good distance between herself and the strange man. ‘’What do you want?’’ she asks him. He starts shaking his head. ‘’No, no. I fear you’ve misunderstood me. I want all of you out here. I know there are eight of you little menaces. You must be Jenna Roland, correct?’’ he asks her, and Jenna keeps her cool, only nods once, stiffly. Poker face never slipping. Something cols has taken a hold of Jermeys insides, however. He glances to Michael, who nods once. He looks in the rearview mirror and gets the same response from the rest. They unbuckle their seatbelt and get out of the van. Jake and Rich go to the front, flanking Jenna on either side. Christine and Michael stand on the left side not too far behind, and Brooke and Chloe do the same on the right. Jeremy sticks close to the drivers side door, almost hiding behind the side mirror. The man smiles. ‘’You kids have been a thorn in my side for quite some time now.’’ he says. ‘’Oh my god, are you seriously gonna bad guy monologue at us right now?’’ Michael snaps. ‘’Excuse me?’’ the man says, raising one dark eyebrow. ‘’Like, we know we’re annoying you, that’s kinda part of the whole thing, and we know you’re a bad guy and we really don’t care about your motive or whatever. You’re running around turning people against their wills and murdering a lot of innocent people!’’ Chloe says, all the while looking rather unimpressed. The mans face controls into quite the impressive scowl. ‘’Kids nowadays. Can’t appreciate a good motive.’’ he mutters mostly to himself. ‘’Motive means jack shit, you’re an asshole either way.’’ Rich says loudly, arms crossed and stance confident. ‘’Fine, I’ll skip my,’’ his face morphs into a look of disgust, ‘’Bad guy monologue, as you so eloquently put it, and skip right to the part where I order my people to kill you.’’ he smiles, a chill runs down their spines. ‘’Sound good?’’ he asks them, raising one gloved hand into the air and snapping his fingers. The sound is deafening in the quiet that had defended upon the small road. The people scattered around the blockade aim their guns at them, and from behind them they can hear the growl of an injured werewolf. Jake and Rich draw their own guns. The man has turned around and is walking walking back to the relative safety of the roadblock. ‘’SKJALDBORG.’’ Christine commands, arms outstretched and eyes glowing. The guns starts firing as the barrier rises above them. It’s not enough to cover the van, and the tires are quickly pierced from the side. ‘’The forest!’’ Jeremy shouts. Brooke and Chloe start throwing offensive spells, hitting a few people with blasts of ice and fire and other various unpleasant things, Jake and Rich are holding off the werewolf with a shower of silver bullets, but they won’t last forever. The few witches on the other side start throwing their own spells, and while they deflect against the barrier, it does tear away at it. ‘’Hurry!’’ Christine shouts, trying to move them as a group closer to the forests edge. Rich runs out of bullets before Jake, so he pulls out a knife coated in distilled wolfsbane and lunges. ‘’Rich!’’ Jake shouts, diving in after him to fight close range. ‘’Wait-‘’ Jeremy starts to shout but Jake cuts him off, ‘’Keep going!’’ and go they do. They break into a run, Christine, Brooke, and Chloe throwing spells over their shoulders as they sprint for the trees, weaving between trunks in unpredictable patterns. Michael and Jeremy stick close together, and soon the sound of people pursuing them drowns out the sound of spells being cast. ‘’We need to split.’’ Michael yells, trying to not be too loud. Jeremy turns desperate eyes on him. ‘’No.’’ he pleads, and he knows it’s a bad idea to stick together. Knows it’s more likely they’ll be caught, but he can’t bring himself to leave Michael. ‘’You need to get out of here. You know that.’’ Michael says, pulling a couple of throwing knives out of his hoodie. Jeremy can feel his ribs ache, feels the tears threaten to spill over. ‘’Stay safe.’’ Jeremy says, meaning I love you. ‘’You too.’’ Michael says, meaning I love you. Michael takes a sharp left, and Jeremy keep going straight ahead. He lets the first swallow him.

‘’Seven. I have seven annoying little brats. There are supposed to be eight!’’ the man, Sebastian, yells at his underlings. Or, what remains of his underlings, as Michael is happy to notice. They all look rather roughed up, and he’s pretty sure there are fewer than when he last saw them. The guy with a firm hold of the back of his hoodie shoves him to the ground next to Chrisitne, and with his hands tied behind his back he can’t really break the fall. He manages to turn around slightly, landing on his should instead of on his face, which he guesses his glasses appreciate. ‘’Jeremy?’’ Christine asks him in a whisper, and he gives a slight nod, a pleased curve of the lips. her shoulders sink slightly, and she breathes a little easier. ‘’Find the last one or I’ll personally gut you.’’ Sebastian tells the underling in his grasp, before letting him go. The guy stumbles slightly, before scrambling off further into the forest. Sebastian turns to them. ‘’What a pathetic move, trying to save the weakest one. I’ll bring him here and kill him while you all watch, teach you a fucking lesson before you all die.’’ he mutters. Michael has to fight to keep his mouth shut, and pleased to find similar outraged looks on his friends faces. Three goons run off deeper into the forest at the sound of someone yelling. Sebastian rubs his temples. ‘’Im surrounded by incompetence.’’ he grumbles, but his head whips up again as the previous yell is replaced with another. And another. And another. ‘’You.’’ he says, pointing at three other goons. ‘’Go figure out what the fuck is going on.’’ he snaps. They salute him briefly, before jogging iff in the same direction as the previous three. ‘’And will someone find my god damned werewolf!’’ he shouts. Two other goons run off in the direction where Jake and Rich had been hauled in from. The two boys snicker as they watch them go. ‘’And what, exactly, is so fucking funny?’’ Sebastian asks, leaning down slightly to get closer to their faces, most likely as an intimidation tactic. ‘’Oh nothing.’’ Rich says. ‘’It’s just that all they’ll find is a rug that used to be a werewolf.’’ Jake finishes. If his hands were free he would totally high five Rich, but the look that passes between them certainly conveys it enough for Sebastian to let out a shout of outrage. ‘’You fucking-‘’ he cuts himself off. Straightens up and takes a deep breath. ‘’Just you wait.’’ he says menacingly. There are only two other guys left with them now, the forest otherwise eerily quiet. The trees creak and groan, bending to the will of a wind that doesn't exist. The canopies cluster together, blocking out the sun and casting the forest floor into darkness. A twig snaps off in the distance. ‘’Let my friends go.’’ a voice says from the other direction. It’s quiet, and soft, but heard easily in the unnatural stillness. ‘’Who the fuck do you think you are, huh?’’ Sebastian says, aiming for unaffected, but his voice shakes slightly. ‘’Word of advice,’’ the voice answers, from a different direction now, coming from the shadows between the trees. Echoing in a space where there really should be no echo. ‘’Don’t fight a creature on it’s home turf.’’ Jeremy says, standing right behind Sebastian. He whirls around, knife in his hand, but before he even has Jeremy fully in his vision, they boy is gone once again. Someone screams, and then there is only Sebastian and the lone henchman left in the dark forest. ‘’Boss?’’ the lady says, voice shaking. Sebastian makes to turn around to face her, but when he does he finds that he is alone. The forest around him seems endlessly dark, impossibly quiet. The sound of crows overhead sends a jolt trough him. ‘’What kind of fucking parlor trick is this?’’ he asks the trees, not expecting an answer. What he gets instead is a lanky boy, brown curly hair, freckles and blue eyes. Quite ordinary looking. He steps out from between the trees, out from the nothingness. With each step he takes he changes. There are horns growing out of his hair, his eyes glow green. With every step he takes he grows taller, less human shaped. Once he is only a couple of meters away he stops, the green eyes are staring down at Sebastian, piercing trough his soul. He can’t make out any features, only the silhouette of the terrifying creature before him. ‘’You should have left my friends alone.’’ a voice says from all around him, creaking like the trees, cawing like the crows, growling like the wolves, howling like the wind. Sebastian panics. He lunges forward, knife raised. He hits nothing. The silhouette is gone. He looks up, finds the glowing green eyes still staring down at him. ‘’You’re never getting out of here alive.’’ he hears, and then the green eyes close, and he is alone once more, for the final time.

‘’Are you guys okay?’’ Jeremy asks, walking up to his friends where they sit tied up on the forest floor. ‘’Duh.’’ Rich says, smirking. His lip is split and he has the beginnings of a black eye, but he’s still smirking. Jeremy sighs and pulls out his swiss knife to cut them loose. ‘’You went all out on those guys, huh?’’ Christine muses, rubbing her newly freed wrists. Jeremy moves on to Michael. ‘’Well, they hurt you guys.’’ he says simply, and his voice is his own, but carries the undertone of something much more ancient. It’s enough to send a slight chill down her back. Michael flings his arms around Jeremys neck as soon as he’s free. Christine takes it upon herself to free the others. ‘’You’re okay though, right?’’ Michael asks him, head buried in his neck. ‘’Yeah, I am. You?’’ Jeremy asks him back, winding his arms around Michael, kissing the side of his head. ‘’Yeah.’’ Michael says. Christine frees Jake and Rich, and the three of them has Chloe, Brooke, and Jenna untied in no time. Jeremy pulls Michel to his feet. ‘’Any idea where our van is?’’ Jenna asks Jeremy, who points out to their left. The road is visible trough the trees, all the cars and then van still standing right where they left them. ‘’Damn.’’ she whispers. Jeremy leads them out, a clear path from their former place of capture straight to their van. ‘’Can you fix the wheels?’’ Jake asks Brooke. ‘’Well, they’re not organic tissue per se, but I’m pretty sure I can manage.’’ she says, smiling. ‘’I’m gonna move the other cars.’’ Rich says., wandering over. ‘’I’ll help.’’ Jake offers, following after him. Michael watches them go, watches Brooke get into position to close up the gashes in the tires, he grabs Jeremys hand. ‘’Are you sure you’re okay? I know you don’t like being involved with this.’’ he says. Jeremy turns his gaze on Michael. ‘’When you befriended me, you made a pact.’’ he replies, reaching a hand up and touching the gold chain around his neck. Michael follows the movement with his eyes. ‘’If we set you free, would you leave?’’ he asks, still staring at the gold chain. Jeremy smiles. ‘’No, I don’t think I would.’’ he answers, truthfully. ‘’Good.’’ Michael says, leaning down to kiss him. Jeremy lifts himself up n his toes a little to bring him closer. ‘’We’re ready to keep going.’’ Christine says. The others have piled into the van already. Christine climbs in. Michael goes around to the other side and Jeremy hops in on the drivers side. He adjusts the rearview mirror, turning to look back at his friends. ‘’Where to now?’’ he asks. ‘’New York?’’ Brooke suggest. ‘’Broadway!’’ Christine shouts enthusiastically. The others in the back nod, smiling. Jeremy turns to Michael, who smiles and reaches out to grab his hand. ‘’New York it is.’’ Jeremy says, turning the key.