Chapter Text
‘’That looks nice.’’ Michael comments. Jeremy holds his hand out, inspecting his freshly painted nails. Adding a touch more of the black polish to the edge of the nail on his middle finger.
‘’Thanks.’’ he says, turning to smile at Michael. His teeth are perfectly straight, shiny white.
‘’Want me to paint yours too?’’ he asks, but Michael shakes his head.
‘’Maybe later, besides I still have most of the blue you painted on last time.’’ he says, showing off the mess of chipped and scraped polish still left on his nails. It’s a dark navy. Jeremy frowns.
‘’It’s almost all gone though.’’ he argues, and Michael smiles at him out of sheer fondness. The petulant whiny voice wraps around him from all angles, but he’s immune to it after years and years of hearing it.
‘’I need my hands to do my research though, sorry.’’ he says, not sounding sorry at all, the smile on his face betraying it as well. Jeremy sticks his tongue out at him. Michael giggles.
‘’Ask Brooke maybe?’’ he suggests, and Jeremy perks up immediately, hopping out of his seat and grabbing the small box of assorted beauty products he’s accumulated over the years. It’s mostly nail polish, a couple of lipsticks, black eyeliner, and a tube of holographic body glitter. Jeremys fascination with beauty products is an interesting and ongoing tale, but Michael just finds it adorable.
‘’Broooooooke.’’ Jeremy singsongs as he wanders off towards the small kitchen in the cabin they’re renting. Michael watches him go from the sofa, catches the flick of a tail in the corner of his eye as Jeremy rounds the corner. Michael opens up his laptop to start digging trough ancient files and mostly made up gibberish on the internet.
‘’Jeeeeeremyyyyyyy.’’ Brooke singsongs back at him from her seat at the kitchen bar. She’s reading her spell book and making a list of ingredients she needs to get a hold of before the next time they run into trouble. Jeremy hops onto the barstool next to her, the lights above them flicker for just a second. She smiles at him.
‘’What’s up?’’ she asks, and he shows off his freshly painted nails. Already dry and cracking just a little.
‘’Nice. Wanna do mine?’’ she asks, holding out her left hand. He nods eagerly, rummaging around in the box until he finds the pastel yellow she’d complimented last time. She hums her approval and he starts coating her nails with careful concentration. Brooke keeps reading, enjoying the quiet atmosphere. Jeremy starts humming a tune older than her yet very familiar, the sounds of a babbling brook sneaking into the sound of his breathing. She smiles to herself.
‘’Other hand.’’ Jeremy demands, voice whisper soft and closer than he should be. She switches out her left hand for her right, and keeps on reading. Jeremy keeps humming.
Michael thinks the others forget most of the time. Forget what, who, Jeremy really is. They’re fooled by the disguise. But it’s so easy to buy into. It’s so easy to look at their friend, his human form, soft curly hair, bright blue eyes, freckles and a smile that could rival the sun. And forget the shape of his true form. Horns, teeth, claws, hooves. Something almost human looking, but not. His home is the forest, first and foremost, but the gold chain around his neck ensure them that he will follow wherever they go. A promise he made, a promise he wants to keep. He loves them, and it shows. He is their last trick up their sleeves. The last line of defense, only brought out when all else fails. A last resort. Michael forgets most of the time that, though Jeremy isn’t entirely human, it doesn’t make him any less mortal than them. He seems above injury, above the threat of death. Untouchable, un-killable, a fearsome force to be reckoned with. Their failsafe.
Their flashlights catch on tree trunks and bushes, casting odd shadows further into the dark forest. Jakes flashlight illuminates a pair of eyes, reflecting the light back out of the darkness like two acid green lanterns. A shot rings trough the air. The howl is ear splitting, coming from every direction and tearing trough the forest with a vengeance. The trees bend, the wind roars, and from between the tress out from the darkness, Jeremy stumbles to the forest floor. The moss beneath him turns red at an alarming rate, and his arms are cradling his stomach.
‘’Jeremy!’’ Michel screams, panic taking over as he rushes forwards. Jeremys head raises up, meeting his gaze. His expression is pinched and he’s short of breath.
‘’M-Mikey.’’ he manages, voice strained. A if it pains him to even form the words. Michael crashes to his knees next to him, his trousers staining red, but there’s no time to think of that now. He doesn’t really want to think about that now.
‘’Shit. Shit shit shit. You’ll be okay, we just need to get-‘’ Michael starts rambling, but is cut off by a growl. From Jeremy. Only years of trust keeps him from pulling away at the feral sound.
‘’No, you- you need to run.’’ Jeremy grits out, teeth sharp and blood dripping from his lips. His eyes glow dimly in his pale face, illuminated by the flashlights as he is.
‘’We’re not leaving you here!’’ Michael protests, but there are sounds of shouting and branches breaking as someone tears a path trough the forest. In their direction. Rather rapidly.
‘’Run.’’ Jeremy says again, oddly echoing. Michael doesn’t listen, starts shifting Jeremys arm over his head and positioning himself to drag the other out of the forest if his legs won’t carry him. Jake runs over and gets Jeremys other arm over his own shoulder, helping Michael lift him up.
‘’Let’s go!’’ Jake yells, staring the trek back out to the road. To the car. To safety.
‘’Rich. You didn’t shoot.’’ Christine says softly, said boy frozen in place. His arms are still raised, gun pointed forwards. Hands shaking.
‘’I-I-‘’ he tries, but nothing coherent comes out. There might be tears gathering in his eyes.
‘’There’s no time, come on.’’ Christine says, grabbing his gun in one hand, his arm in the other. She turns them around and starts following the rest at a hurried pace. The sounds are closer now. And getting steadily closer. More shots, trying to catch them off guard. Jeremy growls once more, slowing down until Michael, Jake and him are at the back of the group.
‘’Jeremy please, come on.’’ Michael pleads, trying desperately to pull him along without hurting him. His ears are roaring and all he can think about is getting them to safety.
‘’They’re getting closer.’’ Jeremy says, voice gravelly and distant. Thee’s an odd gurgle at the back of his throat and the sound drives spikes trough Michaels chest.
‘’So we need to hurry.’’ Michael says, not looking at Jeremy, not looking at the blood. Not looking at how injure she is. Not hearing what he’s trying to say.
‘’You need to go.’’ Jeremy tries again, pushing weakly at Michael and Jake. Christine slows down where she’s dragging Rich along just in front of them. Eyes locking onto Jeremy.
‘’Guys, come on!’’ she urges, but Jeremy plants his feet in the ground, the moss swallowing his shoes and the forest surging in behind him. The branches reach for him, the wind pulls him back. The forest gives him strength. He pushes at them again.
‘’Go!’’ he bellows, and as they stumble just a step away from him the forest swallows him whole. There one moment gone in between the green and the dark the next. The sounds of approaching voices grow louder and louder. Michael freezes to the spot, eyes locked on a few drops of blood on the ground in front of him, static in his ears. His hands are cold. The voices are right next to them, only a few trees over. A twig snaps off to the right. A growl reverberates trough the air, rustling leaves and shaking the ground. It’s coming from everywhere. Loud and terrifying.
‘’Over there! I see it!’’ one of the pursuers yells, and then the footsteps are fading rapidly. Jake grabs his hand.
‘’Come on. He bought us some time.’’ but even he doesn’t sound so sure of himself. Michael lets himself be pulled along, as if in a daze. Jeremy is hurt, and alone, somewhere in this forest. They need to go find him. Now. He’s all alone. Jeremy doesn’t like being alone. He hates it. They need to-
‘’Michael!’’ Christine cuts off his spiraling thought process.
‘’Mikey please, they’ll kill us.’’ she says, voice verging on hysteric. He runs. It’s difficult to focus on the here and now. On running without tripping over roots and the like. Not that he would have anyway. The trees around them bend in an achingly familiar way. The thought makes him snap back to reality, and then he’s just running. They don’t pay attention to where they’re going, trusting the forest to lead them out. They are friends, promised safe passage. The sound of gunshots further into the dark almost make him pause, but Jakes hand in his keeps him grounded, keeps him going. The forest opens up onto the small road, and they barrel out only to almost crash right into their own car. They stop.They catch a glimpse. One quick glimpse in between the trees. One there-one-second-gone-the-next scene of Jeremy, pursuers hot on his heels. Chin and hands and chest covered in blood, sharp claws, sharper fangs, legs and arms abnormally long, back hunched. Towering horns. Eyes wild. Glowing. He growls like the wolves he used to run with. He growls like a predator. And then he’s gone. The forest is quiet and the night is eerily calm and quiet. The kind of silence that sets in right after something loud suddenly disappears. The absence of sound. It lays itself heavy over them all, like a blanket. It’s so thick Michael feels like he’s choking.