I Know You [On Hiatus Indefinitely]

Chapter 20

She woke up near a bridge, the bridge, and the feeling of déjà vu stuck with her as images flashed through her mind, the pain she felt, growing with each consecutive flash.

She was on her hands and knees, breathless and exhausted with every bone in her body weighing a ton. She grasped at the gravel on the side of the road unsuccessfully, waves of pain burning her insides, and her screams echoing past the empty road. She was reduced to a sobbing heap of mess with her throat raw, eyes red and filled to the brim and clothes tattered and dirty by the time the images stopped flashing. She knew that she was fading in and out consciousness and it was only a matter of time before she faded out completely.

Removing her cellphone from her pocket she texted Jeremy for help. He had welcomed her into his home, and she could only hope that the offer still stood. Next she called up Tyler. He had probably guessed that something was wrong when she hadn't turned up for dinner with him and would probably provide the money for her hospitalisation or at least come to her rescue.

But he didn't pick up the phone, so she sent him a quick text and let the phone fall from her grasp. As she lay on the dirt road, chest rising and falling rapidly, it hit her like a ton of bricks. She had been dead. She'd died. Damon had killed her, he had actually killed her. A sudden rush of anger and hatred, the sheer hostility of which left her in agonizing pain, made its way through her.

She hated him. She hated this. All of it. And yet here she was.

Had this changed anything? Was she still willing to help...him.

She couldn't even say his name out loud without bile rising up her throat. She wondered what had happened to Stefan and if he even cared. Did any of them care?

Sherry just lay there, her thoughts becoming bitter with each growing second and each taken breath, until her breath caught in her throat because Katherine. Katherine.

And this was just the beginning of the show. It got so much worse before it got even slightly better. Sherry hadn't even survived for more than two days, how could she possibly survive the next five seasons? She couldn't do this! She couldn't-

Panic attack. She was having a panic-freak-out-attack and the world was spinning around her, her vision was blurred and she was suffocating and- and-

Hands, firm and gentle and solid, wrapped around her, pulling her close. She felt warmth radiating from the body as the voice spoke in hushed whispers in her ear.

"It's okay. It's okay, I'm here. It's okay, Sherry, honestly. You're fine."

"Jeremy," she managed to croak out, her chest trembling as she tried to form coherent words and sentences. "Thank you."

"Shhh...shhh. Just calm down, okay? We'll take care of everything," he whispered softly.

We? Who was we? She could see a blurred form as it kneeled down next to Jeremy. "Is she going to be alright?" It asked him.

"I don't know," Jeremy snapped at him, and then spoke a little softer, "I don't know."

"Tyler," she gasped out, "Sorry."

"Hey," Tyler started to reach out, but then stopped midway as if rethinking his decision to do so, and then pulled back quickly. "Don't worry about it. You just take care of yourself."

Sherry whimpered as she felt a sort of numbness spread throughout her body. It started from the edge of her toes and slowly began climbing upwards. Her vision slowly deteriorated, all of the sounds and voices fading into silence as she slowly began drifting towards unconsciousness.