You Are My Life

Hot on the Trail

~ Mallorie ~

Rage flowed through Mallorie as she started to look through all the documents Damon had in his room. Every single lead she had given to him, Damon had looked into. All the dead people were from Klaus. Mallorie could've gone with him to look into these cases. Maybe she would've noticed something.

"There you are," Elena said. "Caroline is demanding that you come down and eat some—"

"Damon's been lying." Mallorie didn't even look up.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Elena pushed the door shut.

Mallorie held the stack of papers up. "He's investigated every single lead. In fact, he's had Andie looking into every lead. Some of these deaths are connected."

"Why would Klaus be killing families?" Elena took some of the papers.

"I don't know, but I bet Damon does." Mallorie sat down on the bed. "I'm not leaving until he gets back."

Mallorie couldn't tell how much time had passed. Fury grew like a kindled fire within her as she waited for Damon to arrive. Elena poured over the documents. Mallorie didn't blame her. Stefan was the love of her life, and Damon had prevented her from finding him. If Mallorie had to, she'd cut his head off.

The door opened and Damon stepped in. As soon as he saw both of them, he leaned against the door. "What? What are you doing here?"

Mallorie grabbed a stack of the documents she had brought him. "Why didn't you tell us? Why did you keep it a secret?"

"Can we not do this right now?" Damon walked into the room. "I'm having a really bad night."

So, Andie broke up with him. Good for her. Mallorie set her jaw. "All summer, every single time I came to you with a lead, you made me feel like an idiot for having hope."

Damon's face hardened. "You were an idiot. We all were." He tried to move past her.

Mallorie placed a hand on his chest to stop him. "Tell me what you know, Damon."

Damon looked behind her. "I know you need to get back to your party, Elena." His eyes fixed on Mallorie. They almost looked tearful. "You should go, too, Mallorie." He slid past her.

When Mallorie turned, she almost collided with Elena. She hadn't realized Elena had come up behind her. Mallorie side-stepped her. "We're supposed to be in this together. Why didn't you tell me that you've been tracking Klaus' victims?"

Damon whipped around. "Because they're not Klaus' victims, Mallorie, they're Stefan's!"

Mallorie felt like she had been shot. Her heart sank into her stomach. She felt sick.

"What?" Elena asked.

"He's left a trail of body parts up and down the eastern seaboard." Damon waved his hand as he spoke.

"No, you're wrong." Elena shook her head.

Damon stepped toward her with anger smeared across his face. Mallorie stepped between them. Looking her up and down, Damon spoke. "I've seen it happen before. He's flipped the switch." Damon took the documents from Mallorie's hand. "Full-blown ripper."

"Stop it, Damon." Mallorie glared at him.

"No, you stop, Mallorie! Stop looking for him. Stop waiting for him to come home. Just stop!" Mallorie flinched at Damon's words. He looked over her shoulder at Elena. "Stefan is gone and he's not coming back. Not in your lifetime."

Elena ran from the room with tears in her eyes. Mallorie stayed planted where she was. Damon's intense eyes stared into hers for a long moment before slowly beginning to soften. His eyebrows furrowed as if he didn't understand what he'd just said. He opened his mouth but quickly closed it when no words came out.