Heartlines ▹ Elena Gilbert [1]

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Stefan would survive it. It would be a hard and long road, but his brother would make it to the end. He'd done it before. Damon just wasn't sure Rowan would survive it, too.

"There's a reason they call him the ripper," Damon continued, not bothering to mention that he was looking for another clue. Another sign that it wasn't just Stefan slaughtering people. It looked like Stefan's work, but Damon looked anyway. He had been telling Elena that it was Klaus killing everyone, but he knew the truth would come out eventually. He was dreading looking her in the eye and revealing that it was Stefan behind all of...this. More than that, though, he was dreading finding something that proved Rowan was part of it, too. Everyone had managed to convince themselves that Rowan had her hands clean. It was denial of the highest form, Damon knew that. That was why he was looking for a sign of Rowan's involvement while simultaneously praying he wouldn't find anything.

"Damon?" Alaric said. Damon shook his head.

"The term ripper existed before, but Stefan was the one who...immortalized it. He feeds so hard he blacks out, then he rips them apart—but then, when he's done, he feels remorse. It's the weirdest thing. He puts the bodies back together." Casually, Damon nudged the girl's shoulder. Her head tilted slightly, and then it was rolling off her shoulders and down her body, crashing onto the floor. Alaric winced, looking a little green, while Damon sighed and averted his eyes. It froze on something under the coffee table.

"Back together," Alaric muttered, sounding sick. Damon nodded even as he found a clean spot on the floor and knelt down. His hand disappeared beneath the coffee table. When he pulled it out, a tiny white stick was between his fingers, a half-finished red lollipop at the end. Around the stick was the imprint of bright red lipstick. Rising to his feet, he felt his stomach drop through the floor.

"Are lollipops Stefan's signature, too?" Alaric asked, sounding even sicker, and that was when Damon realized he'd been looking for signs of Rowan, too. Studying it, Damon shared a single glance with Alaric. They both knew what the lollipop meant.'1

Rowan always had loved the color red.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Rowan finished compelling the last human in the bar, then slumped on a stool and ordered a tequila shot. She would need it for what was going to happen next. Her hair was piled up on her head, revealing her neck, and her lips were painted red. She was dressed like she was on a date, but she was drinking alone, both stools beside her completely empty. It was all intentional. Apparently, Ray Sutton was drawn to women drinking alone at the bar. He fell for it hook, line, and sinker. He slid onto the stool beside her quickly, and Rowan didn't waste a single moment. She placed her chin on her hand and sent him a pretty smile.

"You look a little young to be drinkin' tequila," were the first words to come out of his mouth, and Rowan tried very hard not to let her smile turn cold. A muscle jumped in her cheek, and her jaw clenched. Still, she smiled.

"I guess I just have one of those faces," she dismissed smoothly, straightening from her slouch and turning her body toward Ray properly. "I'm gonna get carded for the rest of my life." Still smiling, she offered him her hand. "I'm Rowan." He quickly took her hand, never wanting to seem rude.

"Ray Sutton," he introduced, smiling at her. Rowan stopped shaking his hand, but didn't let go of it. In fact, her grip tightened. She tilted her head.

"Ray Sutton," she mused, her smile now gone. "We've been looking everywhere for you." Veins erupted beneath her eyes, which quickly turned black and filled with blood. She offered one last smile, just to show off her fangs, and suddenly Ray was yanking his hand back—or, at least, trying to. Rowan's grip was hard. She heard the fragile bones in his hand crack. She kept him there, not even budging as he tried to yank himself away, until Klaus appeared behind him. The second his hand curled around Ray's shoulder, she dropped his hand and motioned for another drink.