You Are My Life

What Do We Do Now?

"What happens now?" Mallorie stared down at Henry's body on the floor.

"We hope Ric finds something." Damon emptied the blood bags from the fridge.

"That's it?" Mallorie asked.

"There's nothing more we can do." Damon took a pull from the beer beside him.

"It seems like there should be." Mallorie crossed her arms.

"Find anything yet?" Damon asked as Alaric returned.

"No. I looked everywhere." Alaric sunk into a chair in the living room. "The place is...clean."

Damon walked in and handed him a beer. "Well, I found this behind the blood in the fridge."

"Man, this was a real dead-end." Alaric took a sip.

"I wouldn't beat myself up over it, man." Damon looked through the mail on one of the tables. "What did you think you were gonna find, huh? Isobel with a cigar and slippers?"

Alaric laughed. "Oh, man. I gotta stop this. I can't keep searching for her."

"Really?" Damon pulled up a chair. "After only two years? That's actually moderately healthy."

"What are you going on? One hundred forty-six?" Alaric asked with a grin.

Damon shrugged. "Well, I figure the two hundred mark is probably a good stopping point."

"I mean, no answer is enough." Alaric sighed. "I keep thinking I wanna know why, when, you know? The precise moment when my wife decided life with me wasn't enough."

"She charmed me, your wife, Isobel." Damon stared at the floor. "She talked a good game, man. She was smart. She had this excitement in her eyes. I probably should have known there was something different about her, some tie to Katherine. There had to be some reason I didn't kill her."

"That's enough, Damon." Alaric interrupted. "I don't wanna hear anymore. I just don't want to waste any more of my life. Searching for answers that I really don't want. I'm through with Isobel. I...I'm done with all of this. Yeah."

Alaric stood and exited. Damon and Mallorie watched him go. When he walked out, Mallorie's eyes fixed on Henry's body again.

"What do we do with him?" Mallorie asked.

Damon stood. "It's a little present for John Gilbert."

Mallorie looked into his eyes. There was a coldness in them. Damon was serious. Mallorie followed him to the car. No one talked on the way back. Mallorie couldn't help but fear she'd never get the look on Henry's face out of her head. He had been so scared. She hoped her last moments weren't like that.

"Ugh, God. You're still here?" Damon asked as they walked in.

Elena sat on the couch writing in her diary. "Were you expecting anything else?"

"No." Damon sank into the couch. "Ahh."

"How was your errand?" Elena asked. Mallorie stepped into the parlor, and Elena shrieked. "What happened?"'

Elena was by Mallorie's side before she could answer. "I'm fine, Elena."

"Did he do this to you?" Elena looked at her neck.

"It was a misunderstanding. I'll slap some makeup on it before school," Mallorie said as Elena pushed her head back to get a better look.

"I'm going to grab you some ice." Elena disappeared into the kitchen.

Mallorie sat on the couch beside Damon. She placed her feet on his lap. He patted her shins as she draped her head over the arm of the couch.

"I'm sorry about your neck." Damon played with the strings on her boots.