During the break after class, Kevin just chuckled when he heard Stefan say he used crossword puzzles for memorization. However, Kevin had no time to get involved in their little couple's conversation; he was in a hurry to find his own Caroline.
Kevin ran to their agreed meeting spot by the entrance, and after a bit of affectionate greeting, they went to the field together. Caroline still had cheerleading practice, so Kevin left first.
Today, Kevin didn't wander around. He drove straight to Damon's house—the Salvatore Boarding House. Not for any particular reason, just to scout things out; after all, he still knew too little about this world. For a vampire who had lived at least several decades, if not centuries, prying some information out of him could be very useful.
"Damon, you home?" Kevin called out, knocking on Damon's front door.
"What do you want?" Damon opened the door, glanced at Kevin, then turned and walked back inside.
"Just came to see if you were throwing a party at home. If I happened to find any party girls with suspicious marks on them, I could conveniently fulfill my promise from last night," Kevin said, unbothered, following Damon right in.
"What exactly are you? Your speed yesterday was more like a vampire's, but you're clearly not one. So, can you tell me what you are?" Damon asked, sitting on the sofa and looking at Kevin with a hint of bewilderment. (Author's Note: In this show, vampires cannot enter a home inhabited by living humans for the first time unless invited by the owner.)
"Of course, I'm human. Though, this current ability of mine does seem a bit like you vampires," Kevin said, then picked up the silver knife he carried and slashed his palm. Before Kevin could even put the knife away, the palm-sized gash had already vanished. It didn't hurt Kevin anyway, so a little demonstration wouldn't hurt; otherwise, Damon was probably already scheming how to kill him.
"Human? With that ability, I wouldn't believe you're human even if you told me. Some witches can use magic, sure, but you look more like a supernatural creature similar to us. After all, we were originally transformed from humans. Bourbon, okay?" Damon said, offering Kevin a glass of alcohol.
"Magic? Who said I can't do magic? Another one," Kevin downed the contents of the glass in one gulp, then slammed the empty glass onto the table, shattering it into several large pieces. Kevin picked up the fragments and, using the Horse Talisman, instantly repaired the glass, then gestured for Damon to pour him another. (Author's Note: It's not that Kevin didn't want to be more impressive by crushing the glass in his hand, but he couldn't do that yet; a normal person's strength isn't enough to crush such a thick glass barehanded. Also, one of the Horse Talisman's functions is to repair broken things, which was shown several times in Jackie Chan Adventures.)
"Quite an impressive ability," Damon remarked, taking the glass and turning to pour more bourbon, feigning nonchalance.
"So, what exactly are you?" Damon asked, handing the glass back to Kevin.
"Human. Didn't I tell you? You know, my homeland is China, with thousands of years of culture. Even if I explained, would you understand?" Kevin said. Although he knew the source of his abilities and didn't believe Damon could threaten him, he had no intention of explaining.
"All I know right now is that, for various reasons, your life is only temporarily spared. If you push your luck again, I definitely have ways to kill you. So, don't act recklessly," Kevin said, placing the empty glass firmly on the table.
"Kevin?" Stefan had just returned home and was quite surprised to see Kevin there.
"Oh, Stefan's back," Kevin said, turning to greet him.
"Don't be surprised. I just came over to check things out and give your brother a little reminder," Kevin said casually.
"Zach? You're home too?" Just as he was about to speak, he saw Zach coming out of a room.
"Yes. And this is?" Zach had actually been watching from his room for a short while. Hearing how Stefan addressed Kevin without any pretense, he understood there was no need to act like Stefan and Damon's uncle anymore.
"He's my classmate," Stefan explained to Zach, then also walked over and sat on the sofa.
"Huh? You're actually human? Are they controlling you?" Kevin asked, standing up and walking towards Zach.
"No, there are no traces of mind control on you," Kevin said, reaching Zach and placing a hand on his shoulder, attempting to use the Horse Talisman to dispel any potential mind control.
Previously, Kevin knew that the Horse Talisman, by its design, could dispel magic, but he hadn't had a subject to test it on. The chance of finding a human under mind control in a vampire's house was almost one hundred percent, so it was a perfect opportunity. He was surprised to find Zach wasn't being controlled.
"Zach is our family. He knows we're vampires," Stefan explained from the side.
"Then you must also know about Damon killing people, right? As a human, you just watch your family kill like that? Never mind, you're an ordinary person. Even if you wanted to stop them, you couldn't," Kevin said, first sizing Zach up with a dangerous look, then realizing that even if Zach wanted to intervene, he wouldn't be able to. Not to mention whether he could win a fight, Damon could just use mind control to make him kill himself, and Zach would be powerless.
"Alright, I have to go home and change. I have dinner at Elena's tonight. Stefan, you'll be there too, right?" Kevin said, looking at a text message Caroline had sent him. It said that since two out of the three besties were now in relationships, and Bonnie didn't have a great impression of Stefan, they were having dinner together so Elena could help Bonnie get to know Stefan better.
"Stefan, I suggest you be on your best behavior tonight; it's their 'besties' summit.' But I'm curious, did you specifically come to this school for Elena? Otherwise, why would a hundred-year-old like you bother with high school? I've seen you struggling to control your bloodlust several times; school isn't a good place for you. Alright, see you tonight," Kevin said, walking towards the door.
After leaving, Kevin first went home but didn't see Sarah; she had probably gone out. The kitchen was empty too. Her not being there was one thing, but lunch not being made was not ideal. So, Kevin had to go out to eat again before returning home to change. He still hadn't seen Sarah when he left again. He initially thought of asking her about it but figured everyone has emergencies once or twice. If she wasn't there next time, he'd talk to her then.
Kevin then went out to pick up Caroline, buy ingredients, and then head to Elena's house. Because they were cooking themselves today, and considering Kevin's appetite, they needed to prepare enough dinner for seven or eight people, so they arrived at Elena's quite early.
After entering the house, Caroline and the others shooed Kevin into the living room to wait while the three of them went into the kitchen to prepare dinner. Normally, Caroline wasn't the type to step into a kitchen, but since Kevin ate as much as all three of them combined, she felt a bit bad letting Elena and Bonnie do all the work.
"You have to explain this! Last night, I was watching Channel 90, and an ad came on. I immediately thought it must be one of those phone commercials, and then it really was a boy and a girl sitting on a bench, he flies to Paris and then flies back, and they take a picture..." Bonnie was earnestly telling Elena and Caroline.
"Please, that commercial plays on a loop all the time," Elena said, clearly skeptical.
"Yeah, I've seen that ad a lot too," Caroline added, also doubtful.
"Okay, fine. Then how do you explain this? Today, I was stuck on math. And I kept seeing these numbers: 8, 14, 22. Creepy enough, right?" Bonnie continued, recounting another unexplainable event.
"Maybe we should go buy a lottery ticket," Elena said, still unconvinced and joking.
"Maybe we really should try tomorrow," Caroline chimed in, clearly not believing it either but intrigued enough to consider trying their luck.