"Control? Kevin, what are you talking about?" Sarah asked, completely stunned/dumbfounded, not understanding what Kevin meant.
"Right now, I have only two demands," Kevin said, ignoring Sarah and addressing the two brothers directly. "One, Damon, you remove your mental compulsion from Sarah. Two, Damon, you get the hell out of Mystic Falls. Because right now, I don't trust you at all. I just came to warn you at noon, and by evening, you pull something like this. You have zero credibility with me. And Stefan, in this matter, I can see you have absolutely no ability to control your brother, or perhaps you're just too busy being lovey-dovey with Elena to even care about what your brother is up to!"
"Maybe you should just leave," Stefan said to Damon, actually quite keen for him to go.
"No, no, no. I still have things to do in Mystic Falls. I'm not leaving," Damon retorted, turning to sit on the sofa with an air of utter indifference.
"You son of a bitch!" Hearing this, Kevin activated the Rabbit Talisman and shot towards Damon, kicking him off the sofa and into the wall, then proceeded to beat the crap out of him.
Stefan watched, knowing Damon had gone too far and Kevin was furious. Plus, since Kevin didn't know how to permanently kill a vampire, Stefan didn't intervene for the moment.
"What's going on?" Zach came out of his room to see Kevin with a knee pinning Damon's stomach, relentlessly hammering Damon's head with his fists.
"Damon compelled Kevin's housekeeper and then showed up in front of Kevin," Stefan explained, pulling Zach to one side.
"I know this much damage means nothing to you. Get up!" Kevin said, looking at Damon, who lay there like a dead dog. He then let go of Damon and walked over to Sarah.
"Come over here and fix her memory properly," Kevin said, pulling Sarah, then turned his head only to find Damon had vanished.
"Weren't you supposed to be watching him?!" Kevin snapped at Stefan.
Stefan was speechless; he hadn't expected Damon to just jump out the window the moment he got up, and it had all happened too fast for him to react.
"Fine, I guess it has to be you then," Kevin said, unable to do anything else but gesture for Stefan to come over and perform the mind control.
"My abilities might not be enough to modify..." Stefan began, looking troubled.
"I know. I'll remove Damon's compulsion first, then you can modify her memory," Kevin said, then used the Horse Talisman on Sarah. He not only removed the mental compulsion but also healed the bite marks on her.
"Monster~!" Sarah cried out, the Horse Talisman's healing restoring her fear of Damon the vampire. She grabbed Kevin's hand, her whole body trembling.
"It's okay, don't be afraid. It's over now," Kevin said, patting Sarah's hand reassuringly.
"What are you standing there愣着 (lèngzhe - dazed/frozen) for?" Kevin said to Stefan. After all, this guy's brother was the one who had harmed his friend; his tone wasn't going to be pleasant.
Stefan, knowing he was in the wrong, stepped forward, looked into Sarah's eyes, and began the mind control. He altered Sarah's memory to believe she had run into Damon earlier, who happened to be looking for Elena and the others. Since Damon's brother Stefan was also going, they had all gone together. Many details weren't perfect, but Stefan's current abilities were limited, so this was the best he could do.
"I hope your brother really does leave. The next time I see him, it won't be like this," Kevin said, turning his head to deliver this final remark before leading Sarah away.
"Ah, damn it!" Kevin slapped his forehead and sighed deeply. It was only when they reached the door that he remembered Caroline had driven his car away; he'd have to walk back. After a moment's thought, Kevin pulled Stefan out again and had him compel Sarah to fall asleep.
Kevin then activated the Rabbit Talisman, picked up Sarah directly, and carried her back to his home. When he arrived at the door, he saw his car parked there and knew Caroline was upstairs, though her room was dark. Kevin placed Sarah back in her room, then went to his own. Opening the door, he peeked inside and saw Caroline was already asleep, so he just slept in the spare room next door for the night.
The next morning when Kevin woke up, he found Caroline had already left. After eating breakfast, he went to school. There was some kind of game today, and Caroline had to organize the cheerleading squad, so she had probably left early. Kevin also knew he had likely neglected Caroline during the latter part of the previous day, so as soon as he got to school, he started looking for her.
When Kevin found Caroline, she was with the cheerleading squad, clapping out rhythms. Seeing Caroline ignore him, Kevin knew she was angry. He spent the entire day doing nothing but trying to coax Caroline, from morning till evening. Because Sarah and Damon had appeared together when Kevin was upset the day before, and then he had left with Stefan and the others, Caroline was certain he was hiding something from her and refused to relent.
Kevin didn't dare let up and stuck close to Caroline's side. When the game ended, Caroline went home by herself, telling Kevin to think carefully about whether he wanted to tell her the truth or not. One had to say, Caroline's intuition was indeed quite strong.
Kevin, feeling helpless, was preparing to go home when he saw police cars and went over. He learned that Mr. Tanner was dead. Kevin saw Bonnie nearby, crying, and went over to comfort her.
Bonnie told Kevin about her premonition. Since these were different kinds of powers, Kevin didn't understand much about it but advised Bonnie to talk to her grandmother if possible. Kevin understood that a seasoned witch would definitely know more about this world than he did; he himself was still largely in the dark, so he didn't say much more. Not long after, Kevin parted ways with Bonnie and drove directly to Stefan's house.
"Did you know Tanner is dead?" Kevin asked Stefan, his face calm.
"Yes, I know. Damon did it," Stefan replied.
"When? Were you there?" Kevin瞥 (piē - glanced/darted a look) at Stefan. Kevin was well aware that with him watching and wanting to expel Damon, and with Damon having no prior grudge against Tanner, it was unlikely Damon would specifically kill someone so close by where Kevin might find out; he'd basically be unable to escape. It was highly probable that Damon had killed Tanner on impulse during an argument with Stefan.
"I was there. I couldn't stop him," Stefan said, looking deeply ashamed.
"I just want to know why Tanner died. They had no feud, no reason for Damon to kill him. Crucially, I was at the game! If I had found out, with my speed, he couldn't have escaped! Why didn't you tell me?" Kevin interrogated Stefan.
"Because I thought he still had some humanity left. Tanner came looking for me, and Damon killed Tanner to prove he had no humanity left. I didn't expect him to do that either. I was afraid if I told you directly, you would kill him..." Stefan trailed off, his voice hoarse.
"So, what exactly are human lives in your eyes? Is humanity just your food? Stefan, you don't deserve any special consideration from me. Let me tell you, Damon is a dead man walking. The next time he appears before me, I won't let him get away again. I hope by then, you'll tell me how to kill a vampire, so at least he can suffer a little less," Kevin said, picking up an empty glass from the table and smashing it towards Stefan. Stefan didn't dodge. After speaking, Kevin turned and left.
The next day, Kevin didn't go straight to school. Instead, he went to a real estate agency and bought a small, two-room cabin outside of town. Then he went to school and continued to look for Caroline. That evening, he even stayed over at Caroline's house. Caroline also asked Kevin to wear a suit the next day to attend the Founder's Party together.
Unfortunately, although Kevin had figured out why Caroline was angry and had assured her that his relationship with Sarah was strictly employer-employee, and had even concocted a random excuse for leaving with Stefan and the others the day before, Kevin knew Caroline sensed he wasn't telling the whole truth. She still hadn't let go of her unease. Kevin genuinely didn't know how to explain this whole situation to Caroline. Was he supposed to say he was a transmigrator, that her best friend was dating a centuries-old vampire, and that his housekeeper had been mind-controlled by another vampire the day before?
The next day, Kevin accompanied Caroline to the Founder's Party. However, Kevin hadn't expected Damon to dare show up as well, and with Sarah in tow. Just as Caroline needed to go find her mother, Kevin went straight over to Damon.
"You've got a lot of nerve. Are you that confident you can escape from me?" Kevin said to Damon.
"Hey, Kevin," Stefan said, walking over as he saw Kevin staring intently at Damon.
"Your brother has been dancing on the edge of my patience several times now. What do you think you have to say? And what makes you think I have anything good to say to you?" Kevin said, not caring if Elena heard anything. Stefan's actions the day before had disappointed him too much for him to bother covering for Stefan now.
"Hey, Kevin..." Elena interjected, feeling Kevin was being a bit too harsh. Though, ultimately, their relationship wasn't that close; Kevin was even closer to Bonnie than to her.
"Elena, it's fine, just a joke. Can I borrow your boyfriend for a second?" Kevin glanced at Elena, then suddenly remembered the unresolved issue of Sarah.