"How long have I been here?" Damon asked, lying in the cellar prison, having just finished a blood bag.
"Not long. Less than half an hour, I'd say," Kevin replied casually.
"What do you want? Aren't you afraid for Sarah's safety anymore? And you, Stefan! You actually gave him vervain to use against me!" Damon said, addressing both Kevin and Stefan as he propped himself up against the wall.
"Why do you think you woke up so soon? You'd better tell us where Sarah is sooner rather than later if you want to suffer less," Kevin said to Damon.
"Don't even dream about it. If I tell you now, do I still have a chance of getting out?" Damon retorted stubbornly.
"If you tell us, you still have a chance to get out. If you don't... do you really think Stefan can stop me if I truly want to kill you?" Kevin threatened.
"In the medieval period, the actions of vampires gradually became exposed, bringing great threat to our entire race. They would face judgment and receive re-education, not punishment," Stefan said to Damon.
"So you plan to keep me locked in this basement forever?" Damon shot back at Stefan.
"I will inject you with enough vervain to keep you weak. As long as you are unable to feed on blood during this period, you will eventually weaken to the point where you can't move or speak. Within a week, your skin will desiccate, and you'll mummify, unable to harm anyone ever again. Once your bodily functions cease, I will move you to the family crypt. Fifty years from now, we will then reassess whether you should be released," Stefan stated his plan, partly as an explanation for Kevin.
"Your plan is quite something. Fifty years... wait until you've pretty much lived out a lifetime with Elena, then consider whether to let me out," Damon sneered.
"You should just tell us where Sarah is. Otherwise, you might not even make it fifty years. You know I don't want you dead, but I can't stop Kevin. Especially since you've provoked him repeatedly by mind-controlling his housekeeper and then showing up in front of him," Stefan said, not refuting Damon's taunt but continuing to persuade him.
"Sarah's fine. I sent her to do something for me. She should be back in about a week, I guess," Damon said, knowing it wouldn't be good to anger Kevin further. After all, Kevin had used lethal force when he'd beaten him up before, and now that Kevin knew about vervain, killing him would be even easier.
"You'd better not be lying to me. Otherwise, if Sarah isn't back in seven days, you can just wait for Stefan to collect your corpse," Kevin said, knowing further questioning wouldn't yield anything, and prepared to leave.
"Oh, by the way, Stefan, don't even think about letting Damon go. If Sarah isn't back in seven days and Damon isn't here, I won't kill you, but you can forget about keeping any secrets from Elena," Kevin said, turning his head to address Stefan before departing.
"Where are my ring and necklace?" Damon asked Stefan.
"You can forget about the ring; you won't be needing it anymore. As for this necklace... isn't this Katherine's? How did you get it?" Stefan asked, pulling out the necklace.
"If I said this was a love token between Katherine and me, would you believe it?" Damon said, relieved to see the necklace in Stefan's hands and becoming glib again.
"Forget it if you don't want to say. It doesn't matter anyway. You've only had one bag of animal blood; you can't get out. As long as Sarah returns safely in seven days, everything will be settled," Stefan said, pocketing the necklace, intending to bury it along with the ring at their family's old estate.
"Stefan, I'm stronger than you think," Damon said weakly to Stefan.
"You've always been stronger than I thought. But you're not stronger than vervain. We both know that much. I'm sorry, it didn't have to be this way," Stefan said, then turned and left.
"I'll give you a surprise, Stefan," Damon called out weakly to Stefan's retreating back, forcing himself to stay defiant.
--- Four Days Later ---
"Where's Caroline?" Bonnie asked Kevin.
"There, isn't that her?" Kevin gestured with his eyes for Bonnie to look to her right.
"Tomorrow is the Sexy Car Wash fundraiser! The football team and the band will all participate. Strictly speaking, not the whole band, only the super sexy ones. I want to see sexy on your faces! I mean, it is a fundraiser, people!" Caroline was busy instructing a group, seemingly not even seeing Kevin.
"Did you two have a fight?" Elena asked Kevin.
"Um, not really. It's just... there are some things I don't know how to tell her," Kevin said helplessly.
He didn't know if he was just a bad liar or if Caroline's intuition was ridiculously sharp, but over the past few days, Caroline had seen through several excuses Kevin had made up. This led to Caroline getting angrier and angrier, to the point where she was now pretending not to see him. It made Kevin seriously consider whether he should just tell Caroline the truth, but he was afraid her worldview would shatter, leaving him very conflicted.
"Hey!" Stefan walked over and greeted Elena.
"What are you doing at school?" Kevin asked Stefan directly, ignoring the strange atmosphere between Elena and Stefan, as this still concerned Sarah's safety.
"Things over there are mostly resolved. No major issues," Stefan told Kevin.
"Alright, you handle it then," Kevin said, knowing this wasn't the time or place for details. Since Stefan said there were no problems, he wouldn't press further.
"Um... I have to go. Need to be somewhere else," Bonnie said, making an excuse and leaving.
"Okay, well, I still need to go find Caroline. See you later," Kevin said, not wanting to delay them further, and ran off to find Caroline.
Unfortunately, given Kevin's eloquence (or lack thereof) and Caroline currently being preoccupied with planning the girls' outfits and the schedule for tomorrow's event, she completely ignored him. Kevin shamelessly hung around Caroline for a good while, but in the end, he had no choice but to leave. Kevin checked the time and, having nothing else to do, drove over to Stefan's house to check on things. After all, Stefan wasn't home, and he didn't know how Damon's desiccation was progressing; it was better to take a look.
"Unlock it! Open the lock, Zach!" Damon hissed, grabbing Zach by the throat.
"Tsk, tsk, what a sight to walk in on," Kevin muttered, then directly sped over and forcefully pried Damon's hand away.
"Damon, you really don't give up, do you? If I hadn't shown up just now, you might have actually escaped," Kevin said to Damon with a hint of mockery.
"I'm sorry. I didn't expect this to happen the moment I left today," Stefan said, rushing in at that moment.
"Forget it. Zach, try to stay away from this basement as much as possible. According to Stefan, Damon still needs about three more days to fully desiccate. Better to be careful," Kevin said, patting Zach comfortingly.
"So, how's it going? Made up with your little girlfriend yet?" Kevin asked, not blaming Stefan, as it wasn't entirely his fault.
"I was supposed to meet her at The Grill at four to explain things. Now I'm probably going to be late. I have to go," Stefan said, glancing at the time and rushing out.
"Then I'll be going too. Zach, stay safe," Kevin said to Zach and also headed home.
When Kevin drove up to his house, he noticed the lights were on upstairs. He parked the car and started walking towards his room upstairs.