The next day, the Sexy Car Wash fundraiser arrived. Kevin drove his car over to the event, partly to contribute to the fundraising effort.
"No friends-and-family discounts, no freebies, and no IOUs! We're not running a charity here!" Kevin, having parked his car, walked over to the donation/payment station just in time to hear Caroline giving Elena instructions.
"No, absolutely not," Elena affirmed to Caroline.
"Hey!" Stefan happened to come over to find Elena just then, greeting them.
"Hi!" The moment Elena heard Stefan's voice, she stood up, and the two of them locked eyes, full of affection.
Caroline, however, didn't react nearly as well. She practically jumped up as if from a stress response and even took a step back. If she hadn't found out yesterday that Stefan was a vampire, she'd probably be teasing them right now about their outfits being too conservative and not fitting the "sexy" theme.
"Hey, babe, don't be scared. I'm here," Kevin said, noticing Caroline's unease. He immediately went over, put his arm around her shoulder, and whispered in her ear.
"Alright, you two, do you even know what today's theme is? By the way, Stefan, there's something I need to tell you," Kevin said, patting Caroline's shoulder and then addressing Stefan.
"I'll just step away for a moment; I'll be right back," Stefan said to Elena, clearly reluctant to leave her side.
"Kevin, what's wrong?" Stefan asked, following Kevin to a less crowded area.
"I have some bad news for you. Caroline knows everything. I couldn't fool her, and I don't want to compel her," Kevin said directly to Stefan, after checking that no one was nearby.
"I've asked her to keep it a secret, and she won't tell Elena anytime soon. But I'm afraid that over time, she might accidentally let it slip. And frankly, after I came clean with Caroline yesterday, her perspective has influenced me too. After all, they're not immortal like us. You might be able to hide it for five or ten years, but can you hide it forever?" Kevin continued, seeing Stefan looking somewhat stunned.
"I feel it's best to be honest as soon as possible. I'm also trying to think of other ways to see if they can achieve long life. Mainly because, as you know, becoming a vampire is definitely not a good solution. You should think about it carefully. Caroline found out yesterday and is still considering whether to break up with me over this. And that's with me telling her early on. If this dragged on until we were actually talking about marriage, the damage to them would be even greater," Kevin said, patting the shoulder of a frowning Stefan, then ran back to Caroline's side to be all lovey-dovey.
"What did Stefan say?" Caroline asked. She knew she wasn't good at keeping secrets, and right now, she desperately wanted to discuss the Kevin situation with someone. The best candidates were her two best friends: one was a witch, and the other was dating a vampire. However, since this matter had to be kept secret for now, Caroline was feeling incredibly stifled.
"He's still struggling with it. After all, his situation is different from mine. Give him some time," Kevin told Caroline.
Kevin's goal for today was to stick to Caroline like glue. After all, they weren't completely broken up; spending more time together could only help deepen their relationship. Suddenly, Kevin saw a car start to catch fire, and Bonnie was standing right in front of it, with a line of fire seemingly connecting her to the vehicle.
"See? I told you Bonnie was really a witch," Kevin said to Caroline before rushing over.
"Bonnie! Bonnie, wake up!" Kevin ran to Bonnie's side, shaking her gently, trying to rouse her.
"What just happened?" Bonnie asked as she came to, the fire vanishing instantly. However, she clearly had no idea what had occurred.
"You seemed a bit out of it just now. You almost burned that car to a crisp," Kevin said, nodding towards the vehicle.
"Did I really do that? No one saw, right?" Bonnie asked, clearly frightened.
"Yeah, that's right," Kevin nodded.
"Don't tell anyone, please," Bonnie pleaded with Kevin.
"It's okay, Bonnie. Have you forgotten I can do magic too? I suggested last time that you talk to your Grams. This looks like you've just awakened your powers and aren't familiar with using them yet," Kevin said, patting Bonnie's shoulder comfortingly.
Bonnie nodded at Kevin, then hurried away, presumably to find her grandmother.
"It's alright. She's probably just newly awakened, with no guidance on how to control her powers," Kevin said upon returning to Caroline's side.
Kevin and Caroline spent the day together, then eventually went their separate ways home. However, just as Kevin got to his room and lay down, bad news arrived from Stefan.
"Kevin, Damon escaped! Zach and Sarah are dead! You need to come over, quickly!" Stefan said hurriedly the moment Kevin answered the phone.
"Okay, I'm on my way," Kevin replied. With the Rabbit Talisman's enhancement, his running speed was much faster than driving. He arrived at Stefan's house in no time.
"What's the situation?" Kevin asked as soon as he entered Stefan's house and saw the bodies of Zach and Sarah lying in the main hall.
"Hello?" Before Stefan could answer Kevin, his phone rang. It was an unknown number, and he put it on speakerphone.
"I want my ring and my necklace," Damon's voice crackled through the phone.
"Where are you?" Stefan asked directly.
"I'm by a fire, just had a little buffet. Now, where are my things?" Damon's voice was clearly audible, slurring slightly as if he was drinking.
"They're not with me. Where are you? What have you done?" Stefan pressed.
"No, it should be, what have you done—" Damon was about to retort.
"Cut the crap, Damon! Either you get out of Mystic Falls right now, or if I find you, not even Stefan will be able to save you," Kevin interrupted, knowing Stefan wouldn't get anywhere by asking.
"Oh, Kevin, you're there too? I knew from that party that you guys were planning to desiccate me. If I hadn't set up a contingency and compelled Sarah to come open the door for me, I'd probably be a mummy by now. So, are you happy with the little gift I prepared for you?" Damon said, a hint of lingering fear in his voice. At the time, Damon had seen Kevin and the others go upstairs and had eavesdropped, learning of Kevin's plan. He had immediately compelled Sarah to rescue him five days later, as he knew it would take about a week to fully desiccate him, and if Sarah went missing after being compelled, they'd have to keep him alive, waiting for her return. However, Damon hadn't expected Kevin to be so dishonorable and just inject him with a full syringe. He'd barely managed to steal the necklace before Stefan confiscated it.
"Oh, by the way, a word of advice: don't cremate Sarah just yet. She is my real big gift to you. Alright, enough nonsense. Hurry up and give me my things, or my next stop is Elena's house," Damon threatened, all while a sickening crackling sound, as if he were burning a pile of his drugged-out victims, could be heard in the background.
"Did you turn Sarah?" Stefan guessed immediately upon hearing Damon's words.
"Turned? Do you vampires have to die once to be turned?" Kevin interjected.
"Stefan, my dear brother, always the clever one. Once Sarah wakes up tomorrow, feed her some human blood, and her transformation will be complete. If she doesn't drink human blood by the end of tomorrow, she'll die permanently. That's my gift to you, Kevin. Happy?" Damon taunted Kevin, still courting death.
"Alright, enough talk. Give me back my things, or it won't just be Elena; Caroline will be my next choice of destination. Do you really think you can stay by their sides forever?" Damon continued his threats.
"I've long been hoping for your demise. Don't give me more reasons to destroy you," Stefan said, trying to sound strong.
"Enough, Stefan. Go get his things," Kevin said, too tired to argue with Damon. "I need to go check on Caroline first. I'll come by tomorrow to see about Sarah. That's all for now." Although Damon had never been inside Caroline's house, the situation was still very dangerous, and Kevin needed to go watch over her.