"Did you tell your Grams?" Elena asked, knowing that Bonnie's grandmother was the source of her knowledge about witches.
"She'd definitely say it's all because I'm a witch. I don't want to be some witch! Do you guys want to be?" Bonnie said with a sigh of resignation.
"I don't want to be a witch," Elena replied, tipping vegetables into a bowl.
"Actually, I think being a witch would be pretty cool, don't you?" Caroline offered a different opinion, though it was clear neither Bonnie nor Elena felt the same way.
"Yeah, I think being a witch is pretty cool too," Kevin said, appearing at the kitchen doorway. "Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop on your girl talk. I just came to see if you needed any help. And the front door was open; Stefan's here too, on the living room sofa," he explained to Bonnie and the others.
"Ah, it's okay. I'm almost done here," Elena said, speeding up her vegetable prep.
"Putting the food in pretty bowls won't make it taste any better, you know," Bonnie teased, watching Elena's movements.
"Alright, I need the large serving spoon. Where did the large serving spoon go?" Elena muttered, searching around.
"It's in the small drawer to your left," Bonnie said casually.
"No way! That's a bit too cool," Caroline exclaimed, as she was standing right there and saw Elena pull open the drawer to reveal the large serving spoon lying plainly inside.
"Okay, well, you've been in this kitchen countless times, so it's not that strange," Elena reasoned, finding a plausible explanation.
"Alright, let's just go with that," Bonnie said, accepting it with a sigh, as she found it hard to explain.
"Let's take the dishes out," Elena said, carrying a bowl out.
Caroline also took a dish. Seeing this, Kevin went in and carried out two dishes, one in each hand. Actually, for five people, Bonnie taking one more dish would have been enough. However, Kevin had a particularly large appetite and had a specially made portion, so he went back into the kitchen to get his own extra-large serving of food.
"Birthday candles," Bonnie mumbled to herself, then randomly pulled open a drawer.
"Actually, I do believe witches exist," Kevin said, happening to walk by and seeing the candles. He remembered what Damon had said at noon about witches and understood that Bonnie was likely just beginning to awaken her supernatural powers. "You know, I come from China, a country with thousands of years of history and culture. Many things there are also beyond the understanding and explanation of ordinary people, but one should always hold a sense of awe and respect for such supernatural matters. What's more, I've had my own experiences."
"Maybe you could go back and have a good talk with your grandmother," Kevin advised Bonnie, then picked up a fork and, just as he had demonstrated to Damon at noon, showed Bonnie his Horse Talisman's magical repair ability. After all, two vampires had already appeared in her vicinity. Since her powers were starting to awaken, she would inevitably come into contact with this world, so he might as well help her a bit. After speaking, Kevin carried his super-sized portion of food and walked out.
"Kevin, wait a second!" Bonnie exclaimed, looking at the fork in her hand, but by the time she looked up, Kevin had already reached the dining room.
"Kevin!" Bonnie followed him out.
Just as Bonnie was about to speak, Kevin shook his head and subtly gestured towards the others at the table. So, Bonnie had no choice but to sit back down in her seat, distractedly picking at her food.
Throughout the meal, Elena kept trying to ease the tension between Bonnie and Stefan, but Bonnie was hardly in the mood to care about that right now, so she ate absentmindedly and gave noncommittal replies until Elena, running out of topics, brought up the witch matter.
"Bonnie, tell us about the witch stuff," Elena said, then seeing Stefan look over in surprise, she quickly explained, "Bonnie's family has witch blood. It's so cool."
"I really don't think it's cool," Bonnie retorted, reacting as she normally would.
"Okay, but it must be interesting. I don't know much about witches. I only know there's some history about Celtic Druids who immigrated here in the 19th century," Stefan said, playing along and engaging with Bonnie.
"My family originates from Salem," Bonnie said, glancing at Kevin—who was busy flirting with Caroline and paid no mind—before turning to Stefan.
"Really? Salem witches?" Stefan said.
"Yeah," Bonnie replied with a forced smile.
"I actually think that's really cool," Stefan said to Elena, who smiled back in agreement.
"You do? Why?" Bonnie asked, surprised by Stefan's response.
"Salem witches were very heroic, believed in individualism, and dared to break with tradition," Stefan said, as if praising them.
"Yes, they certainly were," Bonnie said, clearly pleased by Stefan's compliments. Elena, seeing the two of them starting to connect, beamed.
Just then, the doorbell rang. Elena was a bit stunned to see Sarah and Damon at the door.
"Elena, long time no see," Sarah greeted Elena.
"Sarah! Long time no see!" Elena said happily, pulling Sarah into a hug.
"What are you doing here?" Stefan said directly to Damon.
"I'm waiting for Elena to invite me in," Damon said to Elena.
"All I care about is why Sarah is with you. Can you answer me that, Damon?" Kevin asked, looking at Damon. He also placed a hand on Sarah's shoulder and detected definite traces of mind control within her. He worried that directly using the Horse Talisman to dispel it might cause more trouble.
"We just hit it off. We were chatting, and it turns out Sarah was planning to visit some old friends. I happened to know you were all at Elena's, so we came over together," Damon said brazenly, clearly unafraid given the number of people present.
"So, Elena, can you invite me in?" Damon asked Elena.
"Oh, yes, of course, you can..." Elena was saying, about to invite him, when Stefan interrupted.
"Oh, no, no, wait! He can't... he can't stay, right Damon?" Stefan tried his best to stop Damon from entering, even speaking to Damon in a threatening tone.
"Just come in," Sarah (likely compelled) said, seeing the tension rising between the brothers.
"We're almost finished eating anyway," Stefan said dryly.
"It's okay, come on in," Elena said, letting Damon in after all.
"You have a beautiful home, Elena," Damon said, swaggering in and shooting a provocative look at Stefan.
Kevin, watching from the side, understood the situation. Vampires probably couldn't enter a house without an invitation from a resident. That's why Stefan had been trying so hard to prevent Damon from entering, to protect Elena. And Damon, likely to provoke Stefan, had insisted on coming into Elena's house.
However, Kevin wasn't concerned with these details right now. Just the fact that Damon had mind-controlled Sarah meant Kevin couldn't possibly let Damon run rampant in Mystic Falls.
But due to the immortal nature of vampires, Kevin hadn't yet found a definitive way to kill them. If he went all out, not only was there no guarantee he could kill them instantly, but if he truly pushed Stefan to the edge and they both fought back, Kevin feared he might not be able to stop both of them. And given Damon's personality, if he escaped, Kevin would probably have to guard Caroline constantly. Even then, he couldn't always watch over Sarah, Bonnie, and Elena. It was truly a troublesome situation.
"Sweetheart, are you okay?" Later in the evening, Kevin had been too preoccupied by this whole affair to participate in the gathering and was sitting alone on the sofa, thinking. Caroline noticed something was off and came over to ask.
"I'm fine, just a little tired," Kevin said, forcing a smile for Caroline. He couldn't explain this matter clearly to her.
Not long after, once things were tidied up, everyone started to leave. Because the issue with Sarah's mind control and Damon absolutely had to be addressed tonight, Kevin had Caroline drive Bonnie home in his car. Then, Kevin, Sarah, and the two Salvatore brothers went together to Stefan's house.
"Damon, you goddamn dog, you just can't stop eating shit, can you? You just have to keep courting death!" Kevin yelled, punching Damon squarely as he started cursing him out. Anyway, he was planning to alter Sarah's memory later, so he wasn't afraid of saying too much now.
"Kevin, calm down first," Stefan said, coming over to restrain Kevin.
"Me, calm down? Damon controlled Sarah today! Can you guarantee he won't control your little girlfriend Elena next time? I saw him enter Elena's house today, you know!" Kevin unleashed his frustration on Stefan as well.