"Mm-hmm, that's right," Elena first replied to Stefan, then pointed out the direction to Kevin. "Kevin, just follow that path straight down, and you'll reach the cemetery entrance."
Stefan helped Elena brush off a leaf that had gotten on her when she fell earlier, and Elena thanked him. Kevin, watching this slightly cringey, lovey-dovey display, felt a bit overwhelmed.
"Okay, thanks. I'll get going then, ha," Kevin said, just wanting to quickly get away from these two before he overdosed on their PDA and lost his appetite for actual food.
However, since he was still relatively close, Kevin didn't want to expose his powers, so he started down the hill at a normal person's pace. After walking for no more than two minutes, he saw Stefan sprinting down the mountain at full speed. Kevin's reaction time was much faster than Stefan's running speed, so he clearly noticed Stefan's eyes turning red, with bloodshot veins around them, and most notably, fangs protruding from his mouth.
'So, this is probably a vampire,' Kevin thought. With a mental command, he activated the Rabbit Talisman and dashed back towards Elena. Seeing that Elena was unharmed, merely looking at the scrape on her hand and searching for Stefan, Kevin turned and headed back down the mountain. It seemed Stefan had shown his vampire traits because he'd seen human blood. 'Do these vampires lose control at the sight of human blood? They really are quite dangerous creatures. So now I know vampires are fast, have some kind of mind control ability, can probably summon fog, and, unlike some legends, they aren't afraid of sunlight.'
'I wonder how many vampires there are, and if they have other abilities. Looks like I need to find a way to unlock the other Talismans quickly. Otherwise, I'm not even sure I can resist just the mind control.'
Kevin scratched his head, deciding to put those thoughts aside for now. He hadn't had a proper meal since arriving in this world. First things first, find a place for lunch.
Following the path downhill, Kevin found the cemetery entrance, got into his supercar, and followed the navigation to a restaurant. The meal was pretty good; at least with no shortage of money, the food, while not as delicious as back home in some ways, had excellent meat. And Kevin was a pure carnivore, someone who couldn't be happy without meat, so he was quite satisfied.
After lunch, Kevin returned to his house and, without much thought, indulged in the fine tradition of an afternoon siesta—though his nap stretched all the way until dusk. The first thing Kevin did upon waking was look for food, only to find his fridge completely empty; he'd forgotten to go grocery shopping in the afternoon. So, he had no choice but to drive out to a restaurant for dinner.
"Hi, Bonnie," Kevin said as he entered a still-open establishment, something like a cafe or a drink bar. It was a small town, after all. He saw Bonnie inside, talking to a boy. Kevin walked over and greeted her.
"Hi, Kevin. This is Matt," Bonnie said, introducing the boy beside her.
"Matt, this is Kevin. He's from Shenzhou and just transferred to our school today," Bonnie explained for Kevin.
"Hey, Matt," Kevin said, walking over to Matt and shaking his hand.
"Bonnie, is this seat taken? It just so happens I wanted to treat you for showing me the way earlier." The place was crowded at this hour, with no empty tables. He was hoping to share, since eating was the most important thing right now.
"Of course, please sit," Bonnie invited Kevin to join them.
As soon as Kevin sat down, he started ordering. A quick look at the menu showed not much he fancied; the place was more of a drink bar, offering various alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and fruits, with only snacks, burgers, and other fast food options for actual meals. So, Kevin ordered a few appetizer platters, plus five burgers and a drink.
"How has she been lately? Has she mentioned me?" Matt asked Bonnie quietly.
"It's only been four months since her parents passed away. She's been putting on a brave face, but she's not doing well. And no, she hasn't mentioned you. You should just stop hesitating and call her," Bonnie advised Matt.
"She broke up with me. I feel like it would still be weird to call her," Matt said hesitantly.
"Just give her some more time, Matt," Bonnie could only say, a bit helplessly.
Just then, Elena and Stefan walked in together. Matt's expression changed instantly. He looked at Bonnie and said, "So this is what you meant by 'give her more time,' huh?" He then got up and walked towards Elena.
"This must be really hard on you, being caught in the middle like this, huh?" Kevin said to Bonnie.
"It's not what you think," Bonnie replied awkwardly.
"You're pretty much the first friend I've made since coming here. Looking at your situation, it's obvious you guys are all pretty close. This isn't your fault. It looks like Elena broke up with Matt. If Elena told you she doesn't love Matt anymore but isn't making a clean break herself, that puts you right in the middle, unable to advise them to split or get back together. If you really want to help Matt, you should probably talk to Elena clearly, tell her to have a proper talk with Matt and lay things out," Kevin suggested.
"I know, but Elena's going through a lot right now. I don't want to add to her burden," Bonnie explained.
"Bonnie, all I can say is, Elena is lucky to have a friend like you," Kevin said, not saying more as Elena and Stefan approached their table.
"Hey," Kevin greeted Elena and Stefan. Just then, the food Kevin had ordered arrived, and he started eating.
At this point, Caroline also came over. After mutual introductions, they all began to chat. It was clear Caroline was quite interested in both Stefan and Kevin. However, since Kevin was busy demolishing his dinner, her main focus landed on Stefan.
"Kevin, what about your parents? Did they move here from China with you?" Bonnie asked, looking at Kevin, who had already made a significant dent in his burgers.
"They've both passed away. I came here by myself this time," Kevin replied calmly.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Any other relatives?" Caroline chimed in.
"None left. The person I was paying respects to today was my last distant uncle. He left me a house here in Mystic Falls to inherit. The inheritance from my parents back home is managed by someone else. That manager is sort of my guardian in name only, I guess. I live alone now," Kevin answered.
"Well, Kevin, Stefan, since you're both new, you probably don't know about the party tomorrow, right?" Caroline said, trying to shift the somewhat awkward atmosphere.
"You can think of it as Mystic Falls' homecoming," Bonnie explained from the side.
Stefan quite directly asked Elena if she would be there. Bonnie answered for Elena, so Stefan confirmed he would definitely attend.
"Will there be good food at the party?" Kevin asked, looking at Caroline and Bonnie with an expectant gaze.
"Hey, why are you always thinking about food? Parties are fun!" Caroline said.
"Maybe it's because I'm on my own now, so I'm not that interested in many things. I just feel that good food is the one thing that should never be let down, hahaha," Kevin said, realizing his question about party food probably sounded a bit silly.
"It's okay, I'll be there tomorrow. Worst case, I'll just bring a lot of my own stuff to eat," Kevin said after finishing his last bite of burger.
"Actually, back in my hometown, we have similar parties called bonfire parties, and they usually have food. What do you guys think if I bring a sheep tomorrow and roast it over the bonfire?" Kevin suggested, clearly still thinking about wanting a proper late-night feast rather than just drinking his fill.
"A freshly roasted whole sheep... maybe let's skip that," Bonnie and Caroline said, looking a bit exasperated by Kevin's over-the-top suggestion. "Don't worry, we'll bring plenty of food for you tomorrow—burgers, barbecue, roast chicken, stuff like that. You won't go hungry," they promised, managing to dissuade him from his grand culinary plans.