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Caroline instinctively turned to look at Elena.
Elena's mind flashed back to the image of Hawk she'd seen earlier at the estate.
Meanwhile, Stefan—who hadn't gone inside—listened to the two girls' conversation, completely lost.
"Who are you talking about?"
"Hawk."
Caroline glanced at Stefan, then seemed to remember something. "My cousin's fiancé. Oh, right—Stefan, can you sense him?"
Stefan looked toward the Fox estate.
He could sense Sheriff Liz Forbes, who had just gone inside. He could also sense an unfamiliar female presence—that must be Caroline's cousin.
Stefan even sensed the servants in the manor, along with William Fox, who was currently being attended to by a maid as he got out of bed.
Beyond that—
Nothing.
Stefan pulled his focus back and turned to Caroline.
Caroline met Stefan's gaze and seemed to already know what he was about to say. Her expression turned serious as she spoke first. "He's in there."
Stefan's eyes widened instantly.
Now it was Elena's turn to be confused.
She listened to her boyfriend and her friend talking, completely baffled. "Wait, what are you two talking about? What do you mean 'he's in there'?"
Stefan's expression turned grave as he looked at his girlfriend and explained that he couldn't sense Hawk's presence at all.
Elena frowned at that.
"So what does that mean?"
"His life force is above ours."
Stefan's voice was low, his face serious.
And it wasn't just above vampires. To be precise, it was above the entire supernatural hierarchy.
This was a fundamental difference in life force levels.
The only possible explanation for why he couldn't sense Hawk was that Hawk's life force had already transcended the supernatural.
Hawk wasn't just supernatural. He was beyond supernatural.
Elena listened to her boyfriend's explanation, glanced at her friend's serious expression, then recalled the image of Damon covered in blood earlier. She drew in a sharp breath and turned to Caroline. "What's your cousin's fiancé's background?"
Caroline shook her head.
Stefan's tone remained grave. "Whatever his background is, the most pressing question right now is why he attacked Damon. Damon said if he hadn't run fast enough, he wouldn't have made it back."
Sure, Damon was a jerk.
Sure, Damon had a thing for his current girlfriend.
But he was still his brother.
His actual brother.
Simply put, no matter how many faults Damon had, if something happened to him, Stefan wouldn't stand by and let an outsider hurt his brother.
Elena suddenly remembered something—when she'd walked in with Sheriff Liz Forbes earlier, the look Hawk had given her. It had seemed almost... knowing. She frowned. "You don't think he came here looking for Katherine, do you?"
Stefan and Caroline both turned to look at Elena.
Elena took a deep breath and looked at them both, recounting the way Hawk had looked at her when she'd entered. "His expression... he looked confused at first. Then he seemed to realize something. Like he thought I shouldn't be there. Then he seemed to figure out I wasn't who he thought I was."
Plenty of people had mistaken her for someone else before.
After all, there was another person who looked exactly like her.
Katherine Pierce.
A woman who looked identical to her, who also happened to be a five-hundred-year-old vampire. And Stefan and Damon's ex-girlfriend.
Stefan's expression remained serious. "Katherine's been wandering the world for centuries. That's definitely possible."
Caroline looked shocked.
"Are you saying my cousin's fiancé might be one of Katherine's ex-boyfriends?"
...
"Pfft!"
Inside the manor, Hawk—who was sitting on the couch next to Gwen while catching up with Aunt Liz—couldn't help but laugh out loud at the wild conversation happening outside.
Gwen and Aunt Liz both stopped talking and turned to look at Hawk.
Gwen glanced at him, blinking.
Liz smiled warmly, also looking at Hawk.
Hawk's mind raced. He turned to Liz. "Sorry. I just remembered—on the way here, Gwen tried to scare me by saying the town had vampires."
Liz, sitting on the opposite couch, visibly froze for a split second, though her smile quickly returned. She looked at Gwen with a stern expression. "Gwen, Mystic Falls relies on tourism. This is your hometown. How could you say something like that?"
Gwen opened her mouth, glanced at Hawk, then turned to her aunt.
"Sorry. I was just messing with Hawk."
"Don't believe her, Hawk."
Liz, having steadied her expression, smiled at Hawk. "Vampires? Come on. We believe in science here."
Hawk nodded. "Of course, Aunt Liz."
Just then, Caroline walked back inside.
After their brief brainstorming session outside, the three of them had come to a conclusion that—from Hawk's perspective—was absolutely insane.
Hawk was possibly one of Katherine's ex-boyfriends.
After discussing it, they'd decided that Caroline, using her family connection, would try to subtly figure out why Hawk was really in Mystic Falls at this particular time, and who he actually was.
And so, Caroline walked in with a smile, casually asked, "What are you all talking about?" and naturally took a seat beside her mother, Liz.
Liz glanced at her daughter and said in a joking tone, "Hawk just told us that when Gwen was driving into town, she tried to scare him by saying we have vampires here."
Caroline's heart skipped a beat, but she quickly composed herself.
"Haha, vampires? No way. Cousin, how could you say that? What if people outside actually start thinking our town has vampires and get too scared to visit?"
"I was wrong."
Gwen looked helpless as she apologized yet again.
Caroline quickly changed the subject. "Oh, right—Gwen, Grandpa mentioned you're planning to spend Christmas here?"
Gwen nodded. "Yeah. We'll head back to New York after Christmas. We wanted to spend the holidays with Grandpa."
Liz smiled. "You really should spend more time with him. After he found out you got engaged, he wanted to fly to New York to see you several times."
Gwen blinked.
"Mom didn't tell me that."
"Well—"
Liz was about to explain when she caught sight of William descending the staircase, refreshed from his nap. She smiled. "Your grandpa's here now. You can ask him yourself."
William, looking much more energized after his nap, walked over with a cheerful grin. "Ask me what? Oh, Hawk—did you see the photos? What did you think?"
Hawk met William's beaming expression, his tone completely serious. "Can't say I'm surprised."
William burst into hearty laughter. "Ahahaha."
Gwen listened to her fiancé and grandfather openly discussing their shared views, and her mouth twitched.
Aunt Liz blinked in realization, then shook her head with mild exasperation.
Caroline, sitting beside her, looked confused as she glanced at her mother.
"What photos?"
"Old photos from the Fox family history."
Aunt Liz couldn't exactly explain in detail. As the town sheriff, some things could exist, but they couldn't be openly discussed.
William looked at Hawk. "Want to tour the Fox family vault?"
"Sure."
Hawk had heard Gwen mention it before—the vault held all the trophies from throughout history.
Only William had the key to the vault. Even Helen and Liz couldn't enter without his permission.
And now, William was inviting Hawk.
Gwen, hearing her grandfather's invitation, chimed in. "Grandpa, Caroline and I have never been inside the vault either. Can we come look too?"
William shook his head. "No. Just Hawk. Come on, Hawk—I'll show you the foundation of the Fox family legacy."
Hawk nodded, stood up from the couch, gave Gwen a helpless look, then followed William toward the manor's secondary building.
...
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