This finger...
This ring...
Caroline seemed to realize something, looking at Gwen who was smiling in front of her, her eyes widened, and then she instinctively covered her mouth with both hands.
"Hiss!"
"Yes, this is an engagement ring."
Gwen smiled, opening her palm to Caroline, showcasing the six-carat purple diamond ring on her hand from every angle, leaving no detail unseen.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Beautiful."
Caroline exclaimed in agreement, then looked at Gwen, "But when did this happen? Mom and Grandpa haven't mentioned anything to me. Who's the other party, what's their name, what do they do?"
Gwen smiled gently, just about to speak when she caught a glimpse of Hawk also emerging from the study on the second floor.
Caroline followed Gwen's gaze and looked up.
Their eyes met.
Caroline's pupils contracted quickly.
It wasn't because Hawk was handsome.
Nor was it because Hawk was well-built.
It was because...
She hadn't noticed there was a second person in the study just now.
Even though she had only been a vampire for a short time, she was smart and quickly mastered how to restrain her bloodlust and control her suddenly enhanced strength and extremely acute senses.
But after becoming a vampire, her keen senses hadn't even noticed there was a second person in the study.
Of course.
If she had noticed, that would be the real oddity.
Let's put it this way.
If she could notice Hawk, then it wouldn't be that she got stronger, but that Hawk got weaker.
Hawk took in Caroline's changes in her pupils but didn't show it.
As before.
He came here to accompany Gwen to visit Grandpa and take a vacation, not to play undercover games.
"Caroline, let me introduce."
"Hawk Phoenix, my fiancé."
"Hawk, this is my cousin, Caroline Fox."
"Hello."
Hawk extended his right hand with a smile.
Caroline collected herself, looked at the extended right hand, and shook hands with Hawk, "Hello."
Hawk smiled slightly, chose not to disturb the sisters' reunion, and after retracting his right hand, he said to Gwen nearby, "I'll take a walk outside the manor, you guys chat."
Gwen hummed in response, looked at Hawk heading towards the door, and cautioned, "Be careful."
She recalled Hawk mentioning that there were vampires in Waterfall Town as well.
Although New York City had them too, New York City was big enough, and it was right under S.H.I.E.L.D's nose.
But Waterfall Town was very small.
Although in Hawk's eyes, not to mention just one vampire, even a whole clan wouldn't faze him.
But Hawk not being afraid is a separate matter from her cautioning him to stay safe.
Hawk waved his hand without looking back and walked out of the manor.
Caroline watched Hawk's departing figure, her brows slightly furrowed.
Once again.
Her enhanced senses, after becoming a vampire, couldn't hear Hawk's heartbeat, smell his blood, or even sense his fear.
It was as if this person was fearless.
But this person wasn't a vampire.
Caroline had just shaken hands with Hawk. At that moment, she could clearly sense Hawk's pulse, the blood surging like a tide, and a heart beating like the birth of the cosmos through his warm palm.
But once apart, her senses couldn't perceive Hawk.
This person...
There's something off.
Caroline thought inwardly.
Standing beside her, Gwen waved a hand in front of her cousin, who seemed lost in thought looking at her fiancé's back.
"Hey."
"Sorry."
Caroline snapped out of it and looked at Gwen, "Gwen, your fiancé is very handsome. How did you two meet?"
Gwen glanced at Caroline, smiled, and said, "I'm not telling you."
Caroline understood, tugging at Gwen's arm, swaying it, her voice turning soft and sweet.
"Cousin~~~"
"Whoosh!"
After exiting the manor, Hawk, at the moment of his right turn, had already disappeared from the original spot. When he reappeared, he was in the woods, looking at the male vampire in front of him, whose pupils slowly turned from surprise to shock, with a slight upward curve at the corner of his mouth.
"Hello!"
"..."
Damon Salvatore, looking at Hawk, who had silently appeared in front of him, felt a chilling sensation and was about to leave with a ghostly movement of his body.
He managed it.
Just as Hawk finished his sentence, he turned into a blurred shadow, quickly darting towards the forest behind.
But...
Even after escaping and no longer seeing the back of Fox Manor, Damon stopped, contemplating what the hell he just encountered, when Hawk's voice again sounded from behind him.
"Too slow!"
"... Whoosh!"
Damon's hairs stood on end, his heart, which had long ceased beating, even trembled slightly.
Without hesitation, he turned, his movements as swift as a sprite, raising his right hand, aiming straight for Hawk's heart.
However!
"Boom, boom, boom—"
Damon was instantly launched into the air like a cannonball, flying backward. The towering trees that had grown for who knows how many years behind him were shattered one after another as Damon collided with them. It wasn't until he hit the fifth tree that his pale face flushed red, and he spat out a mouthful of dark blood, collapsing onto the slightly damp muddy ground.
Hawk, with his hands in his pockets, appeared again in front of Damon, looking calmly at the vampire leaning against the tree and coughing up blood.
"Name!"
"...Who are you?"
Damon, feeling the vast difference in power between himself and the person before him with just one strike, was shocked. Then he recalled something his ex-girlfriend had said before she was locked up by him and his brother, and he looked up at Hawk, who was towering over him: "Klaus?"
Hawk laughed at this: "I'm no vampire!"
What a joke.
Vampires were not even in the same league to try bothering him.
Hawk sneered internally, looking at the vampire before him who seemed vaguely familiar. Just as he was about to speak, he glanced in the direction of Fox Manor.
It was then.
A weary Damon Salvatore hesitated no longer and, at full speed, dashed towards the town below the mountain.
But he was still too slow.
At least in Hawk's eyes.
However...
Just as Hawk's eyes flashed red, a thought struck him, and he chuckled to himself, retracting the Phoenix Beam.
The reason he came to find this vampire was simple.
This vampire was lying at his doorstep.
There's a saying, after all.
One cannot allow others to snore on one's doorstep.
Under Hawk's Sixth Sense, he noticed it as soon as Caroline approached, and also noticed the vampire following her here.
If you didn't know better, you might think it was a stalker.
This couldn't be allowed, of course.
But just now, Hawk suddenly remembered who this somewhat familiar vampire was.
Isn't this one of the famous Salvatore brothers, Damon?
Damon and his brother Stefan are quite the characters.
Let's put it this way.
Both brothers have had the same ex-girlfriend.
He came here intending to teach this vampire that seemed like a tailing or scouting vampire a lesson.
After all, he had just arrived here, and already a vampire was targeting him. If he didn't strike hard, it might again make those hidden enemies think he had become soft.
But obviously, Damon wasn't one of those.
He must have followed Gwen's cousin Caroline here.
As for what he was doing, it no longer mattered, as long as he wasn't stalking himself or his fiancée.
This is also the reason why he decided against killing Damon.
Hawk thought, watching Damon running away but still within his range, before retracting his gaze and disappearing from the spot.
Gwen was currently standing in front of the car, looking for Hawk.
"Hawk!"
"Coming."
Hawk's figure appeared behind Gwen.
Hearing the voice, Gwen turned and saw Hawk returning. Just as she was about to speak, she wrinkled her nose, leaned toward Hawk, sniffed, and then looked up at him.
"Blood?"
"Not mine."
"Then whose?"
"A vampire's."
"Hiss!"
Gwen took a sharp breath and looked around: "Where? What was he doing?"
Hawk, seeing Gwen seemingly trying to confirm the direction, chuckled.
"Ran off."
"Ran?"
Gwen looked at Hawk skeptically: "You missed?"
Hawk laughed.
"If I wanted to kill, he wouldn't have survived."
"Then..."
"Thought he was coming to tail us, but found out it was a misunderstanding, so I let him go. Didn't you say to be kind?"
Yeah.
Gwen indeed said that.
Listening to Hawk's explanation, Gwen smiled slightly.
Hawk then changed the subject: "Your cousin is still indoors, why did you come out, finished chatting?"
Gwen realized, handing her phone to Hawk: "Almost forgot, Natasha just called. I came out to find you; she says there's something she wants to tell you. Hurry and call Natasha back, and I'll go find my cousin, still not done chatting."
Earlier, she had been recounting an embellished story of how she met, got to know, and stayed with Hawk when Natasha called.
That's why she abruptly stopped the conversation to find Hawk.
Now.
Having found Hawk, Gwen waved her hand at him and turned back to the manor's main building, intending to continue chatting with her cousin.
Standing by the car, Hawk watched Gwen walk into the main building, then placed the phone he had just answered to his ear.
"Hello."
"Hawk, Merrick's body test results are out."
"How is it?"
"All the data matches the previous records when Merrick was apprehended."
"Scientifically speaking, he is Merrick."
"The real Merrick!"
"..."