Letters to Romeo

Simon didn't understand what had just happened.

Unlike some of the vampires in Veteris, he was someone who was capable of compelling any human. So why wasn't he able to compel Melanie Davis? The answer was simple, she must have had Silverwater running in her system, but the question was how? Humans didn't get access to Silverwater that easily, and if they did, it was because they were connected to the hunters.

How amusing, thought Simon to himself.

"I guess the person isn't here anymore," said Conner with a frown on his face. "Do you think it is safe? I mean should we alert the cops about it?"

"If you want a visit to the doctor, sure," replied Melanie, and she lightly rolled her eyes. "Even if what you are saying is true, we still need proof, Conner. Vampires don't exist."

Simon walked to where Melanie & Conner stood and said, "Why not? There is a possibility for absurd things to crop up, Mel."

Melanie slightly clenched her jaw at Simon for not using her full name. She replied back to him, "Vampires, werewolves, and zombies are things that don't exist. Maybe we can go and inform the headmistress about it and she can do something about it."

"Just like I have suggested earlier. Took a long time for you to agree upon it," smiled Simon, and Conner sighed.

"Alright," agreed the curly-haired boy.

When they started to make their way back, Simon let out a yawn and said, "Mm, I am feeling hungry now. I wonder if I will be missing my lunch time."

"I am sorry about that," Conner offered Simon a sheepish smile, and Simon chuckled.

"No worries. We are friends and we should help each other out, isn't it? I will do something about it," replied Simon, and Conner pulled out some candies from his pocket and offered it to Simon.

"I usually carry them in my pocket. Do you want some of these?" Conner stretched his hand, which held the wrapped candies. Melanie quickly took two of them as if the candies were supposed to be only hers and not to be shared with Simon.

"Thanks," Simon picked one candy and played with the ends of the wrapper.

Once the humans have parted away from the vampire, he unwrapped the candy and put it in his mouth while making his way towards his room. His tongue sucked on the candy, and when he crushed it between his teeth, there was a burst of Silverwater in it, which was quick to escape down his throat and make him cough.

He quickly reached his room and threw up the black blood that emerged from his mouth.

"What happened to you?" questioned Maximus, who had been sitting on the bed in the room.

"Silverwater," deadpanned Simon, the smile on his lips had completely disappeared. "Tell Dante immediately that we have students, whose parents send them with Silverwater candies here. And because of that the compulsion cannot take place and one of them has witnessed a vampire on the run. A hungry one."

"Is it Julie's friends? Melanie and Conner?" questioned Maximus, and Simon turned his back to the sink and looked at his friend.

"Mm, Conner caught sight of one of the vampires making a run. Rome did mention they are the hunters' children, didn't he?"

"They will probably be grilled in the dungeon for an answer. Especially with the Elders here, it doesn't leave much option to the hunters," replied Maximus. "Which vampire do we have on the loose?"

"I have no clue," shrugged Simon, and he said, "Should we just leave it be?"

Maximus stared at Simon and said, "Are you trying to protect the hunter's girl?"

Simon chuckled, "Why would I ever do that? I think letting the little humans do their work will be interesting and bring more spice to this dull life of ours in Veteris." But Simon also knew that if the humans were dragged into the dungeon, the human girl would not survive it.

Maximus shook his head as if not understanding what Simon wanted or did not want to do. Sometimes, it was hard for him to know what was going on in his friend's head.

"I will go and speak to my uncle about it. There are already too many things going on in Veteris," said Maximus and Simon nodded his head and said,

"Let me go along with you. It's boring here."

In the same building of the boy's Dormitorium, Conner was quickly packing his things in the trunk. He didn't find this place safe anymore, as suddenly everything started to feel gloomy and suspicious. There were certain images that kept trying to break free from his mind as if Reese hadn't died from a normal death. Instead, it seemed she had a deep gash of wound on her neck.

He had seen Reese's body, and though the memory wasn't clear, he didn't remember any mark on her skin.

Out of panic, he continued to pack his things before getting the trunk ready. But then he suddenly paused when the panic in his mind reduced, and a sense of responsibility emerged in his mind. He made his way towards the headmistress' office. When he came near the building, he saw Simon step out of it.

"Did you speak to Ms. Dante about it?" asked Conner, who wanted to make sure no one would be hurt.

Simon nodded his head, "She seemed a little taken aback by the information, but I let her know what you've mentioned. Be at ease, Conner. Everything will be fine." His eyes curiously looked at the human before he asked, "The candy, is it homemade?"

Conner nodded his head, "Yes, how did you know about it?"

"I have a knack when it comes to candies," smiled Simon, and Conner nodded his head. "Do you have more of them? I would like to keep them with me and maybe even share them with others. Tori might enjoy it."

"Unfortunately those were the last of them. Maybe when I go back home, I will get more," said Conner and Simon offered him a saint-like smile.

That was if he came back here, thought Simon in his mind.

Back in the headmistress' office, Ms. Dante had a grim expression on her face. She sat there behind the table, with Maximus and Elder Castiel in front of her.

"I don't want any of you harming the children," Dante's words were firm. "They might be hunters' children, and the best way to get rid of them without causing much issues is to kick them out from here."

"The boy has seen a vampire, Eloise," Castiel tried to reason with her. "And two of them have silverwater running in their body. It will cause problems."

"Simon said the boy was not sure about it. And another thing, which vampire student has been starved out of blood?" Dante didn't recollect any vampire being deprived of blood in Veteris. "It should be someone from the outside. Someone who is strolling on our lands without permission."

"Bring the humans in the dungeon, You know the usual procedures that are followed in here. Wait for the Silverwater to leave their bodies and then wipe the human's memory clean," ordered Castiel, without raising his voice. "Don't worry, I won't let anything bad happen to your precious students, if that is why you are hesitant on sending them to the dungeon."

Eloise Dante pursed her lips. Often, she would send the students with Silverwater in their body to stay in the dungeon and handle the matter there, but since the Elders had woken up, the fate of the humans was not certain.

Dante picked up the handle of the phone and dialled a number before someone from the other end picked up, "There are two students who need to be sent to the dungeon…" and she gave the details before placing the handle back. "Let me go and check if the starved vampire is still around."

When they stepped near the forest area, Ms. Dante caught sight of Julie and Roman, walking with Elder Donovan and Mr. Evans.

"What's going on here?" questioned Ms. Dante to Mr. Evans.

Donovan smiled at Eloise's question, "We were inaugurating the opening of the lost town."

Castiel, who had accompanied Dante, frowned, "Is it Willow Creek?"

"The bridge finally appeared thanks to my dear and lovely daughter-in-law, Julianne Winters," Donovan chimed with a pleasant smile on his lips. Donovan was about to place his hand on Julie's back, but Roman pulled her towards him and then had her stand on his other side. Donovan said, "You still don't trust me with her."

"You didn't give me a good reason to do that," deadpanned Roman, but Donovan continued to take no offence for it.

"What's going on?" questioned Ms. Dante, who hadn't been filled with any information about it.

"Well if you are looking for a short version here, we had a little trip to Willow Creek and had some good time in the snow. It is still snowing in Willow Creek, while it is yet to snow here," Donovan's words were playful before he added, "We had an encounter with Enoch."

"Enoch Mortimer?" questioned Castiel, and Donovan gave a nod.

"That's the vampire the human boy had seen," murmured Ms. Dante.

"Oh yeah, he escaped from the cursed town, and must have stepped into Veteris," came the nonchalant words from Donovan like it was no big deal.

"And you let him escape?" asked Ms. Dante in disbelief.

"We had other important matters to deal with… like family matters. Isn't that right, children?" Donovan looked at Roman and Julie, who stared at him.

Roman turned to Ms. Dante and asked her, "How did you hear about Enoch?"

"One of the students caught sight of him," informed Ms. Dante. "The search has already been sent to look through the grounds of Veteris to see if they catch sight of him."

"You should keep a close watch at the dungeon," stated Roman with a serious expression on his face.

"The morm won't be able to escape," said Mr. Evans, "He's been heavily drugged.

"How did you end up in Willow Creek, Evans? I thought you were filing the papers of the students," noted Ms. Dante, and Mr. Evans smiled at the woman. "I will talk to you later."

"Yes, milady," the counsellor bowed his head.

"Looks like we have more than one problem right now," muttered the vampiress under her breath.

"They are all connected into one big problem, Eloise. The Mortimer brothers will come to take a look at Willow Creek," explained Donovan while pulling out a cigarette from his pocket and lighting one end of the bud. "Letting Enoch leave… it is an advantage to us as we'll at least know by the trail of bodies he leaves where his elder brother has been hiding all these years. A few sacrifices will have to be made."

"You are saying that Enoch will lead his brother back in here where we have innocent people who could be killed?" Ms. Dante's eyes had widened, not because of the news but because of Donovan's ways.

"The Mortimers will come here by hook or by crook. You think they don't have an eye on Willow Creek or on Veteris? How silly of you, Eloise," Donovan took a drag from the cigarette.

Dante was about to say something when Castiel placed his hand on her shoulder and said, "Let us sit down and discuss this. Hopefully, we'll be able to trace back the Mortimers. How is the condition in Willow Creek?"

"Dusty and old, with the dead. It will possibly need some cleaning up to be done to clear the amount of skeletons that are lying in there," mentioned Donovan.

"Please don't move the skeletons," came Julie's rushed words, bringing everyone's attention to her.

Even though her father had spoken to her about not touching the skeletons as it would bring pain and darkness, she couldn't help but want to touch them. To learn the memories of the ones she had never been blessed to spend time with.

"Not for two or three days," added Julie, feeling the Elders' gaze on her.

"Of course," chimed Donovan, as if he had suddenly turned to be Julie's ally, and it had Roman look at the Elder with a look of suspicion in his eyes. "I have a few things to look at in there. Once we are done looking through, we can clean it up and bring it as one of Veteris' property."

Dante looked at Roman, Julie and Maximus and said, "The three of you should get back to your classes. The Elders will deal with the rest of it."

Roman's hand slipped into Julie's hand, and he tugged her hand to pull her away from there. While they left the Elders, the headmistress and the counsellor behind, Maximus said to Julie,

"It is your friend who caught sight of the blood thirsty vampire."

"What?" whispered Julie, a deep frown came to form on her forehead. "Where are they?!"

"Castiel ordered Dante to take them to the dungeon and—"

"Can we go there?" Julie asked Roman in haste.

Roman gave her a nod while looking at Maximus with a slight glare, who didn't know what he had done wrong. Roman asked, "Have they already been taken to the dungeon?"

"No, Dante had only made the call. She said it would be easier to send them out from Veteris. This way it would avoid any hunters' children from sniffing around the vampires. They have silverwater candies," informed Maximus, "And it is for the best."

"You mean kick them out of this place?" asked Julie, and the vampire nodded his head.

"I think the sooner the better," remarked Roman, and he said, "Sometimes, the compulsion breaks by a trigger and when that happens, it will make things difficult."

"I thought compulsion was forever," said Julie, and Roman shook his head.

"No. There are some odd cases where it doesn't stick forever, which is why we keep the humans in the dungeon for a long time to make sure that everything goes well," replied Roman.

"... and if it doesn't?" asked Julie, noticing his lips set in a thin line.

"Then death is inevitable, Winters. I will see what I can do to keep your friends alive," Roman placed his hand on the back of Julie's head as if to pacify her growing worries. Julie didn't have many people she was close to, and he knew the two friends she had made, they were dear to her.

Julie nodded her head, and they went to visit the dungeon. But when they reached there, it was only Dennis who was locked up in the cell. She had forgotten about him, and he was wide awake.

"Julianne," Dennis uttered her name, noticing Roman and Maximus follow behind her. "Are you here to see if I am doing okay?"

Julie was at a loss for words, as she hadn't prepared to speak to him. The last they spoke, he had asked her to come along with him.

She heard Roman say to Maximus from behind, "They haven't been brought in here, yet."

"Let me go and see where Moses or the two of them are," said Maximus before leaving from there.

Before any of this, Dennis had always been polite to her, except for when Roman was brought up in the conversation. They were good friends who shared decent conversations, and Julie walked to the front of the cell.

Dennis noticed the look of pity in Julie's eyes, and he said, "Don't be sad, Julianne. I am fine." Her eyes noticed the bruises on his face and the smudged blood on his skin.

"Why did you do it…" asked Julie, staring at Dennis, who stared right back at her.

Though Roman wasn't keen on wanting Julie to spend time with Dennis, he didn't voice out his disapproval and instead stood behind her, watching them carefully.

"Why? I didn't know you were supporting the vampires. Don't you know that they kill people like you, sucking out blood until there's none left in the body?" Dennis questioned her back, and he took a step forward as if to get closer to her. "You are too innocent, Julie. Is it because of love?"

Julie pursed her lips, and she shook her head, "No. It is because of trust."

Dennis lightly chuckled. He didn't wear his glasses as he usually did because they had been broken and trampled on. "You can never trust a vampire, they will change their skin like a chameleon."

"Your words don't answer the question I asked you," said Julie, staring at the boy, whom she once considered to be her friend. But Dennis had tried to kill Roman yesterday, and it was something she couldn't look away from.

"Causing disruptions in the awakening of the Elders was something I was sent for. They were not supposed to wake up now, and if things had gone according to the plan… they would have had to wake up after a decade, which would be too late," Dennis's reply came like liquid, without pausing, and Roman's eyes slightly narrowed. The boy was too infatuated with the girl who belonged to him. "Looks like Moltenore told you quite a few things about vampires," and he smiled. "I am surprised they haven't tried to kill you… but then your friend died."

Remembering she was the reason why Reese was dead, the guilt was quick to build in her chest, and she stared at him.

"Vampires are not good people, Julie," said Dennis.

"Aren't you part of them?" questioned Julie.

Dennis stared at Julie as if noticing that she knew something more than the usual would know, "Somewhere I am, and somewhere I am not. Love makes one blind, doesn't it?" he questioned no one in particular.

While Julie believed that these words were for her in regards to Roman, Roman noticed that the words were meant in regards to Dennis and Julie.

"You work for Mortimer," said Julie, and Dennis nodded his head.

"Yes, Sir Mortimer is the one who took some of us in, who didn't have a roof above our head, and I owe my life to him. He isn't fond of the four Elders, especially Moltenore's maker," Dennis' eyes shifted from Julie to look at Roman briefly before looking back at the girl. "You should leave this place because soon this will be a place that will have nothing but death."

"There are innocent people here. Don't you have any concern for them?" asked Julie, noticing the person she had known until now, that person's skin had started to shed to show his true colours.

The look in Dennis' eyes changed one to be of hurt, as if unhappy that Julie was viewing him to be like the rest of them. He said, "It is the errors of the humans, which has gotten them to where they are now. The hunters… they killed my family and nearly killed me. I have no remorse for anyone… except for one."

Roman rolled his eyes and came to stand next to Julie and said, "I think there are more pressing matters, Winters."

Julie nodded her head, but before she could leave, Dennis asked, "You seem slightly different than usual. Like you have changed."

She turned to meet his eyes and then asked, "Do you know what plans this Mortimer has with Veteris?"

"He wants Veteris to be his and the things that come with it. The land had been promised to him years ago, but… something got lost and right now it's invalid, considering the times have passed for it to be validated," he was speaking about Willow Creek, thought Julie in her mind.

When they stepped outside the dungeon, Julie turned to look at Roman and asked, "Is Veteris going to be safe from now?"

"We'll get a fix for it so that this place doesn't fall back to have the same fate as when we were turned," Roman raised his hand towards Julie's face, pushing the piece of her hair to tuck it behind her ear. "Most of us built this place with a lot of work and no one would allow Veteris to fall into another vampire's hands. We don't have one but four Elder vampires with abilities. But the question is what the other Mortimer has been up to. Anyways, let us go and check where Maximus is."

On meeting Maximus, he looked a little worried, and Roman asked, "What happened?"

"Conner is missing from his classes, and Melanie too. The guards are looking for them through the grounds."

"Maybe they skipped classes?" questioned Roman, and he turned to look at Julie, who held a worried look on her face.

"She's probably in the library. She said she had to work on the project. Let me go and check," said Julie, and she went to the library to find Melanie there at the table, sitting and discussing with another student.

"Julie! I am glad you are here, where were you?" asked Melanie, looking at Julie's worried look. "What's the matter? Did you see a zombie?" she joked because Conner had mentioned seeing a vampire.

"No…" replied Julie.

"Oh, that's good," replied Melanie and then said, "Are you free to work on the project? I took in the books that might help us."

It seemed like Melanie was barely fazed by what Conner had mentioned, "Do you know where Conner is?" asked Julie, and Melanie shook her head.

"Probably in class. What's going on?" asked Melanie.

At the same time, one of the guards at the front of the gates, Moses, appeared at the library entrance. As if hearing the heavier footsteps on the floor, Roman and Maximus turned in their direction. Seeing Roman move, Julie turned her head and noticed the guard making his way to where they were or Melanie was.

Julie looked back and forth, not sure if Melanie should go through this dungeon because, from what she heard, she hadn't come across Enoch.

Roman stepped forward, walking halfway to meet the guard and spoke to the person before the person stared at him.

"Ms. Dante said I am to take her to the dungeon," said Moses, his eyes briefly moving to look at the human.

"The human was never a witness, so you can skip it. I will deal with it, so there's no need to go to such length," said Roman, and he added, "If anybody asks, you can tell them I was the one who handled the matter."

The guard looked a little apprehensive, but he nodded his head, "Okay."

"What about the boy? Did you find him?"

"We are still looking for him," replied Moses, and Roman gave him a slight nod.