Letters to Romeo

"True, but it isn't that hard to know who is a vampire and a human. The floors and the rooms are different for our kind, which makes it easier, especially for the female vampires to know," explained Roman, and he said, "If I am not wrong, she's probably inquiring to know more about your friend."

Hearing this, Julie frowned, "Melanie?"

"Nylah is a vampire, who belongs to the same time as mine and my other friends. You could tell that Nylah's family was very close to the Wallace family. When they were fourteen, she was spoken for Simon," said Roman as they continued to walk.

So young, thought Julie in her mind.

Roman continued to explain, "I think the little rumor has turned less of a rumor and she's turning more alert that Simon is paying more attention to Melanie. Did Melanie say anything about it?"

"About Nylah? No," replied Julie, and then added, "About Simon a little. Conner asked her out."

"That must be interesting, would be worth watching for once how Simon would react to it," replied Roman in a nonchalant tone. It was because it was often Simon, who stirred trouble in people's lives. Maybe for once, his troublesome friend would know how it felt to be on the other side of the land, thought Roman in his mind.

"Did you find anything about whom Simon is working for?" asked Julie, but Roman shook his head.

"So far nothing," responded Roman. "The Elder vampires are agitated over it and want to take action so that they can cough out the information from Simon."

That did sound like something the Elder vampires would do, thought Julie. "Why is he hiding it if he's not guilty?"

"That is a tough thing to say," Roman softly sighed. "I would have punched him to get an answer out of him, but that would only make him go more mute because of his past."

Julie's eyebrows raised in question.

As Julie wasn't aware of it, Roman explained, "Simon had a rough past compared to the others. His parents used to beat him up, while trying to discipline him, and his siblings were the incarnation of the spawn of demons. Something along the time messed him up, and once he turned into a vampire, everything he had bottled mixed up to how he is now. He doesn't mind the pain, as he is used to it. I did consider using Melanie."

Julie's eyes widened, "You are joking."

"No," replied Roman, and Julie didn't like his way of thinking right now. "If Melanie wasn't your friend, I would have used her because we don't know if Simon is still playing nice and there's something more to all this act he's been putting up. But I know she means a lot to you. Currently Maximus is keeping a close eye on him, and I believe Simon knows it."

Julie knew that vampires thought things differently, and their approach was much more brutal than how humans dealt with matters.

"You still have my word that I won't touch your friends and will protect them, unless one of them crosses the line," Roman reminded her, and Julie didn't have to know that he was talking about Conner.

Maybe it was a good thing that Conner was trying to court her best friend along with Simon. This way, at least he would be focussed on not being killed, and would save everyone's lives together as a whole, thought Julie to herself.

As they continued to walk, Julie caught sight of Donovan standing at the same place, in front of the same tree she had seen him yesterday. Leaning towards Roman, she asked, "What is up with him and the tree? He said the tree speaks."

When they reached the spot, Donovan turned and smiled at them, "Look at you both, roaming around the campus. Is there something you would like to ask?"

"Why do you think we have something to ask?" Julie wondered how Donovan knew.

"It isn't often you both come looking for me. What is it?" questioned Donovan, coming right to the point so that the youngsters didn't have to beat around the bush.

Roman was the one to ask, "Do you know who was the first witch who used to live here in Veteris. Before I came to live there."

The smile on Donovan's lips faltered before it completely disappeared from his face. He asked, "Why do you ask about it?"

"Do you or do you not know about her?" demanded Roman, his eyes narrowing at his father. "Don't tell me you had an affair with her too."

Donovan chuckled, finding humour in Roman's words, "Of course, not, Rome. And just for the record, your mother was my favorite."

"How appeasing," came the dull words from Roman. "Do you know who the woman is?"

"Depends on why you want to know about her," replied Donovan, looking at both Roman and Julie.

Julie decided to explain and said, "Her name came up because there are some parts in the land of Veteris, which is affected by magic. And I think it is dark magic. We wanted to know how to undo it, because it affects more than one supernatural kind in here."

"How interesting. But it seems like most of us are functioning perfectly," replied Donovan, and as if with pride, he brought his hand forward and opened his palm.

Julie and Roman stared at his palm, waiting. Two seconds passed, and then five seconds, and then ten seconds.

Donovan blinked once before looking down at his hand, "....."

"Indeed it is interesting," remarked Roman, and Donovan looked more than pissed right now.

"You must be fucking with me," the Elder vampire cursed. "This is odd. I thought it worked just fine last evening, when did this happen?"

"In the night, when we were looking for Simon and the two hunters," explained Roman, and he sighed, "Mine isn't working either." He snapped his fingers a couple of times, but nothing happened. "So what do you know about this witch?"

"The witch... none of us have seen her in the last couple of years," replied Donovan, his lips twisting in annoyance as his ability had been suppressed, and he had no idea of it until now. Julie wondered if it was because they were Elder vampires, which was why none felt the pain, unlike the other younger vampires who had the ability. "She disappeared in thin air, like she didn't exist, and people eventually forgot about her. Or more rightly to be said, none of us old vampires ever mentioned her."

"Why?" asked Julie, as it seemed like there was more to the story of the tragic witch.

"What do you know about this witch, who lived here?" questioned Donovan, and he turned around, his eyes taking a quick look to check who was watching them. With his ability gone, it was good to watch people for any possible surprise attacks.

"Mr. Evans told me about her story of how she lost her son. About the forbidden door," replied Julie, and Donovan nodded.

"Ah, the forbidden door. It is the most spoken thing. A mysterious space of time and people, but only witches can open and enter it," said Donovan, who had no idea that Julie had opened the door a few hours ago. "They say people who open it, they often fall into trouble. Like a curse that gets latched—"

"We were speaking about the witch," Roman interrupted Donovan so that his father wouldn't scare Julie for what she had done.

Donovan pulled his coat on both sides before he slipped his hands into the coat's pockets. He said, "Yes about her, so you see there is a little twist to what happened to her. After her son passed away, she had made an agreement with vampires to help her and in turn she promised to help them. It was because the door needed a vampire's blood apart from a witch. And as you know, vampires and witches weren't people who looked each other in the eye. This was the first time that a pact had been made, only for that moment. But then, the witch turned weak, and her life force started to leave her."

"Did she make another pact?" asked Roman, and one corner of Donovan's lips curled.

"She used all her energy and ability before she had tapped into the forbidden magic, to turn herself to one of our kind," Donovan dropped the bomb.

"What?" asked Julie, as if she heard it wrong. "How is that possible?"

"Vampires and witches are two different kinds. You cannot turn a vampire or a witch into something," pointed Roman because it was unheard of. If that were so, the witches would have turned into a vampire to be on a higher power force.

Donovan raised his hand to hide the yawn that erupted from his lips. He then said, "Let us just say that she had the right sources to turn herself into a vampire. The forbidden door makes wonders"

"Have you met her?" questioned Roman and Donovan held his gaze long with his son.

"I have, and so have a few of them," answered Donovan. "But truthfully, I don't know where she is. I thought I knew, at least thought some of us did, but she has disappeared. Who knows, she must be dead."

"When was the last time you heard from her?" asked Julie, unable to keep her curiosity.

"It was probably before I met Roman's mother. Way back, when I was really young," he responded, and a thoughtful look appeared on his face. "We communicated a little through letters before it stopped. I just happened to assume that she went to sleep like we did for many years."

"Maybe if we find her, she would be able to undo the magic that has been split on these grounds," Julie spoke in hope, but Donovan made a face that was filled with doubt. "What?"

Donovan turned to look at the tree, as if it was saying something and he was listening to it intently. Both Julie and Roman looked at each other.

"Ha," said the Elder vampire. "I would have never guessed.  Mr. Tree here tells the witch that performed the magic here, cannot undo it. It is probably why she disappeared from here, the more you stay, the more normal you turn out to be. And when I say normal, it also means to be ready to see vampires die and hit their grave soon. Another witch should be able undo it. You have a better chance of fixing things here, than finding the lost witch. Why not ask your friend? The Corvin will have a better idea than we do."

Julie's eyes appeared sorrowful by his words.

"Did I miss something?" questioned the Elder vampire, shifting his gaze from Julie to Roman.

Roman filled in on what happened, "The Corvin is dead."

"That was unexpected. Don't tell me it has something to do with what we just spoke," Donovan raised one of his eyebrows. He looked back at Julie, and asked, "You didn't try to resurrect him?"

"It didn't work," Julie's voice was low, and Donovan humed.

"My condolences to you, Julie. I will be sure to get him a flower," said Donovan, and Julie gave a slight nod.

At the edge of the Veteris University, where the Veteris's property ended and one could see the road, two vampires stood. One was a vampiress and she held a phone near to her ear, talking to the person on the other side of the phone.

"Yes, the magic was activated last night. If Veteris is attacked by the Mortimers, it would be on the fairground," said the vampiress, listening to the person speak. "There was something… yes, we had a visitation from a pair of hunters… No, he took care of it, for now they hold no suspicion.... We'll be there. A good day to you too."

Cutting the call, Victoria looked at Simon, who had leaned his back against the tree, listening to the conversation.

"You had to mention about the hunters," chuckled Simon, and Victoria stared back at him.

"It is better she knows everything that's going on. You should be lucky I didn't mention about your little interest where your focus is elsewhere," stated the vampiress.

"Little?" Simon looked offended. "It is a lot more than little. You know you should find yourself a boyfriend, Tori. I mean Roman is booked, and Maximus too. I would have been your saviour but then as you know I am busy with the cute human." Victoria rolled her eyes and then said,

"I don't think I have to repeat what she said, and don't disappoint her. She said she will be coming to visit."

"Would never even if I wanted to," said Simon with a bright smile.

The woman whom he was working for, she was the person who had given him a second life when he had almost died that night. Turning him into a vampire, and not bothering to contact him until recently.

A grin appeared on his lips, things were going to turn more messy than before.