Letters to Romeo

As the sun rose up in the sky, Julie woke up feeling less burdened by the emotions that she had locked for many months, a few of them had been set free.

She didn't know why she had never tried discussing what had happened in school with her parents. Was it because they were always busy?

Already facing the window, her hand reached out for the letter, and she brought it in front of her face. Opening it, she wondered what the letter thief had to say.

The letter started with—

'Have you already taken a guess of which category I fall into and are you confirming it? It purely depends on the situation. People display different characteristics depending on what and whom they are around. But if you are going to ask me on a general scale, you are right. I am far from being good and if we were to meet, you would possibly call me notorious.'

"I don't have to meet you to know that. I already do," murmured Julie under her breath and continued to read his letter.

'Let me tell you a story, a story that is meant to be kept as a secret to yourself and maybe, if possible, leave no evidence so that it never reaches the hands that aren't yours.

Once upon a time, there was a Lord, and he had a virtuous man with a family. A wife of the same status and a young son of seventeen years old would take his father's title in the coming years. Everything was perfect in their lives. Until one day, when the Lord was travelling towns, his eyes fell on a lowly maid who worked at an inn.

According to people, she was a beauty to behold. Hair as dark as the raven, eyes that mirrored a person's reflection, holding a gentle soul. But she was poor and a mere servant. They fell in love, while the maid was unaware that the Lord already had a family waiting back for him at his home.

When the woman found out about it, she was heartbroken, and upset, she refused to reach out to the Lord when she found that she was pregnant with his child. Stubborn, she tried to raise their son by herself, but one day she fell sick and passed away.

When the Lord found out about this, he was upset with himself for not reaching out to the woman, not knowing he had fathered another son. By this time, the boy was already six. Not wanting to leave the boy as an orphan, the Lord decided to bring him to live with him.

Though the Lord was happy to have another son in the family, his wife and his first son weren't happy about it. They despised the young boy's very existence because he was the living proof that the Lord had an affair outside his marriage and had damaged the family's reputation.

The wife of the Lord turned upset with her husband for not only having an affair but for his audacity of bringing his illegitimate son to the house and trying to think she would let the boy live with the rest of them. After a lot of discussions, the wife finally agreed to her husband's request on the condition that the boy would never be taken outside to attend gatherings. That he would live under the same roof, and he would be deprived of the privileges that their legitimate son had, and would be treated as a servant that she would never accept him as her own.

With this, the boy finally came to live with them, and he was given the most isolated room to stay in. The dorm where you are living in right now, years ago it once belonged to that boy.

The story is unknown and as good as lost, which was once told in whispers of secrets. That is the history of the dorm that you are living in. A few years later, the manor was turned to the boys Dormitorium and then to the girls Dormitorium, where the room probably remained closed after I used it. Why are you curious about it?'

Once Julie finished reading, she looked up from the letter, feeling a certain heaviness in her chest. What started as a love story had ended on a sad note.

Remembering the words written in there, Julie wrote back to the letter thief—

'I never knew the story about it… It must have been difficult for the boy to live here. I heard that the buildings here in Veteris were once manors that belonged to the Lords and other high profile members who lived here. I tried looking for more historical information about the manors and the Lords, but I found nothing in the library and couldn't help but wonder about it. Also, k when I started to live in the dorm, I found a note on the walls, making me wonder why someone would write and place it there.

I didn't know that in the past, this was previously used as the boys' Dormitorium and that you used to stay here as its previous owner.

How did you find out about this information if it is secretive?'

Julie read the story one more time, feeling pity for the young boy and wondering what happened to him later. To be neglected and with no love and care was terrible. Julie sighed at that thought. Even though her family's happiness had ended quite soon, when her mother was still alive, her parents had loved her until her father had decided to kill her mother for a reason she had no idea about.

She wondered if the letter thief had ever found out about the note behind the loose brick in the wall, when he used to occupy it. But then the brick was below the bed, and no one could find it unless they went close to it.

"Never reaches the hands of another," murmured Julie. Getting out of her bed, she went to the drawer and took hold of the scissors. She started to cut his letter into tiny little pieces so that no one would ever be able to mend it.

During the time of noon, Julie sat in the classroom, studying like the rest of the students under the keen eye of Mrs. Gardiner, who was a woman in her fifties and sat behind the desk grading papers.

After solving the questionnaire, Julie raised her head to have a look around the class where some of the students were passing notes to each other, whispering to each other or drawing in their books to pass their time. From the window that faced the corridor, she noticed Roman walking in the corridor, walking past from one end to another, like the privileged student he was because he couldn't sit in the class.

She wondered if he was skipping classes again. When did he even study with him roaming around and even taking time to teach her?

When she returned to her dorm, a new letter was waiting for her—

'Apologies beforehand, but I am stealing that little note that you found.'

Note? Asked Julie to herself before her eyes turned wide. She quickly opened the drawer and saw that the letter thief had stolen the note that she had found on the wall. She continued to read his letter,

'I forgot about that note, but now that you reminded me I decided to take it. I had once found a book in the library about the Lords and their families. When I came back to read it, I was told by the librarian that Veteris was keeping out such information. The authorities of Veteris don't like to leak the information about the previous families to the public who owned these lands.'

Julie pursed her lips, a frown appearing on her lips, and she replied—

'This is why you are a thief! Stealing things without warning. Why is Veteris so private about the families? You know… The more I stay here, the more shady this place turns out to be. Like something is going on but we aren't aware of it.'

Reaching the library on time, Julie picked up the textbook and sat down on the chair in their usual spot. She looked back now to see if Roman had arrived, but this time he was late. She wondered what was keeping him away from their study sessions.

Thirty minutes passed, and Julie wondered if Roman had decided to skip today. He could have at least told her so that she didn't have to come here, thought Julie in her mind. Seeing another minute pass, she moved to the railings, leaning forward to look at the ground floor where the students were seated at the tables.

Even though people didn't speak loudly and a lot, a faint murmur filled the library. Turning back, she decided to pack her things and leave for the day, when Roman decided to show up.

"You are late," pointed Julie, watching him.

"I know. Sit down," came the words from Roman's lips.

His hair was messier than usual, as if he had run his fingers through it several times before showing up here. His eyes were slightly unsteady and wild that didn't meet hers as he came around and took a seat on the opposite side, waiting for her to sit.

Julie stared at Roman, wondering what was up with him, and she said, "The last time I was late, you were angry at me and made me solve problems."

His eyes met hers, darker than usual. "Do you want me to solve problems?" he deadpanned,

That wasn't what she meant!

Clearing her throat, Julie said, "Why were you late?" He didn't even apologize!

"I was preparing for our class today," Roman's words were as dead as the look he passed her. His long leg pushed the chair back as if telling her to take a seat.

Julie finally sat down as they had already lost enough time, and it didn't seem like Roman would reply to her answer. Pulling out the book from her bag, which she had placed inside, she turned the pages. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a doubt appeared in her mind. Did she do something? But then, they hadn't even crossed paths today for him to be angry or annoyed at her.

While flipping her pages, Julie received a paper cut, and she saw a faint red line.

Ignoring it, she turned her pages. While Roman, who sat in front of her, his eyes turned darker than before, and felt his fangs elongate as he was thirsty.

Few hours back, in the same evening in the boys' Dormitorium, in his dorm, Roman stared at the small piece of paper that he had written when he was still human. Truth to be said, he didn't care much about it. The troublemaker seemed to have missed matching the handwriting from the note with the letters he had sent her.

At that thought, a grin appeared on his lips as he chewed the gum.

Pulling the lighter from his pocket, he flicked it for the flame to appear and lit up the end of the note that caught fire to reduce it into nothing but ashes. Getting to the mini-fridge, Roman pulled it open, and he noticed it was empty.

"Fuck," cursed Roman under his breath and he closed the door.

He had emptied all the cans last night and had forgotten to restock them for various reasons, one being he was barely in his room. His eyes turned to look at the clock on the wall, and he noticed there were ten minutes more before the clock would strike six.

Stepping outside his room, he knocked on the door in front of his room that belonged to Maximus. When his friend opened the door, Maximus had a curious expression on his face.

"Hm? Don't you have a study session to attend?" asked Maximus, watching Roman enter the room and make his way to where the fridge was located.

"I do. I came here to have some blood because I finished mine," replied Roman. He opened the fridge to be greeted with nothing but emptiness. "You must be kidding."

"Sucks to have friends who are vampires, doesn't it?" commented Maximus. He turned to look at the table and said, "That was the last can that I finished a couple of minutes ago."

Roman ran his hand through the thick locks of his hair.

Maximus said, "Dante is not going to be happy if she finds out that all your sessions with Evans turned to an utter waste. All into the dustbin." The two things that Roman had been trying to manage since he had turned into a vampire was— his thirst for blood and his temper.

"Do we ever listen to what Evan says? Considering he is the supposedly unbiased counsellor which is ironic because he is a vampire who compels people," questioned Roman and walked towards the door.

"I can tell you are in quite a mood," smiled Maximus, the corners of his lips pulling high. "You should probably go and find someone to sink your teeth into."

Roman walked to the table, tearing a small piece of the page, to throw away the gum he had been chewing. He left the floor and the boys' Dormitorium and made his way towards the lunchroom, where they mostly had the supplies for vampires. His hand pushed the lunchroom's door, and he made his way towards the counter.

Cutting into the line, he said to the person who stood behind the counter, "Two cans of coke."

"We are out stock. We'll be restocking it tomorrow morning," replied the man who had a white cap on his head.

Roman's eyes narrowed, "Are you sure there's not even one left?"

The man shook his head, "One of the students came by and took all of them for celebration I think. We have the cookie crumbles if you would like to buy them?"

The other two male students who stood near the counter were in their freshmen year. They couldn't help but wonder why the soft drinks were in demand here. It wasn't like it was an elixir, passed the thought in one of the persons' mind. But what they didn't know was that for the vampires who studied and taught in this university, those special cans were filled with blood in it, something that kept the vampires functioning.

Roman's jaws clenched because he could feel his thirst that was slowly picking its pace. He said, "I am looking for something to drink, not to eat."

When he left the front of the counter, the two freshmen who stood for their turn asked the man behind the counter, "Can we have those cookie crumble things?"

"It is only for the seniors," the man offered them a polite smile and asked them, "Let me take your orders now."

Roman stepped out of the lunchroom in an irritated mood. His eyes looked around the place, trying to find a person from whom he had drank blood in the past. He had specific times for the people when it came to drinking their blood so that their body wouldn't suffer blood loss and there was sufficient time for new blood to be produced in the body.

But the thing was if he wasn't wrong, his walking and breathing blood suppliers had all reached their limit. He had been enjoying his blood intake a little more than he was supposed to.

By the time Roman entered the library building, his mood had turned from bad to worse and students, who caught sight of him were quick to steer clear from him. He could feel his fangs ache as if wanting to sink into someone's flesh to draw the fresh and warm blood to drink.

Making his way up the stairs of the library built next to the wall, his laced boots stepped on the first floor of the building. He walked past the book racks that were on his right. As he continued to walk through the sections of the library, the number of people present reduced respectively.

He hoped to control his thirst for the next two hours, which would be testing his limit today.

When Roman reached the last rack on the left side of the floor, he noticed Julie had packed her bag, and she turned around as if she was leaving.

He walked to the desk and sat in front of it. She asked him, "Why are you late?"

"I was preparing for our class today," came his immediate response, while both of them knew that it was a plain white lie. He noticed Julie hadn't taken a seat yet and was still standing with her bag hanging over her shoulder.

The chair that she had earlier pushed in, he pushed it back with his leg so that she would take her seat.

After a few seconds, she finally sat down without pressing him for an answer and started to pull out her notebook and pens. In the meantime, Roman tried to stay composed, his face expressionless while his eyes watched the girl who sat in front of him.

Roman thought to himself, he had been a vampire for quite some time, and it was time to control his instincts. With no blood to trigger him-

His thoughts were quick to interrupt when he heard Julie's sudden intake of breath, and his eyes fell on the paper cut on her finger. His jaws clenched, seeing the finger of the troublemaker who was sitting in front of him. The faint smell of blood drifted towards him, and it made his senses come alive as if it was provoking his predatory skills to hunt and quench his thirst.

On the other hand, Julie placed her hand on the textbook and looked up at Roman to find him staring at her.

"I opened the page," she let him know, unknown by the fact that she had tried to tempt the devil to take her as a sacrifice. "Are you alright?" Julie asked him, concerned because he seemed distracted, even though he was looking right at her.

"Why wouldn't I be?" questioned Roman, and the way he was looking at her right now felt daunting.

"It is the look on your face," Julie started to explain, and his eyes immediately narrowed. "I mean it looks like you have something on your mind. We can reschedule the session tomorrow, if you are busy."

"If I was busy, I wouldn't be here. Don't fret," Roman pulled her textbook towards him.

For the next one hour, Roman taught Julie. While he was teaching her to have a better look at the notebook in which he was writing, Julie had leaned forward.

And even though it was only an innocent action, Roman pushed the notebook forward so that she wouldn't lean in. When Julie's eyes were fixed on the book, listening to him, his eyes fell on her slender and smooth neck that looked more than tempting.