Letters to Romeo

Melanie stared at Olivia, not knowing what aspect she was talking about that had changed in Simon. Did she mean to say that he wasn't this annoying before, who could get on someone's nerves easily?

Seeing her not speak, Olivia said, "I apologize on his behalf for what happened, I know how vexing it can turn out to be. But I hope you don't take it to heart," she offered a small smile to her.

"I don't think I will forgive him for what he did," replied Melanie, her words were firm as she was still angry at the thought of what the vampire did. At the same time, she was curious as she hadn't seen him, and she asked, "How is he?"

"Simon? I haven't seen him since that incident in the lunchroom. He seems to have disappeared," answered Olivia.

When they reached the library, Melanie asked Olivia at the entrance, "What did you mean when you said that he changed?"

Olivia stared at her for a few seconds, and she then said, "Simon had a troubled childhood. I think the rest I will let you imagine what might have happened as it isn't my place to speak about his personal matters. It was good talking to you, Melanie. I will see you around."

Melanie gave a nod, seeing Olivia walk inside the building and she then took a right as if she already knew what book she had come here to pick. Some students walked past her, staring at her before she stepped inside too, while feeling some of the student's gaze on her.

Her thoughts went to Olivia's words, wondering what might have changed in the red-headed vampire.

In the boy's Dormitorium, in the dorm, Simon sat on the bed with a pillow tucked behind his back while playing a game on his phone. His green eyes were trained on the phone's screen while his fingers furiously tapped on the buttons.

Maximus, who entered the dorm, placed his bag on the table and stared at Simon.

"How was class?" questioned the red-headed vampire.

"I didn't attend. I skipped it with Liv," replied Maximus, and Simon whistled loudly before a wide smile appeared on his lips.

"Spending as much time as you can before the fight takes place on these grounds?" came the nonchalant question from Simon, and he finally paused the game and threw his phone to the side, turning his body to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Castiel says that we have to prepare ourselves for the worst. Also yes. She'll be busy later if we end up having too many casualties," answered Maximus. After Piper passed away suddenly, it had shocked a lot of them, while they tried to live a little more. He pulled the fridge and saw it was empty.

"I forgot to restock the cans. I was thirsty and finished all of them," Simon offered his best friend a grin that showed both his fangs. "I will stock them later when I go down to the lunchroom."

"Thanks," said Maximus, and he looked at Simon.

"What?" came the blunt question from Simon and he raised one of his eyebrows. "Why are you looking at me as if you are worried about me?" he tilted his head.

"I was wondering if you left the dorm since yesterday or decided to coop yourself in here for some reason," commented Maximus, and to his words, Simon chuckled.

"My heart was not broken to coop myself in here, Max. I have been devising a plan to see how to pull the heist."

"Heist? Are you planning to steal something? Don't get into trouble when we have other things to worry about, Simon," Maximus warned him, but Simon waved his hand as if it wasn't a big deal.

"It is a heist you wouldn't have imagined," Simon's green eyes twinkled in mirth.

Maximus rolled his eyes, "Just don't get into trouble."

"Mhmm," came the response from Simon. His lips had pulled up in both the corners. "How are the plans of defense going on?"

"Castiel and the other Elders wanted to speed up the dates of the exams, but Dante refused," explained Maximus, sitting down on his bed, "She said this is the most she could and trying to change too many things would catch the attention from others and we'll be dealing with more than just one kind."

"That seems logical."

"But that increases the risk of the humans," Maximus' eyebrows furrowed, and he said, "Olivia told me that Conner's mind is breaking the compulsion faster. It is only a matter of time until he either learns the truth and accepts, or finds the truth and informs about it to his parents."

"It is a tricky situation, isn't it. Do you think Conner would side with his friends, but Donovan really snapped the thread that cannot be mended again in him," remarked Simon, and his lips twisted. "Did you talk to him?"

"I haven't seen him with the girls. He rarely leaves his room," and hearing Maximus' words, Simon's eyebrows raised in question.

"Hm? Looks like I will have to take a look myself, after all I am a fellow hunter," grinned Simon and Maximus shook his head.

"You are enjoying this more than you should," said Maximus, but then he thought of how Simon always enjoyed the difficult situations and people's pain and plight. It was something he fed on as much as he fed on blood when he was thirsty.

"Enjoying normal things is boring, don't you agree? And nobody wants ordinary things, my parents were never fond of it," replied Simon before he stood up from the bed and picked up his silver chain. He wore it around his neck. "Let me see what my best friend Conner is doing."

Simon stepped out of the dorm, started to walk through the corridor. He walked down the stairs and hopped on the corridor where the human's dorm was located. The junior students, who were walking in there, were quick to bow at him while he offered them a bright smile. Coming to stand in front of Conner's dorm, he placed gentle knocks on the surface of the wooden door.

After a few seconds, Conner finally opened the door, and he looked slightly taken aback by Simon's presence in front of his dorm.

"Good evening, Conner. I came to check on you to make sure you are doing well," came the friendly words from Simon, and Conner offered a smile.

"I am doing good, Simon. Thank you for coming to check on me," replied Conner, and he pushed the door to the side. "Do you want to come in?"

"Sure," replied Simon, and he placed one foot inside the room, closely followed by the other one. "I was worried that something happened. Especially knowing how bad the world has turned into, I would be hurt if something terrible happened to you."

At Simon's words, Conner gave him a startled look. He then said, "I am doing perfectly fine. I just needed some time for myself."

"For yourself or away from the girl?" Simon never liked to play defense, and he always prefered to attack people, as it made it easier to get answers from people.

"Oh no!" Conner was quick to deny it, and he laughed, "I wouldn't be upset about such things. I think it is just weird that I didn't know about it until now, while Melanie confessed it to you."

Simon stared at Conner with a smile on his face, and he said, "It was probably because she found it easier to confess about it to me. I am a very good listener and make people feel very comfortable with me. If you have any secrets, you can always confide it with me."

Simon's words sparked something in Conner's mind, that Melanie was possibly closer to this person than him. He felt slightly jealous at the thought of it.

"I thought you both discussed and cleared everything," Simon continued to poke Conner, not because it wasn't his business, but slowly the interest had turned into something personal now. "Have you both decided to give it a try together?"

"No…" Conner replied, but his refusal sounded doubtful as if he wasn't sure about what to do with these new emotions. Though Melanie had clearly mentioned that he didn't have to return her feelings, there was still some awkwardness that he was trying to see how to handle. And he had started to question how he felt towards Melanie, and if he unknowingly loved her.

Simon walked towards the table, picking up a book that was lying on the surface, and he went through it. He said, "I understand how you feel, Conner. I mean you aren't able to forget about Reese, are you?"

"It is hard to let the memories of Reese go," murmured Conner. "And I care about Mel. A lot." There had been too many things going on, which was why he wanted some time away from people and not just Melanie.

Simon's eyes subtly narrowed, and when he was about to ask something, he noticed the change in Conner's heart beat. So far it didn't seem like the human remembered anything about his compulsion and hidden memories. Before the vampire could ask something, Conner was the one to ask him,

"How is she doing?"

"Melanie?" asked Simon, and he nodded his head, "She's doing well. The same as usual, and still very upset with me."

"I am sorry about that," Conner apologized, and Simon laughed.

"You don't have to be. I surely deserved it," said Simon, feeling the soft touch of Melanie's hand on his cheek. "She's been hurting a lot and I thought it was time to give her the needed push. I mean one sided, unrequited feelings are the worst for any person, but I am glad she's doing better even after your rejection."

"I didn't reject her," corrected Conner, his eyes not meeting Simon's eyes.

"Did you accept her feelings then?" Simon shot the question, and Conner shook his head. Conner scrunched his face when he was about to say something, making the vampire question, "You alright there, pal?"

"Yeah, I am okay. I have just been having bad stomach aches," replied Conner, and Simon gave a short nod.

"I will let you rest then. Do you need any medicine? I would be happy to get some from the infirmary," offered Simon, being a good friend to Conner, but the human refused.

"No, I will be fine with just a bit of rest."

"Alright then. I will see you during dinner?" asked Simon, and Conner agreed.

"Thanks for dropping by," said Conner and Simon walked out of the room before the door was locked.

Once Conner was sure that Simon left the front side of the room, his hands quickly went to grasp on the sides of his head, and he gritted his teeth. His head had been hurting for quite some time now, and the flashes of images and distorted voices had started to fill up in his mind.

He climbed on the bed and laid down, feeling the continuous flashes of blood appearing in front of his eyes.

'Let me take another sip from you before we head to class.'

'She died because of a heart attack... repeat it...'

'Was it a wolf's attack? The wild animal is on prowl'

'How long do you think we are keeping him here? We need to build an alibi,' came another voice which didn't stop there.

Conner felt as if his head was being squeezed on both sides, and he wished for it to stop. If there was one thing he came to realize, it was that no one was to be trusted in this place. He could tell by the look in his best friend's eyes that she was hiding something, and he wasn't sure what exactly it was.

More distorted voices came to fill in his mind, and one of them said, 'You will grieve her death normally and won't question anyone about it. Ms. Reese's death was natural and you never saw any blood on her body.'

Then for the very first time, apart from the distorted voices that he couldn't make out in his head, Conner finally caught sight of a person's face. It was the face of Veteris' counselor, Mr. Evans. His eyes snapped open, which turned wide in realization as the image and memory of the person turned much more distinct. Mr. Evans had red eyes that stared right into his eyes while compelling him in this very room.

"Shit!" Conner cursed under his breath. One of the teachers was a vampire, and who knew how many more were in here because there was more than one voice in his head.

Simon had decided to take a walk on the Veteris ground, smiling at the juniors and the students in his year, who looked at him warily. They looked at him warily because they knew there was more than one screw loose in the vampire's head.

While he was walking, he caught sight of the human girl, who had caught his attention. She was standing not too far away from where he was, talking to one of the students, and he made his way to where she was.

Melanie spoke to the fellow student, "Thank you so much for the notes. It helped us a lot and we were able to finish reading the chapter quicker this time," she thanked the senior girl.

"Seniors are meant to help the juniors, especially in times like this where they surprise us with early dates of exams," smiled the senior, who was a human. "Let me know if you need any help by tomorrow, because I will be busy from the day after tomorrow."

"No, this is more than sufficient. Thank you for your valuable time," replied Melanie, raising the two notebooks that belonged to the girl who stood in front of her.

"If notes is what you need, I would be more than happy to arrange them, darling," came the sudden voice from behind the girls, making them both turn. The senior girl smiled seeing Simon's presence as if he was a ray of sunshine, while Melanie looked like she had just taken a bite from a bitter-gourd.

Melanie turned to the senior and thanked her once again, "Thank you again. I will return them to you after the exam," saying this, she started to walk away from there.

Simon offered a polite smile to the other girl before he quickly started to follow Melanie, "Good evening, Mel. How are you faring today?"

"Like shit," replied Melanie, and Simon didn't take any offense from her words.

"Tell me what can I do to help? I just saw your love interest a few minutes ago. He seems to be too drowned in his late girlfriend's memories," Simon poked it at Melanie, who quietly shot him a glare. He gasped, placing a hand on his chest, "I am scared! Are you still mad at me? It has been two days since we last spoke to each other."

"You can add more years to it until I die to talk to me next," retorted Melanie, not looking at him.

A light, hearty chuckle escaped from Simon's lips, and he said, "Unfortunately, I am not an expert in using the ouija board to connect with you after your death. So I will make do what I have now."

Melanie, who had been slightly feeling guilty that she had overreacted, now realized it wasn't her but Simon who had pushed her to slap him.

"Do you want me to repeat what happened two days ago?" asked Melanie, stopping her feet from walking any further, and Simon stopped walking.

Simon's eyes sparkled in mirth, and he said, "It will be folly for you to think that something like that will happen twice. Though you are free to try," he used both his hands to spread apart as if welcoming her action and Melanie stared at him.

"You did what you wanted to. Are you happy now?" Melanie's free hand turned into fist while the other pulled the books closer to her chest.

"Look at me, I am ecstatic. Though I am curious as to why Conner isn't around you. You poor little thing with a broken heart," Simon clicked his tongue in pity while looking at the human.

Melanie wondered if Simon's spot in Hell had already been confirmed because of how awful he was.

"Is that all you wanted to talk about?" inquired Melanie.

"Always so ready to shoo me away when I have a lot to talk about with you," complained Simon before offering her a bright smile. "So tell me, how are you coping with your heart break?"

"My heart is fine. There's no reason for it to be broken because I had enough time to—"

Simon suddenly pulled Melanie by her hand, and she tried to pull it away, but he put his hand around her waist.

"What do you think you are doing?!" asked Melanie with an alarmed expression on her face.

"I have issues with my ears, and sometimes I need to bring the person of my interest closer," saying this, he turned his head to the side, "You say your heart is doing fine, but I hear it rapidly beating against your chest. Are you sure it is beating fine?" She felt his thumb graze against the skin of her wrist.

Melanie kicked his leg, and Simon let go of her. Her cheeks had turned red, and she glared at him.

"What are you trying to do?" she asked him, not breaking her intense gaze from his playful one.

Simon said, "Now that Conner is out of your mind, let us focus on something better."

"What?" Melanie asked, confusion on her face.

"I think you are quite an interesting girl," remarked Simon, pushing one side of his hair to the back. He said, "As Conner doesn't feel that way towards you, let us not waste more time. So quickly fall for me now."