Letters to Romeo

The sky above the grounds of Veteris was clear, the moon ready to turn full the next night and the breeze carrying a whisper that was hard to understand. The only people who walked the grounds were the night patrollers, making sure mischievous students weren't breaking any rules and getting into trouble.

Though the campus had electricity, there were candle lamp posts where the lanterns had been lit, making it appear as if they were back in time—a subtle remembrance of when this place was still a town more than a century ago.

The lights in the buildings had been turned off, as well as the library.. Roman sat on the bench with two books that were opened one over the other. He turned the pages, his red eyes moving from one line to another.

"I didn't expect to see you here at this hour," came the voice from the other end of the corridor.

Roman looked up, noticing it was the headmistress Dante, who wore a simple mock neck bodycon black dress that camouflaged her into the night.

"I didn't know you visited the library," responded Roman, his eyes calmly looking at the woman who made her way in here.

"I sensed someone in here and wondered who had decided to sneak in," answered Dante, a faint smile on her lips. "You do know how this side of the books is important and students barely like to step in here. Because it contains some of the old records of the families and other details which were sealed before the Elders… left."

"That's quite a broad term, Dante," commented Roman, dropping the honorifics as there were no other students or teachers around them. "I don't think they would be happy if they came to know that you said that they left."

Dante nodded her head. She had made her way to the table where Roman stood, her eyes falling on the two books that were opened.

"What are you looking for?"

"Do you know what happened to Willow Creek?" questioned Roman, his eyes watching Dante and his ear listening to the silence that surrounded the library.

"The forest that comes after Veteris?" Dante raised her eyebrows in question, and Roman gave her a nod.

"I was taking a walk when I found a dusty board that had its name. As if it once used to be a town," remarked Roman, his eyes going back to look at the big books with the writings in it. "Here it speaks about the plague doctors coming from this place. But there's no location or pictures. The only buildings around here are of the campus that belongs to Veteris."

Dante nodded her head. She said, "There were some who claimed that a town existed not too far from here. Many have gone looking for it, but they found nothing. Some even called the town to be a delusion."

"So you have never been there?" asked Roman, and the woman shook her head.

"I have been in the forest. In the town? No," replied the headmistress of Veteris. She walked towards the other side of the bench and took a seat. "But I think somewhere, at least in the past it used to exist. Because I once overheard the Elders mention it."

Roman turned curious, his eyes subtly narrowed, and he asked, "What did you hear?"

"The story goes like this," began Dante, her voice calm and barely fluctuating as she said, "Once upon a time, Willow Creek used to be a town with families. There were some exceptional families with abilities. Some calling it magic, and some a curse. One night, the head of the town ordered his men to bring out all those families, making them stand on the scaffolds. Their heads were separated from their bodies. People fear the ones who have powers, similar to how humans are scared of vampires."

Having already read some of the books, Roman questioned, "Is that how the plague doctors came into picture?" That the head of the crow was a replacement to the chopped heads of the dead people, he thought in his mind.

Dante's face held a grim expression, her eyes holding a distant look in them. She said,

"They said the murder of those deceased brought plague to the human kind, wiping people from the town." She then looked at him and asked, "You will possibly get your answers from Donovan than me as my knowledge about this is limited."

"I think I will pass on that idea," came the blunt words and Dante smiled on hearing this.

"Have you decided to pick a day?" asked Roman, without saying the full question. But Dante understood it, and she nodded her head.

"I am going to visit them. Do you want to accompany me?" she asked, standing up from where she had been sitting, and Roman said, "Sure." He closed the books and placed them back in the racks where he had earlier pulled them out.

While making their way out of the library building, he turned back to look at the centre place of the ground floor before stepping outside in the cold. Like many others, he had walked in the Willow Creek's forest but never had he seen the eerie-looking bridge appear and disappear.

He wondered what Julie's connection was when it came to Willow Creek. Not to mention, her father had shot her mother out of the blue. Both Roman and Dante made their way into the deepest parts of the forest, walking into the restricted area of the forest, which was surrounded by a fence of thorns and barks.

"I had Evans check Griffin's dorm. There's nothing there. He's clean."

"It would be surprising if he wasn't," murmured Roman, his hands in his pocket as they walked past the trees.

"If he has tried to cause disturbance in the process of awakening, it won't be overlooked and the same holds on your part. Even if it means you are Donovan's favourite or vice versa," remarked Dante.

Once they came to the area where there were more thorns, Dante placed her hand on one of the barks of the trees, pushing it in a way where the cave opened. They entered inside the cave, and at the entrance stood four vampires to guard the place. Lanterns hung on the walls, giving out enough light that was needed. The walls of the cave were grey, and the ground was covered in dust.

Entering inside, Roman saw the four coffin-like caskets that were placed on the stoned platforms. Inside each of the caskets, there was a cushion-like bed. Each of them was occupied by a vampire, who laid in there with their eyes closed. The IV poles with empty bags were connected with the pipes attached to the coffin, which connected to the vampire's bodies that looked shrivelled.

When Roman and the kinds like his had been turned, some of them had ended up in a similar state, being put in the coffin before they had been woken up a decade ago.

"We'll be waking them up after the celebration of the annual day. It will be the last transfusion of blood before waking them up," explained Dante. "Isolde had already found potential donors of blood and with everyone busy, it will be easier."

Roman walked from one casket to another before coming to stand next to the man who had turned him. Azrael Donovan. The man had blonde hair, his cheek hollow, and even in current condition, he looked as cunning as he was when he was walking and talking.

The following day in the evening, students had begun to walk towards the forest even before the logs of wood had lit. Julie was in Melanie's room, where she sat on the bed, while her friend changed her dress for the fourth time now.

"I think I like the sleeveless frilled one," said Julie, her head tilted towards the right side as she suggested what looked good.

"You are right," agreed Melanie, picking up the blouse from the bed and placing it in front of her body. "I feel so nervous. Should I probably postpone the confession?"

"It is just two minutes and then it will be alright," encouraged Julie with a smile before adding, "The maroon suits you and you can probably take a jacket just so you don't freeze later."

Melanie bit her bottom lip, nodding her head, and she exhaled the air through her lips. "I can do it," she whispered to herself. "You haven't gotten ready yet, go on."

"Mine is just a regular top and jeans," Julie laughed as it would take her less than two minutes to wear her clothes and get ready soon.

"No! You are not leaving me alone all dolled up!" Melanie protested, turning to face Julie with her back facing the mirror now. "You can wear my clothes if you don't have any, we are almost the same size."

Julie waved her hand, "I am not the one confessing, Mel. It is you."

"What about Roman?" asked Melanie, her eyebrows raised.

"I don't think he minds my sweater—"

"I mind it. Go to your room and I will be there in five minutes. We have nowhere else to go and this is the only time we get a break. Chop chop," said Melanie before pushing Julie outside. Julie knew that Melanie was nervous, and she was slightly on the hyper side.

Julie walked back to her dorm, pulling out her dresses from the closet and placing it on the bed. With her arms crossed, she tapped her foot on the ground. After a lot of thought, she finally chose a top that she had never worn before. It was a top that she had bought when she had gone shopping with her mother two weeks before her mother had been killed.

It was an ivory top with a sweetheart neckline and loose-fitting full sleeve, where its bodice had lace trim. She paired it with light blue jeans and tucked the top in her jeans. Tying her hair, she wore her glasses. Applying her red-tinted lip balm, she was finally ready.

Locking the dorm door, she went back to Melanie's dorm, who was combing her hair.

"Melanie totally approves," Mel raised her hand, giving Julie a thumbs up, and Julie shook her head with a smile. "Are we late?"

"No, we still have time. Did you tell Conner where to meet?" asked Julie, touching her ponytail.

"He said he will meet us near the bonfire," replied Melanie, placing the hairbrush on the table and then asked, "Okay?"

"Perfect," remarked Julie. "Breathe, Mel. Deep breath."

When they stepped into the hallway of the girl's Dormitorium, the air was heavily filled with a mixture of perfume that the girls had sprayed on themselves. Most of the dorms were already locked, as the students had already left the building to attend the bonfire.

The sky was yet to turn dark, and both Julie and Melanie started to walk towards the forest. Now and then, Julie pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

She wondered if Roman was already there, and she tried to recollect what time she had seen him and his friends at the last bonfire. Though they didn't reach where the logs of the woods were blazing, they did catch up with Conner.

He had a look of surprise on his face, seeing both Julie and Melanie dressed.

"You both look nice and chic. I didn't know we were dressing up," said Conner.

To this, Julie replied, "Some of the clothes have been lying in the corner and we thought to wear it. Mel looks cute, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, she does," Conner agreed, and Melanie tried hard not to look affected by the compliment. "I don't know why you both don't dress often like this."

"Laziness," replied Melanie, and she rubbed both her hands together. "Are we going to sit on one of the logs near the bonfire?"

"Yes, but in a minute or two," said Conner before looking over Melanie's shoulder and waving at someone. Julie wondered whom Conner was waiting for until a girl approached them. The girl was a brunette and possibly a junior compared to them. "This is Reese. One of the Sophomore students who has been assisting me in the assignment classes."

"Hi," the girl named Reese waved her hand at Julie and Melanie. "I have heard so much about you from Conner. I have been wanting to meet you officially."

Julie finally realized what was going to happen, realizing Melanie would probably not get the chance to confess her feelings. Her eyes slowly shifted to look at Melanie, who continued to smile.

Conner grinned before saying, "It has been a few days since we started to go out."

"It is nice to meet you, Reese," said Melanie and Julie started to feel bad because Melanie had dressed up for Conner. "It is nice to meet you. Conner is a blabbermouth, I wonder how he forgot to mention this to us until now," she laughed.

"I wasn't hiding Reese, promise," said Conner in humour, "I was waiting for the right time to introduce her to you both. I wanted the timing to be right."

"Ah, timing," Melanie nodded her head.

"I must say, your friends are really pretty and it makes me a little jealous. But not in a bad way," said Reese, her voice sweet, and Julie's eyes kept darting back and forth. Who would have thought that Conner would find a girlfriend right when Melanie had finally decided to confess her feelings to him.

Julie asked Conner, "Did they already give the project assignment for the final exam?"

Conner nodded his head, "They did. Apart from the exhibition for the annual celebration, I am currently preparing the sculpture for the finals which will be graded later. Reese had volunteered with the other Sophomore students to help in the assignment and we hit off soon."

While Julie and her friends stood near one of the trees talking to each other, the sky had turned dark.

"You okay?" whispered Julie to Melanie when Conner and his girlfriend were talking about something.

Melanie nodded her head, a sad smile appearing on her lips, and she said, "I will be okay. Just in a little shock." Julie put her arm around Melanie and rubbed her shoulder. They walked to where the logs of fire were brightly burning. Some students had already taken their seats near the bonfire, and some stood nearby talking to their friends. When Julie entered the place with her friends, Simon, who was already there, noticed the group of humans.

"Hm, looks like today there's a new friend," commented Simon. Roman, sitting next to him, turned to look in the direction where Simon was looking. His eyes fell on Julie. He stared at her, noticing she had discarded her sweater, replacing it with a full-sleeved top.

Even though they hadn't spoken face to face since last evening, communicating only through letters, Roman could sense her nervousness from where he sat. His hands rested on his knees. His body relaxed while he chewed gum. She looked pretty enough to be eaten up.

Julie looked around the place before her eyes came to settle on Roman, who had already spotted her. Simon waved, gaining her attention as he waved them to come to join them.

"Simon is calling us, we should go," said Conner.

"He's probably just waving at us, and we should stick to waving back," muttered Melanie, who didn't want to spoil her already dull mood.

"Wow that's so cool, you guys are friends with the famous five," commented Reese, looking excited, and Melanie gave the girl a look as if to lower her excitement.

Julie, being the good friend she was, turned to Melanie and said, "If you don't want to go it is fine, we can sit somewhere else."

Melanie shook her head, "No, it is fine," she replied with a tight smile.

When they reached the spot where Roman and his friends were, Simon stood up from the spot he was sitting, and he said to Julie, "It is nice to see you all here, I was worried that we would be short of people to play the game."

"I hope it isn't munchies," replied Julie with a smile on her lips, and Simon grinned.

"Unfortunately we didn't get the chocolate sticks this time so we'll probably play another game," said Simon before looking at Conner and adding, "And who is this pretty thing here?"

While her friends were being spoken to, Roman had moved to the side, and he jerked his head to the space that had been made. Seeing Melanie speaking to Olivia, Julie slowly sat down next to him.

"Everything okay?" Roman asked her casually, glancing at her.

Julie's eyes subtly raised, and she asked him in a low voice, "Why do you ask?"

"You seem tense," stated Roman, looking in her eyes, and Julie felt herself sink in his deep black ones. "What happened?" he asked her as if they were in their own world while the rest of the people around them and their voices faded into the background. She looked at her friend Melanie, and he followed her gaze before understanding what it was about.

"I hope she feels better," she murmured. She then looked back at him and asked, "Did you come here now?"

"Fifteen minutes ago," responded Roman, watching the soft rose tint on her lips and the length of her slender neck that looked delectably soft. "I see you left your sweater back in your dorm."

Of course, he noticed, thought Julie to herself. She looked at her hands and said, "They are long sleeved."

"Mm," hummed Roman.

Only when her friends went to sit on the other side did Julie realize that the log of the wood she and Roman were sitting on was a short one. Both her friends seemed occupied, so it seemed alright to sit here, just the two.

"Do you want to go sit with them?" Julie asked, her eyes shifting from the group to look at Roman, who was already looking at her.

"This is fine. Are you uncomfortable?" he questioned her.

Julie shook her head quickly, "No. I didn't know if you wanted to sit with them. Because it's just us two without them, and on this side. If you are..." she stopped babbling. Roman's presence made her nervous, and she turned her gaze to look at the burning fire, which wasn't too far from where they sat.

"Don't fret. If I wasn't comfortable, I wouldn't have chosen to sit here," remarked Roman, placing his hands behind him and stretching his legs.

After a few seconds, he then said, "These clothes suit you."

Julie turned to look at Roman, who wasn't looking at her but at the crackling flames of the bonfire. She answered, "Thank you. My mother picked them for me."

"She had good taste," Roman's words made Julie smile, and she nodded her head.

"She did."

"You wouldn't mind speaking about your mother, would you?" Roman was curious to know about Julie's lineage while also curious to know more about her.

"She was a kind and humble woman. She loved me and my father very much. She tried to be there for me as much as she could. Even with her busy work," Julie shrugged her shoulders, "The rest is like any other mother. What about your mother?" she asked Roman, as the only thing she knew was that his parents were murdered.

Roman had a thoughtful expression on his face and said, "In my memory, she was a good person. Died when I was young, so I have very faint memories about her. But I know she loved me very much."

This might have been one of the rare times that Roman was willing to share something about him without ignoring her question.

"I see. I am glad to hear that," replied Julie, and Roman tilted his head, looking at her.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Winters?"

"I don't know what I am supposed to remember," said Julie, trying to remember if she missed any of his questions in the letter. And though she waited for Roman to tell her, he didn't.

When Roman went back to staring at the bonfire, Julie could sense other student's curious eyes on them.

To initiate conversation, she asked him, "Will you miss Veteris once you graduate from here?"

"Not much. I might keep visiting here every once in a while," said Roman in a nonchalant tone. Only after her question did she realize that next year he wouldn't be here, which would also mean they wouldn't have any more tutoring lessons. An unexpected and dulling ache appeared in her chest.

"What are your plans?" Roman returned the question to her.

"Leave the state. Go as far as I can and start over again," replied Julie, looking down at her hands.

"You're scared of your father coming for you?" at Roman's question, she nodded her head.

"I will be in constant fear that he will track me," she confessed. "A few days ago, when I was over Melanie's parent's house,I received a text message asking me where I was," explained Julie.

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" Roman frowned.

"It was the day you were hurt," replied Julie.

"Do you still have the message with you?" he inquired, and Julie nodded her head. "I will check if I can track the number and see if I find who it belongs to."

Roman watched Julie from the corner of his eyes, where she had raised her head to look up at the starry night. His eyes fell back on her neck, and he could feel his fangs trying to push through so that he could take a bite from her smooth skin. It was distracting him, and he tried to look away.

"Winters," Roman called her, and her head turned to look at him. "You don't mind if I fix something, do you?" As usual, his words were often vague, and she wondered what this 'fix' meant.

Roman had turned his body to face her, leaning towards her as if he was about to kiss her and her heart skipped a beat. She saw his hands raising, feeling him hold the back of her hair, which was tied in a ponytail. He then pulled her rubberband down before letting her hair down, setting it free to fall on her shoulders.

His face was right in front of hers, and he said, "Your hair down suits better."

Julie was too stunned to react, feeling Roman's hand rest one piece of her hair on her shoulder before pulling away from her. If Roman's words hadn't reached others before, the little action right now was enough to deliver the message loud and clear to everyone who was around them.

"Thanks," replied Julie. Her cheeks burned bright, but it was camouflaged by the burning light that came from the fireplace.

On-time, Maximus called, "Rome! We are going to start playing."

Roman looked at Julie and warned her, "Be careful with what you choose." He stood up from his seat, and Julie followed him before asking,

"What do you mean?"

"The game," Roman's words were short as they made their way to where the rest of them were seated not too far from where they had been sitting until now.

Julie noticed Melanie, who usually sat close to Conner, was now sitting on the opposite side, next to Olivia. Roman took a seat against the tree next to Simon, and Julie took the spare space next to Melanie.

Julie tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear when Maximus, who enjoyed hosting the games, said, "We shall play the classic of the classic, truth or dare. How's that?"

"Don't you have anything better to play?" questioned Victoria, who sat next to him.

"I do," came the solemn response from Maximus, and he said, "I thought of another classic, hide and seek, but I worry some might get lost in the forest," he smiled, looking at everyone. "We already did truth and dare last time with munchies, it's just that this time there wouldn't be anything to eat. Although if you want, you can eat p-" he stopped speaking when Olivia threw a stone at him to shut up.

"Who has a bottle here?" asked Simon, and Reese showed the empty bottle that she had in her hand.

"Will this do," the girl asked, and Simon smiled.

"It should work," said Simon, taking the bottle from her. "The one the bottle points to will have to pick a dare or truth. Okay?"

There was a murmur of agreement in the group before Simon spun the bottle. As the bottle spun, Julie prayed hard so that it wouldn't point at her. She let out an internal sigh of relief when the bottle pointed at Conner.

Conner laughed, "Looks like I go first."

"What is it going to be? Truth or Dare?" questioned Maximus, where the vampires in the group stared at the human boy.

"Truth," answered Conner.

Julie couldn't help but wonder why Roman had told her to be careful with her options. Both seemed difficult, and she didn't know what questions or actions she would have to do.

Simon decided to question Conner, "Is Reese your first love?"

Conner turned slightly bashful and then said, "Well, we are still seeing how things go and I like her very much."

Simon nodded his head and said, "That sounds like a fair answer. What a simple question it was."

Julie didn't know why, but the way Simon smiled made her feel as if he was up to something. The senior spun the bottle again, and this time it pointed at Reese.

Reese said, "Truth."

This time Olivia asked, "Apart from Conner, who would you have dated if the opportunity presented itself?"

The girl looked at three seniors, and when her eyes fell on Roman, he sent a sharp glare which made her look at the other two, "I think Simon?"

"Well, thank you," Simon took the compliment. "Next," he said, for the bottle to point at Maximus.

"Dare," Maximus didn't blink when he picked it.

Roman was the one to say, "I dare you to make out with the person you are attracted to here."

Julie saw Maximus stand up, and make his way to where Olivia sat. Olivia seemed to lightly glare at Roman before the glare shifted to Maximus. Once he sat in front of her, soon enough, he locked his lips with hers and the people who were new to the group, their eyes widened. The kiss wasn't a simple one but a french kiss that lasted for more than ten seconds.

Julie and her friends realized how deadly a dare could be. It was better not to pick dare, she noted to herself.

But then, next time, the bottle pointed at Melanie, and she picked the truth. "Not you," she said, looking at Simon before he could ask her a question. Simon raised his hands.

Victoria asked, "Have you masturbated thinking of the boy you liked?"

It seemed like momentarily, they had forgotten that this was the troublesome clique of Veteris. What were they expecting? Them asking easy questions? Simon's question had been nothing but a trap, tricking the others.

Julie's eyes shifted to look at Roman, who had a relaxed expression as if the questions barely fazed him. As if feeling her eyes on him, he looked at her.

As uncomfortable as the question was, it also increased everyone's curiosity about what Melanie would answer.

"Yes," replied Melanie, her answer short and her face red.

Olivia patted Melanie's back, "We all have done that at some point. No shame there." But her words weren't enough to rid the human's embarrassment.

After some more turns, some of them got a second turn, the bottle finally pointed at Julie. Invisible sweat broke on her forehead, and Olivia asked, "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," answered Julie, feeling a little nervous.

Olivia then asked, "Have you sexually fantasized about any person in Veteris?"

Julie didn't answer immediately, but her eyes were still on Olivia, "Does dream count?"

"It does," replied Olivia.

"Then, yes," answered Julie.

"That was a half question, Liv. You were supposed to ask who," complained Maximus. "Now we are in suspense." Roman who sat across Julie, his eyes subtly narrowed.

To Julie's luck, the bottle didn't point at her again, while the people in the group shared kisses when they picked dare and had to answer embarrassing questions. During the game, she caught Roman looking her way, and it stirred her heart. He had pulled one of his legs up while stretching the other one on the ground with his back against the tree.

After a couple of times, the bottle spun on the ground to finally point at Roman. Julie wondered what he was going to pick.

Simon asked, "Truth or dare."

"Dare."

"I dare you to seduce one of the people in here," Simon dared. On hearing his words, Roman placed his hand on the ground, pushing himself up to stand.

Julie, who had been quietly sitting, watched Roman make his way to where she was. He stretched his hand towards her as if asking her to stand up. His eyes were on her, making it impossible for her to look anywhere else. Nothing had happened, but she could feel the blood rushing through her veins.

"How cute, Julie is shy," commented Simon.

If Julie could, she would have taped Simon's mouth and thrown him into a trunk before throwing him in the ocean now.

Until now, everyone had followed through the dare on both ends. She saw Roman tilt his head, waiting for her.  Gathering all her courage, she finally lifted her hand, placing her small hand in his large palm, feeling the softness of his tapered fingers. Holding onto it, she stood in front of him.

This would be just like on the stage, said Julie to herself. Just like how Atlas had tried to seduce Iris, easy peasy. But only if it were that easy. Because the next second, she saw Roman take a step forward to close the distance between them. His hand moved to be placed below her chin before he lightly grazed his finger from the length of her chin to her jaw.

"Relax," Roman whispered to her.

But instead, it created the opposite reaction, and his lips twitched while his eyes stared into hers. He could hear Julie's heart pounding in her chest.

Julie suddenly felt she was part of Jumanji's game, with drums ringing in her ears.

Her breath turned short and shallow when she noticed Roman's gaze shift to look at her lips. When Roman's finger trailed down the side of her neck, he descended his lips close to her lips that softly trembled. The tension around them increased, and instead of letting his lips touch hers, it hovered across her cheek.

"Times up," said Maximus and Roman let go of Julie's hand while taking a step back to see her affected. She looked red, and her eyes wide that didn't meet his eyes.

Julie tried to school her expression, going back she sat next to Melanie.

After a few more rounds, they stopped the game.

Conner and Reese were the first ones to leave as everyone had stood up from their place. When Melanie mentioned heading back to the dorm as she was tired, Julie decided to accompany her to quickly hide in her dorm.

"Leaving?" questioned Roman, his eyes on Julie.

"Ah, yes," replied Julie, ready to bolt.

Her heart had not calmed down, nor was she able to concentrate without thinking about what had occurred. If she hadn't been aware of his intentions before, she was now.

"Alright," said Roman, his expression barely giving away anything.

Wishing everyone a goodnight, Julie and Melanie left, making their way through the forest and heading to the Dormitorium. Reaching the dorms, Melanie said she was going to sleep as she was tired, and Julie nodded her head, knowing her friend was heartbroken and needed time to get over it.

Unlocking her dorm door, Julie went inside and closed it.

She shook her head, cleaning her room and sorting her books one after another, but her mind somehow went back to the way Roman's fingers felt on her skin. It was near the time of curfew, and she could hear the campus had turned quieter, and so had the hallways of the Dormitorium.

Julie heard a knock on the door, and she wondered if Melanie needed company. When she opened the door, she instead found Roman standing in front of the door.

Without a word, he took a step inside the room and closed the door behind him.