Music Recommendation: Bad Guy- Billie Eilish.

  Julie sat at one of the tables during dinner while Melanie and Conner had gone to get food, including hers. She pulled the end of her sweater's sleeves to hide her wrists, a habit that had continued even now. In the back of her mind, she was worried that the porcupine would do something worse than what he had done today on the stage.

  Subconsciously, her arms hugged her as if to provide herself with comfort.

  "It looks like you aren't suited for places that are cold," commented Dennis, who came with his tray of food. "May I?"

  "Yes," replied Julie, and she pushed the spare chair next to her, and Dennis smiled. "Mel and Conner have gone to get food."

  Dennis nodded his head, "I noticed that. I was hoping I could get to talk to you alone. It was about what my friend told you that day when we went to watch the movie." Ah, the awkward day, thought Julie in her mind. "My apologies that he was brash with his words."

  "That's fine," said Julie with a tight smile.

  "I hope you didn't feel bad about it. But I do want you to know that you are pretty. I think you are a nice person, Julie," Dennis politely said, and Julie replied,

  "Ah, thank you. It isn't like you or your friend badmouthed something about me, so it's cool," Julie replied. To straighten things up, she said, "Though it would feel less awkward if I heard it from someone. Not that I want to hear compliments, because that would be strange," and she laughed in the end to reduce the tension she felt around her.

  "I will keep that in my mind," smiled Dennis, watching Julie nod her head.

  While Julie and Dennis were speaking to each other, waiting for Mel and Conner to return, Julie's eyes fell on Roman, who was sitting at one of the tables across her own table. He was chewing gum, listening to something Mamixus was saying, who sat next to him.

  Somewhere in the middle of having her meal, Julie found Roman glaring at her, and she tried to hide behind Mel, going back to talk to her friends, when in truth, Roman was not glaring at her but Dennis.

  After some time, Julie noticed a student at Roman's table, speaking to them, where everyone's face looked serious, and the boy left. Sometime later, the seniors left the lunchroom instead of staying back to sit and chat. Julie wondered if everything was alright.

  Roman stood in the headmistress' room with his four friends, who Dante had summoned. The woman had leaned her back against the chair she sat, staring at them with a rather grim expression on her face.

  "What is this about you coming? across the hunters' situation?" demanded Dante, her eyes trying to stay calm. "I found out from Isolde that Roman and Victoria got a shot for the impurities of Silverwater continuing to stay in the body."

  Olivia began, "Madame Dante, it was by mistake th-"

  "Not you, Olivia. I expected you to report it to me sooner as you work in the infirmary but it seems like you were present there too when it happened," came the stern voice of the blonde woman, staring at the students. "Don't you know how important this time is for all of us, especially with the Elder's arrival. If they hear about it, things will only turn even worse."

  Roman finally said, "We didn't know that we would be running by the hunters. We were near the town of Greasy Corner when it happened. They shot us with bullets made out of Silverwater. We followed the usual protocols. I thought the nearby towns had been checked to erase the existence of the Hunters."

  "I thought so too, but it seems that I was wrong," replied Dante with a deep frown between her eyebrows. "The Hunters haven't shown up for decades, which is why we ruled out the possibility of them trying to track our existence. Did they see any of you?"

  "They didn't. We were in the forest and it was midnight," replied Roman, and he saw the woman let out a sigh of relief.

  "It isn't like you are children anymore that I need to babysit, but if you come across Hunters, the basic that can be done is inform, especially when it happens next time," she stared at them, seeing the three of them no, while two of them stared back at her. "All of you, except for Roman and Simon, can leave the room."

  The other three stepped out of the room so that the woman could speak to the two boys.

  "Is there anything more that I need to know?" questioned Dante, her eyes shifting from Roman to Simon and then back at Roman.

  Roman finally said, "I think I found my suspect on who contaminated the water in Veteris. It was done by a vampire, who had possibly turned in the beginning of the time. Someone who doesn't like the Elders," came the nonchalant words.

  "Who is it?" questioned Dante, wanting to hear the name of the infiltrator, who was causing problems in Veteris.

  A faint smile appeared on Roman's lips, and he said, "Griffin."

  Dante stared hard at Roman before she said, "It is impossible for him to have done it, he knows the consequences."

  "Doesn't that only make him less of a possible suspect. It is a good plan," Roman raised his eyebrows.

  Dante stood up from her chair, making her way towards the window at the backside of the room. She folded both her arms, a serious expression on her face. "Get me proof. I cannot take any action without concrete proof, especially when it is one of the founder's boys." This wasn't good news, thought Dante to herself. Griffin, Maximus and Roman, were three people who were closely either tied or related to the founders. Not to mention, she was already well aware of the differences that went between Roman and Griffin.

  Roman nodded his head, "You will get it."

  On the other hand, Simon asked the headmistress, "Madame Dante, I was wondering… what are your thoughts on inviting the hunter's children to study here?"

  "Whom do you have on your mind?" Dante directly questioned him, "The ones who attacked you?"

  Even Roman was curious about this, but he knew Dante wasn't dumb not to have an idea with regards to Simon's question. Simon gave a small nod and then shrugged, "If I gave you some recommendation, would you torture or let them study?"

  The woman said, "Having the hunter's children studying here would be of great advantage. If the children are not tied with them, much better, but I have known cases where the humans are as cold as the vampires. I don't have any personal interest in them, unless they try to cause trouble."

  "You think they won't be different?" asked Simon, his eyes curious.

  "The hunter's mission is to wipe out the entire race of the vampires. And that means even at the cost of having to kill their own kind or more precisely sacrificing their family members," replied Dante. "They have done it in the past, so I would be careful if you are planning to meddle yourself into unnecessary things, Simon."

  "I was only asking," Simon offered the woman a sincere smile that only appeared that much insincere.

  Dante then turned to look at Roman, and she said, "I need you both to go to the dungeons. There are two humans, who are still in the dungeon."

  Roman's eyes subtly narrowed. He said, "I thought everyone was released from the dungeon."

  Dante shook her head in disappointment. She turned her eyes to look outside the window, "The two students had probably been given a higher dose of Silverwater and it hasn't passed out from their system. Let's head there. God only knows what Evan is doing," and she turned back to look at them before walking to the door.

  They stepped out of the headmistress' room and the building, making their way through the forest and reached the dungeon. The counsellor, Mr. Evans, was already there, speaking to the students with a smile on his face, whereas the human students looked terrified.

  "How's the progress?" questioned Dante.

  "Same as before," answered the counsellor, running his tongue over his fangs that he hadn't bothered to hide. "The compulsion works, but it breaks in an hour. It's like the wall cannot hold for too long, bringing back the memories of the wonderful time they have spent here."

  "Please let us go," pleaded one of the human students from inside the cell room.

  "What did Isolde say?" questioned Roman. Walking to the front of the cell, he took a look at the terrified face of the humans.

  Mr. Evans replied, "She said it will probably take a month more before we finish fragmenting the memory back, but the question is if we have that much time. What if it doesn't work? Imagine we think it works, only to know later that they have regained all of their memories and tell the world what a horrifying place this is."

  "You are blood suckers! God will punish you and send you to hell!" shouted one of the humans from inside the cell, which didn't help his current situation.

  The counsellor raised his hand as if to show them the prime example of what could happen, "This is just the beginning. Isolde is still testing their blood samples, but so far she hasn't found anything apart from the traces of Silverwater. They don't have a history of their blood being consumed by anyone, so my guess here is they weren't compelled before now. It is better to get rid of them. If not now, the others will kill them once they are here. It is better now than prolonging the inevitable."

  Dante stared at the two humans, one who looked scared and the other who looked angry for being placed in the cell-like an animal. She finally ordered, "Kill them."

  Roman stood with a passive expression on his face because he knew death was around the corner for these two human students here.

  Humans who could cause trouble for the vampires and their existence were often quickly removed from the living world. It was what was taught to all the vampires and followed to survive. Right now, hunters didn't know how this place was run. One word, and the hunters wouldn't bat their eyelid when it would come to torching the entire place until there would be nothing left but ashes on the grounds.

  "No! No!" the boy who had told the vampires to go to hell quickly begged. "I am ready to turn into a vampire! I will be part of you!"

  While the frightened one appeared to be in tears, "Please don't kill me! I won't tell it to anyone, no one will know. Please just let me go."

  Mr. Evans walked inside the cell, near the scared one, quickly moving to stand in front of him and snap his neck in one swift movement. The human fell to the ground, dead.

  "NO!" the other boy tried to get away, "I beg of you!"

  The vampire inside the cell got hold of him, holding the collar of the human. He calmly said, "Unfortunately, we don't have the word of approval from the elders to change any humans to a vampire. You know. We wouldn't want to have a boost of vampire population. Now stay still so that you won't feel the pain."

  But the human didn't and panicked even more. He struggled to get away, and when the vampire tried to snap his head, it slightly tore the neck, and blood started to bleed. Seeing this, Dante said, "Clean it up, Evans. And have them placed in the forest. Let's blame the animal attack."

  Dante was the first to leave the dungeon. She wasn't happy about her position, but she was not a human, but a vampire. After a few seconds, the next ones to leave were Roman and Simon. When they walked away from the dungeon, and towards the boy's Dormitorium, Simon asked,

  "How did you know it was Griffin? I would have never guessed."

  "A few nights ago, he smelt funny. I found him walking in the middle of the night," stated Roman.

  Roman's eyes flickered between red and black. His throat felt dry, and he was thirsty. He wanted something warm to drink, but this time not anything would do. He had the sudden urge to know how Julie's blood would taste. He knew the more he would try to stay away from his curiosity, the more it would bother him, which was why he had taken her to the forest, to keep her close.

  But instead of things going according to what he had thought, the human had decided to ignore him.

  Julie had been fine before he saw her near the girl's Dormitorium but must have happened after that. It wasn't once or twice but more than three times, where she looked away, ignoring him, and it had him annoyed.

  As if that wasn't enough, the annoying human boy had chosen to sit next to her, making her laugh with a lame joke in the lunchroom.

  "If it truly is Griffin, I think it would be better to hide right now. Or maybe running is a good option, because the Elders will be pissed," chuckled Simon, not caring if Griffin's neck will be torn out from his body. "Do you have a plan on how to bring proof against him?"

  "There's no Silverwater with him or in his room. The dorms are clear and he's cleaned his hands after the incident. It is foolish of him to scare the management," responded Roman, making their way into the boy's Dormitorium.

  "What would you have done if you were in his place?" asked Simon in pure humour.

  One corner of Roman's lips pulled up at his friend's question. He would probably lock the coffins of the elders and throw them to the bottom of the sea so that they wouldn't resurface for the next few decades.

  When they started to climb the stairs, Roman said, "Do me a favour and keep others out now."

  "I don't think I follow you," replied Simon with a doubtful look on his face.

  "You will soon," said Roman, his eyes looking back and forth to make sure the Dormitorium's warden of the boys wasn't here.

  Instead of climbing the stairs until the last floor where their dorms were, Roman took a left when they reached the first floor. Simon turned even more curious because this wasn't the floor where their dorms were located.

  Most of the boy's who stood outside the corridor or were sitting at the sides of the stairs noticed Roman walking in their corridor, which he usually didn't. Their eyes followed him, seeing him walk across the long path of the corridor. He then came to stand in front of one of the dorms' doors.

  Roman raised his hand, knocking on the door ever so politely, and the confusion on Simon's face was replaced with a slow grin. "This is going to be interesting," he murmured while keeping a good distance so that he could avoid getting involved in it, and he went to stand next to the wall.

  The dorm's door was opened by Mateo Jackson, who was shirtless and with a girl in his room.

  By looking at Roman in front of his dorm's room, Mateo laughed, "Look what the cat dragged in? What are you doing here?"

  Roman's eyes shifted from the vampire to look at the vampiress, who sat upright on the bed. Mateo raised his hand, snapping his fingers in front of Roman's face in a rude manner. But instead, Roman turned his head over his shoulder to check the person inside the room.

  "Get out of—" before Mateo could get the last word out of his mouth, Roman pulled his hand back and punched square into the other vampire's face.

  The vampiress's eyes turned wide, and she quickly wore her dress. Picking up her shoes, she ran out of the dorm to not get caught up in the fight that had just begun. Mateo, who had fallen on the ground, touched his mouth with his hand and looked at the blood.

  "You fucking piece of shit," spat Mateo with anger that bubbled up in his body. "You have some nerve to come to my dorm and hit me."

  "That I have to agree with you, that I do have the nerve," Roman remarked. Turning his hand, he checked the back of his hand that had turned slightly red. A vampire fighting with another vampire was more pleasurable than hitting a mere human.

  Mateo pushed himself to stand straight, "If you are looking for a fight, I will give you one." Running out of the room and towards the Roman, who stood at the front, he tried to punch, but Roman kicked Mateo's leg and twisted his arm from behind. Roman used his own head to smack it against Mateo's head.

  The boys in the corridor, especially the night creatures, enjoyed the fight that took place in front of them. Seniors fighting against each other had always been something to look forward to.

  Mateo, who was on the ground, twisted his body to the other side, tried to grab Roman's leg and dig his nails that had grown into Roman's leg. Though Mateo almost got a hold of Roman, Roman placed his foot right on the backside of Mateo's leg. This had Mateo let out a disgruntled sound of pain escaping from Mateo's mouth, and he tried to swipe his nails across Roman, but Roman stepped away.

  "What's going on here?" questioned Griffin, who had come after hearing the little commotion going on in the corridor.

  He noticed Mateo and Roman, who were engaged in a fight. Before Griffin could take a step towards them to support his friend, Simon said,

  "Going to help your weak friend by not letting him prove his own worth?" His words were taunting.

  Roman ducked Mateo's hand that came at him. Pushing it with one hand, he used the other to punch right into Mateo's stomach. Mateo acted as if he was in pain. Taking this advantage, he pulled Roman's hand to give a punch on Roman's face. He continued to land another punch at Roman's chest.

  "Did you think I am half like you, who has no full ability like the others?" mocked Mateo.

  A chuckle escaped from Roman's lips, "Even the humans are better when it comes to insults." He ran his tongue over the corner of his lips, tasting his own blood. "Weak not only with punches but also with words. Maybe you should widen your vocabulary."

  Mateo turned even more fuelled up by Roman's words. He kept trying to punch Roman continuously, but the other vampire kept dodging. At one point in time, Mateo hit the wall, causing a crack in there.

  Roman caught hold of Mateo's neck, pushing him against the wall. He punched him into it.

  "Did you miss fighting with me, which is why you are here?" asked Mateo, looking at Roman with scorn.

  Roman caught hold of Mateo's hand, pushing it backward, and in the process, Roman pulled out one of Mateo's nails, and the mohawk hairstyle boy groaned in pain, glaring at Roman. With one twist and pull, Roman landed a few more punches, making it apparent for everyone, witnessing the fight in the boy's Dormitorium on who was stronger here and who was weak.

  By the end of the fight, Mateo laid on the floor on his front, being trapped by Roman. He struggled to release himself, but Roman pushed Mateo's head against the floor.

  Roman's voice glared down with his eyes turning darker and warned,

  "Stay away from things and people that belong to me, Jackson. Or next time I will bring a plier to crush the ends of your fingers," and he then stood up, looking at the boy's who had come out of their dorms and some from the other floors.

  Mateo was an idiot to think he hadn't noticed what he had tried to do to Julie on the stage today, thought Roman. He might have fooled others, but Roman had noticed the way her shoulders had scrunched together after she had dropped her hands to her sides.

  He had already been in an irritated mood since this morning, and this person on the ground had only fueled his annoyance by thinking he would let it pass. It was time for everyone to get through their brain so that no idiot would dare to pull any stunt, and this included the boy in glasses, who was standing in the back of the crowd, who had hovered around Julie like a fly.

  "If you haven't got the memo yet, the girl in Junior year with glasses and brown hair, who is usually in a sweater. She belongs to me," declared Roman.

  The people there looked at him in surprise. Using the word 'prey' would not be wise as there were humans in here too.

  "If I see anyone try to do something to her, I will personally… disfigure you."

  Once Roman had made his thoughts known, he started to walk away from the corridor, making his way towards his dorm. Simon followed him, who softly whistled with humour in his eyes.