Conner's breath was harsh because earlier he had? run as fast as he could, and now he was half sprinting and half wheezing while trying to look around the place. He made sure to see that the damn creature hadn't followed him and his brown eyes held a frantic look in them.

  He stepped into the girl's Dormitorium, making his way quickly towards Melanie's room. He harshly knocked on it, while waiting for the door to open. When the door didn't open, he made his way to Julie's room and knocked on the door? in the same way, but it seemed like both the girls were not in the room.

  Conner had to let them know as quickly as possible so that they would be on alert and not be attacked by that person. All this while, he had believed vampires had existed only as a myth and made up fantasy for people to make fun of.? Who would have known that he would be encountering one of them? One who now wanted to sink his fangs in his neck.

  The curly brown-haired boy quickly dashed towards the lunchroom, and he finally caught Melanie, who was talking to one of her classmates.

  "Mel!" Conner called Melanie, and the girl turned her gaze to look at him.

  "What happened to you?" asked Melanie in a small frown. He looked as if someone had tattletaled on him.

  Conner jerked his head to the side and said, "There is something I need to speak to you about. Come with me," and he caught hold of Melanie's hand so that she would follow him.

  "Conner, wait! I am still discussing the project that I need to finish up. Give me ten minutes," said Melanie, who turned to look at the other girl she was speaking to until now.

  There was no point in discussing the project if none of them were going to live! Thought Conner in his head. Who knew where that creature came from and how many more would come pouring in to suck the very blood and life out of their bodies!

  "This is urgent, Mel!" Conner tugged Melanie's hand harder this time, and Melanie turned startled making the frown on her face deeper than before.

  "Conner, what's gotten into you? You know how important the project is," Melanie offered her classmate a quick apologetic smile while grabbing her bag that was sitting on the chair as she was being dragged away from where she had been standing earlier .

  "I will explain everything to you, but right now, I need you to—"

  "Looks like some of you are in a hurry," came the interruption from Simon, who was standing in front of them, holding a glass that was filled with a strawberry milkshake. "Where are you going?"

  Simon's eyes fell on Conner's hand that was holding Melanie's hand, and the faint smile on his lips widened, his eyes shifting to look at the human girl.

  Melanie felt the searing gaze of Simon's eyes and the ever etched smile on his lips that made her uncomfortable. She pulled her hand away from Conner's hold.

  "Oh good, you are here Simon. Where are the others?" asked Conner, and Simon raised his eyebrows subtly.

  "Is there something going on that I am unaware about?" asked Simon with a polite smile on his lips.

  Conner went to open his mouth, and then he closed it. Something like this… telling people that a vampire is currently roaming in the university would only result in him being sent to receive possible shock treatments. But then Simon was someone who had always been a nice guy, helpful and? patient, thought Conner in his mind.

  The red-haired vampire wondered what had gotten Conner tongue-tied, it was because usually, the human was quick to blurt out things. Simon said,

  "The others have gone to their classes I think. I am just here looking for you guys so that I can have my lunch together. But I guess I will have to look for someone else as it seems you are busy," the last few words were said while looking at Melanie, and she quietly glared at him.

  One of the students walking past them in the lunchroom said to Simon, "Did you hear what happened to Ms. Piper? It is sad to see her leave this soon."

  Simon gave a nod, "Indeed it is," he murmured.

  Hearing this, Melanie asked, "Is Ms. Piper moving out of Veteris?"

  Oh, darling, more than that, said Simon in his mind.

  "Haven't you heard about it? Ms. Piper passed away last night," said the other student, and Simon turned to the student, sending a chilling smile as if telling the person to shut up and leave.

  "Ah haha, I just remembered I have to go meet Mr. Borrell. I will see you people later," and the student quickly escaped from there.

  Conner had a look of horror on his face because he came to believe that Ms. Piper was attacked, possibly by that vampire or something similar to it. "Everything alright?" questioned Simon, and the human turned to look at him.

  "There is some very grave information that I need to let you guys know, and it is not supposed to be shared with anyone," Conner said in a low voice. He looked at both Simon and Melanie with a serious look on his face before he asked Melanie, "Where is Julie?"

  "She went out on a walk early in the morning and we haven't seen each other since yesterday," replied Melanie and this worried Conner.

  "Seriously, what is going on, Conner? You're freaking me out now with the suspense," complained Melanie.

  "I will tell you guys outside, follow me," and they left the lunchroom.

  Simon, who walked behind Conner, with Melanie next to him with a gap, said, "How are you this morning, lovely?"

  Hearing Simon's soft-spoken words for her, Melanie cringed and turned to look at him, "Whom are you calling lovely?"

  "Who?" Simon gave a perplexed expression on his face and then said, "To your unrequited love of course. He seems quite stressed about something, what is it about?"

  Melanie shook her head, "I don't know."

  Once they came to stand away from the rest of the crowd, making sure no one would be able to hear them and call Conner crazy, he looked around and over his shoulder. He said,

  "I know this is going to sound strange and absurd, but you will need to trust me on what I saw. And what I saw was very clear and I wasn't daydreaming in the woods when I went to take a walk."

  Melanie nodded her head, and Simon followed the action with a solemn look on his face.

  "We would never doubt you. You are the sanest? person," said Simon, and Melanie's eyes slightly narrowed, not knowing why the red-haired boy's words sounded insincere. But then it always sounded insincere.

  Conner nodded his head and after pursing his lips, he said, "I don't know how to tell this without sounding like I have lost my mind… I saw something very wild in the forest. I was only taking a walk when this person with a pale face and hollowed looking cheeks appeared in front of me out of nowhere. I swear I thought he wanted some kind of help but," he shook his head and at the same time, the smile that was on Simon's lips started to lower down. "He had fangs!" he said in a hushed voice.

  Melanie stared at Conner with a serious look on her face. She then sighed, "Don't you think it's too early to be blabbering things like this?"

  Conner shook his head, "I am being serious, Mel. The person was a vampire, and he wanted to drink blood from me!"

  "And what did you do after the vampire asked for your blood? Where is he?" questioned Melanie, while crossing her arms across her chest.

  "I ran of course. It wasn't easy because the vampire was fast and it was like he had been starving for years to drink blood. He's still around here," said Conner quickly and Melanie shook her head.

  "I would be more than happy to look at the vampire that you are speaking about, Conner. But I need to get my project started and I need to submit it within two weeks which will require a lot of research and materials," said Melanie, ready to leave but Conner caught hold of her hand.

  Simon's eyes fell back on the way Conner held Melanie's hand, making sure she didn't leave and he said, "Conner, man. Are you sure of what you saw? People sometimes like to play, there might be a chance that you were mistaken."

  The vampire out of the three people there, wondered who Conner had seen because the last he checked, no vampire students or staff went underfed and they were given a good amount of blood regularly. Who was the vampire roaming in Veteris grounds?

  Conner nodded his head, "I am positive about it," and he turned to look at Melanie, "Mel, you gotta believe me."

  Melanie sighed.

  Simon then said, "If it is true, I think it would be best to let Ms. Dante or one of the staff know about it. I mean what are we going to do by going alone and dealing with it?"

  Conner nodded his head, "Yeah… but what if the vampire already left? And many other students fall victim, or possible victims?"

  Melanie had never considered Conner to be someone to make up stuff in thin air and she decided to believe him, "We don't know how to even catch a vampire, Conner."

  "What's there to catch? You break a branch of the tree and run the sharp edge through the vampire's heart and they just die," explained Conner and Melanie shook her head.

  Simon didn't want to appear suspicious and he nodded his head, "You are right. Maybe we should see if any students have been harmed."

  "Yeah," replied Conner and the three of them headed away from outside the lunchroom that they had been standing next to until now. Conner took them to the place where he had met the vampire earlier, his eyes looking for the creature but there was no one there. "He probably ran away from here."

  "You said he had a hollow face and appeared starved?" questioned Simon and Conner quickly nodded his head.

  "If that is true, and if vampires… do exist, then that would mean that he doesn't have much energy and should still be around here. Let us take a look around," proposed Simon, as if he knew what to do.

  But Melanie, as expected, spoke to oppose Simon's words and said, "How far are we going to look for this fantasy creature? Shouldn't we go and get some kind of wood to be sure?"

  "Leave it to the men," remarked Simon with a charming smile and Melanie stared at him, wanting to say something but she pursed her lips, resisting to play Simon's game of debate.

  Conner walked to one side, and he broke the branch of the tree with great difficulty. He then brought it to Simon and Melanie, and said, "This should do, right?"

  "Yeah," replied Simon and Melanie took one broken piece of? wood from it.

  While the three of them looked for the vampire, Simon tried to keep his eyes and ears wide open, trying to make sure that he would be the first one to get to the vampire, before these humans did.

  Back in Willow Creek, time passed in there as if everything had paused around them.

  Julie now stood in front of the Gallows, where her mother's body laid on the platform, and so did her two brothers. Their heads had been severed and it ached her heart, to know that they had gone through something like this. She turned her head to look at her sisters, who had been burned alive and she remembered the screams that she heard, when she first stepped in here.

  Hearing footsteps behind her, Julie turned to find her father, who had come to her.

  "You said you took away mother's soul, what about the others?" asked Julie.

  "I could take only one of them, and your mother's soul was the strongest amongst the rest. It was only feasible to take hers, considering I was linked to her," replied Knox. "The ones on either side, they were your brothers. And the ones there," he turned to look at the poles where the skeleton's were tied. "Those were your sisters."

  Julie pursed her lips. Until now she had been an only child, but to think that she actually had brothers and sisters, where she was the youngest one, who came from a different time than the one she was born into, it was strange how fate worked.

  "I know what you want to do," said Knox and Julie tore her eyes away from the skeletons to look at her father, who was staring at the only woman he had loved his entire life. "Don't touch the dead unless you are willing to take the pain and their sufferings."

  "What?" asked Julie.

  "You want to touch and know how life was here, which is fine. But I can tell you want to touch the dead, your mother, your other family members and it won't be pleasant to look at," Knox turned his gaze to Julie, who didn't deny his words. "I know your heart yearns to know more about the family. To feel more connected, but the question is how much are you really ready for it."

  "Is it that bad?" came Julie's small voice.

  "The ability to touch will leave a lasting impression Julie," said Knox, "I can sense the darkness in you, and it feels like it comes from the boy. Did you try to heal him?"

  Julie said, "I didn't know what I was doing, and I wanted to help him. Rome… he was changing too quickly."

  "You should know this, Julianne. A healer, when healing another person, he or she takes the impact and substance into their own body and it takes more than a toll on them. It shortens your own life force and too much of anything is never good, the more you take up something, the more it will start affecting you," Knox warned her and Julie nodded her head.

  When her eyes fell on his hands, all his fingers turned to wood and it was moving in an upward direction.

  "Would you like to come to Veteris?" asked Julie, and the man stared at her.

  "I don't have much time with me," he reminded her and she nodded her head once again.

  "I understand that… even if it is for a few minutes, or maybe here is fine too," she said to him and Knox gave some thought before asking her,

  "Is there something that you wanted to do?" questioned Knox and Julie shook her head.

  "I just want to make the most time with you… before you leave," she answered him.

  "Come, let us take a seat. It must be tiring to stand continuously," said Knox, leading her towards one spot and they sat down. And though Julie had expressed her thoughts of wanting to spend time with him, she didn't know what subject exactly to speak about. "I noticed you are wearing your mother's stone."

  Julie looked down at the pendant that now rested on her chest, "She gave it to Rome so that he could give it to me."

  They sat there for minutes, where Julie heard Knox speak about the family that she had missed, while also speaking about the people she had to be wary about. "If Enoch had successfully escaped, he would come back for you as you are Opaline's daughter."

  "What does he want?" asked Julie.

  "The unbroken jewel," replied Knox, feeling the sensation in his arms turn slightly numb as they were turning into fibers of wood. "There is said to be a jewel that has been rumoured to be the most unique and powerful one anyone has ever had the luck to have their eye laid on. Some say it brings the dead back, and some say that it is a vessel that has the capacity to hold many abilities in it. Some believe that it has the ability to cause imbalance and chaos in the world. There are too many rumours but no one knows what it actually does."

  Julie's eyebrows raised high and her curiosity peaked, "Something like that exists? You never tried to find it?"

  Knox smiled at Julie's questions, "No, I didn't. I think your mother tried to work on it, but then she one day decided to not go looking for it. But the same couldn't be told about the vampires and a few others, who wanted to have it in their possession."

  "And that is why they killed people here?"

  "Enoch is greedy, but his brother, he is said to be greedier. They will come for you, to have you make them the stone," replied Knox, that had Julie frown.

  "But I don't know how to make stones…"

  "The stones that are created, they are part of the witches, Julie. They don't come from potions or spells, but from the essence of the witches soul and body. Which is why witches cannot create too many of the same thing, sometimes only once or none at all," Knox continued to explain it to her. When Julie fell into deep thought, she felt her father placed his woody hand on her hand that was resting next to him. "You will be fine. I am sorry that we couldn't spend more time with each other."

  Julie didn't feel the warmth from his hand, but the little gesture was warm enough for her.

  "I think it's more than I could have asked for," she offered him a soft smile.

  Knox let her hand go and he stood up from his place, "It is time."

  Julie followed his suit by standing up, watching her father's expression slightly crack, where she noticed a glimpse of sadness in there. He stepped forward, putting his hands around her and hugged her close.

  Before Julie could put her hands around him to hug him back, the Corvin that was in her reach suddenly disappeared into mist, leaving not a single trace of its existence. Just like that, the only person who was directly related to her, disappeared in thin air.

  Julie didn't know how long she stood there, until she felt Roman's hand on her shoulder.

  "We should get back. We can return here later," said Roman, and Julie nodded her head.

  Far away from Willow Creek, near the restricted side of the forest of Veteris, the three students continued to look for the so-called vampire that Conner had seen. Before they could step into the restricted area, Simon stopped walking and suggested,

  "It would be wiser to go inform the staff, than look for trouble." Hearing his words, Melanie gave him a suspicious look and he offered her a sweet smile.

  While Conner was busy trying to get hold of the vampire, Simon stepped near Melanie and said, "You must be wishing that it was just him and you taking a walk in here. Though I must say that you have quite an odd taste."

  Melanie turned her gaze to him, glaring at him quietly, "So much space in the forest, and you decide to stand right next to me."

  Simon smiled at her, "You have beautiful eyes, Melanie. Did anyone tell you that?" he said, staring at her.

  Melanie didn't know if she would ever meet anyone as weird as this person next to her. She saw him continuously stare at her, "I think it is best to drop this little investigation and get back. There's a lot more to do than play hunt when we are just normal people."

  She was about to step away, when Simon came to stand in front of her, "Let us forget that this even happened," he tried to compel her.

  Melanie blinked and muttered, "Having you next to me is like a nightmare that's hard to get rid of……" She walked to where Conner stood, talking to him, while Simon's eyes narrowed.