After talking to the guard, Roman returned, Julie stepped away from her friend and asked him, "What did he say?"

  "Melanie will be fine, considering she doesn't believe in it, but they are looking for Conner," said Roman and Julie took a deep breath before exhaling it out. "Veteris isn't that big for one to find someone, especially when it's a human. We'll go and take a look at where he is, you stay here with her," he added in the last sentence before she decided to take part in the search party.

  Julie pursed her lips because she wanted to make sure her friends were safe and they weren't going to be tortured. It was as if she was causing a domino effect around her. Her little actions with the butterflies wings were creating hurricanes far away. If she hadn't broken the curse of Willow Creek today, Enoch would not be let out free, and Conner wouldn't have come across the vampire.

  Roman took a step forward, putting his hand around the back of her head, and he brought her closer, pressing his lips on her forehead.

  "Trust me, Winters," assured Roman, and Julie closed her eyes for a second, feeling the tenderness of his lips on her skin.

  "Always have," said Julie softly, and Roman pulled away from her.

  She felt his hand let go of the back of her head, his fingertips leaving whispers on the skin of her neck before it went back to his side.

  "Maximus," Roman called his friend, and the two of them walked out of the library building together.

  "Is everything alright, Julie?" Melanie came to Julie's side as Roman had left now. "You look worried. Why are you looking for Conner?"

  Julie tore her eyes away from Roman and looked at Melanie's questioning eyes. "Maximus said that Conner wasn't there in his class, and it got me worried."

  "Who knows, maybe he went to hunt down that vampire," joked Melanie, and Julie only wished that it wasn't true. "But that would only end up with him having to visit Mr. Evans' office. I wonder why he even thought of the possibility."

  Melanie caught Julie's hand, tugging her towards the table so that they could sit. In the briefest seconds, Julie noticed the way two or three students, who were nearby, turned their eyes to look at her and her friend at the mention of the word 'vampire'. She sat down, trying to keep herself busy until Roman let her know that Conner was safe.

  On seeing Melanie, who had indeed collected all the materials and data for their project, Julie felt bad that her friend was doing most of the work, and she promised herself to be more involved.

  "Here, let me work on preparing the slides and designing them," offered Julie, taking the books and having a look at the little bookmarks that had been placed in the pages.

  "But that's going to be a lot of work, I don't mind doing half of it," said Melanie, but Julie shook her head.

  "No, let me do it. I feel like I have turned lazy and have been making you work," that she was relying on and using Melanie's kindness and Julie wasn't that kind of person.

  Melanie rolled her eyes and then said, "I am your friend, aren't I? If not me, who else are you going to rely on?"

  Julie smiled at Melanie's words and said, "You are, but I can rely on other things. These work, let me share them with you. Maybe we can get them done sooner and I am good at it." She hoped Ms. Dante and the Elders wouldn't take the step of kicking her friends out of Veteris because they weren't part of this and were innocent. They were here to study and nothing more than that.

  When the students around them from the other tables left their seats, Julie paused working on the slides and asked Melanie, "Mel, what do you think about vampires?"

  "Hm? They are boring, all they do is suck blood and they have no other powers on TV," Melanie shrugged her shoulders with a nonchalant tone while she was making notes on one of the subjects that had been taught this week.

  "I see," replied Julie, not expecting that would be Melanie's answer.

  "Why do you ask?" asked Melanie, lifting her gaze from the book and having a questioning look on her face.

  "I guess it was about what Conner told you about him seeing a person like a vampire," Julie's words were low, making sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation.

  "If you gave me a choice, I would pick werewolves. They are warm and cuddly like teddy bears. Vampires are too cold to my liking," Melanie let her thoughts know to Julie, who gave a small nod.

  "I guess you are right. But aren't werewolves ferocious and more brutal?" asked Julie, dragging the topic a little more so that she knew what Melanie was okay with. As she was her friend, Julie believed and could even bet that Melanie wouldn't be harsh and close-minded about this matter, though there was a possibility of her freaking out more than she initially had.

  Melanie hummed thoughtfully, "Then even vampires are portrayed to be cold and ruthless killers. Are you going to recommend some supernatural stories, Julie? We have exams and a lot of studying to catch up to."

  "I do," replied Julie, nodding her head, because having Melanie close to her was nothing less than exposing the vampire world. But then they were already exposed and were living amid the vampires, where the bloodthirsty creatures surrounded them. "Maybe I will bring those stories up after the project work," she smiled, and Melanie nodded her head.

  "Yes," said Melanie, and they continued working together.

  Away from the buildings of the Veteris, Roman and Maximus looked around the forest when Roman heard the voices of two people. They quickly stepped in there to find Conner sitting on the ground with Simon in front of him.

  "Hm? What are you guys doing here?" questioned Simon, and Roman's eyebrows subtly furrowed.

  "Why aren't you both in your classes?" questioned Roman.

  When they stepped closer, they found Simon and Conner's hands were dipped in clay mud. Simon said, "I was helping Conner with his project for the exam. We got talking and I thought I would show him where to find the best clay to use. The texture of the clay here is soft."

  Roman's eyes slightly narrowed at his friend, noticing the obvious mischief in the eyes of the red-headed boy.

  "Why don't I help with that one, Simon," offered Maximus, and Simon stood up with a smile on his face and walked to where Roman stood.

  "Can I ask what you are doing or are you going to play fool?" questioned Roman, his eyes shifting from Simon to look at Conner, who seemed calm.

  "The human seemed a little shaken with what he saw and I was trying to get information about his special candies that are filled with silverwater. Also distracting him away from the thirsty vampire who almost tried to get a sip from him," chimed Simon with a sincere smile that only appeared insincere.

  "Did it help?" questioned Roman

  "We didn't bring it up, or more like he didn't bring it up and he seems calmer than the first time I met him this afternoon," Simon turned to look at Conner, who was listening to Maximus, who was from the same major as the human. "He did mention red eyes, fangs and an angry person. I don't think it is something he will be able to erase."

  "Castiel and Dante want him in the dungeon," stated Roman and Simon didn't seem surprised.

  "Then let us do that," came the nonchalant words from the red-headed boy, and when his head turned, the piercing on one of his ears gently swayed. "I would like to see him behind the bars for some time. I think that would be interesting."

  Simon had brought Conner away from the other students so that he wouldn't drag his friend and muddle her head. That would be a little troublesome.

  Roman rolled his eyes as if he already knew what was going in his psycho friend's mind. He had promised to keep Julie's friends safe, and if Conner was already aware and with the way his eyes kept flickering towards them in doubt, the one thing he could do was bring the boy, maybe not, to the dungeon, but to the dorm.

  "Max," Roman ordered, and Maximus picked it to be his cue and looked at Conner to get his attention.

  "Conner, this will take a moment," Maximus said, and Conner's eyebrows furrowed in suspicion. He tried to stand up, but Maximus stopped him by catching hold of his hand. He brought his other hand in front of Conner's face and snapped his fingers thrice. "Sleep."

  Conner's eyes turned heavy with sleep, but it was only partly closed. His body swayed to the side, and Maximus caught it. The vampire asked, "What do you plan to do with him, Rome?"

  "Let us wait for the Silverwater to wear off his body. It is better to not harm the human and just leave him untouched," remarked Roman, pulling Conner upwards so that they could take him back to the boy's Dormitorium. "How long do you think he will be asleep?"

  "Probably a few minutes. Funny how the humans only have a way to keep away the vampire's compulsion, and not the abilities that have been passed down by the witches," came the dry words from Maximus.

  "Isn't it going to be the same? To keep the boy in the dungeon or tie him up in his very room?" questioned Simon, pulling out a handkerchief and wiping the mud and dirt from his hands. "If Castiel already know that the hunters children are here—"

  "Dante has already decided to send them out of Veteris. The documents will be readied and sent right when the Silverwater leaves their bodies. They prefer to not keep those two around," replied Maximus, as they started to make their way out of the place.

  The smile on Simon's lips faltered, and he stared ahead of him, "Sending them out of this place, is it."

  Before Simon could voice out his disapproval over the matter, Roman spoke, "As much as it is good for precaution, it would look strange that the students who barely got into trouble are suddenly being transferred out and placed in another university. It would be better to keep them here."

  "Then you better speak to Dante about it," suggested Maximus, his lips set themselves in a thin line. "Seems like things keep on happening and it's been so since the Elders woke up."

  "Whose idea was it to wake them up again?" asked Simon in a sarcastic tone.

  "Evans, was it?" asked Maximus, and he then said, "How was it? Willow Creek?"

  "The disappeared town?" asked Simon. "Looks like interesting things have been going on while I have been babysitting a human with whom I have least interest in."

  Donovan had revealed Julie to be the key for lifting the curse, which Maximus had obviously caught on to this information earlier.

  "Is our dear sister-in-law not a human?" remarked Simon in glee, and a smile started to spread on his lips.

  The ever intrusive vampire in the group had unnecessarily too keen eyes, thought Roman to himself.

  "She belongs to a family of a witch," answered Maximus, while Roman didn't go to speak much about it. "It is good to see that Donovan is finally accepting her."

  "I wouldn't trust his motives. There are dead bodies in Willow Creek, in their frozen state. From now, it should be open for anyone. It's also where the starving vampire came from," stated Roman. "He's Mortimer's younger brother. Enoch."

  "The one whom Dennis was speaking about? The world is small indeed," commented Simon while checking his nails for any possible dirt.

  "The older vampires are looking for a gem, a stone that is darker than the others a witch has ever made. I think Donovan has already taken a look at things around and didn't find anything there. The Elders believe that the Mortimers will return once again to look for something precious in there," informed Roman.

  "But if Enoch has already been there for several years, he should have been able to find something in there, unless it's just a barren land of the dead," replied Simon, dropping his hands to his sides.

  "If that were so, the witch of that time wouldn't have cursed the entire people and the land to disappear from others sight. There's something hidden, only that it isn't in plain sight," said Roman, while he carried Conner over his shoulder. "It will need magic."

  "Meaning Julianne," said Maximus and Roman, who already knew the answer, his expression turned grim.

  They took Conner to the boy's Dormitorium, using his room, while sending his dorm mate, a vampire, to another room.

  "So what is the plan, do we tie him up?" asked Simon with a slight excitement in his voice.

  "No. Keep him busy here and make sure to see what he eats and drinks. We don't have to tie him. Once the Silverwater is out, compel and let him be. The last compulsion was made by Evans, and it wasn't that long," said Roman and Maximus nodded his head. "I will go speak to Dante about this and see what they come up with on dealing with Enoch."

  "Sure," replied Maximus, and Roman started to make his way towards the door before leaving his two friends in taking care of Conner.

  Julie spent her time in the library with Melanie, making sure her friend was safe. And though she was working on her slides, she couldn't help but worry about where the vampire was. Hopefully caught by the hunters and killed immediately, she thought in her mind.

  "I will finish the rest of them in the dorm," said Julie, and Melanie nodded her head.

  "You finished faster than I would. We should be done in three days," replied Melanie, putting her things in her bag, and Julie helped her with it before carrying the books that she would do.

  "My father used to work on presentation and I used to like changing things around," smiled Julie, pursing her lips as she realized that man was not her father. Her father… he had disappeared into dust a few hours ago. Things that she believed were lies, and it was replaced with something new, and just the thought of it left goosebumps on her skin.

  "Are you worried about him coming here? Maybe you can tell the headmistress about it, and there will be no way for him to show up here. This place is guarded like a prison," Melanie lightly laughed.

  "No, it's not him that I worry about… it feels like too much is happening too soon," like things were slipping past her fingers, and she had no control over it.

  "I am here to listen anytime, Julie," Melanie placed a hand on Julie's arm, and Julie nodded her head.

  "Thank you, Mel. We have been speaking only about me. What are your plans for this holiday?" asked Julie, shifting the subject.

  They started to walk towards the main desk of the library to register the books they were borrowing. Melanie said, "Mum said there was some family gathering this time, and they specially shifted it to the dates where Conner and I would be free from classes and university work."

  "Seems like something fun," replied Julie, but Melanie shook her head.

  "Frankly, it isn't. It's probably the most boring place to be around, because everyone is always so serious. And it's like they have these secret meetings for the adults, which I have never understood why it happens," Melanie rolled her eyes and shook her head. "But mum said that we will be able to attend it this time. But she said that last time too."

  "My family used to be invited too, to dinner parties and I always stuck to watching tv because I didn't have anyone of my age and it used to be dull," replied Julie.

  "I would have invited you this week, but it will be boring and you might kill me and yourself after that," Melanie gave an awkward smile.

  "It's fine," replied Julie, and they placed the books that they were borrowing on the counter. "Roman and I have other plans this holiday and we'll be spending time together."

  Melanie's mouth turned into an O before she grinned, "Aha, I see. I hope you two have a good time together."

  Julie opened her mouth as if wanting to correct Melanie's thoughts because she meant they were going out, but the librarian interrupted them and said, "You cannot take more than two books with you. There's a limit."

  "Let me see which one's we'll need," said Julie, offering the woman a polite smile, who only stared at her and Melanie with a stern look on her face for not knowing the rules of this place. Picking four of them aside, she said to Melanie, "Let me place these back in the racks."

  They soon left the library, and reaching the dormitorium, Julie entered her dorm. Her eyes fell on the letter that rested next to the window, and a smile appeared on her lips. Closing the door, she placed the books on the table and then went to pick up the letter.

  Unfolding the paper, she read—


  'Conner is in his room and is being looked after by Simon and Max. I have spoken to Dante and made sure that they don't get kicked out of Veteris.'

  Reading that line, a relieved sigh escaped from her lips. The letter then continued to read—


  'I won't be able to meet you for dinner. I need to go and see if there are any dead bodies lying on the road or if Enoch went somewhere to find his brother. Sleep early and I will see you by morning, Troublemaker.'

  A sigh escaped Julie's lips, and she wondered if Enoch would be caught by someone. It would be good if he was caught and killed. She wondered why Donovan had not chased him and hunted him down because it didn't feel like the Elder vampire was someone to let go of things that easily.

  She wondered if Donovan had any motive by letting Enoch slip out of his fingers.

  The rest of the evening, Julie went back to her student life where she was no witch, or she didn't know about the vampires, where the only trouble that awaited her right now was to get passing grades.

  While Julie was still working on her laptop with the slides, she heard something rustling in her room, and she noticed it was the Corvin. For a moment, she wished it was her father… but then she realized it was her own Corvin, who had bonded with her.

  "I haven't seen you since noon. Where did you go?" asked Julie, as if she was ready to reprimand the creature.

  'I was looking for you. I didn't find you around here,' replied the Corvin. 'Thought you left and was searching for you.'

  "I ended up in Willow Creek. The town appeared again," replied Julie, and the creature's face turned in the direction where the town was located.

  'Opened?'

  "Mm," Julie nodded her head, and she placed her laptop to the side and leaned forward. "It looked like a ghost town, so gloomy and dark, the cold weather can pierce through the skin. Did you know… that my father was there?"

  The Corvin stared at Julie before it slowly nodded its head.

  "I see," replied Julie, her eyes lowered, and it fell on her open palms.

  'Did he come with you?' asked the creature, and Julie shook her head.

  "He couldn't. His time was limited," replied Julie, while she continued to stare at her hands that had almost hugged her father, but time had been so scarce that he had disappeared right before she could touch him. "When I met him this morning, he was just a stranger. And I thought I wouldn't be affected that much by his disappearance. But now that he's gone, I feel his absence which is so profound and I wished that I had more time…"

  There was a hint of sadness in Julie's voice and her demeanour.

  The Corvin walked to where Julie was sitting on the bed, and it sat down, something it hadn't voluntarily done. It moved its hand towards her own, grasping it with its twig-like fingers.

  'I have some things, if you want to see,' offered the creature, the twigs around Julie's hand wrapped itself. It wasn't tight, but it was firm as if the creature was trying to comfort her, who knew that a bird would ever do something like this, thought Julie in her mind.

  "What do you mean?" asked Julie, not knowing what the Corvin meant. "You don't have special abilities, do you?"

  The creature tilted its head down, looking at their hands, and Julie followed its gaze. And it was then she noticed the blue light starting to appear in the veins of its twigs, and the light started to increase in the room, spilling on the floor and the walls.

  'Some of the energy is shared between us because of the bond,' and this was when Julie realized that the creature wasn't having broken English anymore, and it's sentences were more understandable. 'It isn't that the Corvins are empty vessels. We are vessels who can manifest abilities, by using the bonds made with the witches. Like activating them.'

  "What did you mean when you said to see?" asked Julie, and the creature stood up from the bed, and it tugged her hand along with it.

  'Come with me,' it whispered to her.

  "We'll be caught. No, I will be caught because you cannot be seen," replied Julie, holding it and her hand back from moving forward. "We already have a vampire who is strolling freely on these grounds. It isn't a good idea to be roaming in the middle of the night."

  'No one will see us,' said the Corvin, and they stepped out of the Dormitorium in her nightclothes. Julie looked back and forth to make sure they wouldn't be caught, but more importantly, the Corvin wouldn't slip one more time and show itself to people.

  The creature didn't let go of her hand, and it continued to lead her into the woods, their footsteps quiet on the ground with the sound of crickets.

  They returned to a place which wasn't too far from the town of Willow Creek.

  "What are we doing here?" Julie questioned the Corvin as it let go of her hand, and she brought both her hands together, rubbing them to produce heat.

  The Corvin took two steps ahead of her, bringing its hands forward, and its fingers suddenly started to grow like creepers that fell on the ground. Julie noticed the creepers slither and move towards the two trees, and soon a screen was produced between the trees, which was translucent white.

  "Are you going to tell me what this is?" asked Julie, noticing the surface glimmer. It held a light sheen of light on it, giving out a glow to the place near it.

  'Though I don't have memories of when I was a witch, these are the scarce ones that I still have continued to carry over the years,' said the creature, stepping away from her so that she could take a look at it.

  "Feels like a witch's personal television," murmured Julie.

  Julie's eyes fell on the woman, who she had seen in the motel. The woman, though looked much younger here, and there was a confident smile on her face, her features feminine, but at the same time, there was something in her eyes that let one know that she wasn't easily to be fooled.

  "Is this my mother?" whispered Julie, feeling her heart grow heavy. Not because she was sad, but she was happy to see the woman who was her biological mother.

  'She is. The witch, Opaline La Fay,' replied the Corvin, and Julie nodded her head.

  Though Julie could see it, it was as if someone had muted her television as she couldn't hear anything.

  "She's beautiful," murmured Julie, and she noticed the woman walking in the forest, moving into the deeper parts of the wood before she finally stopped. Her face looked serious, and the smile on her face had disappeared.

  Her mother moved her lips, and it was the Corvin next to Julie that spoke, 'This was the time when your mother had conceived you. It was something very unexpected and unknown to any kind, to mix the living with the dead. Nobody had ever done it before, and she came to meet your father…'

  Julie caught a note of another Corvin, who appeared in front of her mother on the white screen. Her mother's lips moved as if she was speaking about what happened with her eyebrows slightly furrowed, and the creature stared back at her, emotions hard to describe or tell because of its wooden bird-like face.

  'Your mother was worried. She already had your brothers and sisters to look after, to make sure they were alive and that they wouldn't be caught by the hands of the vampires or the humans,' explained the Corvin, watching the white screen along with Julie. 'They didn't know if you were going to be different from the rest of them. If you were going to come out soon, or if you were going to be late.'

  The discussion between her mother and father seemed tense, and Julie slightly turned to look at the Corvin and asked, "Did they… think about taking me away?"

  'Kill you? No. Your parents were never those kinds of people. Your mother especially, she thrived to have peace and harmony on the lands,' responded the Corvin. 'They decided to raise you in a way where no one would find out who your actual father was.'

  And it was when her father, who was in his Corvin form, touched her mother's stomach as if to feel their child, and that was her. The Corvin's hand was gentle, moving across the surface before he embraced her mother.

  'Your father wanted to be around more, to take care of you… but because of who he was, where even his own living daughter didn't know about him… he wasn't able to be around to take care of you the way he wanted,' the Corvin said in its monotonous voice.

  When Julie returned to her dorm, the Corvin left her side and she locked the door of the dorm. Getting into bed, she pulled the blanket and laid her head on the pillow.

  Julie wondered how life would have been if everything had gone well. She would probably be somewhere near a well, or river, drawing out water in the pot to take it back home. Or maybe she would be hiding from the hunters from being hunted. Or married to one of the men in the village at the age she was at.

  Once she drifted to sleep, the Corvin reappeared in the room, watching the girl sleep…… It moved closer to the bed and pulled her blanket upward, as if to make it proper.