"I get annoyed by him. But I have always been annoyed by his presence near me," said Roman, and the thought of how everyone annoyed him crossed Julie's mind. "I don't think it's worth hating him. But if you are asking how I feel about him, then the answer is I am still pissed."

  It wasn't that Julie didn't understand how Roman felt about Donovan, but she could tell Donovan, in his own way, was trying to get closer to Roman.

  "Do you think of me as someone who is heartless and cold? Someone without any attachments?" Roman's question slightly startled her, and Julie shook her head.

  "Not for a moment."

  "You didn't see how my mother was treated. Time back then was much harsher than now people can imagine. A woman, who was impregnated by the Lord, and was left estranged. The reasons and rumors that came up in time. As much as my mother tried to keep her head high, acting as if it didn't affect her, the words that reached her ears," said Roman with a small frown on his face. He continued, "There were a lot of them, who taunted her, who didn't attend to her in the market, just because she had slept with someone before her marriage."

  "I am sorry about it," Julie placed her hand on his chest, her lips setting into a thin line.

  Roman placed his hand on hers, holding it, "It isn't your fault. Donovan never bothered to return to her even once. Not once. He did what he wanted, never thought of the consequences his actions would bring."

  "But didn't he say that your mother and he already knew the fate of their relationship? What they had…" Julie turned her hand around so that she could hold his hand properly. "He's told you that he never knew about you, nor the condition her health was in. Deep down he seems like a lonely person… without you."

  If Donovan had cared, he would have at least had someone check on his mother, but the man had done nothing. It was as if he had forgotten her once he had left the village.

  "He will need to work harder if he really wants to get into my good books," remarked Roman, remembering how Donovan had not mentioned anything about them being related until the last few days.

  "Don't worry about it. When things need to happen, it will. And if it doesn't, it was never meant to be."

  Julie and Roman held each other in the room, this time not trying to do anything as they had done last night, and somewhere glad that Donovan had not followed and showed up yesterday. While one couple was busy, Donovan lay on the couch with a pillow behind his head and a blanket that wasn't as good as he was used to.

  "Ungrateful humans," murmured Donovan under his breath. If they knew who he was, they would have used their savings and brought him a new mattress to sleep on, he thought in his mind.

  When he tried to take a good sleep, closing his eyes, Donovan heard the sound of the killers, who very slowly approached near him. He hadn't expected company, but the attackers slowly moved closer to him, buzzing near his ear, and he quickly used his hand to catch hold of the mosquito, and the humming stopped.

  "To think you come and try to provoke me, as if I will let you have my blood," said Donovan haughtily before dusting his hand and pulling the blanket near his chest. "And who even sleeps this early. Humans," he lightly cursed.

  Far away from the town where Julie and Roman were, back in Melanie's house, she was sitting on the edge of her bed with a slight angst that had come to settle in her chest.

  Every single time, Conner had always tried to be polite with people while trying not to get involved in fights. And every time, Melanie tried to stand her ground. She ran her fingers through her hair with both her hands before letting her elbows rest on her lap, and she buried her face in her hands.

  "What am I doing," Melanie whispered to herself, sitting alone in her room with windows and her door locked.

  After leaving the store, she had returned to her room in anger, which was by climbing back to her window while also making sure no one saw her.

  Melanie wondered for how long she would carry her unrequited love for Conner. But the question was if the love was still there. Conner and she were next-door neighbours. They had literally grown up together, spent time with each other but only as best friends, where Conner had never known what feelings she had grown towards him over the years. Though there were times like today where Conner tried to take the route of peace rather than getting into a fight like her, he had always been there for her, and she had been there for him.

  Like any other person in love, she had tried to find meaning in his actions and words, trying to read between the lines in hope that he felt the same way as she did. But since Reese had entered into Conner's life, Melanie's feelings had taken a step back.

  Conner had only seen her as a friend. Bestfriend, and there was nothing more to it.

  Apart from her parents and other families who held the gathering in the evening, with how they believed in the existence of the vampires, there was something else that had caught her attention.

  And this time, it wasn't Conner, it wasn't the boys who had tried to piss her off. But it was the boy who had always irked her constantly every time he came in front of her.

  'I don't have a sweet tooth. I prefer spice in what I eat, or something bitter like coffee.'

  Simon Wallace.

  The red-haired senior was loved by every student and the staff of Veteris. Compared to the other members in the Famous Five of Veteris, Simon appeared to be the most approachable one apart from Olivia. But there was something very odd about him, which Melanie hadn't been able to place her finger on.

  Not that she had spent time thinking about it, as she had other things to do. But then Simon had the habit of irking her to no end. She remembered what Conner had once said,

  'Why do you treat Simon as if he is bad? You should be a little more friendly with him, he's a good guy.'

  'Good guy my ass,' thought Melanie in her head. And she was right.

  Simon had poked her since the time they had officially met each other at the bonfire.

  She spent her time on her laptop, where three hours passed before she heard the sound of the vehicle. Placing her laptop on the surface of the bed, Melanie's feet padded on the ground, and she made her way to the window.

  Pushing the curtain, Melanie took a peek outside to notice her mother and father, who stood outside the house, where they had changed their clothes…… She took note of the gun that her mother discreetly hid behind her jeans.