Julie touched the surface of the bed, running her fingers on it and felt the coldness of it. As if the person lying down next to her had stepped out of bed for many hours now. A slight trickle of fear slithered down her back, and she looked around the room, but Roman was nowhere in sight. The window curtains had not been drawn where the sunlight was to pass through and being worried, she pushed the blanket from her body. She placed her feet flat on the cold ground.

  "Rome?" Julie called out his name, wondering if he was taking a shower, but there was no sound of running water. The bathroom was empty, and she looked at the slightly ajar door.

  It was unlike him to leave her when she was still sleeping in the bed.

  Stepping out of the room, Julie walked through the corridor that held a deafening silence.

  When she stepped closer to the kitchen and the living room, Julie's eyes fell on the red liquid smeared on the white floor. Her blood turned cold, and goosebumps formed on her skin.

  "Rome?" This time she called his name a little louder than before, but she received no response again.

  Her heart continued to beat loudly, and her feet were quick to follow the trail of blood, and soon she found her aunt sitting on the couch.

  But her aunt sat with her throat slit and her head thrown back. Blood dripped down from her neck, falling on her clothes and the couch's surface.

  "Aunt Sarah?!" Julie shouted her aunt's name, and she darted towards her aunt, but suddenly Donovan emerged from the other side of the room.

  "What a delicious meal she was…" hummed the Elder vampire, running his tongue on the corner of his lips. "Much better than what she cooked. I wasn't sure if I wanted to sink my teeth into her, she seemed a little not my type, so I used the knife," his eyes shifted to look at the teapot, and Julie's eyes fell on the sharp stake of wood that was covered in blood.

  Donovan was joking, wasn't he? She must be dreaming, thought Julie to herself.

  "Where is Rome and Uncle Thomas?" demanded Julie, and Donovan leisurely took his time to sit down on the opposite couch where Aunt Sarah was sitting. "Where are they?!"

  "Sshh," Donovan raised his hand to hush her, "You will end up inviting trouble to both of us and yourself by alerting the neighbors."

  "I will scream if you don't tell me now," threatened Julie. "I thought it was clear that you wouldn't touch any of my relatives and bring them no harm."

  Donovan stared at Julie, and a small smile appeared on his lips, "I don't think I ever told or promised anything like that to you. What I tell others, you shouldn't consider it to be something I will abide by. Why don't you take a seat? And we can have a talk."

  Julie felt her head start to spin, this was not happening… it couldn't! Her aunt couldn't be dead in the living room.

  "Okay, you can stand if that is what you want," Donovan shrugged his shoulders and leaned his back against the couch. "You know when I woke up, where I barely got a wink of sleep the whole night and took a stroll in the neighborhood before coming back to sleep. In the morning, when I woke up, I thought I would get to drink a fresh cup of coffee. But the audacity of this woman," he said, looking at Aunt Sarah's body, where the deceased's women's eyes had not been closed, and she stared at the ceiling.

  "You killed her for a cup of coffee?!" Julie had grown up with her family being around, and even though as distant, her aunt behaved with her, she didn't deserve this! The Elder vampire had lost his mind. She closed her eyes, whispering to herself, "Please wake up from this dream. Please wake up."

  Hearing her words, Donovan chuckled, "What we think is the nightmare is a reality, Juliekins. What you believe to be real, is a dream. How fascinating is that?" he asked, awe in his voice.

  Not waiting for Donovan to explain anything more than the crazy words he had already spewed, Julie started to look for Roman. Reaching her uncle and aunt's room, where the door was closed, she opened it and saw her uncle sitting on the chair where he had been tied with a rope, and Roman stood in front of him.

  "Julie! Run away from here!" Her uncle hurriedly told her in panic, and her heart broke.

  She quickly made her way to them, her uncle looking upset and angry. When she turned to look at Roman, his lips held colour.

  "He has Silverwater in his body," Roman said to her before she could question. "And he's seen too much."

  Uncle Thomas stared between Roman and Julie, his eyes moving back and forth before it settled on his niece. In a look of disbelief, he asked, "Y-you know about these monsters…?"

  Julie could see Uncle Thomas' trust in her had been broken into many pieces. Donovan had told her nothing to understand how things had ended up like this.

  "It's not how it looks, Uncle Tom," Julie's voice was softer than usual, sensing the look of disappointment in his eyes as he stared at her.

  "I think it would be best for you to stay quiet unless you want me to snap your niece's head or have her suffer the same fate as your wife," Roman's voice was cold, and he didn't hold back in letting his intentions known to the human who was tied in the chair.

  Uncle Thomas didn't look at Roman, but his eyes stayed on Julie, who looked like she had been caught. He said, "I welcomed you to my home with love and warmth, and this is how you repay it to me? Colluding with these… killing your aunt."

  At his words, Julie's heart broke.

  Everything had been perfect last night when she had gone to sleep. She now wished she could turn back time and get everything back to how it was. She was speechless to get even a single word out of her lips right now, and Uncle Thomas continued to say,

  "If you really want to do the right thing, call the police right now, Julie."

  But she couldn't do it.

  "She won't be doing anything as such. Come, I will talk to you outside," said Roman and Julie looked between the two males in the room.

  "They killed your aunt. Killed her ruthlessly and without any hesitation. Did you know about it?" questioned Uncle Thomas, his voice sounding slightly desperate. Julie shook her head. The man then looked at Roman and said, "Why don't you tell what you or that brother of yours did to her in front of me, instead of spinning tales of lies!" he turned angry, an emotion that Julie had never seen from her uncle.

  Julie gave a nod to Roman, who stared at her before he said, "Your aunt was mixing Silverwater in the food that she made yesterday, and this morning. We caught her with some things, which hunters mostly use."

  Hearing it, a deep frown came to marr Julie's face. She shook her head as if unable to understand, "You're telling me that she was a hunter?"

  "Yes," replied Roman, while Uncle Thomas tried to get himself free. He turned to look at the human and said, "You'll only end up injuring yourself. It would be best for all of us if you would stay still and we can finish this process."

  "Rome," Julie placed her hand on his arm, and he went quiet. She then turned to look at her uncle, "Uncle Thomas, I am sorry you had to go through something like this, and see it. But I need you to trust me on this."

  "You have been brainwashed by these freaks, Julie," her uncle appeared to be helpless, as if he wanted her to listen to him, but he couldn't. "They drank blood, pushed me into this chair and tied me up. How can you expect me to stay calm and trust you?" His eyes looked livid.

  Julie hated seeing her uncle in this state, but if what Roman said was true about Aunt Sarah being involved with hunters, then she understood what was going on…


  Roman said, "She used a heavier dosage of Silverwater. Donovan and I thought the silverwater at the diner was leaving its aftereffects with the amount of food we ate. But it was the Silverwater that she served at the dinner yesterday."

  "I don't know what ridiculous things this boy is speaking about right now, but you should know better than anyone that Sarah would never do anything bad to people. She might have been someone who spoke about things in taunts, but she would never try to hurt anyone," Uncle Thomas defended his wife. "This boy is poisoning your mind and manipulating everything with his brother. I should have known and believed when Sarah told me something was wrong with these two. That they were not to be trusted. How could I not believe her," his voice turned distant while it broke in the end.

  "Your wife is not someone you thought she was, and what you feel right now… it is only temporary, Mr. Winters," came Roman's words, which sounded emotionless and unattached. "We apologize for what happened, but we need you to cooperate."

  "No, this is not going to happen. I am not letting my wife's murderers? to be let off the hook that easily," Uncle Thomas shook his head. "I will make sure to see that you two will get the right punishment. Call the police now, Julie, unless you never cared about your aunt or me."

  Julie felt torn.

  She wanted to tell the truth to him, but at the same time, she understood what Roman meant when he said what her uncle felt was temporary. Because once the Silverwater would leave the human's body, it would be easy to compel him. Erasing the drastic memory of him seeing his wife being fed by two vampires.

  Julie turned to look at Roman, and she requested, "Can you give me a few minutes alone with him?"

  Roman gave her a nod and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

  Julie came to stand in front of her uncle, her hands holding each other while she saw her uncle's eyes leave the door behind where Roman had disappeared. Compelling him was the last thing she wanted to do. Not that it was a bad thing, but she just didn't want it.

  Since the time she had found out about the existence of the vampires, witches along with the hunters, she had always hoped that she wouldn't involve her uncle and his family in the life that had been opened up to her.

  "Since how long have you known about these things?" questioned Uncle Thomas, his voice continuing to hold the disappointment and hurt in his expression.

  "For a few weeks now," replied Julie, before she added, "What you see is not how it is supposed to look or doesn't appear that way."

  Uncle Thomas didn't speak right away, but when he did, he asked her, "How can you take their sides? You should have seen your aunt's body or…" his voice trailed before he asked, "Or have you already seen her body?"

  Julie nodded her head, her eyes lowered while feeling her uncle's anger bubble up. "I saw her body before I came to see you in here."

  "Then explain to me why, because I am not able to fathom the thought of my wife being brutally killed and my niece is now taking the wild creature's side," commented Uncle Thomas, and she could feel the pain and loss which he was experiencing. "Why are you not informing the police? Did they threaten to do something to you, which is why you aren't willing to call the cops for help?"

  "It isn't that, Uncle Tom," murmured Julie. She shook her head, her lips closing and opening while she didn't know how to break it to him. "If what Rome said is true, then Aunt Sarah tried to kill them. Or maybe test us, including me."

  "Sarah had no idea of what was happening, she didn't do anything. She has been innocent all this while," Uncle Thomas defended his wife.

  Julie wiped both her palms on the sides of her jeans.

  "There is something that you need to know. Something that I found out and something that has been around you for sometime now," Julie started to explain everything from her surrogate mother to her father, one why he killed her and about the existence of vampires and witches.

  She knew it probably wasn't the wisest thing to tell her uncle about the existence of the vampires or the witches, but with him who would be compelled later, it seemed worth a shot on speaking about it to him. She saw him look away from her, his eyebrows in a deep furrow.

  He then said, "Your aunt was trying to protect me. Trying to protect you, Julie. Even after seeing what happened to her, you still take the vampires side?"

  "Uncle Tom, I swear when I say this that I didn't know this was going to happen when I came to visit you. I don't think anyone even knew that Aunt Sarah was a hunter, or was aware of it. I don't know what happened or how things spiraled before I woke up, but Roman would never do anything to hurt you or any person who is dear to me," Julie patiently tried to explain to him. "If they killed her, it was only because they believed she would be a harmful threat to one of us in the future. There's no ulterior motive here."

  Uncle Thomas stayed quiet for a long time, no words came out from his lips. He then said,

  "You might see her as a hunter, but she, Sarah, was my wife. And I accepted her the way she was and loved her despite all the flaws she had. I have been married to her for so many years. What will I tell Joel when he asks what happened to his mother? What will you tell your cousin, Julie? On why his mother was found in a cold blooded murder."

  Julie understood the pain he was feeling, which was why she didn't force her thoughts or the truth that she knew on him. The man needed time to grieve for his wife's death, and she would give him that time.

  "I will explain to him when I believe the time is right… or maybe hide the truth of what his mother never shared with her husband," replied Julie, and the look in Uncle Thomas' eyes hardened. "The hunters… I am not saying all of the hunters are bad. I know some who are good or are unaware of it."

  "The same could be said, isn't it, Julie? The vampires that you earnestly protect, not everyone is good and they can be bad. Your aunt just believed she was doing right, and protecting us as family. Are you telling me it was wrong for her to look out for you?"

  Julie shook her head.

  She knew whatever she would tell to her uncle right now, it would seem wrong, and she said, "I will give you some time to process it, Uncle Tom. I won't let anything more happen than they have now."

  "Can you make sure that I get to see her one more time? So that you guys don't bury her by yourself without her family's presence being there?"

  When Julie's eyes went to meet her uncle's eyes, the man averted his eyes to his left as if he couldn't bear to see her right now and wanted to stay alone.

  "Okay," whispered Julie, her heart breaking at the sight of her Uncle's reaction, which didn't look welcoming, nor did he care about other things.

  She walked towards the door for a moment, turning behind to see her uncle continue to stare at the wall at the side. Turning the knob, she opened the door. stepping outside the room and she closed the door behind her.

  Julie found Roman standing against one side of the wall with his arms crossed against his chest and his back leaned against the wall. He pushed himself forward, taking two steps near her, and she whispered,

  "How did this happen?"

  When her eyes met his, Roman noticed tears well up around her brown eyes, and he put his arms around her. "I am sorry it had turned that way," he rubbed her back, bringing her close to him, and Julie closed her eyes while pursing her lips so that she wouldn't sob. "I woke up when I heard the sounds in the living room, and by the time I reached there, it was too late."

  "Do you know what happened?" she asked him, with a frown. She pulled herself away, and he dropped his hands around her.

  "Donovan and she were speaking. She offered him coffee, and it was heavily laced with Silvewater. A little stronger than what was given to us yesterday. He threw up blood, and your aunt tried to stake him," Roman iterated the event. "I should have known that with your father, Doughlas Leighton around, there was bound to be another hunter in the family. Before she could kill him, Donovan killed her."

  "He could have saved her. We could have compelled her and done something about it. This is not right," whispered Julie, shaking her head and feeling a headache rise in her temples. "It wasn't right. He shouldn't have killed her."

  "You know how persistent hunters are, Julie. And we don't know how long it would take for the Silverwater to leave. At least one which is of this dosage."

  Walking to the living room, where Aunt Sarah's body continued to stay the same way she had last seen it a few moments ago. She looked away. She brought her hand up and covered her mouth.

  She had seen dead bodies before. It wasn't the first time something like this, but this, seeing someone who was only living and breathing a few hours ago, where she had helped the woman in the kitchen, was hard to digest.

  Donovan, who had earlier sat on the couch, had already got up and spoke to Roman, "We'll need to clean this up. Lest we want a good amount of houseflies to settle in, along with the odor of the deceased."

  "Julie's uncle wants to see her being buried," remarked Roman, glaring at Donovan because, like Julie, he knew things could have been handled delicately. But Donovan had to behave like a caveman, here more like cave-vampire.

  Donovan stared at Roman for a good second before he raised his eyebrows, "And what do you propose for us to do? Keep the body until his Silverwater comes down, which you said you aren't sure how long it will take. Do we refrigerate the body?"

  "I can speak to one of the doctors whom I know and see if space can be arranged in the morgue for her," suggested Roman, and Donovan nodded his head.

  "Yes, this is where dear Remington comes into good use. Let me just call him," Donovan raised his one finger in the air to excuse himself before he pulled out the phone from his pocket. It took a couple of times before he was able to connect with the person through the call and the other Elder vampire picked the call, "Hello, Remy, how is the day today?"

  Remy, who was in Veteris, enjoying the little peace that he had found, staring at nothing in particular now while holding the phone next to his ear. Answering Donovan, he said, "I was enjoying peace. Why?"

  "You still have contacts and connections with the doctors and vampire folks who work in the old hospitals, don't you?" questioned Donovan, and Remy hummed.

  "I do, why?"

  "Well we have a body that needs a little home for a while before we can bury it. Do you think you would be able to make a call?" and though Donovan posed it as a question, it was obvious to Remy that Donovan was only asking so to get the job done, and the vampire wouldn't take no for an answer. Not to mention, Remy didn't want him to be hovering around him by showing up in front of him now.

  "Sure. I will send you the address," replied Remy, and he asked, "Whom are you trying to preserve?"

  "My daughter-in-law's aunt. The woman turned out to be a hunter, what an unfortunate turn of events," and as sad as it was supposed to be, Donovan's voice sounded cheerful.

  "Fine," and the line went dead without another word being uttered.

  Back in the Winter's residence, Donovan returned to where Julie and Roman were, and he said, "It is all done. Your aunt will be kept in a good shape and safe just like Mr. Thomas Winters would like it to be. By the way, I heard the little discussion, I don't think he will accept you or us anytime soon. If that is what you were hoping for earlier by talking to him heart to heart."

  Julie didn't comment on it. Even though Aunt Sarah had turned out to be connected to the hunters, the woman was still her aunt, and she was sad with the loss.

  "How are you feeling today, Rome? Still feeling thirsty?" asked Donovan, and Roman sent a quiet glare at the Elder vampire, who raised both his hands up in the air, "I was only concerned about you. No need to look at me like that. I guess you both would like to spend some time together. I will go and see how Tom is doing."

  Julie turned slightly alarmed, and she started to speak, "Can you not go there n—"

  "Relax, Julie dear. I won't touch a single strand of hair on your uncle's head. This was just an unexpected situation," stated Donovan before he sauntered into the corridor.

  Julie rubbed her forehead. If last night, Roman wanted to get Donovan far away from him, this morning, it was she who wanted the Elder vampire to maintain some distance from them. The older vampire didn't just kill her aunt, he had brutally killed her coldly, which was what upset her the most. As if he wanted it to be painful.

  Roman left her side for a brief moment before he returned with a glass of juice, "Have this. You have stayed with an empty stomach for a long time. You need some energy to live through the day."

  "What about uncle?"

  "I will get him something, though I cannot promise if he will eat it or not," replied Roman, and Julie nodded her head. It was possible that right now, her uncle would not have an appetite just like her. "Or maybe Donovan could be useful in forcing him to eat."

  And while the Winters' residence was having its own problems, far away in the Davis' family, Melanie and Simon sat at the small and round dining table while Mrs. Davis prepared breakfast for both of them.

  "How was your sleep, Simon? I hope it slept well," Mrs. Davis struck up a conversation with him.

  "I had a little difficulty in adjusting to the new place, but nonetheless, it was decent," Simon offered a polite smile. "Did you hear anything from Conner's father? Is he doing better now?"

  "Melanie's father has gone to visit him this early in the morning. He should be back soon, and we'll find out if everything is alright," replied Mrs. Davis, where she had turned around to meet his eyes.

  "That's good to hear. I hope he does feel good soon. It would be hard to be one person short while hunting these creatures," commented Simon and Mrs. Davis couldn't agree more on it. She then looked at her daughter, Melanie, who had been staring at the surface of the table, lost in her own thoughts,

  "Everything alright, Mel?" asked Mrs. Davis.

  Melanie snapped from her thoughts, her gaze lifting to meet her mother's curious and worried eyes. She nodded her head, "Yeah, I think so."

  "The first time is always the hardest," said her mother, offering her encouraging words to her. "You will soon get used to it. Killing these bloodthirsty creatures and also losing our people. It is why we need to work hard enough, to be sharp enough to make sure that you should always win against the vampires. What do you think, Simon?" asked Mrs. Davis.

  "You are right. It's all about protecting our people. In difficult times like these, where we lose our family, we should stand united. Don't worry, Mel. The first time is always hell, then you will enjoy it," the corner of Simon's lips pulled up, while Melanie was in no mood to listen to him or her mother.

  Mrs. Davis turned her back towards them, and she continued to prepare the breakfast.

  While Simon was talking to her mother, Melanie couldn't help but sneak a glance at the red-headed senior and his perfectly looking arm. Last night, he was sound asleep, and her parents were all alive, so maybe it was just her mind making up scenarios' right?

  Maybe Simon was only an annoying senior in the university, whom she wasn't fond of, thought Melanie to herself.

  While her mother was busy in front of the stove, Melanie picked up the juice and took a sip from it. She noticed how Simon, who went to take a sip instead of drinking the juice, stopped midway and looked like he was going to throw up. And he did.

  Her eyes fell on his lips, where he spat something black into the glass of juice, and her eyes widened. It looked like dark blood.

  When she heard the doorbell ring, she said to her mother, "Let me go and get it……" And while doing so, she switched her glass of juice with Simon's glass of juice, while noticing him look at her with cold, killer-like eyes.