People who were around scrunch their faces on hearing the sound of Roman's fist that met with the boy's face for the second time when the boy tried to take a hit against the senior vampire.

  "Does he not know that Rome is much stronger and experienced when it comes to fighting?" Olivia questioned, watching her friend grab the boy.

  "You know how there are some junior ones who often like to challenge the senior ones to get the title of being the most fearsome out of all," Maximus replied to her question. "Not to mention, don't you remember what had happened in our first year here in Veteris?"

  Olivia frowned as if remembering that time, and she nodded. She said, "How can anyone forget. I feel like we spent more time in the infirmary than anywhere else during our first year here."

  Simon snickered at Olivia's words, and he popped the piece of chicken into his mouth while watching the fight that had broken in the lunchroom.

  Maximus continued to say, "I heard from others that what had happened in our first year, something like that had never happened before that. But then that's because they didn't have Rome or us."

  Julie, who sat at the table for a moment, pursed her lips while watching Roman enjoying his time in beating the boy who had been rude to her.

  "Do you know how we turned famous, Julie?" Simon popped the question to her, and the three humans at the table turned to look at the red-headed vampire.

  "By getting into fights?" asked Julie, because it was the most obvious thing from what she had seen and heard about the famous five seniors of Veteris.

  "Well that would be just a part of the reason. Or maybe where it stemmed," replied Simon, his green eyes turning bright while he looked at her. "When people got on Rome's bad side, it would often lead into fights, and ended up beating them. Word was quick to spread since the first week of our first academic year, and the seniors soon started to get into fights with him, to claim or to keep their position until their time here."

  "It sounds ridiculous," muttered Melanie under her breath.

  Simon continued to speak, "But we beat everyone up into pulp who tried to pick a fight with us, and the seniors finally stopped trying to get involved and we earned the name of being the fantastic five. It is more about claiming and letting others know who is superior here."

  "So the boy thought he could overpower Roman?" asked Conner, as if trying to verify, and Simon gave a nod.

  "That is what is happening. Picking up on Julie was just a way to get Roman's attention and if one of the staff were to catch them now, the blame would directly fall on Roman. But I am sure that the boy won't try to attempt it the next time," replied Simon, and while everyone's attention was on the fight between Roman and the boy, his hand sneaked towards Melanie's glass of juice, and he picked it up.

  Melanie's eyes widened, and before she could stop the thief from stealing it, Simon took a sip from the juice. Both their eyes met, and she mouthed, 'What are you doing?!'

  But Simon continued to take another sip before sneakily placing it back near her. Melanie gave him an incredulous look as if asking him if he was serious. The nerve of this blood-sucking leech, she cursed him in her mind.

  On the other side of the lunchroom, Roman sat on the back of his heels, right next to the boy, who groaned in pain.

  "Next time when you see my girl, make sure to keep a ten meter distance," warned Roman, his eyes turning red as he glared at the younger vampire. "Because what I did right now was only the teaser. Next time I will give you the experince of the whole movie and you won't survive."

  Saying that Roman stood up, and his eyes flickered back to black. Leaving the boy there, he walked to the counter, ordering two coke cans before returning to the table and sitting next to Julie.

  Julie turned to him, and she softly said, "You didn't have to beat him."

  "Some of our kind don't understand words, especially sweet ones like yours. Which is why beating them is more effective," answered Roman, and when he picked up one of the coke cans, Julie noticed the bruise on his knuckles.

  Her eyebrows slightly furrowed in concern, and she placed her hand on his before bringing it to place it on her lap. Her fingertips brushed on his skin, receiving no reaction from him.

  "It feels unsettling when I see you hurt," murmured Julie, where she believed she didn't have to raise her voice for Roman to hear what she spoke. The lunchroom was back to fill with its usual sound, where students had gone back to talking and laughing as if a few minutes ago the fight had not taken place.

  Roman finished drinking blood from one of the cans, crushing it. He picked up another can and wrapped his other hand around Julie's hand. He asked, "Did you finish eating?"

  Julie gave him a nod and saw him stand while he tugged on her hand. She stood up with him, and they both left the lunchroom, stepping outside the building. Raising her gaze, she looked at the sky. She noticed the stars that shone in their places while the moon was hidden by a couple of clouds. Roman's hand around her own hand felt good, that held her hand protectively and firmly.

  "Is something on your mind, Rome?" asked Julie while they walked on the footpath. Most of the students were in the lunchroom or on the other side of the campus. The place where they walked seemed deserted.

  The fightback in the lunchroom had taken longer than the time she had expected it to last as if Roman had let it drag so that he could torture the boy slowly. "Nothing particular," he replied to her. She felt him pull her closer, and she was more than happy to move closer to him. She heard him say, "Did it scare you? The fight?"

  Julie shook her head, "It isn't my first time seeing you get into a fight," she pointed, and the corner of his lips slightly pulled up. "Is it because of the ripper side in you?"

  Roman took a sip from the can he held in his other hand. He responded with a soft sigh, "No. It has nothing to do with the ripper side of mine. When I was little and a human, I watched the way my mother was treated by the people in the village. They lacked respect for her, and though she didn't ask for it, I could tell that she wanted someone to look up at her with respect. I was one out of the three people who did it."

  "You feel the vampire disrespected me," of course, it was, thought Julie in her mind.

  "I know you will eventually grow stronger than what you are now, but that doesn't mean that I want anyone to look down at you even for a second. If I let it pass, another person will try to mistreat you, and it might escalate things," Roman, who was looking ahead of him, turned his gaze to Julie, who stared back at him. "So let me be that shield around you, to be able to see that you are treated right."

  Julie's eyes lowered, her cheeks turning warm by his words. Roman sure knew to make her chest turn all fuzzy by his words. She stopped walking, tugging his hand for him to stop too, and they came to stand face to face. The clouds that had been hovering in front of the moon slowly drifted away because of the wind, and it let the moonlight to shine on the land of Veteris.

  Julie used both her hands to hold his right hand, watching Roman's features. He looked nothing less than a beautiful phantom. He looked at her with his black eyes. She offered him a tender smile and said,

  "I have no complaints with regard to you protecting me, but it would be a lie if I said I didn't worry that something might happen." She looked down at his hand, watching the bruise. She closed her eyes, and that was when Roman noticed Julie's hand slightly emit a white glow. "And I will try my best to catch up to you so that I can protect you too when time comes."

  "I know you will," said Roman, noticing the bruise quickly disappearing from his skin. Since he had turned into a ripper, his body could not heal quickly, and it had slowed down the process.

  Julie then brought her hand to touch Roman's cheek, and he closed his eyes for a moment before opening them to reveal the red ones. "Mother told me that the more I will be able to control my soul energy, the more opportunity it will give me when it comes to abilities."

  Roman pulled Julie towards him, putting his arms around her as he hugged her. "I cannot wait to see what you can do," he pressed his hands on her back to have her arch into him. "But be careful. I haven't heard good things when it comes to the soul energy of the witches."

  He had heard of how witches often went to the dark side while trying to tap into their soul energy. It was similar to how vampires stepped into the ripper side. It didn't bother him much because even if she went to the darker side, he would still love her. And the only thing that bothered him was her leaving his side.

  Julie nodded, pressing the side of her face on his chest. She hugged him back, taking in the smell of his expensive cologne, and she asked him,

  "You smell so good," murmured Julie, and she felt her body being squeezed by him. "I won't hurt myself," she assured him.

  "Mm," and Roman's one hand moved to cradle the back of her head. "Until you are ready, and even after that, I will continue to protect you, Winters."

  Julie smiled at his words, staying there in his arms, with no one around but just them. She could feel his heart rapidly beating, and she pulled away to meet his eyes. Before she could say something, he said,

  "I will be meeting Isolde later to get a reading of my current ripper state on what might be going on."

  "I would like to accompany you," replied Julie.

  "Let us finish our stroll and head there then," remarked Roman, and his hand slipped back into her hand before they continued their walk on the footpath.

  Julie wondered how different life would be next year at this time, and she wondered how much things would have changed. When she entered Veteris, she didn't expect things to take such a sharp turn in her life. She knew things would turn more serious with the inevitable fight between the people in Veteris and the ones who wanted to step into Willow Creek.

  Both Julie and Roman continued to walk before they entered the forest and stepped into the restricted side of the forest. They went to the Veteris cemetery.

  A light fog crept on the ground of the cemetery, and Julie wondered if it was just the weather of the night. She and Roman came to stand in front of Ms. Piper Martin's grave, staring at the headstone with her name and year on it. Though days had passed since the vampiress' death, Julie missed the woman.

  "Sometimes I selfishly wish that the people whom I knew and cared about were still alive. Even if it meant that they would suffer by being vampires," said Roman with a grave voice as he stared at the grave. "Do you think there might be a time when you will create a potion to bring back the dead?"

  Julie sat down in front of the grave, removing the dried twigs and leaves that had come to settle on the woman's grave.

  "Like the Corvins?" asked Julie, and Roman hummed.

  "Maybe it is better that they aren't," replied Roman because if all vampires turned into vampires, it would possibly turn disastrous.

  But Roman's words put a thought in Julie's head, and she wondered if it was possible to contact the dead.

  "Do you think I might be able to resurrect the dead one day?" asked Julie, turning over her shoulder and looking at Roman.

  Roman shook his head, "I will tell you why. Give me your hand," he offered his hand for her to take, and when she did, he pulled her to stand. He then took her place, bending. He pushed the lid of the grave to reveal the coffin. When he pulled out the top box of the coffin, Julie was greeted with clothes and dust in there.

  "Her body turned into dust…" whispered Julie.

  "A vampire's fate is such that once they die, there is nothing but a blackhole in there. No matter how much you try to grab a person out of it, you will catch nothing but air," commented Roman. "It might be because we vampires use extra hours, days or years, which is why once we are dead, we cannot be resurrected."

  Julie turned her gaze towards the grave where the members of the Moltenore family laid inside graves. They must still be in skeleton form, she thought in her mind because they had died as humans.

  Roman pushed both the lids in their place and came to stand next to Julie.

  Julie said, "I want to go to Willow Creek."

  "Now?" Roman tilted his head to the side, to which Julie nodded.

  "Cillian is the only reference I have, and he should know how to create potions. Maybe one way to create them," she explained to him.

  "Alright."

  Back in the lunchroom, somewhere between wanting to leave and wanting to stay so that the vampires wouldn't attack Conner, Melanie waited for Conner to finish his meal.

  "Aren't you going to drink the juice, Mel?" asked Conner, noticing there was still half of it in there.

  Melanie smiled at Conner, her smile tight, and she said, "I think I am full."

  "Let me drink it then," said Conner, his hand reaching out for the juice. Melanie quickly pulled the juice away from his reach, making her friend give a questioning look. "What?"

  Melanie's cheeks slightly turned red, and she said, "I have a little," she cleared her throat, "Cough, because I got drenched and I don't want you catching it."

  "What a concerning friend you have Conner," chimed Simon, while Melanie brought the juice closer to her side. "Only if I had a best friend like that," he stressed the word best friend, which was enough for his vampire friends to pick up that something was up.

  "Maybe you should catch a fever," proposed Victoria before rolling her eyes.

  Conner smiled at Melanie's concern. He said, "Sorry about that, Simon, but Mel is like that only with me. She knows I get sick very soon and she worries. You don't have to worry about it," he said the last sentence to his best friend.

  "How sweet. Don't you agree guys?" asked Simon, and Victoria went back to her food while Maximus and Olivia shared looks between them. "You both have known each other since you were children. You know in cases like these where you grow up next to each other, neighbors too, people are bound to fall in love."

  Melanie's face turned pale at Simon's words.

  Conner laughed at Simon's words, and he said, "Mel and I have always been friends without having to worry about such things." He turned to look at Melanie and said, "Mel was there even when I lost Reese, and she's always supported me. I keep getting such questions, but there's nothing but friendship between us."

  "Is that so?" asked Simon with fake disappointment, and he sighed, "I was thinking that we would get to hear a great story."

  Thankfully, Maximus was the one who intervened in the conversation, which wasn't much help, as he asked, "How about you, Simon? Who is the most interesting person you have met in Veteris?"

  Simon grinned at Maximus' question, "Who?" he asked in a nonchalant tone, twisting his lips before he said, "I don't think there's anyone who is able to catch my attention for more than a week. Most are mediocre, and I wouldn't say they are of my type."

  "What a bummer," remarked Maximus, giving him a look while the grin on Simon's lips didn't leave.

  "It is, isn't it?" Simon clicked his tongue. "Maybe I can ask you, Olivia. We have known each other for a long time and I would like to tell people that we are childhood sweethearts. What do you say?"

  Olivia drank the milkshake that was in her hand, staring at Simon while she continued to sip the drink. Pulling the glass away from her lips, she said, "It is already troublesome enough that people know we have known each other since we were children."

  When Conner got up from his chair, Melanie looked up at him, and he said, "I will be going to the Dormitorium. I need to make an outline and submit it tomorrow." He then asked Mel, "You coming, Mel?"

  Melanie felt Simon's eyes on her, which she avoided, "Yeah." She got up from her chair.

  Before she could leave the table with Conner, Simon stopped her by saying, "You should take it with you. People are dying from lack of food."

  Melanie gingerly took the juice in her hand, and left the lunchroom.