Griffin used all his strength to free his hand and body from the person who had held him in a death grip. He didn't know who could be this strong unless Azazel Donovan had transported himself to this place. But the Elder vampire had the habit of boasting about himself, and so far, there had been no word from him. Not to mention, the guards of Veteris looked scared.

  The guard, who was standing near Caleb, continued to move backwards until he turned on his heel and ran in the direction of where the buildings were so that he could report Elder Luciano on what was going on.

  The second guard couldn't move because of the wooden stakes that had nailed his foot to the ground, but that didn't stop the shocked expression on his face.

  "I will fucking kill you right now!" Griffin glared at Julie, but his words didn't help his current situation, and the grip around his neck tightened.

  Caleb quickly came to Julie's side, and he asked, "What is that thing?!"

  Julie's eyes met the hollow eyes of the Corvin, and she said, "That's Cillian."

  "Cillian Murphy?" asked Caleb, his eyes lighting up for a second.

  "Cillian Blackburn. He once used to be a witch," Julie replied, and she then spoke to Griffin, "You should accept defeat now before it is too late for you. Especially with your dirty tricks."

  Griffin's red eyes glared at her, "You fucking witch think you can get away from me. Let go of me and I will show you what I can do. Talking about dirty tricks. You have broken rules and you will pay for it for stepping on the restricted grounds."

  Julie realized that Griffin wouldn't stop until he dragged her to the dungeon and saw her behind bars. She nodded, "Okay."

  Hearing her words, the Corvin turned its head with its beak pointing in her direction. The creature loosened its grip and let go of Griffin. But Cillian took away the gun that Griffin had been holding.

  Griffin jumped away from whoever was holding him. When he turned, ready to fight the person, by pulling another spare gun that he carried with him, his mouth fell open, and his throat turned dry. What the fuck was that thing that was in front of him?!

  Bringing up the gun, he pointed at the unknown creature, and he fired one bullet after another while aiming most of it on the Corvin's chest and the last one on the creature's bird-like head. A hole was formed on the creature's head, and the vampire smirked. But soon, the hole turned smaller and disappeared as if it looked like the creature had never been shot.

  To Griffin and the guard's horror, the creature spoke, "Bullets don't work on me, foolish vampire."

  Seeing Griffin scared had Julie internally smile, and she then said, "Cillian can pull out your heart faster than you think. You should just drop the matter and go from here. Do something more useful instead of trying to frame us."

  Griffin lacked words to speak, and Julie turned to look at the pentagram she had created, and when she waved her hand at it, the glowing mark disappeared into vapour. She said to Caleb, "Let us go," and together, they left the place.

  Julie knew well that if Griffin tried to create trouble for her, he would think more than twice before trying to hurt her. In the forest, Griffin continued to stare at the creature, which suddenly disappeared with a blink of an eye. His head turned like an owl, looking left and right, searching for the creature.

  In the meantime, Melanie had reached Conner's dorm, and she waited for him to open the door, but the door never opened no matter how many times she knocked on it. She noticed some of the boys looking at her, and she tried to ignore them.

  "The girl who has a crush on the curly, while being Wallace' girlfriend," commented one of the boys in the corridor.

  Melanie's head snapped to look at who had commented, and she said, "I am no one's girlfriend. Have you seen Conner?"

  The student stared at her with a curious expression, and Melanie wondered if this boy was a vampire. He replied to her, "I haven't seen him since this afternoon. He didn't come back to his dorm."

  She doubted this person knew Conner's whereabouts. She didn't know why, but she had a bad feeling in her chest right now. Considering how her best friend had been avoiding her, she had no idea what he was up to.

  "Thanks," replied Melanie, starting to walk away from the dorm. The boy, who had spoken to her, stopped her,

  "You know," he drawled, and Melanie slowed down her footsteps, turning to the person. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about Conner. Would you like to come in so that we could speak?" he jerked his head towards his dorm.

  "You can tell it to me right here. What is it?" asked Melanie, her eyebrows slightly furrowing.

  The boy looked at the other students who were in the corridor, and he said, "It isn't something that I can discuss out in the open. It might bring trouble to your friend, considering what he's been doing."

  Hearing what the boy said was enough alert for Melanie, and she questioned if Conner had gotten himself into trouble. What did this fellow student know about him? But then what if he was only bluffing? She saw the boy turn around and step into his dorm, leaving her in worry.

  "You coming?" questioned the boy, and Melanie stared at him.

  "No," replied Melanie, surprising the boy, who turned intrigued by her refusal. "I will go look for him."

  She started to walk from there and heard the boy say behind her, "You won't find him. I can help you with it."

  Suddenly the red-headed senior appeared in the corridor, and he greeted her, "Hello, there, darling." Melanie should have known that she would run into him. After all, this was also the Dormitorium where he stayed. His eyes then fell on the boy, who stood outside the dorm, staring at Melanie. "What's up, Crayon?"

  The boy shook his head, looking at them before closing his dorm door.

  "Came here to donate blood?" questioned Simon with a cheerful voice. "Or was it to meet your crush? Oh sorry, ex-crush," he grinned.

  Melanie was in no mood to take part in Simon's games, "Have you seen Conner?"

  "You know, you might be interested in him, but I am not interested in him that way to keep seeing him," Simon shook his head, with a sigh escaping from his lips.

  Melanie threw a glare at Simon, not liking his jokes. People kept linking her up to either Conner or Simon, where both of them were untrue. She noticed the way his green eyes flickered brightly, staring into her eyes with a smile on his lips. "Why do you look disturbed?"

  "Conner isn't in his room," replied Melanie, worry coming to mar on her face, and she said, "I think something bad happened to him. You really haven't seen him today?"

  Simon shook his head, "Nope. I did come by and he wasn't in his dorm. He must have sunken himself in his art," he raised both his hands to emphasize his words, but Melanie doubted it had anything to do with it. "You should probably check the arts room. You would be surprised to find him there."

  Melanie nodded her head, and she quickly hurried towards the stairs, making her way down the building while Simon stood watching her. When she reached the arts building, she looked for Conner, but she didn't find him.

  "Where are you, Conner?" Melanie questioned softly, wondering where else he could be. Maybe she should ask Julie, and she would know because her gut feeling was trickling right now. She prayed for Conner to be alright.

  Stepping out of one of the rooms, when she turned around, a soft gasp escaped from her lips, and she placed her hand on her chest, "Are you trying to scare me?" she asked Simon, who sat at the edge of the wall, with his one hand supporting his chin.

  "I never pegged you to be someone who is easily scared. Not the person who slapped me across my face," Simon taunted Melanie with a grin on his face, and he then jumped down on the ground.

  "I am busy right now, you can find someone else to annoy, Simon," responded Melanie, making her way past him. Simon asked her,

  "Why are you looking for him? It's not like he's a child, he'll get back to you when he's man enough," Simon retorted, the smile on his lower. Noticing the worry in the human's eyes, he then asked, "You know you can always tell me if there's something?"

  Melanie didn't know where Conner was, and the only person she could ask for help apart from Julie was this person. Not having any other option, she asked him, "Conner isn't someone who usually stays by himself for long, and it is very rare. The boy who spoke to me earlier in the dormitorium, he said he knew something about Conner."

  Simon tilted his head to the side and asked, "The one whom you spoke to was a vampire, and vampires are tricky creatures. Luring the butterfly into their web of lies. Of course, I wouldn't do that."

  "I need to find Conner," stated Melanie. Anxiousness came to form in her chest, and she started to feel restless. "Can you please help me find him?"

  "And why should I? It isn't like we're friends, and even if we were, I don't do things for free," Simon's lips twisted, staring at her. This leech, thought Melanie in her mind. He then said, "Unless you are saying that we are friends. Are we?"

  Melanie clenched her teeth. Here she was worried about her friend, and this person was still in the mood to play with her.

  "You know in the worst case scenario, if you were to lose one friend, you will have another one," joked Simon, and Melanie released a sigh before she started to walk. "Hm? Where are you going?"

  "To find him, instead of standing here and wasting my time," replied Melanie. Conner could be anywhere. Maybe she should find Julie first.

  "If Conner is really in trouble, do you think people here will offer to help you?" questioned Simon, who wasn't too far behind her. "By the time you reach him, something might have happened to him."

  Melanie glared at the space in front of her. She stopped and turned, "Okay," she agreed.

  "Okay?" asked Simon with a perplexed look on his face.

  "We can be friends," replied Melanie, and a slow smile stretched on the vampire's lips.

  "See? It wasn't that hard now, was it?" said Simon, walking up to her and then saying, "Follow me."