Not too far away from Veteris university, Roman leaned against a tree in the middle of the forest. His one foot was placed flat on the bark of the tree, and he had crossed his arms, while watching Donovan who stood in front of the headstone.

  The anger he had for Donovan hadn't completely disappeared for leaving his mother behind, but now that he understood why the man did it, the pain had reduced. The old man had been pestering him for days to let him know where his mother's grave was, as he hadn't found it near the ruined village's cemetery that no one lived in anymore.

  His eyes turned to his right side, where one firefly flew near him. He raised his hand, and after a few seconds, the firefly came to settle on his palm. It glowed and dimmed before bringing light again. His thoughts drifted to the when his mother was still breathing.

  'Mama, where is papa?' the young him had asked his mother while his mother lay on the bed. She was sick and coughing. It looked like with every cough, her body withered a little more than the previous day.

  His mother moved her weak hand, which shook because of the lack of energy in it. Placing it on his head. She softly said, 'He's somewhere far away. I don't want you to go looking for him. When the time is right, he will come to you.'

  'He will?' asked young Roman, his eyes holding no excitement in them. It was because even though he was little, he could tell that the possibility was very thin. His mother was ill, and his father didn't come to see her.

  His mother gently smiled at him, 'Have you been good?' and the little boy nodded. 'I see.'

  Roman's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Donovan's words, who said, "I thought my secret was something that couldn't be shared. But seems like you carried a bigger one than mine."

  Donovan didn't hold the same sadness as Roman because he had known as a human, the woman was eventually going to die. And he had made peace with it many years ago when he had left her side. But that didn't mean that she didn't hold a special place in his heart. After all, she had left Roman behind for him. A reminder of what both of them shared in the past.

  "I will be going back to the university. I am sure you know your way back from here," Roman pushed himself from the tree and walked away in the other direction.

  Donovan turned to look over his shoulder at Roman's figure disappear in the thicket of the trees, and he turned back to look at the grave and confessed,

  "Though I must say he's adorable in most of the things, there are some things that make me want to put my fingers through his chest. For being cheeky and not listening to me. Given I wasn't there in the beginning, but I have been trying to make it right."

  Minutes passed, and a sigh escaped from his lips. He placed his hand on the stone, feeling the coarseness of it. It was good to see that Roman had moved her grave from the commoners.

  Getting up, he turned around, ready to leave.

  "I was wondering when you would come to visit me."

  Donovan's eyes widened, feeling the breeze sweep across the forest land where he stood. He slowly turned back and saw the ghost of Lilian. Her body was pale and transparent, the strands of her glower as if it held light. He wondered if he was dreaming of her now.

  The ghost smiled at him, "You haven't changed."

  "I wish I could tell the same," murmured Donovan, stepping closer to the ghost, he raised his hand to touch her. But his hands passed through her body, and instead, he felt the place to be ice cold. "How is it possible?" He looked around, making sure there was no witch around who was trying to play tricks on him.

  On hearing something snap near him, Donovan quickly raised his hand, and smoke spilt on the ground from his hand. The Corvin showed up. The same Corvin that belonged to Julie.

  Just as he thought, there was a former witch here.

  "Look who is here," commented Donovan, but the Corvin moved to look at the ghost, while being not paying any attention to the Elder vampire.

  "A Corvin," murmured the ghost, staring at the bird-like creature.

  "Lilian Lena Blackburn, I was hoping to talk to you," said Cillian, and the woman's ghost stared at the Corvin. "I have been trying to wake you up for some time now."

  "I didn't know Corvins had such profound ability," stated Donovan, the gears in his mind moving quickly and ready to befriend the Corvin so that he could make good use of it.

  Cillian, the Corvin snapped its head to look at Donovan as if able to sniff his intentions. One didn't have to say it out loud how much he didn't like the vampire's existence. He said, "It was because of the awakening of magic in Willow Creek." He had been walking around the land, and when he was walking past one of the graves, touching it, he had woken a random ghost up for the briefest moments before the ghost disappeared that had tried to get out of the forest. "It seems, I can wake a person up only once, and the person stays awake only for a few minutes."

  "How interesting," muttered Donovan under his breath and his eyes met the woman's ghost, who looked back at him.

  Cillian then spoke to Lilian, "I am also a Blackburn. Your ancestor who died because of vampires," and he looked at Donovan.

  "Hey, I was there, but I didn't take part in it," Donovan raised both his arms to defend himself. He then said to Lilian, "I didn't know before that you came from a witch's family."

  "I hoped you would never come to know," replied Lilian. She shook her head, "My family was something I never wanted to discuss about. They weren't good people."

  "So you ran away," Donovan pointed out something that he already knew. The ghost of the woman nodded.

  "My family mixed themselves with the wrong people. My father and mother were promised a higher position for themselves, more money, more control over things. The place was monitored by the vampires," she explained, looking in another direction. "And when my family created the dark stone so that those vampires could use it, I found out that it would be used to slaughter the humans. The creation of dark stone doesn't end there, but it goes far beyond into the darkness. So I took it with me and ran away from there."

  The Corvin was interested in something else, and it asked, "What do you know about the dark stone that was created by your family?"

  The woman's ghost stayed quiet for a couple of seconds. Then she said, "A dark stone is said to give you more powers, turning you invisible. But there's one thing about it that has never been mentioned. You cannot leave the dark stone by itself. It craves to be inside a person."

  "The dark stone accepted your son," informed Cillian and hearing his words, Lilian's ghost looked taken aback.

  She responded with, "That's not possible, the stone has been with me. It is why I fell extremely sick before."

  The Corvin shook its head, "No. It passed on to Roman, and he's the possessor of the stone."

  "It cannot be true. It is not how it works," replied Lilian, with worry showing on her face.

  The Elder vampire asked, "Why do you look worried?"

  Donovan would have preferred to be talking to the woman about their time in the past, by dismissing the Corvin from here. But the matter seemed of grave importance right now.

  "Because the dark stone is destructive. It might give a person powers, but it will kill the person from inside," she pursed her lips and then said, "My grave. You will find the stone there."

  She turned to look at the Corvin, who didn't waste a second more, and it bent down. It placed its hand on the ground, and its fingers turned into roots that pierced through the ground next to her grave.

  When the roots pushed back upwards, it erupted as a plant. Leaves sprouted from it and created branches, and then a flower bud appeared that bloomed to showcase a stone. The stone was in an octagon shape, and the flower that had bloomed, its petals slowly withered to fall on the ground.

  Donovan took hold of the stone, which had lost its shine and he felt nothing coming from it.

  Cillian was confused, and he asked, "If the dark stone is here, which stone is in Roman's heart?"

  Lilian's ghost started to fluctuate as if her ghost couldn't stay here anymore. She said, "The dark stone has always been sought for destruction, using humans as sacrifice. You will need to be careful with it. He's yours. Take care of him," Her hand reached out towards Donovan, and he brought his hand as if holding hers. They stared at each other for a second more before her ghost disappeared in thin air, turning the place slightly darker.

  Donovan stared at the space where the ghost had been standing earlier, and he asked Cillian, "Are you sure it is a dark stone that is in Rome's chest?"

  The Corvin nodded, "Though I cannot feel things as I could when I was alive, the stone inside him emits strong energy."

  Donovan raised the stone in front of his face, taking a close look at it. He then asked, "Do you think you will be able to sense this thing if you come back in flesh?"

  Before the Corvin could reply, it turned its head in one direction, "She's in trouble," it said and disappeared like a ghost from the place.

  "Looks like I am by myself again," Donovan sighed, and looking at Lilian's grave, he said, "It was good seeing you. Still beautiful and kind."

  Donovan raised his hand and snapped his fingers, returning to Veteris. When he reached the university, he went straight to the mansion, but before he could reach his room, he met the blonde vampire, who had just entered the building.

  "The hunter's boy has been snooping around to get more information. He knows that vampires exist in this place and we should kill him," stated Luciano, pulling out the gloves from his hand.

  "Sounds good to me," replied Donovan, who cared even less about others than Luciano himself.

  Donovan who still held the spent dark stone in his hand, was playing with it, when Luciano's eyes fell on it. "Is that a dark stone? You have been indeed behind this whole mess!" accused the blonde Elder vampire.

  "You can have it," said Donovan, walking to Luciano and placing the stone in his hand…… "My gift to you."