Julie and Roman sat on one of the branches of the tree, away from the people where the sky had turned dark, making it hard for anyone to spot them. She had placed both her hands on either side of her body, feeling the surface of the uneven branch, whilst she stared ahead of her.

  "You know……you inspire me," Julie said to Roman, and he turned his gaze and noticed her still staring at nothing in particular. Lost in her thoughts and somewhere present while also absent for the last couple of minutes. "You have lost so many people over the years…… and it must have been harder on you, yet you are strong."

  "I don't think the word strong here is right," pointed Roman, and he placed his head on his knee, which he had pulled up to place it on the thick branch of the tree that they were sitting on. "All of us process grief differently. Some feel too much, and some don't feel anything. Here we both feel, but you speak about it, and I channel it elsewhere."

  "The Ripper," murmured Julie, remembering how things had turned in a blink of an eye when Piper had passed away. "Does it get better?"

  "Depends," replied Roman, and he let his body lean slightly backwards before looking up at the sky through the gap the leaves left. "You might believe that grieving about what happened will let you heal. That you feel less pain, or going through the grief and feeling everything, will let you pass through as if everything has turned for better. But then one day you will seep back, and realize how dark things were. These are the times, when you need a hand for someone to help, to pull you out."

  Julie turned her head to look at Roman, who was already looking at her. She asked him, "Who was the one who helped you?"

  Roman's lips parted, and his tongue ran across one of his fangs while he held a thoughtful expression on his face, "The other side of me. The Ripper."

  Julie thought he would tell Donovan, or Ms. Dante's name, or one of his friends' names, but it seemed like Roman had always relied on himself and no one else. She turned her body to face him and put her arms around him. She hugged him. He smiled at her gesture and said, "I am fine, Winters."

  "I know," replied Julie, and she continued to hold him, "I am hugging the little boy, who needed someone more than his mother, to tell him that everything would be alright. And not everyone is bad."

  When she pulled back, her eyes were moist, and she stared into his red eyes. Roman gently patted her head, assuring her, "Everything will be alright."

  Julie was disappointed with the fact that her magic had failed her. All her attempts in trying to bring back Cillian had gone in vain. The last few seconds before realization had hit her, and she had desperately hoped that he would return just like her father did.

  "Do you think it was because I didn't use enough soul energy of mine?" asked Julie. She shook her head, "I had sufficient enough, bu—" Before she could complete her words, a sudden pain struck her body, and she flinched in pain, "Ugh!"

  "Winters?" Roman asked, worried, not knowing what had just happened.

  "I am okay," Julie took a deep breath, blinking her eyes a couple of times. "I don't know what happened."

  "It must be because you used too much soul energy. It probably took a little more time than usual this time," guessed Roman, but Julie shook her head.

  "This time, it felt different," she whispered in a soft voice. She placed her hand on her chest as if feeling the rapidness in which her heart was beating. "It was as if something was awakening."

  Roman frowned before putting his arm around her shoulders to support her, and Julie leaned towards him, placing her head on his shoulder. He used his other hand to hold her hand that rested on her lap, "Let me see if I can find anything to be wrong. There should be something more to the dark stone than having my heart beat."

  Julie and Roman intertwined their fingers with each other before he lightly squeezed her fingers in his. Noticing a frown on his face, she asked, "What is it?"

  "It is strange. I am not able to sense anything from you," remarked Roman, and Julie felt her heart almost slip from her ribcage. "I could feel the energy before, but I cannot anymore. And at the same time, it feels very familiar," he said to her. "Like the area in the restricted side of the forest, which pulled away our abilities."

  "It doesn't sound good," replied Julie, and she then said, "Cillian warned before, that I wouldn't be the same, once I would walk through the forbidden door."

  "But you did it anyway," replied Roman with a grim expression. Julie's eyes lowered.

  "I didn't want him to die……"

  "It is a bane if you have great powers and don't know how to make use of it," Roman lightly scolded her for her negligence. The sad part was that, even though Julie was now tainted with the dark magic, she hadn't been able to bring Cillian back to life. "Come here," he said, letting go of her hand and bringing his hand to her chin as he angled her face.

  For a moment, Julie believed that Roman would kiss her when he brought his face in front of her and parted his lips. "Part your lips, Winters," he instructed her, and she did as he told her.

  Even in the darkness surrounding them, Julie noticed how Roman's eyes turned into bright red that almost made him look as if he was part of the wild. Black smoke appeared from his mouth, and it entered her lips. The air felt heavy around her, but she took what he offered her, breathing it in and letting it circulate in her lungs.

  Roman finally sealed it with his lips on hers, kissing her before he pulled away, "How does it feel?"

  "A little dazed," whispered Julie, and she asked him, "What was that?"

  "It is something that I have been using to heal my insides. I don't know if it would work or not, but you should feel the pain disappear," stated Roman, and Julie did feel her chest turning lighter.

  "I didn't know there were cool abilities like these, it must be very handy," said Julie in awe, and Roman chuckled.

  "Glad to hear that you find it intriguing," said Roman, and they continued to sit there on the tree for some more time in each other's company.

  Julie's thoughts went back to the ritual that she had performed hours ago. After burying Cillian, she doubted she could stay in others company right now, and Roman, who had sensed this, had brought her here so that it was just the two of them.

  "I wonder how my mother did it. She must have been very skilled to be able to turn my father's into a full human form," Julie said in a low voice.

  She couldn't believe that it was only a while ago that she was still talking to Cillian about saving him, and she was sure that the book of spells would guide and help her to bring his body back. After all, when the forbidden door had been opened, as much as the place was tainted, she was happy to see it, and it had given her hope that he would live. That he wouldn't disappear the way, her mother, father and others had disappeared from her life.

  Somewhere, she couldn't help but question if the next person who was going to die would be Sullivan Evans, who was close to her mother. She didn't know what she would do…… This only meant that she had to become stronger and not cry.

  "There is something that I wanted to ask Donovan, do you think he has knowledge about Veteris's past?" asked Julie, and Roman's eyes met hers.

  "He is a fairly old man. He should know," replied Roman, and they both jumped down on the ground, making their way back to the buildings.

  When Roman and Julie were looking for Donovan, on their way, Julie noticed Eleanor talking to two girls, and one of them had chestnut wavy hair. It had been a while since she had last seen her, and Roman, who caught her line of sight, muttered something under his breath,

  "Looks like there's more invitation for trouble."

  Julie turned to Roman with a questioning look in her eyes, "What do you mean? Did you hear what they were speaking about?"

  Roman stared at them, and at the same time, one of the girls stopped talking and turned to look in their direction as if sensing their gaze. The girl raised her hand with a polite smile on her face, but Roman's expression didn't change, and he continued to walk, with Julie walking next to him.

  "Rome?"

  "Mm," responded Roman, and Julie pursed her lips because he didn't answer her question. He said, "Nylah was asking about the girls in your Dormitorium. To be more precise, about humans."

  "But Eleanor is a human, isn't she? Why is the girl asking her about it?" asked Julie, turning her head back and noticing how the girl with chestnut hair, who had smiled at Roman, continued to look their way with a more intense look with her smile that had lowered down from her face.