"Don't go doing things you cannot handle, my daughter," taunted Douglas, and Julie kicked his leg and elbowed him, which made him loosen his hold on her. "Ouch! I heard soul energy is very important and you seem to have used most of it. A little more and you will die. Why die just like that when you can die for a good cause?"

  Julie wiped the blood that she had coughed on the side of her jeans. She quickly took a couple of steps away from the witch and Douglas.

  "Like killing me yourself?" questioned Julie, and her foster father smiled. "Do you think you will be able to leave this place alive?"

  "Why? You think I cannot?"Julie asked him, and the man gave her a questioning look. "I have the witch who has trapped you and no one can help you. I have the vampires, who are busy fighting the other people in this place. Who is going to come and save you, Julianne?"

  Julie glared at the man. The anger and anguish that she had felt the night when she had found him standing next to Natalie's body started to surface in her mind.

  "I have more help than you expect. And I can help myself," Julie retorted, and the man's eyes narrowed.

  "Aren't you being a little arrogant for thinking that you can take me down just because you are a witch?" asked Douglas.

  "Then you must lack knowledge on what some of us witches can do," stated Julie.

  While the other witch held the barrier so that Julie wouldn't escape or any supernatural creatures could get through the barrier, Cillian looked around before deciding to attack the witch who was keeping Julie hostage.

  The former Corvin quickly headed towards the witch, and just when he was about to attack her, the woman turned and brought her hand forward to stop him from attacking her.

  "You must be ashamed for joining forces with the hunters who kill our kind," remarked Cillian.

  The woman smirked, "I don't think I have ever seen you around, but I don't think you should be fighting considering how weak you appear to be against my abilities." She turned around for their magic to clash in the air while the barrier continued to stay intact without any effort of hers.

  Douglas pulled out the knife from his pocket and said, "It is time for you to die, for sending me to the prison, Julianne."

  He came right at Julie, with his hand raised to stab her. To Douglas, Julie was still the small girl who had been frightened the night she had caught him with the murder. She was that girl who had run like a scared cat into her room. But just when he was about to grab her now, Julie surprised him by punching straight into his face.

  "Argh!" Douglas cried out in pain, while Julie winced as she had never punched anyone this hard before.

  Douglas, who had covered his face with one of his hands, pulled it away, revealing a bleeding nose.

  "You little bitch!" came the angry voice of Douglas, his eyes turning red in anger.

  Though still in pain, Julie tightened her fist. She didn't care if she was going to break her bones, but right now, she would make sure that this man paid for the pain he had caused in her life. Natalie could have lived, and she didn't have to go through the terror and nightmares that she had initially if it weren't for what he had done.

  "I thought you did it because you were a hunter before, but you are a selfish man," stated Julie, and Douglas glared at her.

  "And weren't you selfish enough to send your dear father to prison?" he sneered, revealing his true colors now.

  "You deserved it, and you would wish that you didn't leave the prison and stayed there." Julie was going to make sure that he regretted it.

  Though everything was already known in the past about what was going to happen,, it didn't reduce the miserable feelings that she had experienced in the past.

  Douglas again came to attack her one more time, and Julie went to punch him, but he caught hold of her hand. She used her leg to kick his leg, trying to knee him, and when that didn't happen, she dug her nails into his arms with enough force to peel the skin out.

  But Douglas, a hunter, didn't let go of Julie, and he twisted Julie's arm and pushed her against the ground. He tried to keep her still by grabbing both her hands in one of his large hands, and he used the other to use the knife in her chest.

  Julie head-butted the man, feeling her eyes go blank for a moment while being able to hear the groan from her foster father. She quickly tried to leave the circle mark, but before she could get near it, Douglas caught hold of her ankle, dragging her back.

  "You seem to have grown quite some courage, haven't you?" Douglas mocked, his face bloody and bruised.

  When the knife in his hand reached towards her chest, Julie used all her force to stop him and pushed his hand away from her. Her magic had stopped working, and she felt like it had something to do with more than just her soul energy. The barrier she had been placed in was similar to the land where everyone had experienced lack of magic.

  When the blade of the knife inched closer to her chest, almost ready to push through her clothes, a gunshot echoed, and the bullet headed straight in Douglas's direction.

  The hunter, who heard the sound, quickly moved to the side, and the bullet hit the ground, raising the loose mud in that spot.

  Julie crawled backwards, and she noticed Roman standing not too far from where they were, holding a gun in his hand.

  "Fucking piece of shit!" Douglas cursed at his luck as he had nearly got to carve Julie's chest to pull out her witch heart.

  "You seem to not love your life," Roman remarked at the hunter, who gritted his teeth.

  "And who are you?"

  "I am the one who intends to kill you for hurting Winters," responded Roman. He jumped from the higher ground, making his way towards the circle.

  Julie warned Roman before he would get too close to the circle, "Careful! There's something in it, and it is not right!"

  Douglas started to chuckle, "That is right. Come here, boy. Step in and get close, I want to see if you are nothing but talk."

  Roman stared at the man and said, "Why don't you step out here, instead of acting like a scared little girl, hiding behind the girl. Unless you aren't man enough."

  Douglas glared at the young vampire, whom he had never seen before. He stared at Roman and then looked at Julie, "Seems like you found yourself a little someone. Who is this, Julianne?"

  Julie didn't bother to answer because she was trying to keep herself alive without being distracted by his talks.

  The hunter then said, "How about you come in here, and let us have a talk." He pulled out the gun he had and shot at Roman, but the vampire dodged it

  Roman remarked, "Sure. If that is what you want."

  Julie's eyes widened in fear, and she shook her head, "Rome, no!"

  She had earlier seen how Cillian hadn't been able to get through the barrier, and she didn't want Roman to hurt himself.

  "Trust me, Winters," Roman assured her, and he continued to walk closer to the circle.

  He raised his hand in front of him, ready to push through the barrier. But instead of stepping closer, he turned his body and faced the witch, who was currently fighting with Cillian, their movements swift.

  The witch sensed something very different about Roman. Before she had the time to react, fire blazed from Roman's hand, and it wrapped the witch, and she screamed.

  Douglas' eyes turned wide as he had never seen something like this before. Since when did vampires have abilities like this?!

  The witch screamed, her voice echoing through the forest where they were, and at the same time, Avice came to the place, watching Roman use his ability. The intensity of the fire wasn't normal as it was a corrupted ability. Yet the boy was able to handle it with ease.

  "Bad witches ought to be burnt," commented Roman, and he turned his head to look in the direction of Douglas, "How would you like to die, Mr. Leighton? Extra crisp, or just charred?"

  The previous marking holding Julie hostage disappeared after the witch was killed.

  With the witch gone, it would be hard to use Julie's heart. Calculating the odds, the hunter started to run in the opposite direction.

  Roman raised his hand, ready to kill the hunter with his flames, but Julie stopped him, "Don't do it."

  "You want him to stay alive?" questioned Roman, his eyes holding a slight annoyance as it was obvious Douglas wanted to kill Julie.

  Julie shook her head, "I have a better place he would enjoy."

  She clapped both her hands, and when she pulled them apart, it created a blue electrical circle right above the ground. She then bit into her hand and let blood drops fall and then asked Roman, "Can you spare a drop of your blood on the ground?"

  Roman bit his palm and let the drops of blood fall on the ground. Soon the forbidden door appeared, and it opened once again. With one snap of Julie's finger, the door appeared in front of Douglas, and he was pulled inside it. She quickly closed the door, and it disappeared from their sight.

  Death with a bullet was easy, and Julie was done with the man, and she wanted to put the events behind her. But at the same time, she wanted to torture him in her own way. And she knew there was no better place to instill fear than the other side of the forbidden door.

  "That was some impressive skill there. Fire…… you must be Azazel's son," remarked Avice, who walked towards where they stood.

  "You must be the vampire witch who turned Simon and Victoria," responded Roman, and the woman smiled.

  "Indeed I am."

  Julie turned to look at Roman, who had multiple wounds on his body, and she asked, "Are you okay?"

  "I am fine. You did good, Winters," and he pulled her into his embrace, hugging her.

  Julie hugged him back, feeling calmer in his presence and arms before they pulled back.

  "What's the situation at the front?" asked Cillian as he noticed fire blazing from the top of one corner that left smoke up in the air.

  "We have the antidote, but the hunters and Joaquin's men are pouring in without a pause. It's like they created an army," replied Roman, "We should go."

  Back in the university's infirmary, Maximus laid on the bed. His skin had turned paler than usual, and he coughed blood.

  "Elder Remy, I don't think he will survive," one of the nurses, who was there helping, pointed it out.

  The young vampire's condition wasn't getting better, and it was only getting worse in time. The color of Maximus's eyes was lacking the lustre as he did before.

  Elder Remy came to stand next to the boy. "Get the blood bag and get the antidote from batch seven," he ordered.

  Maximus's hand reached for the older vampire when the Elder vampire was about to turn. Elder Remy stared at the boy and said, "It would be troublesome if you died." He placed his hand on Maximus' chest. "It is going to hurt, bear with it."