Melanie walked under the gloomy clouds where the sun had not shone. With the academic year yet to start, the paths around Veteris lacked the presence of students, who were mostly away from Veteris to enjoy the few days of their vacation.

  She drank the water from the bottle that she had filled a while ago, taking in sips before sitting on one of the spare benches. She took one more sip from the bottle, with her cheeks full where she was yet to swallow it. When she caught sight of the former detention professor, in shock she sprayed the water in front of her.

  Melanie tapped her chest and looked up at the sky as the water had entered the wrong pipe in her body. With a deep frown, she stared at Ms. Piper, who was supposed to be dead and a man next to her, who held her hand in his.

  "Oh my God…… have I lost my mind to be seeing ghosts now?" Melanie questioned herself, and she quickly ran in the direction where she would find Simon.

  Tristan, who caught sight of the young woman, who ran after seeing them, said, "I don't think I am going to be bored of people running away after looking at us anytime soon."

  "That's Melanie Davis. Julianne's best friend," informed Piper, and Tristan gave a nod.

  "I see. So much has changed, yet a lot of things like the buildings have stood strong. It must be Ms. Dante's work," Tristan complimented the vampiress, who right now was probably having a hard time dealing with Azazel and Luciano pestering her about things to be done. "I don't think I would ever be able to repay Ms. Winters for bringing you, my parents or me back to life."

  Piper softly smiled at Tristan's words, "Neither can I. When she first joined Veteris, I was worried she was going to be one of the compelled humans. But she has shown such strong character. Undoubtedly, Roman has played a role in shaping her too. She returned two dresses of mine early this morning."

  "Mm," hummed Tristan, and as they continued to take a stroll by themselves, making up for their lost time, he said, "Do you remember Mr. Oswald's house that used to be here? We sneaked out and ended up in the backyard."

  Piper smiled at the fond memory. Her hands tightened around Tristan's arms, and she said, "We nearly got caught by their dog."

  Tristan chuckled, "How can I forget. It had ended up waking the others and we spent three hours hidden in the stack of hay. How have you been doing, Piper?" He hadn't got to ask her with all the rush of excitement.

  "I survived," replied Piper, and when Tristan gave her a look, her eyes lowered, and she said, "When I found that all of you had died, I wanted nothing less than to be dead. The pain had been excruciating…… seeing the dead faces and being surrounded by strangers I wasn't aware of. But then I saw Roman was alive… or more like he was battling, as there was an issue with his transformation. I didn't want to leave him alone."

  Tristan placed his hand on the top of her hand, and he said, "You did something I would have asked you to do. Thank you for looking after him for me, Piper. Especially knowing how unruly he has been."

  Piper nodded, "I know you would want him to be safe and not leave him alone. Your death had broken him, and it made me wonder if he would ever be able to feel whole or close to it. Julie helped him. I think they both helped each other."

  "I am glad to hear that he found someone to lean on, and a purpose that didn't push him too hard. I still thank you, Piper. For what you have done," Tristan thanked her, stopping his footsteps, he leaned forward to kiss the side of her head. "Come let us visit your parents grave, and then meet my parents. Something has been delayed for a very long time, don't you agree?"

  "It indeed has," responded Piper with a smile, knowing exactly what Tristan meant, and they turned back in the direction they had walked.

  While Melanie continued to run in the direction of the lunchroom, her eyes fell on a car that stopped on the other side of the road. Out stepped Conner, and Reese stepped out on the other side of the door.

  "Simon!!!" Melanie shouted his name before running through the double doors of the lunchroom.

  Simon sat at the table, eating his extravagant meal, and he waved at her. He said, "Oh it is good that you are here. Come join me for a meal, my love."

  "There are ghosts walking around this place!" blurted Melanie in worry, and she turned back to look at Conner and Reese.

  Simon realized that Melanie had not received the news, and he decided to play a bit, "What ghost?"

  "That!" Melanie jerked her head in the couple's direction. Didn't Julie send every ghost back to where they came from?

  Simon furrowed his eyebrows and said, "I don't know what you are talking about, Mel. I don't see any ghosts there. Maybe you need some rest, or what you need is a bite of food from my precious hand. Now say 'AHHHH'," and his words only ended up with Melanie glaring at him.

  "Hey, Mel! Look who I have here, surprise!" informed Conner, and Melanie quickly went to stand behind Simon.

  She stared at Reese, who appeared perfectly sound with her health. The former deceased girl waved her hand, "It is good to see you, Mel. How have you been?"

  Seeing Melanie's horror stricken face, Conner finally realized and explained, "Julie got some of the people back to life last night. Reese was one of them."

  When Melanie looked at Simon, she noticed him chewing his food as if he wasn't fazed by it, and she glared at him.

  "I didn't know…… That's really something……" Melanie's voice trailed because she was still digesting the news. "It is good to see you, Reese. Are you…… okay now?"

  Reese nodded, "Very alive and not in pain."

  Conner then said, "We'll be back later, I am taking Reese to the main building to meet Ms. Dante and have Mr. Borrell initiate her education here. And also request Ms. Dante to speak to her parents."

  Melanie nodded, watching the two of them leave the lunchroom, and Simon pulled the chair next to him and grabbed the glass of cold drink to place it in front of her.

  Seeing Simon's action, she glared at him, "You knew about it."

  "You don't seem too shocked by ghosts," remarked Simon before adding, "My brave girl."

  Melanie stared hard at him, before taking a seat. Even though they were in a relationship now, it didn't stop him from wanting to prank her.

  "How are your parents doing?" he inquired, taking a bite from the food he had been having. "Heard they had a little adventure by themselves when we weren't around."

  Melanie shook her head, "I don't know how long it is going to take before my parents come around and be okay with what is going on."

  Simon chewed his food and swallowed it. He said, "Don't be disappointed. A lot of the humans, especially hunters, have trouble accepting their fate. There's bound to be a little hiccups, and I wouldn't fret about it."

  "But what if my mother is unable to turn back her senses. What if she forever stays as a deranged vampire?" asked Melanie.

  Simon had a couple of ideas in his mind, but he doubted Melanie would like it and there was a possibility that she would throw a chair at him. He then replied, "These are the times where you need to put faith, that things won't turn bad, and it'll get better from now on. You seem tired, maybe you should get some sleep."

  "I am fine. I feel like a warden who is checking up on my parents to make sure they don't do anything stupid," said Melanie, taking a sip from the cold drink.

  "Fascinating, isn't it? On how the roles reverse?" Simon asked her with a smile.

  "I guess…… I wonder how many others are keeping an eye on them apart from me. I thought the vampires were supposed to be on vacation," Melanie muttered under her breath.

  "Whom are you talking about? The Elders won't be going anywhere and have planned to camp instead. I overheard earlier that Azazel plans to have a bonfire in the forest," stated Simon, and placed the fork that he had been holding on the plate before he leaned his back against the chair.

  "Not the Elder vampires but a vampiress. I don't know why but I don't like her," said Melanie, as the vampiress gave her vibes that she didn't like.

  "Ignore the person. Most of the vampire and vampiress love to talk bullshit all the time," said Simon, and Melanie smiled.

  "I am aware of it." Though Melanie couldn't help but wonder about the girl, before her eyes shifted to look at Simon.

  Simon raised his eyebrows and asked, "What? I know I speak bullshit, but they are always believable bullshit."

  "No, not that," said Melanie, "I wonder if she approached me because of you. Do you know any vampiress who has blue eyes and brown hair of this length," she leveled her hand near her shoulder. "Actually she had her hair tied into a ponytail."

  "So many girls with that appearance," Simon shrugged his shoulders.

  Melanie frowned, "How many girls were you involved with?"

  "Well, I don't mean to boast, but your boyfriend is quite amazing and in bed—Ouch! What was that for? You asked me!" Simon leaned his body in the opposite direction.

  "I didn't ask you to give the details to it," Melanie rolled her eyes.

  Simon grinned, enjoying Melanie's reaction and loving how much it meant that she was feeling this way towards him. Not to mention, when Conner had appeared in the lunchroom with Reese, Melanie's feelings had remained unchanged, unaffected seeing the past crush of hers was back with his previous lover. To think that he now had wholly had Melanie's heart, it felt like a dream.

  He watched Melanie, before he asked her, "Did she have a cross on one of her ears?"

  Melanie gave it a thought and nodded, "I think I figured out why she was passively aggressive with me. You are the reason."

  "Nylah," Simon murmured the vampiresses name. "That little pest. Did she try to do something?"

  Melanie shook her head, "She was all bark."

  "She bites too," replied Simon, the smile on his face lowered and he said, "Come let us go look for her."

  "What? Why?" Melanie asked surprised.