Letters to Romeo.

Music Recommendation: Freaks- From Freaks - Tim Wynn

—

Julie shifted her things from her trunk to her backpack, like two pairs of clothes, nightdress, innerwear, and toiletry kit. She hoped not to get caught before leaving Veteris by the vampire Azazel Donovan. 

Slipping her phone in the back pocket of her jeans, Julie was almost done and ready to leave the dorm to visit Mel's room when she heard someone knock on the door. 

"Who is it?" asked Julie, staring at the door while one hand of hers was on the backpack. 

"Ms. Winters," came the poise and polite words of the counsellor, and Julie's eyes widened. 

The blood in her face drained, and she looked back and forth. Oh, God! What was he doing outside her dorm?! Cursing herself, Julie wondered if she should jump outside the window, but the possibility of getting caught was high. 

Surely Mr. Evans wasn't here to invite her to join the music festival that was going on on the campus right now, she thought to herself. She quickly picked up the backpack and threw it in the closet, closing it so that he wouldn't notice it and question what she was doing with it. 

She took a couple of deep breaths before making her way towards the door and opened it. She saw with the counsellor stood Ms. Piper. 

"Good evening, Ms. Winters. I see you haven't gone to attend the music festival," commented Mr. Evans, his eyes watching her, and Julie felt something crawl on her skin. 

"My friends and I weren't in the mood to go and attend it. We are mourning for our other friend's loss," replied Julie, her words sounding sincere because it was partly true. She then asked, "Was there something that you needed from me?" 

Julie hoped they weren't here to take her to the Elder. If they were, she doubted she would be able to get out of this situation. Since the time she had returned to her dorm, the Corvin had disappeared. 

Ms. Piper tried to offer a smile, but the smile was small and not an encouraging one. The woman was going to be Roman's sister-in-law, and Julie knew Ms. Piper cared about Roman. Enough that there was a hint of worry that was on her face. 

On the other hand, the smile on Mr. Evans' lips didn't leave, and he said, "As the counsellor of this university, I wanted to make sure to see to it that you and your friends are doing well. Losing someone dear to us is always a painful process to go through."

When Julie realized what his words meant, her hands turned cold, but she tried not to show the fear on her face. They were here to erase the memory of what she and her friends had seen this morning. To remove the memory of the gore that she and the others had seen. 

This was not good, thought Julie to herself. This was very, very bad. 

She didn't know if they coming here before she was leaving was a good or a bad thing. Because it would have looked bad if they caught her sneaking out of the dorm. 

Trying to stay calm and collected, Julie nodded her head, "Reese was Conner's first girlfriend and they were fond of each other. We got to spend some time with her before what happened today."

"Of course, that must be very hard for you," agreed the counsellor, his intelligent eyes looking at her. "Before coming here, we went and spoke to Conner." He did? Asked Julie in her mind. "He said he was planning to ask the headmistress permission to go and attend the girl's funeral, but Conner understands how important looking forward is, than looking back."

When Julie had heard Conner speak in the morning, he had been too intent to attend the funeral. If Mr. Evans visited Conner, it must mean that her friend had been compelled. 

Mr. Evans and Ms. Piper turned to look in the direction of the corridor through which they had come. Julie wondered who it was, and soon she saw it was her friend Melanie, who had a perplexed expression on her face—wondering what the two teachers were doing in front of Julie's dorm. 

"Ms. Davis," Mr. Evans greeted Melanie, "It is good to see that you are here, we came to talk to both of you about Reese's death," he informed her. 

Melanie nodded her head. Seeing the counsellor point his hand towards Julie's room, Melanie stepped inside, and both the teachers followed in before closing the dorm door behind them. 

Julie and Melanie were made to sit on the bed, while Mr. Evans pulled the chair that was at her desk to take a seat in front of them, while Ms. Piper chose not to sit and came to stand behind Mr. Evans. 

When Julie had gone to meet Roman, Melanie was visiting Conner. Julie had not gone so that she wouldn't be caught by people. Melanie asked Mr. Evans, "Did they find out what Reese was doing in the forest in the night? She doesn't seem to be the kind of person who would leave the Dormitorium and go to the forest all by herself." 

Mr. Evans replied to her by saying, "Only the girl knows the answer to it. It is sad that something like that happened. After speaking to Conner, I hope he feels better and accepts what happened. Ms. Davis," said the man, looking straight in Melanie's eyes, he said, "Forget that you saw Reese' body in such a state. Forget the gore and believe that the girl passed away by natural death. Okay?"

The pupil in Melanie's eyes dilated, and she replied, "Okay."

"How did Reese die?" tested Mr. Evans. 

Julie felt sweat trickle down her neck, and her eyes met Ms. Piper's, who was looking at her with a grim expression on her face. She heard Melanie answer the counsellor's question.

"She died out of natural death."

"And did you see her body?"

"No," Melanie's answer was nothing less than a robot, and seeing how her friend had been manipulated right in front of her, worried and scared her. 

"Good," said Mr. Evans with a pleased smile. He then turned to look at Julie, whose eyes had turned slightly wide. "Don't worry about what you heard, Ms. Winters. Everything will soon make sense."

It already did! Screamed Julie in her mind in panic. 

Okay okay, she said to herself. This was no time to panic! This was the time to use her acting skills and put it to use. She was stuck between a wall and a rock, and Julie gulped down the nervousness while bringing her breathing to normal. 

As they hadn't tried to compel her yet, Julie took the liberty to question the counsellor, "Why did you do that?" 

Mr. Evans did nothing but smile at her, "It's just a precaution so that things don't spiral out of control. Julianne Winters," said the man, trying to catch her whole attention. His eyes slowly started to dilate, and this was the second time the man was trying to compel her. "It was nice to have you here with us until now, but unfortunately, you have broken far too many rules of the university. And because of this, there has been a collective agreement that it would be right to—"

Someone interrupted Mr. Evans from speaking more when Julie's dorm door was knocked.

Julie noticed the subtle expression of annoyance that passed through the counsellor's eyes, and Ms. Piper went to get the door. When she opened it, it was the headmistress who stood at the front. 

"Ms. Dante, what are you doing here?" asked Mr. Evans, a hint of surprise in his voice on seeing the vampiress at the door. "I thought you were busy with the Elders."

"I was," replied the headmistress, and her eyes briefly fell on one of the girls who sat on the bed. "A word outside with both of you."

The two vampires stepped outside Julie's dorm and followed Dante to the other side of the corridor. 

"What's the matter Ms. Dante?" questioned Mr. Evans with a curious look.

"One of the students told me that some of the vampire students are causing trouble on the far East side of Veteris property. I need you to go there and see what's going on so that they don't turn out to be the next dead people," said Ms. Dante, and Mr. Evans' eyes looked at the vampiress. "I will take care of the rest of the things in here."

The vampire nodded his head and said, "We already compelled the boy, and he won't be leaving Veteris to attend the girl's funeral. We didn't erase the entire memory but just the ones that might cause possible issues with regards to today's death."

"Excellent job as always, Evans," Ms. Dante gave him a nod, and Evans offered her a bright smile. 

Ms. Dante nodded her head, watching the counsellor walk away from there. Ms. Piper turned to look at the headmistress, and she asked,

"Did something happen?" 

The headmistress said, "Roman has asked for some time and wants me to mark the girl's attendance as absent for a few days."

Piper had expected this to happen if Roman found out that they were planning to send Julie away from here. She hoped that he had a good plan. 

"We are yet to erase Ms. Winters' memory of seeing the girl's body," informed Ms. Piper, and Ms. Dante nodded her head. 

Before they could start walking towards Julie's dorm, they heard footsteps approaching towards the entrance of the girl's Dormitorium. And when they turned, it was a student who bowed her head before she climbed up the stairs. 

When Ms. Dante and Ms. Piper had left the room, there were two girls in the room. But on returning, there was only one of them, who stood at the open window. 

Ms. Dante's eyes narrowed, and she asked Melanie, "Where is Ms. Winters?"

Melanie turned to look at the headmistress, a slight surprise on her face as she said, "She told me she had somewhere to go and left."

Dante brought her hand to her face and pinched the bridge of her nose. She asked, "Did Evans say something that scared her?"

"I don't think so. We barely mentioned anything and Evans took the usual approach," replied Ms. Piper, a frown on her face. "Do you want me to send someone to find her?"

"No, that's fine," sighed Dante before adding, "It seems like Roman already planned to send her away from here before we could even think and put it in action." She then turned to look at the human girl and compelled her, "Ms. Winters has taken a leave to visit her family. She'll be back within a few days."

When Ms. Piper was about to step out of the dorm, Ms. Dante said, "Don't go to help the girl or Roman, Piper. It will only lead to trouble." 

Ms. Piper pursed her lips before nodding her head, understanding why Ms. Dante said it to her. Once the Elders got a whiff about it, they would find out who had helped the human out of here, which could lead to another person's death. 

"Do you think she knows about us?" asked Ms. Piper, worry marred her features. 

"I hope she doesn't, but if she does, you know the rules," Ms. Dante's words were serious. 

Leaving the girl's Dormitorium behind her, Julie ran as fast as she could through the thick forest, passing the trees one after another. Though Julie had packed everything she needed, she had left her backpack in the closet as she didn't want to carry her bag in front of Melanie. She huffed for air as she ran in the path through which the Corvin had previously led her out. Her heart felt heavy, but she told herself that she would return once they would find a solution or when the Elder vampire wasn't planning to kill her. 

She had slipped all her money and her cards in her pocket along with her cellphone before jumping out of the window. She had been scared that Evans or the next person would try to compel or do something worse. 

Julie continued to run until the blaring music from the football field lowered in its volume. She started to hear the sound of the crickets. Wanting to catch her breath, she stopped, her chest heaving and fog escaping from her lips. 

She turned around, looking in the direction from where she had come, and said, "We'll see each other soon, won't we?" 

There was a hint of uncertainty in her voice, not knowing what the Elder vampires would do to Roman or this place. She wondered if it would be easy for Roman to hoodwink Donovan. 

The Corvin was nowhere to be seen, and Julie didn't know when she would meet it next. It came and went as it pleased. 

When Julie heard a howl, it was enough for her to snap out of her thoughts, and she continued to run until she reached the bush-like fence near the restricted side of the forest. It took her time to break it before she was able to pass through. Without waiting, she started to make her way to the side of the road, and started to walk. She hoped to catch a bus or a ride to the nearest town. 

As easy as it was to travel by sitting behind Roman's motorcycle or by sitting in the bus while leaving Veteris the last few times, Julie had to walk a lot. It took her more than an hour before she saw a vehicle pass by, but the vehicle didn't stop for her. After walking for some more time, finally, she was away from Veteris' property and found a bus stop. 

By the time she climbed the bus to head to Queenstorm town, it was past nine in the night. But that wasn't what worried Julie. When she got down from the bus, rain was pouring down from the sky, and she was drenched from head to toe. 

Julie couldn't believe how bad her luck was when it came to these things. She shivered and quickly tried to look for the motel named 'Rose veil.'

"Achoo!" Julie sneezed in the rain. On spotting the place where its name was lit in red light, she entered the motel. 

She looked around the place, where a dim-lit lantern was burning on the counter.  The place looked old, and it didn't look like it had many customers. Walking to the counter, Julie shivered in her wet clothes. Seeing no one there to attend, she brought her cold hand forward and tapped on the bell next to the lantern. 

Was there no electricity in here?

A man appeared from the door behind the counter, pushing the curtain. The man was lean, wearing clothes that appeared as if it wasn't from the present time. 

He was a vampire, wasn't he, thought Julie to herself. 

"You made my floor dirty," said the man, taking a look behind her, and Julie offered him an apologetic smile. 

"Pardon me for that. I didn't know it was going to rain, else I would have carried an umbrella with me," Julie turned to look through the door through which she had come in and saw it was still raining. 

"This must be the first time you are visiting this town," said the man, looking at her through his circular glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose. Compared to the glasses that she wore, this person's glasses were much smaller in size. "The town isn't called Queenstorm for no reason. Rain is very common here."

Julie nodded her head and then asked, "I am looking for a room with a hot shower." 

"It was only yesterday that we had many guests who came to reserve rooms here. Let me check if there's a room available with a hot shower," said the man. Picking up a book, he ran through the pages. He then turned to look at the wall, where keys were hooked on the nails. "There are no available rooms with hot water."

Julie frowned. It looked like she would be taking a cold bath tonight. 

"The current available room's booking is hundred and fifty for three nights," said the man, looking at Julie's drenched state, wondering if she had money on her. Seeing her shiver, he then said, "There's an old room in the backside with the bathtub. But it hasn't been used in a long time."

"I will take it!" said Julie. 

"Follow me, miss. Before you decide," and he led her away from the front of the counter into a narrow corridor that had wallpapers and dimly lit bulbs on either side of the walls. He picked up the lantern that was on the counter and led her. Walking around the floor, the owner came to stand in front of a wooden door. Unlocking it, he pushed the door open.

It was a cosy-looking room with wooden walls and flooring. There was a bed and table at the side. And on the other side was an attached bathroom. 

"This one is going to cost a hundred and twenty. No food will be provided," informed the man. Julie nodded her head, though this time a little reluctant because of how shady this place appeared to be. Why was everything around Veteris was old school? "Do you still want it?" he asked her. 

"Yeah," replied Julie, nodding her head, "I will take it."

"Good. Money," he stretched his hand forward, and Julie pulled out the wet notes from her pocket. Counting it, she placed it on the man's palm. "Here's the key," he gave it to her and then said, "I will ask my boy to get the sheets on the bed changed and get you a blanket so that you can use it." 

"Thank you," said Julie. 

As the motel owner walked away from her, before he disappeared at the end of the corridor, she saw him turn to look at her for a second before he left. If it weren't for Roman telling her to come here, by now, Julie would have bolted out of this place. 

She stayed in her wet clothes, waiting for the boy to change the sheets and fill the bath with hot water. It took a couple of minutes, and when the boy left, leaving a lantern for her use, Julie locked the door. 

Stepping out of her wet clothes, she got into the warm bath that felt pleasant in this cold weather. Once she was done, she used the towel to dry herself and pulled the blanket to cover herself as she didn't have any extra clothes. She would need to buy at least one extra pair, thought Julie to herself. 

Pulling out the phone that she had carried with her, she unlocked the screen before going through the messages and the missed calls from unknown numbers. She wondered if it was from her father, who was still trying to reach out to her or trying to find her location.

She wondered if it would be wise to drop a text to Roman, but then he didn't have his phone with him now. 

The Corvin hadn't shown up again, and Julie was left all by herself in the motel room. She sat next to the window, watching the rain as it continued to pour down. 

Back in Veteris university, Ms. Dante had stopped by the office to speak to Mrs. Hill and stopped printing the letter for Julianne Winters. 

"You seem to be very busy, Eloise," came the voice of one of the Elders. It was Castiel Marudas, who had entered the main building of Veteris. 

Ms. Dante turned away from the office woman and looked at the Elder vampire, who made his way to where she stood. The vampiress replied, "I am the headmistress of this place. It is only right that I make sure to see that everything is functioning smoothly without any problems." 

"Anything that I can help you with, milady?" Castiel asked her, but Ms. Dante stared at him for a few seconds before she answered. 

"It has been taken care of. Is the music playing in the musical event not to your liking?" she politely asked him, taking two steps forward and away from the office woman so that she could put the documents that had been prepared earlier into the shredder box. 

Ms. Dante and Elder Castiel started to walk next to each other, heading towards the building's entrance. The Elder vampire replied, 

"It is a little too loud for me, something I am not used to. I noticed you and some of the staff members weren't there to enjoy it," he noted. 

"I sent Evans, Borrell and Piper on patrol to make sure the students who aren't attending the music festival are not causing any unnecessary trouble," responded Ms. Dante. "I have asked Borrell to get tickets to the orchestra so that you and the other Elders would enjoy the old style music rather than these."

"You didn't have to trouble yourself with it," Castiel's eyes fell on the headmistress, noticing how she had changed her hairstyle since the first time he had met her in the past. 

"It was no trouble. I am a vampiress who is now under the Elder's protection and care. It is the least I can do," replied Ms. Dante, her voice firm and serious. "How are things with you and Maximus?" 

"Very well," replied Elder Castiel, nodding his head. "I am glad that he's accepted who he has turned into, a vampire along with the rest of them. Some of them who were converted were plagued with guilt and pain, suffering that they couldn't handle. But it is good to see Maximus has been doing well." Though by name, Castiel was Maximus' uncle, the Elder was much older in age than how he had appeared to be a century ago. "Most of them have settled into the new life, including you, even though you didn't want to." 

The vampiress didn't turn her head, but her eyes did move in the direction to look at the vampire from the corner of her eyes. 

"It wasn't like I had a choice," a sigh escaped from Ms. Dante's lips. "This is the place where I once knew people."

"Do you hate the existence of vampires? For killing your husband?" questioned Castiel, but Ms. Dante didn't respond to the question. Instead, she said, 

"Let me accompany you back to where the others are. Are they together?"

Castiel smiled at Ms. Dante's response, and he said, "Yes, I believe they are." The volume of the music got louder. When they got nearer to the place where the crowd of students had gathered, he said, "I heard Piper directed a play the same evening before we woke up."

Ms. Dante's face hardened, and with a look of indifference, she said, "I didn't know she was directing a play with that storyline. If I knew it beforehand, I would have changed it."

"I thought it was very clever. Both Evans and her selected such fine plays. The story had interesting tweaks about a few things, and I  heard the ending was quite different from what really happened," said Castiel, his eyes falling on the vampiress' face. 

Ms. Dante changed the subject by saying, "The culprit who had tried to contaminate the water is still here."

"Let's have the rooms searched one more time again. This time every girl and boy's dorm, and also the staff's room who is working here," proposed Castiel, but the vampiress frowned. 

"We have already done that before and didn't find anything. There's no trace of Silverwater," replied Ms. Dante and the man looked around the place and people, who were dancing and jumping over the music. 

"Let me see what I can find. I don't think the person would try to pull the same trick twice, knowing we are awake now." 

They walked towards where the other Elders were seated at the side, in more comfortable seats. 

On seeing Donovan, Ms. Dante's eyes subtly narrowed, and the Elder noticed the displeasure enter in her eyes, "Is something wrong, Eloise?" 

"You tried to bleed one of my students to death," said Ms. Dante. 

"You are exaggerating it," Donovan waved his hand. "I thought Roman would need a little snack if he were to get hungry in there. It's always good to have the emergency food to be on standby." 

Luciano's eyes narrowed at this, and he questioned, "Snack? I thought the punishment was to starve him. Looks like you have turned weak when it comes to your emotions, Azazel. You are nothing less than the boy, growing attached towards a vampire who is lower than us." 

Donovan took no offence, and he smiled at Elder Luciano's words, "That is not what you said when I turned him. Scared that he will overpower you. And no one is breaking the rules of the punishment. I left the human near the wall."

"I am requesting you to not harm innocent humans who don't deserve to be treated wrongly," Ms. Dante put her point across the Elder. 

"It is always good to see someone who has a soft spot for the weaklings," said Donovan before his eyes flared red, and he said, "Castiel might have appointed you to look after this university, but don't go thinking this place belongs to you now, Eloise. As much as your help is appreciated, I don't think I need to remind you, about not having to remind me on what I should or shouldn't do," the smile on his lips had disappeared as he stared at her, letting her know who was in the higher position. 

The vampiress clenched her hands that were hidden by the long sleeves of her dress. 

More than a century ago, when Eloise Dante was still a young human, she had fallen in love with someone who wasn't human. During that time, people weren't aware of the vampire's existence in her town, she was well aware of it. She had stayed quiet, hoping the guests who had entered her town along with the person, whom she once knew, were going to stay only for a few days. 

But the night creature's presence had attracted the rogues before the fire was set to the houses, and people in the town were either killed or turned, including herself. It was why during the chaos, she knew a wooden stake through a vampire's heart would kill the creature. 

After everything, she had turned into the same creature from whom she had tried to run away. She internally sighed. 

Donovan raised his hand, checking his nails. He said, "I have decided to shorten Roman's punishment into half. Three days so that we can go take a look at the hunters," and everyone turned to look at the Elder. It was quite obvious that the Elder vampire adored the boy whom he had turned into a vampire. 

"Please tell me you are joking," commented Luciano, raising his eyebrows with a look of disbelief. 

The Elder vampire had his legs crossed, and he said in a matter of fact tone, "I think punishments should be handed down equally and I am quite upset that Griffin has not been given even a day's punishment."

"Griffin didn't kill our kind, but your boy did. You stick to your word and let him finish the punishment, Azazel," Luciano looked unamused, and it was only Castiel who turned the other way, amused, knowing something like this was going to happen. 

"Considering Griffin's involvement in the recent water contamination that took place, putting every other vampire's life in harm—" Donovan's words were cut short by Luciano,

"And where is the proof that Griffin was the one who did it?" 

"Roman never blames people without any base," Donovan was confident, and he said, "Why don't I question the boy and we'll see if he has done it or not?" 

Luciano rolled his eyes, "Who knows it might be Roman himself, who wanted to kill you."

Hearing this, Donovan chuckled, "If he wants to kill me, he will do it by facing me and not stabbing me behind my back."