Chapter 227 - Electric Wires

Lucian glared at Donovan, electricity crackling between the two Elders. Castiel, sitting until then, finally stood up from his seat, and said, "Azazel isn't joking, Luciano. Roman is indeed his son. Can we now sit down and talk instead of fighting amongst ourselves when we have other important things to worry about?" 

Luciano's perplexed gaze moved from Donovan to Roman, who stared back at him. 

Elder Remy, who was quietly listening to the conversation of the troublesome people in the room, a sigh escaped from his lips as if he was tired. He stood up, looking at them and was about to step out when one of the guards came running there. 

"Ms. Dante!" called the guard. 

"Seems like we have something else to deal with," remarked Donovan, and he turned to Luciano and taunted, "Looks like you haven't been doing your job well when it comes to securing Veteris. Might as well resign."

"At least, unlike you, I have been doing something instead of sitting on your plush chair and fiddling with your phone," retorted Luciano, and he then turned back to look at the guard. "What's going on?" 

The guard looked between the Elder vampire and then the headmistress, where the vampiress didn't know what more problems the night had to offer. The guard looked slightly stressed, and he said, 

"Ms. Dante, the boy has escaped from the dungeon." 

"What?!" snapped the vampiress, gritting her teeth. "How is it possible?" 

"Are we speaking about the same boy who is the hunter's son?" questioned Luciano, and an exasperated sigh escaped from his lips. "This is why I said that we needed to hold a meeting as soon as we could and kill the boy. There is the loose end which all of you were looking forward to. I thought there were already guards who were guarding the dungeon." 

Upon Elder Luciano's question, the guard looked nervous and he said, "We were watching the dungeon until we switched with the other two guards. When we returned, they were on the ground." 

"Ground?" questioned Castiel, his eyebrows furrowed and the guard nodded. 

"The two guards appointed for that time have been found dead," replied the guard, "We don't know where the boy is. I have asked the other guards to secure the boundary and also to look outside."

"Does the boy have a weapon to kill the vampires with such ease?" questioned Borrell. 

"You are terrible at securing this place, Luciano. You should appreciate Julie's help, at least we know that the cameras aren't going to be of any help. Inform the others to find the boy right now," demanded Donovan, staring at the guard, who quickly bowed his head and left the place. 

Ms. Dante shook her head, "I will go see the dungeon. There's no way the boy was able to escape from there, by himself. Someone must have helped him." After those words left the vampiress's lips, Julie pursed her lips and she turned to look at Roman. 

Worry was quick to marr on her face, and if Conner wasn't able to escape from there by himself, then that meant Melanie had probably helped Conner out. She asked, 

"Why was Conner kept in the dungeon?" This was the first time she was hearing it. 

Luciano was the one to reply to her question, "The human's mind couldn't keep up with the compulsion and no amount of compelling will work on him. Not to mention he's part of the hunter's family. I don't even know why we were keeping them near. To invite trouble?" 

Castiel gave a nod, as if he was agreeing to Luciano's words and he said, "I don't think it is a good idea to have the hunters free when they know this much about us vampires. It will only lead to more trouble." 

"Maybe killing them would help?" proposed Donovan, and Julie's eyes widened. 

She quickly said, "No. Melanie has known about the vampires, and she's not against them."

"I thought there was a rule about humans not knowing about vampires or witches' existence?" asked Griffin, reminding everyone that it was a rule to kill a human, if their memory couldn't be tampered. 

Castiel turned to look at Julie and asked, "Can you tell the same about the other human? The boy?" 

Julie opened her mouth to speak, but knowing how things had taken a turn, she said, "He can be convinced. Conner is a good person." 

"Everyone is a good person until something very bad happens to them. Like Donovan," commented Luciano, turning his sight on the black-eyed vampire. 

"I thought you were slow before you met me," Donovan poked Luciano, who decided to ignore and clarify on what he meant. 

"The boy seemed not to take it too well when he found out that it was a vampire who killed his girlfriend. Thanks to someone's efforts," said the blonde vampire, crossing his arms across his chest. "Do you think a human who lost someone, the grief would wash away as if it is nothing and support vampires?" he questioned Julie. 

Ms. Dante had hoped for things to not go out of control and had also hoped that she would be able to do damage control when it came to Conner. But this was not good, and she pursed her lips. 

Castiel said to another guard, "Find both of them and bring them to us right away. If the situation turns worse, like them stepping out of Veteris property and making use of their phone, then silence them."

Julie's face turned pale on hearing this, and she turned to look at Roman, who appeared as if things had indeed turned worse right now. Right now, she didn't know if she should pray for her friends to escape far away from Veteris, that could end up in Conner bringing the hunters here. Or for her friends to be captured and be tortured by the vampires. 

Without anyone's notice, she stepped away from the living room, making her way towards the end of the corridor, and closed her eyes. When she opened it, the Corvin stood in front of her. 

"Can you please find Melanie and Conner. See if they are safe, and try speaking to Melanie alone, and let her know about the things that happened here?" she requested Cillian, obvious worry present in her voice. 

"Don't worry, I will find them," assured Cillian and Julie couldn't tell how glad she was to have him help her. The Corvin disappeared from there, and when returning, she met Roman, and she asked, 

"How bad is the situation for Mel and Conner?" 

"As bad as it is for Simon," spoke Roman in a low voice, and Julie frowned. He pulled her to the side and said, "Maximus saw Simon hanging out with Melanie earlier. Considering he isn't anywhere here, we doubt he's with her."

"Oh," responded Julie, and when her eyes left Roman, she noticed Maximus and Olivia looked worried. Unlike Roman, Maximus and Olivia, who were under the protection and care of the Elders, Simon didn't have that privilege which made it tough for him to get out of the situation that he had stepped into. 

"We won't let the Elders kill them," Roman assured Julie, placing his hand on her shoulder, and Julie sighed. 

When she turned to look outside the window of the room, she noticed the rain that continued to pour since the time the main building had caught fire. Roman slipped his hand into hers, and he asked, "Do you think you will be able to handle the cold?" 

For a moment, Julie didn't understand what he meant, and then realizing she suddenly nodded, "I can." 

"Let us look for them," he said, while the Elders and the other staff members were busy discussing and arguing over what had taken place. Maximus and Olivia joined Roman and Julie to look for their friend, slipping away from the room. 

The headmistress noticed the youngsters leave. She heard Luciano's burning question, "How is Roman your son?" to Donovan. 

"Don't tell me now that I have to explain to you how reproduction works. Just how everyone else turns to a father, I turned to one," came the calm voice of Donovan. 

Luciano turned to Castiel and Remy, "You two knew it?" 

"I had an idea. Considering how obsessed he was with the boy," replied Castiel. 

Remy stared before answering, "It wasn't hard to figure out," indirectly calling Luciano slow in catching up to the truth. 

Away from the Elders mansion, the three students who were being looked for walked on the restricted side of the forest. Taking the opposite direction where the mansion was located. 

"There was no sign of rain, why is it raining out of nowhere?" asked Melanie with her hand that she had brought to place above her head. 

"I think I need to stop," Conner stopped Simon, pausing his feet.

"What happened?" Melanie came to his side, looking at Conner, who appeared to be in pain. 

"I feel like I am going to blackout. My head hurts too much," replied Conner, and by the appearance, he looked weak. "How far is the outer road from here?" 

"The closest one is fifteen minutes away, but it is heavily guarded. The one with fewer guards, it will take a while," replied Simon, and Conner nodded before saying, 

"Thanks for being there, man. I don't think I would have been able to see the sunrise if you both hadn't come to rescue me from there."

"Anytime," Simon smiled, and his eyes shifted to look at Melanie, who stared back at him while water dripped down their faces because of the rain. When Conner started to walk forward, Melanie said to Conner,

"Thank you," she was truly grateful, and Simon stared back at her. 

"You don't have to. I am doing it for my own selfish reasons," replied Simon, and Melanie couldn't help but question what it could be. 

While the two had stopped following Conner, staring at each other, Conner had continued to walk. And the human boy failed to notice the wires tied from one tree to another. He stepped right into the trap and a light amount of current passed through his body, enough to make him unconscious. 

Melanie's eyes widened, and she was about to run towards Conner when Simon caught her arm to stop her. He said, "Do you want to get electrocuted too?" He got closer to Conner, checking if there were more wires and said, "Luciano must have arranged the new security system. Just enough to make a person faint but not kill a person."

"Conner?" Melanie called her friend, who was on the ground. 

"Don't worry, he'll survive and once again you can confess your love to him.. And he can reject you again," remarked Simon in dry humor.