Chapter 44 - Don't Touch My Prey

Julie was stunned to see Roman as she hadn't expected to see him there. But at the same time, she was glad that he had stopped this costume person from role-playing with her. 

"Ouch!" winced the person whom Roman had hit in the face. The boy stood up, "Fucking, Moltenore! What do you think you are doing?!" Anger coursed in the other boy's veins because Roman had interrupted him from drinking from this human. 

"You know this weird guy?" asked Julie, looking at both the boys back and forth.

Roman quickly turned to Julie and ordered, "Get back to your dorm right now." 

Hearing this, Julie frowned, "I am waiting for someone here. I will go back sometime." 

"You are going nowhere! I am going to drink from you and-" before the boy could finish his sentence, Roman's fist came flying to hit the boy's jaw, and the boy staggered back. 

Fuck, said Roman in his mind. Seeing Julie's reaction, it seemed like she still didn't know that it wasn't a fake vampire but a real vampire who had tried to drink her blood. 

"The fucking hell! She is my prey! Get out of this, Moltenore! Find someone-" Roman stepped forward and continued to punch the boy so that he would shut up and not mention them being vampires. 

Julie wasn't supposed to know about the existence of the vampires, nor would he allow the other boy to know that she couldn't be compelled. Though there were minutes for the clock to strike thirty-one past twelve, Roman had heard someone mention that one of the warning posts had fallen when he was near the football field. He had immediately come here only to see one of the vampire's chasing and trying to suck her blood. 

On the other hand, Julie didn't know how to react to the way the situation had turned into. Roman had come out of nowhere, and he was now punching the boy without giving him a chance to speak. She scrunched her nose, hearing the hits. Looking around, she noticed it was just the three of them on this side of the forest. 

Roman's fist hit the other vampire's face, and in a low voice, he warned the person, "Don't even think about going near her. She's my prey so hands off from her."

The other boy tried to push Roman and tried to hit him, but Roman was too quick for him, and it only ended up with the boy receiving more punches on his face from Roman, "I was the one who saw her first! You didn't even take a bi-Ugh!" 

As the boy was no human but a fellow vampire, the bones were much stronger and harder, making the punch impactful on both of them. 

"Roman! You are going to kill him!" Julie tried to touch Roman's shoulder to gain his attention, "He's not a real vampire to sustain it!" She noticed the boy's face had turned bloody, and so was Roman's hand, which was scaring her.

"Just making sure he gets the point across his head," that Julie was his prey and not anyone else's, Roman completed the words in his mind. 

"What point?" asked Julie, staring at the boy to see him groan, and she was glad he was still breathing. She wondered where his false teeth had fallen because she caught sight of his normal teeth. 

Seeing the boy looked partly conscious, Roman finally stood up and turned to look at her with anger because she hadn't listened to him. He gritted his teeth, "I told you to fucking go back to the dorm!"

Julie's lips pursed, and she said, "And I told you I have to meet someone. Thank you for helping me here, but you are not the teacher." What was with that demanding and commanding voice—her thoughts stopped when Roman's eyes narrowed, and he stepped towards her, and she quickly stepped to the side, which only annoyed him more. 

Somewhere Julie couldn't help but grin at her smart brain. After being cornered a few minutes ago by the weirdo, she had decided to avoid stepping backwards and instead stepped sidewards. 

They both then heard the person on the ground groan as if he was regaining his consciousness. While Julie's eyes were on the person, Roman had quickly closed the distance, and he clasped his fingers around her delicate wrist.

"We should go from here," he said with a serious look in his eyes. 

"But-" 

Roman's grasp on her hand was firm, and he was much stronger than her, making it easy for him to drag her away from there. They walked past the boy, and while Julie followed Roman, she noticed the posting that had fallen flat on the ground. Ah, so it was here, she said to herself. She wondered if the letter thief knew about it or if he, like her, would end up missing the posting. 

After walking for a while, Roman finally let go of her hand, stopping near a large tree. Julie retrieved her hand towards her chest, rubbing the skin of her wrist as if his touch had burned her. When her eyes fell on Roman, she noticed him looking in the direction from where they had just come. 

"Turn around," said Roman, twirling his hand, and Julie turned red. 

"What? Why?" She took a step back, wondering if he wanted to take a look at her costume.

There had been too many girls and boys who had checked her out today. Not her face, because it had been covered until she had stepped out of the dance floor, but at her body. 

Right now, they had moved farther away from the centre of the university, where their dorms and other buildings were located.

"Because I am lazy," said Roman, his head tilted, and Julie turned confused. What did checking her out do with his laziness? She heard a sigh escape his lips. He stepped towards her and repeated his words, "Rotate, Winters or I will do it for you." 

Remembering what happened a while ago with the boy, whom Roman had beaten, Julie closed her eyes and slowly started to turn in her place. 

Rotating once, she wondered if it was sufficient for Roman, but she felt the air blow around the skin of her neck. Julie opened her eyes, and she noticed he had grabbed the bandage that had loosened and tore it right in front of her before cleaning his hand with it, which had his and the boy's blood on it. 

"You could have just asked me," muttered Julie under her breath. 

"What?" Roman snapped at her as if he suddenly remembered he was mad at her for not listening to him earlier. Once he was done cleaning his hand, Julie noticed the skin on the backside of his knuckles had scraped. 

"You didn't have to beat him that badly. He didn't try anything weird with me," explained Julie, her eyes moved from his hand to settle on his face. 

Now that there was no one between them except the air, she saw the skin around his eyes had been darkened with the eyeshadow, and it highlighted his eyes even more. They were pitch black as the sky on a starless night. When his gaze lazily moved up to meet her eyes, she heard him say, 

"He would have tried if I didn't show up," he then shook his head as if he couldn't believe it. "Never have I met someone who attracts trouble like you do." 

"If you hadn't shown up someone else would have," said Julie, her chin lifting and looking in the other direction. 

"And who is that? Another person to get to play with you?" questioned Roman, trying to hide the smirk from showing up on his face, as he knew exactly whom Julie was talking about. 

"I would have told you if you didn't drag me from there. I should get back," said Julie, bringing her watch in front of her and checking the time to see that it was past the meeting time. What if her letter thief had come and seen she wasn't there and left? "I have to go straight back, right?" asked Julie. 

"That's what you think. Go ahead," said Roman in a nonchalant tone, "But before that..." he stepped right in front of her.