Chapter 79 - Significance Of The Ravens

She stared at the trees which had spread far ahead of them, her eyebrows slightly knitted and her lips set in a thin line. Did her mother hide something from her when she was alive? She was scared to accept Roman's words because the tragic event made sense with what he said to her. 

Julie asked Roman, "Is it bad to have this ability?" 

"It depends on how you want to perceive it," responded Roman, his eyes not leaving her as if she would disappear in thin air if he looked away from her. "Years ago, there used to be some families in the town of Willow Creek. The people in the town claimed that the members of this family had powers. Ill powers that was causing harm to people. That they were witches, and one day they were beheaded in the middle of the town. When one of the elderly women of the family was about to be beheaded, she beseeched her daughters' lives to be spared. But none listened."

Roman turned to look in the direction of where Caleb was still tied to one of the trees. He then continued to say, "It so happens that before the elderly women died, she placed a curse on the town to perish with them." Turning to look at her, he said, "Since around that time, the town of Willow Creek has not existed, except for the forest that still has its name."

"So if the town really existed and then disappeared, it means those women were indeed witches. Or it could be a made up story, an illusion to us," Julie placed down the options. 

"Is it too hard to accept?" questioned Roman, his eyes reading Julie's expression. 

Julie shook her head. It wasn't that it was hard to believe it, but then both the ideas were bizarre—her losing her mind, and the next one being, a town in the past had disappeared in thin air. 

Her eyes shifted to look at Roman, curiosity in them when she asked, "How do you believe it?" He didn't look like someone who blindly believed in impractical things. 

"There are some things... things that I am aware of, but I cannot speak about it," remarked Roman, not wanting to lie to her, while at the same time unable to give her the entire information that he had with him. 

"You are not going to tell me again that you have to kill me if I find out, will you?" Julie tried to lighten up the atmosphere, but Roman only stared back at her with a serious glint in his eyes. 

"Your suspicion about this place is on point, but I would like to advise you to not go looking for things that might invite trouble," Roman came to stand in front of her, cupping her face. "There is something I would like to tell you one day, but that day is not today and I will need you to trust me on it. Can you do that for me?" He caressed one side of her cheek with his thumb, staring into her brown eyes. 

"How bad is it?" asked Julie, wondering what he knew. 

"Dead bad," came the curt words from Roman, and she gave him a nod. 

"Okay," Julie replied, as it seemed like it was something he couldn't speak about. "Did you find anything about the crow-like thing that I saw?"

Roman nodded his head, "I did. The bird isn't a crow but a raven. It is said that these creatures were associated with the family who had been killed. They were called the Corvins, creatures that apparently belonged to the family members. Though nobody has actually seen or come in contact with these things. Some believed that after the witches death, they turned into Corvins, birds. I think your mother's family originated from this place. The bridge hasn't been seen by anyone over many years. I have walked there several times before, but not once have I come across the bridge, not until I took you there." 

Julie tried to sink his words in her mind, "I don't know if I should be excited or be scared about this," she muttered under her breath.

"Your uncle Thomas, do you think he might be able to answer some of the questions on this?" questioned Roman, and Julie shrugged her shoulders. 

"I can try asking him about it, but frankly I don't think he knows anything about it. Do you think he might be able to see things too? Until now I have only believed that I have had a family just like anyone else's. Somewhere in the corner of my mind, I remember my mother feeding birds, but that was all," said Julie, meeting his eyes, and the worry on her face deepened. "What am I going to even ask Uncle Tom?"

"You can leave that to me," stated Roman, and Julie realized he had easily invited himself to visit her uncle's house with her. 

Taking a step forward, Roman pulled her in his embrace and hugged her close to him.

Julie, who had been worried about what she had seen and somewhere wary that something bad could happen to her if people knew about who she was, slowly started to settle down in her mind. It felt comforting to have Roman next to her, where she wasn't lost and didn't know what was happening to her. 

After a few seconds, Roman pulled back and gently petted the side of her head while looking at her. 

"I got you, Winters," Roman's words were nothing less than a promise he made to her. 

Hearing Caleb making noise near the tree where he was tied, Julie asked him, "Does he have any idea about it?" 

Roman took a second before he said, "I wouldn't tell he knows what you exactly are, but he knows you are different from the others. We don't know exactly what and why the Corvins want from you, but until we figure it out, let's try to stay low." 

Julie nodded her head in agreement. By what Roman said, these bird-like creatures were known to be acquainted with the witches, and hearing about this. It felt like they were harmless. But the idea of meeting that creature again scared her.

"This coming holiday, I was thinking of visiting my mother. Would you like to come with me? If you don't have anything to do that day, it's fine if you don't want to." 

"Yeah," Roman gave her a nod. 

"Maybe we could visit your family too?" asked Julie, not wanting to be the only one visiting her mother's grave. 

"We can schedule the visit for some other day for my family," proposed Roman with a small smile. His family's grave was right inside the property that belonged to Veteris, near the restricted area of the forest and a little beyond it where there was an endless looking cemetery built. 

"Okay," Julie returned the smile to Roman. Something came to occur in her mind, and she asked, "How can my mother be part of this witch family, if the town has disappeared years ago? Also with the beheading of all people." 

"That is something we'll have to find out," stated Roman with furrowed eyebrows. Before walking back to where Caleb was, he said, "There's another thing, Julie. Never enter the counsellor's rooms, because you aren't crazy." 

The corner of Julie's lips pulled up. 

When they returned near the tree where Caleb was tied, they found him trying to wiggle free from the ropes, but it was of no use. 

"Argh!" Caleb glared at Roman and Julie as if he would report what they had done to him once they would free him. 

"He looks very angry," Julie pointed out, and Roman stared at Caleb. Now that they had tied him up, they would have to bear the consequences of their action. "When do we speak to him?" she asked him. 

"Tomorrow morning, once he's calmed down," Roman looked barely bothered, ignoring Caleb's glares, and he turned to look at Julie. "It will be more effective this way." If he were to free Caleb's mouth right now, he would only blabber on how they were vampires, and Roman didn't want to let Caleb know that Julie couldn't be compelled.

The information the morm had received was already too much. 

Also, Roman needed Julie to digest the information, taking one bite at a time so that his and the university's identity wouldn't come as a shock when she would come to find the truth. 

"Then we camp here?" asked Julie, and Roman gave a nod. 

"Until we know other students won't come here, we can then head back. This is a restricted area, it is mostly not visited and people don't come to patrol on this side of the area," because of the lack of importance, thought Roman in his mind. 

"But what if some wild animal comes to attack him?" Julie inquired, somewhere worried as it felt like she was committing a crime. No, it wasn't a feeling. She had committed a crime by tying a person and bringing them here against their will. 

Hearing about animals, Caleb's eyes widened, and he made more noises. 

"Keep doing that and I will make sure to see that you don't wake up until next morning," deadpanned Roman looking at Caleb. "That is if you wake up, isn't it? You never know which animal will come and gobble you up. Unless it wants to take its time to chew you," he explained, tilting his head to the side. 

Julie noticed the expression of horror on Caleb's face. In the back of her mind, she felt bad for him and asked, "What were you even doing up in the tree?" 

"Probably practicing to be a monkey," commented Roman and this time, Caleb glared at him. Roman's lips twisted, and he walked to where the morm was. 

Sitting next to him on his heels, he placed both his hands on his knees, staring at Caleb, who stared back at him.

"The deal is very simple here. What you heard earlier, everything stays quiet and I don't want to hear a word about it," Roman's words were calm. Caleb nodded his head as if he was ready to comply with whatever Roman said. But Roman saw through him and stated, "As you know, Julie is my girl and I got to protect what is mine. Right?" 

Caleb vigorously nodded his head. 

But Roman wasn't done talking, and he continued, "As a respectable fake and ex-husband of Julie in the play, I would expect you to seal your lips. This is just a teaser trailer and to have a more profound effect, we'll be leaving you here tonight. Just something to think about and you will be freed tomorrow morning, after our discussion." 

Both Roman and Julie stayed there next to Caleb until it was thirty past ten in the night. When it was time to leave, Julie said, 

"I think he wants to say something," when Caleb made disgruntled sounds in his throat. 

"He's probably just itchy around the mouth. Let me fix that," said Roman, and he moved forward, his hands going around Caleb's face.

Caleb growled in anger, but Roman responded to it in a low voice so that Julie didn't hear the words he spoke,

"Careful there, boy. She doesn't know about vampires and I would prefer it to be that way. I don't want you running your mouth like an idiot. Imagine, you go inform Dante and the others about what you just found. I will kill you. Or you can live in peace the same way you have been living," he patted the side of Caleb's head and got up. 

"What was that?" asked Julie. A small frown appeared on her face as she saw Roman say something to Caleb. 

"Some encouraging words to live through the night," remarked Roman. "Let me get you back to your dorm."

They walked past the trees, where Julie kept looking left and right, trying to ensure there were no students or anyone else here to find Caleb. 

"Do you think it was too harsh? To tie him up here?" asked Julie in doubt, having never done anything close to this. 

"Once I get you back to your Dormitorium, I will be back here to keep an eye on him. It's just for precaution," Roman assured her. "Nothing will happen to him," unless Caleb would choose to speak about Julie's ability, thought Roman in his mind. 

Julie turned quiet, walking next to him while weighing the things that she had heard from him. The possibility of being associated with a family of witches sounded strange to her. 

"Do you think I will see the bridge again if I were to go back to that side of the forest?" she inquired with Roman, her eyes looking at him in curiosity. 

"If you are ready to look at it, we can go there tomorrow," proposed Roman, noticing Julie immersed in her thoughts. 

"When I am ready…" murmured Julie. 

The last time they were there, the bridge had appeared and disappeared like an illusion. She wondered if there was any map of the land of Veteris that could show the town that once used to exist. Now, this is where Google would have come in handy, thought Julie to herself. 

Roman's eyes shifted from her to look ahead of them. Earlier, he had been so wrapped that Julie might have seen him in her vision that he had ended up failing to notice Caleb on the tree. 

They walked out of the edge of the forest, making their way towards the girl's Dormitorium. When they reached the entrance, Julie's feet stopped, and she turned to look at him. 

There was worry on Julie's face, deep in concentration while thinking about her mother and her relation to Willow Creek. Witches? She never believed they could actually exist. She had started to see things since she had arrived here at Veteris. Was it because Willow Creek existed nearby, and she had somehow been drawn to it?

"Give it sometime," Julie heard Roman say to her. "Things like these are never easy to digest. Get some goodnight rest. We have rehearsal in the evening tomorrow."

"Don't get into trouble," said Julie, her hand holding each other in front of her while looking at Roman. 

The corner of Roman's lips tugged. He noticed the way her eyes looked away from him for a few seconds, taking a quick look at the few students who were getting inside the dorm or quickly walking away as it was near to the time of curfew. 

Julie's eyes fell back on Roman, noticing him watching her with his demeanour back to the usual laid back one as if they hadn't left a person tied in the forest. 

"Winters," Roman called her by her last name, something he seemed to like calling her compared to what others often used to call her. Julie's eyebrows subtly raised, wondering what he wanted to say. "I am going to kiss you."

Roman didn't give her the time to react, stepped closer and leaned forward, and he kissed her. Julie felt Roman's cold lips press against her before pulling his head to look at her eyes that had slightly widened.

"I cannot concentrate on the kiss if you kiss me in a place where everyone are watching," blurted Julie, stumbling over her words while her cheeks turned warm. 

One side of Roman's lips tugged, and he said, "You told me this afternoon, you nearly had a heart attack, so I gave you a little heads up." One second was not heads-up, said Julie in her mind. "You don't have to concentrate, just feel it."

The warden of the girl's Dormitorium cleared her throat to get both of their attention, letting Roman know it was time for him to leave and get back to his Dormitorium. Julie, who had turned back to look at the woman, turned to her front and said, 

"I will see you tomorrow."

"You will," said Roman, taking a step backwards before taking two more and said, "Goodnight, Winters." Turning his back, he started to walk in the direction of where his Dormitorium was. 

"Goodnight… Rome," wished Julie from where she stood. 

Roman raised his hand, continuing to walk with a faint smile on his lips, having heard what she said even though it had come out as a whisper from her lips. 

Getting inside the Dormitorium's building, Julie walked in the corridor while not being bothered by anyone. Being with Roman did keep trouble away, but that didn't mean people didn't glare at her from the corner of their eyes. But right now, Julie had other things on her mind to care about it. 

Before reaching her Dormitorium, Julie stopped by Melanie's room which was already open. 

"Julie, you are here!" Melanie greeted her, standing up from the chair. "I came by the rehearsal room earlier, as you weren't in the dorm. But I think I missed the rehearsal as no one was there."

"Ah, yes," Julie nodded her head, "I was with Roman." 

Melanie smiled, "I realized that might be it. Did you have your dinner?" 

"I will probably feed on snacks tonight. I don't think I have an appetite today," commented Julie, her mind slightly distracted, and she asked her friend, "I am sorry you had to have dinner with Conner and Reese."

"Don't worry about me. I am a big girl," even though Melanie said it, Julie noticed the tinge of sadness that entered her friend's eyes. 

"Say, Mel. Do you want to watch a movie?" offered Julie with a smile. "I think I could use a company."

Melanie looked a little surprised, but she nodded, "Let me grab my things."

"Okay," glad to hear that Melanie was willing to keep her mind busy instead of pondering on what happened after having to see the person she loved with another girl every day. 

Both girls went to Julie's room, sitting on the bed with snacks that surrounded them. With Julie, who had already downloaded some of the movies when she had visited Uncle Thomas' house so that she could watch it without having to rely on the internet. 

"Let's not watch something romantic," suggested Julie to Melanie, and she picked to play the movie 'The Shawshank Redemption'. Their eyes ere fixed on the laptop's screen, with the lights off and the curtains drawn to avoid anyone peeping inside the room. 

But Julie's mind was quick to drift away from the present to go back to the past, which consisted of her and her mother's memories. She remembered her mother's radiant smile, which was at the end replaced with a shocked expression on her face and a hole in her forehead. 

If her father killed her mother for this very reason, did it mean that he knew what her mother was? Or who she was. How did he even know about it? Julie doubted her father had ever been to Veteris or the forest of Willow Creek to know about it. 

Her heart clenched, her gaze serious, where the light reflecting from the laptop fell on her face. 

For a moment, Julie tried to calm herself, trying to remember if there was anything else that she could remember of her mother. An old and small wooden box came to flash in front of her eyes. 

'I was looking for you. What's that, mama?' asked her younger self to her mother. Her mother stared at the box, a smile forming on her daughter's question. She closed it before little Julie could take a closer look at it. 

'This is a family treasure, Julie,' replied her mother.

'Treasure?' asked Julie, her eyes turning curious, and her mother nodded her head. 'I can see it?'

'Can I see it,' her mother corrected her, even though her mother found her speech to be cute. 'Not today, but some day in the future. I will give this to you as a birthday present. Something I can pass on to you. You will wait until then, won't you?' her mother's words were gentle. 

The little girl vigorously nodded her head, 'I will, mama!'

'Come give your mama a hug. I missed you,' said her mother, opening her arms for her, and Julie was quick to hug her mother with her small hands. She then whispered, 'My most beautiful child. I hope I can keep you safe with me, just like this with no harm.'

It was then near the windowpane of the room that little Julie heard something tap. Turning her head, she noticed a black bird hitting its beak on the window glass. 

'A crow is here, mama!' Julie turned excited, and her mother opened her mouth to correct something, but she closed it. 

Her mother then placed her hand on top of her head, running it gently, and she said, 'Why don't you get a bowl of water for it, honey. I am sure he must be thirsty.'

But by the time little Julie had returned to the room with a bowl of water, the window was left open, and the bird had flown away from there with her mother standing next to it. 

Remembering the faint incident from the past, Julie returned to the present. She wondered how many such things she had missed while considering it to be normal. It was never the crow that her mother fed, but the ravens. Lots of them used to appear only when they were alone and out for a walk.

Did she ever take a walk with her father when she was young? Julie couldn't remember. 

When the movie was over, Melanie thanked her and headed to her dorm to sleep while leaving Julie by herself in the dorm. 

"Everything will be okay," Julie tried lifting her spirits. "Nothing bad is going to happen." 

Roman had also assured her that he would always be there for her, and his words were nothing less than an anchor in the oncoming tide that was going to try to harm her. 

Back in the forest, Roman walked into the forest near to where he had tied Caleb to a tree. But instead of letting the boy know he was here, he picked one of the nearby trees, to sit on the branch, from where he could see the boy while enjoying the night. 

The night hadn't been all quiet for Caleb, who heard growls not too far away from him. Even though Caleb drank blood like the other vampires, he didn't have anything to protect himself, and he was as useless as a human. 

Only after four hours did Roman jump down from the tree and walking to where Caleb was, the cigarette held in between his teeth. He untied the rope around Caleb's mouth, and just when the boy was about to shout for help, Roman pulled his fist back before throwing a stronger punch into Caleb's face. 

"You don't learn easy, do you?" questioned Roman to him, looking at the boy as if he was a true idiot. 

"AH!" Caleb groaned in pain. "I was only yawning! I won't tell anyone about her! Untie me now so I can go back." 

Roman stared at Caleb and said, "I am not convinced with your words yet. I don't want you talking about what you heard. Now that you know she is not a normal human, I will need you to keep an eye on her." 

"If the Elders or Ms. Dante finds out that I have been hiding this, they are going to skin me alive!" shouted Caleb, and Roman cracked his knuckles. 

"If you tell anyone about her, before the Elders I will skin you alive," deadpanned Roman. 

Caleb answered, "Fine, I will not mention what I heard about her. But if someone finds out about her, I am going to tell them that it was you who threatened me to do so. And I do not agree to the second condition. You cannot expect me to be her bodyguard!" 

"Who's asking you to be her bodyguard? Keep an eye if you hear anything about her, inform me about it. And don't think about hitting on her," remarked Roman. "Nobody is asking you to hover around her like a buzzing fly. I don't have time to deal with flies."

Caleb looked offended, but somewhere he was scared that Roman was going to do more damage to him than he already had. He had received a punch from Roman, and somewhere he was worried that his jaw had dislocated. Though his body would heal sooner than most humans, it wouldn't heal like the regular vampires.

As much as he would like to hit on Julie in the past, who was a beautiful girl, he was well aware that with Roman, it was hard to get to her. Caleb glared at Roman. Not to mention, now Julie was into some voodoo stuff, and he couldn't help but be wary of her. If someone needed protection here, it was him!

"You should be glad that Julianne was there with me when I caught you. Else, I would have buried you with a stake," threatened Roman and he started to leave the place before saying, "Consider this to be your second life."

When morning arrived, Julie quickly dressed and left the Dormitorium, making her way to the forest where she saw Roman. 

Roman stood with a cigarette, taking a puff from it where he had brought his hand up. He blew the smoke into the atmosphere. He tapped the cigarette watching her walk towards him. He asked, "Did you sleep enough?" 

"Not much. I will try to catch up with it later," Julie noticed that even though he had spent his night here, compared to her, he looked in better shape than her. But that was because Roman was used to spending his night relaxing in the trees rather than in his dorm while sleeping in the classes to compensate for the lack of sleep. "Was your night okay?" 

Roman gave her a nod, "It was good," a twinkle in his eyes. 

"Is he awake?" inquired Julie. 

"For some time now," said Roman, and they walked to where Caleb had a bruise around one of his eyes because of the punch that he had received last evening. 

"Good morning, Caleb," Julie greeted, trying to be polite and trying to gain favour from the boy.

"Good? Do you think being tied the entire night to a tree is a good morning to me?" asked Caleb, whose mouth had been freed, and so was his body from the tree, but his hands and legs were still tied with ropes. Julie was surprised that he wasn't screaming for help right now. 

Suddenly something hit Caleb's forehead, and he glared at her before his eyes shifted to Roman, who had thrown a stone at him. "I am sorry about it," Julie apologized because she knew she was not the kind of person to tie someone up. Her good and kind nature was being poked.

"You don't have to apologize to him. He brought it upon himself," stated Roman, staring at Caleb. 

Roman stood in front of the morm, his cheeks slightly turning hollow, as he drew the smoke into his mouth from the cigarette. He turned his head in the direction which was not where Julie stood. Tapping the ash that had formed on the cigarette, he stared at Caleb, and then drawled, 

"So… Do you agree?"

Caleb gritted his teeth and then said, "I agree."