Chapter 85 - Veteris Fall Annual

Note- Chapter under edit

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Caleb sat on the stairs of the boy's Dormitorium, playing with a stick by hitting it on the wall and watching the ends of it turn into small pieces and fall on the ground. A loud yawn escaped from his mouth, still sleepy since he had barely slept last night. While he was waiting for his other friends to come and join him, he noticed the senior coming from the opposite direction. 

Caleb took a quick look at his watch, wondering where Roman had been until now. Since the day he had fallen from the tree, caught by Roman, he felt like he had stepped on the bad luck. The bruise on his face hadn't disappeared. 

Before the senior vampire's eyes met his, Caleb turned his head in the other direction as if he was busy staring at the wall. When his eyes briefly shifted to look at Roman, Caleb noticed being watched, and he decided it was better to leave this place than wait for something to happen again. 

Getting up quickly, he turned his back at Roman, ready to walk inside the Dormitorium, when Roman called him, 

"You there." 

Caleb cursed under his breath, and he slowly turned around to meet Roman's eyes. Before he would be questioned, "I didn't hear anything about her. Nobody spoke anything remotely close to what she is. All they speak about is how you have picked up a human as your girlfriend. They think it is pathetic and you picked a human because of how weak you are—"

Noticing Roman glared at him as if he was an idiot, Caleb immediately stopped speaking. Caleb wanted to punch the senior, but he knew his action would only warrant another blackeye. 

"Do you have any detention today?" questioned Roman, and Caleb shook his head. A smile appeared on his face. 

"Today is that one day where I have been saved from going to that horrible detention with Ms. Piper. I am as free as a bird," replied Caleb with a continuous smile on his face. 

Roman frowned, and then with a straight face, he said, "Change your time table for the day. I want you to attend the detention today."

"Huh?" responded Caleb, his brain processing Roman's words slowly. "Why would I do that? If you want to get into detention, go ahead with it."

"Winters is attending this morning's detention. I have work to attend to, and won't be here in Veteris. I need someone to keep an eye on her during the detention. Who else to choose if not the free bird," deadpanned Roman and Caleb sarcastically laughed. 

"Tough choice there, Moltenore, but no thanks, nobody likes to willingly get into detention—"

"I am sure Borrell would be very interested in knowing about what you did four nights ago. That you chipped and damaged one of the gravestones, leaving it broken," Roman slipped his hands in his jeans pocket. 

Caleb gritted his teeth, not knowing how Roman had found out about it. He had been sure that there was no one there that night. Borrell wouldn't just send him to detention. The man would send him to Hell if he would come to know about it. 

"The detention starts soon, so hurry up," stated Roman and started to walk towards the entrance of the Dormitorium.

If Caleb could, he would have jumped into a well and drowned himself instead of turning into a babysitter for the girl, whom he had planned to hit on. But the current situation was such that, even if he attempted to drown himself, Roman would drag him at the end of the second while making sure to let him know how it felt to drown.

Quickly making his way to the Blue Block where the detention room was, Caleb entered the room and took a seat at the backside of the room. He watched the students enter the room, and when one of them came to occupy the front seat in front of him, he quickly shooed the person. 

"Go find some other seat," Caleb shooed the Sophomore year student, who glared at him, and he glared back at him. 

Ms. Piper, who noticed this happen twice, questioned him, "What are you doing there, Caleb?" 

And finally, the human entered the detention room. She looked around the room with dread, and then her eyes fell on him. He wondered what kind of creature Julie was because he had never heard about any humans holding vision abilities.

On the other hand, Julie found herself being glared at by not just one person but two people in the room. 

"Ah ha, another regular student in this room, Ms. Winters. Do you enjoy it that much here?" came Ms. Piper's sarcastic remark. 

"Could you spare me this time, Ms. Piper?" Julie tried to take a chance to escape from the detention and not knowing what the woman had on her mind. 

"Tough luck with that, take your seat," said Ms. Piper, taking a look at the names of the students on the sheet.

Well, it was worth a try, thought Julie in her mind, while making her way to the seat in front of Caleb. 

As Julie took a seat at the desk, she heard Ms. Piper say, "The first and second row of students pair up into one team, then next two rows into second, and the fifth and sixth row as the third team. You will find buckets and mops waiting for you in the hallways of the building that is in the back of the campus, which needs cleaning."

Wasn't that the same building where the horror house was going to be set up? Asked Julie in her mind. 

Ms. Piper said, "There's a lot of dirt that needs to be cleaned." 

"This is utter rubbish, when there are helpers to clea-"

"You are the one who is… speaking rubbish," Ms. Piper shut the boy up, who had begun to complain. "Do you think I care if people are available or not? When I say you are going to mop the floor, you are going to do it without any complaints. Now get yourself out of those chairs and start walking there."

Julie stepped out of the room along with the other students, and the sound of the chairs and desks moving could be heard. The students headed to the back of the Veteris campus, towards the isolated building, prepared for the Annual day. 

When Julie reached nearer to the place, she noticed how it looked more like a manor than a mansion. It was huge, looking a little more isolated than the rest of them with less planted around it. 

"Ms. Piper," Julie addressed the woman, who had accompanied the students to supervise them. 

"Yes, Ms. Winters," replied Ms. Piper, turning to look at Julie. 

"Why is this building farther away from the rest of the other buildings?" questioned Julie, her eyes curiously looking at the manor that was made out of bricks and woods, giving its appearance an antiquey touch. 

"This manor was once used to be a social place, holding many celebratory occasions. A place where families would come to gather," replied Ms. Piper as they walked. "Once the town came under Veteris, this manor came under the other buildings too and the entire place was later turned into an educational institution. It was decided to keep things in there as it was, without modifying it. We only use it during the Fall Annual day," she offered a smile to Julie. 

Another boy, who was a human, asked, "I thought there was some sort of murder that took place in here, which is why it's closed."

Ms. Piper and some of the students turned to look at the boy. She asked, "Where did you hear that?" 

Julie sensed the change in the atmosphere, the people around her holding a look of wariness on their faces.

"It must be in one of the old files of news that I came across on the internet," replied the boy. "If I remember it right, it said it was a massacre that took place here one evening."

"You must have mistaken it for another manor's news. Nothing ever happened in here like that," stated Ms. Piper, staring at him. The pupil of her eyes widened, and the boy, after a second, nodded his head, who had been next to Ms. Piper. 

"You must be right. I must have mistaken it for something else," agreed the boy. 

"That's what I was saying," smiled Ms. Piper. She then said, "First team, go to the left wing and the next team to the right wing, and then the third team move to the above floor. The sooner you finish, the faster you will be finishing your detention." 

Picking up the bucket and mop, Julie climbed the stairs with the other students who had been grouped. Once she filled the water, she dipped the mop and mop the floor with the other students. 

After she finished cleaning one side of the corridor with another girl, Julie entered one of the rooms where the door had been left slightly ajar. The furniture looked still new as if time had stood still. The room had a king-sized bed, cupboards built on two sides of the wall and a dressing table with a large oval mirror fixed in it. 

The room looked nothing less to a picture in a magazine about homes representing a century-old design.

Julie walked near the dressing table and pulled the empty drawer. Her eyes fell on the surface of the drawer, which had patches of black colour on the brown wood. When Julie grazed her fingers across the wood—

"AHH!!" 

She quickly pulled her hand away from the drawer and stared at the empty drawer with a startled look on her face. Turning around, she looked at the door of the room. She wondered if one of the students had screamed, but it felt like the person had screamed right next to her ear. 

Was it her vision?

Her breathing turned slightly laboured, and she again went back to touch the blackened parts of the drawer. When her finger touched wood, she once again heard the scream. 

"AHHHH!!" 

The scream was shrill and spine chilling as if someone was in pain. Julie closed her eyes without pulling her hand away from the wood. 

Julie tried to concentrate. She felt a sudden breeze pass by where she sat. When she opened her eyes, she noticed the light in the room had changed to a golden glow from the candles in the chandelier. Looking outside the window, she saw it was completely dark as if it was night now. 

Thankfully even though she was tired, she had not closed her eyes to make her believe that she was dreaming. But then this couldn't be real either, thought Julie in her mind. 

When she was looking at the change in the decor, Julie heard someone gasp for air, and she looked down near her feet. Her eyes widened when she saw a woman in her late twenties on the floor, breathing her last few moments as the warm liquid spread near behind her body, with blood around the back of her head and neck. 

Julie sat down next to the woman, noticing the woman staring at the ceiling, "A-are you alright?" she asked the woman, but her words didn't seem to reach the woman.

The woman appeared in great pain, her eyebrows drawn in together, and her body went still. Hearing more screams coming from outside the room, Julie quickly left where she had been, moving towards the door and stepping out of the room. 

Compared to the brightness in the room, the corridor was darker as only a few candles had been lit here. She could hear the commotion taking place on the floor below, and the more she walked, the more dead bodies she came to find on the floor, which was either in the rooms that she passed by or in the corridor. 

Julie ran towards the end of the corridor, and when she reached there, someone called her "Julianne."

Turning behind her, she was back in the present and light-filled around her. 

"I am going to the West wing from here with Hudson, Caleb said he would come help you on this side. Okay?" said the girl, and Julie nodded her head. 

Julie looked back and forth, where the vision disappeared in front of her. Even though she tried to get it back, wanting to see what exactly happened, she couldn't do it. Walking near the railings, Julie looked down at the students who were mopping and wiping the manor's windows. 

"Julianne," came a rough voice. Julie turned and saw it was porcupine, who, like others, held a mop in his hand. "Follow me, Ms. Piper told me to take you with me to clean the attic." 

"Where did your friend go? Ask him to help you," stated Julie, not wanting to do anything with this person. He had already done enough damage, and she wasn't an idiot to walk alone with him in this unfamiliar manor. 

"He's busy with cleaning the North Wing," Mateo Jackson looked around them, noticing there was no student or the teacher on this floor. "I cannot do it alone." 

"Caleb is waiting in the other room, you can take his help," offered Julie. Noticing the evil glint in his eyes, she started to walk away from there. Before she could take five steps, the boy caught hold of her arm to stop her. 

"Haven't you heard that you should listen to your seniors?" demanded Mateo, and Julie tried to pull her hand away from him. 

"I don't think you are my senior in any way. Let go of my hand," Julie tried to take her hand back, but it only made the boy tighten his hand around her arm.

"Don't think I will let you off that easily for telling on me to your useless boyfriend," he glared at her, his face turning into a scowl. "Thinking he will protect you. Why don't I give you an option instead. Come to my side and I will make things easier on you. Leave him." 

Julie stared at the porcupine and said, "You must have banged your head on one of these walls to think I would even favour you for one second." Saying that, Julie hit the end of her mop against Porcupine's head hard enough for him to loosen his hold, and she stepped away from him. 

"You're going to regret it," warned Mateo, gritting his teeth because of the way the mop had hit right next to his eye. 

"Stay away from me, else I will scream and Ms. Piper won't be too happy about it," Julie warned him back. 

"How will Ms. Piper know, if I throw you down from this railing and you die," the porcupine's words held more than just a threat, and a wicked smile appeared on his lips. "No one will know that it was me, after all, accidents can happen anytime."

"I would like to see you try it," responded Julie, keeping her ground and trying not to be intimidated by his empty threat. She didn't stay there and started to walk away.

Mateo Jackson touched the side of his eyebrow, and when he brought his hand in front of his face, he noticed a spot of blood. He cursed her, "Bitch. Wait until the right time comes," and he walked towards the attic. 

Julie returned to the room she had earlier been to. 

She walked towards the drawer and closed it. Looking at the floor that had been covered with the carpet, she bent down and started to roll it. As she suspected, there was a patch on the wooden flooring, which was darker than the rest of it. This was the place where the body had been lying in her vision. 

Hearing footsteps approaching the door, Julie quickly started to unroll the carpet, and Caleb entered the room.

"Ms. Piper didn't tell us to clean the carpets, why are you cleaning it?" asked Caleb, making his way inside the room. 

"I thought I dropped something and was looking for it. Did you finish cleaning your share of the rooms?" asked Julie, standing up, she kicked the end of the carpet to smoothen it. "You don't have to follow me around." 

"I wish I didn't have to but Moltenore thinks otherwise. So I am just here doing my hourly check on you," said Caleb, keeping a good distance from her. 

Julie noticed how Caleb acted differently compared to before when he kept hovering around her like a fly.

"I am fine," she replied while picking up the mop that she had left to rest against the wall. When he continued to stare at her, she asked him, "You seem scared of me."

"I am not scared," Caleb huffed, "I don't want to get beaten by Moltenore. But I am curious" 

It was strange to think that even Caleb knew about it, "Do you belong to the same group… the association that Roman is part of?" She didn't know what else to call it if it was some sort of club or some gangster gang.

"No," came the curt reply from the boy who was a junior to her. "Frankly, I would prefer to have not known or heard anything." His eyes narrowed, and then he asked, "Can you tell my future though? If I will be alive at this time of next year." 

Caleb walked to where she stood. He raised both hands for Julie to read his future. What kind of strange request was that? She asked herself. 

"I don't have such power," responded Julie, pursing her lips. 

"Huh," responded Caleb, dropping his hands to his side. "So you aren't that kind of Seer." 

"Seer?" 

"Yeah," replied Caleb. He went back to the door to take a look outside and said, "In the history of this world, there have been many kinds of seers. Some can see the future, some can about the past. Some say that they have powers that can bring bad luck to people." 

"How do you know about these things?" inquired Julie and Caleb shrugged his shoulders. 

"Word of mouth I guess. It is nice to hear some spooky stories and I just happened to hear it when I was young. Not many know about the Seer's, and if some of them claim to be one, they are mostly liars trying to make money and don't know jack," explained Caleb. 

As Caleb hadn't related the Seers with witches, Julie assumed that he wasn't aware of the Corvins or Willow Creek. 

"By the way, there was something I wanted to ask you about," said Julie and Caleb, looking at the human with a curious gaze. "Did something happen in this manor?" 

"I don't know. Didn't you hear when Ms. Piper said that nothing happened?" asked Caleb. As he was a morm and not a vampire, his information about Veteris was limited. "People like to make things to look spooky and hold a heavier value as it gives significance to a place or things." 

"I see," replied Julie. So he didn't know about it. 

It took more than three hours before they finished cleaning half of the place and Ms. Piper finally dismissed them. 

Days were quick to move like pages of a book before the most exciting event of Veteris University finally arrived, that was the Fall Annual celebration. 

The management of Veteris had fixed speakers on every corner of the campus, where music blasted from them. All the classes had been paused, and students were busy with the respective events they were taking part in. 

Almost half of the students were outside their dorms and the buildings, taking a look at the events and being part of it.. 

Right now, Julie with the other students of Veteris had been ordered to gather near the football field, where a small stage had been arranged and Ms. Dante stood at the dais. 

"Welcome to another year of Veteris' Fall Annual celebration days," her voice was loud and clear, the look in her eyes holding utmost seriousness in them. "As most of you are already aware, Veteris University came into existence more than a century ago, and we aim to be the best university in comparison to the other institutions that have been competing with us for years. Thanks to our dedication, the rules that you have been following, you have turned this place more than we thought it would turn out to be. I would like to applaud the teachers as well as the students for all your support and cooperation in upholding Veteris' name."

Everyone started to clap for each other in praise. When the sound of claps lowered, Ms. Dante continued to speak, "Initium novum et concordia," she smiled at the students, "Keep in mind that the rules will stay in place during these days of celebration. Enjoy yourselves these days," and she stepped away from it. 

Another speech was delivered by Mr. Borrell before Roman climbed on the dais and came to stand in front of the mic. Julie noted how he had changed his attire, where his leather jacket had been replaced by a blazer, his black shirt had been changed into a formal crisp linen shirt, though he hadn't bothered to button the top buttons.

Julie couldn't help but admire him. A soft smile appeared on her lips as she stared at him. 

He spoke about the events that were going to be held, while speaking how much progress Veteris had done in the last couple of years. Once the speech was over, everyone started to disperse away, heading to watch the most exciting events taking place in Veteris today. Julie and her friends made their way back to check each and everything that was going on today. 

"You need to check out the food stall that we put up," said Melanie, pulling Julie and Conner along with Reese. After tasting some items, Melanie asked Julie, "I didn't expect the crowd to have doubled this year compared to our last Fall annual. What are your plans now? Anything that caught your attention?" 

"I have rehearsals of the play with everyone," replied Julie while stuffing her mouth with the delicious food that the students prepared. "I will be back as soon as we are done with practice." 

"It's okay, take your time. Conner and Reese said they would be here once they finish the arrangements for the display of their sculpture.Let us go check it out once you are here," replied Melanie. 

Conner stopped Melanie, and he said, "Actually, Mel, Reese said she wanted to go and check one of her friend's exhibitions."

"You said you would help me here. If you would have told me earlier, I would have asked Reagan to stay," Melanie frowned, her lips pursed. Oh dear, thought Julie in her mind. 

"I am sorry about that. Reese said she forgot to tell me about it-"

"And you decided I would be alright if you changed the plan without informing me?" questioned Melanie, and before Conner could open his mouth, she said, "You know what? Go. And don't come back."

Conner laughed, "Come on, Mel. You don't mean that," but Melanie turned away to speak to Julie.

"I will see you later at the play rehearsal, Julie," and Melanie got herself busy. 

When Julie's eyes met Conner's eyes, she offered him a smile and left from there. 

The practice for the play went smoothly because of the number of times Ms. Piper had got them to act the scenes repeatedly until she was satisfied. Roman, who stood next to Julie with her back leaning against the wall, turned to look at her, whereas she stood enthralled, staring at the two students who were enacting their scenes. 

"Winters." 

"Hm?" Julie turned to look at him. 

"Walk with me later, after we are done with this thing," said Roman, bringing his hand up to run it along the length of her ponytail. 

"Can you wait a bit? I want to check if Mel needs my help," replied Julie, but Roman didn't reply to it immediately. 

He took a second before he said, "You don't have to worry about that. I know someone who might be interested in helping her," and one corner of his lips pulled up. He said, "I want to make the most of our time together."