Chapter 90 - Horror Of The Cemetery

Julie changed the costume dress to the one she had worn this afternoon and returned the gown to Ms. Piper. Thanks to the fabric of the gown, it hadn't creased. She combed her hair to ensure it didn't look like it was sticking out before leaving the dressing room.

Stepping out in the corridor, where some of the lights had been turned off, Julie turned to look in the direction where the boy's dressing room was situated. The room's door was closed, and she wondered if Roman was still changing his clothes or had already left. 

Deciding not to wait for him, she made her way towards the front side of the stage. 

"Julie!" Melanie called her, who stood at the front side of the stage. 

A bright smile appeared on Julie's face, and she quickly climbed down the stairs of the stage. 

"Well done there, Julie. You were amazing in the play," Conner praised her with a smile as bright as on Julie's face. 

"That's all thanks to you guys for helping me rehearse so many times," Julie thanked both her friends. 

Reese, who stood next to Conner, said to Julie, "You looked stunning, Julianne. I couldn't get my eyes off of you, I don't think anyone could. You were probably the only person who shone so brightly apart from Roman." 

"Thank you for coming to watch it," Julie thanked Reese. 

"I am surprised Jackson could act," commented Melanie. "You were the only person who shone bright on the stage, you blew everyone's mind with your performance and charm." A small frown appeared on her face. She asked, "I thought your costume was white and blue in colour, did they change it at the last minute?" 

"There was a little bit of mishap with the original costume. But everything went well in the end," said Julie. She apologized to them, "I am sorry for making you guys wait." Because most of the audience had already left the wide theatre. 

Melanie waved her hand, "That's perfectly fine. We wanted to stay back to congratulate you and go together. Did you see Eleanor's face?" she laughed. "At the end of the last scene of the play, she looked like she was about to cry. And that ending was amazing too. This year's script of the play was much better than last year."

"I agree on that," Conner nodded his head. 

They started to walk towards the double doors to step out of the theatre, and  Melanie said, "It felt like watching a movie today. I wish they could showcase the plays, put up at least once a month, which would be something to look forward to." 

"I don't think there will be an issue when it comes to getting the students to be part of the play," remarked Julie with a smile. "I didn't see your sculpture, Conner. Do you think they will have it displayed tomorrow too, or will they replace it with some other event?"

"It should still be there until tomorrow noon. What time is it now?" Conner raised his hand to take a look at his watch. "Thirty past nine. If you want, we can take a look at it right now."

When they stepped out of the building, some of the students who were nearby, talking, turned to look at Julie. Before leaving the dressing room, she had removed the makeup off of her face, and only her hair was let down. Both the girls and the boys looked at Julie in a whole different light, understanding why Roman had openly claimed the girl. 

Earlier, when Julie was on the stage, she hadn't caught any audience's expression because of the bright light directed at the stage. She had boldly enacted the scenes, but now that people looked at her, she tried not to meet anyone's eyes. It wasn't like she had taken a walk on the stage, but she had openly romanced Roman, and she finally realized why he hadn't kissed her. 

Julie and her friends made their way to the building where the exhibition gallery of the past had been held yesterday. She noticed there were barely ten people inside the room that had been held for the art students. 

"Not many are interested when it comes to looking at the art apart from the art students themselves, unless there's an erotic sculpture to look at," said Conner as they walked further into the room. 

"It's good that we don't have many of them," murmured Reese while hanging on Conner's hand. "But they should have opened it at night, you know, like the museums. With the amount of delinquents we have here, I doubt they appreciate it." 

"I don't think the rule holds good to everyone," replied Julie, a small smile on her face as she admired her friend's work. It was a statue of a woman in a sitting position that had a veil over her head and her body. The woman held a pot in her hand. "There's Maximus who is an art student, and his art is different." She turned to look at the statue made out of thread with wires. 

Julie took a look around the place while Reese explained to Melanie the materials used while sculpting the statue. 

While Julie walked past a large mirror with stones surrounding the bronze background, she felt like she had walked past someone. She walked backwards, her feet moving back one after another until she came back to stand in front of the mirror. She caught sight of the Corvin that looked as if it stood behind her. 

She turned back to look, but there was nothing but emptiness around her. Julie turned back and looked at the mirror's reflection, noticing the bird-like creature standing outside the gallery room and in front of the open window. 

Julie looked away from the embellished mirror, looking at the window where a couple walked past it, who had been in the gallery a few seconds ago. She then caught sight of Corvin walked past another window. 

"What happened?" asked Conner, noticing Julie standing in the middle of the room and staring outside. 

"She must be waiting for the senior," commented Reese. 

Julie turned to her friends and hurriedly said, "I have somewhere to go. Don't wait for me." She ran out from there. 

"Huh? Did she forget something back in the theatre?" asked Melanie with a small frown. 

Outside the building, Julie quickly looked for the Corvin. The previous times when she had come across it, she hadn't been able to see where it had disappeared to. Now, as she knew that it was related to her, she wanted to get more answers. Answers about who her mother was and why the creature kept appearing in front of her. 

Her eyes searched for the creature, and finally, she caught sight of it making its way away from the building and also from the eyes of the students.

Julie followed the Corvin, trying to keep up with the creature as it was too quick in its movements. 

"Wait!" She called the creature, but the creature didn't stop and continued to move on the Veteris ground, towards the forest area. Its black cloak swept across the ground, making sounds with the sticks that caught on to its cloak before the sticks let go of the ends of the creature's cloak. 

The forest turned quieter when Julie continued to follow the Corvin away from where Veteris was celebrating its annual celebration. When she thought she had caught up to it, the creature increased its speed. 

When Julie was two minutes inside the forest, her feet paused, and she wondered if she should go back to where her friends were. But at the same time, she was curious to find out about herself. Did the creature understand English? Could it speak? Because the one time she had knocked its mask off of its body, there was no head there. 

"Hold on!" Julie called the creature and started to follow it again, wondering if it was walking away from everyone so that no one could catch it. But when it stood outside the gallery, no one had seen it. 

The sound made by the crickets filled the forest. The wind blew across the deserted forest where it seemed like it was just her and the creature in here. Julie didn't know where the creature was taking her in the forest and not taking note of the time that had passed since she had started to follow it. 

After a few minutes, Julie noticed a passage in the middle of the thick bushes. The Corvin was the first one to walk through it, and she followed it. 

But once she stepped out of the narrow passage, Julie realized where she was. A few steps away from her stood the road that led towards the town. She had been lured to step out of Veteris grounds. 

When she tried to spot the Corvin, the creature stood on the other side of the road. It had turned to face her as if staring at her. 

"Who are you?!" Julie shouted so that her voice could reach it. "Why did you bring me here?" 

The creature didn't speak; instead, it raised its stick-like hands to point at her and then to its left side. Julie turned her head to look at the road, which was dark, and the only thing she was greeted with was silence. When her gaze moved back to look at where the creature had stood, her eyes widened.

It had disappeared in thin air without saying a word!

"Don't tell me you brought me here only to disappear," Julie frowned, and hearing something snap behind her, she turned and saw an owl that was perched on one of the branches of the nearest tree. 

Julie sighed and decided to head back and go to the Dormitorium. At least if there was one thing she could confirm, it was that the creature had shown no intention of harming her. Stepping back into the land of Veteris, by walking past the bushes, she started to walk. 

She took less than ten steps when she heard the sound of crackling sticks. Turning to look at the passage, she noticed the path she had walked through had now closed with no way out. It looked like magic. Staring at it for a few seconds, she began to walk until she realized she wasn't sure which way to take. 

The Corvin had made her walk left and right, taking circles that Julie was not completely sure of. 

"The least you could do was return me back to the Dormitorium," muttered Julie, her words directed to the Corvin. 

Raising her hand in front of her, Julie read the time. There were forty minutes left for the curfew time to take effect. Taking in a deep breath, she walked, hoping it was in the right direction. Not knowing she had stepped into the restricted side of the forest and was moving deeper into it. 

A light mist of fog appeared on the ground, crawling to spread across the restricted forest and almost hiding Julie's white shoes. 

Looking up at the sky, Julie noticed the moon that was going to turn full tomorrow night. Keeping it as a compass, she walked while her skin felt the bite of coldness that the atmosphere had to offer her. 

Few minutes later, Julie came to stand in front of a cemetery, an existence that had been denied to her.

"Wonder why the management was trying to hide it," murmured Julie under her breath. Thanks to finding the vast graveyard, she finally knew which way to take to reach her Dormitorium. 

But when Julie turned in the right direction in which she was supposed to walk, she heard a light growl. Blood drained from her face. 

Was it the same wild animals that Veteris had warned them about?! 

She took a brave step forward and hearing the growl turn louder. She quickly walked backwards. Her pulse quickened along with her breathing. Her eyes searched for the wild animal, wondering if it was a panther sitting on top of the branch of the tree, which was why she wasn't able to see it. 

"This is why you follow rules," Julie scolded herself. She didn't want to turn into an animal's meal. Looking to her left, she decided to take the other direction so that she would slowly diminish away from the animal's vision. And then she would run as fast as she could because her life depended on it! 

While she was walking backwards, her shoe stepped on someone's grave.

"I am so sorry for that, I didn't mean to do that," apologized Julie, even though the person in there was dead. "Let me move away the leaves for you," she offered as a peace offering for her action. 

The graves in this cemetery were obviously not taken care of and had been abandoned. The graves here probably belonged to the people who once lived in this place that was once a town, thought Julie in her mind. 

Her thoughts drifted to the memory of the woman, who had been killed with the rest of the people. The woman's hollow eyes and blood spread around the body had reminded Julie of her own mother. 

Once she cleared the leaves from the grave, Julie caught sight of the name on the headstone. 

The headstone read— 'Candace Marudas. Year 1843-1887. Beloved by all who knew.'

"Marudas," Julie murmured the familiar last name that belonged to Maximus. She wondered if this was his great great grandmother, the woman who was possibly married to the man who once owned the mansion, which had now been converted to the boy's Dormitorium. 

Away from where Julie was in the cemetery that belonged to Veteris, back at the centre of the Veteris campus, Melanie was making her way towards the girls Dormitorium after visiting the art student's exhibition. Before she could step on the stairs of the Dormitorium, she noticed Roman heading towards her in the opposite direction.

"Do you know where Julie is?" Roman questioned her. 

Melanie raised her hand in the direction of the theatre and said, "I thought she had gone to the theatre. She seemed to be in a hurry as if she had to be somewhere."

Roman's eyes narrowed, and he asked, "Do you know which direction she went?" 

Melanie shook her head, "We went to visit the art gallery, and that was the last time I saw her today. Do you want me to check the lunchroom?"

"That's fine, I will see where she is," said Roman, and Melanie nodded her head.

Roman had come from the lunchroom, and as far as he knew, the dressing rooms had been closed after the students had returned their costumes. His jaw clenched. Julie wasn't in her dorm, and he wondered where else she could be right now. Feeling something not to be right, he started to look for her. 

Back on the restricted side of the forest, Julie picked a broken branch, just in case she were to be attacked. She looked around the headstones that were old and dusty. 

When Julie was about to stand up from where she had crouched, her eyes fell on the headstone next to the one she was in front of. The only light in here came from the moon, and she moved closer to make sure she read it right. 

The name on the headstone read— 'Maximus Marudas.'

This headstone didn't have the year mentioned, and Julie questioned if the Maximus she knew was Maximus a third or fourth. People in the past loved naming their children or grandsons with the same name, just to carry the name forward. 

But it was still odd, thought Julie to herself. 

While her mind had been occupied about the graves, Julie had forgotten about the growl that she had earlier heard. But when her ears picked up the growl once again, she quickly stood up. 

Julie started to walk, making her way past the many graves, but a log of wood that had been buried in the leaves caught one of her legs. She tried hard not to trip, taking the support of the grave next to her while her heart almost stumbled out of her ribcage in fear. For a moment, she believed it was the ghost of one of the many dead bodies in here that had caught hold of her feet to stop her from leaving. 

Looking down, she noticed the wood, and she sighed in relief. 

The next time when Julie opened her eyes, she tried to look around but found no animal approaching her. She was ready to leave the cemetery behind until her eyes fell on the headstone that had the name engraved 'Roman Moltenore' on it. 

"It can't be…" Julie whispered to herself, her face turned pale as a ghost. 

Seeing an alive person's name on the headstone once could be called coincidence, but seeing another person's name couldn't be called a coincidence. Was this some kind of a sick joke of Veteris? Because even on this grave, there were no years mentioned and she doubted this grave that stood old along with the rest belonged to Roman's great grandfather. 

She looked at the graves next to it, cleaning the headstones to read the names— 'Malcolm Moltenore', 'Petronille Moltenore' and the third grave that read the name 'Tristan Moltenore'.

The two names in here were the names she had come across yesterday, when Roman had given a little information about the painting of the people. Her breathing quickened at her trail of thought. There were five people in that frame, a mother, father and two brothers along with the butler. She tried to remember the faces of the young boys in it, but having seen it only once, the picture in her mind was blurry. 

Julie quickly looked around the names written on the headstones of the graves, and she found familiar names, who had Roman's friends' names. 

There were people's names on the headstones, whom she had met and spoken to. Most of the headstones that had the year of birth and death on them, they seemed to have died at the same year. Half way through, Julie stopped looking, while she started to panic in shock. 

The main reason people use graves graves was to keep the deceased bodies in the, and later remember them. Did that mean Roman was dead? At that thought, Julie's hands turned ice cold.

Before she could process more, she heard footsteps. Julie spun on her heels and noticed a boy. And maybe she would have asked his help get her back to the Dormitorium, if she didn't notice blood on his shirt. 

The closer the boy walked towards her, the more alarmed she turned. Julie caught sight of the boy's bright red eyes and fangs. 

"Vampire," whispered Julie, turning paler with every second. "Please tell me you are cosplaying," she prayed. 

The boy, on hearing this, laughed, "Julianne Winters, what a surprise to see you in here."

"Y-you know me?" 

"We all know you. You are Roman Moltenore's girl," said the boy, a smile spreading on his lips, and he said, "I am very thirsty tonight and seeing you have broken the rule by entering here, let me quench  my thirst with you."

Oh my God! Julie screamed in her mind. Didn't vampires only exist in books and screens? What were they doing outside the books and screen?!

"I heard that Roman hasn't taken a bite from you until now. You must be really precious to him," said the boy, slowly moving towards her and Julie's feet moved backwards. 

"I didn't see anything!" Julie turned around and quickly started to run as fast as she could. 

She was barely able to think straight with the things she had seen. She heard the footsteps of the boy, who was a student moving closer to her. It wasn't a drug mafia but a blood mafia of vampires! 

Being a human, Julie didn't get too far from the vampire, as the boy was quick to get right behind her. When the vampire opened his mouth, ready to take a bite into her, she tried to push the wood on his mouth to stop him from biting her. 

Her little trick to drag the inevitability was only for a few seconds before the night creature threw the broken branch away from her. 

When the vampire took a step towards her, a stone came to hit the person's head. The person in front of Julie turned angry. 

"Step away from her." 

Julie turned and saw Roman standing not too far away from them. And for the first time, she caught sight of his red eyes. 

The boy cackled, "Tough luck, you seem to have forgotten about your little prey—" he didn't get to finish his sentence, as in the next second, a wooden stake flew right into the vampire's neck. 

Julie's eyes widened not just at Roman's precision in aiming but also at the fact that he had thrown a sharp piece of wood into the vampire's neck. She didn't know whom to be more scared of, and her knees slightly trembled at the sight of the two vampires. 

The boy who had planned to take a bite from her crouched in pain. Blood oozed out of his neck, and he tried to pull out the wooden piece from his neck. 

When he was successful in pulling out the wood, he threw it back at Roman, but Roman caught the wooden piece with ease. Before the other boy could get his hands on Julie, Roman threw the stake right into the palm of the vampire who glared at him. 

Julie quickly stepped away from them by walking backwards. Soon, Roman and the vampire got into a physical fight. Roman punched the person's face repeatedly until his fist was covered in blood and the vampire boy turned unconscious. 

Roman stared at the boy of his own kind while his back facing Julie. 

He could feel her shocked eyes on him. His eyes hardened at the thought that she had found out the truth. He ran his hand through his thick hair. Before Julie, he had to fix the problem that laid on the ground in front of him. He slowly turned behind, his red eyes meeting Julie's shocked brown eyes, who stared back at him. 

Roman's voice was calm and his gaze steady when he said, "You should get back to your dorm." Julie agreed to his words because her mind was a mess. Speechless, she nodded her head, and started to walk in the left direction, when she heard Roman call her, "Winters."

Julie's heart stuttered, and she turned to look at him. He raised his hand, pointing to his right and said, "That's the direction."

Listening to the girl's heart, beating loudly in fear, Roman saw Julie take a right. Once Julie was out of his sight, Roman dragged the vampire boy by his leg, taking it back to the old cemetery. 

After a few minutes, Roman was done tying the vampire's legs and hands tightly in a rope made for the night creatures. He waited until the student turned conscious while taking a smoke.

"You are going to pay for this, Moltenore!" the boy glared, trying to free himself from the ropes. 

"What's your name?" deadpanned Roman, and the boy turned offended. 

"I am Victor Gage! You broke my nose before this!" said the boy named Victor. 

"I see," came the nonchalant words from Roman. 

He walked around the graves and then pushed one of the graves' lids. Returning to the vampire, he dragged him to the grave that had his name 'Victor Gage' on it. Taking the tape, he plastered the mouth before wrapping it around the boy's head so that the boy wouldn't open his mouth. "Until everything settles down, I need you to stay here. I will let you out when it is time. Take a good nap until then." 

Roman pushed the boy into the grave and then pushed the lid to close it.