Chapter 97 - Missing You In The Crowd

In the morning, Julie laid on the bed, her body humming in its sleepiness even though she had fallen asleep a few minutes after Roman had left the dorm. Right now, the rays of the sun passed through the cracks of the curtains, and she opened her eyes to look at it. 

Yesterday had been a rollercoaster day, a day that had turned her beliefs upside down, and she wouldn't be able to see things the same as before anymore. The day had started with her finding her costume to be torn, and then the play turned not just successful, but it left an elevating experience for Julie. 

And it felt like whatever confidence that she had lost in the past had returned to her. Julie felt confident, the skin of her shyness slowly shedding away to turn her into a better version of herself. 

Pushing herself from the bed, Julie pushed the curtains away from each other and then opened the window. It was around eight in the morning, and as everyone was still in the mood for celebration, most of the students were either still sleeping in their beds or someone else's bed without being caught. 

Julie felt the morning air touch her face, and a sweet smile spread on her lips. The weather was perfect today, the third day of the Annual celebration of Veteris. Her brown eyes looked at the trees that surrounded her side of the dorm. 

Picking up her notebook and her pen, she started to pen down the letter to Roman—

'I hope your night went well last night with the guests and that you had the chance to have your dinner. I had a decent sleep, with dreams of cheetahs and panthers that wanted to eat me. It was an adventurous dream. 

I am going to the lunchroom in an hour, and right now, it is seventeen past eight. 

Julie.'

Previously when she wasn't aware of the existence of the night creatures, she had written her letters to Roman without any hesitation, asking or telling him whatever came to her mind. And if there were people she had to worry about, it was the night patrollers who could catch hold of the letter and read what was written inside it.

But now that she knew about vampires, she had to be more careful without mentioning her knowledge in the letter. 

When she went to bite her lip, she remembered Roman's lips on hers. The way it caught her lips, and he bit into hers with his teeth. Just the memory had her sigh, and she squeezed her toes. 

After an hour passed, Julie sat in the lunchroom with her friends. This time only with her friends, not with Roman or his friends, as they were nowhere to be seen in the lunchroom. 

"The lunchroom today is emptier than usual, isn't it?" commented Conner, his eyes looking around the room, and he said, "Even the Dormitorium has been quiet."

"Probably just the boy's Dormitorium, because they are practicing for the football match?" asked Melanie, taking a bite from her meal and chewing it. 

Conner shook his head, "I don't think so. Most of the students were still in their dorms and it has been like this since last night, I heard some footsteps outside the corridor. Then I went to sleep."

Julie twirled the fork in the bowl without commenting and only listened to what her friends spoke. She wondered how many times her friends had been used as blood bags and had been compelled without their notice. 

"It's weird because I remember opening the door and wanting to see what was going at the end of the stairs, but I don't remember when I got back to my bed. God, I must have been really tired," laughed Conner. 

Julie realized that someone might have compelled Conner last night. Her eyes slowly moved to look at his neck, which looked smooth without any mark on it. 

"How was your night, Julie?" asked Melanie, raising her eyebrows as if hinting about something. "I heard someone knocking on your door last night."

"Mhm," Conner smiled, turning to look at Julie and giving her a knowing look. "You do know that you will get into trouble if you get caught past the curfew time."

"I didn't know you were awake," replied Julie with a smile, and she put the leafy vegetable in her mouth. 

"I was having trouble falling asleep, and heard the knock somewhere that time. He should have stayed for a little longer instead of coming for two minutes if he was risking it at that hour. But then I guess he doesn't mind breaking rules," remarked Melanie and Julie nodded her head. Her friend probably heard Maximus knocking on the door and had thought it to be Roman. 

Suddenly three Sophomore year students stepped next to their table, and one of the boys looked at Julie, "Last evening, you were stunning on the stage. We were in awe of your beauty," praised the person. 

Another boy added his compliment, "What an act," he clapped his hands, "We want to treat you for lunch to appreciate your acting skills in yesterday's play."

"Do you have any plans on taking part in next year's play? By getting into detention? We would like to join too," confessed the next boy. 

Julie wasn't sure if she was supposed to take it as a compliment or if she should feel horrible for getting into detention continuously and breaking more rules. 

"I already have plans with someone. Thank you for coming to watch the play yesterday," Julie offered them a polite smile and noticed some of the students looking in her direction.

"You mean with Moltenore? He's going to be busy and I doubt there will be much time to spend," said the boy who spoke about her detention. 

Julie was quick to realize that these boys were not humans but were vampires. Though she wanted to ask why they felt that way, she pressed her lips. 

"Didn't you hear that she's already busy? Shoo away now and let us have breakfast in peace," Melanie waved her hands at them so that they would leave the table. 

"Thank you again, but I will have to refuse the offer," Julie was polite, and the boys gave her a look. 

One of the three boy's one seemed not to understand it. He went to pull a chair and was ready to sit down. But before he could sit, the chair was pushed to the side, and he fell to the ground. Julie quickly looked behind the boy and noticed it was Roman. 

"What gives you the thought that you can hover around her?" demanded Roman, annoyance clear in his eyes.

The boy who had fallen on the ground quickly got up, trying to look Roman eye to eye, but he was an inch shorter than the senior. 

Roman rolled his eyes before glaring at them. He said, "I am not dead for you to think you can hit on her and that I won't skin you alive." 

Julie saw Roman push the bands on his hands and fix the rings on his fingers as if he was preparing to beat up the boys. The sophomore year students turned around and quickly left while cursing Roman and their luck because they were sure that the Elders who had woken up had kept him busy to do their beck and call. 

Roman turned his gaze to look at Julie, who sat at the table, "Morning," he greeted her, and Conner leaned towards Melanie and whispered, 

"I think we have turned invisible."

Julie stood up from her chair. A look of relief appeared in her eyes on seeing him here. She greeted back, "Good morning, I didn't know you were going to visit."

"A short one," responded Roman. "I said I had to buy coke cans. I cannot stay long." 

Julie nodded her head. 

She noticed Roman looking behind her through the transparent glass walls of the lunchroom, where one could see people outside the lunchroom. She turned to look in the direction where he was looking and caught sight of two men, who appeared to be in their mid-forties. 

Before Julie could ask Roman about them, he had already left the place and had stepped out of the lunchroom, holding the Coke cans in his hands. Both the men wore suits that looked crisp, and their hairstyling was enough to let her know that they weren't any student's parents or relatives. 

Roman had left her side so quickly as if he didn't want the Elder catching him with her. 

One man had platinum blonde hair, with a peaceful looking expression on his face. While the other had dark hair, his eyes keenly looked through the glass at the students inside the lunchroom. Julie quickly looked away from him so that she wouldn't be caught staring at him. Even though her eyes didn't meet the man's, she felt a cold chill run down her spine. After a few seconds, she raised her gaze, feeling it was safe to look at where the three were still standing. 

Julie's eyes caught the way the dark-haired man placed his hand on Roman's back as if they were close. She could only guess that this man was the same person who had helped in keeping Roman alive. The man exuded arrogance with the way he looked at people as if they were beneath him. 

"Julie?" Melanie called her. "Sit down, what are you looking at?"

Julie sat back in her chair while her eyes followed the three vampires until they disappeared from her sight. 

"This was going to happen, Julie's popularity has skyrocketed and along with her, we have been put on the map of Veteris," Conner nudged his head to the other side of the lunchroom. 

Julie turned to look in the direction, noticing some students looking at her and whispering about something. She wondered how she would be able to identify a person to be a vampire or a human. She couldn't help but worry if the people who were looking at her right now were all vampires, who were waiting to sink their teeth into her. 

This was what it meant when they said ignorance was bliss. 

Now she couldn't help but look over her shoulder and be more alert. 

"I worry about the boys more than her," replied Melanie, and Julie turned back to look at her friend. "I mean the amount of people who will get beaten for not listening. Some have really no sense of danger, do they?" she softly laughed. 

Sense of danger… no one knew, said Julie in her mind. The humans here were nothing less than cattle being raised in a more sophisticated sense for the vampires to feed on later. 

Trying not to let the worry appear on her face, Julie asked, "What plans do we have today apart from visiting the horror house?" 

"Are we still going there?" Melanie asked with her face filled with dread. "Why don't you both watch a horror movie?"

"You will enjoy it, Mel. And who knows if they are going to set it up next year? I heard someone speak this morning that the management plans to lend the mansion to someone. This might be the only chance," said Conner, slurping on his drink and checking his watch. "I wonder when Reese is going to be free."

Melanie looked at Julie and then said, "Inside the forest which is accessible to students without any restriction, there's a lake view. It seems that they have some fun sports being arranged there. Like high ropes, do you guys want to try it?"

"You don't mind falling from that height but you are scared of ghosts?" questioned Conner, shaking his head. "Yeah, we can do that."

Julie nodded her head, "I don't mind." Hopefully, away from trouble, for now. 

After finishing their breakfast, Julie asked, "Have you seen Dennis?"

"Nope. I wasn't able to spot him in the theatre during the entire time of the play and even the short break. The last time I spoke to him, he mentioned about not being too keen about the celebration," replied Conner to her. 

While the three of them started to leave the lunchroom, they met up with Caleb. 

"I will be tagging along with you," said Caleb with a smile, and Julie raised her eyebrows. 

"That's not needed. I will be fine," said Julie and started to walk with her friends. But Caleb quickly followed her. "I am going back to my dorm. So you can go and do what you want, Caleb. Really," assured Julie, somewhere feeling bad for the boy that he had been turned into a bodyguard. 

"Moltenore said I will end up in the dungeon, if I don't baby sit you," Caleb let her know, and Julie sighed. 

"Mel and Conner, this is Caleb," Julie introduced the boy who was one year junior to them. "Caleb, this is Melanie and Conner."

Melanie's eyebrows furrowed, and she looked at Caleb with a suspicious look in her eyes. Conner, who was nothing less than a helium balloon, was quick to offer Caleb his hand to shake and said, "I feel like I have seen you somewhere. Ah, yes! You played the part of being a wall!" 

Caleb turned slightly red, unhappy to be remembered that way. 

Julie finally said to Caleb, "We are going to the high ropes in the forest." 

Caleb wanted to say something, but he nodded his head. Melanie pulled Julie to the side and asked her,

"Isn't he the one who was calling you his wife on the day of Hallow?" 

"It is him. He probably wants to mend things as an apology," Julie awkwardly laughed, not wanting to call Caleb her bodyguard. 

"CONNER!" They turned and saw Reese running towards them. She huffed for air, smiling, and she said, "I finished early and am free to do what I want now!" 

"That's good, we were only going to head to the forest now," Conner hugged Reese by putting his arm around her shoulders. 

"Oh, another thing," Reese turned to look at Julie and said, "Ms. Piper said that she wanted to see you at noon."

Julie frowned and asked, "Did she tell you why?" but Reese shook her head, "Okay, I will meet her later, thanks, Reese." 

They left the front of the lunchroom building and headed towards the forest where the event was taking place. When they reached the spot, Julie noticed some students had already climbed to the top of the tree and were balancing themselves on the ropes or planks held by ropes. Many ropes were tied from one tree to another so that the students could continuously walk on them. 

Julie wore the safety helmet over her head while getting her vest hooked with the ropes. Melanie was the quickest when it came to finishing walking from one end to another, and she moved ahead of them. Caleb, who was in front of Julie, now stood in the same place without moving. 

"What are you doing there, Caleb?" 

"Building a house!" Caleb shouted, with his legs shaking as if he was going to fall at any second. "Why are the ropes so fucking thin?!" 

"Because that's how it's supposed to be," replied Julie. For a person who had climbed a tree, he sure was scared of falling. "How about you move to the side and I will move forward."

"Shh!" Caleb hushed her, trying to concentrate. 

Reese looked scared to walk forward on the other side of the rope, and Conner helped her. "It isn't that hard. Don't look down, Reese," said Conner. 

And watching the other couples of the university, who had come to the place to take part in the event, Julie wished for Roman to be here. It wasn't that she wasn't having fun, but it would have been more memorable. 

When Reese was almost losing her balance, Conner quickly caught hold of her hand, and they laughed. Once they finished walking on the high ropes, they returned to the centre of the university, where the other events were taking place. With many stalls set up, it looked like a small fair. 

Julie wondered if this was how it was back in the day, and the headmistress had tried to replicate those days on this one day out of the four days of the Annual celebration. Something they missed from their past, and for one day, they could live as if nothing had changed.  She said, 

"I didn't know Veteris celebrated this time of the month so grandly. The people must really love this day because it rem—"

Caleb waited for her to continue, while Julie paused, realizing it was supposed to be a secret. 

"It helps everyone experience a different time period," Julie completed her words. 

They visited the stalls one by one, enjoying their time while taking part in some of the games, while Melanie bought a few things. After some time, they now stood at one stall, where Conner was trying to win a box for Reese. Caleb had spoken about the time in the play and it had both Julie and Melanie laugh, that he had been pushed into a cardboard box. 

When Julie looked to her right, she caught sight of Roman and Maximus, who were with Donovan and the other man, with platinum blonde hair whom she had seen earlier. 

It seemed like they were taking a look at the stalls too, thought Julie. 

Roman was explaining something to Donovan, his expression nonchalant. 

Apart from the four of them, two girls accompanied them, who walked next to the senior students. Julie's eyes zeroed on the girl, who was next to Roman, who tried to put her hand around his arm. Roman pulled his hand back, where he looked like he was going to push her away from him, at any time now. There was a hint of slight irritation in his eyes, which he tried to control. 

Donovan commented, "What a wonderful time to be alive. There are so many things to be familiar with and everything comes alive with a snap of my hand. Especially light and talking to someone."

"Truly," Castiel agreed with him, and then said, "I would have been sure this was witchcraft. But to think the world has progressed," he smiled. 

Donovan said to Roman, "I am surprised that you didn't have a girl hanging by your hand to give you blood. I will gift you three of them tonight if you win this game. I am sure Kamila would be more than happy to serve you. Consider it to be a gift." 

"You don't have to burden yourself with that," came the clipped words from Roman, who had been given a girl who was compelled by the Elder. And if needed in public, after all, Veteris belonged to the vampires. "I pick people by myself, I don't need you to do that for me." 

"So grown up," chuckled Donovan with a smile while he looked at the crowd of students, who mainly were humans. It was because the vampire students were well aware of the fact to stay away from the Elders. Nobody wanted to face the wrath of the four Elder vampires, who had only woken up yesterday. "Do you remember that time when you drank the blood from that girl? You turned her into a dried leaf."

"How can I forget," deadpanned Roman. He then turned to look at the girl next to him and glared at her, before saying, "Try to touch my arm one more time and I will rip it off."

"Don't be rude to her, Roman," came the causal words from Donovan, where the underlying meaning was clear to anyone who heard him, that he was displeased that the boy who was supposed to follow him was not happy with his gift. "It looks like you haven't worked on improving your social skills, not that I mind. Evans tells me that you skipped most of his counselling time with him."

Roman coolly replied to this, "We have a counsellor, who needs counselling more than anyone else." Hearing this, Donovan laughed, enjoying Roman's humour. 

"It's good to see that the time has changed," said Castiel, "Now there's more food and an easy way to camouflage without being under the spot. Dante has truly worked hard to place some of the efficient ones of our kind in different positions outside Veteris."

Roman ordered the girl, "Go get me something to drink for us."

"Go with her," Maximus ordered the girl next to him with a smile. 

Donovan spoke to Roman, "Luciano is upset because of your accusation at Griffin without any solid proof. What makes you think it was him?"

"Instinct," responded Roman. 

When Julie and Roman's eyes met from afar, for a moment, everything froze around them before the world continued. With the way he looked away from her with a look of indifference in them, it felt as if they were back to being strangers. Similar to the first time when they had come face to face. 

After some time, Roman walked past her along with his company, without sparing another look at her or a word from him. 

To Julie, Roman walking by her felt like a breeze, his cologne whispering to remind her of how it felt to have him around her. And though he had been next to her only for a second, she felt something pushed into her hand.

"Who is that?" questioned Melanie, curiously looking at the two older men, who were with the senior year students. 

"Relatives," replied Caleb, which was a standard answer for every human who questioned about the Elders.

When no one was looking, Julie brought her hand forward to notice a folded paper. A letter from Rome. Opening it, she read it— 'Smile.'

And when she read it, it brought a smile to Julie's lips. 

She wondered how and when Roman was able to write it so quickly in the Elder's presence. It was the little things that he did that warmed her heart, like hot chocolate handed to her on a rainy night. 

After spending some more time with her friends in the stalls, Julie decided to meet Ms. Piper, not knowing what help she needed. 

But in truth, the teacher had never called for her.