Chapter 123 - What Are You Hiding?

The vehicle continued to burn, leaving smoke to escape into the air. Simon said, "I don't think they are of any use if they are dead." 

"They are morms and vampires, they will be fine," Roman responded while making his way towards the burning vehicle, which had toppled after being engulfed by the fire, where the fire had now extinguished itself. 

Walking to one side of the toppled vehicle, Roman pulled out the badgered door before pulling out the morm from there. He dragged Dennis from his seat, and Dennis glared at Roman while blood dripped down from his head. 

Roman said, "Did you think I would let you escape right in front of me?" 

"Do you think capturing me will give you anything?" 

"Sure," responded Roman, and he raised his hand before saying, "Night night, Mcoy," and the fist flew right into Dennis' face, knocking him out. 

Simon walked to the other side of the vehicle while a part of his arm continued to produce smoke like Roman's chest, where the silver bullet had been shot. Opening the door, he pulled the person and checked him. He then said, "This one's dead.." 

"Good," replied Roman with a dull voice while watching Dennis, who laid on the ground. 

"The morms are often a hassle," said Simon, and he took a look at his wound before staring at Dennis. "They behave like humans, eat like humans while their intake of blood is low, making it difficult for the vampires to identify them. Who would have thought that this one would turn into a morm," he chuckled at the end of his sentence while looking at Dennis. 

"Let us get this cleaned up before we have any possible people passing through this place," said Roman. Simon pulled the bodies back into the forest by stepping back into the property that belonged to Veteris. Roman pushed the vehicle to the other side, hiding it away from immediate sight so that it could be taken care of by one of the guards of Veteris.

Once the bodies were taken back to the dungeon, along with Dennis, the Elders and the other staff of Veteris came to the dungeon to look at the intruder who had caused a commotion a few weeks ago. 

"I thought the management made a thorough check of the students background before admitting them in," commented Luciano, taking lead in the matter. The Elder stared at the slightly burned people. Dennis was put in the cell as he was still breathing. Luciano turned to look at Ms. Dante in question, "Looks like you aren't as good as you think when it comes to managing Veteris, Eloise."

"He joined the university during his freshman year like any other human. He's been having excellent high grades, which gave less reason to suspect him," replied Ms. Dante. 

"This is why you can't count on students who have higher grades," remarked Luciano. "You never know who turns their back, when."

"Funny how it was the student of Veteris who found and brought the culprit," Donovan responded to Luciano's comment. He stepped forward to take a look at the two dead bodies and said, "Maybe if it was some other students, I would have agreed, Luciano. Good job, Rome," the Elder vampire praised Roman, whereas Roman was barely interested in receiving praise.

Castiel, having heard enough of the two elders trying to show their superiority in the room, asked the headmistress, "What do we know about this Dennis boy?" 

"That he has human parents, and comes from a struggling family," replied Ms. Dante. 

"Makes up for a good sob story," commented Donovan, his eyes turned serious while looking at Dennis in the cell. "Don't think I have ever seen him before."

"That's alright, isn't it. Thankfully your beloved boy hasn't killed him and gave a last thought to keep him alive," stated Luciano. 

"No need to be salty about it, Luciano," Donovan turned to look at Roman and asked, "Is that the right usage?" 

The other three Elders looked confused by the word, while the other people in the dungeon didn't know if this was the time to be doing this when there was something more important to be dealt with. 

One corner of Roman's lips subtly pulled up while he replied in his nonchalant voice, "Yes."

Castiel said, "What's important is that we have finally caught the culprit," and he offered Roman a nod of appreciation, and Roman accepted it with a slight bow. "The boy will regain his consciousness soon and let us leave it to Evans to get the information out of him."

"With pleasure," Mr. Evans offered a bow, where the smile on his lips lit up like a bulb receiving a high voltage of electricity. 

Ms. Dante questioned Roman with curious eyes, "How did you find out that it was him?" 

With the question asked, Simon suddenly turned busy looking at the wound on his arm, which continued to sizzle as he or Roman didn't find time to pull it out. This way, no one was going to be asking him questions he didn't want to answer, thought Simon. 

Most of the people's eyes fell on Roman.  Even though Donovan believed in Roman's intelligence, at the same time, he was curious. Roman's eyes met his maker's curious eyes looking at him whilst waiting to hear about it. 

"Instinct." 

Roman's answer was nothing short of the way he often spoke. Though some took his word, some in the room had their doubts, which included Donovan. He didn't want to have their focus on Julie because something told him not to. 

"I will have these people's pictures run through the information desk and see what it leads to," Ms. Dante told the Elders, and she stepped out of the dungeon while being followed by Mr. Borrell. 

"What's the matter, Remy?" questioned Castiel, seeing the other Elder vampire staring at the boy, who was inside the cell. 

Remy felt like he had seen the boy somewhere before, but he didn't remember where. It was as if he knew the answer, which was close to his reach, but at the same time, he couldn't figure it out. "Nothing," said the Elder.

On the other hand, Luciano's eyes were sending quiet daggers at not one but two people. One to Elder Donovan, and the other directed at Griffin for his incompetence. 

Griffin looked at the cell, not knowing when this even happened. He had been hovering around the girl's Dormitorium before heading to the lunchroom, planning to get his lackeys to search. Which was why he didn't know when Roman had disappeared from the lunchroom and caught Dennis escaping. 

After Castiel finished speaking to Remy about something, Castiel turned around and said, "Why don't you boys go get your wounds tended? We'll take it from here," he offered them a polite smile. 

Roman stepped out of the dungeon with Simon and Maximus, and Griffin, too, left the place, not wanting to take the wrath of his Elder tonight. Castiel then looked at Mr. Evans, who was in the dungeon with them.

"I will be right outside," said the counsellor, who had been given the job to grill and torture the morm for the truth, which he could barely wait. "Let me fix these," said Mr. Evans politely and followed the guards, who carried the two men who were brought in by Roman.

With just the Elders, and the unconscious boy in the cell, Donovan questioned, "What's the matter, Castiel? Something wrong?" he raised his thick eyebrows at the other Elder. 

Castiel held a grim expression on his face, and he nodded, "Luciano and I found something on the East side of the forest."

"Which area?" questioned Donovan.

"The one near where Willow Creek used to be," replied Castiel, and hearing the name, the Elders' eyes narrowed. 

"What about it?" questioned Donovan, his head slightly tilting to the side. 

Castiel turned to look at Luciano, and the blonde Elder raised his chin, "Griffin mentioned to me that while he was in here, he saw something that we believed to have stopped existing." 

"People with common sense?" asked Donovan, and Luciano's eyes narrowed. "I don't like suspense. What is it?" 

"Corvin," revealed Luciano. 

"The Corvins of the witches?" Remy tried to make sure, as he hadn't accompanied the two Elders to the forest earlier. 

Castiel nodded his head, "Yes, the very same creature. Isn't it a known fact that the Corvins originated from Willow Creek before scattering to the other lands? I found this," he put his hand in his pocket and brought the feather out to show them. "Feather of a raven. Not any kind. If you look closely at the barb and the area of the after feather, you will see the red vein like line. It's very light, but visible."

Donovan took the feather from Castiel's hand, bringing it in front of his face, and his eyes narrowed. He said, "It can be an old feather that was washed back to that place. The dirt on it makes it evident," he hummed. 

"The smell around the place where Willow Creek was is as strong as when the town existed. We all know that a Corvin's life first starts with a raven before they grow larger in size and shed the feathers before they take their full form," remarked Luciano. "It makes me wonder if any witch came by which is why the smell of the town lingers in there."

"Centuries back, Opaline cursed the people as well as the town, to have them disappear and never appear. What makes you think that it showed up?" questioned Remy with a frown on his face, "It's impossible for something like that to happen out of the blue." 

While the three Elders were busy discussing, Donovan continued staring at the feather that he held his hand. 

"Griffin is sure about it," stated Luciano, with a grim expression on his face. 

"Are you certain that it is what Griffin saw?" Donovan's eyes turned to look at the blonde vampire. "Because Opaline died along with her family members. All children of hers were burnt or beheaded. Unless she sent one of her children's offspring away from there without anyone's knowledge and we now have a descendant of the witch Opaline La Fay."

"Do we have any information on that?" asked Castiel, a deep frown on his forehead.

"Nothing. Everything that was there, it was in Willow Creek, which was hidden," replied Luciano. Remy turned his head to where Dennis laid in the cell. He made his way towards the cell. Opening the cell's gate, he stepped inside. 

Walking towards the morm, Remy knelt next to Dennis and then placed his hand on the morm's head. 

"He's not recently turned," murmured the Elder. 

Elder Remy moved his hand over Dennis' forehead, trying to find more information. The vampire had the ability to know when a person was turned from being a human to a vampire or a morm. "It's before the time we went to rest in the caskets in the chambers." 

"So he's obviously not with the hunters, unless they have their little organization to bring us down and threaten us," stated Donovan, and he looked at the other Elders, "Question is, who in here pissed who in the past, that now we are having this silly game being played."

"Out of us four, you are the most probable person to do that. I think you should try to remember it," remarked Luciano and Donovan clicked his tongue. 

"Let me think," hummed Donovan. 

Castiel stepped away from Luciano and Donovan, and he stepped into the cell, coming to stand behind Remy. He asked, "Can you find out who turned him?" 

"An ordinary vampire," replied Remy. Standing up, he turned to face others and said, "It's easier to find vampires than morms. It would be better to get Dante check every student's profile, just to be sure. Or I can do that myself on the count of morms we have in Veteris." 

"But before that, what are we going to do with Willow Creek?" questioned Luciano. 

"The town doesn't exist and even if Griffin did have a slight glimpse of the Corvin, we cannot do much unless we come across one ourselves," Castiel looked at the feather that Donovan held. "If the Corvin showed up here, it will show up again. Creatures like that don't leave their roots." 

The other Elder vampires agreed on this while wondering about the possible Corvin's existence, on when they would catch sight of it. 

Far away from the dungeon and the forest, Julie was in her dorm in the girl's Dormitorium, standing in front of the Corvin. 

"Did your powers return?" asked Julie, looking at it with a slight anxious look as she hadn't heard from Roman since she had left the lunchroom. She had waited for Simon to return before coming straight to the dorm. 

The Corvin shook its head, 'No.'

A sigh escaped from Julie's lips, and she wondered what to do. The timing around them was far too perfect, where every problem had aligned itself to head towards her. She wanted a break to breathe and spend time studying or maybe spend time with Roman like they normally used to do in the library. She missed it. 

"By the way, before we met near Willow Creek, did you come by my dorm?" questioned Julie, taking a seat on the chair while the creature sat on the bed. 

The Corvin nodded its wooden head, and Julie nodded too. So it wasn't a dream after all

. "Were you always around? I mean you did push my application in here," said Julie. The creature sat like a statue except for its feet that looked like it was slowly growing and then reduced the length. 

'Sometimes, to fulfill promise.'

"What did you and my mother speak about when you met?" inquired Julie, pulling her feet to place her heels on the edge of the chair while she hugged her legs with her arms. "What kind of abilities did she have?"

But all Julie received was silence before the creature said, 'Great witch. Put herself forward to save. Loved you.'

Somewhere, Julie felt as if the Corvin was hiding something from her. She asked directly, "What are you hiding from me?" 

'Cannot speak. Forgive me,' the Corvin said quickly, making Julie pursed her lips. She wondered how this master and servant bond worked between a witch and the Corvin. 'Some things not to be touched. Known. Else causes imbalance.'

"Okay, I won't. But if I come close to the truth, will you tell me then?" asked Julie, her brown eyes looking at the hollow eyes of the raven's skull. "Okay?" 

'Okay.'

"Why don't you take a seat here so that no one can see you?" asked Julie, getting up from the chair and placing it in the corner. The Corvin did as it was told, while she opened the window and took a peek outside to see if she could hear any commotion, even though she had the ability to hear like the humans. 

Once she was done peeking outside, she pulled the window close and drew the curtain to cover it. She wondered when she would hear from Roman. She wanted to go to the forest to check if he was still there or if he had caught up with Dennis, that was if Dennis was the culprit. 

But she had the Corvin to look after. 

'You worry,' came the raspy voice of the Corvin, who was looking at Julie. 

"I am," confessed Julie. "Do you ever sleep?" 

'No.'

"Maybe I can introduce you to something called a movie and we can have our own night out in the dorm," proposed Julie, trying to look at the positive side. 

At least she knew no one would harm her once she would be sound asleep. She looked at her hand and said, "I think I saw the stone that belongs to the witch. The Elder had it on his finger. Did you see it?" 

'Yes. Red ruby,' replied the Corvin. 

"Do you know what ability it holds? I thought the stones had to be liquified and drunk by the vampires, to be able to use its ability," commented Julie from what she knew. 

'Possible without drink,' replied the Corvin, and Julie turned her body to face it. The creature said, 'Red ruby to travel.'

"Travel?" questioned Julie, before her eyes widened and she asked, "Do you mean to say that he can apparate like you?"

'Yes. Apparate,' the creature said as if it was a new word and trying to remember it.

That was a very tricky ability, and it made her worried. Julie questioned, "So he can travel anywhere he wants? Does that mean he can go anywhere at any time?"

The creature stared at her before answering, 'Yes.'

"Holy crap, this is not good," Julie started to freak out. She ran her hand through her hair while trying to figure out what to do. 

'Won't come here now,' said the creature and Julie turned to look at it with her furrowed eyebrows. 'Stones inactive, take time to work as awake now.'

"And how long does it take for it to be activated?" asked Julie. 

'A week.'

"Okay. I think we can work with that," said Julie. Though it would be funny if Donovan appeared in the dorm while both she and the Corvin were enjoying a book. Imagine that, thought Julie in her mind. The last thing she needed was Donovan meeting the Corvin. "Is there a way to avoid—"

'Master,' the Corvin interrupted Julie, 'Stones were for witches. Cannot apparate to you.'

"Thank you for telling me before I fainted with anxiety," Julie thanked the Corvin while the Corvin brought its stem-like hand to scratch the back of its head. 

Julie opened her mouth to speak about something, and the Corvin suddenly disappeared from one spot to another inside the dorm, as if it was able to apparate, and a smile appeared on her lips. "Looks like you only needed some rest," she said to it. "Maybe you should stay here a bit longer so that we are sure that you won't end up getting caught by someone on your way. Where will you go?"

'Near Willow Creek.'

She nodded her head and said, "Okay. Feel free to stay here if you want."

The next second, the Corvin disappeared from her sight without speaking another word, and Julie looked around inside her dorm, a small sigh escaped from her lips. At least one of the problems was fixed, thought Julie in her mind. 

Julie turned to look at the clock, seeing it was nearing ten o'clock. Having an hour more before the curfew would turn effective for all the students of Veteris, she wore her sweater and picked up the keys of the dorm. Stepping out, she locked the dorm before heading out of the Dormitorium.

Though Julie wanted to check on Roman, she didn't know where exactly to look for him now. 

He could be in the forest, or he could be at the dungeon, or he could be elsewhere. She bit her lip in thought while trying to figure out which way to go. At the same time, she saw one of Roman's friends walking from the other side, heading towards the next girl's Dormitorium, which was for vampiress. 

Julie wondered if she should ask Victoria, but she seemed busy, talking to another girl without looking at her. The two girls walked past her, and Julie decided to check the lunchroom when she heard Victoria call her.

"Julianne."

Startled, Julie turned to meet the girl's eyes, who walked towards her. "If you are looking for Rome, I advise you not to. You have already caused enough problems for him," said the vampiress, who had found out somehow on the deal between Roman and Donovan. "If you are planning to see him now, he's busy."

Julie pursed her lips, but she asked, "Do you know where he is now?" ignoring Victoria's words, who stared at her. 

"He's hurt and needs to rest," said Victoria, and hearing this, Julie frowned. 

"Infirmary?" 

"I don't think you will be able to see him now," said Victoria, because the last few minutes she had been there, Isolde had closed the door with Simon and Roman inside.

Julie didn't wait, and she ran towards the infirmary while the vampiress clicked her tongue, "Humans," she muttered under her breath, knowing she could have withheld the information if she wanted to. 

As Victoria didn't look worried, Julie concluded that Roman wasn't severely injured. Her feet moved on the ground, and her heart pounding in her chest. She couldn't help but come up with possible scenarios of what might have happened in the time when she had last seen him for him to visit the infirmary. 

When she reached the infirmary, the corridor was empty, with a dim light lit in the ceiling. The corridor looked deserted. She tried to take a peek into the room when she caught Olivia stepping out of one of the rooms. 

"Olivia!" Julie called the girl, and it had the vampiress turn, who was walking about to walk on the opposite side. 

Olivia turned mildly surprised by Julie's presence at this hour in the infirmary building. "Julianne," greeted the vampiress with a small, polite smile. "Are you looking for Doctor Isolde? She's busy with a case. Is there anything I can help you with?"

With the way Olivia looked at her, Julie could tell that the vampiress was trying to divert her attention.

"I heard Rome was hurt and came to see him," said Julie, noticing Olivia's blue eyes that didn't have a hint of red in it. 

Olivia was a little torn in lying to Julie because Roman had warned them not to compel her so that she could continue living without being manipulated. 

"Yes, Rome is hurt, but there's nothing to worry about," Olivia offered Julie a smile. "But he does need rest tonight as said by Doctor Isolde."

Julie's hand clenched. Vampires had a higher tolerance level when it came to pain and also when it came to healing. She wondered how hurt he was that he wasn't going to leave the infirmary tonight or now. 

"Will it be alright if I see him before I leave?" asked Julie. 

Before Olivia could say something, Simon appeared out of one of the rooms, "Liv, Isolde is calling you."

Olivia offered Julie a smile before walking away from there. 

Julie stood there, watching Olivia's back, and she saw Simon walking from the other side. Simon said to her, "He's hurt below his shoulder, and is currently in the restricted room, which comes to the left after the end of the corridor."

Did that mean no visitors?

Simon's green eyes watching her curiously with a smile on his lips. "I guess you can take a peek. Isolde is busy." He then offered her a can of coke, "For you. I should go back to the room before I am caught lurking in here," and he disappeared into one of the rooms in the corridor.