Letters to Romeo

Julie, who sat next to Roman, stared at him as he explained to her about the things that had happened in his past and how Veteris came to be, "I am sorry about what happened to your family, Rome." She placed her hand on his, which was resting on the bed.

She didn't know how he had pulled himself after what he went through and still remained the way he was. Her heart ached for Roman, who had lost his family in front of his eyes, when he was young, not knowing how much pain he had gone through.

"It's fine now," remarked Roman, exhaling air through his lips. "My friends and I, including Griffin and his friends, had been woken up a year before we were admitted into Veteris."

"That's why you have your graves in the cemetery… because you have been in there," Julie murmured to herself. "Doesn't the long sleep affect a vampire's body without blood?"

"No. During the vampire's long sleep, the body can't function and is pretty much in a dead state, but once they consume blood they regain their lost energy and are back on their feet," explained Roman.

"Are the Elders already awake?" she continued to ask him.

"About that…" Roman's voice trailed, and he finally said, "They are going to be woken up somewhere around this week."

From what Julie heard from Roman, it seemed like Azazel Donovan was attached to Roman. Someone who wanted to control him, but the problem here was that Roman couldn't be controlled. He had lived his life on his terms, without bowing his head to anyone, and it probably intrigued the Elder vampire.

Julie then said, "I think I feel more shocked on finding this used to be your room, that the story of the boy you told me was about you, compared to finding out you and the rest of them are vampires."

Roman raised his hand towards Julie's face, caressing her cheek, as he stared at her.

His thumb brushed her soft skin, and a smile broke through his lips.

"It's good to know that you aren't running away from me, I was worried," stated Roman, the smile left from his face. Julie noticed Roman's eyes had returned to being black again.

In the past, when it came to replying to her prying questions, Roman hadn't lied to her, but he had danced around the answers and words. She doubted anyone else would have been able to figure out that vampires were living between them.

"Do you ever miss being human?" asked Julie, feeling Roman's hand moved down near her neck now.

"Truthfully… not much," a dry chuckle escaped from Roman's lips. He said, "There are a lot of pros than cons when it comes to being a vampire, it isn't too bad."

Julie nodded before a yawn escaped her lips.

"You should get some sleep, Winters. You had a long day and the next days are going to be longer," said Roman.

"Will you stay?" asked Julie, not knowing if Roman was planning to leave once she would fall asleep.

Julie trusted Roman, but that didn't mean she trusted the other people in Veteris who were vampires. In the back of her mind, somewhere, she was scared that someone would come into her room and suck her blood out. The worst part was that if they tried to compel her, it wouldn't work, and they would know!

"Not worried that I might sneak in a bite when you are asleep?" he asked her, as she had earlier held a rosary in her hands as if the vampires were spirits who could be easily driven.

Julie stared at Roman. Worry entered her eyes, and she asked, "Are you hungry?"

Maybe it was time to store coke cans in here along with potato chips in her dorm, thought Julie in her mind. The thought of blood leaving her body made her feel dizzy.

"I am, I used all my energy in finding you and then beating the other vampire," Julie's eyes fell on Roman's lips, where his fangs had appeared. He said to her, "I am famished."

Julie gulped, not knowing if it would be rude not to offer blood to her vampire boyfriend. She wanted to be supportive. After all, from what she had been learning for a few days, she was probably not entirely human.

"Didn't you have dinner?" asked Julie, noticing Roman looking at her neck.

"I didn't find time today, I hope you wouldn't mind if I took a small bite from you, do you? For a very long time, I have been wanting to drink from you. Now that you already know what I am, I don't see a point in hiding my thoughts from you," saying it, Roman turned his body to face Julie.

Julie could feel her heart drumming in her ears, and Roman raised his hand and placed it on her chest, "You can hear it?"

"Very clearly since the time we met," remarked Roman, and he then said, "Why don't you close your eyes, it will feel less painful."

"B-but I need to mentally prepare myself for it," stuttered Julie, wide awake now at the thought that Roman was going to suck her blood. "How good are you at controlling your thirst?"

Roman leaned forward, bringing his face right in front of her face, and he said, "I think I will skip the question instead of answering it."

That meant he wasn't good at it!

Before he could move closer, Julie placed her hand on Roman's lips. She gently pushed his head back so that she could look into his eyes. She then asked, "There is something I want to know… Apart from that rogue vampire, did you kill anyone else?"

"I have blood on my hands. A lot. The reason I asked you to not hate me was this, not because I am a vampire," Roman was serious when he said it, his unwavering gaze looking at her. He then caught her hand to pull it down. "Close your eyes, Winters. Would you prefer I drink from other girls?"

His words provoked a memory in Julie's mind, and she went 'Ah…' in realization. Was that what he used to do in the library? That all this time, he wasn't making out with those girls and was instead drinking blood from them?

"I have another question," said Julie, and Roman stared at her.

"What is it?" Roman's words were patient with her.

"Did you like, you know, drink blood from others since the time we have been together…" her voice trailed.

"I wanted to but it has been a while since I took a bite from any person," Roman's lips twisted as he said, "If I drank from the girls I have been drinking from the past, it would create unnecessary misunderstanding and I didn't want to do that. Of course, there are boys but the last thing I need is you confusing my sexual orientation. You really made me run, where I had to depend on canned blood. Imagine seeing your favourite food walking in front or around you twenty-four seven."

At his words, Julie's thought went to imagining french fries walking around her. Well… if he was saying like this, it was hard to argue, she thought in her mind.

Roman always had the 'coke' in his hand and remembered the amount of cans he drank. But it was only him, who drank that way, while his friends seemed to have better control when consuming blood.

Julie closed her eyes, her face scrunched, and she said, "Be quick, okay."

She wondered if the bite would be like receiving an injection. The only difference was that this time, it would be a double prick on her skin. Nervous, she said, "I am not good with injections. I usually close my eyes when the nurse or doctor is about to prick it into my skin, because just the sight feels scary." Goosebumps started to rise on her skin.

She waited for a few seconds, but feeling no prick, she opened one of her eyes while continuing to squint the other eye. Roman wasn't sitting in front of her anymore.

When Julie turned to her left, she noticed Roman lying on the bed, on his back. He turned his head in her direction and said, "Get in the bed, Winters."

Julie wondered if Roman had only tried to tease her and had not meant to take a bite from her. Or if he wanted to take his time with it before sinking his fangs into her. She got into the bed, lying down next to him and on the side of her body, watching him. Roman turned to face her too, where both of them stared into each other's eyes while keeping their hands to themselves.

"Rome," Julie whispered. "What kind of people are the Elders?"

"Conceited, cunning, overbearing. Almost ninety percent of the vampires aren't looking forward to seeing them wake up," said Roman, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"If that is so, why not leave them to sleep for a little longer?" asked Julie. Her hand reached out to the rings that hung in his chain, playing with it while feeling the metal's coldness.

Hearing her words, Roman laughed, and Julie raised her eyebrows, "No?"

"All of us would have loved to do that, but the ones who are in charge right now like Dante, Borrell, Evans. They were ordered by the Elders to wake them up. The hunters are going to catch the wind of this place one day, and they will be needed here. For any decision making. I believe somewhere even Dante isn't looking forward to it either, and she's doing it only out of responsibilities," explained Roman. Leaning forward, he pressed his lips tenderly on her forehead. "Let's not talk about them. What are your plans for tomorrow?"

A thoughtful expression appeared on Julie's face, and she nodded, "To watch your football match and cheer you. Walk around the campus. My friends and I previously planned to attend the horror house that is going to be open tomorrow. Do you want to come?"

"What time have you planned to go and visit it?"

"Probably around three in the noon? Reese has to go help one of the professors, so we are planning to wait for her and then go together," replied Julie while watching him.

"Sounds fun," replied Roman, his lips twitching, and he then said, "You might probably see more horror in the mansion, compared to what the others see because of what it has to offer. Will you be alright?"

Julie nodded her head, "I don't know when the ability comes and goes. And you will be there with me." At the same thought, Julie realized how this manor that was turned into a girls Dormitorium probably reminded Roman of his family's death. She asked, "If this manor used to belong to your father, does it mean you own this place now?"

Before Roman could respond to her, someone knocked on Julie's dorm door.

Julie turned startled on hearing the sharp knocks, and her heart almost leapt out of her throat. She looked at Roman and then got up to look at the door. Was it the warden of the Dormitorium?

Pushing himself from the bed, Roman got down from it and made his way towards the door. He opened the locks before turning the knob of the door and opening it. When Julie tried to take a look at what stood in front of the dorm at this hour, she noticed it was Maximus.

Maximus looked serious, and he said to Roman, "We need to go to the restricted side of the forest."

Roman's eyes narrowed, and he walked towards the window. Pushing the curtain away, he looked at the sky that had the moon with a slight tinge of redness around it. They had woken up, he thought in his mind.

Roman heard his friend inform him, "He's asking for you. Donovan."