Chapter 193 - Whispers In The Night

Roman parked his motorcycle to the side and started to walk in the direction of a building. The place was deserted, with no one on the streets. Once he entered the building, he made his way to where Donovan was, and he could hear his father's steady beating heart.

Donovan stood in a spacious room with no furniture in it. The entire building had no furniture, as if it had been abandoned for quite some time now.

"Where is the witch?" questioned Roman, his eyes taking in the sight of the dark painted walls.

"The witch was supposed to be here," said Donovan, with one hand in his pocket, he walked from one side of the window to another. "Oh dear, Camille. You don't have to be shy with me, look whom I brought along with me today," sang the Elder vampire.

Roman's eyes quickly moved to the corner, and he noticed a woman step out from the walls. She had curly black hair, her lips holding a grimace, and her eyes fixed on the two vampires.

"Ah, there you are!" exclaimed Donovan on noticing the witch.

"This is no place for you, Azazel. Leave this place before I hurt you," threatened Camille.

"Now now, there's no need to be on your guard. I am here only to ask you for your help," stated Donovan, and one of the woman's eyes twitched at his words.

Camille raised her hand, and suddenly Donovan fell on his knees, holding his head with both his hands, "You dare to come here and ask me for my help after killing some of my people in the past?" and seeing Roman move his hand, she quickly raised her other hand to have him on his knees. But to her surprise, Roman didn't drop, and instead, he stood there, staring at her. "Why is it not affecting you?" she narrowed her eyes.

Donovan started to chuckle before he stood up as if he didn't get hurt and had only been faking it. He said, "Did you really think that your spell and magic would be enough to hurt me? An Elder vampire?"

"Fucking vampires," cursed Camille, and she was ready to escape from there when the flames from Roman's hand fell on the ground and circled her around, but with one hand movement of hers, the circle disappeared.

Roman said, "We need your help. And it's urgent."

"I have no interest in helping any of the vampires. Every time I help a vampire, it only tells me why I shouldn't help one. Especially one who is involved with this one," she pointed at Donovan.

"How rude to be saying that. I did mention that things could turn dangerous," commented Donovan, but the woman glared at him.

"You used two of my people as a sacrifice. Killing them with your own hands, when they did nothing, but help," the woman looked angry, "Get out of here and stay far away from me."

"Camille, you forget that you still have one last favor to return to me. Isn't that how the truce works between us vampires and witches?" Donovan offered a polite smile.

But Camille started to make her way towards the wall. Roman said, "One of the witches is stuck in the past. We need your help in helping her return to the timeline that she belongs to."

Camille stopped, with her back still facing the vampires. She turned her head and stated, "I don't help any witches or vampires anymore. And no one has ever travelled back and forth in time."

"It is Opaline La Fay's daughter. You must have heard her name," Roman let the witch know, and for a few seconds, silence filled the room.

Camille turned around, meeting Roman's eyes, and said, "I thought that the La Fay's bloodline ended in Willow Creek, unless there was a hidden child."

"It is something like that. It's been quite some hours since she left and hasn't returned. Do you know how to open the portal?" questioned Donovan.

Camille smiled at the question before she shook her head, "No, I don't. Even if I am able to do it, I wouldn't. There are some criteria when it comes to moving between timelines, and if you mess it up, you are as good as stuck there forever. These are all only assumptions, as no one was ever able to do it. The girl has probably been kidnapped or killed. I can conjure up the location spell and see where she is."

"What are we waiting for!" Donovan clapped his hands together.

When they stepped out of the room, the entire place was fully furnished. The place was no more dark but bright with the light coming from the bulbs.

Camille took them near a table, lighting up the candles in a circle before drawing a pentagon. She asked, "Do you have anything that belongs to her? I need it to locate her."

Roman pulled a scarf that belonged to Julie, and he handed it to the witch.

The woman took it in her hand, which stayed in her hand for only five seconds, as the next moment, she held it above the flame, and it disappeared in thin air. The ashes fell on the diagram, and it started to move, leaving a grey line behind it.

"She's in the past of Willow Creek. The year when everything changed for the witches," informed Camille, and she said to Roman, "I don't have the power or ability to open portals. Many of us witches, we have tried to do it time and time again, so that we could change something, but none of us have ever succeeded in it. But there's one thing I can help you with."

"What is that?" questioned Roman, his eyebrows had drawn closer to each other.

"I can pass a message to her, if you want, but that is the most I can try for," offered the witch. "How do you know this person?" she jerked her head towards Donovan.

Roman let a sigh escape from his lips, "He's my father."

Camille looked taken aback, but she didn't comment on it.

"So how does this work? Is it a letter or voice that Julie would be able to hear?" inquired Roman, who wanted to get in touch with Julie, hoping she was alright.

"Let us see what will pass through," said the witch, and Roman wrote a letter before handing it to the woman. The woman, this time, slightly sliced her palm, dripping blood on the pentagon. Closing her eyes, she started to whisper a spell in a low voice, and suddenly the whole room turned breezy, and the candles and the bulbs started to flicker.

Just when the witch was about to drop the letter on the table, it suddenly caught fire and turned to ashes.

"I am guessing that didn't work," commented Donovan, who stood at the side while watching the whole process.

"It must be because I have no ability to open the portal to pass any object. Also, do you have anything else that belongs to the girl?" the witch asked, and Roman stared at the woman for a couple of seconds before he stretched his hand.

"Me."

The witch gave a slight apprehensive nod, and she held his hand. She said,

"This is going to hurt a lot, so stay as still as possible."

Soon the spells started to fill the room, and Roman, who had been holding the woman's hand, felt a sudden pain in his chest. His heart clenched as if it was trying to burst, and he coughed black blood from his mouth. But he didn't give up and didn't move from where he stood.

At the same time, on the other side of the timeline, Julie was sleeping next to her mother.

"Julie!"

Julie's eyes snapped open, hearing the familiar voice of Roman. She quickly sat up on the bed, looking around the place before her eyes fell on her mother's figure, who was sound asleep. Pushing the blanket away from her body, she placed her feet on the floor. Stepping out of the room, she looked around the place before whispering his name, "Rome?"

"Julie, are you there?" she heard his voice, and a bright smile appeared on her lips. Hearing his voice, she realized how much she missed him.

"I am here, Rome. Where are you? Did you come here?" she asked him, looking for him in the dark corridor,

"No, I wasn't able to pass through the timeline. Fuck, it feels so good to hear your voice," came Roman's worried voice.

During the same time, she heard a light whispering from his side, where she heard a woman's voice, "Make sure to speak quickly. The more time you take, the more it will affect your body, similar to the letter that burned itself."

"Who is that?" asked Julie.

"That's Camille. A witch. Are you alright?" he asked her.

Julie nodded her head. Realizing he couldn't see her, she said, "Yes. I am alright and safe. I am with my mother, grandfather, and others in the family. They are so kind, I wish you could meet them."

Roman let a relieved sigh, "I am glad to hear that. How did you end up there?"

"It was because of the Corvin. It did something, and both Mel and I ended up here. I don't know why it did it. Also I think... my grandfather is the Corvin," Julie relayed the information, and she heard a frustrated sigh and curse escape from Roman's lips.

"I fucking knew that little piece of—" Roman paused as if realizing he was cursing her grandfather, "Do you know why you are there?"

"I think I was meant to come here. To let some of the events happen," replied Julie, and she looked around to make sure no one was listening to her. She then said in a hushed voice, "I am not able to open the portal, and without it I cannot return."

"I know that," replied Roman, his lips set themselves in a thin line. "How much time has passed there?"

"It has been two days now," replied Julie. "Don't worry about me, I am safe here."

"I am relieved, make sure you spend your time well there," said Roman and Julie smiled. She knew he was missing her as much as she was missing him. But at the same time, Roman knew how much she had been wanting to meet her mother since she had found out about her. "I will go and find the Corvin and see what is going on."

"Okay. I will—Rome?" Julie heard disturbances, and suddenly everything turned quiet. "Rome?" She called his name, but there was no response. She waited in the corridor for a few minutes before returning to the bed.

Back in the present timeline, the witch had let go of Roman's hand, who had thrown up too much blood. He had both his hands placed on the table. The attempt to hold on to keep the connection had been too much, yet Roman had continued to talk to Julie as if everything was alright. That was until the witch had noticed the severity of his condition, and she broke the connection.

"You are a ripper," murmured Camille, taking a cautious step away from him. "You shouldn't try things like these, unless you want to increase your blood thirst."

"Rome is more in control than the other vampires. Don't worry about him Camille. You did a wonderful job in there," Donovan praised with his constant smile. "At least we know that Julie is alright."

"Not for long," came the woman's reply, and this had Roman raise his head with his bloody mouth. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

"What do you mean?" questioned Roman, his eyes narrowing.

Camille looked at the candles that blew away, and she said, "Though I didn't take a step there, I could sense the gloom. Death is quickly approaching the place, and it must be the time when the humans took control of the lands. You can only hope that she leaves the place sooner than that so that she doesn't get caught up in it."

"But if Julie was pushed to get some of the events to go into play, doesn't that mean she will be fine? The Corvin must have sent her for a reason, isn't it?" questioned Donovan, shrugging his shoulders. He looked at his son and then at the witch.

Camille replied, "There is a reason why we don't meddle with time, Azazel. The possibility of knocking something and letting it crash is often high. Not to mention, you never know if you can return or not."

"Thanks for helping us," Roman offered a slight bow, and he stepped out of the room, getting out of the building.

Donovan looked at Camille and said, "Always a pleasure to work with you. You should hide less, Camille. It would be such a waste to hide a beauty like yourself."

"I rather prefer that you don't come looking for me next time," glared Camille, and Donovan chuckled.

"I should get going now," said Donovan, and when he turned his back from her, he heard the words of the witch,

"It is the same time line, isn't it? When Opaline started to spend more time with you, before she decided to part ways," her words were less of a question and more like a known statement.

Donovan didn't respond to her words but only smiled before he took himself out of the building and noticed Roman had already left.

When Roman reached Veteris, he went straight to Julie's room and found the room to be empty. He then walked into the forest, walking towards the bridge of Willow Creek. But the place was deserted, and the Corvin was nowhere to be found. He gritted his teeth.

"I thought I would find you here," came Maximus' voice from behind. "Did you hear that Dennis escaped from the dungeon?"

"Who helped him?" questioned Roman while staring at the empty space beneath where the bridge had been intact.

"That's a tricky question here... one of the human students mentioned that they saw a shabby looking vampire walk near the dungeon, who came out of nowhere in the middle of the forest. It was near the East side," replied Maximus, and this caught Roman's attention. "The person didn't look like someone from this time."

Roman hadn't got a chance to ask Julie, but from Maximus' words, he could tell that Julie must have sent someone from the past to the present timeline. When they checked the cameras that had been placed in the forest.

historical

"Why wasn't anyone there to catch them?" demanded Roman, looking at the guards who had failed to do their job.

"We were watching the entire time, but nothing ever changed, Mr. Moltenore. There must have been a momentary glitch that didn't come to our notice," explained the guard.

"Do you think it has something to do with sending a person from one timeline to another?" Maximus asked Roman in a low voice. "It is a possibility, isn't it?"

"If we had a working network, we would have come to notice the glitch," remarked Roman.

"Ms. Dante and Mr. Evans had already come by. They went through the cameras earlier but they couldn't find anything either," said one of the guards there.

They stepped away from there and met Dante, and she had gathered the Elders and the staff. She said, "Bad news is that the grounds are clear and they couldn't find Dennis. Which means someone helped him escape. Good news is that, nothing has been damaged, nor has anyone been killed or hurt."

"We should look on the brighter side," said Castiel, but Luciano looked more than irritated.

"Why is our security system bad? First, it was Enoch, then it was this boy, which person in here had the audacity to help him?!" demanded Luciano. He looked at the other Elders and the younger vampires who were the direct apprentice of the Elder vampires before his eyes fell on the staff of Veteris.

Roman, who was listening to them, said, "It was one of Mortimer's men. Something must have happened in the past timeline, and the man ended up here."

Ms. Dante rubbed her forehead, "Do we have any information from Julianne?"

"She's safe," responded Roman, and Ms. Dante nodded her head. "It would be best to prepone the exams, and have everyone take it up at the earliest and send them home. This way we can manage the other things in here, before the rogue vampires or hunters decide to come and attack."

The headmistress frowned, "The students are not prepared, and they won't take it well."

"We only need to prepone it two weeks before the said dates, the projects can be worked on later," stated Roman, "Unless we are planning to use the humans as a shield."

"It does make sense," Castiel voiced out his opinion.

"Borrell get ready with the announcement tomorrow morning," said Donovan, standing tall next to Castiel.

"And what if they ask for a reason?" asked Mr. Borrell.

"Tell them that we plan to start the next term of the year sooner," said Ms. Dante.

Far away from Veteris, Dennis entered a building with the vampire, whom Julie had disappeared a few hours ago. They walked through the dark passage before entering a large hall where the only place where the light came from was from the ceiling that had a circular hole.

A man sat on a throne-like chair, with his legs crossed and his finger tapping on the armrest.

"Dennis, you are alive," said the man, his voice deep. "You don't seem to be in the state I last sent you."

Dennis bowed his head, "I tried to come as soon as I could."

"I was hoping you would be there to guide my brother, Enoch, who was stuck there in Willow Creek," said the man on the throne, where he moved his hand to the side, and Dennis' eyes fell on a man who had shared similar physical features like the one whom he was serving. "And who is this man that you bring, who seems familiar."

"Master Joaquin!" the vampire quickly fell on his knees. "I am Bowen. Your humble servant."

The vampire named Joaquin got up from his seat and stepped down. Making his way to the man as he stared, "I do remember you. Where have you been all this time?"

The servant of the vampire bowed his head and then said, "We went to attack the witch as per your orders, but this witch did something. One moment I was there, and the next moment, I found myself somewhere else."

Joaquin's eyes narrowed in interest, "Who was that witch?"

The man named Bowen, shook his head, "She was new and with this witch Opaline. Brown hair and brown eyes. About this tall, probably her sister."

Joaquin hummed, "Opaline's sister? She didn't have older sisters, it must have been someone else."

Hearing the description, Dennis, who stood there, his eyebrows subtly frowned. Why did it feel like they were talking about Julie?