"She's coming after you." Mrs Elm says. Her hands are crossed over in front of her. She's in her normal white blouse and black trousers. "You need to get away, darling. As soon as you can, or else you'll be the one in the Stellar River."
I notice a diamond ring on her left hand. On her fourth finger and no necklace around her neck.
Her face is smoother and she looks almost relieved.

"Who is? What are you talking about?" I ask and frown.

Her grey eyes turn stale and she tilts her chin up.
She's looking up at something that I don't see. All I see are dark clouds bubbling up a storm.
I look back down and instead of facing Mrs Elm, I'm met with a twisted female figure. The storm brews and the wind sweeps my hair in my face. I can't see anymore and my head is pounding with the repeated voice of Mrs Elm.

"She's after you."

I sit up. My eyes open and I'm back in my bedroom that's only lit by the early sunrise.
"Azra, did you have a bad dream?"
I forgot that Romeo was here. He's just like how he as before I fell asleep, with his hair still pushed back the same way.
I nod and run a hand through my tousled hair.
He sits up and wraps an arm around me.
"It was weird...Mrs Elm, she-"
"The Vedovela."
"No. It wasn't. It was Mrs Elm but not Mrs Elm. Not the Mrs Elm that died but the body of the Vedovela. She looked different, better actually. And she had her wedding ring, no necklace around her neck." I frantically reply.
He frowns and is about so say something but closes his mouth.
"What is it?" I ask.
"Listen, no one really knows but Vedovela's were once humans too. They're cursed to be a parasite for eternity with no identity. That Mrs Elm with her wedding ring must have been the real her."
"So that necklace..."
"Must have held the curse of Vedovela's."
"And the wedding ring?"
He falls silent and his lips fall into a line.
"I guess Mr Elm or whoever he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

The thought of a happy old married couple being torn apart by an unfortunate curse crushes me.

"But that's all a dream." I say and shift in my bed to sit up right.
"Well that's not the part I was getting at. It's just a myth, but apparently when you kill a non human they can appear in your dreams. Sometimes in the form of nightmares."
"But I didn't kill her?"
"Yes but I can't dream. She must have passed it on to you."
"What do you mean, you can't dream?"
"I don't sleep. I don't need to."
My eyes widen. That's why he's always here at night.
"So that means you have just been watching me sleep?" I raise a brow, mainly to cover the embarrassment of my bedhead.
"I'm not Edward Cullen, but he does have a point, it is fascinating."
"When was the last time you slept?" I asked.
He lies back and looks up at me, the early sunrise beams shining through the half open curtains and hitting his deep green eyes that I want to fall in.
"The August of 1623."

My eyes widen and my brows raise.
"Holy sh!t, Romeo." I say. "How old are you?"
"I stopped counting after a while. But I think I'm nearly 400. So you're still into me now or?"
I laugh as he pokes me on the side of my stomach, my worst tickling spot.
"Yeah, I'm into older guys." I say sarcastically and take his hand in mine.
"When's your birthday?"
"I can't remember."
I can tell he's lying.
"Romeo, I may not be able to hear your heartbeat but I know for sure you do remember."
He shrugs and twiddles the end of my hair between his fingers.
"August 9th." He mumbles and I smile.
"I'll remember that."
There's a slight pause before I ask him something that I have been wanting to ask since I found out.
"Romeo, can I ask how it happened?"

He stops twiddling my hair and I take his hands in mine. He lets out a breath and looks to his side before making eye contact with me again.

"I was murdered. By my own parents."

My grip on his hands loosen and I rub the back of his hand with my thumb, caressing his smooth veins.

"My mother faced insanity. Having lost so many children, whilst my father suffered from the plague. One night, they had enough. I heard them kill my three sisters one by one. And then my brothers. Then they came for me. Saved me for last, I suppose that's a compliment in many ways. Or it was because I was the oldest.
But little did they know that, that morning I had discovered something new. Someone new. She was convicted a witch a few days earlier and burned at the stake but she gave me a vile of her own blood that would turn me into one of her. I drank it, not believing anything she said and waited. I waited and waited but nothing happened, until I woke up surrounded by the bodies of my family the next morning. Both my parent there too with dried blood around their throats. I can only assume they did it themselves."

"Oh Romeo." I say and I lay next to him, wrapping my arms around his muscular torso. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that."
He shakes his head and strokes my hair.
"I wouldn't be here if it didn't happen." He says, I can feel the vibrations of his low voice through the palms that lean on his chest.

I look into his eyes. His eyes that have seen hundred of years of life, death, pain and love. He's much more of a person than I had ever thought. He's more than I've ever thought of anyone and yet here he is, before me, literally in my arms where I want him to be.

♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎
authors note:

so this is the second chapter of the day due to complications yesterday, again i apologise for that.

if anything like that happens again the be sure to let me know! spam me or do whatever

but we now have a little insight of Romeo's past! let me know what you think.

thank you for reading, please vote/comment!

-kiim