Letters to Romeo.

Chapter 248 - Forbidden Door

Music Recommendation: Catwoman- Michael Giacchino

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"I will make sure what happened to mother doesn't happen to me," responded Julie, while she pushed the chairs and tables to a corner to make space for her to perform the spell. She then pulled out the potions and drew circles and lines inside them.

"I won't die," she assured him.

"That's what everyone thinks about. But they slowly succumb to it," remarked Cillian, who seemed agitated by the thought of her helping him. "Why won't you let it be? I have lived enough, while you have a whole life ahead of you."

Julie, who was sitting and finishing the diagram according to the book, which needed symbols to be written in it, she looked up at the Corvin, who appeared weak. She said, "I know nothing will happen to me. It must be the faith I have in people around me, knowing they won't let any harm come to me."

"But you are the only one here. You are just like your mother, she used to be reckless too when she was your age," the Corvin spoke in a slightly frustrated voice, which only came out as a growl. He then said, "Go back to your Dormitorium. Stay safe. Tapping into dark magic brings bad luck, as beautiful it appears in the beginning, it slowly starts to corrupt you. Look at the first witch, she couldn't keep her son alive…"

Julie wondered if Cillian was talking about the same person, whom Sullivan had mentioned a while ago.

"You… know about that story?" asked Julie, and the Corvin turned his head to look ahead of him.

"We have heard whispers of horror about it. It was no folklore…" his raspy voice turned intense in the silence they sat in. "There are a lot of versions of it. And one of the versions says she brought her son back to life, but he came back as a monster. Not able to bear what she did to him, she tried to fix it, but the damage had been done, and she ended up killing her son herself…"

Upon hearing this, Julie turned speechless for a few seconds. All she could hear was the sound of the crackling fire in the lantern as if it was trying not to extinguish itself.

"What happened after that?" asked Julie softly.

"We don't know. She probably killed herself over the madness of what happened," replied Cillian.

Julie knew she was being warned, but she had her mother's potions, and she had people to protect her. Two people to guide her and pull her out of any possible darkness that could touch her.

While Julie was working on the markings, making sure she got all of them, he watched her as if he was watching her for the last few minutes before he would pass through the other side of the door. He noticed the piece of her hair that hovered in front of her eyes, and her face deep in concentration and she looked fearless.

Julie had just turned to the side, when she noticed the Corvin looking at her. She heard him ask her, "Are you happy, Julianne?" for a moment, she almost felt as if his human voice had spoken to her, remembering his voice.

"I think I am… Why do you ask?" asked Julie, and the Corvin shook his head. "Don't be sad, Cillian. I will make sure you are back to your usual self."

"As a Corvin… I don't have many emotions…" his voice trailed. "I don't have many regrets. Just a handful."

"Is there anything I can do? I can try to help you with it," her heart was growing heavier because of their subject of conversation.

Cillian took a couple of seconds, worrying Julie if he passed away already before he finally raised his hand towards her and said, "Will you come hold my hand for sometime."

Julie wondered if Cillian was lying about not having emotions and was instead feeling lonely. She gave him a nod. Coming to sit next to him, she held his wooden hand carefully so that it didn't break under pressure.

"Do you miss people from before?" asked Julie.

"Not much. After a while you get used to it," replied Cillian, and she felt the twig-like fingers grow longer before trying to enclasp her hand in his. "There is something I wanted to tell you... for a while now."

Julie stared into his hollow eyes of his bird face, "What is it?"

"Apart from my family and yours, whom I knew, I always knew you would one day..." he paused for a moment, before continuing, "... be special to me. And maybe in another life, we meet again, in a better settings."

Julie blinked, not knowing how to respond to his words. She felt him loosen his hand around hers and bring it to her face. She didn't know Cillian had felt that way...

Cillian dropped his hand, looking away and the same time Sullivan returned to the house.

"This should be it. Let me prepare the fire," Sullivan walked towards the circle that Julie had made, his eyes looking at the marking symbols. Once everything was prepared, he said, "Before we begin, remember that the door from the other side will appear. It is the door where the souls have crossed over, dead ones. Good bad. Mostly bad that will come after you so steer clear of them, so you need to know to evade them, while you bring Cillian's self back. Do you still think you will be able to make it?"

Earlier, when she was going through the spells, and the steps, at the mention of the 'door', Julie had believed that the door meant the house door, which would need to be opened and closed, and not a special door.

She heard another crack, and this time, Cillian's bird-like head started to crack. She replied, "Yes."

"I am going to bring you towards the centre," Sullivan informed the Corvin before pulling the creature's body as carefully as he could towards the centre.

With everything prepared, Julie took a deep breath before reciting the spells. When she poured the potion at the centre, the liquid moved towards the lines that she had drawn, moving from one end to another, and soon the symbols there started to glow.

"A witch's and a vampire's blood," reminded the vampire, and he used his nail to draw out blood from his palm.

Julie was the next one, and she winced when Sullivan used a knife to cut the palm of her hand and drops of blood fell on the circle. They heard a noise outside the house, and both Julie and Sullivan turned their heads in the direction of the window.

Even though Sullivan was aware of the things Lady Opaline had used, he wasn't there the day the lady had performed the dark magic. She had sent him and her family away without anyone's knowledge before opening the forbidden door. And as happy as she was to see Knox, Sullivan had noticed the way she looked like she had fought with people for her life.

Right now, the wind outside the house had increased in its velocity. The trees swayed, along with the other weaker moved in the direction of the wind.

When Julie finished the incantation, black fumes appeared from the marking on the ground, and they heard the wailing, sobbing, and the sound of people crying. And then she saw it. In front of her stood a new black door with no walls, but it had a doorknob.

"That must be it," murmured Sullivan Evans, his eyes looking at the door with intrigue while also staying close to Julie so that he was there if something went wrong. When Lady Opaline La Fay had sent him to the future, it was with the sole purpose of him protecting her daughter, and Sullivan would do everything in his position to take care of Julianne Winters.

Julie stared at the door, and it slowly moved before opening itself. She then stood up and stepped right in there. She walked carefully in the darkness, using the spell to locate Cillian's body that had passed through and had been here for years now. With Sullivan being a vampire, the door didn't let her enter. Following the trail, she quickly walked, half walking and half running, so she didn't waste any time.

Time was ticking like the sand in the hourglass, where there was only a little more sand left to fall.