Chapter 2

SHADE UNIVERSITY:

  At noon, the sun was was buried off in the rainy dark clouds, just as students had just rounded up their last lecture of the day, precisely the archaeologists. Emma making for her car spotted Julian standing and staring directly at her from quite a distance, probably been standing there for a while. She however seemed to get the familiarity of the face of an unknown young man who helped with her assignment, couldn't forget such a face. And as well, remembering their last meeting went short without a proper goodbye, she decided to approach him and take it from whence they stopped.

  "Hey Miss," Julian said as he also walked towards her to meet at a certain point.

  "Hey weirdo," she smiled at him. "You're unbelievable."

  "Sorry I just blazed the last time."

  "You know," she raised jingling her keys on her finger. "It's not about you leaving suddenly, but how fast you left. You just vanished into thin air."

  He smiled lightly, then moved a bit closer to her and slightly bent to her ears and whispered, "I'm fast. Like super fast."

  She gave him a strange look for a while, having that look on her face like her curiosity and mystery has been quenched, like she actually took his words for it. But of course, it was all deadpan looks.

  "You know what?" She finally spoke. "I don't wanna know, let's just assume you hid in one of those trees there or anywhere around, which is possible cos you're a forest boy and know your ways."

  He played along with her decision and took a step back to recede the closeness between them. 

  Suddenly, Audrey from nowhere showed up looking excited but mellowed as she finally got to the two.

  "Emma, didn't you see the sky?" Audrey asked. "Skies are dark is time for rain."

  "Hey," Julian waved. 

  "Oh Hey! So sorry I didn't well notice," Audrey explained.

  "You're ridiculous Audrey," Emma said.

  Audrey offered a handshake to Julian and back he shook her, but the sudden look expressed on his face was strange as they still were holding hands. Nevertheless he stared tensely at her but she didn't comprehend the look but kept smiling.

  "Hello!" Emma snapped her fingers across his face and he instantly released Audrey's hand.

  "Do you know her from somewhere?" Emma further asked.

  "No, just stunned by her beauty," he confessed regaining full consciousness.

  "Awn. . ." Audrey exclaimed happily. "Thank you so much."

  "Great, so you always do that around beautiful ladies or just her?" Emma asked leaving a pointed finger at Audrey beside her.

  He shrugged his shoulders in acceptance and briefly expressed a side smile.

  "Oka. . .y, so does it only happens when you shake hands or a mere touch too."

  At this juncture he deemed where she was heading to and what point she was echoing at, especially when she made the clear difference of 'handshake' and 'touch'. He instantly remembered as he only touched her when they met in the forest and not handshook, and him not looking stunned at her the very same way he just did at Audrey, which would obviously describe her pretty, or not as pretty as Audrey all the same, and of course, she felt slightly bad by it. But coming to this knowledge, he immediately sought to reshapen things and even her thought of his actions.

  "I mean, the ones I touch but don't reveal instantly means are more, so reserved for a better occasion."

  Emma grinned which suggested she was slightly impressed and relieved by it.

  "Emma Potter," a sudden voice from beside them said. 

  They all turned and there was another young man about the age of Julian, but a bit more older than him, standing in a long black coat and all other attire in black as well. His hands were stuck in the coat's pockets and he seemed to be the sudden speaker.

  The three all turned to the mystery man, staring at him mysteriously for a while, speechless and confused.

  "The rumor of your beauty is beyond what I've imagined," he said drawing even nearer to Emma as she stood still, staring with perplexity . 

  "I say, the rumors had underestimated the quality of your personality," he bowed spreading wide his arms beside.

  Further, he gently reached and got a hold of her hand and kissed the top of it like a true gentleman. This however caused a stimulant of joy in her but still kept her smile contained, cautious of giving a radiant expression to an anonymous stranger.

  "Who are you?" She asked softly.

  "Oh! Forgive my ignorance Miss Emma. Let me introduce myself," he released her hand and took a quick step back. "My name is William Castle, an. . ."

  "Casper," Julian immediately interjected. "William Casper."

  William slightly gave him a strange look with bit of a grimace, then loosened up and turned back to her. 

 "As he said, William Casper," William proceeded.

  "Wait, you two are brothers?" She alarmingly asked.

  "Yes, unfortunately we are," Julian replied with dejection.

  "He's my kid bro actually," William added. 

  "So what's up with Castle and Casper mix up thing?" She inquired further.

  "We are so fond of his works," Julian explained. "We read a lot about him and sometimes wish we were actually his children."

  "The man was a true visionary, a beacon to we are, thus we grew acquitted to him," William added massaging Julian's shoulder with one hand.

  "Wow! You brothers are so different," Audrey said suddenly.

  "How?" The two brothers in one voice.

  "Julian here seem to be an introvert while Willie here is totally the opposite, an extrovert," Audrey explained on.

  "You made mention of rumors," Emma raised. "From whom did they emerge from?"

  "You know," William took her hand. "Julian here have been buzzing my ears with your good looks and incredible beauty. And as a kid that he is, I didn't take his words for it till I saw you a while ago. Still, he misinterpreted cos you're way more than his tongue could describe. As such, he's jus. . ."

  "That's enough William," Julian muffled him. "You're just repeating yourself over."

  Emma was impressed by it and couldn't restrain the sound of her way before laughter caught up in her cheeks. 

  "Emma, I'll keep my books in your car before it gets soak," Audrey suggested and headed for the car.

  "William, your body is cold, why?" Emma asked breaking down her humorous state.

  The two brothers shared a Worrisome look at each other in silence for a while.

  "Well. . ." William opened up. "I mostly stay indoors and the cool weather of the forest I roam in all day. I hate heat, avoids at much as possible."

  "He gets that alot," Julian averred. "Me I like heat and always roaming about that's why I'm not as cold as he is."

  "Alright, nice meeting you William, both of you."

Instantly walking away she stopped, turned and added. "And Julian, be more like your brother, compliment a beautiful lady when you see one, else you might never get another chance."

  She finally got in her car and drove away, while the brothers froze and watched anxiously as the car receded, mostly, Julian couldn't get enough of the sight. 

  "I can compel her for you, you know," William suggested.

  "What the hell were you thinking showing up here like this, were you waiting for the sun to go down for this?" Julian brashly complained. 

  "Relax bro, I was just doing you a favour."

  "How do you know about her even?"

  "I was in the forest as well the day you you told her about father."

  "The sun was up, there's no way you were that close to use your heighten hearing."

  "Says who?" William walked further and brushed through him. "The tomb in the forest, I was there and I heard everything."

  Julian went after him heading towards the nearest side of the woods. 

  "Well, next time I'll be needing privacy," Julian said.

  "That reminds me," William turned and face him. "I saw from distance the way you looked at Audrey, vibe anything?"

  "She's extraordinary, not sure what kind but she is," he replied.

  William immediately released his sharp claws from his fingers, and his eyes glowed red with breaks and cracks of dark veins around his eyes. 

  "Well, let's go find out, shall we?" William suggested making a move.

  "Back off!" Julian pushed him back. "You gotta lay low and avoid trouble."

  "This is our town, we gotta make sure it's safe from unknown creatures like that which you can't determine with your ability."

  "And who will protect them from you?" Julian bounced back. "You go around feeding on the locals and you're here talking bullshit about protecting. Who are you fooling? You're instead viewing her as another sack of blood on your long food chain of supernaturals."

  There, he got William exactly at the right spot. And he however, couldn't verbally defend against that and instead, took Julian a mile away with a throw of his single punch in the center of the chest.