Vampire Academy

Gerard’s P.O.V.

I couldn’t properly describe how I felt at that moment. Not with words, anyway. All I can say is that my world was sort of spinning. Not enough to make a visible difference, but just enough to make me sick to my stomach. All I could see was my brother’s bloody, mutilated body lying limp in a pristine hospital bed.

A pair of arms closed around me. There was a soft whisper in my ear, “God…Gee, I’m so sorry…” His arms were skinny but much more solid than I had originally perceived. For the first time in a while I felt…secure. I wanted to give up and let my body fall into his arms, letting them be the only thing supporting me. Tears slid down my face as I struggled to breathe. Thin, bony fingers dragged themselves through my forest of matted, greasy hair. Frank pulled his face across my head and back down to my ear. “It’s okay, Gee, please don’t cry. You’re brother’s gonna be fine. Please…please, don’t cry.” I couldn’t stop myself, and started to cy harder. Frank’s hand slid down my chest. I froze. Then it slid back up, and back down. Up, down. It wouldn’t have been all that odd if it weren’t for the fact that I was a male, and males aren’t supposed to touch other males’ chests, even if I did like it. “Please don’t cry…he’ll be okay,” A pang of guilt hit me right in the gut. He wasn’t coming on to me; he was just trying to console me. I sniffed and mumbled “thanks,” but I don’t think he understood me. I took a deep breath to try again but the breath turned into a gasp as an icy finger touched bare skin. One motion and he had two buttons undone; he was now stroking my chest with his fingertips.

I quickly decided this wasn’t happening. My brother and I were best buddies, my grandmother wasn’t lying lifeless in a ditch behind our house and my brother wasn’t in the hospital. I had friends, I got along great with my father and I loved being alive. My family didn’t have a Vampiric legacy, I didn’t go to a school for Vampires and a hyperactive male I had known for a very short amount of time was most certainly not touching me.

I opened my eyes to see the now routine sight of clothing strewn all over the floor, blue and black satin bedding, crushed under the weight of the two of us and the occasional torch hanging on the wall. At the very same time I felt something wet being dragged lightly across my shoulder as Frank’s hand moved farther down. His lips closed on my neck as his fingers still ran through my hair. “It’s okay…” He breathed, and I struggled to fully understand what was happening. All I knew was that I didn’t mind it- this bothered me. My foot stretched out as I tried to stifle a moan. He was sucking on my neck like a piece of candy, moaning softly in my ear and drawing circles on my stomach all at the same time. My leg jerked as he began to kiss my jaw line, knocking the nightstand, rather loudly, straight into the door, making both of us jump. We sat there, Frank with his arms around me in mid-kiss, panting heavily, for what seemed like forever. The tension in the air was incredible as the two of us reluctantly avoided each other’s gaze. Slowly, Frank began to move. The bed squeaked loudly as he got off, grabbed his books and robe, and quietly left the room.

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Our Ancestry teacher had the tiniest voice I had ever heard. He was a stout man equipped with none other than a monocle and a ratty comb-over. He refused to tell us his name or age, and he smelled like mothballs and jasmine scented soap. Currently he was trying to get our attention; I note that he was failing miserably.

“Students!” He shouted in a high pitched voice that very much resembled Micky Mouse. “Students!” Frank was getting a real kick out of watching the red-faced teacher struggle. The other boys were chattering like school girls, huddled in little groups spaced evenly around the room.

Of course, all of these sounds were muffled and distant to me as I lay, face pressed to the rickety wooden desk, arms clasped around my head and ears. My mind was like a canvas. It felt very much as if someone had given paint to a four-year-old and locked them in a room with my brain. So many different images and sights and sounds were racing through my thoughts that I barely had time to examine them. Not only that, but the emotion itself was overwhelming at best. The only thing I could say was that it was mostly guilt. I should have been thinking, mulling about, and worrying over my brother, who could be dying, but all I was worrying about, when the other racing thoughts subsided, was Frank. I could feel him moving next to me, talking, laughing, and doing Frank things. I could also feel his soft pink lips on my neck. It wasn’t awkward one bit.

Suddenly the room fell silent and all I could hear was the teacher’s muffled, high-pitched voice. “What if I were to tell you that the only way you delinquents will ever become Vampires this or any other term is if you pass all the tests!” All the boys, shocked, slowly made it back to their chairs. “Good.” I lifted my head up and sighed, grateful for the silence. “Hopefully all of you will be able to be turned at the end of December. However, you must pass Vampire History completely along with Do’s and Don’ts. The rest of your classes you just have to pass the final tests. However, I can assure you that the Ancestry test is nearly impossible if you don’t pay attention, Mr. Iero.” Everyone, excluding me, turned to look at Frank who was talking and laughing with Raine. He cleared his throat and sunk into his chair, his foot touching mine on the way down. The teacher walked to the other side of the room and grabbed an enormous textbook. “Now, I do believe we were talking about how to tell whether or not a Vampire you meet is related to you. One way to tell is by the color of their eyes, obviously. If you have white eyes, everyone in your clan is related to you, since you’re all descendants of the very first Vampire. This is basically the same if you have black eyes, since you are all descendants of traitors. Now, obviously there are other traitors in the world, but your family members will all have the same eye color as you. Er…the rest of the clans, the only way you can tell by eye color is the fact that typically your family members will have the same eye color as you. However, if you’re not white or black, this isn’t always the case…”

Frank was now falling asleep. The right side of his face was pressed against the desk as he breathed slowly in and out. Finally, I mustered up the courage to look at him, to stare at the fine lines his face was made of. It was the first time I realized just how perfect he actually looked. His nose was small, but not too small, and his eyes were perfectly cut, like diamonds. His lips were the perfect shade of pink, and they weren’t too plump or too thin. Perfect. I suddenly wondered; why would he kiss me? Overweight, misshapen, big-nosed me?