Vampire Academy
Ame No Uta
I was trying desperately hard to concentrate on the mound of “homework” our Vampire History and Do’s and Don’ts teachers had given us. So far we had to read fifty pages on what is known and perceived about the very first vampire over the “weekend”, along with reading another sixty pages or so and taking notes on the different clans, and their origins.
“Afanasy Evgeny Bresinovia grew up in Kievan Rus’, know known as Russia, in the town of Moscow. His family was poverty stricken and when they were forced to move from Kievan Rus’ in late 1240, it proved too much for his sick father. His father died in August of 1240 and his mother joined him not long after. Left alone with absolutely no money and the responsibility of his four-year-old sister, Raisa, Afanasy was forced to find an orphanage that would take his little sister so that he could do small jobs around the cities to sustain himself.
In 1250, at the age of twenty-five, Afanasy was working for a pig farmer in southern Russia. He was making little pay, but the farmer fed and clothed him and he was able to save money for his sister when she finally got out of the orphanage, so that she would have a somewhat decent start to life. On December 16th, 1250 Afanasy was feeding the pigs and fixing the food crates when a pure white wolf came stalking out of the woods. Afanasy himself is quoted to say, ‘It had pure, bright blue eyes that shown like crystals. Its fur was snow-white, and seemed to glow even in the haze of the early morning…’ Afanasy was intrigued by the animal’s beauty, but at the same time he knew he had to protect the pigs, or he would be out of a day’s pay. It was extremely unusual for wolves to be out in the day, but Afanasy was prepared. He picked up a long wooden pole they used to scare off predators such as the wolf and shook it in the wolf’s direction. The wolf was un-affected. It continued to walk, determined, towards Afanasy. ‘Get out of here!’ he shouted, waving the stick so that the animal could see it. The wolf continued walking. As soon as it got in range Afanasy took a swing at the creature. His pole stopped in mid-swing, and to his horror he saw that the wolf had stopped it with its own teeth. The animal was visibly angered. In one crunching movement the wolf had snapped the end of the pole; an extraordinary, perhaps impossible, feat for an animal of its size and nature.”
“Are you really reading it?” Frank asked from across the room. I didn’t look up at him. I only nodded slowly. “Why? I mean it’s…” I stopped listening and continued to read.
“The wolf tossed the end of the pole aside with such a force that it demolished the food crates Afanasy had been fixing just moments before. Even though he was horrified, Afanasy stabbed at the creature with half of a pole. The wolf avoided the feeble attempt and jumped at Afanasy. Afanasy stumbled backwards and stabbed at it again, but he was too late. A blood-curdling scream was heard throughout the forest and towns and perhaps even the entire country. The wolf had sunk it’s teeth into Afanasy’s leg. A normal wolf would have bitten and maybe tried to toss Afanasy around, or it would have bitten and then been off, but this wolf, this special, incredible wolf, bit and held on, not making any other movement. After two minutes of this animal clinging to his bleeding leg, Afanasy passed out.
When he awoke he wasn’t in a shabby doctor’s room, he wasn’t in the farm house or still on the cold ground with the wolf attached to his leg, instead he was in complete and total darkness. By feeling around him he quickly figured out that he was surrounded on all sides by some sort of cardboard material. Afanasy began to panic, knowing that he had probably been mistaken for dead, and buried alive. He knew he had little time left, but what could he do? Pounds and pounds of dirt were sitting on the make-shift coffin and he knew his air was running out. Against his better judgment, he began kicking the top of his cardboard prison. He wasn’t going to die without at least trying to get out. Finally his foot kicked a hole in the cardboard. Dirt began to pour in. With all of his strength Afanasy stuck two fingers in the whole and pulled, ripping a hole up the length of the box .He held his breath and with the force of his entire body burst our of the coffin. He knew he had only seconds to reach the top before he was either crushed by the weight of the dirt or he had to breathe again. He clawed his way through the dirt, using the coffin as something to propel himself with. To his relief he hadn’t been buried very deep, and he soon reached the top. He broke out of the ground and-“
The bed sank from the weight of another. “Are you even listening to me?” Frank asked. I glanced up to find him pouting comically, and he had no shirt on. I nodded slowly. “C’mon, don’t lie to me.” He said, sliding up the bed and laying down next to me. “Lying is…” He twirled the ends of my black hair throughout his fingers. “Really bad, you know…” He sat up and put his hand on my thigh. I blushed, horribly uncomfortable. He smirked and leaned towards me. I looked away from him while waiting for the contact, but not really wanting it.
Someone knocked on the door. I sighed a sigh of relief and rolled off of the bed. I opened the door to find Elliot standing there holding a rolled scroll of some sort.
“Th-this is for you.” He stammered, handing the small scroll to me. “I was on my way back from the dining hall and Frederick stopped me and told me to give this to you. I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything…”
“N-no, no! Thanks, Elliot.” I said, blushing and untying the ribbon from the scroll.
“No problem…” He said quietly, and then turned and ran off. I shook my head and stepped back into the room, closing the heavy door behind me. I opened the scroll. It was from my mother. My heart began to race. It had to be more news of Mikey. I was reluctant to read it. What if it was bad? What if he’d… But what if it was good? Would I have even cared then? After a moment I let my eyes skim through the page, except, there was nothing to skim through.
“Michael died yesterday. Come home.”
My world shattered.
“Afanasy Evgeny Bresinovia grew up in Kievan Rus’, know known as Russia, in the town of Moscow. His family was poverty stricken and when they were forced to move from Kievan Rus’ in late 1240, it proved too much for his sick father. His father died in August of 1240 and his mother joined him not long after. Left alone with absolutely no money and the responsibility of his four-year-old sister, Raisa, Afanasy was forced to find an orphanage that would take his little sister so that he could do small jobs around the cities to sustain himself.
In 1250, at the age of twenty-five, Afanasy was working for a pig farmer in southern Russia. He was making little pay, but the farmer fed and clothed him and he was able to save money for his sister when she finally got out of the orphanage, so that she would have a somewhat decent start to life. On December 16th, 1250 Afanasy was feeding the pigs and fixing the food crates when a pure white wolf came stalking out of the woods. Afanasy himself is quoted to say, ‘It had pure, bright blue eyes that shown like crystals. Its fur was snow-white, and seemed to glow even in the haze of the early morning…’ Afanasy was intrigued by the animal’s beauty, but at the same time he knew he had to protect the pigs, or he would be out of a day’s pay. It was extremely unusual for wolves to be out in the day, but Afanasy was prepared. He picked up a long wooden pole they used to scare off predators such as the wolf and shook it in the wolf’s direction. The wolf was un-affected. It continued to walk, determined, towards Afanasy. ‘Get out of here!’ he shouted, waving the stick so that the animal could see it. The wolf continued walking. As soon as it got in range Afanasy took a swing at the creature. His pole stopped in mid-swing, and to his horror he saw that the wolf had stopped it with its own teeth. The animal was visibly angered. In one crunching movement the wolf had snapped the end of the pole; an extraordinary, perhaps impossible, feat for an animal of its size and nature.”
“Are you really reading it?” Frank asked from across the room. I didn’t look up at him. I only nodded slowly. “Why? I mean it’s…” I stopped listening and continued to read.
“The wolf tossed the end of the pole aside with such a force that it demolished the food crates Afanasy had been fixing just moments before. Even though he was horrified, Afanasy stabbed at the creature with half of a pole. The wolf avoided the feeble attempt and jumped at Afanasy. Afanasy stumbled backwards and stabbed at it again, but he was too late. A blood-curdling scream was heard throughout the forest and towns and perhaps even the entire country. The wolf had sunk it’s teeth into Afanasy’s leg. A normal wolf would have bitten and maybe tried to toss Afanasy around, or it would have bitten and then been off, but this wolf, this special, incredible wolf, bit and held on, not making any other movement. After two minutes of this animal clinging to his bleeding leg, Afanasy passed out.
When he awoke he wasn’t in a shabby doctor’s room, he wasn’t in the farm house or still on the cold ground with the wolf attached to his leg, instead he was in complete and total darkness. By feeling around him he quickly figured out that he was surrounded on all sides by some sort of cardboard material. Afanasy began to panic, knowing that he had probably been mistaken for dead, and buried alive. He knew he had little time left, but what could he do? Pounds and pounds of dirt were sitting on the make-shift coffin and he knew his air was running out. Against his better judgment, he began kicking the top of his cardboard prison. He wasn’t going to die without at least trying to get out. Finally his foot kicked a hole in the cardboard. Dirt began to pour in. With all of his strength Afanasy stuck two fingers in the whole and pulled, ripping a hole up the length of the box .He held his breath and with the force of his entire body burst our of the coffin. He knew he had only seconds to reach the top before he was either crushed by the weight of the dirt or he had to breathe again. He clawed his way through the dirt, using the coffin as something to propel himself with. To his relief he hadn’t been buried very deep, and he soon reached the top. He broke out of the ground and-“
The bed sank from the weight of another. “Are you even listening to me?” Frank asked. I glanced up to find him pouting comically, and he had no shirt on. I nodded slowly. “C’mon, don’t lie to me.” He said, sliding up the bed and laying down next to me. “Lying is…” He twirled the ends of my black hair throughout his fingers. “Really bad, you know…” He sat up and put his hand on my thigh. I blushed, horribly uncomfortable. He smirked and leaned towards me. I looked away from him while waiting for the contact, but not really wanting it.
Someone knocked on the door. I sighed a sigh of relief and rolled off of the bed. I opened the door to find Elliot standing there holding a rolled scroll of some sort.
“Th-this is for you.” He stammered, handing the small scroll to me. “I was on my way back from the dining hall and Frederick stopped me and told me to give this to you. I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything…”
“N-no, no! Thanks, Elliot.” I said, blushing and untying the ribbon from the scroll.
“No problem…” He said quietly, and then turned and ran off. I shook my head and stepped back into the room, closing the heavy door behind me. I opened the scroll. It was from my mother. My heart began to race. It had to be more news of Mikey. I was reluctant to read it. What if it was bad? What if he’d… But what if it was good? Would I have even cared then? After a moment I let my eyes skim through the page, except, there was nothing to skim through.
“Michael died yesterday. Come home.”
My world shattered.