Vampire Academy

Gerard’s P.O.V.

It was getting colder and colder every day. The leaves were starting to turn from green to gold and red. Summer wasn’t over yet, but the start of Fall was so very near.

Two weeks away to be exact.

I looked out of the large attic window to gaze at the turbulent skies. Dark, ominous clouds hung thick as far as the eye could see. I could hear loud claps of thunder and see enormous bolts of lightening striking not too far from us. In the distance I could see a sheet of rain drenching the heart of Newark, and heading our way.

A knock at the attic door made me jump and nearly knock over a clay figurine of the Sandman I had made in art class the previous year. “C-Come in.” I said, shaking my head and laughing inwardly. I situated the little bit of fan art back on the windowsill as a wrinkled old hand pushed the little square door open and rose up through the floor. I smiled. It was my grandmother, Elena. She had been using my bedroom for the last year when her health began to decline, leaving me in the attic. But I didn’t mind. I loved having her around ever since I was a little kid, and now she was here all day every day.

“Hello, Gerard. How was school?” She asked, not moving from the top of the stairs, her body sticking halfway out of the floor. Her voice was much weaker than I’d remembered it sounding.

“It was fine. How was everything here?” I asked, smiling politely; genuinely wondering what is was that she did all day, cooped up in our house all alone.

“Good, good… Listen, your mother wants to know where your brother is?” What brother? I thought scornfully.

“I don’t know.” I replied quietly, turning back to watch the skies grow darker and darker. The air in the room changed dramatically.

“…Are you sure? It’s almost dinner and your mother’s worrying about him…” Her voice trailed off. I could feel her liquid emerald eyes piercing through me from behind her spectacles. I shook my head and mumbled incoherently. I heard my grandmother sigh as the door creaked and shut. I couldn’t help but feel bad. I wasn’t sure why I was acting this way,but I didn’t mean to direct it towards her.

Stepping away from the window I walked over to my bed. I threw myself onto its fluffy white comfort and rolled over to stare at the dusty insides of our roof. It wasn’t a comforting sight, as I was sure it was infested with rats or some sort of other nasty vermin. I shuddered and directed my attention away from the rafters and back out of the window, where the clouds were growing darker still.

Mikey’s P.O.V.

“Hey, Mikes, why doesn’t Dave come to your house too?” Ray asked as we sauntered home from school. I shot him the look of death; he knew full well why I couldn’t let Dave come over.

“Yeah, Mikes, it’d be fun! We could pull out some magazines and watch MTV or something.” Dave started rummaging through his backpack and pulled out 3 well-hidden playboy magazines, grinning like a five-year-old with candy. I laughed and tried to think of an excuse.

“Well…it’s my mom…she just…she doesn’t really like me having a lot of people over…” I managed to say, trying as hard as I could to sound convincing. Dave made a face.

“It’s only two friends!” He argued, putting the magazines away and zipping up his backpack. “Your mom can’t be that much of a tight-ass!” I knew he was kidding, but somehow it still bothered me a bit.

“W-well, my grandmother’s sick too…she needs quiet, you know?” I stuttered, wanting him to just drop the subject. Dave nodded, but I could tell he wasn’t satisfied.

“Fine, fine, but you guys have to come over to my house some time. We have a pool and a foosball table and everything.”

“Oh, yeah his foosball table kicks ass! It’s huge!” Ray said, using his hands to elaborate the word huge. “And his pool has a- shit!” A bright-white lightening bolt seared across the sky. A loud clap of thunder came rolling in after it, scaring the shit out of all three of us. Dave roared with laughter at Ray whose eyes were wide open, and I couldn’t help but join in.

“Eh, shut the fuck up guys. It wasn’t that funny.” Ray mumbled as we got closer and closer to my house. I nodded, barely able to breathe.

“Y-yes it was!” I said, laughing so hard I was near tears. “You should’ve seen your face!” Ray mumbled again but this time it was drowned out by another clap of thunder. This time he didn’t freak but I could have sworn I saw him flinch a little.

“Alright, you sure I can’t come in? Just for a little while?” Dave asked again as we approached my driveway.

“Uhh, no, sorry…maybe some other time, you know, when I give my mom some notice.”

“Alright, alright. See you guys tomorrow.” He said, taking off as it suddenly started to rain like hell.

“See ya!” Ray and I called after him in unison. We ran as fast as we could into the house, but we were still drenched by the time we got to the door. I threw it open and stepped inside, Ray close behind me.

“Thank god!” Mom yelled from the kitchen, as the delicious scent of chicken filled my nostrils. “What the hell took you so long to get home?” She appeared in the doorway, donning an oven mitt and a suspicious glare. “Oh, hello, Raymond.”

“Hello, Mrs. Way.” Ray said politely, shaking the water out of his orange fro.

“We just took it slow, mom! It’s okay; it’s not like we’re that late!” I said, taking off my shoes before stepping onto the carpet and heading up the stairs.

“Well, hurry up and change, it’s time for dinner!” She called after us. “Oh, and get your brother to come down, too!”

I threw my bedroom door open and tossed my shoes on the almost non-existent floor. Ray did the same, closing the door behind us. Ray threw on his plaid pajama pants and a Jimmy Hendrix shirt as I threw on my blue pajama pants and a wife-beater.

“You can go down if you want; I’ve got to get Gerard.”

“Nah, I’ll go with you.” Ray said, trudging along behind me as I went all the way down the hall and pulled open the attic door.

“Hey, Gerard?” I called up to him.

“Why don’t you just call him douche bag?’ ” Ray mumbled and I nudged him in the side.

“What?” Gerard responded, sounding very short.

“Dinner.” I said, and turned around. Ray cut in front of me and then grabbed my wrist.

“What the-” I began, but he interrupted me.

“Douche!” Ray yelled to Gerard as he pulled down the ladder. Ray ran forward dragging me with him, laughing his ass off. I glanced back at Gerard over my shoulder. He had stopped dead and was giving Ray the dirtiest look I had ever seen; his hazel eyes like daggers. As soon as I turned back around though, I couldn’t help but start laughing too.