Vampire Academy

Mikey’s P.O.V.

Before I could say anything the bedroom door slowly opened and in came Uncle Bill, carrying a stack of books and sheets of paper. He closed the door and then let the books go with a rather loud thump! onto the desk in the corner of the room.

“Are you boys done reading?” He asked, turning to face us, his voice sounding unusually kind. I nodded slowly. “Then I…what is he doing?” I looked down at Gerard who was reading our grandmother’s note over and over again, and shook my head. Uncle Bill came over and slowly slipped the paper out of Gerard’s trembling hands and read over it himself. “Mother…” I thought I heard him sigh as he gave Gerard a thoughtful look and then laid the letter back on the bed. “Now, I know this sort of thing isn’t easy for you to handle…” This time he spoke he sounded a bit more somber. “It’s not every day your family comes out and says, ‘Surprise! We’re Vampires!’ So, if you have any questions then-”

“Why didn’t anyone tell us?” I interrupted, that same feeling of rage gnawing at my insides yet again.

“Well…it’s complicated, really. We, well, I, didn’t want you two to go through life knowing that you are completely different from most other kids, as I did. It makes it so hard to form bonds with other people knowing that you just might end up…killing them in the future.” My eyes widened. I had never felt such a combination of anger and disgust. “Really, I know exactly how hard this is… I was around ten when my parents told me they were Vampires, and it was one of the most…surreal things I’ve ever been through. And-”

“Are mom and dad…?” I wondered, my voice trailing off as I realized the gravity of what I was asking.

“Oh, no, no. Your father…he wants nothing to do with this, and neither does your mother. However, your mother accepts our mother’s wishes, and your father hates the ideas of Vampires, finds us revolting.” He shook his head and took a deep breath. “But such is life. Now, your grandmother was a Vampire, as I’ve stated, along with your Grandfather. I am a Vampire, and so is Uncle Fred and your cousin Brandon. There are also several other cousins on our side who are either already Vampires or shall become Vampires in a few short years.” This is insane…this isn’t happening…there’s no fucking way… “So,” Uncle Bill rubbed his hands together and went and grabbed 5 of the ten books stacked on the desk, along with two sheets of parchment. “Gerard, these belong to you.” He set them down on the floor next to a wide-eyed Gerard and began to explain, “These are your school books. This book,” He held up a white book with black lettering, “Is your brothers and sisters book. I can’t explain too much to you know, but I can say that this is, by far, one of the most boring classes you will take.” He laughed heartily, trying to make light of the situation. “This,” He held up a blue book with black lettering, “Is your Ancestry book. This explains your relations to Vampires and actually…I think this class is rather pointless too…” He shook his head and held up a red book with black lettering and explained that it was the book that explained Clans and Clan rules. The next book was green with black lettering and was about Vampire Myths and Legends. “This last book,” He held up a giant black book with bright gold lettering, “Is the most important book of all. This is your Vampire History book. It has the school colors on it…and I must say this class is really, really good. The wars we’ve waged without humans knowing…the struggles we’ve had…it’s quite amazing, really…” He nodded, reminiscing about old times. “Oh!” He grabbed the two pieces of parchment off of the floor and held them up. “This first one is your dorm arrangements. It has what floor you’re on, who’s in your room, what bed you have, what room number you are, and who your dorm leader is. This second sheet has your schedules on it…oh, you guys have a decent one… Anyway, that’s about it. You’re books and papers are over there Mikey. Uh…” He thought for a minute. “You can bring anything you want to the Academy but, like the letter says, you’ll have uniforms so you don’t need more than two-weeks worth the clothes for weekends and holidays. Just remember whatever you bring you have to carry yourself…anything else you want to ask? You guys leave in two days…”

“Do we have to go?” I asked, not expecting a very pleasant answer. Uncle Bill raised his eyebrows.

“Do you not want to?” I looked up at him and shook my head. “Well you have to go. I’m sorry, but you do.”

“Why?” I asked, surprised at how calm I was being despite how angry I was getting inside.

“Because….because you just do. It was your grandmother’s dying wish for you to go.” He gestured at the letter she wrote.

“Well, I don’t want to.” I stated, sitting back and staring at my Uncle with an intensity I didn’t even know I had. He stared back with almost the same intensity. It was the first time I noticed how dark his eyes were. They were unnaturally dark…almost black.

“I’m sorry Mikey, but-”

“I’m not going! This is bullshit.” I let my anger overcome me. I was now completely and utterly pissed.

“You’re going.” He stated simply, turning to leave the room.

“No.” He turned around and glared at me, but I didn’t give a damn.

“Mikey, it was my mother’s dying wish-”

“I am finally happy here! I have friends and I love my school, so what the hell?! Why are you going to take me away from everything I know and move me into a school with a bunch of freaks-”

“Do notinsult the Vampires like that. You’re going and that’s-”

“No, I’m fucking NOT! It’s not fair!” I shouted, being a tad immature. “She didn’t even want me to go! She wanted Gerard to go, so let him, and leave me out of it!” My fists were clenched and I was shaking. I was almost near tears but there was no way I would give him that gratification.

“Mikey…” He sighed, and shook his head, “if you don’t go, you may never see your brother again.” He spoke the words as if he were telling me some grave prophecy of sorts.

“I don’t care.”

Gerard’s P.O.V.

I’d always known it was true. Always, always, always. Mikey’s little outburst was only further confirmation that he didn’t give a damn about me, I was nothing to him. My Uncle couldn’t seem to grasp what Mikey had just said, he loved his family above all else, but I understood only too well. While the two of them stared at each other in silence, I stood up and grabbed my books and letters, and headed out of the room.

The whole family watched as the door opened and I walked through the living room and up the stairs. My mom burst into tears; rather, she started crying harder, and as soon as my back was to them I, too, started crying again. By the time I got up to the attic my letters were soaking wet and barely intelligible. I thought this might happen so I put my grandma’s letter on the bottom of the book stack. I set my stuff down at the end of the hall, wiped my face off with the cleanest part of my sweater, and pulled the ladder down.

Just as I leaned over to grab my stuff, my eye caught my old bedroom door. Reluctantly, the scene that was just behind the door unfolded in my thoughts. I saw my grandmother’s body lying still on her bed, hands crossed over her chest, a white sheet placed over her small frame. I imagined her spectacles sitting on her side-table, never to be used again. I imagined the room was empty of her equipment, now. The equipment she shouldn’t have needed if she were a Vampire…unless…it just doesn’t work that way…

I tried my best to shake all of those thoughts and pictures from my head, as tears began building up and smearing my letters even more. I took a slow, deep breath, grabbed my stuff and headed up the ladder. I didn’t even bother to pull up the ladder and shut the attic door before I tossed my books aside, knocking them rather loudly into my dresser, and collapsed, once again, on my bed.

A few moments of much-needed silence were disrupted by my brother screaming downstairs. “YOU CAN’T MAKE ME GO!!” I gripped the edge of the bed with my left hand, pressed my face into the mattress as hard as I could, and held my pillow over my head with my right hand just to try and drown him out. At the same time I wondered if I could suffocate myself... “JUST LET GERARD GO! HE’LL BE MUCH-”

“BUT YOU MAY NEVER-” My Uncle Bill interrupted, shouting at the top of his voice to be heard over Mikey’s hoarse screaming, only to be out-yelled.

“I’M NOT GOING AND THAT’S FINAL!!” I heard Mikey’s footsteps as he stormed up the stairs and down the hall. His bedroom door slammed with such tremendous force that it shook our side of the house and made many of my unstable figurines fall to the floor.

---------------------The Next Day-------------------------------------------

My parents decided to bury my grandmother in our backyard. If a coroner came and pronounced her dead, then she would have to be taken to get an autopsy and then, I assumed, they would find out that she wasn’t exactlyhuman. So, the best choice was right in the center of the yard, next to the rotten corpse of our dead dog.

The black mass that was my family dispersed and then stood in a wide circle around my grandmother’s coffin, roses in hand, where her casket lay wide open. Her eyes were closed and her hands were crossed over her chest, just like I’d imagined. You know how people always describe the freshly dead as looking peaceful, almost like they’re sleeping and would wake up any moment and everything would be better? Well this was nothing like that. Her mouth was agape and I noticed, to my horror, that one eye was slightly stuck open. She was wearing the same ratty, dirty, faded, solid blue dress that she had died in. There was nothing peaceful about her, about this…about any of this…

The slow, sad song of a viola began to sound as cousin Brandon worked out one of the most heartrending pieces of music I had ever heard. Uncle Bill was the first to say his last respects to his mother. When he finished, he lay the rose down beside her, and walked back to his place in the circle. These same motions continued as each one of our many family members paid their respects. Most were intelligible, but some, like my mother, couldn’t even speak and their voices came out in sharp choppy squeaks.

Mikey walked up to the coffin, his face blank. “Uh…I love you grandma…you were so awesome…” He leaned down and whispered something, and then placed the rose in her casket. “I love you, and I hope I’ll see you in heaven…” His words sounded hollow in my ears.

Before long it was finally my turn. I took a deep breath and started to walk. A few people gasped from behind me. I made a face, looked down at my hand, and then froze. Apparently I had been clutching my rose so tightly that the thorns had punctured my hand and I was bleeding pretty profusely. I shook my head and kept walking, ignoring the now searing pain. I arrived at the coffin and almost collapsed from the heartache. It was all becoming so real…too real. I took another deep breath. “Grandma… I’m sorry for releasing some of my anger on you, instead of the people I should have been lashing out at, or ignoring… But, no matter how terrible and…unsociable I became…you never gave up on me.” My voice started to crack as fresh tears slid down my cheeks and onto the side of the coffin. “I love you so m-much…more than anything in the w-world. I swear, I’ll carry on our family legacy with pride…and honor…and…I’ll m-make you so p-proud.” That’s where I lost it. Everything was a blur as tears filled my eyes and I cried out. I desperately tried to wipe my eyes and gain control but I just couldn’t. “I love you grandma!” I managed to squeak. I put the bloody rose down over her hands and then stumbled back to my spot. Instead of standing I just fell to the ground, onto my knees and started coughing and crying, the endless wail of a small child. After what seemed like forever someone jerked me up off of the ground and dragged me across the yard, into the house. I was lead to the couch where I collapsed, blood smearing all over the pillows, only to have a box of Kleenex thrown at me from across the room. I looked up and could barely spot my father, in the blur of my tears, shaking his head in disgust and walking out the front door.