Vampire Academy
Eyeball
Gerard’s P.O.V.
It was utter chaos as people were running left and right to catch their flights on time, or to see their family and friends off safely. I sat alone in the terminal outside of gate 11, patiently waiting for flight 314 to arrive to whisk me away from this hellhole town. My mom and uncle had just left moments before in a blur of tears and sound advice. Dad had been too busy to come and say goodbye, in fact, he hadn’t spoken to me since Grandma’s funeral. Mikey had gotten out of schooling altogether. My Uncle had gone in to his room once more and ranted and raved about how he was a coward and a fool and told him, yet again, that he would probably never see me for the rest of our lives. There was one point where the whole family was trying to get him to go, but he didn’t budge. He was hell bent on not going, and he got his motherfucking way.
My other family members had left town only hours after Grandma’s funeral ended, wishing me luck with my schooling and giving me little tidbits of advice such as-
“Be strong, Gerard, alright?”
“You’re Grandma would be so proud!”
“So much braver than your brother, no?”
“Avoid gangs and don’t get into any trouble, darling!”
“When ye go in fer the kill-”
“James!”
“Sorry, love!”
They were all very, very supportive. I had no idea how many cousins I actually had that were Vampires that my Uncle had left out. It was sort of great, you know, finding out my mom’s side of the family was so incredible… For the first time I felt like they were truly proud of me.
Before my mom and Uncle left they both gave me a silver necklace with some sort of strange symbol, the same symbol that was on my vampire history book, hanging from it. It was in the shape of a crescent moon that looked like it had wings or something. “You’ll find out soon enough what that’s for. Until then, have a safe trip and try not to get hurt. It’s not going to be easy but-”
“Honey please, please, please be careful!!” My mom interrupted, throwing her arms around my neck as she burst into tears. “It’s a horrible, horrible, horrible world out there and you’re going to find that out very soon, and I just want to know that you won’t let it get to you and that you’ll be okay!” I tried to answer but she pressed on, “You will write to me every day, you understand?” I nodded and forced a smile.
“Yeah, Mom, I’ll write. I promise.” She gave me one last tearful look and with that they were off.
And after all that had happened in the last couple days, there I sat in a very old and very uncomfortable airport seat, with a bunch of other people’s crap crowded around me, feeling exceptionally strange. I suppose I should have been feeling confused and excited and scared and sad and a whole cornucopia of other emotions but that was just it. I didn’t feel anything. I just sat and stared at the tiled floor, wondering why I wasn’t feeling any of these things. Not that I was complaining. It was nice to be numb after a weekend of unyielding grief.
The high-pitched voice of a woman came ringing over the intercom. “Now boarding flight 314. Passengers please make your way to the gate. Flight 314 now boarding.” I sighed and grabbed my suitcase that was full of photographs, school books, papers, spare underwear and socks, and my comic books. Other kids, who I assumed were all students, grabbed their stuff said teary good-byes to their families whose faces beamed with pride and exhilaration. I hauled my heavy suitcase down the narrow passage way wishing the entire time that I had just used one of those rolling suitcases instead. When I got to the opening of the plane the flight attendant, clad in a bright blue uniform and matching hat, smiled down at me and snatched up my ticket before I could even hand it to her. “Seat 60,” She said cheerfully, “All the way in the back.” I shuddered, noticing that her voice sounded exactly like Ms. Willits’s. With that in mind I grabbed the ticket from her small freshly manicured hand without uttering even a ‘thank you’ and headed toward the back of the plane.
My seat, of course, was sticky and dirty and smelled like sweat, among other things. I sat down and nearly vomited as I got a nice whiff of wet dog as well. My seat was in the very back corner of the plane, which was to be expected, where it was warm and the lights were busted. I took a deep breath and leaned back. I opened my window and took one last look at the dark, dank, cloudy state of New Jersey. Then I remembered how much I hated flying, so I closed the window.
“Is this seat 58?” I turned to see a boy about my age, though definitely no where near my height, standing at the end of my row grinning like a five-year-old with candy. He was wearing a misfits t-shirt and torn up jeans. He had short black hair and dark brown eyes. I cocked an eyebrow.
“Yeah, it is.” I replied quietly as he plopped down in his seat. “Awww, that means you’re all the way across the isle, Bobby!” A blonde boy with blue eyes and several piercings came into view, rolling his eyes and sitting down, after shoving his stuff in the compartment above him, in the row of seats next to us.
“How many times do I have to tell you not to fucking call me Bo-”
“Yeah, yeah whatever.” The boy mumbled waving the blonde boy off and then turning to me. “Hi, I’m Frankie, are you going to the Academy too?!” He thrust his hand out at me at amazing hyperactive speed. I nodded slowly and shook his hand. “Awesome! This here’s Bobby, and that’s my brother Cheech waaaaaaaaaay the hell up there!” He sat up in his seat and pointed to the very front of the plane where his brother was getting his seat number. “What’s your name?”
“Uhh…I’m Gerard.” I mumbled, trying not to sound rude or anything.
“Gerard?” I winced and prepared myself for some sort of “medieval” remark, but Frankie’s face lit up like a jack-o-lantern. “That’s the coolest name ever! Your parents must be bad ass! Hey, Cheech!” Frankie screamed to his brother, who was heading down the isle.
“What the fuck do you want?!” He yelled, visibly tired.
“This guy has the most awesome name ever!”
“Hoo-fucking-ray!” He groaned, finally making it to the seat in front of Frank and collapsing.
“Watch it!” The guy next to Cheech shouted, shoving Cheech off of his lap.
“Fuck you! Now what the hell did you want?” He asked, sitting up completely and peering over his seat at us.
“This is Gerard! Isn’t that the most awesome name ever?!” Cheech nodded a hello. I nodded back.
“Sure, yeah, actually. Hey, kid,” He lowered his voice so Frankie, who was loudly talking to Bobby, couldn’t hear him. “My advice to you is, get your seat changed. He’ll talk your fucking ear off.” I sort of laughed inwardly as Cheech disappeared behind his seat and a man’s voice came over the intercom.
“Please take your seats and fasten your seatbelts. We will arrive at our destination in no time at all. Please enjoy your flight.”
“Man this is going to be awesome! Is anybody else excited as hell?!” Frankie was bouncing up and down in his seat. “How ‘bout you Gerard?” The way he said my name… “Are you- OOOH!!” I jumped as he yelled and pointed at the flight attendant coming down the isle. “She has peanuts!!”
Holy hell.
This was going to be the longest plain ride ever.
It was utter chaos as people were running left and right to catch their flights on time, or to see their family and friends off safely. I sat alone in the terminal outside of gate 11, patiently waiting for flight 314 to arrive to whisk me away from this hellhole town. My mom and uncle had just left moments before in a blur of tears and sound advice. Dad had been too busy to come and say goodbye, in fact, he hadn’t spoken to me since Grandma’s funeral. Mikey had gotten out of schooling altogether. My Uncle had gone in to his room once more and ranted and raved about how he was a coward and a fool and told him, yet again, that he would probably never see me for the rest of our lives. There was one point where the whole family was trying to get him to go, but he didn’t budge. He was hell bent on not going, and he got his motherfucking way.
My other family members had left town only hours after Grandma’s funeral ended, wishing me luck with my schooling and giving me little tidbits of advice such as-
“Be strong, Gerard, alright?”
“You’re Grandma would be so proud!”
“So much braver than your brother, no?”
“Avoid gangs and don’t get into any trouble, darling!”
“When ye go in fer the kill-”
“James!”
“Sorry, love!”
They were all very, very supportive. I had no idea how many cousins I actually had that were Vampires that my Uncle had left out. It was sort of great, you know, finding out my mom’s side of the family was so incredible… For the first time I felt like they were truly proud of me.
Before my mom and Uncle left they both gave me a silver necklace with some sort of strange symbol, the same symbol that was on my vampire history book, hanging from it. It was in the shape of a crescent moon that looked like it had wings or something. “You’ll find out soon enough what that’s for. Until then, have a safe trip and try not to get hurt. It’s not going to be easy but-”
“Honey please, please, please be careful!!” My mom interrupted, throwing her arms around my neck as she burst into tears. “It’s a horrible, horrible, horrible world out there and you’re going to find that out very soon, and I just want to know that you won’t let it get to you and that you’ll be okay!” I tried to answer but she pressed on, “You will write to me every day, you understand?” I nodded and forced a smile.
“Yeah, Mom, I’ll write. I promise.” She gave me one last tearful look and with that they were off.
And after all that had happened in the last couple days, there I sat in a very old and very uncomfortable airport seat, with a bunch of other people’s crap crowded around me, feeling exceptionally strange. I suppose I should have been feeling confused and excited and scared and sad and a whole cornucopia of other emotions but that was just it. I didn’t feel anything. I just sat and stared at the tiled floor, wondering why I wasn’t feeling any of these things. Not that I was complaining. It was nice to be numb after a weekend of unyielding grief.
The high-pitched voice of a woman came ringing over the intercom. “Now boarding flight 314. Passengers please make your way to the gate. Flight 314 now boarding.” I sighed and grabbed my suitcase that was full of photographs, school books, papers, spare underwear and socks, and my comic books. Other kids, who I assumed were all students, grabbed their stuff said teary good-byes to their families whose faces beamed with pride and exhilaration. I hauled my heavy suitcase down the narrow passage way wishing the entire time that I had just used one of those rolling suitcases instead. When I got to the opening of the plane the flight attendant, clad in a bright blue uniform and matching hat, smiled down at me and snatched up my ticket before I could even hand it to her. “Seat 60,” She said cheerfully, “All the way in the back.” I shuddered, noticing that her voice sounded exactly like Ms. Willits’s. With that in mind I grabbed the ticket from her small freshly manicured hand without uttering even a ‘thank you’ and headed toward the back of the plane.
My seat, of course, was sticky and dirty and smelled like sweat, among other things. I sat down and nearly vomited as I got a nice whiff of wet dog as well. My seat was in the very back corner of the plane, which was to be expected, where it was warm and the lights were busted. I took a deep breath and leaned back. I opened my window and took one last look at the dark, dank, cloudy state of New Jersey. Then I remembered how much I hated flying, so I closed the window.
“Is this seat 58?” I turned to see a boy about my age, though definitely no where near my height, standing at the end of my row grinning like a five-year-old with candy. He was wearing a misfits t-shirt and torn up jeans. He had short black hair and dark brown eyes. I cocked an eyebrow.
“Yeah, it is.” I replied quietly as he plopped down in his seat. “Awww, that means you’re all the way across the isle, Bobby!” A blonde boy with blue eyes and several piercings came into view, rolling his eyes and sitting down, after shoving his stuff in the compartment above him, in the row of seats next to us.
“How many times do I have to tell you not to fucking call me Bo-”
“Yeah, yeah whatever.” The boy mumbled waving the blonde boy off and then turning to me. “Hi, I’m Frankie, are you going to the Academy too?!” He thrust his hand out at me at amazing hyperactive speed. I nodded slowly and shook his hand. “Awesome! This here’s Bobby, and that’s my brother Cheech waaaaaaaaaay the hell up there!” He sat up in his seat and pointed to the very front of the plane where his brother was getting his seat number. “What’s your name?”
“Uhh…I’m Gerard.” I mumbled, trying not to sound rude or anything.
“Gerard?” I winced and prepared myself for some sort of “medieval” remark, but Frankie’s face lit up like a jack-o-lantern. “That’s the coolest name ever! Your parents must be bad ass! Hey, Cheech!” Frankie screamed to his brother, who was heading down the isle.
“What the fuck do you want?!” He yelled, visibly tired.
“This guy has the most awesome name ever!”
“Hoo-fucking-ray!” He groaned, finally making it to the seat in front of Frank and collapsing.
“Watch it!” The guy next to Cheech shouted, shoving Cheech off of his lap.
“Fuck you! Now what the hell did you want?” He asked, sitting up completely and peering over his seat at us.
“This is Gerard! Isn’t that the most awesome name ever?!” Cheech nodded a hello. I nodded back.
“Sure, yeah, actually. Hey, kid,” He lowered his voice so Frankie, who was loudly talking to Bobby, couldn’t hear him. “My advice to you is, get your seat changed. He’ll talk your fucking ear off.” I sort of laughed inwardly as Cheech disappeared behind his seat and a man’s voice came over the intercom.
“Please take your seats and fasten your seatbelts. We will arrive at our destination in no time at all. Please enjoy your flight.”
“Man this is going to be awesome! Is anybody else excited as hell?!” Frankie was bouncing up and down in his seat. “How ‘bout you Gerard?” The way he said my name… “Are you- OOOH!!” I jumped as he yelled and pointed at the flight attendant coming down the isle. “She has peanuts!!”
Holy hell.
This was going to be the longest plain ride ever.