I'll Never Let Them Hurt You

Frank

I made it home quickly. It was about 4pm after an hour walk, when I made it back to the school, and the last few people were milling around. From there it was a reasonably short walk back home.

Here's the thing. I don't really have a home per-say, I work at a local club, behind the bar and the owner is nice and lets me sleep in one of the rooms upstairs. It's not much. But it's home, and it's mine. I pay rent, maybe not as much as the other renters, but I still earn my keep.

My hands fumbled to put the key in the lock, turning it and hearing a satisfying click afterwards. I stumbled into the darkness of the apartment, flicking the light switch quickly to illuminate the kitchen area.

My apartment consists of three rooms. There's a bedroom with a bed, lamp, bookshelf and a wooden closet to hang my clothes in. I was allowed to redecorate, so I painted one wall a deep maroon colour, and covered the rest in band posters and advertisements I have collected from the club. There's the small bathroom, which has the toilet, sink, shower, a cupboard and a washing machine in it. It's a tight squeeze, but the washing machine is pretty much my pride and joy. Then there's the main room which houses the kitchen, with a table a two chairs on the side and then there's a little section next to the kitchen that has two sofas, a shelf with a few DVDs on it and a TV. The TV is amazing, it has 15 channels on it!

That's my apartment, and I love it. It costs me $750 a month to rent, and I know you think that's not a lot, I still have to pay bills, buy school stuff and with the money I earn too.

Once I had dumped my school bag, I changed into my pyjamas and snuggled into my single bed. My behind still ached, as a constant reminder of the hours before. It was only 5pm, but the events of today had worn me out. I slept soundly.

I woke up to the small alarm clock buzzing. 7am, time to wake up.

I was out of the apartment at 7:45, running down the stairs, past the front door, down to the basement where the club is. Every morning I help Larry, the owner of the 'Blue Moon' club clean up from the night before. He was a kind hearted mid 30s man, who dressed to impress and always wore his bow tie and a smile.

"Good morning Frankie." He sang happily, in a tune along to the radio.

"Hey Larry." I replied, grabbing a wooden broom from the cupboard. "Sorry I couldn't help out last night, I fell asleep at 5." I explained, as I began to sweep.

"Not to worry Frankie." He chuckled. "Now, run along to school, Charlie's coming in in an hour so there's no need for you to be sweeping." He told me with a smile.

"Thanks Larry." I smiled.

"No problem Frankie," He replied, "I'll see you after school munchkin." He continued, ruffling my hair and beckoning me out of the door and back up the stairs.

I made it to school within 45 minutes, I walked slightly slower than normal to prolong the experience. It was the first time I had really thought about my situation. I was a fertile Vampire. It was a little hard to believe.

It also dawned on me that I was going to have to see Gerard Way at school today. I was very nervous around him. But I think I have the right to be, judging from yesterdays events.

I shuffled up the steps into the reception are of the school. It looked just the same as it did yesterday, although today, I was even more nervous about going into it than I was yesterday.

I looked down at my feet, letting my hair fall into it's usual position. I looked around the hallway nervously, no vampires and no jocks. Good. I set off as fast I could, while still only looking through my hair.

"There's the little shit." I heard the familiar voice above the chatter of the of students. Jake. I gulped and little and closed my eyes, ready for what was coming.

Pain, a flash of indescribable, unpreventable pain washed over me as I was kicked roughly in the stomach. At least today I hadn't made it to my locker, so it was saved from damage. I closed my eyes and took the beating, reminding myself that this happened everyday, and I should be used to it. I felt a sting and knew that some of them had hit my face. That would surely bruise.

Then the bell rang. Loud and piercing through the hallway. The Jocks left and I stood up. I'd survived my morning beat up. I'm ready to face the day.

I arrived at my first period slightly early, having missed home room completely. Math wasn't one of my favourite subjects, but I'm pretty good at it. I took my seat silently, as Mrs Harding, a fertile and my maths teacher beckoned me and a few other early students in.

As I entered I felt her eyes on me. She gave me a puzzled look before turning back towards the board to write the topic of the lesson on the board. As everyone started to walk into the classroom I took in each face. As it was the first math lesson I had had back at school this year, there were some new faces in the set, mostly vampiric ones.

The class went slowly and the next. I took notes silently in both, trying to stay unnoticed and keep my head down. Then afterwards it was break. I spent as long as I could packing up to try and avoid going into the bustling corridor with all those people in it.

I managed to stay hidden through break, hiding in a music practise room with a guitar that had been in there. I had tuned it and played it softly, so as not to attract attention to myself. Every time I played the guitar, it made me wish I had my own. But I didn't have enough money yet.

Break ended abruptly, and I managed to slip into my German class just before the late bell went. German was the only lesson I spoke in, at all. Maybe it was because I was fluent, or perhaps it was the fact that I was in a set with illiterate people, who couldn't speak a word of German, so only the teacher would know what I was saying.

"Can anyone tell me how to say: German is my favourite subject, in German?" Mr Blutsauger asked the class as he paced through the desks. "Anyone?" He stared back at the class in frustration. "Frank?" he asked me in hope, turning to face me. He had a beautiful pale complexion, that all fertiles seem to have.

"Uhhr, Deutsch ist mein Lieblingsfach." I answered straight away.

His face lit up a little. "Yes, well done Frank. Everyone else, you really need to know phrases like that." He moaned a little.

It was the end of the lesson soon after and I was packing up to leave, pushing my books carefully into my tattered bag.

"Frank? Could I speak with you for a moment?" The teacher asked, from behind his desk. He looked around at all the students trying to listen in while packing up. "Wir können in Deutsch zu sprechen, wenn Sie möchten?"

"Gewiss, Herr Blutsauger." I replied fluently. "Wie kann ich helfen?"

"Ich habe mich gefragt, ob Sie möchten, einen Deutschen Klub nach der Schule kommen. Wir brauchen wirklich mehr Mitglieder und Sie müssen fließend Deutsch sprechen." He asked, speaking quickly so that the other students, who had nearly all left, had no chance of understanding.

"Das klingt nach Spaß. Ich mag Deutsch zu sprechen, also würde ich gerne einen Deutschen Klub zu kommen." I answered quickly. "Sagte ich das richtig?"

"Ja, wie immer perfekt." He grinned a little, and beckoned me to the door as he picked up his briefcase and walked towards the door. "Es ist schön zu können, um jemand anderem in Deutscher Sprache zu sprechen." He added. "Es ist eine so schöne Sprache."

"Ich stimme völlig. Ich werde bis zum nächsten Deutschstunde." I replied, also smiling.

"Ja! Auf Wiedersehen Frank" He stated, locking the classroom door after I was out of it.

"Tschüs!" I replied with a wave and watched as his rounded the corner. I shuffled out of the door way a little more to zip up my bag when I heard a voice.

"You speak good German." The voice spoke softly, smooth.

"Thank you." I said nervously. Then I began to walk, and rounded the corner to see none other than Gerard Way standing by the wall.

"Gott helfe mir." I muttered under my breath.