[b]Chapter 15 – Mikey’s POV[/b]

I woke up exactly one minute before my alarm sounded.
I felt as tense as a coiled spring. So many thoughts and worries were streaming through my head as I pulled on some clothes. I drained a blood bag and carried two down to the kitchen, pouring them into a thermos (Frank had told me it was practically the only way to get away with drinking unidentified liquids without being pinned as an alcoholic) and grabbing a piece of toast.
I sat rigidly at the kitchen table, almost jumping when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Gerard patted my shoulder as he chucked a slice of bread in the toaster. I could feel his worry, tumbling about and mixing in with mine until I couldn’t tell what was coming from whom.
“Are you sure about today, Mikey? It’s totally fine if you’re not ready to go back. Frank was out for almost three months before he went back.”
“Yeah, but he actually came up with a good excuse about pneumonia and we believed him because his immune system was shit; I have no such excuse to give” I replied, chewing on the toast which tasted harsh and disgusting, “Urgh. This is horrible.”
I landed the piece of toast right in the bin.
“It takes a while before human food tastes good again,” Gerard noted.
I groaned.
“But it’s fine, because blood is all you need for complete nourishment. As long as you feed on a little bit of blood when hungry, human food can quench the rest of the hunger.”
“So, if I eat all the time won’t I get fat,” I frowned. Gerard laughed.
“You can’t get fat, Mikes. It is part of the beauty of being a vampire; our body takes just what we need and destroys the rest.”
I thought on this with interest as I walked back up to my room and chucked some notepads and pens into a bag. I groaned as I remembered that I’d have to get used to all my new classes while everyone else would already be settled in. Fuck.
I walked down to the front door and was surprised to see Gerard waiting there for me.
“What are you-”
“I’m coming in with you today. Well... I’m not going to be with you the whole day but I’m going to be nearby if you need something. I’ve got a job helping tutor some kids in the music suite.”
I blinked.
“When the fuck did this happen?”
“Well, the principals of schools are allowed to be aware of vampires and I kind of called, explained the situation and said what else I could help with...”
Gerard trailed off and bit his lip.
Jeez.
No, Mikey. Not helping.
Fuck. School was the one thing I knew could work in my advantage in the giant ‘let’s avoid my brother due to the extreme awkwardness surrounding the both of us at the moment’ thing.
Not anymore.
I grumbled something unintelligible under my breath as we drove down the road.

~~

I climbed out of the car slowly. Gerard said I should do things somewhat more sluggishly now as I was naturally more jumpy as a vampire. I cautiously sniffed the air as we walked down the halls. The smell of blood was slightly tempting but nothing as bad as it bad been on that night I’d escaped to Frank’s. I could definitely handle it now.
Gerard led me into main admin area and was pointed straight to the principal’s office when he mentioned he had an appointment. It hit me then that the very severe, pencil skirt wearing, and fifty-something Mrs Goff knew of vampires.... I would have loved to see her face when she first found out.
“Ah, Mr Way, Michael,” Mrs Goff said as we took a seat.
[i]“It’s Mikey...”[/i] I muttered under my breath and Gerard shoved my ankle with his biker boot clad foot.
Couldn’t I just see my friends and skip this whole ‘meet the principal’ stuff? I wasn’t a new student or anything... I mean, I had changed, but I was still me.
I kind of filtered out most of what Mrs Goff said and let out a silent breath of relief as we stood up to leave. Gerard opened the door to the admin building and I followed him out, watching as the halls were now beginning to feel with students. It was still fifteen minutes before classes were due to start.
The stares made me want to both hide, and lash out. So what if I was walking down the hall with a dark haired dude, wearing a fitted leather jacket and eyeliner.
Must they [i]stare?[/i]
Weren’t they aware it was rude?
All the effort to act normally and keep control of the thirst was testing my anger management. I felt angry over the littlest things...
“I’m going up to the music suite now. You gotta get to class. Say hi to everyone for me, and try not to be alone with any humans. Frank can help too, if you need it.”
I nodded and switched directions, doubling around a corner on my way to my locker. I dropped my bag to the ground and fiddled with the lock until my combination clicked into place. I chucked my bag into my locker and swung the door shut.
The swing of my locker door blew a sudden gust of wind up the hallway. I stopped, drawing in air through my nostrils. I caught a familiar scent on the air...
Ashley.
I looked up the corridor and sure enough Ashley had just turned the corner and was walking towards me. She was deep in conversation with her brother.
I closed my locker door slightly louder than usual and Ashley looked up at the sound. She locked eyes on me and stood frozen on the spot, her books slipping from her hands and cluttering to the door. Her face was frozen in absolute shock for about three more seconds before she broke out into a sprint towards me.
For some reasons I saw fit to run too... away.
I bolted into the nearest classroom, which thankfully, was empty.
Ashley sprinted to a stop at the class door, before stepping inside.
“Mikey,” she spoke quietly, before launching herself at me in a tackle hug. I wrapped my arms around her waist to support her and felt so proud of the control I had in that moment. I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmingly happy as Ashley was hugging me.
That was until she started hitting me. She still had her legs wrapped around my waist as she leaned back and landed a smack to cheek. She untangled her legs and dropped to her feet before landing a hit directly to my jaw.
“You bastard,” She hissed, “All this time with only so much as a couple of [i]texts?[/i]”
“Ashley, I’m sorry, I wish I could-”
“[i]Fuck you![/i]”
“Ashley,” I said grabbing her shoulders, “Ashley, I’m sorry. But I’m ok, alright? I’m here and I am definitely not going to do that to you again.”
Ashley breathed hard and glared at me.
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
She hugged me again.
“You had me fucking worried there, Mikes.”
“I’m sorry,” I repeated, swallowing hard.
Fuck, the classroom was warm...
My throat burned.
Fuck.
I pulled away from the hug.
Ashley looked up at me, eyebrows drawn together.
“What happened? Where were you?”
I gulped.
“I came down with the flu,” I replied.
“Yeah, Bullshit, that’s why you were screaming in pain.”
What?
Fuck. Gerard had said she’d called during the change...
I swallowed again, both out of nervousness and the burn in my throat. I had become increasingly aware of the heat radiating off of Ashley. The pounding of her heart as it pumped blood through her body.
I bit my lip and scrunched my eyes shut.
“Is there something wrong,” Ashley’s voice seemed to echo loudly through my ears. It seemed closer than before.
I hoped she didn’t touch me. That would be my undoing, feeling the blood pumping through only a thin layer of skin.
“Mikey, tell me what’s wrong,” Ashley’s small oh-so fragile hand rested on my forearm.
Fuck.
I reached forward and clamped my hands around her tiny arms. I could break them so easy...
“I- I- you need to – I...” I couldn’t even form a proper word as I fought a growl escaping my throat. It took every ounce of me not to bite. Don’t bite. Can’t bite.
The growl slipped from my throat.
Ashley’s eyes widened and I could feel both our panic as clear as day. She tried to take a step backwards, but I had still had her wrists clamped in my hand so I followed her, taking a step forward.
Ashley struggled, trying to yank her hand away from me. The most she’d achieve was friction burn.
“Mikey-”
“I’m sorry- I...”
No. Don’t bite.
Her blood.
But, it’s [i] Ashley [/i].
The warmth of it. The taste...
My mind flashed back to the girl I’d drained next to Gerard that night in the alley. Instinctively, I knew that Ashley would taste better.
Ashley’s attempt at escape had backfired on her completely. She now had her back completely pressed into the corner of the room. The panic and fear in her projected her scent and my brain became very fuzzy from the richness in the air around me.
I had to taste... I had to bite...
I looked up at Ashley. She was visibly trembling, she seemed to have consciously realised that there was no escape.
A low growl of triumph escaped my throat.
I released one of her wrists and she quickly set to work trying to claw away at the skin of the hand that gripped her other wrist. I barely felt it as I reached up with one hand and brushed away a lock of hair covering the side of her neck.
So close.
But-
The hunger in me drowned out the last protest.
A whoosh of air was all that warned me before I suddenly a hand grip my shoulder tightly. It unclenched my hand from Ashley’s other wrist, and in a confusing flurry of air and movement, I was pinned to the wall on the opposite side of the classroom.
I snarled.
“Ashley, RUN,” Frank’s voice shouted, his grip unrelenting from my throat.
The sound of converse’s squeaking against the lino was so loud that even my snarls of protest didn’t drown it out. I watched as Ashley sprinted out of the classroom so fast that she almost overbalanced as she turned into the corridor.
Frank shoved me harder against the wall.
“What the [i]fuck[/i] were you doing? You were this fucking close to drain her. I felt your bloodlust from halfway across the fucking school,” He hissed.
I was breathing hard, and the anger surging through me was slowly waning into shock, guilt and horror.
What the fuck had I just done?
Another whoosh of wind, and I looked up to see my brother standing there. His face set in an anxious expression. He walked up towards Frank and I grabbed my hand.
My fingers felt numb.
“Mikey, you idiot,” he sighed, reaching up and putting a hand up to my face, “I told you not to be alone with another human. Ashley was a top of that ‘no alone time’ list. I just saw her running past in the corridor looking fucking terrified.”
I literally felt like crying then.
A few tears ran down my cheek and Frank suddenly let go of me. I slumped to the floor and a sob racked through my chest.
Fuck.
Fuck, I’d almost killed her. How could I even-?
Gerard pulled onto his lap and I cried harder as I curled close into his chest.
“Frank, go check on Ashley, make sure she’s not hurt,” Gerard’s voice was low and broken. This only made me cry harder. I could have killed her. I saw her face, dead on that pier... It could have all been real. It could have all been real. I could have made it real.
I’m such a hopeless fuck up.
I almost killed my best friend.
I sniffed and wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my hoodie, before making to climb out of Gerard’s lap. His arms fell to his sides and I stood up, pulling my hood over my head.
“I’m going for a walk, I need to be alone right now,” I deadpanned.
Gerard bit his lip. I watched it intensely.
“I don’t think-”
“I don’t know how you can look at me right now, I can’t look at myself.”
Gerard’s face fell.
“Mikey, I don’t blame you. You’re new and have no-”
“Go home, Gerard. I’ll be back later.”
And with that, I turned around and bolted out of the classroom at vamp speed. No real destination in mind.

Notes

[b]Authors Notes:[i] Jay and Ash[/b][/i]

Hi guys.

So this chapter is actually a very important chapter. This was the scene from which the rest of the story grew. This was the birth scene of the story.
This chapter is going to be in four bits. This chapter is Mikey. The next three shall be Frank, Gerard and Ashley.