Chapter 2 – Vladimir

I woke up on Tuesday morning and realized it was the day before school starts. I couldn't believe it! I mean, what the heck happened to summer? I sighed, shook my head, and decided to crawl out of bed. When I looked over at my digital clock, it said 11:17. The last day of summer was already halfway gone! I threw a T-shirt and some jeans on and went downstairs to look for something to eat. My hunger has been going out of control lately, and I really hoped that nothing would happen. With that, I grabbed 2 packs of A-positive out of the freezer and bit into them.

Nothing felt better than to sink my fangs into a nice cold bag of blood on a hot summer morning. Nelly was sitting at the kitchen table, so I sat down next to her. She looked up from the magazine she was reading and said, "You want some breakfast to go with that blood?"

I smiled and said, "That could work. I'm starving!"

"I'll bet," she said. "You're such a teenager: sleeping 'til noon and all."

"It's not noon," I said. "It's not even 11:30 yet." I grinned. Nelly laughed and ran her fingers through my hair.

"How about I make you pancakes?" she asked. "As a last-day-of-summer treat."

I nodded. "That would be cool. Thanks, Nelly." I smiled. Nelly was like such a mother to me. Ever since my parents died a few years ago, Nelly has taken care of me. Occasionally my uncle Otis would visit (usually as hiding from Elysia, however), and we'd have a blast. It's not often that he visits, so I enjoy it a lot when he does come. I think Nelly does, too. Otis and Nelly seem to have feelings for each other, kind of like my mom and dad did. They look at each other the same way, but they both know it's against the rules for a human and a vampire to be in love.

I'm not sure exactly what the Elysian authorities do exactly, but I have a pretty good idea. When my parents died, I knew it was no accident; there was no possible way that only their room could catch fire. I still believe their death was my fault, too. I was the one that turned off their alarms to let them sleep in…. Aside from that, life has been pretty good.

"Here you are," Nelly said as she set a plate of warm pancakes drizzled with what looked and smelled like B-positive.

"Thanks, Nelly," I said with a smile. I bit into my pancakes and tasted the sweet taste of warm blood on my tongue. I could feel my fangs elongate as I took a drink of a glass of cold B-negative Nelly had poured me. I could tell this year was going to be great.

I savored every bite of my pancakes and then put my dishes in the sink. "Can Henry come over?" I asked Nelly.

"Sure," she said. "Enjoy your last day of summer together."

As soon as I picked up the phone to dial Henry's number, the doorbell rang. That can only be one person, I thought to myself. Sure enough when I opened the door, Henry was standing on the porch.

"That whole drudge thing comes in handy sometimes," Henry laughed. He walked into the house like he lived there (which he practically does anyway) and plopped down on the sofa. "So what do you wanna do on the laaaaaaast day of summer?" he asked, stressing the fact that it was, in fact, the last day of summer.

"I'm not sure," I said. "All I know is that I want the summer to go out with a bang." Henry grinned mischievously. "Not literally!" I laughed as I shook my head.

"How about you two go to the movies?" Nelly suggested from the kitchen over the clatter of dishes.

"Been there," Henry said.
"Done that," I finished. We both rolled our eyes and started laughing again. "How 'bout we just walk around town 'til we figure out what we want to do? Maybe something fun will come along," I suggested.

"Sounds boring…" Henry said. "But we've got nothing better to do, so why the heck not?" he asked with a shrug.

We started out the door, assuring Nelly that we'll only be out for a little while. "Have fun, you two," she said with a warm smile. "But be careful!"

"We will, Nelly!" Henry and I said together. We closed the door behind us and started walking into town.