Bloodsuckin'

The start. P9

Gerard found Frank asleep in the library, dribbling onto a page of his biology textbook titled 'Structure of the blood cell'. He gently rubbed his back to awaken his friend, who lifted his head from the soggy book, startled.
"Oh, hey Gerard. I'm still a little tired after last night, clearly" Frank mumbled groggily, gesticulating at his sleepy self, causing Gerard to giggle. A girl with short black hair raised her eyes and smiled at the pair from across the table. Gerard made an apologetic glance and pulled the 'Vampyre' book from his bag once more. Frank groaned jokingly, and cleared space, as Gerard sat down beside him.
"Look Frank, a whole section about raising vampires!" He opened the page to the second chapter, and the pair squeezed in together to read the small print.
"Because you're a baby?" Frank whispered mockingly, pointing to the diagram depicting the development of a vampire from birth to adulthood. Gerard giggled once again, his twinkling eyes crinkling and disappearing into his dewy cheeks. The girl opposite, who had been listening in from behind a hardcover titled 'Alchemy and Mystery' peered over her book and glared playfully.
"Sorry, Lindsey," Frank muttered warmly, aware of his volume.
"Don't worry, Frank, no biggie!" She whispered cheekily, chewing a pencil and staining it red with her lipstick.

Gerard flipped to the next yellowed page, bringing Frank's eyes back down to the book. He shuffled in closer to read the annotations, and the outer sides of both his and Gerard's hands naturally rested against each other, between the open pages. Lindsey laughed once more. Frank looked up, confused, but Lindsey had already buried her head back in her book.
"Technically, I am actually a baby vampire, and as vampires age, their instincts and skills also mature...I think," Frank nodded as Gerard whispered, his drowsy squinting attempts to read failing him.
"You see this bit? Apparently, I should develop a more refined taste for blood!" Gerard whispered dramatically.
"Wait, what?" Frank snapped out of his daze.
"Frankie, we have to stop falling asleep on the floor," Gerard joked, softly poking Frank's face in a light-hearted attempt to wake him up. "I'll keep reading, you keep being productive!" He patted Frank's textbook-shaped pillow and stood up. Gerard and Linsdey exchanged a brief nod before he turned on his heels and returned to the art block.

"Who was that in the library?" Gerard asked Frank.
"Lindsey Ballato, she's in the year below. I'm surprised you haven't seen her - she's usually in the art block?" Frank was used to Gerard's careful observations, knowing he often based comic book characters on people he saw at school.
"Is she new? Y'know, I genuinely haven't seen her around."
"Nah, but she's leaving at the end of the year. She was telling me after you left that her because her parents think Belleville is a bad influence." Frank shifted on the bus seat at the thought of such controlling parents. Gerard shrugged, agreeing that Belleville High was, indeed, a horrible environment in which to come of age. "She got into a fight and the cops came. It was something about her girlfriend, I dunno, eh." Gerard's brows furrowed. He had never met a gay girl before.
"I gotta go to the store for my mom, see ya tomorrow!" Frank suddenly hopped up and sprinted off the bus moments before it pulled away.

In his rush, Frank failed to grab his rucksack, light with lack of schoolwork, so Gerard brought it back with him, and dozed off soon after arriving home. He awoke at 10 pm, sweaty and disoriented. He was hit with a desire for thick, metallic blood, and stumbled up to the kitchen to dig out a red lollipop from the freezer, slurping a stray drop as it rolled down his arm. He made his way back downstairs and picked up Frank's bag with his free hand. He opened it, curious as to what could possibly be hiding inside, being too light to contain any books. He stuck his hand in to find an old sandwich with a stench so foul he retched, and shoved it back in, swiftly zipping the bag closed and throwing it back to the ground, still pinching his nose closed

It was only once Gerard had returned to reclining on his bed to draw, that he noticed the splatter of blood horrifically adorning the white Black Flag logo Frank had so lovingly painted on the front of the black canvas rucksack. He quickly sucked the lolly stick dry before rushing over to dab the logo with a tissue, to no avail. He tried drawing over it with a white marker, then a wet cloth, however, nothing could cover the bloodstain. He sulked back to his bed, defeated, disappointed in himself for ruining Frank's bag with his disgusting habit. He flipped open his scrappy sketchbook and began to purposefully strike the first available page with a blue marker, thinking deeply about the moral implications of being a vampire.

Gerard had drawn a dark figure that somewhat resembled himself, albeit slightly slimmer, and with dark blue hair, instead of mousy brown. The character sported a long black leather coat and had slick, untidy hair to the bottom of his neck. He stood shiftily under the light of a street lamp, and the sharp flicks of Gerard's hand created a jagged and hostile style of drawing. He impatiently dug a red pen out of the tin, the pens clanking as they were tossed about. Gerard sat up, hunched over his drawing, and dragged a line from the character's mouth down to his neck with the ruby marker, the nib scraping through the top layer of paper. He stopped suddenly, and slammed the book shut, his eyes shifting with a sense of avid determination. He needed to stop drinking blood.

Gerard jumped up and grabbed the Black Flag bag by the door. He paced for a few moments, gripping it closely in his hands, and sat back down on his creaking bed. He snatched a scrunched up piece of sketchbook paper and assessed the contents -only a sketched face in the corner, flipped it to the other side, and scribbled. He folded the paper in half twice and jammed it into the front pocket of the rucksack before pausing, removing it, and sliding it into the back pocket of his loose jeans.

Gerard quietly retreated out the door in the corner of his bedroom in order to appease his parents, and up the external stairs to ground level. He took large strides, soaking in the pleasant late-Spring climate as he walked, interrupted only by the occasional icy breeze, as the cold crept into the neckline of his hoodie.

Gerard reached Frank's house and picked a blunt IKEA pencil out of his front pocket. He took a nervous step back and threw it at Frank's bedroom window.

Frank was frustratedly attempting to complete some overdue geography homework when he heard the tap on the window. He listened to further rustling outside and opened a window to get a closer look. Gerard had already launched another pencil, which hit Frank perfectly in the face. He picked it off the ground with confusion and leaned out the window to survey his surroundings. He spotted Gerard crouching in the bushes, who pointed at the front door, questioningly. Frank shook his head, not wanting to aggravate his parents, and Gerard hobbled out to the road opposite Frank's bedroom window.

Gerard held up Frank's bag. Frank grinned, glad to see it was safe, unable to see the morbid stain. Gerard turned around, pulled the folded note from his back jeans pocket and exaggerated his movements to Frank as he turned back around, and placed the note in the front pocket of his bag. Frank did a thumbs-up, making a comical face. Gerard made a feeble throwing motion to indicate to Frank what he was about to do, however, Frank stood baffled, then had to leap out of the way of the bag being hurled up towards him.

Gerard had scarpered away before Frank could react. Frank scratched his head, closed the window and lifted the bag off the ground, questioning both the purpose and reality behind the entire interaction. His face was one of utter confusion until he unfolded the note.

"Ah. That's why."