College

Well dear readers, it's official... I'm a college girl. That is not the reason I've not been posting- I've just been very busy but there are only like 6 viewers anyway so... Sorry guys. But today I'm going to talk about the sudden change from being alone 99.9999999% of the time to suddenly being surrounded by loud, cheerful, overly giggly, humans. (Inward groan)
I don't mind people but come on, let's face it. I'm an introvert and there is nothing you can do about that. I just don't like being constantly surrounded. It's just not something I would call a good time. So, on that note, obviously this post isn't going to recall my times at wild parties and whatever you people think I do when I'm away from my laptop. (Which is, by the way, reading or sitting awkwardly in a crowd hoping to just like... get back to my reading or my laptop.) No, this post is about the amazing differences someone is probably going to face in college soon.

 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT COLLEGE: 

I am not complaining- mostly because I honestly could care less... But I've decided to list a few things I've found to be very untrue about college...

1. Although a ton of people will say hello to you, you don't make friends that easy. It's just not going to happen. Especially for my fellow introverts- you're going to have a hard-ish time making friends. So far I've made like... 1... and we have a mutual need for food so like... We just go to sonic and the coffee shop. Which is cool, she understands I don't want to hang out all the time so that's good.

2. Roommates- Never get a sane one on the first try. (I would say more but I feel like my roommate might find this....)

3. Food. Some of the food is like... great. But there is a lot of it you should avoid like the plague and I'm dead serious. The pasta is good. the Pork tenderloin is... less good... and in the words of one of the theatre kids- "If you eat that, you'll be alienating the toilet for the rest of the evening..."

4. I don't know about everyone else school but mine has a bell tower and is currently playing Amazing Grace which is kinda cool- because they play a different song every day or something like that... But yeah. Bell tower... didn't realize it played songs till like yesterday when I was in my room reading.

5. Some teachers are NUTS. 'nough said.

6. College kids sleep like cats. College kids are very similar to cats.  College kids are cats.

I've only been here 2 weeks and I have so many stories... I just need to find the one suitable for the Internet... Keep checking back for new posts! I'm going to try to do better now.

A Christmas Short

Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah!

Christmas is today and I've decided to post another Oblivion Short!!! I've been in the Christmas Spirit lately (like listening to Christmas music and watching classic movies like It's a Wonderful life and Nightmare before Christmas) And it made me think about Christmas time around the Van Drake Manor. Obviously the thought was entertaining so I decided to give you all a treat and write it down. Without any further adieu here it is!

Oblivion Christmas Special

It was a cold night, not a usual Christmas eve in Southern Mississippi. The wind howled outside the Van Drake manor causing windows to shake slightly. Everything was quiet, not even a vampire crept the halls because Vladimir had given them the night off. And so all the light were off except for those of the Christmas tree in front living room and the colorful lights decorating the Manor’s roof and lawn. The grandfather clock in the Foyer chimed loudly through the halls calling out midnight and two large blue eyes popped open. The small, 13 year old brunette girl sat up in her bed and looked out the window at the moon light. She listened hard to hear even the slightest creak of the old floor boards, making sure Elliot and the girls hadn't returned early. When she was satisfied she was alone, except her Uncle down the hall, she slipped from her bed and crept across her room and slipped on her small fluffy house shoes before slipped out into the hallway.

It took a few minutes to move down the staircase and into the living room.

Ava’s eyes lightened at the sight of the tree. It was massive, glowing in a sea of colors. Ava walked over and sat down in front of it and stared at the blinking lights. This was her second Christmas at the manor but it still didn’t feel like home… She feared it never would. But the tree was filled with familiar ornaments, it was a familiar smell, and gave off a familiar feeling. She knew it would soon be over and taken down. But she didn’t want it to be… When her Uncle Vlad had told her about the magical world around her she found her new place. But the Manor was too big, there were too many unused rooms… Too much darkness. She would get used to it… one day…

Ava reached up and took an ornament off the tree and held it up to the light. It sparkled and shinned as she turned it. A smile spread across her face as she continued to play with the ornament but a sound coming from the hall made her jump and duck behind the couch. If Elliot caught her he would tell Vladimir and then she would have to answer too many questions. Ava peaked around the edge of the couch and saw the door open slightly, she heard thick Irish accented voices muttering quietly but she couldn’t tell who it was, nor did she see any shadows…

“Let’s check in here…” one voice whispered, “This room seems to hold a special purpose.”

Ava heard a loud thud and the voice exclaimed quietly.

“That’s a just a Christmas tree, you dolt…” A deeper voice grumbled. “Now shut up before the humans wake up.”

“What about the vamps? What if they come back?” the first voice asked.

“Oh they won’t bother us, not with all this silver on!” the deep voice laughed and Ava gasped silently. They were robbers!

Ava glanced around, the only way out was through the door were the men were. How would she ever get past them without alerting them? Her heart thundered in her chest… she could scream… Vladimir would hear her, he always had when she had nightmares. But that would let them know where she was... Why had Elliot been given the night off- wait they called them vamps…

“They know about vampires…” Ava’s jaw dropped. They knew about magic and monsters! “Shh… Did you hear that?” the deeper voice asked. Ava quickly clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from making any further noise.

She heard footsteps enter the room, Ava pressed herself into the back of the couch and closed her eyes.

“Do you smell that?” The first voice said.

“I do…” The deeper one said fearfully, “It’s a human… but it smells tainted. It’s a Van Drake.”

“It can’t be, we wouldn’t be alive if it were!” the other snorted.

“Find ‘em. Then we will know.” The deeper voice ordered. Ava bit her lip. She would have to improvise. She looked around quickly for a weapon but the nearest thing was a fire poker and there was no way she could reach it without being seen. Ava took a few deep breaths and decided to go for it. Quickly, she jumped and rolled across the floor grabbing the iron rod and leaping to her feet before the intruders even had a chance to gasp. Ava glared through the shadows but saw no one.

“Oh… it’s just a kid…” the first voice laughed. “Well that’s not a problem.”

Ava frowned, they sounded like they were inches in front of her, “Walk away now and you won’t be hurt.”

“You?” The deeper voice laughed, “Hurt us? You have a stick. We have magic and you are outnumbered, Give it up Van Drake.”

“One yell from me and you’ll be in big trouble.” Ava stayed in her stance like Vladimir had showed her.

Something grabbed the end of the poker and yanked it away from her, “Oh really? And why is that? Your vampires are gone for the night.”

“Vampires?” Ava smirked, “No, something worse than vampires. Vladimir Van Drake is just around the corner… and he’s very protective of his niece.”

“Blitz… I don’t think she’s bluffing…” The first voice said.

“Shut it, Fick…” the deep voice said and sighed.

“Show yourselves now and I’ll think twice about screaming.” Ava warned.

“Alright alright! Calm down…” There was a slight shimmer in the air and suddenly two people two and a half feet tall at the most appeared. They were as pale as the moon and had large pointed ears as well as red hair that was brighter than Fawn’s.

Ava blinked at the two small men in red tights and long shirts that were tied at the waist with a black cord. Around their necks hung gold chains with small daggers attached. Ava frowned at them.

“What exactly… are you?” She kneeled down to get a better look at the larger one he looked overly tough for someone she could stomp on.

“Wha- What are we?! Excuse me lass but shouldn’t you know? You are a Van Drake. Aren’t you?” Ava was happy she could place the deep voice of Blitz with the threatening looking one. Her eyes darted to Fick who was tall and very thin, His nose reached past his arm length… Ava had to keep herself from giggling.

“I am… I just haven’t seen anything like you before.” She shrugged.

“Well you wouldn’t!” Fick said proudly. “We are elves! Only come out once a year near the end to collect supplies then we go back to our homes.”
“Shut it, she doesn’t need to know everything.” Blitz growled over his shoulder.

Ava tucked a lock of hair back behind her ear and settled on the floor, “So… You’re like Santa’s elves?”

Blitz head snapped toward her, his pale face instantly turned red. “Excuse me?! No we are not Santa’s elves.”

“I’m sorry, those are the only elves I’ve ever heard of.” Ava tried to keep her voice down as she glanced up at the door. “You should be quiet if you don’t want Uncle Vlad to come down….”

Blitz cooled at the mention of Vladimir. “What about your vampire pets?”
“They have the night off. I don’t know when they’ll be back.”

“Good… I wouldn’t want to have to hurt them.” Blitz said and crossed his arms.

Ava scrunched her nose, “With what?”

“Our silver daggers, stupid girl!” Fick shook his head and wagged the small golden dagger at her.

“Uh… I’m afraid those aren’t exactly silver.” She held back a laugh.

“They are silver enough to help us escape. Obviously we aren’t going to carry around pure silver… we wouldn’t want to permanently injure your little buddies.” Blitz answered smugly.

Ava decided to give up on correcting the little beasts, “So why are you here? What are you looking for?”

The two elves looked at each other and shrugged. Fick was the first to speak, “Legend has it there is something in this house that could feed five elves with one cube of it…”

Ava frowned, “You’re looking for food? Don’t you have it where you come from?”

“Elves live off of sugar. Natural sugar is like honey but your human sugar is like heaven on earth to us…” Blitz shrugged, “We were sent on a mission to locate these soft treasures and bring them back to our people.”

Ava smiled, “That’s so sweet…”

“Blitz… Maybe we should ask-“ Fick said but Blitz silenced him with a single glare.

“We won’t be accepting any help from humans and that’s that.”

Ava thought for a minute then snapped her fingers, “What if I happen to leave a plate of said food under the tree?”

Blitz eyed Ava for a long moment, “What’s your angle?”

“I just want to help. Why do I need an angle?” She pursed her lips.
Finally Blitz nodded, “Alright fine… Fick… tell her what we are looking for.”

“They are white and soft… Normally they are coated in a white powder and smell like vanilla.”

Ava thought a minute then blinked, “Marshmallows?”

Fick shrugged, “We don’t know what the name for them are. We’ve only seen them a few times though… We’d know them if we saw them!”

Ava nodded and stood up, “I’ll be right back.”

After a few minutes of searching, she found a bag of jumbo marshmallows and a box of sugar cubes. She also grabbed any other sugary food she could find. After grabbing a large plate from the cabinet and dumping all the food on it, Ava stumbled back to the living room. The two elves sat huddled around the fireplace muttering and barely noticed her presence. After setting the plate under the tree she moved away and sat back on her heels.

She cleared her throat and the two looked over at her. Their jaws dropped instantly and they walked slowly to the plate before sinking to their knees. Fick grabbed one of the marshmallows and held it up, it was the size of his head.

“Oh my…” He muttered.
“Fick… We’ve done it…” Blitz said with clear emotion in his voice. Ava smiled at the two as they filled their packs but still there were mountains of it left.

“You can come back and bring a few friends to help, right?” she asked as they pondered on what to do.
Blitz turned around and looked up at her, “We have permission to enter the Van Drake house?”

“As long as you only take what’s on the plate… I don’t see a problem with it… But you’ll have to leave before sunrise, if Elliot or the girls catch you it won’t be pretty.”

Fick grinned, “Oh yes ma’am!” the two turned and started to march noisily out the door but Ava caught them.
“Please try to be quiet… Vladimir is still sleeping.” She pointed up the staircase. The elves looked up into the shadows then turned to her and nodded.
“Don’t worry lass,” Blitz smiled, “We’ll be as quiet as a snowfall.”

Ava smiled and stood up and walked back over to the fire place. She heard the door open but Blitz cleared his throat again.
“Say, Lassie… what’s your name?”

She glanced over her shoulder and smiled again, “Ava, Ava Van Drake.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Miss Ava.”

The two quickly bowed then slowly vanished into thin air. Ava looked at the spot a moment more before turned back and watching the fire… Funny little creatures. She never would have gotten this chance if she were home… but perhaps this could be home to her after all. She only needed to try…

Just before dawn, just as the sun began to light up the night sky, the door to the Van Drake manor opened with a slight creak. Four tall figures slipped in silently.

“We should probably put the presents under the tree.” Elliot looked at his sisters, they nodded in agreement. He opened the door and started to walk into the dimly lit room but he stopped dead when he saw the small figure underneath the tree. He pressed a finger to his lips to shush his sisters then walked in. A smirk tugged at his lips when he found the little Dark hair girl curled up with a small pillow on the floor. He grabbed a blanket off the couch and walked over just as quietly as before, kneeling down he draped it over her. Elliot smoothed her hair down and leaned in close to her ear. His words were soft but he knew from the small tug of her lips she had heard him in her dreams far away from the manor saying, “Merry Christmas Ava.”

A Southern Haunts reveiw

Hello again! Yes I know it's been a while since I made a post but I've had reasons and more stories to tell but first I want to do a book review.

Today's review is on Southern Haunts, Spirits that Walk Among Us. 
Like the name suggests, it's a book of ghost stories by mainly southern writers. When I first picked up the book I thought it would probably be full of scary stories that would be told around a campfire late at night but I was soon to find out I was wrong. The first story, Interview for a Ghost Hunter by Windsong Levitch, was actually funny. (To me at least) Other stories like The Top Floor by Alexander S. Brown were classic horror stories. (Which I also enjoyed greatly)
The book is great fun for the whole family, from your socially awkward 13 year old son to your 98 year old GranGran that lives in basement and likes to complain about how the TV is when you don't even own a Television... So if you happen to be looking for a book to read with your kids (Or you're just obsessed with the paranormal) I fully suggest Southern Haunts, Spirits that Walk Among Us.

I actually had the pleasure of meeting one of the writers/editors Alexander S. Brown. (Sadly writer/editor J.L. Mulvihill was unable to make it that day) I spent about two or three hours talking to Alex at my local library earlier this year while he was doing a book signing for Southern Haunts as well as a few other books of his. I ended up buying at least three books (I probably would have gotten more if I had brought more money... I don't even know why I even typed probably. I would have bought him out if I could.)

If you would like to learn more about Southern Haunts (Or about any of the other writers mentioned here or the authors not mentioned) You can find their books on Amazon and you can also like their facebook page (Links will be given at the end of this post)

I have had the best time meeting other writers! I absolutely adore it, in fact. It's nice finding out some of my weird quirks (waking up at 3am to write a scene you just came up with or talking to yourself... well more or less your characters) are mostly writers traits...
On that note: if there are any psychiatrists reading this, I do not hear voices... ok I do but it's normal I swear.

Southern Haunts Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Southern-Haunts/417536915003428?ref=hl

And also my page C.G. Bush:
https://www.facebook.com/officialCGB

Alexander's S. Brown's page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alexander-S-Brown/47904064687?hc_location=stream

And last but not least the fabulous J.L. Mulvihill:
https://www.facebook.com/mulvijen

And the Unlucky Day Continues...

You'd think that all of my bad luck would have run out by now, or at least run down. But I'm sad to say it hasn't. (Lucky for you because otherwise I wouldn't be posting right now)

Every Thursday I go to my friends house to take piano lessons and hang out for a while. Yesterday I stayed till about three then we talked her mom into letting her come with me to drop off a computer and hang out a while. Normally this would be great fun (And of course bad things happen when I hang out with friends, like we would get stopped by the cops because we do not look our age but we do look like "could-be-teenaged-thugs") But today when we get back to my house my parents were putting in the new stove. (Yes. We had to get a new stove...) We quickly decided to just leave and let them put it in. So we go to Walmart to walk around and waste time. On the way in, the sky starts getting dark and clouds of doom start stretching over the sky. I parked as close as I could and thought, "It probably won't even rain today"

No.

As soon as we get inside it starts to pour. I mean you could barely see three feet in front of you. I thought maybe after a little bit it would let up some so we could make it back to the car at least. So we start walking around causing trouble (A.K.A. giving our reviews on movies.) And wandering through the Halloween costume finding misspelled words on packages and things. Finally about 30 to 45 minutes later I decide it's not going to let up and we've been around the building at least 15 times. So I tell her I will run out and get the car and pull it around so she wouldn't have to get too wet.

This is mistake #2

When I get to the door it's still pouring down. I looked back at her like a sad puppy hoping she might say "Why don't we just wait a while?" But what does she do? She waves and says "Don't forget to unlock the door buddy!" Clearly seeing she was going to do nothing to stop me, I ran out in the rain.
After a few seconds I was soaked and decided "What the hey?" So I start running for dear life splashing myself as well as anyone running near me. About halfway across the parking lot I forget where I parked. There is something you should know about my car. It is tiny. Like it's really really tiny.... So all the other cars are blocking any view of it. After a minute or two I give up and start running in the general direction I thought it would be in. Luckily I see it! I take off in a dead sprint and that is when my foot touches the ground. My first thought is "I've messed my shoe up!" but when I look down it's not even on my foot. I look around frantically searching for it only to see that it is floating away! (Yes it was raining that bad.) So there I am running through the parking lot in the rain with only one shoe on chasing the other. I finally caught it after a minute and that is when I give up trying not to get soaked and calmly walk back to my car and unlock the door. This is about the time I notice that there are people sitting in the cars around me laughing insanely. I look at them and wave and then get into my car and crank it up. I leaned over and unlocked the door first thing ok? I really did. But when I got to the door, she was standing there dry and happy... So yeah I locked it back.
I left it like that for a minute till I realized she had my phone so I let her in.
That's when she starts laughing because I'm completely soaked. To make up for her laughing at me I took her cupcake and ate it in front of her... She was still laughing when I left... Her mom thinks we're insane...

On to what happened this morning... I wake up to the sound of screeching chickens. They do this all the time so I didn't even bother to see what they were doing outside my window. But after about ten minutes of this I got up, ready to make some fried chicken. When I look out the window I see two of the chickens have their heads caught in the fence. Being the animal lover that I am, I rushed out and poked them back into the pin but what do they do? They just ran and shoved their heads BACK into the fence. I had no idea what was going on. That's when I see one of the bigger hens jump on them. Apparently my Dad decided to try putting the two babies in with the older ones again. I wouldn't mind if they would stop jumping on them. So I get them out. But in the process of being bitten by chickens that are trying to jump on the babies in my hands, a car drives up. It is none other than a costumer dropping off a chair.

I'm in my night clothes, fighting off a pack of deranged chickens and of course this woman in an expensive car drives up and sees the whole thing.
Lovely timing.

After she left I started cooking breakfast in the new oven. Let's just say this oven hates me. It probably heard about what happened to the last oven... It burned my cinnamon rolls! So now I'm sitting here chewing on the burnt rolls and wondering what might happen next... 
I should probably wear a helmet today just to be safe...

The Very Unlucky Day

Saturday was not my day by far. How bad could one day get? Apparently it can get desperately horrible. Normally I only have one incident a day.... or two... Who's counting?
Anyway, my day seemed to get worse with every passing second. So that means I have a rather great story to tell.

It started off pretty good. I woke up with the house all to myself so that meant I could pig out at breakfast and no one would say anything, it's a good thing about days like that... Or so I thought.
I popped a tray of crescent rolls into the oven and started to check emails and facebook and other things like that. About ten minutes later I went to check on them. The oven wasn't even hot. I looked at the clock and the first thought in my mind is "Something is wrong" but sleepy me decides that I probably read the clock wrong when I first woke up. (Like normal) So I decided to give it a few more minutes. I run through the shower (Warning: this is just a figure of speech. You should NEVER run in the shower. You should also never dance to 'Single Ladies' in the shower. You can be seriously injured or you could break a hole in the bottom of the tub) But when I get out, the oven is still not hot. I even grabbed the pan! (Which is also a very stupid thing to do. Don't do it.) But it wasn't even warm. So I call my parents but of course neither of them answer so I sit there and look at my uncooked breakfast. I finally decide they aren't going to cook themselves so I put them into the toaster oven. (Fun Fact: Like microwaves, toaster ovens are completely incapable of cooking food correctly. Expect the worst.) This is when my Mom finally calls back and I tell her what's going on. She tells me to "leave the oven alone. You're Dad thinks it might explode"

... Let me just pause and say, That made me feel 100% better about the whole thing.

So, that is about the time I remember my breakfast. I really hate that toaster... Somethings it can cook wonderfully but others? My poor breakfast came out with the bottoms burnt to a crisp and some of the tops burnt as well... while on others, the tops weren't even done.
Needless to say I skipped breakfast.

Around supper time my Dad starts gumbo. It's always so good until he adds something that he thinks is missing. When it's not. So I have to stand there and watch him very closely to make sure he doesn't go back and add something that has no business doing in gumbo. Dad decides he has the taste he wants. Which is rare. So I had to 'sample' it. It was great! But overly hot. I burned the roof of my mouth. (Least it wasn't my tongue)
That's when I decide I need a short break from cooking. I had meant to finish cleaning all day. But of course I never got around to it. I leave him stirring the gumbo and go to get the vacuum.
While I'm cleaning, I notice a large spider in the corner behind my door. He had made a web over a hole in my wall. (Where that hole came from I have no idea... maybe it made it when it came in.) I can't very well hit it because it will go into the hole and escape! That's when this brilliant plan hits me. I can vacuum it up!
So I get the vacuum and start destroying the web... then the spider. It took maybe five seconds to be rid of the beast. Or so I thought... Less than a minute a later I hear a high pitched whine. I turned around and found that it was coming from the vacuum. After a minute it quits so I keep vacuuming. This is the worst mistake of my life...
A minute or two later I smell something disgusting, like burning plastic. When I turn back around I see smoke pouring from the the vacuum. I think might have screamed but I don't remember. All I really do remember is yanking the cord from the wall and tossing the entire vacuum out into the hall...
This is when my Dad leans over from his spot in the kitchen and sees me coughing and crawling from my room. He frowned at me and said "Having problems?"
I drag the still smoking vacuum into the kitchen and hand it to him. He looked at it and shrugged. I set the vacuum on fire and he shrugs.

I tried to explain it to him but he didn't really seem to give me much more of a reaction:

Me: I could have died in there...
Him: You can die anywhere.
Me: Yeah... but there was a greater risk of me dying...
Him: I suppose so.
Me: I think this was a sign. I should never clean my room again.
Him: I think you just ticked off a spider.
Me: ....Oh my gosh... That spider tried to kill me!
Him: Why did you try to vacuum him up. He was just eating the other bugs in your room.
Me: Dad, that thing was massive... Wait... other bugs? What do you mean other bugs?
Him: I mean the other spiders... What you thought there was just one?
Me: Dad! They saw me murder their cousin or brother or something! They'll come after me in the night and smother me in my sleep!
Him: Don't you mean attempted? He's probably still alive.

That's when I took the entire vacuum outside and set it on the front step... This didn't look good when my Mom came home. Try explaining to your mom that a spider set the vacuum cleaner on fire. It's not easy my of course my Dad did not help me out at all. He didn't even back me up!

In a course of one day, I successfully murdered my mothers vacuum, burned my mouth, and nearly blew up the house... I'd call that a bad day, wouldn't you?

The Annoying Door

Hello Friends, I'm just sitting here at my Aunt & Uncles house borrowing the wifi while my sister updates her computer and stuff. So I decided to get on here and post a new story like a good little blogger.
Today's story happened a few nights ago...

If you've had any contact with me in the past three weeks then you know that I've been getting little to no sleep. I've had Camp NaNo going on this past month and to get finished with that and to do my daily duties, I've had to stay up very late and get about 3 to 5 hours of sleep a night. Same as the most of you when you go to sleep and happen to wake up in the middle of the night to get something to drink or use the bathroom or whatever you do; I have like the upper body strength of a kitten. Don't laugh cause you know it happens to you too. You're trying so hard not to wake up you just really don't care about doing anything.

Some of you may already know but my bedroom door has this doorknob that sticks terribly. I know I should get another one but I just haven't yet. So the other night around two thirty I finally turn off my laptop for the night and hit the sack. Forty-five minutes later I suddenly had to go to the bathroom. I tried to just go back to sleep but I couldn't. (All that iced coffee was starting to be a bad thing) Finally I get up and go over to my door. But what do you know? It stuck. I'm still trying to stay asleep as much as possible so I and slamming myself into the door, trying to get it to open by hitting the knob repeatedly. After about five minutes of muttering nonsense that I assume was meant to be curses... I finally got the door open. When I step out of the room it just so happens my sister was coming out of the bathroom. She had stood there and watched me struggle with the door! After yelling something that wasn't even in a language known to man I went back into my room... I don't think I ever made it back out until morning because the door stuck again...

Breaking the Rules

Happy Fourth Everyone! In celebration I've decided to post an Oblivion Short! There will be absolutely no spoilers in it so Faith if you were thinking this is your lucky break you are wrong.

Breaking The Rules

Elliot looked out the window at the fireworks bursting in the sky. The bright colors always intrigued him, but he never wanted to get too close. Every time one burst in the air it would light up his pale skin and dark hair.
"Elliot!" a high pitched voice shrieked behind him. He glanced over his shoulder just in time to see a short brunette girl around thirteen years old running toward him.
"Hello Ava." he smiled slightly and turned back to the window. She grabbed his arm and tugged on it rather hard for a girl her age.
"Uncle Vlad got fireworks!" she beamed. "I've never gotten to shoot fireworks before! Come on!"
He looked down at her and shook his head, "I don't really do fireworks Ava..."
Almost instantly she poked out her bottom lip, "Why not?"
"He's still upset about what happened a few years ago." Vladimir said walking in carrying a large box. Elliot knew that soon his blond hair would be either burnt or coated in soot, but that wasn't his problem. He had stopped warning him long ago.
"That's a little much don't you think?' Elliot crossed his arms, looking directly at the box full explosives.
"What? Not at all! You brought me a box twice this size when I was her age." Vlad waved away his concern and looked down at Ava, "Alright, are you ready to blow things up?"
Ava grinned at him and nodded. She beat him to the door and had time to wait and make jokes at him. Elliot smirked and looked back out the window. This was the first time Ava seemed excited over anything. Fireworks must have the same effect on all the Van Drakes.
Elliot could remember the night he introduced Vladimir and Cornelius, Ava's Father, to them...
It was warm and just starting to get dark. After losing their last parent the boys seemed so sad, they never played or laughed anymore. Elliot couldn't stand it. They complained when he told them to wait in the yard but they did as they were told.
"I don't understand, are you planning to kill us?" Vladimir sighed. "Because I'm sure you could do that in the comfort of the house."
"Really now, have I ever tried to eat you before?" Elliot frowned, pulling a large cardboard box out of the trunk.
"Yes you have." Vlad pointed out.
"What's in the box?" Cornelius asked curiously.
"I've never really tried to eat you... I'm sure you would taste very bitter." Vlad made a face but didn't comment. Elliot looked back to Cornelius, "Today is the Fourth of July. It's a tradition that all young boys and girls set off fireworks till midnight."
"We are supposed to be in bed by 10." Vlad shook his head.
"Shut up!" Cornelius rolled his eyes. "How do you set them off?"
Elliot took out a single bottle rocket and set it up in the middle of the yard. Then he lit a pump and handed it to Cornelius. "You lite the fuse then you get back."
It took a few tries but he finally got it lit, as soon as it popped in the air he was back for more. Vlad even moved slightly closer to the box trying to look inside. Elliot smirked but pretended not to notice.
"We.. aren't supposed to play with fireworks...  Dad said..." He muttered but was soon distracted by a very large ball with a long fuse. His eyes widened with excitement. "How do you lite this?"
Elliot showed them, and soon they didn't have to ask. It was well after midnight and the box was still half full. Vladimir set up yet another bottle rocket, it took only two seconds to light now. He would only run a few feet back then turn. But this time as he ran his foot kicked the bottle and caused it to fall over. Vlad's eyes widened as he realized the rocket was aiming right at Elliot... and the box of fireworks.
"ELLI-" He started to say but the rocket took off and dropped into the box. Everything was silent for a minute, Elliot looked at Vlad confused.
"What is-" he started but suddenly the box behind him started to explode with bright colors and rockets flying out of it in every direction. Elliot was hit multiple times as he tried to get away from the box. He grabbed Cornelius and Vlad and moved them to as safer distance. Only then did he turn back to see the box too close to the car. It was nearly under it, spitting fire at it and Elliot knew there was a leaky fuel line he hadn't gotten around to fixing. The explosion was loud and the fire rose almost above the house. Cornelius and Vladimir stood starring at the car for a moment with large eyes... Elliot thought they were about to cry, but then Cornelius did something unexpected. He laughed. His laughter was contagious and soon all three of them were laughing as the car burned before them.
Elliot really couldn't help but smile. Vladimir had learned his lesson but still... Ava had never had a chance to shoot them before... He was going to let Vladimir handle this one while he stayed safely inside.