by Pete Johnson
‘Vampires like to do things properly,’ said Karl, ‘and prefer to be invited into the homes of our blood donors first.’
‘So you wangle yourself into my house on false pretences and then attack me in the woods.’
‘I did nothing of the sort,’ said Karl crisply. ‘I merely called upon someone I knew and asked him to share some of his blood with me.’
I laughed derisively and noticed something else: my head wasn’t rocking so fast. Perhaps if I kept him talking a bit longer I could break this spell he’d cast over me – and run for my life.
‘I was very careful,’ said Karl, ‘not to take too much.’
‘Well, you got your blood,’ I said, ‘so why are you still here?’
‘I’m afraid your blood was so exquisite I could think of nothing else.’ That intent look came into his face again. ‘I must have more. But I was very worried that you might turn into a half-vampire before I got my second chance. And half-vampire blood tastes even worse than an ordinary human’s. So I decided to return again and pretend to help.’
‘But all the time you were trying to put me off from changing over,’ I said. ‘Well, you did a great job. I don’t think I’ve ever met a more annoying person than you.’
‘And I can return the compliment,’ he replied with a faint smile. ‘I knew how much you disliked me.’
‘And that’s putting it mildly.’
‘So I made sure you saw as much of me as possible. It wasn’t easy though. Your constant stream of stupid, inane comments …’ He shook his head. ‘So when your parents left me in charge I decided to strike. And, suitably refreshed after my rest, I’m ready to do full justice to your blood – NOW!’ He suddenly shouted the last word, making me jump.
‘I suppose that so-called tonic was to put me to sleep?’
‘Yes, and it’s such a shame you didn’t take it. Then you could have donated your blood to me quite painlessly.’
‘Painlessly!’ I exclaimed. ‘I’d have been ill for ages afterwards.’
‘I’m sure you would have recovered … eventually,’ he said. ‘But now we’re going to have to do this the hard way.’
No, I thought, we’re not going to do this at all, because my head had stopped rocking completely.
So here was my moment to break free. Should I make for the front door? But Karl had locked that earlier, and had the key. Then I remembered I hadn’t closed the window in the sitting room. I could slip out of there in a couple of seconds and then just leg it.
I had to do that.
Karl leaned even closer to me.
And then suddenly his fangs appeared. They were huge and jagged and looked painfully sharp.
‘Those fangs,’ I said, ‘don’t do anything for you. Ever thought of getting a brace?’
‘Inane chatter, all the time,’ he sighed. ‘Now, don’t move,’ he said sharply, like a command.
But that’s exactly what I did. ‘Not today, thank you,’ I said, and burst out of the kitchen door and towards the lounge.
Only I never reached it as—
Sorry, but I’ve got to stop here a second.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
10.15 p.m.
Now I’m back.
It’s just the next bit is really painful for me, even now.
You see, I almost escaped from Karl. I’d whizzed out of that kitchen at great speed, and I’m sure I could have got to safety if something hadn’t suddenly dropped down onto me in the hallway.
Then there was a swirl of dark wings. And the huge bat I’d seen before was back. Only this time the bat didn’t just attack me. No, it writhed and flapped dementedly across my face and then flew straight into my hair. I desperately tried to swat it away. But the bat just kept coming back.
This was just a little show of power on Karl’s part really. The bat even made weird, high squeaks as it charged at me, as if it were having a marvellous time.
‘Go away,’ I yelled, hoping I sounded much braver than I felt, ‘and fly back to a Dracula film.’
And then splat, I felt something hit my neck just as it had done that night in the woods. The bat had aimed its venom at me again. I could actually feel it seeping down my neck. I instantly staggered back.
In a few milliseconds I’ll have passed out, I thought, and Karl will … But no, I couldn’t let that happen. I mustn’t give up. Got to do something …
Frantically I tried to wipe off the poison on my neck. And then … my mobile went off. Energy powered into me as I snatched it out of my pocket and saw the caller was Tallulah.
‘Help!’ I croaked.
‘I just called to check you got—’ began Tallulah. Then she stopped. ‘What did you just say?’
‘End this conversation now or you’ll be very sorry.’ Karl was back in his human form again and standing right beside me. He was looking at me with a kind of wild fury. But do you know what, he didn’t really scare me; not then. He was going to feed off me anyway, I thought. So what more could he do to me?
I hissed. ‘You were right … so right.’
Tallulah picked up on this immediately. ‘The vampire … he’s real, isn’t he?’
‘Yeah,’ I croaked. There could be no disagreement on that point.
‘He’s not there with you now, is he?’
‘Yes,’ I croaked again before Karl tried to grab the phone from me. But incredibly I was too quick. I turned away from him and held the phone really tightly.
‘Marcus!’ Tallulah sounded both scared and very excited. ‘Is it in your house now?’
‘Oh yes.’ Karl was circling right beside me again. ‘But I know you’ll find a window of opportunity …’ That was my hint that the sitting-room window was still open. I didn’t want to be too explicit or Karl would just immediately close it.
Tallulah started to ask me something else, but Karl suddenly yanked the phone from me and sent it spinning across the floor.
‘Hey, if you have broken that you’ll pay for a new one,’ I cried.
‘Who was that?’ he demanded.
‘Wrong number.’
‘It was that girl. What were you saying to her?’
‘You heard me,’ I said.
He considered for a moment. ‘Well, even if she does ring on the doorbell, so what?’ Then he smacked his lips. I almost tasted his desperate impatience. He was so hungry for my blood now he couldn’t think about anything else.
Karl half guided, half pushed me back to the kitchen. Then I sank slowly into a chair, my head hammering with deep tiredness.
Blearily I could see him hovering expectantly over me, expecting me to pass out any second. Somehow I had to push back this great tide of sleep flooding over me. I took some deep breaths.
‘Why do you always have to make things difficult?’ sighed Karl.
‘Oh, I’m very sorry to inconvenience you.’
‘Why drag this out?’ he demanded. ‘Just let sleep take you over.’
But I was choosy about who dined on my blood and Karl wasn’t getting another drop if I could help it. I had to stay awake until Tallulah got here. I was sure she’d come round my house. But had she picked up the hint about the open window? Well, even if she just kept ringing on the doorbell that might distract Karl and give me the chance to escape. Oh, who was I kidding? I could barely walk now, let alone run to safety.
Still, I just had to stay awake, at least delay things. I started doing my deep breathing again, my breath coming now in hard gasps.
Karl glared down at me, a look of cold hatred in his eyes. ‘I try and do things the civilized way, because that’s my style. And I think vampires should be friendly with their donors – but you have left me with no other choice.’
‘What do you mean?’ I murmured.
‘I can wait no longer. Now this will not be at all pleasant for you. And the side effects of a double dose can last a long time. But as I said, you’ve left me no other choice. And very regretfully, I must change form again.’
So a second poison dart
was beaming its way to me. And there was nothing I could do about it this time.
But then, in a very short space of time, three incredible things happened.
The first was Tallulah bursting into the kitchen. ‘Marcus!’ she yelled. ‘Here I am.’
I peered up at her, my heart hammering with relief. She was wearing a thick coat and a very determined expression on her face. Shock waves ripped through the whole room. Karl’s body went completely still. He looked hugely confused as well. ‘How did she—?’ he began.
‘Ah, wouldn’t you like to know?’ I gasped. Tallulah crouched down beside me. ‘You got here just in the nick of time,’ I said. ‘And by the way, meet a genuine, fang-carrying foul-smelling vampire.’
‘I knew vampires existed,’ cried Tallulah jubilantly. ‘I just knew it. But I’ve met you before . . you’re the cousin.’
‘Second cousin,’ I corrected. ‘Only he was just pretending to be him. And he’s such a big fan of my blood that he’s back for a second helping. He’s also very cross that I’m not asleep yet.’
‘Shut up,’ said Karl. He raised his nose up, as if sniffing the air. But I guessed he was thinking hard. He glared at Tallulah. ‘I knew you were trouble when you came round before,’ he hissed.
‘I have always wanted to meet a vampire,’ said Tallulah, standing up and staring at Karl.
‘Well, you can exchange email addresses later,’ I said.
‘But I can’t let you hurt my friend,’ she went on.
I liked the way Tallulah said ‘friend’ so warmly. And she was about to say something else when she stopped. Instead, her whole face froze with horror.
And then I caught sight of Karl and realized why.
His face was truly the most terrifying I’d ever seen. His deep-red eyes now seemed to have sunk right into the back of his head. And they had no expression in them at all. In fact, his whole face had just closed up.
It was as if the human disguise Karl wore had checked out, leaving only a vampire behind: a vampire grown savage with rage and hunger. Now he looked like a very dangerous animal who was about to attack a human, something vampires only did in extreme circumstance. But I knew this was one of them.
He didn’t want Tallulah’s blood at all, but he would take it as an act of revenge for her getting in his way and stopping him drinking my blood.
As Karl advanced towards Tallulah, she didn’t move. She couldn’t. He’d hypnotized her with his dead eyes, exactly as he had done with me.
And I was just so mad with myself. Why did I tell Tallulah to come here? What could she possibly do against a fully-fledged vampire? And did I really think Karl was going to let Tallulah and me walk out of here together? Well, yes, I did actually. I’d thought, as soon as he saw Tallulah, that he’d realize the game was up and just go – but instead …
Instead, Tallulah was now in the greatest danger of her whole life.
Karl advanced towards Tallulah’s pale throat. His mouth was open. His fangs gleamed and shone.
‘Let her go, Karl,’ I cried. ‘You can have my blood – gallons of it – and mine’s the kind you specially like.’
‘Oh yes, I shall have your blood too,’ murmured Karl. ‘But she has annoyed me so much that in this instance I shall drink some vile, human blood first.’
‘You’re just sick,’ I cried.
‘This is no time to start flattering me,’ he purred, sounding even more nauseatingly smug than usual.
I staggered to my feet. But Karl wasn’t bothered. In fact, he even turned his back on me. He knew I couldn’t really do anything against him and his super powers.
Anger and rage I’d never felt before leaped into the pit of my stomach. It rose up through my chest and into my throat, where it burst with such fury I really thought I was going to have a choking fit.
But instead, that’s when the second incredible thing happened.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Monday 22 October
10.18 p.m.
I let out a howl.
The loudest, wildest, longest, deepest, most spine-shivering, most blood-curdling howl you’ve ever heard. I tell you it just blasted into that room with such force that Karl leaped back from Tallulah as if I’d just landed one almighty punch on him.
And then I did exactly that. Suddenly and totally amazingly, I let out a second roar (nearly as impressive as my first one), charged forward, grabbed Karl and then hurled a punch at his chest, knocking all the wind out of him, immediately followed by a second punch, which sent him flying across the room.
Tallulah was gazing at me while clutching her neck. ‘I really thought he was going to … and I couldn’t move. It was so …’ Then she saw Karl sprawled out on the floor by the kitchen table. ‘Did someone else just come in here and do that?’
I shook my head. ‘No. All my own work.’
‘And that roar you let out – it made my ears pop. You’re amazing. I can’t believe it.’
Actually I was having trouble believing it too. I felt dead strange as well, quite unlike myself. It was as if a thunderstorm had just erupted right inside my head, shaking me up so much that I’d become someone entirely different.
But Karl started leaning slowly forward.
‘You won’t hit me again,’ he snarled.
‘Yes, I will,’ I said, standing over him with my fists bunched together.
It was then Tallulah rushed forward and said, ‘Don’t worry, Marcus, I’ve come armed. Look!’
She flung off her coat. ‘The hardware shop was out of stakes,’ she said cheerfully, ‘so I bought these instead at the grocery shop.’ And then came the third incredible event as Tallulah brought out tons and tons of garlic. ‘Emptied the place,’ she said proudly. ‘There’s not a strong-smelling garlic clove left in the shop.’ And she started firing these garlic cloves at Karl.
Karl pitched to the ground again and let out a shriek of horror as the garlic cloves rained down on him. ‘Stop it,’ he urged in a low, ragged voice, and put his hands up to his face to protect him from any more. But Tallulah seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of garlic.
‘Marcus, look at his face,’ she shouted suddenly.
Karl’s eyes had practically vanished and his skin looked all crumpled and ancient. He was shrivelling away in front us.
‘Wow, he’s turning into the oldest man in the world. Isn’t this fantastic?’ cried Tallulah.
‘Oh yes,’ I agreed. I’d have said it a bit more enthusiastically if the garlic smell wasn’t making me feel a bit nauseous too. ‘I’ll just sit down here for a second,’ I said, trying to move as far away from the ghastly smell as I could.
And then suddenly something else came splashing onto the floor: sick – vampire-style. Bright green with what looked like tiny red spots inside it.
‘Oh, this is tremendous,’ cried Tallulah, studying it. ‘Come and look, Marcus.’
‘You’re all right,’ I said, fearing if I saw it I’d soon be adding to it.
‘Now, listen to me,’ said Tallulah to a now very aged and seedy-looking Karl. ‘I’ve also got garlic powder in my coat. And I’m willing to use it as well if you don’t start answering a few questions, like: Why have you come here? Come on, speak!’
Karl made a noise like a cross between a howl and a very loud belch and then vanished.
‘He’s gone,’ shouted Tallulah, deeply disappointed.
‘No, he hasn’t,’ I said. ‘He’s a marvellous quick-change vampire. He’ll be a bat again now – yeah, look, there he is!’
And there was the bat, not moving so confidently this time though. It swayed, rather than swirled around the room. Then all at once it seemed to go very still as it hovered in the darkest corner of the room.
‘Got you,’ cried Tallulah, lunging at it. But instead it disappeared again. Only this time it just seemed to melt away into the darkness. Or maybe the dark swallowed it up. Anyway, it had vanished – gone.
‘He didn’t answer any of my questions,’ said Tallulah sadly
.
I immediately started packing up the garlic. ‘All right if I bung this outside for now?’ I said. ‘It just reminds me of him.’
‘OK,’ said Tallulah. ‘And keep it – I don’t want it.’ I knew for certain we didn’t want it either. I hurled it onto the back patio, nearly throwing up as well. How anyone could ever buy garlic, I don’t know. The smell is truly appalling.
‘Do you think he’ll come back for his clothes and stuff ?’ asked Tallulah.
‘I doubt it,’ I said.
‘So do I,’ she said. ‘Vampires are almost always quite rich. So he’ll just buy a load of new clothes.’ Then she let out a cry of disappointment. ‘His vomit has disappeared.’
‘Oh, what a cruel blow. What were you planning to do with that?’
‘Study it,’ said Tallulah. ‘Put it under a microscope.’
‘Yuck,’ I said.
‘But don’t you see, we’ve no proof now that a vampire really was here. Apart from us, of course,’ she sighed. ‘I’d love to have found out more about him.’
‘There wasn’t really time for a nice cosy chat – he was too busy trying to drink up my blood … and yours.’
‘What a night,’ she sighed appreciatively.
‘If you hadn’t come round tonight I certainly wouldn’t be alive. Great you got my hint about the window.’
‘Wasn’t difficult,’ she said.
‘And the garlic was an inspired idea.’
‘For me, it was just obvious. But then, as I told you, I’m an expert on vampires. And to think you had one living all that time in your house.’
‘Yeah, he had us all fooled. You see, we hadn’t seen the real Cousin Karl for years. Then the real one rang up tonight. That was a very weird moment, I can tell you. The fake one said he’d never attack a stranger.’
‘That’s right, they like to be introduced to you first,’ said Tallulah. She looked at me. ‘What I don’t get is why the vampire chose you.’
I hesitated for a second, and then said quietly, ‘Well, I don’t like to boast, but I’ve got amazing blood—’
‘No, be serious,’ interrupted Tallulah. ‘That vampire was just wasted on you. And it could come back.’