The Vampire Blog (15 page)

‘Ooops, clumsy me,' I cried.

‘What did you do that for?' he demanded angrily.

‘Ooh, a few reasons really,' I said, my anger still spurring me on. ‘But the killer reason, I suppose, is that I've just been chatting to you on the phone.'

‘What are you talking about?'

‘Yeah, it was most odd. There was another person calling himself Cousin Karl—'

‘An impostor,' he snapped, a new sharpness in his voice.

‘No offence, but actually I think he's the real one and you … well, you're a …'

But even before I'd said the dreaded word, his eyes began turning a horrifyingly red colour.

‘Don't move,' he cried.

Advice I firmly intended to disregard, but I reckoned without the force of those eyes, which just clamped themselves on to me. And I couldn't look away from his gaze. It seemed to overwhelm and take me over.

Then I felt my head start to rock slowly from side to side, just as if he was about to hypnotize me. I couldn't let that happen. I had to fight back. I could hear him breathing really loudly as he edged towards me.

‘Not too close,' I muttered, ‘because your strong breath is rotting all my nasal hairs.'

‘Why have you always got to try and be funny?' he sighed. ‘You've no idea how weary I get of your constant inane remarks all the time.' He sounded really aggrieved.

‘I'm so sorry,' I said, desperately trying to stop my head from swaying about. ‘But then
you're a typical vampire – absolutely no sense of humour. You
are
a vampire, aren't you?'

‘Oh, yes,' he hissed proudly, ‘but living quietly and respectably until I sensed a very ripe half-vampire.'

Karl still spoke with that irritating super-confidence, but there was an odd calmness about him too, as if he knew he was in perfect control of this situation.

‘So you've just been pretending to be Karl?'

He nodded. ‘I've been tracking you. I heard your parents whispering outside about this Cousin Karl and his family and whether they could help. I spotted your mother posting a letter which I made sure they never received. I stole it off their mat.'

‘You daredevil,' I said scornfully.

‘And then I discovered this Karl and all his family were far away in America. I also found out he was exactly the same age as me.
And
he actually bore a very slight resemblance to me.'

‘Poor guy,' I muttered.

‘But could I pose as him? That was a risk, but your parents hadn't seen him for so long,
and in the end they were just very relieved that someone might be able to help their idiot son.'

I ignored this insult and asked, ‘But why bother with all this pretending? Why not just lie in wait for me one dark and gloomy night?' Karl actually shuddered. ‘Vampires do have certain standards. Surely you know that.'

‘Oh yeah,' I said, laughing cynically. ‘You don't like taking blood from someone you haven't been introduced to. How incredibly polite you are, for a blood-sucking weirdo.'

‘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.

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.