The Vanishing Vampire (9 page)

Norman and Angelina looked at each other, puzzled. From behind them, Rory giggled. He held up a bottle of Louisiana Flaming Pepper Sauce that one of Dad's friends had given him as a joke. “I helped when they weren't looking,” he said.

“Other than that, how do you feel?” Norman asked.

I put the glass down and concentrated on my feelings. This was amazing. The hunger seemed to have gone away. I was free of the terrible craving. I waited cautiously, wondering if the hunger would return like it had all the other times. It seemed to stay away. “It worked,” I told them.

Suddenly, everyone was jumping up and down and hugging. Everyone but me. “What's wrong?” Angelina asked when she noticed.

“It's great about the blood substitute,” I told her, “but I'm still a vampire. I still need to find a way to become human again.”

 

Twenty-one

A LITTLE GIFT

I asked them to whip up another batch of the blood substitute, without any special ingredients from Rory, and I had Angelina write down an extra copy of the formula.

“What for?” Norman asked.

“I'd like to give it to someone.” I remembered what Vladivost had said about wanting to return to the old country. With the blood substitute, he could go back without attracting attention. He could go where he wished and be what he wanted. At least someone would be happy.

With the hunger under control, I was able to give my full attention to enjoying the night. The darkness was like a warm and comforting jacket.

As I reached the warehouse, I knew that something was wrong. Someone had hung garlic from the door. A window next to the door was smashed. I moved around to the back of the building, eager to put some distance between myself and that awful stench. Even the brief exposure to the garlic had made me feel weak. In the rear of the warehouse, I found a window with a large crack in it. That would do. I set down the bottle on a ledge by the window. As I became fog, I listened to voices from inside.

“At last. You will not escape me this time.”

I knew the voice. It was Teridakian. I drifted through the crack, then took human form again and moved closer.

Vladivost was in his chair. His glass lay shattered on the floor by his side. The book lay next to it, slowly absorbing the spilled liquid. The vampire cringed and tried to move deeper into the chair and farther away from Teridakian.

“I have you now,” Teridakian said. He held up a large cross. Even from where I stood, I could feel my strength drain. In his chair, Vladivost must have been as powerless as a baby.

Teridakian reached into the suitcase at his feet. He pulled out a wooden stake. “I've waited half a lifetime for this,” he said. “My moment is here.”

I thought of leaving before I was noticed. It would be easy to slip back out. But I couldn't leave Vladivost like that. Even if he was a monster, I couldn't let this happen to him.

There had to be a way to save him. But I couldn't get near Teridakian while he held the cross.

There were rows of shelves between us. I pushed against the nearest one. It creaked.

Teridakian looked up.

I froze and held my breath. Teridakian turned his attention back to Vladivost. I pushed again. The shelf didn't give. My strength was still limited by the garlic and the cross.

“This is for all those you have harmed,” Teridakian said.

I remembered what Vladivost had said about a swarm of flies—flies and other insects. The thought was enough to make me shiver.

Teridakian raised the stake.

I had to do the unthinkable. Wishing there were any other way, I left myself a thousand times. And a thousand more. And a thousand more.

I swarmed across the floor.

Even in this tiny form, I could feel the power of the cross. But there were thousands of me, and the task for each was small. I attacked the front supports of the shelf. As I worked, thousands of me watched the vampire and the vampire hunter with countless eyes. Teridakian was about to thrust the stake. “Are you suffering?” he asked. “Do you like being a victim?”

I hurried all my selves. Thousands of termites chewed at the shelf.

It tilted.

It leaned farther forward.

It fell.

It hit the next shelf, which fell and hit the next, which fell and hit the next. Giant dominoes, they toppled toward the vampire and the vampire killer.

Teridakian looked up just as the closest shelf was falling. He dropped the stake and cross and put his hands out. The cross swung from the cord around his neck. The shelf fell onto the two enemies.

I became me again as objects crashed down and spilled across the floor. I couldn't move or think. The horror of what I had been was almost more than I could bear. Even though I was back in human form, I wanted to escape from my own flesh. I lay on the floor, feeling my muscles twitch and jerk. After a while, I managed to look up.

There was motion beneath all the shelves. Vladivost came crawling out. “Well,” he said, brushing himself off and walking over, “that was certainly exciting.”

“You find a close encounter with a sharp stake exciting?”

“After nine hundred years, it does take something major to hold my interest.”

There was a moan from beneath the shelves. “It appears my old enemy has survived to hunt me anew,” Vladivost said.

“This is a game for you, isn't it?” I asked.

“Isn't everything?”

I had no answer. I went to the back window, opened it, and got the bottle I had left outside. There was no reason to give it to him. He had done nothing for me. He was responsible for my condition. Still, I held up the bottle. “This takes away the hunger. You can go back to the old country if you want. You won't have to drink any blood. It contains—”

“Bioflavonoids, and various other vegetable ingredients,” he said.

The bottle almost slipped from my fingers. “You know the formula?”

He nodded. “It works longer than anything else. Unfortunately, it doesn't last. The universe is not that generous—there is no substitute for blood. The hunger grows worse each time. This mixture can hold off the craving for a while, but it is not a substitute.” He shrugged. “On the other hand, it makes a nice treat. I especially recommend it with a dash of Flaming Pepper Sauce.” He smacked his lips. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I think it is time I searched for a more peaceful location.”

He climbed out the window, leaving me holding a bottle that did not hold any answers.

I didn't know what to say. Vladivost's words had crushed the life from my last chance for a normal existence. I threw the bottle against the wall, and watched my false hope drip onto the floor.

Teridakian was starting to crawl from beneath the rubble. I could see he still wore the cross around his neck. Even if I wanted to help, I couldn't get close to him. I felt weak from the cross and from the garlic at the door. Everything felt a bit shaky. I was dizzy. The world was throbbing in and out of focus. It was time for me to go.

“Curse you!” Teridakian pulled himself free and stumbled toward me, the cross in one hand. He fell to his knees. Then he tried to rise. The shelves must have stunned him pretty badly. He fell again. He reached into a pocket with his other hand. “Feel the power of holy water!” he shouted as he threw something.

I turned and crawled through the window. Something splashed against my back. I felt weaker by the moment. I staggered into the night.

 

Twenty-two

A DECISION

I hurried away from the warehouse, still weak and dizzy. Everything had turned hazy and flat. The water Teridakian threw seemed to have drained even more of my powers. I was confused, not really sure where I was going. Eventually, I looked up and saw my house. Norman, Rory, and Angelina were waiting for me.

“It doesn't work,” I told them.

“What?” Norman asked.

I explained that the vegetable drink was only a temporary aid and that, sooner or later, I would be forced to seek blood. I suspected it would be very soon. When the substitute wore off, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to control the thirst any longer. “Rory, could you go get my monster book?”

“Sure.” He scooted off to my room.

“I didn't want him to hear this,” I told them. “I have to leave. I can't go on like this. I have almost no reflection. I can't survive exposure to the sun. Worst of all, I know that sooner or later, I'll harm those I care for. I have to leave.”

“Sebastian…,” Angelina began.

I nodded. I understood what she was trying to tell me. “It's best this way. I think I can hold on for one more day. I'll go to school and say my good-byes.”

She was starting to cry. Norman looked a little wet around the eyes, too. “I have to rest,” I told them. It was odd. Usually, I didn't get tired very easily.

I met Rory on the stairs and took the book from him. “Thanks.”

“Read it to me?” he asked.

“Maybe tomorrow.” I went to bed and slept a black, unbroken sleep until morning. This was the first night I had slept since the full force of the change took over my body.

Breakfast with my family was difficult. I think I acted normal enough to keep them from getting suspicious. I just had juice and toast. I didn't want to have to stare at my missing reflection in the silverware. Angelina, who I was seeing in a new light, also tried to act as if nothing were wrong, though she did look troubled.

After breakfast, I gathered my books, put on my jacket, scarf, and sunglasses, and left for school. If this was to be my last day among regular people, I was determined to make it a day I would remember. I would see my friends, my school, my teachers, and then come home for one last meal with my family.

After that, I would slip away in the night and find a new place to live. I imagined myself traveling the world like Vladivost. Though, of course, I wouldn't have his European charm. But I would develop charm of my own.

I didn't want to leave. I saw no way to stay.

I was so wrapped up in these thoughts as I walked that I didn't see the three of them coming.

They must have been hiding behind parked cars. They hit me hard, pushing me against a tree.

“It's him!” Bud Mellon shouted as he grabbed my right arm.

“Got him!” Lud Mellon said, forcing back my left arm.

I should have been able to fling them like bits of paper. But something had stolen my strength. I looked up.

“Stay where you are, evil one.” Husker Teridakian faced me, holding up his cross. “I have found you. The light of the sun will cleanse the earth of your foul presence. The old evil one may have escaped for now, but I will atone for my failure with your destruction.”

He reached out toward my scarf. I jerked my head to the side. I felt his fingers grab the cloth. I looked around desperately for some way to save myself before he exposed my flesh to the burning light of the sun.

There, on the lawn behind him, was Browser.
Attack,
I thought, sending the dog a command to leap the fence and pounce on those who wanted to harm me.

The dog didn't move.

So this was how it was to end. Here I had been tortured by the thought of spending an eternity as a vampire, and I was about to be crisped into ashes before I could begin my new existence.

I tried to yank my arms free. It was no use.

“Die, vampire!”
Teridakian shouted, tearing the scarf from my head. The sunglasses went flying. The scarf flapped in his hands.

I shut my eyes against the sunlight and braced for agony.

“Die, evil one!”

Had time slowed down? Surely by now I would feel my skin turning to cinders.

“Back to ashes, undead monster!”

Nothing happened.

I opened one eye. Then I opened both. Sunlight fell on my face. It felt good. I blinked. I looked at Lud and Bud. I looked at Teridakian. I understood. Teridakian didn't. He backed up, his face squishing together in a puzzled expression.

“Perhaps you made a mistake?” I suggested.

Teridakian stared at me. He took the cross and pressed it against my forehead.

I stared back. “You made a mistake. Leave me alone.”

He lowered the cross. He stared at me for a moment more. Then he sighed and walked off.

“Guys,” I said to Lud and Bud, “maybe you should let me go.”

“Sorry.” They dropped my arms and stepped back.

“He told us to do it,” Bud said.

“He said you were a vampire,” Lud said.

“I'm not a vampire,” I said. I was me again. My decision to save Vladivost must have saved me, too. I had helped the person responsible for all my problems. Even though the thought of turning into all those termites had disgusted me, I did it because it was the only way. And I had offered him the formula. What could be more human than that? From the instant I rescued him, I had begun to change back. That was why I was so weak leaving the warehouse. That was why I had no strength against Lud and Bud, and why I had slept last night.