fences.
Ginny regarded him stonily. Then she turned on the radio, put the volume where she liked it, and said, “Somebody’s having a party at that horrible old mansion. The Mall House. Maybe he decided to crash that.”
Her date sighed with pleasure.
He did not come to a full stop at the end of the little housing division road. He looked swiftly both ways and, instead, accelerated through the stop sign and let his tires scream as he turned left.
Ginny sighed. It was going to be a long night.
And all for a brother.
When you got right down to it — who needed him?
Lacey could not stop hearing the scream.
Even though she knew that Zach must have hit the ground by now, must be crushed flat against it, she could still hear the scream.
Zach! she thought numbly.
Bobby and Zach were the kind of boys to whom nothing bad ever happened; they were inoculated against trouble from birth. Their lives went smoothly, their complexions went smoothly, their relationships went smoothly.
And now look. Zach was dead or broken. Bobby was catatonic.
In the silence of the tower room, into the muffled panting and weeping of the five left standing there, came a new sound.
A rhythmic series of thuds.
Steps coming up the stairs.
Lacey’s heart roared like a locomotive.
The vampire had not made noise before. Whose step was so heavy? Perhaps a real person was walking up those stairs.
Could it be the police, coming to see what was going on? To find out who had screamed? Were they about to be rescued?
Was it some horrible, drug-crazed murderer escaped from an insane asylum?
Lacey could not bear to look at the door, but neither could she look away. It was as though her eyes no longer belonged to her, but were ruled by some other force.
Be the police! she thought, and prayed, and begged. Please be the police. Please save us! Please end this! We don’t deserve this! We want to go home! We want our mothers! We —
Through the door came the vampire.
His cloak swirled and his stench rose up.
Under his arm was the burden that gave him weight.
Zach’s body.
Chapter 7
“A VAMPIRE?” REPEATED KEVIN JAMES . He actually began to laugh.
“Don’t you laugh at me,” snapped Mardee.
“I can’t help it. A vampire ?”
Mardee pulled back from him. The creep. To think that she was alone with this idiot. Nothing, nothing in the entire world, was more maddening than somebody who laughed at you. Mardee pulled her lips together in a furious pout. She folded her arms over her chest. “Yes,” she said. “A vampire.” Kevin laughed again, and louder.
It was a Land Rover.
The car thief grinned widely. Some of his teeth had rotted, and some were missing.
Somebody had already stolen the Land Rover once, obviously, or it wouldn’t be here. Some fool who had not had the foresight to drive it out of state or provide a closed garage. Some beginner who had tucked it here until morning.
Well, come morning, it would not be here.
Land Rovers. That whole class of vehicles made the car thief laugh. Big, high, tough SUVs, bought exclusively by weak and wimpy suburbanites. Big strong SUVs for difficult terrain and steep grades, which would never go anywhere except a parking lot.
And loaded. These babies always had a great sound system. Air-conditioning. Televisions. Last summer he even got one that had a mini fridge in it.
The car thief felt around the cracks of the doors. In the complete dark it would not be easy to break in.
He did not think he had ever been anywhere as dark as this.
Although he was rarely afraid — he preferred to scare others than to be scared — the car thief felt a prickle on the back of his neck.
It was not fear. It was not some sixth sense.
It was an actual touch.
Fingers brushed his neck.
The car thief bit back a scream and whirled, ready to strike back.
Nothing was there.
He was left trembling, his knees jellied.
He hated that. It made him deeply angry that anything could frighten him.
Nothing was there, he
Ginny regarded him stonily. Then she turned on the radio, put the volume where she liked it, and said, “Somebody’s having a party at that horrible old mansion. The Mall House. Maybe he decided to crash that.”
Her date sighed with pleasure.
He did not come to a full stop at the end of the little housing division road. He looked swiftly both ways and, instead, accelerated through the stop sign and let his tires scream as he turned left.
Ginny sighed. It was going to be a long night.
And all for a brother.
When you got right down to it — who needed him?
Lacey could not stop hearing the scream.
Even though she knew that Zach must have hit the ground by now, must be crushed flat against it, she could still hear the scream.
Zach! she thought numbly.
Bobby and Zach were the kind of boys to whom nothing bad ever happened; they were inoculated against trouble from birth. Their lives went smoothly, their complexions went smoothly, their relationships went smoothly.
And now look. Zach was dead or broken. Bobby was catatonic.
In the silence of the tower room, into the muffled panting and weeping of the five left standing there, came a new sound.
A rhythmic series of thuds.
Steps coming up the stairs.
Lacey’s heart roared like a locomotive.
The vampire had not made noise before. Whose step was so heavy? Perhaps a real person was walking up those stairs.
Could it be the police, coming to see what was going on? To find out who had screamed? Were they about to be rescued?
Was it some horrible, drug-crazed murderer escaped from an insane asylum?
Lacey could not bear to look at the door, but neither could she look away. It was as though her eyes no longer belonged to her, but were ruled by some other force.
Be the police! she thought, and prayed, and begged. Please be the police. Please save us! Please end this! We don’t deserve this! We want to go home! We want our mothers! We —
Through the door came the vampire.
His cloak swirled and his stench rose up.
Under his arm was the burden that gave him weight.
Zach’s body.
Chapter 7
“A VAMPIRE?” REPEATED KEVIN JAMES . He actually began to laugh.
“Don’t you laugh at me,” snapped Mardee.
“I can’t help it. A vampire ?”
Mardee pulled back from him. The creep. To think that she was alone with this idiot. Nothing, nothing in the entire world, was more maddening than somebody who laughed at you. Mardee pulled her lips together in a furious pout. She folded her arms over her chest. “Yes,” she said. “A vampire.” Kevin laughed again, and louder.
It was a Land Rover.
The car thief grinned widely. Some of his teeth had rotted, and some were missing.
Somebody had already stolen the Land Rover once, obviously, or it wouldn’t be here. Some fool who had not had the foresight to drive it out of state or provide a closed garage. Some beginner who had tucked it here until morning.
Well, come morning, it would not be here.
Land Rovers. That whole class of vehicles made the car thief laugh. Big, high, tough SUVs, bought exclusively by weak and wimpy suburbanites. Big strong SUVs for difficult terrain and steep grades, which would never go anywhere except a parking lot.
And loaded. These babies always had a great sound system. Air-conditioning. Televisions. Last summer he even got one that had a mini fridge in it.
The car thief felt around the cracks of the doors. In the complete dark it would not be easy to break in.
He did not think he had ever been anywhere as dark as this.
Although he was rarely afraid — he preferred to scare others than to be scared — the car thief felt a prickle on the back of his neck.
It was not fear. It was not some sixth sense.
It was an actual touch.
Fingers brushed his neck.
The car thief bit back a scream and whirled, ready to strike back.
Nothing was there.
He was left trembling, his knees jellied.
He hated that. It made him deeply angry that anything could frighten him.
Nothing was there, he
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