Vampire Brat by Angie Sage Page A

allowed to goout for even one moment, just in case the monster statue outside their window comes alive and bites them. Well, that’s what Wanda said and she should know.
    There are other things that make nighttime noises in Spookie House. There is Sir Horace—who rattles when he walks, which is a bit of a giveaway; there are the hot water pipes, which gurgle; the big floorboards on the landing that creak as the house cools down; the grandfather clock in the hall, which has the loudest tick you can imagine and—ever since Aunt Tabby tried to fix it—chimes thirteen times every hour; and the family of rats that chase each other all around the attic and sound like they are wearing hiking boots.
    So if you stayed the night in Spookie House I guess you might spend a lot of it lying awake and listening to everything, just like Wanda did when she first came. But if you stayed for a few more nights you would soon get used to it and end up snuffling like a hedgehog just like Wanda. Except no one snuffles like Wanda.
    The clock in the hall had just chimed thirteen again and I opened my eyes with a jolt. I didn’t think I had been asleep and I figured that it was now eleven o’clock. So I listened to the Spookie House sounds, and everything was surprisingly quiet, apart from the odd creak from the floorboards on the landing. And then I heard a new sound….
    First I heard the sound of a door opening, but it was not Aunt Tabby’s door or the doorto Uncle Drac’s turret—it was the door to our Saturday bedroom. I knew that because it has a particular sound, kind of an oooooohah- eeeeek . Then I heard a soft creak-thump-creak-thump, and I realized it was the sound that the rope ladder makes when someone climbs down it. And at once I knew who that must be— Vampire Max .
    I shot up to the snuffling hedgehog and shook her awake. “Wandaaaaaaa!” I hissed right in her ear. Wanda sat up with her hair sticking out on end like she had had an electric shock.
    â€œWherrr?”
    â€œVampire Max—he’s out vampiring. I can hear him.”
    â€œEer?”
    â€œCome on, Wanda. Hurry up .”
    The trouble with hedgehogs is they do not like waking up. I had to drag Wanda out of bed and make her feet walk down the ladder, which was not easy, but I did it. Soon she was standing by the Combined Werewolf and Vampire Trapping Kit in her yucky sweet-dreams-pink-fairy pajamas, rubbing her eyes. “Is it morning?’ she mumbled.
    â€œNo,” I said. “Put your slippers on and follow me.”
    I don’t think Wanda had figured out what we were doing, but she put on her fluffy rabbit slippers with the silly ears while I heaved the Combined Werewolf and Vampire Trapping Kit over my shoulder. I think it was only when we got outside our bedroom that Wanda really woke up. Her eyes popped wideopen and she stared around as if she was really surprised at where she was. I am sure she would have squeaked out loud if I hadn’t shoved my hand over her mouth.
    â€œWrrrrer!” she gasped.
    I put my finger to my lips and beckoned her to follow me, which she did. We hid in the shadows and crept along the wide passageway that runs along the back of the attic, where all the doors to the days-of-the-week bedrooms are. Wanda is quite good at creeping and so am I, since I have had lots of practice creeping up on Aunt Tabby when she is not looking, so it was easy for us to get really close to our Saturday bedroom rope ladder. And sure enough, there he was: Vampire Max was climbing down the ladder like a little black spider.
    A bright shaft of moonlight was shining onto the ladder and as Vampire Max stepped off, it shone onto his pasty white face and glinted on his slicked-back hair. He was wearing black pajamas and a weird black velvet jacket tied with a silk cord. He looked just like a minivampire from one of Aunt Tabby’s movies.

    Wanda was wide awake now. Her fingers were digging