Vampire Lodge by Edward Lee Page A

on the couch,
talking to Wally, who was stoking up the fire with an iron rod.
Becky had a dreamy, faraway look in her eyes as she listened to
Wally.
    “ Looks like your sister is
in love,” Jimmy said when they stepped out onto the front
porch.
    “ She falls in love every
week,” Kevin complained. “Thinks she’s the greatest girl in town.
But I’m sure Wally the Lover Boy will find out what a nag she is
real soon.”
    Outside, a chill wind gripped them,
brushing across their faces and blowing down their collars. The
night sky was full of cloudy black murk; not a single star could be
seen, and of course there was no sign of the moon either. Leaves
fell steadily from the high trees around the lodge.
    “ How come your aunt seems
to disappear all the time?” Jimmy asked as they rounded a stand of
floodlit hedges.
    That’s a good
question, Kevin thought, but he kept it to
himself. “I guess, like she said, she’s got a lot of stuff to do
around the lodge, you know, upkeep and stuff like that.”
    “ But there aren’t even any
guests,” Jimmy observed, “except for us.”
    “ Yeah, I know. But there’s
still lots of stuff to do, I guess, probably a lot of paperwork and
taxes, things like that.”
    “ Yeah, I guess you’re
right.”
    More bright floodlights lit the side
of the lodge as they walked around. When they looked up they could
see smoke pouring slowly out of the tall brick chimney. They
continued to walk around, their hands jammed down in their coat
pockets. Kevin expected the back of the lodge to be lit up by
floodlights too but he found he was wrong the minute they turned
the corner.
    The back was pitch-dark.
    Wind rustled the leaves in the trees.
They glanced up at the back of the building, noticing only a few
windows lit up.
    “ Look,” Kevin said. He
pointed up the great dark face of the back of the lodge, to the far
corner of the second floor. There, they could see the lit french
doors and balcony. “There’s our room.”
    Jimmy peered up, squinting. “Oh, yeah,
you’re right. I guess they only have the balconies on the
corners.”
    Just then, though, both Kevin and
Jimmy flinched. Several small, barely seen shapes seemed to flutter
past their faces.
    “ What was—”
    `”— that? ” Kevin finished.
    A chittery sound could be heard very
faintly above them, like a rapid squeaking noise. Then the shapes
fluttered past a second time.
    “ Are those… birds?” Jimmy
asked.
    “ No,” Kevin finally
realized. “They’re bats! ”
    “ Run!” Jimmy
shouted.
    And they ran, all right. They ran as
fast as they could back toward the side of the lodge where the
bright floodlights glowed. But before they could make it completely
out of the darkness, and with the circles of bats still squeaking
above their heads—
    A tall, dark figure quickly stepped
out in front of them, blocking their way…

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
     
    Kevin thought his heart would stop
when he looked up fearfully at the figure. And beside him, Jimmy’s
teeth were chattering.
    Then, the figure stepped
forward.
    “ What’s with you guys
anyway? I’ve been looking all over for you.”
    Kevin and Jimmy both sighed in relief
when they recognized Wally’s voice.
    “ We were just walking
around,” Kevin said.
    “ Walking around where?”
Wally questioned.
    “ Just around
back—”
    “ And we saw bats!” Jimmy
added.
    Wally frowned, his long hair blowing
in the wind. “Bats can’t hurt you, but you kids shouldn’t be
wandering around out here in the dark. Besides, it looks like it’s
going to start raining again any minute. We get a lot of storms
around here this time of year.” Wally paused to brush some of his
hair out of his eyes. “Anyway, your aunt sent me out to look for
you, says she wants you to come inside now.”
    “ Okay,” Kevin
said.
    They followed Wally back
into the lodge through the big front door, back into the warmth of
the foyer. Kevin hoped Wally didn’t notice that they were
scared. He’d tell