Vampire Lodge

And once his eyes had adjusted, he recognized something else too.

Two figures!

He was sure of it. So late at night, and in the trickling rain, two men were walking along the edge of the woods behind the lodge, their lanterns pitching slowly back and forth as their feet—crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch—crunched on over fallen leaves and branches, and every so often—clink! —that same metallic sound could be heard. Each man seemed to be carrying something long and thin, which Kevin, in the dim lantern light, was then able to identify.

Shovels, he thought, peering down. They’re carrying shovels. And every few steps, the big blades of their shovels clinked together as they walked on towards the forest.

And Kevin was able to recognize something else too, as the trickle of rain continued to fall. In their bobbing lantern lights, he could make out their faces beyond a doubt—

It’s Bill Bitner! he recognized. And Wally!

And just one second later, both figures turned into one of the paths which led into the woods, and disappeared.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

The next morning, Kevin awoke to see Jimmy, already fully dressed, looking out the french doors. “Wake up, Kevin,” he said. “The rain stopped. We can go out to the bluff and fly our kites.”

Kevin groaned groggily. He hadn’t slept well at all, which was no wonder. It had been well past three a.m. before he’d fallen asleep, and all through the night he kept waking up from nightmares of Count Volkov: the long thin face, pale as milk, emerging from the dark. The bald head, the black hole-punch eyes, and the sharp-pointed fangs showing through The Count’s twisted vampire grin…

Kevin would wake up each time in a shivering sweat, leaning up wide-eyed in bed, his heart pattering.

“Come on,” Jimmy exclaimed. “Up and at ’em. Let’s get out there and get our kites flying while we still can. It could start raining again any time.”

Kevin nodded sleepily. “I’ll be ready in a few minutes,” he said.

“Great, I’ll meet you downstairs.”

Kevin dragged himself out of bed, then showered and dressed. He was so tired he didn’t even feel like flying kites today, but then he realized if he didn’t, he’d have to sit around the lodge all day, and that was one thing he definitely didn’t want to do. The lodge terrified him now, and why shouldn’t it? With all the things he’d found out last night? And finding out that my aunt is a vampire? he added in thought. Hanging around the lodge was the last thing he wanted to do.

Dressed and ready, he grabbed his bat kite and trudged downstairs. The lodge was dead quiet. Jimmy was waiting for him in the foyer with his own kite. “Let’s go.”

“Jimmy, Kevin,” Becky’s voice called out from the dining room. “Where are you guys going?”

“To the bluffs,” Kevin said, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

“To fly our kites,” Jimmy added.

Becky smirked from her place at the table, over a bowl of cereal. “You and your stupid kites. Aren’t you even going to eat breakfast?”

“Naw,” Jimmy answered. “We want to get going now, before it starts to rain again.”

“Oh, and let me tell you two nitwits something,” Becky chided. “I asked Wally about what you guys said yesterday.”

“What’s that?” Jimmy asked.

“About how you two doughheads said you saw him mysteriously digging around in the woods.” Becky frowned at them. “All he was doing was digging for a broken water pipe. Real mysterious, guys.”

Water pipe, my eye, Kevin thought. And I guess Bill Bitner and your lover boy Wally were digging for broken water pipes last night, too. At three a.m.! But Kevin didn’t voice this thought, and he remained convinced that not telling anyone about the things he’d discovered so far was the best idea. But before he and Jimmy left, he stopped and said, “Hey, Becky?”

“Hay is for horses!” Becky complained back.

“Which is what you look like,” Kevin couldn’t resist, and groaned. But then he asked his sister the question he was sure he already knew the answer to. “Where’s Aunt Carolyn?”

“How would I know?” Becky griped. “I’m not her keeper.”

“Well, have you seen her at all this morning?”

“No. I haven’t seen her anywhere. Oysterbrains!”

“Neither have I,” Jimmy volunteered. “But who cares? Let’s get going.”

Kevin followed Jimmy out the front door, but before he could close it behind him, Becky harassed him a final time from the breakfast table. “Oh, and have fun flying your stupid kite… Kevvie.”

Kevin groaned to himself, then closed the front door. Sisters sure are a pain, he thought. I should’ve dumped that bowl of cereal right on her smart head.

Outside, they immediately buttoned up their jackets. The air was brisk—they could see their breath condense in front of their faces—and there was a steady wind, ideal for kite flying. Fallen autumn leaves blew around their feet as they headed for the path that would lead them to the bluffs. Jimmy looked worriedly up at the sky. “Yeah, it looks like it might start raining again. We may never get a chance to fly these kites.”

Kevin, trudging along, nodded noncommittally. Right now, kite flying was the furthest thing from his mind. All he could think about instead was The Count, the lodge and all the weird business he’d uncovered, and, of course, Aunt Carolyn.

“Don’t you think that’s kind of odd?” Jimmy asked.

“What?”

“Well, you know. Your Aunt Carolyn. Your sister said she hadn’t seen her all morning, and we didn’t see much of her yesterday either, except after it got dark.”

“Yeah,” Kevin replied, but that’s all he said. If he got to talking about it, he might wind up telling Jimmy everything, and he still didn’t think that would be too smart.

“Hey, look at this!” Jimmy exclaimed and rushed forward. Just off the path stood an old rickety wooden shed, with its front door hanging open. “I wonder what it is.”

“Just some old tool shed probably,” Kevin wearily guessed.

“Let’s go in.”

“Naw, we probably shouldn’t. That old thing looks like it’s going to fall down any second.”

Jimmy smirked. “What are you? Chicken all of a sudden? Let’s go inside, check it out.”

Before Kevin could object further, Jimmy was entering the shed, and Kevin, having no choice, followed him. The inside of the shed smelled musty, and it was very damp. “See?” Kevin said. “Big deal. It’s just some old shed.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Jimmy concurred. “But—”

“But what?”

Jimmy’s head tilted. “What’s that sound?”

“I don’t hear any—” But before Kevin could finish the sentence, he stopped, listened. And, yes, he did hear something. Something like a tiny squeaking sound?

“Sounds like baby birds chirping,” Jimmy observed. He looked up at the ceiling of the shed. “Bet there’s a bird nest up there somewhere.”

“Naw, there wouldn’t be a bird nest here, not this late in the season,” Kevin informed him. “It’s too cold, it’s almost winter. Birds don’t nest this time of year, they fly south.”

“Oh,” Jimmy said. He scratched his head. “Then what is it?” And, next, from his jacket pocket, he withdrew a small flashlight.

“Cool,” Kevin said. “Where’d you get that?”

“This flashlight? I don’t know. But I always carry it around in case I need a light.” And as the strange chirping sound persisted, he turned on the flashlight’s bright beam, aimed it up at the shed’s ceiling, and—