Vampire Lodge

My… gosh, he thought. He squinted harder, to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. I don’t believe it…

First there was a symbol, a fancy circle with the letter V in the middle. And Kevin remembered at once that this was the same symbol he’d seen imprinted on the collar button of The Count’s cape, on the painting he’d seen in his aunt’s room last night.

Then his eyes flicked lower, to the book’s title.

The title read:

The Diary of Count Volkov

Kevin’s skin prickled at the discovery, and then he realized what must’ve happened. Aunt Carolyn said that Count Volkov had kept a diary, but he’d hidden it somewhere, and he never told the townspeople where it was before they chained him up in his coffin and buried it. But—

Somehow, Aunt Carolyn found it, Kevin concluded. That’s probably why she bought the lodge in the first place, because she already knew about the legend, and she already knew that the diary was hidden somewhere around here. And she also knew that the location of The Count’s treasure was written down in the diary too.

Kevin’s hands trembled as he carefully reopened the book to the page it had been opened at. He held the flashlight close and made out the lines of tight, cursive handwriting.

Count Volkov’s handwriting, he thought in a grim and very creepy reminder.

But even with the flashlight, the letters were hard to read. The paper had yellowed over the last hundred years, and the ink itself had faded and turned brown. Kevin squinted so hard his eyes began to hurt, but after a short time he was able to read the last few lines in the diary:

And the curs’d townsfolk, I fear, are beginning to suspect what I truly am, just as my rebellious underlings did when I was forced to leave my homeland. My servants here are weak and so few in number. An uprising of the townsfolk would easily overpower them, and if such an uprising occurred during the hours of sunlight, when I must lay dead in my coffin till dusk, I would be at their mercy. They could destroy me with their crosses and wooden stakes, or worse, bury deep in the ground, where I would be powerless to escape…

Kevin’s eyes went wide. And that’s exactly what they did, Count, he thought. They chained your coffin shut and buried you, and you’re down there in the ground somewhere, right now… still alive…

Kevin let a chill pass, then read the last line:

Indeed, I feel in my evil heart that time is growing oh so short. I may be dead on the morrow, or buried alive. But at least these curs’d townsfolk will not be able to profit from my end, for my treasure of gold is safely hidden at the forked tree, and to insure that it will never be found I must hide this diary too, and hide it well.

And those were the last written words of Count Volkov. No doubt he’d hidden the diary then, and shortly afterwards, the townspeople had buried him in his coffin, during the day when he was powerless to stop them. The Count had predicted his own end. But—

‘—for my treasure of gold is safely hidden at the forked tree,’ Kevin recited The Count’s words in his mind.

The forked tree…

Now Kevin was really confused.

He understood the part about the forked trees; he’d seen Bill and Wally digging at several forked trees just in the last day. But—

Now I get it, he thought.

It wasn’t Count Volkov’s coffin that Aunt Carolyn had ordered Bill and Wally to find, it was the gold treasure itself!

But this realization, now, left him confused. If they’re not trying to find The Count’s coffin, why the wooden stakes, and why the red crosses in blood?

Confusion, it seemed, was quickly becoming a part of Kevin’s life. And figuring out what was really going on still didn’t solve any of his problems. He’d spent enough time back here. There were still other things he needed to do, like right now, and the first thing on the list was find Jimmy and Becky. His worst fear was beginning to turn solid. I’ll bet Aunt Carolyn ordered Bill and Wally to abduct them, so she can turn them into vampires…

And she probably wants to turn me into one too!

He left the secret room, closed the door behind him. When he made it back out to the hearth room, before the crackling fire, he stopped and tried to figure out what to do next. But at that same instant, he heard something—

What was it?

A rumble of some kind, like a—

Like a car engine! he realized, and the sound was coming from out front. He dashed to the window, peeked out, and saw—

No! he thought in terror.

He’d been right, but he wished he hadn’t.

A car was driving slowly through the court in front of the lodge. An old car. An old blue car—

Wally’s car! Kevin recognized.

Then it turned out and began to drive away.

But when it had driven by, Kevin noticed that not only was Wally in it, driving, but Becky and Jimmy were in the car with him—

I was right! He’s abducting them, taking them to Aunt Carolyn, to turn them into vampires!

CHAPTER THIRTY

Kevin bravely dashed outside. He knew the odds were against him, but he had to do something. He couldn’t just stand back and let Wally take Jimmy and his sister to Aunt Carolyn. He kept the flashlight with him; it was long and made of metal, and he could use it as a weapon. If I can make it to the car before they turn out of the court, then maybe I can knock Wally out with the flashlight and save Jimmy and Becky…

It was a longshot, but what else could he do, with his father and Mr. Grimaldi gone, and the phone lines dead?

It was chilly out, but the storm had stopped. The clouds had moved off, and even the sun was shining bright. Kevin dashed frantically across the court, shouting, “Hey, hey! Wait!”

And then the car stopped.

In the back window, Kevin could see Jimmy and Becky looking back. But the strange thing was, they didn’t look scared at all, and they sure didn’t look like they were being abducted.

Then the driver’s door opened… and Wally got out.

Kevin held the flashlight behind him. Get ready, he warned himself. You’ll only get one chance…

But Wally only frowned back, shielding his eyes from the sudden bright sunlight. And he didn’t look menacing at all. “Where have you been?” he asked.

Then Jimmy and Becky got out of the car too.

“You doughhead! We’ve been looking all over for you!” Becky griped, her usual self.

“Whuh—what?” Kevin replied in confusion.

“Yeah,” Jimmy said. “After your kite blew away in the storm, I went looking for you but I couldn’t find you. So I came back to the lodge and told your aunt.”

“Aunt Carolyn?” Kevin said. “You mean she was here, at the lodge? During the day?”

“Well of course she was, you stupe,” Becky said with her arms crossed. “Where did you think she’d be?”

“I—” Kevin said.