Isabella slammed the door as hard as she could. Max jumped forward and turned the key in the lock. There was a loud thump as something crashed into the wood on the other side.
‘I don’t think that will hold it for very long,’ panted Isabella. ‘And there might be other ways out of that cave.’
But for the moment, Anna didn’t care about the danger they were still in. She didn’t care that they were in a dungeon in a castle in a forest in a storm in the middle of Transylvania. All she cared about was that she had found Max. She threw her arms around him and gave him the biggest hug she had ever given anyone, even the Professor. Max hugged her back.
‘Are you all right?’ she asked him.
‘Not really,’ said Max. ‘My hand feels really weird.’
Anna took the torch from Isabella and shone it onto Max’s hand. The two holes in his skin were perfectly round and alarmingly deep. But the scariest thing of all was the colour. Max’s fingers had turned as white as bone, tinged with the same grey-green as the skin of the fairy prisoner. Anna touched his palm. The skin felt cool and clammy. It was clear that there was no blood left in it at all.
Max’s hand was dead.
Anna didn’t know what to say. She watched as Max wiggled his fingers and scratched at his tufty brown hair.
‘I can still move it,’ said Max. ‘But I can’t feel anything. It’s like it’s not my hand anymore.’ He smiled sadly. ‘When you tell stories I always hope that nothing bad will happen to the Max character, but this time it really did.’
Anna took his hand and squeezed it. ‘We’ll find a way to fix it,’ she said. ‘I promise.’
‘Yes,’ said Isabella. ‘But we’ll work that out later. Because right now we really need to go!’
She pointed at the door. Smoky black tendrils were worming their way through the keyhole and around the hinges. The door was starting to tremble, shaking as if it might be about to explode.
The children ran.
‘I found the banner,’ explained Anna as they dashed past the third cell (there wasn’t time to check if the prisoner was still inside). ‘If we can find a way to burn it then we can finish what the forest people started. The vampire will be defeated for good.’
‘We can use the candle!’ said Isabella. ‘It should be just ahead.’
But when they reached the alcove they discovered with dismay that the candle had burnt away to nothing. All that was left on the table was a lumpy puddle of wax. They could not see any matches.
‘We’ll have to get it back to the inn,’ said Isabella. ‘The fire in the kitchen should still be lit.’
Max, having been kidnapped for most of the night, was becoming increasingly confused by the girls’ conversation. They filled him in on everything that had happened as they ran down the last section of passage, passing the empty brown paper bag at the bottom of the steps. Anna noticed the unhappy expression on Max’s face and almost laughed. Despite everything that had happened to them, Max still looked sad about losing all his lollies.
The children used the rope to help them climb up the slippery staircase, slamming the trapdoor closed when they reached the top. They had hoped that the storm might have lessened during their time underground, but the sounds of rain and thunder roared as loudly as ever through the roof above. If anything, the weather seemed to be even worse, growing in magnitude to match the vampire’s fury.
They decided to abandon the rope for now. Anna led Isabella and Max back through the crumbling castle, walking delicately past the mice, which had started to regroup in the carpeted room. The children darted through the empty corridors and crooked doorways, their footsteps muffled by the scattered ashes that had once been the count’s possessions. Soon they arrived back at the entrance room, stopping to catch their breath beside a large boulder. Anna took off her coat and wrapped it around Max, who was only wearing his pyjamas. The cold air instantly made goosebumps pop up on her arms and neck.
‘Is everybody ready?’ she said. She stood in front of the open door, poised to step out. ‘One … two …’
Anna went to say three, but at that moment she saw something which made the word die in her throat. Isabella and Max stared at her, confused. She gasped, trying to speak – to warn them of the danger they were in.
The boulder behind Isabella and Max wasn’t a boulder at all. It was something large and hairy, with arms and legs that were now unfolding from its body in the darkness.
The thing stood up, towering above the children, its claws long and sharp.
14
THE CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT
Isabella yelped and jumped away. Max stumbled forward, his vision blocked by the hood of the coat, almost tripping over as he hid behind Anna. The thing growled, stepping in front of the doorway, baring its teeth in the moonlight.
It was the second time Anna had seen a bear that evening. She examined it closely, unafraid of the animal while the white knife was in her hand. She realised with surprise that she recognised its face.
‘I know you,’ she said. ‘You’re the bear from my bedroom.’
The bear snarled. It dropped onto four legs and made its dog-lion roar, echoing in great booms around the castle walls. Max and Isabella covered their ears.
‘Stop that,’ said Anna. She pointed the knife directly at the bear. ‘Sit down!’
‘What are you doing?’ asked Max. He sounded scared. Anna remembered that the others hadn’t been there for her first encounter with the bear. She fixed it with a stern look, drawing herself up to her full height.
‘Sit!’ she said again.
The bear sat. It fell back onto its bottom with a dull thump, bowing its head as it had before. Isabella and Max exhaled loudly; both of them had been holding their breath.
‘How did you do that?’ asked Max.
Anna held up the knife. ‘I think it’s afraid of this,’ she said. ‘It wouldn’t work on the vampire or the fairy-man, but it’s good for calming down bears.’
The bear gave a rumbling purr.
‘It seems nice, doesn’t it?’ said Isabella. ‘I bet it didn’t want to help the vampire.’
Suddenly Anna had an idea. She looked at the bear’s back, broad and well muscled, curving down from its formidable shoulders. Apart from the fact that it was covered in hair, it was shaped almost like a saddle.
‘Maybe it could make it up to us,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘I think I’ve found a way that the bear could do us a big favour.’
Without waiting for the others to reply, Anna stepped right up close to the bear’s face. She held the knife loosely by her side, trying to be as friendly as possible as she stared into the small black eyes.
‘Hello,’ she said. ‘Can you understand me?’
The bear didn’t say anything. Anna had hoped that it might have made a noise, or at the very least nodded its head, but she pressed on anyway.
‘We need to get back through the forest as quickly as possible,’ she said. ‘The monster that lives in this castle is chasing us, and if it catches us then we won’t be able to defeat it and it will keep making you do horrible things. So, if it’s all right with you, I was wondering if you could carry me and my two friends on your back, and take us to the inn as fast as you possibly can. Would that be okay?’
Anna said all of this as politely as she could, maintaining eye contact with the bear at all times. Still it didn’t move. It didn’t even blink.
‘This is a bad idea,’ whispered Max. ‘It can’t understand what you’re saying.’
And then the bear knelt down. It lowered its back as close to the ground as it was able, sticking its great backside up into the air. It turned its head back to look at Anna, staring at her expectantly.
Climb aboard, it seemed to say.
A burst of light flared through the castle doorway as lightning struck the treetops outside. Thunder ripped across the sky with a fearsome bellow before the glow faded, rattling the foundations of the castle with alarming force. The noise electrified the children into actio
n. Anna climbed up onto the bear’s shoulders, holding on to the furry hump that rose up behind its head. Max scrambled up behind her after Isabella gave him a boost, wrapping his arms around Anna’s waist, and then Isabella leapt up as well, holding tightly on to Max, the eagle banner draped behind her.
The bear stood up. The children wobbled back and forth, squeezing their legs around the huge, hairy body. Anna positioned the torch so that it was shining between the bear’s ears. It looked like some bizarre version of a miner’s headlamp.
‘Is everybody ready?’ asked Anna.
‘Yes,’ said Isabella.
‘No,’ said Max.
Anna smiled, leaning forward so she could speak directly into the bear’s fluffy ear.
‘Let’s go!’ she said.
The bear shuffled over to the door. Anna could feel the animal’s mighty shoulders moving beneath her, powerful and strong. She felt very glad that the bear was now on their side.
They stood still for a moment, surveying the forest. The trees were swaying dangerously in the storm, tipping so far to each side that Anna felt sure they would soon be torn from their roots. Branches were falling regularly from the sky, zipping through the air like broomsticks as the wind caught them and flung them from the canopy. The rain had become so cold that it might as well have been snowing.
Anna was about to suggest that they wait for a break in the weather when the bear sprang into action. It charged fearlessly into the storm, digging its claws into the ground for traction as it bounded through the muddy puddles. All three children were thrown into the air; Isabella only just managed to keep holding on to Max, who only just managed to keep holding on to Anna, who only just managed to keep holding on to one small clump of the bear’s fur. A falling stick whizzed past their heads, almost impaling them like a javelin. The leaves from low-hanging branches slapped against their faces, licking wetly at their cheeks. They rushed across the sunken bridge, cleaving the water into two great waves that splashed at their legs on either side.
‘I feel sick,’ shouted Max. ‘I think we should get off.’
‘We can’t get off!’ called Isabella from the back. ‘We’ve got company!’
Anna craned her neck to look behind them. Dozens of grey-brown shapes were slipping through the trees on either side of the path, loping easily through the undergrowth. The creatures stuck to the shadows as they ran, but stray beams of moonlight sometimes gave away their positions, catching on a pointy ear or a long, bushy tail.
Then one of the shapes threw caution to the wind, bursting out onto the path behind them. A salivating tongue hung out over sharp white teeth as it snarled hungrily at the children.
‘Wolves!’ screamed Max.
Now the woods seemed to be filled with yellow eyes. The wolf on the path was running fast, getting closer and closer to the back legs of the bear; finally it leapt forward and snapped at the air, its jaws almost closing around the fluttering edge of Isabella’s raincoat.
‘Go away!’ shouted Anna. She pointed the white knife at the trees, waving it like a magic wand. ‘Stay away from us!’
The wolves kept coming; try as she might, Anna couldn’t manage to point the knife in a straight line. The bear was running so fast now that it slipped and skidded at every turn, vaulting over fallen logs and crashing through bushes. It was the strangest ride Anna had ever been on. If their lives hadn’t been in so much danger, it would have almost been fun.
But now Anna had lost track of where they were. Every tree looked the same in the bobbing beam of the torch, flashing past in a tangle of twisted limbs. More wolves were joining the first one on the path. They were closing in, running alongside the rump of the bear, getting ready for the final attack.
‘Are we nearly there?’ she asked in a loud voice.
‘Almost!’ called Isabella. ‘The inn should be just up ahead!’
Anna had no choice but to trust that her friend was right. She leant forward, pressing her lips against the bear’s ear.
‘You can do it,’ she whispered. ‘It’s just a little bit further.’
The bear grunted.
The trees were starting to thin now, which meant that the wolves had fewer places to hide. The whole pack came together as one, moonlight shining off their ragged fur. They yelped and howled and barked as they doggedly pursued their prey, determined not to let their dinners escape them.
Max swatted at a wolf with his dead hand, striking it across the muzzle. It fell back with a yelping noise, retreating behind its brothers.
‘Got him!’ said Max, pleased.
‘Keep holding on!’ said Isabella. ‘I can see it, just over there!’
‘Wolves!’ screamed Max.
Light was glowing dimly through the windows of the Wild Thyme Inn. The white stone walls of the building stood solidly in the storm: a beacon of safety, shining through the mist and rain. The bear bounded out of the trees and sprinted towards the inn, clambering across the back field. The children were sprayed with mud as it plunged through the slushy earth.
Anna looked behind them and saw with relief that the wolves had finally ceased their pursuit. Their grey-brown bodies lingered at the border of the forest, howling out their disappointment.
‘All we have to do is get inside,’ she said excitedly. ‘Once we get that banner into the fireplace, this will all be over.’
‘Simple,’ said Max encouragingly.
‘Not simple,’ yelled Isabella. ‘Look!’
The wolves had stayed in the woods, but something else had followed them out of the treeline. It was a huge, gangly shadow with spider-arms and fiery eyes, scuttling across the muddy field in a whirlwind of storm and fury. It opened its mouth and screamed at the children through gnashing teeth, a terrifying screech that flew at them on a breath of icy wind.
Anna and Isabella had stolen many treasures from the vampire that night.
Now it had come to steal them back.
15
CROSSING THE THRESHOLD
The bear ran all the way to the front of the inn, almost colliding with the warped wooden door as it skidded to a halt. The children tumbled off its back before it had even stopped moving. Anna threw open the door and rushed inside, followed closely by Max; Isabella came in last, the eagle banner dragging behind her. To Anna’s surprise, the bear came in as well. Once inside it shook its body back and forth with great gusto, spraying the dining room with water and mud.
‘Get the banner to the fire!’ said Max.
The two girls ran to the fireplace – and saw with dismay that the fire had almost gone out. Only a small pile of blackened embers remained, glowing a dull red among the fine grey ash. Anna tried to throw the banner on top of them, but Isabella quickly pulled it back.
‘The fabric is soaking wet!’ she said. ‘If we put it on now it’ll just extinguish the embers. We’ll have to get the fire burning properly before we can put it on.’
Anna dropped the white knife and took the banner from Isabella, wringing it between her hands. Hundreds of fat water droplets fell out onto the floor, and Anna realised that her friend was right. Isabella knelt by the fire and grabbed some sticks from the pile of wood she had brought inside, snapping them up and dropping the pieces delicately onto the coals.
‘We might need the paper on that shelf,’ said Isabella, pointing. ‘Max, can you scrunch some up into little balls?’
Max nodded. He had been staring sadly at his lifeless fingers; now he ran to the shelf and began tearing up the paper, scrunching it with his hands. Anna kept squeezing out the water. She hadn’t noticed how wet the banner – and her clothing – had become during their ride in the storm.
A tiny flame crept out from the coals. It wavered timidly below the pyramid of twigs Isabella had built in the fireplace, tickling the bottoms of the sticks. Anna and Isabella stared it at intently, willing the flame to blossom into a mighty blaze.
‘It’s here!’ said Max in a terrified voice.
The vampire was standing outside t
he inn’s window. Its glare was brighter now than ever before, sparkling so ferociously that the flaming eyes seemed to engulf the vampire’s entire face. Anna squashed the banner between her palms again and again, frantically trying to dry it out. Isabella was focused on the fire, giving the vampire only the briefest of glances.
‘Why isn’t it coming inside?’ she asked.
‘I have no idea,’ said Anna.
‘Vampires can’t cross the threshold of a house without being invited,’ said Max quickly.
Anna looked at him, surprised. ‘Who told you that?’
Max shrugged. ‘I read it in one of your books once. I only just remembered it.’
‘How did the vampire kidnap you, then?’ asked Anna.
‘It reached through the window,’ said Max. ‘I guess that’s allowed.’
Anna stared out at the vampire, trapped behind a pane of glass. She grinned. ‘Well then, if we stay away from the window, the vampire can’t get us,’ she said. ‘And that means we can take as long as we like to get this fire started. We win!’
But as she kept staring at the vampire, the grin quickly melted off her face.
Because now the vampire was smiling as well.
‘My hand!’ said Max suddenly. ‘I can feel it! The blood must be coming back in!’
Anna spun around to face Max. He was wiggling his fingers delightedly, curling them in the air as if he was playing a piano. But something was wrong. His skin was even whiter than before, the colour of broken eggshell, or the driest of bones: a colour skin most certainly should not be. And now there was something else too.
Max’s hand was glowing.
Suddenly his fingers snapped into a fist. They clenched themselves tightly, knuckles pointing outward, his thumb curled around to the front. ‘Hey,’ said Max, confused. ‘I didn’t mean to do that.’
His arm started to tremble. Anna realised he was trying to stop the fist from moving. She watched, aghast, as the dead hand punched out from his body. It started floating across the room, dragging Max behind it.
The Vampire Knife Page 8
