by Anna Wilson
Lupus shifted uncomfortably. “That might not have been totally true…” he said.
Minxie gasped. “You lied!” she said.
Vlad eyed his cousin suspiciously. “What else have you been lying about?”
Lupus looked horrified. “I haven’t lied about anything else!” he protested. He looked pleadingly at Vlad and Minxie. “Honestly – things are different for vampires back home. I am allowed to go outside in the light as long as I wear sunscreen. And I don’t have to drink blood and I’m allowed to mix with humans.” He stopped and hung his head. “But I don’t actually have any real friends,” he mumbled.
“But everyone here thinks you’re so cool,” Vlad said. “You’re good at everything – you can do amazing human things like tell stories and do tricks on your scooter and you can also do all the vampire skills really well, too. I’m useless compared to you.”
Lupus shook his head. “Not useless,” he said. “You’ve made friends with a human. Sure, in Transylvania we talk to humans and mix with them a bit. But with you and Minxie it’s special – she doesn’t even seem to see you as a vampire.”
Minxie shrugged. “I guess not. Vlad is Vlad. He’s my best friend and that’s all that matters to me.”
Vlad felt a warm glow spread through him. “You know what,” Vlad said to Lupus, “you have got a real friend. You’ve got me. As long as you’ll be Minxie’s friend, too,” he added.
Lupus grinned. “You bet!” he said.
Minxie punched the air in triumph. “Yay and double yay!” she cried. “That means I’ve got TWO vampire best friends!”
Later that day at Misery Manor, the cousins were safely tucked up in their coffins in Vlad’s room.
“It was amazing the way you got rid of Boz today,” Vlad said as he snuggled down.
“Oh, Boz is a lot easier to sort out than you realize. He won’t be bothering you again,” said Lupus confidently.
Vlad doubted that was true. “You’ll be going home on Sunday and then I’ll have to face Boz on my own – if I don’t get locked in the Black Tower by Mother first…”
“You won’t!” Lupus said in an exasperated tone. “I tell you what – let’s practise some mind control. Then you’ll be able to look after yourself easily without me.”
Vlad let out a sigh. “I can’t do it unless I’m angry – I’ve already explained,” he said.
Lupus sat up in his coffin. “Mate, you just need to chill!”
“You keep saying that,” said Vlad in despair. “I can’t.”
“Listen,” said Lupus, fixing Vlad with a serious expression. “When you’re onstage you’re super-relaxed, right?”
“S’pose,” Vlad muttered.
“Thought so,” said Lupus. “You look relaxed. In fact, I reckon it’s the only time I’ve seen you look properly happy.”
Vlad raised his eyebrows. “Really?”
“Yeah!” said Lupus. “You’re such a worrier most of the time, but when you get up in front of your friends and do all your crazy voices and tell your jokes, you’re amazing. And you know everyone at school thinks that. You and Minxie will get the main parts for sure.”
“How do you know?” Vlad asked. “Other people are good, too.”
“Badness me,” said Lupus, shaking his head. “You need to have more confidence. You always think you are going to be useless. When you’re doing your vampire skills you need to make yourself as relaxed as you are when you’re onstage! Then you’ll be AMAZING at being a vampire!”
Vlad considered this. “So I should pretend I’m acting?”
Lupus nodded eagerly. “Let’s try it now.” He leaped out of his coffin and pulled on his cape.
Vlad climbed wearily out of his coffin and put on his cape, too.
“Now, imagine you’re onstage. How do you prepare?” Lupus asked.
Vlad shrugged. “I don’t. I just pretend I’m Grandpa – or Father, or Mother, or Mulch – and I put on their voices and copy the way they move.”
“That’s it!” Lupus cried, excited. “That’s all you have to do – choose which one of them you’d like to be, and then think of how they move and speak and copy them!”
Vlad felt a fizz of excitement. “You really think it can be that easy?” he asked. “I could just copy my father?”
“Let’s give it a go!” said Lupus.
So Vlad thought about how Drax held his head high … and how he spoke in his haughty manner … and how when he turned into a bat, he did it in the blink of an eye … and POOF!
“I’m a bat!” Vlad squeaked, soaring up to the ceiling. “I’ve never changed that quickly before.”
“Wicked!” Lupus cried. “Now don’t stop – carry on thinking about Uncle D and how he flies.”
Vlad imagined his father whizzing like an arrow and reversing sharply around bends. He imagined him drawing circles in the sky as he performed loop-the-loops.
Suddenly he was doing it, too! Vlad was leaping and whirling and twirling and speeding around the room. Even the spiders scurried away when they saw him coming.
“Yay!” Vlad cried. “I can do it! I can do it!” He imagined how his father would land – straight as a dart, quick and sure.
Vlad rocketed down from the rafters and landed softly on his coffin, back in his normal vampire form.
“GREAT!” Lupus shouted, jumping up and down. “Let’s try mind control next. Now you’ve worked out how to relax, everything will be easy. Just you see.”
Lupus was right – once Vlad had realized he could just act at being the kind of vampire his parents wanted him to be, he got better and better at everything. Lupus spent every afternoon after school teaching him, and every time Vlad had a lesson with Mortemia she had to grudgingly admit that he was improving.
On Thursday night she called Drax and Grandpa Gory to watch Vlad fly around the graveyard.
“It seems that my plan has worked – you are a simply wicked influence on our son, Lupus,” Drax said approvingly as he watched Vlad fly upside down between two tombstones. “I think we should give these two little devils the night off on Friday, don’t you?” he said to his wife.
Mortemia’s eyebrows knotted together in a frown. “Whatever for?”
“They’ve worked very hard this week,” said Drax. “Remember what Dr Freakenstein says, ‘A rest for one night brings back Vampire’s bite’. Mwhaha! And besides, I would like to have you to myself this Friday,” he added, taking his wife’s hand and kissing it.
Vlad couldn’t believe it! Friday night was the school camping trip – if his mother agreed to him having a night off, it would be easy to creep out!
“Great idea, Uncle D,” Lupus said. “We’ll be all right with Grandpa Gory and Mulch.”
Vlad glanced at his cousin. Was he controlling Drax’s mind?
“Splendid,” said Drax. “Mortemia and I haven’t been on a night flight for pleasure in centuries. What do you say, my little blood cell?”
Vlad caught Lupus looking at him encouragingly.
His cousin raised one eyebrow, then mouthed Mind control – now you do it!
Vlad took a deep breath. What would Lupus do…?
He would relax…
…he would focus on Mortemia…
…then he would make her think about how nice a night flight would be…
Suddenly Vlad’s mother beamed. “What a devilish idea, Drax! I could do with a night off from teaching.”
Vlad looked across at his cousin in amazement. He had done it! He had controlled his mother’s mind without getting angry – and now he could go on the school camping trip!
At last it was Friday afternoon. Everything had gone according to plan. Not only had Lupus managed to help him impress his parents and get the night off, but his cousin had also successfully used mind control on Grandpa Gory AND Miss Lemondrop! Gory believed that Vlad and Lupus were spending the night studying vampire folklore and “should not be disturbed”, and Miss Lemondrop had not once asked for the permission letter fro
m Vlad’s parents.
“We’re free!” Lupus shouted, as he and Vlad found their seats on the school bus that afternoon.
They got to the campsite late in the day. The bus dropped the children and teachers in the car park and everyone walked a little way into the woods with Miss Lemondrop in front and Mr Bendigo bringing up the rear.
“This is the perfect spot,” said Miss Lemondrop as they came to a clearing. “Mr Bendigo and I will put up the tents. And children, you can make a start gathering firewood, then we’ll have some activities.”
There were lots of broken twigs and small branches on the ground. The children chattered excitedly as they picked up armfuls of wood. Soon there was a heap of it in the middle of the clearing.
The only child not joining in was Boz. He was watching Lupus very carefully. As Vlad and Minxie added some wood to the pile, Boz approached them.
“You should stay away from him,” he said, pointing at Lupus. “He’s weird. Even weirder than you,” he added, sneering at Vlad. “He did something at school the other day – I know it was him that set that bird on me.”
Minxie rolled her eyes. “Everyone knows you’re lying, Boz,” she said. “No one else saw a bird.”
Boz snarled and opened his mouth to say something in return, but Mr Bendigo interrupted.
“Boswell, will you help me find some leaves and pine cones, please?”
Boz muttered something under his breath, but he followed the teacher and left Vlad and Minxie with the others.
Miss Lemondrop was getting some cushions out of a bag. She asked Minxie to help her put them around in a circle.
“Everyone find a cushion and sit down,” she said to the class, “and I will tell you what we are going to do.”
The children scurried to their places and sat cross-legged in a circle.
“First, we are going on a short nature walk to gather decorations for our nature crowns,” said the teacher. “And we’ll look out for minibeasts such as worms and beetles and spiders.”
Leisha gasped and jumped up, looking around her fearfully.
“What’s the matter, Leisha?” asked Miss Lemondrop.
“I don’t like spiders,” she said.
Vlad shuffled a little closer to Minxie. He didn’t like them either.
Minxie took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “It’ll be all right,” she whispered.
“There’s nothing to worry about, Leisha,” Miss Lemondrop said. “We’re only going to observe the minibeasts. We don’t suggest anyone touches any creatures – they are more frightened of us than we are of them. It won’t be a long walk, anyway,” she added. “It’ll soon be dark.”
Dark? Spiders? Poor Vlad gulped. This camping trip was not turning out to be as lovely as he had hoped it would be!
“Later on, we’ll cook some sausages on the campfire and toast some marshmallows,” the teacher went on. She smiled at Vlad as she spoke. He tried to remember to relax, as Lupus was always telling him to do. “Then we’ll listen to the music that nature makes – the sounds of the night creatures and the wind in the trees.”
The nature walk was fun in the end. Even the minibeasts weren’t that scary. They were much smaller than the spiders in Misery Manor and they all scuttled away when the children got near. Vlad stuck close to Minxie just in case. She was much braver about creepy-crawlies than he was.
The best bit was making the nature crowns with the beautiful leaves and berries and nuts and cones that the children had found.
Afterwards, the teachers showed them how to light a campfire safely. Then they asked the children to sit quietly, wearing their crowns.
“Listen to the sounds of the woodland,” said Miss Lemondrop.
“WHOOOO!”
Vlad jumped. It was the same noise as he’d heard in the graveyard the other night!
“It’s only an owl,” said Mr Bendigo.
“EEEEEK!”
Vlad jumped again.
“Another owl,” said Mr Bendigo. “Probably a female tawny owl – they make a screeching noise and the male answers with a softer sound. People describe it as one sound – ‘Too-whit, too-whoo!’ – but it’s actually two owls talking to one another.”
Vlad’s fluttering heart calmed a little. I’m being silly, he told himself. Lupus is right. There’s nothing to worry about.
But he didn’t like looking out into the blackness beyond the campfire. And he couldn’t help thinking about the spiders now that it was dark. What if they crawled into his tent?
Mr Bendigo could see that Vlad was still afraid. “Let’s talk about how the dark makes us feel,” he said.
Scared, Vlad thought.
“There’s nothing as frightening as your own imagination!” said Ravi boldly. “That’s what my gran says.”
“Yeah, Boz would know all about imagining things,” said Lupus with a wink.
“I didn’t imagine anything,” Boz snapped. “You made a big bird appear from nowhere!”
“That’s enough, Boswell,” said Miss Lemondrop sternly.
“There’s no such thing as total darkness anyway,” said Ravi. “Look, there are stars and there’s the moon.” He pointed to the inky-dark sky, which was filled with dazzling stars.
“That’s right,” said Miss Lemondrop, smiling. “Now, let’s cook our supper.”
Vlad relaxed as the sausages sizzled over the fire. The delicious smell filled his nostrils and made his tummy rumble. Humans have a much better life than vampires, he thought.
Soon the sausages had been eaten, the marshmallows toasted, and everyone was lounging on their cushions, feeling full and content.
“I’ve got an idea – how about a story around the campfire before bed?” said Lupus.
Mr Bendigo beamed. “I think we’d all like that.”
Miss Lemondrop nodded. “As long as it’s not a scary one,” she added.
Lupus pulled a face. “But those are the best ones!” he said.
“Yeah!” Ravi cried. “You’ve got to have a good ghost story around the campfire!”
“Yes!” everyone agreed.
Vlad wasn’t so sure. He had only just got used to sitting out in the dark.
“Don’t worry,” Lupus whispered, nudging him. “It has a funny ending.”
“All right,” said Vlad reluctantly.
“Go on then, Lupus,” said Mr Bendigo.
Lupus cleared his throat and began speaking in a low and spooky voice. “One night a girl was walking through the woods on her own when she heard a BUMP BUMP BUMP behind her.” He banged his foot against the ground to make the bumping sound.
Minxie and some of the others squealed in delight.
“She started walking faster, but the BUMP BUMP BUMP continued…” Lupus went on, banging his foot again. “The girl couldn’t resist sneaking a peek to see what it was that was following her…”
“What was it?” Leisha asked, hiding behind her hands.
“A COFFIN!” Lupus cried, leaping up.
A gasp went around the campfire.
“The girl screamed – ARGH!” Lupus let out a blood-curdling shriek, and all the children joined in, giggling and screaming.
Lupus began prowling around the circle. “The girl ran as fast as she could.” Lupus stared into everyone’s eyes. “But to her horror, the coffin chased her, BUMP BUMP BUMP faster and faster…”
Everyone was squealing now.
“The girl ran all the way out of the woods, back to her house. She sprinted up the path and up the steps to her door. She struggled to get her key in the lock, and all the time the coffin was chasing her – BUMP BUMP BUMP!”
Lupus paused dramatically.
“What happened next?” cried Ravi.
“Finally,” said Lupus, “the girl managed to get inside and lock the door behind her.”
“Phew!” said Minxie.
“Bah. That’s a rubbish story,” said Boz.
“BUT!” cried Lupus, raising one finger. “The coffin came crashing through the
front door and chased her up the staircase!”
Ravi screamed and pulled the hood of his sweatshirt down over his face.
“She ran upstairs and shut herself in the bathroom,” Lupus went on. “The girl was totally exhausted now. She slid down against the bath and sat, puffing and panting, praying that she was safe… Then the coffin smashed through the bathroom door as well – she was trapped!”
At this, Leisha shrieked and leaped on to Miss Lemondrop’s lap!
“She was brave, though, this girl, and determined to survive,” said Lupus. “She looked around the room for anything she could find to save herself. She grabbed the nearest thing—”
“A can of hairspray to spray it with!” shouted Ravi.
“Some toilet cleaner to throw at it!” cried Leisha.
“No!” said Lupus. “She took a bottle of cold medicine from the cabinet…”
“This story is stupid,” Boz grumbled.
Lupus ignored him. “Desperate now, the girl hurled the medicine at the coffin and…”
He paused again and looked around at his audience.
“AND WHAT?” everyone shouted.
“And the coffin stopped!” Lupus cried. “Get it? Cold medicine? The ‘coffin’ – the coughing – stopped? Mwhahahaha!”
A loud groan went around the campfire, followed by laughter and a big round of applause.
“Thank you, thank you,” said Lupus, taking a bow.
Vlad and Minxie cheered and clapped louder than anyone.
Only Boz did not join in. He sat, staring at the flames and sulking.
“Very entertaining,” said Mr Bendigo. “Acting skills clearly run in the family.”
“Yeah, like freaky teeth and a stupid laugh,” Boz mumbled.
But no one was listening to him.
Lupus found his seat next to Vlad.
“That was brilliant!” Vlad said. “I wish you didn’t have to go home on Sunday.”
“Yeah!” said Minxie. “I wish you were staying longer, too.”
