End of Days Read Free Page A

were two foxes who knew the hounds were right behind.
    We never made it home. About a block from our house, I stopped. Charlie was looking over his shoulder and nearly plowed into me. I tested the air with my nose.
    â€œWhat is it?” he whispered.
    I could smell blood. Normally, it has a distinctive odor—much like everything does. But because it’s our only food, we’d never confuse it with anything else. It always set off a chain reaction, in me at least, that usually started in my mouth and spread like a jolt of electricity to every muscle in my body. But I wasn’t reacting this way because the odor was a bit off. My mind took a few moments to sort out the reason why.
    Charlie poked me in the shoulder. “Wake up, Sleepy Dwarf. Why have we stopped?”
    â€œCan’t you smell that?”
    He tested the air. Then his eyes widened.
    â€œI think it’s from a vampire,” I said.
    â€œYeah.” He nodded. “Smells wrong.”
    The wind changed and the odor grew even stronger. I raced to the tallest house nearby, scampered up the wall, pulled myself up onto the roof, then perched on the chimney. Our place was just down the street. Ophelia’s car wasn’t there. Did that mean she hadn’t returned? I was hoping so, because the odor of blood was coming from our driveway. A telltale crimson smear covered the asphalt.
    I heard Charlie below me. He was climbing up the side of the house. I waved him off, then dropped as quickly as I could to the ground. Once I was hidden in the shadow of a tree, I pulled out mycell phone and called Ophelia. Her number was at the top of my call list, right under Charlie’s. I hit send and waited. The ring sounded louder than a church bell. I figured every vampire from here to the moon could hear it.
    â€œCan’t you set the volume lower?” Charlie asked.
    I shook my head. Then Ophelia’s voice mail came on. “Call me immediately,” I whispered. I nearly snapped the phone in half folding it up.
    â€œLet’s get home,” Charlie said. He started off toward the house.
    I grabbed his arm and pulled him the other way. “We can’t,” I said. “That’s where the blood is coming from. I think they might have arrived ahead of us.”
    â€œWhat? Those vampires? How would they know to come here?”
    I had no idea.
    â€œPerfect. I knew this night was too good to be true. We were finally having a bit of fun.” Charlie was starting to raise his voice. I waved for him to be quiet. The wind picked up and the smell of vampire blood intensified. “You don’t think it might be . . . ?”
    He didn’t finish, but I knew where he was going. That the blood might be Ophelia’s.
    â€œI don’t think so,” I said. “Her car’s not back. And I don’t think she was planning to come home this early.”
    â€œLet’s hope that’s not wishful thinking.” He stared up the block, then checked over each shoulder. What now?”
    I had no idea, but standing still wasn’t an option. I turned toward my old neighborhood, where I’d once lived with my father.
    â€œWait . . . not that way.” Charlie pulled me around so we were backtracking downtown. “If we want to hide, the best place is somewhere they’ve already looked.”
    Did he mean back at the rave? We’d done this sort of thing once before, last year on Stony Lake when the police were looking for us. We went to a cottage they’d already searched. It seemed a good idea. I fell in step beside Charlie and we headed back to the rave, back to the rooftops.
    â€œIt’s him, isn’t it?” he said.
    Him
. . . He could only mean one person. Vlad Tsepesh—the Impaler. His real name was Wladislaus Dragwlya, but to the modern world he was Dracula. Not a creature of fantasy but a scourge. When I’d first heard of him, he’d used an assumed name,