Her Vampyrrhic Heart Read Free

our famous dragon.’
    â€˜Right … the dragon.’ Jez grinned. ‘You know, when I was a little kid, my mother used to tell me stories about a dragon living in the forest – the woman gave me nightmares.’
    Kit returned with the cap back on his head again. ‘Did anyone mention our neighbourhood dragon?’
    â€˜Jez nearly smacked into it, that’s why he swerved.’
    â€˜Really?’
    â€˜Yeah, really, Kit.’ Jez pinched the green cap and put it on his own head. ‘You can’t drive down a road here without smacking into ’em, and getting dragon blood and giblets all over your car.’
    The three friends spluttered with laughter.
    As suddenly as they started laughing they stopped.
    â€˜What was that?’ Kit asked.
    â€˜Dunno.’ Jez tilted his head, listening. ‘I heard it, though.’
    There was another crash.
    â€˜Something’s out there,’ said Owen. ‘It’s smashing up the forest.’
    Kit stared anxiously into the gloom. ‘This is actual wilderness out here. The forest has existed since the last Ice Age.’
    â€˜You astound me, Holmes.’ Jez adopted a loud, theatrical voice. ‘Do you declare that to be a mammoth of woolly appearance out there?’
    â€˜Animals that were thought to be extinct are being found all the time.’
    â€˜Did they pipe Wikipedia directly through your arse into your brain?’ Jez climbed into the driver’s seat. ‘A cow’ll be wandering about in there or something.’
    Owen took the green cap from Jez’s head and put it on his own. ‘Kit. This has stretched out of shape, because your brains have grown too big.’
    Jez started the engine. ‘Hop in the back. My dad’ll be back in twenty minutes. If he finds out I’ve been driving this he’ll kill me.’
    As the truck headed back to the farm, this time at a slower speed, Owen Westonby kept his eyes fixed on the trees behind them. For a moment, he thought he saw a shadow moving through the gloom. A tree swayed as if some massive body had pushed against it.
    â€˜When I fell back there, I think I took a knock on the head,’ he called to Kit over the engine noise. ‘I’m sure it’s making me see things.’ He grinned at his pal, who still held on tight despite the slow speed. ‘OK. Use this to keep your brains warm.’ Owen plonked the green cap on to Kit’s head, and then settled down to enjoy what remained of the ride.

FOUR
    O n a cold November morning Tom Westonby stepped into the river despite there being snow on the ground. Here the river ran through a ravine. Winter had robbed the trees of their leaves so branches formed a mass of black spikes against the sky.
    Tom wore a thick-skinned ‘dry suit’, which differed from the traditional diver’s wetsuit. As the name suggested, the suit kept his body dry; what was more, he’d donned layers of thermal underwear – although deeply unattractive to behold, they did keep him warm. The river’s temperature stood just a few degrees above freezing. Without the dry suit the cold would kill him.
    After twisting the aqualung valve to start the flow of air, he pulled down his face mask before moving deeper into the river. Within seconds, the black water had risen over his head, and he swam from a world of light and sound into another world entirely – this was a silent, alien place. Strands of weed floating by. Fish ghosting from the darkness to stare at the intruder. He switched on the helmet light. A cone of yellow illuminated rocks carved by the current. These natural sculptures resembled strange creatures. More than once Tom Westonby found himself half-believing that they were the remains of ancient statues. They even seemed to possess faces with deep-set eyes.
    Tom allowed the current to carry him downstream. If he remained in the water for long enough, the flow would eventually take