نفس خون آشام فصل 06

Vampire Breath - Chapter 6

The coffin was lined in purple velvet. The velvet glowed under the light from our flashlights. We swept our flashlights up and down the inside of the coffin.

“It—it’s empty!” Cara stammered.

“No, it isn’t,” I replied.

My light locked on an object at the foot of the coffin. A spot of blue against the purple velvet.

As I moved closer, it came into focus.

A bottle. A blue glass bottle.

“Weird!” Cara exclaimed. Now she saw it, too.

“Yes. Totally weird,” I agreed.

We both moved to the foot of the coffin to see it better. I pressed against the side of the coffin as I leaned close to the bottle. My hands felt frozen now.

Cara reached past me and picked up the bottle. She held it in the white beam of light from my flashlight, and we both studied it carefully.

The bottle was round and dark blue. It fit easily in Cara’s hand. The glass was smooth. The bottle was closed by a blue glass stopper.

Cara shook it. “It’s empty,” she said softly.

“An empty bottle inside a coffin? Definitely weird!” I cried. “Who could have left it here?” “Hey—there’s a label.” Cara pointed to a tiny square of paper glued to the glass. “Can you read it?” she asked. She raised the blue bottle to my face.

The tiny label had faded, old-fashioned-looking letters on it. I squinted hard.

The words had been rubbed until they were little more than smudges.

I held my light steady and finally managed to make out the words: “VAMPIRE BREATH.” “Huh?” Cara’s mouth opened in shock. “Did you say Vampire Breath?”

I nodded. “That’s what it says.”

“But what could that be?” she asked. “What is Vampire Breath?”

“Beats me,” I replied, staring into the bottle. “I’ve never seen it advertised on TV!” Cara didn’t laugh at my joke.

She turned the bottle in her hands. She was looking for more information. But the label had only two words printed on it: “VAMPIRE BREATH”.

I turned my light back into the coffin to see if we had missed anything inside it. I swept the light back and forth. Then I leaned over the side and rubbed my hand over the purple velvet. It felt smooth and soft.

When I looked back at Cara, she had tucked her flashlight under her arm. And she was twisting the glass stopper on top of the bottle.

“Hey—what are you doing?” I cried.

“Opening it,” she replied. “But the top is stuck and I can’t seem to—” “No—!” I shouted. “Stop!”

Her dark eyes flashed. She locked them on mine. “Scared, Freddy?”

“Yes. I mean—no!” I stammered. “I—uh—I agree with you, Cara. We should wait for my parents to get home. We should show this to them. We can’t just go around opening coffins and taking out bottles and—” I gasped as she tugged at the stopper.

I wasn’t afraid or anything. I just didn’t want to do anything stupid.

“Give me that!” I shouted. I grabbed for the bottle.

“No way!” She swung around to keep me from getting it.

And the bottle fell out of her hand.

We both watched it hit the floor.

It landed on its side. Bounced once. Didn’t break.

But the glass top popped off. Cara and I both stared down at the bottle. Not breathing. Waiting. Wondering what would happen.