نفس خون آشام فصل 21

Vampire Breath - Chapter 21

I spun around, expecting to find Count Nightwing.

“Oh!” I cried out when a girl stepped out of the shadows.

Her pale blue eyes were wide with shock. I think she was as surprised to see us as we were to see her!

As she stepped toward us, I saw that she had ringlets of blond curls that fell past her shoulders. She wore a gray jumper, very long and old-fashioned, with a white blouse underneath.

She’s about our age, I realized. But definitely from a different time.

She stopped several coffins away. “Who are you?” she asked, eyeing us suspiciously. “What are you doing here?” “We—we don’t really know,” I stammered.

“We know who we are. But we don’t really know what we’re doing here!” Cara corrected me.

“We got here by accident,” I added.

The girl’s confused expression didn’t change. She tucked her hands into the pockets of her jumper.

“Who are you?” Cara demanded.

The girl didn’t answer right away. Keeping her distance, she continued to study us with her pale blue eyes. “Gwendolyn,” she said finally. “My name is Gwendolyn.” “Are you one of them?” The question popped out of my mouth.

Gwendolyn shuddered. “No,” she answered quickly. Her mouth curled into an angry sneer. “No. I hate them!” she declared. “I hate them all!” Cara shifted her weight tensely. I could see that she was really nervous. She handed the bottle of Vampire Breath to me. The bottle felt cold and damp from Cara’s hands. I lowered it to my side, out of Gwendolyn’s sight.

“Do you live here?” Cara asked Gwendolyn. “Are you related to Count Nightwing?” Gwendolyn’s sneer grew more bitter. “No,” she choked out. Tears welled in her eyes. “I’m a prisoner here. I’m only twelve. But they treat me as a slave.” She let the tears run down her pale cheeks. “A slave,” she repeated in a trembling voice. “Do you know what they force me to do? Clean and polish their coffins, night and day.” “Yuck,” Cara murmured.

Gwendolyn sighed. She brushed her blond ringlets off her face and wiped away a tear. “Night and day. There are a dozen coffin rooms in this castle. All filled with row after row of coffins. And I must keep them smooth and shiny and clean for the vampires.” “What if you refuse?” I asked. “What if you tell Count Nightwing you won’t do it anymore?” Gwendolyn uttered a dry laugh. “Then he’ll turn me into a vampire.” She shuddered again. “I’d rather clean their coffins,” she murmured bitterly.

“Can’t you escape?” I asked.

Another dry laugh escaped her lips. “Escape? If I did, they would track me down. They would turn into bats and fly after me. And they would drink my blood until I was one of them.” I swallowed hard. I felt so bad for her. I didn’t know what to say.

“We don’t belong here,” Cara told her, glancing to the door. “Count Nightwing brought us here by accident. Can you help us? Is there any way for us to escape?” Gwendolyn lowered her gaze to the floor, thinking hard. “There may be a way,” she said finally. “But we’ll have to be very careful. If he catches us…” “We’ll be careful,” I promised.

Gwendolyn glanced to the front of the room.

“Follow me,” she whispered. “Hurry. It is almost dawn. If the vampires return and see you—it will be too late. They will pounce on you and drink your blood. You will never see daylight again.” She led us into the hall. Clinging to the wall, we stopped and looked in both directions.

No sign of Count Nightwing. But we knew he was nearby. Searching for the bottle of Vampire Breath. The bottle I held tightly in my hand.

“This way,” Gwendolyn whispered.

We followed her through another door. It led to a narrow stairway. Gas lamps on the wall cast a dim glow, lighting the stairs as we made our way down.

We found ourselves in a long, twisting tunnel. Gwendolyn led us through it, walking rapidly, silently. The tunnel was so narrow, we had to walk single file. It twisted and curved, and took us down, deeper into the castle.

“Is there really a way out down here?” Cara asked Gwendolyn. Cara’s voice echoed in the narrow tunnel.

Gwendolyn nodded. “Yes. Follow me. There is a secret exit through the castle cellar.” Our footsteps thudded on the hard tunnel floor. Up ahead of us, Gwendolyn’s blond hair glowed like a torch leading the way.

The way to freedom. The way to safety.

I leaned close to Cara and whispered. “This is great! We’re getting out of here—and we’re taking the Vampire Breath with us!” Cara raised a finger to her lips. “We’re not out yet,” she reminded me.

The tunnel emptied into a huge, dark cellar. Gwendolyn pulled a flaming torch off the wall and carried it high in front of her to light our way.

“Follow me,” she whispered. “Hurry.”

The flickering torch cast a narrow path of light through the cellar. I couldn’t see anything on either side of us. Total blackness.

Gwendolyn led us deeper into the darkness. It smelled damp and sour down here. Somewhere in the distance I heard water dripping.

Cara and I huddled close together, trying to stay in the light of the torch. I squeezed the bottle of Vampire Breath tightly in my hand.

Gwendolyn stopped so suddenly, we nearly walked into her.

She turned slowly. The torchlight revealed a smile on her face.

“Are we here?” Cara demanded. “Where is the door?”

“Yes. We’re here,” Gwendolyn replied in a whisper. “We’re all alone here.” “Huh?” I cried. I didn’t understand.

“I have you all to myself here,” Gwendolyn continued. Her smile grew wider. Her eyes were half-shut. “We won’t be interrupted by Count Nightwing or the others.” “But—where do we escape?” I demanded.

Gwendolyn didn’t reply.

“Why have we stopped here?” Cara cried.

“I’m so thirsssssty….” Gwendolyn hissed. “So thirssssty…”

As she lowered the torch, I saw long, pointed fangs slide down her chin.

“I’m so thirsty….” She sighed. “So terribly thirsty…”

She grabbed me by the shoulders. And I felt the scratch of her fangs against my throat.