him sharply. âNot yet. Youâre still a vampire-in-training.â
âYou mean thereâs a chance I wonât make it?â Andrew asked, his hope starting to build. âYou mean I might flunk vampiring?â
âNo,â the vampire said. âNo one whoâs started down this path has ever failed. No one has turned back.â
âNo one?â Andrewâs hope dimmed. âEver?â
âNever,â the vampire replied. âSee, kid? Youâll make it.â
Andrewâs heart sank.
âTime to go,â the vampire said. âReady to change into a bat?â
âI donât know.â Andrew shrugged. âWe did bats last night. How about turning us into red mists tonight?â
âI could,â the vampire told him.
âAnd then how about turning us into wolves?â Andrew asked. âOh, man! Iâd love to run around Shadyside as a wolf.â
âWolves and mists. No big deal.â The vampire shrugged. âBut theyâre only ways to travel. The main thing is the feeding.â
âI know,â Andrew said. âBut itâs not even two oâclock yet. We have the whole night to . . . feed. Come on. Make me a mist!â
âAll right, kid. All right,â the vampire said. âBut only a small one. Mists are tricky.â
For a minute, Andrew didnât feel anything. And then he began to shake. He teeth chattered. His fingers trembled. But he didnât feel cold. He felt warmer and warmer. Then hot. A red-hot mist!
Andrew couldnât see exactly. But he felt everything. He was everywhere in his room at once. He pulled himself together and drifted toward the window.
âOh, no, you donât!â the vampireâs voice warned him. âStay in here. I donât want you getting blown to the south pole!â
Andrew drifted away from the window. He floated slowly out the door of his room and down the hallway. The door to Emilyâs room was shut. But so what? Andrew the mist slid easily through the tiny space between the door and the door frame. Nothing to it! He filled Emilyâs room and then slipped back out the way he had come in.
The vampire waited for him at the doorway to his own room.
Andrew slid past him. He hovered over his bed.Before he realized what had happened, he was sitting on his bed, shivering.
âThat was totally awesome,â Andrew told the vampire.
âRight,â the vampire agreed. âAnd useful, too, if anyone slams the door in your face.â
âHow about changing me into a wolf?â Andrew asked.
âNot now,â the vampire told him. âI have to get started with your lesson, kid. Tonight youâre going to track your first human prey. Humans are trickier than rabbits.â The vampire leaned closer to Andrew. âBut much tastier. Theyâre worth the trouble.â
The village clock chimed three as the vampire began hunting lesson number two. He explained how to listen for a human heartbeat. How to follow it. How to hypnotize a victim. How to find the juicy artery that runs along the side of the neck.
âNow,â the vampire said when he had finished, âhave you got all that, kid?â
âIâm not sure,â Andrew said. âCould you go over the stalking part again?â
The vampire sighed. Then he repeated the stalking instructions. âNow have you got it?â the vampire asked him.
Andrew nodded. âI think so.â
He needed to stall only a little more.
âAnd I know who I want for my first victim,âAndrew went on. âSee, thereâs this kid who gives me a hard time in art class. Once he pushed my face down in a bunch of wet plaster, and he held me down for so long, I practically smothered. Finally our art teacher came over and pulled my head out, andââ
âStop!â the vampire cried. âI donât care about your puny human activities! We have to get on