Free Nightwing Towers by Doffy Weir Page B

when they’d reached the top floor. “Slowly and quietly.” Bats hung from the ceiling like fat umbrellas. She led him out on to the balcony on tiptoe.

    Most of the windows and doors were boarded, but there were two that were not.
    She peered through the first window and whispered.
    “He’s returned.” She beckoned to Charlie. A grubby curtain had been drawn, but there was a gap. The room was empty, dark and silent, but in the centre wasa coffin. A yellow straw hat lay on the chest of a sleeping figure, which rose and fell with each breath.
    “Other single people like your aunt lived on the second floor,” Freya whispered, then she moved closer to him. “Then they started to change.”

    Charlie’s eyes widened,
“Change?”
he said.
    Despite the warmth of the summer day he began to shiver.
    “Mr Kube has hidden them somewhere until he is ready to command them to do his bidding. That is what Master Vampires like Dracula and Mr Kube do. The spell can only be broken by the death of the Master Vampire,” said Freya. “Only then will they return to their normal state.”
    Suddenly, it hit Charlie.
    “But, my aunt has changed, she wears dark glasses, and she’s become pale and thin…”
    “Exactly!” said Freya. “She is the last person living on the second floor. Why do you think I’ve been collecting these cards in the Dracula’s Delight series? I need to find out what to do before it’s too late!”
    Charlie gulped and turned away. He moved along from Freya and glanced in the window of the next door flat. At first he could not believe his eyes and moved his face nearer the window.

    In a neat row was a line of six coffins. Five were occupied with figures in deep, deep sleep, and one, lined with purple satin, was empty.
    “Look!” he said.
    Freya rushed to his side.
    “So that’s where the previous tenants went! This must be where he hides his victims until he is ready. Do you see that empty coffin?” asked Freya.
    Charlie nodded.
    “I bet that’s for your aunt,” she said. “I wish I knew what to do. There’s one more card in the Dracula’s Delight series – that’s the one that explains how to get rid of vampires.”
    Charlie remembered the crisp twenty-pound note his mother had given him and had an idea.

Chapter Five

    When he got back from the newsagent’s, Great-aunt Sybil was still in her room. Freya was sitting on the balcony. Charlie gave her the big cardboard box he was carrying.
    “I’ve bought every choc-ice in the shop,” he said. “The last card must be here.”
    An hour later Charlie and Freya sat together at the end of the balcony surrounded by a pile of Dracula’s Delight ice-cream wrappers. They had still not found the final card.
    That night Charlie dreamt of old castles, set on misty mountains. Of towers with tiny windows like eyes, into which bats silently flew. In his dream he flew towards one of the windows, and as he got nearer and nearer, the castle dissolved and reappeared as Nightwing Towers. His heart beat like a hammer. Thud! Thud! Thud!

    Charlie cried out with a start, and glanced at his bedside clock, it was past midnight. Someone was banging on the front door.
    Charlie rushed out of his bedroom and stumbled down the passage-way. Through the frosted glass he saw Freya’s outline urgently beating at the door. He opened the door wide. She stood trembling in the moonlight.

    “Look behind you!” she pointed past him. “I’ve been keeping watch. He flew in through the window!”
    Charlie turned on his heels. Great-aunt Sybil’s door was ajar. From the room came the sound of horrible menacing laughter. Mr Kube pushed open the door. A long black cape billowed behind him. His face was shining milky-white in the moonlight,bigger and brighter than before. But most frightening of all, his eyes were intense and fierce.
    Mr Kube’s mouth yawned wide. He hissed, displaying a pair of white pointed teeth.
    Freya stared desperately about her. Then her eyes fell on