Free Vampire Brat by Angie Sage Page B

go telling all that to Aunt Tabby,” Uncle Drac said with a smile. “It’s way past your bedtime. Come on, I’ll take youboth back upstairs.”
    I suppose I should have been upset that the Combined Werewolf and Vampire Trapping Expedition had come to an end—but I wasn’t. Werewolves and vampires are not as easy to catch as you might think, and bedtime suddenly felt like a good idea.
    We were just getting near the boiler room when Wanda suddenly stopped, and Uncle Drac and I nearly tripped over her. Wanda is a bit like one of those windup clockwork toys that suddenly run out of steam and stop when you least expect it. She is also not an awful lot bigger than a windup clockwork toy, so it is not surprising that she gets tripped over all the time. She should be used to it by now but she always makes a huge fuss—except this time she didn’t.
    â€œGive me the net!” she hissed at me. “Quick!”
    I gave her the net. When Wanda hisses at you like that you do what she asks. She has a very bossy hiss. I didn’t see what happened next because my stupid hologram glasses—which I had totally forgotten I was wearing on the top of my head—slipped down over my eyes and all I could see were two dark blobs. By the time I had figured out what had happened and pushed the glasses out of the way the werewolf trapping net was full—of Vampire Max.

    I was very impressed. Wanda looked as if she had been netting vampires all her life. She lay on the floor holding on to the handle of the net as though her life depended on it, and there was no chance that Vampire Max could make a run for it. The net fitted him just right. It covered him from head to toe and he just stood there with his little arms at his sides like he knew the game was up. It is hard to see someone’s expression when they are underneath a combined werewolf and vampire trapping net, but Vampire Max did not look happy—and neither did Uncle Drac.
    Uncle Drac knelt down beside Vampire Max and peered at him. He looked worried. “Be careful, Wanda,” Uncle Drac said. “This could be dangerous.” I was glad that Uncle Drac knew that Max was dangerous. At leastwe did not have to persuade him that Vampire Max had to go home. Then, very carefully, as though he was afraid Vampire Max would bite, Uncle Drac lifted off the net. Vampire Max did not move. He just stood there, totally covered in cobwebs and spiders, staring into space with empty eyes.
    But there was something much worse than his weird vampire eyes: Vampire Max had blood dripping off his long pointy teeth.
    Whom had he bitten?

13
VAMPIRE CAT
    I t did not take me long to realize that there was only one person Vampire Max could have bitten—Aunt Tabby. Brenda and Barry were always safely locked in their bedroom by ten o’clock, but Aunt Tabby had been watching vampire movies in the furry bathroom when we started the Combined Werewolf and Vampire Trapping Expedition. And she had the door open.
    â€œUncle Drac, Uncle Drac!” I said. “We’ve got to find Aunt Tabby before it is too late.”
    â€œShh,” said Uncle Drac, who was still kneeling beside Vampire Max. He looked up and said, “I don’t think finding Tabby would be a very good idea, Minty,” he said. “Now you must both be quiet and we will take Max back to bed. It’s dangerous to wake people up when they are sleepwalking.”
    â€œSleepwalking?” I gasped. “He’s not sleepwalking. He’s vampiring .”
    â€œShh!” said Uncle Drac again, rather sharply. I was shocked. Uncle Drac even looked annoyed and he never looks annoyed.
    But Aunt Tabby was in danger and I had to get him to understand, so I said, “Max is a real vampire , Uncle Drac. He bites people. Look at his teeth. Look at the blood . Hehas bitten Aunt Tabby .”
    â€œShh, Minty,” whispered Uncle Drac. “You mustn’t believe all