In the brief pause that followed this announcement, I heard the distant creak of rusty hinges over the noise of our idling engine. A quick glance informed me that Nina had finally pushed open the screen door at the front of the house. She was wearing sunglasses and carrying the pistol.

*Oh my God.' Mum dropped her face into her hands. *You're insane,' she muttered brokenly. *You're all lunatics, and you've kidnapped my son . . .'

It's funny; when I heard what she said, all my doubts fell away. Mum didn't believe in werewolves, but she was dead wrong. So why couldn't she be wrong about vampires too?

*Are you serious?' I turned to Estelle. *About vampires, I mean? They really exist? Really and truly?'

*Yeah,' she rasped.

*Oh, Toby,' Mum groaned. She raised her head. *Can't you see what they're doing? They're trying to make youa"'

*Shut up !' Sergio snapped at her like a dog. Then he addressed Nina's grandmother. *So Barry's an honest-to-God vampire? Like in the movies?'

*No, love,' said Estelle. * Not like in the movies. Believe me, it's nothing like the movies.' She was peering out the window at Nina, who had shuffled over to join Reuben and Dr Plackett. *It's a disease, that's all. It's just a bloody awful disease.'

*And that's why Barry bit someone?' Sergio pressed. *Because he's got the vampire disease?'

*Yeah, but he must have been blooded.' Estelle frowned as Dr Plackett knelt beside Danny's motionless form. *Barry must have smelled fresh blood,' she mused, *or he wouldn't have gone for this bloke. Someone must have been bleeding.'

*That was me,' I admitted. *One of the dogs bit my arm when I was holding Danny . . .'

*Well, there you are, then. That's what happened. Barry smelled your blood on Danny.' Estelle spoke so matter-of-factly that it wasn't hard to accept what she was saying. I didn't get the feeling that she was trying to coax or persuade anyone; in fact she sounded a little absent-minded, because she was watching Dr Plackett check Danny's pulse. *See, the first time any vampire smells fresh human blood, you've got a problem,' she said. *Either he bites someone or he doesn't. And if he does, he's always going to be trouble. But if he doesn't, then he'll pretty much behave himself till the end of time. Like Sanford, for instance. Or Nina.'

* Nina? ' I nearly choked.

*Nina's been a vampire since 1973.'

*Buta"'

*She's my daughter, not my granddaughter,' Estelle confessed sadly. *She's fifty-two years old.'

I was floored. Speechless. So was Sergio, whose mouth had dropped open. We exchanged a flabbergasted look.

Then Mum said, *How dare you?' She was talking to Estelle in a trembling voice. *How dare you tell such abominable lies to these children? How dare you involve them in your sick, pathetic fantasy?'

* My sick, pathetic fantasy?' Estelle gave a derisive snort. She didn't seem the least bit bothered. *You're the one living in a fantasy world, darl, not me. You don't know what's really going on.' She pointed through the windscreen. *Danny's turning into a vampire right now. In front of our eyes. And you want me to get out of the car?' She shook her head. *Not on your nelly.'

*So are you a vampire?' asked Sergio.

*Of course not!' The old woman's tone was caustic. *I just told you I didn't want to get bitten! It wouldn't matter if I was already a vampire, would it?'

*Yeah, but . . . I mean, if Nina . . .' Sergio trailed off suddenly. He seemed confused a" and I understood why. How could you live with a vampire and not become a vampire yourself? Wouldn't you end up on the vampire's menu?

Unless, of course, the vampire was *behaving' itself. Maybe that was what Estelle actually meant, when she'd referred to vampires who *behaved'.

*It doesn't run in families, love. It's not like being a werewolf,' she told Sergio. Once again, her attention was fixed on the huddled group near Danny. Nina was wringing her hands, her brows knotted and her neck taut. Reuben was shaking his head in disbelief. Dr Plackett had rolled Danny over.

My stomach did a backflip when I saw that Danny needed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

* What the hell is going on? ' Estelle shouted, after lowering her window again.

Two faces turned towards us. They wore shell-shocked expressions; the glare of the headlights had leached them of colour. Nina glanced at Reuben, who took a deep breath. But when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. He appeared to be lost for words.

Dr Plackett was still pushing on Danny's chest. He didn't pause to reply.

*Could you switch the bloody engine off?' Estelle asked my mother. *I can't hear a bloody thing.'

Mum bridled. I could tell that she was about to refuse. So I leaned forward and said, *Please, Mum? We have to know what's going on.' When she hesitated, I tried something else. *It's the middle of the night. Where else am I going to find a doctor, all the way out here?'

*Yes, buta"'

*That guy's a doctor, Mum! And I've got a sore foot !'

*Yeah, but he's a vampire too, isn't he?' Sergio objected. *Can a vampire be a doctor? Or is he just a doctor for vampires?'

I could have strangled Sergio. There I was, trying to calm my mother down, and he'd started talking about vampires a" a sure-fire way of making her mad. To my surprise, however, her only response was to turn her key in the ignition.

Silence fell, thick and heavy. The only sound was the rush of the wind.

Then Nina began walking towards the car: crunch, crunch, crunch. She wasn't holding the pistol anymore. It was stuffed into Reuben's waistband.

*So what's wrong with Danny?' Estelle asked her gruffly. *Has he passed out? Is that it?'

*He a" he . . .' Nina stalled for an instant. She had to swallow and clear her throat before continuing. *He's dead,' she quavered, glancing over at the body in the dust. *He just . . . he just . . . died.'

*W hat do you mean, dead ?' Estelle spoke indignantly. *He can't be dead.'

*He is.' Nina's voice was thick with unshed tears. She jumped aside as Estelle pushed open the front passenger door.

Mum said, *You've killed someone? You've actually killed someone? '

*It's impossible,' growled Estelle, struggling to her feet. *He's passed out, that's all.'

*Oh, my God, no.' Mum was beginning to lose it. She sounded hysterical. *Oh, no. Oh, no . . .'

I didn't blame her. Do you know what I actually told myself? This is just a dream . Seriously. This is just a dream. I'll wake up in a minute.

*He must be asleep,' Estelle declared. Having extracted herself from the car, she stumped towards Dr Plackett, still arguing with her daughter. *You always look like a corpse when you go to sleep. Your heart stops. Your breathing stopsa"'

*Yeah, but Danny's only just been infected.' Over by the veranda, Reuben had found his voice at long last. *Remember how long it took with Barry? Much longer than this.'

*At least twenty-four hours,' Dr Plackett agreed. Then he sucked in a lungful of air before bending over Danny again.

*That's right. So he isn't a proper vampire yet,' said Reuben. *Is he?'

There was no reply from Dr Plackett, who was blowing into Danny's mouth. It was Nina who observed, *I've never known any of us to keel over at night. Isn't it only meant to happen during the day?'

By this time Sergio had scurried after Estelle, so I decided to follow his example. It wasn't easy. For one thing, I had my sore foot to contend with. And then there was Mum, who made a grab for me as she jabbered something about the police.

*Are you kidding?' I cried, shaking her off. *The police will lock us all up!'

Ignoring her protests, I swung myself out of the back seat and leaned against the car so that I could hop a little closer to Danny. He looked bad. I mean, he looked really bad. Even in the harsh blaze of the headlights, I could see that he was turning blue.

*M-maybe it's his heart,' Nina stammered. *Could it be his heart, Sanford?'

*His heart's stopped working,' the doctor said drily, *if that's what you mean.' All at once he turned to Reuben. *Go and get my bag,' he ordered. *It's in the kitchen.'

Reuben sped off. Estelle was chewing her thumbnail. *That bite's not going black,' she pointed out.

*I know.' Dr Plackett applied pressure to Danny's ribcage with both hands, pushing hard as he gulped down more air. Estelle wondered aloud if someone else should be doing the mouth-to-mouth a" someone with a bit more stamina, like Reuben.

The doctor shook his head, then planted his lips over Danny's. Nina said, *It wouldn't be safe, Mum. The guy's just been fanged.'

*Yeah, but look at him.' Estelle nodded at Danny. *It's not like he's much of a threat.'

*We don't know that.'

Estelle snorted. *One minute you're saying he's dead, the next minute you're saying he might fang me,' she complained. *Will you make up your bloody mind?'

*What's happening?' Sergio bleated. *Is he dead or not?'

*No,' Estelle snapped.

*Maybe,' Nina had to admit.

*I hope not,' said Dr Plackett, straightening up. He wiped his brow, though he didn't appear to be sweating. I noticed a tremor in his hands.

*But you're a doctor!' Sergio wailed. *Can't you tell?'

*It's not that simple.'

*Perhaps it's different for werewolves,' Nina said hoarsely. *Perhaps . . . perhaps you can't fang a werewolf without killing him.'

Oh, man , I thought. Is this a hoax? I almost expected to look up and spot a camera crew, because nothing seemed real. Werewolves? Vampires? Dead people? Get outta here.

Suddenly Reuben banged through the front door and hurled himself down the steps, tossing Dr Plackett his medical bag . At the very same moment, Nina turned on her heel and stumbled away.

*Ah . . . Nina?' I said, as the shadows engulfed her.

*It's all right, love. She's feeling a bit off-colour,' Estelle explained. Sure enough, the sound of retching soon wafted back to us. *Just let her alone and she'll be fine,' Estelle assured me. *Vampires are always vomiting, poor things.'

*Do they a" I mean a" can theya"'

*No.' She wouldn't let me finish. *They can't fly, or turn into bats, or anything else. It's a dog's life.'

*Except that it goes on forever,' Reuben reminded her. He was watching Dr Plackett, who had produced a very long syringe from his bag. *Dogs aren't immortal and vampires are.'

*But not invincible.'

*No,' Reuben conceded. *You can say that again.'

*Did you check on our other patient?' Dr Plackett suddenly asked, drawing some kind of medicine into the syringe. When no one answered, he said, *Reuben?'

*Huh?'

*Our suspected skull fracture.' The doctor's gaze was fixed on his syringe, which he tapped with one finger to dislodge the air bubbles. *Did you check his condition while you were in the house?'

*No.'

The doctor sighed. Then, without warning, he plunged his needle into Danny's chest.

*Eeww!' Sergio protested. We all cringed like Danny's dogs, which were still skulking on the veranda. Personally, I didn't want to look anymore. I'd had about as much as I could take.

So I stared off into the darkness, wondering how Nina was doing.

*What the hell is that?' Estelle demanded. I guess she must have been talking about Dr Plackett's needle, because he said in response, *It's a last resort.'

His tone was so grave, I couldn't help glancing at him. But Estelle refused to accept this grim diagnosis.

*Danny's not dead,' she insisted. *He'll wake up soon.'

*I wouldn't bet on it.' Dr Plackett was feeling for a pulse. *This isn't what normally occurs.'

*Yeah, but he's a werewolf, isn't he? It's like Nina says. Werewolves are probably different.' After a quick bout of coughing, she added, *We should take him inside and give him a few hours. He'll come good a" you'll see.'

Once again, the doctor shook his head. He sat back on his haunches and stared dully at nothing in particular. It was obvious that he'd given up.

*You could be right,' Reuben said. *Sanford? She could be right.'

Dr Plackett's grunt wasn't very encouraging.

*We shouldn't put him in a bedroom, though,' Reuben went on. *I mean, it wouldn't be safe. We could put him in one of the tanks, don't you think?'

*No,' Dr Plackett slowly, painfully climbed to his feet. *Both of those tanks are occupied, remember?'

*Oh. Yeah.' Reuben cursed under his breath, but I was all at sea. And so, apparently, was Sergio.

*Who's down there besides Lincoln?' he asked, frowning.

*Barry,' said Dr Plackett. He had joined the rest of us in a kind of anxious huddle. *We were able to lock him up, though it was a bit of a challenge. He'll be very hard to handle for at least another hour or two.'

I must have looked surprised, because Reuben kindly offered me an explanation. *Barry's not so sick anymore. Vampires always perk up when they get a bit of fresh blood into 'em. Isn't that right, Sanford?'

*Unfortunately, yes. It has an immediate effect on the nervous system.'

Beep! Beep! The blare of a horn made us all jump; we whirled around to gape at my mother, whose white face and pounding fist were visible above the steering wheel of her car. She was yelling something as she sounded the horn, but I couldn't hear what she was saying.

* What? ' Reuben shouted back at her. Mum started jabbing a finger at the windscreen.