*Is he a" is hea"?' I couldn't finish. Sergio gaped at Nina.

*Danny was shot ?' he yelped. *But how could . . .? I mean, he wasn't even . . .'

*He didn't seem to mind,' Nina admitted brokenly. She was still holding her breath.

*He was gnawing on Lincoln like a beaver,' Sergio informed the rest of us, in amazement. *Reuben had to jump him from behind.' Turning back to Nina, he said, *Are you sure Danny got shot? It didn't look like he was even hurt. Maybe Lincoln missed him.'

*I saw it,' Nina replied, her face crumpling. Then she slapped a hand across her mouth. *I can't stay in here,' she bleated. *The blood a" it's too much for me . . .'

*But what happened?' Estelle asked the question before I could. *Where's Barry?'

*He's locked up. We put him in Danny's cell.' Nina was edging towards the doorway as she mumbled into her hand. *We thought it would be safer, and it was. They didn't go for each other. I don't think Danny even knew what was happening.'

Estelle frowned. *Thena"'

*Then we took Danny and put him in Lincoln's cell. I left Danny standing near the door. I was pointing the gun at Lincoln while he was being marched into the stairwell.' Nina's voice began to wobble. *He was passing me a" Lincoln was a" and he made a grab for the gun. I don't know if he meant to pull the trigger, but he did. And when Sanford tried to stop him, he punched him in the eye . . .'

Lincoln groaned.

*. . . and Sanford collapsed, and Lincoln tried to run, but Danny was in the way, and he a" I mean Lincoln a" he just a" he justa"'

Nina broke down.

*Shot Danny?' Sergio finished.

*In the chest!' Nina wailed. Then she bolted from the room.

Estelle sat down heavily. I could hear someone climbing the basement steps: thump, thump, thump. Lincoln looked as if he was going to pass out.

I reached for one of the empty chairs, just in case. Since there was no telling who might be trudging towards us, I needed some kind of weapon.

*In the chest?' Mum croaked. *God help us . . .'

*Yeah, but that's impossible,' Sergio countered. *You don't get shot in the chest and then power on like a steamroller.'

* Who's that? ' Estelle was loudly addressing the person on the stairs. * Is that you, Sanford? '

*It's me,' said Reuben. His head suddenly appeared, closely followed by the rest of him. *Don't worry. It's only me.'

*Where's Sanford?'

*He's coming.' Poor Reuben was so tired he could hardly put one foot in front of the other. Nevertheless, when his gaze fell on Lincoln, he took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. *We've gotta get this guy under lock and key right now,' he declared. *God knows what'll happen otherwise.'

*Did he really shoot Danny?' Sergio asked.

Reuben swallowed. Then he nodded. Then he moved towards Lincoln.

*But I saw Danny!' Sergio protested. *He was on this guy like a dog on a bone! He was like a wild animal!'

*Right. And now he's standing there like he never got hurt.' Reuben grasped Lincoln's arm, still talking to Sergio. *Danny was fanged, okay? He's a vampire now. You can't kill a vampire with a bullet.'

*Can't you?' This was news to me. After everything I'd been told by Estelle, I found it hard to believe that vampires had any kind of stamina at all. *You mean they really are invincible?'

*Immortal. Not invincible,' Estelle corrected. *If Nina got shot, she'd be on her back till the end of time. A bullet wouldn't kill her, but it would do a lot of damage.'

*Yeah,' said Reuben, as he dragged Lincoln to his feet. *Christ, remember what happened when Barry tried to brush his teeth with toothpaste? How many teeth did he lose? Not to mention all those blisters . . .'

*Auugh.' Lincoln staggered. He dropped the sheet that he'd been using to staunch his own blood.

I stooped to pick it up again, grudgingly. No one, I felt sure, wanted to look at Lincoln's ragged neck wound. I certainly didn't.

*So what's the deal with Danny, then?' Sergio wanted to know. *How come he's so different?'

*Beats me.' Reuben shrugged. *Ask Sanford. He's on his way up now.'

It was true. I could hear someone else slowly mounting the stairs. And I thought, What about Danny?

*I need to lock this one in the bathroom, quick smart,' Reuben continued, steering Lincoln towards the corridor. It wasn't easy, though. Lincoln was a dead weight; he could hardly walk. And Reuben had only one free hand, because the other was occupied with his rifle.

*Nina's in the bathroom,' Estelle warned him. *She's being sick.'

*Then she'll have to be sick somewhere else. This guy could get his second wind any minute, and I don't want anyone else getting fanged.'

Estelle screwed up her nose.

*You think he's been infected?' she queried, cocking her head at Lincoln.

Once again, Reuben shrugged. But he didn't say a word.

*Vampires bite people,' Estelle pointed out. *They don't tear chunks off 'em. This doesn't seem right to me . . .'

*It's not,' said Dr Plackett. He had finally emerged from the stairwell, tottering a little. His left eye-socket was already a strange, greenish-grey colour. *Something else is going on here. Something I haven't encountered before.'

*Like what?' Reuben asked. Dr Plackett didn't answer immediately. Instead he collapsed onto the nearest vacant chair, which I'd just put down. Then he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.

*Sanford? Are you going to vomit?' Estelle inquired.

The doctor shook his head.

*Are you sure? Because if you are, you should do it in the sink.'

*I'm all right.' He opened his eyes. *Just give me a minute. I'll be fine in a minute.'

*What about Danny?' I couldn't keep silent any longer. *Is he going to be all right?'

Dr Plackett's gaze flicked towards me. After a brief pause, he muttered, *That's a good question. I honestly don't know. All I can do is monitor his condition.'

*But he's been shot! ' Mum exclaimed. *He needs surgery!'

Dr Plackett sighed. He began to massage the bridge of his nose. *Mrs Vandevelde,' he said, with barely suppressed impatience, *surgery would be useless. You don't perform surgery on a dead man.' Before the rest of us could do more than gasp in horror, he added, *The fact that Danny's still upright suggests that something is seriously amiss. Even a vampire wouldn't be standing up after a shot through the heart, and I'm not even sure if Danny is a vampire.'

*But he was fanged!' Estelle cut in. *He's got to be a vampire if he was fanged!'

*Not necessarily.' Seeing her open her mouth again, Dr Plackett lifted his hand. *So far, Danny hasn't exhibited any of the normal transformation behaviours.'

*Because he's a werewolf?' Sergio proposed.

*It's possible.'

Reuben frowned. *You think werewolves react differently when they're infected?' he asked, just as Nina appeared on the threshold. She was so weak that she had to lean against a doorjamb. Nevertheless, Dr Plackett said to her, *Ah. Good. You're back.' He nodded at Lincoln. *This fellow here has to be stitched up. In the bathroom. I'll need your help.'

*That's okay,' Reuben offered, when he saw Nina's expression. *I'll stand guard. Nina's not well enough.'

*No.' The doctor was adamant. He stood up and shuffled over to his medical bag, which was sitting on the table. *I don't want any uninfected people nearby. It's too risky. After seeing what Danny did, I'm not about to stick a suture into this fellow here without taking precautions.'

*But you just told us that Danny's not a vampire,' Estelle objected. *How could this bloke be infected if Danny's not a vampire?'

*Yeah,' Reuben agreed, prodding Lincoln's shoulder. *And he hasn't been acting like someone who's just been infected. He hasn't puked. He hasn't passed out . . .'

*And he hasn't been acting like Danny did, either,' Sergio interposed. *I mean, he can still talk and everything.'

*Look, I don't know what's going on!' the doctor snapped. *And I won't know until I've got more data! I'll have to monitor Danny. I'll have to monitor the other two. In the meantime, there are more urgent matters to address a" like that neck wound, for instance.' He gestured at Lincoln. *There's also Sergio's arm, and Toby's foot . . . I might even give you a shot for that dog bite, Toby. Just in case.'

To be honest, I'd almost forgotten about the dog bite. It had merged into my general sense of misery. *Oh! Sure. Whatever,' I said.

*And when I've done all that,' he went on, turning to my mum, *I'm going to ask if you'd take these two boys back to Cobar, Mrs Vandevelde. So you'll be out of harm's way.' Glancing at his watch, he concluded, *It's not even ten yet a" with any luck some of the pubs will still be open, and you'll be able to get a couple of rooms for the night.'

Mum stared at him. It was Reuben who said, *And then what?'

*Then we'll play it by ear. We might have to stay here another forty-eight hours or so, until our three casualties have stabilised.'

*Not without guinea pigs,' Estelle warned. *There are no more guinea pigs, remember?'

Dr Plackett gave a grunt. I thought I must have missed something. Or had I fallen asleep? Was this all a fragmented nightmare? Were the chairs about to grow wings and fly off?

* Guinea pigs? ' I echoed.

*These vampires live on guinea pigs. One a day,' Estelle advised me. I don't know what kind of weird face I must have pulled, because she quickly added, *It's better than sucking the blood out of people .'

*We'll organise something.' Dr Plackett was trying to reassure her, I think. *If the worst comes to the worst, there are always alternative sources of nourishment. Feral pigs and so forth.' At the sound of Nina's wordless protest, he suddenly lost his cool, shoving the leather bag under his arm as he marched over to grab Lincoln. *Look, all I'm saying is that we have options !' he barked. *But at the moment I'm applying triage procedures, and taking things one step at a time! So if you'd kindly let me handle this like a professional a"'

*Wait!' I could tell that he was about to push Lincoln out of the room, and I didn't want that to happen. Not until I'd made one more attempt to convince my mother. She was standing there with her eyes shut, gnawing her fist and shaking her head as if she'd given up on the lot of us; I wanted her to listen and understand. I wanted her to stop being so close-minded. *Wait,' I said to Dr Plackett. *Before you go, can I just . . . I mean, it would be good if . . .'

*If what?' he snarled. *Hurry up!'

*If he could tell Mum what he did to me.' I finally managed to spit it out, aiming an accusatory finger at Lincoln as I did so. *Mum, this is the guy who kidnapped both of us. Me and Sergio. Okay? This is the guy who locked us both downstairs in the underground tanks.' When Lincoln didn't react, I was suddenly filled with rage. *Didn't you? Huh? Didn't you? ' I yelled, making everyone jump.

Even Lincoln responded. His bleary eyes rolled in my direction. *Uh . . . yeah . . .' he mumbled.

*Tell her why you did it!' I leaned towards him in a threatening kind of way, but no one tried to pull me back. Not even Nina. *Go on! Tell her why!'

Lincoln licked his cracked lips. *For a" for the money?'

*No! I don't mean that.' Before Sergio could jump in, I rephrased my question. *Why did you choose us in the first place? Huh? Why did you go to all this trouble?'

*Be-because you're werewolves,' Lincoln croaked. It was the reply I'd been angling for. Triumphantly, I turned to my mother.

*See?' I said. *What did I tell you? Why would he lie?'

Mum's eyes filled with tears. *Oh, Toby,' she murmured, her voice breaking, *can't you see the state he's in? He's been terrorised. He'd say anything. He's hurt. He's scared. '

I couldn't believe my ears. Neither could Estelle, to judge from the way she snorted. Reuben heaved an impatient sigh. Sergio scowled. Dr Plackett cast his gaze towards the ceiling.

Then all at once, out on the front veranda, there was an explosion of furious noise.

Danny's dogs were whipping themselves into a frenzy.

I don't think anyone stopped to consider what this actually might mean. We simply stampeded towards the kitchen door out of the room, desperate to see what was going on. Reuben reached the hallway first, with Sergio close at his heels. Estelle and Dr Plackett were next in line; they tried to muscle their way past the other two, without much success. Even Mum rushed to have a look. Nina lagged behind because she got stuck with Lincoln, who had to be herded along. And I, of course, had my dud foot to contend with.

When at last I caught up with the others, they were all peering down the corridor. At the very end of it, in a pool of yellow light, Gary Santos had thrown himself against the front door a" whump a" which slammed shut as he sagged against it. He was gulping down air, his knees shaking. Over a volley of hysterical barks, I could just hear the scratching of claws and the thump of low, heavy bodies.

Clearly, he had tried to sneak outside, not realising that four traumatised dogs were lying in wait on the welcome mat.

*Ugh . . . ugh . . . ahh,' he panted, pushing at the bolt with trembling fingers. Then, slowly and haltingly, he turned to confront us.

*I'm gunna be sick,' he moaned.

Catherine Jinks was born in Brisbane in 1963 and grew up in Sydney and Papua New Guinea. She studied medieval history at university and her love of reading led her to become a writer. Her books for children, teenagers and adults have been published all of the world, and have won numerous awards.

Catherine lives in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales with her husband, Canadian journalist Peter Dockrill, and their daughter Hannah.

end.