Vlad: IX.

Saturday, April 12, 1997, 10:09 p.m. Vlad and Luke were walking home from the night market together. Luke, who always liked meeting new people, had slowly become friends with the interesting new student in 411. The traffic on Sin-Yi Rd. was very heavy, and Vlad pretended to cough from the bad air.

"Luke," he said, "why don't we walk through this alley here? Then we don't have to breathe this bad air."

"Okay," said Luke.

They began to walk down the dark alley. Nobody was around. Then Vlad stopped walking.

"Luke," he said, "do you think there is such a thing as vampires?"

"No, Vlad," said Luke, "I think there is no such thing as vampires."

"Well, you're wrong, Luke," said Vlad.

Vlad pushed Luke up against the wall and lifted him off the ground. He bit into Luke's neck and drank his blood. Then he let Luke fall to the ground unconscious, and fled into the darkness.

Luke was the first victim.

* * *

Monday, April 14, 1997, 9:36 p.m. It was after English class. Vlad and Felicia were waiting in the hall to ride the elevator down to the first floor. The doors opened and they stepped in. There was nobody on the elevator. Vlad pressed the "B3" button instead of the "1" button, and then he stood in front of the buttons so that Felicia couldn't see them. When the door opened in the basement, Felicia said:

"Hey, this isn't the first floor!"

"Oh, you're right!" said Vlad. "I must have pressed the wrong button. I'm sorry. But let's walk up the stairs. I never saw this part of the building."

"Okay," said Felicia.

As they were walking up the stairs together, Vlad suddenly pushed Felicia up against the wall and bit into her neck. She tried to scream, but he held her mouth. He only drank a little of her blood, then he said to her:

"It's too late, Felicia. Do not be afraid. You are now a vampire like me. Do you understand? Go home, but don't let your mother see the bite marks."

Then he continued up the stairs by himself. Felicia was the second victim.

* * *

Sunday, April 20, 1997, 1:20 p.m. Vlad invited Kurt to watch a CBA basketball game. They went to the 7-11 and bought a lot of soda. When the basketball game was beginning, both of them enjoyed the game while they drank the soda. After they had drunk all the soda, Kurt felt his stomach was very full.

"I need to go to the bathroom," said Kurt.

"I'll go with you," said Vlad.

In the bathroom, when Kurt was washing his hands, suddenly the lights went out. Kurt became very tense. He heard a loud sneering sound. [?]

"Vlad, where are you?" he said.

"Hah, hah, hah, hah!"

He felt a big bird biting his neck and sucking his blood. Then he lay down on the bathroom floor. When he woke up, he didn't know what happened to him. But he was already a vampire.

Kurt was the third victim.

–Luke

* * *

Saturday, May 3, 1997, 11:07 p.m. It was a black day. Gangster Wilson and Vlad were in a very dark pub. They were drinking tequila and lime juice. They were talking about crimes.

"Are you really a gangster, Wilson?" asked Vlad.

"No, but I want to be," replied Wilson. "I know I look like a gangster, and I kind of like the sound of the name Gangster Wilson. So I've started thinking maybe I should really be one."

Wilson wanted to commit some earth-shaking crimes. They discussed. Vlad excited Wilson with stories of famous crimes from European history. Wilson was drunk, but he still wanted more.

"Wilson," said Vlad, "I've a good idea!"

"What?"

"I've a great idea what you can do."

"Tell me!" cried Wilson.

"It's a long idea. I need to explain. First…. But wait. Will you accompany me to the bathroom?"

"Okay," said Wilson.

In the bathroom, Vlad covered Wilson's mouth with his hand. He bit into his neck and drank his blood. Wilson fell unconscious. Then Vlad dragged him onto a toilet and closed the door. Finally Vlad changed into a bat a flew out of the bathroom window.

Gangster Wilson was the fourth victim.

–Judy

* * *

Sunday, May 18, 1997, 11:00 p.m. Vlad and David were buying soda at Wellcome Supermarket.

"I’m very tired," said Vlad. "I don't know if I can even get home."

"I'm tired too," said David. "You can come to my house to sleep tonight. Okay?"

"Okay," said Vlad. "Thank you."

When they got to David's house, Vlad said: "I'm thirsty. I need some of the soda to drink. Do you want to drink some too?"

"Sure," said David.

But Vlad put something in David's cup.

"This soda is very good," said David. But he suddenly felt very sluggish.

"Your eyes look sleepy," said Vlad. "Maybe you are even more tired than I am."

"Yes," said David.

"Hah, hah, hah!" laughed Vlad.

He pushed him against the wall and bit into his neck. David tried to fight, but he was too tired from the drug. Vlad ran to the door and left the house.

The next day David found he had two big teeth in his mouth. David was the fifth victim.

--David

* * *

Friday, May 23, 1997. Although Grace had told her mother she was staying at a friend's house that night, at 10:35 p.m. she was walking through the Tao-Yuan Fair with Vlad. Because of his charm, she’d accepted his invitation to go to the fair with him, and she had to lie to her mother about where she was going. She had a crush on him.

There were dart games, a haunted house, and a ferris wheel.

"Grace," said Vlad, "I love ferris wheels! Why don't we ride it together?"

"Okay," said Grace.

Vlad bought two tickets, and after a short wait they got into a car.

The two were alone together in the car. The wheel stopped when they were at the very top. They looked out over the lights of Tao-Yuan.

"Vlad," said Grace, "I think you are the most handsome boy I've ever seen. Do you like me too?"

"I think you are cute," replied Vlad. "But I'm in love with Candy."

"What?" said Grace. "How can you tell me this?"

Vlad said nothing.

"Why did you invite me to the fair if you love Candy?" asked Grace.

"I invited you because I knew you would say Yes. I knew you liked me."

"That is very bad!" said Grace. "I don't understand you. How can you do things that way?"

"Don't worry," said Vlad. "I will make you happy. Just close your eyes."

"Why should I close my eyes?" asked Grace. "I even lied to my mother to come here with you!"

"Trust me, Grace. You will see why. Just close your eyes for one minute."

Grace closed her eyes. Vlad leaned over quickly and sunk his teeth into her neck. She opened her mouth, but couldn't scream.

When the ferris wheel stopped a few minutes later, Vlad had to carry her out of the car. People pointed and began talking. The man in charge of the wheel stopped Vlad and asked what had happened.

"She became too dizzy from the ride," said Vlad. "She just needs some water."

Grace was the sixth victim.

* * *

Sunday, June 1, 1997, 8:41 a.m. Vlad and Lon were climbing at Kenting. They were happy because they had a few days vacation from school.

"Vlad, wait for me!" cried Lon. "Hey, should we eat our breakfast now?"

"Okay," said Vlad. "And we can go into that forest to eat. It's beautiful."

"Good idea," said Lon.

A few minutes later they were walking in the forest. They stopped, and Lon put all the food on a big rock. They sat down.

"It's really very beautiful here," said Vlad. "Do you know a vampire can kill people on rocks like this?"

"You are funny, Vlad. There is no such thing as vampires."

"Oh, really?" said Vlad. "But I am a vampire, and I will drink your blood on this rock today."

"Don't make such strange jokes!" said Lon.

Vlad prevailed over Lon on the rock and bit into his neck. He drank his blood and left him unconscious. He put their things in his backpack and hiked back down the mountain.

Lon was the seventh victim.

--Grace