Vampire's Breath

13.

I turned around, hoping to find Count Night-I

winglets. "Oh!" I screamed as a girl stepped out of the shadows.

His pale blue eyes widened in shock. I think he was just as surprised to see us as we saw him!

As she stepped towards us, I saw that she had a blond curl falling over her shoulder. He was wearing a gray jumper, very long and old-fashioned, with a white blouse underneath.

He's our age, I realize. But it must have been from a different time.

He stopped some coffins. "Who are you?" he asked, looking at us suspiciously. "What are you doing here?"

"We really don't know," I stammered. "We know who we are. But we don't really know what we're doing here!" Correcting ways

i'm. "We arrived here by accident" I added. The girl's confused expression did not change. He put both his hands in his jumper pocket.

"Who are you?" Demanding way. The girl did not answer. Keeping her distance, she continued to observe us with her pale blue eyes. "Gwendolyn," he said at last. "My name is Gwendolyn."

"Are you one of them?" The question arises

out of my mouth.

Gwendolyn shudder. "No" he answered quickly. His mouth curled up into an angry grin. "No. I hate them!" he stated. "I hate them all!"

How to move his weight with tension. I could see that he was very nervous. He handed the bottle of Vampire Breath to me. The bottle felt cold and damp from Cara's hands. I lowered it to my side, away from Gwendolyn's sight.

"You live here?" How to ask Gwendolyn. "Are you related to Count Nightwing?"

Gwendolyn's lips are getting bitter. "No," he choked. Tears welled up in his eyes. "I'm a prisoner here. I was only twelve years old. But they treated me as a slave."

He let tears flow down his pale cheeks. "A slave," he repeated in a trembling voice. "Do you know what they forced me to do? Clean and polish their coffins, day and night." Well," muttered Cara.

"What if you refuse?" I asked. "What if you tell Count Nightwing you won't do it again?"

Gwendolyn laughed dryly. "Then he'll turn me into a vampire." He shuddered again. "I'd rather clean their coffins" he murmured

bittersweet. "Can't you escape?" I asked.

Another dry laugh came out from his lips. "escaped? If I do, they'll track me. They'll turn into bats and fly after me. And they'll drink my blood until I become one of them."

I swallowed spit. I feel bad about him. I don't know what to say.

"We don't fit in here," Cara said to him, glancing at the door. "Count Nightwing brought us here by accident. Can you help us? Is there a way for us to escape?"

Gwendolyn lowered her gaze to the floor, thinking hard. "There may be a way" he said at last. "But we have to be very careful. If he catches us..."

"We'll be careful" I promise. Gwendolyn glanced at the front of the room. "Follow me" he whispered. "Hurry along. It's almost dawn. If the vampires come back and see you - it'll be too late. They'll pounce on you and drink your blood. You'll never see daylight again." He took us to the hall. Sticking to the wall, we

stop and look both ways. No sign of Count Nightwing. But we know he's nearby. Looking for a bottle of Vampire Breath. The bottle I held tight in my hand." "Through here" whispered Gwendolyn.

We followed him through another door. It leads to a narrow ladder. The gas lamp on the wall emitted a dim light, illuminating the stairs as we descended the stairs.

We found ourselves in a long, winding tunnel. Gwendolyn led us through it, walking quickly, silently. The tunnel was very narrow, we had to walk one line. It spun and arched, and brought us down, deeper into the castle.

"Is there really a way out here?" How to ask Gwendolyn. The sound of Cara resounded in the narrow row tunnel.

Gwendolyn. "Yes. Follow me. There's a secret exit through the castle's basement."

Our footsteps rumbled on the hard tunnel floor. In front of us, Gwendolyn's blonde hair shone like a torch leading the way.

The road to freedom. The road to safety. I leaned over Cara and whispered. "This isGood! We're gonna get out of here and bring Vampire Breath with us!" How to lift a finger to his lips. "We're not out yet" he