Rise of the Harvest Moon
Disclaimer: I don't own The Little Vampire, except on DVD.
A/N: Based on the fact that when Von is found in his grave next to Elizabeth, there's no stake in his chest, despite his implied staking in the flashback.
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Chapter One
Tony looked around, at first unsure about how he arrived in the Sackville-Baggs' living room when he last remembered being in his own bed. He then figured he must've been dreaming, but he wasn't sure why. The Sackville-Baggs were human, so he couldn't think of a reason for him to have this dream to save his life, if he ever needed to.
He became aware of sounds of a fight going on outside, and he turned to face the door and backed up until he bumped into the endtable. He glanced at the window for the barest moment before the lights flickered out.
The door was ripped off its hinges, and Tony glimpsed two, possibly three, familiar faces before one of the vampires, for that was what he was certain they were, lunged at him.
TLV
Tony's eyes snapped open, and he found himeslf back in his own room, in a cold sweat. He put his glasses on and checked the top drawer of his nightstand. The Stone of Attamon was exactly where he left it the previous night, so he lay back down and stared up at the ceiling, thinking back to the vampires' faces.
He was certain even when waking that all three were vampires, and he knew for a fact he'd seen at least two of them somewhere before. Then he sat bolt upright, his mind alight with an idea.
He climbed out of bed and rushed downstairs to the computer room. He rifled through the box of old newspapers next to the desk, all newspapers his parents didn't know what to do with. He found one from three weeks prior, just after the ceremony, and turned to the obituaries section. He turned the light on to get a better view of the pictures, and what he saw almost made him drop the paper.
Two of the pictures were of Lord McAshton and the cemetery caretaker, John McMillan, respectively, both bodies had been found only to disappear after the sun set, and as soon as Tony saw them, he was certain at least one of them was one of the three vampires in his dream. That left at least one unaccounted for, and one that couldn't be found in a modern paper.
He closed his eyes and recreated the scene when the three vampires burst into the living room. One, he was positive, was Lord McAshton, and his gut told him this was the vampire who moved to attack him. The one on the floor looked like a Sackville-Bagg, a very familiar one, though he couldn't quite remember where he'd seen the man before. The last one looked an awful lot like John McMillan the caretaker, but on this, he couldn't be sure.
Tony opened his eyes and folded the paper up. He turned off the light and slipped out of the office, the paper tucked under his arm. He walked back up to his room and slipped the paper under his pillow before climbing in under the covers and closing his eyes.
TLV
Rudolph lay awake, alternating between staring at the ceiling, rolling over onto his right side to stare at the wall, and rolling over onto his left side to stare at his snoring older brother. During a period of staring at the ceiling, he pulled his pillow out from underneath his head and tossed it aside. Alright, Rudolph, he told himself. What do you do when you can't sleep? You find a good book.
He climbed out of bed and slipped out of the room as silently as possible. A short walk down the hall led him to the library, and he began browsing the shelves at once. Finding nothing of sufficient interest, he walked downstairs to the kitchen. The previous day's newspaper lay on the kitchen table, and he started flipping through it.
A brief article on page fifteen caught his eye.
'Local Madman Placed under House Arrest
'Self-proclaimed vampire hunter John Rookery has been placed under house arrest Monday after being tried on charges of assault and attempted murder.
'Rookery has been accused of attempting to kill Anthony "Tony" Thompson, son of local golf course designer Robert Thompson, in the employ of the late Lord McAshton. He has also been charged with the attempted murder of nearly everyone in a second local family, the Sackville-Baggs, namely patriarch Frederick, wife Freda, and son Rudolph, and the murder of cemetery caretaker John McMillan, in an effort to bait and capture an alleged vampire.
'He will be confined to his home for the next three months, with his infamous truck in the lot for the interim. All contact with him is prohibited.'
Rudolph searched the drawers of the kitchen for a pair of scissors, cut out the article, and folded the paper back up. He folded the clipping into fourths, put the scissors away, and returned to his bedroom, setting the clipping on the nightstand next to the alarm clock.
Gregory had stopped snoring, so he walked over and tapped his brother on the shoulder. The teenager jerked awake immediately with a yelp and turned to face the younger boy. He let out a sigh and groaned, "Rudolph. What do you want?"
"You stopped snoring. I just wanted to see if you were alright," Rudolph replied.
"Oh. Go to sleep."
"I'm trying."
"Then keep trying without waking me up."
"Fine, I will."
Gregory rolled over and pulled the bedspread up to his chin. Rudolph climbed into his own bed and stared at the folded newspaper clipping on the nightstand. Finally, his eyes drifted closed.