Chapter Four

Tony looked up at once from his game. He turned and carefully approached the window, setting the ketchup bottle on the desk. Then the second disturbance came, this time from behind him, and he turned just in time to see a bat fly into his fireplace. Moments later, there was a flash of light. Tony gasped and approached perhaps more slowly than he had the window. Not quite sure what he was hearing, he waited until he was in full view of the fireplace and watched a boy tap the back of his head. His nose, as if made of rubber or plastic, popped back into perfect form. The boy looked up at him and asked, "What clan...are you from, brother, and have the lights gone?"

Tony couldn't help but stutter, "Wh-wh-who are you?" as he flicked his paper fangs out of his mouth with his tongue.

It took a moment for this to sink in, it seemed, but when it did, the boy bared his fangs and hissed, "You are not a brother."

"Well, I'm not a sister," Tony said in an attempt to mitigate the situation.

"You're human. You're full of blood." The vampire hissed.

"Gonna keep it that way, dude," Tony replied as he bolted for the door. But the vampire beat him to it, suspending himself upside down on all fours on its surface. Tony turned and made for the window, but before the vampire could follow, he slipped and fell onto his back on the floor. Tony, for a reason he couldn't quite understand, stood and approached.

"I'm too weak," the vampire mumbled.

"I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid," Tony chanted under his breath, remembering the terror that gripped him at the end of each and every one of his nightmares. Louder, he asked, "Do you need help?" He knelt beside the vampire and wiped the ketchup off with the back of his sleeve.

The vampire turned his head slowly to look at Tony. "What twisted kind of mortal are you?"

"I know you. I saw you in my dream."

"Must've been a nightmare."

Tony nodded. "It was." After all, that was what he'd been told to say.

"I must leave."

"But you can't even walk." Tony moved to help the vampire boy to his feet, but the boy shook him off.

"Who needs to walk, when I can fly?" the vampire asked, moving to the window and leaping off the balcony, only to hover for a moment and then plummet face-first to the ground. Tony ran first to the balcony to assess his position, and then to the stairway leading to the front door, where he quietly slipped past his babysitter, watching some soap opera or another and munching on popcorn.

He ran around back to where the vampire lay and asked, "Are you okay?"

Do I look it? the vampire asked with his mind, momentarily too dazed and weak to make his lips move. Right then the truck drove past, its spotlight swinging in all directions. The vampire shifted to shield his eyes and gasped, "Rookery." The truck passed, and the vampire pushed himself onto his knees. "Do you...do you know...where I can get a cow?" he asked Tony.

"If you want a glass of milk-"

"No, not milk. A cow. Hurry." Tony looked around, feeling the vampire's need for a solution to this predicament. It looked like he was about to drop dead-again-and Tony, regardless of his reasons, was not about to let that happen. So he found his Red Wagon and helped the vampire inside, and then he set off toward the nearest farm.

TLV

Rookery parked just outside of a barn and settled into his seat. That pesky little demon may have gotten away from him that time, but not without a fight, and unless it was going to break pattern, it'll show up at this very barn looking for food. And when it decided to show up and pick a fight, he'd be ready. Oh, he'd be ready.

TLV

Tony helped support the vampire boy as he held up two of his fingers and fixed his gaze on the cow. "Your eyes are getting heavy," he whispered. "You're falling into a deep sleep." Tony couldn't help but wonder if he actually had the power to pull it off, but the vampire was either quite confident in his abilities, desperate, or both, because he walked over to the cow's neck and dug his fangs in deep.

"Oh, ugh," Tony groaned, turning away from the vampire and cringing at the slurping sounds he made. "Oh, I think I'm gonna hurl." So, for want of air, he walked outside toward the street, where a rhythmic beeping drew his attention to a behemoth of a truck stationed just feet away.

TLV

Rookery watched a boy walk out into the street and stand there, staring at the truck. "Aww, it's just a little one," he sneered. "Well, let's see how you like this." He switched on the spotlight to full power, then turned on his headlights and every other light mounted on his truck. The boy shielded his eyes but seemed otherwise unaffected. "So, that's not enough for you, eh?" Rookery put the truck into drive and advanced on the boy.

TLV

The vampire sensed it at once. The boy outside, Tony, was calling for help, whether he realized it or not. He abandoned his meal right then and went for the door, and he narrowed his eyes. Rookery was charging an innocent mortal, knowing full well that the boy would die. For a moment, he wanted to tear Rookery's heart out and show it to him, but Tony still needed him.

Tony screamed, and the vampire rushed into action, shouting, "Shut your eyes, Tony," as he picked the boy up by the waist and took off. He clutched the mortal to his chest and tried to think soothing thoughts as he heard the hunter far below. "Oh, you're very clever, but I'll catch you!" Same old song and dance, he thought as he scanned the sky for a safe place to put Tony. And to think, all he wanted to do was go home.

He spotted a blimp tethered to the earth near a castle, more than big enough to hold the two of them, and gently he set Tony down and sat next to him. "You can open your eyes now."

Tony hesitated a moment but complied. "Wow," he gasped, his eyes roaming over all they saw, trying to absorb everything.

"Enjoying the view?"

"Yeah, and thanks, dude. You saved my life. That truck was gonna splatter me."

"You keep calling me dude. My name's Rudolph."

"Dude is slang." Ah, now it made sense. "Like you call a friend."

"Friend?"

"Well, we saved each other's lives, didn't we?" Tony asked, holding out his hand.

That certainly qualified. "Yes, we did. Friends." They shook on it.

"My name's Tony. C'mon, let's play."

"Yes, we play."

Tony pulled himself to his feet and started jumping up and down on the blimp, and Rudolph tilted his head to one side. "My best friend's a vampire!" Tony cheered, giving Rudolph cause to wonder at exactly what kind of life this boy led. But if he insisted, he thought with a shrug, and he started jumping, as well. As pointless as it was, it was actually kind of fun, and he found himself laughing along.