After the formation of another portal, Dingbat and George landed back in the forest again. As George dusted himself off, part of Dingbat wanted to run away and yet his body insisted on staying. George wanted him to do this. Nobody wanted him to do this. Reginald wanted him to do this. Did Dot want him to do this? Reginald and George and Nobody said she would.
"Now, this Dot, where does she live?"
Once again, Dingbat used his tracking senses to find his former home, but this time, he had someone following his every step. He would have turned into a bat to make the search quicker, but decided against it as those transformations were still too confusing for him. The streets were empty that night, but the pair still found themselves constantly hiding behind boxes and other objects, just in case ("It's good that some humans don't know we exist," George had told Dingbat, "Makes the whole thing feel kinda...exclusive, ya know?")
As the pair found themselves getting closer to Dot's house, they hid one last time, behind a bush. After a couple of minutes among the leaves, Dingbat poked his head out to make sure the coast was clear.
The man had returned.
That strange man, the one with the glasses and the moustache and the coat, from that night he killed Marcus. The presence of the man reminded Dingbat of that night, and thus reminded him of his memories. Scenes from Dingbat's life and his time among the undead flickered quickly and constantly, making Dingbat stumble about dizzily, while pounding his head to force the memories away. As the memories began to drift off, Dingbat saw a cross shoved right in his face that made him feel even queasier.
"Don't be afraid," said the man, raising a knife, "this is for your own good."
This was a bad man. More memories appeared as Dingbat remembered bad men coming to his house. Back then, Dingbat didn't cower in their presence. He'd let loose a cacophony of barks, so those men understood that this was his house, his territory and they had no right to invade it. So Dingbat let free those glorious barks, which seemed to strengthen him enough to knock the cross right out of the man's hand. Then...
"Bleh! You dare try to trifle vith the great Dingblat?" He had begun to enjoy speaking like that, especially now that it brought the man to the ground. Seeing this fat idiot as his mercy made Dingbat wonder if he should kill him, hence sparing vampires his attitude towards them and gaining him a little of Reginald's power.
"Hey! You're getting good at this!" said George to Dingbat, before turning to the stout man. "OK, Abe, take five!" So the man stood up and walked away.
"What?"
"Oh, Reggie loves these little tests. You'll be surprised how easy it is ta get humans to work for us."
"Humans...working for us?"
"Yeah. We get some to dress up as vampire hunters to test newbies, and to go to potential victims. People who talk to these here posers either fear us more or believe in us less, making our attacks unexpected and therefore more fun! There are real vampire hunters, but they're all dorks."
"I see..."
"Well, let's get back to findin' ol' Dotty's house, eh?"
"If you don't mind, I'd rather go on my own."
"Good for you! Ya're learnin'!"
"Yes..."
What a day, what a day. The coppers just came over again, with more news about Marcus' death. His head was found in a dumpster. Dot didn't want to hear any more news about Marcus, especially not of that calibre. The fact that the dumpster was quite close to her house made her think that perhaps she murdered Marcus and just didn't remember doing it somehow, and if that was true, she was unsure whether to be shocked or proud.
Happy or sad about Marcus' death and how it happened, Dot still found it hard to sleep. Not that this was necessarily a bad thing, as some of her most profound thoughts had come about when rolling about in an attempt to make herself more comfortable. Even so, she still felt the need to grab a comic and a bag of M and M's, while she lay in bed, just waiting for herself to drop off.
Another knocking at the door. That sound had begun to gnaw at her nerves as of recently. She opens the door, there's the police. She opens the door, there's some crazy vampire-hunting guy. She opens the door, there's her ex-boyfriend's severed head. Therefore, she felt the safest thing to do would be to remain in bed, chomping down on her soothing M and M's, until the knocking went away.
She didn't.
The only way to make the knocking stop was to answer the door. Mum and Dad weren't going to answer it, so Dot put on her nightgown and walked downstairs, still eating those chocolates. However, just before opening the door, she felt the urge to walk to the kitchen, and bring out a knife. A knife. Then she opened the door without giving the knife another thought.
Dingbat. Dingbat again. While standing on two legs, and with a strangely human expression on his face, it could be no other than her deceased little dog. Unlike the last times they had met though, she did not scream, probably because she had been expecting him. Her clutch on the knife tightened.
"Hello," said Dingbat in a voice that felt jarring when coming out of a dog's mouth. While feeling that she should get out the knife or slam the door, Dot decided to talk with Dingbat. This was still her dog, her smartest and best friend.
"Are...are you really a vampire?"
Dingbat nodded, opening his mouth to reveal the two sharp fangs he had now gained. This confirmation made Dot want to laugh. The thought that some senile fat guy was a hundred percent correct about her dog being a vampire of all things! Plus, she was now officially the only girl in her circle of friends with a member of the supernatural as a pet. Emily would be so jealous.
She was going mad.
"Dot," said Dingbat, with tears forming in his eyes, "I'm so sorry..." After he slumped his head, Dot put her hand on Dingbat's shoulder and led him in, once again looking at the mirror. Sniffing, Dingbat tried to continue, "They keep telling me to...to attack you...but I'm not sure I can do it...I'm really sorry about Marcus..."
"Who are they?"
After sitting on a setee, Dingbat regaled Dot with everything that apparently happened to him. The murder of Marcus, meeting Nobody, George, Spare-Rib and Reginald, the thirst and the attacks, and his purpose in returning to his former home. Hearing the story made Dot want to laugh, and at the same time, she felt laughs turn to dust as Dingbat described the attacks he made. The story seemed more likely than it should –surely if there are vampire dogs there should be vampire cats and maybe even talking pumpkins – and if it was true, then the world was more messed-up than she ever suspected it of being.
"So, this...this 'Reggie' cat actually told you to be evil?"
"He said I'd like it..."
"That's fucking ridiculous. You actually believed him?" Dot began to look away, still hoping to herself that her beloved dog wasn't a murderer.
"I don't know..."
"You actually fucking killed people..."
"I had to, I just had to!"
Dot knew that this wasn't a dream now. She was actually speaking with her dog who had become a vampire. A monster, a murderer and a furry was actually in her house. Now her cute little pet, which she used to take comfort in was now evil, and she no longer wanted anything to do with him. "Get out."
She waited for him to leave, still covering her eyes. After gathering enough courage, she turned around, and saw that Dingbat hadn't moved. "No." He wasn't crying anymore.
Dot looked at the knife, then towards Dingbat. That's it. She'd end this once and for all. That wasn't her happy little dog, it was some bloodthirsty...she didn't really know what it was. She raised the knife.
His teeth dug into her neck.
Her dog clung to her with claws that seemed to be sharper than ever, slowly draining her blood from her body. She weakened with each second, and yet it felt like she was being liberated. As the world grew black, she felt her mortality slipping away from her, which was such a strange relief...
A blur, of being weak and immobile...
The digging followed next, a frantic, instinctive movement of her now-clawed hands through mounds of dirt, and, despite lacking breath, a need for the air outside. In seconds, the grey sky greeted her, as did Dingbat and his new cat friend. A smile lit both their faces.
"You did good, Dingbat, old friend."
"Thank you."
The cat then turned its attention towards Dot, and she had no option but to listen.
"Hello, Dot. Have I got a treat for you..."
THE END?