Chapter 20

In the cellar of Toni's house, Rudolf slept peacefully in an old trunk. A soft, lovely sound reached his ears, practically making them twitch in interest. Slowly, his eyes opened and he focused, sitting up and pushing the trunk lid open to hear better.

It was a whistle. Toni's whistle! He focused and realized that the sound was in his mind, not the air around him. Even through the faint connection, he could feel a slight hint of fear. If she was scared enough that he could feel it through the whistle, then she really must be terrified.

Rudolf didn't hesitate to climb out of the trunk. Toni needed help, and he was the only one who even knew it.

"What is it?" Rudolf spun to see his sister poking her blond head from behind the curtain around her chosen bed.

"Toni's calling." He replied in a whisper.

"Perhaps she found the stone." The girl said. Rudolf didn't argue, not wanting to crush her hopes. But he knew that wasn't the case…if she had the stone, why would she feel so frightened? "Are you going to her?"

"Yes."

"I'm coming too!"

"What? No, Anna, it's too-"

"Don't tell me it's too dangerous, I'm a vampire." The girl said, climbing to her feet and putting her hands on her hips. She looked just like her mother, and Rudy knew she was just as likely to argue until she got her way.

"Alright fine. Come on."

"But…the daylight." She said, pointing at the cellar door.

"Daylight or not, we must go." Rudy told her, weaving around piles of junk. "Now stay quiet, or you'll wake the others." He added, leading the way from the cellar. The pair circled the house, staying in the shadows as they searched for a way they could leave without being burned by the sun. Before they could make it to the shed across the courtyard, Rudolf heard the automobile coming. "Quick, get back!" he ordered his sister, the pair hiding around the corner from the front door.

"Toni?" Bob shouted, slamming the car door. "Toni!"

"She's not here." Dottie said, leaning against the door frame as she wiped her hands on a towel. "I thought she was with you?"

"Well, she was! And then she was gone and I couldn't find her. It's been hours, I figured she came back here out of boredom."

"I haven't seen her."

"Oh…great. First she leaves that dance to go play soccer in the middle of nowhere, and now she's taking off without even a warning? I am going to bust her butt when she gets home."

"You should do something!" Anna whispered to her brother, making him frown. "She'll get in trouble!"

Rudolf sighed and looked around, spotting Toni's soccer ball beside the rose bush. He grinned and grabbed it, strolling around the house corner, casually staying out of the direct sunlight.

"Oh, hello! You must be Toni's parents. I'm Rudy." He said, remembering at the last minute that Toni had never given them his full name. He held out a hand with his most charming smile, and Bob shook it. The boy was distantly glad he'd stolen those clothes from the McAshton brothers. His new white t-shirt and red button down shirt looked much better than his old tattered ones, and made up for the state of his long coat.

"It's nice to finally meet you… What are you doing here?" the man asked.

"Bob!"

"It's alright, Mrs. Thompson, he's got a point." Rudolf said with a shrug. "Toni is at…school. They have a nice football field there. Or…soccer, as you know it. She asked me to bring her ball since she'd forgotten it. It's on my way."

"Oh! Well, in that case, you better go meet her." Dottie said with a smile.

"And tell her that she better be home for supper." Bob added in a grumble.

"I'll be sure to pass on the message." Rudolf promised. "Goodbye!" he walked past them and around the next house corner, carefully staying in the shadows as he listened for the two to leave.

"Well…at least we've finally met him." Bob said.

"I thought he was nice. Very polite."

"Yeah…I suppose I won't be too hard on Toni later. The McAshton family history can't be that interesting, and I suppose I'm glad that she's with a friend rather than obsessing about vampires."

"Amen, husband of mine." Dottie said. "Also, this means we've got the whole afternoon alone."

"Hmm…I like this Rudy kid already."

"His parents want to have us for dinner." Dottie said, leading Bob inside and shutting the front door.

Rudolf hurried across the courtyard, Anna following him to the large storage shed. Inside, they found tin foil, old blankets, and even an umbrella and a knight's helmet they could use. Once they were all wrapped up, Anna sighed.

"We look ridiculous." She complained.

"You'll have to bear with the shame, we've no other options. Come on, let's go."

The pair made their way to the McAshton house as quickly as they could. They were forced to follow the roads as they couldn't climb up and down embankments of streams or stone walls. They couldn't even fly since they couldn't risk being seen.

They reached the main house as the sun started to set, leaving the land full of long shadows they could easily remain in.

"How will we find her?" Anna asked as they shed their many protections.

Rudolf shook his head, not really knowing. He hadn't heard a whistle in a long while…finally, he spotted something that made him grin. "I have an idea of who to ask." He said, striding along in the shadows as he ran a hand through his messy hair.

Nigel and Flint McAshton sat on a bench, looking dejected, angry, and a little bit scared. Toni had obviously been here.

"Evening, gents." He said as he strolled up behind a bench, where Nigel and Flint sat. They spun in fright and Nigel almost fell right off the bench. "I don't suppose you've seen Toni lately?"

"Not for a while." Flint said quickly, swallowing. "She…she didn't say how long we had to stay under our beds." He added, trying to be tough.

"Didn't think to ask though, did you?" Rudolf said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Under their beds? Toni had told them to hide under their beds? He wished he could have seen that. "Now then, tell me where she went, or I'll be forced to let my sister get to know you better."

The girl appeared behind him with a smile, waggling her fingers at the boys and smiling wide enough to show off her long canines.

"That way." The boys said at the same time, pointing at a large arch cut in a hedge. "She went through there and left. I don't know why, all that's back there is the mausoleum."

"You don't really want to know." Rudolf told them in a dark voice. "Now go on, shoo."

The boys hopped up and hurried away, shooting dark looks over their shoulders as they went. It appeared their defiance was growing stronger than their fear. Rudolf hoped Toni would be able to handle them once he was human and couldn't help her any more.

He led the way through the arch as if he had all the time in the world, but the moment they were around the corner he took off running.

"Hey! Rudolf, wait!" Anna protested, shorter legs trying to keep up.

"There's no time!" the boy informed her, skidding to a stop at the end of the path, and running for the mausoleum. "I have a bad feeling that Toni's in big trouble."

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Well...I only got one review for the last chapter, but I figure that's my own fault seeing how late it got posted . So I went ahead and posted this one! Apparently they didn't reach Toni in this chapter...so you'll have to wait for tomorrow to find out what's happened :D

I do love being evil to you all, it's fun XD

Your Grinning Authoress,

Whisperwings