CHAPTER 13 VAMPIRE ISLAND

Billy hit the sand. He scrambled to his knees and tried to roll away.

The bats uttered shrill shrieks as they attacked.

As Billy tried to roll away, he saw Kylie leap to her feet. She swung her hands wildly, thrashing the air.

She hit one bat. The sound of her hand hitting its plump body made a loud thock.

The bats stopped their ugly screeching.

The other one hovered over Kylie. She swung again, narrowly missing it.

She let out a loud victory cry as the bats rose up, then swooped away.

Billy sat up in the sand. “Wow,” he murmured. “Wow. You were great!”

“I’m not afraid of bats,” Kylie boasted.

“I’m not either—unless they attack me,” Billy said. He felt embarrassed that Kylie had to fight while he rolled helplessly in the sand.

“There are so many bats on this beach,” he said. “They all live on that island out there.”

“Know what I’d like to do?” Kylie asked excitedly. “Row out to the island and explore! Want to?”

Billy stared at her in surprise. “You mean right now? Wouldn’t it be better to go in the daytime?”

“No,” Kylie replied, tugging on his arm. “Come on. Let’s do it now. It will be cool.”

“Well . . .” Billy hesitated. He didn’t really want to go. But he didn’t want to look any more like a total wimp.

“We need a boat,” Kylie said.

“The guy I work for has some rowboats,” Billy told her. “He said I can borrow them whenever I want. I guess we could get one and go out there now.”

“Where are the rowboats?”

“Down by the wharf. Come on. I’ll show you.”

They started jogging down the beach.

“Hey, there’s Irene and Nate!” Kylie exclaimed.

Billy spotted them walking close together. I guess they did want to be alone, he thought.

“I’ve got to tell her where we’re going,” Kylie said. “She’ll be so jealous!”

“I’ll get a boat while you talk to her,” Billy offered. “I’ll pick you up at that long dock—the one everybody dives from.”

“See you there,” Kylie agreed. “I can’t wait.”

• • • • •

Billy let the rowboat glide slowly up to the long dock. No sign of Kylie.

Where is she? he wondered. Maybe she changed her mind.

He tied the boat to a cleat and jumped onto the dock, scanning the beach. Still no Kylie. He didn’t see Nate or Irene, either.

Billy climbed back into the little boat. Waited.

“Hey!” Kylie’s sandals thumped on the wooden planks as she hurried down the dock. “Ready?”

“What took you so long?” he demanded.

Kylie shrugged. “Sorry,” she said absently. “You ready to explore the island?”

Billy felt the boat rocking beneath him, making small waves against the dock. “Let’s go,” he told her. Slipping the oars into the oarlocks, he propelled the boat away from the dock and aimed it at the island.

The vampire island.

Nighttime, he thought. They will be awake.

But they won’t be home, Billy told himself. Night is when they have to feed, and there’s no food on the island. They go to Sandy Hollow for food. For human food.

“The island isn’t very far,” Kylie commented. “It shouldn’t take long.”

Billy rowed, the oarlocks creaking and groaning.

Kylie sat in the stern, grinning excitedly at him, her eyes flashing. “I love to do things like this,” she told him. “Weird, crazy things. Just because I feel like it.”

Billy saw bats flying over the water. Bats swooped low over the boat. They rose to become black shadows in the star-filled sky. They circled and swooped in again, passing only a few feet over Billy’s head.

“It’s almost like they’re warning us off,” Billy declared.

“Yeah. Right.” Kylie rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry,” she said. “The bats won’t hurt you. Bats are good. Didn’t you learn that in school?”

Billy glanced over his shoulder and caught sight of the island. A long, low shape against the dark sky. Waiting.

Waiting for me, Billy thought.

The island stood black against the blue-black water.

Not a single light anywhere.

Am I totally crazy? Billy wondered as he gazed at the vampire island.

Am I going to regret this?

Date: 2015-04-20; view: 585