I skipped my last class and headed straight over to Nathan’s place.  I knew he wasn’t going to be up yet, but I wanted to be there when he woke.  Plus I wanted to see how his ‘guest’ was getting on.

I let myself in through the front door and started to head upstairs when I heard noises coming from down in the cellar.  My first thought was, ‘He’s up already!  Good, now he can tell me what the hell happened.’  So I made a beeline for the door in the kitchen that I’d seen him disappear through this morning.

As soon as I opened it the sounds were much louder. Someone was moving down there, but something wasn’t right. It didn’t sound like him moving around.  Immediately, I had a bad feeling and my first impulse was to leave and get help.  But then I remembered Nathan was down there, and he would be vulnerable at this time of day.

My protective instincts must’ve kicked in, because I raced down the stairs and spotted my godfather lying on a table in the center of the room.  Standing over him was the guy from last night armed with a stake and hammer.

He had his back to me, so I took advantage of the situation and jumped him.

As expected, I took him by surprise and the stake wound up hitting the light hanging over the table.  Out of the corner of my eye I could see our shadows as he tried to fight me off.  A part of me kind of wished someone had been filming them, it looked pretty cool-not that I was enjoying myself at the time.

For a guy who’d nearly died the night before, he was pretty lively and strong.  He wound up slamming me against the wall by launching himself backwards.  I always wondered how characters in movies manage to stay on someone when that happened, and now I know.  It’s called an adrenaline rush with good reason.  This clown was trying to kill someone dear to me, and I wasn’t about to give up.

Unfortunately, he was bigger and outweighed me by a lot.  After I hung on when he slammed me against the wall, he tried a new tactic.  He fell backwards on purpose and landed right on top of me, hard!  I think I must’ve blacked out, because the next thing I knew he had me tied to a chair and was staring straight into my eyes.

“I’m sorry, kid.  I didn’t want to hurt you, but you’re obviously under his control,” he tells me.  “But don’t worry, I’m gonna dust this blood-sucker and you’ll be all right.  We both will.  Now just sit tight and let me do what’s gotta be done, okay?”

I couldn’t believe it.  Mr. Break-In was trying to be a hero.  It was almost funny in a way.  But I still couldn’t let him kill Nathan.  “No, you don’t understand.  He’s not a monster!” I tell him.  “He’s a good man.  I don’t know what happened between you two last night, but he didn’t kill you.  He spared you and did everything he could to keep you alive!”

As soon as the words leave my lips, I realize all of this is true.  Nathan could’ve ignored me when I begged him to stop.  Instead he told me to get the blood I’d brought and started giving the guy a couple of transfusions.  How could I…

“That’s what he’s been telling you, kid,” the guy yells.  “He’s inside your head, just like he’s been in mine.  I can still feel him, but I’m able to fight back.  And once he’s dead, you’ll understand.  You’ll be normal again.”

Before I can say anything else he whirls around and rams the stake right into Nathan’s chest.

My godfather doesn’t cry out.  Nor does he gasp, or open his eyes, the way vampyres supposedly do in movies or books.  But all those writers did get one thing right; he starts to crack and crumble right before my eyes.

For an instant I can’t speak.  Time has slowed down as I see the cracking spread all over his skin.  Soon his chest caves in on itself, with the sound of ancient paper crackling and breaking.    Then his hands start to implode and turn into fine particles.  Within moments there’s nothing left except his clothes and dust.

I can’t remember exactly what happened next but I think I screamed and tried going after the guy with the stake.  I kept trying to undo the ropes around my wrists and ankles, while cursing my head off at him.

The jerk just stares at me in complete shock and keeps trying to tell me that we’re both free.

But I don’t listen.  Instead, I just lose it.  Finally, he gives up and shouts something about sending the cops and a straightjacket for me and takes off.   My mouth is still running with every curse word it knows, while tears are streaming down my face.  I’m not ashamed to admit that I was crying.  I’d just lost someone as dear as my parents and little brother.

I cried and screamed myself hoarse for God knows how long before I finally got control of myself.  When I did, my only thought was getting out of there.  I was sure Dad or Dr. Jack would be coming by sooner or later, but I couldn’t wait that long.

Once again I went after the ropes, but Ass-Hat knew his stuff; they weren’t loosening at all.  As I struggled I noticed the chair was a bit wobbly.  It occurred to me that if the chair broke, I might find it easier to free myself.  So I tried rocking and shifting, hoping something would break.  Eventually, something did – namely the two legs on the left side.

From my point of view, all I saw was the world tilting sideways slowly, then rapidly.  I braced myself for a hard landing but instead I hit soft dirt, much to my relief. Then I noticed I was still going down.  My shoulder was sinking into the dirt as if it were quicksand.  Panic took hold as I struggled desperately to free myself from the chair, but only the two legs had broken.  My hands and body were still firmly tied to it.  I was going to sink into the floor, and there was nothing I could do.

The soil was just starting to touch my cheek when a hand grabbed my shoulder… from inside the ground!