Ninth Grade Slays by Heather Brewer Read Free Book Online Page A

to stand, the louder it whistled. It was like doing battle with the little engine that wants to drink your blood. He staked the monster again and had burned the body, just to be safe.
    He slipped the stake back into its spot in the walnut case and moved on to the other tools, wiping each off with the corner of the cloth before returning it home. These tools were his partners, his compatriots. He’d carried this case with him since he was ten years old and would one day pass it on to another member of his family—perhaps a nephew, a niece, or even one of his own children. There was no telling. Only a slayer could identify another slayer, and he had not yet seen another in his bloodline younger than himself.
    He pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut, suppressing a yawn. Outside, the sun was just peeking over the horizon. There was time for rest, and then, after another quick review of the small town of Bathory, he would begin his hunt for the vampire he’d been hired to kill.

6
    HALLOWEEN
    VLAD PULLED THE black hood over his head and regarded his reflection in the mirror. The only costume that could top last year’s was going as the one thing everyone—both humans and vampires—were afraid of.
    Death.
    Glancing at the clock, he took a moment to reread Otis’s latest letter.
    Dearest Vladimir ,
    My apologies. This letter will be brief , as I am waitingto board a plane to Paris as I write this. I will send a longer letter soon , but for now my time is stretched.
    I was disappointed to hear that you have had only minimal success in manipulating people’s thought processes , but I cannot help but question whether or not you are really putting forth an effort to control them , Vlad. I understand the difficulties that come with attempting to control someone close to you , but strangersshould be fairly easy to control. Please continue to practice , and I will see what assistance I can find on this matter.
    Please tell Nelly that her last letter was greatly appreciated , and that I am saddened that I have no time to respond at present , but that I will soon. I promise.
    Be well.
    Yours in Eternity ,
    Otis
    Vlad grabbed his plastic sickle and headed downstairs, where Nelly was filling a large plastic cauldron with gummy eyeballs and flavored wax fangs. Vlad looked into the cauldron and groaned. “Do you have to give out all the fangs? Can’t you save some for me?”
    Nelly chuckled and dropped another handful of candy in the cauldron. "You have enough fangs.”
    The doorbell rang and Vlad opened it to Henry, who was dressed as a zombie—complete with missing arm and rotting skin—and Joss, who was wearing slacks, a button-down shirt, and an unbuttoned vest. Vlad raised an eyebrow. “Joss, I thought you were dressing up.”
    Henry smacked Joss on the back of the head. “I told you! Go on, tell him what you’re supposed to be.”
    Joss’s eyes grew wide at Henry’s disgust, and he spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “I’m an anthropologist.”
    Vlad looked at Henry, who rolled his eyes. “Dude, can’t you tell people that you’re a serial killer or something? How am I gonna get Melissa to dance with me if my cousin’s an anthropologist?”
    Joss shrugged. “Maybe she’ll think anthropologists are hot.”
    Nelly chimed in with that parental tone that she used whenever she meant business. “I assume that there’s no big surprise at midnight this year.”
    Vlad wrinkled his brow. “No. Why?”
    Nelly smiled. “Good. Home by eleven, Vladimir.”
    Vlad rolled his eyes, but he didn’t dare question Nelly. Instead, he led Henry and Joss out the front door and down the street. They were halfway to Matthew’s house when Vlad noticed a trio of nervous trick-or-treaters rushing to the other side of the street. After a moment of curious confusion, he