Amos and the Vampire by Gary Paulsen Page B

Melissa.”
    Dunc stood and walked out on the landing.
    “Get back in here,” Amos whispered. “The last time I made Amy mad at me I wound up in traction.”
    “I only want to get another look at the guy. He reminds me of someone.”
    “Why are you doing this? As long as he keeps Amy out of my hair, I don’t care if he’s a member of the Mafia.”
    Dunc inched down the stairs one at a time. “Don’t you care if your sister is in danger?” he whispered.
    “No. I care if I’m in danger, and that’s exactly where you’re putting me. Revenge is Amy’s specialty.”
    Dunc put his fingers to his lips and motioned for Amos to follow him across the hall to the living room. Amos folded his arms and stayed where he was.
    When he reached the door, Dunc dropped to his knees and peeked around the corner. Amy was sitting on the couch next to C.D., staring into his dark eyes. He kissed her hand and then slowly started to kiss his way up her arm.
    Dunc turned and motioned frantically for Amos to join him.
    Amos groaned, reluctantly crawled across the carpet to the door, and looked in.
    Amy was sitting alone on the couch.

“It’s late and I don’t want to hear any more of your theories. I’m going to bed.”
    “Wait, Amos. This could be serious. We’ve never had a case quite like this one before.” Dunc flipped through his pocket notebook. “So far we have two clues.”
    “Arrg!” Amos fell backward on the bed and pulled a pillow over his face. “You don’t have any clues, and we are not the cops. Amy goes out with creeps all the time. For her it’s normal. I’d be more worried if she chose a regular guy.”
    “It’s not normal for her date to be in the room one minute slobbering on her arm and gone the next. Especially when there wereonly two exits. A window, which was open a crack, and the door, right past you and me.”
    Amos turned over. “Maybe it was your imagination. The guy probably wasn’t ever there.”
    “He was there, and he was acting pretty strange.”
    “That’s Amy for you. The stranger the better. Can I go to sleep now?”
    “You can—if you tell me why it took so long to snap Amy out of whatever spell that guy had her under. She sat on the couch for a good five minutes, staring into space like she was in some kind of trance.”
    “That’s easy—brain damage.”
    Dunc sat on the edge of the bed with a solemn look on his face. “I don’t know how to break this to you, Amos, but I think Amy’s boyfriend is … well, I don’t think he’s quite human.”
    Amos laughed and flipped over again. “You’re kidding, right?
Right
?”
    Dunc shook his head. “I’ve been doing a lot of research on the subject, and C.D. has all the classic characteristics—pale skin, dark hair, weird eyes, and, of course, a tendency to disappear.”
    “I know I’ll hate myself later for asking this,” Amos said, “but here goes … classic characteristics of what?”
    Dunc shifted to face him.
    “A vampire.”

“I must be crazy. How did I let you talk me into this?” Amos pedaled along slowly behind Dunc, muttering under his breath. “Of all the dumb things you’ve come up with, this is the dumbest.”
    Dunc stopped and waited for him to catch up. “Did you say something?”
    “Yes, not that you ever listen to me. How much farther is it?”
    “We’re almost there, Amos. The Von Helseg estate is just around the next turn.”
    “And just what do you plan to do when we get there? Go up to the door and ask them politely if any vampires live there?”
    “No. That’s what this is for.” Duncpointed to a basket of fruit hanging from his handlebars. “We’ll get inside by pretending to be part of the Welcome Wagon, and then we’ll look for any obvious signs.”
    Amos cocked his head. “I’ve been meaning to ask you about that. Not that I actually believe any of this garbage, but what exactly are these signs you keep talking about?”
    “If my sources are correct, there are a couple of