It was all true. It couldn't possibly be true, but it was…
It had happened yesterday. It had happened to him.
He'd been late coming home, sure, but he'd come home later than that before. Even his parents who, Egor was quite certain, hadn't realized yet that he was almost thirteen years old, thought nothing of it.
When he left the swimming pool with the other guys… yes, it was ten o'clock already. They all piled into McDonald's and sat there for about twenty minutes. That was the usual thing too, after training everyone who could afford it went to McDonald's. Then… then they all walked to the metro together. It wasn't far. Along a brightly lit street. Eight of them together.
Everything was still fine then.
It was in the metro that he'd started feeling uneasy. He looked at his watch, stared around at the other passengers. But there was nothing suspicious.
Except that Egor could hear music.
And then things that couldn't happen had started happening.
Without knowing why, he turned into a dark, stinking alleyway. He walked up to a girl and a young guy who were waiting for him. They'd lured him there. And he offered his own neck to the girl's long, sharp fangs that weren't even human.
Even now, at home on his own, Egor could feel that chill—that sweet, enticing tingle running across his skin. He'd wanted it to happen! He'd been afraid, but he'd wanted the touch of the gleaming fangs, the sharp, short pain, and then… and then… there'd be something else… there had to be…
And no one in the whole wide world could help him. Egor remembered the way the woman who was walking her dogs had looked straight through him. An alert glance, not at all indifferent—she hadn't been frightened, she simply couldn't see what was happening… Egor had been saved only by the third vampire turning up. That pale guy with the Walkman who'd started trailing him back in the metro. They'd fought over him the way hungry, full-grown wolves quarrel over a deer they've cornered but not killed yet.
Then everything had got confused; it all happened too fast. Someone shouted something about some watch or other, about the twilight. There was a flash of blue light, and one vampire crumbled into dust right there in front of his eyes, just like in the movies. The girl-vampire was howling because she'd had something splashed into her face.
Then he'd fled in panic…
And now he realized something terrible, even more terrible than what had happened: He couldn't tell anyone anything. They wouldn't believe him. They wouldn't understand.
Vampires don't exist!
It's not possible to look straight through people and not see them!
Nobody just burns up in a swirl of blue flame, and turns into a dried mummy, a skeleton, a handful of ash!
«They do!» Egor told himself. «They do exist. It is possible. It does happen!»
But even he could hardly believe it…
Egor didn't go to school, but he did clean up the apartment. He wanted to do something. Several times he went across to the window and looked carefully around the yard.
Nothing suspicious.
But would he be able to see them?
They would come. Egor didn't doubt it for a single second. They knew he remembered them. Now they would kill him, because he was a witness.
But they wouldn't just kill him! They'd drink his blood and turn him into a vampire.
The boy walked over to the bookshelf, where half the shelves were filled with videocassettes. Maybe he could look for some advice here? Dracula, Dead and Loving It … no, that was comedy. Once Bitten —absolute garbage… Night of Terror . . . Egor shuddered. He remembered that film. And now he'd never dare watch it again. What did it say again? Oh, right… «A crucifix helps, if you believe in it.»
But how could a crucifix help him? He wasn't even baptized. And he didn't believe in God. At least, he hadn't believed before.
Maybe he ought to start now?
If vampires existed, then so did the devil, and if the devil existed, then God did too?
If vampires existed, then so did God?
If Evil existed, then so did Good?
«It's all nonsense,» said Egor. He stuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans, went out into the hallway and looked in the mirror. He was reflected in the mirror. A bit too gloomy, maybe, but just a perfectly normal kid. That meant everything was still okay, so far. They hadn't managed to bite him.
Just to make sure, he twisted this way and that, trying to see the back of his neck. No, there were no marks, nothing. Just a skinny neck, maybe not too clean…
The idea suddenly hit him. Egor dashed into the kitchen, frightening the cat off its comfortable spot on the washing machine. He started rummaging through the bags of potatoes, onions, and carrots.
There it was, the garlic.
Egor hastily peeled one head and started chewing it. The garlic was fierce; it burned his mouth. Egor poured a glass of tea and started taking a mouthful after every clove. It didn't help much; his tongue was on fire and his gums itched. But it was sure to help, wasn't it?
The cat peeped back into the kitchen, gaped at the boy in amazement, gave a disappointed meow, and went away. He couldn't understand how anyone could eat anything so disgusting.
Egor chewed up the last two cloves, spat them out into his palm, and started rubbing them on his neck. He could have laughed at himself for doing it, but he wasn't going to stop now.
His neck started to sting too—it was good garlic. A single breath would finish any vampire.
The cat began howling restlessly in the hallway. Egor pricked up his ears and peeped out of the kitchen. No, nothing there. The door was secured with three locks and a chain.
«Stop yelling, Gray!» he told the cat sternly. «Or I'll make you eat garlic too.»
The cat took the threat seriously and dashed off into the parents' bedroom. What else could he do? Silver was supposed to help. Egor frightened the cat again by going into the bedroom, opening the wardrobe, and taking his mother's jewelry box out from under the sheets and towels. He took out a silver chain and put it on. It would smell of garlic, and he'd have to take it off before the evening. Maybe he should empty his moneybox and buy himself a chain? With a crucifix. And wear it all the time. Say he'd started believing in God. Didn't it happen sometimes that someone didn't believe for a long, long time, and then suddenly started believing after all?
He walked across the living room, sat down with his feet up on the couch and looked around the room thoughtfully. Did they have any poplar wood in the house? He didn't think so. And what did poplar wood look like, anyway? Maybe he should go to the botanical gardens and cut himself a dagger out of a branch?
That was all great, of course, but what good would it do? If the music started playing again… that soft, alluring music… What if he took the chain off himself, broke the poplar-wood dagger, and washed the garlic off his own neck?
Soft, gentle music… invisible enemies. Maybe they were already there with him. He simply couldn't see them. He didn't know how to look. And a vampire might be sitting right there, laughing at him, looking at this naive kid preparing his defenses. And he wasn't afraid of any poplar stake, he wasn't scared by the garlic. How could you fight against something invisible?
«Gray!» Egor called. The cat didn't respond to the usual «kss-kss»; he was a fickle character. «Come here, Gray!»
The cat was standing in the doorway of the bedroom. His fur was standing on end and his eyes were blazing. He was looking past Egor, into the corner, at the armchair beside the coffee table. At an empty chair…