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Vlad the Inhaler
Category:
Children
Publisher: Little Roni Publishers LLC
ISBN-10: 0615946526
Type: Fiction
Pages: 159
Copyright: March 20, 2014
ISBN-13: 9780615946528
Price: $3.72 (eBook)
Vlad is an asthmatic, vegetarian, half-human vampire who can't turn into a bat and is scared of the dark. So how come he's expected to save everyone?
VAMPIRES, WEREWOLVES, AND PEACHES, OH MY!
Vampires suck...
But Vlad is half-human.
Vlad's parents have disappeared, and his evil relatives will stop at nothing to steal his inheritance and eliminate the asthmatic "hupyre" they despise.
With two new friends and a heart bursting with courage and determination, Vlad faces perilous adventure and certain death to make things right in the world of Dank Forest.
Peppered with gorgeous black-and-white illustrations to bring imaginations to life, join the adventure and bring a peach for Vlad!
Excerpt
Chapter One
Vlad had never known such hunger. Weak with longing, he was driven insane by the smell of the ripe flesh he held in his shaking hands. He let his fangs pierce the soft downy skin and sank to his knees. Nothing had ever tasted as wonderful as this; knowing it was forbidden added to the sensation. He closed his eyes and bit deeper, filling his mouth with the sweet fluid.
The bedroom door flew open, hitting the stone wall with such force windows rattled, spiders scuttled back to their cobwebs and half the candles blew out.
Aunt Valentyna towered above him, red eyes glaring, jet black hair standing on end, and ruby lips curled into a snarl.
“I knew it!” she thundered. “I knew you were doing something disgusting. What exactly are you eating, you repulsive excuse for a child?”
Vlad choked and dropped his feast, splattering flesh on the flagstone floor.
“Well, I’m waiting. What is that?” his aunt demanded, touching the half-eaten peach with the pointed toe of her shoe before reaching down to pick it up.
Vlad could feel the juice dripping from his chin and wished he’d eaten faster. His stomach ached. In the last four days he’d only had an apple and a banana. The peach was the last of his human food. He flinched as she grabbed him by the collar. Although he kicked and wriggled, she lifted him with one hand as if he weighed no more than a bat’s wing.
“Can’t fly, can’t drink blood, and can’t even breathe half the time. No wonder your parents hid you away. Imagine the disgrace of bringing a hupyre into the family. What a pathetic specimen you are. I’d have had you put down at birth.” She threw the remains of the peach out of the window. “Well, you disgusting half-breed, what was that revolting object?”
Vlad tried to answer, but it felt as though someone had stuffed cotton wool down his throat. He couldn’t drag his eyes from the points of her fangs. Tears of frustration slid down his face. Gasping, he tried again.
“P … p … p …”
“What? What did you say?”
“P … p … peach.”
“Disgusting,” she said, and flung him across the room.
Thudding against his bed, he scrambled round to face her. Looking up at his furious aunt, he tried to control his wheezing. Desperately, he struggled to breathe out. His mouth opened and closed, but he couldn’t drag any air into his swollen lungs. The more he panicked, the harder it was to breathe.
“Stop making that pathetic noise, right now! How many times do I have to tell you that vampires don't get asthma? Where did you get that … that thing?” she demanded. “If it was one of the servants …”
Valentyna left the sentence unfinished, but Vlad knew what she meant and shivered. The last servant who’d tried to help him had joined the family for a feast. As the main course.
“C … c … cupboard. Hid … fruit … there.”
She yanked open the wardrobe door and dragged everything out. Clothes flew across the room and landed in a heap on the floor.
“If I find so much as a mouldy grape, out the window it goes, and you’ll go with it. A disgrace to the vampire heritage, that’s what you are. What’s wrong with normal food?” she scolded, snatching up the glass of congealed blood from his bedside table.
As she waved it under his nose the thick sludge broke through the skin that had formed on top and Vlad’s stomach heaved.
“You’ve let this get cold. What a waste of fine food. I’m going to bring some fresh blood and stand over you until every drop has gone.”
She raised her hand and leant forward, sneering. Her long, curved incisors gleamed in the candlelight. Vlad shrank back, hands over his head waiting for the slap. But it didn’t come. Valentyna laughed and slammed the door as she left.
He heard the key turn in the lock and staggered breathless to the window. Leaning out, he felt behind the drainpipe, reaching for his inhaler. He fumbled, almost dropping it in his desperate need to get it into his mouth. He pressed the button and glorious air filled his tortured lungs. Closing his eyes, he leant against the window ledge. He was exhausted from the attack, but now felt only relief. Pure relief.
When he opened his eyes again, a sense of desperation made him feel sick. He couldn’t take much more of Valentyna’s bullying – and he certainly couldn’t face another glass of blood. He had to escape, but how?
If only he could master turning into a bat, he could fly away. He stared out of the window. The castle was perched on the edge of a sheer cliff. Far below, waves crashed onto vicious jagged rocks. Bright moonlight glinted on the water. He leant out as far as he could and strained his body to the right so that he could see the edge of Dank Forest. The castle stood in a clearing, surrounded by the forest stretching away as far as the eye could see to the front and the sides. Dark and brooding, that was the last place he should go, even if he could somehow climb down and swim over to the shore without being swept onto the rocks. The forest was home to the most deadly enemies known to vampires – werewolves!
Think. He had to think. There must be a way to get away from the castle. But even if he did, where would he go? He had the ocean in front of him and werewolves on land. He fought off the urge to cry. You’re eleven, not a baby, he told himself. He replaced his precious inhaler in its hiding place and turned back into the room.
Hanging over the fireplace was the new coat of arms Valentyna had ordered to be placed in every room in the castle. The two intertwined Vs for Viktor and Valentyna pointed down like fangs. Ruby blood dripped into a pool below.
Apart from the new crest, his room still looked the same as it had before his aunt and her family arrived. He loved this room. If only he could keep his family out and find some food, he’d feel safe in it. The springy mobile of rubber bats still hung above his oak four-poster bed, as it had since he’d been a baby. Posters of his favourite bands covered most of the walls and ceiling. Nightstar and the Screamers shared space with The Grateful Undead.
He went to the dresser and picked up his parents’ wedding photo. His mother looked beautiful in white lace, smiling up at the black empty space where his father stood. Not having a reflection messed up family pictures, but Vlad was sure his dad must have looked handsome on his wedding day.
Vlad looked very like his dad apart from the colour of his hair. His formed a widow’s peak, just like a normal vampire, but was the colour of straw. He had the same pointed chin and button nose as his dad, but he had his mother’s blue eyes.
He gazed at the photograph.
“Where are you?” he whispered. “I don’t believe you’re dead. I’d feel it, I’m sure I would. But where are you?”
He sat on his bed, staring at the picture, and thought back to the last time he’d seen them – the same day his new relatives had arrived.
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