Chapter 5: The Vampire’s Evil Plan
The evil reporter’s hideout was in the shadier part of Sothton (tumbleweed grew pretty high there) in an abandoned house, which was haunted… no really, it was! No one had lived in it for years—not even spiders. Dust lay over everything inside like a blanket of dirty snow. The kitchen cupboards were bare except for a few rusty and dented cans. The kitchen sink only coughed and sputtered out air when it was turned on. The lights didn’t even turn on—or it may have been that the dust was just smothering the light.
But the house served its purpose. It kept the Vampire out of sight of the law and nosy, “concerned” citizens, and it provided her with a place to concoct her devilish plan.
“First,” she said, collapsing into a cushioned chair. Dust exploded from it and surrounded her, making her cough. She pushed herself out of the chair and moved toward the window, waving the dust away. She attempted to push the window up, but it was stuck fast.
Cursing in between coughs, she moved to the backdoor and kicked it open. She stepped out onto the back porch where she could see a small backyard overgrown with the most feral weeds she had ever seen and coughed until her throat was sore and her eyes were teary.
“All right,” she said as she wiped her eyes. She sat down on the rickety, wooden steps. “First of all, I will want to educate myself about Superkid’s life.”
The steps suddenly collapsed. The plotting villainess landed hard on her rump. She clenched her teeth in pain. As she pushed herself up, she thought she heard quiet, high-pitched giggle. She glanced warily around her. Then she slowly trudged through the evil weeds and approached the gate under the overhanging branches of a tree filled with overripe apples.
“I will have to find out his weaknesses and strengths. Anybody he cares about and values. His fighting techniques. His defensive techniques.”
A large, rotten apple suddenly dropped on her head. Oozing apple slush dripped down her black hair and dropped onto her nose, filling it with a putrid, sickeningly sweet scent.
“Urgh!” She stepped away from the gate and swiped the spoiled apple off of her head. She made her way back through the weeds, stopping every few feet to snatch her pants back from their bony clutches.
She grunted as she heaved herself up and through the backdoor. She turned to another door and found it to lead into a small bedroom. The bed was neatly made but thick with dust. She pulled off the blankets to provide her with a dustless place to sit and she sat.
“I’m going to need to find some help. Some with a grudge against that annoying little brat!”
The first person she thought of was the Black Belt. You remember her, right? The woman skilled in the martial arts with a short fuse? The former teacher of Superkid before she turned villain? Yep, that’s the one.
The next person this dastardly bloodsucker thought of was Dr. Red. This is the guy we accidentally discovered in the last chapter. The one creating a machine that would be Superkid’s ultimate doom! The very doctor that very nearly defeated our little hero! The one villain who almost spelled disaster for the town of Poolington! The single antagonist who…
Uh, yeah. He was the one the Vampire considered inviting into her team. He certainly had a destructive use, but if you wanted to know the truth, the Vampire actually had a crush on this evil doctor. And if the two got together…
Best not to contemplate.
The Vampire grinned diabolically. “With those two by my side, Superkid won’t stand a chance!”
Suddenly she jumped off the bed and furiously scratched herself.
“Ooh! Itch! Itch! Gah!” She stumbled out of the bedroom, her arms stretched behind her back as she tried to scratch that dastardly hard-to-reach spot—and nearly jumped through the ceiling when a cat streaked past her in the hallway.
When her heart had finally calmed down, she made her way to the living room. There she stumbled over a snag in the carpet and only by waving her arms in circles was she able to steady herself. But as she had waved her arms, her hand had slammed into the back of the couch. Now she clutched her hand and hissed in pain. She stumbled to the couch and sat down but immediately jumped back up with a screech. She had sat on something sharp.
“What is with all this bad luck?” she demanded.
As she stumbled from the couch, she slammed her shin on the coffee table. With a shriek of pain, she clutched her leg and hobbled backwards only to tumble over the couch. To add insult to injury, she found that her blouse had snagged on a nail on the top of the couch.
“Curse you, curse you, CURSE YOU!” she screamed, ripping her blouse free.
“Currrrrse youuuuuu…” hissed a voice.
The Vampire’s blood ran cold. She suddenly lunged for the door. Her leg gave out on her though and she dropped to her knee. The floor splintered beneath her and her knee went through.
“Ouch!” she cried and scrambled to her feet. Splinters protruded from her leg and she could see dark stains appearing around them.
“Get out…” hissed the voice. “Get out…”
“I’m getting! I’m getting!” she yelled. “If you’ll let me!”
She seized the doorknob. It came away in her hand. But the door toppled over the front porch and she was free. She tumbled down the steps and onto the cracked sidewalk. She hurried to her feet in panic and ran away as fast as she could.
There’s really no reason to wait, she thought to justify her haste. I’ll look for them immediately.
She pretended she couldn’t hear the high-pitched giggling behind her as she ran.
What did I tell you? Haunted!