Ghoul Trip (6 page)

“In the truck with the loot,” said the first man. “It's parked at the back of the castle.”

“Good,” said the other man. “Let's go.”

Billy and Bella looked at each other in alarm.

“Oh no!” said Billy. “We've got to stop them! But how?”

“There's only one thing to do,” said Bella.

“You don't mean …?” gasped Billy.

“Yup,” said Bella.

“The full vampire works.”

“What, fangs and all?” Billy asked.

“Yup. Fangs and all.”

“But—but Miss Gargoyle said we shouldn't!” said Billy. “It's against school rules!”

“Look,” said Bella. “This is an emergency, right? Miss Gargoyle will understand. It's the only way!”

The two men stood up to go.

“Quick!” said Bella. “You go and flap in their faces. That should slow them down. Hurry!”

Billy didn't need to be asked twice. The men had almost reached the dungeon steps. The man called Milton was in front. Billy flew straight at his head, giving his hair a good ruffling.

“Urgh!” cried the man, stopping so suddenly that the other man barged right into him. They both tumbled to the ground in a heap.

“Oof!” grunted the second man, picking himself up. “You dummy, Milt! What's the matter?”

“N-nothing,” said the first man. “A bat, I think.”

The man called Jim snickered.

“Scared of a tiny bat? You'll be seeing
vampires
next, hur-hur!”

“Okay!” whispered Bella, fluttering over to join Billy in the shadows. “I'll go first.”

A few seconds later there was a
POP!

The noise made both men jump. They squinted in the dark.

“Jim?” whispered the first man. “Look—over there, in the corner! What's that?”

“I-I dunno, Milt,” shivered the other man.

Bella's dark shape was moving silently toward them. She was quite short, but the shadows from the fire made her look much bigger.

POP!

Another shape appeared in the firelight.

“Hey!” said the man called Milton. “What's going on? Who are you?”

“They
look
human,” muttered the other man. “B-but what are they wearing? Looks like some sort of cape.”

Staring their scariest stares, Billy and Bella got closer and closer and stopped. Then they slowly raised their arms, opened their capes, and grinned a pair of huge fangy grins.

“Arrrrrggghhhh! Vampires! Run!”

The men bolted up the dungeon steps. They hurtled across a courtyard, through a ruined hall, and out to the back of the castle, where their truck was waiting. Billy and Bella arrived just in time to see them suddenly screech to a halt. In front of the truck sat a very large dog.

“Hey!” said Milton. “Whose mutt is this? Here boy! Good boy!”

SNARRRRRLLLLL!

Milton hastily backed away.

“Okay, okay!” he said nervously. “N-nice doggy!”

The dog stood on its hind legs and stared at them with big yellow eyes.

It snarled again, then lifted its snout and went, “HOOOOOOOWWLLLL!”

“D-doggy?” stuttered Jim. “That ain'tno dog, Milt. That's a … WEREWOLF! AAAARRRGGHHH!”

The two men ran for their lives, with the werewolf in hot pursuit. Billy and Bella were about to follow when a bat flew down to join them.

It was Lee. He turned back into a vampire with a
POP!

“Nice work, you two!” he said. “Ollie's going to chase them to the front gate. Come on!”

The two men didn't stop running till they reached the gate with the sign on it about ghosts and ghouls.

“Darn it, I forgot we locked it!” cried Jim. “Quick, Milt, gimme the key before those monsters get here!”

“
You've
got the key,” cried Milton.

“I gave it to
you
!”

“No, Milt, I gave it to
you
, you numbskull!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

SNAAAARRRRLLLL! HOOOOOOOOWLLL!

The men spun round. The werewolf! And now THREE vampires!

Then, out of the shadows by the gatepost, something else appeared. It had its arms out in front and it was wrapped in bandages. And it was stomping toward them, moaning.