Edward Lee: Vampire Lodge

The coffin, Kevin instantly recognized.

Then Kevin’s eyes flicked down to the bottom of the painting, to see if this one had a title too. Sure enough, there it was, in the same tiny painted letters.

The Count Comes Ashore.

So now he’d discovered a third painting that referred to The Count, and Kevin knew it had to be a vampire because there was a coffin in this picture too.

What is going on here? he thought.

This was all just too bizarre. Kevin leaned against the wall, to think, but in the same moment that he did so, he heard a tiny but very sharp sound:

click

And he thought for sure that he’d felt the wall behind him

… move.

Wh—what?

He turned around immediately, looked hard at the wall he’d just been leaning against. The painting stared back at him. Then, very slowly, Kevin reached forward with his hand, pressed his fingers gently against the paneled wall—

The wall moved.

Or, rather, a section of the wall moved, and when Kevin pushed on it a second time, he realized exactly what it was he had discovered.

A secret passageway…

Just like in the old vampire movies. A secret passageway right here in the lodge! Kevin pushed it open and noticed several tiny roller-mounts along the edge, like the kind that keep the doors on kitchen cabinets in place. That’s what had caused the clicking sound.

This explains it, he realized. Bill Bitner came out of this same passageway this morning, and that’s why it looked like he’d walked out of the wall.

Next, Kevin pressed his palm against the hidden door’s dark-wood panel, then he pushed the door open all the way—-

creeeeeak

Total darkness faced him; he had no way of telling how deep the passageway went, not without a flashlight or something he could see by.

Where does it lead to? he couldn’t help but wonder. How far back does it go? And what was Bill Bitner doing back here this morning when we saw him with the shovel?

All of a sudden, there were so many questions spinning around in Kevin’s mind—he couldn’t keep them sorted out.

He pulled the door to, heard it click shut.

I’ve got to find out what’s back there, he thought.

And he knew there was only one way to do that.

I’ll have to get a flashlight, he realized, and come back here.

Tonight…

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Kevin decided not to tell Jimmy about the secret door and passageway—Jimmy sometimes had a big mouth, and Kevin thought it best to keep things to himself, at least until he could find out more about what was going on. So instead he came right back to the kitchen and helped Jimmy put away the rest of the dishes.

“Did you find anything back in that hallway?” Jimmy asked him, hanging up the dish towel.

“A couple more weird paintings,” Kevin said, and that was where he would leave it for now. “It sounds like the rain has finally stopped. Let’s go walk around outside.”

“Okay,” Jimmy agreed. “Not much else to do right now.”

They pulled on their coats and headed for the front door, but as they passed the big hearth room and the crackling fireplace, they noticed Becky sitting on the couch, talking to Wally, who was stoking up the fire with an iron rod. Becky had a dreamy, faraway look in her eyes as she listened to Wally.

“Looks like your sister is in love,” Jimmy said when they stepped out onto the front porch.

“She falls in love every week,” Kevin complained. “Thinks she’s the greatest girl in town. But I’m sure Wally the Lover Boy will find out what a nag she is real soon.”

Outside, a chill wind gripped them, brushing across their faces and blowing down their collars. The night sky was full of cloudy black murk; not a single star could be seen, and of course there was no sign of the moon either. Leaves fell steadily from the high trees around the lodge.

“How come your aunt seems to disappear all the time?” Jimmy asked as they rounded a stand of floodlit hedges.

That’s a good question, Kevin thought, but he kept it to himself. “I guess, like she said, she’s got a lot of stuff to do around the lodge, you know, upkeep and stuff like that.”

“But there aren’t even any guests,” Jimmy observed, “except for us.”

“Yeah, I know. But there’s still lots of stuff to do, I guess, probably a lot of paperwork and taxes, things like that.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

More bright floodlights lit the side of the lodge as they walked around. When they looked up they could see smoke pouring slowly out of the tall brick chimney. They continued to walk around, their hands jammed down in their coat pockets. Kevin expected the back of the lodge to be lit up by floodlights too but he found he was wrong the minute they turned the corner.

The back was pitch-dark.

Wind rustled the leaves in the trees. They glanced up at the back of the building, noticing only a few windows lit up.

“Look,” Kevin said. He pointed up the great dark face of the back of the lodge, to the far corner of the second floor. There, they could see the lit french doors and balcony. “There’s our room.”

Jimmy peered up, squinting. “Oh, yeah, you’re right. I guess they only have the balconies on the corners.”

Just then, though, both Kevin and Jimmy flinched. Several small, barely seen shapes seemed to flutter past their faces.

“What was—”

`”— that? ” Kevin finished.

A chittery sound could be heard very faintly above them, like a rapid squeaking noise. Then the shapes fluttered past a second time.

“Are those… birds?” Jimmy asked.

“No,” Kevin finally realized. “They’re bats! ”

“Run!” Jimmy shouted.

And they ran, all right. They ran as fast as they could back toward the side of the lodge where the bright floodlights glowed. But before they could make it completely out of the darkness, and with the circles of bats still squeaking above their heads—

A tall, dark figure quickly stepped out in front of them, blocking their way…

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Kevin thought his heart would stop when he looked up fearfully at the figure. And beside him, Jimmy’s teeth were chattering.

Then, the figure stepped forward.

“What’s with you guys anyway? I’ve been looking all over for you.”

Kevin and Jimmy both sighed in relief when they recognized Wally’s voice.

“We were just walking around,” Kevin said.

“Walking around where?” Wally questioned.

“Just around back—”

“And we saw bats!” Jimmy added.

Wally frowned, his long hair blowing in the wind. “Bats can’t hurt you, but you kids shouldn’t be wandering around out here in the dark. Besides, it looks like it’s going to start raining again any minute. We get a lot of storms around here this time of year.” Wally paused to brush some of his hair out of his eyes. “Anyway, your aunt sent me out to look for you, says she wants you to come inside now.”

“Okay,” Kevin said.

They followed Wally back into the lodge through the big front door, back into the warmth of the foyer. Kevin hoped Wally didn’t notice that they were scared. He’d tell Becky and she’d laugh her head off! he felt certain. But he had to admit, it was kind of scary back there behind the dark building, with the bats squeaking above their heads.

Kevin took off his jacket and was about to hang it up in the foyer closet when he took notice of the painting hanging there, the first one he’d seen this morning.

The Count Arrives with his Servants and Treasure, he reread the title along the bottom. For some reason the painting looked even spookier now. The coffin and box of gold in the rowboat, and the glassy-eyed, blank-faced men working the oars and guiding the boat through foamy waves. Then Kevin saw something he hadn’t noticed when he’d first seen the painting. Way in the background was the same sailing ship, on fire.