DATE: 12.10.

2010
DESIGNER: EL
PRODUCTION: Winse
rewer

FINISHES
UV VARNISH
MATT LAMINATION
GLOSS LAMINATION

FOIL: REF XX
OVER CMYK
The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod

UNDER CMYK
OVER MATT LAM
UNDER MATT LAM

d no EMBOSS
SPOT UV
ggles
SPINE WIDTH 12.
ngs. ESTIMATED
s to CONFIRMED

that
HI RES WORKFLOW
OPEN FILES ON DISK IN
FILES ON ________ FT

blem. PROOFING MET

DIGITAL PLUS WET PRO
DIGITAL ONLY
School totally bites when you’re
half-human, half-vampire. REVISED PR
a DIGITAL PLUS WET PRO
DIGITAL ONLY
eiGhth grAde BItes

SPECIAL INSTRUC
(INCLUDING SPEC CHAN
Cover design and illustration by Christian Fünfhausen

01/12/2010 11:43
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scraping his skin, but he kept on running and ignored 13
the stabbing of pine needles on his bare feet. He could hear 14
the man’s footsteps behind him, echoing his own. 15
The man was getting closer. 16
A fallen branch grabbed John’s ankle and he fell forward. 17
Time slowed to a crawl as his face neared the leaf-covered 18
ground. Cold air whipped across his skin. His heart drummed 19
in his ears. The man’s pace quickened, and just as John’s cheek 20
smacked against the earth, the stranger grabbed a fistful of 21
John’s hair and pulled his head back. John screeched, “What 22
do you want from me?” but his attacker didn’t answer. 23
John swung his arms behind him to knock the man down, 24
but his hands were caught effortlessly in the air and bound 25
behind him. A hand, gloved in shiny black leather, entered his 26 S
field of vision, clutching a torn page from the Bathory Gazette. 27 R

( )

Puffin INT 4p.indd 3 3/18/08 5:02:32 PM

 1 John’s head jerked back as the man gave his hair a violent tug
2 and growled, “Where is he?”
3 At the center of the paper was the grainy image of a
4 thirteen-year-old boy John knew well. The boy was surrounded
5 by several of his peers and a teacher, but looked nervous, awk-
6 ward. At the bottom of the photo, a caption read: Left to right:
7 Kelly Anbrock, Carrie Anderson, Henry McMillan, teacher John
8 Craig, Vladimir Tod, Edgar Poe, Mike Brennan. At the top was
9 a bold title: Debate Team Sure to Win at Regionals!
10 Tears coated John’s cheeks and he shook his head, refusing
11 to answer.
12 Something warm and slick ran down John’s forehead.
13 Through red-tinted glass, he looked at the forest around them.
14 He screamed for help until his lungs burned, but help wouldn’t
15 come.
16 “Where’s the boy? Where’s Vlad?”
17 John wriggled. The man’s face was near his. Cold breath
18 beat down on the back of his neck, and something sharp
19 grazed against his skin.
20 “Tell me or die.”
21 John opened his mouth to speak, but it was too late for lies.
22 The man bit down. Fangs popped through John’s skin, cutting
23 deep into his neck.
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R 27

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Puffin INT 4p.indd 4 3/18/08 5:02:33 PM

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admiring his image in the mir- 12 CO
ror with a smirk. Henry was going to lose it when he saw 13
Vlad’s costume. They hadn’t discussed what they were dress- 14
ing up as, but the pathetic black nylon cape and plastic fangs 15
that Vlad had picked up at the Stop & Shop last weekend 16
were sure to be the running gag of the evening between them. 17
He brushed his black hair from his eyes and slipped the 18
plastic teeth into his mouth. They fit perfectly over his own 19
fangs, which were protruding slightly, despite his large 20
dinner. 21
Not an hour before, Aunt Nelly had warmed two sizable 22
steaks until the blood dripped from the raw meat. He’d re- 23
strained himself from picking up the steaks with his bare 24
hands and ripping into them, but only because Aunt Nelly in- 25
sisted on manners. So even though it agonized him to do so, 26 S
he took his time, cutting the steaks into medium-size bites 27 R

( )

Puffin INT 4p.indd 5 3/18/08 5:02:34 PM

 1 and sucking the juices into his hungry mouth before dropping
2 the dry, tasteless meat onto his plate.
3 He pulled the fake teeth out of his mouth and examined
4 the sharp points of his fangs. “Aunt Nelly, you’d better get a
5 snack pack ready.”
6 “But you just ate,” came a lilting voice from the bottom of
7 the stairs. “Oh well, better safe than sorry, I suppose. What
8 time will Henry be here?”
9 “Any minute.” Satisfied with his costume, Vlad turned from
10 the mirror. The old floorboards creaked beneath his sneakers.
11 He kissed his fingers and pressed them to the frame on his
12 dresser. In the photo, his mother was poised on the edge of
13 an old Victorian chaise, with his father standing behind her,
14 his pale hands on her shoulders. They were smiling at the
15 camera, and Vlad found himself smiling back at them. He
16 opened the top drawer and stuffed ten dollars from his secret
17 box into his pocket. Partying with Henry had taught him one
18 thing above all else: be prepared.
19 Vlad left his bedroom and made his way down the stairs.
20 Aunt Nelly stood at the bottom, holding up a plastic container
21 covered with Saran Wrap. He could see the deep red, slushy
22 contents through the wrap and licked his lips. “Did you
23 microwave it? It’s better warm.”
24 “It’s warm enough.” She handed it to him and widened her
25 eyes in disgust as he bit through the Saran Wrap and slurped.
S 26 “Use a spoon! You’ll get it all over the rug and I just had it
R 27 cleaned. Between that rug and your T-shirts, the dry cleaner

( )

Puffin INT 4p.indd 6 3/18/08 5:02:34 PM

 thinks we’re either accident-prone or ax murderers. And take 1
it easy on the snack packs tonight, Mr. Midnight Feeder. There 2
are only two left. I’d better bring some more blood bags from 3
the hospital tonight and fix up enough for the rest of the 4
week.” 5
“Could you get O positive this time? That’s my favorite.” 6
She nodded and he smiled, brushing past her to the kitchen. 7
He was spooning a big, sweet glob of half-frozen blood into 8
his mouth when the doorbell rang. With a hurried swallow, he 9
dropped the empty container into the biohazard box beneath 10
the sink and popped the plastic fangs over his shrinking ca- 11
nines. With careful steps, he snuck over to the wall just to the 12
right of the archway and peeked over at the front door, where 13
his aunt was greeting Henry with a hug. 14
Vlad jumped out from behind the separating wall and held 15
his cheap cape out with both arms. “I vant to suck your 16
blood!” 17
Henry doubled over, roaring with laughter. When he 18
straightened, he slapped Vlad on the shoulder. “That’s a sweet 19
costume. Check me out. You’ll just die.” Henry placed his fists 20
on his hips in a pseudo-Superman pose, and when he turned 21
his head, Vlad’s jaw dropped at the sight of two small holes 22
on Henry’s neck. 23
“No way.” He stepped closer to inspect Henry’s bite marks. 24
They were flawless. Vlad had only seen one actual vampire 25
bite on a human before, and Henry’s handiwork was very 26 S
close to the real thing. “What did you use?” 27 R

( )

Puffin INT 4p.indd 7 3/18/08 5:02:34 PM

 1 “Silly Putty and raspberry jam.”
2 “Seedless?”
3 “Well, duh. Can’t have seeds in my wound. Might get
4 infected.”
5 Aunt Nelly regarded Vlad with a concerned glance over
6 the top of her glasses. “Did you get enough to eat?”
7 Vlad nodded, stuffed a tube of his sunscreen into his
8 pocket, and opened the door. “Party’s over at midnight.”
9 Nelly held out her hand. “You won’t need that. I want you
10 home by eleven.”
11 “Eleven?” At times, Nelly could be ridiculously overprotec-
12 tive. Vlad rolled his eyes and dug the tube back out, slapping
13 it into Nelly’s hand. “But no one else will be leaving early, and
14 besides, at midnight there’s supposed to be some big
15 surprise.”
16 Nelly looked at Henry for confirmation. He nodded enthu-
17 siastically. “We can’t miss it.”
18 “Well . . .” She bit her lip in contemplation, and after what
19 seemed like an eternity, she sighed. “All right, but stick to-
20 gether, and if you get hungry, give me a call on my cell. I’ll be
21 at Deb’s until late.”
22 Henry nudged Vlad with his elbow. “Matthew called me
23 earlier, said Meredith will be there.”
24 Vlad shot him a look that screamed “shut up,” and they
25 bounded out the door, vampire and victim. Nelly called after
S 26 them, “Be careful, boys.”
R 27 Other than the fake wound, Henry was dressed as he nor-

( )

Puffin INT 4p.indd 8 3/18/08 5:02:35 PM

 mally was, with a pair of ratty-looking sneakers on his feet. He 1
gave Vlad a sly glance. “Big thing at midnight, huh?” 2
Vlad shrugged and adjusted the cape around his shoulders. 3
“I’m a creature of the night, for God’s sake. And she wants me 4
home by eleven? I don’t think so. Why doesn’t she just follow 5
me to the party and kiss me good-bye?” 6
“Hey, don’t knock it. If it weren’t for Nelly, you’d never get 7
kissed.” 8
Vlad slowed his steps. “Like you’ve got room to talk.” 9
Henry shrugged. “I’ve kissed plenty of girls.” 10
“I’m not talking about your mom, dork.” They turned down 11
Elm, and at the end of the street, Vlad could see cars stopping 12
in front of Matthew’s house. A blur of people moved from ve- 13
hicle to house, and Vlad felt a twinge of nervousness settle 14
into his muscles. The headlights from one of the cars that had 15
been in front of Matthew’s house turned toward them, blind- 16
ing Vlad temporarily. 17
Henry had shoved his hands into his front pockets and was 18
walking with his attention keenly focused on the sidewalk. 19
“Neither am I. I’m talking about girls like Carrie Anderson and 20
Stephanie Brawn.” 21
“Stephanie will kiss anyone.” 22
“Yeah. I know.” Henry’s smile returned. “Her sister’s cute, 23
though.” 24
Vlad raised an eyebrow, half chuckling. “Dude, that’s gross. 25
She just turned twelve.” 26 S
“So?” Henry grinned broadly. 27 R

( )

Puffin INT 4p.indd 9 3/18/08 5:02:35 PM

 1 “So you’ll be fourteen in like two months. It’s gross.” Vlad
2 shook his head and looked down at his right shoe, where his
3 toe was poking through a tear.
4 Impossibly, Henry’s grin broadened. “She’s nice.”
5 “Whether or not a girl will kiss you isn’t a measure of how
6 nice she is.” Ahead, Vlad could see the hint of a soft blue
7 sweater and angel wings disappearing into Matthew’s front
8 door. Meredith. He’d overheard her in third period yesterday
9 gushing over what she planned to wear. It was that moment
10 that he’d decided to accept the invitation to the party, last-
11 minute or not.
12 “So what is, Einstein?”
13 Vlad stopped in his tracks. Henry had stopped walking as
14 well and tilted his head with a curious gleam in his eye. Vlad
15 nodded and said, “Girls that make out in the back of the band
16 room aren’t nice.”
17 “I never told you it was the band room.” Henry furrowed
18 his brow and grabbed Vlad’s shoulder for a second, lowering
19 his voice so eavesdroppers couldn’t hear. “Dude, don’t do that
20 freaky mind-reading stuff. I hate that.”
21 Vlad shrugged and kept walking.
22 Henry nudged Vlad with his elbow and gestured to a group
23 of three trick-or-treaters in front of them with a nod. “Want
24 some candy?”
25 “I shouldn’t. Nelly’s still ticked about last year.” Vlad shoved
S 26 his hands in his pockets and looked from his best friend to
R 27 the kids on the sidewalk. “You know, those kids told their par-

( 10 )

Puffin INT 4p.indd 10 3/18/08 5:02:35 PM

 ents they were attacked by a vampire. And that idiot Officer 1
Thompson started asking my aunt all sorts of questions. If 2
people find out about me, about what I am . . .” 3
“Oh, come on.” Henry had stepped in front of him, partially 4
blocking Vlad’s view of the receding fourth graders. Two were 5
dressed as superheroes of some sort. The third wore the same 6
cape that Vlad had on. “It’ll be funny. Besides, if you don’t do 7
it . . . I’m totally telling Meredith that you like her.” Henry 8
turned away and wrapped his arms around himself, making 9
kissing sounds. 10
Vlad seethed. “Dude! Not cool!” 11
The grin on Henry’s face made it clear that he wasn’t about 12
to let a good gag go without a fight. With a shaking head, Vlad 13
relented. “If we get caught you owe me big-time.” 14
Henry beamed. “And I did that without any of the special 15
powers normally associated with best friends of the undead.” 16
Henry stepped to the side and Vlad moved past him, duck- 17
ing through the tall bushes that lined the sidewalk. Vlad ran 18
as quietly as he could until he stood half a block ahead of his 19
costumed victims. After shimmying up an old oak tree, the 20
bark rough on his hands as he climbed, Vlad scooted out onto 21
a long, thick branch and waited for the fourth graders while 22
Henry stayed in the bushes. He could feel Henry’s approving 23
eyes on him and had to stifle a chuckle. 24
As the superheroes and their vampire comrade approached 25
the tree Vlad was perched in, their fingers clutching pillow- 26 S
cases filled with sugary treats. Vlad popped the plastic fangs 27 R

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Puffin INT 4p.indd 11 3/18/08 5:02:35 PM

 1 out and stuffed them in his front pocket. He let his imagina-
2 tion wander a bit, through rivers of blood and hunger that
3 screamed to be satiated. Touching the tip of his tongue to his
4 newly exposed fangs, he leaned forward until his feet slipped
5 from the branch. Wind brushed his hair back from his face
6 as he descended and then, with a flicker of concentration,
7 Vlad willed his body forward. Arms outstretched, his fangs ex-
8 posed, his throat releasing a low, guttural growl, he floated
9 closer to the boys until he was just above their heads, and
10 screamed.
11 The superheroes dropped their pillowcases and bolted in a
12 blur of capes and shrieking terror. The vampire was left be-
13 hind, staring up at Vlad in a horrified moment that dragged
14 on forever. Vlad screamed again and so did the boy, finally
15 relinquishing his hold on the bag. He was frozen to the spot.
16 Vlad wondered if he would ever run away.
17 Vlad could hear the boy’s heart pounding against his ribs,
18 a loud thunder echoing through his mind. He heard the
19 whoosh of rushing blood and felt the boy’s tightened panic in
20 his own chest. Then, in a blink, Vlad saw himself floating
21 down, cheap plastic cape fluttering behind him, bright, sharp
22 fangs shining in the streetlight.
23 The urge to wet his pants was undeniable, but what would
24 Mark and Todd think if they saw? But then why should he care
25 what they thought. They were mean jerks and had run away
S 26 without him. And when they found out he was dead the next
R 27 day, they’d feel awful and deserved to.

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Puffin INT 4p.indd 12 3/18/08 5:02:36 PM

 Vlad blinked again, squeezing his eyes tight and opening 1
them once more. His feet came to rest on the ground in front 2
of the boy. He’d read the little vampire’s thoughts without 3
even trying. Vlad whispered, “You should get home now,” 4
which seemed to be the magic words required to release the 5
boy’s feet from where they’d been cemented into the sidewalk. 6
The boy ran past him, the pitter-patter of his steps quieting 7
as he shrank down the street in the direction his companions 8
had gone. 9
Henry burst from the bushes, cackling wildly, and snatched 10
one of the fallen pillowcases from the pavement. “Did you see 11
his face? I thought he was going to wet himself.” He dug out a 12
pack of peanut-butter cups and tore open the orange wrapper, 13
Stuffing one of the cups into his mouth, he held the other out 14
to Vlad. 15
Vlad lifted the sweet chocolate to his lips and bit, his fangs 16
shrinking back in his moment of confusion. The candy melted 17
in his mouth, but he found little pleasure in it. 18
Henry ran ahead, calling over his shoulder for Vlad to 19
hurry. Vlad picked up the little vampire’s bag and ran to catch 20
up just as Henry was stepping onto the porch of Matthew’s 21
house. Music was blaring from the open door, and flecks of 22
colored lights hit the porch from inside. Matthew’s mom 23
greeted them with laughter. “Well, come on in, you evil dudes! 24
The party’s started and it’s totally rockin’!” 25
Vlad and Henry exchanged looks. It was both sad and an- 26 S
noying when adults tried to act cool. Without comment, they 27 R

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Puffin INT 4p.indd 13 3/18/08 5:02:36 PM

 1 walked inside. The living-room furniture had been pushed
2 back against the walls, and a large, mirrored disco ball was
3 suspended from the ceiling. Bursts of fog occasionally cov-
4 ered the floor with a hiss. Vlad counted twenty of his school-
5 mates before he gave up trying to figure out how many were
6 there, but not before he noticed Meredith standing near the
7 punch bowl at the opposite end of the room, giggling with
8 several of her girlfriends.
9 Henry nudged him and said something, but Vlad couldn’t
10 hear over the loud music, so he nodded and watched as Henry
11 was swallowed by the crowd. Left to his own devices, Vlad
12 took an empty spot on the end of the couch and waited for
13 Henry to return. Bill Jensen and Tom Gaiber were moving to-
14 ward the front door. Vlad shrank into his seat, hoping they
15 wouldn’t notice him. Bill looked straight at him and pulled on
16 Tom’s sleeve until Tom nearly fell over on top of Vlad. “Oh
17 my God, check this geek out.”
18 Tom guffawed. “Nice costume, goth boy.”
19 Vlad glared and turned away. “Nice breath, loser.”
20 Matthew’s mom was standing near the door, watching the
21 situation with pity-filled eyes. Vlad wished she’d look away,
22 but she continued to stare as the skinny, pale, unpopular boy
23 was picked on. He hoped she’d have enough sense not to try
24 to comfort him after they’d gone, or worse, before. To Vlad’s
25 relief, Bill and Tom started moving out the door. Then, to rub
S 26 salt in the wound, Bill yelled as loud as he could, “Bite me!”
R 27

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Puffin INT 4p.indd 14 3/18/08 5:02:36 PM

 A hot flash shot through Vlad’s insides, and in that mo- 1
ment, he was prepared to oblige. He could feel his incisors 2
lengthening, pushing his plastic fangs down, away from his 3
gums. Clamping his mouth shut, he waited a moment to be 4
certain Bill and Tom had gone, and then stepped out onto the 5
porch and stretched, knowing it would take a few minutes to 6
calm his hunger. 7
The cool quiet of the wraparound porch was a much- 8
­welcome distraction from the party. Bill and Tom’s taunts had 9
left him with that uncomfortable, hollow sensation for which 10
the only known cure was a few hours at home, battling evil­ 11
doers for the fate of the earth. People could say what they 12
wanted about video games contributing to the delinquency of 13
minors, but Vlad was sure that if Bill and Tom spent more 14
time playing PlayStation, they’d spend far less taunting him. 15
He flopped down on the porch swing and listened to the 16
music pouring out the front door. He was kidding himself if 17
he thought he’d be able to ask Meredith to the dance. Girls 18
like Meredith Brookstone didn’t date boys like Vladimir Tod. 19
Besides, the hickeys would be a nightmare. 20
His fangs shrank back, and as he stood, he heard Meredith’s 21
voice, sweet and giggly, coming through the open kitchen win­ 22
dow. “Are you asking me out?” 23
Vlad’s heart sank into his stomach, then squeezed its way 24
down his leg and popped out of the hole in his shoe, where it 25
struck the floor and broke. That was what it felt like anyway. 26 S
27 R

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Puffin INT 4p.indd 15 3/18/08 5:02:36 PM

 1 He snuck over to the window and, holding his breath, peeked
2 inside.
3 Henry was sitting on the kitchen counter, his sneakers
4 dangling. He leaned forward and whispered to Meredith,
5 whose soft brown hair was swept behind each ear. Her lips
6 were pursed in a pout while she listened. Vlad tried not to
7 jump to conclusions, but the sight of Henry’s lips moving just
8 inches from Meredith’s pretty ear was enough to send his
9 mood plummeting to levels of jealousy he’d not been aware
10 he was capable of experiencing.
11 Henry glanced up at the window. Vlad ducked, but it was
12 too late—he’d been seen. Moments later Henry was on the
13 porch. “That wasn’t what it looked like.”
14 Vlad tried to play it cool, to grasp the last remaining thread
15 of dignity he had and come off uncaring and nonchalant. In-
16 stead, his voice cracked and a lump formed in his throat. “This
17 was a mistake. Maybe I should just go home.”
18 “Already? What about Meredith?”
19 Vlad hurried ahead, shrugging as he descended the porch
20 steps. “It looked to me like she was in good hands.”
21 Henry followed, stopping Vlad with a hand on his shoul-
22 der. “You’ve got it all wrong. I was trying to hook you up for
23 the dance.” He looked at Vlad. “You believe me, don’t you?”
24 Sure, he believed Henry. But it was hard to ignore the fact
25 that Henry was probably the most crushed-on guy at Bathory
S 26 Junior High. At times, the wistful sighs from interested girls
R 27

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Puffin INT 4p.indd 16 3/18/08 5:02:37 PM

 as they passed in the hall were deafening. Still . . . this was 1
Henry. If Vlad could trust anyone, it was him. 2
Vlad managed a smile. “Of course I do.” He continued down 3
the steps with Henry following close behind. 4
Henry said, “Did you hear about Mr. Craig?” 5
“What, is he going to be out sick for another week? I don’t 6
think I can handle any more of Snelgrove’s pop quizzes.” 7
Henry slowed his steps. “People are saying he’s been de- 8
clared missing.” 9
“No way.” Vlad stopped walking for a moment and let it 10
sink in. With concentrated effort, he moved forward and tried 11
to erase the possibilities from his mind. “Does anybody know 12
anything?” 13
Henry had lost the pillowcase, but his front pockets were 14
bulging with candy. “Not really. They say he just up and dis­ 15
appeared.” 16
“Weird.” 17
“Yeah.” The serious expression Henry wore was replaced 18
by his familiar grin. “Hey, did you see Stephanie’s sister in 19
there? She was looking pretty nice.” 20
Vlad shook his head and turned the corner toward home. 21
“Dude. Seriously. She’s twelve.” 22
23
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25
26 S
27 R

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Puffin INT 4p.indd 17 3/18/08 5:02:37 PM