Read Online Vampire Breath by R. L. Stine - Free Book Online Page A

“Which one? Which one?” he muttered to himself. “Thousands of bottles, and only
one is full.”
    His small, bony hands moved quickly over the shelf. He pushed aside empties,
muttering to himself. Bottles crashed to the floor, shattering into pieces.
    “Cara—quick!” I pointed to the far shelf. “Let’s move!”
    She understood me instantly. We had to find the full bottle first. We had to
find it before Count Nightwing did.
    I dropped to my knees and began sifting through the bottles on the bottom
shelf. Empty… empty… empty… empty…
    I pushed them aside one by one. My fingers moved quickly over the glass tops.
I squinted hard in the dim light, searching, searching for the only full bottle.
    Glass shattered on the hard floor. Bottles rolled and spun all around me.
    Beside me, Cara worked frantically over a low shelf. “No. No. No. No.” She
muttered to herself as she moved her hands over the empty bottles.
    “You two—” Count Nightwing called from across the room. “Get away from
there!”
    We ignored him. We kept pawing through the bottles, working faster, faster.
Desperate to find the full one first.
    And then—my hand landed on it.
    I sucked in a deep breath when I realized it felt heavier than the others. My
hand trembled as I carefully lifted it out from the others.
    Yes! It definitely felt heavy. Yes! It was still sealed shut. Yes!
    “I found it!” I cried, jumping to my feet. “Cara—look! I’ve got it!”
    I raised the full bottle up to show it to her—and Count Nightwing grabbed
it from my hand.
    “Thank you,” he said.

 
 
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    With an eager smile, the old vampire raised the bottle and reached to open
it.
    “Noooo!” I howled.
    I leaped at him. Caught him by surprise.
    I shoved my shoulder into his chest. He felt light and feathery, as if he had
no bones at all.
    He uttered a startled choking sound.
    The bottle of Vampire Breath flew from his hand.
    I reached out—and grabbed it in the air.
    Holding it tightly in both hands, I backed toward the shelves.
    Count Nightwing recovered quickly. He narrowed his eyes at me, and once
again, I felt his strange power holding me, holding me in place.
    “Freddy, you will hand the bottle to me now,” he ordered in a soft, calm
voice.
    I didn’t move. I couldn’t.
    “Hand the bottle to me now,” the old vampire insisted, floating toward me, his bony hand outstretched. “You will hand it
to me, Freddy.”
    I swallowed hard. I couldn’t give him the Vampire Breath. I knew that
Cara and I were doomed if Count Nightwing opened it.
    But I couldn’t move. He had frozen me there. I was helpless!
    “Hand it to me,” he insisted. He reached for the bottle.
    “Monkey in the Middle!” I heard Cara call.
    She seemed far away. And at first, her words didn’t make any sense to me.
    “Monkey in the Middle!” she called again.
    This time, I understood.
    I sucked in a deep breath. It took all my strength to move my arm.
    Count Nightwing swiped at the bottle. His bony fingertips brushed against it.
    But I tossed the bottle high over his shoulder.
    Cara bobbled it, fumbled it into the air—and then grabbed it. “The catch of
the day!” she cried.
    With an angry groan, Count Nightwing spun around. “Give me that!” he rasped.
He dove toward Cara.
    She pulled her arm back and heaved the bottle to me. A low toss which zipped
past the old vampire’s knees. I caught it at my shoelaces.
    Count Nightwing whirled back to me. His strange eyes narrowed in fury. “I
want that bottle!” he snarled.
    I tossed it high, over his head. Cara caught it in one hand.
    When we baby-sat for Tyler Brown, Cara and I played Monkey in the Middle all
the time. That little shrimp could never take the ball away from us. We could
keep him running back and forth for hours!
    But I knew Count Nightwing would soon run out of patience. There was no way
Cara and I could win this game.
    But what else could we do?
    The old vampire dove for Cara, his hands