CHAPTER 3

LORD STOKER’S TERRORTORY

A swarm of bats swooped past the turrets of an ancient castle on a hill. A lone wolf howled. Lightning flashed across the sky. It was an ordinary night in Transylvania at the ancestral home of Dracula.

In a study filled with books, a distinguished man with slicked-back hair was looking out the window at the storm. Worry lines creased his forehead. Lord Stoker turned as the heavy wooden door to his study was thrown open and a squat servant heaved himself into the room on short, fat legs.

“Master,” panted Ygor. “The Royal Court of Vampire Dignitaries seeks audience with you at once.”

A sinister smile lit up Lord Stoker’s face. “Very well.”

Ygor staggered over to the windows and threw them open. A cascade of bats swooped into the room, emitting high-pitched squeals. Eek! Eek! Eek!

“What seems to be the problem?” said Lord Stoker, addressing them directly.

One by one, each of the bats transformed into a vampire. They were well-dressed officials with medals and ribbons.

“Lord Stoker, we demand to know how the search for the queen is going!” said the first dignitary.

Lord Stoker arranged a pleasant-looking expression on his face like a mask. “Well—” he began.

“You’ve had four hundred years!” interrupted another of the dignitaries. “Where is she? We think you are enjoying your temporary role as our leader much too much!”

Lord Stoker drew himself up to his full height and glared at the assembled vampires. “I assure you that I have everything under control. The search for the queen—”

But the vampires had been hearing this for centuries. They were fed up. “This is taking too long!” shouted a vampire. “We need a true leader. Vampires are forgetting their scaritage.”

“We just heard that Vampire Prep, our most prestigious vampire academy, is on the verge of closing!” chimed in another vampire.

With a stern look, the oldest of the dignitaries stared at Lord Stoker. It was time to issue the edict. “The Vampire Court has voted. If you do not find a new queen by the end of the week, you will be fired.”

Lord Stoker steadied himself against his enormous oak desk. He spluttered as he tried to collect himself. “Eh… eh…” he said. “Well… you are in luck.”

The dignitaries cast cold vampire eyes on him.

“Because… because…” Lord Stoker improvised. “I… I…”

The dignitaries exchanged suspicious glances.

“I already found the queen!” blurted out Lord Stoker.

Ygor scratched his almost-bald head. This was news to him.

“Really?” The vampire dignitaries were startled. “Really?”

“Really?” muttered Ygor, joining in.

Lord Stoker was an expert liar. “Yes! I used the Vampire’s Heart and, why, just today, I found her. Isn’t that right, Ygor?”

Ygor looked confused. “No, no, you lost the Vampire’s Heart when—Owww!”

Lord Stoker had squashed his boot down on top of Ygor’s foot. He smiled charmingly at the dignitaries.

Ygor tried to wriggle loose but he couldn’t. “Ygor means yes, Master. Yes. Oooh! Oooh! Oooh! Yes! Yes! Yes!” What did he have to say to get Lord Stoker to let him go? “In fact, her coronation is next week!”

Lord Stoker lifted his foot and Ygor breathed a huge sigh of relief. He gave Lord Stoker a thumbs-up sign.

In their excitement, all the dignitaries turned back into bats. They began flying around the study. “Eek! Eek! Eek!” At last they would have a queen again! Four hundred years was a long time, even for the undead. “Queen! Queen! Queen!” they said in their high-pitched squeals.

Just as he flew out of the window into the storm, one of the bats turned back to Lord Stoker. “Good. We meet the queen next week, Stoker.”

“Or it’s daylight for you!” added one of the other dignitaries. With that final warning, they screeched back into the night. Lord Stoker watched as they flew into the clouds.

As soon as he was sure they were gone, he turned on his servant. “Next week?! Ygor, have you lost your mind?!”

Ygor looked dumbfounded. Of course he hadn’t lost his mind. He pulled a container out of his pocket. “No, Ygor keeps it in this little jar.”

Lord Stoker threw up his hands in frustration. Why did he have to do everything himself? He stormed out of the study, marching down a hallway filled with suits of dusty armor and paintings of long-forgotten vampire lords and ladies. He pulled open the doors to the throne room. Embroidered tapestries lined the walls. Candelabras covered in wax hung from the ceiling. Everything was covered in cobwebs. It had been a long time since he’d been in there. He stood and stared at the empty throne. What was he going to do? How could he possibly have a coronation? More important, how could he make sure that he remained in charge?

Ygor limped in behind him. “How are you going to find a queen in a week? Your niece stole the Vampire’s Heart four hundred years ago when—”

Lord Stoker threw his hand over Ygor’s mouth. Still, Ygor kept trying to talk.

Frustrated, Lord Stoker narrowed his eyes and spoke very slowly. “I don’t want to find the queen.”

“Right!” exclaimed Ygor. “Because… eh…” He stopped, puzzled again. “Remind Ygor why again, Master.”

“Because once we have a queen, I will no longer be in charge.”

“Aaaaah! Yes!” Ygor’s round face broke into a smile.

“I am the only one who knows what’s good for vampires,” said Lord Stoker. He was pacing back and forth across the marble floor of the throne room. “What I need is a fake queen, one I can control and bend to my will.”

“Yesss, Master!” agreed Ygor.

Lord Stoker looked up at the tapestry hanging on the wall. It showed the royal vampire kings and queens through the ages and all their descendants. What caught Lord Stoker’s eye, however, was a very pretty ghoul with bangs and long hair streaked with pink. She wasn’t particularly scary or all-powerful like a vampire king or queen. She was cute.

Lord Stoker cackled. “There! She’s perfect! The daughter of Dracula with all of his so-called enlightened ideas about monster equality. I remember this girl from court.” He studied the girl in the tapestry. There was an evil glint in his eye. He could be so diabolical! “She was always so naive, insecure, and feeble,” he remembered. “I imagine she doesn’t even have her vampire powers yet.”

He addressed the girl in the tapestry. “You won’t have the courage to question me. Isn’t that right, my new queen?” He laughed.

Confused, Ygor began laughing too. “Ha-ha, yes,” he said, not understanding the plan.

Thousands of miles away, across an ocean, across a continent, Draculaura had no idea what Lord Stoker was plotting.