Strange Marks

The hall was a high space where the signs of decay were unmistakable. The ceiling had large holes where daylight poured in, and the floor was covered with a thick layer of stones and rubble. Only the bottom steps of the wide curved wooden staircase that had once been used to reach the upper floor remained. The three doors leading to the interior of the castle were rotten and hung crooked on their hinges.

“We’d better go,” Tony said, “before the ceiling caves in.”

“Quiet!” said his father, putting a finger to his lips. “Can you hear anything?”

“What am I supposed to hear?”

“In the middle of castle ruins, you should hear creepy noises. Eerie moans and groans, shuffling footsteps, bats and mice scurrying as ghosts fly by…”

“Ghosts?”

“Shh! First, we need to know if there’s anyone else here!”

“Anyone else?” Tony repeated. “Certainly not!” Not even vampires! he added to himself. Then he suddenly noticed strange scuff marks streaking the stone floor. It looked as though a wide, heavy object had been dragged through the hall—a coffin, for example! The marks led straight to the basement stairs.

Surprised and confused, Tony followed them with his eyes. Hadn’t Anna said that the vampires had found shelter in a side wing of the ruins? Had they moved here, to the main part of the castle? In any case, Tony had to make sure that his father didn’t go downstairs to the basement under any circumstances. Even his father would be suspicious if he saw nine coffins in one place, and who knew what would happen then? Tony didn’t even want to think about that scenario!

Luckily, his father didn’t seem to care at all about the marks. It was possible he hadn’t even noticed them. All he said was “Mrs. Washman should see this entry hall. Then she’d finally realize how clean the entry to our building actually is!”

Tony could barely crack a smile. Although he couldn’t stand Mrs. Washman and her obsession with cleanliness, his only concerns now were vampires, and how he was going to lure his father away from here.

“You—you wanted to see the organ,” he said. “I think I know where it is.”

“You do?”

“Yes!”

Tony walked resolutely toward the middle of the three doors, for he thought he remembered that that was the door he had come through with Anna on the night of the vampire ball.

“How are you so sure?” his father asked from behind him.

“Oh, I have a nose for this sort of thing,” he answered.

“A nose for it?” His father coughed loudly, “Well, you’d better hold that nose with this smell!”

Tony’s memory was right. After walking through the doorway, they ended up in a large empty hallway. Tony looked down at the floor and was relieved to see that while it was covered with debris, there weren’t any scuff marks like the ones in the entry hall. He sighed in relief and walked on. At the other end of the hallway was the door to the ballroom.

At the vampire ball, a hideous scar-faced vampire had stood guard in the doorway, suspiciously eyeing everyone who arrived. Tony could still remember how he had trembled with fear under the vampire’s scrutinizing gaze. But no one was guarding the door now, and even the ballroom, where a hundred or more vampires had danced that night, looked abandoned. The black shrouds covering the windows, the candlesticks with the black candles, the tables and chairs—it was all gone.

Only the organ was still standing in the gallery, strangely solemn with its elaborate carvings.

“There really is an organ!” said Tony’s father in amazement. After he had recovered from his surprise, he walked across the ballroom with quick, excited steps.

Tony waited by the door until his father had reached the organ and started examining it.

Then Tony tiptoed out of the ballroom. He was sure that for the next half hour, his father would have eyes only for the organ. And Tony would be able to take this opportunity to go down to the basement and see if the nine vampire coffins were actually there!

Outside the ballroom, Tony began to run. He ran until he reached the entry hall. Then, as his heart beat wildly in his chest, he walked slowly down the cellar stairs….