The Oath

And in a suddenly completely different but demanding voice, he added, “And now swear!”

“Swear?”

“Yes! That you won’t talk to anyone about the chronicles!”

“Not even Anna?”

“Anna!” The vampire grinned broadly. “Yes, you can talk to Anna about the chronicles. After all, she is part of the family.

“So, now swear!” he added impatiently. “I don’t have forever.”

“How am I supposed to swear?” asked Tony anxiously.

“It’s quite simple,” replied the vampire, slamming the chronicle closed so vigorously that a cloud of dust rose up from it. “You put your hand on the book and then repeat after me!”

“Repeat? What?”

“Don’t ask so many questions! Put your hand on the book first!”

Slowly Tony rose from his uncomfortable seat. He stepped up to the wooden desk and held out a trembling right hand.

“Not the right one!” said the vampire gruffly. “The left one. It comes from the heart!”

Tony hesitated. Should he really put his hand on the vampire chronicles—especially the left one, because, as Rudolph had said, it came from the heart—and swear…? Did he need to worry that it might turn him into a vampire? He felt an icy shiver go through him. As if from afar, he heard Rudolph’s roaring laughter.

“You look like you swallowed a fly!” he laughed.

“N-nothing will happen to me, will it?” Tony asked worriedly.

“What could to happen to you?” the vampire asked.

“Is it possible that afterward I’ll…”

“What?”

“That I’ll b-become a real member of the family?” stammered Tony.

“It’s not that easy!” the vampire replied. “And besides, you’d have to want to be one.”

“I—I don’t want to,” cried Tony, more violently than he had intended.

“All right, all right, it’s not going to happen,” the vampire reassured him. “And now let’s do it already. My stomach’s growling!”

Still trembling, Tony laid his left hand on the thick book. When he touched the worn-out gold binding, a strange warmth seemed to flow through his fingers. He flinched and pulled his hand back. Then he got ahold of himself and put his hand back on the dusty book.

“Are you ready?” asked the vampire, who had also risen.

Tony nodded. His heart was pounding.

“Now—listen!” said the vampire.

I hereby swear upon this book

to be silent until the grim reaper’s hook.

And if this vow be one I broke

it’s Dracula’s wrath I do provoke!

Tony suddenly had a lump in his throat. He swallowed, and in a hoarse voice he began to recite the oath:

I hereby swear upon this book

to be silent like the grim reaper’s hook.

He broke off. The leather cover under his hand suddenly felt very hot.

“What is it?” asked the vampire. “You’ve only spoken half the oath. And actually the line is, ‘to be silent until the grim reaper’s hook’!”

“And if this vow be one I broke,” Tony went on in a hushed voice, “it’s Dracula’s wrath I do provoke!”

“Perfect!” croaked the vampire. Then, with a jerk, he pulled the chronicles out from under Tony’s hand and tucked the book under his arm.

“Let’s go!” he said in a grave voice.