Amos was dreaming: Dracula had him cornered in the bottom of the castle dungeon. Amos pulled his tiny piece of garlic from his pocket and waved it around, but the old vampire just laughed. Suddenly the vampire’s eyes turned a flaming red and his lip curled in a snarl. Two long incisor teeth appeared, dripping with blood.

Amos tried to run, but it was no use. The fiend grabbed his arm with a long bony hand, pinching the flesh with his inch-long fingernails. The pale face was coming closer and closer. He could feel the vampire’s hot breath on his neck.…

“Wake up, Amos. The nurse is trying to take your blood pressure.”

Amos’s eyes flew open. “Where am I?”

“The clinic. Don’t you remember? You said something bit you, and you fainted in the basement. After you came to, I brought you here to make sure you were okay. The doctor says you’re fine. It was just a couple of little scratches and some plaster dust. The doctor thinks a chunk of the ceiling must have fallen on you. It was pretty messy down there.”

“What’s that terrible smell?”

“You. You landed in bat dung when you passed out.”

The nurse finished taking Amos’s blood pressure. “You’re free to go, Mr. Binder. The doctor says you’re healthy as a horse.” She gathered her equipment to leave. “And you smell like one too,” she added under her breath as she disappeared through the door.

Amos sat up. He tried to get a look at his neck. “I was sure something bit me.”

“Well, I guess it is a possibility. Since there wasn’t a TV in the waiting room, I’ve been catching up on my vampire homework. It says in my article that vampire bites often heal quickly. It wouldn’t be unusual if only a couple of scratches were left.”

“Wait a minute. Are you saying I was bitten by a vampire?”

“Well, no, not necessarily. The doctor’s probably right about the plaster.”

“Probably? You told me we were safe down there, that vampires didn’t come out in the light.”

“I’ve been reading about that too.” Dunc pushed opened the clinic’s double doors. “It turns out that some vampires can change their shape, you know, turn into other things, and stay alive in dark places during the day.”

Amos stopped. “Other things? Like, say, bats, for instance?”

Dunc nodded. Amos screamed in his ear, “So you had me risking my life in that stupid basement nailing shut an empty coffin?”

“That’s about the size of it.”

Amos started walking.

“Wait, Amos. I’ve got a plan. This time it’s surefire.”

He was talking to air.