CHAPTER 12

The (Sick) Vampire

When Santiago woke up this morning, he couldn’t stop sneezing. He had a fever and a runny nose. His mom said, “You have a cold. Stay home, and I’ll make you your favorite: chicken noodle soup.”

“No!” he said. “It’s Halloween. I don’t want to miss the fun.” So he ignored his mom and went to school. He didn’t realize until lunchtime that he’d forgotten his lunch money.

Silly Santiago. He was always sick. Which is why he usually looked pale. But today, he was more pale than usual. You might even say he looked downright dead. That’s because he was. Well, close… he was undead. Santiago was a vampire.

At lunchtime, Santiago moaned, “I’m so hungry.”

“Ah thought vampires drank blood?” Chloe the Cowboy asked.

“They do,” Santiago said. “But, c’mon, gross! I want regular food. I want tacos or spaghetti or—what’s that in your lunch box? Fried chicken? Yum!”

“Ah’m not sharing muh fried chicken with no fanger, and that there’s final!” the cowboy snapped, her spurs jangling as she walked away.

“Can I have a bite?” he asked his classmates.

“No! Get away, Count Sick-ula!” they shouted, grabbing their necks to protect them.

“No, no, no,” Santiago tried to explain. “I meant a bite of your lunch, not a bite of your neck. I swear!”

But it was no use. No one believed him. They heard the word “bite” and they ran screaming. (People tend to do that when they’re around vampires.)

Santiago felt a sneeze coming on.… AAaaaachOOOOOO!!!!

Except Santiago wasn’t a boy anymore. He was a little fuzzy vampire bat. He was flapping his wings. Until… AAaaaachOOOOOO!!!!

He turned back into a boy. He fell out of the air and crashed onto the lunch table. “Ow!” he said.

“Get away! I don’t want your vampire or your cold germs!” the students shouted, shooing him back.

AAaaaachOOOOOOO!!!! Santiago sneezed again. He turned back into a bat. The kids were throwing pencils and pens at him. He flew up toward the ceiling.

AAaaaachOOOOOO!!!! Santiago sneezed again. This time, he fell from the ceiling all the way to the floor. “DOUBLE OW!” he shouted. Luckily, vampires healed fast. Except apparently from colds.

Emma pulled several cloves of garlic out of her backpack and threw them at Santiago. He was going to eat them, but they weren’t cooked. But the smell reminded him of his mom’s chicken noodle soup. She was right. He should have stayed home.