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I woke up early in the afternoon, as usual I’d gone to bed shortly before dawn, the same tiht caht world It was one of the advantages of being only a half-vael - even vampires have to eat nor - and plopped down in front of the hotel TV Mr Crepsley didn’t like hotels He usually slept out in the open, in an old barn or a ruined building or a large crypt, but I was having no part of that I told hi in the cold that I’d had enough of it He gruave in

The last two months had passed pretty quickly, because I’d been so busy learning about being a vaood teacher and didn’t like repeating himself, so I had to pay attention and learn fast

I was really strong now I could lift huge weights and crush ers If I shook hands with a huers I could do chin-ups all night long and throw a baseball farther than any grown-up (I measured my throw one day, then checked in a book and discovered I’d set a neorld record! I was excited at first, but then realized I couldn’t tell anybody about it Still, it was nice to knoas a world chaernails were really thick, and the only way I could cut theood onthe holes in my pockets when I stuck my hands in

We’d covered a lot of distance since that night in the cemetery First we’d fled at top vampire speed, liding across the land like a couple of high-speed ghosts That’s called flitting But flitting is tiring work, so after a couple of nights we began taking trains and buses

I don’t knohere Mr Crepsley got the money for our travel and hotels and food He had no wallet that I could see and no bank cards, but every ti, out cas I’d been expecting the ht for three weeks before Mr Crepsley caught s,"I told hihing "We do not grow fangs, you idiot!"he roared

"But hoe bite people?"I asked, confused

"We do not,"he told"We cut them with our nails and suck the blood out We only use our teeth in es?"

"No Your teeth will be harder than any huh skin and bone if you wish, but it is messy Only stupid vampires use their teeth And stupid vaet hunted down and killed"

I was a little disappointed to hear that It was one of the things I liked most about those old vampire s

But after sos The fingernails h I would have been in real trouble ifchunks out of my cheeks as well!

Most of the old vae shape or fly Crosses and holy water didn’t hurt us All garlic did was give us bad breath Our reflections could be seen in mirrors, and we cast shadows

Soh A varaphed or fil odd about vampire atoms, which means all that coraphed, but you wouldn’t get a clear photo of ht

Vampires were friendly with rats and bats We couldn’t turn into them, as some books and films said, but they liked us - they knew from the smell of our blood that ere different fro, or cas and cats, for soht would kill a va the day, if he wrapped up in lots of clothes He’d tan really fast and start to go red within fifteen ht would kill hih the heart would kill us, of course, but so would a bullet or a knife or electricity We could drown or be crushed to death or catch certain diseases We were tougher to kill than normal people, but eren’t indestructible

There was more I had to learn A lot more Mr Crepsley said it would be years before I knew everything and was able to function by myself He said a half-va would be dead within a couple of lue, even if I didn’t want to

When I finished el, I sat and bit ood on TV, but I didn’t want to go outside, not without Mr Crepsley We were in a s theh me, to knohat I was and to coed and rubbed his belly "I a,"he said "I know it is early, but let us head out now I should have taken more of that silly Scout-man’s blood I think I will track down another human"He looked at me with one eyebrow raised "Maybe you will join h I kneouldn’t It was the one thing I’d sworn I would never do I ht have to drink the blood of animals to stay alive, but I would never feast on one of my own kind, no rowled I was half vaht of attacking a living person filled ust